The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Facebook – Trump may exert unprecedented power on nominees

by Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver - 04/16/20 6:33 AM ET

Presented by Facebook

Welcome to The Hill’s Morning Report. It’s Thursday. We get you up to speed on the most important developments in politics and policy, plus trends to watch. Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver are the daily co-creators, so find us @asimendinger and @alweaver22 on Twitter and recommend the Morning Report to your friends. CLICK HERE to subscribe!

Total U.S. coronavirus deaths reported each morning this week: Monday, 22,109; Tuesday, 23,649. Wednesday, 26,057; Thursday, 30,985.

President Trump hinted that today is a “very big day” because the White House expects to advise states how they can relax coronavirus restrictions and reopen businesses in an environment in which tens of millions of Americans are unemployed and some economists think the country could be heading into a depression.

Trump previewed the pending guidelines at Wednesday’s coronavirus briefing, pointing to data showing the United States has passed the peak of coronavirus cases at the national level. He indicated that some of the guidelines would be aimed at states that have not seen high numbers of COVID-19 cases, as have some major cities, such as New York City, New Orleans and Detroit.

“The battle continues but the data suggests that nationwide we have passed the peak on new cases,” Trump said at a news conference in the White House Rose Garden. “These encouraging developments have put us in a very strong position to finalize guidelines on states for reopening the country,” the president continued (The Hill).

“We’ll be opening some states much sooner than others,” Trump said.

Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator, told reporters that nine states have fewer than 1,000 confirmed cases and are reporting just a few dozen new cases per day. However, any lifting of restrictions will have to take place at the state level as governors hold the power to decide what businesses to reopen and which to keep shuttered. Governors in Northeastern states decided in recent days to come together to “help devise a plan to slowly reopen parts of each state,” according to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), while some West Coast governors have done the same thing.

The White House also saw pushback from some CEOs on Wednesday as they cautioned that a return to semi-normalcy for companies can only take place with wider testing abilities and increased availability of protective equipment (The Associated Press).

The Washington Post: Trump’s attempt to enlist businesses in reopening push gets off to rocky start.

The Associated Press: China, Europe show that restarting virus-hit economies is not easy.

The Hill: GOP senators push for quick, partial reopening of economy.

The Hill: Health experts pushed to side at Trump briefings.

The New York Times: California set the tone on coronavirus shutdowns. What’s its next move?

Trump’s “big day” will start out with headlines this morning that an estimated 22 million people in the United States have lost their jobs since March, scrambling his projections for a swift rebound this year (Yahoo Finance).

The president is pushing to revive the flailing U.S. economy, but public health experts and some business leaders believe much more preparation must be in place in some parts of the country to battle new virus outbreaks through testing, contact tracing, quarantine and ample healthcare staffing, if Americans are to return to work, school and travel.

Economists, anticipating that millions more U.S. workers filed for unemployment last week, are increasingly jittery about rising joblessness, a drop of close to 9 percent in retail sales in March and forecasts from some of the nation’s largest financial institutions that the economy’s second quarter will be so bleak, it may be described as a depression.

“The economy is clearly in ruins here,” said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG Union Bank (CNBC).

The New York Times: U.S. retail sales plunged 8.7 percent in March, the biggest decline in the nation’s history.

Reuters: Bank of America on Wednesday offered a dour economic outlook, reporting a 48.5 percent drop in first-quarter net income while warning that it anticipates a recession and set aside an additional $3.6 billion to cover potential losses.

New York Post: Troubled JC Penney is exploring filing for bankruptcy protection after closing 850 stores during the pandemic and conceding it could not make a debt payment this week.

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LEADING THE DAY

CONGRESS: “They’ve been warned.”

Trump on Wednesday threatened to use his executive authority to adjourn both houses of Congress if the Senate will not confirm his nominees to vacancies across the administration, including judicial appointees.

“The Senate should either fulfill its duty and vote on my nominees or it should formally adjourn so I can make recess appointments,” the president said, chafing at the rules that allow the minority to procedurally stretch out the confirmation process and vowing to sideline Congress to make recess appointment, or go to court to get his way.

“We have a tremendous number of people that have to come into government. And now more so than ever before because of the virus,” he said from the Rose Garden (The Hill).

Trump has the power to adjourn Congress, but no president in history has done it, and some constitutional law experts believe he is misinterpreting his authority (Forbes). More common in history are presidential threats to call Congress back into session. The Senate is scheduled to return to Washington May 4 and Congress has set Jan. 3, 2021, as its formal date for adjournment.

Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution provides that the president “may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper.”

“It’s been a very partisan government for a long time,” Trump said, turning aside a question about whether he would be undercutting his own goals to move major legislation if he tried to recess Congress. “It’s because of the Democrats,” he continued. “They’re taking so much time and approving every — they’re trying to put us through the mill.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who is nothing if not focused on using Senate floor time to secure confirmations, spoke with Trump on Wednesday to pledge continued efforts without embracing temporary recess appointments.

Republicans went “nuclear” in 2019 to change the Senate’s rules and cut down on the amount of time it takes to confirm most executive nominees and district judges. But Democrats are still able to force McConnell to eat up days of floor time for a single nomination under the chamber’s rules.

> Tick, tick, tick … Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin raised expectations but failed on Wednesday to agree on a deal to replenish an oversubscribed small business lending program. It ran out of funds on Wednesday night and GOP lawmakers raced to attack Democrats as responsible for demanding add-ons to legislation and stalling federal help to small business owners who are in financial straits during the pandemic (The Hill). The Schumer-Mnuchin meeting had been seen early in the day as a positive sign after days of stalemate (Bloomberg News).

GOP leaders warned late on Wednesday that the Small Business Administration (SBA) will have to stop accepting applications for the recently enacted Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which provides loans to employers who opt to keep workers on payrolls during the public health emergency. They cast Democrats as motivated by partisan political goals: “The notion that crucial help for working people is not appealing enough to Democrats without other additions sends a strange message about their priorities.”

> House Democrats responded with furious blowback to the president’s controversial decision to place a hold on U.S. funding for the World Health Organization (WHO), which is part of the United Nations. House Republicans say they want to investigate how the global health agency responded to China when the coronavirus emerged from Wuhan late last year (The Hill). WHO’s critics, including Trump, say China was not transparent with the world about the outbreak of the new contagion and that WHO contributed to the pandemic by not pressing China to share data early and to allow outside experts into the country. Trump on Wednesday accused WHO of “a coverup.”

As Reid Wilson reports, WHO, which is a chronically underfunded agency, walks a fine line with member nations and can encourage but cannot compel sovereign partners to share data about disease outbreaks. Researchers around the world say the administration’s freeze on WHO funding during a deadly pandemic is misplaced and unwise.

As both parties negotiate coronavirus relief legislation and discuss a potential recovery bill, a consensus is needed for benchmarks states will use as they move cautiously to reopen their economies. The whole project has become partisan, with both parties gauging the electoral implications in November (The Hill).

Looking ahead, Hoyer told Bloomberg BNA on Wednesday that “there’s a possibility” that lawmakers will put appropriations bills on the floor by June. “It ought to be relatively easy to reach agreement,” he predicted, citing progress on the House Appropriations Committee, chaired by Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.).

***

POLITICS: Former Vice President Joe Biden rolled out another key endorsement on Wednesday as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) tossed her weight behind the presumptive Democratic nominee.

In a 4-minute video, Warren hailed Biden as the candidate to “rebuild and transform” the U.S. and urged her supporters to back the former vice president in the general election, saying, “We’re all in this together now.”

“Joe Biden has spent nearly his entire life in public service,” Warren said. “He knows that a government run with integrity, competence, and heart will save lives and save livelihoods. And we can’t afford to let Donald Trump continue to endanger the lives and livelihoods of every American.”

Warren’s announcement marked the third straight day of a high-profile endorsement of Biden’s presidential bid. On Monday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) threw his support behind Biden only days after dropping out of the Democratic nomination fight, while former President Obama announced his long-awaited endorsement on Tuesday.

Wednesday’s endorsement also means that all of Biden’s opponents for the Democratic nomination are behind his campaign as Warren was the last remaining candidate to back him.

Hours after Warren rolled out her endorsement, Biden made a pitch to Warren’s extensive list of supporters, saying that he wasn’t going to ask for donations yet and planned to “earn your trust.”

Annie Linskey, The Washington Post: Warren endorses former Biden as allies ponder her future role.

Reuters: Warren says she would accept an offer to be Biden’s running mate.

The Hill: Michigan, Wisconsin Democratic senators endorse Biden.

The Wall Street Journal: Biden campaign indicates Priorities USA is preferred super PAC.

As of this morning, there are only 200 days until the general election and Democrats are growing more confident in their chances to retake the White House and unseat the president.

As Julia Manchester and Max Greenwood write, politicos on both sides view the November election through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the American public’s views on how Trump steers the country through the worst public health crisis in modern memory.

Polling suggests a tight race, but recent surveys give Democrats hope that Biden can top Trump in states such as Florida and Arizona that are crucial to his reelection chances. Down ballot, Democrats are also feeling upbeat about their chances to flip the Senate.

The New York Times: The Democratic establishment suddenly loves Bernie Sanders.

> Independent bid?: With all eyes on a Trump-Biden general election matchup, some are keeping eyes on Rep. Justin Amash (I-Mich.) as he once again considers launching a third-party White House bid.

As Jonathan Easley writes, the Michigan congressman, who bolted the GOP in July over frustration with the party’s loyalty to Trump, recently hinted that voters deserve a third choice in November, sparking chatter that the libertarian-leaning lawmaker could seek the Libertarian Party nomination.

While libertarians have been pursuing Amash for months, he is not guaranteed to win the Libertarian Party’s nomination at next month’s convention in Austin. However, many in the party view the Michigan lawmaker as a boon for libertarians as he would bring an avalanche of media attention, give them their best shot at making the debate stage and leave an impact on the race.

Having Amash on the ballot in the fall would also create potential issues for Trump in Michigan; the president won the state by less than 11,000 votes (0.23 percent). The siphoning of any meaningful portion of votes could doom the incumbent’s chances of winning the state’s 16 electoral votes. The Trump campaign says it’s not worried by what it views as a fringe candidate seeking media attention.

The Washington Post: Democrats eye tantalizing Senate prize in Georgia but face doubts about seizing it.

IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES

CORONAVIRUS & INTERNATIONAL: Around the world on Wednesday, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases shot past the 2 million mark, with at least 137,193 fatalities.

> Germany: A partial reopening of shops next week and schools on May 4 begins to ease Germany out of stay-at-home instructions during the pandemic (Reuters). Social distancing restrictions will remain in place at least through May 3, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday (Reuters).

> United Kingdom: Great Britain is proud of its National Health Service, ferociously flag-waving about World War II and charmed by do-gooder Tom Moore, who will be 100 on April 30. To mark his birthday, Moore initially set out to raise $1,250 by walking laps around his garden (with his walker) to benefit healthcare workers battling COVID-19.

But the former WWII army captain got a huge surprise when word circulated on social media and his project attracted pledges totaling $10 million for NHS Charities Together, a collective that supports the medical staff, volunteers, facilities and patients of the NHS, Britain’s publicly funded healthcare system, which was created after the Second World War (NPR).

Moore’s reaction? “Out of this world” (The Associated Press).

> Italy: Europe’s mournful coronavirus hot spot is demonstrating that months of mitigation may be turning a corner at long last as new infection cases slow (Reuters). Yet the death toll remains stubbornly high, rising by 578 on Wednesday, but still a drop from 602 on Tuesday. New cases of infection in Italy slowed to 2,667 from a previous 2,972 this week.

