U.S. News

As Congress races to craft the next coronavirus rescue package, President Donald Trump’s sudden request Tuesday to pump $250 billion more into a just-launched payroll program for small businesses may hit roadblocks.

Acting U.S. Navy Secretary Thomas Modly has resigned after his controversial comments of the officer he fired as captain of a coronavirus-stricken aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, officials confirmed. Modly had come under fire for dismissing Captain Brett E. Crozier, last week, saying Crozier had shown “extremely poor judgment.” He referred to Crozier distributing a letter calling for urgent help with the virus COVID-19 outbreak aboard his ship.

The water ice and other lunar resources that will help the United States establish a long-term human presence on the moon are there for the taking, the White House believes.

The Supreme Court on Monday said it would not take up the Catholic church’s challenge to the Washington, D.C., transit authority’s policy banning religious ads, allowing the policy to remain in place.

According to a recent survey, 43.4% of American adults believe the coronavirus crisis is a wake-up call for the US to return to God. Nearly three-in-ten respondents (29.4%) said they think the outbreak and subsequent financial devastation are signs of the Biblical “Last Days.” The poll was conducted for the Joshua Fund (JF), a major US Christian charity.

Nonfarm payrolls dropped by 701,000 in March, according to Labor Department numbers released Friday that only begin to show the economic damage wrought by the coronavirus crisis.

The Democratic Party announced on Thursday that it will postpone the Democratic National Convention to the week of August 17 because of the coronavirus. It was originally scheduled to take place in July.

President Trump on Thursday railed against “partisan investigations” and “witch hunts” amid the coronavirus pandemic after Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) established a special House committee to examine the federal response to the pandemic.

After the US recorded 1000 coronavirus deaths in one day on Wednesday, it is expected the federal government will shortly advise Americans to cover their mouths and noses when outdoors. Advice on wearing masks has been the subject of ongoing debate among the US coronavirus taskforce, as some worry face-coverings may give a false sense of security and cause the public to ignore social-distancing and hand-washing instructions.

More than 6.6 million Americans filed unemployment claims last week as more businesses were forced to lay off and furlough workers because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Federal Reserve is temporarily relaxing a rule that imposes additional capital requirements on deposits and Treasury securities held by the biggest U.S. banks.

The Pentagon confirmed that it’s seeking to provide as many as 100,000 military-style body bags for potential civilian use as the U.S. warns that deaths could soar in the coming weeks from the coronavirus pandemic.

On the same day the federal government announced more than 6.6 million Americans filed unemployment claims, President Donald Trump said a program to help businesses continue to pay workers launches Friday.

The US is well on track to build 400-450 miles of wall along its south-western border by the end of the calendar year, said Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf at a news conference with President Trump Wednesday.

A new poll from Pew Research Center reveals that the COVID-19 outbreak is changing Americans’ religious habits, drawing more people to the power of prayer.

U.S. manufacturing activity contracted less than expected in March, but disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic pushed new orders received by factories to an 11-year low, reinforcing economists’ views that the economy was in recession.

The US government rushed to set up make-shift hospitals on Tuesday as over 850 people died from coronavirus, the highest number in a single day. Hundreds of hospitals are being built close to major cities to help local health care systems struggling at maximum capacity and beyond, Reuters reported.

Idaho has legislated that women’s sports are for females only and that trans-gender identifying persons may not alter the sex-marker on their birth-certificates. The first in the US to set down such measures, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” and the “Vital Statistics Act” into law on March 30.

Millions of U.S. workers are losing their jobs in a surge of layoffs as businesses large and small shut their operations amid the coronavirus pandemic.

President Trump pushed Congress to adopt ‘very big and bold’ infrastructure investments in future legislation to combat the coronavirus.