*By Justin Chermol*
California Rep. Ro Khanna has a novel idea about how to solve the government shutdown: call in some experts.
"Why don't we get an independent group of experts? The president appoints two people. The House appoints two people. The Senate appoints two people," the Silicon Valley-based Democrat suggested. "Put them in a room ー six folks ー and have them come up with proposals that are going to be 6-0."
"Arbitrators do this all the time. Mediators do this all the time," he told Cheddar's J.D. Durkin. " People sue each other, they have disputes and somehow it gets resolved. "It’s only in the United States government that we’re unable to move forward."
Well into its fourth week, the partial government shutdown shows no signs of ending. As the California congressman representing Silicon Valley, Khanna understands its impact not only on federal workers, but also his tech-based constituency. Private companies looking to file an IPO have been stalled by the government stalemate, which has hampered the work of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
"You ... don't have startups being able to go public, and there is a whole line of companies that can't get public, can't go public because of the shutdown," Khanna explained.
He said this should concern President Trump, who has taken credit for last year's stock market increases ー and may find himself shouldering the blame if the market continues to show weakness.
"If the President obsesses over the stock market ー he's hurting the stock market, he's hurting our innovation, he's hurting our entrepreneurship. This is actually having real damage," Khanna said.
President Joe Biden is proposing a plan to raise the Medicare tax on high-income Americans and push for additional drug price negotiations to fund the program through 2050.
Boy Meets World star Ben Savage has officially announced his plans to run for Congress in the seat currently occupied by Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, who is now running for the seat of outgoing U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
If measures of the U.S. economy keep coming in hot, as they did in January, the Federal Reserve will likely have to raise interest rates even higher than it has already signaled — and keep them there longer — Chair Jerome Powell will likely warn in testimony to Congress on Tuesday.
Gov. Josh Shapiro says Norfolk Southern has pledged several million dollars to cover the cost of the response and recovery in Pennsylvania after last month’s derailment.
Federal agriculture officials are proposing a new rule that would clarify the meaning of meat labels that say foods are “Made in the USA.”
Researchers have uncovered a network of tens of thousands of fake Twitter accounts created to support former President Donald Trump and attack his critics and potential rivals.
Gunmen kidnapped four U.S. citizens who crossed into Mexico from Texas last week to buy medicine but were caught in a shootout that killed at least one Mexican citizen, U.S. and Mexican officials said Monday.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner, D-Va., has introduced a bill setting down a plan for banning foreign technology such as video-sharing app TikTok.
Railroad unions report that workers for Norfolk Southern who were present at the derailment and chemical spill site in East Palestine, Ohio, have been falling ill.
The House Ethics Committee announced is launching an investigation into embattled Republican Rep. George Santos.
