Pinterest announced this week it would pay more than $20m to settle a gender discrimination lawsuit brought by a female executive. But to two Black former employees who had previously lodged similar complaints, the settlement represents a “slap in the face”.
Ifeoma Ozoma and Aerica Shimizu Banks had become public figureheads for Pinterest after spearheading widely-heralded policy changes, including adding factchecking features to vaccination content, that predated those from tech rivals like YouTube and Facebook. But internally, both former employees said, they faced pushback.
In June 2020, after quitting their jobs at Pinterest’s policy team, they went public with claims they had to fight to be paid fairly and were retaliated against for advocating for change. Ozoma also said the company failed to protect her when a colleague shared her personal information with hate sites.
Ozoma and Banks ended up leaving the company with half a year of severance pay. But their public comments laid the groundwork for other women and people of color at the company to come forward with similar experiences.
Two months after their departure , the former Pinterest COO Françoise Brougher sued the company for gender discrimination – the case that resulted in the $22m settlement this week.
That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
Congress is attempting to pass a stop-gap spending bill to keep the government funded past midnight. If enacted, the legislation would fund the government for another two days as lawmakers continue negotiations over appropriations and coronavirus relief. Congress must pass a spending bill by midnight to avoid a government shutdown.
Vice-president Mike Pence received the coronavirus vaccine live on television. House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell also received the vaccine today, and Joe Biden is expected to be vaccinated on Monday in another televised event.
The supreme court dismissed a challenge to Donald Trump’s proposal to exclude undocumented immigrants from the census count to apportion congressional seats. The court’s six conservative justices dismissed the challenge as premature, given that it’s unclear what effect the proposal would have. Voting rights and immigrant rights groups have already pledged to file another lawsuit if Trump attempts to implement the policy.
The FDA’s emergency use authorization of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine may come later today. The agency’s vaccine advisory panel recommended the vaccine for emergency use yesterday, clearing the way for authorization.
The Pentagon and the Biden transition team provided conflicting explanations for a pause in the president-elect’s briefings. While the acting defense secretary, Christopher Miller, cited a “mutually-agreed upon holiday pause” to explain the interruption, Biden’s advisers said they never agreed to such a pause and argued the briefings were more necessary than ever. Axios reported earlier today that Miller had ordered Pentagon officials to stop cooperating with the Biden transition team.
The advisory noted that the legislation is expected to pass the House, but it’s still unclear whether the bill can make it through the Senate, where just one objection could kill the proposal.
Time-check: the government will shut down in about seven hours unless Congress can approve a spending bill by midnight.
House Democrats have officially filed their bill to fund the government for another two days as negotiations over coronavirus relief and government spending continue.
House Appropriations (@AppropsDems)
NEW: To allow additional time to complete negotiations on coronavirus relief, @AppropsDems Chairwoman @NitaLowey has introduced a Continuing Resolution extending government funding through Sunday.
“The American people urgently need coronavirus relief and this short stopgap bill will allow bipartisan, bicameral negotiators to complete their work on this important issue,”said Nita Lowey, the Democratic chairwoman of the House appropriations committee.
“I look forward to swiftly passing omnibus appropriations and coronavirus relief legislation through the House as soon as possible.”
It’s unclear whether the bill can pass the Senate, as only one senator would have to object to block the legislation’s passage.
The government will shut down in seven and a half hours if Congress cannot pass a spending bill by midnight.
The bill is being hotlined, which means any single senator can block the legislation’s passage by raising an objection.
Earlier today, Republican Josh Hawley signaled he would not allow a stop-gap spending bill to pass before senators received clarity on the details of a potential coronavirus relief package.
If Congress cannot pass a spending bill in the next eight hours, the US government will shut down at midnight.
More members of the House of Representatives are receiving their coronavirus vaccine, after speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell were vaccinated earlier today.
Multiple lawmakers heralded the safety and efficacy of the vaccine to encourage their constituents to get vaccinated as well when the treatment becomes more widely available.
Congressman Denver Riggleman (@RepRiggleman)
Today, at the recommendation of the House attending physician, I received the Covid-19 vaccine. The #CovidVaccine is safe and effective, and I am confident in the science. Thank you to all of the doctors, researchers and medical professionals who made this possible. pic.twitter.com/R9zIGwThtM
Following the Capitol Physician’s guidance, I took the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine earlier today.
