McConaughey has been flirting with the idea of a gubernatorial run for months but hasn’t committed either way yet. A new poll from the Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler shows a double-digit advantage over Gov. Greg Abbott in a hypothetical match-up between the actor and the incumbent Republican governor. The poll found 45% of voters would vote for McConaughey over 33% who would vote for Abbott, the Dallas Morning News’ Robert T. Garrett and Gromer Jeffers Jr. report. Neither Johnson nor McConaughey have been explicit regarding their personal party affiliations, but a closer look at the results for the latter clearly indicates which side of the political spectrum might help him take office should he choose to run one day. No matter how he votes when he steps in the booth, it’s clear that people who lean left would be open to a Governor McConaughey.

The poll determined that 56% of Republican voters would still back the state’s current governor. Only 30% would support McConaughey. At least 66% of Democrat-voting respondents would vote McConaughey — and 44% of Independents would support the actor’s gubernatorial ambitions. Ultimately actors like Matthew McConaughey face a choice between maintaining a fairly broad base of fans with all manner of political affiliations and essentially choosing sides. For famous people pulling in a ton of money, possibly alienating a huge chunk of fandom is not an easy choice to make.

President Biden is requesting a $753 billion defense budget for next fiscal year, with $715 billion of that going to the Pentagon. The fiscal 2022 proposed budget represents a slight increase over this year — likely to upset both progressives, who had sought cuts to Pentagon budgets, and defense hawks. The budget outline released Friday does not detail exactly what the money would buy, with a more comprehensive proposal expected later this spring. A fact sheet released by the White House said the Defense Department budget “prioritizes the need to counter the threat from China as the department’s top challenge.”

The first installment of Biden’s budget plan contained only top-line discretionary spending numbers. A more detailed budget is expected in May or June, although that is not expected to include reliable numbers for the Future Years Defense Program, or FYDP, projections. Lawmakers, for years under the Budget Control Act caps, have carved spending deals with rough parity between defense and nondefense spending. With the BCA expired, Biden wants to boost nondefense by 16 percent, to $769 billion. The overall national security top line of $753 billion includes $38 billion not earmarked for the Pentagon. While the budget document does not spell out where that money is going, a large chunk of that is traditionally tied up in the National Nuclear Security Administration, a semiautonomous agency within the Energy Department that handles nuclear warheads.

It was announced on Tuesday morning that Johnson & Johnson will immediately put a halt on the rollout of their one-shot COVID-19 vaccine after the FDA and other federal health agencies called for a pause of the vaccine after 6 women developed a rare brain clot after getting the Johnson & Johnson shot. One woman was hospitalized in critical conditional, and one died.

So far, one-hundred and twenty-one million people in the U.S. have received at least one dose of of the COVID-19 vaccine. Out of that, only 6%, or around a little under seven million people, received the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. While the halt of the shot was out of an abundance of caution and the appearance of blood clots appear to be incredibly rare, experts warn of an even bigger problem arising from the pause in J & J shots: a spike in vaccine hesitancy.

Dr. Arnold Monto, acting chair of an FDA vaccine advisory committee, is fearful less Americans will seek out the vaccine and not understand the different vaccine platforms currently available.

“It’s a low frequency problem but with potentially big consequences for the vaccine program if not put into the proper context. My concern is that people don’t understand there are different vaccine platforms,” stated Monto. “There could be consequences in terms of messaging. We can’t let this be handled by politicians-it’s got to be handled by the scientists.”

Out of three vaccines currently offered in the U.S., two different platforms are used. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are mRNA based, while the Johnson & Johnson is a vector vaccine, which used an alternative version of another virus to spike proteins to cause a response from the body’s immune system. The AstraZeneca vaccine is also a vector vaccine, but is not available in the U.S. and rollout was paused in European countries as blood clotting issues were also reported with that vaccine. So far, there have been zero reports of any blood clotting issues with the mRNA Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

The White House has said they still expect to reach vaccine target numbers in the U.S. despite the pause.

Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida, was one of President Donald J. Trump’s most vocal allies during his term, publicly pledging loyalty and even signing a letter nominating the president for the Nobel Peace Prize. In the final weeks of Mr. Trump’s term, Mr. Gaetz sought something in return. He privately asked the White House for blanket pre-emptive pardons for himself and unidentified congressional allies for any crimes they may have committed, according to two people told of the discussions. Gaetz’s push for a pardon, first reported by The New York Times, came during the closing months of the Trump-era Justice Department when federal investigators were beginning an investigation into whether the Florida congressman had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl.

It was unclear whether Mr. Gaetz or the White House knew at the time about the inquiry, or who else he sought pardons for. Mr. Gaetz did not tell White House aides that he was under investigation for potential sex trafficking violations when he made the request. But top White House lawyers and officials viewed the request for a pre-emptive pardon as a nonstarter that would set a bad precedent, the people said. A person briefed on the probe confirmed to CNN that federal authorities were investigating Gaetz as part of a broader probe into trafficking allegations against another Florida politician, an investigation that began in the closing months of the Trump-era Justice Department under Attorney General William Barr. Gaetz has not been charged with any crimes and the investigation is still in its early stages, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Robert Redfield, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told CNN Friday he believes the virus that causes COVID-19 was accidentally released from a lab in Wuhan, China. The former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention slammed China’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic — admitting that he could use the word “cover-up” to describe the country’s response to the virus, which has now killed more than 2.7 million people globally. Redfield stressed he was not implying “intentionality,” and no credible scientist, including Redfield, believes the virus was man-made. Still, Redfield’s comments sparked debate. “I am of the point of view that I still think the most likely etiology of this pathogen in Wuhan was from a laboratory, you know, escaped,” Redfield told CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta during an interview taped in January. “Now, other people don’t believe that, that’s fine. Science will eventually figure it out. It’s not unusual for respiratory pathogens that are being worked on in the laboratory to infect the laboratory worker.”

