In a statement to the Times, Citigroup C.E.O. Michael Corbat said the new policy has “been a while coming,” adding, “We don’t pretend that these answers are perfect, but as we looked at the things we thought we could influence, we felt that, working with our clients, we could make a difference.” He added that “banks serve a societal purpose—we believe our investors want us to do this and be responsible corporate citizens.”

Obviously, Citi could do more (Corbat acknowledged that some “will find our policy too strict while others will find it too lenient”). But considering that its peers have done even less—when asked for comment from the Times, Wells Fargo passed the buck to Washington, saying, “our company believes the best way to make progress on these issues is through the political and legislative process”—it should be acknowledged as a tiny start!

Back in Washington, things are cranking along just swimmingly; a measure to ask states very nicely—but not require them—to contribute more frequently to the national background-check system made it into Congress’s must-pass budget bill, as did a measure authorizing $50 million in grants to train students and school officials on “how to identify and intervene early when signs of violence arise, construct anonymous reporting systems, and implement school threat assessment protocols to prevent school shootings before they occur.” Meanwhile, senators like John Kennedy are hard at work. Within days of a French bulldog dying, Kennedy introduced legislation prohibiting putting animals in overhead compartments. (He does not think any sort of gun control whatsoever is necessary and is instead trying to make “idiot control” happen.)

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Wilbur Ross says Larry Kudlow will keep his trap shut re: tariffs being a terrible idea

Of the many strikes against him (blowing the financial crisis, thinking it’s a travesty that the wealthy have gone nearly three months without a tax cut), the one thing Larry Kudlow sort of had going for him when he was hired as National Economic Council director was that he was against tariffs. But, as is the case with anyone who possesses an iota of sense prior to working for Donald Trump, the president has since beaten it out of him, with 45 telling reporters that the TV pundit “has come around to believing in tariffs.” And just in case Kudlow starts getting any crazy ideas in his head about reversing course, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross made sure to send him a message on Thursday: zip your sh-t, pal.

Kudlow “well understands our policy” on trade, Ross told CNBC. ”He wouldn't have taken the job just to be a thorn in the president’s side.”

Also on Thursday? Trump unveiled his $50 billion worth of China-targeted tariffs, which the market absolutely loved:

In response, the Chinese embassy in D.C. said: “China is strongly disappointed and firmly opposes such an action. China does not want a trade war with anyone. But China is not afraid of and will not recoil from a trade war . . . If a trade war were initiated by the U.S., China would fight to the end to defend its own legitimate interests with all necessary measures” (Emphasis ours, because that doesn’t sound terrifying at all).