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The House gave final approval to President Donald Trump’s request to claw back about $9 billion for public broadcasting and foreign aid early Friday as Republicans intensified their efforts to target institutions and programs they view as bloated or out of step with their agenda.The vote marked the first time in decades that a president has successfully submitted such a rescissions request to Congress, and the White House suggested it won’t be the last. Some Republicans were uncomfortable with the cuts, yet supported them anyway, wary of crossing Trump or upsetting his agenda.The House passed the bill by a vote of 216-213. It now goes to Trump for his signature.“We need to get back to fiscal sanity and this is an important step,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.Opponents voiced concerns not only about the programs targeted, but about Congress ceding its spending powers to the executive branch as investments approved on a bipartisan basis were being subsequently canceled on party-line votes. They said previous rescission efforts had at least some bipartisan buy-in and described the Republican package as unprecedented.No Democrats supported the measure when it passed the Senate, 51-48, in the early morning hours Thursday. Final passage in the House was delayed for several hours as Republicans wrestled with their response to Democrats’ push for a vote on the release of Jeffrey Epstein files.The package cancels about $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and nearly $8 billion for a variety of foreign aid programs, many designed to help countries where drought, disease and political unrest endure.The effort to claw back a sliver of federal spending came just weeks after Republicans also muscled through Trump’s tax and spending cut bill without any Democratic support. The Congressional Budget Office has projected that measure will increase the U.S. debt by about $3.3 trillion over the coming decade.“No one is buying the the notion that Republicans are actually trying to improve wasteful spending,” said Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. A heavy blow to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting The cancellation of $1.1 billion for the CPB represents the full amount it is due to receive during the next two budget years.The White House says the public media system is politically biased and an unnecessary expense.The corporation distributes more than two-thirds of the money to more than 1,500 locally operated public television and radio stations, with much of the remainder assigned to National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service to support national programming.Democrats were unsuccessful in restoring the funding in the Senate.Lawmakers with large rural constituencies voiced particular concern about what the cuts to public broadcasting could mean for some local public stations in their state.Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said the stations are “not just your news it is your tsunami alert, it is your landslide alert, it is your volcano alert.”As the Senate debated the bill Tuesday, a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck off the remote Alaska Peninsula, triggering tsunami warnings on local public broadcasting stations that advised people to get to higher ground.Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said he secured a deal from the White House that some money administered by the Interior Department would be repurposed to subsidize Native American public radio stations in about a dozen states.But Kate Riley, president and CEO of America’s Public Television Stations, a network of locally owned and operated stations, said that deal was “at best a short-term, half-measure that will still result in cuts and reduced service at the stations it purports to save.” Inside the cuts to foreign aid Among the foreign aid cuts are $800 million for a program that provides emergency shelter, water and family reunification for refugees and $496 million to provide food, water and health care for countries hit by natural disasters and conflicts. There also is a $4.15 billion cut for programs that aim to boost economies and democratic institutions in developing nations.Democrats argued that the Republican administration’s animus toward foreign aid programs would hurt America’s standing in the world and create a vacuum for China to fill.“This is not an America first bill. It’s a China first bill because of the void that’s being created all across the world,” Jeffries said.The White House argued that many of the cuts would incentivize other nations to step up and do more to respond to humanitarian crises and that the rescissions best served the American taxpayer.“The money that we’re clawing back in this rescissions package is the people’s money. We ought not to forget that,” said Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., chair of the House Rules Committee.After objections from several Republicans, Senate GOP leaders took out a $400 million cut to PEPFAR, a politically popular program to combat HIV/AIDS that is credited with saving millions of lives since its creation under Republican President George W. Bush. Looking ahead to future spending fights Democrats say the bill upends a legislative process that typically requires lawmakers from both parties to work together to fund the nation’s priorities.Triggered by the official rescissions request from the White House, the legislation only needed a simple majority vote to advance in the Senate instead of the 60 votes usually required to break a filibuster. That meant Republicans could use their 53-47 majority to pass it along party lines.Two Republican senators, Murkowski and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, joined with Democrats in voting against the bill, though a few other Republicans also raised concerns about the process.“Let’s not make a habit of this,” said Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker of Mississippi, who voted for the bill but said he was wary that the White House wasn’t providing enough information on what exactly will be cut.Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, said the imminent successful passage of the rescissions shows “enthusiasm” for getting the nation’s fiscal situation under control.“We’re happy to go to great lengths to get this thing done,” he said during a breakfast with reporters hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.In response to questions about the relatively small size of the cuts $9 billion Vought said that was because “I knew it would be hard” to pass in Congress. Vought said another rescissions package is ‘likely to come soon.” Associated Press writers Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, and Seung Min Kim contributed to this report. Kevin Freking and Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Swollen legs led to President Donald Trump being diagnosed with what’s called chronic venous insufficiency. It’s a fairly common condition among older adults but requires a thorough checkup to rule out more serious causes of swelling in the legs. Here are some things to know. What is chronic venous insufficiency? Chronic venous insufficiency, or CVI, happens when veins in the legs can’t properly carry blood back to the heart. That can lead to blood pooling in the lower legs. In addition to swelling, usually around the feet and ankles, symptoms can include legs that are achy, heavy feeling or tingly, and varicose veins. Severe cases could trigger leg sores known as ulcers. What causes chronic venous insufficiency? Overcoming gravity to pump blood from the feet all the way up to the heart is a challenge, especially when someone is standing or sitting for long periods. So legs veins are lined with one-way valves that keep blood from sliding backward on that journey. Anything that damages those valves can lead to chronic venous insufficiency. Risk factors can include blood clots, vein inflammation known as phlebitis or being overweight. How is chronic venous insufficiency diagnosed and treated? Doctors must rule out serious causes of leg swelling, such as heart problems, kidney disease or blood clots. Ultrasound exams of the leg veins can help confirm chronic venous insufficiency. According to the Cleveland Clinic, treatment can include wearing compression stockings, elevating the legs and achieving a healthy weight. Also exercise, especially walking, is recommended because strong leg muscles can squeeze veins in a way that helps them pump blood. Medications and medical procedures are available for more advanced cases. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Associated Press
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E-Commerce
GrabAGun Digital Holdings, an online firearms store backed by Donald Trump Jr., did not have the stock market debut that he and other shareholders had hoped for. Instead, its shares fell 23% Thursday on their first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The stock, which trades under the ticker PEW, was down again about 1.23% in premarket trading on Friday as of this writing. The presidents eldest son had started Wednesday with a triumphant tone. Donald Trump Jr. rang the NYSEs opening bell as people chanted USA, just one day after fellow shareholders had approved GrabAGuns merger with Colombier Acquisition Corp. II, a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. He was joined by the SPACs CEO, Omeed Malik. Trump Jr., who owns 300,000 shares of GrabAGun, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), trumpeted the market debut of a firm that trades in firearms. In an interview with Fox Business, he stated, To be able to come back to the New York Stock Exchange and actually take a gun company public feels like such a vindication of all the insanity, all of the woke nonsense that weve been watching and facing for the last decade in America. GrabAGun raised $179 million in gross proceeds from the merger, according to the company. Malik and Trump Jr. are both also connected to 1789 Capital, as president and a partner, respectively. The decision to merge with a SPAC is an interesting one. Markets experienced a SPAC boom during the early pandemic years, but their bubble has long since burst. In its place is a long list of failed SPAC mergers andin some caseslessons learned by companies like BuzzFeed, Virgin Galactic, and 23andMe.
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