Temperatures reached 90 degrees in Central Park today, breaking an 81-year-old record and royally pissing off office drones who checked weather.com only to see that it’s going to be in the 50s on Saturday. [NYP]
Mnuchin’s understaffed Treasury (where this is no chief of staff or legislative director)
As it confronts the worst economic disaster since the 2008 financial crisis, the Treasury Department is riddled with vacancies among its political appointments. Of 20 Senate confirmed roles reporting to the secretary, seven aren’t filled, and four are occupied by acting officials. The domestic finance unit, which should be handling the brunt of the work related to the coronavirus outbreak, is particularly empty. It has no top boss and is missing three assistant secretaries, who are the next level down. …
The lack of leadership and expertise, bank executives say, was on display this week as the department rushed to meet its goal of beginning the small business loan program on Friday. Lenders complained they were urged to start pushing money out the door without detailed guidance from the Treasury on how to process the loans. One problem, the banks said, was how to show they’d verified the identity of applicants, a requirement of anti-money laundering laws.
Another one bites the dust
President Trump has fired Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, according to a letter from Mr. Trump obtained by CBS News. Atkinson handled the complaint from a whistleblower that led to Mr. Trump’s impeachment.
The letter from Mr. Trump was sent to Senators Richard Burr and Mark Warner, the heads of the Senate Intelligence Committee. It said Mr. Trump is “exercising my power as president” to remove Atkinson.
“It is extremely important that we promote the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of Federal programs and activities,” the letter said. But, the letter continued, it is “vital” that Mr. Trump have the “fullest confidence” in the Inspector General, and “that is no longer the case.”
The Murdochs are lawyering up
Amid the mushrooming coronavirus crisis, Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch are girding for a pandemic of public-interest lawsuits over misinformation and conspiracy theories dispensed by certain Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network personalities such as Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and Trish Regan.
According to a top Murdoch executive, the father-and-son media moguls are ready to go to war with potential plaintiffs such as the Washington League for Increased Transparency and Ethics—aka WASHLITE—an activist non-profit that filed suit on Thursday against Rupert Murdoch, Fox News, and other defendants.
Just a bit behind on this one
Maybe that whole “job tied to insurance” system wasn’t the best idea
Still by far the most of any state
The numbers keep skyrocketing
A probably wise political decision
The official forecasts are getting grimmer
The U.K. is on a similar track to the U.S.
A bad number, but next month’s will be far, far worse
The price of federalism amid a pandemic
The Trump administration’s decision to let states chart their own responses to the coronavirus crisis rather than impose a national strategy will cost thousands of lives and is likely to result in an open-ended outbreak rolling across the country, a dozen public health experts told NBC News.
The only way to win what President Donald Trump has called a war against an “invisible enemy” is to establish a unified federal command, the experts insist — something Trump has yet to do. So far, the federal government hasn’t leveraged all its authority and influence to dramatically expand testing and tracing measures, ensure a sufficient supply of crucial medical equipment or require residents of all 50 states to stay at home.
Each day that passes without such a national strategy, the experts say, will raise the ultimate U.S. death toll from COVID-19, the disease associated with the virus. Right now, there aren’t enough tests and gear as states compete with one another to buy them on the open market. And there is very little ability to trace who has the virus and where it is spreading.
Already a subscriber? Log in or link your magazine subscription
