After claiming the Democrats did “jiu jitsu” on the $2 trillion coronavirus aid package in order to focus more on individuals rather than corporations, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who turns 80 today, said the House will take up the measure tomorrow.
While she said Thursday that she is “very proud of the product” and expects it to pass with strong bipartisan support, she does not expect unanimous consent.
Echoing warnings of public health officials nationwide, Pelosi said getting coronavirus under control “won’t happen unless we respect science, science, science. And for those who say we choose prayer over science, I say science is an answer to our prayers.”
Pelosi, who worked closely with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on negotiating the Phase III bill, said “with all the respect in the world” for Mnuchin, “there was this idea they put forth there would be a $500 billion slush fund for the Secretary of the Treasury with no accountability, whatsoever. Are you kidding?” Pelosi said she is pleased the new language in the bill has a Treasury inspector general and a five-person Congressional oversight committee to oversee the distribution of those funds.
Pelosi is expected to introduce the 880-page Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (or CARES) Act to the House tomorrow. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the chamber will likely consider the bill by voice vote, with an option for House members to debate on the floor.
The bill faced last-minute opposition from both sides of the Senate aisle. Some Republicans argued provisions of the act disincentivized people from working while Democrats argued there was too much relief for corporations, rather than individuals.
While listing off changes to the bill that she was happy with, Pelosi noted that money to major corporations like airlines are conditional upon those funds going directly to workers.
“With all three of our bills, we have put families and workers first,” she said. She also expressed hope that a potential Phase IV of the relief bill will offer even more worker protections and increased state and local funding.
As she urged people to continue staying home and following warnings of health officials, Pelosi said “the markets are not going to succeed unless we take care of people,” she said.
Without naming the president directly, Pelosi pushed back on the administration’s suggestion that the federal government ease social distancing guidelines and urged him to invoke the Defense Production Act to increase production of ventilators and coordinate distribution. If the nation does not act carefully, she warned “the light at the end of the tunnel may be a train coming at us.”
She also said she was disappointed that Republicans would not agree to an increase in food stamp benefits. In response, she has included that as a priority for another phase of the deal. Other priorities include expanding Family and Medical Leave Act and workplace health and safety protections, expanding the allowance of pension smoothing, and creating a better funding formula for the District of Columbia, which was classified as a territory rather than a state in the Phase III plan.
Though Pelosi said ‘nothing surprises me around here,” she found it “curious” that Washington D.C. was treated “in a very discriminatory way.”
“It doesn’t make sense unless you have some other motivation,” she said.
Still, Pelosi said, “We will have a victory tomorrow for America’s workers.”
But although she may be planning to celebrate a legislative victory tomorrow, her more personal birthday celebration will have to wait until she can hug her grandchildre
Going into election day on Tuesday, many of us had an inkling it might not be a great day for Democrats. History tells us the president's party tends to lose congressional seats, governorships and state legislature seats in off-year and midterm elections. Tuesday turned out to be a big wake-up call for democrats. Not only did Terry McAuliffe lose in the Virginia governor's race, Gov. Phil Murphy won re-election by an incredibly slim margin. Both races saw continued Democratic losses in rural areas and a shift of suburban voters back to the GOP. Liz Landers, chief political correspondent at Vice News, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss.
Week one of UN climate summit is coming to an end, world leaders made a number of promises to save the planet. President Biden attended the first two days of the meeting.
Alan Neuhauser, vice president of Silverline Communications, joined Cheddar Politics to talk more about the pledges that came out from the summit and their significance.
It's been a busy week for the Supreme Court. It heard arguments on three of the most watched cases in the docket for this term. The court heard arguments in two cases challenging the Texas abortion law on Monday - one filed by abortion providers and the other by the justice department. Instead of weighing in on the constitutionality of the matter itself, justices focused on the unusual structure of the law that enables citizens to enforce the law, not the state government.
On Wednesday, the court heard arguments in the biggest Second Amendment case in more than a decade. The dispute is over a New York gun law that requires people seeking a license to carry a handgun in public to show a "proper cause." The challengers in this case claim the law inhibits their constitutional Second Amendment rights.
Amy Howe, co-founder of SCOTUSBlog, joined Cheddar Politics to break the cases down.
This is the first installment of Cheddar Changemakers, where we spotlight young activists making a difference in the world and speaking up on issues regarding mental health, voting, and climate change.
Republicans are considered, and often act like, the party opposed to action on climate change. They've made a point of fighting even modest regulations on businesses related to stemming the worst effects of climate change. But Republicans aren't a monolith on climate change, and our next guest reminds us that "conservation" and "conservative" have the same word root.
Quill Robinson, VP of government affairs at the American Conservation Coalition, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss.
The mayor of Portland, Oregon, Ted Wheeler joined Cheddar News Wrap to discuss his plans to get an increase in the city's police budget for more personnel, changes to public safety response, and more body cameras. The Democratic mayor addressed the growth in violent crimes amid the pandemic, but noted the need for officers who take their roles seriously. We want officers who understand that policing is an important responsibility, it's a high calling," he said. "We also want a police bureau that is accountable and responsible to the public it serves."
More American tech companies continue to pull their businesses out of China as the Communist Party cracks down on firms — both foreign and domestic. Yahoo and Fortnite have become the latest companies to withdraw from the country, and the withdrawals come just days after Microsoft announced it would take LinkedIn offline. Shehzad Qazi, managing director at China Beige Book International, joined Cheddar to provide some insight into how the crackdowns in China would also impact the tech companies at home in the United States.
A new report out by the Center for Countering Digital Hate shows how just ten publishers are responsible for the bulk of climate change misinformation on social media--and companies like Facebook and Google are making money off them. Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, joined Cheddar to discuss.
'The Good Liars' are Jason Selvig and Davram Stiefler, a comedy duo that's been shaking up the political world for years. They're out with a new mockumentary, 'The Supporters,' following the 2020 election. Jason Selvig & Davram Stiefler, Stunt Comedians and creators of 'The Good Liars' joined Cheddar News to discuss.
