Fauci: Federal government won't require COVID vaccine passports

  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
Ivana Saric
·1 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

The federal government will not mandate the use of vaccine passports for travelers or businesses post-pandemic, President Biden's chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told the Politico Dispatch podcast Monday

Why it matters: Passports showing proof of vaccination could speed up international travel re-openings, but the idea of requiring immunization credentials has become a point of contention, particularly among Republican officials.

Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.

  • Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) banned the use of vaccine passports in his state on Friday.

What they're saying: "I doubt that the federal government will be the main mover of a vaccine passport concept," said Fauci.

  • "They may be involved in making sure things are done fairly and equitably, but I doubt if the federal government is going to be the leading element of that."

Fauci noted that he believes that businesses or schools could require vaccine passports to enter their buildings.

  • "I'm not saying that they should or that they would, but I'm saying you could foresee how an independent entity might say, 'well, we can't be dealing with you unless we know you're vaccinated,' but it's not going to be mandated from the federal government."

The big picture: The E.U. unveiled its proposal for vaccine passports in March, which would allow citizens who can certify that they have been vaccinated or recently tested negative for COVID-19 to cross borders without quarantine requirements.

Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free.

Recommended Stories

  • Fauci: No need for vaccinated people to quarantine

    FOX News medical contributor Dr. Janette Nesheiwat weighs in on vaccination efforts on 'FOX Report'

  • COVID Vaccine Passports Don’t Exist Yet But Florida Already Banned Them

    Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed an executive order forbidding the use of COVID-19 “vaccine passports” throughout the state As more Americans get vaccinated against COVID-19, the governor of Florida has signed an order that effectively prevents any government entity from providing vaccine passports and blocks companies from demanding proof of vaccination status. More than a []

  • Mexico's president now says he won't get COVID-19 vaccine

    Mexico’s president said Monday he won’t get a COVID-19 vaccine because his doctors told him he still has a high level of antibodies from when he was infected in January. “I have sufficient levels of antibodies and right now it isn’t indispensable for me to get vaccinated for now," said President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. López Obrador would have gotten a shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine last week, based on his address in a borough in the city’s center, where he lives in an apartment at the National Palace.

