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| Happy Hump Day, Daily Briefing readers! President Joe Biden and Senate Democrats will discuss the deal the Dems reached last night on a multi-trillion dollar "human infrastructure" budget plan. Three weeks after Britney Spears' bombshell revelations about her conservatorship, the case heads back to court in L.A. Will her father remain a conservator of her $60 million fortune? And, happy International Nonbinary People's Day to all our nonbinary readers! |
| It's Steve and Jane with Wednesday's news. |
| 💰 New this morning: Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey supported a multi-year effort by a powerful Texas businessman to extract millions in tax refunds from Arizona's Department of Revenue, an investigation by the Arizona Republic reveals. |
| ✈️ 'It's limbo': Are play dates safe? What about flights? As the world returns to normal, fully vaccinated parents are stuck between two worlds as their young kids remain unvaxxed. |
| 💉 'Solicitation to minors': Tennessee has abandoned vaccine outreach to minors – and not just for COVID-19. |
| ⚖ Capitol riot: Seven months after Doug Jensen became one of the poster figures of the Jan. 6 attack, a judge ordered his release from jail to home custody. |
| 📺 'I want to personally apologize': On "America's Got Talent," judge Howie Mandel apologized to a former contestant after being scolded over his previous "rude" comments. |
| 🎧On today's 5 Things podcast, we discuss International Nonbinary People's Day. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker. |
| What else is happening today: |
Biden to meet with Senate Democrats about their $3.5T budget plan |
| President Joe Biden is set to meet with Senate Democrats at the Capitol Wednesday to discuss an agreement reached late Tuesday on a $3.5 trillion budget plan that would expand Medicare, fund climate-change initiatives and fulfill other parts of Biden's economic agenda. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, N.Y., announced the agreement for a budget reconciliation package that would fund "human infrastructure," a term Biden has used. Democrats hope to pass the legislation through reconciliation, which they could pass with a simple majority in the evenly divided Senate and avoid a filibuster. Yet, there's no guarantee Biden and the leaders can unite all Senate Democrats in support of the package. |
What else people are reading: |
| 🔵 A law banning handgun sales to Americans under the age of 21 violates the Second Amendment, a federal appeals court rules. |
| 🔵 'Unacceptable and dangerous': A 17 million gallon sewage spill at Los Angeles' largest treatment plant closed miles of California beaches. |
| 🔵 'Anarchy and chaos': According to a new book, furious arguments and perpetual dismay defined the final days of the Trump administration. |
| 🔴 Break from tradition: The uniforms the players wore in Tuesday's MLB All-Star Game drew pointed comments from viewers on social media. |
| 🔵 'They grow bigger than you think': A city in Minnesota is asking residents to not throw their pet goldfish in a waterway. |
 | | Hunter Anderson of Danville, Kentucky, poses with this massive catch that looks like a 20-pound goldfish. | | Courtesy of Cassie Anderson | |
Britney Spears conservatorship: Another possibly momentous hearing |
| The saga of Britney Spears' conservatorship case lurches into court again in Los Angeles Wednesday. The hearing is supposed to focus on a number of intersecting matters: Will her father remain a conservator of her $60 million fortune? Can her long-time court-appointed lawyer quit? Can the conservator of her person, Jodi Montgomery, get enhanced security? And can the pop star hire her own lawyer to represent her? The hearing will come three weeks after Spears delivered her first public words in court on the matter, saying she was being forced to take medication and use an intrauterine device for birth control and that she was not allowed to marry her boyfriend. "I just want my life back," Spears said. |
Newsmakers in their own words: Cornel West resigns from Harvard |
 | | Cornel West | | Getty Images photo; USA TODAY graphic | |
| Cornel West, an activist and professor, is parting ways with Harvard University once again. In a resignation letter shared on social media, West cited "superficial diversity" and "political prejudices" as reasons for leaving the Ivy League school. |
| West, who taught at several of Harvard's schools and departments, said his colleagues were "paralyzed" by the university's rejection of his tenure. |
Washington monument reopens after six-month COVID closure |
| The Washington Monument reopens Wednesday after being closed for six months due to COVID-19 safety measures. It's "another important step forward for Washington coming back from the pandemic," National Mall spokesperson Mike Litterst told USA TODAY. Tickets must be purchased through recreation.gov; none will be sold on site. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Face masks will be required for all visitors over the age of 2, regardless of vaccination status. The monument first closed for the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020. It reopened in October and closed again in January. |
It's International Nonbinary People's Day |
| About one in four LGBTQ youths identify as nonbinary, or someone who doesn't identify within the traditional gender dichotomy. That's according to a new study released ahead of International Nonbinary People's Day this Wednesday. The Trevor Project collected data via social media between October and December 2020 from almost 35,000 LGBTQ youth between ages 13 and 24 across the U.S. The study comes at a pivotal moment when state lawmakers have passed a record number of bills targeting trans and nonbinary youth, Amit Paley, CEO and executive director of The Trevor Project, told USA TODAY. |
ICYMI: Some of our top stories published Tuesday |
| 🌎 Heat will continue to only make things worse for fire crews: The Bootleg Fire, one of dozens raging in the West, created a 'firenado' near the Oregon-California border. |
| ⚖ 'The Republican Party has failed Donald Trump': Attorney Jenna Ellis, who worked on Trump's election challenges, says she is leaving the Republican Party in the wake of reports that an official described her election fraud claims as "a joke." |
| 📺 The 2021 Emmy Awards nominations: "The Mandalorian," the hit Disney+ series set in the "Star Wars" universe, tied Netflix's British monarchy series "The Crown" in Tuesday's nominations, with 24 nominations apiece, including best drama. |
 | | "The Crown" and "The Mandalorian" each earned 24 Emmy nominations Tuesday. | | Netflix, Disney | |
WNBA All-Star Game offers Olympic preview |
| Women's basketball takes center stage Wednesday with the WNBA All-Star Game (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) in Las Vegas, and this year's contest will have a very unique setup. A roster of 12 WNBA All-Stars will take on the U.S. Olympic women's basketball team — which also features 12 current WNBA stars. Team USA will be led by five-time Olympians Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, while two-time WNBA MVP Candace Parker will lead the All-Star squad along with Liz Cambage, who will get an early look at the U.S. team before facing them in the Tokyo Games as a member of Australia's Olympic team. |
📸 Photo of the day: MLB All-Star Game MVP goes deep 📸 |
 | | Vladimir Guerrero Jr. crushes a home run 468 feet in the third inning. | | Isaiah J. Downing, USA TODAY Sports | |
| Toronto Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. slammed a 468-foot home run through the thin air in Denver to boost the American League to a 5-2 victory over the National League Tuesday night at the MLB All-Star Game. Guerrero, who later added a second run batted in later, also won the game's MVP's award. |
| Head here to see more photos from the 2021 MLB All-Star Game. |
| The Daily Briefing is free, but several stories we link to in this edition are subscriber-only. Please support our journalism and become a USA TODAY digital subscriber today. |
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