Eleanor Mueller
@Eleanor_Mueller
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Reporter covering the economy on the Hill for @POLITICO & @POLITICOPro. Proud @MerrillCollege & @NatPress Paul Miller alum. PNW native. [email protected].
Washington, DC
Joined September 2014
After 7 years to the day @POLITICO, I couldn’t be more excited to share I’m headed to @Semafor to cover Congress, with a focus on economic policy. It’s an honor to get to join heavy-hitters @burgessev, @kadiagoba and @eschor — and at such a pivotal time:
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🚨 Senate Democrats have decided to drop paid family and medical leave, a key cornerstone of Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, from their mammoth social spending package Wednesday after attempts to drastically pare it down were deemed insufficient, three sources tell me.
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SCOOP: The Democratic Party plans to add an addendum to contracts with consultants that would forbid them from any — really, any — anti-union activity. I got the doc, which comes after reports that Dem pollster GSG aided Amazon's union-busting efforts:
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"We are making sure this country belongs to workers and workers alone," Biden says. "And by the way. Amazon, here we come.".
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Already, advocates are fuming over what they see as an unwillingness by the White House to fight hard enough for a policy it won election on, particularly in the face of a public health crisis and an economic crisis that disproportionately impacted women and low-wage workers.
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The U.S. is the only wealthy nation without paid leave. Just 23% of private-sector workers have access to paid family leave, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 77% have access to paid sick leave. In both instances, they are disproportionately higher-paid workers.
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.@AndrewYang just walked into the middle of the @POLITICO newsroom and shouted "IT'S ANDREW YANG" and we all just looked at him. How's your Wednesday?.
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I am officially a bus convert. The stops are *exactly* where I need them to be. I get to sit outside in the sun on my transfer. It's $2 flat no matter how many times you switch and starting this summer it is FREE. At this point if you still take the Metro WYD honestly.
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"I love these guys, but if we could have a few more women senators --" Sen. Klobuchar says at CNN's #HealthCareDebate to deafening applause.
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My proudest achievement in my five years at @POLITICO (and six years of app dates in this cursed city) is contributing this rule to our D.C. etiquette guide
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Obscene volumes of pizza truly is Congress’ sign of the times
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Around 78 percent of Americans report living paycheck to paycheck.
Tonight, I asked Scott Perry (R-Pa.) about effect of fed employees being furloughed. He argued it had no real impact since employees eventually get paid back. "Who’s living that they’re not going to make it to the next paycheck?".
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Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, a longtime advocate for paid leave, negotiated with Sen. Joe Manchin throughout the week to keep paid leave in the bill -- sharing the stories of workers and drafting alternatives. But her efforts were unsuccessful.
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No one tell Congress about this.
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Groups launched an eleventh-hour push to keep paid leave in the package, sending mass emails and flooding social media. The hashtag #SavePaidLeave appeared in posts by Paid Leave for All, National Women’s Law Center and other groups along with advocates like Melinda Gates.
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Some Senate Dems are still fighting for the policy, with the opposition originating with Manchin -- not leadership. “Until the bill is printed, I will continue working to include paid leave in the Build Back Better plan," Gillibrand just said in an emailed statement.
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In previous rounds of negotiations, the White House warned House Dems that paid leave would have to be cut, a source said. Lawmakers, advocates had fought successfully to keep it in the package by making dramatic changes from the universal 12-week benefit Biden initially proposed.
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The Senate rejected 47-51 @PattyMurray's amendment to the House-passed coronavirus package, H.R. 6201. It would have appended a version of Murray's PAID Leave Act, S. 3513, introduced yesterday, which would guarantee workers 14 paid sick days, 12 weeks paid family + medical leave.
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@AndrewYang @politico On a related note, this is how I will be entering any and all rooms from this point forward.
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But on Wednesday, the benefit fell victim to a broader effort to bring down the cost of the bill, which Democratic lawmakers plan to clear using reconciliation -- the Senate procedure that allows passage of spending-related legislation with a simple majority.
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McCarthy dragged McHenry and Graves to the Chipotle in Navy Yard during talks Saturday — only to leave because they didn’t have chips, McHenry tells reporters. “We walked in, and when they announced they didn’t have chips, he goes ‘WE’RE LEAVING,’ and he walks out,” he recalls.
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Elizabeth Warren tells reporters that “the 32-hour work week is a terrible idea.”. “But do understand most of my staff hasn't seen a 32-hour work week in months and months and months, because they come in and work for the American people, hour after hour after hour”.
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DeLauro is also not giving up, telling me in a statement: “I am not done pushing. I am going to keep fighting for the inclusion of paid family and medical leave until I see the final bill text. This is not over.”.
