Ahead of the November election, more than 17 million Americans have submitted ballots, despite President Donald Trump's continued claims that the process is illegitimate. In Oregon, residents have voted by mail for more than 20 years and according to Governor Kate Brown, the process is completely safe.
"We were the first state in the country [to vote by mail], and I will tell you we have one of the highest voter turnouts in the country because of the convenience and the accessibility of vote-by-mail," she told Cheddar, touting how the concept will likely stick around after the coronavirus pandemic.
For many voters, the 2020 election will be the first time they have ever submitted a paper ballot, but according to Brown, voting at home can do even more to ease the minds of Americans, particularly as it helps mitigate the spread of coronavirus and introduces them to how "non-hackable" the process is.
Now, Brown is rallying for Americans to trust the process, submit their votes as early as possible, and know that their vote counts.
"I literally won my first race for the statehouse by seven votes," she explained.
While Trump's U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett is likely to be confirmed, the 2020 election, Brown said, will determine the direction of American democracy.
"What is really, really, really clear is that when the fabric of our society is frayed. It's so important that the foundation of our democracy remains strong, and voting is a pillar of that democracy," she noted.
When it comes to voter registration, Brown said the process needs to be simplified to make it easier for Americans to take part in the political process. Earlier this week, a judge in Virginia extended voter registration after a cable was cut, taking down the entire voter registration website.
"By virtue of your citizenship, residency, and your age, you should be able to participate in this process," the governor said. "Oregon, again, leading the way with our automatic voter registration."
"We know that the democratic process is not a spectator sport. We need Americans participating."
President Donald Trump says a deal struck by Netflix last week to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share. The Republican president says he will be involved in the decision about whether federal regulators should approve the deal. Trump commented Sunday when he was asked about the deal as he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors. The $72 billion deal would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.
Real estate software company RealPage has agreed to stop sharing nonpublic information between landlords as part of a settlement with the Department of Justice.
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.
U.S. and Chinese officials say a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies is drawing closer. The sides have reached an initial consensus for President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aim to finalize during their high-stakes meeting Thursday in South Korea. Any agreement would be a relief to international markets. Trump's treasury secretary says discussions with China yielded preliminary agreements to stop the precursor chemicals for fentanyl from coming into the United States. Scott Bessent also says Beijing would make “substantial” purchases of soybean and other agricultural products while putting off export controls on rare earth elements needed for advanced technologies.
