Tag: Top

Ford poaches high tech govt Doug Subject who helped lead Apple’s top-secret automobile mission

Post author By
Post date September 7, 2021

Ford Motor Co. displays a new 2021 Ford F-150 pickup truck at the Rouge Complex in Dearborn, Michigan, September 17, 2020.

Rebecca Cook | Reuters

DETROIT – Ford Motor has hired former Tesla and Apple executive Doug Field to lead its emerging technology efforts, a key focus for the automaker under its new Ford+ turnaround plan.

Field, who led development of Tesla’s Model 3, most recently served as vice president of special projects at Apple, which reportedly included the tech giant’s Titan car project.

The hire is a major new addition for Ford, while a big hit to Apple and its secret car project, which the company has yet to confirm exists.

“I think any time you lose a well-respected, experienced executive who, as best we can tell, was really directing the automotive efforts at Apple, it’s a blow to any company,” Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi, who covers the iPhone maker, said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.”

Ford on Tuesday said Field will serve in the new position of chief advanced technology and embedded systems officer. He will lead Ford’s vehicle controls, enterprise connectivity, features, integration and validation, architecture and platform, driver assistance technology and digital engineering tools.

“His talent and commitment to innovation that improves customers’ lives will be invaluable as we build out our Ford+ plan to deliver awesome products, always-on customer relationships and ever-improving user experiences,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement. “We are thrilled Doug chose to join Ford and help write the next amazing chapter of this great company.”

Field, who will report to Farley, actually began his professional career at Ford in 1987, according to his LinkedIn profile. He then held positions at Johnson & Johnson, Deka Research & Development and Segway before starting at Apple in 2008. After more than five years with the tech giant, he moved to Tesla before returning to Apple in 2018.

– CNBC’s Kevin Stankiewicz contributed to this report

Tags Apples, car, Doug, executive, Field, Ford, Helped, Lead, poaches, Project, Tech, Top, topsecret

Politics

High Pennsylvania Republican Vows to Assessment 2020 Election Outcomes

Post author By
Post date August 24, 2021

The top Republican in the Pennsylvania State Senate promised this week to carry out a broad review of the 2020 election results, a move that comes as G.O.P. lawmakers continue to sow doubts about the contest’s legitimacy by pushing to re-examine votes in battleground states like Arizona.

State Senator Jake Corman, who serves as president pro tempore of the G.O.P.-controlled chamber, made the comments in an interview with a right-wing radio host, and they were first reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer on Tuesday. His remarks were the strongest sign yet that Pennsylvania — which President Biden won by more than 80,000 votes — may press forward with a review of 2020 results, despite no evidence of voter fraud that would have affected the outcome.

In the interview, Mr. Corman said that he wanted to begin “almost immediately” and that hearings would begin this week. He added that he expected to use the full power of the state’s General Assembly, including subpoenas, to conduct the review, which he referred to as a “forensic investigation.”

“We can bring people in, we can put them under oath, we can subpoena records, and that’s what we need to do and that’s what we’re going to do,” Mr. Corman said. “And so we’re going to move forward.”

Previously, State Senator Doug Mastriano, a Republican and vocal proponent of former President Donald J. Trump’s falsehoods about the election, had called for a review of results in three counties.

Until recently the chair of the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee, he sent letters requesting ballots, records and machines from Philadelphia County, which encompasses the state’s largest city and which Mr. Biden won with over 80 percent of the vote; York County, south of Harrisburg, which Mr. Trump won handily; and Tioga County, in the northern part of the state, which Mr. Trump also carried with ease. All three counties refused to comply, and Mr. Mastriano’s legal authority to enforce the requests remains unclear.

Last week, Mr. Corman removed Mr. Mastriano from his position as chair of the committee and installed State Senator Cris Dush, also a Republican, to lead the panel and oversee the review.

In the interview, Mr. Corman expressed his own doubts about the election.

“I don’t necessarily have faith in the results,” he said. “I think that there were many problems in our election that we need to get to the bottom of.”

Mr. Corman’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Veronica Degraffenreid, who as the acting secretary of the commonwealth oversees Pennsylvania’s elections, has discouraged counties from participating in any election reviews, noting that any inspection of voting machines by uncredentialed third parties would result in their decertification, and that counties would have to bear the considerable costs of replacing the equipment.

“The Department of State encourages counties to refuse to participate in any sham review of past elections that would require counties to violate the trust of their voters and ignore their statutory duty to protect the chain of custody of their ballots and voting equipment,” Ms. Degraffenreid’s office said in a statement last month.

It remains unclear exactly how Mr. Corman and the Pennsylvania Senate will proceed with their review, including what they might seek in terms of equipment and records, and which counties they might focus on. Mr. Corman did say that, after talking with fellow legislators in Arizona, he was looking for a “neutral arbiter” to help carry out the review — a potential nod to how the Maricopa County review became widely ridiculed in part because the chief executive of the company carrying out the re-examination had promoted conspiracy theories about rigged voting machines costing Mr. Trump victory in the state.

“I think it’s important that we get people involved that don’t have ties to anybody, that are professional, that will do the job so that we can stand behind the results,” Mr. Corman said.

