Swamp Things: The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly last night to increase the $600 individual stimulus checks to $2,000, and to override President Trump’s veto of the defense authorization bill, putting the Senate Republican majority in a bind.

  The Republicans who fought to limit the stimulus checks to $600 will have to decide whether to stay stingy or go with the mercurial demand of the President who changed his mind. They’ll also have to decide whether to adhere to their vote authorizing the defense bill, handing their President what will be his first and likely only veto override of his tenure.

  Adding to the pressure, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders says he’ll filibuster the vote on the defense bill unless the Senate holds a vote on the $2,000 stimulus payments.

Power Play: After keeping his cool for weeks, President-elect Joe Biden came out yesterday and accused the Trump administration of refusing to cooperate with a transition of power.

 Speaking in his hometown Wilmington, Delaware, Biden said, “Right now, we just aren’t getting all the information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. It’s nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility.” 

  Particularly uncooperative have been the Office of Management and Budget and the Defense Department, Biden said.

  He warned that delays could allow US adversaries to take advantage. “My team needs a clear picture of our force posture around the world and our operations to deter our enemies,” Biden said. “We need full visibility into the budget planning underway at the Defense Department and other agencies in order to avoid any window of confusion or catch-up that our adversaries may try to exploit.”

  Biden was careful to distinguish between political appointees in the agencies and the career professionals who he said had cooperated fully. “They never stopped doing their job and continued to serve our country, day in and day out, to keep their fellow Americans safe,” Biden said. “These agencies are filled with patriots who’ve earned our respect, and who should never be treated as political footballs.”

Election Extra !!: President Trump is still beating the election fraud drum, tweeting an unattributed quote saying, “Breaking News: In Pennsylvania there were 205,000 more votes than there were voters. This alone flips the state to President Trump.”

  Is it possible that no one in Pennsylvania can count?

  As the days count down to the final Congressional certification of the election, one of America’s dumbest members of Congress, Louis Gohmert of Texas, is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit demanding that Vice President Mike Pence count alternative electors — electors not appointed by popular vote.

  The suit filed in federal court in Texas contends that Pence, presiding over the electoral vote count as President of the Senate, may exercise “sole discretion in determining which electoral votes to count for a given State, and must ignore and may not rely on any provisions of the Electoral Count Act that would limit his exclusive authority.”

  Translated; Pence would decide who’s President.

  The Constitution clearly designates only a ceremonial role for the vice president, basically the official envelope opener. He has no more influence over what’s in the envelope than an Oscar presenter.

The Covid Corner: A small number of people who’ve had Covid-19 caused by the coronavirus have developed psychotic symptoms, Pam Belluck reports for The NY Times.

  The story describes “A 36-year-old nursing home employee in North Carolina who became so paranoid that she believed her three children would be kidnapped and, to save them, tried to pass them through a fast-food restaurant’s drive-through window.”

  In sports, Villanova is hitting pause on its basketball season after head coach Jay Wright and another member of the team staff tested positive for COVID-19.

  And in the housing situation, New York is banning almost all tenant evictions for at least another 60 days.

  Health authorities fear a Christmas/New Year’s spike of the disease on top of the Thanksgiving surge. People are getting out of the house. The Transportation Security Administration said Monday that it had screened 1,284,599 passengers Sunday, the most for a single say mid-March. 

  This morning, 19.3 million Americans have been infected and  335,051 are dead of Covid-19.

Trigger Finger: Columbus, Ohio has fired the white cop who shot and killed a black man who was holding up a cellphone to show he was not armed. Officer Adam Coy turned on his body camera only after he had shot 47-year-old Andre Hill coming out of the garage at his daughter’s home at about 1:30 in the morning last Tuesday. Neither Coy nor his partner attempted first aid.

Kingdom of Men: Saudi women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul was sentenced yesterday to five years and eight months in prison. Al-Hathloul, who had campaigned for women to be allowed to drive, was charged with undermining the kingdom and its political system by communicating with foreign diplomats, journalists, and rights organizations. 

The Bulletin Board: The US Treasury is rushing to send out the $600 stimulus checks by the end of the week. — Actress Lori Loughlin has been released from prison after serving two months of soft time in the college admissions scandal. Her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, is still up the river. — A federal judge has rejected the request by Ghislaine Maxwell, procurer for the late serial-molester Jeffrey Epstein, to post $28.5 million for bail. She was arrested in July and her lawyers say jail conditions are “intolerable.” They’re kind of supposed to be.

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