Description
Added on the 14/01/2022 10:23:42 - Copyright : France 24 EN
President Donald Trump has changed his thinking, and now says he wants a big stimulus bill passed before the general election on November 3rd. Fed Chair Jay Powell also wants to see one passed and has warned that without one, the US economy's recovery will surely falter. But the Republican-led Senate hasn't passed a new coronavirus relief bill since April 21st, and shows little signs of doing so before the election. According to Business Insider, the GOP is far more concerned with getting the Supreme Court tilted to the right by having Amy Coney Barrett confirmed. For more than five months, Congress has held up a comprehensive stimulus package for tens of millions of Americans and left them in limbo. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wants a so-called 'skinny' bill, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is holding out for far more for the American worker.
Business Insider reports there are still 11 million fewer Americans employed compared to before the pandemic hit in February. The pace of job growth is slowing, and Tuesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell reiterated his call for more economic aid from the US government to American workers. Economists warn another stimulus package is necessary to ward off the threat of a double-dip recession. Without it, Powell said on Tuesday, the economic recovery will be painfully slow. Nevertheless, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered an end to all Congressional stimulus talks. That is, until after he is reelected in November.
The US conservative-majority Supreme Court is to hear challenges to President Joe Biden's bid to impose Covid vaccination mandates on millions of American workers. IMAGES
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court received a bomb threat during President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration ceremony. "The Court received a bomb threat, the building and grounds were checked out, and the building is not being evacuated," a Supreme Court spokesperson said. There's increased security in Washington, DC, for Biden's inauguration following the Capitol riot on January 6. Business Insider says the court was closed to the public on Wednesday due to COVID-19, and was not evacuated
With just a few days left in the year, alarm bells are going off among health officials. Many are worried about the slow effort to administer doses of Covid-19 vaccine by the end of the year. The federal government's Operation Warp Speed had promised much more than it provided. It promised that 20 million doses would be administered before January 1, says CNN. Yet the latest data from the CDC shows that just over 11 million doses have been distributed. Additionally, only 2.1 million have actually been administered to people.
General Gustave Perna is chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed. On Saturday, he apologized for a "planning error" that caused dozens of states to expect more vaccine doses than they'll actually get. Dozens of states have said they will receive 30% to 40% fewer doses of Pfizer's vaccine next week than they were expecting. Perna said that was a result of estimates he gave for planning purposes that wound up being incorrect. "I failed," Perna said. "I am adjusting, I am fixing, and we will move forward from there."