Trump’s Iraq Envoy Mark Savaya Ousted Amid U.S.-Iraq Tensions Over Iran Influence 
Kevin Warsh’s Fed Nomination Raises Questions Over Corporate Ties and U.S.–South Korea Trade Tensions 
U.S. and El Salvador Sign Landmark Critical Minerals Agreement to Boost Investment and Trade 
Trump to Announce New Federal Reserve Chair Pick as Powell Replacement Looms 
U.S. Government Enters Brief Shutdown as Congress Delays Funding Deal 
Minnesota Judge Rejects Bid to Halt Trump Immigration Enforcement in Minneapolis 
Venezuela Proposes Amnesty Law and Plans to Transform Helicoide Prison 
Keir Starmer Urges Prince Andrew to Testify in U.S. Epstein Investigation 
Trump Nominates Brett Matsumoto as Next Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner 
Trump Administration Expands Global Gag Rule, Restricting U.S. Foreign Aid to Diversity and Gender Programs 
Christian Menefee Wins Texas Special Election, Narrowing GOP House Majority 
U.S.–Venezuela Relations Show Signs of Thaw as Top Envoy Visits Caracas 
U.S. Eases Venezuela Oil Sanctions to Boost American Investment After Maduro Ouster 
Panama Supreme Court Voids CK Hutchison Port Concessions, Raising Geopolitical and Trade Concerns 
Trump Says Fed Pick Kevin Warsh Could Win Democratic Support in Senate Confirmation 
Democrats Question Intelligence Chief’s Role in FBI Georgia Election Raid 
Former President Donald Trump’s administration was highly criticized for their response to the COVID-19 pandemic with reports surfacing of conflicts between experts and administration officials behind the scenes.
A new report reveals the Trump administration had given $1.3 billion to a company producing syringes for the vaccines, but no syringes were produced.
Despite having millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses already administered recently, a report has surfaced that the Trump administration gave a $1.3 billion contract to ApiJect Systems Corp. to make the syringes needed to administer the vaccines. However, no syringes have been made, and the company’s supposed plans to establish a factory with 650 jobs open remains to be seen. The syringes also have yet to gain approval from the federal government before it could be produced as well.
Nevertheless, the need for ApiJect’s syringes has now declined especially as millions of Americans have already been vaccinated. This now leaves the contracts and federal loans in the air.
In a statement to NBC News, ApiJect said it “is working with several vaccine pharmaceutical companies to conduct the testing and regulatory reviews of the COVID-19 vaccines in the ApiJect syringe.”
A spokesperson for Pfizer, however, said that even if the ApiJect syringes received all the approvals from the federal government, it would not affect their output or their process. Moderna and Johnson & Johnson did not comment.
In other news, Trump has touted the wall closing off the southern border and keeping migrants from crossing as one of his campaign pledges, an effort that Joe Biden shut down as soon as he took office. However, as the Biden administration tackles the influx of migrants seeking to make it to the US, US Border Patrol officials have often discovered ladders left alongside the wall. The officials have also had to call for assistance in Hidalgo, Texas, to clear out the discarded ladders that migrants used to scale the wall.
According to local artist and activist Scott Lowry, the use of ladders to climb the wall and cross the border proves the uselessness of the wall that Trump had planned. “Unlike the wall, these ladders are functional,” said Lowry.
