The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the $2.2 trillion coronavirus aid package Friday afternoon, but what was expected to be a smooth confirmation process devolved into a mad dash in the Capitol after one of the House’s own threatened to derail the vote with a procedural objection.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky. 4th Dist.) announced he would call for a recorded vote, which requires quorum — 216 members — to pass the relief bill. Lawmakers who had left Washington rushed back to make sure there were enough representatives to make a quorum, many of them furious about the health risk of traveling and meeting in a large group.
When Massie stood up to request the recorded vote during Friday’s session, he was the only member to do so. With quorum met, the bill was permitted to pass by voice vote, which it did to cheers from the socially-distanced House members. The bill will now go to the president’s desk for his signature.
In the absence of remote voting, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had tried to give members the option to stay home by calling for a voice vote. That plan would have allowed most members, many in the high-risk category for coronavirus complications, to stay home while still providing a forum for members who wanted to speak on the floor. C-SPAN had even agreed to provide air time for members to broadcast short video statements if they did not wish to return to Washington D.C.
House members, instead, debated while staying as far from each other as possible, with members standing in doorways, stairwells and even on the upper floor.
Two RollColl reporters compiled a spreadsheet to keep track of which members had returned, and how they arrived in D.C. As of 1 pm ET Friday, it had been noted that at least 11 members had driven, some of whom said they had been on the road all night.
One of those members, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.11th Dist.) made a nearly nine-hour drive overnight and said “I rise for every American who is scared now,” raising her voice on the floor as a gavel signaled her time was over. Stevens, showing the latex gloves on her hands, said she wore them “not for personal attention, but to encourage you to take this disease seriously.” Her district is just outside Detroit, one of the regions dealing with an outbreak.
“You will see darkness. You will be pushed. And our society needs you to stand together at this time,” she said.
Massie did seem to bring together politicians across the aisle in their anger. President Trump called Massie a “third rate Grandstander” and former Secretary of State John Kerry said “congressman Massie has tested positive for being an asshole.”
Peter Zalzal, associate vice president for clean air strategies at the Environmental Defense Fund, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group, joined Cheddar to discuss the Biden Administration's unveiling of stricter fuel-efficiency standards for new automobiles. "The administration estimated that these rules will reduce about 2.5 billion tons of climate pollution by 2050, and using less fuel also means that we have to go to the gas pump less often. And so it means we save money, thousands of dollars in avoided fuel costs each year for consumers," he noted.
The relatively robust March jobs report showed that despite the low unemployment rate, Black, Hispanic, and women job seekers are still having difficulty finding work. William M. Rodgers III, the vice president and director of the Institute for Economic Equity at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis noted that participation rates in the labor force ticked up for minorities, adding to other positive signs of growth. He also spoke to Cheddar News to discuss further the jobs figures, the state of the labor market, and rising inflation.
U.S. markets opened higher to kick off the second quarter, despite a miss on the March Jobs Report. The economy added $431,000 in the month, slightly lower than the $490,000 analysts had expected. The unemployment rate also ticked down to 3.6% from 3.8%. Kevin Simpson, Founder & Chief Investment Officer, Capital Wealth Planning joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
President Biden is going after billionaires in his 2023 budget request to congress. The proposal would establish a 20% minimum tax rate on all households worth more than $100 million, as well as raise the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%. Rhett Buttle, Small Business for America's Future Senior Advisor, Business Policy Expert & Biden Campaign Business Advisor, breaks down the proposal, what it aims to accomplish, and how small businesses might feel about it.
The Biden administration has announced the U.S. will accept up to 100,000 refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine and provide more than 1 billion dollars in new funding for the growing humanitarian crisis. The move comes as President Biden meets with his western counterparts in Europe to demonstrate a united front against Russia and show support for Ukraine. Altagracia Pierre-Outerbridge, Immigration Attorney for Outerbridge Law, explains how this is going to work.
The DOJ has endorsed an antitrust bill targeting tech giants like Apple, Amazon, Meta, and Google. The legislation would ban the companies from favoring their own products and services over their competitor's, making it more difficult them to dominate the marketplace. Greg Day, Assistant Professor of Legal Studies at the University of Georgia, breaks down the bill and its potential impact on anti-competition in the tech sector.
Catching you up with what you need to know on Apr 1, 2022, with Ukrainians hoping to flee the besieged city of Mariupol with a ceasefire is in place, President Biden orders the release of oil from U.S.reserves, LGBT activists suing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over the "Don't Say Gay" Law, U.S. passports offering an "x" option for gender, and more.
America’s employers extended a streak of robust hiring in March, adding 431,000 jobs in a sign of the economy’s resilience in the face of a still-destructive pandemic and the highest inflation in 40 years.
