SHERROD BROWN

Sen. Sherrod Brown told CNBC that he's spoken to the Biden administration about Cordray possibly serving as the Fed's vice chair for supervision.

Some Democrats have begun saying out loud what others are saying privately — that Joe Biden’s political standing is so weak less than a year into his presidency that he may not be able to win reelection in 2024 if he were to run again.

Years-long battle over prescription drug prices reaches apex as industry spends tens of millions to alter plan.

Companies are buying back their shares at a near-record pace as lawmakers weigh a new tax.

Senate Democrats are fractured over whether to support Saule Omarova, Biden's indicated choice to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

During the recent standoff over the nation's debt limit, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell showed just how far he'll go to stop President Joe Biden’s agenda.

A 2% tax on stock buybacks is among corporate tax proposals to pay for President Biden's spending plan. Would it slow or stop share repurchases?

The Senate has narrowly approved President Joe Biden’s pick to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, giving the bureau a director who is likely to embrace an aggressive “watchdog” role.

Resistance to the potential renomination of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell intensified this week, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren becoming the first senator to publicly oppose Powell and many progressive groups pushing for some alternative leader at the Fed.

Sanders is now the strongest progressive voice urging a no vote. Sen. Elizabeth Warren echoed his comments to reporters: "We had a deal."

About 8 million people collect monthly checks for the aged, blind and disabled. But those benefits haven't been updated in years. Congress could change that.

Congressional Democrats are weighing a raft of taxes that would target CEO pay and big U.S. companies that buy back shares.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) are calling on President Biden to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell with someone more focused on "eliminating climate risk and advancing racial and economic justice," according to a joint statement reported by Politico.Driving the news: Powell's term will end in early 2022, though some economists have said Biden will likely reappoint him.Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic in

Some Supplemental Security Income benefits have not been updated in years. Why there’s a push to include program reforms in the budget package on Capitol Hill.

Millions of Americans face being forced from their homes with the midnight Saturday expiration of a moratorium on evictions during the pandemic.

A national eviction moratorium is set to expire after President Joe Biden and Congress failed to extend it.

Bill Hwang's nonprofit saw its assets jump by over $100 million just two years prior his office set off a market meltdown.

The Biden administration will allow a nationwide ban on evictions to expire Saturday.

Lawmakers appeared unconvinced cryptocurrencies would make a good solution to the existing and very flawed financial system.

Senators and the White House are locked in intense negotiations to salvage a bipartisan infrastructure deal.

Lawmakers racing to seal a bipartisan infrastructure deal early this coming week are hitting a major roadblock over how much money should go to public transit.

Organizations representing long-term care facilities are urging lawmakers working on a bipartisan infrastructure plan to avoid dipping into COVID-relief funds to help pay for the roughly $600 billion in new spending sought for the public works buildout.

​​President Joe Biden invoked Franklin Delano Roosevelt several times as he has implemented sweeping anti-poverty measures to tackle record unemployment and economic turmoil. Hoping to model his legacy on the President who helped the nation climb out of the Great Depression, Biden has spent $1.9 trillion so far on stimulus checks, the expanded child tax credit, and enhanced unemployment insurance, among other relief measures. “Disabled people and the poorest of the poor haven’t had really any help in years,” says Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio.

President Joe Biden just can’t quit Ohio — even if it rejected him in last year’s election.

Many Democrats are wary about the GOP sucking up time on infrastructure, similar to what happened with the Obamacare talks a decade ago.

Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / Photos GettyDemocrats think the newly created Child Tax Credit program—which began sending out monthly benefit checks to tens of millions of families this week—could be the most impactful policy victory of the Joe Biden era.It could also be the key to keeping Congress and the White House in Democratic hands.As congressional Democrats craft another multi-trillion-dollar package to solidify their economic agenda, some lawmakers are trying to set up a lengthy

For anyone worried about surging prices for everything from food and gas to airplane tickets and clothes, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s message in two days of congressional hearings this week was straightforward: Just give it more time, and those price gains should slow, or even reverse.