  • These Two Things Can Prevent COVID Now, Says Dr. Fauci

    Will the coronavirus pandemic ever end? It’s a fair question. We’ve faced the virus for 14 months and many people are experiencing “COVID fatigue.” Will more lives than necessary be lost as a result? Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical advisor to the President and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, appeared on CNN this weekend, telling host Jim Acosta what two things you can do to stay safe. Read each of the next 5 slides for his latest guidance—and to ensure your health and the health of others, don’t miss these Signs Your Illness is Actually Coronavirus in Disguise. 1 Dr. Fauci Said Doing These Two Things Can Help End the Pandemic Acosta said one model predicted an “additional 61,000 people will die between March 29th and July 1st” and asked what Fauci would do to prevent more deaths. “The two things that you do: A, you keep pushing down and doubling down on public health measures and B you do whatever you can to get as many people vaccinated as quickly and as expeditiously as possible. The second, we're doing in record time,”—one day had 4 million Americans vaccinated, and—“4 million people vaccinated is really a lot of people. If you multiply that by 30 days in a month, you've got 120 million vaccinations that you've done. That is what you need to get your arms around this outbreak and to prevent additional deaths, additional hospitalizations, additional infections. The other one is doubling down on the public health measures. And you hear the President explicitly getting out there and saying, let's not declare victory prematurely.” 2 Dr. Fauci Said, No, This Pandemic is Not Going to Last Forever As for those public health measures, “it's up to people to realize, and you know, we say it over and over again, and we need the local people, we need the governors and the mayors and others to be able to say, we're not out of it yet. People say, ‘Well, you just want to confine us forever.’ No, this is not going to last forever. Because every day that you get 4 million, 3 million people vaccinated, you get closer and closer to control. So double down, just hang in there a bit longer. And the vaccine and the vaccinations of people in this country are going to override the surge of the virus.” 3 Dr. Fauci Has Seen the Images of People Hanging Out in Crowds—And Hopes They Listen to Him Acosta said he noticed people in D.C. admiring the cherry blossoms as if there were no pandemic, and also showed Fauci footage of a packed Times Square. “It's not easy, Jim, because this COVID-19 fatigue is a real phenomenon and people are feeling it,” said Dr. Fauci. “We're now 14 plus months into this. And it's totally understandable that people have had enough of it. So what we're saying, and we hope that to some extent, or maybe to a large extent, they listen that we are going to get to where they want to be, where I want to be, where you want to be, where we have enough people protected with the vaccines that we can go out and watch the cherry blossoms. And we can go out and enjoy. As we get warmer weather it's going to happen.” 4 Dr. Fauci Said “Get Vaccinated” Because it’s “The Solution” “I'm not sure there's much more we can do, but to try and get people to appreciate. But the thing we can do is what we're doing with the vaccines. We're really, really pushing on that. And you know, there was an announcement a couple of days ago about the COVID-19 community core, where we're essentially engaging trusted messages from the community, be the people who are trusted, church leaders, clergy, athletes, entertainers, people in the community to get people to get out there. And when a vaccine becomes available to you to get vaccinated, I agree with you completely, Jim, it's a tough sell to get people who have COVID-19 fatigue to just continue to abide by the public health measures. It's not going to be easy. I hope we have a degree of success, but in the meanwhile, you and I are talking about this, but every day three to 4 million people are getting vaccinated. That is going to be the solution. Jim, that's the solution.”RELATED: Most COVID Patients Did This Before Getting Sick 5 How to Stay Safe as the Pandemic Ends So follow Fauci’s fundamentals and help end this pandemic, no matter where you live—wear a face mask that fits snugly and is double layered, don’t travel, social distance, avoid large crowds, don't go indoors with people you're not sheltering with (especially in bars), practice good hand hygiene, get vaccinated when it becomes available to you, and to protect your life and the lives of others, don't visit any of these 35 Places You're Most Likely to Catch COVID.

  • The Navajo Nation and Wisconsin show there's no 1 path to COVID-19 vaccination success

    The Navajo Nation, which had the highest rate of COVID-19 infections anywhere in the U.S. last May, recently recorded zero cases and zero deaths in a 24-hour period, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez noted Sunday on CBS's Face the Nation. The Navajo Nation has also vaccinated more of its population than any U.S. state — more than half the 170,000 residents of the tribal lands spanning New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah are fully vaccinated, The New York Times reports, and the nation of 300,000 enrolled members is averaging 11 infections a day, down from 250 a day in late November. Nez said the Navajo Nation was able to tamp down COVID-19 through a strict lockdown, a year-old mask mandate, and a communal culture that convinced people to wear masks and get vaccinated. "It wasn't about restricting people's freedoms when we told people to wear a mask or to stay home," he said on Face the Nation. "It was looking at the greater good." Tribal leaders also held town halls where experts could answer questions and address concerns about the vaccines, and the nation's decision to coordinate closely with the chronically underfunded federal Indian Health Service for vaccines proved fortuitous, the Times reports. Tribes that partnered with the Indian Health Service for vaccines are faring much better than those who used state systems, a recent NPR analysis found. Wisconsin has also gone from an immunization laggard in January to among the fastest and most efficient vaccination efforts in the country, The Washington Post reports. If the Navajo Nation turned its efforts around through unity, Wisconsin managed despite frequent sniping between the Republican-run state legislature and Gov. Tony Evers (D) and Andrea Palm, the acting state health secretary — acting, because the GOP Senate refused to confirm her since 2019. Palm and her deputies focused Wisconsin's efforts on maximizing the number of public and private health care providers to deliver the vaccine, rather than using a few large vaccination centers. That was a labor-intensive process that slowed things down at first, the Post reports, but it prepared Wisconsin for a quick ramp-up without the urban-rural disparity seen in other states, and the reliance on smaller local providers should give the state a leg up as supply surpasses demand. You can read more about Wisconsin's turnaround, and how it might affect Palm's nomination to be President Biden's deputy Health and Human Services secretary, at The Washington Post. More stories from theweek.comThe female price of male pleasureWhy would Matt Gaetz resign?The Matt Gaetz allegations show how QAnon corrupts its followers

