The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Thursday that vaccinated travelers do not need masks outdoors at airports and train stations.

“CDC is announcing that it will be amending its Face Masks Order to not require people to wear a mask in outdoor areas of conveyances (if such outdoor areas exist on the conveyance) or while outdoors at transportation hubs,” the statement reads. 

The order applies to outdoor areas at train and subway stations, airports, ferry and bus terminals, among others.

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The CDC says unvaccinated individuals should continue to wear masks outdoors in these areas.

The agency is also still recommending masks for vaccinated and unvaccinated people to be worn in indoor spaces while waiting for transportation and on the vehicles. 

The new guidance is not applicable to children under the age of 2 or those with disabilities who are unable to wear a mask. 

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This updated guidance follows other CDC recommendations that vaccinated people no longer have to wear masks outside. 

The announcement comes two months after the Transportation Security Administration extended its mask mandate in airports through September and can fine travelers $250 to $1,500 for disobeying the rule.

The country has seen an increase in travel as coronavirus restrictions in most states have largely been lifted and millions of people have been vaccinated.

A California jury on Thursday awarded nearly $15 million to five people after eggs and embryos were destroyed when a fertility clinic’s cryogenic storage tank failed.

Three women and a couple filed the lawsuit over a tank failure that occurred in 2018 at San Francisco’s Pacific Fertility Center. Nearly 3,500 frozen eggs and embryos were destroyed as a result, The Associated Press reported.

The three women who lost eggs and the couple who lost embryos will collect the damages for pain, suffering and emotional distress, according to the news outlet.

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While their case is reportedly the first to go to trial, hundreds of other people have reportedly sued Pacific Fertility Center and Chart Industries Inc., which distributed the cryogenic tank that failed to properly house the eggs and embryos. During the trial, the women and couple described the loss the tank failure caused.

“It’s really painful to be at a baby shower celebrating someone else’s family being built and knowing inside you’ll never get that,” Chloe Poynton testified during the trial, according to the AP. “So you start to pull back. You start to isolate.”

During the closing arguments in the trial, a lawyer representing Chart Industries placed blame on the fertility center, claiming that the tank was misused. Jurors rejected that argument, finding that a manufacturing defect was the blame for the failure and was a “substantial factor” in the harm caused, the AP reported.

Pacific Fertility Center was found by jurors to be 10 percent responsible for harm and negligent, the outlet noted.

The couple was awarded $7.2 million in the case, and each of the three women took home between $2 and $3 million. 

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Sen. Lindsey GrahamLindsey Olin GrahamTim Scott: Could be ‘very hard’ to reach police reform deal by June deadline On The Money: Biden ends infrastructure talks with Capito, pivots to bipartisan group | Some US billionaires had years where they paid no taxes: report | IRS to investigate leak Graham says family members aren’t working due to unemployment benefits MORE (R-S.C.) pressed the acting White House budget chief Tuesday on the impact of expanded unemployment benefits on the labor force, saying he has family members who refuse to work because of them.

Graham during a hearing urged the administration to cancel federal jobless aid set to expire in September, arguing they convince potential workers to stay home as businesses struggle to fill surging job openings.

“There’s a lot of jobs out there that are unfilled and will never be filled until you change the benefit structure. Does that logic make sense to you, given where we’re at in our economy?” Graham asked Shalanda Young, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

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When Young replied, “I understand the logic, but I’ve also not met Americans who would prefer not to work,” Graham countered that several of his own family members did.

“I got a lot of people in my family that ain’t working because they’re getting — I’ll show you some of my family,” Graham chuckled in response.

“Bottom line is I think there are people out there, they’re not bad people, but they’re not going to work for $15 an hour and make $23 unemployed,” he continued. “That doesn’t make you a bad person. If you’re working for $15 an hour, that makes you almost a chump.”

Biden in March extended a $300 weekly boost to unemployment and several programs meant to expand jobless aid through the end of August. Since May, roughly two-dozen Republican governors pulled their states out of the enhanced benefits in a bid to push more workers into jobs.

While economists warn against relying exclusively on anecdotes about the labor market, there is growing evidence of the demand for new hires far outpacing the supply. Job openings reached a record high of 9.3 million as of the final week of April, the Labor Department reported Tuesday, and the Federal Reserve has reported intense competition among businesses to hire workers despite millions of Americans still without jobs.