An economic rebound, rising wages and declining unemployment weren't enough to spare Fed Chairman Jerome Powell from gripes in the Senate.

The Biden stimulus benefit is the US's inaugural version of guaranteed income geared to children. Millions could get direct payments every month.

The photos showed a shattered glass table, overturned furniture and debris strewn across an office floor.

Brown said proposed changes to Ohio's election laws and voting rights are a knee-jerk reaction to Donald Trump's "abject lie" about the 2020 election.

The White House is making clear that President Joe Biden is opposed to letting the federal gasoline tax rise at the rate of inflation to help pay for an infrastructure package that a bipartisan group of 21 senators is trying to craft.

The Biden stimulus benefit has deep Democratic support, but Senate moderates could slash the expanded child tax credit. Manchin hasn't weighed in.

Three Democratic members of Congress are asking the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to investigate the foster care experience of Ma'Khia Bryant that preceded the 16-year-old's fatal police shooting in Ohio. U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, along with U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, penned a letter last week on behalf of Bryant's parents, asking the federal agency to look into the teen's experience through the foster care system.

Big banks are facing a new reality in Washington: Democrats control all levers of power and they are not shy about their intentions to ratchet up the pressure on the sector.

The industry was blamed for the Great Recession and has spent most of the past year trying to appear more helpful to struggling borrowers.

Bank bosses were grilled by US lawmakers over worker pay and overdraft fees during the pandemic.

The CEOs of the six biggest U.S. banks have appeared before Congress, eager to lay out their support for struggling consumers and small businesses.

The CEOs of the nation's biggest banks kick off two days of congressional testimony on Wednesday before the Senate Banking Committee.

One Ohio U.S. Senate candidate has been circulating a who’s-done-more-for-Donald Trump scorecard.

President Joe Biden couldn’t get everything he wanted into his own $1.8 trillion families plan.

President Joe Biden will call for free preschool for all three- and four-year-old children as part of his American Families Plan.

The Biden administration is expanding a program to feed up to 34 million schoolchildren during the summer months.

Ten liberal senators are urging President Joe Biden to back India and South Africa’s appeal to the World Trade Organization to temporarily relax intellectual property rules so coronavirus vaccines can be manufactured by nations that are struggling to inoculate their populations.

The Senate has approved President Joe Biden’s choice to lead a key agency overseeing Wall Street.

Gary Gensler was confirmed to lead the SEC on Wednesday. He promised to tackle bitcoin regulation, "gamification" of trading and board diversity.

The letters are the first response from Congress that hint at a possible investigation.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, the Democratic chairman of the powerful Senate Banking Committee, is setting his sights on Archegos Capital Management after the fund's recent losses sent shockwaves through markets. "Once again, investment banks put profits first and enabled risky derivatives trading that resulted in billions of dollars in losses," Brown said in a statement to CNBC on Wednesday. "We must make sure our financial watchdogs work together to protect the financial system and our economy. The committee has jurisdiction over the world's largest banks and regularly engages with the heads of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who is also a member of the banking committee, told CNBC on Tuesday that the "Archegos' meltdown had all the makings of a dangerous situation."

As the government pushes millions of $1,400 stimulus checks out the door, some Americans could come up empty handed. The issue prompted Capitol Hill lawmakers to enter into a crossfire of sorts on Thursday over whether or not those checks can be garnished, as some looked to change the policy. That's after the Treasury Department and IRS announced on Wednesday that 90 million checks have gone out thus far by direct deposit. To remedy that, Brown called for the passage of a bill he proposed alongside fellow Democrats Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland. However, efforts to pass that legislation were blocked by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa.Toomey argued that it was too late the change the legislation, and that altering the rules could protect husbands or fathers who refuse to pay alimony or child support.

