Jan 16, 2019

Sherrod Brown inches closer to 2020 run with tour of early voting states

Sherrod Brown, 2016. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is moving closer to a presidential run, announcing Tuesday that he will embark on a "Dignity of Work Tour" this month to the crucial early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

The big picture: Brown, a popular Democratic senator in a state that Trump won by 8 points in 2016, has long been considered a possible 2020 contender. In a statement announcing the tour, Brown said that "dignity of work is a value that unites us all. It's what I fight for everyday...and it's what we will fight for together on this tour around the country."

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Mike Allen

Kenan Thompson and Hasan Minhaj to headline White House Correspondents' Dinner

Kenan Thompson on "SNL" in 2018. Photo: Rosalind O'Connor/NBC via Getty Images

Kenan Thompson, the longest-tenured "Saturday Night Live" cast member, will host the White House Correspondents' Association dinner on April 25.

And Hasan Minhaj — host of Netflix’s "Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj," and the entertainer at the 2017 dinner — will return as featured entertainer.

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Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen

"Billions": Season 2020

Mike Bloomberg speaks at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery in Richmond, Va., on Saturday. Photo: James H. Wallace/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP

Money alone can’t buy a presidential election, but it surely gets you VIP access.

Why it matters: Billionaire Michael Bloomberg is duking it out with Billionaire Donald Trump, often on Billionaire Jack Dorsey’s Twitter and in ads on Billionaire Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook, all chronicled in Billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post.

Go deeper43 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Jennifer A. Kingson

Biometrics invade banking and retail

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

Banks have been quietly rolling out biometrics to identify customers — verifying them by their fingerprint, voice or eye scan — and retailers like Amazon are getting into the game.

Why it matters: These companies are amassing giant databases of our most personal information — including our gait, how we hold our cellphones, our typing patterns — that raise knotty questions about data security and privacy.

Go deeper1 hour ago - Economy & Business