FOMC Minutes: "Inflation was likely to be boosted this year" -- From the Fed: Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee, March 18–19, 2025. Excerpt: With regard to the outlook for inflation, participants judged that inflation was likely to be boosted this year by the effects of higher tariffs, although significant uncertainty surrounded the magnitude and persistence of such effects. Several participants noted that the announced or planned tariff increases were larger and broader than many of their business contacts had expected. Several participants also noted that their contacts were already reporting increases in costs, possibly in anticipation of rising tariffs, or that their contacts had indicated willingness to pass on to consumers higher input costs that would arise from potential tariff increases. A couple of participants highlighted factors that might limit the inflationary effects of tariffs, noting that many households had depleted the excess savings they had accumulated during the pandemic and were less likely to accept additional price increases, or that stricter immigration policies might reduce demand for rental and affordable housing and alleviate upward pressures on housing inflation. A couple of participants noted that the continued balance in the labor market suggested that labor market conditions were unlikely to be a source of inflationary pressure. A couple of participants noted that, in the period ahead, it could be especially difficult to distinguish between relatively persistent changes in inflation and more temporary changes that might be associated with the introduction of tariffs. Participants commented on a range of factors that could influence the persistence of tariff effects, including the extent to which tariffs are imposed on intermediate goods and thus affect input costs at various stages of production, the extent to which complex supply chains need to be restructured, the actions of trading partners in responding with retaliatory increases in tariffs, and the stability of longer-term inflation expectations.
FOMC Minutes Confirm Fed Members Fear Trade Policy "Uncertainty", Support QT Taper (4 graphs) A lot - and we mean a lot - has happened since the last FOMC meeting on March 19th. Bonds, stocks, and commodities have collapsed; gold has made solid gains and the dollar is unchanged as Trump's 'Liberation Day' malarkey smashed the punchbowl... Funding markets are starting to break...Rate-cut expectations have surged from around 2 cuts to 4-5 cuts this year...In the three weeks since the FOMC meeting, hard data has improved significantly while soft data has crashed...So, with all that in mind, and having heard multiple Fed speakers since (including the Chair himself) all singing from the same hymn-sheet - 'lots of uncertainty'... 'we have time to pause' etc... we will see what exactly The Fed wanted us to take from the last meeting...Key Headlines include (via Newssquawk):
- All participants viewed it appropriate to keep interest rates unchanged in light of elevated uncertainty around economic outlook
- Participants remarked uncertainty about net effect of government policies on the outlook was high, making it appropriate to take a cautious approach
- A majority of participants noted potential for inflationary effects from various factors to be more persistent than they projected
- Participants assessed fomc was well positioned to wait for more clarity on the outlook
- Almost all participants viewed risk to inflation as tilted to the upside, risks to employment as tilted to the downside
- Some participants observed fomc may face difficult tradeoffs if inflation proved more persistent while the outlook for growth and employment weakened
- Several participants emphasized that elevated inflation could prove to be more persistent than expected
- Almost all participants supported slowing pace of balance sheet runoff; several did not see a compelling case for a slower runoff pace
- A few participants cautioned an abrupt repricing of risk in financial markets could exacerbate effects of any negative economic shocks
- Fed staff projection for real GDP growth was weaker than one prepared for January meeting
Read the full FOMC Minutes below:
Fed's priority should be to keep inflation in check: Kugler (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler on Monday said that some of the recent rise in goods and market-services inflation may be "anticipatory" of the effect of the Trump administration's tariffs, adding that the Fed's focus should be on keeping inflation in check. "It should be a priority to make sure that inflation doesn't move up," Kugler said at the conclusion of a lecture on inflation dynamics to a Harvard University economics class. She noted that short-term inflation expectations have risen but longer-term they remain well-anchored. "We want to keep it that way," she said. "We, all colleagues at the Fed, are very committed still to our 2% target and want to keep inflation expectations well anchored, which should be a priority now." The Fed has kept its policy rate in the 4.25%-4.50% range since December, when it delivered the last of a series of interest-rate cuts aimed at making sure that monetary policy wasn't overly restrictive in the face of what was then falling inflation. Since the beginning of the year, progress towards the Fed's 2% inflation target has been barely detectable, and measures of underlying inflation have risen, pushed up by core goods prices and market-services inflation. At the same time, Kugler said, economic activity in the first quarter may turn out to have been stronger than anticipated, as households rushed to buy things like cars ahead of widely anticipated tariffs. Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a slew of import levies that were far higher than businesses and world governments had expected, sending global stocks plunging on fear of recession and ratcheting up expectations that the Fed will lower interest rates to cushion the blow for the United States. So far Fed officials have given no sense they are leaning that way, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell saying last week that tariffs do raise the likelihood of both slower growth and higher inflation, but that it's too soon to know the correct monetary policy response.As Kugler spoke, Trump threatened additional tariffs on China after that country said it was retaliating against last week's tariffs with higher tariffs of its own. Asked by a Harvard student about that threat, Kugler said, and repeated several times for emphasis, that she would not comment on Trump's remarks, or on the advisability of the policies themselves, or on short-term financial market movements, or on fiscal or trade policy more generally. But asked by a different student about their parents' fear that tariffs will increase the price of eggs, dresses and other goods, Kugler leaned into the need to fight inflation. While it remains to be seen how much businesses end up passing higher costs from the new tariffs onto consumers, she said, "I do understand that's painful, which is exactly why we think we need to keep focus on that."
March CPI gives Fed breathing room, but uncertainty remains - Inflation slowed faster than expected last month, potentially giving the Federal Reserve space to lower interest rates should economic shakiness lead to sudden job losses. Inflation cooled faster than expected last month, giving the Federal Reserve room to ease monetary policy if the economy weakens suddenly. But tariffs and other policy changes still cloud the outlook for monetary policy.
Fed's Kashkari not seeing dislocation that merits intervention - Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said he's not seeing stresses in the Treasury market that would merit an intervention by the US central bank. The Minneapolis Fed chief repeated his view that the potential inflationary impact of tariffs make the Fed less likely to lower interest rates, even in the face of a weakening economy.
Fed's Goolsbee watching credit conditions amid uncertainty — To understand how banks are faring during a period of widespread economic uncertainty, at least one Federal Reserve official will be watching credit markets. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said to understand how banks are faring in the current environment of tariff-induced uncertainty, he'll be watching the relationship between credit spreads and equity markets.
Bowman hedges on Fed independence questions — Federal Reserve Gov. Michelle Bowman, President Donald Trump's nominee to be the Federal Reserve's top bank regulator, said that the Fed's political independence is important, but declined to say whether she would insulate the bank regulation she pursues from vetting by the Trump administration. Bowman, who has been nominated to be the central bank's top regulator, sidestepped direct questions about the Trump administration's incursion into the Fed's regulatory independence.
Jamie Dimon says Trump tariffs will boost inflation, slow U.S. economy - JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Monday that tariffs announced by President Donald Trump last week will likely boost prices on both domestic and imported goods, weighing down a U.S. economy that had already been slowing.Dimon, 69, addressed the tariff policy Trump announced on April 2 in his annual shareholder letter, which has become a closely read screed on the state of the economy, proposals for the issues facing the U.S. and his take on effective management."Whatever you think of the legitimate reasons for the newly announced tariffs – and, of course, there are some – or the long-term effect, good or bad, there are likely to be important short-term effects," Dimon said. "We are likely to see inflationary outcomes, not only on imported goods but on domestic prices, as input costs rise and demand increases on domestic products.""Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth," he said.Dimon is the first CEO of a major Wall Street bank to publicly address Trump's sweeping tariff policy as global markets tumble. Though the JPMorgan chairman has often used his platform to highlight geopolitical and financial risks he sees, this year's letter comes at an unusually turbulent time. Stocks have been in free fall since Trump's announcement shocked global markets, causing the worst week for U.S. equities since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic in 2020.His remarks appear to backtrack earlier comments he made in January, when Dimon said people should "get over" tariff concerns because they were good for national security. At the time, tariff levels being discussed were far lower than what was unveiled last week.Trump's tariff policy has created "many uncertainties," including its effect on global capital flows and the dollar, the impact to corporate profits and the response from trading partners, Dimon said."The quicker this issue is resolved, the better because some of the negative effects increase cumulatively over time and would be hard to reverse," he said. "In the short run, I see this as one large additional straw on the camel's back." While the U.S. economy has performed well for the past few years, helped by nearly $11 trillion in government borrowing and spending, it was "already weakening" in recent weeks, even before Trump's tariff announcement, according to Dimon. Inflation is likely to be stickier than many anticipate, meaning that interest rates could remain elevated even as the economy slows, he added."The economy is facing considerable turbulence (including geopolitics), with the potential positives of tax reform and deregulation and the potential negatives of tariffs and 'trade wars,' ongoing sticky inflation, high fiscal deficits and still rather high asset prices and volatility," Dimon said.The JPMorgan CEO has been sounding a note of caution since at least 2022, when he said a "hurricane" was heading for the U.S. economy, thanks to the unwinding of Federal Reserve policies and the Ukraine war. But propped up by high government and consumer spending, the U.S. economy defied expectations until now. The election of Trump in November initially boosted hopes around what a pro-growth administration would do.Dimon struck a somewhat ominous note in his letter Monday, considering how much U.S. stocks have already fallen from their recent highs. According to the CEO, both stocks and credit spreads were still potentially too optimistic."Markets still seem to be pricing assets with the assumption that we will continue to have a fairly soft landing," Dimon said. "I am not so sure."
Dimon: Trump tariffs will boost prices, weigh down economy -JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is warning investors that the U.S. economy is facing “considerable turbulence,” calling President Trump’s escalating trade war, which has sent markets reeling, “one large additional straw on the camel’s back”“The recent tariffs will likely increase inflation and are causing many to consider a greater probability of a recession,” Dimon wrote in a letter to shareholders Monday morning. “Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth.”Trump unveiled his sprawling tariffs on Wednesday — an effort he says will ultimately better position the U.S. for growth and encourage American production. He has repeatedly likened the U.S. economy and reliance on trade to a sick patient that needed an operation.“I don’t want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned from Florida to Washington, D.C., Sunday evening.The markets continued to freefall early Monday, but then bounced back later in the morning, apparently on optimism that Trump was considering a 90-day pause in tariffs. However, the White House pushed back on that notion.Dimon, who has led the nation’s largest bank for nearly two decades and is considered one of the world’s most influential businessmen, wrote that he is hoping expedited negotiations on tariffs will settle markets but added that his chief concern is “how this will affect America’s long-term economic alliance.”“There are many uncertainties surrounding the new tariff policy: the potential retaliatory actions, including on services, by other countries, the effect on confidence, the impact on investments and capital flows, the effect on corporate profits and the possible effect on the U.S. dollar,” he wrote in his analysis to shareholders. “The quicker this issue is resolved, the better because some of the negative effects increase cumulatively over time and would be hard to reverse. In the short run, I see this as one large additional straw on the camel’s back.”He described the tariffs as exacerbating an already rocky outlook.“The economy is facing considerable turbulence (including geopolitics), with the potential positives of tax reform and deregulation and the potential negatives of tariffs and ‘trade wars,’ ongoing sticky inflation, high fiscal deficits and still rather high asset prices and volatility,” Dimon wrote.
Yellen: Trump ‘has taken a wrecking ball’ to economy with trade war -- Former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who served under former President Biden, said President Trump “has taken a wrecking ball” to the economy. “President Trump inherited an economy where growth was very strong, the labor market was functioning very well, with low unemployment, an outstanding record of job creation,” Yellen said Thursday on CNN International’s “One World.” “So, we had a very well-functioning economy, and President Trump has taken a wrecking ball to it,” Yellen added later. Much of Yellen’s criticism centered on Trump’s tariffs, which caused stock markets to slide at the end of last week and early this week. Markets continued to lose steam until Wednesday, when Trump ratcheted up tariffs on China but implemented a 90-day pause on his country-specific tariffs against all other trading partners. That caused markets to rise dramatically, though the Dow Jones was significantly down again on Thursday. “I have to ask you, how would you grade how the Trump administration has handled the economy thus far?” CNN International’s Bianna Golodryga asked Yellen. “I’m afraid I could not give it a passing grade,” Yellen responded.
Recession Watch Metrics by Calculated Risk -- Early in February, I expressed my "increasing concern" about the negative economic impact of "executive / fiscal policy errors", however, I concluded that post by noting that I was not currently on recession watch. Now I am on recession watch, but still not yet predicting a recession for several reasons: the U.S. economy is very resilient and was on solid footing at the beginning of the year, the administration might reverse many of the tariffs (we've seen that before), and Congress might take back complete authority for tariffs. Also, perhaps these tariffs are not enough to topple the economy.Over the weekend, Goldman Sachs economists put out a note: Countdown to Recession "If most of the April 9 tariffs do take effect, then the effective tariff rate will rise by an estimated 20pp once those increases and likely sectoral tariffs take effect, even allowing for some country-specific agreements at a later date. If so, we expect to change our forecast to a recession." Here is some of the data I'm watching.
- Housing: Housing is the basis of one of my favorite models for business cycle forecasting. This graph uses new home sales, single family housing starts and residential investment. (I prefer single family starts to total starts). The purpose of this graph is to show that these three indicators generally reach peaks and troughs together. Note that Residential Investment is quarterly and single-family starts and new home sales are monthly. The arrows point to some of the earlier peaks and troughs for these three measures - and the most recent peak. New home sales peaked in 2020 as pandemic buying soared. Then new home sales and single-family starts turned down in 2021, but that was partly due to the huge surge in sales during the pandemic. In 2022, both new home sales and single-family starts turned down in response to higher mortgage rates. This decline in residential investment would typically have suggested that a recession was coming, however I looked past the pandemic distortions and correctly predicted no recession! The low level of existing home inventory led me to predict that new home sales would pick up - and that happened. This is a reminder that we can't be a slave to any model.This second graph shows the YoY change in New Home Sales from the Census Bureau. Currently new home sales (based on 3-month average of NSA data) are down 4% year-over-year.Usually when the YoY change in New Home Sales falls about 20%, a recession will follow. An exception for this data series was the mid '60s when the Vietnam buildup kept the economy out of recession. Another exception was in late 2021 - we saw a significant YoY decline in new home sales related to the pandemic and the surge in new home sales in the second half of 2020. I ignored that downturn as a pandemic distortion. Also note that the sharp decline in 2010 was related to the housing tax credit policy in 2009 - and was just a continuation of the housing bust.The YoY change in new home sales in late 2022 and early 2023 suggested a possible recession. But as I noted earlier, I was able to look past the pandemic distortion and was able to predict a pickup in new home sales due to the low level of existing home inventory and because homebuilders could offer mortgage incentives that would somewhat offset the sharp increase in mortgage rates.There are no special circumstances now, and if this measure falls to off 20% a recession seems likely.
- Yield Curve: The yield curve is a commonly used leading indicator. I dismissed it when the yield curve inverted in 2019 and again in 2022. Both times dismissing the yield curve was correct (the recession in 2020 was obviously due to the pandemic, so we will never know if the yield curve failed to predict a recession in 2019).Here is a graph of 10-Year Treasury Constant Maturity Minus 2-Year Treasury Constant Maturity from FRED since 1976.The yield curve reverted to normal last year and is currently slightly positive at 0.33. If this inverts, this might suggest a recession is coming. Click here for interactive graph at FRED.
- Heavy Truck (and Vehicle Sales): Another indicator I like to use is heavy truck sales. This graph shows heavy truck sales since 1967 using data from the BEA. he dashed line is the March 2025 seasonally adjusted annual sales rate (SAAR) of 403 thousand. Note: "Heavy trucks - trucks more than 14,000 pounds gross vehicle weight."Heavy truck sales were at 403 thousand SAAR in March, down from 436 thousand in February, and down 12.1% from 459 thousand SAAR in February 2025. Usually, heavy truck sales decline sharply prior to a recession. Perhaps heavy truck sales will be revised up, but sales in March were somewhat weak. On the other hand, light vehicle sales were strong in March. This graph shows light vehicle sales since the BEA started keeping data in 1967. This is more of a concurrent indicator than heavy trucks. Light vehicle sales surged to 17.77 million SAAR in March, up 11.0% from February, and up 13.3% from March 2024 as some buyers rushed to beat the tariffs.
- Unemployment: Two other concurrent indicators are the unemployment rate (using the "Sahm Rule") and weekly unemployment claims.Here is a graph of the Sahm rule from FRED since 1959. The rule was triggered in 2024 (slightly), but Dr. Claudia Sahm said at the time: “I am not concerned that, at this moment, we are in a recession,” she told Fortune ... “This time really could be different,” Sahm said. “[The Sahm Rule] may not tell us what it’s told us in the past, because of these swings from labor shortages, with people dropping out of the labor force, to now having immigrants coming lately. That all can show up in changes in the unemployment rate, which is the core of the Sahm Rule.”And weekly unemployment claims always rise sharply at the beginning of a recession (other events - like hurricane Katrina - can cause a temporary spike in weekly claims). As I noted earlier, I'm not sure how to estimate the economic damage caused by these tariffs. And they might just go away (no one knows). There are also boycotts of U.S. goods and less international tourism based on both the tariffs and the inflammatory rhetoric of the new administration. For now, I'll focus on the leading indicators (especially housing) and I'll update this post monthly while I'm on recession watch.
Stellar 10Y Auction Prices At 2nd Highest Stop Through On Record Despite Plunge In Directs -Well, the 10Y auction is in the bag, and after yesterday's very ugly 3Y, today's sale was very solid, at least until one looks a bit deeper. First, looking at the headline numbers, we find that the high yield jumped from 4.310% in March to 4.435% today, which is remarkable in itself considering the 10Y was 3.87% on Friday! Still, while the yield was clearly high (and could have been even higher had swap spreads not tightened ever so slightly), it stopped through the 4.465% When Issued by a whopping 3bps. This was tied for the 2nd biggest stop through on record, and the one previous time when we saw a 3bps stop through was in Feb 2023, just as the US banking crisis was raging. The bid to cover was also solid at 2.665, up from 2.588 and the highest since December. But it was the internals where the real story was again for the 2nd day in a row. As a reminder, the big story yesterday was that the Directs had collapsed, a clear indicator that there was a funding squeeze taking place in the bond market (as we learned shortly after). And in fact, we warned earlier today that if the Direct award collapses in today's 10Y auction, it could be ugly. Yesterday's collapse in the 3Y Direct award was the clearest indication there is a funding squeeze. Sure enough, that's where the punchline was in today's auction because while Indirects soared to a record 87.9%, up from 67.4% and, well, the highest ever, Directs imploded from 19.51 to just 1.40%, the 3rd lowest on record!
Senate Republicans face divisions on budget resolution -Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) faces a number of divisions among Senate Republicans that could derail the Senate budget resolution, a measure that will be critical to passing President Trump’s legislative agenda later this year. Key points of contention include how to calculate the cost of extending Trump’s tax cuts, Medicaid cuts, defense spending and increasing the debt ceiling. Republican Senate leaders intend to adopt a controversial current-policy baseline that would enable them to claim that extending the 2017 tax cuts won’t add to the deficit and open the door to making a signature Trump first-term accomplishment permanent. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) says he’ll go along with the current-policy baseline, but if it’s used he wants the cost of extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which expires at the end of this year, “paid for” with either spending cuts or other revenue-generating measures. “You can use it, I just want it paid for it,” he said of the current-policy baseline. “We’ve got an incredible problem with our national debt.” But paying for an extension of the tax cuts with big spending cuts or other deficit-reducing strategies would appear to defeat the purpose of using the current-policy baseline in the first place, which is to make it easier for Republicans to permanently extend the expiring tax cuts without needing to include offsets within the bill. Asked whether his call to pay for the tax cuts was flying in the face of the Senate GOP strategy, Cassidy replied: “No, we’re actually talking about different ways to pay for it. Much more aggressive.” A second Republican senator who requested anonymity voiced strong concerns about the plan to use the current-policy baseline to score the cost of a future budget reconciliation bill. Doing so would treat an extension of the 2017 tax cuts as an extension of the status quo that would not add to the deficit — at least according to the official cost projections of the Congressional Budget Committee and Joint Committee on Taxation. “At the moment, there’s a lot of concern about the issue of the parliamentarian and the score,” the GOP lawmaker said. “I think it would be terrible mistake to overrule [the parliamentarian] and do the nuclear option.” The budget resolution, which Senate Republicans unveiled Wednesday, includes language giving Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) the authority to set the budgetary baseline for a future reconciliation bill. Graham has said he plans to use a current-policy baseline. But Democrats are accusing Republicans of planning to break Senate rules and precedents. They argue that a “current-law” baseline has always been used to score the cost of legislation passed under budget reconciliation. Under current law, much of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is due to expire at the end of this year. Extending those tax cuts for nearly another decade would add an estimated $4.6 trillion to the federal deficit, according to a score based on a current-law baseline. Thune met with several Republican senators who had concerns about proceeding with the budget resolution Thursday. Those with qualms about elements of the budget resolution still voted to proceed to the bill, which will be subject to dozens of amendment votes before it’s expected to receive a final vote this weekend.
GOP pollster: Majority of Trump voters oppose Medicaid cuts - A majority of Americans who voted for President Trump oppose cuts to Medicaid funding, according to a recent poll. Two-thirds of surveyed swing voters oppose cutting Medicaid spending to pay for tax cuts, as do 51 percent of surveyed Trump voters, according to the poll conducted by the firm Fabrizio Ward. The poll is significant because of a debate over cutting Medicaid to help pay for Trump’s legislative agenda, which includes an extension of his 2017 tax cuts. The House panel overseeing Medicaid has been asked to find $880 billion in cuts, which would be difficult to achieve without going after Medicaid. The issue divides the GOP, as a number of Republicans fear deep cuts to Medicaid could boomerang on their own constituents. Fabrizio Ward is a firm run by Tony Fabrizio, who was the pollster for Trump’s 2024 campaign. Trump has said he opposes cuts to Medicaid except to root out fraud and waste. “There is no appetite across the political spectrum for cutting Medicaid to pay for tax cuts,” the survey reads. “Medicaid is well-liked by most voters, in large part due to the broad impact it has across the electorate and the high level of importance voters place on as many Americans as possible having health insurance.”
Growing opposition from House conservatives threatens to derail Trump’s agenda - Growing opposition among hard-line House conservatives to the Senate’s framework for advancing President Trump’s ambitious legislative agenda is threatening to make this week’s vote one of the heaviest lifts yet for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). At least 10 House Republicans have said they will vote “no” on the measure, and a handful of others have publicly criticized the resolution, creating an uphill battle for Johnson as he looks to muscle it through his razor-thin majority. Johnson is eyeing a Wednesday vote on the Senate-approved budget resolution, which would unlock the reconciliation process that Republicans are looking to use to pass tax cuts, border funding and energy policy. The Speaker is actively urging his ranks to fall in line, and the White House has begun making calls to House Republicans, a source told The Hill. But a mounting swell of resistance among fiscal hawks who want commitments on large spending cuts upfront is putting that plan in jeopardy. Underscoring the discontent, Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), the chair of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus who has sharply criticized the budget resolution, is advocating for the chamber to skip the vote altogether and move straight to crafting the details of the package — an unconventional move that would be a break from protocol. Asked about prospects of the bill passing, Harris said Monday: “It doesn’t need to. The committees can do their work without the budget resolution.” That idea, to be sure, has no chance of being picked up by House GOP leaders. Johnson told reporters “we disagree on that” when asked about the prospect. The view of House GOP leadership is that the House can stay in the driver’s seat and secure major cuts if they pass the budget resolution and craft the details of the ultimate reconciliation legislation faster than the Senate. But the sheer mention of the delay is signaling that conservatives have little appetite for moving forward with the measure this week. Johnson said he would be meeting with the Freedom Caucus to talk about the budget resolution later Monday evening. The growing discontent within House Republican ranks is increasing the likelihood that Trump — who endorsed the measure and said “We need to pass it IMMEDIATELY!” — may have to step in personally, as he did to secure Johnson’s reelection as Speaker and passage of the House budget resolution back in February.
Trump tells conservative budget holdouts to 'stop grandstanding'- President Trump demanded that House conservatives get on board with his legislative agenda after a number of conservatives dug in on their opposition to the spending bill on Tuesday. “They have to do this. We have to get there. I think we are there. We had a great meeting today,” Trump said in an address to the National Republican Congressional Committee Dinner in Washington. “But just in case there are a couple of Republicans out there. You just gotta get there. Close your eyes and get there. It’s a phenomenal bill. Stop grandstanding. Just stop grandstanding,” he continued, airing his frustration. The comments follow a meeting between Trump and a handful of House Republicans earlier Tuesday. Florida Reps. Greg Steube (R) and Byron Donalds (R) touted their support for the legislation following the meeting, but there were still several Republican holdouts, including Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.). The division among House Republicans is over the resolution directing the House and the Senate to find a different minimum of spending cuts. House committees are mandated to find at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, while Senate panels have to find at least $4 billion in cuts. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is pushing for a vote on the resolution this week before the House leaves for a two-week recess. Johnson can only afford to lose three votes in the expected scenario Democrats are united against it. A source familiar said NRCC raised $35.2 million ahead of Trump’s comments at the House Republican campaign arm’s fundraising dinner. “We won’t just keep our majorities, we’ll expand our majorities by a lot,” Trump said.
House GOP adopts Trump budget blueprint after last-minute scramble - House Republicans on Thursday adopted the Senate’s framework that will be used to enact key parts of President Trump’s legislative agenda, getting the blueprint over the finish line after a last-minute scramble to win over conservatives who had spent days railing against the measure. The largely party line 216-214 vote marks a big win for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who has pushed an aggressive timeline to advance Trump’s domestic policy priorities, and President Trump, who endorsed the legislation and lobbied those on the right flank to get on board. Only two Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Victoria Spartz (Ind.) — voted against the measure. “It was a good day in the House,” Johnson told reporters after the vote. “I told you not to doubt us. The media always does. The Democrats always do. But we get the job done, and we’re really grateful to have had the big victory on the floor just now.” It was not, however, an easy path to success for the GOP leadership. More than a dozen hardline House conservatives had come out against the Senate resolution, vowing to vote against the legislation if it came to the floor out of concern over the level of spending cuts mandated in the measure — despite Trump’s continued pressure to back the measure. That opposition forced Johnson to yank a planned vote on the measure Wednesday night. As leadership held open an unrelated vote for almost 90 minutes, Johnson huddled in a room off the House floor with several of the conservative holdouts in an unsuccessful attempt to secure their support — prompting the delay. The linchpin in leadership’s effort appeared to be a joint press appearance Thursday morning by Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), where the pair delivered brief remarks regarding spending cuts. The hardliners were incensed that the budget resolution directed Senate committees to find far fewer spending cuts than House panels — at least $1.5 trillion compared to at least $4 billion — worried that the upper chamber would reign supreme. During their remarks, Johnson committed to including at least $1.5 trillion in cuts, while Thune said the Senate was “aligned with the House in terms of what their budget resolution outlined in terms of savings” — remarks that stopped short of a firm commitment, but were encouraging enough to House hardliners to get them on board. Still, passage remained far from a sure thing. Though members of the Freedom Caucus expressed cautious optimism, a group continued to meet even as the vote took place on the floor. Johnson, at the same time, huddled on the House floor with moderate Republicans who had expressed unease about the effects of severe spending cuts. After the vote, members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus said they received assurances from Johnson, Thune and the White House that significant spending cuts will be included in the final bill. “We have now three strong statements from the Speaker, the president and the Senate majority leader,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), flanked by other hardliners, told reporters. “We did not have those 48 hours ago, we do now.”
Why Donald Trump's tariffs may do little to pay for tax cuts -- Trump has proposed roughly $600 billion annually in import taxes on foreign goods. While there is great uncertainty about how much of Trump’s proposal will stick, even the most optimistic estimates of revenue created by the new tariffs fall well short of the cost of his tax plan. Extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts is projected to cost $4.6 trillion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. All proposed tax cuts being sought by Republicans — including Trump’s call to scrap income taxes on tips, overtime pay and Social Security benefits — would cost $7.7 trillion, according to the Penn Wharton budget model. Estimates for the long-term revenue additions of the tariffs hover in the range of between $2 trillion and $3 trillion over the next decade. The Tax Foundation puts the number at $2.9 trillion, the Yale Budget Lab puts it at about $3 trillion, and an analysis by Bloomberg Economics puts it at about $3 trillion. “All tariffs to date in 2025 raise $3.0 trillion over 2026-35, with $588 billion in negative dynamic revenue effects,” the Yale budgeteers said Monday. If the tariffs work as intended, U.S.-based companies will import less, and foreign firms will relocate their factories to the U.S. “As the tariffs are imposed, as consumers and businesses change what they buy and where they buy it, imports and the base that the tariffs are imposed upon will decline over time,” Joseph Rosenberg, a tax and income modeler at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center (TPC), told The Hill. Rosenberg said the diminishing returns on tariff revenues could cost up to 30 percent to 50 percent of the revenue originally generated by the taxes. The reductions could be so significant that the revenue from tariffs could be thought of as a “side effect” compared to the main effect of reducing U.S. imports. “It is important to note here that tariffs are not levied simply to collect revenues,” Miran said Monday. “Revenue is a nice side effect.” Just as consumers are set to get more money in their pockets from the extension of an income tax cut, goods are likely to get more expensive from tariffs. “You’re taking with the left hand what the right hand is giving,” Rosenberg said. “Extending the tax cuts … offers more disposable income, but you’re also taking away that disposable income via tariffs. Those things will offset each other from a household perspective.” While the 2018 Trump tariffs did not result in a bout of inflation anywhere close to the scale of the pandemic inflation, Trump’s general tariff is producing some consensus among economists about inflationary effects. “Higher tariffs will be working their way through our economy and are likely to raise inflation in coming quarters,” Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in a speech Friday. The benefits of the 2017 Trump tax cuts were skewed toward higher earners, nearly all analyses of the legislation show. One report by the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy found that “the richest 1 percent would receive an average tax cut of about $36,300” if the 2017 cuts remain in place in 2026. “The next richest 4 percent would receive an average tax cut of about $7,200. All other groups would see a tax increase with the hike on the middle 20 percent at about $1,500 and the increase on the lowest-income 20 percent of Americans at about $800,” the group found. Economists argue that higher tariffs amount to a regressive tax, since the consumer goods that are subject to tariffs make up a larger share of the expenses for low- and middle-income households. “As you offer income tax cuts that are tilted toward the high end, on the one hand, and then these tax and price increases from tariffs that are distributed across the income distribution, on the other hand, it’s the households at the low and middle that are going to be worse off,” Rosenberg said. Trump’s additional tax cut proposals that are geared toward working people — such as canceling taxes on tips and providing a break on auto loan payments — are unlikely to redistribute the overall burden of the tariff-and-tax-break combination, said Erica York, vice president of federal policy at the Tax Foundation, a right-leaning think tank. “You’re not going to make up for the huge tax hike of tariffs with some really targeted little carve-outs like tips and that sort of thing,” she said.
Hegseth Says Pentagon Will Get Its First $1 Trillion Budget - Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Monday that the Pentagon will soon have its first $1 trillion budget despite the Trump administration’s pledges to cut government spending.Hegseth made the announcement on X while sharing a video of President Trump saying that his administration approved a plan for a $1 trillion military budget. “Nobody’s seen anything like it. We have to build out military, and we’re very cost-conscious, but the military is something we have to build, and we have to be strong,” he said while hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Trump said he was “proud to say” it will be the biggest military budget “we’ve ever done.”Hegseth wrote on X, “Thank you Mr. President! COMING SOON: the first TRILLION dollar [Defense Department] budget.”Hegseth said the Pentagon would “spend every taxpayer dollar wisely,” but he is currently overseeing a massive bombing campaign in Yemen that’s failed to achieve its stated goal of stopping Houthi attacks and will soon cost over $1 billion in just a month of operations.While the Pentagon has never had a $1 trillion budget, the actual cost of total US military spending has exceeded $1 trillion for years. The 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which President Biden signed into law in December 2023, totaled $895 billion. According to veteran defense analyst Winslow Wheeler, based on the $895 billion NDAA, US national security spending for 2025 is expected to reach about $1.77 trillion.
Zelensky hits US embassy over 'surprisingly disappointing' response to Russian strike - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine over its “surprisingly disappointing” response to Russia’s strike on the city of Kryvyi Rih, Zelensky’s hometown. Zelensky, in a lengthy Saturday post on the social platform X, accused the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine of being afraid to mention Russia when commenting on the Friday attack that killed at least 19 people and injured nearly 70 more. “Unfortunately, the response from the U.S. Embassy is surprisingly disappointing — such a strong country, such a strong people, and yet such a weak reaction,” Zelensky wrote. “They are afraid to even say the word ‘Russian’ when speaking about the missile that murdered children.” Following the deadly Russian attack on Kryvyi Rih, a city in central Ukraine, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink said she was “horrified that tonight a ballistic missile struck near a playground and restaurant in Kryvyi Rih. More than 50 people injured and 16 killed, including 6 children. This is why the war must end.” Zelensky, in the Saturday morning post, agreed that the three-year war in Eastern Europe “must end.” “But to end it, we must not be afraid to call things by their names. We must not be afraid to pressure the one who continues this war and ignores all the world’s proposals to end it,” Zelensky said. “We must pressure Russia — the one choosing to kill children instead of choosing a ceasefire. There must be additional sanctions against those who cannot exist without ballistic strikes on their neighboring nation,” Ukraine’s leader added. “We must do everything in our capacity to save lives.”
