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Rep. Colin Allred (D-Tex.) announced Sunday he has tested positive for COVID-19 in a breakthrough case after returningfromcongressionaltripto Ukraine.

Allred was among 10 House members whorecentlymet with Ukrainian presidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy and other officialsduring two days of meetings amid themounting tension between Ukraine and Russia.

After testing negative before boarding our flight home and again when I returned home, I tested positive for COVID-19 today," Allred said in a statement, adding that he tested negative throughout the trip, then again beforeleaving Ukraine and again upon arriving in the U.S.

"I feel well and I will be following guidelines from the CDC and House Attending Physician to quarantine and keep others safe,he added.

Despite this diagnosis, this was still a vitally important trip, where my colleagues and I heard directly from NATO, EU and Ukrainian officials about the threat of Russian aggression. Our bipartisan delegation traveled thousands of miles and together, showed our strong commitment to the Ukrainian people, Allred added.

The congressional delegation was led byHouse Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory MeeksGregory Weldon MeeksDemocratic rep tests positive for COVID-19 upon return from Ukraine trip The Hill's Morning Report - Biden: Russia attack 'would change the world' Overnight Defense & National Security Biden says no US troops going to Ukraine MORE (D-N.Y.) and also included Reps. David CicillineDavid CicillineDemocratic rep tests positive for COVID-19 upon return from Ukraine trip Advocacy groups urge Congress to tackle tech giants' auto industry focus Meeks leading bipartisan trip to Ukraine amid Russia tensions MORE (D-R.I.), Ami BeraAmerish (Ami) Babulal BeraDemocratic rep tests positive for COVID-19 upon return from Ukraine trip Global Health, Empowerment, and Rights Act will permanently end to harmful global gag rule Meeks leading bipartisan trip to Ukraine amid Russia tensions MORE (D-Calif.), Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), Tom MalinowskiThomas (Tom) MalinowskiDemocratic rep tests positive for COVID-19 upon return from Ukraine trip GOP faces divisions over siding with Ukraine against Russia Meeks leading bipartisan trip to Ukraine amid Russia tensions MORE (D-N.J.), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), Mark GreenMark GreenDemocratic rep tests positive for COVID-19 upon return from Ukraine trip The US and the UK a force for good Meeks leading bipartisan trip to Ukraine amid Russia tensions MORE (R-Tenn.), August Pfluger (R-Texas), Mikie SherrillRebecca (Mikie) Michelle SherrillDemocratic rep tests positive for COVID-19 upon return from Ukraine trip SALT change likely to be cut from bill, say Senate Democrats Meeks leading bipartisan trip to Ukraine amid Russia tensions MORE (D-N.J.) and Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.).

Allred, asecond-term congressman, said he is fully vaccinated with a booster shot. "Thankfully so far, my symptoms are mild and I am glad to have the protection of a safe vaccine. If you havent, please get your vaccination and booster shot as soon as you can,he concluded.

Allreds announcement comesafter several fellow lawmakers including Reps. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa.), David TroneDavid John TroneDemocratic rep tests positive for COVID-19 upon return from Ukraine trip Nebraska Republican tests positive for COVID-19 in latest congressional breakthrough case The Hill's Morning Report - Presented by Facebook - Voting rights week for Democrats (again) MORE (D-Md.), Jim CooperJim CooperDemocratic rep tests positive for COVID-19 upon return from Ukraine trip Romney tests positive for coronavirus DCCC expands list of vulnerable House Democrats MORE (R-Tenn.), Sean CastenSean CastenDemocratic rep tests positive for COVID-19 upon return from Ukraine trip Overnight Energy & Environment EPA unveils new pollution monitoring in South Watchdog finds 'substantial' evidence Illinois Democrat promised job to potential challenger MORE (D-Ill.), and Alexandria Ocasio-CortezAlexandria Ocasio-CortezDemocratic rep tests positive for COVID-19 upon return from Ukraine trip Carville says he'd help fundraise for potential Gallego Senate bid Ocasio-Cortez: Supporting Sinema challenge by someone like Gallego would be easy decision MORE (D-N.Y.) announced they have tested positive for the novel virus this month.

