The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on an emergency aid package related to the growing coronavirus outbreak, with a focus on relief for employees and protections for children in school. The package, as it stands, includes paid sick leave, aid for nutrition, and unemployment assistance, but some Republicans have indicated they don't support the bill.
After passing an $8.3 billion aid package, Democrats this week proposed a plan late Wednesday night to expand financial safety nets, as Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass. 5th District) described it. The plan would also make coronavirus testing free and more widely available in an attempt to stall the spread of the illness by covering those who can't afford to seek out healthcare.
Some GOP leaders have indicated they do not support a paid leave portion of the plan and changes to Medicaid to help cover the costs of the uninsured. Also, the proposal currently does not include the White House's own economic relief plans, but it will likely continue to evolve after Republicans made their objections known.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy reportedly told his fellow Republicans that the party will oppose the bill as it currently stands, though he also said the legislature should stay in session until a deal is finalized. Congress is scheduled to begin a weeklong recess.
For Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's part, he called the Democratic plan an "ideological wish list."
"If the Republicans are serious about their oath of office and protecting the American people, they will join with us," Rep. Clark told Cheddar on Thursday morning. "I am very discouraged at the rhetoric from some of the leaders on the Republican side of the aisle calling this package partisan."
With the virus confirmed in 44 states as of Thursday according to CDC Director Robert Redfield, Clark argued Congress needs to act quickly to protect citizens and provide relief as the U.S. grapples with the accelerating outbreak and moves from a strategy of containment to one of mitigation.
"We don't get to choose the President's actions, but we can choose in the House our response," she said. "Today, we are taking the next necessary step of making sure that Americans can make the choice to stay home and be safe and protect their families without throwing their economic lives into peril, and that's what we're putting together today with this package."
Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama says his new Cabinet will include an artificial intelligence “minister” in charge of fighting corruption. The AI, named Diella, will oversee public funding projects and combat corruption in public tenders. Diella was launched earlier this year as a virtual assistant on the government's public service platform. Corruption has been a persistent issue in Albania since 1990. Rama's Socialist Party won a fourth consecutive term in May. It aims to deliver EU membership for Albania in five years, but the opposition Democratic Party remains skeptical.
The Trump administration has asked an appeals court to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s board of governors by Monday, before the central bank’s next vote on interest rates. Trump sought to fire Cook Aug. 25, but a federal judge ruled late Tuesday that the removal was illegal and reinstated her to the Fed’s board.
President Donald Trump's administration is appealing a ruling blocking him from immediately firing Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook as he seeks more control over the traditionally independent board. The notice of appeal was filed Wednesday, hours after U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb handed down the ruling. The White House insists the Republican president had the right to fire Cook over mortgage fraud allegations involving properties in Michigan and Georgia from before she joined the Fed. Cook's lawsuit denies the allegations and says the firing was unlawful. The case could soon reach the Supreme Court, which has allowed Trump to fire members of other independent agencies but suggested that power has limitations at the Fed.
Chief Justice John Roberts has let President Donald Trump remove a member of the Federal Trade Commission, the latest in a string of high-profile firings allowed for now by the Supreme Court.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
