Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled that the House is unlikely to return to session later this month, her clearest indication yet that Congress — like the rest of the country — could remain shuttered for weeks or even longer as the coronavirus crisis continues, Politico reports.
Pelosi also “issued a stark warning to President Trump, urging him not to prematurely rush to reopen major segments of the country before the coronavirus is under control.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) falsely claimed that the novel coronavirus hasn’t killed anyone under 25 nationwide while discussing a timeline for reopening schools in the state, CNN reports.
Said DeSantis: “This particular pandemic is one where, I don’t think nationwide there’s been a single fatality under 25. For whatever reason it just doesn’t seem to threaten, you know, kids.”
He added: “And we lose in Florida between five and 10 kids a year for the flu. This one, for whatever reason, much more dangerous if you’re 65 and plus than the flu, no doubt about that, if you’re younger it just hasn’t had an impact. So that should factor into how we’re viewing this.”
“The Trump administration is pushing to reopen much of the country next month, raising concerns among medical experts and economists of a possible covid-19 resurgence if Americans return to their normal lives before the virus is truly stamped out.” the Washington Post reports.
“Behind closed doors, President Trump — concerned with the sagging economy — has sought a strategy for resuming business activity by May 1.”
“In phone calls with outside advisers, Trump has even floated trying to reopen much of the country before the end of this month, when the current federal recommendations to avoid social gatherings and work from home expire.”
New York Times: “As unemployment soars and the death toll skyrockets, and new polls show support for the president’s handling of the crisis sagging, White House allies and Republican lawmakers increasingly believe the briefings are hurting the president more than helping him. Many view the sessions as a kind of original sin from which all of his missteps flow, once he gets through his prepared script and turns to his preferred style of extemporaneous bluster and invective.”
“With only intermittent attempts to adapt to a moment of crisis, Mr. Trump is effectively wagering that he can win re-election in the midst of a national emergency on a platform of polarization.”
“In interviews, Republican lawmakers, administration officials and members of his re-election campaign said they wanted Mr. Trump to limit his error-filled appearances at the West Wing briefings and move more aggressively to prepare for the looming recession. Some even suggested he summon a broader range of the country’s leaders, including former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, in an all-hands-on-deck moment to respond to the national emergency.”
Rep. Neal Dunn (R-FL) has tested positive for coronavirus, WTXL reports.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told Fox News the U.S. economy should be able to reopen “on a rolling basis” over the next month or two.
Said Kudlow: “The next month or two, we should be able to restart at least on a rolling basis. Our intent here was, is to try to relieve people of the enormous difficult hardships they are suffering through no fault of their own.”
Amy Walter: “I have been thinking a lot about North Carolina these days. While the former ‘Blue Wall’ states get the lion’s share of coverage, North Carolina is actually the bigger bang for the buck. It is one of just two states — the other is Arizona — to have its presidential contest and its senate race in the Toss Up column. Oh, and it also has a competitive Governor’s race.”
“How North Carolina goes is not just going to determine who wins the White House, but also who controls the Senate.”
A day after Bernie Sanders dropped out of the Democratic primary race, Joe Biden has already adopted two elements of the Democratic socialist’s agenda and credited Sanders’ energetic movement with the change, CBS News reports.
“First, Biden said he now favors dropping the Medicare eligibility age by five years, to age 60, a step toward the Vermont senator’s marquee single-payer plan…”
“Second, Biden wants to forgive student loan debt for those earning up to $125,000, who attended public colleges, Historically Black Colleges or Universities, or private minority-serving institutions.”
President Trump took issue with a Wall Street Journal editorial that argued his daily briefings “have become a boring show.”
Trump tweeted that the ratings for briefings are “through the roof” and compared them to Monday Night Football and The Bachelor finale. He then called the Journal “fake news.”
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The White House announced it will now be testing all reporters who attend the daily briefing for the coronavirus, CNN reports.
“By law, President Trump’s campaign is not allowed to coordinate with a super PAC supporting it,” the Daily Beast reports.
“But in recent months, one such ostensibly independent group has purchased access to one of the campaign’s most valuable possessions: the massive email list that it has built over the last five years.”
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Melania Trump shared a photo of herself wearing what appears to be a surgical mask, touting the CDC’s recommendation “to wear cloth face coverings.”
President Trump announced last week that he would not be wearing a mask.
“The Trump administration has carried out nearly 10,000 summary deportations or ‘expulsions’ since March 21, using emergency public health measures that have given U.S. Customs and Border Protection broad authority to bypass immigration laws,” the Washington Post reports.
“The measures have allowed the agency to quickly turn away most unauthorized migrants — sending them back across the U.S.-Mexico border. The moves have dramatically slashed the number of detainees held in border stations, where they fear the coronavirus could spread, the officials said. CBP has fewer than 100 detainees in custody, down from nearly 20,000 at this time last year during the border crisis.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been moved out of intensive care but remains hospitalized, the Guardian reports.
It’s a sign of improvement after Johnson spent three nights in intensive care for coronavirus.
Foreign Policy: “As the coronavirus lockdown began, the first impulse was to search for historical analogies—1914, 1929, 1941? As the weeks have ground on, what has come ever more to the fore is the historical novelty of the shock that we are living through. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, America’s economy is now widely expected to shrink by a quarter. That is as much as during the Great Depression. But whereas the contraction after 1929 stretched over a four-year period, the coronavirus implosion will happen over the next three months. There has never been a crash landing like this before. There is something new under the sun. And it is horrifying.”
“As recently as five weeks ago, at the beginning of March, U.S. unemployment was at record lows. By the end of March, it had surged to somewhere around 13 percent. That is the highest number recorded since World War II. We don’t know the precise figure because our system of unemployment registration was not built to track an increase at this speed.”
“President Trump this week condemned absentee voting as ‘corrupt,’ but mail-in ballots are a central Republican get-out-the-vote strategy in Florida, a state the president will need to win in November if he wants to return to the White House,” Politico reports.
“The Republican Party of Florida has spent tens of millions of dollars in recent election cycles to boost by-mail balloting, turning out more mail-in votes than Democrats in both 2016 and 2018 — a success it plans to repeat this year.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
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