Axios

Some key House Democrats think they've found a clever way to break Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's stranglehold on a popular bill to massively fund the U.S. chip industry at the expense of China.

What's happening: McConnell is trying to force Democrats to choose between bipartisan legislation on the stalled China competition bill and a Democrat-only reconciliation package they might reach with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).

Match Group, the company behind the dating apps Tinder and Hinge, confirmed to Axios on Thursday that it would suspend donations to state attorneys general, after facing charges of hypocrisy for giving money to anti-abortion politicians while at the same time publicly supporting reproductive rights.

Why it matters: Activists are taking the post-Dobbs fight to the business sector, going after corporations for making statements supporting abortion but also giving money to anti-abortion politicians.

Mortgage rates are suddenly kicking it into reverse gear.

Driving the news: The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate experienced its biggest week-to-week drop since 2008, falling from 5.7% to 5.3%, Freddie Mac reported Thursday.

Like General Motors and Tesla, Toyota is out of $7,500 electric-vehicle tax credits for its buyers, as the auto industry grows increasingly desperate to get more consumer incentives for EVs.

Why it matters: Automakers, including Toyota, have been pleading with Congress to lift the cap, saying they need help to incentivize Americans to switch over from gasoline cars.

GameStop chief financial officer Mike Recupero is headed for the exit, and the gaming giant will lay off "a number of" employees as it strives for "sustained profitability," CEO Matt Furlong wrote in a memo to employees obtained by Axios.

Why it matters: Furlong said the move is aimed at reducing costs and shifting toward an "intense owner's mentality" for the failing-business-turned-meme-stock. GameStop has been hemorrhaging cash while promising better days ahead.

Donald Trump's social media company on Thursday disputed a report that the former president had left its board of directors, despite Florida state business records that suggest he did.

Why it matters: Trump Media & Technology Group is at the heart of ongoing federal and state investigations into a blank-check company with which it's agreed to merge.

The Las Vegas Raiders have hired Sandra Douglass Morgan as its new team president, making her the first Black woman in NFL history to serve in the role.

The big picture: Morgan is just the third woman to serve as an NFL team president, joining the Buffalo Bills' Kim Pegula and the Carolina Panthers' Kristi Coleman, USA Today reports.

Narratives have driven the cryptocurrency news cycle for years, and today's overriding theme is not in dispute — things are bad in crypto. Real bad.

Driving the news: But with a crash comes inevitable headlines of doom. And according to fresh data on the industry from a Morning Consult survey released today, crypto investors may be the least likely to agree with them.

Sunny Balwani, the former president and chief operating officer of bankrupt blood-testing company Theranos, on Thursday was found guilty of 12 counts of conspiracy and fraud against certain investors and patients.

• It's a similar verdict to one handed down in January to Theranos founder and ex-CEO Elizabeth Holmes, who once dated Balwani.

Why it matters: Balwani isn't a household name like Holmes, but he was instrumental in building a billion-dollar house of cards that duped both investors and patients.

Voyager Digital's customers woke up to an email breaking the news of its bankruptcy filing: It would be a very long time, if at all, before they could access the crypto held in their accounts.

Why it matters: The crypto lender's customer growth spiked during the pandemic, jumping from 120,000 to over 3.5 million between 2020 and 2022, according to Voyager.

Voyager Digital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, enclosing documents containing many revelations, not least of which being the way the Toronto-based crypto lender describes its own business.

Why it matters: That detail highlights the uniqueness of the current proceeding, one that will be watched keenly by regulators and investors as the firm embarks on a journey to untangle its books in the public eye, as a crypto shop.

Merck is in advanced talks to acquire cancer drugmaker Seagen in a deal that could be worth at least $40 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Why it matters: This would be the year's largest health care merger, and possibly a top five merger overall (depending on if it tops Elon Musk's $44 billion Twitter bid).

Wait 'til next year is the new motto for IPO bankers, as optimism is quickly fading that the market will recover in the back half of 2022.

Why it matters: Congress and regulators have spent more than a decade working to increase the number of public companies, but it's all for naught if stock market volatility scares off prospective issuers.

One sign of the economic times: A website that tracks startup layoffs is serving as a recruiting tool, says Roger Lee, who founded the site, layoffs.fyi, back in March 2020.

Why it matters: Despite what you're hearing about a recession, the job market is still chugging along.

The White House is bracing for Friday’s jobs report, bearing closely watched clues about what's next for the U.S. economy.

Why it matters: Late last year, release of the Consumer Price Index supplanted the employment report as the most anticipated data dump of the month. Now, with the Fed trying to navigate between growth and inflation, the details of the jobs numbers once again are front-burner.

Democrats around the country are launching or discussing state-formed "baby bond" programs — government-backed funds created at birth for some young Americans to access after they turn 18.

The big picture: As President Biden's economic agenda stalls in Congress, some Democrats are turning to individual states to enact social policies to address the racial wealth gap and intergenerational poverty.