Tags election, Pennsylvania, Republican, results, Review, Top, Vows

World News

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin shedding high expertise throughout NASA lander struggle

Post author By
Post date August 21, 2021

Jeff Bezos, owner of Blue Origin, introduces a new lunar landing module called Blue Moon during an event at the Washington Convention Center, May 9, 2019 in Washington, DC.

Mark Wilson | Getty Images

Jeff Bezos flew to space late last month, but his company has lost top talent since the billionaire space founder came back to Earth.

At least 17 key leaders and senior engineers have left Blue Origin this summer, CNBC has learned, with many moving on in the weeks after Bezos’ spaceflight.

Two of the engineers, Nitin Arora and Lauren Lyons, this week announced jobs at other space companies: Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Firefly Aerospace, respectively.

Others quietly updated their LinkedIn pages over the past few weeks.

Each unannounced departure was confirmed to CNBC by people familiar with the matter. Those departures include: New Shepard senior vice president Steve Bennett, chief of mission assurance Jeff Ashby (who retired), national security sales director Scott Jacobs, New Glenn senior director Bob Ess, New Glenn first stage senior director Tod Byquist, New Glenn senior finance manager Bill Scammell, senior manager of production testing Christopher Payne, New Shepard technical project manager Nate Chapman, senior propulsion design engineer Dave Sanderson, senior HLS human factors engineer Rachel Forman, BE-4 controller lead integration and testing engineer Jack Nelson, New Shepard lead avionics software engineer Huong Vo, BE-7 avionics hardware engineer Aaron Wang, propulsion engineer Rex Gu, and rocket engine development engineer Gerry Hudak.

Those who announced they were leaving Blue Origin did not specify why, but frustration with executive management and a slow, bureaucratic structure is often cited in employee reviews on job site Glassdoor.

A company spokesperson emphasized Blue Origin’s growth in a statement to CNBC.

“Blue Origin grew by 850 people in 2020 and we have grown by another 650 so far in 2021. In fact, we’ve grown by nearly a factor of four over the past three years. We continue to fill out major leadership roles in manufacturing, quality, engine design, and vehicle design. It’s a team we’re building and we have great talent,” the spokesperson said.

Some of the engineers who left were part of Blue Origin’s astronaut lunar lander program. Bezos’ company lost its bid for a valuable NASA development contract in April when SpaceX was announced as the sole awardee under the space agency’s Human Landing System program, winning a $2.9 billion contract.

But, despite the Government Accountability Office last month denying Blue Origin’s protest of NASA’s decision, the company has continued to escalate its fight to be a part of the HLS program. Blue Origin first launched a public relations offensive against SpaceX’s Starship rocket and then, on Monday, sued NASA in federal court.

A $10,000 bonus

Jeff Bezos pops champagne after emerging from the New Shepard capsule after his spaceflight on July 20, 2021.

Blue Origin

The company has nearly 4,000 employees around the U.S., with its headquarters in Kent, Washington, near Seattle, as well as facilities in Cape Canaveral, Florida; Van Horn, Texas, and Huntsville, Alabama.

Ten days after Bezos’ July 20 spaceflight, Blue Origin gave all its full-time employees a $10,000, no-strings-attached cash bonus, multiple people familiar with the situation told CNBC. None of Blue Origin’s contractors received it. The company confirmed the bonus, with a spokesperson noting that it was intended as a “thank you” for achieving the milestone of launching people to space.

Two people told CNBC that internally the bonus was perceived as the company’s leadership attempting to entice talent to stay, in response to the number of employees filing notices to leave after the launch.

A look at Glassdoor reveals a sharp disparity in employee satisfaction with Blue Origin’s leadership when compared with that of other top space companies. According to Glassdoor, just 15% of Blue Origin employees approve of CEO Bob Smith — versus 91% for Elon Musk at SpaceX or 77% for Tory Bruno at United Launch Alliance.

The HLS fight

A mockup of the crew lander vehicle at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in August 2020.

Blue Origin

NASA’s Human Landing System program is one of the critical pieces of the agency’s plan, known as Artemis, to return U.S. astronauts to the surface of the moon.

Last year, NASA handed out nearly $1 billion in concept development contracts for HLS — with SpaceX receiving $135 million, Leidos’ subsidiary Dynetics receiving $253 million and Blue Origin receiving $579 million. The space agency then expected to award two of those three companies hardware development contracts this year. However, following a shortfall in requested funding for HLS from Congress, NASA decided to give only SpaceX a contract, worth about $2.9 billion.

Blue Origin and Dynetics each quickly filed protests with the U.S. Government Accountability Office, which halted NASA’s work on the program until the protests could be resolved. The GAO on July 30 upheld NASA’s decision. On Aug. 16, Blue Origin took its battle a step further, suing NASA in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

NASA has paid $300 million of its SpaceX contract so far, with the payment made on the day the GAO denied the protests. However, the space agency’s work on HLS has once again halted — this time due to the Blue Origin lawsuit, according to court filings Thursday — and will not resume until Nov. 1.

Major delays

Billionaire businessman Jeff Bezos is launched with three crew members aboard a New Shepard rocket on the world’s first unpiloted suborbital flight from Blue Origin’s Launch Site 1 near Van Horn, Texas, July 20, 2021.

