On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Voters concerned with Biden's record on economy

Voters are concerned with President Joe Biden's record on the economy, according to a new poll. Plus, USA TODAY Congress and Campaigns Reporter Ken Tran explains why the House GOP is nearing a Joe Biden impeachment inquiry, labor strikes are popular but union membership is dwindling, USA TODAY Health Reporter Karen Weintraub explains how researchers are working to extend kidney transplant longevity, and former Smash Mouth singer Steve Harwell dies at 56.

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Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Tuesday, the 5th of September 2023. Today, concerning poll numbers for the President. Plus, how some House Republicans may begin an impeachment inquiry against Biden, and we take a closer look at the labor movement in America.

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President Joe Biden traveled to Philadelphia yesterday to court middle class voters with a speech touting his economic record.

President Joe Biden:

We created more jobs in two years than any president ever created in a four-year, single four-year term.

Taylor Wilson:

But the appearance came as a new poll found that his re-election bid is in danger because of voters' economic worries. The Wall Street Journal poll conducted in late August found that 59% of voters disapprove of Biden's handling of the economy. Nearly three quarters of voters, according to the poll, say that inflation is headed in the wrong direction, and more broadly, only 39% of voters had a favorable view of the president. Maybe most concerning for the Biden camp, though, he was statistically tied with former President Donald Trump in a potential 2024 rematch. Trump remains the Republican Party front runner despite facing trial in a number of federal and state legal cases.

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When lawmakers return to Capitol Hill after a summer break, some House Republicans may begin pursuing an impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden. I spoke with USA TODAY Congress and Campaigns Reporter Ken Tran for more. Thanks for hopping on, Ken.

Ken Tran:

Thanks for having me, Taylor.

Taylor Wilson:

Why do some Republicans want to begin impeachment proceedings against President Joe Biden?

Ken Tran:

These Republicans have been pushing for impeachment proceedings pretty much since Republicans took control of the House in January. These Republicans come from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's right flank. Some of them have already introduced resolutions to impeach Joe Biden for alleged public corruption, one of these being conservative firebrand Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene from Georgia. A lot of these conservative members say that there already is plenty of evidence to impeach President Joe Biden, accusing him of public corruption. Byron Donalds, a congressman from Florida and a member of the House Freedom Caucus, a loose coalition of far-right lawmakers, he said that there's already clearly grounds for impeachment and accused the president of pay-for-play scandals.

Taylor Wilson:

And specifically, what are they citing?

They are taking aim at the President's son, Hunter Biden's business dealings, and they're saying that President Joe Biden did personally benefit from these dealings. But so far, from the investigations House Republicans have conducted, there is little to no evidence that he did. They're still investigating him. They're seeking bank records and personal finance records from his family, but we're not sure yet who. The House Oversight Committee has been releasing reports throughout the August recess detailing what they're finding, but the reports have acknowledged that the group still has yet to find any evidence of wrongdoing.

Taylor Wilson:

And Ken, how might an impeachment inquiry impact the GOP's chances of holding the House in 2024?

Ken Tran:

If House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Republican leadership decide to put an impeachment inquiry vote on the House floor, that could put vulnerable members heading into 2024 in a tough spot. The congresswoman from South Carolina, Nancy Mace, who's tried to pivot her party to the center, she did warn that an impeachment inquiry vote could force vulnerable Republicans to, "walk the plank." And Congressman Kevin Hern, Republican from Oklahoma and Chair of the Republican Study Committee, the largest caucus of House Republicans, he told reporters in July before all the lawmakers left for August recess that any impeachment inquiry would be done with overwhelming consensus. So, it's not really something that lawmakers would prefer it be done and have it rushed.

Taylor Wilson:

How big of a factor are the past impeachments of former President Donald Trump playing in how Republicans want to proceed here?

Ken Tran:

Some moderate Republicans are also being careful with impeachment, not to make it political, since they did accuse Democrats of using impeachment as a political ploy against former President Donald Trump twice. Congressman Don Bacon, Republican from Nebraska, told me in an interview that he sees that there is a lot of anger out there among Republicans, but he still thinks that any impeachment proceedings should not be done with revenge in mind.

Taylor Wilson:

Ken Tran, great insight for us as always. Thanks so much.

