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Nope. It’s not just your imagination. The Biden administration has been on a roll to finalize several regulations — from changes at nursing homes and updates to Title IX to health care protections for transgender people. Kimberly explains what’s really behind the mad dash. Also, Kai is back with a reminder: Don’t sleep on the foreign exchange market, folks! And we’ll smile about the tales of two cats.

Here’s everything we talked about today:


“Biden administration strengthens health care protections for LGBTQ+ Americans” from The 19th News
“Congressional Review Act Threat Looms Over Biden Administration Rulemakings” from Inside Privacy
“A Strong U.S. Dollar Weighs on the World”from The New York Times
“Japan Intervenes After Yen Slides Against the Dollar” from The Wall Street Journal
“Nebraska’s “Capitol Cat” brings paw-sitivity to politics” from USA Today
“Stowaway Cat Gets From Utah to California in Amazon Returns Package” from The New York Times

We love to hear from you. Send your questions and comments to makemesmart@marketplace.org or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.

Warehouses and cargo-moving companies spent a few weeks in limbo after the Baltimore bridge collapse. Now, they’re working hard to reroute goods that usually went through the city’s port, with some truckers driving far and wide to pick up freight redirected to other cities. In this episode, how one cargo transportation company is adjusting. Plus, who will hurt the most from a cap on credit card fees, what economic data the Fed is keeping an eye on this week, and why desk phones are disappearing.

Stocks close higher; FCC says location information was shared illegally; several labor market reports due this week; Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee meets on Tuesday and Wednesday.

This week, we’re getting important insights on how the U.S. economy is doing. We’ll receive reports on consumer confidence, the unemployment rate and how many jobs are out there. And in the middle of it all, the Federal Reserve is meeting to discuss what to do with interest rates. We’ll sort through it all. Plus, musicians love the sounds of nature. Now, those sounds can help support environmental causes.

House and Senate negotiators have agreed to a sweeping bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration; Supreme Court turns back Musk’s challenge of Tesla settlement with SEC; McDonald’s, other restaurant chains set to report earnings.

A copper mining company recently turned down a $39 billion takeover bid because it was too low. Right now, the price of copper is near a 2-year high and headed higher. And the metal is critical in many clean energy technologies. Plus, the Federal Reserve is expected to hold interest rates steady at its latest policy meetings. When might that change? We also examine the fallout of a strong U.S. dollar.