Joe Skipper | Reuters

Blue Origin has struggled to deliver on multiple major programs since Bezos hired Smith as CEO in 2017. Bezos founded the company in 2000, with the goal of creating “a future where millions of people are living and working in space to benefit Earth.” Delays — although common in the industry, in which the adage “space is hard” is persistently heard — have pushed back Bezos’ vision, highlighted by the departure of Blue Origin’s chief operating officer late last year.

Bezos launched to the edge of space as one of the members of the first crew onboard Blue Origin’s reusable New Shepard rocket. While the company has not disclosed pricing, New Shepard competes with Virgin Galactic in the realm of suborbital space tourism, with Blue Origin having sold nearly $100 million worth of tickets for future passenger flights. Although the first crewed New Shepard launch was a smooth success, Blue Origin’s leadership had previously expected the rocket to begin launching people by the end of 2017.

An artist’s illustration of a New Glenn rocket standing on the launchpad in Florida.

Blue Origin

BE-4 engine test at Blue Origin’s West Texas launch facility.

Blue Origin

Blue Origin’s third major program is its stable of rocket engines, headlined by the BE-4, which will power its New Glenn rocket. The company previously said that its BE-4 engines would be “ready for flight in 2017.”

However, four years later, development issues and a lack of hardware for testing quickly mean Blue Origin has yet to deliver its first flight engines, ArsTechnica reported earlier this month. The company is pushing to have two BE-4 engines ready by the end of this year. Notably, BE-4s are important beyond Blue Origin, as ULA signed a deal to use the engines to power its Vulcan rockets, choosing Blue Origin over Aerojet Rocketdyne as its supplier. ULA is pushing to have its first Vulcan rocket ready to launch by the end of this year, and Blue Origin’s BE-4 engines are expected to be a — if not the — final piece added before launch.

Bezos has spent the majority of his time in the past two decades focused on Amazon, but along the way has steadily sold pieces of his stake in the tech giant to fund Blue Origin’s development — to the tune of $1 billion a year, or possibly more. Last month, Bezos stepped down as Amazon CEO, with many in the space industry expecting him to spend more time focusing on his space company.

Become a smarter investor with CNBC Pro.
Get stock picks, analyst calls, exclusive interviews and access to CNBC TV.
Sign up to start a free trial today.

Tags Bezos, blue, Fight, Jeff, lander, losing, NASA, origin, talent, Top

Politics

Prime Cuomo aide’s father lobbied the governor’s workplace earlier this 12 months

Post author By
Post date August 6, 2021

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (L) speaks with Secretary to Governor Melissa DeRosa (R) during his daily press conference on March 20, 2020 in New York City.

Bennett Raglin | Getty Images

A firm run by the father of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s closest adviser was actively lobbying members of the governor’s team for clients earlier this year when former Cuomo advisors made allegations of sexual harassment and the governor was under investigation by the attorney general.

Giorgio DeRosa, the father of the governor’s powerful secretary Melissa DeRosa, is listed in lobbyists ‘disclosure reports as part of a group that actively engaged Cuomo’s staff in the Executive Chamber during Attorney General Letitia James’ investigation into the governor for alleged sexual harassment of several women, as records show.

The disclosure reports show that Giorgio DeRosa, a head of the influential Bolton-St. Johns and his team lobbied the Cuomo Executive Chamber from January through April. Melissa DeRosa’s brother, who also works at the company, is also listed in disclosure reports showing the group targeted the governor’s office during the same period.

Bolton-St. Johns made just over $ 80,000 in that time lobbying Cuomo’s team, the revelations show.

The first former Cuomo adviser went public in December on allegations of sexual harassment against the governor. James announced in late February that he would take over the investigation.

The attorney general’s report found that Cuomo sexually molested eleven women and violated state and federal laws. It is also alleged that Melissa DeRosa was an architect to protect the governor from the allegations. Cuomo continues to deny wrongdoing. A new Quinnipiac poll says 7 out of 10 voters think Cuomo should step down.

CNBC policy

Read more about CNBC’s political coverage:

Between January and February, Giorgio DeRosa was part of a team hiring Cuomo’s consultants on a variety of topics for phone giant Verizon, food service company Delaware North and casino giant Caesars Entertainment.

Recent lobbying by the team also targeted members of the attorney general of the Live Nation ticket company later in the year, although those investigating Cuomo were not listed as the people contacted by Giorgio DeRosa and his team.

Melissa DeRosa said she has withdrawn from anything to do with her father and her entire family. Giorgio DeRosa has stood up for Cuomo’s team in the past.

Still, the lobbying reports show that he and his company continued to have access to the governor’s inner circle at the start of and during an investigation highlighting his daughter’s role in the alleged attempt to protect the governor from scrutiny.

After CNBC asked questions about Melissa DeRosa’s father’s recent lobbying efforts, a Cuomo spokesman dismissed CNBC’s coverage as “nonsensical”. The spokesman reiterated that the governor’s secretary had withdrawn from all matters related to her family.

“As has been publicly announced for years, Melissa is being proactively withdrawn on any specific matter that involves members of her family, and the premise of this article is nonsensical,” Rich Azzopardi, a Cuomo spokesman, said in an e- Mail to CNBC on Friday.