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"Democrats do great with rich people. Under Obama, rich people got richer," @tedcruz says at #CNNDebateNight.
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This is a big deal. Sanders, chair since 2017, describes himself in the letter as a "lifelong Republican". "Yet the President’s Executive Order seeks to make loyalty to him the litmus test for many thousands of career civil servants, and that is something I cannot be part of".
Ron Sanders, chair of Federal Salary Council and Trump appointee, just resigned over Trump's EO reclassifying key federal employees. "I simply cannot be part of an Administration that seeks. to replace apolitical expertise with political obeisance," he wrote in his resignation.
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Story pubbing soon. In the meantime, a reminder that @heatherscope, @AliceOllstein, @marianne_levine and I had this forecast on Saturday:
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"There's a simple reason [women haven't returned to the workforce]: There's no affordable child care for them," Biden says. "I couldn't afford child care, and these women can't either.".
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D.C. summer hack: have a job that confines you to a series of basically windowless and aggressively air-conditioned buildings connected by underground tunnels for >8 hours a day.
91 in DC at 2p. marks the second 90+ day in a row. We may keep adding to this streak for a while. Stay tuned and stay cool.
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Ron Sanders, chair of Federal Salary Council and Trump appointee, just resigned over Trump's EO reclassifying key federal employees. "I simply cannot be part of an Administration that seeks. to replace apolitical expertise with political obeisance," he wrote in his resignation.
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Some ✨personal news✨: After nearly a year of helping out with @POLITICO's employment coverage, I am officially moving over to become a full-time labor reporter!. Excited to join @RebeccaARainey and the rest of our broader economy team at such a critical time on the beat.
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Was recently in an Uber (Columbia Heights neighborhood) where the driver told us about a friend's daughter who had to defer her acceptance to Howard University for a year because she couldn't find anywhere she could afford to live nearby. This is real, folks.
Washington, D.C. "saw the most African American residents — more than 20,000 — displaced from their neighborhoods, mostly by affluent, white newcomers" of any city in the country between 2000 and 2013.
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"I'm a capitalist," Biden says. "But for God's sake: Chip in and pay your fair share.".
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"America has always counted on union workers," Biden says. "Given half a chance, you've never let the country down.". "We're counting on you again.".
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Some ✨personal news✨ today, which also happens to mark my 5th year at @POLITICO: I’m in the process of transitioning onto a new beat covering Congress for @POLITICO and @POLITICOPro’s economic policy teams. (1/5)
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NEW: House Democratic leaders said today they will NOT whip against House Republicans' crypto bill, I'm told. The whip question sent to members this a.m. says that Waters and Scott "strongly oppose" the legislation, but does not urge them to vote "no":
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I love D.C. flea markets because what do you mean I just copped a professionally framed front page of the @washingtonpost the day the U.S. withdrew from Vietnam for twenty bucks
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Marshall just chugged a glass of whole milk on the Senate floor, if anyone's wondering how the vibes are in the upper chamber this afternoon
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Evangelist @Franklin_Graham instructed participants to hold hands as they pray for November's election
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Evangelist @Franklin_Graham is leading his 48th prayer rally of the election season in Annapolis, Md. today
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Today I had a lunchtime nail appointment run long, to the point I was nervous I’d be late to a call with a congresswoman; luckily I made it just in time, only for her to apologize if there was background noise bc she was getting her nails done. Lawmakers, they’re just like us 💅🏻.
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Under S. 3513, the federal government would reimburse employers for all paid sick days and paid leave granted in 2020 and 2021. Here's the press release from when it was introduced:
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A little known fact is that deadlines don’t count when Simone Biles is on
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UPDATE: A DNC spokesperson says they are still reviewing the language. Union officials, on the other hand, seem to think it's a sure thing: "We appreciate the Democratic Party committees' decision to amend their contract and RFP processes," AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler says.
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Trump's anti-trade agenda and a pandemic-induced recession have combined to accelerate decades-old trends toward automation, eliminating hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs for good — not least, in the Rust Belt states he needs to win in November.
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Highly recommend: picking up donuts and coffee and watching the sun rise over the National Mall from the Jefferson Memorial
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The PRO Act passes 225-206. Just five Republicans voted for the measure: co-sponsors Jeff Van Drew and Chris Smith (N.J.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), along with Reps. John Katko (N.Y.) and Don Young (Alaska). One Democrat voted against it: Henry Cuellar (Texas), an aide said.
