The last time there was a gaping hole where the speaker of the House should sit, all of nine months ago, former five-term congressman Justin Amash of Grand Rapids, Michigan, was on Capitol Hill, watching his old nemesis Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R–Calif.) twist in the wind, and reminding people in a loud stage whisper that you don't have to be a sitting member of Congress to be speaker. Heck, you don't even have to belong to a major political party!

COVID-19 has shattered the basic economic rationale President Donald Trump had put forward in running for reelection and forced him to come up with another: Joe Biden’s handling of the catastrophe would be worse.

Has the U.S. economy hit bottom?

Just a few short months ago, Trump planned to campaign for reelection on the back of a robust economy. That’s a distant memory after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April, leading to an unemployment rate of 14.7%, the highest since the Great Depression.

Economists suggest the genuine unemployment number is much higher. Trump is encouraging states to reopen their economies to help reverse the slide, even as health experts warn that reopening too soon could lead to a second wave that would wreak greater economic devastation.

Joe Biden doesn't believe being stuck in his Delaware home's basement is hurting his chances of becoming president.

The presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee bristled when asked Tuesday about when he expected to restart his campaign for the White House ahead of the general election.

"We're on the campaign trail now. And everybody says, 'You know Biden's hiding.' Well, let me tell you something — we're doing very well," he told ABC News.

With less than two weeks left before 1,000 or so Libertarian Party delegates select their 2020 presidential and vice presidential nominees in an unprecedented online-only vote, you could probably forgive Jacob Hornberger for being a little irritable.

The 2020 presidential election just got its first notable third-party challenger. Last Tuesday, Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, who left the Republican Party nine months ago and became an independent, announced he would run for president as a Libertarian. And while we won’t know whether Amash wins his new party’s nomination until later this month, here’s what we do know about third-party candidacies more broadly and what that could mean for President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden in the general election.

Michigan congressman Justin Amash on Tuesday announced he was forming an exploratory committee for a potential presidential run as a candidate for the Libertarian Party.

“Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan said Wednesday he is seeking the Libertarian nod for president because millions of Americans do not feel well represented by either major political party… Amash [is] a Trump critic who left the Republican Party to become an independent.” (AP News)

Both sides are generally critical of Amash and skeptical that he will have a significant impact on the race.

This Abridge News topic aggregates four unique arguments on different sides of the debate. Here are the quick facts to get you started:

THE QUICK FACTS

The previously independent five-term Michigan congressman joins the L.P. and takes aim at the septuagenarian competition.