The Federal Reserve says it will restore capital requirements for large banks that were relaxed as part of the Feds efforts to shore up the financial system during the early days of the pandemic. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve says it will restore capital requirements for large banks that were relaxed as part of the Fed’s efforts to shore up the financial system during the early days of the pandemic. But the SLR, unlike other bank capital requirements, doesn't take risk into account. Bank lobbyists argue that without an extension of the exemption, large banks will be less likely to hold Treasury securities. “We are also confident that the thousands of community banks that are not subject to the SLR requirements would be happy to accept deposits that large banks may reject,” they said.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., leaves the chamber just after the Senate narrowly approved a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, at the Capitol in Washington, Saturday, March 6, 2021. Senate passage sets up final congressional approval by the House next week so lawmakers can send it to President Joe Biden for his signature. Ad“Lessons learned: If we have unity, we can do big things,” Schumer told The Associated Press in an interview after the vote. The outcome “gives us optimism about doing more big things in the future — because it worked,” he said. He and Schumer spoke often as the Senate leader steered the pandemic aid to approval.

FILEIn this file photo from Oct. 6, 2020, Jane Timken, the Chairwoman of the Ohio Republican Party, speaks at the Hamilton County Board of Elections during early voting in Norwood, Ohio. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster, File)COLUMBUS, Ohio – Republican Josh Mandel, a Marine veteran and former state treasurer, says he will make a third run for the U.S. Senate in Ohio, taking a pro-Trump message in a bid for the seat being vacated by the GOP’s Rob Portman. AdMandel abruptly abandoned his last Senate campaign in January 2018, citing unspecified health issues being experienced by his then-wife, Ilana. He personally backed her takeover of the state party four years ago from a state chair allied with then-Gov. He has about $4.3 million remaining in his Senate campaign account, and about $500,000 in a leadership PAC.

An open Senate seat in Ohio has set off a round of jockeying among ambitious Democrats and a spirited debate over who is best poised to lead a party comeback in a one-time battleground that has been trending Republican. While Acton and Ryan are believed to be the furthest along in their deliberations, several politicians who are Black are also eyeing the seat. The group is working to recruit a Black candidate for the Senate seat, he said. AdStill, Ryan got a boost Saturday when Hillary Clinton, the party’s 2016 presidential nominee, declared on Twitter that she was “all in” for a Ryan Senate candidacy. For some Ohio Democrats the cautionary tale is 2018, when a group of female gubernatorial candidates all ceded their ambitions to former Obama administration consumer chief Richard Cordray, who lost the race.

A major hedge fund losing money gets the attention of Wall Street. Wall Street does not want to get steamrolled on this short-squeeze game again. "As long as people believe fundamentals matter, they are going to be selling short stuff like GameStop." She noted that restrictions and even outright bans on short selling are not unheard of: Europe instituted a short-selling ban when the pandemic started. The SEC could also clamp down on naked short selling, the illegal practice of selling short stocks without first borrowing the security.

Rob Portman, R-Ohio, speaks to members of the media outside a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Portman said Monday, Jan. 25 that he won't seek reelection and plans to end a career in federal government spanning more than three decades. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)CINCINNATI – Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, a fiery Donald Trump supporter, won't run to succeed Ohio Sen. The former star college wrestler's style doesn't reflect that of Portman, a career establishment Republican with a reputation for bipartisanship. AdTrump rewarded Jordan, 56, for his steady support by giving him the Presidential Medal of Freedom before leaving office this month.

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)WASHINGTON – Housing secretary nominee Marcia Fudge told senators Thursday that she would take “extraordinary actions” to prevent people from losing their homes due to the coronavirus pandemic. Fudge championed homeownership as a classically American “ticket to the middle class” and endorsed federal financial assistance to expand the ranks of minority homeowners. And we are in extraordinary times,” said Fudge, speaking remotely from Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland. Fudge also endorsed direct federal financial assistance to help prospective minority homeowners with the down payment on a mortgage. When Kennedy asked her directly whether she believed Republicans cared about Black Americans, Fudge tersely answered, “I do, some, yes.”Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, defended Fudge.

Owl Rock had previously turned to Akin Gump, according to a lobbying disclosure report, but terminated that agreement in June. The team advocating for Owl Rock includes people who used to work with Sens. Before Biden became president, Owl Rock hired Sidley Austin, another law firm, for lobbying. One of its lobbyists working on the Owl Rock account is former Republican Rep. Peter Roskam of Illinois. Owl Rock is a direct lending platform with a focus on middle market companies.