Ken Tran:

Thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

It's been called the summer of strikes: screenwriters and actors, Amazon warehouse employees, food industry workers. The last few months have been full of picket lines, and so far this year more than 300,000 workers walked off the job for better benefits, pay, and/or working conditions. But around the same time, the rate of union membership is the lowest in decades, just 10.1% last year. Why is that? Experts point to the passage of unfavorable laws toward labor unions. 27 states have passed so-called right-to-work laws, which make it harder for workers to unionize. Those laws provide union representation to non-union members without requiring the payment of union dues, and some corporations invest money into programs and consultants who introduce union-suppressing tactics to the workplace. A 2019 analysis from the Economic Policy Institute found that companies spent $340 million annually on union-avoiding consultants who helped deter organizers. Employers were also charged with violating federal law in 41.5% of all union election campaigns. You can read more with a link in today's show notes.

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Kidney transplants often don't last longer than a decade or two, creating complications for patients and logjams on transplant waitlists, but researchers are working to increase organ longevity with better drugs and donor matches. I spoke with USA TODAY Health Reporter Karen Weintraub to learn more. Hey there, Karen.

Karen Weintraub:

Hi. Thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

Thanks for hopping back on. So, how long do kidney transplants typically last?

Karen Weintraub:

Yeah, so if you get a transplant from a living donor, it's about 15 years, maybe 20. People can also get donations from people who have recently passed away, and those are a little shorter, typically 10 to 15 years.

Taylor Wilson:

And why is it so rare for kidney transplants to last much longer than 20 years?

Karen Weintraub:

Weirdly, it's actually the drugs that keep people alive that actually destroy the kidney. The drugs that prevent rejection early on are damaging to the kidney long term. So, they help save people's lives in the short term and put a time limit on them, in a sense, in the long term.

Taylor Wilson:

There's a lot of research going on to try to break this pattern, allowing people to get off these destructive medications, as you mentioned, and allow their transplanted organs to last longer. What are the latest developments, Karen?

Karen Weintraub:

It's pretty interesting. The idea is to get off of these drugs by kind of integrating the immune system of the donor in addition to the kidney. I was talking to a researcher earlier. Let's say a brother donates his kidney to a brother, which is one of the cases that he talks about, and now the brother is also donating his stem cells, the cells in his bones that create blood cells and immune cells, and he's donating those to his brother to help establish kind of a mixed immune system. So, the recipient brother will have an immune system that's part his own and part his brother's, and that way it'll recognize the kidney as his own, not as a foreign organ.

Taylor Wilson:

Could this progress help to clear up kidney transplant waitlists?

Karen Weintraub:

Yeah, so unfortunately about 20% of the people on the kidney transplant waitlist, and there are about 800,000 of them at any one time, are actually repeats. They're people who've had kidney transplants before, but they need another one because their kidney is wearing out. So, if you could take 20% of those people off because their kidneys aren't wearing out, you could really make a difference for the people who need number one.

Taylor Wilson:

Some of the people you've spoken with who have had kidney transplants for longer than 20 years, what are they saying about their stories?

Karen Weintraub:

I talked to two women, both of whom got kidney transplants from their dads when they were young teenagers. Their kidneys have lasted 50 years. One woman's father is still alive, he's over 90, and she still has his kidney. The other woman, unfortunately, her father would be 90 this year, but he passed away many years ago, and it's very touching for her to still have a piece of him in her still functioning. Unfortunately, that kidney is not functioning very well and she needs a new one now. So, part of the success story that her kidney has lasted this long, but also part of the story that a lot of people do need repeat transplants.

Taylor Wilson:

Karen Weintraub. Thanks, as always.

Karen Weintraub:

Thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

Steve Harwell, the former lead singer of the band Smash Mouth, has died. TMZ, the first outlet to report the news, reported that Harwell reached the final stage of liver failure due to alcohol. With hits including All Star and Walkin' on the Sun, Smash Mouth was a constant on pop radio in the '90s. Their quirky pop approach and Harwell's distinctive voice distinguished the band from others and helped push their major label debut album to sell more than two million copies. The hit song, All Star, also helped popularize the soundtrack to the 2001 film Shrek. Steve Harwell was 56-years-old.

Thanks for listening to 5 Things. If you liked the show, please subscribe and leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. And if you have any comments, you can reach us at podcasts@usatoday.com. I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY.

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