As of Friday, December 10, 2021, Montana reports 193,718 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 202 new cases of coronavirus infection reported since yesterday: 37 new cases in Yellowstone County, 24 new cases in Flathead County, 23 new cases in Gallatin County, 17 new cases in Lewis & Clark, and more new cases in 29 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 2,827. Currently, 174 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. 2,821 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. 33 more people’s death have been reported since yesterday. Nationwide, more than 793,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 49,600,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

This week Michigan had more patients hospitalized for Covid-19 than ever before. Michigan’s Covid-19 hospitalizations jumped 88% in the past month.

The US is seeing both a rapid economic recovery from the pandemic and the success of President Biden’s return to an economic policy that focuses on getting money into the hands of ordinary Americans. In Washington Monthly, national economic consultant Robert Shapiro catalogued what he called the “extraordinary gains” of the past several months. Shapiro says, “It’s a Biden boom and no one has noticed yet.”

The US Congress on Thursday passed the Protecting Our Democracy Act, sponsored by Adam Schiff (D-CA). This measure makes it faster and easier to enforce congressional subpoenas, stops abuse of the pardoning power, stops presidents from enriching themselves through the office, requires campaigns to disclose foreign contacts, and shores up the Hatch Act that keeps officials from using their offices to campaign. Both political parties have advocated for these measures for years, but only one Republican Representative, Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), joined with all the Democrats to pass the measure by a vote of 220–208.