Nancy pelosi

Plans for a 9/11-style commission to probe the Jan. 6 attack are running into partisan stumbling blocks in Congress. House Democrats are hoping to vote on legislation establishing the investigative panel before they leave town in mid-March, giving them a matter of days to try to reach a deal with Republicans. But clashes among congressional leaders over both the structure and scope of the panel are threatening to derail the commission before it even gets underway. ADVERTISEMENT “I think a commission is a good idea but it can’t be a partisan commission,” said Sen. John Cornyn John Cornyn Biden pledges support for Texas amid recovery from winter storm Partisan headwinds threaten Capitol riot commission Biden turns focus to winter storm with Texas trip MORE (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee and an adviser to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnell Trump at CPAC foments 2022 GOP primary … [Read more...] about Partisan headwinds threaten Capitol riot commission

(This story corrects 20-day average volume to 11.49 billion from 1.49 billion in paragraph 14) By Chuck Mikolajczak NEW YORK: Major averages closed on Thursday with a rebound from early lows as investors looked for signs of progress in fiscal stimulus talks to support the economy after labor market data showed a jump in jobless claims. Stocks on Wall Street opened lower on the heels of weekly initial jobless claims data that spiked by 137,000 to a seasonally adjusted 853,000, well above expectations for 725,000 and the highest level since mid-September, underscoring the need for fresh stimulus measures to support a flagging economy. But equities moved well off lows that saw the S&P 500 down as much as 0.75per cent after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said talks between Republican and Democratic senators on COVID-19 relief were making "a lot of progress" with more discussions expected in the day. "The competing narrative of the virus is here, it is worse, the … [Read more...] about Wall Street shakes off labor market data with stimulus in focus

Republican lawmakers introduced an amendment Thursday that would apply the Hyde Amendment to the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill. “Unfortunately, House Democrats did not include Hyde Protections in the $1.9 trillion reconciliation bill,” Republicans Reps. Jackie Walorski, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, and Virginia Foxx said in a statement. Lawmakers have previously quarreled over COVID funds going to abortion groups. In May, Republicans accused Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of removing protections in her $3 trillion coronavirus bill preventing cash flow to Planned Parenthood. Republican lawmakers introduced an amendment Thursday that would apply the Hyde Amendment to the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill. The amendment to the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 prohibits the gigantic relief bill from using any federal funds for abortions. The bill is more than twice as large as the stimulus plan produced during the Great Recession and almost half the cost of the United … [Read more...] about Democrats Removed Pro-Life Protections From Massive COVID Bill, GOP Lawmakers Say

Small business organizations are speaking out against a potential minimum wage hike, saying the plan will only cause more small businesses to shutter amid a fragile economy. The National Federation of Independent Business said that “Congress should not saddle [small businesses] with a costly new mandate that will further damage the fragile economic recovery,” in a statement . “More than doubling the federal minimum wage while small businesses across America are barely surviving shutdowns due to an unprecedented pandemic is a recipe for more shuttered businesses and millions more job losses,” the American Farm Bureau Federation said in a statement. “On behalf of Main Street employers across America, we strongly oppose the Raise the Wage Act of 2021.” The U.S. Chamber of Commerce opposed the minimum wage hike, noting it does “not reflect a data-driven approach that incorporates wage-rate differences between business sectors and business locations,” in a statement. The … [Read more...] about ‘Recipe For More Shuttered Businesses’: Small Businesses Speak Out Against Minimum Wage Hike

WASHINGTON: The US economy added the fewest workers in six months in November, hindered by a resurgence in new COVID-19 cases that, together with a lack of more government relief money, threatens to reverse the recovery from the pandemic recession. The Labor Department's closely watched employment report on Friday also showed 3.9 million people have been out of work for at least six months, with many giving up, a sign of a lack of confidence in the labour market. The report, which only covered the first two weeks of November, when the current wave of coronavirus infections started, underscored the challenges facing President-elect Joe Biden when he takes over from President Donald Trump on Jan 20. Biden called the report "grim" and urged Congress and Trump to provide additional fiscal stimulus. "Americans need help and they need it now," the president-elect said in a statement. The economy has recouped only 12.4 million of the 22.2 million jobs lost in March and April. Even … [Read more...] about US labour market losing steam as COVID-19 pandemic rages