Supreme Court calls off oral arguments in first postponement of its kind in 102 years

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Supreme Court announced Monday it would not hold oral arguments during the next two weeks due to the cononarvirus, the first postponement of its kind since 1918.

“In keeping with public health precautions recommended in response to COVID-19, the Supreme Court is postponing the oral arguments currently scheduled for the March session (March 23-25 and March 30-April 1). The court will examine the options for rescheduling those cases in due course in light of the developing circumstances,” the court’s public information office said in a statement.

The court had been scheduled to hear arguments in several high-profile cases, including President Donald Trump’s appeal of three lower court rulings that would require his accountants to disclose his tax returns to several House committees and to a New York district attorney.

It is not clear whether the postponement will change how or when the court decides those cases. Typically, the justices hear oral arguments through the end of April and issue opinions in those cases by the end of June. But both schedules can be changed. The justices have at times heard arguments in May and have not released their final rulings until July.

The court said the justices would hold a regularly scheduled conference on Friday morning to consider pending appeals. But the announcement said some of the justices might participate by phone.

The virus is particularly dangerous for older people. The court’s two oldest members are Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who marked her 87th birthday on Sunday, and Justice Stephen G. Breyer, who is 81.

— Los Angeles Times

Fed slashes rate to near zero to counter coronavirus

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Reserve slashed interest rates Sunday to nearly zero and predicted a significant hit to the U.S. economy as closures of businesses, schools and government facilities continued and Trump administration officials warned that new cases —and deaths —would inexorably rise.

Even so, President Donald Trump painted a positive picture of the government’s efforts to stem the spread.

“This is a very contagious virus. It’s incredible,” Trump said at a White House briefing, flanked by members of his coronavirus task force. “But it’s something that we have tremendous control of.”

Anthony Fauci, the administration’s most visible infectious diseases expert, was far more somber. “The worst is yet ahead for us,” he said.

Taking a second and more powerful emergency action to fight the coronavirus’ severe impact on markets, the Fed on Sunday slashed interest rates to near zero and said it would buy at least $700 billion of Treasury and mortgage-backed securities to help maintain smooth functioning of financial markets.

The Fed announced it would cut a full percentage point from its benchmark rate, taking it down to the same rock-bottom level where it was pinned for seven years until December 2015 because of the Great Recession and slow recovery from it.

Trump, who has made economic concerns a prime focus as he confronts the virus’ spread, said the rate cut “makes me very happy.” He also sought to calm panic buying at supermarkets and drugstores, offering assurances that food supplies will not be disrupted as Americans cope with dizzying changes that have altered the rhythms of daily life across the country.

“You don’t have to buy so much,” he said after a conference call Sunday with the heads of the largest U.S. retail chains. “Take it easy — just relax.”

The moves came on a day in which state and local officials across the country ordered closure of schools, restaurants, bars and other areas where people might mingle and spread the virus, taking steps that even a few days ago were considered too drastic to contemplate.

— Los Angeles Times

South Korea wants to show the world how to tackle the coronavirus

SOEUL, South Korea — South Korea has been praised for its effective response to the coronavirus pandemic. Now it wants to share its lessons with the world.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in suggested that U.S. President Donald Trump hold a G-20 teleconference summit to discuss how South Korea worked to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus, a statement from Moon’s office said.

The country was testing people for the virus at the fastest pace in the world, which appears to have allowed early detection of cases, keeping its mortality rate lower than average.

At the proposed meeting with world leaders, South Korea plans to share information on its “experience on tackling” the nationwide spread of the novel coronavirus, results on clinical tests, as well as discussing response measures of the outbreak on the global economy, according to the statement.

Moon’s national security advisor Chung Eui-yong asked his U.S. counterpart Robert O’Brien in a phone call on Sunday to deliver the proposal, the statement said, adding that O’Brien said Trump would “actively consider” the idea.

This isn’t the first time South Korea has suggested the idea. Moon said he would discuss the approach in a call last week with French President Emmanuel Macron.

— Bloomberg News

Coronavirus closures upend census plans for counting homeless, college students

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The closure or quarantining of many homeless shelters, nursing homes and colleges to stem the spread of the coronavirus is forcing the U.S. Census Bureau to change the way it counts some of the most difficult to reach populations, and the closures might mean it takes longer to count the country’s population, census officials warned Sunday.