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They then went to H St., which did have chips. “It was kind of a epic McCarthy move,” McHenry said with a laugh. “When he walks in, Graves and I are in the middle of something a bit more serious — and he says, ‘We’re going to Chipotle.’” . ✨ lawmakers, they’re just like us ✨.
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My roommate never fails to remind me that D.C. Twitter is a motherfreaking bubble, I just tried explaining why kicking the CSPAN cameras off the House floor is so devastating and she cut me off and said “both ways sound like watching paint dry” LOL.
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A friend quarantined in Spain just sent me this and I. I have no words
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The House voted 217-202 along party lines to adopt the resolution allowing House staffers to unionize. No Republican voted in favor; no Democrat voted against.
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Wiley Nickel tells me that House Financial Services members are planning to wear bowties to tomorrow's hearing -- the last of the year -- in honor of Chair Patrick McHenry, who retires at the end of the month. "We'll see how many do it. I might be the only Democrat.".
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NEW: Sens. Patty Murray and Tim Kaine are shopping a new version of the child care provisions that were in Build Back Better. The revamp would cost about half as much — $150B-$200B instead of $400B — and address concerns raised by Manchin and others.
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🚨🚨🚨 The WH is exploring a push for a Covid-related paid leave program like that enacted in an earlier round of pandemic relief, 3 people told me today. What it could look like: 2 weeks of Covid-related sick leave + 12 weeks of family and medical leave
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NEW: Dem megadonor Ron Conway is abandoning crypto super PACs after they didn't loop him in on plans to spend in OH. "Because of your selfish hidden agendas it is time for us to separate," he wrote in a scathing email I viewed. "How short sighted and stupid can you possibly be?"
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House Republicans including @FinancialCmte Chair @PatrickMcHenry and oversight subcommittee Chair @RepHuizenga have long said that the SEC will be one of their top oversight targets this Congress. They just made their first move.
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Simply cannot bring myself to use the term "the Great Resignation" in any of my articles.
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"The headlines reporting a shortage of workers are missing the point," @AFLCIO's @lizshuler says at the National Press Club. "We have a shortage of safe, good-paying, sustainable jobs.".
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Third time really is a charm! I've been applying to the Paul Miller fellowship since 2019 (took a year off in 2021) and couldn't be more excited to finally be selected. Can't wait for this year ✨.
1/3: Congratulations to the 20 journalists selected for NPF’s 2023 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship! Over the year, fellows will network and discuss politics/policy with regulators, lawmakers, experts and the best reporters in the business.
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NEW: Two people familiar tell me that McHenry, Waters and Schumer discussed attaching stablecoin AND cannabis banking legislation to the FAA bill today. H/T @BrendanPedersen, who first scooped that they met to talk stablecoins and FAA. For @POLITICOPro:
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NEW: More than 50 prominent women including Gloria Steinem, Dolores Huerta, Ilyse Hogue, Cecile Richards and Tina Tchen sent a letter to Biden’s transition team today endorsing @JulieSuCA for Labor secretary, calling her a “modern-day Frances Perkins.”
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NEW: Rising long-term unemployment is contributing to refuel a debate over how to give workers skills to survive a brutal job market and fill the millions of positions that tech will inevitably create — albeit at a slower pace than it is destroying them.
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Setting up interviews with people in Boston apparently means everyone involved is named Sean? Currently emailing a Sean about organizing a call with a different Sean. Perhaps a third Sean would like to join.
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The House will start debating House Republicans’ crypto bill at noon tomorrow. They’ll vote at 2 p.m. on the rule, and at 4:30 p.m. on passage.
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“We passed unpaid leave when I first became a senator in 1993, and we were told that we would be able to get a paid leave policy bipartisan,” @PattyMurray told me yesterday. “Here we are 30 years later, and we don’t have it.". With @burgessev:
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SCOOP: @POLITICO has obtained a potential compromise between House Rs on how to restrict U.S. investment in China ("outbound investment") that they hope to add to NDAA. An aide confirms it is the most recent version. Text: Story:
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LOL McHenry just raised his gavel to close out this House Financial Services Committee hearing with a "The House is adjou-" before catching himself and correcting to "The committee is adjourned".
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"In a profession where warmth and empathy are sometimes lacking, he was a rare breed.". A moving tribute to @EconomyBen this morning from @SamJSutton (with assists from @VTG2, @KatyODonnell_ and @Reddy) in the newsletter synonymous with his name:
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This is one of the most rattling updates on the Idaho case. Every woman has a man she doesn’t know holding a conversation with himself in her DMs. None of them deserve to die for it.
