May 9, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Trump says he's "in no rush" to pass new stimulus package

President Trump. Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

President Trump said Friday while talking to House Republicans that he's "in no rush" to negotiate a deal for another stimulus package, just as the U.S. reported its worst unemployment rates since the Great Depression.

The state of play: White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters Friday, "We've kind of paused as far as formal negotiations go ... Let's have a look at what the latest round [of funding] produces, give it a month or so to evaluate that," per AP.

  • Conservatives in Congress have reservations about passing another financial rescue bill.

The other side: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the next spending bill should be "big and bold," Bloomberg reports.

  • The package Pelosi is putting together includes $500 billion in requests from governors, cities and counties, and up to $300 billion to prevent widespread layoffs of frontline workers, AP notes.

Go deeper... Read: The $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill

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Mark Zuckerberg: Social networks should not be "the arbiter of truth"

Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg argued on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Thursday that social media platforms should not police political speech, and that "people should be able to see what politicians say.”

Why it matters: Zuckerberg was responding to Twitter's decision this week to fact-check a pair of President Trump's tweets that claimed that mail-in ballots are "substantially fraudulent." Twitter's label, which directs users to "get the facts" about mail-in voting, does not censor Trump's tweets.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow1 hour ago - Politics & Policy

House Democrats pull FISA reauthorization bill

Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

House Democrats pulled legislation Thursday that would have renewed expired domestic surveillance laws and strengthened transparency and privacy protections amid broad opposition from President Trump, House GOP leadership and progressive Democrats.

Why it matters: The failure to reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) comes as Trump continues to attack the intelligence community, which he claims abused the law to surveil his 2016 campaign and Trump administration officials.

Go deeper (2 min. read)ArrowUpdated 2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

U.S. GDP drop revised lower to 5% in the first quarter

Data: Bureau of Economic Analysis; Chart: Axios Visuals

The U.S. economy shrunk by an annualized 5% in the first quarter — worse than the initially estimated 4.8% contraction — according to revised figures released by the government on Thursday.

Why it matters: It's the worst quarterly decline since 2008 and shows a huge hit as the economy was just beginning to shut down because of the coronavirus. Economists are bracing for the second quarter's figures to be the worst ever — with some projecting an annualized decline of around 40%.

2 hours ago - Economy & Business