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)CINCINNATI – Ohio Sen. “Our country is very polarized,” Portman said, adding that former President Donald Trump did not help with the polarization. “Both in his words before the attack on the Capitol and in his actions afterward, President Trump bears some responsibility for what happened,” Portman said. “And right now the kind of candidate that’s going to come out of a Ohio Republican primary is not going to be that kind of candidate. “Yeah, sure, some people are mad at him,” said Ohio Republican strategist Ryan Stubenrauch.

Thousands had gathered that day as Congress voted to formally certify President Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in November. Hawley and Cruz led objections in the Senate to Biden’s victory, despite the widespread recognition that the effort would fail. And both senators used their objections for political fundraising,” the Democratic senators said in their letter. Cruz helped force a vote on Biden's victory in Arizona, while Hawley helped force one on Biden's victory in Pennsylvania. “This latest effort is a flagrant abuse of the Senate ethics process and a flagrant attempt to exact partisan revenge."

Sen. Sherrod Brown — Wall Street's incoming regulator in a Democratic Senate — on Tuesday outlined his priorities for the U.S. economy and the financial industry in the coming months. As chair, I'm going to make it about workers and their families and what matters to their lives," Brown said during a media briefing. "Under Senate Republicans, we've had government intervention to put its thumb on the scale for corporations at every turn." We're going to put the dignity of work at the center of everything we do in this committee." "This is up to President Biden, what he wants to do with 13(3)," Brown said.

The Posh Factory Performing Arts Centre, a dance studio in town, is looking to take your child to new heights. Sherrod Brown is the owner of The Posh Factory Performing Arts Centre - a place where children of all ages can come train in various forms of dance and learn about fine arts. “I probably am standing in the room with the next Misty Copeland,” said Sherrod Brown, The Posh Factory Performing Arts Centre Owner. “I think it’s their right to be exposed to performing arts and creativity so that they can dream. The Posh Factory also plans to hold The Teen Dream Summit on January 30th, 2021.

Mayor Pete Buttigieg, President-elect Joe Biden's nominee to be transportation secretary reacts to his nomination as Biden looks on during a news conference at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020. – President-elect Joe Biden has introduced his one-time Democratic primary rival Pete Buttigieg as his nominee for transportation secretary, saying the 38-year-old can be “a new voice" in the fight against economic inequality, institutional racism and climate change. Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, would be the first openly gay person confirmed by the Senate to a Cabinet position. Emanuel was mentioned as a potential candidate for several Biden Cabinet posts but drew strong backlash from progressives. Biden’s selection of Buttigieg for transportation secretary drew praise from LGBTQ rights groups.

President-elect Joe Biden is expected to pick former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg to head the transportation department. – President-elect Joe Biden is set to introduce former presidential rival Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday as his nominee for transportation secretary, adding a youthful voice to an incoming administration so far dominated by people with decades of Washington experience. The 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, would also be the first openly gay person confirmed by the Senate to a Cabinet post. During the Democratic presidential primary, Buttigieg was initially written off as the leader of a relatively small town competing against far more established figures. As the primary moved into more diverse states such as South Carolina, Buttigieg faltered and quickly withdrew from the race.

Some progressives, meanwhile, see Tanden's nomination as a test of whether the left will challenge Biden, who ran as a moderate, over funding for social programs. Sanders has not commented publicly on Tanden's nomination, but other liberal senators including Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Sherrod Brown of Ohio have expressed their support. Friends and allies say that the fuss over her online persona is a distraction from her credentials and deep experience with large-scale policy making. Tanden, 50, has said her values reflect personal experience with the government programs she would play a key role in supporting. The first wave of Republican criticism of Tanden mentioned none of her professional or personal experience, instead focusing on her aggressive Twitter hand.

