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More than 15 members of West Points graduating class tested positive for the coronavirus upon their return to the U.S. Military Academy, which is preparing to host President Donald Trump for an unusual graduation ceremony that has been criticized as too risky during a pandemic.

Trumps announcement in April that he would give the commencement address at the historic academy was criticized as a political move. But Army officials said graduates needed to return before beginning their careers as officers anyway, so the logistically daunting task of preparing for the June 13 ceremony is underway.

At some point, they had to come back to campus, academy spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Ophardt said Wednesday. And it was like, If they have to come back, how do we protect the campus and the surrounding community and protect them?

Read more: Coronavirus Has Hit the U.S. Military, and Americas Adversaries Are Seeking Advantage

The roughly 1,100 class members preparing to graduate returned to campus over five days last week, with most of them driving and others flying commercially. Arrivals were immediately tested for the virus.

Ophardt said 1.5% tested positive, which works out to about 17 people, and none showed symptoms. Those who tested positive are going through 10 days of isolation in a designated barracks, before four more days of slightly less strict quarantine. They have internet access in their rooms and can go outside in set areas to read or perform physical training, Ophardt said.

The rest of the class has been divided into four groups of roughly 275, and their health is being monitored.

The groups do not intermingle with each other. For instance, the mess hall takes in two groups at a time, and they eat in different parts of the hall, Ophardt said.

They had to turn in their military equipment, which theyre still doing now. Theyve been doing P.T. (physical training), theyve been turning in library books, all the stuff a normal college kid would do right before they were going to leave, he said. And theyre getting all the medical appointments done, blood draws, all that type of stuff that needs to get done.

The graduation ceremony this year is being moved from the on-campus football stadium to the expansive parade field known as the Plain. Cadets will march on to the Plain in socially distant formations and take seats 6 feet (2 meters) apart. In a dramatic departure from past years, there will be no guests. Family members can watch the ceremony via livestream.

Presidents routinely speak at West Point commencements. But Trumps announcement during the pandemic has been dismissed as way get him on stage at the academy, which is 40 miles (65 kilometers) up the Hudson River from New York City, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak. U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a member of West Points Board of Visitors, said in April: Trumps reckless decision to gather 1,000 Cadets at West Point for a speech puts our future military leaders at increased risk all to stroke his own ego.

Army officials and the White House have stood by the decision. Gen. James McConville, the chief of staff of the Army, told Pentagon reporters: We cant telecommute to combat.

This upcoming graduation is about these incredible cadets and their amazing accomplishments, and as the Commander-in-Chief, President Trump wants to celebrate that and thank them for their service to our country, White House spokesman Judd Deere wrote in an email Wednesday.

West Points ceremony will be similar to the U.S. Air Force Academys scaled-down ceremony in April. Vice President Mike Pence addressed hundreds of graduates sitting in chairs spaced out on the schools parade field, instead of its stadium.

In contrast, the U.S. Naval Academy opted to hold its first-ever virtual graduation ceremony last month.

West Point plans to bring the other three classes back for summer training in July and to welcome members of the class of 2024 that same month.

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West Point Graduates Test Positive for Coronavirus Ahead of Trump-Hosted Commencement - TIME

A "Now Hiring" sign advertising jobs at Lowe's is seen as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Homestead, Florida, U.S., April 17, 2020.

Marco Bello | Reuters

Payroll tax cuts could be in the next round of coronavirus aid legislation, if President Donald Trump gets his way.

Vice President Mike Pence reiterated the administration's support for the idea during a Friday morning interview on CNBC.

"We've got to have a payroll tax cut," Pence said. "We've got to have the kind of pro-growth policies that will continue this economic recovery."

The idea comes as lawmakers are poised to consider their next efforts to support the economy. House Democrats recently passed a bill that would include another round of $1,200 stimulus checks and an extension of the extra $600 per week in unemployment benefits to the end of January.

But that proposal would need to get past Senate Republicans.

Payroll tax cuts were not in that bill. But it's an idea that the president has mentioned repeatedly.

