On Politics: Fed Says No Rate Increases in 2019

Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chairman, said interest rates would remain unchanged and provided a fairly downbeat economic assessment. [Trouble seeing this email? View in browser]( [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( March 21, 2019 | Morning Edition Good Thursday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today. _____________________ • The Federal Reserve updated its 2019 economic projections and expressed increasing concern about slowing growth as it left interest rates unchanged. The fairly downbeat assessment is at odds with the White House’s rosy projections, [which predict much stronger growth than many say is likely](. • Two years ago, some of America’s largest corporations were tearing up their business plans to accommodate President Trump, fearful that he could send their shareholders and customers fleeing with a tweet. [Now they have a new strategy: ignoring him](. • Mr. Trump has been unable to shake his grudge against Senator John McCain, who died in August of brain cancer. The president made that clear in front of a military audience at a tank plant, saying that he had given Mr. McCain [“the funeral he wanted, and I didn’t get ‘thank you.’”]( • Justice Clarence Thomas asked his first questions from the bench since 2016, in a case about racial discrimination in jury selection. Before his questions in 2016, [he had gone a decade without asking one](. ADVERTISEMENT • Mr. Trump updated an earlier assertion that the territory held by the Islamic State in Syria had been “100 percent” reclaimed, [despite reports of continuing fighting](. • After more than two years of criminal indictments and steady revelations about contacts between associates of Mr. Trump and Russia, a lot is already known about the special counsel’s investigation. As we wait for the full report, [here are some key points so far](. • The Defense Department’s inspector general said it was investigating complaints that the acting defense secretary, Patrick M. Shanahan, had been promoting his former employer, the Boeing Company, [and disparaging its military contractor competitors](. • In an interview, Andrew Gillum, the former mayor of Tallahassee and rising Democratic star, confirmed that he is not running for president, [and outlined his plans to mobilize Florida voters for the election](. ADVERTISEMENT • Howard Schultz, a possible presidential contender, is best known for Starbucks, his wildly successful coffee company. [But his time as an N.B.A. owner left a very different legacy](. • Mr. Trump has offered Britain’s prime minister advice on her country’s exit from the European Union, and the president’s son said this week that she should have followed it. In an op-ed for a British newspaper, Donald Trump Jr. said his father’s advice had been ignored, [and accused “European elites” of derailing the process](. _____________________ Today’s On Politics briefing was compiled by Isabella Grullón Paz in New York. Were you forwarded this newsletter? [Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox.]( Is there anything you think we’re missing? Anything you want to see more of? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [onpolitics@nytimes.com](mailto:onpolitics@nytimes.com?te=1&nl=politics&emc=edit_cn_2019032120190321). ADVERTISEMENT FOLLOW NYTimes [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@nytimes]( Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »]( | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps. [Subscribe »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Politics newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Change Your Email]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Contact]( | [Advertise]( Copyright 2019 The New York Times Company | 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018