  • Supreme Court dismisses case over Trump and Twitter critics

    The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a case over former President Donald Trump's efforts to block critics from his personal Twitter account. The court said there was nothing left to the case after Trump was permanently suspended from Twitter and ended his presidential term in January. Twitter banned Trump two days after the deadly attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters on Jan. 6.

  • Utah dads to be required to pay half of pregnancy costs

    Biological fathers in Utah will be legally required to pay half of a woman’s out-of-pocket pregnancy costs under a new law unique to the state that critics say doesn’t do enough to adequately address maternal healthcare needs. The bill’s sponsor has presented the measure as an effort to decrease the burden of pregnancy on women and increase responsibility for men who have children. Utah appears to be the first state to mandate prenatal child support, according to the state’s Planned Parenthood association and the bill’s sponsor.

  • Delta cancels flights after announcing it will fill middle seats

    The airline announced it plans to fill middle seats on its airplanes in the near future, but did so in advance after canceling dozens of flights ahead of Easter.

  • Police, communities across U.S. fight back against anti-Asian hate crimes

    More than a dozen San Jose, California, police officers walked through the white arches of the Grand Century Mall in "Little Saigon" to reassure a Vietnamese-American community fearful over the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes in the United States. "We know that there is a lot of angst, fear with our Asian community," said San Jose's police chief, Anthony Mata, during his visit to Little Saigon.

  • A pandemic lesson: Older adults need to go back to their doctor and make preventive care a top priority

    Older patients should reconnect with their doctors for a wellness visit. Roberto Silvino/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesOlder people have borne a higher burden of illness and death from COVID-19, with people 65 and older experiencing higher rates of hospitalization and death. That’s only part of the sad story, however. In many instances, older people stopped seeing their doctors, and standard clinical care for their chronic medical conditions and preventive care was postponed. When medical clinics reopened, after initial shutdowns in the spring of 2020, many patients didn’t return. National surveys and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have shown that nearly a third, or about 32%, of U.S. adults reported delaying routine care because of the pandemic from March to July 2020. In fact, a national survey from the Harvard School of Public Health, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and NPR found that one in five U.S. households had trouble getting medical care when they needed it during the coronavirus outbreak. That was most often because of challenges getting an appointment, which resulted in poor health outcomes in more than half, or 57%, of the cases. While care for medical emergencies is critical, preventive care is also important to optimize health, especially among older adults. As a geriatrician and professor of medicine, I think one of the best things the U.S. health care system could do is to make 2021 the Year of Preventive Care, particularly for older adults. Doctors will discuss how many medications seniors are taking during their wellness visits. Spencer Platt/Getty Images Care beyond COVID-19 vaccines Because of their vulnerability to COVID-19, older Americans were first in line for COVID-19 vaccines as they became available to the public. That aligned perfectly with public health prevention strategies. Vaccination for older adults, including those for influenza, shingles and pneumonia, is a key component of preventive care. For older adults, though, there’s more to preventive care than vaccination. Preventive care is an important piece of health care, in keeping with the patient’s other medical conditions and goals of care. Preventive screening in older adults should be based on a personalized prevention plan between the patient and their doctor. Preventive screenings ideally identify issues before problems occur – talking about living alone, change in memory, any falls and who is around to help out when needed. For people over 65 years old who have Medicare Part B for 12 months, Medicare allows for an annual wellness visit once every 12 months, often at no cost. The Medicare annual wellness visit differs from a regular follow-up appointment for chronic medical conditions. This visit is fully focused on health risk and prevention. With the changes from the COVID-19 pandemic, your doctor or health care provider can even do it as a telemedicine video visit. The focus of this visit is on preventive care and health. It includes: A review of your medical and family history Development or updating of a list of current providers and prescriptions Height, weight, blood pressure and other routine measurements Detection of any cognitive impairment Personalized health advice Assessment of risk factors and treatment options Advance care planning A schedule or checklist for appropriate preventive services, such as screenings and vaccines There’s no need to worry if you didn’t see your doctor in the past year. I’m sure they’d be happy to hear from you and work to keep you healthy. So, call your doctor or health care provider today to schedule an appointment, and ask whether you are eligible to schedule a Medicare annual wellness visit. As the nation begins to move past the highest case numbers and mortality of the COVID-19 era, the health care system and patients need to focus on optimizing health. [You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors. You can get our highlights each weekend.]This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Laurie Archbald-Pannone, University of Virginia. Read more:Why do older people heal more slowly?Nearly two-thirds of older Black Americans can’t afford to live alone without help – and it’s even tougher for Latinos Laurie Archbald-Pannone does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