Azzopardi is also mentioned repeatedly in the attorney general’s report.

The attorney general’s report shows, among other things, that in March Melissa DeRosa twice requested that Larry Schwartz, who was Cuomo’s Covid vaccine czar at the time, call the Democratic district governments to take her pulse on whether the governor should resign in light of the allegations.

“On the call, Ms. DeRosa asked Mr. Schwartz to contact the Democratic District Councils to clarify their positions on whether the governor should resign in light of the sexual harassment allegations. Mr. Schwartz said he agreed to make the calls because Ms. DeRosa, the governor’s secretary, had asked, “the report said. “Two weeks after Mr. Schwartz made his first round of calls, Ms. DeRosa asked him to make another round of calls to the county boards to review their positions. Mr. Schwartz made those calls again and reported back to Ms. DeRosa.”

Ethics experts have previously questioned Melissa DeRosa’s attempt to distance herself from her father. Susan Lerner, the executive director of the guard dog Common Cause / New York, told CNBC in a telephone interview on Friday that after she and her group initially asked Melissa DeRosa for greater transparency, she received a call from the secretary to the governor.

“She refuses to provide a list of the matters that she has withdrawn from. When she was first appointed we raised this issue and she said she would withdraw herself,” Lerner said. “We said, ‘OK, let the public know which of these customers you are not going to discuss with.’ She refused and called to yell at me and say it was out of my turn to address these issues. “

Lerner said there were always the appearances of ethical issues when Giorgio DeRosa swayed the governor’s office while his daughter worked for the governor.

“It’s built into the situation and that was clear from the start,” she said. “By the time she was selected, there would be at least the semblance of inappropriateness that everyone in the executive who met with her father was very much aware of the relationship between the governor’s secretary and the lobbyist’s meeting with. It certainly is obvious to customers. “

Melissa DeRosa was first appointed secretary in 2017.

Giorgio DeRosa defended the company, saying it always acted in accordance with the laws of the state.

“Bolton-St.Johns has been rated as the top lobbying firm in New York for over two decades. Clients hire our firm to leverage our diverse knowledge and political know-how to support effective results-oriented strategies, ”he said in an email on Friday. “This topic has been covered extensively by other media in the past, and only the impeccable compliance with state law has been reported.”

For Verizon, the Executive Chamber’s lobbying focused, according to the disclosure, on “New York State budget items that affect Verizon’s services” and an “ongoing approval issue at the Verizon workplace.”

During the same period, Giorgio DeRosa and his team, along with members of the state legislature, participated in the Cuomo Executive Chamber on “Sports Betting Issues in NYS”. [New York State]“For Caesars.

In April, Cuomo signed a budget bill for fiscal year 2022 that would enable online sports betting in the Empire State. Giorgio DeRosa’s group supported Cuomo’s team on the same issues for Delaware North, which also owns casinos.

Giorgio DeRosa’s lobbying work towards the Executive Chamber did not end there. It was not until April that he and his company continued to advocate for Caesars on issues related to sports betting.

From March through April, they also got access to the executive chamber of FuelCell Energy, a Connecticut-based clean energy provider.

Giorgio DeRosa and his law firm also targeted state legislators for FuelCell with discussions about the review of the “Definition of Renewable Energy in New York State”.

Tags Aides, Cuomo, earlier, Father, governors, lobbied, Office, Top, Year

Politics

Pelosi amongst prime Democrats calling for NY Gov. Cuomo’s resignation

Post author By
Post date August 4, 2021

Governor Andrew Cuomo holds press briefing and makes announcement to combat Covid-19 Delta variant at 633 3rd Avenue.

Pacific Press | LightRocket | Getty Images

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats called on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign on Tuesday, following the release of a bombshell report alleging that the governor sexually harassed 11 women.

Pelosi expressed her belief that Cuomo should resign, a shift from the spring when she declined to call on the governor to step down from office.

“Recognizing his love of New York and the respect for the office he holds, I call upon the Governor to resign,” Pelosi said in a statement.

President Joe Biden also called on Cuomo to step down. “He should resign,” Biden told reporters at the White House.

Asked whether Cuomo should be removed from office if he refuses to resign, Biden said, “I understand the state legislature may decide to impeach, I do not know that for a fact.”

Shortly after Biden’s response, New York State House Speaker Carl Heastie (D) announced the launch of an impeachment inquiry.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, both Democrats from New York, issued a joint statement calling the allegations against Cuomo “profoundly disturbing” and demanding his resignation.

“Today’s report from the New York State Attorney General substantiated and corroborated the allegations of the brave women who came forward to share their stories — and we commend the women for doing so,” the senators said.

“No elected official is above the law. The people of New York deserve better leadership in the governor’s office. We continue to believe that the Governor should resign,” Schumer and Gillibrand said. The senators had originally called for Cuomo’s resignation back in March.

Gillibrand on Tuesday called the report “very serious and damning.”

“My heart goes out to the women who have come forward … and I thank them for their courage,” she told reporters in the Capitol.

Governor Ned Lamont of Connecticut, Governor Dan McKee of Rhode Island, Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey and Governor Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania released a joint statement asking Cuomo to resign: “We are appalled at the findings of the independent investigation by the New York Attorney General. Governor Cuomo should resign from office.”

