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| Presented By Boeing |
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| Axios AM |
| By Mike Allen ·Nov 08, 2021 |
| 🗳️ Happy Monday. Midterms are one year from today. Smart Brevity™ count: 1,174 words ... 4½ minutes. Edited by Zachary Basu. |
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| 1 big thing: Next culture war |
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| Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios |
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| The Biden administration is igniting a nationwide brawl with its January deadline for employers with 100+ employees to require COVID shots or regular testing, Axios health care editor Tina Reed reports. - Why it matters: The planned mandates affect more than 100 million Americans — over two-thirds of the workforce.
What's happening: Lawsuits from 15 GOP-led states rolled in mere hours after the administration announced Jan. 4 as the deadline for employers. - Even a Democratic governor, Kansas' Laura Kelly, criticized the rule as not "the correct, or the most effective, solution for Kansas."
- Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers, who is unvaccinated and missed last night's game after testing positive for COVID, complained that some vaccine rules are "trying to out and shame people."
State of play: A federal appeals court on Saturday temporarily blocked enforcement of the mandate. The administration says it's confident the requirement will withstand legal challenges. |
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| 2. China mocks up U.S. ships |
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| Satellite image shows a carrier target in Ruoqiang, Xinjiang, China. Photo: Maxar Technologies via Reuters |
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| China's military has built mockups in the shape of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier and other U.S. warships, apparently as training targets, in the desert of Xinjiang, Reuters reports from satellite images by Maxar. - Why it matters: These mockups reflect China's efforts to increase anti-carrier capabilities, specifically against the U.S. Navy, as tensions rise with Washington over Taiwan and the South China Sea.
Photo: Maxar Technologies via Reuters The images show a rail system with a ship-sized target mounted on it (ab0ve) — which could simulate a moving vessel. |
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| 3. Yellen vs. Warren on Fed pick |
| Lael Brainard and Jay Powell at the Chicago Fed in 2019. Photo: Ann Saphir/Reuters In deciding whether to reappoint Fed Chair Jay Powell, with an announcement expected this month, President Biden is juggling three realities, Axios' Hans Nichols writes: - The pick could affect inflation ... will face the cruel judgment of the markets ... and needs to find 50 votes in the deeply divided Senate.
Why it matters: The head of the U.S. central bank is vested with vast powers that determine how quickly to heat — or cool — the economy. The results will be pivotal to Democrats' midterm chances next year, and Biden's potential campaign in 2024. What's happening: Biden met Thursday with Powell, a Republican appointed by President Trump, and with Lael Brainard. - She's a former Obama Treasury official who's currently a Fed governor.
- Some Republicans are vowing to block Brainard, calling her too liberal, and hinting at an ugly confirmation fight.
The case for Powell: Markets know, like and trust the former private equity executive. - If he's reappointed, there won't be a revolt from Wall Street as the White House looks to pass Biden's social spending bill, fund the government and raise the debt ceiling.
- Markets also may allow Powell to let inflation run a little bit hotter.
The case for Brainard: She's an economist and a Democrat, and is more aligned with Biden on a range of fiscal, monetary and regulatory issues. - Sen. Elizabeth Warren has called Powell — to his face — a "dangerous man." It's unclear if the White House wants to go to war with her over the Fed.
- Brainard has advocated for the Fed to do more about climate change.
- Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was the first woman to serve as Fed chair, so Brainard wouldn't be a "first." But the White House still puts a big premium on gender diversity.
Between the lines: Yellen has privately urged the White House to reappoint Powell, and publicly praised him as "experienced and credible." - But she also told Reuters "there are other candidates, too, who I think would be similarly perceived."
The bottom line: Given Warren's vocal opposition to Powell, the president will have to choose between his Treasury secretary and a powerful progressive senator. - Ten months into his presidency, Biden has yet to buck Warren on a financial personnel decision.
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| A message from Boeing |
| On Veterans Day and every day, our duty is to you |
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| Our community partners offer over 800 programs for veterans. We support organizations like the Adaptive Training Foundation and The Mission Continues as they open new doors for our troops and their families. Learn more about how we empower veterans. |
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| 4. Pic du jour: NYC Marathon returns |
| Photo: Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images The 50th New York City Marathon, back with 30,000 runners after a pandemic pause in 2020, races through Brooklyn yesterday. Photo: Craig Fruchtman/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Above: The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, connecting Brooklyn and Staten Island, during the 26.2-mile race. |
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| 5. 🎬 "Axios on HBO": World's biggest vaccine maker |
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| Photo: "Axios on HBO" |
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| The CEO of the world's biggest vaccine maker told Jonathan Swan on "Axios on HBO" that low-income countries will start receiving the company's COVID vaccines this week, now that India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is lifting restrictions. - Why it matters: Billionaire Adar Poonawalla's Serum Institute of India is the biggest supplier of vaccines to low-income countries.
The big picture: Advocates say the vaccination divide between rich and poor countries is unconscionable. - More than half of people living in many developed countries are vaccinated. Less than 5% of people in low-income countries have received a shot.
Behind the scenes: "Axios on HBO" visited Poonawalla at the Serum Institute's headquarters in Pune, India — a four-hour drive from Mumbai's international airport in midnight traffic, on roads packed with fast-swerving trucks. - Poonawalla is a billionaire with flashy tastes. He collects fast cars and converted one of them into a Batmobile. He works out of a grounded Airbus plane that has been converted into a lavish boardroom office.
- Adar's father, Cyrus, started out breeding racehorses. He used to sell his aging horses to the Indian government to develop vaccines, but realized he could cut out the middleman and mass-produce cheap vaccines by extracting serum from his own horses.
The intrigue: When the pandemic began, Poonawalla did what only somebody in his situation could have gotten away with. - He called his father and told him he wanted to invest several hundred million dollars, and enter a deal to begin producing a potential COVID vaccine that hadn't even gone through clinical trials.
- Luckily, for Poonawalla and — finally, soon — recipients around the world, the bet paid off.
Watch a clip. |
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| 6. Twitter to Musk: Sell! |
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| Via Twitter |
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| The world has gone mad. Imagine saying: "Hey, Twitter! Please decide whether or not I should sell $20 billion in stock." - Elon Musk did just that on Saturday, posting the poll above and promising his 63 million followers: "I will abide by the results of this poll, whichever way it goes."
Asked on Twitter about the "final results" above, Musk replied: "I was prepared to accept either outcome." - Musk holds 17% of Tesla stock, worth just over $200 billion. One-tenth of that would be worth about $21 billion, The Wall Street Journal reports.
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| 7. House Rs make inflation a top issue |
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| Screenshot: NRCC |
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| House Republicans will run a one-day, nationwide ad campaign today — one year out from the midterms — targeting Democrats over rising prices, crime and the border, Axios' Stef Kight reports. - The National Republican Congressional Committee ad airs today on Fox News, Newsmax and One America News Network.
- It's a small buy — just under $100,000 — but sets the tone for the cycle.
Flashback: House Rs have hammered those three issues since summer. |
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| 8. Parting shot: Oldest through-hiker |
| Photo: Robert F. Bukaty/AP M.J. "Sunny" Eberhart (trail name: Nimblewill Nomad) — age 83 — is the oldest person to hike the entire 2,190-mile Appalachian Trail, AP reports. - Above, we see the Alabaman descending Mount Hayes, near Gorham, N.H.
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| A message from Boeing |
| On Veterans Day and every day, our duty is to you |
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| Together with our community partners, we support over 800 programs for veterans and their families. Like the Travis Manion Foundation led by Ryan Manion in honor of her fallen brother. They empower veterans and their families to pass on their values to the next generation. Learn more. |
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