The Senate confirmed Erica Schwartz for Centers for Disease Control director on Wednesday, giving the beleaguered agency its first full-time political leader in almost a year. Why it matters: While the 51-44 vote marked a step toward refilling the depleted ranks of the Trump administration's health care leadership, it didn't fully resolve questions about whether Schwartz could steer clear of political interference. Driving the news: Just one Democrat — Sen. Tim Kaine (Va.) — supported Schwartz's nomination, along with all of the Republicans present. - "She's got the qualifications for the job," Kaine told Politico last week after voting to advance Schwartz's nomination out of committee. Schwartz is a physician who worked at the…
Sens. Whitehouse and Heinrich say the inspector general must probe the agency’s internal documents after Justice Department officials said Interior concealed information about damage to the pool’s renovations.
Private employment data suggests that the labor market might be tighter than the headline hiring numbers alone suggest, with worker pay accelerating alongside lackluster jobs growth. Why it matters: Employers are pulling back on hiring as they navigate an uncertain economic outlook, but supply constraints continue to limit the pool of available workers in some industries. - That's helping speed up pay growth — a boon for workers in industries like construction and health care, where employers are still competing for scarce labor. - But the labor market is becoming increasingly uneven: While employers in some sectors are paying up to attract workers, others are more cautious about hiring as they contend with geopolitical uncertainty,…
New York Times reporter Eric Lipton discusses his Pulitzer Prize-winning investigations into Trump's conflicts of interest and whether he's exploiting the power of the presidency for self-enrichment.
Federal judges, appointed by both Democrats and Republicans, have handed the Justice Department a steady stream of losses in the administration's attempt to obtain sensitive voter information. Why it matters: The DOJ has sued 30 U.S. states, as well as D.C., for rebuffing its demands, all to back President Trump 's efforts to reshape voting after years of spreading unproven claims of massive fraud. The latest: U.S. District Judge Philip Brimmer, a George W. Bush appointee, sided with Colorado in dismissing the DOJ's case against the Democratic secretary of state with prejudice Monday. - The administration argued that provisions in the Civil Rights Act of 1960 gave the attorney general "sweeping power" to obtain the sought-after…