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Even so, economists say there is not sufficient data to show expanded unemployment benefits as the only or even primary driver of the shortage. Experts also point to lingering health concerns, a lack of child care options and the inability of many people — particularly women — to return to the workforce due to pandemic-related barriers.

The May employment report, which showed a solid but less-than-expected gain of 559,000 jobs, exacerbated fears that the intense demand for scarce workers could trigger rapid inflation and hinder struggling small businesses.

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Biden administration and Fed officials say they expect the economy to work out the kinks of reopening soon and have embraced the upward pressure on wages the competition has created. Progressive economists and groups also argue that workers should use this leverage to demand better pay and working conditions and refuse to return on pre-pandemic terms.

Even so, the dynamic is politically challenging given the salience of inflation fears among centrist and right-leaning Americans.

The Justice Department’s internal watchdog will investigate the secret seizure of data from Democratic lawmakers and reporters during leak investigations initiated under the Trump administration.

The probe follows news of a department decision in 2017 and 2018 to issue subpoenas seeking metadata from House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam SchiffAdam Bennett SchiffTrump DOJ demanded metadata on 73 phone numbers and 36 email addresses, Apple says DOJ to probe Trump-era subpoenas of lawmaker records The Hill’s 12:30 Report – Presented by Facebook – Sights and sounds from Biden’s UK visit MORE (D-Calif.) and fellow committee member Rep. Eric SwalwellEric Michael SwalwellDOJ to probe Trump-era subpoenas of lawmaker records The Hill’s 12:30 Report – Presented by Facebook – Sights and sounds from Biden’s UK visit Democrats demand Barr, Sessions testify on Apple data subpoenas MORE (D-Calif.) during leak investigations.

In recent weeks, the Department of Justice (DOJ) also notified reporters at three different outlets their records were sought in similar investigations and dropped the gag orders limiting disclosure of the seizure.

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“The review will examine the Department’s compliance with applicable DOJ policies and procedures, and whether any such uses, or the investigations, were based upon improper considerations,” Michael Horowitz, DOJ’s inspector general, said in a Friday statement.

News of the probe comes shortly after lawmakers called for an inspector general investigation and congressional review of the matter.

Senate Majority Leader Charles SchumerChuck SchumerDOJ to probe Trump-era subpoenas of lawmaker records Democrats demand Barr, Sessions testify on Apple data subpoenas Out-of-touch Democrats running scared of progressives MORE (N.Y.) and Judiciary Committee Chair Dick DurbinDick DurbinTrump DOJ demanded metadata on 73 phone numbers and 36 email addresses, Apple says Overnight Defense: Pentagon details military construction projects getting .2B restored from wall funds | Biden chooses former commander to lead Navy | Bill seeks to boost visa program for Afghans who helped US Senate bill would add visas, remove hurdles to program for Afghans who helped US MORE (Ill.) also called for two of former President TrumpDonald TrumpTrump DOJ demanded metadata on 73 phone numbers and 36 email addresses, Apple says Putin says he’s optimistic about working with Biden ahead of planned meeting Biden meets Queen Elizabeth for first time as president MORE’s attorneys general, William BarrBill BarrTrump DOJ demanded metadata on 73 phone numbers and 36 email addresses, Apple says DOJ to probe Trump-era subpoenas of lawmaker records Democrats demand Barr, Sessions testify on Apple data subpoenas MORE and Jeff SessionsJefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsTrump DOJ demanded metadata on 73 phone numbers and 36 email addresses, Apple says DOJ to probe Trump-era subpoenas of lawmaker records Democrats demand Barr, Sessions testify on Apple data subpoenas MORE, to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“The revelation that the Trump Justice Department secretly subpoenaed metadata of House Intelligence Committee Members and staff and their families, including a minor, is shocking. This is a gross abuse of power and an assault on the separation of powers,” Schumer and Durbin said in a joint statement Friday. “This appalling politicization of the Department of Justice by Donald Trump and his sycophants must be investigated immediately by both the DOJ Inspector General and Congress.”

Early in Trump’s presidency, his Justice Department subpoenaed Apple for metadata for Schiff and Swalwell, two staunch critics of his, and their family members and fought to place a gag order on the company. The revelation, first reported by The New York Times, comes as the DOJ has come under increasing scrutiny for its seizure of records from journalists at three news outlets in its search for leakers under Trump.

