Biden wants to bring the economy from relief to recovery. A labor shortage may signal trouble for those plans.
By Jeff Zeleny Patti Eisenbraun had been anxiously waiting for the pandemic to subside so the dining room and patio at the Brown Iron Brewhouse would be bustling once again. Yet the lights were off, and her business was closed here Monday — not for a lack of thirsty customers, but for a lack of employees. “We went from 92 hours to 55 hours a week,” said Eisenbraun, who opened the brewery and restaurant in 2015 with her husband, after a decade of planning. “It’s a tough business model right now to be closed during those hours.” A labor shortage
The Sunrise Movement endorses top Sanders ally Nina Turner to fill US House seat in Ohio
By Rachel Janfaza The Sunrise Movement, a youth-led climate activist group, on Monday announced its endorsement of former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner, further bolstering her campaign’s progressive support ahead of a special election for an open US House seat in Ohio. Turner, a top ally of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, is running to succeed former Rep. Marcia Fudge, whom the Senate confirmed in March as secretary of Housing and Urban Development, leaving an open congressional seat in Ohio’s 11th District. The heavily Democratic northeast Ohio district will hold a special election in November, with a Democratic primary in August.
Harris headlines unity summit for AAPI community
By Arlette Saenz and Jasmine Wright Vice President Kamala Harris will serve as the keynote speaker for a virtual unity summit for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders this week, her latest outreach to a community that has faced a wave of racially motivated crimes during the pandemic and is growing as a voting bloc. Harris, the first person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president, will address the AAPI Victory Alliance’s first ever unity summit on Wednesday, the group told CNN. The virtual event, titled “From Victory to Unity,” will feature celebrities like Tan France and Simu Liu
Multiple crises at home and abroad provide a reality check for Biden’s White House
By Kevin Liptak President Joe Biden was at the wooded Camp David retreat in Maryland when he first heard Colonial Pipeline had been hacked. Briefed in one of the mountainside lodges by senior advisers and aides from the National Security Council, Biden quickly realized the incident — and subsequent shutdown of the company’s pipeline supplying fuel to the Eastern Seaboard — could easily devolve into a major problem. Long lines of cars at pumps and handwritten “no fuel” signs make for potent political imagery, a fact Biden experienced firsthand when as a young senator he saw an oil crisis help
Biden developing pardon process with focus on racial justice, expected to issue acts of clemency before middle of term
By Maegan Vazquez The White House is currently in the process of reviewing clemency applications and has signaled that President Joe Biden, who views the pardon power as a key tool for advancing equity, will issue acts of clemency before the middle of his presidential term, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN. The White House has informed activists that Biden will not wait until the end of his term to begin granting people clemency, and that they should be expected before the middle of this presidential term, the source said. The New York Times was first to report
HUD Secretary violated the Hatch Act, Office of Special Counsel concludes
By Liz Stark The US Office of Special Counsel has concluded that Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge violated the Hatch Act, the law that limits the political activities of all federal civilian executive branch employees, when she commented on Ohio politics from the White House podium earlier this year. Fudge, who joined White House press secretary Jen Psaki at a briefing in March, was asked about the special election to fill her vacant seat in Congress. Though Fudge declined to weigh in on the House race, she told reporters she thought Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley and US
Congress is up against the clock on key Biden priorities. Here’s what to watch.
By Paul LeBlanc Congress has just two weeks to ramp up negotiations on a number of key Biden administration agenda items before the end of the current work period threatens to halt any meaningful progress. Legislation addressing the infrastructure, voting rights and police reform will all be top of mind on Capitol Hill this week — though infighting in both parties could imperil, or even unravel, progress on all fronts. House lawmakers specifically will have a chance to cement a significant bipartisan breakthrough on legislation establishing an independent panel to investigate the US Capitol insurrection. Here’s what to watch:
Republicans draw ‘red line’ on increasing taxes to fund Biden’s infrastructure plan
By Maegan Vazquez, Phil Mattingly and Jeremy Diamond Republican leaders say they told President Joe Biden on Wednesday that they’re drawing a “red line” on hiking certain taxes to fund the President’s infrastructure spending proposal, an anticipated hurdle that has arisen during a crucial week for the White House’s infrastructure priorities. The discussion between the GOP leaders and Biden took place during the President’s first bipartisan meeting with the top four members of congressional leadership at the White House. Meeting attendees included Vice President Kamala Harris; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat; Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New
House Republicans expected to vote to make Elise Stefanik conference chair after Cheney ouster
By Clare Foran House Republicans are expected to vote on Friday to elevate Rep. Elise Stefanik to the No. 3 leadership position of conference chair after ousting Rep. Liz Cheney from the role following her repeatedly calling out former President Donald Trump’s “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was stolen. Stefanik, a high-profile Trump defender, faces a conservative challenger — GOP Rep. Chip Roy — but his candidacy is viewed as a long-shot and she is widely anticipated to win. The New York congresswoman has the backing of House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, Whip Steve Scalise and Trump. The former
Nearly 2 million Americans will lose pandemic unemployment benefits early as more Republican states drop relief
By Tami Luhby Nearly 2 million jobless Americans are set to lose their pandemic unemployment benefits early, with Georgia, Arizona and Ohio becoming the latest Republican-led states to announce they would cease providing enhanced federal jobless payments. Thursday’s announcements bring the total to 16 states that have said since last week that they would terminate the $300 weekly federal boost to state benefits, as well as the federal expansion of jobless benefits to those who previously didn’t qualify and those who have run out of their regular state benefits. Governors are citing workforce shortages and the improving economy as the