Ted Dickens (C) assists a person to get their ballot to vote in the Michigan primary election at Chrysler Elementary School in Detroit, Michigan, on March 10, 2020. (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images)
Six more states will vote in the Democratic primary Tuesday night in the first contest since Senator Elizabeth Warren and former NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg exited the field and prominent moderates coalesced around former Vice President Joe Biden.
Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders will go head to head for the 352 delegates promised on what some are calling ‘Super Tuesday 2.0,’ with a focus on the battleground state of Michigan, where Biden is up by 24 points according to the last Detroit Free Press poll out today. FiveThirtyEight also has the former VP slated to win every state tonight.
Michigan, a blue state for Obama that voted for Trump in 2016, but also awarded Sanders a surprising primary victory the same year, is potentially showing signs it may again lean blue. One Republican mayor said he is backing Biden in the primary. Michael Taylor of Sterling Heights, in Macomb County, voted for John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012 and his county voted for Trump in 2016.
Some states voting today are battling coronavirus outbreaks like heavily stricken Washington, which promises the second-highest delegate haul. The state, which votes-by-mail, has asked voters to use water (instead of saliva) to seal ballot envelopes. As for Michigan, election officials are advising regular cleaning of voting machines and social distancing between voters.
Though campaign rallies are still on, staffers were using hand sanitizer on those entering rallies at a Biden event in Michigan. President Trump has also said he is not changing his own campaign plans, though public health officials worldwide are advising against public gatherings.
A legislative package to end the government shutdown appears on track. A handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the bill after what's become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services. But hurdles remain. Senators are hopeful they can pass the package as soon as Monday and send it to the House. What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal has drawn criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation includes funding for SNAP food aid and other programs while ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers. But it fails to fund expiring health care subsidies Democrats have been fighting for, pushing that debate off for a vote next month.
Sabrina Siddiqui, National Politics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins to break down the SNAP funding delays and the human cost of the ongoing shutdown.
Arguments at the Supreme Court have concluded for the day as the justices consider President Donald Trump's sweeping unilateral tariffs in a trillion-dollar test of executive power.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