On Capitol Hill and on cable TV, Schiff and Swalwell became some of Trump’s most vocal and visible political foes, particularly on the Russia story; Pelosi would later tap Schiff as lead prosecutor during Trump’s first Senate impeachment trial, while Swalwell served as a prosecutor during Trump’s second impeachment trial.

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In statements Thursday night, both Schiff and Pelosi had called for Horowitz to investigate the actions of the former Trump officials.

But in a statement Friday, Schiff said the investigation was only an important first step.

“This incident must be viewed in the context of the systemic politicization of the Department and its mission, and other flagrant abuses — including the personal intervention of then-President Trump in choosing targets of investigation,” he said.

“As crucial as it will be, the IG’s investigation will not obviate the need for other forms of oversight and accountability – including public oversight by Congress – and the Department must cooperate in that effort as well. In the meantime, the Attorney General needs to do a full damage assessment of the conduct of the department over the last four years and outline all of the accountability and mitigation necessary to protect the public going forward.”

Pelosi called the revelations that Trump’s Justice Department was targeting House Democrats “harrowing.”

“These actions appear to be yet another egregious assault on our democracy waged by the former president,” she said Thursday. 

“I support Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff’s call for an investigation into this situation and other acts of the weaponization of law enforcement by the former president. Transparency is essential.”

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An inspector general investigation could be key, as it’s unclear whether the Intelligence Committee could start a probe, given that Schiff, Swalwell, committee aides and their families were targets of the DOJ investigation into who was leaking information to news outlets about ties between Trump associates and Russia. 

And while the Senate suggested an eagerness for their own investigation, that, too, faces challenges.

To carry out a subpoena on Barr or Sessions, Judiciary Committee Democrats would need the support of at least one Republican given the panel’s even split between the parties.

The news of the subpoenas targeting lawmakers follows DOJ efforts in recent weeks to notify journalists at CNN, The Washington Post and The New York Times that their records were also subpoenaed under investigations initiated during the Trump administration. 

The seizures were a deviation from a DOJ policy that typically requires the agency to notify reporters as soon as their records are sought. 

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But the Trump administration took advantage of a provision that allows the attorney general to delay notification if there is a “threat to the integrity of the investigation” or a risk of grave harm to national security or death.

In such cases, the agency is required to disclose that the records were obtained within 45 days, though the attorney general can extend that period for another 45 days.

While that time frame largely left the task to fall on the Biden administration, the DOJ continued to seek gag orders to block communications companies from notifying the new outlets their records were being sought.

Even once the department relented and allowed the news to be shared with lawyers at CNN and the Times, it continued to fight for gag orders limiting counsel from informing the reporters their records had been seized.

Schiff and Swalwell’s notification that their records had been subpoenaed followed a similar pattern. They were not notified until May, when a gag order the DOJ sought for Apple had expired.

Though President BidenJoe BidenPutin says he’s optimistic about working with Biden ahead of planned meeting How the infrastructure bill can help close the digital divide Biden meets Queen Elizabeth for first time as president MORE had been sworn in, DOJ officials this year did not inform lawmakers that they were being investigated in the leak probe — a revelation that has infuriated some Democrats on Capitol Hill. 

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“There is a lot of frustration at DOJ’s lack of forthcomingness here,” said one congressional Democratic source. “We’ve asked a series of questions of DOJ. They have not been forthcoming, and we hope that will change.”

House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold NadlerJerrold (Jerry) Lewis NadlerDemocrats demand Barr, Sessions testify on Apple data subpoenas Wray grilled on FBI’s handling of Jan. 6 Omar feuds with Jewish Democrats MORE (D-N.Y.), however, suggested he may still open an investigation himself.

“The committee has been in communication with DOJ, and we have made our position clear. The Department has a very short window to make a clean break from the Trump era on this matter,” he said in a statement.

“We expect the department to provide a full accounting of these cases, and we expect the Attorney General to hold the relevant personnel accountable for their conduct. If the department does not make substantial progress towards these two goals, then we on the Judiciary Committee will have no choice but to step in and do the work ourselves.”

Updated: 6:07 p.m.

The Chinese government has imposed retaliatory sanctions on an American citizen who served on the U.S. government’s commission on international religious freedom. 

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday announced sanctions against Johnnie Moore, an evangelical pastor and business owner, saying that he and his family are barred from entering mainland China, Hong Kong or Macau.

“In response to the US blatant move to endorse cults and impose unilateral sanctions to Chinese personnel based on lies and disinformation, China decides to sanction Johnnie Moore, Commissioner of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF),” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said during a press conference. 