"You appear to be trying to sabotage our economy on the way out the door," Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, told Mnuchin during a hearing Tuesday. Powell and Mnuchin worked closely together on the rescue funding package but are on opposite sides of whether the funding should continue. Mnuchin said the remaining $455 billion should be returned to the Treasury and deployed for direct cash injections for the economy. Mnuchin said he wanted to "thank Chairman Powell, because he has been a terrific partner in everything we've done." Powell later noted that "we've done a lot and we've really appreciated the working relationship we had with Treasury on the facilities."

– President-elect Joe Biden's pick to lead the Office of Management and Budget is quickly emerging as a political battle that could disrupt his efforts to swiftly fill out his administration. He called her “maybe (Biden's) worst nominee so far" and “radioactive.”Potential Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., was less hostile, telling reporters, “Let's see what happens." But like all of Biden's nominees, Tanden has little margin for error as she faces confirmation in a closely divided Senate. At OMB, Tanden would be responsible for preparing Biden’s budget submission and would command several hundred budget analysts, economists and policy advisers with deep knowledge of the inner workings of the government. That would allow them to pass special budget legislation that could roll back Trump’s tax cuts, boost the Affordable Care Act and pursue other spending goals.

Twelve Arkansas lawmakers have tested positive for the virus over the past month, the second largest known outbreak in a state legislature. After at least four dozen Mississippi lawmakers tested positive in the largest outbreak in a legislature, where masks were encouraged but not required for lawmakers. Twelve Arkansas lawmakers have tested positive for the virus over the past month, the second largest known outbreak in a state legislature. But legislative leaders acknowledged that individual legislators couldn't be forced to wear masks. House Republicans in Ohio have also rejected efforts to require that lawmakers wear masks at the Statehouse, and a statewide mask mandate issued by GOP Gov.

Mnuchin on Friday, Nov. 20 denied that he is trying to limit the choices President-elect Joe Biden will have to promote an economic recovery by ending several emergency loan programs being run by the Federal Reserve. Mnuchin said his decision was based on the fact that the programs were not being heavily utilized. “We're not trying to hinder anything,” Mnuchin said in a CNBC interview. Private economists argued that Mnuchin's decision to end five of the emergency loan facilities represents an economic risk. In his letter to Powell, Mnuchin said that he is requesting that the Fed return to Treasury the unused funds appropriated by Congress.

(Kevin Dietsch/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the longest-serving Republican senator and third in the line of presidential succession, said he has tested positive for the coronavirus. Grassley, 87, had announced earlier Tuesday that he was quarantining after being exposed to the virus and was waiting for test results. At least three members of the House have tested positive in the last week, and several more are quarantining. Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida was also absent as he is in quarantine after an exposure. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer also took their masks off when speaking on the Senate floor Monday.

Yet as states increasingly sort themselves along hardening partisan lines, it's complicating Democrats' drive to win the majority and keep it. Thanks to this month's elections, Democrats will own all four Senate seats from purple Arizona and increasingly blue Colorado next year. In addition, three current Senate Democrats are from states that President Donald Trump carried easily this month despite losing to Democrat Joe Biden. “The problem is a Democratic Senate majority runs through red states, and that is an inherent structural difficulty." In the 2022 elections, Democrats will defend Senate 13 seats — all from states Biden won.

Beaver County is home to the kind of blue-collar voters who have abandoned the Democratic Party in recent years and helped deliver Republican Donald Trump a win in 2016. President Donald Trump won all five states in 2016. The region was once a major hub of anthracite coal mining, and the county backed Republican Donald Trump in 2016 after previously supporting Democrat Barack Obama. Special counsel Robert Mueller found multiple links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign, but ultimately did not establish that the Trump campaign conspired with Russia to interfere in the election. ___9:05 a.m.Joe Biden is defending Dr. Anthony Fauci after President Donald Trump suggested he’d dismiss the nation’s top infectious disease expert after Election Day.

