Consumer Protection

The U.S. Department of Labor plans to propose a rule that would reexamine worker classification, redefining who is given certain labor protections and who is not.

The boom of the so-called gig economy — as seen in ridesharing apps like Uber and Lyft and others like TaskRabbit and DoorDash — have raised questions about whether people providing these services should be classified as entrepreneurs or as workers.

As furloughed federal workers scramble to cover their bills, members of Congress are imploring the Education Department to help those workers manage their student loans during the partial government shutdown.

​Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., kicked off the effort this week with a letter asking Education Secretary Betsty DeVos to direct student loan servicing companies to contact federal employees with information about their repayment options.

At least 80 members of Congress have said they will refuse their paychecks or donate their earnings for the length of the shutdown in solidarity with unpaid federal employees.

Approximately 800,000 federal workers are going without pay due to the partial government shutdown. Of those, 380,000 are furloughed and 420,000, deemed essential, continue to work without pay.

Oregon Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici talks one-on-one with KATU's Angelica Thornton about the on-going government shutdown and why she thinks President Trump shouldn't get any money to build a border wall.

Two Democratic U.S. lawmakers have called on the Environmental Protection Agency to answer questions about asbestos exposure after Reuters reported that documents showed Johnson & Johnson knew for decades of the minerals presence in its popular baby powder.

Whether asbestos in the talc supply in Johnson & Johnsons Baby Powder caused cancer has been the subject of litigation for years.