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The move is in retaliation for the U.S. earlier this month blacklisting former Chinese official Yu Hui for persecution of religious minorities, in particular the Chinese-banned Falun Gong movement.

The State Department did not respond to a request for comment on Moore’s blacklisting. 

USCIRF on Thursday condemned China for the sanctions on Moore.

It said the sanctions “will only draw more international attention to the atrocities and horrors being perpetrated by the Chinese government against the Uyghurs, Tibetan Buddhists, Christians, Falun Gong practitioners, and countless other Chinese citizens.”

The USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan, federal commission mandated by Congress to monitor the state of religious freedom worldwide and make policy recommendations to the president, secretary of State and lawmakers. 

Commissioners volunteer their time and are appointed by the president and Republican and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate. 

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Moore was serving for the second time on USCIRF and was appointed by President TrumpDonald TrumpRomney blasts political extremes in speech accepting JFK award FDA grants emergency use authorization to COVID-19 antibody drug Who’s afraid of price transparency? MORE.

Moore stepped down as a commissioner from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on May 14, telling The Hill he had long-planned to leave before his term expired in 2022 to spend more time with his family and religious and business ventures. 

Moore is president of the Congress of Christian Leaders and the founder of the public relations firm KAIROS Company. 

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“Frankly, I have zero concerns about the sanctions. In fact, I count it a privilege,” he told The Hill. 

“It is, in fact, a tremendous way to close out my service knowing I had enough of an impact that I drew the ire of the foreign ministry of the CCP.” 

Moore is involved in promoting religious freedom for persecuted minorities in China, including Uyghur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists and Christians, among others.

In December he “adopted” imprisoned Chinese pro-Democracy activist and media tycoon Jimmy Lai through the “Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project,” as part of advocacy for Lai’s freedom.

In April, Lai was sentenced to 14 months in prison on charges of unauthorized assembly stemming from his arrest in August 2020. 

The Biden administration has reportedly found that nearly 4,000 children were separated from their families after the Trump administration enacted its “zero tolerance” policy.

Citing sources familiar with the administration’s findings, ABC News reported that more than 3,900 children were separated from their families between July 2017 and January 2021. Around 400 other children were sent back to their home countries. Fewer than than 60 families are currently in the process of being reunited.

In April it was reported that a review by the Biden administration could reveal whether additional families were separated at the border due to the Trump administration’s policies.

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“We found the list we had when we came in was not comprehensive and included large time frames that had not been reviewed,” a Department of Homeland Security official said at the time.

This report is part of an initial review from the Biden administration’s Family Reunification Task Force, ABC reported. The group is being chaired by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro MayorkasAlejandro MayorkasReport: Nearly 4,000 children separated from parents at border under Trump Texas governor to sign bill banning vaccine passports Biden administration launches anti-human trafficking task force MORE. The task force is offering families of children who are still in the U.S. on their own the option of coming to the U.S. to be reunified with their children.

According to ABC, 62 family members have been approved for entry into the U.S. so far. When asked why so few families are being reunited right now, a Homeland Security official told ABC that it was a “giant task” that required the coordination of multiple government agencies.

The official added that the largest obstacle was convincing the parents of the children “to trust the government again.”

The Biden administration in May announced that the first families separated at the border would be reunited. At the time of the announcement, Mayorkas said these reunifications were “just the beginning.”

“Today is just the beginning. We are reuniting the first group of families, many more will follow, and we recognize the importance of providing these families with the stability and resources they need to heal,” Mayorkas said.

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Myanmar’s deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi as well as other former officials from her government are facing new corruption charges, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar announced on Thursday.

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According to Reuters, the state newspaper reported that the Anti-Corruption Commission said that the new accusations stem from Suu Kyi’s misuse of land for the charitable Daw Khin Kyi Foundation and accepting money and gold.

“She was found guilty of committing corruption using her rank. So she was charged under Anti-Corruption Law section 55,” the paper said. Under the law in Myanmar, Suu Kyi could reportedly face up to 15 years in prison if she is found guilty.

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Khin Maung Zaw, the head lawyer representing Suu Kyi in many of her other cases, described the latest accusations as “absurd,” according to Reuters, noting that the corruption investigations were not before any court.

“She might have defects but personal greed and corruption are not her traits. Those who accuse her of greed and corruption are spitting towards the sky,” Zaw said.