Payroll taxes are withheld from workers' wages and are used to fund government programs, such asSocial Security and Medicare.

For Social Security, employee wages are subject to a 6.2% tax up to $137,700 in 2020. Workers also pay a Medicare tax of 1.45%.

Employers match what workers contribute by also putting in 6.2% toward Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare.

More from Personal Finance:What the unemployment rate actually means and why it's so important What to do if you still haven't received your $1,200 stimulus check The stimulus proposals that could put more money in your wallet

Of note, some employers have been allowed to defer paying select payroll taxes through the end of the year, particularly Social Security and Railroad Retirement levies, to help them recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

Workers are also subject to other payroll taxes. If they earn more than $200,000 individually, or $250,000 if they are married and filing jointly, they pay an additional 0.9% Medicare surtax.

Self-employed individualspay 12.4% toward Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare, for a total of 15.3%. They also are subject to the Medicare surtax for wages over $200,000.

Payroll tax cuts are not the strongest financial aid strategy that lawmakers currently have on the table, for a couple of reasons, according to Howard Gleckman, senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.

The first issue is that it really exclusively benefits people who are working. "It's not targeted particularly well to those who need it the most," he said.

The second issue is that, by cutting payroll taxes, "you are blowing an even bigger hole in the Social Security trust fund, which is already in trouble," Gleckman said.

"This would make it significantly worse," he said.

A recent study from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania found that Social Security's trust funds could run out up to four years earlier due to the negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Payroll tax cuts would also provide an incentive for employees to go back to work. "The question is, is it the right time to do that?" Gleckman said, given the health risks the coronavirus poses.

Other strategies lawmakers are weighing include continuing extra unemployment benefits, which would encourage people to stay home to avoid the pandemic, or back-to-work bonuses, which would reward them for resuming their jobs.

A payroll tax cut could duplicate other efforts that went into effect with the CARES Act, particularly the deferrals on these levies for employers, said Garrett Watson, senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation. Such a cut would need to be combined with efforts to provide relief to those who are not working, he said.

Still, some lawmakers might not be ready to give up on the idea.

"This may become a pretty big point of contention ... so that's something we're going to be watching very closely," Watson said. "It may be an item that they think is non-negotiable."

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The Trump administration wants to give workers a payroll tax cut. Experts question whether it could work - CNBC

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Vice President Mike Pence speaks at a briefing after the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft on NASA's SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. May 30, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said the jobs report released on Friday was a sign the U.S. economy was beginning to recover from the deep hit caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak, but said President Donald Trump is still in favor of a payroll tax cut.

Were going to do what needs to be done to bring this economy all the way back, Pence said in a CNBC interview on Friday.

Reporting by Tim Ahmann and Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama

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Pence says jobs report indicative of U.S. economy beginning to recover - Reuters

The past week and its showcase of President Donald Trumps erratic behavior offered a window into how he would deal with defeat.

Surely he would offer excuses and question the results. But would he do something more drastic?

For that matter, how would he act after a victory?

I reached out to Kate Andersen Brower, the journalist, CNN contributor and author of a number of books about presidents and the presidency, most recently Team of Five: The Presidents Club in the Age of Trump, about the most recent presidents and their relationships with each other.

Our Q-and-A, lightly edited, is below.

Why we wait months to inaugurate a President and how Trump came in

CNN: We hold a presidential election on the first Tuesday after after the first Monday in November. But the new President doesnt take office until January. Whats the reason for this gap and is it still necessary?

KAB: The reason for this gap is to provide for the peaceful transfer of power and it is absolutely necessary. Perhaps now more than ever before.

I interviewed more than two dozen people who worked for Barack Obama and George W. Bush and on both sides I was told that they had a smooth transition which was important at a time when the country was going through the worst economic crisis since the great depression. Michelle Obamas first chief of staff, Jackie Norris, told me that she will never forget the intense camaraderie and loyalty that the first ladies and members of the first ladies staffs have for each other. The same was true for the West Wing.