I want the American people to know this vaccine is safe and I am confident in its efficacy. We must do all we can to ensure our friends and neighbors know the same. pic.twitter.com/PsvlTpKDyN
The #COVID19 vaccine is a medical miracle that marks the beginning of the end of the pandemic. Thankful for all of the scientists, doctors, and frontline heroes who made this possible. Getting vaccinated today so I can continue to do my job representing you in Congress. pic.twitter.com/94fkrhslwV
Donald Trump spoke with Emmanuel Macron yesterday, as the French president continues to quarantine after testing positive for coronavirus.
“President Trump wished President Macron a speedy recovery and quick return to his full duties,” the White House said in a readout of the call.
“President Trump also extended his best wishes for a Merry Christmas to President Macron, his family, and the People of France.”
The French government announced yesterday that Macron had tested positive for coronavirus, forcing several foreign leaders who had recently been in contact with him into quarantine.
Asked whether he believed a deal on government spending and coronavirus relief was possible today, Senate majority whip John Thune replied, “That would be a triumph of hope over experience.”
The Republican senator added, “Best-case scenario of getting something voted on was probably going to be Sunday, but it may be later.”
Government funding is set to expire in less than nine hours. If a spending bill is not passed, the US government will shut down.
Thune said a major sticking point in negotiations remains the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending authority, after Republican Pat Toomey introduced a provision to wind down a key lending program established by the Cares Act passed in March.
Democrats criticized the proposal as an attempt to limit Joe Biden’s power before he takes office next month.
It is looking increasingly unlikely that Congress will reach a deal on a spending bill and a coronavirus relief package by midnight, when government funding runs out.
After meeting with Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, majority whip John Thune said it would be difficult to fund the government past tonight because any single senator can block a stop-gap funding bill, and Republican Josh Hawley has already signaled a willingness to do so to force action on stimulus checks.
Burgess Everett (@burgessev)
Downbeat vibes at 2:45 pm. Majority Whip Thune after meeting with McConnell says it’ll be hard to announce a deal today on stimulus and a heavy lift to fund the government past midnight since any one senator can object and some want short shutdown to force action
Congressman Don Beyer, a Democrat of Virginia, said he received the coronavirus vaccine today as well.
Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer)
Upon medical advice of the Attending Physician, I just received a coronavirus vaccine.
Millions of Americans are waiting for shots, many of whom are workers on the front lines of this pandemic. I am not more important than they are, but national leaders must lead by example. pic.twitter.com/MZ7hGRTqtF
“Upon medical advice of the Attending Physician, I just received a coronavirus vaccine,” Beyer said in a tweet.
“Millions of Americans are waiting for shots, many of whom are workers on the front lines of this pandemic. I am not more important than they are, but national leaders must lead by example.”
House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell were both vaccinated today, but Beyer appears to be the first rank-and-file member of Congress to receive the vaccine.
House majority leader Steny Hoyer just announced the chamber would recess until 5 pm ET, as the clock ticks down the hours until government funding expires.
“We are hoping that in the next three hours, we’ll have a clearer picture of where we are,” Hoyer said.
The Maryland Democrat added, “Keep tonight free, tomorrow free, Sunday free and such days whereafter that we might need – and I hope we do not need any of those days.”
Time-check: government funding expires in less than 10 hours. If Congress does not pass a spending bill by midnight, the US government will shut down.
Officials for president-elect Joe Biden’s transition team stressed that there was no agreement between them and Pentagon leaders to pause transition briefings for a holiday break.
“Let me be clear there was no mutually agreed upon holiday break. In fact, we think it’s important that briefings and other engagements continue during this period, as there’s no time to spare and that’s particularly true in the aftermath of the ascertainment of delay,” Yohannes Abraham, the executive director of the transition team said, during a briefing with reporters on Friday.
“In terms of when meetings will resume, meetings and requests for information which are substantively interchangeable, it’s our hope and expectation that that will happen immediately.”
Abraham’s comments come after Axios reported on Friday that Pentagon officials had paused coordinating with Biden officials following an order from acting defense secretary Chris Miller. Biden officials were initially made aware of the pause on Thursday. They were taken by surprise.
The pause comes after it seemed like Donald Trump’s administration had finally decided to follow the normal protocol for working with an incoming administration.
But in response to being asked whether the Pentagon was the only department where a surprise pause to coordination was happening Abraham said, “There have been many agencies and departments that have facilitated the exchange of information in meetings over the past few weeks since ascertainment. There have been pockets of recalcitrants and [the department of defense] is one of them.”
Abraham declined to say which other departments were being difficult.
Heather Caygle
Marianne LeVine