The Daw Khin Kyi Foundation, which Suu Kyi chaired, was created in the honor of her late mother, the news service noted, adding that its purpose was to help develop education, health and welfare in Myanmar.

Suu Kyi, 75, has also been charged with breaking the Official Secrets Act and the illegal possession of walkie-talkie radios. She was overthrown in a February coup after the army accused her of cheating in the elections.

Her supporters have rejected the accusations, saying they are politically motivated.

More than 4,200 people in Myanmar have been arrested, charged or sentenced since the coup, and 815 have been killed by the junta’s forces.

A coalition of 60 House Democrats is calling on Attorney General Merrick GarlandMerrick GarlandHouse Democrats push Garland for immigration court reforms Jeff Hauser: McBride nomination is a return to administrations that ended ‘rule-of-law’ and ‘rich-person accountability’ GOP senators press Justice Department to compare protest arrests to Capitol riot MORE to use the authority of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to make sweeping changes to an immigration court system dramatically altered by the Trump administration. 

Under the prior administration, the backlog of cases sitting in court more than doubled to 1.3 million — a figure that could leave migrants waiting more than four years for a hearing in their cases.

But lawmakers, in an effort spearheaded by Rep. Pramila JayapalPramila JayapalHouse Democrats push Garland for immigration court reforms Progressives rally behind Omar while accusing her critics of bias Bipartisan talks sow division among Democrats MORE (D-Wash.), are urging Garland to take a number of actions, ranging from blanket removal of cases from the docket to unwinding a number of decisions they say politicized the immigration court system run by DOJ.

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The letter comes as momentum on immigration reform has largely stalled in Congress, increasing the importance of agency action if President BidenJoe BidenJill Biden, Kate Middleton to meet this week Al Gore lobbied Biden to not scale back climate plans in infrastructure deal White House briefed on bipartisan infrastructure deal but says questions remain MORE wants to have an impact on the immigration system. 

At the heart of the letter is a call for the new administration to review Board of Immigration Appeals decisions that limited asylum along with regulations that limited the discretion of immigration court judges. 

“The Trump Administration took aggressive steps to rewrite asylum law and restrict discretionary decision-making and judicial independence. These policy changes—implemented by your predecessors through the certification of BIA decisions and the promulgation of regulations—must be immediately reviewed and reversed,” they wrote.

“We are also concerned with the prior Administration’s overt efforts to politicize the immigration courts by prioritizing individuals with political connections and enforcement-heavy backgrounds—rather than knowledge of immigration law or judicial experience,” they continued.

The Biden administration has called for hiring 100 new immigration judges as part of its budget. It’s a figure experts say will do little to help with the backlog but that may help balance out former President TrumpDonald TrumpTrump DOJ seized House Democrats’ data from Apple Iowa governor questions lack of notice on migrant children flights to Des Moines Senate confirms first Muslim American federal judge MORE’s influence on the court.

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The Trump administration filled roughly two-thirds of the 520 lifetime seats on the immigration court bench, often picking those with long careers in Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

The Biden administration, however, recently proceeded with hiring 17 immigration court lawyers initially selected under Trump. 

The lawmakers also threw their weight behind a push from the National Association of Immigration Judges seeking to reverse a Trump-era imposition of quotas on judges, asking them to decide 700 cases each year, a move both camps argue “infringed upon their independence and ability to render consistent and fully informed decisions.”

The letter also asks Garland to consider removing large swaths of cases from the immigration court backlog, nixing those where applicants may have already applied for status with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services or whose cases have already lingered for years and have not been deemed a priority. 

“Considerable systemic pressure could be alleviated by removing up to 700,000 cases from the court docket that should not be priorities for court adjudication,” they wrote.

The request comes after an ICE memo giving its attorneys more discretion to drop cases.

While Garland has acknowledged the backlog is an issue, he’s yet to outline what measure DOJ is considering to address it.

“We need to get the backlog down; we need to streamline our processes,” he told lawmakers during a hearing Wednesday.

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The letter also calls on DOJ to consider expanding programs that provide free legal help to those in a court system where there is no guarantee to counsel.

“We encourage you to expand legal representation and orientation programs for these vulnerable populations and others, and to request appropriate funding from Congress to accomplish this objective,” the lawmakers wrote.

The approval of a new Alzheimer’s drug has sparked a fierce backlash amid concerns about both price and its effectiveness.