Three Democratic congressmen from New York, Reps. Tom Suozzi, Gregory Meeks and Hakeem Jeffries, none of whom had previously called on Cuomo to step down, did so on Tuesday.

“The time has come for Governor Andrew Cuomo to do the right thing for the people of New York State and resign,” the lawmakers said in a statement.

Jeffries is the House Democratic Caucus chairman, the fifth highest-ranking Democrat in the House.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the White House’s message to Cuomo’s accusers is that all women who “have lived through this type of experience … deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.”

“I don’t know that anyone could have watched [James’ press conference] this morning and not found the allegations to be abhorrent — I know I certainly did,” said Psaki.

Heastie, the state House Speaker, said the report made it impossible for Cuomo to continue to lead the state.

“It is abundantly clear to me that the Governor has lost the confidence of the Assembly Democratic majority and that he can no longer remain in office,” Heastie said in a statement.

“We will move expeditiously and look to conclude our impeachment investigation as quickly as possible.”

U.S. Senate Majority Chuck Schumer (D-NY) looks up after reading a statement calling for the resignation of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, August 3, 2021.

Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

The report is the product of a monthslong probe by independent investigators working for state Attorney General Letitia James’ office. It concluded that Cuomo “sexually harassed multiple women and in doing so violated federal and state law,” James said at a press conference.

A somber but defiant Cuomo strongly denied some of those allegations later Tuesday and said that other examples of his alleged misconduct had been mischaracterized or misinterpreted.

News of the report’s findings landed like a grenade in Albany and in Washington, where the powerful Democratic governor has earned a reputation as a bare-knuckle political brawler.

The 165-page report also said that Cuomo’s office was riddled with fear and intimidation and was a hostile work environment for many staffers. The women Cuomo harassed included members of his own staff, members of the public and other state employees, one of whom was a state trooper, the report found.

“The Governor must resign for the good of the state,” said Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the Democratic majority leader of the New York State Senate. “Now that the investigation is complete and the allegations have been substantiated, it should be clear to everyone that he can no longer serve as Governor.”

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the “abhorrent behavior” outlined in the report disqualifies Cuomo from remaining in office, renewing his call for the governor to resign or be impeached.

“My first thoughts are with the women who were subject to this abhorrent behavior, and their bravery in stepping forward to share their stories,” de Blasio said in a statement. “The Attorney General’s detailed and thorough report substantiates many disturbing instances of severe misconduct. Andrew Cuomo committed sexual assault and sexual harassment, and intimidated a whistleblower. It is disqualifying.”

One of the women allegedly sexually harassed by Cuomo was a New York state trooper.

Thomas H. Mungeer, president of the New York State Troopers Police Benevolent Association, said he was “outraged and disgusted that one of my members, who was tasked with guarding the governor and ensuring his safety, could not enjoy the same sense of security in her work environment that he was provided.”

“The NYSTPBA also applauds the bravery of our member, who when called upon during this investigation was truthful and had the courage to share her experiences,” said Mungeer.

Tags among, Calling, Cuomos, Democrats, Gov, Pelosi, resignation, Top

Politics

Expert in Technique (and Grudges), Prime Biden Adviser to Depart White Home

Post author By
Post date July 24, 2021

WASHINGTON – For the past 17 months since Joseph R. Biden Jr. roused his campaign after an embarrassing fourth place in the Iowa caucuses, Joseph R. Biden Jr. has relied on Anita Dunn, a veteran Washington advisor, for both guidance and guidance as a grudge.

Ms. Dunn, 63, gave direction as Mr. Biden’s campaign took off. She later refused to allow Julian Castro, a former housing minister, a requested speaking time at the Democratic National Convention, still upset by his night of debate against Mr Biden’s mental acuity, according to people familiar with the snub. And so far in the west wing she has helped shape every important political advance.

Now, Ms. Dunn will return to her powerful democratic consultancy, leaving a void in Mr. Biden’s little inner circle as the highly contagious Delta variant permeates unvaccinated communities and the fate of Mr. Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure deal is on the verge of collapse.

“It brings stability and adherence to strategy,” said David Plouffe, the former Obama campaign manager. “You can see it in the White House, where they are very disciplined about Covid, the economy and the President’s commitment. This discipline and not swinging in every pitch is really classic Anita. “

Ms. Dunn has prepared the President for every interview and press conference since taking on his campaign and promoting the government’s buttoned-up approach to the news media. She is widely credited with promoting women to leadership positions in the west wing. And she firmly opposes Mr. Biden asking questions from reporters on a regular basis, which she believes does little to advance his agenda. She prefers town hall events.

But for all of her discipline and expertise, Ms. Dunn’s presence in the Biden administration, and before that in the Obama administration, has raised the question of how her influence in government overlaps with the corporate work of her company, which represents clients who want to influence politics .

Ms. Dunn has just parted ways with SKDK, the business and policy advisory firm she co-founded, and is returning next month for short campaign and government work. And the fact that it is exempt from filing public financial disclosures required by full-time presidential candidates has been criticized by some ethics watchers.