“Currently, the planned completion date is July 31 — but that can and will be adjusted if necessary as the situation dictates in order to achieve a complete and accurate count,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement.

Whether to extend the count and how long it might last are questions that have not been decided, bureau spokesman Michael Cook said. About 3 million of the country’s more than 329 million residents have responded online since March 12.

Even if the planned end of the count is delayed, the bureau is required by federal law to submit the results of the count to Congress and the president by Dec. 31.

“We have decided to move the things that we can move in order to get an accurate count,” Cook said.

For the first time in history, the bureau is heavily relying on people responding to the census online, and has pushed that method as the spread of the coronavirus, or COVID-19, shutters schools, sports, entertainment and businesses.

Among the changes outlined by the bureau Sunday, nursing homes, prisons, halfway houses, college dorms and other “group quarters” who requested in-person visits from census workers will be asked to submit responses online or have paper forms dropped off and picked up “to minimize in person contact with our census staff.” Many facilities have begun limiting who can visit, and another option is to have the facilities collect data, including age, date of birth and race, for the census.

With dozens of colleges and universities closing across the country, the bureau is asking the 35% of college and university student housing administrators who had requested to have paper census forms dropped off and picked up at dorms to change their plans.

The bureau’s plan to count the country’s homeless population of an estimated half a million people, one of the most difficult groups to count, is also changing as soup kitchens and shelters weigh closing their doors.

The original plan was to have census workers interview each person staying at an emergency and transitional shelter, or eating at a soup kitchen or mobile food vans between March 30 and April 1.

Instead, the bureau is currently contacting service providers to see if their facilities will be open those days and if they can collect responses to the census themselves.

Rather than starting March 30, the bureau will delay its mobile outreach, which is often set up at grocery stores, churches or festivals in areas with low response rates. It will begin in some locations April 6, and across the country April 13.

— Los Angeles Times

Coronavirus bill needs a do-over while small businesses chafe

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The House will have to vote once more on the COVID-19 aid package the chamber passed in the wee hours of Saturday morning due to agreed-upon “technical” changes that didn’t make it into the version that eventually hit the floor.

The do-over gives small businesses, unhappy with provisions requiring them to offer up to 12 weeks of paid leave to their workers, time to lobby for additional changes when the measure reaches the Senate. The influential National Federation of Independent Business said it may consider the matter a “key vote” on its legislative scorecard, a gauge of how worthy congressional candidates are of support in the upcoming elections.

Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin acknowledged the concerns small businesses had with the legislation and hedged on whether it could pass the Senate in its current form.

“We are hearing feedback that certain small businesses are very concerned about the burden of this,” Mnuchin said Sunday, adding he’s been in contact with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other senators.

“I’m speaking to senators, I don’t want to predict, OK, I think there’s a lot of bipartisan support, I hope they pass this bill,” the Treasury chief said. “If not we’ll work with the Senate on whatever minor changes we need.”

Mnuchin described the needed change as “a technical correction” that had been agreed to by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., before the measure passed the House, 363-40.

The underlying bill would provide free coverage to the uninsured for COVID-19 testing, expand unemployment benefits and food assistance, help states alleviate budget shortfalls with Medicaid funding increases and more.

Providing paid sick leave and family leave for workers forced to stay home sick or to care for family members has broad support on both sides of the aisle. But the structure of the emergency leave program has been a topic of dispute for several days.

Republicans thought they’d settled on a formula to alleviate concerns: Provide generous tax credits for businesses with 500 or fewer employees subject to the new requirements, who under current law don’t have to pay workers who take up to 12 weeks off under the Family and Medical Leave Act. There’s also a hardship waiver for firms with 50 workers or less, subject to Labor Department approval.

Small businesses voiced concerns that the tax relief wouldn’t come quickly enough for them to make payroll, however, because the tax credits wouldn’t come until after the end of each quarter. President Donald Trump said he’d agreed to have Mnuchin provide flexibility so that businesses could get the cash upfront. House Ways and Means ranking member Kevin Brady, R-Texas, announced his support for the bill after personal assurances from Trump.

— CQ-Roll Call