DEPT. OF INTERESTING BEDFELLOWS ... THE #ALLOFUS coalition is launching this morning, and it will attempt to make the case that immigrants are critical to Covid recovery efforts. Members include the George W. Bush Institute, José Andrés, Postmates, the National Association of Evangelicals, the NAACP, the Libre Initiative, UnidosUS, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the National Immigration Forum and the Emerson Collective. They're kicking off with a $165,000 media ad buy in the South and Midwest. Their site THE ECONOMY TODAY -- "Global Stocks Rise Ahead of Fed Decisions," by WSJ's Chong Koh Ping and Joe Wallace: "Stocks rose Wednesday, as investors awaited the conclusion of a two-day Federal Reserve meeting that is likely to keep the U.S. benchmark interest rate near zero and continue support for businesses during the coronavirus pandemic. "S&P 500 futures rose 0.7%, suggesting U.S. markets could open higher. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note edged lower to 0.603%, after settling at 0.610% in the previous session. The Stoxx Europe 600 was marginally higher as gains for shares in oil-and-gas companies offset losses for utility stocks." WSJ -- "GDP report to show a damaged economy sliding into recession," by AP's Martin Crutsinger: "The U.S. economy began 2020 riding the crest of a record-long expansion with every expectation that its 11th year of growth would not be its last. Then the economy screeched to a sudden halt. And now it's in free-fall. "On Wednesday, the government will offer a glimpse of how dark the picture has grown and how much worse it could get as the coronavirus pandemic inflicts ruinous damage. The Commerce Department is expected to estimate that the gross domestic product, the broadest gauge of the economy, shrank at an annual rate of 5% or more in the January-March quarter. "That would be the sharpest quarterly drop in GDP since the Great Recession, which ended in 2009. And it would be the first quarterly contraction in six years. "And yet forecasters say that will be only a precursor of a far grimmer GDP report to come for the current April-June quarter, when business shutdowns and layoffs have struck with devastating force. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that GDP will plunge in the current quarter by a 40% annual rate. That would be, by a breathtaking margin, the bleakest quarter since such records were first compiled in 1947." AP -- "Even for Companies With Business From Coronavirus, the Picture Is Mixed at Best," by WSJ's Paul Ziobro DAN DIAMOND: "'HHS has been kicked in the teeth'": "The coronavirus outbreak burning its way through the United States has taken a different kind of toll on staff at the center of the nation's response. "Officials here, at the Health and Human Services department headquarters, have worked around the clock since mid-January to first prepare for the possible Covid-19 outbreak and then manage the pandemic it became. But the Trump administration's repeated stumbles have provoked a daily deluge of attacks, watchdog probes and open speculation about the future of the department's leader, Secretary Alex Azar, culminating in a spate of reports about how White House officials were discussing Azar's potential replacements this past weekend. "While President Donald Trump swiftly rejected those reports and praised Azar, more than 15 current and former staff who spoke to POLITICO described an atmosphere of exhaustion and dysfunction — capped off by White House efforts to weaken the health secretary. "'I don't think people appreciate how tired the department is,' said one former Trump HHS appointee. 'Your effectiveness wears down after you've been in a fight — and for 100 days, HHS has been kicked in the teeth.'" POLITICO INVESTIGATING CHINA -- "Trump admin asks intel agencies to find out if China, WHO hid info on coronavirus pandemic," by NBC's Ken Dilanian, Courtney Kube and Carol Lee: "The White House has ordered intelligence agencies to comb through communications intercepts, human source reporting, satellite imagery and other data to establish whether China and the World Health Organization initially hid what they knew about the emerging coronavirus pandemic, current and former U.S. officials familiar with the matter told NBC News. "A specific so-called 'tasking' seeking information about the outbreak's early days was sent last week to the National Security Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency, which includes the National Center for Medical Intelligence, one official directly familiar with the matter said. The CIA has received similar instructions, according to current and former officials familiar with the matter." NBC -- IT'S NOT JUST TRUMP: "Tom Cotton targets China as 2024 maneuvering begins," by Burgess Everett THE STORY THAT'S NOT GOING AWAY -- "'Headlines matter': Tara Reade allegations spark Dem anxiety," by David Siders: "It started as a little noticed story in a small newspaper in Northern California last year, before Joe Biden had officially become a candidate for president. Against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement, a local woman named Tara Reade said the former vice president had inappropriately touched her. "Her account got little traction during the Democratic primary. But roughly a year later — after Reade claimed sexual assault and new details surfaced in recent days — it has metastasized into a serious campaign liability, entering the political mainstream just as Biden seeks to unite a fractious Democratic Party behind him. "'Just getting pulled into that discussion harms Biden,' said Amanda Renteria, who was national political director of Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign. 'Headlines matter no matter what the facts end up being. ... This isn't going away, obviously. And what you've learned in the last 48 hours is this is a narrative folks are going to want to push.'" -- "Democrats react to Biden assault allegation with pleas for explanation — or with silence," by WaPo's Sean Sullivan, Matt Viser and Annie Linskey -- "Democrats Will Have To Answer Questions About Tara Reade. The Biden Campaign Is Advising Them To Say Her Story 'Did Not Happen,'" by BuzzFeed's Ruby Cramer and Rosie Gray MEANWHILE -- "Amash announces exploratory committee for president," by David Siders and Ally Mutnick -- MOST IMPORTANTLY: This gives the NRCC the chance to put someone in this seat. | 
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