Your presence in the west wing is also evidence of how Mr Biden has prioritized his reliance on trustworthy personalities with decades of experience in the bypass, even as he promised to end access peddling common during the Trump administration. (This week Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a close friend of former President Donald J. Trump and one of his top 2016 fundraisers, was accused of using his access to Mr. Trump to promote the UAE’s foreign policy goals and then reiterated Misleading federal agents about his activities.)

Ms. Dunn and her colleagues have said that she has always scrupulously adhered to ethical rules. The SKDK emphasizes that it does not lobby, but rather provides political and media advice.

Ms. Dunn and her husband Robert Bauer, a former White House attorney who still serves as personal advocate for both Mr. Biden and former President Barack Obama, have long been part of the infrastructure of Washington’s national democratic politics.

Following the 2020 election, Ms. Dunn intended to return to her position as managing director of her company, which represents Pfizer, AT&T and Amazon alongside other corporate giants such as the NAACP

However, Mr. Biden and his wife Jill Biden had other plans. They urged Ms. Dunn to join the new government, reminding her that the pandemic was killing 3,000 people every day and that Mr. Biden relied on her experience and determination.

Ms. Dunn did not feel that she could say no, colleagues said.

She agreed to work for a short term as “special government agent,” a designation that exempts her from the public finance disclosure required of full-time government employees, but also limits the number of days she spends in white A house.

Nor did she intend to oversee Mr Biden’s campaign. But after finishing fourth in the Iowa caucuses, followed by a disastrous fifth place in New Hampshire, Ms. Dunn was motivated by a mixture of loyalty and desperation, according to colleagues.

There was little money in February 2020. There were no crowds. Ms. Dunn took control of the entire operation, lived at a Hampton Inn in Philadelphia near the campaign headquarters, and approved $ 200 in office supplies, colleagues recalled.

Ms. Dunn helped Mr. Biden conclude that the timing was not right. Mr Biden reached out to her again in 2018 when he was seriously considering a run against Mr Trump.

In her current position, she earns a salary of $ 129,000, just below the $ 132,552 threshold that requires filing public financial disclosures. (Mr. Bauer, who is a co-chair of the President’s Commission to Evaluate Proposed Revisions in the Supreme Court, is also a special government official, though his role is unpaid.)

Eleanor Eagan, a research director for the Revolving Door Project, criticized the government for allowing Ms. Dunn to bypass disclosure rules. “Biden has promised to restore confidence in the government after Trump’s fantastically corrupt government,” Ms. Eagan said. “Allowing this and similar evasions is a clear violation of this promise.”

Now Ms. Dunn is returning to the private sector, where her colleagues benefit from her connections in the west wing.

Ms. Dunn’s company was also hired to handle the $ 2.2 million direct mail contract for the Biden campaign, according to the campaign papers, underscoring how the business world and the political world are sometimes aligned.

Some of SKDK’s customers have sparked controversy, such as the case of NSO Group, an Israeli cyber-tech company that The Intercept said was accused of using its spyware to hack the phones of journalists and human rights activists. Hilary Rosen, a partner at SKDK, said she stopped representing the company in 2019 and dropped it as a customer over spyware allegations.

A senior White House official said Ms. Dunn would be subject to the governmental restrictions that apply to former federal employees. This includes a two-year limit on who she contacts on matters in which the government has a “significant interest” that has been pending under its official responsibility in the White House.

Even with her return to the company, no one at the White House expects Ms. Dunn’s influence in the Biden world to end completely. Indeed, many view her departure as a moment to take a deep breath before she begins planning the president’s re-election, which he has so far announced.

“She will always be a phone call away,” said Cedric Richmond, a senior adviser to the White House.

Tags Adviser, Biden, depart, Grudges, House, Skilled, Strategy, Top, White

Politics

Biden to Identify a Critic of Huge Tech because the Prime Antitrust Cop

Post author By
Post date July 21, 2021

The White House said on Tuesday that it would nominate Jonathan Kanter to be the top antitrust official at the Justice Department, a move that would add another longtime critic of Big Tech and corporate concentration to a powerful regulatory position.

President Biden’s plan to appoint Mr. Kanter, an antitrust lawyer who has made a career out of representing rivals of American tech giants like Google and Facebook, signals how strongly the administration is siding with the growing field of lawmakers, researchers and regulators who say Silicon Valley has obtained outsize power over the way Americans speak with one another, buy products online and consume news.

Mr. Biden has named other critics of Big Tech to prominent roles, such as Lina Khan, a critic of Amazon, to lead the Federal Trade Commission. Tim Wu, another legal scholar who says regulators need to crack down on the tech giants, serves in an economic policy role at the White House. And this month, Mr. Biden signed a sweeping executive order aimed at increasing competition across the economy and limiting corporate dominance.

Mr. Kanter, 47, is the founder of Kanter Law Group, which bills itself online as an “antitrust advocacy boutique.” He previously worked at the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. His services have attracted some of the most prominent critics of Big Tech in corporate America, including Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and Microsoft as well as upstarts like Spotify and Yelp.

If he is confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Kanter will lead a division of the Justice Department that last year filed a lawsuit arguing Google had illegally protected a monopoly over online search services. The antitrust division of the agency has also been asking questions about Apple’s business practices.

