All posts tagged: Government and politics

Biden pardons Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Milley, Jan. 6 committee members

Biden pardons Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Milley, Jan. 6 committee members

U.S. President Joe Biden reacts as he speaks from the Roosevelt Room about the jobs report and the state of the economy at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 10, 2025.  Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters President Joe Biden on Monday issued pardons for Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley, members of Congress who investigated the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and others who he said are under threat of being “baselessly” targeted for political purposes. The spate of preemptive pardons came hours before President-elect Donald Trump — who has called for some of his political foes to be jailed — takes office. “These public servants have served our nation with honor and distinction and do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions,” Biden said in a press release. “I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. But these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing,” he said. The departing Democratic president also said he is pardoning staff who served on the House Jan. 6 …

Canada’s trade chief warns oil and gas exports could be in play

Canada’s trade chief warns oil and gas exports could be in play

If President-elect Donald Trump follows through with his threat to impose tariffs on Canadian goods, Ottawa is prepared to retaliate with levies that could take aim at the energy sector, Canada’s minister of international trade, Mary Ng, said Thursday. “Everything is on the table,” Ng told global markets reporter Seema Mody on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.” This includes dollar-to-dollar retaliation. Canada’s trade chief also refused to rule out an export tax on Canadian oil and gas bound for the United States. “I don’t actually think Americans want us to not be selling electricity, oil and gas to America, because you know, I’m here in New York, the lights on Broadway, lots of it is Canadian electricity,” said Ng. “If you’re going to put tariffs on Canada, what it actually will do is make things more expensive for Americans,” she added. Trump has threatened a 25% blanket tariff on all Canadian exports when he takes office Monday. The threat is similar to one made towards Mexico, the three parties to the USMCA trade agreement. Trump …

Trump won’t rule out using U.S. military to control Panama Canal, Greenland

Trump won’t rule out using U.S. military to control Panama Canal, Greenland

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump makes remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. Jan. 7, 2025. Carlos Barria | Reuters President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday declined to rule out using the U.S. military to take control of the Panama Canal and Greenland, expanding on a spate of recent remarks he has made about acquiring more territory for the United States during his second term. “We need them for economic security,” Trump said of both the Central American trade route and the autonomous territory of Denmark, during a lengthy press conference at his Florida home, Mar-a-Lago. A reporter asked Trump if he could assure the public that he would not use military or economic coercion in pursuit of either land. “No, I can’t assure you of either of those two,” the president-elect replied. “The Panama Canal was built for our military. I’m not going to commit to that, no … It might be that you’ll have to do something,” he said. Trump also expressed concern and frustration about China’s activity in both the Panama Canal and Greenland, sending …

Trump-backed bill to avert government shutdown fails

Trump-backed bill to avert government shutdown fails

WASHINGTON — A House Republican bill to fund the government for three months and suspend the debt ceiling for two years failed Thursday night, as dozens of rank-and-file Republicans voted against the deal endorsed by President-elect Donald Trump. Without a deal to fund the federal government and legislation that has passed the House and Senate and been signed into law, a partial shutdown is set to begin late Friday night. A total of 38 Republicans voted against the bill hammered out by their own party’s leaders. The 38 were joined by every Democrat, save for two who voted in favor and one who voted present. It was unclear late Thursday what House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., would do next, given how substantial the opposition to the bill was from within his own party. Trump and his ally Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO, had already doomed a prior funding proposal Wednesday by harshly criticizing its provisions, sending Republicans scrambling for most of Thursday for a replacement plan. The latest failed version of the continuing resolution would …

Trump’s White House return is already pushing Europe and the UK closer together

Trump’s White House return is already pushing Europe and the UK closer together

 British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves talks to the media at the EU Council headquarter on Dec. 9, 2024 in Brussels, Belgium.  Thierry Monasse | Getty Images News | Getty Images BRUSSELS, Belgium ꟷ President-elect Donald Trump has not yet re-entered the White House, but the U.K. and neighboring European Union are already working closer together to protect themselves against potential trade and defense confrontations with the incoming U.S. leader. U.K. Chancellor Rachel Reeves travelled to Brussels on Monday to convene with her EU counterparts in the first such encounter since Britain left the European Union in 2020. Her host, Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe, said he hoped this would be the first of “many” meetings. “There was a broadly shared sense that, in a world of turmoil, we continue to have shared interests and values,” one EU official, who did not want to be named due to the delicate nature of the conversations, told CNBC about the meeting with the U.K.’s chancellor. The same official added that these shared values concern Ukraine, China and …

