Dec 1, 2018

4. Government watchdog: 6 Trump staffers violated Hatch Act by tweeting #MAGA

Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

The U.S. Office of the Special Counsel reported Friday that six Trump staffers have violated the Hatch Act by tweeting out Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again" or #MAGA, on their official Twitter accounts.

Details: The act is intended to prevent federal employees from using their positions to influence election outcomes, and those who violate the act may be fined up to $1,000 and terminated or suspended. The staffers have since received warning letters about the violations.

  1. Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah
  2. Deputy Director of Communications Jessica Ditto
  3. President Trump’s Executive Assistant Madeleine Westerhout
  4. Vice President Pence’s Press Secretary Alyssa Farah
  5. Office of Management and Budget's Deputy Communications Director Jacob Wood
  6. Former Special Assistant to the President and Director of Media Affairs Helen Aguirre Ferré

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Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 11:30 a.m. ET: 5,618,829 — Total deaths: 351,146 — Total recoveries — 2,311,404 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 11:30 a.m. ET: 1,681,793 — Total deaths: 98,933 — Total recoveries: 384,902 — Total tested: 14,907,041 — Map.
  3. Public health: Fauci says data is "really quite evident" against hydroxychloroquine — Nearly half of Americans say someone in their household has delayed medical care.
  4. Tech: Zipline drones deliver masks to hospitals; vaccines could be next
  5. Business: Boeing to lay off 6,770 more U.S. employees.
  6. 🏒Sports: NHL unveils 24-team playoff plan to return from hiatus.
  7. What should I do? When you can be around others after contracting the coronavirus — Traveling, asthma, dishes, disinfectants and being contagious — Masks, lending books and self-isolating — Exercise, laundry, what counts as soap — Pets, moving and personal health — Answers about the virus from Axios experts — What to know about social distancing — How to minimize your risk.
  8. Other resources: CDC on how to avoid the virus, what to do if you get it, the right mask to wear.

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Updated 1 min ago - Politics & Policy

U.S. coronavirus updates

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins; Map: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios. This graphic includes "probable deaths" that New York City began reporting on April 14.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said Wednesday the city will start to lift coronavirus restrictions on Friday after seeing a 14-day decline in community spread of the virus. The city’s current stay-at-home and business closure orders were set to run through June 8.

By the numbers: More than 98,900 people have died from the novel coronavirus and over 1.6 million have tested positive in the U.S. Over 384,900 Americans have recovered and more than 14.9 million tests have been conducted.

Go deeper (2 min. read)ArrowUpdated 7 mins ago - Health

Boeing to lay off 6,770 more U.S. employees

Lufthansa Boeing 747 passenger aircraft. Photo: Boris Roessler/picture alliance via Getty Images

Boeing will lay off 6,770 more U.S. employees as it seeks to offset the plummeting demand from the coronavirus pandemic and its year-long grounding of the 737 MAX, CEO Dave Calhoun told employees Wednesday.

The big picture: The layoffs are part of Boeing's previously-announced move to cut 10% of its workforce, which included 5,530 voluntary layoffs. The jobs most in peril are related to its commercial industry, while the company's defense, space and related services businesses will try to limit the overall job loss, per a Boeing spokesperson.

Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow10 mins ago - Economy & Business