As of Friday, January 22, 2021, Montana reports 91,049 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 393 new cases reported in the last day: 92 in Gallatin County, 72 in Missoula County, 37 in Yellowstone County, 33 in Lewis & Clark County, 25 in Flathead County, and more new cases in 30 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 4,850. Statewide, 4,081 people have been hospitalized. Currently, 138 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. The most active cases are in Yellowstone, Gallatin, Flathead, and Cascade Counties. 1,104 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Four more deaths have been reported since yesterday. Nationwide, more than 410,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 24,700,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

In the US Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will transmit to the Senate on Monday an article of impeachment against former President Donald Trump. The House impeached Trump the week before he left office for inciting a deadly riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6 in an attempt to overturn the result of the 2020 election, in which he lost his bid for re-election to the presidency. The Senate will now be required to determine whether he should be convicted of the charge, a decision that could prohibit him from running for public office again.

Many of the large corporate donors said to be reconsidering campaign contributions after false allegations of election fraud fomented an assault on Congress, had been contributors to Montana Sen. Steve Daines’s election bid. At least 16 businesses that have confirmed withholding or reconsidering who they give to had been contributors to Daines’ successful campaign for a second term. The Montana lawmaker was among the Republicans who falsely suggested Democrats had stolen the 2020 presidential election, soliciting donations to help “stop the steal” as former President Donald Trump and allies attempted to overturn the results.

In the Montana Legislature, as House Bill 112, a measure against transgender people, moved through the Montana House Judiciary Committee on Thursday morning, the chorus of voices against the legislation grew louder. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and dozens of Montana civil rights groups have joined in opposition to HB 112 and House Bill 113, both of which are pieces of anti-trans legislation. Many members and organizations in the medical community have also voiced opposition to the bills.

A newly-signed executive order by President Joe Biden, called, “Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation” directed federal agencies to implement the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, which found anti-LGBTQ discrimination is sex discrimination and illegal in workplace environments, citing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.