Oct 24, 2017

Senate passes $36.5 billion disaster relief package

A U.S. Army helicopter transports material to repair the Guajataca Dam, damaged during Hurricane Maria. Photo: Ramon Espinosa / AP

The Senate passed a $36.5 billion relief package Tuesday to aid victims of recent wildfires and hurricanes, as well as "extend emergency credit to Puerto Rico to keep its government functioning," according to the Wall Street Journal. The package passed the House earlier this month.

  • Why it matters: The bill would allocate $16 billion to the U.S.' flood-insurance program, $576.5 million to wildfire efforts, $18.7 billion to FEMA disaster relief, and $4.9 billion to Puerto Rico to avoid a government shutdown.
  • What comes next: Trump has to sign the bill.

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Dan Primack
1 hour ago - Economy & Business

There's little consensus on TikTok's specific national security threat

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

TikTok has become a Rorschach test for how U.S. politicians view China, with little consensus on the specifics of its threat to homeland security.

The big picture: Much of what D.C. fears about TikTok is fear itself, and that's reflected in President Trump's executive order to ban the app by Sept. 20 if it's not sold by parent company ByteDance — alongside another focused on Chinese messaging app WeChat and its parent company Tencent.

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Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, Ursula Perano
1 hour ago - World

U.S. sanctions Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam

Photo: Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)

The Treasury Department on Friday placed sanctions on Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, following months of tension as she has allowed continued overreach by Beijing to subvert Hong Kong's autonomy.

Why it matters: It's the toughest sanction yet imposed on China for its destruction of Hong Kong’s relatively free political system.

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Ben Geman
2 hours ago - Energy & Environment

GM's high-stakes electric move

The Cadillac Lyriq. Image courtesy of Cadillac

Cadillac on Thursday unveiled the Lyriq, the luxury brand's first all-electric model and GM's first consumer electric vehicle unveil since the Chevy Bolt several years ago.

Why it matters: It's the first reveal by GM of an electric vehicle that will use the company's new modular platform and Ultium battery system — technologies meant to underpin the 20 electric vehicles that GM plans to launch by 2023.

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