House Speaker Nancy Pelosi repeated a phrase throughout her update this morning on the latest federal response to the coronavirus: "Testing, testing, testing."
The speaker said testing is "so very important, to take inventory, to understand the epidemiological spread of the virus, and also to meet the needs of the people affected."
She confirmed that Democrats and Republicans are working closely to pass a bill today that would provide additional protections, and free testing, following an $8.3 billion aid package last week. "No one will say I can't afford it," she said.
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act would ensure free coronavirus testing, paid emergency sick leave, expanded unemployment insurance, increased protections for health care workers on the frontline, and food security initiative for children while schools are closed.
The bill is currently being debated in the House, but the clock is ticking as lawmakers consider whether they should leave the capital out of an abundance of caution.
When asked if House Democrats would stick around if a deal was not made within the next two days, Pelosi insisted lawmakers would get it done.
"We don't need 48 hours. We need to make a decision to help families now," she said.
"If people have to stay home, we have to stay home, but we don't want people to panic," Pelosi added but held off from outlining further plans to address the virus.
"We're here to pass a bill. When we pass a bill, we'll make a judgment about what comes next," she said.
As an addendum to her update on the coronavirus response, the speaker chimed in on the Democratic primary race.
"In case you were going to ask, no, I don't think Bernie Sanders should get out of the race. I'm a grassroots person. I'm chair of the California Democratic Party. I know the enthusiasm of supporters of candidates, and they want to see it play out."
The embattled Justice Department's top official, Attorney General William Barr, and the president's personal attorney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, are now under a great deal more scrutiny.
The House of Representatives made history on Wednesday, passing landmark legislation that would protect U.S. banks that provide services to legitimate cannabis businesses in states where cannabis is legal.
As pressure mounts to detect and combat the spread of deepfakes, startups like Canny AI are embracing the technology and attempting to commercialize it.
the White House released a memorandum that detailed a rough transcript of a July phone call between Trump and the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which revealed that Trump pushed the leader to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.
Sabrina Singh, national press secretary for Cory Booker 2020, told Cheddar on Tuesday she is "cautiously optimistic" the campaign will meet its goal by the date.
President Trump reiterated his "America first" worldview and policy agenda on Tuesday in a speech at the United Nations that bemoaned globalism and instead urged mutual support among sovereign nations.
The decision largely stemmed from revelations that President Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden’s son and allegedly tied Congressionally-allocated U.S. military aid to the issue.
The idea: force companies to publicly disclose how their valuation would fare should climate change continue versus how they would do should temperature rise be capped at 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial levels.
The acclaimed Swedish teen climate activist slammed world leaders on Monday at the United Nations' Climate Action Summit in New York, condemning governments across the board for political apathy on the crisis.
‘We can either wait on Mother Nature — or we can give it a shot ourselves.’
