On today's podcast:
1) US power grids are expected to grapple with unprecedented seasonal demand and the threat of blackouts after a damaging winter storm coated parts of the South and Mid-Atlantic in ice — leaving brutal cold in its wake. More than 800,000 homes and businesses nationwide are currently without electricity as snow and ice wreak havoc on local distribution lines. Grids so far have avoided larger system-level cuts, but frigid wind chills will likely persist all week, testing seasonal power-demand records from New England to Texas. In the New York metropolitan area, commuter lines run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will be operating with modified schedules on Monday, while at least one private bus operator, Boxcar, used by New Jersey workers, suspended its service because of the inclement weather.
2) Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer vowed to block a massive spending package next week unless Republicans strip funding for the Department of Homeland Security, dramatically increasing the risk for a partial US government shutdown. Schumer’s announcement came on the same day that a Border Patrol agent shot and killed an American intensive care unit nurse in Minnesota during protests over the immigration crackdown in that state. The man was identified by state and local officials as Alex Pretti. Democratic opposition to the funding package potentially affects not just Homeland Security but also the departments of Defense, Labor, Education, State, Treasury and Health and Human Services. The effects would be widespread, including possibly delaying the next Bureau of Labor Statistics report.
3) President Trump threatened Canada with 100% tariffs against all its exports to the US if it makes a trade deal with China, escalating tensions between the US and its northern neighbor. Trump, referring to Prime Minister Mark Carney as “Governor Carney,” said the Canadian leader was “sorely mistaken” for opening up his country to more business from China, including a recent deal allowing an increase in Chinese electric vehicle exports. Trump and key administration officials have denounced that bilateral agreement and warned of potential consequences, including an additional levy for Canadian goods, portending a difficult renegotiation for the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement scheduled in the summer.