POLITICO Tech

As we round into the third year of Covid-19 and a surging wave of cases, Democrats and Republicans alike raised sharp questions and complaints on the state of the pandemic response in the most recent oversight hearing in Congress. Alice Miranda Ollstein reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Monday night, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Chicago Teachers Union reached a deal to bring students back to the classroom after a five-day standoff. But even after coming to an agreement, the relationship between the union and Mayor remains strained. Illinois Playbook author Shia Kapos explains how it unfolded and what this says about the future of schools in the Covid-19 era. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hospitals and long-term care facilities are so short-staffed, many are relying on new CDC guidance to bring asymptomatic doctors and nurses back to work — even as the U.S. is poised to break a record 142,000 covid-19 hospitalizations. Reporter Rachael Levy  on the no-win situation that hospitals now face. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Senate is back in session this week — covid numbers are rising and Joe Manchin has voiced his opposition to President Biden's social spending plan. So where do Senate Democrats go from here? Marianne LeVine on where things stand in Congress right now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The best example of the Biden administration's industrial policy goals might be at Hanwha Q Cells, a solar panel factory in Georgia which employs 700 people and manufactures more than 10,000 solar panels a day. Trade reporter Gavin Bade reports with a dispatch from Hanwha. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, the CDC doubled down on its Dec. 29 guidance that asymptomatic Covid-19 patients can leave isolation after five days without a negative test. Erin Banco reports on the policy and politics behind that decision. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The message from Education Secretary Miguel Cardona is that schools should do what they can to remain open for in-person learning. But with Omicron cases surging among students and school staff, plus a possible teacher shortage, how will schools adjust? Juan Perez reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The latest product launch from Google and Amazon? Being the underdog against Congress. Emily Birnbaum on the surprising ways Amazon and Google are mobilizing to counter regulatory efforts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of the January 6 insurrection. As that date approaches, a slew of new polls out highlight the splintering effect the attack has with voters — and on Donald Trump's influence on the Republican party. David Siders reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On an episode of Weedcast from June 17,  POLITICO's Natalie Fertig breaks down how the Mormon church was able to help get medical marijuana green lit in deeply red Utah. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices