White House reporter @Semafor covering all things economy. Proud @POLITICO and @MerrillCollege alum. Let’s talk: emueller@semafor.com or Signal (link below).
Washington, DC
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News: It's still unclear whether the Trump administration pursues an equity stake in AI firms -- but that doesn't mean people don't have opinions on how it could work.
People familiar with the talks told me Bessent's preference is Trump Accounts, while Lutnick’s is some type of sovereign wealth fund.
Meanwhile, most of the industry doesn't want the government to have a stake at all: semafor.com/article/06/17/20…
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🚨 Senate Democrats have decided to drop paid family and medical leave, a key cornerstone of Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, from their mammoth social spending package Wednesday after attempts to drastically pare it down were deemed insufficient, three sources tell me.
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SCOOP: The Democratic Party plans to add an addendum to contracts with consultants that would forbid them from any — really, any — anti-union activity.
I got the doc, which comes after reports that Dem pollster GSG aided Amazon's union-busting efforts: politico.com/news/2022/04/19…
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"We are making sure this country belongs to workers and workers alone," Biden says. "And by the way... Amazon, here we come."
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Already, advocates are fuming over what they see as an unwillingness by the White House to fight hard enough for a policy it won election on, particularly in the face of a public health crisis and an economic crisis that disproportionately impacted women and low-wage workers
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Tina Smith just pulled Mike Lee out of a Republicans-only briefing on their tax-and-spending bill.
The pair spoke for a couple of minutes before Smith walked away. When I asked what she said to him, she said “let me just gather myself” before rushing back onto the Senate floor.
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The U.S. is the only wealthy nation without paid leave. Just 23% of private-sector workers have access to paid family leave, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 77% have access to paid sick leave. In both instances, they are disproportionately higher-paid workers
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.@AndrewYang just walked into the middle of the @POLITICO newsroom and shouted "IT'S ANDREW YANG" and we all just looked at him
How's your Wednesday?
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I am officially a bus convert. The stops are *exactly* where I need them to be. I get to sit outside in the sun on my transfer. It's $2 flat no matter how many times you switch and starting this summer it is FREE. At this point if you still take the Metro WYD honestly
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"I love these guys, but if we could have a few more women senators --" Sen. Klobuchar says at CNN's #HealthCareDebate to deafening applause
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My proudest achievement in my five years at @POLITICO (and six years of app dates in this cursed city) is contributing this rule to our D.C. etiquette guide politico.com/news/magazine/2…
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Around 78 percent of Americans report living paycheck to paycheck.
cnb.cx/2rMg6Sj
Tonight, I asked Scott Perry (R-Pa.) about effect of fed employees being furloughed. He argued it had no real impact since employees eventually get paid back.
"Who’s living that they’re not going to make it to the next paycheck?"
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Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, a longtime advocate for paid leave, negotiated with Sen. Joe Manchin throughout the week to keep paid leave in the bill -- sharing the stories of workers and drafting alternatives. But her efforts were unsuccessful
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Groups launched an eleventh-hour push to keep paid leave in the package, sending mass emails and flooding social media. The hashtag #SavePaidLeave appeared in posts by Paid Leave for All, National Women’s Law Center and other groups along with advocates like Melinda Gates
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Jeffries tells @MeidasTouch he, Schumer, Johnson and Thune talked about “health insurance for undocumented immigrants” for “less than 10 seconds” when they met with Trump.
“They know it’s a lie. So they didn’t even bother to bring it up, because the cameras weren’t rolling.”
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Some Senate Dems are still fighting for the policy, with the opposition originating with Manchin -- not leadership.
“Until the bill is printed, I will continue working to include paid leave in the Build Back Better plan," Gillibrand just said in an emailed statement
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In previous rounds of negotiations, the White House warned House Dems that paid leave would have to be cut, a source said. Lawmakers, advocates had fought successfully to keep it in the package by making dramatic changes from the universal 12-week benefit Biden initially proposed
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The Senate rejected 47-51 @PattyMurray's amendment to the House-passed coronavirus package, H.R. 6201
It would have appended a version of Murray's PAID Leave Act, S. 3513, introduced yesterday, which would guarantee workers 14 paid sick days, 12 weeks paid family + medical leave
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On a related note, this is how I will be entering any and all rooms from this point forward
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But on Wednesday, the benefit fell victim to a broader effort to bring down the cost of the bill, which Democratic lawmakers plan to clear using reconciliation -- the Senate procedure that allows passage of spending-related legislation with a simple majority
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McCarthy dragged McHenry and Graves to the Chipotle in Navy Yard during talks Saturday — only to leave because they didn’t have chips, McHenry tells reporters.
“We walked in, and when they announced they didn’t have chips, he goes ‘WE’RE LEAVING,’ and he walks out,” he recalls.
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Elizabeth Warren tells reporters that “the 32-hour work week is a terrible idea.”
“But do understand most of my staff hasn't seen a 32-hour work week in months and months and months, because they come in and work for the American people, hour after hour after hour”
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DeLauro is also not giving up, telling me in a statement: “I am not done pushing. I am going to keep fighting for the inclusion of paid family and medical leave until I see the final bill text. This is not over.”
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"Democrats do great with rich people. Under Obama, rich people got richer," @tedcruz says at #CNNDebateNight
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This is a big deal. Sanders, chair since 2017, describes himself in the letter as a "lifelong Republican"
"Yet the President’s Executive Order seeks to make loyalty to him the litmus test for many thousands of career civil servants, and that is something I cannot be part of"
Ron Sanders, chair of Federal Salary Council and Trump appointee, just resigned over Trump's EO reclassifying key federal employees
"I simply cannot be part of an Administration that seeks...to replace apolitical expertise with political obeisance," he wrote in his resignation
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“I wanted him to hear from me directly about how painful that was, and how brutal it was, to see that on what was just a horribly brutal weekend,” Smith later told reporters.
“He didn’t say a lot, frankly. I think he was a bit stunned.”
With @BurgessEv: semafor.com/article/06/16/20…
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Story pubbing soon. In the meantime, a reminder that @heatherscope, @AliceOllstein, @marianne_levine and I had this forecast on Saturday: politico.com/news/2021/10/23…
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News: Tillis says he plans to put his weight behind Cantwell (and Grassley’s) tariff bill.
“I think I will reward Chair Grassley by moving forward with this with my support”
“I love anything that claws back power that we should have never conveyed”
“This is not about President Trump. This is about 60 or 70 years of bad decisions”
New: Kaine's latest res is just 1 of myriad ways Dems want to drive the wedge between traditionally free-trade Republicans deeper.
CCM is teasing budget amendments; Cantwell's got a new bill; Wyden is prepping "a longer term effort"
With @BurgessEv: semafor.com/article/04/03/20…. .
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"There's a simple reason [women haven't returned to the workforce]: There's no affordable child care for them," Biden says.
"I couldn't afford child care, and these women can't either."
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D.C. summer hack: have a job that confines you to a series of basically windowless and aggressively air-conditioned buildings connected by underground tunnels for >8 hours a day
91 in DC at 2p... marks the second 90+ day in a row. We may keep adding to this streak for a while.
Stay tuned and stay cool.
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Ron Sanders, chair of Federal Salary Council and Trump appointee, just resigned over Trump's EO reclassifying key federal employees
"I simply cannot be part of an Administration that seeks...to replace apolitical expertise with political obeisance," he wrote in his resignation
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Some ✨personal news✨: After nearly a year of helping out with @POLITICO's employment coverage, I am officially moving over to become a full-time labor reporter!
Excited to join @RebeccaARainey and the rest of our broader economy team at such a critical time on the beat.
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Was recently in an Uber (Columbia Heights neighborhood) where the driver told us about a friend's daughter who had to defer her acceptance to Howard University for a year because she couldn't find anywhere she could afford to live nearby.
This is real, folks
Washington, D.C. "saw the most African American residents — more than 20,000 — displaced from their neighborhoods, mostly by affluent, white newcomers" of any city in the country between 2000 and 2013. washingtonpost.com/transport…
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"That would be a total of $40B for Argentina," Bessent says.
He describes the overall effort as "an economic Monroe Doctrine. ... Much better to use the heft of the U.S. economic power rather than have to use military power" like "with the narco traffic coming out of Venezuela."
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Murkowski calls the administration’s instructing of states to undo full SNAP benefits “shockingly wrong.”
“It’s one thing if the federal government is going to continue its level of appeal … to say this can’t be done.”
“But when you are telling the states — that have said this is a significant enough issue in our state that we're going to find resources to backfill, or frontload, whatever term you want, to help our people — those states should not be penalized for it for doing that. That to me is just shockingly wrong.”
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"America has always counted on union workers," Biden says. "Given half a chance, you've never let the country down."
"We're counting on you again."
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Some ✨personal news✨ today, which also happens to mark my 5th year at @POLITICO: I’m in the process of transitioning onto a new beat covering Congress for @POLITICO and @POLITICOPro’s economic policy teams. (1/5)
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After 7 years to the day @POLITICO, I couldn’t be more excited to share I’m headed to @Semafor to cover Congress, with a focus on economic policy.
It’s an honor to get to join heavy-hitters @burgessev, @kadiagoba and @eschor — and at such a pivotal time: politico.com/newsletters/pla…
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NEW: House Democratic leaders said today they will NOT whip against House Republicans' crypto bill, I'm told.
The whip question sent to members this a.m. says that Waters and Scott "strongly oppose" the legislation, but does not urge them to vote "no": politico.com/f/?id=0000018f-…
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I love D.C. flea markets because what do you mean I just copped a professionally framed front page of the @washingtonpost the day the U.S. withdrew from Vietnam for twenty bucks
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Marshall just chugged a glass of whole milk on the Senate floor, if anyone's wondering how the vibes are in the upper chamber this afternoon
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Evangelist @Franklin_Graham instructed participants to hold hands as they pray for November's election
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Evangelist @Franklin_Graham is leading his 48th prayer rally of the election season in Annapolis, Md. today
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Today I had a lunchtime nail appointment run long, to the point I was nervous I’d be late to a call with a congresswoman; luckily I made it just in time, only for her to apologize if there was background noise bc she was getting her nails done. Lawmakers, they’re just like us 💅🏻
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Live, on @POLITICongress: politico.com/minutes/congres…
Deeper dive for @POLITICOPro subscribers coming shortly.
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Scoop: Freddie Mac’s CEO, COO and head of HR plus the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s COO and head of HR were all fired today, two people familiar with the dismissals tell me.
More in tomorrow’s Principals: semafor.com/newsletters/prin…
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Under S. 3513, the federal government would reimburse employers for all paid sick days and paid leave granted in 2020 and 2021
Here's the press release from when it was introduced: bit.ly/390EToP
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👀 On this press call with the House Freedom Caucus, Johnson tells reporters: "We worked on rescissions, and there'll be more of that, we expect, in the days ahead."
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UPDATE: A DNC spokesperson says they are still reviewing the language.
Union officials, on the other hand, seem to think it's a sure thing: "We appreciate the Democratic Party committees' decision to amend their contract and RFP processes," AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler says.
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The Senate just voted to scrap a CFPB rule that limits how much banks can charge customers for overdrafting their accounts.
“Why would we help the big banks at the expense of working people?” Hawley, the only Republican to vote against, told me. “I just don't understand it.”
By a vote of 52-48, the #Senate passed S.J.Res.18, a joint resolution disapproving the rule submitted by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection relating to "Overdraft Lending: Very Large Financial Institutions".
GOP Senator Hawley voted against.
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Trump's anti-trade agenda and a pandemic-induced recession have combined to accelerate decades-old trends toward automation, eliminating hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs for good — not least, in the Rust Belt states he needs to win in November. politico.com/news/2020/09/16…
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Highly recommend: picking up donuts and coffee and watching the sun rise over the National Mall from the Jefferson Memorial
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The PRO Act passes 225-206.
Just five Republicans voted for the measure: co-sponsors Jeff Van Drew and Chris Smith (N.J.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), along with Reps. John Katko (N.Y.) and Don Young (Alaska). One Democrat voted against it: Henry Cuellar (Texas), an aide said.
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They then went to H St., which did have chips.
“It was kind of a epic McCarthy move,” McHenry said with a laugh. “When he walks in, Graves and I are in the middle of something a bit more serious — and he says, ‘We’re going to Chipotle.’”
