Monday, Nov. 22

á           President Joe Biden nominated current Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to a second four-year term. Biden also tapped Fed Governor Lael Brainard — once considered a replacement for Powell — as the FedÕs vice chair.

á           The Labor Department announced the $15 per hour minimum wage for federal contractors, which Biden announced in April, will go into effect Jan. 30.

á           The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol subpoenaed Roger Stone and Alex Jones.

Tuesday, Nov. 23

á           The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol subpoenaed three militia or paramilitary groups as well as their leaders: The Proud Boys, the 1st Amendment Praetorian and the Oath Keepers.

á           The Department of Health and Human Services said it began distributing $7.5 billion in federal funds assigned to rural healthcare providers across the country to ease the financial pressures brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

á           Biden ordered the federal government to released 50 million barrels of oil from its strategic reserve in a coordinated effort with China, India, the United Kingdom, Japan and South Korea to ease rising gas prices.

á           The Navy disclosed that it had sent a guided missile destroyer called the U.S.S. Milius on a routine transit through the Taiwan Strait, which separates Taiwan and China. This is the 11th such crossing this year. China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, condemned the maneuver as Òan attempt to disrupt and undermine regional peace and stability.Ó

á           The FBI reached a settlement with lawyers representing the families of most of the victims of the Parkland school shooting that occurred in 2018, in a suit filed over the agencyÕs failure to investigate tips it received in the months leading up to the massacre. Media reports said the FBI will pay the families about $130 million.

á           NASA launched a ÒsuicideÓ spacecraft called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, to kick an asteroid off course, as a test run in case such an asteroid were ever to threaten Earth.

á           The Pentagon announced it formed a new group called the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group to investigate reports of unidentified aerial phenomena in restricted and special-use airspace.

Wednesday, Nov. 24

á           Biden invited Taiwan to the U.S.-hosted Summit for Democracy, an act that drew ire from China. TaiwanÕs Foreign Ministry said it would participate in the event, calling it Òan affirmation of TaiwanÕs efforts to promote the values of democracy and human rights over the years.Ó

á           Biden announced he would nominate Shalanda Young to lead the White HouseÕs Office of Management and Budget. Young has served as acting director of the office for the last eight months and previously served as the officeÕs deputy director as well as staff director for Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee.

Thursday, Nov. 25

á           Thanksgiving. No news to report.

Friday, Nov. 26

á           Biden called on countries planning to participate in a Nov. 29 World Trade Organization meeting to waive intellectual property protections on coronavirus vaccines as the new omicron COVID-19 variant surges. ÒThis pandemic will not end until we have global vaccinations,Ó Biden said. The news outlet In These Times later obtained documents showing that during the Nov. 29 meeting, the U.S. did little to move forward such waivers itself.

á           A bipartisan group of House representatives met with TaiwanÕs President Tsai Ing-wen to affirm the U.S.Õs support for Taiwan. The representatives were Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Colin Allred (D-Texas), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.).

á           Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was greatly concerned about the escalation of military violence in Ethiopia and urged moving forward in negotiations with the country.

á           The Interior Department released a report recommending that the federal government raise fees that oil and gas companies pay to drill on public land, the first increase since 1920, though it remained silent on such drillingÕs impact on climate change.

á           Biden announced the U.S. will restrict travel from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi to curb the spread of the new omicron coronavirus variant. Of the African countries, only South Africa and Botswana had confirmed cases of the variant. Meanwhile the variant has been reported in Hong Kong, Israel, Germany, Italy, the U.K. and other countries.

Saturday, Nov. 27

á           No news to report.

Sunday, Nov. 28

á           Mark Esper, the former Defense Secretary under Trump, sued the Pentagon, accusing officials of improperly blocking portions of his upcoming memoir from being published. The suit argued that certain text is being withheld Òunder the guise of classificationÓ and that what has been omitted is Òcrucial to telling important stories discussed in the manuscript.Ó