Feb 15, 2017

Fed Chair Janet Yellen is ready to fight Republicans

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Janet Yellen sat for her second day of her semiannual questioning before Congress on Wednesday, where she faced tough questioning from House Republicans on banking regulation.

The most important exchange: Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga asked Yellen if she thought that eliminating "unreasonable regulations" would have led to a "faster and steeper recovery." Yellen said that she didn't agree with that statement, a rare assertion of ideology from the Fed Chair.

Why it matters: Janet Yellen is clearly committed to the idea of post-crisis regulatory reform, and will fight pressure from outside the Fed to ease bank regulations. Republicans however, are hoping that there is enough time in this Congress, after healthcare and tax reform, to turn to a significant Dodd-Frank rollback that may include extra provisions that would limit the Fed's powers and independence.

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Alison Snyder
8 mins ago - Science

CRISPR co-discoverer on the gene editor's pandemic push

Photo illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photos: Brian Ach/Getty Images for Wired and BSIP/UIG via Getty Images

The coronavirus pandemic is accelerating the development of CRISPR-based tests for detecting disease — and highlighting how gene-editing tools might one day fight pandemics, one of its discoverers, Jennifer Doudna, tells Axios.

Why it matters: Testing shortages and backlogs underscore a need for improved mass testing for COVID-19. Diagnostic tests based on CRISPR — which Doudna and colleagues identified in 2012, ushering in the "CRISPR revolution" in genome editing — are being developed for dengue, Zika and other diseases, but a global pandemic is a proving ground for these tools that hold promise for speed and lower costs.

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Axios
Updated 9 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 5 p.m. ET: 18,912,947 — Total deaths: 710,318— Total recoveries — 11,403,473 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 5 p.m. ET: 4,867,916 — Total deaths: 159,841 — Total recoveries: 1,577,851 — Total tests: 58,920,975 — Map.
  3. Politics: Pelosi rips GOP over stimulus negotiations: "Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn" — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine tests positive.
  4. Public health: Majority of Americans say states reopened too quickly — Fauci says task force will examine aerosolized spread.
  5. Business: The health care sector imploded in Q2 — More farmers are declaring bankruptcy — July's jobs report could be an inflection point for the recovery.
  6. Sports: Where college football's biggest conferences stand on playing.
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Danielle Alberti, Ursula Perano
59 mins ago - Politics & Policy

America's rush for young poll workers

Note: Colorado is a mail-in ballot state, but they also offer in-person polls.; Map: Danielle Alberti/Axios

Local elections officials are sprinting to recruit younger poll workers ahead of November after elderly staff stayed home en masse to avoid coronavirus during primary elections.

Why it matters: A Pew Research analysis reports that 58% of U.S. poll workers in the 2018 midterms were 61 or older. Poll worker shortages can cause hours-long voting lines and shutter precincts.

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