Spartz says Ukraine not positioned to keep land in peace talks - Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) said in a new interview that Ukraine is not positioned to keep some of its land in peace talks with Russia. “I just don’t see how they [Ukraine] can be positioned to demand to keep the land. If they would be winning the war, that will be very different,” the Ukrainian-born GOP lawmaker said in an interview with The Telegraph published Monday. “As I said two years ago, the best thing is to win wars as fast as you can. As long as it takes usually doesn’t end very well for democracies,” Spartz added later, according to The Telegraph. President Trump in his first few months back in office has pushed to end the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, which recently passed its three-year mark. Last month, the White House announced that it had come to a deal with Ukraine and Russia to “eliminate the use of force” in the Black Sea and stop strikes on energy facilities. In March, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Ukraine was not likely to gain back all of the territory Russia had captured since 2014. European Commission offering 'zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods' to U.S. “The Russians can’t conquer all of Ukraine, and obviously it’ll be very difficult for Ukraine in any reasonable time period to sort of force the Russians back all the way to where they were in 2014,” Rubio told reporters.
US, Russia Hold Talks in Istanbul on Normalizing Relations, Say Progress Made - US and Russian officials held talks at the Russian consulate in Istanbul on Thursday that focused on normalizing diplomatic relations.The meeting marked the second round of normalization talks since the first was held in Istanbul on February 27. According to Russia’s TASS news agency, the talks lasted about five and a half hours.The Russian delegation was headed by Alexander Darchiev, the Russian ambassador to the US, who said after the meeting that good progress was made toward normalizing the work of the two countries’ diplomatic facilities. Sonata Coulter, the deputy assistant secretary of state for Russia and Central Europe, led the US delegation. The State Department described the talks as “constructive” and said the two sides “exchanged notes to finalize an understanding to ensure the stability of diplomatic banking for Russian and US bilateral missions.”Also on Thursday, the US and Russia conducted a prisoner swap that involved Moscow freeing Ksenia Karelina, a Russian-American citizen who was serving a 12-year sentence for allegations that she was raising money to arm Ukraine, which appeared to be based on a donation she made to a US-based Ukraine aid group.In exchange for Karelina, the US released Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen who was arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the behest of the US over allegations that he was exporting microelectronics to companies manufacturing weapons for Russia.While the US and Russia appear to be making progress on diplomatic relations, a ceasefire in Ukraine remains elusive as fighting continues to rage despite US-mediated talks.State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said on Thursday that there would be no serious changes to US-Russia relations without a Ukraine ceasefire. “I think that President Trump has been very clear that there is one thing on the table with Russia, which is the ceasefire, [and] that there is no other dynamic that is going to be addressed or facilitated until that is dealt with,” she said.
US, Ukrainian Officials Resume Talks on Natural Resources Deal - The White House continued in its efforts to engage with Russia and Ukraine. A top US diplomat traveled to Russia to speak with President Vladimir Putin. While US and Ukrainian officials met in Washington to discuss a deal that will give the US access to the profits from Ukraine’s natural resources.A Ukrainian delegation arrived in the US on Friday for two days of talks on a natural resources deal. According to the New York Times, the deal offered by Washington will give the US access to all profits from sales of Ukraine’s natural resources, including gas, oil and rare earth minerals.President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that he expects the deal will allow the US to recoup the hundreds of billions of dollars in aid Washington sent to Kiev during the Joe Biden administration. Under the current offer put forward by the White House, Kiev will pay the US 4% interest.The Times reports that the deal will also give the US the “right of first offer” on new ventures and Washington would have veto power on any third country looking to invest in Ukraine’s natural resources. The offer does not include a security guarantee for Ukraine. However, US officials have said that if Ukraine signs the deal, Washington will have additional economic incentives to support Kiev.The current deal Trump has put on the table is far harsher than the one that was offered to Zelensky during his trip to the White House at the end of February. That agreement was not signed after Trump, Zelensky, and Vice President JD Vance argued in front of the media in the Oval Office. At the time, Trump criticized Zelensky for not wanting to make an agreement to end the war in Ukraine. However, in recent weeks, Trump has increasingly placed the blame on Putin. On Friday, Trump posted on Truth Social, “Russia has to get moving. Too many people are DYING, thousands a week, in a terrible and senseless war.”
Trump and Netanyahu Reaffirm Their Vision for the Ethnic Cleansing of Gaza - President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met at the White House on Monday and reaffirmed their desire for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, both claiming that there are other countries willing to take in the Palestinian population.Trump also said it would be a “good thing” for the US to take over and control Gaza. “Well, you know how I feel about the Gaza Strip. I think it’s an incredible piece of important real estate,” he told reporters at the Oval Office. “I think it’s something we would be involved in, you know, having a peace force like the United States there, controlling and owning the Gaza Strip, would be a good thing.”The president said that if the Palestinians are “moved around to different countries,” it would create a “freedom zone” in Gaza. “You call it the freedom zone, a free zone, a zone where people aren’t going to be killed every day,” he said.Netanyahu framed the idea of expelling Palestinians from Gaza as voluntary. “We’re committed to getting all the hostages out, but also eliminating the evil tyranny of Hamas in Gaza and enabling the people of Gaza to freely make a choice to go wherever they want,” he said.Netanyahu said that he and President Trump discussed countries that are willing to take in Palestinians from Gaza, but he didn’t mention any by name. “I think this is the right thing to do. It’s going to take years to rebuild Gaza; in the meantime, people can have an option. The president has a vision. Countries are responding to that vision, and we’re working on it,” he said.Netanyahu’s visit to the US came amid Israel’s constant attacks on the Gaza Strip, which have killed more than 1,300 Palestinians since the resumption of the genocidal war on March 18. Since March 2, Israel has imposed a total blockade on Gaza, cutting off the entry of humanitarian aid and all other goods.
Senate Confirms Mike Huckabee as US Ambassador to Israel - The Senate on Wednesday confirmed former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee as the US ambassador to Israel, putting a staunch supporter of Israeli annexation of the West Bank in the position. Huckabee, a Christian Zionist who believes God has given historic Palestine to the modern state of Israel, was confirmed in a vote of 53-46. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who is extremely pro-Israel, was the only Democrat to vote in favor of Huckabee’s confirmation. Since being nominated, Huckabee has said that Israeli annexation of the Israeli-occupied West Bank was on the table under the Trump administration. During his Senate confirmation hearing, Huckabee reaffirmed his view that he believed the Palestinian territory belonged to Israel, although he claimed annexation wouldn’t be his “prerogative.”Huckabee refers to the West Bank as Judea and Samaria, a biblical name the state of Israel uses for the Palestinian territory.
Poll: Majority of American Adults Have Unfavorable View of Israel - A new Pew survey has found that the majority of American adults — 53% — have an unfavorable view of Israel, a figure that has risen in recent years.In March 2022, Pew conducted a similar poll that found 42% of US adults viewed Israel unfavorably. The rise in the negative view of Israel comes in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 attack and Israel’s unleashing of its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, which Americans have been able to follow closely on social media.Both polls showed that Democrats are more likely to have a negative view of Israel than Republicans. In the new survey, Pew found that 69% of Democrats view Israel unfavorably, while only 37% of Republicans do.However, a negative view of Israel is much more common among younger Republicans. The poll found that 50% of Republicans aged 18-49 have a negative view of Israel, while only 23% of Republicans over 50 view Israel unfavorably.The poll also found that 52% of American adults have little or no confidence in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ability to “do the right thing regarding world affairs,” while only 32% have confidence in him.
Houthis Claim 3rd MQ-9 Reaper Drone Downing In Ten Days --On Wednesday Yemen's Houthis have claimed yet another shootdown of a US drone over neartheastern Yemen. Military spokesman Yahya Saree said that a US MQ-9 drone was intercepted "while carrying out hostile missions" over Al-Jawf province. If true, this would mark the third Reaper drone downing in just ten days, and at least the 18th since the Red Sea conflict started. Watch newly published video purporting to show the destroyed drone on the ground, released Wednesday: Yemeni Houthis (Ansar-Allah group) published a video of their 22nd American MQ-9 drone shot down this morning (April 9, 2025) in the Al Jawf governate . pic.twitter.com/jTwUESB3gISaree described that it was brought down by "a domestically made surface-to-air missile." The Pentagon has no confirmed this, and has been silent on the recent Houthi claims of repeat MQ-9 drone downings of late.If accurate, this would also mean that relatively cheap Houthi-made missiles are taking out $33 million advanced US drones. These drones further cost millions more to maintain. According to emerging details: Footage released by Houthi-linked media shows wreckage allegedly from the drones. The images appear consistent with known components of MQ-9s, although the U.S. Department of Defense has not confirmed the exact locations or methods of the shootdowns.Analysts believe the Houthis have used mobile surface-to-air missile systems and possibly electronic warfare tactics to target the drones. Their arsenal likely includes Iranian-derived systems like the Sayyad-2C and Saqr, as well as Russian-made SA-6 missiles. This mix suggests a blend of pre-war stockpiles, smuggled hardware, and locally adapted technologies.The latest US airstrikes on Yemen have reportedly killed at least six people, according to fresh statements from Ansarallah officials. Russian media has mocked the Pentagon's inability to deal with the Houthi threat in the Red Sea region...Like shooting fish in a barrel — Houthi spox announces downing of 18TH $30+ million US MQ-9 drone "3rd in 10 days' pic.twitter.com/yOow93gXMG
Yemen's Houthis Shoot Down Third US MQ-9 Reaper Drone Within 10 Days - Yemeni air defenses have shot down a US MQ-9 Reaper drone for the third time within 10 days as daily US airstrikes on Yemen that began on March 15 have failed to deter the Houthis or stop their attacks.Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on Wednesday that Yemeni forces were “able to shoot down an American MQ-9 drone while it was carrying out hostile missions in the airspace of Al-Jawf Governorate, using a suitable, locally manufactured missile.”Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin, who has sources in the Pentagon,confirmed that the drone was shot down. “This is the fourth MQ-9 Reaper drone shot down by the Houthis since March 3rd, and the fourth shot down under the Trump administration,” she wrote on X. Griffin recently reported that the US has been bombing Yemen using heavy B-2 bombers deployed to the US base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. “The US military has carried out 25 straight days of bombing, including with B-2 stealth bombers dropping bunker buster bombs, and yet the Houthis continue to fire missiles to shoot these expensive US assets down,” she said on Wednesday.
Houthi Official Says Yemen Will Cease Attacks on US Ships if US Stops Bombing - A senior member of Yemen’s Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, has told Drop Site News that Yemeni forces would stop attacks on US warships in the region if President Trump halted his bombing campaign on Yemen.“We do not consider ourselves at war with the American people,” said Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of Ansar Allah’s political bureau. “If the US stops targeting Yemen, we will cease our military operations against it.”Both President Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth have said the US would stop bombing Yemen if the Houthis stopped attacking US ships. However, the Houthis were not attacking US vessels when the US restarted its airstrikes in Yemen on March 15.President Trump launched the bombing campaign in response to the Houthis’ announcing they would reimpose a blockade on Israeli shipping due to Israel imposing a total blockade on Gaza in violation of the ceasefire deal. The Houthis had ceased attacks when the truce deal was implemented on January 19.Al-Bukhaiti said the Houthis would continue its ban on Israeli shipping and attacks on Israel until there was a ceasefire in Gaza. “When the Zionist entity stops its genocidal crimes in Gaza and allows food, medicine, and fuel to enter, in accordance with the ceasefire agreement, we will cease all military operations against it,” he said.Al-Bukhaiti said the Houthis would respect an agreement that would involve them not targeting US warships or commercial shipping while they still enforced a blockade on Israel but called on the US to pressure Israel to end its genocidal war.“If Trump truly seeks peace, as he claims, his efforts should have been directed at pressuring Netanyahu to implement the ceasefire agreement, which includes lifting the siege on Gaza and allowing food and medicine to enter. Only then will we stop all military operations against the Zionist entity,” al-Bukhaiti said.The Drop Site report noted that the Houthis have not targeted an American commercial ship since December 2024. The Yemeni group began targeting US commercial shipping in January 2024 in response to the bombing campaign that President Biden launched against them. Both Biden’s and Trump’s bombing campaigns failed to deter the Houthis, who have been launching attacks on Israel, US warships, and US air assetsover the past few weeks despite daily US airstrikes. From 2015 to 2022, the US backed a brutal Saudi-UAE war against the Houthis, which involved airstrikes, a blockade, and a ground campaign, and failed to remove them from power.
US Airstrikes Kill Civilians in Yemen After Hegseth's Threat of Escalation - Dozens of US airstrikes hit Yemen on Tuesday, a day after US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth threatened the US would escalate its bombing campaign.According to the Anadolu Agency, the Houthis reported that 22 US airstrikes hit Yemen on Tuesday, including 11 in the northern Saada province, nine in the central Marib province, and two in the Red Sea province of Hodeidah. More US strikes were reported in the provinces of Dhmar and Ibb.Yemen’s SABA news agency reported that US strikes in Hodeidah on Tuesday night hit residential areas. According to the local authority in Hodeidah, four civilians were killed by the US strikes, and others were wounded. Women and children were among the casualties.Residential buildings have been a frequent target of US airstrikes, and the bombing campaign has taken a heavy toll on Yemeni civilians.The heavy US airstrikes on Tuesday came after Hegseth vowed the situation would get “worse” for Yemen’s Houthis, who are officially known as Ansar Allah. “It’s been a bad three weeks for the Houthis, and it’s about to get a lot worse,” Hegseth said during President Trump’s Oval Office meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Hegseth claimed it has been a “devastating campaign” for the Houthis despite reports that the airstrikes have only had limited success in destroying Houthi weapons and underground military infrastructure
Yemen's Houthis Launch Drone at Israel Despite Daily US Airstrikes - Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree on Monday announced that Yemeni forces fired a drone at Israel and conducted operations against US warships as daily US airstrikes on Yemen have failed to deter Houthi attacks.The Israeli military said that the Israeli Air Force shot down the Houthi drone before it entered Israeli airspace. Since President Trump began bombing Yemen on March 15, the Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, have fired multiple missiles at Israel, which have also been intercepted by Israeli air defenses, but some shrapnel has landed in Israeli territory.Saree also said that Yemeni forces targeted two US Navy destroyers with several missiles and drones. “In response to the ongoing US aggression against our country and the crimes against our people, our armed forces continue to target enemy warships in the Red Sea carrying out the aggression against our country,” Saree said.So far, there’s been no indication that a US ship has been hit by a Houthi missile or drone, but the Pentagon has shared virtually no details about the attacks or about US airstrikes on Yemen.Also on Monday, the US continued to bomb Yemen, with airstrikes reported in the Marib province and in the northern provinces of Sadaa and Hajjah. A day earlier, the US bombing of a civilian home in the capital, Sanaa, killed at least four people, including two women.While President Trump has been claiming the bombing campaign has been devastating to the Houthis, The New York Times reported that’s not what Pentagon officials have been telling Congress. The report said the US has only had limited success and that the Houthis have reinforced their underground bunker, frustrating the White House.
Iran's Foreign Minister Says Tehran Is Ready To Work With US Toward a Deal - Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an op-ed published by The Washington Post on Tuesday that Iran was ready to reach a deal with the US on its nuclear program and said the “ball is now in America’s court.”Araghchi and President Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, will hold negotiations in Oman this Saturday. Trump claims that the negotiations will involve direct talks, while Araghchi insists that they will be indirect, meaning that mediators will pass messages to either side.Aragchi said the recent engagement between the US and Iran through letters and indirect messages has represented a “genuine attempt to clarify positions and open a window toward diplomacy.”He said Tehran was willing to reaffirm the pledge it made when the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, was signed, that “under no circumstances will Iran ever seek, develop or acquire any nuclear weapons.”“Ten years after the JCPOA was concluded — and nearly seven years after the United States unilaterally walked away from it — there is no evidence that Iran has violated this commitment,” Aragchi wrote.The Iranian diplomat noted that US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard recently reaffirmed that there’s no evidence Iran is building a nuclear weapon. He said that there may be concerns over Iran’s nuclear program and that Tehran was willing to address them. “We are willing to clarify our peaceful intent and take the necessary measures to allay any possible concern,” he said.Aragchi also said that Iran was ready to do business with US companies. “Many in Washington portray Iran as a closed country from an economic point of view. The truth is that we are open to welcoming businesses from around the world. It is the US administrations and congressional impediments, not Iran, that have kept American enterprises away from the trillion-dollar opportunity that access to our economy represent,” he said.
Trump Again Threatens Attack on Iran, Suggests Israel Could Lead It - On Wednesday, President Trump again threatened the possibility of the US taking military action against Iran and suggested Israel might “lead” the attack.“If it requires military, we’re going to have military,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked if the US would attack if a nuclear deal isn’t reached with Iran.“Israel will obviously be very much involved in that — it’ll be the leader of that. But nobody leads us. We do what we want to do,” he added.Trump’s latest threat comes ahead of negotiations between the US and Iran that will be held in Oman this Saturday. The talks will be attended by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.Trump has insisted the talks will be direct negotiations, while Aragchi has said they will be indirect, meaning Omani mediators will pass messages between the two sides. Reports have said that Iran would need a goodwill gesture from the US to hold direct talks, such as the removal of some sanctions. But the Trump administration continues to impose sanctions and added new ones on Wednesday.Trump has been increasing sanctions on Iran and threatening the country over its nuclear program even though US intelligence agencies recentlyreaffirmed that there’s no evidence Tehran is building a bomb.Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian restated Iran’s long-standing pledge in comments on Wednesday. “We are not after a nuclear bomb,” Pezeshkian added. “You have verified it 100 times. Do it 1,000 times again,” he said.Pezeshkian also said that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was not opposed to US investment in Iran. “His excellency has no opposition to investment by American investors in Iran,” he said. “American investors: Come and invest.”
Trump’s Iran talks raise big questions on Capitol Hill - President Trump is set to open direct talks with Iran this weekend in a high-stakes push for Tehran to give up its nuclear weapons ambitions, raising a chorus of questions and concerns from lawmakers in both parties. Iran on Monday said the “high-level talks,” set to start in Oman on Saturday, would be indirect, seeming to contradict Trump, who said earlier Monday, “We’re having direct talks with Iran.” It’s also unclear if the president is looking to limit Iran’s nuclear capabilities — similar to the Obama-era agreement he trashed in 2018 — or demand the full destruction of its facilities. Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), chair of the influential Republican Study Committee, said anything short of a nuclear disbandment was unacceptable. “A full commitment that they, not just when Trump is president, but whoever follows President Trump is there, that there is a firm commitment, and we know, we can verify, and there’s a complete dismantlement of their nuclear enterprises,” he told The Hill. The uncertainty over Trump’s endgame has strained relations with Israel, which is wary of any U.S. engagement with Iran, a sentiment shared by many on Capitol Hill. “I worry a little bit that this seems to be done, almost going around Israel,” said Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the ranking member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. “I just worry that with the complete disruption of most of our alliances, I think our negotiating position is weakened,” he added. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for the full dismantling of Iran’s nuclear program while sitting next to Trump in the Oval Office on Monday, saying he wants to see the “Libya model” applied to Israel’s top adversary. Trump has warned that “Iran is going to be in great danger” if the talks fail. And Netanyahu has long been mulling an assault on Iran’s nuclear facilities — though such a major move would be unlikely without some level of U.S. backing. The fact the talks are happening at all signals that pragmatic voices in Trump’s ear are winning out over Iran hawks, at least for the moment. Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East and point person on talks with Russia over its war in Ukraine, is now taking on the Iranian file. In an interview with Tucker Carlson late last month, Witkoff called for a “verification program, so that nobody worries about weaponization” of nuclear material. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), chair of the Senate Armed Services subcommittee on personnel, said a verification program would be “hard to do,” and that he would prefer a deal dismantling all of Iran’s nuclear program.
US ‘Vetoes’ Gulf Reconstruction for Syria, Lebanon Until Israel Is Satisfied - Wars are costly and often devastating to the local populace. The road to recovery can also be long and difficult. This is even more true in Lebanon and Syria, with the US engaged in international efforts to preclude any reconstruction funds being sent by other nations. Presented as an “undeclared veto,” the Trump Administration has contacted multiple Gulf Arab countries to warn them they are not allowed to deliver any of the promised reconstruction aid to Lebanon or Syria “until Israel’s objectives are met.” Israel invaded Lebanon in September and carried out a war that ended November 26 with a ceasefire. Since then Israel has continued to attack Lebanon almost daily, and has refused to withdraw troops from military outposts they set up inside Lebanon.The intense damage in Lebanon includes villages of homes burnt by occupying Israeli forces, and much of the agriculture infrastructure in southern Lebanon destroyed. Lebanese are just beginning to try to repair the farmland for planting, but there too they’ve come under Israeli attack.Syria’s situation is somewhat different, coming off a protracted civil war which left the country in ruins and the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in power. In this case, Israel carried out attacks intermittently throughout the war, but it was only after the war ended that they invaded outright, and have occupied parts of southern Syria. There is no sign they intend to slow these attacks or withdraw from newly occupied parts of Syria. The UN Security Council is meant to have an emergency meeting Thursday to discuss the matter, though action seems unlikely. If anything, Israeli forces continue to advance ever deeper into Syria.
Mitch McConnell slams Donald Trump for hiring 'amateur isolationists' at Pentagon, firing NSA head - Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is questioning President Trump’s decisions to pick “amateur isolationists” for senior policy jobs at the Pentagon and to fire Gen. Timothy Haugh, the head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, without explanation. “If decades of experience in uniform isn’t enough to lead the N.S.A. but amateur isolationists can hold senior policy jobs at the Pentagon, then what exactly are the criteria for working on this administration’s national security staff,” McConnell said in comments to The New York Times. “I can’t figure it out,” he said. McConnell and other Senate Republican defense hawks have signaled their concern about the Trump administration’s decisions to hire Michael DiMino to serve as deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East and Andrew Byers to serve as deputy assistant secretary of defense for South and Southeast Asia. DiMino has come under scrutiny by pro-Israel advocates because of his past statements that the U.S. doesn’t face vital or existential threats in the Middle East. And Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said at a recent hearing that Byers “believes thinking about communist China through the lens of deterrence is wrong” and “thinks maybe we should give up what he calls belligerent policies toward China.” McConnell made his comments to The Times after President Trump abruptly fired Haugh, a four-star Air Force general with 33 years of experience in intelligence and cyber operations, without providing any explanation. Trump this past week also fired six National Security Council officials after Trump this past week also fired six National Security Council officials after meeting with conservative activist and social media influencer Laura Loomer in the Oval Office. Loomer presented a list of officials to Trump that she argued were not loyal to the president.in the Oval Office. Loomer presented a list of officials to Trump that she argued were not loyal to the president. Loomer in a social media post criticized Haugh, the N.S.A. director, for being picked for his job by Gen. Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who reportedly called Trump “fascist to the core” and “the most dangerous person to this country,” according to a book by Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward. Loomer called Milley a traitor and in a social media post on Saturday declared that “there are a lot of bad actors embedded all over the FBI, DOJ, NSZC, NSA, DOD, and State Department.” “It’s going to take time to hunt these people down, publicly expose them and have them fired and removed from their positions,” she posted on the social media platform X.
Report: Trump Administration Considers Drone Strikes on Mexican Cartels - The Trump administration is considering launching drone strikes against cartels in Mexico in an effort to stem the flow of fentanyl and other drugs through the southern border, NBC News reported on Tuesday.The report, which cited multiple former and current US officials, said the discussions were still in the early stages, but the administration has taken steps toward taking military action against cartels, including designating them as “terrorist organizations” and stepping up CIA drone flights over Mexico.The report said that the Trump administration would prefer to launch drone strikes against cartels in cooperation with the Mexican government but is not ruling out launching unilateral military action, which would significantly rupture US-Mexico relations.In response to the report, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum rejected the idea of any unilateral US action. “We reject any form of intervention or interference. That’s been very clear, Mexico coordinates and collaborates, but does not subordinate itself. There is no interference, nor will there be,” Sheinbaum said.The Mexican leader added, “While this idea hasn’t been formally proposed, we’ve made it clear that it wouldn’t address the root of the issue. What truly works is ongoing attention to root causes, arrests driven by intelligence and investigation, coordination, and zero tolerance for impunity. We categorically reject any such actions, and we don’t believe they will happen. There is a strong, ongoing dialogue on security and many other matters.”The Wall Street Journal reported in February that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had threatened Mexican military officials that the US could take unilateral military action in Mexico. The report said Hegseth threatened action “if Mexico didn’t deal with the collusion between the country’s government and drug cartels.”While the Trump administration wants to reduce the flow of fentanyl, opponents of turning the drug war into a hot war have warned it’s unlikely to have that effect. Daniel DePetris, a fellow at Defense Priorities, pointed out in a post on X that if the demand for fentanyl still exists in the US, then cartels or other criminal organizations would still be willing to manufacture the drug and smuggle it across the US border. “If demand for the drug is still high, the cartels—or independent criminal syndicates—will have a financial incentive to continue manufacturing, even if it comes at the risk of death (these guys are already risking death by being in a cartel). There is a lot of money to be made,” DePetris said.
Trump reciprocal tariffs take effect on imports from around the world - A new round of steep tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump took effect early Wednesday morning on products imported from scores of countries around the world.The round of so-called reciprocal tariffs exceeds a base rate of 10% that was imposed on many other countries over the weekend.In all, imports from 86 countries are now subject to higher tariffs ranging from 11% to 84%.China will see net total tariffs of 104% on its exported goods to the United States. The massive new tariff rate reflects a previously imposed 20% duty, a 34% additional tariff and a last-minute 50% increase that Trump signed late Tuesday.After China, Lesotho is subject to the biggest single-nation tariff rate in the new round. That African nation's exports to the U.S. are subject to a 50% duty. Cambodia is close behind, with imports from that nation subject to tariffs of 49% starting Wednesday. Two of Cambodia's neighbors in southeast Asia, Laos and Vietnam, are subject to duties of 48% and 46%, respectively.
Trump defends tariffs as markets plunge: ‘I don’t want anything to go down’ -President Trump on Sunday defended his sweeping tariffs amid plunging markets, saying he did not “want anything to go down.” “When you look at the trade deficit we have with certain countries, with China it’s a trillion dollars,” Trump told reporters traveling with him on Air Force One as he returned from Florida to Washington, D.C., on Sunday evening. “And we have to solve our trade deficit with China. … Hundreds of billions of dollars a year we lose with China. And unless we solve that problem, I’m not going to make a deal,” Trump continued. “This is not sustainable,” he said of U.S. trade deficits. “The United States can’t lose $1.9 trillion on trade. We can’t do that and also spend a lot of money on NATO in order to protect European nations, we cover them with military and we lose money on trade. The whole thing is crazy, and I got elected on that basis. We explained it. You know, the American people understand it a lot better than the media, but the media understands it, and much of the media writes correctly about it.” Markets fell sharply on Thursday and Friday after Trump announced Wednesday that tariffs would be imposed on virtually every country exporting to the United States. Futures are also down more than 1,300 points on the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Sunday night, as of 8:18 p.m., ahead of Monday morning’s opening. Asked if he had a threshold for how far markets would have to fall, Trump responded sharply. “I think your question is so stupid. I don’t want anything to go down. But sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” he said. Trump argues that other countries for years have taken advantage of the U.S. when it comes to trade policy, hurting U.S. workers and manufacturers. While at times his administration has suggested that countries could negotiate to win better deals and lower their tariffs, some officials have also signaled the tariffs could be in place for some time. Trump said Saturday on his Truth Social platform that the tariffs will result in an “economic revolution.” “We have been the dumb and helpless ‘whipping post,’ but not any longer,” he wrote on Truth Social. “We are bringing back jobs and businesses like never before. Already, more than FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS OF INVESTMENT, and rising fast!” Sunday on Air Force One, Trump mostly shrugged off the markets. “What’s going to happen to the markets I can’t tell you. But our country is much stronger,” he said.
Bessent calls tariffs ‘a one-time price adjustment’ - -Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that President Trump’s tariffs are a “one-time price adjustment,” which he stressed is different from continuous price increases caused by inflation. In an interview on NBC News’s “Meet the Press,” moderator Kristen Welker asked Bessent about remarks from last January, when Bessent wrote, “Tariffs are inflationary.” “Have you expressed any concerns to President Trump directly that his tariff policy could be inflationary?” Welker asked. “No, what I have said are tariffs are a one-time price adjustment,” Bessent told Welker. “So, there’s a big difference between insipid, endemic inflation within the system and consistent price level increases and a one-time adjustment,” he added. The interview comes after Trump unveiled his sweeping reciprocal tariffs this week, as well as a 10 percent baseline tariff on imports, sending the markets tumbling.
7 GOP senators sign on to bill to check Trump’s trade authority - Seven Republican senators, including Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa), the Senate’s president pro tempore, and Sen. Mitch McConnell (Ky.), the former Senate Republican leader, have signed on to a bipartisan bill that would require Congress to approve President Trump’s steep tariffs on trading partners. Grassley and McConnell have joined five other Republicans — Sens. Jerry Moran (Kan.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Todd Young (Ind.) and Susan Collins (Maine) — in supporting the Trade Review Act of 2025. The legislation would limit Trump’s ability to impose unilateral tariffs without the approval of Congress. It would require the president to notify Congress of the imposition of new tariffs and increased tariffs within 48 hours and provide an explanation of the reasoning for the action. It would also require the administration to provide an assessment of the potential impact of imposing or increasing the duty on U.S. businesses and consumers. More critically, it would require that new tariffs sunset after 60 days unless Congress passes a joint resolution approving them. And it provides a pathway for Congress to cancel tariffs before the 60-day period expires by passing a joint resolution of disapproval. Trump has already threatened to veto the bill.
Vietnam among hardest hit by Trump tariffs - Governments, corporations and investors throughout Asia are in shock after Trump declared economic war on the world last week and announced huge “reciprocal” tariffs on friend and foe alike. While China—regarded in Washington as the chief threat to American global dominance—was hit with an extra 34 percent tariff on all exports to the US, Trump imposed hefty tariffs on most countries in the region. Among the hardest hit were the 10 countries that form the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), most having tariffs of 30 percent or more imposed putting them towards the top of the list. These were: Cambodia (49 percent), Laos (48 percent), Vietnam (46 percent), Myanmar (44 percent), Thailand (36 percent), Indonesia (32 percent). Malaysia (24 percent), Brunei (24 percent) and the Philippines (17 percent) were a little lower. Singapore was the only member to be given the baseline minimum of 10 percent. Many of the ASEAN countries benefited from the tariffs imposed on China under the first Trump administration and maintained by the Biden administration along with punitive bans targeting hi-tech Chinese corporations. Companies that had used China as a cheap-labour platform adopted a China plus One strategy, shifting part of their production to South East Asia countries to avoid the US tariffs imposed on China. Now governments internationally are scrambling for a strategy: seeking negotiations with the Trump administration, looking for other markets, while deeply concerned about the prospect of global recession, a sharp slowdown in their economies, rapidly rising unemployment and social unrest. Vietnam, which is heavily dependent on exports to the US, is among the hardest hit and most vulnerable. Last year, it ranked eighth among the top trading partners of the US with total bilateral trade of $US149.6 billion, up by a huge 20.4 percent increase from 2023. The country also became the US’s sixth largest source of imports last year worth $136.6 billion, and recorded a record trade surplus with the US of $123.5 billion. The government immediately rushed to try to open up negotiations with the Trump administration. In a letter to Trump last weekend, Vietnam’s top leader To Lam asked for a delay of at least 45 days in imposing the “reciprocal” tariffs, due to come into force tomorrow, to allow for talks. Lam called on Trump to appoint a US representative to lead negotiations with Ho Duc Phoc, the Vietnamese deputy prime minister, “with the goal of reaching an agreement as soon as possible,” so as to avoid devastation to the Vietnamese economy and increased prices for American consumers. Lam also suggested that he and Trump meet in May. Lam was one of the first international leaders to phone and speak directly to Trump. According to the Vietnamese government, he offered to reduce tariffs on all US imports to zero and urged Trump to do the same for Vietnamese imports into the US. Trump later described the call as “very productive,” but did not indicate whether any negotiations would take place. The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the American Chamber of Commerce in Hanoi also expressed deep concern to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in a letter dated Saturday, saying the tariff was “shockingly high.” “Lower tariffs for products coming into Vietnam, and for products reaching the American consumer is what will help U.S. companies, the economy, and consumers. Higher tariffs will not,” the letter declared. Major US corporations including Intel, Nike, First Solar, Boeing and Apple have invested heavily in Vietnam to manufacture their goods and components as part of their global operations, including exports to US markets. The imposition of a 46 percent tariff on all exports to the US would inevitably affect their plans and lead to plant closures and job losses. Various estimates have been made of the impact of the Trump tariff on the Vietnamese economy ranging from as little as a 1 percent loss in GDP growth to as high as 5.5 percent. Around 30 percent of Vietnam’s exports go to US markets. The latest government economic data released on Sunday recorded year-on-year growth of 6.93 percent, already significantly below the government’s target of at least 8 percent for 2025. Vietnam has already been hit by previously announced Trump tariffs on steel and aluminium of 25 percent. Last year Vietnam was the US’s fifth largest source of steel, up from ninth place the previous year. Steel mill products for the US market from Vietnam jumped in 2024 by a huge 143.3 percent from 2023, reaching 1.2 million tonnes. The Vietnamese government is clearly desperate for negotiations and a reprieve from the Trump administration’s crippling tariffs, but all indications are that the White House will proceed with the economic shock treatment without exception. While Trump commented favourably, although vaguely, about his phone call with Lam, during his “Liberation Day” announcement of tariffs last Wednesday he declared Vietnam a “worst offender” in trade imbalances. “Vietnam, great negotiators, great people. They like me, I like them. The problem is they charge us 90 percent, we’re going to charge them a 46 percent tariff,” he said. His senior trade counsellor Peter Navarro flatly dismissed Vietnam’s offer of reducing all tariffs on US goods to zero, saying it was not enough. “It’s the non-tariff cheating that matters,” he said, citing intellectual property theft and a value added tax. Navarro, a notorious anti-China hawk, lashed out at Vietnam in particular for allegedly being a conduit for Chinese products as a means of avoiding US tariffs.
