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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene dropped from committees

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USA TODAY

Good morning, Daily Briefing readers! Another working week’s nearly done and dusted. It’s Jane, with Friday’s news.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has been ousted from her two committees after a House vote. Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, the worst affected of the New York City boroughs, will be transformed into a mass vaccination site against COVID-19. And calling all Amanda Gorman fans: the young poet’s a Time magazine cover girl – and the issue hits newsstands today.

Here’s today’s news: 

House removes Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from committees over incendiary social media posts

The Democratic-led House on Thursday voted mostly along party lines to remove Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from her two committees after a charged floor debate. The vote was 230-199 with 11 Republicans joining every Democrat in stripping her from the Education & Labor Committee and the Budget Committee for a litany of incendiary, conspiratorial and menacing social media posts before she was elected. The floor debate in a chamber already riven by division and mistrust turned raw as lawmakers took turns arguing not just about Greene's particular conduct but what it said about House members who demanded – or objected to – her punishment. At one point, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., walked the well of the House floor holding a poster board depicting a since-removed Facebook campaign ad by Greene showing her holding an assault weapon next to photos of three Democratic Reps. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, part of a group known as the "Squad." The ad read: "Squad's Worst Nightmare."

Yankee Stadium to open up mass COVID-19 vaccination site

Yankee Stadium will open as a COVID-19 mass vaccination site starting Friday to serve residents of the Bronx in an effort to bolster equity in New York's vaccine distribution, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a joint statement earlier this week. 15,000 appointments will be available at the site during its first week, which will coincide with outreach efforts to Bronx residents about vaccine safety and scheduling appointments. The Bronx has the highest number of hospitalizations and deaths per 100,000 people of the five boroughs, according to the city's data, and its population is predominately Black and Latino. As of Thursday, more than 55.9 million vaccine doses have been distributed in the U.S. and about 33.9 million have been administered, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

How's the economy doing? January jobs report could tell

Economists and Wall Street will be paying close attention Friday when the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports its jobs numbers for January. Data provider FactSet said it expects the report to show a modest hiring gain of perhaps 100,000, with unemployment remaining at a high 6.7% amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On Thursday, the government reported that 779,000 Americans sought unemployment benefits last week — a declining but still significant number. Friday's report has the potential to affect talks between Congress and the White House over President Joe Biden's proposed $1.9 trillion economic rescue program.

NBA will penalize players who don't comply with new COVID-19 protocols

The NBA will require players, coaches and staff members to wear KN95, KF94 or FFP2 face masks during games beginning Friday, according to a league memo sent to all 30 teams in hopes to strengthen the league’s health and safety protocols related to the coronavirus pandemic. The NBA has postponed 23 games this season because of issues related to positive COVID-19 tests and subsequent contact tracing.  All teams are required to have at least eight healthy players to participate in a game. And as for the new face mask requirement, the memo stated it “will impose penalties on any player or team staff member who fails to comply with these rules.”

More news you need to know:

Inaugural poet Amanda Gorman on cover of Time

Amanda Gorman, the 22-year-old who made history in January as the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history, will appear on the cover of Time magazine. Hitting newsstands on Friday will be her interview with former first lady Michelle Obama, who said she felt "proud" and "profoundly moved" watching the young poet read her work at President Joe Biden's inauguration. Gorman wears a crown headband and a yellow dress on the cover of the edition. And the Harvard graduate and National Youth Poet Laureate has plenty more up her sleeve: books slated to hit stores later this year, talk show appearances, and future political aspirations.

Amanda Gorman was photographed Jan. 29 for the Feb. 5 edition of Time magazine.

And finally: Gronk surprises nurse with Super Bowl tickets 🏈

This nurse was expecting HR on her Zoom call. Instead she got Rob Gronkowski, with Super Bowl tickets. See the surprise in this Sportskind video. 

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