Jill Biden, left, wife of Democratic presidential candidate former vice president Joe Biden, and Doug Emhoff, center, husband of Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., greet supporters in passing cars during a campaign stop, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020, in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Jill Biden and Doug Emhoff are both from New Jersey. And now they're building a team as the better halves of the Joe Biden campaign. “Don’t you think the American people love seeing people in government who respect one another and are friends with one another?” Jill Biden said as she campaigned in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Saturday. Jill Biden has become one of the campaign’s main surrogates for Latino outreach and, as a teacher herself, often holds events focused on teachers and education. Jill Biden has made sure to call and check in on him after a busy week.

“The federal government needs to enforce this law and investigate all instances of forced labor in supply chains and block imports made with forced labor from coming into the U.S.,” said Brown, an Ohio Democrat. Palm oil can be found in roughly half the products on supermarket shelves, from Dove soap and Oreo cookies to instant noodles and hand sanitizer. They described various forms of exploitation, with the most serious abuses including child labor, outright slavery and allegations of rape. “With all the technology and tracking capabilities we have now, companies can identify the sources of all the components that go into their products,” Brown said. Though labor abuses in the palm oil industry have been an open secret for years, most companies and financial institutions with links to it told The AP they do not tolerate human rights abuses and investigate allegations raised about companies that feed into their supply chains, taking appropriate action when warranted.

Goodyear responded to Trump with a tweet of its own, saying that the company was the focus of a conversation that created some misconceptions about our policies and our company. Well see what happens," Trump said, when asked about Goodyear in a evening press briefing. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Goodyear should further clarify its policy, and she said support for Blue Lives Matter is an equity issue. If you can wear a Black Lives Matter hat, guess what, you should be able to wear a Blue Lives Matter one, too," she said. Theyre using their power over these people, and these people want to wear whatever it is that were talking about," Trump said of Goodyear's leadership.

The payments are set to expire July 31, and Democrats have pushed a plan that would extend the enhanced benefit through January. Unemployment benefits will still be needed in August and beyond, but the circumstances that originally called for the $600 plus-up will have changed,'' Scalia said. Democrats challenged that view, saying the unemployment rate is likely to remain at historically high levels through the summer at least. Grassley said he hears from Iowans every day who wonder why they are earning less than others they know who are getting unemployment benefits. With the unemployment rate expected to remain in the mid-teens through July, lawmakers will face pressure to compromise on some form of renewed benefits for the jobless.

The Senate confirmed Brian Miller, a lawyer in the White House counsels office, on a 51-40 vote Tuesday. Democrats voted against Miller after questioning his independence from President Donald Trump, who nominated him for the post. Responding to those concerns, Miller told the Senate Banking Committee during his confirmation hearing last month that independence is vital for the special inspector general for pandemic recovery. Miller has worked at the Justice Department and was inspector general for nearly a decade at the General Services Administration, which oversees thousands of federal contracts. The Pandemic Recovery Accountability Committee, a committee of inspectors general, still has no leader after Trump sidelined the original chairman, Glenn Fine, by demoting him.

Powell said that a highly anticipated lending program the Fed is creating for small businesses should be operating by the end of the month. And in a turnaround, Mnuchin said the Treasury is now prepared to absorb some losses in that program, which is funded by Treasury. They include the $660 billion small business lending facility, known as the Paycheck Protection Program, as well as $46 billion in grants to airlines and $454 billion to support the Feds lending. Mnuchin said that under some scenarios the Treasury could lose some or all of that $75 billion. Mnuchin, pressed about those issues and about opening the loan program to more nonprofits, said his department was considering making changes.

Former presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) want to help Americans avoid these unnecessary fees. Although federal regulators have encouraged banks to waive overdraft fees during the current health crisis, the two senators sent letters to 15 banks on Friday, urging them to stop charging overdraft and non-sufficient funds fees while the coronavirus pandemic has so much of the country shut down and millions of Americans are out of work. Banks typically charge overdraft fees when you overdraw your checking account. "That includes making sure they can keep their money in their own pockets and out of the hands of banks to cover fees and small overdraft amounts." The letters to banks come on the heels of a bill Booker and Brown introduced last month that would bar banks, credit unions and other financial institutions from charging overdraft fees until the coronavirus crisis is over.