Nearly a quarter of federal lawmakers have tested positive for the virus since the start of the pandemic.

The omicron wave of the virus appears to be on the decline across the country, with average daily cases falling to around 500,000 from a peak above 800,000 two weeks ago.

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Democratic rep tests positive for COVID-19 upon return from Ukraine trip | TheHill - The Hill

Americans political preferences shifted dramatically over 2021, swinging from a nine percentage-point lead for Democrats at the beginning of the year to ending with a five-point advantage for Republicans, according to a poll released Monday.

In the first quarter of 2021, 49 percent of Americans said they identified as a Democrat or leaned Democratic, while 40 percent identified as Republican or leaned Republican, according to a Gallup survey.

The Democrats lead over the GOP was the highest since the fourth quarter of 2012.

The percentage for Democrats remained unchanged at 49 percent going into the second quarter, but the percentage for Republicans ticked up three percentage points.

Then in thethird quarter, Republicans topped Democrats 45 percent to 44 percent a trend that continued through the final three months of 2021.

Republicans ended the year with a 47 percent to 42 percent advantage over Democrats.

The reversal appears to track President Bidens downward slide in the polls that began in July and August because of the disastrous US military withdrawal from Afghanistan and the sputtering economy a decline thatculminated in record low numbers for Biden by the end of the year.

The pollster noted that the GOP has held a five-point lead in only four quarters since it began measuring party identification in 1991, one of them occurring after the 1994 midterm elections when Republicans gained control of Congress for the first time since 1952.

Gallup attributed the shifting preferences to the changing poll numbers over the year for Biden and former President Donald Trump.

While Trumps job approval ratings fell to 34 percent in January the lowest of his term Biden was enjoying ratings in the mid-50s after his inauguration on Jan. 20.

By December, Bidens job approval ratings had plummeted to around 40 percent, brought down by a surge in coronavirus cases, increasing inflation and a stalled legislative agenda.

The survey results are based on aggregated data from interviews with 12,000 randomly sampled adults during the year, Gallup said.

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Party preferences shifted from Dems to GOP in 2021, survey finds - New York Post

Democrats have notoriously attempted to throw the Heisman hands at their policies when they turn south and point the finger to the Republicans, case in point:

Gerrymanderinglike the Ku Klux Klan, segregation of the Armed Forces, ending of Reconstruction, Jim Crow, current-day voting restrictions, and the list goes onare all creations of, you guessed it, the Democrat Party.

The so-called attempt to disenfranchise minorities through gerrymandering has the Democrats' DNA all over it, and if you know your history, you'd understand this statement. Full stop, a non-political assertion, the Democrats invented gerrymandering. Have you ever wondered where the name gerrymandering originated? Unfortunately, the answer does not live in textbook materials in your middle school civics book; however, it does live in a multitude of literature that is easily accessible courtesy of the internet.

The word "gerrymander" originated when theBoston Gazettepublished a political cartoon depicting a newly drawn serpent-like district in Massachusetts by Jeffersonian Republicans, formally known today as the Democrat Party. The man who signed off on this politicalized map (although admittedly reluctant) was the then governor of the commonwealth and future fifth vice president of the United States, a man by the name Eldridge Gerry. Oppositionists in the press quickly reacted and labeled the political move "The Gerry Mander," a play on the governor's last name and the shape of the newly created district that resembled a salamander. This name lives on till this day.

The practice of gerrymandering would continue through the late 18th and 19th centuries, but the method remarkably increased when Black men gained access to vote. Democrat-controlled states in the South drew partisan districts to maximize the electoral edge for the White southern-supported Democrats, rather than the Black-supported GOP. The tactic arranged for bizarre-shaped sections intended to concentrate Black voters in one district, thus cementing white-majority districts. One of the most egregious examples of this was the creation of the "boa constrictor" district in the Democrat-controlled state of South Carolina. This racist and absurd formation sliced and slithered the state into one snake-like area of Black Americans (the majority residents), leaving the rest as a safehold for white South Carolinians.

It wasn't until the Republican-appointed Chief Justice Earl Warren ruled that all state voting districts must have roughly equal populations. Under this ruling, the Court also added that states must update their federal congressional districts every ten years and that each of the 435 members represented that same number of citizens. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (notably receiving more "no" votes from Democrats than Republicans) also helped ensure more equitable districts.

