In many states there are worrying rates of COVID hospitalisations, driven almost exclusively by unvaccinated people.
Kelsey also reports on the newly instituted abortion rules in Texas which are rapidly becoming a major issue for Democrats seeking to protect the right to abortions in the US.
And Congress is forging ahead with plans to write a multi-trillion dollar infrastructure bill this month.
Protestors at a reproductive rally held in Brooklyn after Heartbeat Bill went into effect in Texas. Photo: AFP
Kelsey Snell is a congressional correspondent for NPR, based in Washington DC.