Lawmakers are calling on the U.S. Treasury to protect recipients of direct payments from having their money seized by debt collectors. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio and Josh Hawley, R-Mo urged the Treasury to exert its ability to protect individuals from having their direct payments seized or "garnished" from debt collectors. The bill calls for one-time direct payments of up to $1,200 for individuals and $2,400 for couples, with $500 added for every child. Senators Hawley and Brown propose that the Treasury could apply rules protecting social security and other federal payments from private debt garnishment to the direct payments. "If Treasury fails to take action, the CARES Act direct payments are at risk of being seized by debt collectors.

About half of Americans report the coronavirus pandemic is already having a negative effect on their income. For these individuals, and those vulnerable before the outbreak, one $35 overdraft charge can lead to financial free fall," Booker said in a statement. Why overdraft fees can be expensiveBanks typically charge overdraft fees when you overdraw your checking account. The proposed bill would not only block banks and financial institutions from charging overdraft fees. Their guidance included waiving overdraft fees, along with out-of-network ATM fees, late payment charges on credit cards and loans and early withdrawal penalties on CDs.

Instead, the Veterans and Consumers Fair Credit Act in the House would cap interest rates at 36% for all consumers. Specifically, this week's legislation would extend those protections to all consumers, capping interest rates on payday, car title and installment loans at 36%. Interest rates on payday loans are more than 20 times the average credit card APR. The payday loan landscapeLenders argue the high rates exist because payday loans are risky. More than 23 million people relied on at least one payday loan last year, according to financial research company Moebs Services.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he departs on travel to Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas following back-to-back mass shootings in the cities, from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., August 7, 2019. Trump said that a Biden presidency "will be one big crash, but at least China will be happy." Trump next set his sights on Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, also a Democrat, who gave a news conference earlier this afternoon after Trump left the city. Trump called Brown a "failed Presidential Candidate (0%)." Brown had ruled out a 2020 presidential bid.

Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown on Tuesday introduced legislation to curb Wall Street's longtime and controversial practice of stock buybacks. Brown said his bill would both prohibit "excessive" buybacks and require companies to offer employees $1 for every $1 million spent on stock repurchases. But many investors and corporate executives believe buybacks are just another way of returning cash to shareholders, akin to dividends but often more flexible. Unlike other proposals to curb corporate buybacks, the Stock Buyback Reform and Worker Dividend Act and its so-called "worker dividend" is unique in its focus on trying to help workers, Brown's office said. Brown, the ranking member on the Senate Banking Committee, illustrated the potential impact of the new legislation by using J.P. Morgan Chase as an example.

Sen. Sherrod Brown came out swinging at Facebook on Tuesday to kick off the Senate Banking Committee hearing on the company's new cryptocurrency project, Libra. "Facebook is dangerous," the Ohio Democrat and ranking committee member began his opening statement. Brown repeatedly referenced what he called Facebook's "competing missions" to make the world more connected and to make money for themselves. "Facebook has demonstrated through scandal after scandal that it doesn't deserve our trust. It should be treated like the profit-seeking corporation it is, just like any other company," Brown said.

Facebook's David Marcus on Tuesday responded to questions from the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, saying the company needs governments, central banks and regulators involved to properly launch its Libra cryptocurrency. Marcus is the head of Facebook's Calibra digital wallet that will be used to store Libra. The House Financial Services Committee will hold its own hearing focused on Libra on July 17. U.S. lawmakers have spoken out about their concerns with Libra since Facebook's announcement of the cryptocurrency in June. On July 2, House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) called on Facebook to halt the implementation of Libra and Calibra.

Makaristos via Wikimedia CommonsBANGOR, Maine - A pair of senators says the American flags the federal government purchases should have to be made in America. Republican Sen. Susan Collins, of Maine, and Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, of Ohio, introduced legislation they call the "All-American Flag Act" that would require the government to buy flags produced entirely with U.S.-made materials. The government is required to buy flags made from at least 50 percent American-made materials under current law. Similar proposals to ensure all-American flags passed the Senate twice earlier this decade. Collins says the rule change would make sure "the symbol of our nation is preserved while supporting American jobs and manufacturers."