California
The rate at which coronavirus tests in California are coming back positive has jumped 42% over the last two weeks...
Police reform activists have called on California’s top law enforcement officer, California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra, to stop use of a problem-plagued database of suspected gang members, frustrated that it continues to function under rules they say disproportionately target Black and Latino men and that were ordered fixed by the state Legislature nearly three years ago...
Coronavirus
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn said Sunday, 7/5, declined to make a prediction about when a coronavirus vaccine would be available after President Trump claimed that a vaccine or therapeutic would be ready "long before the end of the year…”
In an interview with The Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Anthony Fauci referenced a peer-reviewed article that pointed to a new, prevalent virus strain thought to have first spread in Italy…
The Trump administration is planning to establish a division dedicated to pandemic response at the State Department after facing criticism for shuttering the National Security Council's (NSC) pandemic unit in 2018...
The economy is expected to shrink by 5.9 percent this year as a result of coronavirus-related shutdowns and isn’t expected to recover to pre-pandemic levels until the middle of 2022, according to a new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report...
Beauty salons and barber shops are in turmoil amid the coronavirus pandemic…
President and Administration
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said today, 7/6, that a national mandate requiring Americans to wear masks was “not in order” as coronavirus cases rise in a number of states...
Late Tuesday night, 6/30, President Trump tweeted that he would veto the National Defense Authorization Act if it includes an amendment that would change the names of U.S. military bases that honor Confederate generals and soldiers...
On Saturday, 7/4, President Trump signed legislation that extends the deadline for businesses to apply for aid under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) until August 8...
The Trump administration released details of almost 4.9 million loans to businesses – from sole proprietors to restaurant and hotel chains – under the federal government’s largest coronavirus relief program so far, the $669 billion Paycheck Protection Program...
In response to the Coronavirus pandemic, small business owners in all U.S. states, Washington D.C., and territories are now able to once again apply for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan advance of up to $10,000...
Education
The Trump administration may push to include targeted funding to help schools re-open in the next federal coronavirus relief package, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said at a White House press conference Thursday, 7/2…
On Wednesday, 7/1, the CDC released new federal coronavirus guidance for K-12 students...
On Tuesday, 6/30, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Education Committee, and other Democrats unveiled the $430 billion Coronavirus Child Care and Education Relief Act...
Congress
Congress left town Thursday, 7/2, for a two-week July 4 break and will not return to Washington, D.C., until July 20...
Senators in both parties say they support adding new requirements for businesses who want to apply for a second tranche of funding through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in the next stimulus legislation, which they are expected to start formally negotiating in late July...
On Wednesday, 7/1, the House passed the $1.5 trillion green infrastructure plan, the Moving Forward Act...
After months of delay because of the coronavirus pandemic, House lawmakers are beginning work in earnest on fiscal 2021 appropriations bills...
Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Rand Paul (R-KU) offered an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, a mammoth defense policy bill currently being debated by the Senate, on Monday, 6/29, to limit the transfer of military-grade equipment to local law enforcement agencies...
A House Democratic bill would block the Trump administration from limiting food stamp eligibility and would undo line-speed waivers for meat and poultry processing plants, while boosting funding for the Department of Agriculture...
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in a letter sent Monday, 6/29, to Sen. McConnell said that "it is unacceptable that the Senate would recess without addressing” the coronavirus issue...
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), a veteran Purple Heart recipient who is under consideration for vice president by Democratic presumptive nominee Joe Biden, has put a blanket hold on 1,100 military promotions until Defense Secretary Mark Esper assures her in writing that impeachment witness Lt. Col. Alex Vindman will not be punished for his testimony...
2020 Election
On Saturday, 7/4, Kanye West tweeted that he was running for president...
On July 3, in an address to delegates of the National Education Association (NEA), Joe Biden promised that if he is elected president, there is going to be "a teacher-oriented Department of Education, and it's not going to come from the top down—it's going to come from the teachers up…”