Amazon Cancels Orders, Walmart Pulls Forecast As Tariffs Take Hold -Amazon has abruptly canceled orders for beach chairs, scooters, air conditioners, and other merchandise sourced from China and other Asian countries hit hard by President Trump's tariff blitz last week and reinforced overnight. Meanwhile, Walmart has scrapped its Q1 2025 operating income guidance amid the deepening trade war. The effective tariff rate on Chinese goods imported to the U.S. now exceeds 100%, while Beijing has responded with an 84% effective tax rate on all U.S. imports. Here's more from Bloomberg:According to a document reviewed by Bloomberg and people familiar with the matter, the company [Amazon] is reducing its exposure to tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.The orders for beach chairs, scooters, air conditioners and other merchandise from multiple Amazon vendors were halted after Trump's April 2 announcement that he planned to levy tariffs on more than 180 countries and territories, including China, Vietnam and Thailand, the people said.The timing of the cancellations, which had no warning, led the vendors to suspect it was a response to tariffs.The report offered more additional details about vendor turmoil with sourcing out of China in the wake of the tariffs:One vendor who has been selling beach chairs made in China to Amazon for more than a decade received an email from the company last week that said it was canceling some purchase orders it placed "in error "and instructed the vendor not to ship them. The email, which was reviewed by Bloomberg, didn't mention tariffs.The vendor said the $500,000 wholesale order was nixed after the chairs had already been manufactured, leaving this person on the hook to pay the factory and find other buyers. The vendor, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation from Amazon, said the company had never canceled one of its orders in such as manner.It is unclear how broadly Amazon has cut merchandise orders from Chinese suppliers. What is clear, however, is that many of Amazon's suppliers are based in China—and with an effective tariff rate north of 100%, the barrier to entry into the U.S. market has sharply risen. This development is one of the first signs of tariffs rattling global trade.Trade data via the supply chain platform Sayari shows that Amazon suppliers are primarily based in China. Separately from Amazon, but all related, Walmart released a statement earlier that it ditched its outlook for operating income in the first quarter, citing tariffs and mounting macroeconomic headwinds. "The company expects Q1 sales growth to continue to be in line with its 3-4% outlook, and annual sales and operating income growth guidance remains unchanged," Walmart wrote in the release, adding, "The range of outcomes for Q1 operating income growth has widened due to less favorable category mix, higher casualty claims expense and the desire to maintain flexibility to invest in price as tariffs are implemented."
PC Shipments Jumped Most In Years Ahead Of Tariff Blitz - A new report from market tracker Canalys shows that PC shipments in the first quarter grew at the fastest pace since the early pandemic days, as tech-savvy consumers rushed to stock up on devices—mainly sourced from Asian supply chains—ahead of today's tariff turmoil. Laptop shipments jumped 9.4% to 62.7 million units in the first quarter, the fastest pace since 2Q21. Much of the surge in PC shipments was attributed to demand from the U.S. market ahead of tariffs, according to Bloomberg, citing the report. "As the next round of higher tariffs on more countries goes into effect, both direct and indirect impacts threaten global PC market recovery and Windows 10 End of Support induced momentum," Canalys analysts said. They noted that pulling forward demand will lead to a plunge in orders in the following quarters: "Subsequent quarters this year are likely to see a slowdown as inventory levels normalize and customers face higher prices." Here are some PC companies with heavily exposed supply chains in China and Asia that ship to the U.S.—and will almost certainly be forced to hike prices:
- Most Apple products (MacBooks, iPads, etc.) are assembled in China by Foxconn and Pegatron.
- Shipped globally, with the U.S. as a key market.
- HP (Hewlett-Packard) Manufactures many of its laptops and desktops in China through OEM partners like Quanta, Foxconn, and Compal.
- Dell Uses Chinese manufacturing partners including Compal, Wistron, and Pegatron to produce laptops and PCs for global distribution.
- Lenovo While headquartered in China, Lenovo manufactures extensively within the country and exports to the U.S. (also has U.S.-based facilities, but China remains key).
- Acer A Taiwanese company, but much of its assembly and supply chain is based in China before shipping worldwide.
- ASUS Another Taiwan-based company, with a strong Chinese manufacturing footprint for laptops and components.
- Microsoft Surface devices are largely produced in China, through partners like Pegatron
For a glimpse into Apple's overseas manufacturing operations, the supply chain platform Sayari shows the latest Apple suppliers originate from India to Taiwan and Vietnam to China.
Trump dismisses last-gasp EU push to stop tariffs --President Donald Trump rejected a European Union proposal to drop tariffs on all bilateral trade in industrial goods with the U.S., meaning that his 20% tariff on all EU imports is due to come into force Wednesday.
Trump: EU Must Buy $350 Billion in Energy Goods From the U.S. - The European Union should pledge to buy $350 billion worth of energy from the United States if it wants the U.S. tariffs on the EU eased, U.S. President Donald Trump has said. “We have a deficit with the European Union of $350 billion and it's going to disappear fast,” Trump said, as quoted by POLITICO. “One of the ways that that can disappear easily and quickly is they're going to have to buy our energy from us ... they can buy it, we can knock off $350 billion in one week. They have to buy and commit to buy a like amount of energy,” President Trump said. Last week, President Trump announced a 20% across-the-board tariff on all imports from the EU, which will take effect on Wednesday, April 9. Separately, imports of steel, aluminum, and cars are subject to 25% tariffs. Estimates point that $416 billion (380 billion euros) worth of EU goods would be affected by the U.S. tariffs. The EU is scrambling to respond to the tariffs, with various reports pointing to EU leaders considering retaliatory tariffs. However, on Monday European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that “Europe is ready to negotiate with the US.” “We have offered zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods. Because we're always ready for a good deal. But we’re also prepared to respond with countermeasures. And protect ourselves against indirect effects through trade diversion,” von der Leyen added. President Trump has dismissed the ‘zero-for-zero tariffs’ offer and told reporters in the White House who asked if the EU offer was sufficient to back down on tariffs on the EU, “No, it's not.” President Trump continues to insist that America running trade deficits with its major trade partners is “a big deal”. “A lot of people say, 'Oh, it doesn't mean anything having a surplus.' It means a lot, in my opinion. It's almost like a profit or loss statement,” he said.
California to Negotiate Trade With Other Countries to Bypass Trump Tariffs -California Governor Gavin Newsom said he has directed his administration to "look at new opportunities to expand trade" as he tries to steer his state around President Donald Trump's sprawling import tariffs. California, the world's fifth-largest economy, plays a crucial role in driving U.S. economic growth. As the largest importer and second-largest exporter among U.S. states, with over $675 billion in two-way trade, it holds significant economic influence. Therefore, Trump's tariffs could have a major impact, potentially increasing costs for California businesses, disrupting global supply chains, and putting pressure on vital industries within the state. In a post on X, Newsom addressed the U.S.'s global trading partners, writing "California is here and ready to talk." It comes after a Fox News report revealed that Newsom is directing his state to pursue "strategic" relationships with countries announcing retaliatory tariffs against the U.S., urging them to exclude California-made products from those taxes. On Wednesday, the White House imposed a 10 percent baseline tariff on all imports, including those from U.S. allies and non-economically active regions, along with higher rates for countries with large trade surpluses against the U.S. on Wednesday. The tariffs include a 34 percent tax on imports from China, a 20 percent tax on imports from the European Union, 25 percent on South Korea, 24 percent on Japan and 32 percent on Taiwan. China hit back with a 34 percent retaliatory tariff on Friday, in the first signs of an all-out trade war that could cripple imports and exports. Other nations are now also mulling over retaliatory tariffs. Amid the turmoil, the Newsom administration is concerned that retaliatory tariffs could hit California hard, with major impacts on agriculture, manufacturing, and trade California, not being its own country, can't be directly targeted in international trade retaliation. However, countries could choose to retaliate against Trump's tariffs by targeting goods commonly produced in states other than California—like soybeans or pork—instead of products like California wine or walnuts, Daniel Sumner, an agricultural and resource economics professor at UC Davis, told Newsweek. According to Fox News, Newsom administration officials are particularly concerned that California's almond industry, a key agricultural exporter, could lose billions of dollars, as countries like China, India, and the European Union impose retaliatory tariffs. Almond exports were valued at $4.7 billion in 2022, supporting 110,000 jobs and contributing $9.2 billion to California's GDP. With 76 percent of the world's almonds grown in California—and most exported—trade restrictions could cost the industry up to $875 million, according to a UC Davis study.
Bessent defends tariffs, calls for deregulation - Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the economy is on a strong footing to face the Trump administration's new tariff regime, adding that the administration has a number of negotiations with foreign governments planned in the coming weeks. In a speech at the American Bankers Association Washington Summit Wednesday morning, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent downplayed economic risks from tariffs, floated capital reforms and urged regulatory relief for community banks.
Trump threatens additional 50 percent tariff on China --President Trump on Monday threatened to impose a 50 percent tariff on imports from China, a massive escalation of a potential trade war between the world’s two largest economies. Trump’s threat is the latest tit for tat between the U.S. and China in the last week. The White House last Wednesday announced it would impose a 34 percent tariff on Chinese imports as part of “reciprocal” tariffs against dozens of countries. Beijing responded by announcing a 34 percent tariff on American imports, leading to Trump’s warning on Monday. Trump said in a post on Truth Social that China made the move, “despite my warning that any country that Retaliates against the U.S. by issuing additional Tariffs, above and beyond their already existing long term Tariff abuse of our Nation, will be immediately met with new and substantially higher Tariffs, over and above those initially set.” “Therefore, if China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th,” Trump added. “Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!” Trump said negotiations with other countries would begin taking place “immediately.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene: Countries that don’t negotiate with Trump will ‘lose bigly’ - Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said Monday that countries that don’t try to negotiate a trade deal with President Trump will “lose bigly.” The outspoken, far-right congresswoman echoed a sentiment expressed last week by the president’s son Eric Trump, who advised countries not to wait to try to make a deal on tariffs. The Trump administration has sent mixed signals on whether Trump’s tariffs are the opening gambit of trade negotiation or whether they are “here to stay.” “I wouldn’t want to be the last country that tries to negotiate a trade deal with @realDonaldTrump,” Eric Trump wrote in a Thursday post, a day after his father announced sweeping global tariffs. “The first to negotiate will win – the last will absolutely lose,” he added. Tariff Talk : Trump, Netyanhu discuss Tariffs, Ceasefire, and More “Now there is a stampede forming,” she continued. “Don’t be last. You will lose bigly and won’t be needed.” Administration officials have said more than 50 countries have tried to get in touch with the president in the wake of his tariff announcement last week. President Trump on Monday said he was not considering pausing the tariffs, despite mounting economic concerns and three days of sliding stock market value. Earlier in the day, he threatened to impose a 50 percent tariff on imports from China, a massive escalation of a potential trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
Bessent: ‘More than 50 countries’ approached administration to lower tariffs, trade barriers and halt ‘currency manipulation’ --Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed Sunday that “more than 50 countries” have approached the Trump administration to bring down “non-tariff trade barriers,” reduce tariffs, and halt “currency manipulation” on their side. “More than 50 countries have approached … the administration about lowering their non-tariff trade barriers, lowering their tariffs, stopping currency manipulation,” Bessent said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” to moderator Kristen Welker. “And … they’ve been bad actors for a long time. And it’s not the kind of thing you can negotiate away, be it in days or weeks,” he added. On Thursday, markets dropped dramatically after President Trump announced a 10 percent tariff on goods imported into the United States, alongside other tariffs aimed at multiple U.S. trading partners. The economy did not fare better the following day, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 2,200 points and the S&P 500 dropping by 10 percent over the course of Thursday and Friday. In his “Meet the Press” appearance Sunday, Bessent referred to Trump’s tariffs as a “one-time price adjustment,” stressing a distinction from continuous price increases due to inflation. “Have you expressed any concerns to President Trump directly that his tariff policy could be inflationary?” Welker asked Bessent on Sunday. “No, what I have said are tariffs are a one-time price adjustment,” Bessent responded. “So, there’s a big difference between insipid, endemic inflation within the system and consistent price level increases and a one-time adjustment,” he added.
White House dismisses rumor that led markets to jump: ‘Fake News’ --The White House pushed back on the idea that President Trump is considering a 90-day pause on tariffs as “fake news” after it spread on social media and caused the stock market to jump. “Wrong. Fake News,” the White House said on the social platform X, sharing a post that Trump is reportedly expecting to do a pause. A White House official also told The Hill “fake news” when asked about the reports. The social media action began when a user on X, Walter Bloomberg, posted that Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said Trump is considering a 90-day pause on all countries except China. The post caused major moves on the stock market, with a surge followed by a plunge within seconds. The report appeared to be an incorrect interpretation of a Hassett interview on Fox News earlier that day. Before markets opened, Hassett was asked if Trump would consider doing a 90-day pause, and he punted on the question. “I think the president is going to decide what the president is going to decide,” Hassett said. Hassett was asked about the idea after billionaire hedge fund investor Bill Ackman, who endorsed Trump last year, argued on Sunday that Trump should consider calling a “90-day time out” that would allow him to negotiate and solve “asymmetric tariff deals, and induce trillions of dollars of new investment in our country.” In a lengthy post on X, Ackman warned that the tariff plan could cause the economy to collapse and hurt Trump supporters the most. Trump, meanwhile, has not indicted he is considering a pause. He pushed back on criticism over his tariffs earlier Monday, calling on Americans to be patient and not be a “panican.” The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened sharply down on Monday morning, hitting negative 1,500 points by 9:40 a.m. EDT. Investors are bracing for a tough Monday after the Dow lost nearly 4,000 points over Thursday and Friday following Trump’s announcement on Wednesday. All three major stock indexes jumped higher on hopes of a 90-day pause, but fell back into negative territory soon after. Stocks have been volatile in the aftermath.
Trump imposes 104 percent tariff on China, as financial turmoil grows A week after US President Trump launched his economic war against the world under the banner of so-called “reciprocal tariffs,” China will have a tariff of 104 percent imposed on its goods starting today. This follows the decision by Trump to hit China with an additional 50 percent tariff, following its imposition of a 34 percent tariff on US goods in response to the US decision to impose tariffs of 54 percent last week. When previous tariff increases are considered, imposed under the first Trump administration and maintained by President Biden, the tariff level against China is now around 120 percent. Nothing like this has ever been seen before. The latest measures have brought a defiant response from Beijing. A spokesperson from the Commerce Ministry said: If the US proceeds with implementing these escalated tariff measures, China will resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests. If the US insists on going its own way, China will fight to the end. As other countries have sought talks and negotiations, Beijing is digging in for a major battle. The all-out conflict between the number one and number two economies will reverberate around the world, with far-reaching implications for every country, even more than it already has. The ministry official said the tariff escalation was a mistake compounded by another mistake and once again exposes the coercive nature of the US side. China will never accept this. The economic war against China has embroiled the countries of Southeast Asia, which have been hit with some of the highest tariffs, including Malaysia at 24 percent, Vietnam at 46 percent, Cambodia at 49 percent, Indonesia at 32 percent, and Thailand at 37 percent. These tariffs threaten to devastate their economies. The aim of these measures is not to equalize or balance trade between the US and these countries. Not even officials in the Trump administration, in their most deranged moments, believe that is remotely possible because the countries involved do not have the economic wherewithal to even come close. The tariff hikes against the region serve two purposes: one economic and the other geopolitical. In the wake of the initial round of Trump’s tariff hikes against China during his first administration, many companies moved some of their operations aimed at the US market to the region in a strategy dubbed “China Plus One,” in order to avoid the tariffs. That road has now been closed. The geopolitical objectives are the outcome of an evolving situation over the past decade and a half. Ever since President Obama launched his anti-China “Pivot to Asia” in 2011, announced from the floor of the Australian parliament, many countries in the region have been seeking to maintain a balancing act between China, to which they are deeply connected economically, and the US. The Trump tariff war against them is a declaration that the days of such maneuvering are over. They must get off the fence and fall in behind the US in its ever-increasing war drive against Beijing, or they will be hit hard.
White House insists Trump won’t budge on 104 percent China tariff - The White House on Tuesday insisted that President Trump won’t back down on his threat to impose a more than 100 percent tariff rate on China, significantly escalating the trade war between the two nations hours before the deadline approaches. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked what it would take for Trump to come to any sort of negotiating ground with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “It was a mistake for China to retaliate. The president, when America is punched, he punches back harder. That’s why there will be 104 percent tariffs going into effect on China tonight at midnight, but the president believes that Xi and China want to make a deal,” White House press Leavitt said, referring to an April 9 deadline for the tariffs to be imposed. “They just don’t know how to get that started.” “If China reaches out to make a deal, he will be incredibly gracious,” Leavitt added. She also reiterated that Trump “believes that China wants to make a deal,” after the president said on Truth Social earlier on Tuesday that “China also wants to make a deal, badly, but they don’t know how to get it started.” “We are waiting for their call. It will happen!” he added. Trump, in a post on Truth Social on Monday, threatened to add the 50 percent to the current 54 percent tariff rate. The rate was reached after Trump imposed a 34 percent tax, on top of a 20 percent rate, on China last week. The Chinese government later on Monday vowed to “fight to the end” and impose more taxes on the U.S. China initially responded to Trump’s tariffs by saying it would hit the U.S. with a matching 34 percent reciprocal tax on imports starting this week, arguing the sweeping import taxes undermine the “interests of the United States itself but also endangers global economic development and the stability of the production and supply chain.” Trump and the White House have insisted that the manufacturing of iPhones, which are primarily made in China, could move to the U.S. The device, in which a single phone is manufactured across multiple nations, could as a result see prices skyrocket should Apple pass additional costs down to consumers if it doesn’t absorb the cost of tariffs. “There’s an array of diverse jobs, more traditional manufacturing jobs… but also jobs in advanced technologies. The president is looking at all of those. He wants them to come back home,” Leavitt said, adding “absolutely. He believes we have the labor, we have the workforce, we have the resources to do it” when asked about the iPhone. Meanwhile, Trump said there could be a potential trade deal in the works with South Korea and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said Vietnam and Japan are coming to the table for talks.
Trump announces 90-day pause on ‘reciprocal’ tariffs with exception of China -- President Donald Trump announced a complete three-month pause on all the “reciprocal” tariffs that went into effect at midnight, with the exception of China, a stunning reversal from a president who had insisted historically high tariffs were here to stay. But enormous tariffs will remain on China, the world’s second-largest economy. In fact, Trump said they will be increased to 125% from 104% after China announced additional retaliatory tariffs against the United States earlier Wednesday. All other countries that were subjected to reciprocal tariff rates Wednesday will see rates go back down to the universal 10% rate, he said. “Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately,” Trump said in his social media post. “At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable,” he wrote. Speaking to reporters after the announcement, Trump said, “Nothing’s over yet, but we have a tremendous amount of spirit from other countries, including China. China wants to make a deal, they just don’t know how quite to go about it.” Mexico and Canada won’t face the 10% tariffs, a White House official told CNN. Almost every good coming from the two nations will continue to be tariffed at 25%, unless they are compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, in which case they won’t face tariffs. However, that does not apply to sector-specific tariffs Trump has imposed. Wall Street breathed a sigh of relief, however, that Trump was backing down on other extreme trade measures. Stocks rallied sharply on the news – even though the 10% universal tariff on all imports coming into the United States remained in effect. The Dow surged nearly 3,000 points or 7.87%, on Wednesday. The S&P 500 shot up 9.5%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq soared 12.2%. This marked the best day for the S&P 500 since October 2008. The Nasdaq posted its best day since January 2001 and its second-best day on record. While the Dow posted its best day in five years. This comes after markets have been getting slammed by the prospect of the significantly higher tariffs Trump laid out last week. Hours before making the announcement, Trump said “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!” He concluded the post with “DJT,” potentially a nod to Trump Media & Technology Group Corp, which trades under the ticker “DJT.” At the time, the parent of Truth Social, DJT shares were down nearly 13% this month. After the announcement, shares were up over 20% for Wednesday alone. Trump told reporters his decision to move forward with the pause was in part influenced by people “getting a little yippy yappy.” “You have to have flexibility,” he added, a stark about-face from recent comments he and administration officials have made recently insisting Trump was not going to back off his promises. Pause was baked into Trump’s tariff strategy Shortly after the announcement, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the pause was part of “his strategy all along.” But he also said that Trump had “great courage to stay the course until this moment.” CNN previously reported that Bessent traveled to Mar-a-Lago on Sunday to discuss the tariffs with Trump, encouraging him to focus on an endgame of reaching new deals with a variety of countries. Meanwhile, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Wednesday testified at a House hearing that he wasn’t aware of the pause until after it was announced. Greer added he was aware the policy change was a possibility Wednesday morning, but when asked directly if he knew the policy was going into effect, he replied that the administration discusses “all kinds of policies.” Trump later told reporters that the plan “came together early this morning” after meeting with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Bessent. “We wrote it up from our hearts.”
Another U-Turn: Trump reverses tariffs that caused market meltdown, but companies remain bewildered (AP) — President Donald Trump delivered another jarring reversal in American trade policy Wednesday, suspending for 90 days import taxes he’d imposed barely 13 hours earlier on dozens of countries while escalating his trade war with China. The moves triggered a powerful stock market rally on Wall Street but left businesses, investors and America’s trading partners bewildered about what the president is attempting to achieve.The U-turn came after the sweeping global tariffs Trump announced last week set off a four-day rout in global financial markets, paralyzed businesses and raised fears the U.S. and world economies would tumble into recession.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tried to characterize the sudden change in policy as part of a grand negotiating strategy. But to those outside the Trump administration, it looked like a cave-in to market pressure and to growing fears that the president’s impetuous use of import taxes — tariffs — would cause massive collateral economic damage.“Other countries will welcome the 90-day stay of execution — if it lasts — but the whiplash from constant zig-zags creates more of the uncertainty that businesses and governments hate,” said Daniel Russel, vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute. “The Administration’s blunt-force tactics have rattled allies, who see the sudden reversal as damage control following the market meltdown, rather than a pivot to respectful, balanced negotiations.’’Trump’s turnaround Wednesday capped a wild week in U.S. trade policy. On Wednesday April 2 — which Trump labeled “Liberation Day’’ — the president announced plans to impose tariffs on almost every country on earth, upending the world trading system. The first of his new tariffs — a 10% “baseline’’ tax on imports from most countries — went into effect Saturday.At midnight Wednesday, he upped the ante by slapping what he called “reciprocal’’ taxes on countries he accused of unfair trading practices and adding to U.S. trade deficits. Those are the tariffs he suspended for 90 days, saying the pause would give countries time to negotiate with him and his trade team.There was one exception to the reprieve: He raised the tariff on Chinese imports to a staggering 125%, punishing Beijing for announcing retaliatory tariffs on the United States. That number was adjusted even higher on Thursday — to 145% — after the White House accounted for Trump’s previous 20% fentanyl tariffs. Meanwhile, the 10% baseline tariffs on most countries – a substantial act of protectionism in their own right – remain in place.
Trump Drops Tariffs to 10% - Just minutes after Goldman Sachs put out a note forecasting a recession, Mr. Trump lowered all tariffs to 10% (except China). First, from Goldman Sachs economists: Moving to a Recession Baseline We now expect the US’s effective tariff rate to rise by at least 20pp and are forecasting a recession with a 12-month probability of 65%. We think the White House is unlikely to quickly reverse most of the new tariffs, but our probability of recession would decline if it does. We now forecast GDP growth of -1% this year on a Q4/Q4 basis (or +0.7% on an annual average basis) and a 1.5pp increase in the unemployment rate to 5.7%. This would be less severe than most past US recessions, in part because we do not see major financial imbalances that need to unwind, private sector balance sheets remain strong, and we see some room for trade deals to eventually lower tariff rates somewhat.And just minutes later from CNBC: Trump temporarily drops tariffs to 10% for most countries, hits China harder with 125%President Donald Trump on Wednesday dropped tariffs under his new trade plan to 10% on imports from most countries, as he announced a 90-day pause for stiffer, so-called reciprocal tariffs that took effect this week.Trump also said in a social media post that he was raising the tariffs imposed on imports from China to 125% “effective immediately” due to the “lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets.” It is impossible to forecast with rapidly changing policy.
Dow surges 2,900 points, S&P 500 posts biggest gain since 2008 on Trump tariff reversal: Live updates - The stock market mounted one of its biggest rallies in history after President Donald Trump announced a pause in some of his "reciprocal" tariffs on the globe, causing a market that has been under extreme pressure for the past week to explode higher.The S&P 500 skyrocketed 9.52% to settle at 5,456.90 for its biggest one-day gain since 2008. For the broad market index, it was the third-biggest gain in post-WWII history. TheDow Jones Industrial Average advanced 2,962.86 points, or 7.87%, to close at 40,608.45 for its biggest percentage advance since March 2020. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 12.16% to end at 17,124.97, notching its largest one-day jump since January 2001 and second-best day ever.About 30 billion shares traded hands, making it the heaviest volume day on Wall Street in history, according to records that go back 18 years."I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately," Trump posted on his Truth Social. Trump, in the same post, said he was raising the tariff on China higher again to 125%.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later clarified that all countries except China would return to the 10% baseline tariff rate, down from the higher rates that previously shocked the markets, as negotiations take place. The pause would not apply to sector tariffs, Bessent said.Stocks that were heavily pressured by the trade war tensions led the comeback Wednesday afternoon. Apple and Nvidiasoared more than 15% and nearly 19%, respectively.Walmart shares rallied 9.6%. Tesla shares climbed more than 22% on the back of the pause announcement."Given how depressed stock prices and sentiment had become, the 90-day pause is sparking a violent rebound, and delaying implementation certainly removes a giant overhang from the market," said Adam Crisafulli, founder of Vital Knowledge. "But — tariffs are not going away. China's tariff rate is now in triple digit territory, and who knows what happens in 90 days when this pause concludes." Prior to the announcement of the 90-day pause, investors were on edge over an escalating tit-for-tat between China and Trump. The European Union had also approved its first set of tariffs on the U.S. set to start April 15.Nonetheless, stocks were trending higher into the afternoon. Traders were encouraged after Bessent stated he would be taking a lead negotiating role in tariff talks. President Trump also urged investors that now was "a great time to buy" shortly after the market open in a post on Truth Social.Trump's pause declaration went out at 1:18 p.m. ET when the Dow was about 350 points higher for the day. Seconds later, the 30-stock index surged more than 2,000 points. In a press conference later in the afternoon, Trump said investors' fears had gone overboard."I thought that people were jumping a little bit out of line. They were getting yippy, you know, they were getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid," said Trump.Anxiety around the rollout of the tariffs fueled a four-day routfor stocks. Over the course of the previous four trading sessions, the Dow lost more than 4,500 points, while the S&P 500 sustained a 12% fall. The Nasdaq Composite was down more than 13% during that period. These were losses not seen since the Covid-19 pandemic. "This allows for at least a near-term rally, but I would not assume that the bottom has been put in place," added Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research. "Fool me once shame on you; fool me five times, shame on me."The White House clarified late Wednesday afternoon that Mexico and Canada will not be affected by the tariff pause.A White House official told CNBC that the existing U.S. tariffs on those countries — a 25% duty on goods not covered by the trilateral trade deal known as USMCA — will stay the same. Those two countries will not be subject to the 10% tariff that applies to most of the U.S.' other trading partners. Mexico and Canada were also left out when the so-called reciprocal tariffs were originally announced last week.
Why Trump and others are worried about the bond market -President Trump’s tariff plans have raised jitters about the stability of the bond market as demand quickly dropped before he implemented his 90-day pause on most tariffs. Trump referenced the bond market in his Wednesday remarks explaining his decision to institute the pause, seeming to note the drop in demand for U.S. Treasurys that have generally been considered to be stable during financial chaos and a big jump in interest rates. Economists have said the bond market’s movement may have given even more reason for concern than the drops in the stock market over the past week. But the market has begun to stabilize, at least for now, with most of the tariffs delayed. Trump acknowledged that people seemed to be getting “a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid” in response to the news of his tariffs, which caused the stock market to drop hundreds of points over several days. But he pointed specifically to the bond market as demand for U.S. Treasurys dropped and interest rates saw a steep increase. “The bond market is very tricky, I was watching it. But if you look at it now it’s beautiful,” Trump said. “I saw last night where people were getting a little queasy.” Some experts said the disruption to the bond market may have been the main reason that Trump decided to change course. “The intellectual underpinning of the Trump tariff agenda is that the dollar would rise and the bond market would rally, which would offset some of the negative impact of higher tariffs and higher costs,” said Brian Gardner, the chief Washington policy strategist for the wealth management and investment banking company Stifel. “And that’s not what was happening.” Gardner said the value of the U.S. dollar internationally was weakening and borrowing costs were rising for Americans, “the very people that they intend for the tariffs to help.” He noted that the stock market seemed to react well to Trump’s pause, but the bond market could benefit the most as it had been potentially more vulnerable. “That is where some signs of stress had started to appear,” he said. The main reason why observers were so stressed is because the shifts in the bond market typically haven’t been seen during economic downturns or stock market dips. Greg Ip, the chief economics commentator for The Wall Street Journal, noted in a column for the outlet that Treasury yields, the amount that bond purchasers make on a bond they’ve bought, were up about a quarter-percentage point since April 2, when Trump first announced his latest and most wide-ranging tariffs. In the past seven instances where the S&P 500 fell by as much as it did or more, the dollar’s strength rose, he said. But this time, the dollar dropped, and the yield rate rose sharply Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning. Mark Hamrick, the senior economic analyst for the financial services company Bankrate, said a spike in the yield of the 10-year Treasury note “set off alarm bells.” He said the past few days saw a “flight” from U.S. assets around the world. “We have to acknowledge that with historically high tariffs, which are still the case as we speak … that there may be both intended and unintended consequences of a trade war in which the U.S. doesn’t hold a monopoly in firing the shots,” he said. Ip said the U.S. needs foreigners to continue with their bonds and buying news ones, as even a small reduction can cause yields to jump. He noted some concern that China, which is still facing a 145 percent tariff on all imports to the U.S., could sell some of its bond holdings as retaliation. “There is no evidence that it has, but the possibility has highlighted the risks to the U.S. of a trade war morphing into financial war,” he said. The most direct outgrowth of the impacts on the bond market is the potential for interest rates to go up, increasing the cost of borrowing money for consumers. “The administration came in with an agenda to tame inflation, lower prices,” Gardner said. “Well, if borrowing costs are rising, you’re not taming inflation.” Rising interest rates can lessen the value of other investments like certificates of deposit or money market savings accounts. Hamrick said one of the safe moves to make during instances of economic uncertainty is to prioritize emergency savings. “Our Bankrate surveys historically have found that majority of Americans live paycheck to paycheck,” he said. “And in an environment where employment, income and inflation may be working at odds with our best financial interests, having more money in the bank … you’d rather have some money getting some return than insufficient money getting no return.” He said the interest rate environment and monetary policy are “highly uncertain,” but interest rates could remain relatively stable in the long term. “But we’ve seen some volatility in rates and predicting the future outlook for those is difficult,” Hamrick added.Trump "Pauses" Reciprocal Tariffs For 90 Days On Every Nation (Except China) The President wrote on his Truth Social account: Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World's Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately. At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable. Conversely, and based on the fact that more than 75 Countries have called Representatives of the United States, including the Departments of Commerce, Treasury, and the USTR, to negotiate a solution to the subjects being discussed relative to Trade, Trade Barriers, Tariffs, Currency Manipulation, and Non Monetary Tariffs, and that these Countries have not, at my strong suggestion, retaliated in any way, shape, or form against the United States, ... ...I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter! The result is a massive surge in US equity markets (up 7-9%)... ...cutting losses post-Liberation Day in half... Bitcoin is also soaring... Oil prices are also spiking... Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called China, "the biggest source of US trade problems," adding that he seeing Japan, Vietnam, India, and South Korea today for negotiations. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick added:. "Scott Bessent and I sat with the President while he wrote one of the most extraordinary Truth posts of his Presidency. The world is ready to work with President Trump to fix global trade, and China has chosen the opposite direction." Bessent also confirmed that both Mexico and Canada are included in the 'pause' (despite what appeared to be retaliation). No mention of Europe yet, which also retaliated. Additionally, Bessent said that the bond market meltdown did not impact this decision... sure! * * *
China hits back at US and will raise tariffs on American goods from 84% to 125% - (AP) — China announced Friday that it will raise tariffs on U.S. goods from 84% to 125% — the latest salvo in an escalating trade war between the world’s two largest economies that has rattled markets and raised fears of a global slowdown. While U.S. President Donald Trump paused import taxes this week for other countries, he raised tariffs on China and they now total 145%. China has denounced the policy as “economic bullying” and promised countermeasures. The new tariffs begin Saturday. Washington’s repeated raising of tariffs “will become a joke in the history of the world economy,” a Chinese Finance Ministry spokesman said in a statement announcing the new tariffs. “However, if the U.S. insists on continuing to substantially infringe on China’s interests, China will resolutely counter and fight to the end.” China’s Commerce Ministry said it would file another lawsuit with the World Trade Organization against the U.S. tariffs. “There are no winners in a tariff war,” Chinese leader Xi Jinping said during a meeting with the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, according to a readout from state broadcaster CCTV. “For more than 70 years, China has always relied on itself ... and hard work for development, never relying on favors from anyone, and not fearing any unreasonable suppression.” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday said China stands firm against Trump’s tariffs not only to defend its own rights and interests but also to “safeguard the common interests of the international community to ensure that humanity is not dragged back into a jungle world where might makes right.” Wang made the remarks when he met Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Beijing. Wang said China will “work together with other countries to jointly resist all retrogressive actions in the world.”
