The Treasury Department and Small Business Administration plan to release the names of businesses that received $150,000 or more in Paycheck Protection Program loans, the agencies announced Friday.
Why it matters: Taxpayers bailed out millions of small businesses seeking relief from the coronavirus pandemic with hundreds of billions of dollars in PPP loans. Any lack of transparency around where the money went could have made it more difficult to know how well the program worked, Axios' Dan Primack reported last week.
Chief Master Sgt. JoAnne Bass was selected as the Air Force chief master sergeant on Friday, the AP reports.
Why it matters: Bass, who has served as Command Chief Master Sergeant for the 2nd Air Force at Mississippi's Keesler Air Force Base, is the first woman to serve as the branch's top enlisted leader in a military branch. She has served in the Air Force since 1993, per AP.
The NCAA will no longer hold championship events in Mississippi, due to the Confederate symbol's "prominent presence" in the state flag, the association announced Friday.
The big picture: The NCAA's decision expands its 2001 rule on the Confederate flag, which banned states from hosting events like the the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament, but granted exceptions to teams based on tournament seeding or ranking, the Washington Post reports.
The revitalization of the Black Lives Matter movement has brought greater attention to Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the end of slavery.
History lesson: Nearly two and a half years after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation and months after the Civil War ended, thousands of slaves in Texas weren't aware they were free until Union Gen. Gordon Granger issued an order on June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas.
Navy Capt. Brett Crozier and his boss, Rear Adm. Stuart Baker, face punitive action over their handling of a coronavirus outbreak onboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt, Navy Adm. Michael Gilday said at a Pentagon press briefing on Friday.
Catch up quick: Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly relieved Crozier after the captain made a rare plea for help over growing coronavirus spread on the ship in late March, by asking that the crew be quarantined due to lack of space.
Urban transit agencies are rethinking how they prevent crime and maintain order following nationwide protests over racial bias and police brutality in the death of George Floyd and others.
Why it matters: Transit police — an often overlooked arm of law enforcement — are the ultimate beat cops. They're positioned as potential leaders in the effort to defuse anger and rebuild trust in cities where there's renewed interest in the concept of community policing.
Violent crime data from the FBI does not support funding local police departments at current levels, activist DeRay Mckesson said Friday during an Axios virtual event.
What he's saying: "Even if you made the argument that we need to have the police to deal with the most violent crimes, that is literally only 5%...What if you took 95% of the budget and moved it somewhere else? The data would support something like that. And that's FBI numbers. That's not even a homegrown number from a think tank," Mckesson said.
A group of Senate Democrats introduced legislation Friday that would make Juneteenth a federal holiday.
The big picture: 46 states and the District of Columbia recognize the holiday commemorating the end of slavery, but legislation to declare it a paid federal holiday has repeatedly stalled in Congress, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Cutting the police budget isn't the answer in Houston, rather, a greater investment must be made in underserved communities, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said on Friday during an Axios virtual event.
What he's saying: "Houston has underfunded our police for years," Turner said. He recently signed an executive order that included a ban on police use of chokeholds or strangleholds. However, he stressed, "that's the first step. I don't want anyone to assume the executive order we put in place, which was significant, is the end of the line."
The recent Supreme Court rulings regarding DACA and the LGBTQ community "are very important steps that support the civil rights of our country," as are the nationwide protests against excessive use of force by police, former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett said on Friday during an Axios virtual event.
Why it matters: Jarrett said that while "the government can't always change the hearts and minds of the American people...what they can do is set the rules." She said changes in policing are trickling down to local communities as states and cities ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants.
The Cook Political Report on Friday moved its prediction of Michigan's 2020 presidential election results from "toss up" to "leans Democratic."
Why it matters: The state, which President Trump flipped in 2016, remains a key swing state in 2020 — and can be viewed as a bellwether for an important section of the president's base due to its concentration of white, working-class voters.
Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger tweeted Thursday that anyone who politicizes mask-wearing as protection from coronavirus "is an absolute moron who can't read."
The big picture: His statement came just after California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statewide order requiring people to wear face coverings in public.
President Trump tweeted Friday that "protesters, anarchists, agitators, looters or lowlifes" who show up at his Tulsa rally this weekend "will not be treated like you have been in New York, Seattle or Minneapolis," promising "a much different scene."
Why it matters: The right to peaceably assemble is guaranteed in the First Amendment, and Trump himself has claimed to be "an ally of all peaceful protesters."
President Trump told Politico in an Oval Office interview published Friday that mail-in voting poses the "biggest risk" to his re-election prospects —all as the Republican Party funnels millions of dollars into lawsuits meant to limit the process.
Why it matters: Trump has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that mail-in voting leads to voter fraud.
Some advisers to President Trump are urging him to lean into Juneteenth during his rally in Tulsa tomorrow.
Why it matters: Aides have been looking for ways to give Trump opportunities to hype the policies he believes have helped African Americans during his presidency — including criminal justice reform, support for historically black colleges and universities, and opportunity zones.
The Washington Post and the New York Times, two of the biggest newsrooms in the U.S., are pushing company-wide diversity initiatives and adding dozens of new positions to cover how race influences issues from national security to health.
Why it matters: The hirings come as the media industry reckons with how to cover race. Top editors across multiple newsrooms have stepped down following actions, words or handlings of covering race and Black Lives Matter protests in their newsrooms. Many have vouched to do more to address issues of systemic racism internally.
The toxic thread in America's fabric since slavery has rarely galvanized such attention or will for change across racial lines. Structural racism is a dominant issue in the presidential election, and Axios is committed to long-term coverage of its effects and the solutions.
Driving the news: We're making structural racism a focus of our What Matters 2020 initiative. Along with automation, capitalism, climate change, China, demographics, health care costs and misinformation, addressing this national challenge will outlive the moment and shape our lives regardless of who wins in November.
Hundreds of companies are vowing to give workers paid time off to vote on Election Day — and some are going a step further, using their technology and resources to help register voters or direct them to polling locations.
Why it matters: More and more businesses have encouraged workers and its customers to vote in recent years, but now — as the country faces a reckoning over longstanding systemic racism — a fresh crop of major employers are introducing new efforts.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar said on Thursday evening that she is withdrawing her name from consideration as Joe Biden's vice presidential pick, saying the nominee should be woman of color.
What she's saying: "America must seize on the moment and I truly believe — as I actually told the VP last night when I called him — that I think this is a moment to put a woman of color on that ticket," Klobuchar told MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell in an exclusive interview. "And there are so many incredible, qualified women. But if you wanna heal this nation right now, my party yes, but our nation, this is a helluva way to do it."
Twitter labeled a video posted by President Trump of a black toddler and a white toddler — edited with a fake chyron that read "terrified todler runs from racist baby" — as "manipulated media" on Thursday night.
Why it matters, via Axios' Ina Fried:Although Twitter's label on the tweet is weaker than two other recent moves, it is sure to irk the president, who has already criticized Twitter and issued an executive order seeking to limit the legal shield protecting social media companies.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused former national security adviser John Bolton late on Thursday of "spreading a number of lies, fully-spun half-truths, and outright falsehoods" in his upcoming tell-all book.
Why it matters: The book "recounts Pompeo breaking with the president across a broad spectrum of his foreign policy issues, from his near-war footing with Iran, transactional dealings with China, diplomatic flirtations with North Korea and freewheeling discussions with allies," according to the Washington Post, which obtained an advanced copy.
The Air Force inspector general is investigating the use of a military reconnaissance plane used to surveil Black Lives Matter protesters in multiple cities, the New York Times first reported and Axios has confirmed.
Driving the news: The top intelligence official at the Department of Defense told Congress last week that he had not received orders from the Trump administration to surveil protesters gathering across the U.S., per the Times.