The Biogen drug, marketed under the name Aduhelm, is the first Alzheimer’s treatment approved in nearly 20 years.

Yet it comes at a massive cost of $56,000 a year per patient, which is likely to renew pressure on Congress and the Biden administration to pass drug pricing reform legislation.

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Patients and advocates have been desperately searching for an effective treatment, especially for those who experience mild cognitive decline that progresses to Alzheimer’s.

They argue that the new drug provides hope and the possibility of a few more years with loved ones. The approval could also be the starting point for future investments into more, better treatments.

“Approvals of the first drug in a new category benefit people living with the disease by invigorating the field, increasing investments in treatments and generating innovation,” the Alzheimer’s Association said in a statement.

But Aduhelm is not a cure, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made its decision without clear evidence that the drug even works, over the objections of its outside advisory panel.

Now, three doctors on the panel have quit in protest, claiming the FDA did not want to listen to them.

Aaron Kesselheim, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, called the decision “probably the worst drug approval decision in recent U.S. history,” in a letter he submitted when resigning over the decision Thursday.

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The Biogen approval has far-reaching implications not just for the future approvals of experimental drugs with uncertain benefits, but also for the entire U.S. health care system.

Since Alzheimer’s disease primarily impacts seniors who are eligible for Medicare, taxpayers will largely foot the bill for the new drug.

An analysis from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation released Thursday found Aduhelm could cost seniors on Medicare more than $11,000 in annual copays.

If just 500,000 beneficiaries are prescribed Aduhelm, it would cost the program nearly $29 billion a year, more than any other medication. According to Kaiser’s Tricia Neuman, who was one of the study’s authors, total Medicare spending for all prescription drugs was $37 billion in 2019.

Biogen has said that some 1.5 million Americans with early-stage Alzheimer’s will be eligible for the drug. But the FDA also approved its use for patients at any stage of the disease, despite the fact that it was only tested in people with the earliest stage of Alzheimer’s.

“Everybody’s on the hook,” Neuman said. “Taxpayers are on the hook, because Medicare’s partially funded by taxpayer dollars, but beneficiaries are on the hook. Not just people who take the drug, but also people who are paying their Part B monthly premiums, which is virtually everyone on Medicare.”

The treatment, which is delivered intravenously, is intended to reduce the amount of plaque in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. Brain plaques are thought to be a contributor to Alzheimer’s disease.

But the FDA acknowledged the drug had not demonstrated a clear clinical benefit in terms of actually slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s. Instead, officials argued that by removing the plaques, Aduhelm “is reasonably likely” to benefit patients, and could potentially slow cognitive decline.

The agency decided to approve the drug under its accelerated approval pathway, which is typically used for rare diseases or drugs with much smaller patient populations.

The approval gives Biogen nine years to complete its clinical studies while continuing to sell the drug.

Drug pricing advocates and progressives in Congress are hoping the sticker shock will provide a renewed push to pass legislation allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices.

“We all want a better treatment for Alzheimers, but this cost is OUTRAGEOUS. It’s time to expand Medicare, empower it to negotiate drug prices for all people, and lower the sky-high price of prescription drugs,”  Rep. Pramila JayapalPramila JayapalNew Alzheimer’s drug sparks backlash over FDA, pricing Hillicon Valley: House targets tech giants with antitrust bills | Oversight chair presses JBS over payment to hackers | Trump spokesman to join tech company | YouTube suspends GOP senator Simmering Democratic tensions show signs of boiling over MORE (D-Wash.) tweeted Friday.

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Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron WydenRonald (Ron) Lee WydenNew Alzheimer’s drug sparks backlash over FDA, pricing The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Facebook – Bipartisan group reaches infrastructure deal; many questions remain Senate panel advances nominations for key Treasury positions MORE (D-Ore.) during a hearing on Thursday said the list price for Aduhelm was “unconscionable.” 

“There is little data showing it actually does what the company says it will do,” Wyden said.

“Despite that, Aduhelm has an unconscionable list price of $56,000 per year. Let’s understand, it is not a cure, like some other recent breakthrough drugs have been. Patients could be on Aduhelm for years at a time after their diagnosis, multiplying the overall cost of treatment,” he added.

Wyden is leading the charge for prescription drug price reform in the Senate, but other lawmakers have been noticeably silent on Aduhelm.