Trump’s tariff “pause”: Another expression of the deepening crisis of US imperialism and the capitalist orderThe announcement yesterday by US President Trump of a 90-day pause in the implementation of his so-called “reciprocal tariffs,” ostensibly to allow negotiations to take place, is another expression of the deepening economic and financial crisis of American imperialism and its state. The move came amid growing signs that the entire financial system—in particular the US Treasury market—was just days or even hours away from a meltdown on the scale of the crises of September 2008 and March 2020, or potentially even greater. In announcing the pause, Trump revealed the essential core of his tariff hikes by escalating the economic war against China—the world’s second-largest economy—which all factions of the US political establishment regard as an existential threat to American global hegemony. Trump declared that, because China had retaliated against US tariff hikes, tariffs on Chinese goods would be raised to 125 percent “effective immediately.” In an earlier period, such an economic blockade would have been recognized as an act of war. While the “reciprocal tariffs” on all other countries are being temporarily suspended, the 10 percent tariff on all goods entering the US will remain in effect. In the lead-up to the announcement, the selloff on global stock markets continued. Even more significant, however, was the selloff in the US Treasury market—a foundation of the global financial system—which drove yields sharply higher. This mounting financial turmoil was a key factor in Trump’s decision. According to a person described as “close to the White House,” cited by the Financial Times: Trump is fine with Wall Street taking a hit, but he doesn’t want the whole house to come down. A number of factors were driving the mounting crisis in the Treasury market. Hedge funds and other major investors, reeling from cumulative losses in the stock market amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars, were facing margin calls from the banks—that is, demands to provide additional funds as collateral to maintain the credit lines essential to their operations. As markets plunged, the only available source of additional cash was the sale of Treasury holdings. Had this continued, it could have triggered a panic on the scale of March 2020, when the Treasury market froze and the US Federal Reserve intervened, injecting trillions of dollars into the system within days to restore stability. It became apparent that foreign investors and governments—which hold roughly one-third of US Treasury bonds—were beginning to pull out of the market. There were also signs that hedge funds were being forced to unwind their so-called “basis trades,” a strategy that profits from small differences between the price of Treasury bonds and their corresponding futures contracts. Because the price gap is minimal, these trades rely on massive leverage, with the total volume estimated at around $1 trillion. Fears were emerging that China, the second largest holder of US Treasury bonds, could start to shift out of dollar assets in response to Trump’s economic war against it. The dollar has been falling on currency markets, raising growing questions about how long it can maintain its role as the global reserve currency under conditions in which US policy is a major source of instability and uncertainty. Summing up the worsening situation, longtime analyst Ed Yardeni remarked that the selloff of US Treasuries—usually considered a safe haven during periods of financial stress—was a sign that “the Trump administration may be playing with liquid nitro.” Larry Summers, the treasury secretary under Clinton, said yesterday that the events of the previous 24 hours were a warning that a “serious financial crisis wholly induced by US government tariff policy” could be looming.
GOP senator on Trump’s trade policy:: 'I don’t know what the endgame is here yet’ - Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) expressed uncertainty about President Trump’s trade policy to CNN’s Manu Raju on Wednesday. “I still don’t know exactly what his total strategy is,” Johnson said on Capitol Hill in a clip that aired on CNN’s “The Arena” in a clip highlighted by Mediaite. “We know what his goal was … he wants reciprocity.”“I don’t know what the endgame is here yet,” Johnson added later.On Wednesday, Trump ratcheted tariffs to 125 percent on China and implemented a 90-day pause on “reciprocal” tariffs against all other trading partners except China. Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately. At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. The pause follows markets across the globe facing intense instability and anxieties after the president’s tariff announcement last week. The decision by the president to halt the higher “reciprocal” tariffs, which affected 60 countries early Wednesday, resulted in a swift market surge. Shortly after Trump’s post, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 2,000 points.
Trump threatens tariffs, sanctions on Mexico for robbing Texas farmers of water -- President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs, and possibly sanctions against Mexico, if it continues to rob South Texas farmers of Rio Grande water promised under a decades-old treaty. In a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump proclaimed that Mexico owes Texas 1.3 million acre-feet of water under the 1944 Water Treaty, though Mexico was violating their obligation. "This is very unfair, and it is hurting South Texas Farmers very badly," the president wrote. "Last year, the only Sugar Mill in Texas CLOSED, because Mexico has been stealing the water from Texas Farmers. Ted Cruz has been leading the fight to get South Texas the water it is owed, but Sleepy Joe refused to lift a finger to help the Farmers. THAT ENDS NOW!" Trump continued, saying he will make sure Mexico does not violate treaties with the U.S. and hurt farmers in Texas. "Just last month, I halted water shipments to Tijuana until Mexico complies with the 1944 Water Treaty," he said. "My Agriculture Secretary, Brooke Rollins, is standing up for Texas Farmers, and we will keep escalating consequences, including TARIFFS and, maybe even SANCTIONS, until Mexico honors the Treaty, and GIVES TEXAS THE WATER THEY ARE OWED!" Texas farm groups warned of a disastrous season ahead of them for citrus and sugar, last year, as Mexican and U.S. officials tried to resolve a dispute over the 1944 water treaty that supplies U.S. farmers with critical irrigation. The two countries have tussled over the treaty before, but the drought-driven water shortages were the most severe in nearly 30 years. President Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Mexico, and now officials like Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum are working with the U.S. to take on cartels and fentanyl. (Reuters) Under the treaty designed to allocate shared water resources, Mexico is required to send 1.75 million acre-feet of water from the Rio Grande to the U.S. over a five-year cycle. Texas's half-billion-dollar citrus industry is heavily dependent on water from Mexico, especially with drought conditions growing more severe in the region. In fact, Texas is the third-largest citrus state behind California and Florida. Last month, the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs posted that it was denying a request from Mexico to deliver water to Tijuana.
Trump Admin Mulls Farmer Bailout After China's Retaliatory Tariffs Threaten Exports -The Trump administration is exploring options to shield American farmers from deepening fallout as its trade conflict with China intensifies, including a possible revival of bailout programs once used during earlier skirmishes with Beijing. According to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, officials are "looking at that again," referencing a $28 billion aid package deployed during President Trump’s first term through the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), a government-owned entity designed to support farm incomes and prices. "Obviously everything is on the table, but we’re in such a period of uncertainty in terms of what this looks like," Rollins told Bloomberg Wednesday at the White House, adding that no final decisions had been made, emphasizing the administration's hope that aid wouldn’t be necessary. "The goal is we won’t need to do it at all," Rollins said. "That these changes and the realignment of the economy will result in an unprecedented air of prosperity for all Americans, but especially for our farmers and our ranchers." The remarks come as U.S.-China trade tensions escalate at a pace that has rattled global markets and amplified fears of an economic slowdown. After President Trump hiked duties on Chinese imports to 104%, Beijing responded by announcing sweeping tariffs that would bring levies on all American goods to 84%. The retaliatory actions are hitting American agriculture particularly hard, as foreign buyers pull back and alternative suppliers - most notably Brazil - seize market share in global staples including corn and wheat. Many U.S. farmers, already burdened by high input costs and interest rates, now face diminishing export opportunities amid rising global competition. Meanwhile, proposed cuts to domestic nutrition assistance programs could reduce government food buying, adding another layer of stress for farmers.That said, the Trump White House is banking on its political alliance with rural America to hold firm. Farmers and ranchers remain a crucial electoral bloc for the president, and discussions of renewed aid suggest a growing recognition of the political and economic risk the trade war poses to that support.
House Republicans Block Democratic Bid To Force Vote On Tariffs -House Republicans blocked on April 9 an effort by Democrats to force a vote on halting the reciprocal tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, which are currently paused for three months. The maneuver was done through a rule, which the House of Representatives must vote on to advance to votes on measures.The House Rules Committee advanced the rule 9-3 on April 9, which mainly deals with the unrelated budget resolution to unlock the reconciliation process to pass Trump’s signature legislative agenda. The rule punts the vote on the resolution to September.The disapproval resolution would block the emergency authority that allowed Trump to enact the tariffs, which were announced on April 2. The reciprocal tariffs took effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on Wednesday.The resolution was introduced by Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), and Richard Neal (D-Mass.). It has an additional 23 co-sponsors.“By implementing these tariffs, Trump has now imposed the largest and most regressive tax in modern history, sent the stock market into its worst plunge since COVID, and is risking a global recession,” they said in a statement. “These tariffs are nothing more than a sales tax on American families, driving up prices on everything from groceries to cars.”Disapproval resolutions force a vote in the House and Senate, where a simple majority is needed for passage as opposed to being subject to the 60-vote filibuster threshold. The Senate passed a resolution last week to block Trump’s 25 percent and 10 percent tariffs on Canadian goods and energy, respectively. All Democrats and four Republicans voted in favor of it. The House is not expected to take it up, and the president is expected to veto it should it pass Congress. House Republicans blocked a similar disapproval resolution last month through a rule.
Wall Street starts to cut China GDP forecasts on U.S. trade tensions — Citi on Tuesday became one of the first investment firms to lower its China growth forecast on escalating trade tensions with the U.S. In less than a week, U.S. tariffs on goods from China have more than doubled, while Beijing has hit back with more duties and restrictions on U.S. businesses. Citi analysts cut their forecast for China's gross domestic product to 4.2% this year, down by 0.5 percentage point, as they see "little scope for a deal between the U.S. and China after recent escalations." Natixis on Monday also told reporters the firm was cutting its China GDP forecast to 4.2% this year, down from 4.7% previously. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have not yet cut their forecasts, but warned this week of increasing downside risks to their expectation — currently both predict 4.5% growth. China in March announced its official growth target would be "around 5%" for 2025, but stressed that it would not be easy to reach the goal. "The main issue is that uncertainty for the economy is rising," Hao Zhou, chief economist at Guotai Junan International, said Tuesday in Mandarin, translated by CNBC. He noted that visibility on future growth had dropped significantly, while U.S. tariffs might keep on rising. U.S. President Donald Trump announced an additional 50% in tariffs on Chinese goods entering the U.S. will take effect Wednesday after Beijing raised duties on all U.S. products by 34%. As part of its plan for sweeping tariffs on multiple countries, the White House last week had said it would add a 34% levy on Chinese goods. Combined with two rounds of 10% tariff increases earlier this year, new U.S. tariffs on Chinese products in 2025 have reached 104%. While an initial 50% increase in duties could reduce Chinese GDP by 1.5 percentage points, a subsequent 50% increase would drag it down by a smaller 0.9 percentage point, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a report Tuesday. Chinese exports to the U.S. account for about 3 percentage points of China's total GDP, Goldman said, noting that includes 2.35 percentage points of domestic value add and 0.65 percentage point of associated manufacturing investment. China is expected to report March trade data on Monday, and first quarter GDP on April 16. Nomura now expects China's exports to drop by 2% this year, worse than their previous expectation of no change, the firm's Chief China Economist Ting Lu said in a report Tuesday. But he kept his 2025 GDP forecast of 4.5%. "Given the extraordinarily fluid situation, it is impossible to reasonably estimate the impact of the ongoing U.S.-China trade war on China's economy," he said, adding that his forecast already accounted for significantly worse tensions. China this week signaled it could cut interest rates or increase fiscal spending to bolster growth in the near future. Diminishing impact from tariffs can also feed into Beijing's calculus that U.S. leverage is likely reaching a ceiling, Yue Su, principal economist, China, at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said in an email. "From Beijing's perspective, the strategic gains of a strong retaliation now appear to outweigh the associated economic costs," she said.
Why Trump's attempt to pressure China with ever-rising tariffs may backfire— Faced with steep tariffs slapped on their goods by President Donald Trump, many U.S. trade partners have scrambled to offer concessions in exchange for lower rates, making frantic calls to the White House and rushing officials to Washington.But not China, which not only has not sought negotiations but hasmatched Trump tariff for tariff.On Friday, Beijing said its total levy on U.S. goods would increase to 125%, equaling the combined tariffs Trump has imposed on China since he announced duties on a wide range of countries at his “Liberation Day” event at the White House last week.The spiraling trade war between the U.S. and China, the two biggest economies, has implications for the whole world, sending global markets convulsing in the past week.Trump, who alleges that China has long “ripped off” the United States by selling it far more goods than it purchases, appears hopeful that Beijing will be forced into negotiations, telling reporters Thursday that the tariffs — which together with earlier levies now reach an eye-watering 145% — were his way of “resetting the table.” Trump’s approach not only confuses China but is also likely to hinder communication and roll back progress in U.S.-China ties, analysts told NBC News. "The specific tactics and the way they’ve been rolled out, it produced antibodies on the Chinese side," said Rick Waters, a former State Department diplomat who is now the Singapore-based director of Carnegie China. "Calling publicly for Xi Jinping to talk to the president… it’s just not going to work," he added, referring to to the Chinese president. Wu Xinbo, a government adviser serving in China’s Foreign Ministry and a professor at Fudan University in Shanghai, said Beijing had decided it was preferable to keep fighting until the U.S. was ready to compromise. If China concedes, the U.S. will see it as a “sign of weakness” and keep pushing for more, he said. China also has a strong distaste for Trump’s negotiating style, which is to curse, blast and push adversaries around to achieve maximum concessions, Wu said. Such tactics reinforce China’s impression that the U.S. is trying to block its development. China “is not afraid of any unreasonable suppression,” the country's president Xi Jinping said Friday without mentioning the U.S. by name, in his first public comments on tariffs since Trump began hiking them last week. “Regardless of how the external environment changes,” he said, “China will remain confident and focused, concentrating on doing its own thing well.”
Trump tariffs lead to soaring tensions, risks for US, China -- Economic tensions between the U.S. and China are soaring after President Trump raised tariffs on Chinese products to 125 percent on Wednesday and China retaliated by raising tariffs on U.S. exports to 84 percent. While Trump on Wednesday paused his “reciprocal” tariffs on dozens of other countries, he hit China harder, intensifying an economic battle between the two major powers. Beyond the tariffs on Chinese goods themselves — which total 145 percent because of an earlier 20 percent tariff imposed by Trump — the trade dispute extends into multiple other areas of economic interaction between the U.S. and China. These include U.S. companies being added to a Chinese blacklist, a deal for the sale of Chinese social media company TikTok being paused, Chinese importers opting for agricultural commodities produced in countries other than the U.S., Chinese currency devaluation and large-scale government subsidization of the private sector. The war of words between the U.S. and China is reaching a fever pitch, and diplomats are spitting fire. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the tariffs are isolating the U.S. from the rest of the world, an accusation that the U.S. has levied against China for its own trade practices. Yu Jin, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in India, posted a clip of Trump in which the president says, “These countries are calling us up, kissing my ass. They are dying to make a deal.” “Really???” she responded to the clip. “Which countries are they???” U.S. officials have been no less colorful in their criticisms. Earlier this week, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested that smartphones made by tech giant Apple, which boasts one of the most sophisticated supply chains in the global economy, would be produced in the U.S., calling out the Chinese labor force. “We are going to replace the armies of millions of people — well, remember, the army of millions and millions of human beings — screwing in little screws to make iPhones,” he said. “That kind of thing is going to come to America. It’s going to be automated.” The Trump administration has opposed carve-outs from the tariffs for particular companies, even though the White House published a list of hundreds of exemptions following the initial general tariff order on April 2. The exemptions cover about $644 billion worth of 2024 U.S. imports, according to an analysis by the Tax Foundation. However, Trump said Wednesday that he would “take a look” at the possibility of company carve-outs “as time goes by.” On Thursday, he expressed interest in negotiating a deal with China. “We’ll see what happens with China. We would love to be able to work a deal,” he said. “We’re resetting the table.” Even if a deal is worked out, the damage to well-established consumer goods pipelines may already be done. A new report from Hong Kong-based supply chain auditor and quality control company QIMA found that U.S. retailers are increasingly looking to Indonesia, the Philippines and Cambodia as opposed to the more familiar East Asian alternatives to Chinese production of Vietnam and Bangladesh. QIMA CEO Sebastien Breteau said in a Thursday commentary that reshoring U.S. consumer manufacturing jobs, which have been declining for decades, is an unlikely value proposition and ultimately damages U.S. credibility.
Supreme Court lifts orders blocking Trump from deporting Venezuelans under Alien Enemies Act The Supreme Court vacated a judge’s order temporarily blocking the Trump administration from using the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) to deport Venezuelans, enabling the ability to resume removals under the wartime powers. The matter before the Supreme Court was not whether the Trump administration properly used its wartime power to expel those it has accused of being gang members but from where those challenging their removal must launch their suits. While the order requires those challenging Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to do so in Texas, where they are being detained, the court dealt a blow to the Trump administration’s swift removal of the mean without hearings. The court said Venezuelans they seek to deport must have adequate notice in order to be able to challenge their removal – confronting the administration’s removal of men without giving them the ability to contest their alleged gang ties. “AEA detainees must receive notice after the date of this order that they are subject to removal under the Act. The notice must be afforded within a reasonable time and in such a manner as will allow them to actually seek habeas relief in the proper venue before such removal occurs,” the court wrote in a per curium order, adding that the decision “confirm[s] that the detainees subject to removal orders under the AEA are entitled to notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal.” A dissenting opinion likewise blasted the Trump administration for taking “covert” actions to quickly deport Venezuelans without any outside review. “The Government’s plan, it appeared, was to rush plaintiffs out of the country before a court could decide whether the President’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act was lawful or whether these individuals were, in fact, members of Tren de Aragua,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote, referring to the Venezuelan gang. The order lifts a temporary restraining order imposed by U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg, based in Washington, D.C., who had blocked the Trump administration from using the act to send Venezuelan migrants to a Salvadoran prison. The decision comes the same day that the court halted the Monday deadline for the Trump administration to secure the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man and Salvadoran national who was mistakenly sent to the same prison under a different authority despite a 2019 order protecting him from deportation. Justice Department attorneys said he was sent to the prison due to an “administrative error.” The high court’s action will allow the Trump administration to resume flights to El Salvador, where it has paid the government there $6 million to house Venezuelan migrants in the country’s Terrorism Confinement Center, known by CECOT for its acronym in Spanish. Though the Alien Enemies Act has been little used in America’s history, Trump’s use of the law to target alleged gang members is a novel one. The law allows for the swift deportation of anyone from an “enemy nation” and comes as President Trump has accused the Tren de Aragua gang of acting at the behest of the Venezuelan government. Dissenting justices, which included Sotomayor as well as Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, in an opinion joined in part by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, questioned Trump’s legal underpinning for activating the act. “There is, of course, no ongoing war between the United States and Venezuela. Nor is Tren de Aragua itself a ‘foreign nation,'” they wrote. Though Abrego Garcia was sent to the prison through immigration authorities, critics say it shows the high stakes of the Trump administration’s swift deportation of Venezuelans.
DOJ asks Supreme Court to lift order to return wrongly deported man - The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to lift a judge’s ruling ordering the government to return a man mistakenly deported to El Salvador by the end of Monday. Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who resides in Maryland, was removed despite an immigration judge’s 2019 ruling protecting him from being deported to the country. The administration has blamed it on an “administrative error.” Calling U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis’s Friday order to return Abrego Garcia “unprecedented relief,” the Justice Department (DOJ) said it can’t comply with the ruling and called for the high court’s emergency intervention. “And this order sets the United States up for failure,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote. “The United States cannot guarantee success in sensitive international negotiations in advance, least of all when a court imposes an absurdly compressed, mandatory deadline that vastly complicates the give-and-take of foreign-relations negotiations. The United States does not control the sovereign nation of El Salvador, nor can it compel El Salvador to follow a federal judge’s bidding,” Sauer continued. By default, the administration’s request will go to Chief Justice John Roberts, who handles emergency appeals arising from the 4th Circuit. He could act on the application alone or refer it to the full court for a vote. The request came minutes before a 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals three-judge panel unanimously denied the administration’s bid to lift the judge’s order. “The United States Government has no legal authority to snatch a person who is lawfully present in the United States off the street and remove him from the country without due process,” U.S. Circuit Judge Stephanie Thacker, joined by U.S. Circuit Judge Robert King, wrote in a concurring opinion. “The Government’s contention otherwise, and its argument that the federal courts are powerless to intervene, are unconscionable,” wrote the judges, who were both appointed by Democratic presidents. The Supreme Court filing did not backtrack on the admission that Abrego Garcia was removed in error, but it maintained its assertion that he is a member of the MS-13 gang, something the man’s relatives deny. “While the United States concedes that removal to El Salvador was an administrative error, that does not license district courts to seize control over foreign relations, treat the Executive Branch as a subordinate diplomat, and demand that the United States let a member of a foreign terrorist organization into America tonight,” the Justice Department wrote. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers have pointed to earlier immigration court proceedings showing he fled El Salvador due to gang violence. The allegation he is a member of the gang is based on a confidential informant’s claim in 2019 that Abrego Garcia was a member of a chapter in New York, where he has never lived. The Justice Department over the weekend suspended one of the attorneys working on Abrego Garcia’s case, complaining he did not sufficiently advocate on behalf of the Justice Department.In its own ruling, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined that it was Attorney General Pam Bondi who lacked the authority to send Abrego Garcia to El Salvador in the first place, something the court said does not block its jurisdiction over the matter.
DOJ suspends attorney on case of mistakenly deported man -The Justice Department has suspended an attorney who admitted the Trump administration mistakenly deported a Maryland man to a Salvadoran prison, with Attorney General Pam Bondi saying he did not act zealously in fighting the suit. Erez Reuveni was suspended Saturday after a judge ordered the Trump administration to secure the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national living in Maryland who had been protected from removal in 2019. Bondi, appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” referenced Reuveni’s suspension. “He was put on administrative leave by Todd Blanche on Saturday. And I firmly said on Day 1, I issued a memo that you are to vigorously advocate on behalf of the United States. Our client in this matter was Homeland Security — is Homeland Security. He did not argue. He shouldn’t have taken the case. He shouldn’t have argued it, if that’s what he was going to do. He’s on administrative leave now,” she said. “You have to vigorously argue on behalf of your client.” Reuveni, a career Justice Department prosecutor, has been with the department for almost 15 years and was recently promoted by the Trump administration as acting deputy director of the Office of Immigration Litigation. \ In court filings, Reuveni and other department officials on the case had acknowledged Abrego Garcia was sent to the prison due to an “administrative error” but had argued against his return, saying it would be difficult to remove him from the Salvadoran prison. After a Friday ruling ordering his return, the Justice Department within an hour said it would be appealing the decision. In a Sunday order rejecting a bid by the government to halt her earlier directive to return Abrego Garcia, U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis cited weak arguments from the government, quoting Reuveni conceding “he should not have been removed to El Salvador.” She also noted Reuveni did not know why Abrego Garcia was held at El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center. “I don’t know. That information has not been given to me. I don’t know,” he said during a hearing. “That silence is telling,” Xinis wrote in a scathing decision determining Abrego Garcia’s removal was “wholly unlawful.” “As Defendants acknowledge, they had no legal authority to arrest him, no justification to detain him, and no grounds to send him to El Salvador — let alone deliver him into one of the most dangerous prisons in the Western Hemisphere,” she wrote, describing the Justice Department as “having confessed grievous error.” “To avoid clear irreparable harm, and because equity and justice compels it, the Court grants the narrowest, daresay only, relief warranted: to order that Defendants return Abrego Garcia to the United States.”
Roberts temporarily halts deadline for Trump administration to return mistakenly deported man - Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily halted a judge’s midnight deadline for the Trump administration to return to the country a man mistakenly deported to El Salvador. Roberts agreed to hold the deadline until the high court can resolve the Trump administration’s emergency request to lift the judge’s order. The order does not address the underlying merits of the dispute and is not necessarily an indication of how the court will rule. The Trump administration has acknowledged an “administrative error” that mistakenly removed Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who resides in Maryland, despite an immigration judge’s 2019 ruling protecting him from being deported to El Salvador over fears of violence. Abrego Garcia was one of hundreds of migrants deported to a notorious Salvadoran prison last month. The administration has accused him of being connected to MS-13 based on a report from a confidential informant, but Abrego Garcia’s family rejects that he has any gang ties. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, an appointee of former President Obama who serves in Maryland, late last week set the Monday night deadline for the Trump administration to return the man to the country. But the Justice Department insists it cannot bring Abrego Garcia back to the United States now that he is in the hands of Salvadoran authorities, writing in court filings that the lower ruling “sets the United States up for failure.” The administration filed its emergency appeal at the Supreme Court on Monday morning, minutes before a midlevel appeals court rejected a bid to stave off the deadline.In court filings, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers said the administration’s request is “built on a series of strawmen.” “He sits in a foreign prison solely at the behest of the United States, as the product of a Kafka-esque mistake,” his attorneys wrote to the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court rules Trump administration must ‘facilitate’ return of mistakenly deported man - The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to lift a judge’s order requiring the Trump administration to “facilitate” the return of a Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador.The court’s emergency ruling instructs the lower judge to clarify the language of her order but said she acted properly in ensuring that Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case is handled “as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.” “The District Court should clarify its directive, with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs. For its part, the Government should be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps,” the order reads. There were no noted dissents. “In the proceedings on remand, the District Court should continue to ensure that the Government lives up to its obligations to follow the law,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a separate statement, joined by the court’s two other liberal justices.The administration acknowledges Abrego Garcia was wrongly removed but argued the courts cannot mandate his return since he is now in the hands of Salvadoran authorities, who are detaining him in the country’s notorious CECOT prison. Abrego Garcia has lived in Maryland since 2011, when he was 16 years old. In 2019, an immigration judge issued an order preventing authorities from deporting him back to El Salvador over concerns he would face violence there. Despite the order, Abrego Garcia was aboard one of a series of March 15 flights that left U.S. soil and ultimately landed in El Salvador. The Trump administration has since blamed it on an “administrative error” but argues it is powerless to bring him back.
White House responds to Supreme Court ruling on mistaken deportation - The White House on Friday responded to the Supreme Court’s ruling that the Trump administration must “facilitate” the return of a Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador, rather than “effectuate” the return.“The Supreme Court made their ruling last night very clear that it’s the administration’s responsibility to facilitate the return, not to effectuate the return,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.Leavitt had been asked whether President Trump wants the leader of El Salvador to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who was deported from the U.S. to a prison in his home country, with him when he visits the White House next week. “I believe the Department of Justice just filed another brief in the lower board. I would defer you to that for any updates,” Leavitt said.As Leavitt was briefing reporters, the federal judge overseeing the case in lower court tore into the Justice Department at a hearing for refusing to comply with her order for more information about the man mistakenly deported to El Salvador. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign repeatedly indicated he had no update as to the status of Abrego Garcia or any efforts to return him, saying the administration was still assessing the Supreme Court’s Thursday evening ruling in his case. In a post on social platform X sharing a clip of Leavitt’s response, the Trump White House Rapid Response page referred to Abrego Garcia as a “deported MS-13 gang member and human trafficker.” But the White House has yet to offer any evidence he has links to the gang or that he has a criminal record, which is typically public information. The Supreme Court refused to lift a federal judge’s earlier order requiring the administration to facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia, who lives in Maryland and was protected by an immigration judge’s 2019 order preventing his deportation over concerns he would face violence in El Salvador. The administration has acknowledged that Abrego Garcia was wrongly removed from the U.S. but pointed to an “administrative error” and argued that the courts could not mandate his return once he was in the hands of Salvadoran authorities. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele is set to visit the White House on Monday “to talk about the cooperation that is at an all time high” between the two countries, Leavitt said Friday, as they work together on “the repatriation of El Salvadoran gang members who the previous administration allowed to infiltrate our country.” Leavitt has previously said the two leaders will talk about the use of a supermax prison for deported migrants as Trump cracks down on immigration, though the facility has been hit with allegations of human rights violations.
Jewish advocacy group questions DHS on plans to use antisemitism to deny immigration benefits - A Jewish civil rights group is asking the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) how it plans to evaluate migrants’ social media accounts after the agency said it would use antisemitic content as grounds for denying immigration benefits. The department said Wednesday it would “begin considering aliens’ antisemitic activity on social media” as it weighs whether to approve applications for green cards or student visas. But the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), an 80-year-old nonpartisan Jewish advocacy group, asked the DHS how it plans to make that evaluation. “Make no mistake: the threat of antisemitism is real and rising in the United States and around the globe,” the group’s CEO Amy Spitalnick wrote in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. “At the same time, this new policy raises significant questions as to how it will be applied — particularly as many in the Jewish community have already expressed deep concerns about how our legitimate fears of antisemitism are being used as the pretext to advance policies that undermine rights such as due process and our core democratic norms and values, which ultimately threatens the safety of Jews and all communities.” The notice from the department said the new policy would be used to target those “who support antisemitic terrorism, violent antisemitic ideologies and antisemitic terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, or Ansar Allah aka: ‘the Houthis.’” But it comes as the Trump administration has stripped more than 300 student visas and also arrested some who have participated in protests about the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. While the Trump administration has asserted those arrested have supported Hamas, critics say lawful First Amendment protests have been mischaracterized as part of a broader crackdown on free speech. The JCPA noted that the DHS said the new policy would be applied to those “affiliated with educational institutions linked to antisemitic activity.”
Trump immigrant crackdown escalates: Suicide of detained Chinese woman, workplace raids, visas for South Sudanese immigrants and college students revoked -The brutality of the Trump administration’s ICE raids and mass arrests is reaching new heights. In the last week alone, a Chinese woman committed suicide at the Border Patrol Station in Yuma, Arizona; ICE raids rounding up over 35 people at workplaces from Washington to Texas took place; the visas of all South Sudanese passport holders are being revoked; and numerous international students are facing deportation following the revocation of their visas. Increasing numbers of people who had permanent residency or visas in good standing are being seized and disappeared. These include immigrant students on college campuses who are being singled out for their political speech against the Gaza genocide.Detained immigrants are being thrown into overcrowded and inhumane facilities, where they languish for weeks or months on end in violation of due process rights. Conditions in the facilities are deteriorating due to overcrowding.In the past week alone, numerous universities across the country have released statements announcing that students had their visas revoked and student statuses terminated by the federal government. At least 48 students have had their education, career, and life upended in Trump’s dragnet against immigrants, targeting anti-genocide and political opposition to the crimes of Israel and US imperialism.Universities that released statements include:
- Stanford University: Four current students and two recent graduates had their visas revoked.
- UC Los Angeles: At least eight current students had their visas revoked.
- UC San Diego: Five students lost their visas and one was detained at the border, denied entry and deported.
- UC Berkeley: Four visas were revoked, including two for enrolled students and two for recent graduates on professional training visas.
- UC Irvine: Visa revocations were confirmed this week, though specifics were not disclosed.
- University of Alabama: One student, Alireza Doroudi, a 22-year-old Iranian citizen, was abducted from his home just off campus and and left incommunicado for two days before officials released his whereabouts.
- Arizona State University: At least eight international students had their visas revoked this past week.