✨ lawmakers, they’re just like us ✨
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Today is my first day at Semafor! 🎉
Please add me to your lists: emueller@semafor.com
Signal and cell are still the same (and, as always, DMs are open)
After 7 years to the day @POLITICO, I couldn’t be more excited to share I’m headed to @Semafor to cover Congress, with a focus on economic policy.
It’s an honor to get to join heavy-hitters @burgessev, @kadiagoba and @eschor — and at such a pivotal time: politico.com/newsletters/pla…
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News: The Trump administration is "working on a $20B facility that would be adjacent to our swap line" for Argentina, Bessent tells reporters.
"Many banks are interested in it, and many sovereign funds."
"It is a private-sector solution to Argentina's upcoming debt payments."
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My roommate never fails to remind me that D.C. Twitter is a motherfreaking bubble, I just tried explaining why kicking the CSPAN cameras off the House floor is so devastating and she cut me off and said “both ways sound like watching paint dry” LOL
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The House voted 217-202 along party lines to adopt the resolution allowing House staffers to unionize.
No Republican voted in favor; no Democrat voted against.
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Wiley Nickel tells me that House Financial Services members are planning to wear bowties to tomorrow's hearing -- the last of the year -- in honor of Chair Patrick McHenry, who retires at the end of the month.
"We'll see how many do it. I might be the only Democrat."
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Gallego says he’ll accept a GOP promise to extend ACA subsidies and vote on the CR — as long as that CR lapses “a couple days before Nov. 1.”
That way “if they screw us, then I’d just go back and shut it down again.”
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NEW: Sens. Patty Murray and Tim Kaine are shopping a new version of the child care provisions that were in Build Back Better.
The revamp would cost about half as much — $150B-$200B instead of $400B — and address concerns raised by Manchin and others. politico.com/news/2022/05/08…
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🚨🚨🚨 The WH is exploring a push for a Covid-related paid leave program like that enacted in an earlier round of pandemic relief, 3 people told me today.
What it could look like: 2 weeks of Covid-related sick leave + 12 weeks of family and medical leave politico.com/news/2022/01/27…
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Johnson adds: "Now, we would like to do another reconciliation bill this fall, before the end of the calendar year, and potentially a third one in the spring, where we will also show more and more fiscal responsibility."
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NEW: Dem megadonor Ron Conway is abandoning crypto super PACs after they didn't loop him in on plans to spend in OH.
"Because of your selfish hidden agendas it is time for us to separate," he wrote in a scathing email I viewed. "How short sighted and stupid can you possibly be?"
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House Republicans including @FinancialCmte Chair @PatrickMcHenry and oversight subcommittee Chair @RepHuizenga have long said that the SEC will be one of their top oversight targets this Congress.
They just made their first move. politico.com/news/2023/02/10…
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News: Kaine tells me he is drafting a new motion of disapproval, this one aimed at the “across-the-board” 10 percent tariff Trump announced yesterday.
“We’re talking about it today. … You’ll see us challenge it”
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News: The Chamber of Commerce has entered the (Syria sanctions) chat.
Lawmakers received a letter today, shared with me just now, that urges them to “fully and permanently repeal” the Caesar Act:
Momentum builds in Washington for lifting Syria sanctions
semafor.com/article/10/21/20…
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Another source familiar with the deal says the December vote on a health care bill of Dems’ choosing will, specifically, take place by the end of the second week.
Source adds Dems will “hold [Republicans] accountable” if they don’t play ball on ACA once the government is reopen.
"More than enough" Senate Democratic Caucus members to pass shutdown deal led by Shaheen, King and Hassan, source familiar with deal says
- CR through Jan. 30
- ACA bill vote on bill of Dems' choosing in December
- Minibus has RIF reversals and "protections" against them in future
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Scoop: Wiley Nickel, who entered the race for Thom Tillis’ Senate seat earlier this year, has already begun exploring a run for district attorney instead, we’re told.
That and more on the ripples from Roy Cooper’s looming announcement with @BurgessEv: semafor.com/article/07/24/20…
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"The headlines reporting a shortage of workers are missing the point," @AFLCIO's @lizshuler says at the National Press Club. "We have a shortage of safe, good-paying, sustainable jobs."
