House Democrats hope to pass the latest version of a coronavirus relief package scheduled for a vote on Friday, and while 68 percent of Americans, including 37 percent of Republicans, support the $1.9 trillion package, it is still seeing a backlash from some GOP members of Congress.
Of those contesting the bill in its current state is Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo. 8th District), who claims it does not provide enough funds to support efforts in fighting COVID-19.
"This one could be bipartisan if you actually had the stimulus checks and the health care spending to crush the virus, but instead, if you take out the stimulus checks out of this package, more than half of the $2 trillion will not even be spent until the year '22 or after," Smith alleged.
As it stands, the bill includes $1400 stimulus checks, $20 billion for vaccine funding, and a $15 federal minimum wage hike that would help some 900,000 Americans escape poverty, according to the Congressional Budget Office. However, for Smith and some of his GOP colleagues, the change to the minimum wage should remain off the table, stating that such decisions should be left up to states and not dictated by the federal government.
"Thirty-one million Americans, senior citizens, who live solely on fixed income from their social security checks, when you raise the minimum wage to $15, that increases the cost of goods that they have because they're not getting an increase," he claimed, arguing that some would eventually have to make tough spending decisions such as on rent, food, or medicine.
Notably, Smith's home state of Missouri, in a 2018 initiative, did vote to raise its own minimum wage to $12 by 2023. The congressman said that he supported the effort and explained that the "government that's closest" to the people should have the final say.
While the Missouri representative doesn't back the current version of the bill, he said he does support more individual stimulus payments.
"In December I voted for $2,000 direct stimulus checks to the American taxpayers, and I'll tell you, the other five packages were bipartisan," Smith said.
However, regarding the House bill as a whole, the congressman accused it of being a "slush fund" for those closest to President Biden and historically Democratic states. "Look at all the money going to blue states such as California and New York. It's unacceptable," he said. "The money needs to go to the American people, but instead it's hurting the American working class."
The White House budget office says mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.
President Donald Trump says “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea after China restricted exports of rare earths needed for American industry. The Republican president suggested Friday he was looking at a “massive increase” of import taxes on Chinese products in response to Xi’s moves. Trump says one of the policies the U.S. is calculating is "a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States." A monthslong calm on Wall Street was shattered, with U.S. stocks falling on the news. The Chinese Embassy in Washington hasn't responded to an Associated Press request for comment.
Most members of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate setting committee supported further reductions to its key interest rate this year, minutes from last month’s meeting showed.
From Wall Street trading floors to the Federal Reserve to economists sipping coffee in their home offices, the first Friday morning of the month typically brings a quiet hush around 8:30 a.m. eastern, as everyone awaits the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report.
A new report finds the Department of Government Efficiency’s remaking of the federal workforce has battered the Washington job market and put more households in the metropolitan area in financial distress.
A new poll finds U.S. adults are more likely than they were a year ago to think immigrants in the country legally benefit the economy. That comes as President Donald Trump's administration imposes new restrictions targeting legal pathways into the country. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey finds Americans are more likely than they were in March 2024 to say it’s a “major benefit” that people who come to the U.S. legally contribute to the economy and help American companies get the expertise of skilled workers. At the same time, perceptions of illegal immigration haven’t shifted meaningfully. Americans still see fewer benefits from people who come to the U.S. illegally.
Shares of Tylenol maker Kenvue are bouncing back sharply before the opening bell a day after President Donald Trump promoted unproven and in some cases discredited ties between Tylenol, vaccines and autism. Trump told pregnant women not to use the painkiller around a dozen times during the White House news conference Monday. The drugmaker tumbled 7.5%. Shares have regained most of those losses early Tuesday in premarket trading.
