White House ups bid in last-ditch COVID talks with Congress
The White House is backing a $400 per week pandemic jobless benefit and is dangling the possibility of a COVID-19 relief bill of $1.6 trillion.
The White House is backing a $400 per week pandemic jobless benefit and is dangling the possibility of a COVID-19 relief bill of $1.6 trillion.
At issue is a long-delayed package that would extend another round of $1,200 direct stimulus payments, restore bonus jobless benefits, speed aid to schools and extend assistance to airlines, restaurants and other struggling businesses.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin suggested he’ll offer Democrats a proposal for roughly $1.5 trillion in pandemic relief. He said the plan is similar to one put forward by a bipartisan group of House members.
Many lawmakers are feeling intense pressure to make a new deal, with millions still out of work and cities and states delaying infrastructure projects and laying off workers because of massive revenue shortfalls.
The White House and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., renewed discussions over a possible economic-relief bill as Democrats offered a $2.2 trillion package and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin immediately engaged in talks.
U.S. tax law has long been kind to big real estate developers. It allows them myriad legal loopholes and breaks that can significantly shrink their tax bills.
President Donald Trump called the story by the New York Times “fake news.” His attorney said Trump has paid “tens of millions of dollars in personal taxes to the federal government” over the past decade.
During a rare Sunday hearing, the judge questioned whether TikTok had been given enough opportunity to defend itself before President Donald Trump issued an executive order last month barring the app from online stores.
The anticipated lawsuit against Google could be the government’s biggest legal offensive to protect competition since the groundbreaking case against Microsoft almost 20 years ago.
The House bill, dubbed the “Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act,” would support clean energy technologies through research and development funding. It also boosts electric cars and programs to finance clean energy projects.
The parameters of the new legislation were not immediately clear but it’s expected to be narrower in scope than the failed $3.4 trillion Heroes Act the House passed in May.
In a sweeping bipartisan vote, the House passed a temporary government-wide funding bill Tuesday night, shortly after President Donald Trump prevailed in a behind-the-scenes fight over his farm bailout.
Senate Republicans have swiftly fallen in line behind President Donald Trump’s push to fill the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Supreme Court seat. Trump, who will announce his nominee Saturday, is all but certain to have the votes to confirm his choice.
A mini-furor over farm subsidies is threatening to delay passage of the measure. It ignited when Democratic leaders left out a key provision for farmers. Democrats from farm country are reluctant to approve the measure without the GOP-backed provision.
The president told reporters he was still going to be interviewing other candidates and might meet with Judge Barbara Lagoa when he travels to Florida later this week.
The Government Accountability Office, Congress’ auditing arm, said that possibly 8.7 million or more individuals who are eligible for the economic impact payments have yet to receive those payments.
Business advisers and advocacy groups say many small businesses that have managed to survive the pandemic so far are heading into a brutal fall.
The Justice Department is reportedly readying a major case accusing Google of abusing its dominance in online search and advertising to stifle competition and boost its profits.
Indiana Department of Workforce Development chief of staff Josh Richardson said the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund is expected to run dry by the end of September.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s comments came as moderate Democrats, many from areas won by President Donald Trump four years ago, signed on to a $1.5 trillion rescue package endorsed by the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus.