The Evening: WH Blocks CDC Guidance, Unemployment Soars, Maceo and More
May 7, 2020
Battle Between WH and CDC
A battle has erupted between the White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over the agency’s detailed guidelines to help schools, restaurants, churches and other establishments safely reopen, as the NYT reports.
Record Wave of Job Losses
U.S. workers have filed nearly 33.5 million applications for unemployment benefits in the seven weeks since closures were put in place to combat the coronavirus pandemic, showing a wave of layoffs that likely pushed April job losses to record levels, as the WSJ reports.
Senate Fails to Override Trump Iran War Powers Veto
The Senate failed today to override President Donald Trump’s veto of a resolution that would have reined in his ability to wage war against Iran by requiring him to obtain congressional authorization for military action, as Reuters reports.
Climate Check
"This crisis may be an opportunity in disguise for China to implement long-awaited reforms while continuing to support clean energy industries," write Jane Nakano and Lachlan Carey in a new commentary.
CSIS Executive Education
Join CSIS’s Trade Guys for their next crash course on trade policy. The one-day program breaks down the fundamentals of how U.S. trade policy is formulated, the legalities of trade in an international arena, and the impact of Covid-19 on supply chains. Register here.
Video Shorts
Check out CSIS’s new series of video shorts: “Testify,” "What's Happening," "Preview," and “High Resolution.” And don’t forget to subscribe to the CSIS YouTube Channel!
In That Number
$150,000
After initially telling businesses that individual disaster loans could be as high as $2 million, the Small Business Administration has now imposed a $150,000 limit.
Source: Washington Post
Critical Quote
“In the poorest countries, we can already see economies contracting as export earnings, remittances and tourism disappear. Unless we take action now, we should be prepared for a significant rise in conflict, hunger and poverty.”
— UN aid chief Mark Lowcock
iDeas Lab
New satellite imagery of a new facility near Pyongyang International Airport shows a high-bay building large enough to accommodate the entirety of North Korea’s known ballistic missile variants.
The Andreas C. Dracopoulos iDeas Lab at CSIS enhances our research with the latest in cutting-edge web technologies, design, and video.
Optics
(Photo credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images). Members of the National Nurses United protest among empty shoes representing nurses who have died from Covid-19.
Recommended Reading
“The Coming Post-COVID Anarchy,” by former Australian prime minister and Asia Society Policy Institute president Kevin Rudd for Foreign Affairs.
Online Events
Tomorrow, at 9:00 a.m., CSIS will host Taiwan’s vice premier Chen Chi-mai and the Department of Health and Human Services deputy secretary Eric Hargan for a discussion on Taiwan’s Covid-19 response.
Also, at 9:30 a.m., the Brookings Institution will host expert panels to explore China’s growing technological ambitions and achievements and the long-term consequences of China’s aspirations for geopolitical competition and U.S. national security.
Later, at 2:00 p.m., Stanford University’s Hoover Institution will host a virtual briefing with Edward Lazear and Niall Ferguson, senior fellows at the Hoover Institution, to discuss the state of the labor market.
Video
CSIS’s Sam Brannen and Yasmeen Serhan of The Atlantic discussed the future of protest movements in the midst of Covid-19 today. Watch the event here.
Podcasts
In the latest episode of the Coronavirus Crisis Update, Steve Morrison and I spoke with CSIS alum Alisha Kramer, now a resident obstetrics and gynecology doctor in Atlanta. She shares with us her on-the-ground reflections on the risks and fears of health providers.
Listen on Apple Podcast & Spotify.
Smiles
Let’s do something fun today. Funk legend Maceo Parker is really fun. He performed at my friend’s wedding and blew the place apart.