*By Max Godnick and Christian Smith*
A [record number of women](https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/08/women-rule-midterms-443267) are running for political office, and one congresswoman thinks America has one man to thank.
"The best recruiter we've had, his name is President Donald Trump," Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL) said Wednesday in an interview on Cheddar.
"After the election in 2016, we have seen women agitated," she said. "They're raring to go."
Frankel, who has represented Florida's 21st Congressional District since 2013, cited 50 female Democratic candidates running in competitive swing districts, and predicted that her party could have between 25 and 40 new congresswomen in its ranks in 2019.
"Many of these women have never been in politics," she said. "Many are mothers ー they do not want their children growing up in the kind of environment they see that this president is creating."
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) echoed Frankel's optimism in a separate interview on Cheddar Wednesday.
"We're going to elect women in record numbers," Maloney said; America is entering the "decade of the woman," she added.
In total, 257 women won party nominations for the House of Representatives and Senate for this year's midterms ー 235 for the House and 22 for the Senate.
For Frankel, it's not just a matter of winning and losing.
Frankel is the co-chair of the Bipartisan Women's Caucus and has championed legislation for women's rights, including the "Keeping Girls in School Act" and the "Pregnant Workers Fairness Act." But only a fraction of the policy proposals garner support from both sides of the aisle.
The biggest roadblock to bipartisan cooperation among women in Congress might be the lack of women across the aisle.
"Unfortunately for the Republicans they do not really have that many women," Frankel said. There are just 23 Republican women serving in the House of Representatives, compared to the body's 61 Democrats.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/are-women-more-bipartisan-than-men).
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate by a quarter-point Wednesday and projected it would do so twice more this year as concern grows at the central bank about the health of the nation’s labor market. The move is the Fed’s first cut since December and lowered its short-term rate to about 4.1%, down from 4.3%. Fed officials, led by Chair Jerome Powell, had kept their rate unchanged this year as they evaluated the impact of tariffs, tighter immigration enforcement, and other Trump administration policies on inflation and the economy. The only dissenter was Stephen Miran, the recent Trump-appointee.
After a late-night vote and last-minute ruling, the Federal Reserve began a key meeting on interest rate policy Tuesday with both a new Trump administration appointee and an official the White House has targeted for removal.
The Trump administration has issued its first warnings to online services that offer unofficial versions of popular drugs like the blockbuster obesity treatment Wegovy.
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.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