- University of Massachusetts Amherst: Five international students had their visas revoked.
- Tufts University: At least one visa revocation was confirmed for Rumeysa Ozturk, a 30-year-old Fulbright scholar and doctoral student who was targeted due to her pro-Palestinian activism and abducted by masked immigration police who kidnapped her in an unmarked car.
- Minnesota State University, Mankato: Five students had their visas revoked.
- Cornell University: Mamadou Taal, a British-Gambian Ph.D. student in Africana Studies, known for playing a leading role in anti-genocide protests, had his visa revoked and was forced to flee the US.
- North Carolina State University: Saleh Al Gurad, a Saudi engineering student, had his visa revoked and was forced to leave the US.
- University of Oregon: The university confirmed the revocation of at least one student’s visa.
- University of Texas at Austin: Two students (from India and Lebanon) employed under a training program had their visas revoked.
Possibly hundreds of students have been abducted and disappeared by US immigration police in the first three months of the Trump administration. The targeting of students is aimed at upending all protected political speech, particularly opposition to US/Israeli genocide in Gaza.A still unidentified 52-year-old Chinese woman took her own life while in custody on Saturday, March 29 at the Blythe Border Patrol Station in Yuma, Arizona. According to the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Professional Responsibility, the woman had been detained after overstaying her B1/B2 visitor visa. She was arrested in Needles, California and transferred to the Arizona facility.The woman was among four Chinese immigrants who were pulled over by the CBP. Officials claimed that cash found on the immigrants “was believed to be proceeds from illegal activity and was seized for laundering.” Nearly one-quarter of the foreign-born labor force in California are Asian immigrants, including immigrants of Chinese descent. The CBP is seeking to cover up the facts surrounding the death. While the agency claims that multiple welfare checks were conducted, surveillance footage shows that the woman’s lifeless body hung for two hours after she was shown making a noose and tying it around her neck. Furthermore, the CBP is required to notify officials within 24-hours after a death, a requirement put in place after the 2018 death of a seven-year-old girl in a New Mexico facility. Conditions in the facilities are known to be horrendous. A federal judge wrote in a 2020 ruling that conditions in the neighboring Tucson sector of CBP facilities were so inhumane that they were “presumptively punitive and violate the Constitution.” At the El Paso Service Processing Center in Texas, at least eight Venezuelan immigrants alleged via video linked to media outlets that guards beat them at the end of February. Numerous videos posted on Tik Tok highlight the overcrowded and unsanitary conditions at the Krome Detention Center facility in Miami, Florida. As of March 23, 47,892 people were detained in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, an increase of 1,623 individuals in just two weeks.According to the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR), among those detained by ICE, 49.9 percent have no criminal record, while most who have any record have only minor offenses such as traffic violations. This exposes the lie that the Trump administration is pursuing “criminals.” On Wednesday, April 2, immigration officials from ICE, CBP and DHS detained 37 immigrants at Mt. Baker’s Roofing’s warehouse in Bellingham, Washington. On Saturday, April 5, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the revocation of all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders. South Sudanese immigrants in the US had been granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) due to unsafe conditions in their home country. The Trump administration is vindictively retaliating against South Sudan’s refusal to accept the return of its deported nationals.This announcement is significant as it is the first time visa revocations are specifically targeting an entire nation. The move by the Trump administration amounts to a death sentence, as immigrants would be sent back to an active war zone.
Hundreds of students, dozens of colleges hit by Trump's visa purge: What to know -Hundreds of foreign students at dozens of colleges across the country have had their higher education experience turned upside down as the Trump administration has expanded its immigration crackdown beyond those involved in the pro-Palestinian protests. International students are seeing their visas revoked for infractions as minor as traffic violations, while colleges are having to check immigration databases to find out whether their students are still allowed to be in the country. Ivy League universities, state schools and community colleges have all been impacted as students decide whether to find legal counsel or leave the country before Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) comes for them. Exactly how many visas have been revoked is unknown, because the State Department has declined requests to share numbers and some schools are too afraid to speak up. An Inside Higher Ed tracker has the number of colleges and universities affected by the visa revocations at more than 80, including public and private institutions in a wide range of locations and sizes. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last month that more than 300 student visas have been revoked under the Trump administration, with more coming every day. “We don’t discuss individual visas because of the privacy issues involved,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Tuesday. “We don’t go into statistics or numbers; we don’t go into the rationale for what happens with individual visas. What we can tell you is that the department revokes visas every day in order to secure our borders and to keep our community safe, and we’ll continue to do so.” The visa revocations began at big-name schools, such as Columbia University, and at least at first targeted students who were involved in pro-Palestinian protests. But it has expanded beyond that, with one University of Florida student detained by ICE after he was arrested for traffic violations. The American Council on Education, along with 16 other groups representing a broad swath of higher education institutions, wrote a letter on April 4 requesting a briefing with the State Department on these actions. “We seek clarity amidst reports that student visas are being revoked and records are being terminated in the Student Exchange Visitor Information System without additional information being shared with the institutions those students attend,” the letter reads.
Black veterans warn of impact of Trump's DEI purge - Black veterans are warning that the Trump administration’s effort to purge the Defense Department of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) content is sending a negative message that could impact recruitment efforts. The Pentagon has faced backlash in recent weeks after efforts to comply with President Trump’s executive order banning DEI in the military resulted in the removal of webpages dedicated to Jackie Robinson; Colin Powell; Army Maj. Gen. Charles C. Rogers, a Black recipient of the Medal of Honor; the Navajo Code Talkers and Japanese Americans. Though the military later restored the pages and said the removals were a mistake, veterans like Kyle Bibby said there is a message being sent. “There’s executive orders that actually do things, and then there’s executive orders that are made to send a message, and that message was very clear. Their intent is to try and resegregate as much of this society as possible that they think they can get away with. If they can’t do it through legal means, they’re going to try and do it by making Black people feel that we are unwelcome or unsafe in these spaces,” Bibby, co-CEO and co-founder of the Black Veterans Project, told The Hill. “The President does not put forward an executive order like that, and then also have his Secretary of Defense strip all of this Black history from these websites without this being an aligned effort. These are not isolated things that are occurring in a vacuum.” Bibby added that the idea of DEI is not new to the military, but it wasn’t always known as DEI. Rather, it was equal opportunity. Learning about other service members’ history and culture was also a natural occurrence. “We come from a massive, diverse country and because of that, we need to make sure that we’re creating a unit where people from all different walks of life can thrive, work together and accomplish the mission,” he said. “They have to take people from all walks of life and create a cohesive unit, and that means understanding how people are diverse and how to create an inclusive environment.” A 2023 survey by Syracuse University found that there are more than 350,000 active duty Black Americans and more than 2.4 million Black veterans. The majority of the survey’s respondents reported having a good experience in the military, and more than half said that they considered encountering racial discrimination in making their decision to enlist. Trump has made it a top goal of his second term to eliminate DEI across all federal agencies and institutions that receive federal funding.
Gabbard creates task force to probe intelligence community - Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced Tuesday that she was creating a task force to investigate the intelligence community to increase “transparency and accountability.” The Director’s Initiatives Group (DIG) has plans to execute President Trump’s executive order “aimed at rebuilding trust” in the intelligence community, according to a statement from Gabbard. The group will be “investigating weaponization, rooting out deep-seeded politicization, exposing unauthorized disclosures of classified intelligence, and declassifying information that serves a public interest.” The group will target “wasteful spending” in addition to “streamlining outdated processes, reviewing documents for declassification, and leading ongoing efforts to root out abuses of power and politicization,” Gabbard said. So far, the task force is “well underway” reviewing documents for potential declassification on various topics including the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation, Anomalous Health Incidents, the Biden administration’s “domestic surveillance” and censorship against Americans. The group is also in the process of revoking security clearances for individuals who “no longer have an active role in national security,” including former President Biden, former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “President Trump promised the American people maximum transparency and accountability. We are committed to executing the President’s vision and focusing the Intelligence Community on its core mission,” Gabbard’s statement said.
What to know about Trump’s ATF shake-up, Kash Patel’s removal --The Trump administration swapped out its high-profile acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), FBI Director Kash Patel, for its lesser-known Army secretary on Wednesday.The White House and Department of Justice (DOJ), which oversees the ATF, have been tight-lipped about what prompted the administrative shuffle.Reuters was the first to report the changeover Wednesday, but the newswire noted it was unclear when Patel was formally removed or when Dan Driscoll, the top civilian official in the Army, was notified that he would be taking over ATF duties.As news of Patel’s removal was made public, his photo and title still appeared on the agency’s website. Both have since been removed. Driscoll’s name is now listed as acting director, but the places for his photo and full biographical information say “coming soon.”Driscoll is a former Army first lieutenant and businessman who previously served as a senior adviser to Vice President Vance.NBC News justice and intelligence correspondent Ken Dilanian reported Wednesday that ATF officials were “shocked and confused” by the shake-up, but added that sources told him it had been weeks since Patel was seen inside an ATF facility. Patel, who has not commented on the ATF switch-up, posted Wednesday evening on social platform X that he had spent the day in Florida for an FBI event. He has since posted praise for Attorney General Pam Bondi’s leadership at the DOJ regarding the FBI’s efforts and encouraged followers to apply for jobs at the FBI.According to Reuters, Patel spent about an hour at ATF headquarters in February after he was sworn in for the second job, but he had not been seen at its main office since.Patel is seen as a fiercely loyal ally of Trump and was a divisive pick to lead the FBI. And he was not well received by some ATF veterans. “It’s pretty demoralizing,” Mark Jones, a former ATF special agent, told The Trace in February. “This guy doesn’t like the ATF and doesn’t believe in firearms regulation. I just see him coming in with a wrecking ball.” Democrats on the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force last month urged President Trump to replace Patel at the ATF, writing, “it is unconscionable that someone without experience fighting crime, responding to mass shootings or confronting domestic terrorism has been named as ATF’s Acting Director.”A Justice Department spokesperson told Reuters Patel was not dismissed due to job performance.“Director Kash Patel was briefly designated ATF Director while awaiting Senate confirmations — a standard, short-term move. Dozens of similar re-designations have occurred across the federal government,” White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said in an email to Reuters.“Director Patel is now excelling in his role at the FBI and delivering outstanding results.”
Trump is disrupting everything — why isn’t Congress doing anything? -- Much of what we know about President Trump’s leadership is revealed by his personal behavior. For example, during his first month in office, while Elon Musk conducted mass firings and canceled government services to cut spending, Trump spent nearly $10.7 million of taxpayer money to play golf at his properties. The Department of Government Efficiency hasn’t mentioned this. HuffPost calculated the expenditure based on Trump’s tax-supported golf outings during his first term. Over those four years, he golfed 293 days at a cost of $152 million. Taxpayers footed the bill for him to travel on Air Force One, transport motorcade vehicles, and station gunships off the coast of his West Palm Beach golf club. It’s unclear whether he charged his Secret Service detail to stay at his tony resorts, as he did before.Trump’s golf expenses are chump change compared to his cost-cutting and revenue-raising plans for the government. Still, they illustrate a double standard when tens of thousands of government workers have been fired with little notice and without cause, suddenly jobless and unable to waste money on something like green fees. Trump’s big initiatives reflect his personality, too. They appear to be driven by impulse rather than sound analysis. Their costs and benefits are not transparent, and his decisions are mercurial. They are causing considerable disruption in the stock market, business plans and people’s retirement funds. It’s not clear Trump knows what he’s doing. For example, he and his advisers say import tariffs will generate billions of dollars in tax breaks. However, these are tax increases imposed on American businesses that rely on imports. Companies will pass the cost along to consumers. Trump adviser Peter Navarro seems confused, too. “The message here is that tariffs are tax cuts,” he told Fox News. Then, he predicted they would raise about $600 billion annually. As one business writer explains, tariffs are “likely to represent a huge tax increase unlike anything seen in history.” However, the size of the tax increase is impossible to predict because Trump keeps his plans close to his chest and keeps changing his mind. His pattern of imposing tariffs one day and suspending them the next has “already upended diplomatic ties, shake markets, and confounded entire industries,” the New York Times notes. What will Trump do with all the money? We don’t know. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the president might use it for leverage in negotiations with other countries. Other advisers would prefer to pay down the federal debt or fund more tax breaks for wealthy Americans. Trump’s immigration plan is another example of his impulsiveness. Federal agents seem to be swooping in and sweeping up just about anyone who is not white and has tattoos. Suspects are shipped off to other countries illegally, without due process to determine whether they have the right to be here.Meanwhile, although career federal workers can be fired only for cause and with the right to appeal, Musk has summarily dismissed tens of thousands. He’s canceling programs and entire agencies without permission from Congress or any apparent analysis of what the cuts will mean for the millions of Americans who rely on the government. If hiring should be based on merit, merit should be favored in dismissals, too. It’s not hard to identify and retain the best workers because federal employees undergo annual performance reviews. Trump claims DOGE is “saving taxpayers billions and billions of dollars every single day.” Is it? Trump can cut federal programs, but the problems the programs addressed remain, whether it’s industrial pollution, weather disasters, abject poverty, veterans’ suicides or lousy schools. The problems will fester, or states and their taxpayers will have to pick the costs of dealing with them. Trump is disrupting lives and the economy on an unprecedented scale, with much more to come as Americans begin feeling the consequences of his decisions, especially if Congress codifies them. The potential victims include the 68 million retirees who received Social Security payments in fiscal 2024, 22 million people who receive health care under the Affordable Care Act, 67 million people enrolled in Medicare, millions of families that survive because of social safety nets, 18 million veterans who receive disability and retirement benefits or medical care at the Veterans Administration’s hospitals and clinics, and all 340 million Americans whose lives, health and productivity are threatened by unregulated pollution.
‘Hands Off!’ Protests Across the U.S. Show Growing Opposition to Trump and Musk’s ‘Hostile Takeover’ - Millions of people in all 50 states and across the world participated in 1,400 Hands Off! protests on Saturday against the actions and policies of President Donald Trump and senior advisor Elon Musk.At state capitals, federal buildings, congressional offices, city halls, parks and Social Security’s headquarters,people gathered by the thousands to demand a stop to what Hands Off! called a “billionaire power grab,” reported CNN.“We are facing a national crisis. Our democracy, our livelihoods, and our rights are all on the line as Trump and Musk execute their illegal takeover,” Hands Off said on its website. “This is not just corruption. This is not just mismanagement. This is a hostile takeover.”Almost 600,000 people were said to have signed up to attend the Hands Off! events, which were held in major cities likeParis, London and New York, as well as smaller cities and towns — from Asheville, North Carolina, to Frankfort, Kentucky.Indivisible led the movement alongside a nationwide coalition of civil rights organizations, women’s rights groups, LGBTQ+ advocates, veterans and labor unions.The three demands put forth by the Hands Off! organizers are “an end to the billionaire takeover and rampant corruption of the Trump administration; an end to slashing federal funds for Medicaid, Social Security, and other programs working people rely on; and an end to the attacks on immigrants, trans people, and other communities.”Those demonstrating showed their support of national parks, public education, abortion rights, health care for veterans, small business, fair elections and many other causes. They were there to march against oligarchs, fascism, the deportation of immigrants, dark money and the Department of Government Efficiency, The New York Times reported.“Pouring rain, 43 degrees, biting wind, and people are still here in Albany in the thousands,” said comic book writer Ron Marz, who posted a crowd photo from the New York State Capitol on X.Saturday’s protest on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue stretched for almost 20 blocks. Tens of thousands engulfed the Washington Monument, thousands flooded Chicago’s Daley Plaza and, in Atlanta, more than 20,000 marched to the statehouse, according to a police estimate.Meanwhile, Trump was in Florida playing golf, appearing to largely ignore the outcries against his administration.
Supreme Court scraps a judge’s block on Trump’s probationary worker firings - The Supreme Court has lifted a judge’s order blocking the Trump administration from firing thousands of probationary employees at six federal Cabinet departments.The high court ruling is a preliminary win for President Donald Trump’s efforts to rapidly downsize the federal workforce, but the decision’s ultimate impact is murky because another federal judge has issued a separate order reinstating many of the same probationary workers.The Supreme Court’s order Tuesday said nonprofit groups lacked legal standing to bring lawsuits challenging the firings of probationary workers at the departments of Defense, Treasury, Energy, Interior, Agriculture and Veterans Affairs. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.The justices acted in response to an emergency appeal from the Trump administration in a lawsuit brought in California.
Treasury secretary suggests federal workers can fill factory jobs -Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration is planning to boost U.S. manufacturing employment with policies meant to steer laid-off federal workers into factories. In an interview with Tucker Carlson published Friday on the social platform X, the Treasury secretary said he believed the U.S. had enough workers to fill thousands of manufacturing jobs Trump hopes to create through steep import taxes. “On one side, the president is reordering trade,” Bessent said. “On the other side, we are shedding excess labor in the federal government, and bringing down federal borrowings.” “That will give us the labor that we need for the new manufacturing,” Bessent continued, arguing artificial intelligence and automation would limit how many workers needed to fill new jobs. Bessent said the combination of tariffs and federal layoffs would help shift U.S. economic power away from the government and back toward the private sector. The secretary claimed without evidence that the U.S. private sector was in recession under the Biden administration despite a historic level of private job creation under Trump’s latest predecessor. “It’s almost like when a bodybuilder is taking steroids,” Bessent explained. “Outside, it looks great. You’re muscular. Inside, you’re killing your vital organs. That’s what was going on here.” Bessent’s remarks came after a bloody week for financial markets following Trump’s tariff rollout and deepening concerns about the economic impact of his agenda. All three major indexes are down well more than 15 percent from record highs set after Trump’s election, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed with a loss of more 2,200 points Friday. Trump last week announced he would impose up to $600 billion in new taxes on foreign goods, which are set to take effect Wednesday. Stocks have cratered in the aftermath of Trump’s announcement, which could boost the prices of major goods and weigh on the global economy. Business and consumer confidence in the economy has plunged as Trump’s tariffs and the administration’s lack of clarity deepen the uncertainty facing businesses. Even many within the industrial sector, the intended beneficiary of Trump’s tariffs, are fearful of how much costs could rise for U.S. production. Trump and his economic team have offered conflicting goals for his new tariffs. The president and his advisers have insisted they will not back down on the new import taxes, but want trading partners to change their policies in exchange for potential relief. The administration has also proposed tariffs as a way to pay for several major tax cuts, even though the revenue from import taxes would run dry if companies actually heeded Trump’s call to make products in the U.S. Bessent argued that the president’s economic policies were essential to preventing a financial crisis, comparing the Trump agenda to reinforced cockpit doors that he said could have prevented the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. “I think one of the things that we won’t get credit for, but that this administration will have done, is avoiding a financial calamity” Bessent said.
Noem offers buyouts to DHS workers - The Department of Homeland Security notified employees Monday evening of an impending workforce reduction across agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to a DHS email obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News. The memo, titled “Reshaping the DHS Workforce,” was written by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and could significantly shrink the government’s second-largest department through incentives to retire or quit. The memo was sent to department workers at around 6:20 p.m.“I am writing to share important news regarding new voluntary workforce transition programs approved for immediate implementation across the Department,” Noem said in the email. The buyout options “reflect our commitment to aligning our workforce with the evolving mission needs while supporting the personal and professional goals of our dedicated employees.”The planned reductions confirm days of speculation that DHS would overhaul its staff. The department did not immediately respond to questions and a request for comment.DHS includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as Customs and Border Protection, which have been at the center of President Donald Trump’s efforts to reduce the number of immigrants entering the U.S. from Mexico and to deport people from other countries. Noem’s memo did not appear to exempt any DHS agencies from using the buyouts to reduce staff.For FEMA, which has about 20,000 employees and leads the national response to natural disasters, staff reductions could be part of Trump’s plans to reshape the agency and give states a greater role — and more responsibility — in responding to disasters. Noem at a televised cabinet meeting in March said, “We’re going to eliminate FEMA.”
Megyn Kelly Criticizes Noem's ICE Agent 'Cosplay' -- Right-wing political commentator Megyn Kelly slammed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent “cosplay” during field operations. Kelly, who praised Noem for doing a “great job” as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, argued the former South Dakota governor should do away with photo-ops while visiting various DHS agents and other officials. “Why does she have to keep doing this? She’s doing a great job, her actual performance as DHS secretary, in my view, anyway, has been amazing,” Kelly said during a Wednesday episode of “The Megyn Kelly Show” podcast. “Just stop trying to glamorize the mission and put yourself in the middle of it as you cosplay ICE agent, which you’re not. I can’t stand these photo-ops.” “She is an administrative policy person appointed by Trump because she was very loyal to him. Fine, but stop with the glam. She looks like I look right now, but she’s out in the field with her gun, being like, ‘We’re gonna go kick some a‑‑.’ No one wants you there,” Kelly added. Noem dismissed the criticism, arguing that the agents are “proud” of her willingness to put on an ICE hat during visits. “Every day I wake up and there’s new criticisms. It’s something different every single day, so I try not to pay attention to the noise,” Noem said during a Wednesday night appearance on Fox News’s “Jesse Watters Primetime.” “Obviously I’m guided by the folks that I work with every day to be appropriate for the situation that I’m in and to take the same that precautions they do.” “I will tell you that I oversee 26 different components of the Department of Homeland Security, and they are so proud of the fact that I’m willing to wear an ICE hat, that I’m willing to wear an HSI vest, that I’m willing to go into there and wear something and be proud of them and the work that they do,” Noem told Fox News host Jesse Watters. “They didn’t have that with the last leadership team.” >
Appeals panel clears way for DOGE access to sensitive personal data at OPM, Education Department- A federal appeals panel on Monday paused an order curtailing the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) access to troves of sensitive personal data from three federal agencies, reopening the floodgates for the cost-cutting advisory board.In a 2-1 decision, a panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit agreed to stay a Maryland federal judge’s order barring the Department of Education, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Treasury Department from disclosing the personal identifying information of roughly 2 million Americans to DOGE while the Trump administration appeals.Though the Treasury Department is included in the decision, a different court’s injunction covers data there and remains in effect for now.“The district court misread our precedent in requiring nothing more than abstract access to personal information to establish a concrete injury,” Judge G. Steven Agee wrote in the majority opinion. “The Government has thus met its burden of a strong showing that it is likely to succeed on the merits of their appeal.”Oral arguments on the merits have been scheduled for May 5.Six Americans and five union organizations — altogether representing about 2 million people — sued the agencies over DOGE’s access to personally identifying information stored within systems the advisory board tapped into. The information was provided to the government through means like collecting veterans benefits, applying for student loans and working as federal employees.U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman granted their request for a preliminary injunction, which stopped in its tracks DOGE’s access to the data. She ruled that the Privacy Act of 1974 was put in place to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of the personal information the government collects, citing Congress’s concern then that a single bureaucrat or institution could retrieve “every detail of our personal lives” in an instant.In his dissenting opinion, Judge Robert King said that at stake is “some of the most sensitive personal information imaginable,” from Social Security numbers and income and tax records to physical and mental health histories and family details.
Democratic lawmakers reject Johnson-Luna proxy voting deal - The Democratic sponsors of legislation empowering new parents to vote remotely are rejecting a recent alternative from Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) designed to block the proxy vote legislation from reaching the floor. Over the weekend, Johnson cut a deal with GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (Fla.), who was leading the charge to force floor action on proxy voting. Their compromise would create a system of “vote pairing,” designed to empower pregnant lawmakers and young mothers with some remote voice during the consideration of bills on the floor, though not a direct vote. The compromise appeased Luna, but not the Democratic sponsors of the underlying proxy vote legislation — Reps. Brittany Pettersen (Colo.) and Sara Jacobs (Calif.) — who are accusing Johnson of watering down their parental-empowerment proposal while abandoning lawmakers with young families. “The reality is — this outcome does not address the barriers we’ve fought so hard to overcome,” Pettersen said Monday in a statement. “Instead of letting us vote, he has instead gone to historic lengths to kill our resolution and make sure the large majority of his Members don’t have a voice,” she continued. “Let’s be clear: these changes are not a win for us and Speaker Johnson has turned his back on moms and dads in Congress and working families.” Proxy voting became highly controversial after former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) adopted it as a public health precaution in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The move was loudly denounced by many Republicans, who had downplayed the public health threat of the virus and characterized remote voting as unconstitutional. Johnson was among those GOP critics. And he’s amplified his constitutional argument in refusing to bring Pettersen’s bill up for a vote, despite the support it enjoys from a majority of the House. The impasse prompted Luna to file a procedural motion, known as a discharge petition, that forces bills to the floor — even against the wishes of the majority leaders who control the chamber — if supporters can win the signature of at least 218 lawmakers. Last month, Luna did just that, setting the stage for the proxy voting bill to pass on the floor. Johnson, however, had other ideas. And last week the Speaker attempted an unusual effort to block the vote from happening, installing special instructions in a rule that would prevent the bill from reaching the floor. Behind Luna, nine Republicans joined all Democrats in killing that rule, which forced Johnson to cancel votes for the remainder of the week. On Sunday, Johnson and Luna appeared to break their impasse, announcing a compromise that features “vote pairing.” Under that system, pregnant lawmakers and new mothers at home could coordinate with members in Washington who were planning to vote on the opposite side of an issue. If such a member agreed to abstain from voting, it would nullify the absence of the young mothers. In praising the compromise, Luna suggested it would also apply to lawmakers who can’t be in Washington due to an illness or the recent death of a loved one. “If we truly want a younger Congress,” Luna said, “these are the changes that need to happen.” Democrats are not so enthused. They’re vowing to push ahead for true proxy voting for young parents, even if it means waiting for the House to be controlled by Democrats./
House Republicans pass bill requiring proof of citizenship to vote - House Republicans for a second time passed a stand-alone bill that would require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections and impose voter roll purge requirements on states. The legislation — formally titled the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act — passed in a 220-208 vote. Four Democrats — Reps. Ed Case (Hawaii), Henry Cuellar (Texas), Jared Golden (Maine) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.) — voted with all Republicans in favor. It’s already illegal for those who are not U.S. citizens to vote in federal elections, and has been since 1996. But proponents of the bill have argued it is necessary to prevent migrants from voting in elections — a claim contradicted by data showing only a handful of documented cases. “There is nothing more sacred under the Constitution than ensuring that the people are able to have the voice in the election of the people that represent them in Washington, and throughout the country,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), one of the sponsors of the bill, said, thanking Cleta Mitchell, an attorney who helped President Trump challenge his 2020 election loss, for her work on the bill.
President Trump signs executive order facilitating federal takeover of the District of Columbia - On March 28, President Donald Trump signed into law an executive order which amounts to a takeover of the District of Columbia, thereby ending “home rule” in the nation’s capital city. The executive order, bearing the lying title “Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful,” furthers Trump’s efforts to establish a dictatorship by means of cracking down on demonstrations, heightening police presence and targeting agencies in the District. It is the culmination of a threat Trump had made on February 19 while being interviewed aboard Air Force One. In his interview he spoke of taking over D.C. and vowing to “run it strong, run it with law and order.” Trump bemoaned a proliferation of crime and graffiti and of “too many tents on … these magnificent lawns” and spoke of further deployment of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).The executive order aims to “make the District of Columbia safe, beautiful, and prosperous by preventing crime, punishing criminals, preserving order, protecting our revered American monuments, and promoting beautification and the preservation of our history and heritage.” In fact, the order aims to do none of these.The claim of high crime in D.C. is absurd. According to a report from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, overall violent crime was down 35 percent to the lowest rates in over 30 years. Hyped to no end by the capitalist media, the topic of fighting crime is used as a political slogan both by the Democratic Party-controlled D.C. Council and Republican-controlled Congress, entirely on right-wing lines. None of the root causes of crime—high cost of living, low wages, deepening social misery, etc.—are addressed.The supposedly “progressive” responses taken at the local and federal levels are symbolic at best, such as the painting of the “Black Lives Matter Plaza” on 16th Street NW in the wake of the worldwide protests against police violence in 2020. Earlier this year, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered the painting removed.
Gabbard: ‘100 people’ working ‘around the clock’ on RFK, MLK assassination files -- Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Thursday she has a large team working overtime to archive government documents related to the 1968 assassinations of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. ahead of their release to the public. “I’ve had over 100 people working around the clock to scan the paper,” Gabbard told President Trump during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. “These have been sitting in boxes in storage for decades — they have never been scanned or seen before.” “We’ll have those ready to release here within the next few days,” she added. Kennedy, who was the brother of assassinated President John F. Kennedy and also served as his attorney general, was running for the Democratic presidential nomination when he was shot after a campaign event in California. King, who was one of the most prominent leaders of the Civil Rights Movement at the time of his death, was shot at a hotel in Memphis, Tenn. Their assassins were convicted in both murders, but conspiracy theories have continued to thrive about the circumstances of their deaths decades later. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the son of the late senator, was in the Cabinet meeting when Gabbard provided the update on the status of the document review. He said it was “very gratifying” to hear the news, as Trump acknowledged his presence at the meeting.
Former top vaccine regulator says he blocked RFK Jr. team from database -- A former top official at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said he blocked members of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s team from directly accessing a vaccine database over concerns they would rewrite or erase the stored information. Peter Marks, who headed the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research before being ousted in March,told The Associated Press in an interview published Monday that he agreed to allow Kennedy’s associates to read reports from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) but refused to allow them to directly edit the information. “Why wouldn’t we? Because frankly we don’t trust [them],” Marks told the AP, using profanity. “They’d write over it or erase the whole database.” Marks said he sought to work with Kennedy and address his concerns over vaccine transparency but found that the secretary only wanted “confirmation of his misinformation and lies.” VAERS is a voluntary, self-reported surveillance system of adverse events from vaccinations that is co-managed by both the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The system rose in prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic as the vaccines were rolled out. An HHS spokesperson reportedly told the AP in response that it made “perfect sense” for Kennedy’s staffers to seek access into VAERS to do their own analysis. When asked by The Hill about the accusations Marks made in his AP interview, an HHS official said his claims were false. Since leaving his post at the FDA, which he held for nearly a decade, Marks has embarked on a media campaign lambasting Kennedy’s actions as Health secretary. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Marks said Kennedy’s tenure at the HHS has so far been “very scary,” saying he left because he could not work for someone unwilling to “follow the science.” Marks also alleged in his interview with the Journal that Kennedy’s team requested data on cases of brain swelling and deaths caused by the measles, mumps and rubella vaccines — information Marks says he couldn’t turn over because it didn’t exist.
RFK Jr. says he’s ‘not familiar’ with $11B cuts to state and local health departments - Health and human services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he was unaware that his agency is trying to rescind more than $11 billion from state and local health departments. “No I’m not familiar with those cuts. We’d have to go … the cuts were mainly DEI cuts, which the president ordered,” Kennedy said in an interview with CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook, parts of which aired Wednesday. The Department of Health and Human Services last month canceled tens of billions of dollars in federal grants that state and local health departments were using to track infectious diseases, health disparities, vaccinations, mental health services and other health issues. HHS said the grants, totaling $11.4 billion, were primarily used for COVID-19 response, including testing, vaccination and hiring community health workers. State and local officials said the move will make it even harder for them to continue to fight infectious disease outbreaks, fund substance use disorder support programs and address other concerns. Leaders said the money was already in their hands, and they were using it for much more than just COVID response, including responding to the measles outbreak in Texas. The funding cuts were temporarily paused last week following a lawsuit by Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia. LaPook asked if Kennedy was aware that his agency had eliminated a $750,000 grant to the University of Michigan focused on adolescent diabetes. Kennedy said he wasn’t, but said the agency has been fixing mistakes. “There’s a number of studies that were cut that came to our attention and that did not deserve to be cut, and we reinstated them. Our purpose is not to reduce any level of scientific research that’s important,” Kennedy said. It was not immediately clear when that grant was cancelled or if it has been reinstated. The Hill has reached out for more information.
