Happy Tuesday and welcome back to On The Money. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.
See something I missed? Let me know at slane@digital-stage.thehill.com or tweet me @SylvanLane. And if you like your newsletter, you can subscribe to it here: http://bit.ly/1NxxW2N.
Write us with tips, suggestions and news: slane@digital-stage.thehill.com, njagoda@digital-stage.thehill.com and nelis@digital-stage.thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @SylvanLane, @NJagoda and @NivElis.
THE BIG DEAL—Trump to share guidelines on reopening economy this week, Kudlow says: President Trump will likely unveil guidelines this week geared toward allowing certain parts of the country to reopen their economies, National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow said Tuesday.
- Kudlow would not detail specifics of Trump’s proposal, saying only that he expects “some very important announcements” in the next few days.
- He stressed that the decision on when to reopen parts or all of the economy would be driven by data presented by health experts in the administration.
- Kudlow also acknowledged that lifting restrictions would likely have to be done on a rolling basis as certain regions show more progress than others in fighting the virus.
His comments come on the same day Trump is expected to announce the members of what he has dubbed the “Reopening the Country Council,” a collection of Cabinet officials who will steer efforts to boost the economy in the face of the pandemic. The group’s membership and exact role remains unclear. The Hill’s Brett Samuels fills us in here.
Trump squabbles with governors over reopening:
- Trump has appeared eager to lift federal social distancing guidelines in place through the end of the month.
- Many governors, however, have imposed more stringent measures at the state level that have closed nonessential businesses and urged residents to stay at home. Some of those measures are expected to remain in effect through much or all of May.
Trump asserted on Monday that he has “total authority” to dictate when states lift those restrictions, an argument that was quickly refuted by Republicans, Democrats and legal experts who noted the Constitution delegates powers to states that are not expressly granted to the federal government.
- “The constitution doesn’t allow the federal gov’t to become the ultimate regulator of our lives because they wave a doctor’s note,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) tweeted Tuesday.
- Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said that while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the White House would be providing guidelines, the Constitution and “common sense” dictate that decisions about when to reopen shuttered parts of the country are made at the state level.
- Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) didn’t directly mention Trump but tweeted Monday night that “the federal government does not have absolute power.”
LEADING THE DAY
Food supply worries grow after outbreak closes Smithfield meat plant: Pork processor Smithfield Foods’s decision to shut down a major U.S. plant after a coronavirus outbreak among workers is putting a spotlight on the food supply chain during the pandemic.
- Consumer and worker safety groups say the Smithfield incident highlights that more must be done to ensure the welfare of those working in the industry as well as those buying food.
- There are worries that if more plants close, American consumers could be hit by shortages.
- Some industry groups say the Trump administration must provide more protections for essential workers, a category that includes food suppliers.
The Hill’s Alex Gangitano explains here.
Business tax provisions in coronavirus relief law spark controversy: Democrats and left-leaning groups are criticizing provisions in coronavirus relief legislation relating to the tax treatment of business losses.
- Legislation President Trump signed late last month, known as the CARES Act, made several tax changes relating to businesses’ net operating losses (NOLs) — reversing restrictions imposed by Republicans’ 2017 tax-cut law.
- The CARES Act provisions were aimed at providing businesses with more cash flow so that they can better manage the coronavirus crisis.
But some Democrats have been arguing that the provisions in the legislation provide businesses with tax benefits that are too broad, and that one provision in particular is a boon for the wealthy. The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda tells us more here.
G-7 finance ministers open to suspending debt payments for needy countries: Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven (G-7), the world’s largest advanced economies, said Tuesday that they were prepared to suspend debt payments for emerging economies struggling with the coronavirus pandemic. The group called on private creditors to also work with poor countries to provide some level of debt relief on a voluntary basis. The Hill’s Niv Elis has more here.
GOOD TO KNOW
- Major U.S. airlines have reached an agreement with the Treasury Department to accept billions of dollars in coronavirus rescue funds, the department announced Tuesday.
- Stocks took solid gains Tuesday amid a debate between President Trump and U.S. governors over how soon states can begin relaxing economically restrictive social distancing orders meant to slow the coronavirus pandemic.
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a report released Tuesday predicted that the coronavirus pandemic will spark the worst recession since the Great Depression in the 1930s.