Coronavirus US live: death toll nears 80,000 as Trump rages over Russia

Fauci and two other task force members to self-quarantineCoronavirus – latest global updatesGet a fresh perspective on America – sign up to our First Thing newsletter 2.50pm BST Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin has been talking to Fox News Sunday about the Trump administration’s attempts to reopen and restart the stalled US economy, and whether there will be another huge stimulus bill. Democrats who control the House want one of those but the White House doesn’t – that’s the short version.The White House is “absolutely pushing for a payroll tax cut”, Mnuchin says. Most observers think that is a non-starter, because Democrats won’t let it. Payroll taxes, meaning deductions from regular paychecks, include funds for Social Security and Medicare, vital social benefits. Related: US job losses have reached Great Depression levels. Did it have to be that way? 2.33pm BST After Elon Musk sued local authorities in California and threatened to move Tesla’s HQ to Texas or Nevada, over attempts to contain the coronavirus outbreak, one Democratic state politician had a blunt message for the electronic car magnate: “F*ck Elon Musk.”Lorena S Gonzalez from San Diego, who describes herself on Twitter as a “Mama, Labor Leader turned CA Assemblywoman [and] Progressive Latina Democrat”, tweeted the pithy rebuke on Saturday night, earning predictable press attention. She did not immediately comment further.Musk has been pushing to reopen Tesla’s Fremont, California, factory after Alameda county’s health department said the carmaker must not reopen because local lockdown measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus remain in effect.Tesla filed a lawsuit against the county on Saturday, calling the continued restrictions a ‘power grab’ by the county since California’s governor had said on Thursday that manufacturers in the state would be allowed to reopen. Continue reading…
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