Though New York City has emerged as the epicenter of the novel coronavirus' spread in the United States, Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich. Dist. 12) warned "We are, in Michigan, the next Ground Zero."
By Sunday evening, her state had the fourth highest case count in the nation, with more than 5,400 patients and at least 132 deaths.
The first case in Michigan was reported on March 10, and the virus quickly spread. Infections have swept through public services like the Detroit police and fire departments, raising immediate concerns that the area will be pressed for resources.
More than 1,500 of the state's cases are in Detroit, which neighbors Dingell's district. Both Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases, and Dr. Deborah Birx, Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator, warned that Detroit's trajectory is concerning.
"We're obviously, like many in America and in the world, frightened by what's happening in our community," Dingell told Cheddar Monday.
"We're seeing people get sick," she said, noting she knows 10 people who have died in the last 12 days.
Though she warned state and local governments will need more help moving forward, Dingell said there were a number of critical issues proposed for last week's bill meant to help Americans, some of which made it into the final version of the $2.2 trillion aid bill and some of which did not.
"Thankfully in our state, we've turned the water on for everybody," she said, after some in Detroit, a city with a poverty rate nearly three times higher than the national average, lost access to the utility. "People have to be able to wash their hands. We need to get relief into [a phase IV bill] that's going to do basic things like make sure every American has running water."
While reminding Americans to stay home to keep others safe, Dingell noted that today marks two weeks since she had seen another human being in-person.
Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama says his new Cabinet will include an artificial intelligence “minister” in charge of fighting corruption. The AI, named Diella, will oversee public funding projects and combat corruption in public tenders. Diella was launched earlier this year as a virtual assistant on the government's public service platform. Corruption has been a persistent issue in Albania since 1990. Rama's Socialist Party won a fourth consecutive term in May. It aims to deliver EU membership for Albania in five years, but the opposition Democratic Party remains skeptical.
The Trump administration has asked an appeals court to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s board of governors by Monday, before the central bank’s next vote on interest rates. Trump sought to fire Cook Aug. 25, but a federal judge ruled late Tuesday that the removal was illegal and reinstated her to the Fed’s board.
President Donald Trump's administration is appealing a ruling blocking him from immediately firing Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook as he seeks more control over the traditionally independent board. The notice of appeal was filed Wednesday, hours after U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb handed down the ruling. The White House insists the Republican president had the right to fire Cook over mortgage fraud allegations involving properties in Michigan and Georgia from before she joined the Fed. Cook's lawsuit denies the allegations and says the firing was unlawful. The case could soon reach the Supreme Court, which has allowed Trump to fire members of other independent agencies but suggested that power has limitations at the Fed.
Chief Justice John Roberts has let President Donald Trump remove a member of the Federal Trade Commission, the latest in a string of high-profile firings allowed for now by the Supreme Court.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
