Senate Blocks $15 Minimum Wage in Covid Relief Package
By Lauren Fox, Ryan Nobles, Manu Raju and Phil Mattingly, CNN The Senate parliamentarian has ruled against including the increase in the minimum wage in the Covid relief bill. While Democrats had pushed for the increase to be included — and leadership expressed its disappointment in the ruling Thursday evening — its removal may actually make it easier to pass the bill, senior Democratic sources believe, because it’ll avoid a messy fight over whether to strip it out of the bill and whether to compromise. “President Biden is disappointed in this outcome, as he proposed having the $15 minimum wage
Blinken Launches Diversity Push at State Department
By Nicole Gaouette, CNN Secretary of State Antony Blinken will launch a diversity initiative to make the US’ oldest Cabinet agency look more like America itself, an effort he is framing as a national security imperative to make the country’s diplomacy “stronger, smarter, more creative and more innovative.” Blinken announced Wednesday that he will appoint a chief diversity and inclusion officer for the department who will report directly to him, will soon release a ‘Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan,’ and will create a “D&I Leadership Council.” In his statement, the secretary also said he will require each of the State
Biden Revokes Trump-Era Immigrant Visa Ban
By Priscilla Alvarez, Donald Judd and Paul LeBlanc, CNN President Joe Biden on Wednesday revoked a Trump-era executive order that temporarily banned some immigrant visas during the coronavirus pandemic. The move opens up legal avenues to migrate to the US that former President Donald Trump had closed off, arguing at the time that it was in the best interest of the economy in the early months of the pandemic. Biden charged in a proclamation Wednesday that Trump’s order “does not advance the interests of the United States. To the contrary, it harms the United States, including by preventing certain family
Women-Led Political Ad Firms Break Barriers in 2021
By Simone Pathe, CNN Recent success stories about women in politics are about candidates breaking barriers. There’s a female vice president. More women than ever before serve in Congress. But when it comes to the people who help get them elected — specifically the people who tell their stories in the still wildly influential form of TV advertising — diversification has taken much longer. Political consulting is still a male-dominated world, and that’s particularly true for ad making. The number of female-owned TV ad firms, on both sides of the aisle, can practically be counted on one hand. That’s beginning
Linda Thomas-Greenfield Confirmed as US UN Ambassador
By Jennifer Hansler and Richard Roth, CNN The Senate confirmed Linda Thomas-Greenfield to be the next US Ambassador to the United Nations Tuesday. The vote was 78-20 and her confirmation comes less than a week before the United States’ presidency at the UN Security Council for the month of March. Following her swearing-in, she will travel to New York and is expected to present her credentials to UN Secretary General António Guterres Thursday. Thomas-Greenfield, a respected career ambassador who was jettisoned under the Trump administration, was one of President Joe Biden’s first picks for his national security team. At the
Biden Faces Challenges With Migrants at US-Mexico Border
By Priscilla Alvarez and Geneva Sands, CNN The Biden administration has moved swiftly to distance itself from Trump-era immigration policies, but at the US-Mexico border, a pandemic-related order put in place by former President Donald Trump remains in effect, allowing officials to continue to turn away thousands of migrants. The reliance on the order that permits officials to swiftly expel migrants underscores the challenges facing the administration along the US southern border, where arrests of families and children continue to rise. Biden officials say that the order, decried by immigrant advocates, gives the administration time to make changes to the
Top US CEOs Back Biden’s $1.9T Coronavirus Relief Plan
By Phil Mattingly, CNN More than 150 senior executives from some of the largest American companies across several major industries have lined up behind President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, according to a letter obtained by CNN. The group of executives includes the top executives representing some of the powerful business interests in the US, ranging from bank and investment firms like Goldman Sachs and Blackstone, to technology companies like Google, Intel and IBM, to hospitality companies like Loews Hotels & Co. and airlines including American and United Airlines. Top executives from real estate, insurance and utility firms
Financial Transaction Tax Gains Traction Amid GameStop Debate
By Matt Egan, CNN Business Uncle Sam is in search for a pot of gold that could ease the pain of trillion-dollar deficits. And some believe Wall Street might just have the answer. For more than a decade, progressives have tried and failed to impose a financial transaction tax. But there is new momentum for such a levy as the national debt skyrockets during the pandemic and in the wake of the GameStop trading frenzy that shined a bright light market structure concerns. The White House told CNN Business on Sunday that a financial transaction tax on GameStop-like trading deserves
US Minimum Wage Debate 2021: $15 Proposal Explained
By Zachary B. Wolf, CNN House Democrats have included a minimum wage hike in their latest Covid relief bill, although opposition among some Senate Democrats means it is not at all clear they will have the votes to pass it. Improving worker pay is unrelated in that raising the minimum wage has long been a Democratic priority. It is completely related in that the Covid economy has hurt low wage workers — those in food service, child care and home health care, for instance, who can’t work from home — more than it’s hurt people who are able to work
Black Nurses Face Mental Health Strain Amid Covid-19 Crisis
By Megan Marples, CNN Throughout Olivia Thompson’s 12-hour shift as a cardiac and Covid-19 nurse in Chandler, Arizona, she closely monitors the oxygen levels of several patients at a time and works with other medical specialists to heal them. For some, no amount of care Thompson gives prevents them from being transferred to the Intensive Care Unit. “There were times where I was dreading going to work because of the unknown,” Thompson said. “Am I going to be a good nurse for my patients? Am I going to make a mistake?” Thompson graduated from Arizona State University in May 2020