The Wuhan Institute of Virology is in the city where the coronavirus was first reported in an animal market in late December 2019. But the virus likely has been around since September or October 2019, Redfield said. Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden, also agrees the virus was likely below the radar in China and spreading before it was reported. That extra time the virus may have spent circulating undetected could help explain how it became “efficient” at transmission — without having been “leaked” from a lab.

The CDC has released new guidelines for travel this Friday, giving more freedom and hope for those who are fully vaccinated.

The CDC states that fully vaccinated people in the United States can now travel with minimal risk. They state that domestic travel can now be done without getting tested before and after and without self-quarantining. For international travel, a test before leaving is not needed unless a destination requires it, although a test before return to the U.S., and after arrival to the U.S., is still necessary. The self-quarantine guideline is not necessary upon return for international travel.

The CDC considers a person to be fully vaccinated 2 weeks after their last dose. It is important to note, however, that the CDC still urges these people to wear a mask, wash their hands frequently, and socially distance. Although the CDC is loosening social distancing guidelines for interactions between fully vaccinated people, it is often unknowable if groups of people, especially in public areas, are fully vaccinated and safe to be around.

While states still have some variability in their restrictions for travelers, many are still struggling to control their COVID-19 cases. Overall, the U.S. still has an uncomfortably high number of infected individuals. Many countries are still not allowing U.S. residents to enter, or otherwise have a series of hoops to jump through in order to legally travel. Some countries are starting to allow travel for fully vaccinated U.S. residents, however, and only time will tell if more nations begin to open the doors for travelers to enter.

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Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich sued the U.S. Treasury Department, last Friday, over a provision in President Joe Biden’s massive coronavirus relief law that bars states from using the cash they get to directly or indirectly cut taxes. The Republican Attorney General contends the provision is unconstitutional because it is ambiguous and imposes on sovereignty by attempting to control state budget decisions, saying, “It’s unacceptable for the federal government to commandeer states’ tax policies and micromanage their budgets.” The lawsuit came despite Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen telling Brnovich in a Tuesday letter that nothing in the law prevents Arizona from cutting taxes, but the bar is using the $4.8 billion Arizona is getting from the American Rescue Plan Act to backfill the revenue cuts with the federal money. Governor Doug Ducey told reporters earlier in the week that his plan to enact a massive tax cut this year will not be affected by restrictions in Biden’s $1.9 trillion virus funding law.

KTAR News reports Brnovich stated, “Arizona needs clarity on the legality and meaning of this provision. Policymakers in the state have real and present interest in tax policy which could potentially decrease net tax revenues against some baselines. Those policymakers need to know how their decisions could interact with their use of funds under the Act.” Brnovich also expects that the lawsuit will make it to the Supreme Court. Ohio’s attorney general filed a similar lawsuit last week.

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Sidney Powell, a former attorney for the Trump campaign, is at the center of a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit filed by voting machine maker Dominion Voting Systems back in January. On Monday, she filed for dismissal of the suit, saying that her statements about rampant voter fraud were opinion and legal theory and that “no reasonable person” would believe to be facts. Powell, who repeatedly pressed unfounded claims of voter fraud on the airwaves and in court, now says that “reasonable” people would not accept her statements as “fact” because the legal process hadn’t yet played out. It was a stunning admission from a woman who served for a time as one of Trump’s top legal lieutenants. It could also put her in real legal jeopardy as she fights the defamation suit brought by Dominion Voting Systems — a manufacturer that provides election equipment used by more than 40% of US voters — as well as a motion for sanctions in Michigan as a part of a case she brought there alleging election fraud.

Not long after Biden’s win in November, Powell became one of the loudest voices making unfounded claims of election fraud. Trump soon added her to his legal team filing lawsuits to overturn the election results. She called the evidence she collected for the case against the election results as the “Kraken,” referencing a mythological sea monster. Trump quickly distanced himself from Powell following a press conference she held with Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani where claims were made that “communist money” influenced the election. Giuliani has also been served with a defamation lawsuit by Dominion. In the two cases, both still pending, her lawyers appear to contradict each other. In the defamation case filed by Dominion, her lawyers claim in a motion to dismiss that what Powell said about voting issues could not reasonably be established as fact at the time she said it. In the Michigan case her lawyer calls allegations that she lied “outrageous” and “entirely unacceptable.”

Republicans in Georgia are facing immense backlash after pushing through law that works to impose new voting restrictions.

The bill adds new identification requirements for absentee ballots, reduces the use of drop-off boxes for ballots, encourages state interference of local elections, and even makes it illegal to provide voters in line with food and water. While many see this as clear voter suppression, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp states that the new law will help ensure Georgia has “secure, accessible, and fair” elections. Since February, 43 states have introduced several new bills that aim to restrict voting. It is likely that former President Trump’s loss back in November has spurred many lawmakers, especially in swing states, to try and change the law.

Not only is the situation in Georgia a voter-issue, but it is also a Black-issue. Rep. Park Cannon, after repeatedly knocking on Governor Kemp’s door, was arrested and sent to jail after protesting the legislation. Rep. Cannon states that this law disproportionally affects voters that are Black and voters that have a lower socio-economic status. Voter restrictions tend to affect these populations specifically, and since the 2020 election saw a rise in voter turnout, Rep. Cannon and many others believe that lawmakers are trying to re-silence these groups of people.

Three voting groups have already sued the state of Georgia, although only time will tell the end result. These groups claim that the bill goes against the Voting Rights Act, as well as the first and fourteenth amendments in the United States Constitution. There is also a chance of legislation passing in the U.S. Congress that focuses on increasing voter turnout, which would undo these state laws in Georgia.

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