It was not mentioned at all during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing with acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock on Thursday, nor was it brought up in House hearings earlier in the week with Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier BecerraXavier BecerraNew Alzheimer’s drug sparks backlash over FDA, pricing Obama joins Biden to tout record ObamaCare enrollment numbers Biden walks fine line with probe into coronavirus origins MORE.

One drug pricing advocate said part of the hesitancy may be because some lawmakers don’t want to be seen attacking an Alzheimer’s drug, especially the first new one in 18 years.

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“Everyone wants to be cognizant of the intense hope for meaningful progress in the treatment of this disease,” the advocate said.

Other advocates said the hope is that when more lawmakers see the full cost implications for taxpayers and consumers, there could be a shift in the dynamics.

Still, the politics of drug pricing legislation is fraught, and it’s not even clear the Biden administration shares some of the concerns over FDA’s controversial approval.

On the Republican side, one of the only lawmakers to mention Aduhelm was Rep. Cathy McMorris RodgersCathy McMorris RodgersNew Alzheimer’s drug sparks backlash over FDA, pricing FDA approves first new Alzheimer’s drug in almost 20 years OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Biden suspends Arctic oil leases issued under Trump |  Experts warn US needs to better prepare for hurricane season | Progressives set sights on Civilian Climate Corps MORE (Wash.), who used it as part of a longstanding attack on Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiNew Alzheimer’s drug sparks backlash over FDA, pricing Sunday shows preview: Biden foreign policy in focus as Dem tensions boil up back home It’s not just Manchin: No electoral mandate stalls Democrats’ leftist agenda MORE’s (D-Calif.) drug pricing plan.

“Every day is a gift. This news gives patients and their families renewed hope,” she tweeted on the day the approval was announced. “We need more biomedical innovation so patients have a fighting chance. That’s why we must stop Speaker Pelosi’s radical drug pricing scheme for #FewerCures. It would halt innovation in its tracks.”

The Labor Department on Thursday released a COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS) for health care workers, following more than a year of Democratic lawmakers pushing for such a standard the all front-line workers in the coronavirus pandemic.

The standard covers health care facilities treating COVID-19 and requires that employers comply with safety and health standards issued and enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), such as mask wearing and cleaning procedures.

It also requires health care facilities to provide their workers with a safe workplace free from recognized hazards and to notify them when there are exposed to infections.

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OSHA updated guidance for employers and workers not covered by the OSHA ETS that it deems higher-risk workplaces, including manufacturing, meatpacking plants, grocery stores and retail stores.

That guidance includes staggering break times, staffer worker arrivals and departure times, and providing visual cues like signs to maintain distancing.

The agency announced in April it sent a draft ETS on the coronavirus pandemic to the Office of Management and Budget, defending the extra time the agency took to move on establishing a standard. President BidenJoe BidenJill Biden, Kate Middleton to meet this week Al Gore lobbied Biden to not scale back climate plans in infrastructure deal White House briefed on bipartisan infrastructure deal but says questions remain MORE issued an executive order in January on protecting worker health and safety, which called on OSHA to issue an ETS by March 15.

Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiTrump DOJ seized House Democrats’ data from Apple Biden administration releases emergency temporary standard for healthcare facilities Progressives rally behind Omar while accusing her critics of bias MORE (D-Calif.) was critical of OSHA’s decision not to include other workers in the standard on Thursday and called the move for health care workers a “first step.” 

“OSHA’s decision to omit other frontline workers exposed to COVID-19, including farmworkers, grocery workers, workers in meat-packing facilities and those working in homeless shelters and prisons, is troubling and shortsighted,” she said.

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She added that House Democrats will continue to fight for broad safety standards for workers. 

“And we must do so in a way that addresses the inequities exposed by the pandemic, including the disproportionate exposure of workers of color to the virus,” the speaker said.

Democrats, unions and worker advocates have called for official OSHA COVID-19 standards since the onset of the pandemic. Former President TrumpDonald TrumpTrump DOJ seized House Democrats’ data from Apple Iowa governor questions lack of notice on migrant children flights to Des Moines Senate confirms first Muslim American federal judge MORE’s OSHA refused to impose a nationwide safety standard, arguing that OSHA guidance was sufficient. 

OSHA can authorize an emergency standard if it determines workers are in grave danger. That standard can only be challenged in a U.S. court of appeals as opposed to OSHA guidance, which allows for flexibility and lets administration officials change it as they see fit.

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