Public health groups call for Kennedy to resign or be fired as biomed sector airs concerns In the wake of dramatic cuts to US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) staff, cutbacks for state public health efforts, and mixed messages on battling measles and other infectious diseases, two public health groups called for HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign or be fired. Also, a group of biomedical developers and investors sent a letter to a top Senate health leader, raising concerns about the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) ability to function under Kennedy’s watch and the severe staff cuts that followed. In a statement yesterday from the American Public Health Association (APHA), its president, Georges Benjamin, MD, said concerns raised during Kennedy's confirmation hearings have been realized. He referenced, for example, massive cuts to programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the FDA, and the Health Resources and Services Administration, which undermine the work of public health agencies to keep Americans safe.Benjamin also listed several instances since Kennedy’s confirmation that suggest that the secretary has a disregard for science, such as a haphazard reorganization of HHS, forcing the ouster of the FDA’s top vaccine official, refusing to strongly endorse vaccination in the wake of two children's measles deaths, promoting unproven measles treatments, and clawing back $11 billion in state and local public health funding. "As a physician, I pledged to first do no harm and to speak up when I see harm being done by others. I ask my colleagues to join me and speak up," he said. "Secretary Robert Kennedy is a danger to the public’s health and should resign or be fired." In a related development, the Treatment Action Group (TAG), which supports global efforts to boost research into and greater access to treatments for HIV, hepatitis C, and tuberculosis (TB), today joined Benjamin's call for Kennedy to resign or be dismissed. It added that many of the cuts are related to those three diseases. TAG said further cuts in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) threaten critical TB research and terminations of research funding to South Africa, where up to one-third of research participants are enrolled in NIH-supported clinical trials for new TB interventions. "These terminations threaten to destroy years of research designed to bring the end of TB closer." Also, No Patient Left Behind (NPLB), a consortium of biomedical scientists, investors, economists, and patients who support new and affordable biomedical treatments, has sent a letter to Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) that said they support a stronger and modernized FDA but are deeply concerned about the agency and its future. Cassidy cast the tiebreaking vote that advanced Kennedy's HHS nomination to a full Senate vote in early February after getting specific promises from Kennedy. He also chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee. "Specifically, we worry that the institutional knowledge that makes the FDA the world's leading regulatory body will be irretrievably lost due to the agency's recent reduction in force and wave of retirements," the group said. "The agency's ability to function is compounded by a hiring freeze. As a result, American patients, American industry, and American biomedical leadership will bear the consequences." The letter said some companies are already encountering regulatory difficulties that NPLB believes are the result of the loss of experienced staff at FDA. It added that delays in FDA review reduces the ability of smaller companies to get funding to advance to the next stage of clinical development. It asked Cassidy to assess FDA capacity impacts and to restore the agency's core functions, such as maintaining regulatory timelines.Last week, media outlets reported that the FDA principal deputy commissioner took an unusual step in reviewing Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine for full approval, which has led to a delay in clearing the vaccine, which was originally expected to occur this month.In a CBS News interview yesterday, Kennedy said the FDA isn't proceeding with full approval because he claims that single-antigen vaccines don't work against respiratory viruses and that the FDA is shifting to multi-antigen vaccines.Experts have pointed to Kennedy's statement as another example of spreading misinformation. Several vaccines against respiratory viruses are single-antigen, including all licensed COVID-19 products and vaccines against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Report: US COVID-relief funds lost to fraud likely total hundreds of billions of dollars - Fraudulently obtained US COVID-19 economic relief funds likely amount to hundreds of billions of dollars, although the true scope will never be known, a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reveals. Of the 3,096 people, businesses, and other entities the Department of Justice (DOJ) charged with fraud-related crimes as of December 2024, more than 2,500 were found guilty, and more than 2,100 were sentenced. Another 384 await sentencing. Prison sentences have ranged from 1 day to 30 years, but most have been 1 to 5 years. Most swindlers were ordered to pay restitution, which in one case tallied over $71 million, an apparent reference to a California settlement."The number of defendants facing criminal fraud-related charges involving pandemic-relief programs continues to increase, as it takes time for new cases to be identified and developed, and hundreds of investigations are still underway," the report authors wrote. "Additionally, extensions to statutes of limitations may contribute to an increase in cases."The report was ordered under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the $2.2 trillion bill signed into law in March 2020 to help people, small businesses, and industries weather the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. The GAO reviewed DOJ case documentation, identifying different kinds of fraud schemes and perpetrators who ripped off 19 or more pandemic-relief programs. In addition to traditional and organized-crime groups, a wide variety of groups and people committed the fraud. "Although criminal prosecutions serve as a key tool in the mission to address pandemic-relief program fraud and recover stolen funds, civil actions offer the government alternative ways to uncover more fraud schemes and recover assets," the GAO wrote. "According to DOJ, from March 2020 to December 31, 2024, it has secured more than 650 civil settlements and judgments, totaling more than $500 million to resolve allegations of fraud or overpayments in connection with the pandemic-relief programs," they added. The federal government established interagency groups such as the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force and the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) to fight COVID-relief fraud. According to the task force's 2024 report, civil administrative and civil and criminal judicial cases led to the forfeiture of over $1 billion in pilfered funds. In December 2024, the PRAC reported that its task-force efforts led to criminal charges against 111 people and helped the federal government recover more than $16 million. "Although some individuals might never be swayed from attempting to defraud government programs, agencies can implement deterrence actions—such as emphasizing the consequences of committing fraud and highlighting controls in place—to help prevent future fraudsters," the report said. "Also, by examining fraudsters and fraud schemes that emerged during the pandemic, agencies can identify fraud mitigation controls that can be implemented in emergency environments and normal operations."
Trump administration urges states to limit what can be bought with food stamps (Reuters) - The Trump administration is calling on states to request waivers that would bar food stamp recipients from buying soda and other processed foods with their benefits, according to a Thursday op-ed by U.S. health and agriculture secretaries, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Brooke Rollins. The secretaries, in the USA Today op-ed, promised more shared initiatives to further the Make America Healthy Again agenda promoted by Kennedy and backed by President Donald Trump.Kennedy and Rollins said the Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture were pursuing reforms to the nation's largest food aid program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and called on all governors to submit waivers to restrict what SNAP recipients can buy."We will encourage taxpayer dollars to go toward wholesome foods, such as whole milk, fruits, vegetables and meats," the secretaries wrote.More than 41 million low-income people receive SNAP benefits, which are administered by the USDA.The call for waivers is the latest chapter in a years-long debate over whether SNAP recipients should be able to use their benefits to buy soda or other processed foods. Critics of restrictions, including some Democrats, see them as stigmatizing.
USDA to lose bird flu response employees, source says (Reuters) - Several U.S. Department of Agriculture employees who worked on the agency's bird flu response will leave at the end of April, straining the federal capacity to monitor the spread of the virus, according to a source familiar with the situation.The USDA on April 1 gave employees seven days to decide whether to take financial incentives to quit, part of the effort by President Donald Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk to shrink the federal workforce. Three out of 13 employees in the USDA's National Animal Health Laboratory Network took the offer and will leave on April 30, said the source. A USDA spokesperson said the agency is reviewing how many employees took the incentive. "While Secretary Rollins is actively pursuing plans to reduce USDA’s workforce to better serve the needs of the people we serve, she will not compromise the critical work of the Department, including its ongoing response to avian influenza," the spokesperson said. NAHLN coordinates a network of 60 laboratories that test animal samples for disease, including bird flu. The departing employees worked on maintaining consistency in bird flu testing, managing funding for the lab network, and providing administrative support, said the source, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation.US cuts to HIV programs in Africa threaten to set progress back to 'dark ages,' experts say - The reduction or elimination of funding from the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) could lead to the deaths of nearly 500,000 children in sub-Saharan Africa from AIDS-related causes in the next 5 years, according to an expert policy analysis published today in The Lancet.Models also predict that another 1 million children will become infected with HIV, and 2.8 million will be orphaned after their parents die of AIDS, the University of Oxford–led research team said.The team analyzed data from UNAIDS, UNICEF, the World Bank, Violence Against Children Surveys, SPECTRUM model data, and Population-based HIV Impact Assessments, as well as from PEPFAR reports. The researchers also conducted in-depth interviews, searched PubMed for program effectiveness evidence, and reviewed economic reports.In January, shortly after taking office, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order pausing all foreign aid for 90 days pending a review. PEPFAR has distributed $6.5 billion to fight HIV in 50 countries around the world each year and has been credited with saving more than 26 million lives since its 2003 inception.In a Lancet news release, co-lead author Lucie Cluver, PhD, of the University of Oxford, said an abrupt withdrawal of funding for PEPFAR programs would turn back global HIV/AIDS progress to the "dark ages" of the epidemic. "A sudden withdrawal of PEPFAR programmes, especially in the absence of a long term strategy to replace them, could lead to a resurgence of HIV infections and preventable deaths, and a dramatic rise in the number of children orphaned by AIDS in the coming years—a setback that could erode two decades of progress," she said. The benefits of PEPFAR aren't limited to African countries, the authors noted, with improved health and national security through reduced forced migration and better odds of containing emerging transborder infectious diseases. PEPFAR also is a boon to the United States economically, with a fourfold rise in the export of US goods to Africa and the trade of $71.6 billion in goods between the United States and Africa in 2024, the authors noted. And PEPFAR-benefiting African countries have committed to taking responsibility for HIV responses by 2030. The study findings align with those of a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in February, which predicted that the cessation of PEPFAR funding would lead to more than half a million new HIV infections in the next 10 years in South Africa.
Senate eyes action against ‘heavy-handed’ DOE rule -The Senate may take up another Congressional Review Act resolution this week to roll back a Biden administration regulation.Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), when touting his chamber’s work, said during floor remarks Monday, “I also expect to consider a resolution this week to roll back a heavy-handed Department of Energy rule.” Thune did not specify what rule he was targeting and his office did not respond to requests for clarification. The CRA allows lawmakers to repeal newly issued rules by simple majority. Last week the Senate sent President Donald Trump H.J. Res. 24 to undo a DOE efficiency rule for walk-in coolers and freezers. It was the third energy and environment rule killed by the new Congress, following actions against offshore drilling and methane emission mandates.
Trump to sign executive orders aimed at reviving coal - -President Donald Trump is preparing to sign executive orders Tuesday to bolster the coal industry, including using his emergency authority to force some coal-fired power plants set for closure to stay open and keep producing electricity.The move has been widely anticipated as the Trump administration set the stage for loosening air pollution regulations that have been costly for coal. And there have been concerns that electricity consumption is rising too fast for the power industry to keep pace. Much of that surge in projected energy demand is tied to America’s build-big approach to data centers and artificial intelligence.Trump is expected to sign the orders at a 3 p.m. White House event.According to people familiar with White House plans, Trump’s orders would draw on existing emergency authority. That includes a 90-year-old section of the Federal Power Act, enacted primarily for wartime use, that allows the Energy secretary to direct any power plant to keep operating. Other emergency statutes allow the federal government to waive environmental rules implemented by states.People inside the coal and utility industries, top Cabinet officials, and the president himself have telegraphed that a multifaceted plan is underway to save dozens of coal plants that are scheduled to retire in the coming years.Trump wrote in a Truth Social post last month, “After years of being held captive by Environmental Extremists, Lunatics, Radicals, and Thugs, allowing other Countries, in particular China, to gain tremendous Economic advantage over us by opening up hundreds of all Coal Fire Power Plants, I am authorizing my Administration to immediately begin producing Energy with BEAUTIFUL, CLEAN COAL.”The White House has also been crafting a series of steps to support the coal sector in the longer term, including allowing utilities to temporarily sidestep EPA regulations under the Clean Air Act.Last week, EPA created an avenue for coal-fired power plants to seek hazardous pollutant regulatory exemptions. One of the nation’s top-polluting power plants — the coal-fired Colstrip power plant in Montana — quickly emerged as one of the first takers.Michelle Bloodworth, president of the coal lobbying group America’s Power, told POLITICO’s E&E News last month that her group had talked to the administration about the “need for swift and decisive action” … “to ensure that coal plants that are needed for reliability and national security continue operating.” Bloodworth also said more than 120 coal-fired generating units are set to close within the next five years due in part to regulations written by the Biden administration.The coal sector is also hoping to open up Western land — including the Powder River Basin — for more mining, reestablish the National Coal Council and make metallurgical coal a critical mineral.“We need them to stay open,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said during an interview with CNBC at an energy conference in Houston last month.“They’ve been the most regulated segment of our energy industry,” Burgum said.The nation’s coal-fired generating plants, long the backbone of U.S. electricity supply, have been in decline for more than a decade, pushed into retirement by cheaper natural-gas-fired power that followed the fracking revolution, by the steep declines in costs of wind and solar power, and by future costs of compliance with clean energy regulations.Of all the sources of electric power, coal plants are by far the greatest source of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions per kilowatt of energy produced.
Trump inks orders to resurrect US coal - President Donald Trump on Tuesday took aim at reviving the nation’s flailing coal power fleet and mining sector, fulfilling industry wish lists and alarming conservation groups who warn prices and public health threats will skyrocket.Flanked by miners donning hard hats at the White House, Trump blasted the “green new scam” and lauded “beautiful clean coal” before vowing to expand domestic mining and use of coal, a move he’s repeatedly said is necessary to feed the growth of energy-hungry data centers. Trump also vowed to build new coal plants and put miners back to work.“We’re bringing back an industry that was abandoned,” Trump said. “China’s opening two plants every week.”Trump signed a total of four executive orders, including one multifaceted measure meant to bolster the coal sector, which the president and his administration have said suffered under the Biden administration. A White House official said the president believes U.S coal resources are vast, with a “current estimated value in the trillions of dollars.” The text of the order was not yet available at press time.The president at the White House event also revealed that he signed a separate order earlier in the day to ensure coal-fired power plants are always available to produce power, casting wind and solar as unreliable. The move, widely expected, sets the stage for agencies to dip into power under the Federal Power Act to keep plants operating for reliability reasons.Other orders launched a Department of Justice probe into regulations affecting coal plants and halted rules that the administration believes are unfairly hampering coal-fired power generation. The Trump administration is also taking action to support a specific plant in Arizona and offering up “immediate” relief to 47 companies operating 66 coal plants across the nation, Trump said.The administration has said it’s pushing for more coal to power the proliferation of new artificial intelligence data centers in the United States. In one of his orders, Trump directed the chair of the National Energy Dominance Council to designate coal as a “mineral” under Executive Order 14241, “entitling coal to all of the benefits of that prior Order.”Trump’s order also directs Energy Secretary Chris Wright to determine whether coal used to produce steel should be defined as “critical” under the Energy Act of 2020 — a designation that would open coal to both streamlined permitting and federal funding. The president’s order “directs relevant agencies to identify coal resources on Federal lands, lift barriers to coal mining, and prioritize coal leasing on those lands,” and requires agencies to scrap any policies that push the nation to shift away from coal, the White House official said.The president also took aim at regulations affecting coal, and through his order directed the White House Council on Environmental Quality to help agencies in adopting “coal-related categorical exclusions” under the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA.He also directed the secretary of the Interior to “acknowledge the end” of an Obama-era moratorium on coal leasing on federal lands, which has repeatedly been slapped down in court. The White House official said Trump is pushing to promote coal and coal technology exports, facilitate international offtake agreements for U.S. coal, and accelerate development of coal technologies. The president said the order would slash regulations targeting coal, expedite leasing of federal lands for coal mining, streamline permitting, end government bias against coal and “unlock sweeping authority” under the Defense Production Act to supercharge coal mining, noting it’s also a source of critical minerals. Trump also said he had a last-minute idea to give the sector a legal guarantee to protect investments and jobs.“We’re going to give a guarantee that the business won’t be terminated by the ups and downs of politics,” he said.
Trump exempts dozens of coal plants from stricter pollution standard --President Trump on Tuesday exempted dozens of coal plants from a Biden administration regulation imposing stricter standards for mercury, lead, nickel and arsenic emissions.Trump announced the exemption as part of a series of actions he took to bolster the coal industry.“As part of our historic deregulatory efforts, this afternoon, I’m also granting immediate relief to 47 companies operating 66 coal plants, very big ones all over the country,” he said. He said that the Biden-era restrictions made it “impossible to do anything having to do, frankly, with energy.”Exposure to the pollutants in question raises the risk of developmental delays in children, as well as heart attacks and cancer. The move comes after the Environmental Protection Agency temporarily opened up an email portal for polluters to request presidential exemptions from various regulations that it plans to roll back. In addition, the Trump administration pledged to use the Justice Department to go after states whose laws or policies burden coal and prevent their enforcement.
Black lung rule delayed as Trump calls for more coal - Within days of signing orders to ratchet up U.S. coal mining, the Trump administration had to temporarily halt a rule aimed at protecting miners from silica dust and black lung disease because of federal staffing cuts. The Mine Safety and Health Administration in an online notice Wednesday said it was pushing back enforcement of a newly approved rule to limit miners’ exposure to dangerous dust, which can lead to incurable and debilitating lung disease, including silicosis, lung cancer and black lung.According to the notice, the rule will now take effect Aug. 18 as opposed to April 14. MSHA, which is a part of the Department of Labor, blamed the delay on restructuring at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH, which it said may have a knock-on effect on the Pittsburgh Mining Research Division, the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, and the supply of approved and certified respirators and personal dust monitors. NIOSH is a research agency within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention focused on research and making recommendations to prevent work-related injuries and illnesses.
Trump tries to sink shipping talks with new climate attack -President Donald Trump says he’s done with international climate agreements that harm American wealth. Now he may be working to blow them up. That was the underlying message in a letter the U.S. sent to countries participating this week in global negotiations to put a levy on shipping pollution. The Trump administration called those talks “blatantly unfair” and urged countries to drop their support for a climate tax. It threatened “reciprocal measures” to offset any fees on U.S. ships if the measure is adopted by the International Maritime Organization. It’s the latest move by the Trump administration to force other countries to bend to its will, and it sends a worrying signal that the U.S. might employ similar tactics in other international arenas, according to former U.S. officials and environmental advocates. Top among them is the COP30 global climate conference scheduled for November in Brazil.
Trump declares war on state climate laws - President Donald Trump is throwing the weight of the Justice Department against the last bastion of U.S. climate action: states and cities. In a sweeping executive order signed late Tuesday, Trump ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to “stop the enforcement of State laws” on climate change that the administration says are unconstitutional, unenforceable or preempted by federal laws. The order names California, New York and Vermont as specific targets, while also listing a broad range of state policies that the administration would seek to nullify — from cap-and-trade systems to permitting rules. The executive order also targets the array of lawsuits that mostly Democratic-led states, cities and counties have brought against oil majors, seeking compensation for the ravages of climate change, such as rising tides and more frequent wildfires. “These State laws and policies are fundamentally irreconcilable with my Administration’s objective to unleash American energy,” Trump said in the order. “They should not stand.” The move came as Trump presided over a White House event Tuesday aimed at reviving the coal industry, which has withered against competition from less expensive natural gas and renewables. He pledged to a row of coal miners standing behind him that he’d direct the Department of Justice to “identify and fight every single unconstitutional state or legal regulation that’s putting our coal miners out of business.” Some legal experts said the White House’s executive order would be “toothless,” though climate advocates worry about gambling with a judiciary dominated by conservative appointees. And in a statement, Democratic governors said Trump would not intimidate them from climate action. “The federal government cannot unilaterally strip states’ independent constitutional authority,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement. The two Democrats co-chair the U.S. Climate Alliance, representing 22 states committed to reaching net-zero emissions. “We are a nation of states — and laws — and we will not be deterred,” they said. “We will keep advancing solutions to the climate crisis that safeguard Americans’ fundamental right to clean air and water, create good-paying jobs, grow the clean energy economy, and make our future healthier and safer.” Trump’s order represents a sharp escalation in his war on climate policy, as well as a continuation of his efforts to consolidate power in the White House at the expense of Congress, courts and, now, the states. The action comes just three weeks after oil and gas industry executives met with Trump at the White House and expressed worries about state climate efforts and the lawsuits, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported details of the meeting. An industry source, who was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive commercial information, confirmed to POLITICO’s E&E News that Trump appeared to agree that the states’ moves posed a threat to his energy agenda and signaled that he’d look at ways to help the industry. The American Petroleum Institute cheered Trump’s order as a response to New York’s and California’s laws. “Directing the Department of Justice to address this state overreach will help restore the rule of law and ensure activist-driven campaigns do not stand in the way of ensuring the nation has access to an affordable and reliable energy supply,” API senior vice president and general counsel Ryan Meyers said in a statement. During Trump’s first term, states and cities emerged as a potent counterweight to the White House’s retreat from climate policy — epitomized by groups like the U.S. Climate Alliance. Governors piloted energy policies, such as New Mexico’s methane regulations, that later grew into some Biden administration policies. Most state policies have also proven more durable than federal climate efforts. When Trump returned to the presidency this year, Democratic governors and attorneys general — now holding more offices than they did in 2017 — again assumed the role of Trump’s chief antagonists, filing two dozen lawsuits against the administration since January. Trump’s newest executive order, titled “Protecting American Energy From State Overreach,” seeks to smother that movement in its infancy. It directs the attorney general to target state laws on carbon taxes and fees, as well as state laws mentioning terms like “environmental justice” and “greenhouse gas emissions.” The order directs Bondi to “expeditiously take all appropriate action to stop the enforcement of State laws and continuation of civil actions … that the Attorney General determines to be illegal.” Within 60 days, the order says, the attorney general will report on the actions taken against state climate laws and recommend other actions from the president or Congress. Trump’s order argues that states have exceeded their constitutional authority by imposing energy policies that ripple beyond their borders. California’s cap-and-trade system is an example, the order said, of states “punishing carbon use” by requiring businesses to purchase allowances for their pollution. California has operated its cap-and-trade system since 2012. Washington state also has a carbon market, upheld by voters in 2024. Both states are working to “link” their carbon markets together with Quebec’s. Cap and trade also undergirds the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which covers the electricity system for 11 mostly northeastern states. California is also the largest player in the climate litigation landscape. The office of state Attorney General Rob Bonta said Tuesday that it “remains committed to using the full force of the law and tools of this office to address the climate crisis head-on and protect public health and welfare.” A spokesperson for Bonta said the office was reviewing Trump’s executive order, “but this much is clear: the Trump administration continues to attempt to gut federal environmental protections and put the country at risk of falling further behind in our fight against climate change and environmental harm.” The Trump administration also singled out New York and Vermont, which have recently passed so-called climate Superfund laws that aim to recover the costs of climate impacts, like flooding, from fossil fuel companies. Mimicking the “polluter pays” model from Superfund laws, those states are seeking billions of dollars from oil, gas and coal companies in proportion with the historical emissions from their products. Trump’s order called New York and Vermont’s laws “extortion” against energy producers for actions “anywhere in the United States or the globe.”
Trump orders agencies to ‘sunset’ environmental protections- President Trump directed agencies that regulate energy and the environment to sunset a wide array of environmental protections in an executive order issued Wednesday night. He ordered agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Energy Department, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and Fish and Wildlife Service to amend regulations so that they expire by October 2026. The order applies to all regulations issued under laws governing things like energy appliance standards, mining and offshore drilling — as well as regulations issued under the Endangered Species Act. It’s not yet clear whether the order will also apply to regulations at the EPA under laws like the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act or Safe Drinking Water Act because the order directs that particular agency to provide the White House with a list of statutes that should be subject to the order. There also may be exemptions, as the order allows agencies to extend the sunset date for up to five years. It’s not clear how widely such exemptions will be used. In a statement incorporated into the order, the White House lamented what it described as an “energy landscape perpetually trapped in the 1970s.” “By rescinding outdated regulations that serve as a drag on progress, we can stimulate innovation and deliver prosperity to everyday Americans,” it said. “This order directs certain agencies to incorporate a sunset provision into their regulations governing energy production to the extent permitted by law, thus compelling those agencies to reexamine their regulations periodically to ensure that those rules serve the public good,” it continued. Environmental activists, meanwhile, raised alarm — and indicated that they’ll challenge the legality of the order in court. “Attempting to repeal every environmental safeguard enacted over the past 50 years with an executive order is beyond delusional,” said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a written statement. “Trump’s farcical directive aims to kill measures that protect endangered whales, prevent oil spills, and reduce the risk of a nuclear accident. This chaotic administration is obviously desperate to smash through every environmental guardrail that protects people or preserves wildlife, but steps like this will be laughed out of court,” Hartl added.
Trump Administration Cuts Research Funding, Claiming It Creates ‘Climate Anxiety’ -The Trump administration announced it is cutting nearly $4 million in federal funding for climate change research at Princeton University, saying that the work promoted “exaggerated and implausible climate threats” and increased “climate anxiety” among young Americans.The cuts to programs that study topics like sea-level rise and coastal flooding were announced Tuesday by the Commerce Department, which houses the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, one of the world’s premier climate science agencies. They come after federal agencies including NASA and the Energy Department announced last week that they would pause dozens of research grants at Princeton. NOAA currently spends roughly $220 million per year funding climate research, but the Trump administration has signaled that it intends to pare back those efforts. Among the latest cuts was funding for the Cooperative Institute for Modeling the Earth System, a collaboration between NOAA and Princeton that focuses on improving computer models that show how the ocean and atmosphere are changing. One of the program’s meteorologists, Syukuro Manabe, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2021 for his work on modeling Earth’s climate and predicting the effects of global warming.In pulling funding for the program, the Commerce Department said that the collaboration “promotes exaggerated and implausible climate threats, contributing to a phenomenon known as ‘climate anxiety,’ which has increased significantly among America’s youth.” The agency also said it would stop funding the program’s educational initiatives targeted at students in kindergarten through high school students.The Commerce Department also said it would stop funding a five-year research effort at Princeton to understand how Earth’s water availability would fluctuate as a result of global warming. And the agency said it would pull funding for a different five-year research project aimed at predicting how changes in rainfall patterns and sea-level rise could affect coastal flooding. “Using federal funds to perpetuate these narratives does not align with the priorities of this Administration and such time and resources can be better utilized elsewhere,” the agency said.
Energy Department considers more than 40 percent of its staff non-essential as layoffs loom -The Energy Department (DOE) considers more than 40 percent of its staffers to be nonessential — meaning these people could be on the chopping block — as mass layoffs loom at the agency and across the federal government. A document viewed by The Hill on Friday states that out of the agency’s current headcount of 15,994 positions — 9,004 are essential, meaning some 7,000 other positions are not. The approximately 16,000 total positions listed by the agency does include nearly 1,300 people who are currently on leave because they accepted the “Fork in the Road” buyout or because their roles related to diversity, equity and inclusion, which the administration sought to eliminate from the government. It’s not immediately clear whether everyone deemed nonessential will be laid off. A spokesperson for the Energy Department said that no final decisions have been made as of Friday evening. The spokesperson said the department is conducting a “review of its organizational structures to ensure operations are best positioned to accomplish the DOE mission and align with the Trump administration’s priorities.” “No final decisions have been made and multiple plans are still being considered,” the spokesperson added. The Energy Department’s portfolio includes both energy technology and innovation as well as nuclear weapons. The announcement comes as the Trump administration seeks to cut workers more broadly, with as many as tens of thousands of staffers being ousted from the Health and Human Services and Veterans Affairs departments. However, these ousters — including previous attempts at the Energy Department to fire recent hires — resulted in some staff being let go and later recalled. At the DOE, this included staff who worked in nuclear security and electric power agencies. The document viewed by The Hill lists agencies and offices that the Energy Department considers to be essential. This includes the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response; the Office of Environmental Health, Safety and Security; the Office of Environmental Management; the Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence; the National Nuclear Security Administration; and the Bonneville, Southeastern, Southwestern and Western Area Power administrations.
NOAA fires previously reinstated probationary workers, sources say (Reuters) - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has fired previously reinstated probationary workers after an appeals court on April 9 cleared the way for the Trump administration to fire thousands of employees, according to five sources familiar with the situation.The agency, which sits within the Department of Commerce, fired more than 800 employees on February 27, one of many federal agencies to fire probationary workers as President Donald Trump and billionaire ally Elon Musk seek to shrink the federal workforce.The employees were then reinstated on March 17 to administrative leave, during which they were paid but not permitted to work, in line with a federal court order that blocked the probationary worker firings."The Department is reverting your termination action to its original effective date," said a memo from John K. Guenther, the Department of Commerce's acting general counsel, sent to the affected employees on Thursday and seen by Reuters.Firings at NOAA caused disruption in recent weeks to the nation's fishing industry, which relies on its scientists for assessments of how many fish are available to be caught and other scientific work.The agency last week moved to reclassify some of its career workforce to a job category that makes them easier to fire.
Trump eyes major cuts to NOAA research - The Trump administration is eyeing cuts to climate, weather and ocean research in a draft budget blueprint for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). A draft document from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) obtained by The Hill shows the administration wants to eliminate NOAA’s Oceanic and Atmospheric Research Office and cut 74 percent of its funding. The document, a proposal for the agency’s 2026 budget, says it wants to eliminate “all funding” for climate, weather and ocean laboratories and cooperative institutes, as well as funding for regional climate data. It still provides funding for programs that research weather and tornadoes and suggests moving them to the offices within NOAA. The proposal suggests a 27 percent overall cut in NOAA’s funding. The federal budget typically needs to be approved by Congress and is subject to the filibuster, making it generally a somewhat bipartisan process. However, as the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency seeks to make cuts and firings at agencies across the board, the document could provide a road map for forthcoming layoffs the agency will take on. The document states that agency plans to reorganize and fire employees should be “consistent with FY2026 Budget funding levels and policy” and “position the agency to implement the president’s budget.” It also says they should “achieve the necessary [employee] reductions and agency reorganizations that, at a minimum, reflect the assumed [employee] levels and administrative efficiencies supported by the FY 2026 President’s budget request.” The document in question is known as a passback, which the White House sends back to the agency. The document gives the agency until April 15 to suggest changes.
Social Security Administration ‘will be using X to communicate’ moving forward - The Social Security Administration (SSA) unveiled Thursday that it would use the social platform X to make announcements going forward, instead of traditional press releases or memos typically posted to the agency’s website.“The agency will be using X to communicate to the press and the public — formerly known as Twitter,” Linda Kerr-Davis, SSA Midwest-West regional commissioner told employees in a call Thursday, according to Federal News Network (FNN).“This will become our communication mechanism,” she told reporters. The shift comes as communications staff at the agency has dwindled due to reassignments in front-facing roles at field offices across the country. Officials announced that regional SSA offices would no longer have fully staffed public affairs offices as a result.“If you’re used to getting press releases and Dear Colleague letters, you might want to subscribe to the official SSA X account, so you can stay up to date with agency news,” Kerr-Davis said, as reported by FNN.“I know this probably sounds very foreign to you — it did to me as well — and not what we are used to, but we are in different times now,” she added.The SSA’s last press release, which was posted March 27 on the website, denied reports that local field offices may be closing. It also features a link to an inactive social media account for the agency that encouraged website viewers to follow the press office on X, which is owned by close Trump adviser and donor Elon Musk.
Police: Former Edison Electric Institute general counsel defaced Tesla cars - Emily Fisher, 50, a former top executive at the Edison Electric Institute, has been charged alongside her husband with allegedly defacing Tesla automobiles in their northeast Washington neighborhood. The messages written across Tesla vehicle windows using white, bright pink and blue markers taunted Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the prime agent of President Donald Trump’s campaign to shrink the federal government, according to police reports. The Washingon Metropolitan Police issued a statement saying that Fisher’s husband, Justin, 49, formerly with the Government Accountability Office, had turned himself in Tuesday. Emily Fisher then turned herself into police the next day. Emily Fisher’s attorney, Carrie Crumbaugh Love, and Justin Fisher’s attorney, Joseph Scrofano, issued a statement saying their clients voluntarily came forward and cooperated with the police investigation. “Our understanding is that the allegations in this case involve non-violent and non-destructive conduct that resulted in no property damage. We trust that the government and the court system will treat our clients with fairness and proportionality,” they wrote.
Trump must face Central Park 5 defamation suit, judge rules - A federal judge declined to toss a defamation lawsuit against President Trump over his remarks last year about five Black and Hispanic men wrongly convicted of a 1989 rape, dubbed the Central Park Five. U.S. District Judge Wendy Beetlestone on Thursday ruled the lawsuit, which stems from Trump’s remarks about the men at a 2024 presidential debate, can move forward. She said Trump’s commentary can be “‘objectively determined’ to be false,” as reason for the challenge to continue. However, she did dismiss a claim contending the president intentionally caused the men emotional distress. The Central Park Five — Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise — were teenagers when they were wrongfully convicted of the 1989 rape and assault of a white woman jogging in New York City’s Central Park. They spent years in prison before the true culprit confessed, backed by DNA evidence, resulting in their 2002 exoneration. Trump’s comments came during his Sept. 10 debate against former Vice President Kamala Harris in a segment on race and politics, after Harris noted that Trump in 1989 paid for full-page advertisements in major New York newspapers that advocated for a revival of the death penalty following the incident.