  • Northeast Dems Threaten to Block Biden’s Infrastructure Package Unless Tax Deductions Included

    Democratic lawmakers in recent days have criticized facets of President Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan, including northeastern representatives who say they will not support any bill that does not remove the caps on state-and-local-tax deductibility. As it stands, the bill does not include language to remove the caps, which were set at $10,000 in the 2017 tax law. While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said she was sympathetic to that idea, according to the Wall Street Journal, the White House has said lawmakers should propose a way to fund the deduction. In a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen last week, a group of Democratic lawmakers from New Jersey, New York, and Minnesota indicated that they “could not vote for a bill that has a meaningful tax impact on our constituents unless it restores SALT deduction relief to our middle-class families.” Representative Tom Suozzi (D., N.Y.) was one of the signatories, and while Punchbowl News suggested the letter was less strict than his previous “No SALT, no deal” stance, the New York Democrat said there was “no softening” in his position. “No SALT, no deal,” he reiterated to the newsletter. However, other Democrats in the group reportedly acknowledged to Punchbowl News that they “do not have a real strategy and that they will likely vote for the deal even if the SALT provision isn’t included.” Meanwhile, a number of Democrats have been critical of Biden’s proposed tax increases on corporations as part of the infrastructure plan that would raise the corporate tax rate to 28 percent from 21 percent and increase taxes on companies’ foreign earnings. The White House said the tax increases would cover the cost of the $2.3 trillion package over 15 years. The measure proposes funding improvements to roads, bridges, and transit systems, as well as expanding broadband access and other efforts. However, some members of the president’s own party have instead recommended borrowing money to pay for the investments in the bill or raising other levies, such as the gasoline tax. Representative Peter DeFazio (D., Ore.), the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, indicated he did not believe paying the entire cost of the plan through tax increases was necessary, according to the Journal. DeFazio said he would back an increase in the gas and diesel tax to pay for the new investments, in addition to more borrowing. Still, the White House and a number of other Democrats don’t support increasing the gas tax or collecting revenue from electric vehicles. They have argued that the taxes disproportionately affect lower-income people could discourage greener transport. Even with a Democratic majority, Biden will have a difficult time passing the legislation if he cannot garner near-unanimous support in the party to move the measure forward without Republican votes.

  • Half of Republicans believe false accounts of deadly U.S. Capitol riot: Reuters/Ipsos poll

    Since the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies have pushed false and misleading accounts to downplay the event that left five dead and scores of others wounded. Three months after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to try to overturn his November election loss, about half of Republicans believe the siege was largely a non-violent protest or was the handiwork of left-wing activists "trying to make Trump look bad," a new Reuters/Ipsos poll has found. Six in 10 Republicans also believe the false claim put out by Trump that November's presidential election "was stolen" from him due to widespread voter fraud, and the same proportion of Republicans think he should run again in 2024, the March 30-31 poll showed.

