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The Trump administration has escalated its campaign to fire federal workers during the government shutdown, seizing the opportunity to further slash the already diminished Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On Tuesday, the union that represents workers at the CDC said that the agencys workforce has already been reduced by a quarter since the beginning of the year. During the shutdown, the public health agency, which steered U.S. health policy through the pandemic, has found itself in the crosshairs of the Trump administration once again. Over the weekend, around 1,300 CDC employees received layoff notices. By Saturday, the agency rescinded roughly 700 of the planned terminations, saying that the additional unintended layoffs were due to a coding error. The CDC layoffs are part of a new round of mass layoffs that have reduced core parts of the federal government, including the Treasury Department, the Education Department, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which houses the CDC. In August, CDC Director Susan Monarez was fired after refusing to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives or fire health experts on her team, according to her legal team. Many of the CDCs top leaders followed her departure, resigning in protest and deepening the chaos roiling the nations public health agency. Life-and-death stakes Dismantling the CDC is clearly a top priority during Trumps second term, but the risks are huge. The agency, which was largely regarded as uncontroversial and essential until the COVID-19 pandemic, is tasked with protecting Americans from infectious diseases and other public health threats, both domestic and global. CDC employees involved in the response to the domestic measles outbreaks and an Ebola outbreak in central Africa were among those who were fired during the shutdown, but they have since had their layoff notices reversed. Other CDC workers werent so lucky, including analysts working to monitor biological and chemical threats, and members of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response who work with U.S. intelligence agencies on biodefense issues such as pandemics and weaponized pathogens, The Washington Post reported. Other employees in the same department ran biodefense drills and monitored natural disasters, infectious disease outbreaks, and cyberattacks on health facilities. HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said late last week that all fired CDC employees were designated as nonessential, defending the decision to further diminish the agency. HHS continues to close wasteful and duplicative entities, including those that are at odds with the Trump administrations Make America Healthy Again agenda, Nixon said. In a joint letter from the Infectious Diseases Society of America and other organizations focused on epidemiology, public health experts condemned the firings as a completely reckless act that may compromise the health of all Americans. For nearly eight decades, CDC has worked around the clock to protect Americans from a growing range of health threats, from rabies to food safety to Ebola, the organizations wrote. The agencys support of state and local health departments and healthcare professionals is the backbone of our nations public health response. Fighting the layoffs Two unions representing federal workers, the AFGE and AFSCME, filed a lawsuit to halt the layoffs and will await a San Francisco district judges decision after preliminary arguments on Wednesday. The unions argue that the Trump administration is “using federal employees as pawns to put political pressure on its political opposition, and they have asked for a temporary pause on the most recent firings. In previous government shutdowns, employees faced furloughs but were never fired en masse. “These illegal firings of our union members during a federal government shutdown are a callous attack on hardworking Americans and put the livelihoods, health, and safety of our members and communities at great risk,” AFGE Local 2883 President Yolanda Jacobs said in a call with reporters. Over the weekend, Vice President JD Vance defended the mass firings on NBCs Meet the Press and blamed Democrats for the layoffs and the government shutdown. Vance misleadingly characterized the layoffs as necessary to keep other parts of the government funded and running, but many federal workers arent being paid during the shutdown. We have to lay off some federal workers in the midst of this shutdown to preserve the essential benefits for the American people that the government does provide, Vance said. That story conflicts with Trumps own. The president has hailed the shutdown as a golden opportunity to slash departments and programs that he doesnt agree with. “We’re ending some programs that we don’t want, Trump told reporters over the weekend. They happen to be Democrat-sponsored programs. But we’re ending some programs that we never wanted, and we’re probably not going to allow them to come back.
