Newsletter Archive

December 2020

Senators Float $908 Billion Stimulus Compromise

In an effort to break the stalemate over the next coronavirus relief bill, a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Tuesday released the outline of an emergency spending package totaling $908 billion.

Plus: Plus, the next great debt debate

November 2020

What Biden’s New Economic Team Says About His Agenda

President-elect Joe Biden on Monday announced his picks for top members of his economic team, with choices that signal a strong focus on providing relief for a Covid-stricken economy and help for the labor market — and likely less of an…

Plus: Plus, jobless numbers are flawed, watchdog says

What Biden’s Pick of Yellen Means for the Economy and Stimulus

Janet Yellen has had a long and distinguished career as an economist, from the halls of academia to the White House to the Federal Reserve. Her next job, as Neil Irwin suggests at The Upshot, may be her toughest one yet. Yellen is reported…

Plus: Plus, the March stimulus bill worked

Trump Threatens Veto of Defense Bill

Joe Biden is backing House Democrats in their effort to negotiate a multi-trillion-dollar coronavirus relief bill, according to a Biden representative Monday. “The President-elect fully supports the Speaker and Leader in their negotiations…

Plus: Plus - Biden backs Pelosi on massive relief bill

Virus Surge Could Wallop the Economy Again

Analysts at JPMorgan Chase are predicting an economic contraction in the first quarter of 2021, driven by the fall surge of Covid-19 and new restrictions on businesses imposed by state and local governments.

Plus: Plus - A border wall showdown?

Mnuchin Pulls Plug on Emergency Covid-Relief Programs

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday asked the Federal Reserve to allow a number of its emergency lending programs to expire as scheduled at the end of the year and return hundreds of billions of dollars in unspent funds from its…

Plus: Plus, lawmakers push toward $1.4 trillion spending package

250,000 Dead. Where Are Trump, Pelosi and McConnell?

President Trump had no public events scheduled for Wednesday. It was the same on Tuesday, when The Washington Post’s Philip Bump noted that the president’s public calendar has been empty for 10 of the 14 days since Election Day — make it…

Plus: Plus, 12 millon workers face a benefits cliff

Top CEOs Call for Covid Relief, Mask Mandate

Congressional staffers are making progress in talks over an omnibus funding package for the federal government ahead of a December 11 deadline, Politico reported Tuesday. Appropriators are working on a 12-bill, bicameral agreement that…

Plus: Plus, the Pentagon fails another audit

Biden Warns 'More People May Die' if Trump Refuses to Coordinate

President-elect Joe Biden on Monday called for greater cooperation from the Trump White House in the effort to plan the distribution of vaccines for Covid-19 in the coming weeks and months.

Plus: The president-elect also pushes for Dems' stimulus bill

Trump Touts Covid Response as Cases Surge to New Highs

President Donald Trump on Friday broke a week-long public silence, appearing in the White House Rose Garden to tout his administration’s pandemic response even as the coronavirus rages across the country, with a record 153,000 new cases…

Plus: Plus, Pelosi declares ‘red alert’ on stimulus