The White House took more than six months from Mr. Biden’s swearing-in to land on Mr. Kanter. The administration has had to juggle progressive and moderate factions within its own party, as well as the likelihood of Republican support in a divided Senate.

The decision won immediate approval from policymakers and advocacy groups helping to lead the charge for more stringent antitrust enforcement.

Senator Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota Democrat who leads the antitrust subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee, called Mr. Kanter “an excellent choice,” citing his “deep legal experience and history of advocating for aggressive action.”

Sarah Miller, the executive director of the American Economic Liberties Project, a progressive advocacy group, said in a statement that “President Biden has made an excellent choice to lead the D.O.J.’s antitrust division,” noting that Mr. Kanter had “devoted his career to reinvigorating antitrust enforcement.”

Makan Delrahim, a lawyer who led the Justice Department’s antitrust efforts under President Donald J. Trump, said in a text message that Mr. Kanter would be a “great leader” of the division and called him a “serious lawyer” with private sector and government experience.

Daily Business Briefing

Updated

July 20, 2021, 6:55 p.m. ET

The announcement may be less warmly embraced by deal-makers on Wall Street who have helped drive mergers and acquisitions volumes to record levels, propelled in part by an exuberant stock market.

Scrutiny in Washington on acquisitions has expanded beyond headline-grabbing Big Tech deals to industries like consumer goods, agriculture, insurance and health care.

The Justice Department has sued to block the proposed merger of Aon and Willis Towers Watson, its first major antitrust action since Mr. Biden took office. The F.T.C. announced in March that it was forming a group to “update” its approach to evaluating the impact of pharmaceutical deals, an industry that generally falls under its purview. That followed a report led by Representative Katie Porter, a Democrat from California, scrutinizing deals in the industry.

In recent years, Mr. Kanter built an unusual practice out of criticizing the tech giants from inside Washington’s corporate law firms. The tech giants have become lucrative clients for major law firms, often making it difficult for those firms to work for their opponents.

But last year, he left Paul, Weiss — an elite corporate litigation firm — because his portfolio representing critics of the tech giants conflicted with other work the firm was doing.

“Jonathan made this decision due to a complicated legal conflict that would have required him to discontinue important and longstanding client representations and relationships,” the firm said at the time.

Mr. Kanter’s critics are likely to question whether his previous work is a conflict of interest that should keep him out of investigations into the tech giants. Both Facebook and Amazon have asked that Ms. Khan recuse herself from matters involving the companies at the F.T.C., even though her background is as a legal scholar and not a paid representative for their rivals.

Asked whether Mr. Kanter would recuse himself from cases involving Google and Apple, a White House official simply said the administration was confident that it could move forward with his nomination given his expertise and record.

Even if Mr. Kanter has the votes to be confirmed it is likely to be months before he takes over at the Justice Department. Congress takes a long break during August — which could push his confirmation past Labor Day.

Cecilia Kang contributed reporting.

Tags Antitrust, Biden, Big, cop, critic, Tech, Top

Politics

Biden marketing campaign spokesman joins USTR as a prime communications officer

Post author By
Post date July 19, 2021

United States Agent Seal

Source: Wikipedia

Former President Joe Biden’s chief spokesman has landed a top communications job in the US Trade Representative’s office.

Kamau Marshall, who was Biden’s director of strategic communications in the 2020 election, is now USTR’s assistant assistant for media and public affairs, according to the trade organisation’s website.

Marshall also conducted press contacts for Biden’s inauguration. The USTR is led by Ambassador Katherine Tai.

Marshall’s addition to the USTR leadership team comes as the United States is in the midst of an ongoing trade war with China.

Biden has yet to reveal whether he plans to lift the tariffs on Chinese exports that then-President Donald Trump imposed on the country’s goods. On Thursday, Biden warned American companies of worsening business conditions in Hong Kong.

Marshall has extensive political and communications experience beyond his time at Biden.

During former President Barack Obama’s tenure, he was a speechwriter and communications advisor for the Department of Agriculture. He also served on the Democratic Campaign Committee, MP Al Green, D-Texas, and the late Democratic MPs John Lewis and Elijah Cummings.

CNBC policy

Read more about CNBC’s political coverage:

Tags Biden, Campaign, Communications, Joins, Officer, spokesman, Top, USTR

World News

Dow jumps above 35,000 as retail gross sales prime expectations

Post author By
Post date July 16, 2021

The stock market is creating buying opportunities

U.S. stock indexes rose on Friday as the latest retail sales data topped economists’ expectations.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained about 28 points, or 0.08%, jumping above 35,000. The index closed just short of that level on Monday. The S&P 500 added around 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite ticked roughly 0.2% higher.

Retail and food service sales rose 0.6% in June, while economists surveyed by the Dow Jones had expected a 0.4% decline. Excluding autos, those sales jumped 1.3%, beating economists’ estimate of a 0.4% gain.

The retail sales data came after initial jobless claims numbers released Thursday totaled 360,000 for the week ending July 10, its lowest level since March 14, 2020.

“The unexpected rise in retail sales combined with yesterday’s pandemic-era low of jobless claims are two more strong proof points that we are edging closer to a full economic recovery,” said Mike Loewengart, managing director of investment strategy for E*TRADE Capital Management.