Category:
E-Commerce
Owning a home sounds like a dream, sure, but a majority of Gen Z Americans feel discouraged about whether they can make this sort of lifetime goal a reality. To blame? Housing just isnt affordable. While two-thirds of Americans between the ages of 18 and 27 say that homeownership is a lifetime goal, 82% of people in this generation believe that actually buying a home is more difficult for them than older generations, according to a new survey of 1,000 Gen Z adults released today by Realtor.com. Things are so bad, in fact, that 16% of Gen Zers rate housing affordability as one of their top life concerns. And its not just a feeling: Younger generations have been largely locked out of the housing market in recent years because of the affordability issue thats made worse by a few influencing factors, according to Hannah Jones, senior economic research analyst at Realtor.com. In addition to a lack of new housing inventory, the elevated home prices for existing homes and high mortgage rates mean that homeownership really is out of reach for many would-be buyers, she says. Its really, really challenging to be a first-time homebuyer in this market, Jones tells Fast Company. But there are definitely ways to go about it, and creative ways to approach homeownership. 33% OF GEN Z SAVING FOR A DOWN PAYMENT Thats because the survey results, while largely showing how discouraged Gen Z feels, did reveal something that Jones finds encouraging: Nearly three-quarters of respondents have already started saving for a down payment. While respondents predict theyll need about $54,500 for a down payment, which is far less than the $85,000 necessary for a 20% down payment on a home with the national median listing price of $425,000, its nearly double the most-recent average down payment of $30,250. By proactively saving, even if they worry about affordability, this underscores just how much of a priority owning a home is for younger people and that theyre still optimistic its possible, provided they save enough money, Jones says. Even though Gen Z views homeownership as unattainable, theyre thinking about it and saving for it. Respondents said theyre interested in dependable ways to grow their wealth or cut costs to save for a down payment rather than betting on the potential for making money from riskier bets on stocks or cryptocurrencies. And theyll make some sacrificeslike going back home to live with their parents, living with roommates, buying homes with friends if theyre unmarriedso they can overcome that affordability hurdle, Jones says. MARKET SOLUTIONS NEEDED But some solutions that will help this generation are far beyond their control: More new homes need to come on the market, including the construction of more starter homes and multi-family homes that are available at different sizes and price points for generations that arent yet earning a lot, Jones says. And while much has been made of the so-called great wealth transfer, in which trillions of dollars will be transferred from older generations to younger generations, would-be homebuyers will benefit more immediately from a dip in mortgage rates. About 80% of home owners with outstanding mortgages are locked in at rates below 6%, so that will serve as an important psychological boundary that may help unlock some housing inventory, Jones says. The national average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is currently 6.19%, according to Nerdwallet. Realtor.com hasnt yet forecasted mortgage rates for 2026, when its possible that theyll dip below 6%, but thats coming in the relatively near future and once it does, it will bring a wave of people who are ready to move and will bring more housing inventory to the market. Lower mortgage rates will unlock a lot of housing so it can boost housing affordability, Jones says.
Category:
E-Commerce
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid for the 2026-27 school year has officially opened. Despite the U.S. government shutdown, the Education Department will continue to process the FAFSA. If you plan to attend college next year, Jill Desjean, director of policy analysis at The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, recommends that you fill it out as soon as you can. If it’s your first time applying, here’s what you need to know: How does the FAFSA work? The FAFSA is a free government application that uses students and their families financial information to determine whether they can get financial aid from the federal government to pay for college. The application will send a students financial information to the schools they are interested in attending. The amount of financial aid a student receives depends on each institution. The application is also used to determine eligibility for other federal student aid programs, like work-study and loans, as well as state and school aid. Sometimes, private, merit-based scholarships also require FAFSA information to determine if a student qualifies. What is the deadline to fill out the FAFSA? The 2026-2027 FAFSA application must be submitted by June 30, 2027. However, each state has different deadlines for financial aid. For example, California has a March 2, 2026, deadline and Kansas has an April 15, 2026, deadline for state financial aid programs. You can check your states deadline here. This year’s application rolled out Sept. 24, a week ahead of the anticipated Oct. 1 launch. This is a really welcomed change and hopefully it will be a turning point where we can expect to see a FAFSA every year by or even before October 1st, Desjean said. How can I prepare to fill out the FAFSA form? The first step in the process is to create a studentaid.gov account and gather the following documents: Social Security number Drivers license number Alien registration number, if you are not a U.S. citizen Federal income tax returns, W-2s and other records of money earned Bank statements and records of investments Records of untaxed income Who should fill out the FAFSA? Anyone planning to attend college next year should fill out the form. Both first-time college students and returning students can apply. Even if you think you wont qualify, the worst thing that can happen is that you might get finance aid you didnt know you qualified for, Desjean said. Students and parents can use the federal student aid estimator to get an early approximation of their financial package. What information do I need from my parents? If you are filing as a dependent student, youll need to provide the financial information of at least one parent. Parents need to create their own FSA IDs. When your parents fill out the application, they can manually input their tax return information or use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism. Adriana Morga, Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
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