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1 Senate Republicans Block Democratic Bill Protecting Access To IVF
A Democratic-led bill to guarantee access to in vitro fertilization failed in the Senate yesterday after Republicans blocked its passage. The bill would have given broad federal protections to IVF in the US, but a motion to advance the bill to a full vote only received 48 votes of the 60 it needed to advance. Only two Republican senators voted in favor of the bill, Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins. The vote was mostly symbolic, and an attempt to get Republicans on the record on the subject of IVF. Before the vote, Senate Republicans moved to advance a narrower bill that would cut off Medicaid funding for any state that bans IVF, with all 49 GOP members of the body signing off on it. Democrats blasted the Republican bill, with Sen. Patty Murray saying the Republican bill “has huge loopholes that would let states restrict IVF in all different kinds of ways.”
2 President Biden Says He Won't Commute Son's Sentence
Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre didn’t directly address questions about whether or not President Joe Biden would commute the sentence from his son Hunter’s felony conviction. Yesterday, the president seemed to give a very clear answer to the same question. After stepping away from the podium after speaking in Italy, a reporter shouted to ask him if he would commute Hunter’s sentence. His answer wasn’t clearly audible, but his lips were easy to read as he forcefully said “No.” Biden did briefly address the conviction in his comments, saying he was proud of the man Hunter has become.
3 US Wholesale Prices Fell In May
Another good sign for the economy yesterday. Wholesale price increases fell 0.2-percent from April to May, dropping from a 0.5-percent increase the month before. One of the major drivers of the decrease was a 7.1-percent plummet in gas prices. Compared to last May, wholesale prices were still up 2.2-percent last month. Egg prices dropped 35-percent, and wholesale food prices dropped 01.-percent from April to May.