NPR Repeats False Claim That The Court Rejected Claims Of Government Involvement In Censorship Efforts by Jonathan Turley -- Leila Fadel and National Public Radio recently interviewed me on free speech. While the program ominously warned that “what you’re about to hear is hate speech” in playing extreme voices on the right, it did interview me and former Columbia University president Lee Bollinger from the free speech community. I wanted to address a statement made about the program that is not accurate but has been repeated like a mantra by many seeking to dismiss the censorship system under the Biden Administration. The claim is that the Supreme Court rejected the claim of coordination between the government and social media companies. That is entirely untrue, but you do not have to take my word for it. The Supreme Court expressly stated that it was not doing so last year.During the program, Fadel quotes me: “You had a level of cooperation, coordination between the government and these other entities, that the effect was that thousands were censored.”Fadel immediately rebuts the claim: FADEL: It’s a charge often made by Republicans and Trump allies. Last year, the Supreme Court rejected the claim that social media companies were pressured to take down posts about COVID-19 and the 2020 election.That is a reference to the court’s decision in Murthy v. Missouri last year. The states of Missouri and Louisiana, led by Missouri’s then-Attorney General (and now United States senator) Eric Schmitt, claimed that the federal government pressured social media companies to censor conservatives and critics. The court ruled 6-3 that the states lacked standing to bring the case.However, in the opinion, the justices went out of their way to expressly refute the notion that they were ruling on the merits of the coordination with the social media companies. In footnote 3, the Court states that “Because we do not reach the merits, we express no view as to whether the Fifth Circuit correctly articulated the standard for when the Government transforms private conduct into state action.”The opinion was based on standing, not whether coordination occurred or whether such coordination violated the First Amendment, as found by the district court.Thus, it is demonstrably untrue that “the Supreme Court rejected the claim that social media companies were pressured to take down posts about COVID-19 and the 2020 election.”Yet, anti-free speech figures and others have repeated this claim, including law professors. Most recently, I testified in the Senate on free speech where both law professor Mary Anne Franks and a senator repeated this claim. Professor Franks told the Committee:“For Republicans to call yet another Congressional hearing to investigate the so-called “censorship industrial complex” of Biden administration officials, nonprofit organizations, and Big Tech companies allegedly collaborating to censor conversative speech—a conspiracy theory so ludicrous that even the current Supreme Court, stacked with a supermajority of far-right conservative judges, dismissed it out of hand last year in Murthy v. Missouri—while ignoring the current wholesale assault on the First Amendment by the Trump administration is a betrayal of the American people.”Obviously, the hearing became quite heated between Professor Franks and the Committee, but two of us wanted to address the claim. (Fellow witness Benjamin Weingarten was able to note the countervailing language in the opinion as part of another question). It was a shame because we might have been able to address this oft-repeated claim fully. (The full testimony is available here). I would have welcomed an opportunity to have a civil exchange with Professor Franks and the Democratic senators on this widely repeated claim.Instead, as shown on NPR, it continues to be repeated and replicated despite being demonstrably in conflict with the express words of the Court.
Fake job seekers use AI to interview for remote jobs, tech CEOs say -- When voice authentication startup Pindrop Security posted a recent job opening, one candidate stood out from hundreds of others. The applicant, a Russian coder named Ivan, seemed to have all the right qualifications for the senior engineering role. When he was interviewed over video last month, however, Pindrop's recruiter noticed that Ivan's facial expressions were slightly out of sync with his words. That's because the candidate, whom the firm has since dubbed "Ivan X," was a scammer using deepfake software and other generative AI tools in a bid to get hired by the tech company, said Pindrop CEO and co-founder Vijay Balasubramaniyan. "Gen AI has blurred the line between what it is to be human and what it means to be machine," Balasubramaniyan said. "What we're seeing is that individuals are using these fake identities and fake faces and fake voices to secure employment, even sometimes going so far as doing a face swap with another individual who shows up for the job." Companies have long fought off attacks from hackers hoping to exploit vulnerabilities in their software, employees or vendors. Now, another threat has emerged: Job candidates who aren't who they say they are, wielding AI tools to fabricate photo IDs, generate employment histories and provide answers during interviews. The rise of AI-generated profiles means that by 2028 globally 1 in 4 job candidates will be fake, according to research and advisory firm Gartner. The risk to a company from bringing on a fake job seeker can vary, depending on the person's intentions. Once hired, the impostor can install malware to demand ransom from a company, or steal its customer data, trade secrets or funds, according to Balasubramaniyan. In many cases, the deceitful employees are simply collecting a salary that they wouldn't otherwise be able to, he said. 'Massive' increase Cybersecurity and cryptocurrency firms have seen a recent surge in fake job seekers, industry experts told CNBC. As the companies are often hiring for remote roles, they present valuable targets for bad actors, these people said. Ben Sesser, the CEO of BrightHire, said he first heard of the issue a year ago and that the number of fraudulent job candidates has "ramped up massively" this year. His company helps more than 300 corporate clients in finance, tech and health care assess prospective employees in video interviews. "Humans are generally the weak link in cybersecurity, and the hiring process is an inherently human process with a lot of hand-offs and a lot of different people involved," Sesser said. "It's become a weak point that folks are trying to expose." But the issue isn't confined to the tech industry. More than 300 U.S. firms inadvertently hired impostors with ties to North Korea for IT work, including a major national television network, a defense manufacturer, an automaker, and other Fortune 500 companies, the Justice Department alleged in May. The workers used stolen American identities to apply for remote jobs and deployed remote networks and other techniques to mask their true locations, the DOJ said. They ultimately sent millions of dollars in wages to North Korea to help fund the nation's weapons program, the Justice Department alleged. That case, involving a ring of alleged enablers including an American citizen, exposed a small part of what U.S. authorities have said is a sprawling overseas network of thousands of IT workers with North Korean ties. The DOJ has since filed more cases involving North Korean IT workers. A growth industry Fake job seekers aren't letting up, if the experience of Lili Infante, founder and chief executive of CAT Labs, is any indication. Her Florida-based startup sits at the intersection of cybersecurity and cryptocurrency, making it especially alluring to bad actors. "Every time we list a job posting, we get 100 North Korean spies applying to it," Infante said. "When you look at their resumes, they look amazing; they use all the keywords for what we're looking for." Infante said her firm leans on an identity-verification company to weed out fake candidates, part of an emerging sector that includes firms such as iDenfy, Jumio and Socure. An FBI wanted poster shows suspects the agency said are IT workers from North Korea, officially called the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Source: FBI The fake employee industry has broadened beyond North Koreans in recent years to include criminal groups located in Russia, China, Malaysia and South Korea, according to Roger Grimes, a veteran computer security consultant. Ironically, some of these fraudulent workers would be considered top performers at most companies, he said. "Sometimes they'll do the role poorly, and then sometimes they perform it so well that I've actually had a few people tell me they were sorry they had to let them go," Grimes said. His employer, the cybersecurity firm KnowBe4, said in October that it inadvertently hired a North Korean software engineer. The worker used AI to alter a stock photo, combined with a valid but stolen U.S. identity, and got through background checks, including four video interviews, the firm said. He was only discovered after the company found suspicious activity coming from his account. Despite the DOJ case and a few other publicized incidents, hiring managers at most companies are generally unaware of the risks of fake job candidates, according to BrightHire's Sesser. "They're responsible for talent strategy and other important things, but being on the front lines of security has historically not been one of them," he said. "Folks think they're not experiencing it, but I think it's probably more likely that they're just not realizing that it's going on." As the quality of deepfake technology improves, the issue will be harder to avoid, Sesser said. As for "Ivan X," Pindrop's Balasubramaniyan said the startup used a new video authentication program it created to confirm he was a deepfake fraud. While Ivan claimed to be located in western Ukraine, his IP address indicated he was actually from thousands of miles to the east, in a possible Russian military facility near the North Korean border, the company said. The fake employee industry has broadened beyond North Koreans in recent years to include criminal groups located in Russia, China, Malaysia and South Korea, according to Roger Grimes, a veteran computer security consultant. Ironically, some of these fraudulent workers would be considered top performers at most companies, he said. "Sometimes they'll do the role poorly, and then sometimes they perform it so well that I've actually had a few people tell me they were sorry they had to let them go," Grimes said. His employer, the cybersecurity firm KnowBe4, said in October that it inadvertently hired a North Korean software engineer. The worker used AI to alter a stock photo, combined with a valid but stolen U.S. identity, and got through background checks, including four video interviews, the firm said. He was only discovered after the company found suspicious activity coming from his account. Despite the DOJ case and a few other publicized incidents, hiring managers at most companies are generally unaware of the risks of fake job candidates, according to BrightHire's Sesser. "They're responsible for talent strategy and other important things, but being on the front lines of security has historically not been one of them," he said. "Folks think they're not experiencing it, but I think it's probably more likely that they're just not realizing that it's going on." As the quality of deepfake technology improves, the issue will be harder to avoid, Sesser said. As for "Ivan X," Pindrop's Balasubramaniyan said the startup used a new video authentication program it created to confirm he was a deepfake fraud. While Ivan claimed to be located in western Ukraine, his IP address indicated he was actually from thousands of miles to the east, in a possible Russian military facility near the North Korean border, the company said. Pindrop, backed by Andreessen Horowitz and Citi Ventures, was founded more than a decade ago to detect fraud in voice interactions, but may soon pivot to video authentication. Clients include some of the biggest U.S. banks, insurers and health companies. "We are no longer able to trust our eyes and ears," Balasubramaniyan said. "Without technology, you're worse off than a monkey with a random coin toss."
Justice Department to 'cease' cryptocurrency enforcement, memo says - The Washington Post - The Justice Department has directed prosecutors to limit their pursuit of certain cryptocurrency crimes, the latest example of the Trump administration pulling back on white-collar criminal enforcement. In a memo sent to staff members Monday night, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department will no longer pursue cases that he described as better left to financial regulatory agencies. Instead, prosecutors should focus on investigating people who commit crimes using cryptocurrency, such as defrauding investors, dealing narcotics and enabling human trafficking, Blanche said. Blanche also announced the disbandment of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, a group of cryptocurrency, cybercrime and money-laundering experts established in 2022 to “address the challenge posed by the criminal misuse of cryptocurrencies and digital assets.” The team played a leading role in some of the government’s largest investigations of players in the crypto sector. Advertisement “The Department of Justice is not a digital assets regulator,” Blanche wrote. The Trump administration has taken multiple steps to legitimize and loosen regulation of the relatively nascent cryptocurrency industry, a sector in which the president and his family have expanded their own financial interests within the past year. President Donald Trump vowed as a candidate to ease restrictions on crypto companies, shoring up his support and donations from tech investors and digital assets executives who said they had been persecuted by Biden administration efforts to regulate the market. The Biden administration ramped up scrutiny of the industry after a series of collapses that harmed consumers — including the implosion of the fraudulent cryptocurrency exchange FTX in 2022, which resulted in the loss of more than $8 billion in customer deposits. At the first-ever White House crypto summit in March — co-hosted by the president’s artificial intelligence and crypto czar, tech investor David Sacks — Trump pledged to end the Biden administration’s “war on crypto.” Since then, the Securities and Exchange Commission has dropped more than a dozen cases against crypto firms. Last month, both the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency pledged to stop evaluating banks based on “reputational risk” — a practice that some venture capitalists have claimed unfairly “de-banked” founders of cryptocurrency start-ups. Meanwhile, the president and first lady Melania Trump have begun selling meme coins, a speculative venture that some industry insiders see as a conflict of interest. And in September, Trump and his sons announced the launch of World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture. The business plans to sell a stablecoin, even as the White House works with lawmakers to develop legislation that would regulate these forms of cryptocurrencies that are backed by the dollar.
Buffett denies social media rumors after Trump shares wild claim that investor backs president crashing market -Warren Buffett went on the record Friday to deny social media posts after President Donald Trump shared on Truth Social a fan video that claimed the president is tanking the stock market on purpose with the endorsement of the legendary investor. Trump on Friday shared an outlandish social media video that defends his recent policy decisions by arguing he is deliberately taking down the market as a strategic play to force lower interest and mortgage rates."Trump is crashing the stock market by 20% this month, but he's doing it on purpose," alleged the video, which Trump posted on his Truth Social account.The video's narrator then falsely states, "And this is why Warren Buffett just said, 'Trump is making the best economic moves he's seen in over 50 years.'" The president shared a link to an X post from the account @AmericaPapaBear, a self-described "Trumper to the end." The X post itself appears to be a repost of a weeks-old TikTok video from user @wnnsa11. The video has been shared more than 2,000 times on Truth Social and nearly 10,000 times on X. Buffett, 94, didn't single out any specific posts, but his conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway outright rejected all comments claimed to be made by him. "There are reports currently circulating on social media (including Twitter, Facebook and Tik Tok) regarding comments allegedly made by Warren E. Buffett. All such reports are false," the company said in a statement Friday. CNBC's Becky Quick spoke to Buffett Friday about this statement and he said he wanted to knock down misinformation in an age where false rumors can be blasted around instantaneously. Buffett told Quick that he won't make any commentary related to the markets, the economy or tariffs between now and Berkshire's annual meeting on May 3. While Buffett hasn't spoken about this week's imposition of sweeping tariffs from the Trump administration, his view on such things has pretty much always been negative. Just in March, the Berkshire CEO and chairman called tariffs "an act of war, to some degree." "Over time, they are a tax on goods. I mean, the tooth fairy doesn't pay 'em!" Buffett said in the news interview with a laugh. "And then what? You always have to ask that question in economics. You always say, 'And then what?'"
Retirees 'stunned' as market turmoil over tariffs shrinks their 401(k)s --Americans nearing retirement and recent retirees said they were anxious and frustrated following a second day of market turmoil that hit their 401(k)s afterPresident Donald Trump’s escalation of tariffs.As the impending tariffs shook the global economy Friday, people who were planning on their retirement accounts to carry them through their golden years said the economic chaos was hitting too close to home.Some said they are pausing big-ticket purchases and reconsidering home renovations, while others said they fear their quality of life will be adversely affected by all the turmoil.“I’m just kind of stunned, and with so much money in the market, we just sort of have to hope we have enough time to recover,” said Paula, 68, a former occupational health professional in New Jersey who retired three years ago. Paula, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she feared retaliation for speaking out against Trump administration policies, said she was worried about what lies ahead. “What we’ve been doing is trying to enjoy the time that we have, but you want to be able to make it last,” Paula said Friday. “I have no confidence here.”Trump fulfilled his campaign promise this week to unleash sweeping tariffs, including on the United States’ largest trading partners, in a move that has sparked fears of a global trade war. The decision sent the stock market spinning. On Friday afternoon, the broad-based S&P 500 closed down 6%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 5.8%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 2,200 points, or about 5.5%.As Wall Street reeled Friday after China hit back with tariffs against the U.S., millions of Americans with 401(k)s watched their retirement funds diminish along with the stock market. “I looked at my 401(k) this morning and in the last two days that’s lost $58,000. That’s stressful,” said Victor Fettes, 54, of Georgia, who retired last week as a senior director of risk management and compliance at Verizon. “If that continues, I can’t stay retired.” Trump has said the tariffs will force businesses to relocate manufacturing and production back to the U.S. and bring back jobs. Some investors and business groups have pushed back, saying they are likely to lead to higher prices for U.S. consumers. “Our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike,” Trump said recently. “But it is not going to happen anymore.” The president has acknowledged the potential pain coming to some Americans’ wallets, but he continues to staunchly defend his agenda. “MY POLICIES WILL NEVER CHANGE,” he posted to social media Friday. Later, he wrote, “ONLY THE WEAK WILL FAIL.” Trump’s tariffs are steeper and more widespread than any in modern American history. They are potentially even broader than the tariffs of 1930 that historians said worsened the Great Depression.Some Americans thinking about retirement told NBC News they feel their economic stability is being played with. “I don’t want to have to worry that everyone is constantly changing my financial reality,” said Alison Carey, 64, of Oregon, a freelancer in the theater industry. “Let the economy do its machinations, but don’t put me in the gears.” Paula said she and other older Americans are living with “anxiety about something where you don’t really know what’s going to happen. You can’t do anything though.”She and her husband have decided to pause and reduce spending on big-ticket items. They are reconsidering vacations and home renovations.“We can’t change anything right now, except our spending,” she said. “I’m sure there are consumers across the board that want to be cautious, too. Then it becomes a vicious cycle. Consumer confidence goes down.” One in five Americans age 50 and over have no retirement savings, and more than half, 61%, are worried they will not have enough money to support them in retirement, according to a survey published by the AARP last April.“It makes you realize how out of touch the current administration is with regular people,” said Benajah Cobb, 63, Carey’s husband, who also works in the theater industry.“It’s happening so quickly. Things are falling apart so quickly,” he said. “I’m hoping Congress will try to step up a bit, the Republicans in Congress.”
We've been here before: Advisors share lessons from past financial crises --After President Donald Trump announced his "Liberation Day" reciprocal tariffs late Wednesday,the stock market took a massive nosedive, with the market turmoil continuing this week. Veterans of the dot-com bubble of the late '90s, the early 2000s recession, the 2008 financial crisis and COVID-19 shutdown of 2020 say the more things change, the more things stay the same.
Bitcoin Slumps To New 2025 Low Amid Market Sell-Off -- Bitcoin, the world’s leading cryptocurrency by market capitalization, recorded another significant drop on Monday, hitting a fresh 2025 low amid growing global uncertainty and a shift in investor focus toward traditional safe haven assets. A wave of selling pressure has swept through the cryptocurrency market, driving down the overall market valuation of digital assets. According to the latest figures, the total crypto market capitalization declined by 2.34% over the last 24 hours to settle at $2.5 trillion. Despite the downturn in asset prices, trading activity surged. The global 24-hour cryptocurrency trading volume soared to $233.19 billion, marking a substantial 351.49% increase. Of this, decentralized finance (DeFi) accounted for $13.82 billion, or 5.92% of the total volume. Stablecoins remained dominant in the trading activity, with a combined volume of $220.13 billion—comprising 94.40% of the total 24-hour crypto market turnover, according to CoinMarketCap.com. As of press time, Bitcoin (BTCUSD) had dropped to the $78,800 range after a weeklong loss of over 5%, trading down 5.1% to approximately $74,835. The digital currency had shed 5% in just 24 hours before initiating a mild recovery. Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency, was also under intense selling pressure. It slid to $1,555 after losing over 15% in the past week, as investors continued shifting their capital from digital assets to more secure financial instruments.
Microsoft 'slowing or pausing' some AI data center projects -- Microsoft said on Wednesday it is “slowing or pausing” some of its data center projects, describing the move as a show of flexibility as the artificial intelligence (AI) industry evolves. “In recent years, demand for our cloud and AI services grew more than we could have ever anticipated and to meet this opportunity, we began executing the largest and most ambitious infrastructure scaling project in our history,” Noelle Walsh, president of Microsoft cloud computing operations, wrote in a Wednesday post on LinkedIn. “By nature, any significant new endeavor at this size and scale requires agility and refinement as we learn and grow with our customers. What this means is that we are slowing or pausing some early-stage projects,” she said. The announcement comes as AI companies pour unprecedented amounts of funding into infrastructure to meet the computational and energy demands of the emerging technology. Microsoft is still on track to spend more than $80 billion on infrastructure, a company spokesperson confirmed.
U.S. financial regulator says email hack exposed sensitive bank data -The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Tuesday said a February hack of its email systems qualified as a "major incident" and exposed "highly sensitive information."The breach, first disclosed and resolved in February, involved information related to the "financial condition of federally regulated financial institutions used in its examinations and supervisory oversight processes."The OCC, an agency that regulates and supervises national banks, said it learned of the incident on Feb. 11, and shut off compromised administrative accounts the next day. The regulator said it is using external cybersecurity experts for a full review of the incident and is launching a review of its IT security policies to prevent further attacks."I have taken immediate steps to determine the full extent of the breach and to remedy the long-held organizational and structural deficiencies that contributed to this incident," said Acting Comptroller of the Currency Rodney Hood. "There will be full accountability for the vulnerabilities identified and any missed internal findings that led to the unauthorized access," he added. Hackers had access to more than 150,000 emails from June 2023 until earlier this year, Bloomberg reported earlier, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
OCC falls victim to major cybersecurity breach - The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency experienced a significant email system security breach, according to the agency, which notified Congress of the hack Tuesday. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency disclosed a significant email system security breach that revealed sensitive data about federally regulated banks. The breach follows a similar incident at the Treasury Department earlier this year.
Solid Financial files for bankruptcy after pig butchering scandal -- Embedded finance platform provider Solid Financial Technologies filed for bankruptcy this week, less than a month after victims of an alleged pig butchering scheme filed a class action lawsuit seeking to recover $28 million in funds from a fraudster who had kept roughly $5.3 million in funds with Solid. Victims of a pig butchering scheme recently sued Qbit, a Solid customer that allegedly laundered millions of dollars through Solid accounts.
New York fines Block for Cash App anti-money-laundering lapses -- Block has had a difficult 2025 with risk regulators, with the latest ding being a $40 million fine in New York over shortcomings in customer and transaction vetting. Regulators said the payment company did not provide sufficient customer identification and monitoring, increasing risk for its transfer app. This week's fine follows earlier penalties in other states and the federal government.
BankThink: Treasury's AML rollback could increase fraud risks for banks - With reduced oversight, it's up to a trusted entity to respond. Otherwise, fraud could flourish, which isn't something most businesses want to hear as we're seeing skyrocketing levels of identity fraud and cybercrime -- In March, the U.S. Treasury Department announced it would no longer enforce the Corporate Transparency Act, the anti-money-laundering law that requires millions of businesses to disclose the identity of their real beneficial owners. The Treasury Department cited an undue burden on low-risk businesses, while other businesses had raised alarms about the CTA's potential impact on privacy. As entities become larger, the reporting and regulatory burden can become more complex. The decision to stop enforcing the Corporate Transparency Act, which requires the disclosure of the beneficial ownership of businesses, could make the U.S. an attractive environment for fraudsters. .
Regulations on AI in banking should focus on outcomes, not models -Rather than trying to police the way banks' artificial intelligence models are designed, regulators should assess the results they produce, and make sure they adhere to existing consumer protection rules --Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the financial services sector, from automating credit assessments to enhancing fraud detection. However, as AI's footprint expands, so does the debate over how to regulate its use effectively. I felt this yin and yang firsthand when I headed up AI innovation at Chase. While some advocate for stringent oversight of AI models and infrastructure, a more consumer-centric approach — leveraging existing financial regulations — may offer a balanced path that safeguards consumers without stifling innovation. Rather than trying to police the way banks' artificial intelligence models are designed, regulators should assess the results they produce and make sure they adhere to existing consumer protection rules.
The small bank trade-off in Bowman's rise to Fed top cop -- Federal Reserve Gov. Michelle Bowman's ascendance to the central bank's vice chair for supervision position presents a win-loss proposition for community bankers. Federal Reserve Gov. Michelle Bowman has been a crucial ally for community banks. With her impending rise to regulatory vice chair, small banks worry about losing their direct access to the Fed's board of governors.
FDIC's Travis Hill previews new resolution standards -The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is revisiting rules issued under the Biden administration governing financial submissions large banks must provide to help the agency quickly respond in the event of a bank failure, acting Chair Travis Hill said Tuesday. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. aims to ease compliance for large banks, revisit crypto and stablecoin rules, and weigh inflation adjustments to regulatory thresholds. "We will deemphasize and broaden the strategy discussion and waive the expectation that banks identify and build their plans around a hypothetical failure scenario," Hill said. "Instead, we will look for plans focused more specifically on providing the FDIC the information it needs to rapidly market the institution and, if needed, operate the institution for a short period of time."
DOGE descends on FDIC in federal downsizing push - A team of Department of Government Efficiency employees are working to restructure the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. alongside the banking agency's management, according to an email obtained by American Banker. The Department of Government Efficiency team is working with FDIC leadership to "increase efficiency," which could include cuts to contracts and streamlining staff. FDIC says DOGE staffers have "appropriate clearances."
Exclusive: Barr offers CRA resolution for OCC bank merger rule — Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., is introducing a resolution Thursday morning that would nullify the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's updated rule on bank mergers. House Financial Services Committee member Andy Barr, R-Ky., will introduce a Congressional Review Act resolution to nullify the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's merger rule that went into effect in January.
French Hill promises Republican-led bank deregulation — House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill, R-Ark., highlighted Republican-controlled Washington's plans for a bank deregulation, even as President Donald Trump's tariff policy continued to whipsaw markets, at a conference hosted by the American Bankers Association. As President Donald Trump's tariffs whipsaw bank shares and threaten recession, the House Financial Services Committee chairman told a large room of bankers that efforts like repealing the small business data collection rule and passing legislation to Congressionally appropriate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are among his priorities. The Treasury secretary is casting international financial institutions as American-aligned counterweights to China's growing influence in the developing world, as she seeks to garner congressional support for US financial backing of those lenders.
Business group asks Treasury to destroy CTA data - The National Federation of Independent Business — an advocacy group for small businesses — is pressing the Treasury Department to permanently delete ownership data collected under the now-suspended beneficial ownership rule, ramping up its campaign against federal reporting requirements it has called invasive and burdensome for small businesses. The National Federation of Independent Business calls on the Treasury to delete beneficial ownership data collected under a now-paused rule, citing privacy risks and small-business burdens.
Dozens of state AGs urge House to reject overdraft repeal -- Twenty-four state attorneys general urged House members to vote against a Congressional Review Act resolution that, if passed, would overturn a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule capping overdraft fees imposed by large banks on customers. A group of 24 state attorneys general Wednesday called on House members to reject a Senate-passed Congressional Review Act resolution repealing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's overdraft cap.
House votes to nullify overdraft, larger participant rules - Congressional Review Act resolutions to nullify the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's overdraft and larger participant rules now go to President Trump for his signature.
CFPB looks to rescind nonbank registry, ignore compliance - The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is considering eliminating a nonbank registry of repeat corporate offenders in yet another rollback of Biden-era rules that would benefit Big Tech firms The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said it will not enforce or supervise nonbank financial firms that miss upcoming compliance deadlines for the nonbank registry of repeat offenders.
Pulte ousts 100+ at Fannie Mae over ethics breach -- The Federal Housing Finance Agency said it has fired more than 100 employees from Fannie Mae over unethical conduct. Bill Pulte, making the announcement as chairman of Fannie Mae, did not provide additional details following earlier rumors of larger layoffs.
Executive compensation of FHLBank execs comes under scrutiny - A letter from Senate Republicans noting a payout to a former Federal Home Loan Bank CEO has led consumer advocates to heighten scrutiny of executive salaries throughout the FHLB system. A recent letter addressed to the FHFA fueled a consumer advocacy group to look at salaries, which have been criticized as not aligned to the system's purpose.
Exclusive: Cortez Masto offers bill to reform FHLBs — Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., is introducing a bill that would aim to focus the Federal Home Loan banks more strongly on housing finance and community development, according to a copy of the text seen by American Banker. The bill being introduced by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., would compel the Federal Home Loan Bank System to contribute 30%, or a minimum of $200 million, of each bank's net earnings into affordable housing or other community development programs.
Worst 24 Hours For Rates So Far This Year -- Tariff volatility giveth and taketh from interest rates. Up until Friday afternoon, it's been mostly "giveth-ing." In other words, the prospect of trade wars between the US and numerous foreign countries has generally caused weakness in the stock market and strength in the bond market (stronger bonds = lower rates). That pattern began breaking down on Friday, although it wasn't apparent at the time because mortgage rates still managed to close at the lowest levels of the year. Notably, though, rates began Friday at even lower levels. Lenders were forced to increase rates in response to bond market weakness.That weakness kicked into overdrive Today. While there was certainly some volatility surrounding news headlines that were less than credible (specifically, that Trump was considering a 90 day pause on Tariffs), bonds maintained steady selling pressure all day.As a result, mortgage lenders were under progressive pressure to bump today's mortgages rates higher several times. The net effect is that we've moved from 2025's lowest rates to highest since late February in the space of 24 hours. That said, today's highs are right in line with many other days from the past several weeks.
Part 1: Current State of the Housing Market; Overview for mid-April 2025 --Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Part 1: Current State of the Housing Market; Overview for mid-April 2025 A brief excerpt: This 2-part overview for mid-April provides a snapshot of the current housing market.At this moment, we can’t talk housing without mentioning the overall economy. Just over two weeks ago, I revised down my outlook for housing this year, see Policy and 2025 Housing Outlook. Since then, policy and the outlook have taken a turn for the worse. One point I made in March was: And another factor is the recent stock market volatility. Ten percent corrections are common, a further sell-off will have a negative wealth effect for potential home buyers.Stock markets are now down around 20% (with crazy volatility). And it is likely this will negatively impact home sales.On my blog, I went on Recession Watch over the weekend (not predicting a recession yet because the U.S. economy is very resilient, was on solid footing at the beginning of the year, and the tariffs might be lowered or reversed). And I discussed some of the data I’ll be watching in Recession Watch Metrics. And on housing: Inventory, inventory, inventory! Inventory is increasing sharply, and inventory usually tells the tale....Since both inventory and sales have fallen significantly, a key for house prices is to watch months-of-supply. The following graph shows months-of-supply since 2017. The following graph shows months-of-supply since 2017. Note that months-of-supply is higher than 6 of the last 8 years, and at the same level as in 2017.Months-of-supply was at 3.5 months in February compared to 3.6 months in February 2019. It appears national months-of-supply will be above pre-pandemic levels this summer, and likely above 5.0 months (putting some pressure on prices).Inventory would probably have to increase to 5 1/2 to 6 months of supply to see national price declines again.
Part 2: Current State of the Housing Market; Overview for mid-April 2025 - Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Part 2: Current State of the Housing Market; Overview for mid-April 2025A brief excerpt: Yesterday, in Part 1: Current State of the Housing Market; Overview for mid-April 2025 I reviewed home inventory, housing starts and sales.In Part 2, I will look at house prices, mortgage rates, rents and more.
These “Current State” summaries show us where we came from, where we are, and hopefully give us clues as to where we are going!Note: Yesterday, I expressed concern about policy impacting housing and the economy. Then, at 12:57 PM ET, Goldman Sachs economists put out a note titled: Moving to a Recession Baseline. They argued - based on announced tariffs - that they were forecasting a recession and for the unemployment rate to rise to 5.7% in Q4.Minutes later, a 90-day pause for most tariffs was announced (reducing tariffs to 10%, except China). An hour later Goldman Sachs put out a second note: Reverting to Our Previous Non-Recession Baseline. However, they still maintained a 45% change of recession in the next 12 months.Forecasting is especially difficult with rapidly changing policy! ...The Case-Shiller National Index increased 4.1% year-over-year (YoY) in January and will be about the same YoY - or slightly lower - in the February report (based on other data).The MoM increase in the seasonally adjusted (SA) Case-Shiller National Index was at 0.57% (a 7.0% annual rate), This was the 24th consecutive MoM increase in the seasonally adjusted index.
MBA: Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey - -From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey Mortgage applications increased 20.0 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 4, 2025.The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 20.0 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 20 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index increased 35 percent from the previous week and was 93 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 9 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 10 percent compared with the previous week and was 24 percent higher than the same week one year ago. “Mortgage applications increased by 20 percent to its highest level since September 2024, driven by purchase and refinance applications picking up in a volatile week where economic uncertainty caused rates to drop across the board. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.61 percent, the lowest rate since October 2024,” “Both homebuyers and refinance borrowers were quick to take advantage of this dip in rates, driving the purchase index 24 percent higher than a year ago to the strongest pace since January 2024. Refinance applications rose by 35 percent to the highest level in six months, as borrowers with larger loan sizes tend to be more sensitive to rate changes. The average refinance loan size jumped to its second highest in the survey at $399,600.” ...The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($806,500 or less) decreased to 6.61 percent from 6.70 percent, with points increasing to 0.63 from 0.62 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.The first graph shows the MBA mortgage purchase index. According to the MBA, purchase activity is up 24% year-over-year unadjusted. Purchase application activity is up about 38% from the lows in late October 2023 and is 14% above the lowest levels during the housing bust.The second graph shows the refinance index since 1990. The refinance index increased but remained very low.
Housing April 7th Weekly Update: Inventory up 2.3% Week-over-week, Up 34.7% Year-over-year --Altos reports that active single-family inventory was up 2.3% week-over-week. Inventory is now up 10.7% from the seasonal bottom in January and is increasing. Usually, inventory is up about 4% or 5% from the seasonal low by this week in the year. So, 2025 is seeing a larger than normal pickup in inventory. The first graph shows the seasonal pattern for active single-family inventory since 2015. The red line is for 2025. The black line is for 2019. Inventory was up 34.7% compared to the same week in 2024 (last week it was up 30.6%), and down 17.4% compared to the same week in 2019 (last week it was down 19.0%). Inventory will pass 2020 levels soon, and it now appears inventory will be close to 2019 levels towards the end of 2025. This second inventory graph is courtesy of Altos Research. As of April 4th, inventory was at 691 thousand (7-day average), compared to 676 thousand the prior week. Mike Simonsen discusses this data regularly on Youtube
Leading Index for Commercial Real Estate Decreased 7% in March - From Dodge Data Analytics: Dodge Momentum Index Declines 7% in March The Dodge Momentum Index (DMI), issued by Dodge Construction Network, receded 6.9% in March to 205.6 (2000=100) from the revised February reading of 220.9. Over the month, commercial planning declined 7.8% while institutional planning fell 5.0%.“Increased uncertainty around material prices and fiscal policies may have begun to factor into planning decisions throughout March,”. “While planning data has weakened across most nonresidential sectors this month, activity remains considerably higher than year-ago levels and still suggests steady construction activity in mid-2026.” On the commercial side, weaker planning activity for warehouses, data centers and retail stores drove this month’s decline. Meanwhile, hotel and office planning continued to accelerate. On the institutional side, planning activity slowed for education, healthcare and government buildings. In March, the DMI was up 30% when compared to year-ago levels. The commercial segment was up 32% from March 2024. The institutional segment was up 27% over the same period, following a very weak March last year. The influence of data centers on the DMI this year remains substantial. If we remove all data center projects between 2023 and 2025, commercial planning would be up 4% from year-ago levels, and the entire DMI would be up 12%. While momentum decelerated for data centers this month, levels of activity remain very high. ...The DMI is a monthly measure of the value of nonresidential building projects going into planning, shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year.This graph shows the Dodge Momentum Index since 2002. The index was at 205.6 in March, down from 220.9 the previous month.According to Dodge, this index leads "construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year". This index suggests a pickup in mid-2025, however, uncertainty might impact these projects. Commercial construction is typically a lagging economic indicator.