Live Nation’s stock rose after Goldman said the stock can rally nearly 40% as concerts return.

Shares of Carnival and Royal Caribbean each edged higher after Canada announced it would allow cruise ships to resume operations in its waters starting Nov. 1, sooner than planned. Previously, the Canadian government extended its cruise ban until the end of February 2022.

The moves in recovery-related stocks came even amid concerns about ultra-infectious variants of the coronavirus. Los Angeles County announced Thursday it would restore an indoor mask mandate, including for fully-vaccinated people, due to a rapid and sustained increase in Covid-19 cases.

Stock picks and investing trends from CNBC Pro:

Investors also digested strong earnings results from the first major week of second-quarter reports. Though some of the nation’s largest companies posted healthy profits and revenues amid the economic recovery, the reaction in the stock market has so far been muted.

Morgan Stanley’s second-quarter earnings report, for example, topped analysts’ expectations Thursday, yet its shares closed just 0.18% higher.

For 18 S&P 500 companies that beat analyst estimates for second-quarter earnings this week, the average earnings-per-share result was 18% higher than expected. But those companies saw their shares fall 0.58% on average after reporting.

The soft moves in reaction to corporate earnings have contributed to a lackluster week for the S&P 500, which dipped 0.2% on the week as of Thursday’s close.

Much of the market’s upward pressure over the last week has come from a handful of mega-cap internet and communications stocks. Apple, Netflix, Google-parent Alphabet and Microsoft are all up this week.

Become a smarter investor with CNBC Pro.
Get stock picks, analyst calls, exclusive interviews and access to CNBC TV.
Sign up to start a free trial today

Tags Dow, expectations, jumps, retail, sales, Top

Health

These are among the new high 5 Covid signs

Post author By
Post date July 11, 2021

PeopleImages | E+ | Getty Images

LONDON — When the coronavirus pandemic first emerged in early 2020, governments quickly put out information on what symptoms to look out for, little knowing then that much of the transmission was asymptomatic.

The public was told to look out for a high temperature and a new continuous cough, with a loss of taste or smell, fatigue and a sore throat also named as possible symptoms (some added at different points of the pandemic).

Fast forward to the present day and more symptoms are being reported and recognized. The variation in symptoms has happened over time as several variants of the virus — such as the alpha strain and now the highly transmissible delta variant — have gone on to replace the “original” strain of Covid-19 first discovered in China in late 2019.

Read more: Covid delta variant: Symptoms, spread and what to look out for

Now, an ongoing U.K.-based study which enables the public to enter their Covid symptoms on an app — which enables scientists to then analyze the data — says there are new coronavirus symptoms being widely reported.

The Zoe Covid Symptom study has identified the current top five symptoms that have emerged in recent weeks which seemingly differ depending on whether you’ve been vaccinated, and how many doses you’ve had.

The symptoms highlighted below were first published in late June but still represent the top five symptoms being reported, the Zoe Covid Symptom study told CNBC Wednesday.

The symptoms rankings are based on members of the public’s reports in the app alone and do not take into account which variant caused the virus or demographic information.

These are the top five symptoms being reported by people who are fully-vaccinated, have had one dose of a vaccine or are unvaccinated.

Symptoms if fully-vaccinated?

The Zoe Covid Symptom study says that, generally, it has seen similar symptoms of Covid-19 being reported overall in the app by people who had and hadn’t been vaccinated.

However, fewer symptoms were reported over a shorter period of time by those who had already had the shot, suggesting that they were falling less seriously ill and getting better more quickly.

Here is the current ranking of Covid symptoms after two vaccinations:

Headache
Runny nose
Sneezing
Sore throat
Loss of smell

The study noted that “traditional” Covid symptoms such as anosmia (loss of smell), fever and shortness of breath ranked way down the list, at five, 12 and 29 respectively. “A persistent cough now ranks at number 8 if you’ve had two vaccine doses, so is no longer the top indicator of having Covid.”

Symptoms after one vaccine dose?

The ranking changes again after one dose of the vaccination as observed below:

Headache
Runny nose
Sore throat
Sneezing
Persistent cough

With the protection from only one vaccine dose, one of the original indicators of a persistent cough has made the top five symptoms, Zoe noted.

Symptoms if you’re unvaccinated?

If you’ve not yet been vaccinated then the symptoms are more recognizable to the traditional ranking, Zoe said, “however we can still observe some changes from when Covid-19 first appeared over a year ago.”

Headache
Sore throat
Runny nose
Fever
Persistent cough

“Loss of smell comes in at number 9 and shortness of breath comes far down the list at number 30, indicating the symptoms as recorded previously are changing with the evolving variants of the virus,” the study found.

Covid cases attributed to the much more contagious delta variant are surging in parts of Europe, the U.K. and the U.S., particularly among young people and the partially vaccinated and unvaccinated.

Read more: The delta variant is spreading in Europe and can’t be stopped

While two doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine provide protection against the delta variant, both were significantly less effective after only one shot.

The latest research from Israel on Monday found a decrease in the effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in preventing infections and symptomatic illness, coinciding with the spread of delta, but said it remained highly effective in preventing serious illness.

Tags Covid, Symptoms, Top