You see, the Democrats can run, but they cannot hide from the truth when it comes to gerrymandering their fingerprints are all over it.

As nearly half of all states have approved their new districts based on the latest census, we see more glaring examples of Democrats crying foul while being the primary abusers of the politicization of this practice. Look no further than the state of Illinois, where Democrats dominate the process and have historically manufactured figure eight-like districts that benefit their party.

Look, neither side of the aisle is entirely innocent when drawing partisan lines. As a Republican, I am well aware of both successful and unsuccessful attempts to taint the process with politicsbut it is grossly disingenuous for the Democrats to deny their longstanding history as the main contributors of gerrymandering. For example, in 2022 alone, the Democrat-controlled Assembly in Maryland all but erased the sole Republican district in the state, the worst offenders in Illinois essentially Christmas-treed their districts to secure their majorities and pin Republican members against each other, and in New Mexico, the Democrats shifted an R+14 CD to a D+4 CD drastically impacting my Republican colleague, Yvette Herrell of the 2nd District.

Racial divisions are the Democrats' one-trick pony in politics. They will pull every trick up their sleeves to deceive the American people into believing that minorities in America live in the times of the past. In recent elections, minorities voted in record numbers with some leaving the Democrat Party and voting for conservative ideals. The myth about Republicans' role in disenfranchising minorities through gerrymandering is a shell game from the Democrats' ongoing efforts to cling onto political power. When you think of gerrymandering, think Democrat Partythe two are inseparable.

Byron Donalds represents Floridas 19th District.

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Democrats created gerrymanderingthey must own it | TheHill - The Hill

SOUTH BEND Jason Critchlow, the former St. Joseph County Democratic chairman who intended to run for county commissioner this year, said Thursday he is withdrawing and endorsing another Democrat amid the ongoing dispute over redrawn county election maps.

Critchlow said he is endorsing Don Westerhausen, a Granger cardiologist who announced his candidacy Thursday for the District 1 seat on the Board of Commissioners, the countys executive body.

Two Republicans Carl Baxmeyer and Robert Butch Wood have filed to run for the GOP nomination.

Critchlow spent much of 2021 raising money for the election, but a redistricting plan approved by the commissioners in November would remove his home from District 1, currently represented by Andy Kostielney, the Republican president of the commissioners.

Editorial: Did a dog eat the emails of St. Joseph County officials?

Theelection maps are now held up in court, after the Democratic-controlled County Council filed a lawsuit seeking to block the GOP redistricting plan.

With the outcome of the redistricting fight unclear, Critchlow said, he decided to step aside for Westerhausen, whose home would fall within District 1 under both the previous map and the version passed by the commissioners.

The County Council has filed litigation in court to challenge these maps, and as of this date, we dont know when thats going to be resolved, Critchlow said. Unfortunately, I think were at the point where the most responsible thing to do is to step aside now so another candidate can get their campaign up and running.

The commissioners redistricting plan, proposed by Kostielney with help from former Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosmas law firm, would make sweeping changes to the countys election maps and could give Republicans an edge for the next decade.

The plan would give Republicans a bigger advantage in two of the three commissioner districts, while shifting Democrats and racial minorities to the third. At the same time, the plan could give Republicans more favorable County Council seats, because three council districts must nest within each of the three commissioner districts.

At stake for Democrats is a two-thirds majority on the nine-member council, allowing them to override vetoes by the commissioners.

The councils lawsuit argues the state laws that govern St. Joseph Countys unusual redistricting and election process are illegal under the Indiana constitution because they single out the county for different rules than the vast majority of the state.

St. Joseph County is unusual because it has a nine-member council, with every member elected by voters in one district. Almost every county in the state has a seven-member council, with four elected in districts and three elected by voters countywide. In most counties, all three commissioners are also elected countywide, whereas St. Joseph Countys are elected in districts.

The lawsuit alleges the current state law deprives St. Joseph County voters of the same privilegesenjoyed in other counties, where every voter can help elect a majority of the council one district member and three at-large members plus all three commissioners.