  • Israel's Netanyahu appears in court on corruption charges as his party vies for a chance to stay in power

    Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu appeared in court Monday to hear a third set of charges in a sprawling corruption investigation involving alleged bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. A few miles from the Jerusalem courtroom, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin was consulting with Netanyahu's Likud and other political parties Monday to determine which he should ask to try and form a governing coalition after an inconclusive fourth election in two years. The vote in the March 23 election resulted in 13 parties dividing the 120 seats of the Knesset, or parliament, and neither Netanyahu's right-wing bloc or the ideologically diverse anti-Netanyahu coalition has the 61 votes to claim a governing majority. That means Netanyahu's fate "could come down to Naftali Bennett, a right-wing former ally with whom he has strained ties, and Mansour Abbas, the leader of a small Arab Islamist party who also has yet to commit to either the pro- or anti-Netanyahu blocs," The Associated Press reports. If no leader can form a government, there will be a fifth election. Netanyahu has refused to step down as he faces trial on criminal charges, and Israeli law doesn't require him to. Monday's hearing, involving allegations dubbed Case 4000, centered on testimony from the former chief editor of a news site, Walla, owned by Israeli telecom giant Bezeq. The editor, Ilan Yeshua, will testify that Bezeq chief executive Shaul Elovitch pressured him hard and continuously to change articles to meet the demands of Netanyahu and his family. Netanyahu, in return for the favorable coverage, backed legislation worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Bezeq's owner, prosecutors allege. More stories from theweek.comThe female price of male pleasureWhy would Matt Gaetz resign?The Matt Gaetz allegations show how QAnon corrupts its followers

  • Biden's big infrastructure plan hits McConnell, GOP blockade

    Republicans in Congress are making the politically brazen bet that it’s more advantageous to oppose President Joe Biden’s ambitious rebuild America agenda than to lend support for the costly $2.3 trillion undertaking for roads, bridges and other infrastructure investments. Much the way Republicans provided no votes for the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, they plan to sit on the sidelines for this next big lift by the White House, forcing Democrats to take full ownership of the massive package of spending and corporate tax hikes that Biden wants approved over the summer. The tension could mount this week as Biden shows no signs adjusting to satisfy Republican leaders, instead appealing directly to their constituents for support.

  • U.S. Supreme Court rebuffs claims of workplace religious bias

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday sidestepped a chance to further expand religious rights, turning away two cases in which employees accused companies of violating federal anti-discrimination law by insufficiently accommodating requests for time off to meet religious obligations. The justices declined to hear appeals by two men of different Christian denominations - a Jehovah's Witness from Tennessee and a Seventh-day Adventist from Florida - of lower court rulings that rejected their claims of illegal religious bias. Lower courts found that the accommodations the men sought would have placed too much hardship on the employers.

  • 'Allergic reaction to US religious right' fueling decline of religion, experts say

