August 20, 2025: Texas House Passes GOP Map Plan, Trump Targets Fed's Cook, More

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
News when you want it. With Bloomberg News Now I'm
Doug Prisoner. We begin in Texas, where the State House
of Representatives gave preliminary approval to a new state congressional
map backed by President Trump. This CAP's a week's long
political standoff, and it now sets the stage for a
final vote. State Representative Jen Wu is vowing to keep fighting.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
This is far from over. In my heart, I know
the American people will win and we will see a
bright day again.

Speaker 1 (00:34):
That is Texas State Representative Gene Wu speaking there now.
Democrats delay the vote for two weeks by fleeing the state. However,
they were brought back under police escort, and now Democrats
are planning to battle the new map in court once
Republican Governor Greg Abbott signs it into law. This new
map may add five GOP seats in next year's midterm elections.

(00:56):
President Trump is calling on Fed Governor Lisa Cook to
resign over accusations from a Trump ally of mortgage fraud.
More from Bloomberg's Denise Pellegrini.

Speaker 3 (01:06):
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Poulties suggests Cook may
have committed a criminal offense by falsifying bank documents and
property records to acquire more favorable loan terms. In a
letter seen by Bloomberg, he alleges Cook signed a mortgage
agreement for a property in Michigan, claiming it would be
her primary residence for at least a year, and then
two weeks later claimed the same thing on a residence

(01:27):
in Georgia. Pulty's effort comes as President Trump and Paulty
press the FED to lower interest rates and FED chair
J Powell to resign before his term as chair expires
in May. Cook was nominated by President Biden. She became
the first black woman to serve on the Board of
Governor's Her term expires in twenty thirty eight. Denise Pelgritty
Bloomberg Radio.

Speaker 1 (01:46):
Later in the day, Cook issued a statement saying she
had no intention of being bullied to step down, and
she said that she intends to take questions about her
financial history seriously and gather accurate information to answer legitimate
questions and provide facts. Minutes of the last FED meeting
show committee members saw upside risks to inflation when they

(02:08):
met last month, and they viewed that risk as being
greater than the concern over a weaker labor market. Here
is Bloomberg US economist Stuart Paul.

Speaker 4 (02:17):
As we read through the minutes, and as we think
about the data that we have seen, everything basically points
to an incremental move toward monetary policy getting a little
bit less restrictive and a little bit of additional comfort
in the balance of risk shifting towards cooling employment. And
I think the Powell is going to need to acknowledge.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
That that is Bloomberg economist Stuart Paul. There. Now, the
Fed did leave interest rates unchanged last month in a
range of four and a quarter to four and a
half percent, and shar Jay Powell said the central Bank
must guard against persistent inflation. Now, these minutes arrive ahead
of Powell's Jackson Hole speech that will happen on Friday,
and investors are expecting fresh signals on rate policy. President

(03:02):
Trump's decision to deploy federal law enforcement and the National
Guard to Washington, d C. Is drawing pushback. Critics are
calling it a political stunt. The White House says the
crackdown has netted more than five hundred arrest including gang members,
along with illegal firearms. Today, Vice President JD. Vance praised
the effort as a model for other cities. While demonstrators

(03:24):
protested outside Union Station.

Speaker 5 (03:27):
I think that if we set a standard in Washington,
BC that political will power cans bring some common sense,
long order back to these communities, then maybe some other
communities and other cities will fall suit.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
That is Vice President jd Vance there Now, a U
gov poll shows that forty seven percent of Americans disapprove
of the federal takeover of DC's policing, a move that
Trump administration has long contemplated. To Corporate News, next, Google
has unveiled a wave of new hardware technology. This includes
Google's Pixel ten smartphones, a new pay watch, and wireless earbuds.

(04:02):
All are deeply tied to Google's Gemini AI. Now these
new devices will run on Google's new Tensor G five chip.
We heard earlier from Rick Osterlow. He is Senior VP
of Platforms and Devices at Google.

Speaker 6 (04:16):
A big focus of Tensor all along has been on
trying to run AI and we're trying to show what
AI on devices can do for the whole Android ecosystem.
And we're making an example with Tensor, but also working
with all of our other silicon partners like Media Tech
and Qualcomm and others.

Speaker 1 (04:32):
That is Google's Rick Osterlow speaking earlier to Bloomberg at
the same time. Today, Google named NBA star Steph Curry
as the company's performance advisor for Google Health and fit
Bit wearable products. Shares in Google parent Alphabet today we're
down by more than one percent. And that is news
when you want it with Bloomberg News. Now, I'm Doug Krisner,
and this is Bloomberg