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Third time really is a charm! I've been applying to the Paul Miller fellowship since 2019 (took a year off in 2021) and couldn't be more excited to finally be selected. Can't wait for this year ✨
1/3: Congratulations to the 20 journalists selected for NPF’s 2023 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship! Over the year, fellows will network and discuss politics/policy with regulators, lawmakers, experts and the best reporters in the business.
nationalpress.org/newsfeed/n…
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👀 Chris Van Hollen tells me he’s voting no on the Senate deal tonight — and adds that Democrats will decide whether to drag out the process after they see what happens with tonight’s vote.
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NEW: Two people familiar tell me that McHenry, Waters and Schumer discussed attaching stablecoin AND cannabis banking legislation to the FAA bill today.
H/T @BrendanPedersen, who first scooped that they met to talk stablecoins and FAA.
For @POLITICOPro: subscriber.politicopro.com/a…
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NEW: More than 50 prominent women including Gloria Steinem, Dolores Huerta, Ilyse Hogue, Cecile Richards and Tina Tchen sent a letter to Biden’s transition team today endorsing @JulieSuCA for Labor secretary, calling her a “modern-day Frances Perkins.”
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NEW: GOP senators privately told Vance today the administration needs to "put America first" by finding ways to bring down beef prices without ramping up imports.
A spox for Vance told us after they are "pursuing all available options."
With @BurgessEv: semafor.com/article/10/28/20…
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NEW: Rising long-term unemployment is contributing to refuel a debate over how to give workers skills to survive a brutal job market and fill the millions of positions that tech will inevitably create — albeit at a slower pace than it is destroying them. politi.co/3jldx3B
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Setting up interviews with people in Boston apparently means everyone involved is named Sean? Currently emailing a Sean about organizing a call with a different Sean. Perhaps a third Sean would like to join
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“We passed unpaid leave when I first became a senator in 1993, and we were told that we would be able to get a paid leave policy bipartisan,” @PattyMurray told me yesterday. “Here we are 30 years later, and we don’t have it."
With @burgessev: politi.co/3D53OXi
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The House will start debating House Republicans’ crypto bill at noon tomorrow.
They’ll vote at 2 p.m. on the rule, and at 4:30 p.m. on passage.
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SCOOP: @POLITICO has obtained a potential compromise between House Rs on how to restrict U.S. investment in China ("outbound investment") that they hope to add to NDAA.
An aide confirms it is the most recent version.
Text: subscriber.politicopro.com/f…
Story: subscriber.politicopro.com/a…
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LOL McHenry just raised his gavel to close out this House Financial Services Committee hearing with a "The House is adjou-" before catching himself and correcting to "The committee is adjourned"
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“The purpose of that was to put Democrats in a bad position,” Gallego tells @MeidasTouch of Thune setting up a procedural vote on stablecoin legislation.
“We’re here to work. … But don’t try to f*ck us on it” piped.video/watch?v=2_6HIoUE…
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"In a profession where warmth and empathy are sometimes lacking, he was a rare breed."
A moving tribute to @EconomyBen this morning from @SamJSutton (with assists from @VTG2, @KatyODonnell_ and @Reddy) in the newsletter synonymous with his name: politico.com/newsletters/mor…
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This is one of the most rattling updates on the Idaho case. Every woman has a man she doesn’t know holding a conversation with himself in her DMs. None of them deserve to die for it. people.com/crime/idaho-murde…
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Ossoff here calls the Trumps’ crypto deals “gobsmacking.” Warren yesterday told me that the deals “gobsmacked” senators.
Is “gobsmack” having a renaissance??? Because I’m here for it
In the two weeks since plans for an exclusive dinner with the $TRUMP memecoin’s namesake were unveiled, a rush of interest has boosted the once-flagging collectible crypto token and reignited a firestorm on Capitol Hill.
politico.com/news/2025/05/06…
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🚨 RAIL CARRIERS AND UNIONS HAVE REACHED A DEAL!
“Moments ago, following 20 consecutive hours of negotiations at the Department of Labor, rail companies and union negotiators came to a tentative agreement,” a DOL spokesperson says. (1/2)
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NEW: Schumer is hoping to add stablecoin + cannabis banking legislation to the FAA bill even though they weren't included in the base text, I'm told.
But a spokesperson for McConnell says he "continues to oppose marijuana banking."
For @POLITICOPro: subscriber.politicopro.com/a…
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