Democrats and Republicans in Congress are warning about potential harms of the proposed $15 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japanese Nippon Steel Corporation (NSC), with concerns including national security and union jobs.

• Sens. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said in a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen that the NSC is “a company whose allegiances clearly lie with a foreign state and whose record in the United States is deeply flawed.”
  
  
• From Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.): “I’m concerned about what this means for the Steelworkers and the good union jobs that have supported Pennsylvania families for generations, for the long-term investment in the Commonwealth, and for American industrial leadership.”

“Fears about an overreliance on Chinese production capacity during the pandemic has led to closer coordination among U.S. economic allies especially in the Asia-Pacific region, notably Japan, South Korea and Taiwan,” The Hill’s Tobias Burns reported.

The deal requires approval from U.S. Steel shareholders as well as government regulators. 

Read Burns’s full report here.

US Capitol Police escorted protesters out of the Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday amid a demonstration calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war and an end to U.S. military aid to Israel. Protest organizers said in a joint statement, “We demand that the United States stop arming Israel and facilitating genocide in Gaza.”

Senators remained in Washington this week to work toward a border deal integral to passing a package that includes aid to Israel, as well as Ukraine and other recipients. Several senators have said a deal isn’t likely to come this week.

“Gerrymandering is an enemy to democracy — we need constitutional reform now”

“It’s time for universities to share the burden of student loan defaults”