Mike Bloomberg warns RFK Jr. atop HHS risks killing Americans

Mike Bloomberg warns RFK Jr. atop HHS risks killing Americans

Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, a democratic presidential candidate, attends the U.S Conference of Mayors 88th Winter Meeting in Washington, D.C, January 22, 2020. Yasin Ozturk | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images Billionaire and public health advocate Mike Bloomberg on Tuesday excoriated Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for U.S. health secretary, over his anti-vaccine record and urged the Senate to reject his bid to lead the nation’s top health agencies. “Just imagine if RFK Jr. had been in office during Trump’s first term,” Bloomberg said at the Bloomberg American Health Summit in Washington D.C. “Would Operation Warp Speed have even happened? And if it did, how long would the vaccines have been delayed? How many fewer people would have gotten the shot? How many more people would have died?” “All we can say for sure is this: It would have made Covid even more deadly and even more economically painful,” he said. Giving RFK Jr. the power to steer U.S. health policy, he warned, would be “beyond dangerous, it would be …

Trump picks Dr. Oz to lead massive Medicare and Medicaid agency CMS

Trump picks Dr. Oz to lead massive Medicare and Medicaid agency CMS

Dr. Mehmet Oz, a former celebrity TV host and Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, poses for a portrait outside a polling location during the primary election in Rockledge, Pennsylvania, May 17, 2022. Hannah Beier | Reuters President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday said he would nominate Dr. Mehmet Oz — celebrity TV host and former U.S. Senate candidate — as Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator. CMS operates or oversees programs that provide health coverage to about half of Americans, including Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Obamacare marketplace exchange Healthcare.gov. Those four programs account for $1.6 trillion in spending, or nearly 25% of the entire federal budget, which Trump highlighted when he announced that Oz, a heart surgeon, was his pick to lead CMS, a division of the Health and Human Services Department. Trump said last week that he would nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theorist, as HHS secretary. Oz previously hosted “The Dr. Oz Show,” a syndicated daytime television program, for more than a …

Trump calls for investigation of ‘rumors’ he plans to sell Trump Media stock

Trump calls for investigation of ‘rumors’ he plans to sell Trump Media stock

This illustration shows an image of President-elect Donald Trump next to a phone screen that is displaying the Truth Social app, in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 21, 2022. Stefani Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images Trump Media shares soared Friday after President-elect Donald Trump reaffirmed he has no plans to sell off his stake in the Truth Social operator, and called on authorities to investigate whoever suggested otherwise. Trump’s announcement, posted on Truth Social, was his first personally written statement since his stunning victory against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in Tuesday’s presidential election. DJT shares shot up more than 10% immediately following Trump’s post, triggering a temporary trading halt due to volatility. “There are fake, untrue, and probably illegal rumors and/or statements made by, perhaps, market manipulators or short sellers, that I am interested in selling shares of Truth,” the Republican said in the post Friday morning. “THOSE RUMORS OR STATEMENTS ARE FALSE. I HAVE NO INTENTION OF SELLING!” Trump said. “I hereby request that the people who have set off these fake rumors …

Immigration plan on ballot could worsen worker shortage

Immigration plan on ballot could worsen worker shortage

PHOENIX — Immigration is a top election issue across the country, but few places feel it more than Arizona, the only swing state along the southern border and home to one of the races that could make or break control of the Senate. Arizona businesses say a shortage of workers is threatening to hold up projects in industries such as construction, hospitality and agriculture — and that without changes to the federal immigration system, the economy could face a devastating hit. About 16.2% of Arizona’s workforce is made up of immigrants, according to a 2022 study by the American Immigration Council. Meanwhile, the state is also facing a job shortage, 197,000 as of June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Monica Villalobos, the president and CEO of the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said the lack of labor is leading to larger economic impacts, such as on housing prices. “We have several members that are in the construction industry that aren’t able to find workers to complete projects,” she said. “And when they can’t …

Israel pounds Beirut and Gaza after rockets hit Israel’s north

Israel pounds Beirut and Gaza after rockets hit Israel’s north

A view of damaged buildings following Israeli attacks on Laylaki and Haret Hireyk neighborhood of Dahieh region in Beirut, Lebanon on October 1, 2024.  Houssam Shbaro | Anadolu | Getty Images Israel struck what it said were Hezbollah arms facilities in southern Beirut on Saturday after the Lebanese armed group fired rockets into northern Israel and a spokesman said a drone was launched at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s holiday home. Netanyahu was not there at the time, and it was not immediately clear if the building was hit. But he described it as an assassination attempt by “Iran’s proxy Hezbollah” and called it a “grave mistake”, as Israel prepares to retaliate for an Iranian missile barrage earlier this month. The strikes came as medics and Hamas media in Gaza, where Israel has been fighting to root out the Palestinian militant group for more than a year, said Israeli bombardments had killed more than 100 people across the coastal enclave and a siege around three hospitals had tightened. Promises by Israel and its enemies Hamas and …