The Morning Report is created by journalists Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver. We want to hear from you! Email: asimendinger@digital-stage.thehill.com and aweaver@digital-stage.thehill.com. We invite you to share The Hill’s reporting and newsletters, and encourage others to SUBSCRIBE!

OPINION

How not to hold an election during a pandemic, by George F. Will, columnist, The Washington Post. https://wapo.st/2yh7rOg

The secret weapon hidden in Obama’s endorsement of Biden, by Joe Lockhart, opinion contributor, CNN. https://cnn.it/3acMYHq

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WHERE AND WHEN

The House will hold a pro forma session on Friday at 11 a.m.

The Senate will convene in a pro forma session at 3 p.m.

The president will join a video teleconference with G7 leaders at 8:30 a.m, and take part in calls with members of the House and Senate at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., respectively. Trump will speak about U.S. truckers at 1:30 p.m. in the Rose Garden. He also plans a conference call at 3 p.m. with the nation’s governors to announce “generalized guidelines” to states and municipalities about safely returning to economic activity while the nation continues to battle COVID-19.

Vice President Pence will convene an afternoon meeting of the White House coronavirus task force and participate in an evening news briefing.

The Coronavirus Report, helmed by The Hill’s Editor-at-Large Steve Clemons, has updates and exclusive video interviews with policymakers emailed each day. Sign up HERE!

Hill.TV’s “Rising” program features news and interviews at http://digital-stage.thehill.com/hilltv or on YouTube at 10:30 a.m. ET at Rising on YouTube.

ELSEWHERE

➔ Tech: Apple rolled out a new, cheaper iPhone on Wednesday in a virtual event as the global pandemic tightens the screws on pocketbooks across the world. The new smartphone, the iPhone SE, will be the cheapest iPhone available at $399 — $300 less than the iPhone 11. It includes a wireless charger, high-end camera and the same processor chip as the iPhone 11 Pro, the most advanced phone sold by the company. Apple will begin taking orders on Friday for sales that begin next week (The New York Times).

➔ Peace Corps: The respected agency, which places volunteers in more than 60 countries across the globe, evacuated all of its 7,300 volunteers because of the coronavirus. What happens to those participants next is under discussion (The Hill). One suggestion: Ask some volunteers to become public health contact tracers during the next phase of the COVID-19 contagion (The Washington Post).

➔ Little League World Series: The boys and girls of summer are ready to play. But Little League, like most of the sports world, has been benched. The youth baseball program that boasts more than 2.5 million kids spread over 6,500 programs in 84 countries is on hold at least until May 11 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Even that target date seems optimistic, and the fate of its signature event, the Little League World Series in August in South Williamsport, Pa., is unclear (The Associated Press).

➔ Oral history: Some of the most impactful reporting about recent events tied to COVID-19 comes from first-person accounts that inform, but also help us see the emergency. For readers with time and the emotional bandwidth, we recommend just a few among many moving accounts:

> “I’m an E.R. doctor in New York. None of us will ever be the same,” by Helen Ouyang for The New York Times;

> “The fight for New York: 24 hours in a city under siege,” The Associated Press;

> “You’re basically right next to the nuclear reactor,” by anesthesiologist Cory Deburghgraeve, for The Washington Post;
> “The power of art in a time of the coronavirus crisis,” by musician Aldo Sebastián Cicchini, for UN News; and

> “It’s like a war,” by Fabiano Di Marco, a professor at the University of Milan who also heads the respiratory unit of a major hospital in Italy, for The Daily, The New York Times.

THE CLOSER

And finally … It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for this week’s Morning Report Quiz! Inspired by the new realities surrounding a coveted commodity, we’re eager for some smart guesses about toilet paper during the world’s pandemic movements.

Email your responses to asimendinger@digital-stage.thehill.com and/or aweaver@digital-stage.thehill.com, and please add “Quiz” to subject lines. Winners who submit correct answers will enjoy some richly deserved newsletter fame on Friday.

Let’s begin at the beginning. In what year was toilet paper invented in the United States, according to TP historians?