    Percentage of churchgoing Americans is steadily falling, and the swirl of rightwing politics and Christianity is playing a key role Donald Trump with religious leaders for a national day of prayer in September 2017. Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP Fewer than half of Americans belong to a house of worship, a new study shows, but religion – and Christianity in particular – continues to have an outsize influence in US politics, especially because it is declining faster among Democrats than Republicans. Just 47% of the US population are members of a church, mosque or synagogue, according to a survey by Gallup, down from 70% two decades ago – in part a result of millennials turning away from religion but also, experts say, a reaction to the swirling mix of rightwing politics and Christianity pursued by the Republican party. The evidence comes as Republicans in some states have pursued extreme “Christian nationalist” policies, attempting to force their version of Christianity on an increasingly uninterested public. This week the governor of Arkansas signed a law allowing doctors to refuse to treat LGBTQ people on religious grounds, and other states are exploring similar legislation. Gallup began asking Americans about their church membership in 1937 – and for decades the number was always above 70%. That began to change in 2000, and the number has steadily dropped ever since. Some of the decline is attributable to changing generations, with about 66% of people born before 1946 are still members of a church, compared to just 36% of millennials. Among other groups Gallup reported, the decline in church membership stands out among self-identified Democrats and independents. The number of Democratic church members dropped by 25% over the 20 year period, with independents decreasing by 18%. Republican church members declined too, but only by 12%. David Campbell, professor and chair of the University of Notre Dame’s political science department and co-author of American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us, said a reason for the decline among those groups is political – an “allergic reaction to the religious right”. “Many Americans – especially young people – see religion as bound up with political conservatism, and the Republican party specifically,” Campbell said. “Since that is not their party, or their politics, they do not want to identify as being religious. Young people are especially allergic to the perception that many – but by no means all – American religions are hostile to LGBTQ rights.” Research by Campbell shows that a growing number of Americans have turned away from religion as politicians – particularly Republicans – have mixed religion with their politics. Campbell says there has always been an ebb and flow in American adherence to religion, but he thinks the current decline is likely to continue. “I see no sign that the religious right, and Christian nationalism, is fading. Which in turn suggests that the allergic reaction will continue to be seen – and thus more and more Americans will turn away from religion,” he said. The number of people who identify as non-religious has grown steadily in recent decades, according to Michele Margolis, associate professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania and author of From Politics to the Pews. More than 20% of all Americans are classed as “nones”, Margolis said, and more than a third of Americans under 30. “That means non-identification is going to continue becoming a larger share of population over time as cohort replacement continues to occur,” Margolis said. But she agreed another factor is the rightwing’s infusion of politics with theism. “As religion has been closed linked with conservative politics, we’ve had Democrats opting out of organized religion, or being less involved, and Republicans opting in,” she said. Christian nationalists – who believe America was established as, and should remain, a Christian country – have pushed a range of measures to thrust their version of religion into American life. You virtually have to wear religion on your sleeve in order to be elected Annie Laurie Gaylor In states including Louisiana, Arkansas and Florida, Republicans have introduced legislation which would variously hack away at LGTBQ rights, reproductive rights, challenge the ability of couples to adopt children, and see religion forced into classrooms. The governor of Arkansas recently signed into law a bill that allows medical workers to refuse to treat LGBTQ people on religious grounds. Montana is set to pass a law which would allow people or businesses to discriminate, based on religion, against the LGBTQ community. “Do not make me NOT do what my God tells me I have to do,” said Republican Montana congressman John Fuller, a supporter of the law. Alison Gill, vice-president for legal and policy at American Atheists, who authored a report into the creep of Christian extremism in the US, warned that the drop-off in religious adherence in America could actually accelerate that effort, rather than slow it down. “Surveys of those who identify with Christian nationalist beliefs consistently show that this group feels that they are subject to more discrimination and marginalization than any other group in society, including Islamic people, Black people, atheists, [and] Jewish people,” Gill said. “They are experiencing their loss of prominence in American culture as an unacceptable attack on their beliefs -- and this is driving much of the efforts we are seeing to cling onto power, undermine democracy, and fight for ‘religious freedom’ protections that apply only to them.” The influence of religion over politics is stark, Gill said. “America perceives itself to be a predominantly religious society, even if the facts no longer agree. Politicians often feel beholden to pronounce their religious faith – and are attacked for a perceived lack of it,” she said. While the danger of a right-wing backlash is real, Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-founder of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, said that the Gallup data suggests the US is moving in a positive direction. “We have this constitutional separation of church and state in America, and our constitution is godless, and it says you can’t have a religious test for public office, and yet you virtually have to wear religion on your sleeve in order to be elected,” Gaylor said. “There is movement [away from religion], and we’re just delighted to see this. We think it’s great that Americans are finally waking up.”

  • Fearing Being Cut Off From SWIFT, Russia Hints About Blockchain Alternative: Report

    Russia's foreign affairs ministry believes SWIFT can be replaced by more advanced systems, mentioning blockchain.