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Biden is about to sign into law $52B+ for microchip manufacturers. There's just one problem: The bill doesn't include the fixes to immigration or workforce development that employers need to staff their facilities. With @BrendanBordelon:
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🚨 RAIL CARRIERS AND UNIONS HAVE REACHED A DEAL!. “Moments ago, following 20 consecutive hours of negotiations at the Department of Labor, rail companies and union negotiators came to a tentative agreement,” a DOL spokesperson says. (1/2).
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NEW: Schumer is hoping to add stablecoin + cannabis banking legislation to the FAA bill even though they weren't included in the base text, I'm told. But a spokesperson for McConnell says he "continues to oppose marijuana banking.". For @POLITICOPro:
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You know that story that you work on for months and ask almost every source about and pretty much pry the unpublished data out of researchers' hands? . This is that story.
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Labor @SecMartyWalsh — former Boston Building Trades Council president — walking down the aisle into @NABTU’s annual conference to music like a GD rockstar
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I’m working from my parents’ in northern Michigan this week and my mom has informed me there is a local swan named Harold who lost his mate in a storm a few years back and never took a new one — so every time you see an odd number of swans, one of them is Harold. I’m not OK
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"Equality of the sexes is not debatable; it has no expiration date," @RepJayapal (D-Wash.) says on the House floor of the #ERA. "So today to women across this country who are watching, let me say . 'We see you, we stand with you, and we will fight for you.'".
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Serious question. How do I get a master's in economics -- and here's the key -- without having to pay for it.
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SCOOP w/ @HollyOtterbein: Unions including IUPAT, CWA + AFGE told @DSCC yesterday that they won't support Senate Dems who don't back the PRO Act. In the hot seat: @SenMarkKelly, the only Senate Dem who has not signed on + is up for reelection next year.
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The White House released a $1.75T framework this a.m. that does *not* include paid family and medical leave, in any form. Democrats have yet to reach a final agreement.
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Folks, it's not that a railroad strike *WILL* happen Friday, it's that it *could* happen if unions and carriers don't reach an agreement before then. The PEB report last month kicked off a 30-day cooling period; it will end on Friday, creating the *option* for a work stoppage.
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CORRECTION: The full quote, after watching back footage, was ". make sure *the choice to join a union* belongs to workers and workers alone. And by the way. Amazon, here we come.".
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Gonna start an account just for Capitol-at-sunset pics
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"The two need to travel together," @AFLCIO's @LizShuler says of the reconciliation package and the bipartisan infrastructure bill. "We need to get both of these bills passed today.".
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Today marks my six-year anniversary at POLITICO. Today also marks our first day ever with a negotiated union contract. Shout-out to the hardest-working bargaining committee out there for helping make this a place we can all continue to be proud to work ❤️.
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I need 24 hours to sleep, 2 hours to respond to everyone on my phone, and then at least 8 hours to just stare at the sky or some sh*t.
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Today is my third-year anniversary at @POLITICO! Feeling grateful for the incalculable amount I’ve learned here but even more so, the amazingly kind, passionate and talented people I’ve met along the way. Thankful for them this and every day 💛💛💛.
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The thing guaranteed to make my day every damn time is the hordes of tiny children tied to the same rope trodding along the streets of D.C. with their daycare.
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A staggering 93% of child care jobs are held by women, according to DOL data, and 45.3% are Black, Asian or Latino. Making sure the sector stays afloat could have an outsized impact on the economic wellbeing of those demographics. With @mmcassella:
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The Senate voted 73-24 to adopt the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act as an amendment to the omnibus after it was originally left out, sending the bill toward the finish line at the last possible opportunity.
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A whopping 11 Dems, including Schumer, just voted to hand crypto and banks a win by undoing SEC guidance on crypto accounting. 21 House Dems helped approve the resolution last week. It heads next to Biden, who said he will veto it. With @Jasper_Goodman:
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Nope. This language just requires that those taking paid leave have earned at least $2K over the course of the last 2 years to qualify. Makes sure that people with erratic income can access paid leave even if they haven't worked in the period immediately prior.
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JUST BC WOMEN'S UNEMPLOYMENT IS BACK DOWN DOESN'T MEAN THE PANDEMIC DIDN'T AFFECT THEM MORE. DATA SHOWS THEY'VE SHOULDERED THE UNEQUAL BURDEN OF ALSO CARING FOR CHILDREN, PARENTS, YOU NAME IT — RESULTING IN LOST HOURS, WAGES AND OPPORTUNITIES THAT WILL WIDEN THE GENDER PAY GAP F-
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🚨 The House will vote TONIGHT on adopting a resolution that would allow House staffers to form a union. "It's really the first of many tests [of] whether our bosses are capable and willing to walk the walk," a member of @Congress_Union's organizing committee tells me.
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