WASHINGTON — An eviction moratorium is lifting. Extra unemployment benefits are ending. Parents are being called to work, but schools are struggling to reopen for fall as the COVID-19 crisis shows no signs of easing. With Congress bracing for the next coronavirus aid package, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is outlining Republican...
Trump Signs Executive Order on Police Reform
WASHINGTON — Following weeks of national protests since the death of George Floyd, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on policing Tuesday that he said would encourage better police practices and establish a database to keep track of officers with a history of excessive use-of-force complaints. In Rose Garden remarks,...
Mitch McConnell Stresses Need to Wear Face Masks in Public
Wading into a politically charged issue, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday preached the importance of wearing masks in public as the nation's economy reopens from the “cataclysmic" damage inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic. During a tour of hospitals this week in his home state of Kentucky, the Republican...
Burr Steps Aside as Senate Intelligence Chair Amid FBI Probe
WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. Richard Burr temporarily stepped aside as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday after the FBI served a search warrant for his cellphone as part of an investigation into a well-timed sale of stocks tied to the coronavirus pandemic. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced...
McConnell Open to State Aid in Next Virus Relief Package
WASHINGTON — Shifting tone, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday he is “open” to considering additional funds for state and local governments in the next coronavirus relief bill as the chamber returns to session during the pandemic. The Republican leader faced a storm of criticism from the nation's governors after panning Democrats' proposal...
Congress, Trump in Tentative Deal on $500b Virus Relief Bill
WASHINGTON — Congress reached a tentative agreement Tuesday with President Donald Trump on a nearly $500 billion coronavirus relief bill that would replenish a small business rescue program, provide hospitals with another $75 billion, and implement a nationwide virus testing program to facilitate reopening the economy. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck...
For McConnell, Virus Carries Echo of His Boyhood Polio
WASHINGTON — Mitch McConnell’s earliest childhood memory is the day he left the polio treatment center at Warm Springs, Georgia, for the last time. He was just a toddler in 1944, when his father was deployed to World War II, his mother relocated the family to her sister’s home in...
Trump, Congress Agree on $2 Trillion Virus Rescue Bill
The White House and Senate leaders of both parties announced agreement early Wednesday on unprecedented emergency legislation to rush sweeping aid to businesses, workers and a health care system slammed by the coronavirus pandemic. The urgently needed pandemic response measure is the largest economic rescue measure in history and is...
Coronavirus Suddenly Upends Campaign Themes for Both Parties
WASHINGTON — The coronavirus pandemic and the nation's crashing economy are scrambling the themes both major political parties thought would carry them to victory in November for control of the White House and Congress. Shattered, certainly for now, is President Donald Trump's ability to tout a brawny economy and record stock market prices as...
Treasury Proposal: Deliver $500B to Americans Starting April
WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department said Wednesday it wants to start issuing direct payments to Americans by early next month as the centerpiece of a $1 trillion plan to stabilize the economy as the coronavirus epidemic threatens a body slam to taxpayers and businesses. In a memorandum, Treasury proposed two $250 billion...