President Donald Trump yesterday signed a $900 billion COVID-19 relief package, avoiding a partial government shutdown, NPR reports. The package includes direct payments to qualifying Americans, worth up to $600 per adult and child; a boost in weekly unemployment benefits; and funds for small-business aid and vaccine distribution. Trump’s signature comes after he unexpectedly called the bill a “disgrace” and asked lawmakers to increase the direct payments to Americans to $2,000 per qualifying individual and $4,000 for couples. He also asked that “wasteful items” be removed from the bill. Trump said in a statement last night that lawmakers will pursue some of his suggested changes.

The U.S. Senate this week confirmed former House speaker Beth Harwell and East Tennessee State University President Brian Noland to serve on the board of directors for the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Associated Press reports. Harwell, a longtime Nashville Republican lawmaker, was elected speaker in 2011, but left the legislature in an unsuccessful bid for governor in 2018. Since the race, she has been working as a visiting professor of political science at Middle Tennessee State University. Noland has been president of Johnson City’s ETSU since 2011. President Donald Trump nominated both Harwell and Nolan for the board in January.  

The U.S. Senate voted 54-41 last week to approve Charles E. "Chuck" Atchley Jr. as U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Chattanoogan.com reports. In announcing the news, Sen. Lamar Alexander said Atchley has worked for nearly 20 years on behalf of East Tennesseans in the federal court system. “He has tried more than 100 cases and has served as the first assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee. I have spoken to all of the judges in the Eastern District, and they all gave him high recommendations,” he said. The appointment quickly followed Senate approval of Katherine Crytzer to be a judge in the same district.

The U.S. Senate last week voted 48-47 to confirm Katherine Crytzer to serve as U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee, the Associated Press reports. Crytzer will replace former U.S. District Judge and former TBA President Pamela Reeves, who died earlier this year after battling cancer. Crytzer is currently the principal deputy assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy.

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has approved the nominations of Chuck Atchley and Katherine Crytzer to serve as U.S. District Court Judges for the Eastern District of Tennessee, the Chattanoogan reports. At their confirmation hearing last month, outgoing Sen. Lamar Alexander spoke highly of the two nominees. “The Senate should confirm judicial nominees with good character, good temperament, high intelligence and a high respect for the law. Mr. Atchley and Ms. Crytzer possess these qualities,” he said. Atchley has worked nearly 20 years in the federal court system in East Tennessee. Crytzer’s confirmation makes her only the second woman to ever be a federal district judge for the Eastern District.

The U.S. House of Representatives today passed sweeping legislation that would decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, the first time either chamber of Congress has voted to legalize cannabis, The Hill reports. The legislation would remove marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances and allow states to continue to establish their own rules and regulations regarding sales and access to medical marijuana. The bill also would expunge some marijuana convictions for nonviolent criminals and halt federal prosecution for marijuana offenses.

Attorney General Herbert Slatery today said he has joined attorneys general from 43 states, the District of Columbia and five US territories, urging Congress to extend the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economy (CARES) Act funding until the end of 2021. The coalition is asking Congress to pass at least one of the several extension measures that are pending in both the House and Senate. The CARES Act was passed in March to provide more than $2 trillion in economic stimulus to state and local governments in an effort to combat the negative impacts of the pandemic. One restriction placed on the funding limited the money’s use to expenses incurred between March 1 and Dec. 30, a timeframe Slatery says made sense earlier this year, but now “seems unreasonable.” Read the full release from the AG’s office.  

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, chair of the Senate Health, Labor, Education and Pensions Committee, says Tennessee is in line to receive enough COVID-19 vaccines to inoculate 40,000 people in December, The Tennessee Journal reports. A second round of doses for 50,000 people could then be available in January. Alexander reported the news after consulting with the head of the federal government’s coronavirus vaccine efforts.

The partisan makeup of the state’s congressional delegation did not change with yesterday’s vote, The Hill reports. Of the state’s nine representatives, seven remain in Republican hands. All incumbents held on to their seats. In the race to fill the open seat of retiring Rep. Phil Roe, Kingsport pharmacist and Republican Diana Harshbarger won over Air Force veteran Blair Walsingham. Her election means that a woman has won a full term to the seat for the first time, Knox News reports. The Secretary of State has all election results.

Republican Bill Hagerty beat Democratic candidate Marquita Bradshaw yesterday to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander in the U.S. Senate. Hagerty — a businessman, political donor and former ambassador to Japan — won the seat with 62% of the vote, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of State’s office. Bradshaw, an environmental activist from Memphis, advanced to the general election after a surprise primary victory over Nashville attorney James Mackler. She garnered 35% of the general election vote in a field that included nine independent candidates. The Nashville Post has more on the race.