*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.
Russia says it will relocate naval exercises off the coast of Ireland after Dublin raised concerns about them amid the tense dispute with the West over expansion of the NATO alliance and fears that Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine.
he Australian government has pledged to spend another 1 billion Australian dollars ($704 million) over nine years on improving the health of the Great Barrier Reef after stalling a UNESCO decision on downgrading the natural wonder’s World Heritage status.
President Joe Biden visited the collapsed bridge in Pittsburgh that fell just hours before his previously scheduled trip to promote his infrastructure package — a new law that aims to prevent just such disasters.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden have added a cat to their pet family. The cat's name is Willow, and she's a 2-year-old, green-eyed, gray, and white tabby from a Pennsylvania farm.
Denmark’s government says it will scrap most pandemic restrictions next week, even as neighboring Sweden has extended its own measures for another fortnight.
The Federal Reserve signaled Wednesday that it plans to begin raising its benchmark interest rate as soon as March, a key step in reversing its pandemic-era low-rate policies that have fueled hiring and growth but also escalated inflation.
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer confirmed that he will retire at the end of the high court's current term.
A conservation group is turning over a historic redwood grove on the Northern California coast to descendants of the original Native American inhabitants.
A California city has voted to require gun owners to carry liability insurance in what's believed to be the first measure of its kind in the United States.
Arguably the biggest challenge to the rise of electric vehicles is their outsized demand for rare earth minerals. Cheddar's Alex Vuocolo does a deep dive into the struggle over securing supply chains for a green tech future.
