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THE BIG DEAL—Stocks jump as Trump prepares to return to White House: Stocks closed with gains Monday after President Trump
Donald John TrumpState Department revokes visa of Giuliani-linked Ukrainian ally: report White House Gift Shop selling ‘Trump Defeats COVID’ commemorative coin Biden says he should not have called Trump a clown in first debate MORE announced that he would be discharged from Walter Reed hospital later in the day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 466 points, or 1.7 percent, and the S&P 500 increased 60 points, or 1.8 percent. The tech-heavy NASDAQ performed even better, with a 257-point increase, or 2.3 percent.
- Trump, who announced Friday that he has COVID-19, said he’d return to the White House, where he will continue to receive medical attention from a full team of medical professionals.
- His announcement came before the stock market closed at 4 p.m.
- Trump departed Walter Reed National Military Medical Center shortly after 6:30 p.m.
The background: Trump’s apparent eagerness to downplay the severity of the virus raised questions as to what led to the decision.
LEADING THE DAY
IRS extends deadline for non-filers to register for stimulus payments: The IRS announced Monday that it is extending the deadline for people who aren’t typically required to file tax returns to register for their coronavirus relief payments.
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The agency said it is moving the deadline for non-filers to use an IRS web tool from Oct. 15 to Nov. 21, giving people an extra five weeks to submit their information.
“We took this step to provide more time for those who have not yet received a payment to register to get their money, including those in low-income and underserved communities,” IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig said in a statement.
The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda tells us what it means here.
- Under legislation enacted in late March, most Americans are eligible for one-time payments of up to $1,200 per adult and $500 per child. The vast majority of eligible Americans received their payments earlier this year.
- Reaching non-filers has been a challenge for the IRS as it has worked to get the stimulus payments to everyone who is eligible.
- Non-filers typically have very low incomes.
Top Fed official warns failure to pass more COVID-19 relief could slow recovery: Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans says that a failure of the White House and Congress to approve more coronavirus stimulus funding could reignite “recessionary dynamics” that will hinder the recovery from the recession.
In a Monday speech, Evans said another economic rescue package “will play an enormously powerful role” in helping struggling households and businesses survive until the coronavirus pandemic is under control. He added that sufficient relief, including support for state and local governments, would help unemployment fall from 7.9 percent as of September to 4 percent by 2023.
Without further aid, Evans warned, “recessionary dynamics will gain more traction and lead to a slower trajectory back to maximum employment.”
- Evans’s warning is the latest attempt from top Fed officials to nudge the White House and Congress closer to a long-sought deal on a follow-up to the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that President Trump signed in late March.
- Economists credit the CARES Act with shielding the U.S. from some of the economic blow at the onset of the pandemic through expanded and enhanced unemployment benefits, direct payments to U.S. households, emergency loans to small businesses and aid to state and local governments.
- But the pace of the recovery has slowed notably as much of that aid expired and washed out of the economy over the summer.
GOOD TO KNOW
- A watchdog group on Monday called for President Trump’s top trade adviser to be fired for violating a law that bans federal employees for engaging in political activity in their professional capacity.
- Wayne LaPierre, the longtime head of the National Rifle Association (NRA), is under investigation by the IRS on suspicion of criminal tax fraud, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
- New York Times: “Tidjane Thiam made Credit Suisse profitable again. But the Swiss rejected him as an outsider, and a sudden scandal took him down.”
- A coalition of progressive groups on Monday launched an initiative to make the case that the tax code is too favorable to the wealthy after The New York Times’s bombshell report on President Trump’s taxes.
- Voters consider the economy their top issue in the presidential election, according to newly released Gallup polling.
ODDS AND ENDS
- The CEOs of Google, Facebook and Twitter are set to testify before the Senate later this month, spokespeople for the companies confirmed to The Hill on Monday.
- Regal Cinemas, the nation’s second-largest theater chain, will close its doors across the country as the film industry continues to be hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
- Op-Ed: Adriana Kugler, a professor at Georgetown University, argues why Congress must take “swift action” or have a worse jobless rate this winter”