The haphazard way the Trump campaign approached the transition is dangerous. To be sure part of that is because no one on his campaign team had even taken the time to put together an acceptance speech. They did not think they would win.

Trump won the election in part by saying he would drain the swamp but there are basic responsibilities of the federal government that he would have been better equipped to manage if he had some level of institutional knowledge (Joe Biden is the exact opposite). And that takes time which means it takes a couple of months to make appointments and to learn how things work.

I wrote in my book Team of Five that Obama aides were told to prepare drafts of thick how-to manuals on how their offices functioned, including details as small as voicemail passwords.

This is from the book:

But Obama aides had no one to hand their carefully curated briefing books to.

Career government employees waited at the Department of Energy, the Department of Commerce, and all across the sprawling bureaucracy. They wanted guidance they wanted to know who their new bosses were and how their jobs would change in a Trump presidency but they got nothing. In fact, some high-level employees waited and waited until, after weeks of silence, they assumed they were no longer employed, and packed up their offices.

How Trump could go out

CNN: Having watched Trumps first term, what are some things we should look for in a post-defeat transition?

KAB: I think that should Trump lose to Joe Biden (who is the epitome of a career politician after spending eight years as vice president and almost 40 in the Senate) he will feel no obligation to do for him what George W. Bush did for Barack Obama. I do not think there will be a genuine handover, or peaceful transfer of power. I think its unlikely in defeat that Trump would behave radically differently than he does in office. I would be surprised if Trump shows up to Bidens swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol if he wins.

Peaceful transfers

CNN: The US is known for its peaceful transfers of power. Is there any precedent for a losing president or his administration wreaking havoc on the way out the door?

KAB: Historically there were certainly some bitter defeats (see John Adams and Thomas Jefferson) but in modern times both parties have touted their abilities to peacefully transfer power. During the 2008 campaign, Bushs director of national intelligence, John Michael McConnell, had arranged for Obama and his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, to get a report with the thirteen most important national security issues at hand. Once, during the last two months of the 2008 campaign, Obama and McCain found themselves sitting at the same table in the Roosevelt Room, with Bush sitting between them, as they discussed the $700 billion authorization by Congress to save the sickeningly sinking market.

Bush and Obama had a real respect for each other. At the May 2012 unveiling of George W. and Laura Bushs official portraits at the White House, Obama said, President Bush understood that rescuing our economy was not just a Democratic or a Republican issue, it was an American priority. Ill always be grateful for that. Contrast that with President Trump reportedly not inviting President Obama to his portrait unveiling at the White House.

Its unlikely Trump would somehow refuse to go

CNN: Trumps not the kind of person to simply go quietly. What kinds of things could he do if he wanted to throw a cog into the machine of government?

KAB: He could refuse to leave, but I do not see that happening. There has been discussion on the left, Bill Maher notably, so it is something on peoples minds. I have a hard time envisioning

Trump sitting on the steps of the Capitol with hundreds of thousands of people in the audience cheering for his departure.

Former presidents have traditionally had a grudging admiration for each other, even after having been forced out of office. After Ronald Reagan spoke at Jimmy Carters library opening Carter said, I now understand more clearly than I ever had before why you won.

Jimmy Carter apologized to George W. Bush at Bushs library dedication for being too tough on him, especially for his outspoken criticism of the war in Iraq. Oh, hush, Bush replied. Can you imagine that happening with Trump and whoever succeeds him, whenever it happens?

Emboldening the emboldened

CNN: No President has been impeached, acquitted and reelected. You can imagine that if he wins, Trump would feel more emboldened than anyone else in history. How might Trump treat the office in a second term as the ultimate winner?

KAB: I think he will feel emboldened to take whatever actions he wants. When I interviewed him for my book, it was shortly after the release of the Mueller report and he felt like he had been exonerated. He was frankly exuberant and eager to talk about how he thinks he has done more than any president in history. So I can only imagine his reaction to being reelected after being impeached. A lot of what he spends his time doing is governing only with his supporters in mind and if he is reelected that would prove the immense power of his voters. I think he would criticize reporters and the so-called deep state even more than he does today. It would not be a good scene.

