Biden's budget vacancy raises eyebrows . . . 
It’s been six months since President Biden took office, and one Cabinet position remains vacant: director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Biden’s first choice for the job, Neera Tanden, withdrew from consideration in early March as her path to confirmation seemed to hit a dead end. He has yet to put forward another nominee for the role as the agency gears up to work with congressional Democrats on a sprawling multi-trillion-dollar reconciliation bill.

Shalanda Young was confirmed months ago as deputy director of OMB and is serving as the acting director in absence of a Senate confirmed leader.  A White House spokesperson said Monday there was no update on the timeline for when Biden might put forward an OMB nominee. The Hill

Republicans seek to capitalize on Biden inflation . . . Republicans are seizing on rising inflation as they attempt to derail President Biden’s economic agenda and take back control of Congress in next year’s midterm elections. GOP lawmakers have highlighted quickly rising prices, and strategists believe the issue could resonate deeply with a broad range of voters while congressional Democrats push ahead with plans to spend trillions more. But many economists expect prices to cool off well before voters head to the polls, posing risks for the GOP’s strategy. For now, though, Americans are reckoning with higher costs for gasoline, food, automobiles and numerous other goods and services after prices plunged during the depths of the coronavirus pandemic. Consumer prices have risen 5.4 percent in the past 12 months, according to the Labor Department, as the swift reopening of the economy pushes inflation higher. White House Dossier

Biden refutes US intelligence agencies on China hacking . . . President Joe Biden rejected the U.S. intelligence community's assessments on Monday when he explained why he won't introduce sanctions against China in response to its Microsoft Exchange hack. Biden did so with a statement evoking memories of former President Donald Trump's delusional contesting of U.S. intelligence assessments on Russian interference in the 2016 election. "My understanding," the president said, "is that the Chinese government, not unlike the Russian government, is not doing this [Microsoft Exchange hacking] themselves, but are protecting those who are doing it and maybe even accommodating them in being able to do it." This is factually incorrect. There are two options here: Biden either misspoke, or he is being deceptive. While the U.S. government did specifically attribute a broader campaign of Chinese cyber-espionage/ aggressive intrusion to the Ministry of State Security on Monday, I understand the U.S. intelligence community assesses the specific Microsoft Exchange attack as a state-authorized activity. Washington Examiner

CDC says to avoid travel to UK amid rising COVID-19 cases . . . The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday warned Americans to avoid any nonessential travel to the United Kingdom (U.K.) due to rapidly rising coronavirus cases. The "Level 4" warning from the CDC is the agency's highest. The agency recommends that if travel can't be avoided, people should make sure they are vaccinated. "Because of the current situation in the United Kingdom, even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants," the advisory notes. Separately, the State Department also issued its own Level 4 "Do Not Travel" warning. The Hill

 

A basic economics course tells you that is the opposite of what government spending does. Next, President Biden is going to fight the forest fires in California with kerosene and the floods in Germany with a firehouse.

 

Opioid Settlement of $26 Billion Between Drug Companies, States Expected This Week . . . From 1999 to 2019, the U.S. lost nearly half a million people to overdoses of prescription and illegal opioids. Thousands of opioid-crisis lawsuits filed against major drugmakers and distributors are nearing a conclusion, with the outlines of a $26 billion deal between states and four companies expected to be announced this week and a $1 billion settlement to resolve some of New York’s claims likely on Tuesday, people familiar with the matter said. WSJ

 

 

 

Jeff Bezos jokes about ‘last meal’ before Blue Origin space flight . . . Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man, prepared to blast off into space by joking with reporters Monday evening about his “last meal.” The Amazon founder, who has a net worth of more than $200 billion, was spotted carrying a tray of Arroz con Pollo along with his brother Mark, who will join him on Tuesday’s space flight. The two plopped the dishes of food on a table for reporters gathered at the launch site of his New Shepard space rocket in Van Horn, Texas. Bezos could be seen sporting a belt buckle with an engraving of a rocket cradling through space. The mega-billionaire briefly joked with a reporter who asked if it was “his last meal.” “Did somebody say last meal?” Bezos responded with a laugh. Daily Caller

 

Life on a Border Ranch: Cut Water Lines, Downed Fences, Stolen Property . . . John Ladd, whose family has ranched at the U.S.-Mexico border for more than 125 years, says illegal immigrants tell him that President Joe Biden invited them to come.  “The biggest difference with the people coming now is, when Border Patrol catches them, they tell them, they say, ‘We’re going to stay here, no matter what you do to us, because your President Biden wants us,’” Ladd tells The Daily Signal in an interview on his ranch near Bisbee, Arizona.  Ladd, 66, says he and his family are on constant alert for theft by illegal immigrants who cross the border onto his ranch.  The ranchers also must make sure that cattle haven’t escaped and wandered onto the highway because illegal immigrants cut fences, Ladd says. Daily Signal