*By Carlo Versano*
The FBI will likely conclude its investigation into sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Wednesday night and issue a report to Senators on Thursday, sources told Cheddar's J.D. Durkin.
Investigators are under extreme pressure from Republicans to deliver a report in time for a Friday vote, a deadline Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has demanded.
CNN reported late Tuesday that the FBI has actually widened the scope of its investigation, adding a specific party from Kavanaugh's calendar to its inquiry.
Sen. Angus King (I-ME) told Cheddar Wednesday that, even if Kavanuagh is confirmed to the high court, the nominee has revealed himself to be so partisan that it will be difficult for the judge to impartially decide certain cases. King alluded to a portion of Kavanaugh's testimony in which he blamed the allegations against him on a Democratic witch hunt. The Senator called that moment "very disturbing."
"I don't see how he can sit on a case involving partisan gerrymandering, for example," King said.
Meanwhile, President Trump shed all his prior restraint on the topic of Kavanaugh's first accuser, Prof. Christine Blasey Ford. Days after saying he found her to be a "credible witness" and a "very fine woman, he mocked and questioned Ford's testimony at a rally in Mississippi on Tuesday night to roaring applause from the audience. Earlier in the day, Trump also expressed concern that the #MeToo movement had made it "a very scary time for young men in America."
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), a key swing vote in the Kavanaugh confirmation process, told NBC's "Today" show he found Trump's comments "kind of appalling."
The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs introduced legislation Tuesday requiring banks to maintain “digital dollar wallets” for coronavirus stimulus payments to consumers.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Wednesday afternoon said the greatest strain on the state’s health care system from the coronavirus could come in approximately 21 days, while also providing early indications about steps the state might eventually take to restart the economy.
One of the most influential industries on Capitol Hill was left out of the package that advanced early Wednesday, an apparent setback for a sector that had expected to easily secure $3 billion to fund the purchase of oil to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
There's no 12th Democratic presidential debate on the horizon now that the nominating process is in a holding pattern due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Senate will reconvene later Wednesday to vote on the package. But that does not mean the bill is guaranteed to land on President Donald Trump’s desk. The House of Representatives has to pass it, and that may not be an easy feat.
The White House and Senate leaders of both major political parties announced agreement early Wednesday on an unprecedented $2 trillion emergency bill to rush sweeping aid to businesses, workers and a health care system slammed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Stocks are moving tentatively higher in early trading on Wall Street Wednesday after Congress and the White House reached a deal to inject nearly $2 trillion of aid into an economy ravaged by the coronavirus.
The death toll in Spain from the coronavirus shot up by more than 700 on Wednesday, surpassing China and is now second only to Italy as the pandemic spread rapidly in Europe, with even Britain’s Prince Charles testing positive for the virus.
Each piece of legislation is long: 247 pages for the Senate bill and a whopping 1,404 pages for the House bill. While we cannot distill every provision, here’s a look at some of the major differences between the two pieces of legislation.
Stocks are jumping in midday trading on Wall Street Tuesday amid expectations that Congress is nearing a deal on a big coronavirus relief bill. That would follow more aggressive steps from the Federal Reserve announced a day earlier to support lending and bond markets.
