Apr 6, 2017

Senate goes nuclear on Gorsuch

Shannon Vavra

Giphy

Republican Senators have officially triggered the nuclear option on Neil Gorsuch's Supreme Court nomination.

What's happening: As expected, Democrats filibustered Gorsuch, and Republicans didn't have the 60 votes to override. They've now changed the vote threshold to confirm Gorsuch by a simple majority of 51 votes.

What's next: The Democrats might force multiple roll-call votes on the floor to prolong the process. The Senate will vote to break the filibuster with the simple majority once the nuclear option is completed. Then comes the 30 hours of additional debate before Gorsuch's final confirmation. Expect a new Supreme Court Justice confirmed sometime Friday evening. They've also changed the rules on future judicial nominees, meaning 51 votes will be sufficient for confirmation.

The final vote tallies:

  • The filibuster: 55-45
  • The vote to invoke nuclear option: 52-48

Go deeper

Axios

China tries to contain coronavirus, as Apple warns of earnings impact

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's NHC; Note: China refers to mainland China and the Diamond Princess is the cruise ship offshore Yokohama, Japan. Map: Danielle Alberti/Axios

As China pushes to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus — placing around 780 million people under travel restrictions, per CNN — the economic repercussions continue to be felt globally as companies like Apple warn of the impact from the lack of manufacturing and consumer demand in China.

The big picture: COVID-19 has now killed at least 1,775 people and infected more than 70,000 others, mostly in mainland China. There are some signs that new cases are growing at a slower rate now, although the World Health Organization said Monday it's "too early to tell" if this will continue.

Go deeperArrowUpdated 1 hour ago - Health
Ina Fried

Apple will miss quarterly earnings estimates due to coronavirus

Apple CEO Tim Cook

Apple issued a rare earnings warning on Monday, saying it would not meet quarterly revenue expectations due to the impact of the coronavirus, which will limit iPhone production and limit product demand in China.

Why it matters: Lots of companies rely on China for production, but unlike most U.S. tech companies, Apple also gets a significant chunk of its revenue from sales in China.

Go deeperArrow2 hours ago - Technology
Orion Rummler

America's dwindling executions

The Trump administration wants to reboot federal executions, pointing to a 16-year lapse, but Pew Research reports the government has only executed three people since 1963.

The big picture: Nearly all executions in the U.S. are done by states. Even those have been steadily dropping for two decades, per the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) — marking a downward trend for all executions in the country.

Go deeperArrow4 hours ago - Politics & Policy