  • Janet Yellen to call for global minimum tax rate in first major address as Treasury secretary

    Janet Yellen will use her first major address as Treasury secretary to argue for a global minimum corporate tax rate, Axios has learned, as she makes the case for President Biden’s plan to raise U.S. corporate taxes to fund his $2 trillion+ infrastructure plan.Why it matters: Convincing other countries to impose a global minimum tax would reduce the likelihood of companies relocating offshore, as Biden seeks to increase the corporate rate from 21% to 28%.Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free“Competitiveness is about more than how U.S.-headquartered companies fare against other companies in global merger and acquisition bids,” Yellen will say today in a speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, according to an excerpt of her prepared remarks obtained by Axios."It is about making sure that governments have stable tax systems that raise sufficient revenue to invest in essential public goods and respond to crises, and that all citizens fairly share the burden of financing government." "We are working with G20 nations to agree to a global minimum corporate tax rate that can stop the race to the bottom."The big picture: President Trump lowered the U.S. rate from 35% to 21%, arguing that U.S. companies were at a global disadvantage and were being incentivized to relocate offshore. The average corporate rate in the G7 is 24%, with some nine countries recently lowering their corporate rate, according to the Tax Foundation, a conservative tax group. Biden’s plan would also raise the international minimum rate for foreign profits from U.S. companies from 10.5% to 21%, which would still be lower than the 28% domestic corporate rate.Driving the news: Biden has tapped five Cabinet secretaries to explain — and sell — his plan to the American public, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.Yellen’s task is to make the international case. Her speech also is designed to set the tone for the annual spring International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Washington, which will begin virtually this week.Between the lines: Biden has been relying on Yellen to convince the business community and reassure Wall Street that his $2 trillion+ infrastructure proposal, on top of his $1.9 trillion stimulus package, won’t lead to inflation.Now he’s deploying her to convince international finance ministers and central bankers that the world’s biggest economies need to act in concert on corporate rates to avoid a race to the bottom. Go deeper: Yellen will also challenge the world’s economic powers to focus on climate change and on ways to improve vaccine access for the world’s poorest countries.She will call for $650 billion in new “Special Drawing Rights” — essentially lines of credit at the IMF that can help developing countries access more U.S. dollars.The Trump administration was skeptical of new SDR allocations and many congressional Republicans are still opposed. The bottom line: By trying to convince other countries to impose a global minimum tax, Yellen is acknowledging the risks to the American economy if it acts alone in raising corporate rates. “Together we can use a global minimum tax to make sure the global economy thrives based on a more level playing field in the taxation of multinational corporations, and spurs innovation, growth, and prosperity,” she will say.Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free.

  • U.S. Supreme Court brings end to Trump Twitter fight

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday brought an end to a legal fight over former President Donald Trump's effort to block critics from following his now-frozen Twitter account, deciding the dispute was moot and throwing out a lower court's decision that found he had violated constitutional free speech rights. None of the justices on the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, dissented from Monday's action. Thomas said social media companies, which under U.S. law have leeway as private entities to moderate user content as they see fit, might have to be treated more like businesses that are subject to public accommodation laws, which require all customers to be treated equally.

  • Public will be urged to take Covid test twice a week as lockdown rules ease

    Everyone in the country will be encouraged to take two Covid tests a week to show they are not infected, Boris Johnson will announce on Monday. The rapid lateral flow tests will be paid for by the Government and can be delivered to homes free of charge from Friday. The multi-billion-pound expansion of testing is designed to catch Covid outbreaks early as the economy reopens. While the tests are voluntary, the announcement could pave the way for workplaces or businesses to ask staff or customers to show they have a negative result. The Government is also understood to be considering how the mass testing system could form part of an official “Covid certification” scheme, through which the public would be required to prove they have been vaccinated, show an up-to-date negative test result or prove that they have antibodies from recent infection in order to attend events or venues.