Kim Davis made headlines two years ago for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples as the county clerk in Rowan County, Kentucky. David Ermold and his now-husband were denied one of those licenses. Now David is running against Kim Davis to be the next Rowan County Clerk.
Ermold says that he first began to consider running for the position when Mike Huckabee used the pain his community was feeling as a launching point for his presidential campaign in 2016. He says that it's time for a change in Rowan County, because Kim Davis and her family have held the position for 35 years.
Ermold also discusses the viral photo of him signing up for the race in front of Davis herself. He says he was surprised to see her, because normally her son handles that procedure.
The White House budget office says mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.
President Donald Trump says “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea after China restricted exports of rare earths needed for American industry. The Republican president suggested Friday he was looking at a “massive increase” of import taxes on Chinese products in response to Xi’s moves. Trump says one of the policies the U.S. is calculating is "a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States." A monthslong calm on Wall Street was shattered, with U.S. stocks falling on the news. The Chinese Embassy in Washington hasn't responded to an Associated Press request for comment.
Most members of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate setting committee supported further reductions to its key interest rate this year, minutes from last month’s meeting showed.
From Wall Street trading floors to the Federal Reserve to economists sipping coffee in their home offices, the first Friday morning of the month typically brings a quiet hush around 8:30 a.m. eastern, as everyone awaits the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report.
The Supreme Court is allowing Lisa Cook to remain as a Federal Reserve governor for now.
Rep. John Moolenaar has requested an urgent briefing from the White House after Trump supported a deal giving Americans a majority stake in TikTok.
