*By Christian Smith*
Taylor Swift's decision to break her political silence and urge her followers to register to vote is an incredibly valuable gift to organizations trying to get out the younger vote on Nov. 6, said DoSomething.org CEO Aria Finger.
"It does matter when young people see other people voting, other celebrities get involved," Finger said Wednesday in an interview on Cheddar. "We want to make it cool for young people to get out and vote."
After the pop star posted a message to [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/BopoXpYnCes/?taken-by=taylorswift) encouraging her over 112 million followers to vote ー and effectively endorsing two Democratic candidates in Tennessee ー registering platform Vote.org said it received a surge in new registrants numbering in the thousands.
At stake in this year's midterms are all 435 U.S. House seats and 33 U.S. Senate seats.
Voter registration has been an essential goal for DoSomething.org, which has registered over 70,000 new voters this year alone.
Beyond voter registration, Finger said there has been a general boost in civic engagement from millennials and Gen Z since Donald Trump was elected president almost two years ago.
"They just want solutions," Finger said.
"Young people say, 'What can I do in my local community to make a difference because the old people, they're not helping us.'"
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/the-issues-uniting-millennials-going-into-the-midterms).
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tested positive for COVID-19, her spokesman says. That's a day after the 82-year-old Democratic leader appeared unmasked at a White House event with President Joe Biden.
JetBlue made an unsolicited offer to buy low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines, potentially jeopardizing the original offer from Frontier Airlines. Several analysts sounding the alarm on JetBlue's proposed $3.6 billion merger, saying the deal doesn't quite make sense. Jim Corridore, Senior Insights Manager at Similarweb joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
The Biden administration is once again extending the pause on federal student loans payments — this time, through the end of August. In a statement, President Biden cited a recent analysis from the Fed that if the payments were to resume, millions of student loan borrowers would face significant "economic hardship, delinquencies, and defaults that could threaten America's financial stability." Sarah Foster, an analyst at Bankrate, breaks down the impact of the extension on borrowers, the economy, and the future of student loan forgiveness. "I think this is just an instance of the federal student loan forbearance program kind of creating additional uncertainty for borrowers, especially in the sense that these past four extensions from the Biden administration have kind of come at the 11th hour here," she said.
Thousands of cryptocurrency enthusiasts are gathering in Miami as the city builds its reputation as one of the key locations to develop the blockchain technology despite its underdog status.
Catching you up on what you need to know on April 7, 2022, with updates on Ukraine urging NATO for military aid for their war with Russia, the SEC investigating Amazon, microplastics being found deep inside human lungs for the first time, and more.
President Biden is trying to help Americans at the pump by tapping into U.S. oil reserves in an unprecedented way. He also announced several steps to punish oil companies. Lisa Whalen, automotive and mobility analyst at Morning Consult, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
U.S. markets closed higher to end Monday's session, with tech stocks leading the advance. Gene Goldman, Chief Investment Officer at Cetera Financial Group, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss the potential future of the major U.S. indexes, and how factors like policy moves from the federal reserve and the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war could impact volatility.
Prices at the pump have soared in recent months, and House Democrats pointed the finger at Big Oil on Wednesday during an adversarial congressional hearing.
