President Biden and the Democratic Congress are facing a crisis as the popular domestic agenda they ran on in the 2020 election is held hostage by two corporate Democratic senators, fossil-fuel consigliere Joe Manchin and payday-lender favorite Kyrsten Sinema. But the very week before the Dems’ $350 billion-per-year domestic package hit this wall of corporate moneybags,…Continue Reading
The New Jersey-based pharmaceutical giant Merck is facing accusations of price gouging after it charged the U.S. over $700 per patient for a taxpayer-funded coronavirus treatment that, according to research, costs just $17.74 to produce. Last week, Merck announced plans to request emergency federal authorization for molnupiravir after a late-stage clinical trial showed that a five-day course of the antiviral drug cut the risk…Continue Reading
U.S. stock futures edged higher early Thursday morning after the Dow Jones Industrial Average reclaimed a 459-point loss on Wednesday as investor concerns about a debt ceiling deal eased.Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 125 points. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures were also in positive territory.In regular trading the Dow rose 102.32 points to…Continue Reading
A summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping could be the only way to find a path forward in the strategic competition between the world’s top two economies, a former White House official said Thursday. Evan Medeiros, who was former President Barack Obama’s top advisor on Asia-Pacific, said only the top leadership…Continue Reading
The Biden administration announced plans Wednesday to restore climate change protections to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that were dismantled when former President Trump was in office.Why it matters: The White House Council on Environmental Quality plans to bring back a requirement for federal agencies to “evaluate all the relevant environmental impacts of the…Continue Reading
A federal judge on Wednesday evening granted the Biden administration’s request to temporarily block enforcement of Texas’ controversial abortion ban.Why it matters: The ruling means that medical professionals can offer abortions in Texas even after about six weeks of pregnancy without fear of facing a lawsuit by members of the public, at least for the…Continue Reading
The six-hour meeting White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan had with his Chinese counterpart in Zurich on Wednesday may have done more to defrost the U.S.-China relationship than anything since President Biden took office.Why it matters: That speaks more to the tense relations between the two superpowers than anything Sullivan achieved during his marathon…Continue Reading
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) blinked.Why it matters: After McConnell refused for months to budge over his insistence that Democrats suspend the debt limit through the budget reconciliation process, he tried to forestall changes to the filibuster by offering Democrats an alternate route to temporarily raise the debt limit through December.Behind the scenes: McConnell’s…Continue Reading
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) withheld support for a joint statement condemning last weekend’s protests against Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) because it also wouldn’t include a rebuke of her political views, Axios has learned.Why it matters: The move is emblematic of the hostility between the progressive and moderate members, who have been sparring over the cost…Continue Reading
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is telling colleagues that progressives need to pick just one of President Biden’s three signature policies for helping working families and discard the other two, people familiar with the matter tell Axios.Why it matters: By forcing progressives to choose among an expanded child tax credit, paid family medical leave or subsidies…Continue Reading