10 things you need to know today: May 7, 2020

1. Trump says coronavirus task force to continue 'indefinitely'

President Trump reversed course on Wednesday and said the White House coronavirus task force would "continue on indefinitely." Just a day earlier, Trump had said the administration was moving toward winding down the task force and replacing it with another entity focused on restarting the economy. Trump said that the task force would shift its focus to helping businesses restart and developing a vaccine, after an initial response largely dedicated to getting resources to hard-hit areas and providing guidance on policies to contain the outbreak, such as stay-at-home orders. Democrats and other critics had harshly criticized Trump's Tuesday remarks on disbanding the task force, saying such a move would be irresponsible given the danger that infections could spike again as states gradually allow businesses to reopen.

USA Today

2. Iraqi lawmakers choose Mustafa al-Kadhimi as prime minister

Iraq's Parliament on Thursday picked Mustafa al-Kadhimi, a former intelligence chief, to serve as the country's new prime minister. Iraqi officials have said Kadhimi, 53, is acceptable to both the United States and Iran, the two main foreign powers competing for influence in Iraq, The New York Times reported. Iraq has been without a prime minister since late last year, when Adel Abdul Mahdi resigned after facing anti-government protests. Kadhimi has met with protesters, taking a different approach to the unrest from the previous government, which at times used the military against demonstrators. In addition to social unrest, Kadhimi will also have to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, which has locked down Iraq and driven oil and gas prices to historic lows, halving Iraq's operating revenue.

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The New York Times

3. Report: Trump thinks coronavirus deaths overcounted

Axios reported Wednesday that a Trump administration official said President Trump and some of his aides believe the estimated COVID-19 death toll is inflated. The official said he expects Trump to start publicly questioning the count. Public health experts believe that the running tally of U.S. deaths from the novel coronavirus, which stood at 73,431 early Thursday, is too low, due to a lack of testing and the fact that many people who died at home were not counted. There's no evidence the number of fatalities has been exaggerated, but states don't have consistent methods for estimating the toll, so the national numbers are widely seen as a rough estimate. In April, the top U.S. infectious diseases expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, called claims that the coronavirus toll was being inflated by unrelated medical conditions "conspiracy theories."

Axios The Guardian

4. April payrolls dropped by record 20.2 million jobs

American businesses cut 20.2 million jobs in April as the coronavirus crisis forced widespread shutdowns, according to the ADP National Employment Report released Wednesday. The private sector payroll losses were the worst ADP has reported since it started tracking the jobs numbers in 2002. Previously, the worst month was February 2009, when private payrolls dropped by 834,665. "Job losses of this scale are unprecedented," ADP Research Institute co-head Ahu Yildirmaz said. The April total alone was more than double the total losses during the Great Recession. And the report doesn't reflect the full scale of the losses. The report is based on a sample from the week of April 12. More than 30 million Americans filed initial unemployment claims in six weeks.

CNBC

5. Ruth Bader Ginsburg discharged from hospital

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was discharged from Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore on Wednesday after undergoing treatment for a gallbladder infection. "She is doing well and glad to be home," the court said in a press release. Ginsburg, 87, will return to the hospital over the next few weeks for outpatient followup and a nonsurgical procedure to remove the gallstone. Ginsburg participated in the court's virtual hearings from her hospital room as the justices heard oral arguments in several cases by phone as a safety precaution due to the coronavirus pandemic. Ginsburg received radiation treatment last year for a cancerous tumor on her pancreas. In December, she underwent surgery for lung cancer.

NPR

6. Michigan lawmakers sue governor over shutdown extension

Republican state lawmakers in Michigan on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, seeking to force her to reopen the state's economy. Whitmer last week extended her state of emergency declaration. Protesters, some of them armed, had gathered at the state Capitol calling for her to let businesses reopen. House Speaker Lee Chatfield and Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, both Republicans, said Whitmer overstepped her authority by extending the stay-at-home restrictions without the support of the GOP-controlled legislature. "We've attempted to partner with our governor, but she's rejected," Chatfield tweeted. Michigan has been one of the states hit hardest by the coronavirus.

Fox News

7. DeVos unveils new regulations on campus sexual assault

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Wednesday issued new regulations on sexual assault at colleges and schools designed to increase protections for people accused of sexual harassment and assault on campus. The change rolls back Obama-era guidance for schools to step up investigations, which DeVos said had resulted in a denial of due process for some people accused of sexual assault. "Too many students have lost access to their education because their school inadequately responded when a student filed a complaint of sexual harassment or sexual assault," DeVos said in a statement. DeVos said the new policy requires schools to support survivors of sexual misconduct while safeguarding the rights of the accused. Critics of the move said it would discourage victims from coming forward.

CNN The New York Times

8. Another top U.S. health expert leaves Trump administration

Another public health expert is leaving the Trump administration as it continues to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, Politico reported Wednesday. Timothy Ziemer, a disaster response official who once led a global health directorate that the administration disbanded, suggested in a Tuesday note to colleagues that was obtained by Politico that he was retiring and had told the White House of his decision on Monday. "After 50+ years of service to my country, it's now time for me to move on to the next phase of my life," the former Navy rear admiral wrote in the note. "It will be difficult for me to be sitting in the bleachers observing your life-saving and significant efforts around the world, but be assured I will be an advocate and voice for all you are doing."

Politico

9. Report: Trump back to pushing for costly border-wall paint job

President Trump has resumed a push to paint his barrier on the Mexican border black, which would increase the cost by at least $500 million, The Washington Post reported Wednesday, citing government contracting estimates. Trump has gone back and forth about whether the steel bollards on the border should be black. As recently as last fall, military and border officials reportedly thought they had persuaded him to drop the idea, which they consider unnecessary and a potential maintenance burden down the road. Trump reportedly believes the dark color would make his border wall more imposing, and too hot to touch in the summer months. The Post obtained estimates ranging from $500 million — or $1.2 million per mile for the area under consideration — for two coats of acrylic paint, to $3 billion-plus for premium powder coating.

The Washington Post

10. Report: Major League Baseball to unveil plan for returning to play

Major League Baseball is working to send a proposal to the MLB Players Association within a week that would lay out plans for returning to play after a delay due to the coronavirus pandemic, ESPN reported Thursday, citing sources familiar with the discussions. The proposal reportedly could call for "spring" training, already delayed by six weeks, to begin in mid-June followed by the start of the season in early July. Some industry leaders say the idea of returning in June and July could be overly optimistic, given the ongoing rise in the number of coronavirus infections and COVID-19 deaths nationwide. Teams, however, already have started urging players to start preparing for training.

ESPN