Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley on Monday called for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to be replaced, stepping up the pressure on President Joe Biden as he draws closer to a decision on the government’s most important economic post.

The statement opposing Powell by the high-profile progressive Democrats is part of a mounting effort on the left to urge Biden to reshape the Fed, though the prospect of Powell’s reappointment has split opinion among liberal advocates and lawmakers.

“As news of the possible reappointment of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell circulates, we urge President Biden to re-imagine a Federal Reserve focused on eliminating climate risk and advancing racial and economic justice,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement to POLITICO. “We urge the Biden Administration to use this opportunity to appoint a new Federal Reserve Chair.”

They acknowledged that the Fed under Powell “has made positive changes” by steering the central bank toward a greater emphasis on reaching full employment. But they said they want to see someone at the helm who is more aggressive on financial regulation and climate change.

It will likely take days to determine the extent of damage to Entergy's power grid in metro New Orleans and far longer to restore electrical transmission to the region, company executives said early Monday morning.

Four parishes in southeast Louisiana - and parts of two more - had their main source of power cut when eight Entergy transmission lines failed in Hurricane Ida's intense winds, including a tower that fell into the Mississippi River.

New Orleans is in the dark, along with Jefferson, St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes as well as parts of St. Charles and Terrebonne parishes.

But so far exactly what caused the transmission lines to shut down after Ida came ashore at Port Fourchon as a devastating Category 4 hurricane is unclear, as the storm's devastating winds have prevented crews from conducting a damage assessment.

A conservative Florida radio host who spoke out against Covid-19 vaccines died after a weekslong fight with the virus, marking the third radio personality to die from coronavirus who publicly rejected vaccines.

The death of Marc Bernier, 65, who was a mainstay on talk radio in Daytona, was announced Saturday night be WNDB, the radio station he was affiliated with for three decades.

“It’s with great sadness that WNDB and Southern Stone Communications announce the passing of Marc Bernier, who informed and entertained listeners on WNDB for over 30 years. We kindly ask that privacy is given to Marc’s family during this time of grief,” WNDB stated on Twitter.

Bernier was known for inviting differing viewpoints on his show, including Democrats, but had publicly railed against vaccines. The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported that Bernier had been hospitalized since Aug. 7.

In what appears to be his latest salvo against Covid-19 vaccinations and the lockdown, Eric Clapton has surprise-released a new single, “This Has Gotta Stop,” with an accompanying animated video that also addresses climate change disaster.

A bluesy shuffle, “This Has Gotta Stop” appears to reference some of the medical issues that Clapton said he experienced after receiving an AstraZeneca vaccination earlier this year with what he claimed were “disastrous” results: “My hands and feet were either frozen, numb or burning,” he wrote at the time. As he sings in “This Has Gotta Stop,” “I knew that something was going on wrong/When you started laying down the law/I can’t move my hands, I break out in sweat/I wanna cry, I can’t take it anymore.” In the chorus he sings, “This has gotta stop/Enough is enough/I can’t take this BS any longer.”

Written by Clapton, the song features drummer Sonny Emery and longtime Clapton bassist Nathan East, and backup singer Sharon White, and was produced by Simon Climie, another part of Clapton’s team. A spokesperson for Clapton said there were no plans at the moment for a full album to follow.

The video includes images of people turned into marionettes or staring zombie-style at their phones; politicians or government officials addressing crowds; and others holding signs that say “Liberty” and “Enough Is Enough.” It also includes an illustration of Jam for Freedom, the anti-lockdown UK street-performer group that Clapton supports, as well as imagery of a world on fire from environment disaster.