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| Good morning, Daily Briefing readers! Is it really only Tuesday? It's Jane, bringing you today's news. |
| There's a new challenge to Obamacare as President-elect Joe Biden speaks on the Affordable Care Act. The election's still rumbling on, a week after Election Day. And Big (Bird) news! Sesame Street is back, USA TODAY can exclusively reveal. |
| Here we go: |
Supreme Court to weigh latest challenge to Obamacare |
| The Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear the third major challenge to the Affordable Care Act , President Barack Obama's signature legislative achievement, which came to be known as Obamacare. The latest case is based on Congress' elimination in 2017 of the tax penalty intended to prod consumers to buy health insurance. Challengers, led by Texas and backed by the Trump administration, contend that the mandate is unconstitutional without any tax to enforce it. Despite last month's Senate confirmation of Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett that gave conservatives a 6-3 majority, most court-watchers predict the challenge isn't likely to topple the 10-year-old statute. On the day the high court will hear the case, President-elect Joe Biden will deliver a speech on the ACA. The speech reflects the importance Biden is putting on health care as he prepares to take office in January amid the worst pandemic in more than a century. |
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Some GOP donors aren't keen to help Trump with election lawsuits |
| President Donald Trump's campaign is aggressively seeking donations to pay for lawsuits and recounts in a handful of states where Democrat Joe Biden won, but some GOP donors are already moving on to other fights, such as a pair of runoff elections in Georgia. An abandonment of institutional Republican donors for Trump's legal cause would leave the campaign in a tough spot as it vows to launch a series of legal battles in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia and elsewhere – a multifront effort that would almost certainly require the party to shell out tens of millions of dollars in legal fees. Three GOP donors speaking to USA TODAY on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations echoed an argument that has been raised by legal experts in recent days: Trump's effort to retain power through the courts may result in a few battles won but it won't win the war for his reelection absent some bombshell revelation. Neither Trump nor his aides have presented evidence of any election fraud. Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said the party and the campaign had no intention of giving up the fight. |
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States without calls: Alaska to count absentee votes; Georgia drama rises |
| Alaska election officials plan to begin counting more than 155,000 absentee and other ballots Tuesday, a week after Election Day and three days after multiple outlets called the election for Joe Biden . Some have questioned or criticized the lag, citing a state law that says the counting of reviewed absentee ballots should begin the night of the election. But Maria Bahr, an Alaska Department of Law spokesperson, said absentee ballots are not deemed eligible for counting until voter histories have been run to guard against possible duplicate votes. The theater in Georgia, another state the Associated Press has not yet called this election cycle, increased Monday when sitting Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, who are both facing runoff elections on Jan. 5, issued a joint statement decrying unspecified "failures" in the management of Georgia elections. The pair also called for the resignation of Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger, a fellow Republican. |
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Tropical Storm Eta could be coming right back to US |
| Tropical Storm Eta made landfall in the Florida Keys on Sunday night after striking Nicaragua as a Category 4 hurricane and killing nearly 70 people from Mexico to Panama. It has moved out into the Gulf of Mexico, but forecasters say it could spend much of Tuesday slowly pirouetting back toward Florida. Rain from Eta soaked South Florida over the weekend with over a foot of rain and the storm is expected to dump another foot in some areas as it churns offshore, where its center is located. It is moving at a snail's pace near 15 mph, leaving bands of heavy rain and gusty winds fixed over Florida's peninsula. And as for the storm's potential path? That's anybody's guess at this point, but forecasters say it could near hurricane strength and come back around to Florida's shores for a one-two punch later this week. |
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In other news: |
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New Xbox consoles are sleeker, more powerful |
| Microsoft's highly anticipated new Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S next-generation gaming consoles officially go on sale Tuesday . The sleek, digital-only Xbox Series S ($299) has a 512 GB solid-state drive, and the more powerful Xbox Series X ($499) comes with a 1TB solid-state drive. They both have a 1TB expansion port, but only the Series X comes with a Blu-ray disc drive. Buyers have payment options available with the Xbox All Access program. With that payment plan, you get either an Xbox Series X or S, an EA Play membership, plus a 24-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, which offers more than 100 cloud-based games. The price depends on which console you choose, but is either $24.99 or $34.99 per month. |
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Big (Bird) news! 'Sesame Street' returns for Season 51 with Hailee Steinfeld, Issa Rae |
| Sunny days sweepin' the clouds away will be here once more. USA TODAY can exclusively reveal that the 51st season of "Sesame Street" will debut Thursday on HBO's streaming service, HBO Max. Famous faces, who have found their way to "where the air is sweet" and will be featured during the 35-episode season include NBA superstar Steph Curry and his wife, cookbook author Ayesha Curry, "Insecure" co-creator and star Issa Rae, country artist Kelsea Ballerini, "Pose" actor Billy Porter, actress/singer Hailee Steinfeld, and musical artist Maggie Rogers. Episodes will release weekly on the platform on Thursdays, and the season will air on PBS KIDS in the fall of 2021. |
| Contributing: The Associated Press |
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