Michael Harriot, columnist at The Root, and Jarad Geldner, Senior Advisor at The Democratic Coalition, discuss the FCC's vote to repeal net neutrality, the Obama-era regulations that restricted internet service providers from prioritizing certain sites and apps over others.
Harriot weighs in on what the move would mean for politics. Internet service providers will be able to allow or block ads of certain political parties of their choice, or possibly ones that have bought ad space or invested in their company. We ask Geldner what the U.S. government stands to gain from the move, adding that it simply seems like a handout to big internet companies, allowing them to take advantage of consumers.
Harriot notes his surprise that major companies like Google, Facebook, and Netflix have not been as vocal recently about their opposition to the net neutrality repeal. Harriot says that content creators like Netflix stand to lose the most.
Geldner talks about various litigation against the repeal, including a fight from the Democratic Coalition.
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.