Republicans, on the other hand, have pointed out Democrats never objected to St. Joseph Countys rules until now, when faced with a redistricting plan that wont benefit them.

Westerhausen has run two unsuccessful campaigns for Indiana House District 5, losing narrowly to incumbent Republican state Rep. Dale DeVon in both 2018 and 2020. DeVon won by 427 votes about 1.5 percentage points in 2020 and by about 500 votes in 2018.

Critchlow was expected to announce his withdrawal at a press conference Thursday evening in downtown South Bend, with local Democratic officials on hand to throw their support behind Westerhausen.

No matter how the redistricting fight plays out, District 1 will be an open seat in this years election, after Kostielney announced in November that he would not seek re-election.

Baxmeyer has been a prominent figure in St. Joseph County Republican politics for more than three decades. He ran a close but unsuccessful race for South Bend mayor against Democrat Joe Kernan in 1987. He also ran unsuccessfully for Congress against Democrat Tim Roemer in 1992, and for the Indiana House against Democrat Ryan Dvorak in 2002.

Baxmeyer served as the St. Joseph County GOP chairman through much of the 1990s.

Wood is a Clay Township firefighter.

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Former St. Joseph County Dem chair withdraws from commissioner race; Westerhausen to run - South Bend Tribune

Sen. Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said were gonna fight like hell for it.

Their comments came in wake of a press conference Wednesday in which Biden said the credit is one of the really big components that I feel strongly about that Im not sure I can get in the package.

In a pair of subsequent television interviews, Brian Deese, a top economic aide to Biden, cited other priorities he said Democrats could rally around, while conspicuously omitting the child credit.

The dispute comes as Democrats took a break from tense negotiations over the package to focus on voting rights.

Their expansion of the credit was a centerpiece of the plan, with Democrats proudly citing studies showing the initiative had slashed childhood poverty.

As part of a stimulus package last year, Democrats had increased the maximum credit to $3,600 per child, from $2,000; dramatically increased aid to the very poorest by dumping long-standing work rules associated with the break; and transformed the credit into a monthly payment program that sent 35 million families a portion of the credit each month.

Those provisions expired at the end of 2021, with Democrats now anxious to renew them.

"I'm committed to getting the expansion done no matter what it takes," said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

Sen. Joe Manchin has infuriated many of his colleagues with a series of objections to the beefed up credit.

At the same time, the West Virginia Democrat has said he could support other parts of the reconciliation package such as a phalanx of tax subsidies for renewable energy, which has some Democrats rethinking their priorities.

In interviews Thursday morning with CNN and Bloomberg Television, Deese, the director of the National Economic Council, said lawmakers could rally around those credits. He also pointed to provisions designed to reduce health care and prescription drug costs, as well as proposed limits on how much parents spend on child care, as areas of agreement.

Those are things that I think are practical, would address [family] costs and are doable, he told Bloomberg.

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) signaled hes ready to follow Biden's lead.

The climate and clean energy provisions in Build Back Better have been largely worked through and financed, so lets start there an add any of the other important provisions to support working families that can meet the 50-vote threshold in the Senate, he said.

Manchin has three main objections to Democrats child credit plans: that his colleagues are hiding the proposals true cost by only proposing a one-year extension of the break; that Democrats ended rules requiring recipients to work; and that the break goes to families too far up the income ladder, earning up to $400,000.

Some lawmakers such as Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) would like to target the break more squarely at people with average incomes, though that would run afoul of Bidens promise not to raise taxes on people making less than $400,000.

Its actually become easier to potentially address Manchins concerns regarding the work requirements now that Democrats expansion has expired.

Thats because old rules requiring child tax recipients to have income in order to take the break are back on the books as of Jan. 1. So rather than Democrats having to take an uncomfortable vote to fully restore the requirements, they could potentially come up with a compromise that would satisfy Manchin, who has not said publicly what he'd like the work rules to look like.

Neal said hes ready to compromise, while declining to get into specifics.

Im open to some discussions about it and theres room here to negotiate, he said.

I dont understand why we cant find an accommodation which I think we will.

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Some Democrats not ready to give up on child credit - POLITICO