No historical precedent for Trump

CNN: Is there another president who came to the White House unpopular and then won reelection unpopular? Is there another two-term president as divisive as Trump?

KAB: I think George W. Bush was incredibly divisive but not to this extent. His approval ratings have soared since leaving office. And like Trump he was elected without the popular vote. Bush has followed his fathers lead and stayed mostly on the sidelines. Hes watched his approval ratings soar because absence really does make the heart grow fonder. I cannot foresee Trump staying on the sidelines.

Unpopular presidents and second terms

CNN: What can we learn from the second terms of presidents who werent insanely popular at the time of their reelection and won against expectations (Im thinking of Harry Truman here or Richard Nixon)?

KAB: If you look at Nixon and Watergate, winning by a thin margin (in 1968) only made him more paranoid and irrational and led to his resignation. That example does not bode well.

Trump and his GOP successor

CNN: Were deep into conjecture here, but I have wondered, if Trump won, how hed treat Mike Pence, who has been a loyal soldier during this first term. Its hard to imagine someone with Trumps reality show sensibilities just handing over the baton to someone like Pence, who undoubtedly lacks Trumps flair for drama, as the next logical GOP nominee. What does history tell us?

KAB: Trump is not loyal to people just because they are loyal to him. I think he would treat Mike Pence well if reelected because logically Pence would have helped him convince evangelical voters to stay with him. But I dont think that loyalty would last long and Trump could back someone else should Pence run in 2024. It would not translate into long-term support unless it benefited him somehow.

CLARIFICATION: This story has been updated to reflect the year President Richard Nixon won the election by a thin margin.

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Trump just showed us what he'll be like after the election - no matter what happens - Local News 8 - LocalNews8.com

The Notre Dame student organization WeStaNDFor led a walkout during Vice President Mike Pence's address during the school's commencement.

Vice President Mike Pence's response Friday to unrest in Minneapolis following the police-involved killing of George Floyd is putting a spotlight on his past actions.

Pence said in a tweet, "Ourprayers are with the family of George Floyd and our prayers are also with the family of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia. We have no tolerance for racism in America."

A follow-up tweet continued:

"We believe in law and order in this Country. We condemn violence against property or persons. We will always stand for the right of Americans to peacefully protest and let their voices be heard."

Former Minneapolis police officerDerek Chauvin, who is white,was arrested Friday, days after video circulated of him holding his knee to Floyd's neck for at least eight minutes before Floyd, a black man,died.

The arrest came after Minneapolis residents awoke Friday to smoke billowing, fires burning and police lining their streets after another intense night of protestsfollowing Floyd's death.

But in the past, Pence has turned his back on peaceful protest. In October 2017, the former Indiana governortweeted that he walked out ofLucas Oil Stadiumafter a group of San Francisco 49ers players knelt during the national anthemto protest racial inequality and social injustice.

"I left today's Colts game because President Trump and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem, Pence tweeted minutes after leaving the stadium.

According to documents released by theHuffington Postfrom the Department of Homeland Security a year after the walkout, the estimated cost of Pence'svisitwas about $325,000. The numbers includehotel, travel and additional security measures.

Earlier that same year, he seemed to take another silent protest in stride when roughly 100 University of Notre Dame graduates walked out during Pence's commencement speech.

The vice presidentspent a chunk of his 15-minute address discussing his support for freedom of speech at universities and said, sadly, when free speech and civility are waning on campuses across America, Notre Dame is a campus where deliberation is welcomed, where opposing views are debated, and where every speaker, no matter how unpopular or unfashionable, is afforded the right to air their views in the open for all to hear.

Pence didnt acknowledge the walkout directly,but continued to discuss expression on college campuses..

The increasing intolerance and suppression of the time-honored tradition of free expression on our campuses jeopardizes the liberties of every American, he said. This should not and must not be met with silence.

Contact IndyStar reporter Elizabeth DePompei at 317-444-6196 or edepompei@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter: @edepompei.

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Mike Pence says he supports peaceful protests. Here's how he's responded to them before. - IndyStar