Trump vetoes resolution limiting war powers against Iran
President Trump condemned Democrats after vetoing a resolution that would have limited his ability to use military action against Iran without congressional approval.
US News
High Number of Background Checks for Firearms Purchase in April
The FBI recorded 2.9 million background checks for the purchase of firearms in the month of April, the Washington Examiner reported. Under US federal law, all gun distributors must run background checks with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to ascertain buyers have no criminal record preventing them from owning a gun.
Two-thirds of people question accuracy of US coronavirus death toll: Survey
A poll from Axios and Ipsos found 67% of respondents do not believe the COVID-19 death toll, which as of Monday stood at around 69,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, including data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Consumer debt hits new record of $14.3 trillion
Consumer debt hit a fresh record high to start 2020, even as credit card balances declined while Americans adjusted to the coronavirus pandemic.
Treasury to borrow $3 trillion in second quarter, far more than during financial crisis
The Treasury Department announced on Monday that it expects to borrow $3 trillion during the second quarter this year.
US Supreme Court Justices ‘Phone It In’ for the First Time in Hearing a Case
The Supreme Court’s historic livestreaming of its first-ever oral argument by telephone went without a hitch on Monday, spurring new calls for the high court to keep up the practice for the public’s benefit.
AG Barr directs U.S. Attorneys to protect constitutional rights, follows Texas guidance issued one week earlier
U.S. Attorney General William Barr has directed every U.S. Attorney “to be on the lookout for state and local directives that could be violating the constitutional rights and civil liberties of individual citizens.”
Trump administration says Planned Parenthood does not qualify for small business loans
A senior US government official has said that clinics run by abortion provider Planned Parenthood will not qualify for a federal aid program being offered to small businesses during the COVID-19 crisis. Part of the wider Cares Act, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is intended to support businesses with fewer than 500 employees.
Majority of US spy agencies believe the coronavirus escaped from Wuhan lab
A majority of the U.S. Intelligence Community’s 17 spy agencies believe the coronavirus likely originated with an accidental lab escape from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, a senior intelligence official told the Washington Examiner.
‘Killer tornadoes’ struck at historic levels in April in the US
April was an historic month for tornadoes in the United States, as reflected in the tragic monthly data released by the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center (SPC) Friday.
More than 3.8 million new unemployment claims filed; 6 week total exceeds 30 million
The six-week surge in new unemployment claims continued last week as businesses deemed nonessential by state and local governments reduce staffing in response to COVID-19.
Trump, business leaders discuss plans to slowly reopen U.S. economy
President Donald Trump invited some of the top leaders in business and industry to the White House Wednesday for a discussion on how to safely begin reopening parts of the economy that have been devastated by stay-home orders in response to COVID-19.
US Marriage Rate Hits Record Low
The US marriage rate is at its lowest since the federal government began collecting data in 1867, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) reported on Wednesday. Lead author of the report Sally Curtin told the Wall Street Journal: “Millennials are in peak marriage years, their 20s and 30s, and it’s still dropping. This is historic.”
FBI discussed interviewing Michael Flynn ‘to get him to lie’ and ‘get him fired,’ handwritten notes show
Explosive new internal FBI documents unsealed Wednesday show that top bureau officials discussed their motivations for interviewing then-national security adviser Michael Flynn in the White House in January 2017 — and openly questioned if their “goal” was “to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired.”
U.S. Top Virus Fighter Fauci Warns Of New Infections Wave
America’s top health official in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic dampened hopes of a full reopening of the U.S. economy as he expects many more cases of the virus disease COVID-19.
U.S. Economy Down 4.8 Percent In Biggest Decline Since Great Recession
The U.S. economy shrank at 4.8 percent in the first quarter of this year, the most significant decline since the Great Recession of the late 2000s, as the nation shivers of the coronavirus pandemic measures. With much of America in lockdown, figures released by the Commerce Department showed that the United States entered a recession that will end the longest expansion on record.
US Supreme Court declines opportunity to expand or restrict gun rights
The U.S. Supreme Court declined the opportunity Monday to issue a ruling that would either expand or restrict gun rights, Reuters reported. The Justices dismissed a National Rifle Association-backed lawsuit that challenged restrictions imposed on handgun owners by New York City. In an unsigned majority decision, the Justices said the case was moot as NYC had already lifted the restrictions that were objected to.
Federal Debt Up $1 Trillion in April
The federal debt has increased by more than $1 trillion so far in the month of April, according to data released by the U.S. Treasury.
Poll: ’90 Percent of Americans Fear U.S. Economy Collapse.’
Nearly nine out of every 10 Americans fear the imminent collapse of the U.S. economy during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new poll. The Axios-Ipsos CoronavirusIndex also showed that Americans fear the possible financial ruin of their nation more than the risk of reopening communities too early amid the virus outbreak.
Pentagon to backfill money diverted to build border wall
The Trump administration notified Congress this week that it will try to refill the money it took from Pentagon accounts to use to build the border wall by cutting European defense assistance.