The United States and Canada are preparing to issue a joint statement in the next 24-48 hours to suspend non-essential travel between the two countries, CNN reports.
Marie Newman Ousts Dan Lipinski In Primary
“In an election marked by low turnout and lack of basic voting supplies because of coronavirus concerns, Marie Newman, a progressive, pro-abortion rights challenger to incumbent Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL) has won the Democratic primary in Illinois’ third congressional district,” BuzzFeed News reports.
Trump Pushed Virus Response to $1 Trillion
“President Trump encouraged aides to enhance an $850 billion stimulus package to address the coronavirus crisis, telling them to go big and bump the number up to a trillion dollars,” Bloomberg reports.
“At least one official thought Trump simply preferred the sound of $1 trillion for an announcement so momentous – but aides quickly found items to add to the package that actually pushed the total to as high as $1.2 trillion.”
Senate Coronavirus Relief Bill Blocked by Rand Paul
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate would move at “warp speed” to pass coronavirus legislation on Tuesday, but Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) put a damper on those plans, two leadership sources told NBC News.
“Senators were on Tuesday heading towards a vote on the package — which includes provisions for free coronavirus testing, secures paid emergency leave, enhances unemployment insurance, strengthens food security initiatives, and increases federal Medicaid funding to states — but had to slam the brakes on because of an amendment Paul proposed.”
Hello From Italy
Ida Gribldi: “My family lives in the Veneto, in Northern Italy, one of the regions worst hit by the novel coronavirus. We are on lockdown. It’s scary. It’s lonely. It’s uncomfortable. And did I mention scary?”
“I’ll spare you the statistics and the sermons; both are already abundant. But I do want to make one thing clear: If you think that by stocking up your pantries you have absolved yourself from the responsibility of preparing for this virus, you are mistaken. This is a crisis like none before. Be skeptical of both naysayers and doomsayers; there’s no way of knowing how this will end.”
Biden Opens Up Commanding Delegate Lead
Joe Biden is poised to walk away from Tuesday’s primaries with a nearly insurmountable delegate lead over Bernie Sanders after winning Florida, one of the biggest states of the primary calendar, according to NBC News projections.
Mnuchin Says Unemployment Could Hit 20%
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warned Republican senators Tuesday that the coronavirus pandemic could drive up US unemployment to 20%, a Republican Senate source told CNN.
Personnel Chief Quits Suddenly
Dale Cabaniss, the director of the government’s Office of Personnel Management, resigned abruptly on Tuesday, Politico reports.
“Cabaniss stepped down because of what two people familiar with the matter said was poor treatment from the 29-year-old head of the Presidential Personnel Office, John McEntee.”
“The departure casts a cloud of uncertainty over the federal workforce as it struggles to decide how to handle the coronavirus outbreak.”
Washington Post: “As the administration prepared to confront the threat the novel coronavirus posed to federal workers, Cabaniss found herself and her agency sidelined by the White House budget office.”
Primary Results In Three States Tonight
There are primaries in Arizona, Florida and Illinois today. Ohio’s primary was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
After today, the majority of delegates will have been selected.
Results: Joe Biden is projected to win in Florida, Illinois and Arizona.
Leave your reactions in the comments.
Government Offices Begin to Shut Down
Washington Post: “The Internal Revenue Service on Tuesday began closing field offices in Northern California, Seattle, Puerto Rico and the New York City area to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus — and all of its tax counseling sites for the elderly. The Social Security Administration closed 1,400 field and hearing offices Monday night.”
“Federal courts are rescheduling trials. The Food and Drug Administration has suspended inspections of imported food and medical devices, and the Washington Monument has closed to the public.”
Tucker Carlson Pushed Trump on the Pandemic
Vanity Fair: “Tucker Carlson started talking more extensively about the virus on his Fox News show on February 3, spurred, he says, by harrowing reports emerging from China. Trump, it seems, was the last to know. A White House adviser arranged for Carlson to meet with Trump so the TV personality could, in essence, penetrate Trump’s bubble. They talked for two hours. The oncoming pandemic, Carlson told him, was an existential threat to the nation. To translate it into Trumpian language, an existential threat to his reelection. Mike Pence joined at one point.”
“Carlson won’t discuss the president’s reaction on the record, but suffice it to say that Trump’s denial went on for another week while the pandemic ballooned and right-wing allies—many of them on Fox News—suggested the virus was a liberal hoax and members of Congress, as recently as three days ago, told people to continue going out in public as if nothing was happening.”
Val Demings Discusses Veep Speculation
Rep. Val Demings (D-FL) discussed with the Washington Post speculation she might be on Joe Bidens’ short list for vice president.
Said Demings: “I grew up the daughter of a maid and a janitor, I grew up poor, black and female in the South. Someone who was told a lot of times that I wasn’t the right color or gender. I didn’t have enough money. I didn’t have a famous last name, my maiden name of Butler appeared on no buildings. But my mother pushed me and said, ‘No, you can make it. If you work hard and play by the rules, you can be anything you wanna be and do anything you wanna do.’ That’s the message I send to children all over this nation.”
She added: “So the fact that my name is being called in such a special way for such an important position during such a critical time, it’s such an honor.”
Donors Picked Up Tab for Kimberly Guilfoyle’s Party
New York Times: “It was a lavish birthday party for Donald Trump Jr.’s girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle. The setting was Mar-a-Lago, President Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, Fla. The guest list included dozens of Trump family members and friends.”
“But when it came to picking up the tab, hands went out to other attendees. Among them were at least four whose families are financial supporters of the president’s re-election campaign, for which Ms. Guilfoyle helps lead the fund-raising. They ended up pitching in tens of thousands of dollars, passed along to Mar-a-Lago, to help pay for what two people familiar with the planning said was a $50,000 celebration of Ms. Guilfoyle’s 51st birthday.”
Trump Claims He Knew It Would Become a Pandemic
“For weeks, President Trump has minimized the coronavirus, mocked concern about it and treated the risk cavalierly. On Tuesday he took to the White House podium and made a remarkable pronouncement: He knew it was a pandemic all along,” the New York Times reports.
Said Trump: “I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.”
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New Yorkers Should Be Prepared to ‘Shelter In Place’
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that New Yorkers should prepare for a “shelter-in-place” order in the coming days as local officials try to contain the fast-moving coronavirus, CNBC reports.
A decision will be made in the next 48 hours.
White House Backchannels Its Coronavirus Messaging
“As the coronavirus has worsened, members of the task force President Trump has assigned to combat the pandemic have reached out to prominent conservative social-media ‘influencers’ and right-wing TV and radio stars to offer them private briefings and information sessions with Vice President Mike Pence and other top administration officials,” the Daily Beast reports.
U.S. Postpones April 15 Tax Payments for 90 Days
“The U.S. government will postpone the April 15 tax-payment deadline for millions of individuals, giving Americans another 90 days to pay their 2019 income-tax bills in an unprecedented move,” the Wall Street Journal reports.