BLS: CPI Decreased 0.1% in March; Core CPI increased 0.1% -- From the BLS: The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) decreased 0.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in March, after rising 0.2 percent in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 2.4 percent before seasonal adjustment.The index for energy fell 2.4 percent in March, as a 6.3-percent decline in the index for gasoline more than offset increases in the indexes for electricity and natural gas. The food index, in contrast, rose 0.4 percent in March as the food at home index increased 0.5 percent and the food away from home index rose 0.4 percent over the month.The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.1 percent in March, following a 0.2-percent increase in February. Indexes that increased over the month include personal care, medical care, education, apparel, and new vehicles. The indexes for airline fares, motor vehicle insurance, used cars and trucks, and recreation were among the major indexes that decreased in March.The all items index rose 2.4 percent for the 12 months ending March, after rising 2.8 percent over the 12 months ending February. The all items less food and energy index rose 2.8 percent over the last 12 months, the smallest 12-month increase since March 2021. The energy index decreased 3.3 percent for the 12 months ending March. The food index increased 3.0 percent over the last year. The change in CPI was below expectations. I'll post a graph later today after the Cleveland Fed releases the median and trimmed-mean CPI.
Cleveland Fed: Median CPI increased 0.3% and Trimmed-mean CPI increased 0.2% in February --The Cleveland Fed released the median CPI and the trimmed-mean CPI.According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, the median Consumer Price Index rose 0.3% in February. The 16% trimmed-mean Consumer Price Index increased 0.2%. "The median CPI and 16% trimmed-mean CPI are measures of core inflation calculated by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland based on data released in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) monthly CPI report".This graph shows the year-over-year change for these four key measures of inflation. On a year-over-year basis, the median CPI rose 3.5% (down slightly unrounded from 3.5% YoY in February), the trimmed-mean CPI rose 3.0% (down from 3.1%), and the CPI less food and energy rose 2.8% (down from 3.1%). Core PCE is for February was up 2.8% YoY, up from 2.7% in January. Based on the CPI report this morning, Core PCE is expected to decline to 2.6% YoY in March.
YoY Measures of Inflation: Services, Goods and Shelter - Here are a few measures of inflation: The first graph is the one Fed Chair Powell had mentioned two years ago when services less rent of shelter was up around 8% year-over-year. This declined and is now up 3.3% YoY.This graph shows the YoY price change for Services and Services less rent of shelter through March 2025. Services were up 3.7% YoY as of March 2025, down from 4.1% YoY in February.Services less rent of shelter was up 3.3% YoY in March, down from 3.8% YoY in February.The second graph shows that goods prices started to increase year-over-year (YoY) in 2020 and accelerated in 2021 due to both strong demand and supply chain disruptions.Durables were at -1.0% YoY as of March 2025, up from -1.2% YoY in February. Commodities less food and energy commodities were at 0.0% YoY in March, unchanged from 0.0% YoY in February. Here is a graph of the year-over-year change in shelter from the CPI report (through March) and housing from the PCE report (through February)Shelter was up 4.0% year-over-year in March, down from 4.2% in February. Housing (PCE) was up 4.3% YoY in February, down from 4.5% in January.This is still catching up with private new lease data. Core CPI ex-shelter was up 1.8% YoY in March.
AAR: Rail Carloads and Intermodal Up in March - From the Association of American Railroads (AAR) AAR Data Center. Recent changes in U.S. trade policy represent a notable shift from previous approaches. These developments will affect multiple sectors, including freight rail, where global trade accounts for approximately 38% of unit volume and 37% of total revenue. Even in stable times, railroads must constantly adjust to evolving economic conditions; they are operationally equipped to adapt to this latest round of policy change as well. At present, rail traffic is holding steady. While some “soft” economic indicators, such as consumer confidence, have weakened in recent months, many “hard” economic metrics—including job gains, unemployment, and consumer spending—remain resilient. That continued strength has supported modest gains in rail volumes. That said, manufacturing remains mired in a prolonged period of weakness, limiting growth in several carload categories. This graph from the AAR shows their index ("The AAR’s Freight Rail Index (FRI) is defined as intermodal plus carloads excluding coal and grain. We exclude coal and grain because their carloads tend to rise or fall for reasons that have little to do with what’s going on in the broader economy.")U.S. railroads originated 906,253 total carloads in March 2025, up 4.5% (39,342 carloads) over last March and the third year-over-year increase in total carloads over the past 15 months. Total carloads averaged 226,563 in March 2025, the most in six months and the most for March since 2022. ... U.S. railroads also originated 1.10 million containers and trailers in March 2025, up 8.0% (82,151 units) over March 2024 and intermodal’s 19th consecutive year-over-year gain.
Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims Increase to 223,000 --The DOL reported:In the week ending April 5, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 223,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 219,000. The 4-week moving average was 223,0 00, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised average of 223,000. The following graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since 1971.The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average. The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims was unchanged at 223,000.The previous week was unchanged.Weekly claims were close to the consensus forecast.
K-12 schools face major Trump test on DEI demand - The Education Department’s demand that K-12 districts and state officials certify their schools are free of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs is being met with open defiance from blue states and open arms by red ones. Highlighting an already stark divide on the issue, states including New York and Minnesota are telling the federal government they will not sign off on any such certification, while several red states are already collecting signatures from their districts. The issue poses the first major test for states and local districts bucking the education agenda of President Trump, who has shown willing aggression in going after colleges and universities he thinks are out of line. “I am on the reservation, so pretty much … I mean, everything that we do is DEI,” said a principal in a Republican-led state who oversees a school that is 95 percent Native American, and who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. “We don’t really have a plan for it,” the principal added regarding the certification letter. “In talking to some of my other district administrators, it’s kind of an attitude of, ‘We’ll see what happens when it gets sorted out in the courts’ […] ‘we’ll worry about it when the time comes,’ ‘it’s really not going to be what everybody thinks.’ It is just kind of a lot of disbelief, which is really frustrating.” The April 3 letter was sent to state officials and districts to certify the institutions are in “compliance with their antidiscrimination obligations,” including ridding themselves of DEI programs, which Trump hates and has sought to eliminate through executive action. In an extended deadline, the Education Department now says officials have until April 24 to comply. If the programs are not gone, the administration says, funding could be pulled from the K-12 districts. Federal money makes up around 10 percent of funding for public schools, with some variation based on need, and, at the collegiate level, Trump has quickly targeted the finances of schools that displease him. “Unfortunately, we have seen too many schools flout or outright violate these obligations, including by using DEI programs to discriminate against one group of Americans to favor another based on identity characteristics in clear violation of Title VI,” Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the Education Department, wrote in the certification letter. Sasha Pudelski, director of advocacy at the School Superintendents Association, notes that “for some states, this is going to be a non-issue.” “And I think that’s important to recognize that there’s going to be a lot of variety in how states respond to this and how they inform districts, or how they kind of relate the district’s responsibility to respond to this,” Pudelski said. Republican-led states including Indiana and Oklahoma have said publicly they will comply with the directive. Other red states will likely agree as many, including Florida and Texas, have laws on the books already cracking down on DEI. “We will ensure all school districts understand and adhere to the law accordingly,” Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters said. But other states, including Colorado and Minnesota, are digging in. Minnesota sent a response letter to the Department of Education saying the certification “seeks to change the terms and conditions of federal financial assistance awarded to MDE without formal administrative process.” The states says there is no formal definition of DEI and that Minnesota schools are all following federal law.
DHS agents blocked from entering two LA schools— Homeland Security agents attempted to enter two Los Angeles schools this week, in what is believed to be their first such attempt in the city since the Trump administration began its strict immigration crackdown. The agents were denied entry. Two federal officials attempted to enter Lillian Street Elementary School and Russell Elementary School on Monday — both located in L.A.’s Florence-Graham neighborhood. School administrators turned them away, following Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) protocols. The agents were from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the district later confirmed. Two schools at the LAUSD denied entry to agents with the Department of Homeland Security amid an immigration crackdown from the Trump administration. (KTLA) DHS has not commented publicly on the matter. As of Thursday morning, the exact goal of the agents was unclear. The attempt to enter two LAUSD schools comes after Trump’s administration authorized federal agents to enter “sensitive areas” to conduct immigration-related investigations — something that was against the Biden administration’s guidelines.
Harvard students lose visas in Trump admin crackdown --The Harvard International Office announced Sunday that three students and two recent graduates from the university have had their student visas revoked amid the Trump administration’s crackdown. The office did not release the students’ names and said it has referred them to legal counsel. The reasoning for the revocation is unknown, but the office said it was made during a routine records review. “Harvard deeply values the international students and scholars who travel here to learn and grow. The talent they bring to campus each day increases our ability to advance world-class discovery in fields that have meaningful impact on people’s lives, while creating positive relationships and discourse that expand the horizons of people across our community. We are committed to continuing to support them,” the office wrote. A spokesperson for the university declined to comment. Numerous schools across the country have seen multiple international students lose their visas since the start of President Trump’s second term. The administration’s reasoning has not always been clear, but several high-profile cases have involved pulling visas and looking to deport students who were involved in last year’s pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus. Secretary of State Marco Rubio previously said hundreds of visas have been pulled. “We do it every day. Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visa,” Rubio told reporters late last month.
Trump immigrant crackdown escalates: Suicide of detained Chinese woman, workplace raids, visas for South Sudanese immigrants and college students revoked -The brutality of the Trump administration’s ICE raids and mass arrests is reaching new heights. In the last week alone, a Chinese woman committed suicide at the Border Patrol Station in Yuma, Arizona; ICE raids rounding up over 35 people at workplaces from Washington to Texas took place; the visas of all South Sudanese passport holders are being revoked; and numerous international students are facing deportation following the revocation of their visas. Increasing numbers of people who had permanent residency or visas in good standing are being seized and disappeared. These include immigrant students on college campuses who are being singled out for their political speech against the Gaza genocide.Detained immigrants are being thrown into overcrowded and inhumane facilities, where they languish for weeks or months on end in violation of due process rights. Conditions in the facilities are deteriorating due to overcrowding.In the past week alone, numerous universities across the country have released statements announcing that students had their visas revoked and student statuses terminated by the federal government. At least 48 students have had their education, career, and life upended in Trump’s dragnet against immigrants, targeting anti-genocide and political opposition to the crimes of Israel and US imperialism.Universities that released statements include:
- Stanford University: Four current students and two recent graduates had their visas revoked.
- UC Los Angeles: At least eight current students had their visas revoked.
- UC San Diego: Five students lost their visas and one was detained at the border, denied entry and deported.
- UC Berkeley: Four visas were revoked, including two for enrolled students and two for recent graduates on professional training visas.
- UC Irvine: Visa revocations were confirmed this week, though specifics were not disclosed.
- University of Alabama: One student, Alireza Doroudi, a 22-year-old Iranian citizen, was abducted from his home just off campus and and left incommunicado for two days before officials released his whereabouts.
- Arizona State University: At least eight international students had their visas revoked this past week.
- University of Massachusetts Amherst: Five international students had their visas revoked.
- Tufts University: At least one visa revocation was confirmed for Rumeysa Ozturk, a 30-year-old Fulbright scholar and doctoral student who was targeted due to her pro-Palestinian activism and abducted by masked immigration police who kidnapped her in an unmarked car.
- Minnesota State University, Mankato: Five students had their visas revoked.
- Cornell University: Mamadou Taal, a British-Gambian Ph.D. student in Africana Studies, known for playing a leading role in anti-genocide protests, had his visa revoked and was forced to flee the US.
- North Carolina State University: Saleh Al Gurad, a Saudi engineering student, had his visa revoked and was forced to leave the US.
- University of Oregon: The university confirmed the revocation of at least one student’s visa.
- University of Texas at Austin: Two students (from India and Lebanon) employed under a training program had their visas revoked.
Possibly hundreds of students have been abducted and disappeared by US immigration police in the first three months of the Trump administration. The targeting of students is aimed at upending all protected political speech, particularly opposition to US/Israeli genocide in Gaza.A still unidentified 52-year-old Chinese woman took her own life while in custody on Saturday, March 29 at the Blythe Border Patrol Station in Yuma, Arizona. According to the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Professional Responsibility, the woman had been detained after overstaying her B1/B2 visitor visa. She was arrested in Needles, California and transferred to the Arizona facility.The woman was among four Chinese immigrants who were pulled over by the CBP. Officials claimed that cash found on the immigrants “was believed to be proceeds from illegal activity and was seized for laundering.” Nearly one-quarter of the foreign-born labor force in California are Asian immigrants, including immigrants of Chinese descent. The CBP is seeking to cover up the facts surrounding the death. While the agency claims that multiple welfare checks were conducted, surveillance footage shows that the woman’s lifeless body hung for two hours after she was shown making a noose and tying it around her neck. Furthermore, the CBP is required to notify officials within 24-hours after a death, a requirement put in place after the 2018 death of a seven-year-old girl in a New Mexico facility. Conditions in the facilities are known to be horrendous. A federal judge wrote in a 2020 ruling that conditions in the neighboring Tucson sector of CBP facilities were so inhumane that they were “presumptively punitive and violate the Constitution.” At the El Paso Service Processing Center in Texas, at least eight Venezuelan immigrants alleged via video linked to media outlets that guards beat them at the end of February. Numerous videos posted on Tik Tok highlight the overcrowded and unsanitary conditions at the Krome Detention Center facility in Miami, Florida. As of March 23, 47,892 people were detained in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, an increase of 1,623 individuals in just two weeks.According to the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR), among those detained by ICE, 49.9 percent have no criminal record, while most who have any record have only minor offenses such as traffic violations. This exposes the lie that the Trump administration is pursuing “criminals.” On Wednesday, April 2, immigration officials from ICE, CBP and DHS detained 37 immigrants at Mt. Baker’s Roofing’s warehouse in Bellingham, Washington. On Saturday, April 5, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the revocation of all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders. South Sudanese immigrants in the US had been granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) due to unsafe conditions in their home country. The Trump administration is vindictively retaliating against South Sudan’s refusal to accept the return of its deported nationals.This announcement is significant as it is the first time visa revocations are specifically targeting an entire nation. The move by the Trump administration amounts to a death sentence, as immigrants would be sent back to an active war zone.
Hundreds of students, dozens of colleges hit by Trump's visa purge: What to know -Hundreds of foreign students at dozens of colleges across the country have had their higher education experience turned upside down as the Trump administration has expanded its immigration crackdown beyond those involved in the pro-Palestinian protests. International students are seeing their visas revoked for infractions as minor as traffic violations, while colleges are having to check immigration databases to find out whether their students are still allowed to be in the country. Ivy League universities, state schools and community colleges have all been impacted as students decide whether to find legal counsel or leave the country before Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) comes for them. Exactly how many visas have been revoked is unknown, because the State Department has declined requests to share numbers and some schools are too afraid to speak up. An Inside Higher Ed tracker has the number of colleges and universities affected by the visa revocations at more than 80, including public and private institutions in a wide range of locations and sizes. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last month that more than 300 student visas have been revoked under the Trump administration, with more coming every day. “We don’t discuss individual visas because of the privacy issues involved,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Tuesday. “We don’t go into statistics or numbers; we don’t go into the rationale for what happens with individual visas. What we can tell you is that the department revokes visas every day in order to secure our borders and to keep our community safe, and we’ll continue to do so.” The visa revocations began at big-name schools, such as Columbia University, and at least at first targeted students who were involved in pro-Palestinian protests. But it has expanded beyond that, with one University of Florida student detained by ICE after he was arrested for traffic violations. The American Council on Education, along with 16 other groups representing a broad swath of higher education institutions, wrote a letter on April 4 requesting a briefing with the State Department on these actions. “We seek clarity amidst reports that student visas are being revoked and records are being terminated in the Student Exchange Visitor Information System without additional information being shared with the institutions those students attend,” the letter reads.
Jewish students, faculty, staff at University of Michigan denounce “weaponization of antisemitism” - Over 400 Jewish students, faculty and staff at the University of Michigan (U-M) have signed open letters denouncing the administration’s “weaponization of antisemitism.” The letters demand that the university end its collaboration with the Trump administration in the crackdown on political speech and the campaign of abductions, disappearances and deportations of non-citizen students and faculty for lawfully expressing opposition to the US-backed Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. These include Momodou Taal, a Cornell Ph.D. candidate who was forced to leave the country after federal agents sought to detain him for challenging Trump’s unconstitutional executive orders seeking to abolish free speech; Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia graduate student and lawful permanent resident who remains in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody; and Tufts University Fulbright scholar Rumeysa Ozturk, who was kidnapped in broad daylight by masked federal agents and is currently imprisoned. The letters also demand an end to the university’s attack on free speech on campus in the form of police attacks, arrests and prosecutions of students and others involved in peaceful protests. This began under the Democratic Biden administration and has been intensified under Trump. Universities across the country, including U-M, are capitulating to demands from the fascist Trump administration that academic programs and faculty targeted by Zionist groups and the US government be silenced for speaking the truth about the decades-long occupation and dispossession of the Palestinian people by the Zionist state, which serves as the main outpost of US imperialism in the Middle East. Last month, Columbia University agreed to a list of demands for an intensified crackdown in return for the reversal of Trump’s announced withholding of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants. This included the adoption of a new definition of antisemitism that conflates anti-Zionism with antisemitism. This was followed by U-M President Santa Ono’s announcement that he was shutting down the university’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs in order to comply with Trump’s demands to impose his “America First” ideology and whitewash of US history as a condition for retaining billions in federal funding. Ono and the U-M regents have brought police onto the campus to attack and arrest peaceful pro-Palestinian protesters and charge them with felonies. Zionist students at U-M have been persistently filing civil rights violation accusations with the Trump Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) against pro-Palestinian protestors, according to a March 12 Michigan Public Radio report. Over 60 universities, including U-M, have been named for investigation by the OCR, with warnings of “potential enforcement actions if they do not fulfill their obligations” to “protect Jewish students on campus.” It has since been reported that Trump is preparing to “pause” funding to Brown University, Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania, and has ordered Harvard to accept his dictates or lose billions in federal funding. The U-M open letters are an unanswerable refutation of the lie—relentlessly promoted by both political parties, the media and the academic establishment—that opposition to the ongoing mass murder and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians is driven by antisemitism. The broad endorsement of the letters underscores the fact that many of those protesting crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank that recall the Nazi Holocaust are themselves of Jewish descent. The letter from Jewish students to U-M President Ono was published on March 21, bearing 119 signatures. It states, in part: We take antisemitism seriously, and for this reason, we are appalled by its dangerous weaponization to target Palestinian, Muslim, Arab, and immigrant students, threaten student activists, and gut institutions of higher education. We are united in denouncing the weaponization of antisemitism accusations to target our classmates, friends, teachers, and neighbors. (Emphasis in the letter)… The Trump administration is cynically making Jews the face of authoritarian repression and diluting antisemitism’s meaning through politically motivated accusations… Above all, they destabilize the lives of those who fear they will be the next victims of the Trump administration’s unlawful attacks on non-citizens, dissent, and civil liberties.
Trump admin pulling nearly $4 million in funding from Princeton over climate-related programs -- The Trump administration said Tuesday it would pull funding from Princeton University over climate-related programs that go “against” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) current program objectives. A release from the Department of Commerce, which houses the NOAA program, highlighted three of the school’s research awards that clash with the administration’s policies. The programs include the Cooperative Institute for Modeling the Earth System, Climate Risks and Interactive Sub-seasonal to Seasonal Predictability, and Advancing Prediction. Under the direction of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the Department eliminated the first program from federal funding, citing its promotion of “exaggerated” and “implausible” climate threats. “Its focus is on alarming climate scenarios fosters fear rather than rational, balanced discussion,” the release said of Princeton’s Cooperative Institute for Modeling the Earth System. The two other programs were pulled for research supporting the effects of global warming to include changes to precipitation patterns and sea-level rise amid a decrease in water availability. The funding cancellation comes a week after the Department of Energy, NASA, and the Defense Department suspended several dozen Princeton research grants. Princeton University did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.
Doctors remove pig kidney from an Alabama woman after a record 130 days (AP) — An Alabama woman who lived with a pig kidney for a record 130 days had the organ removed after her body began rejecting it and is back on dialysis, doctors announced Friday – a disappointment in the ongoing quest for animal-to-human transplants. Towana Looney is recovering well from the April 4 removal surgery at NYU Langone Health and has returned home to Gadsden, Alabama. In a statement, she thanked her doctors for “the opportunity to be part of this incredible research.” “Though the outcome is not what anyone wanted, I know a lot was learned from my 130 days with a pig kidney – and that this can help and inspire many others in their journey to overcoming kidney disease,” Looney added. Scientists are genetically altering pigs so their organs are more humanlike to address a severe shortage of transplantable human organs. More than 100,000 people are on the U.S. transplant list, most who need a kidney, and thousands die waiting. Before Looney’s transplant only four other Americans had received experimental xenotransplants of gene-edited pig organs – two hearts and two kidneys that lasted no longer than two months. Those recipients, who were severely ill before the surgery, died. Now researchers are attempting these transplants in slightly less sick patients, like Looney. A New Hampshire man who received a pig kidney in January is faring well and a rigorous study of pig kidney transplants is set to begin this summer. Chinese researchers also recently announced a successful kidney xenotransplant.
Marriage linked to higher dementia risk in older adults, 18-year study finds - Rising numbers of older adults who are divorced, widowed, or never married have raised concerns about potential vulnerability to dementia in these groups. Prior research has not consistently addressed how marital status relates to specific causes of dementia or how factors such as sex, depression, or genetic predisposition may influence these associations. In the study, "Marital status and risk of dementia over 18 years: Surprising findings from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center," published in Alzheimer's & Dementia, researchers conducted an 18-year cohort study to understand whether marital status was associated with dementia risk in older adults. More than 24,000 participants without dementia at baseline were enrolled from over 42 Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers across the United States through the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center. Annual clinical evaluations were conducted by trained clinicians using standardized protocols to assess cognitive function and determine diagnoses of dementia or mild cognitive impairment. To assess long-term risk, researchers followed participants for up to 18.44 years, yielding over 122,000 person-years of data. Marital status at baseline was categorized as married, widowed, divorced, or never married. Dementia risk was analyzed using Cox proportional hazards regression, with married participants serving as the reference group. The models incorporated demographic characteristics, mental and physical health, behavioral history, genetic risk factors, and diagnostic as well as enrollment variables. Compared to married participants, divorced or never married showed a consistently lower risk of developing dementia over the study period. Dementia diagnoses occurred in 20.1% of the overall sample. Among married participants, 21.9% developed dementia during the study period. Incidence was identical among widowed participants at 21.9% but notably lower for divorced (12.8%) and never-married participants (12.4%). Hazard ratios showed a reduced risk for all three unmarried groups. In initial models adjusting only for age and sex, divorced individuals had a 34% lower risk of developing dementia (HR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.59–0.73), never-married individuals had a 40% lower risk (HR = 0.60, 95% CI = 0.52–0.71), and widowed individuals had a 27% lower risk (HR = 0.73, 95% CI = 0.67–0.79). These associations remained significant for the divorced and never-married groups after accounting for health, behavioral, genetic, and referral-related factors. The association for widowed participants weakened and was no longer statistically significant in the fully adjusted model. When looking at specific dementia subtypes, all unmarried participants also showed reduced risk for Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia. In contrast, no consistent associations were observed for vascular dementia or frontotemporal lobar degeneration in fully adjusted models. Divorced and never-married groups were also less likely to progress from mild cognitive impairment to dementia. Risk patterns appeared slightly stronger among men, younger individuals, and participants referred to clinics by health professionals. Yet stratified analyses showed minimal variation, suggesting that the associations held across a wide range of demographic and clinical subgroups.Researchers concluded that unmarried individuals, particularly those who were divorced or never married, had a lower risk of developing dementia than those who remained married. These associations persisted even after adjusting for physical and mental health, lifestyle factors, genetics, and differences in clinical referral and evaluation.
High numbers of rural patients cross state lines for cancer care - In a new study, researchers from Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah (the U) found that 7% of Medicare patients cross state borders for cancer care, and rates were nearly double for those who lived in rural areas. This has important implications for telehealth policies and physician licensure, "Cancer patients, especially in rural areas, often travel far distances to receive specialized cancer care. But there are limitations on how physicians can follow up with their patients and practice across state lines, virtually, with telehealth," says Onega. "We can use the data from this study to inform policy and practices in order to remove this kind barrier to health care."The team—whose research results were published in JAMA Network Open—surveyed over 1 million Medicare beneficiaries with cancer. For patients enrolled in the federal health insurance program, designed to cover health care for Americans over 65, they found that 8.3% of all cancer patients crossed state lines for surgical procedures, 6.7% for radiation therapy, and 5.6% for chemotherapy. Those figures were much higher for rural patients. Among this population, 18.5% traveled to other states for surgery, 16.9% for radiation therapy, and 16.3% for chemotherapy.Onega says telemedicine, the delivery of health-related care through virtual conversations with a health care professional, can't replace these types of services provided in a clinical setting. Instead, she says telemedicine can fill in gaps in cancer treatment."Patients are traveling across state lines for specialized cancer treatment services that need to be done in a brick-and-mortar clinic—but surgical assessment and follow-ups could be offered by telehealth. A surgeon can follow patients remotely, and they can assess their progress from a distance," says Onega. "This would reduce additional travel burdens for all patients and their caregivers, especially those in rural and frontier areas."
Former top vaccine regulator says he blocked RFK Jr. team from database -- A former top official at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said he blocked members of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s team from directly accessing a vaccine database over concerns they would rewrite or erase the stored information. Peter Marks, who headed the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research before being ousted in March,told The Associated Press in an interview published Monday that he agreed to allow Kennedy’s associates to read reports from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) but refused to allow them to directly edit the information. “Why wouldn’t we? Because frankly we don’t trust [them],” Marks told the AP, using profanity. “They’d write over it or erase the whole database.” Marks said he sought to work with Kennedy and address his concerns over vaccine transparency but found that the secretary only wanted “confirmation of his misinformation and lies.” VAERS is a voluntary, self-reported surveillance system of adverse events from vaccinations that is co-managed by both the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The system rose in prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic as the vaccines were rolled out. An HHS spokesperson reportedly told the AP in response that it made “perfect sense” for Kennedy’s staffers to seek access into VAERS to do their own analysis. When asked by The Hill about the accusations Marks made in his AP interview, an HHS official said his claims were false. Since leaving his post at the FDA, which he held for nearly a decade, Marks has embarked on a media campaign lambasting Kennedy’s actions as Health secretary. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Marks said Kennedy’s tenure at the HHS has so far been “very scary,” saying he left because he could not work for someone unwilling to “follow the science.” Marks also alleged in his interview with the Journal that Kennedy’s team requested data on cases of brain swelling and deaths caused by the measles, mumps and rubella vaccines — information Marks says he couldn’t turn over because it didn’t exist.
Public health groups call for Kennedy to resign or be fired as biomed sector airs concerns In the wake of dramatic cuts to US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) staff, cutbacks for state public health efforts, and mixed messages on battling measles and other infectious diseases, two public health groups called for HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign or be fired. Also, a group of biomedical developers and investors sent a letter to a top Senate health leader, raising concerns about the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) ability to function under Kennedy’s watch and the severe staff cuts that followed. In a statement yesterday from the American Public Health Association (APHA), its president, Georges Benjamin, MD, said concerns raised during Kennedy's confirmation hearings have been realized. He referenced, for example, massive cuts to programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the FDA, and the Health Resources and Services Administration, which undermine the work of public health agencies to keep Americans safe.Benjamin also listed several instances since Kennedy’s confirmation that suggest that the secretary has a disregard for science, such as a haphazard reorganization of HHS, forcing the ouster of the FDA’s top vaccine official, refusing to strongly endorse vaccination in the wake of two children's measles deaths, promoting unproven measles treatments, and clawing back $11 billion in state and local public health funding. "As a physician, I pledged to first do no harm and to speak up when I see harm being done by others. I ask my colleagues to join me and speak up," he said. "Secretary Robert Kennedy is a danger to the public’s health and should resign or be fired." In a related development, the Treatment Action Group (TAG), which supports global efforts to boost research into and greater access to treatments for HIV, hepatitis C, and tuberculosis (TB), today joinedBenjamin's call for Kennedy to resign or be dismissed. It added that many of the cuts are related to those three diseases. TAG said further cuts in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) threaten critical TB research and terminations of research funding to South Africa, where up to one-third of research participants are enrolled in NIH-supported clinical trials for new TB interventions. "These terminations threaten to destroy years of research designed to bring the end of TB closer." Also, No Patient Left Behind (NPLB), a consortium of biomedical scientists, investors, economists, and patients who support new and affordable biomedical treatments, has sent a letter to Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) that said they support a stronger and modernized FDA but are deeply concerned about the agency and its future. Cassidy cast the tiebreaking vote that advanced Kennedy's HHS nomination to a full Senate vote in early February after getting specific promises from Kennedy. He also chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee. "Specifically, we worry that the institutional knowledge that makes the FDA the world's leading regulatory body will be irretrievably lost due to the agency's recent reduction in force and wave of retirements," the group said. "The agency's ability to function is compounded by a hiring freeze. As a result, American patients, American industry, and American biomedical leadership will bear the consequences." The letter said some companies are already encountering regulatory difficulties that NPLB believes are the result of the loss of experienced staff at FDA. It added that delays in FDA review reduces the ability of smaller companies to get funding to advance to the next stage of clinical development. It asked Cassidy to assess FDA capacity impacts and to restore the agency's core functions, such as maintaining regulatory timelines.Last week, media outlets reported that the FDA principal deputy commissioner took an unusual step in reviewing Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine for full approval, which has led to a delay in clearing the vaccine, which was originally expected to occur this month.In a CBS News interview yesterday, Kennedy said the FDA isn't proceeding with full approval because he claims that single-antigen vaccines don't work against respiratory viruses and that the FDA is shifting to multi-antigen vaccines.Experts have pointed to Kennedy's statement as another example of spreading misinformation. Several vaccines against respiratory viruses are single-antigen, including all licensed COVID-19 products and vaccines against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Report: US COVID-relief funds lost to fraud likely total hundreds of billions of dollars - Fraudulently obtained US COVID-19 economic relief funds likely amount to hundreds of billions of dollars, although the true scope will never be known, a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reveals. Of the 3,096 people, businesses, and other entities the Department of Justice (DOJ) charged with fraud-related crimes as of December 2024, more than 2,500 were found guilty, and more than 2,100 were sentenced. Another 384 await sentencing. Prison sentences have ranged from 1 day to 30 years, but most have been 1 to 5 years. Most swindlers were ordered to pay restitution, which in one case tallied over $71 million, an apparent reference to a California settlement."The number of defendants facing criminal fraud-related charges involving pandemic-relief programs continues to increase, as it takes time for new cases to be identified and developed, and hundreds of investigations are still underway," the report authors wrote. "Additionally, extensions to statutes of limitations may contribute to an increase in cases."The report was ordered under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the $2.2 trillion bill signed into law in March 2020 to help people, small businesses, and industries weather the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. The GAO reviewed DOJ case documentation, identifying different kinds of fraud schemes and perpetrators who ripped off 19 or more pandemic-relief programs. In addition to traditional and organized-crime groups, a wide variety of groups and people committed the fraud. "Although criminal prosecutions serve as a key tool in the mission to address pandemic-relief program fraud and recover stolen funds, civil actions offer the government alternative ways to uncover more fraud schemes and recover assets," the GAO wrote. "According to DOJ, from March 2020 to December 31, 2024, it has secured more than 650 civil settlements and judgments, totaling more than $500 million to resolve allegations of fraud or overpayments in connection with the pandemic-relief programs," they added. The federal government established interagency groups such as the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force and the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) to fight COVID-relief fraud. According to the task force's 2024 report, civil administrative and civil and criminal judicial cases led to the forfeiture of over $1 billion in pilfered funds. In December 2024, the PRAC reported that its task-force efforts led to criminal charges against 111 people and helped the federal government recover more than $16 million. "Although some individuals might never be swayed from attempting to defraud government programs, agencies can implement deterrence actions—such as emphasizing the consequences of committing fraud and highlighting controls in place—to help prevent future fraudsters," the report said. "Also, by examining fraudsters and fraud schemes that emerged during the pandemic, agencies can identify fraud mitigation controls that can be implemented in emergency environments and normal operations."
Medicaid expansion protected Americans during COVID-19 pandemic -Americans received some protection against death during the COVID-19 pandemic if they lived in a state that had expanded its Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a new study says.Even though death rates rose nationwide during the pandemic, Medicaid expansion states experienced a slower increase in deaths compared to states that didn't take advantage of the ACA's provision, researchers reported April 3 in the American Journal of Public Health.The results suggest that Medicaid expansion offered a protective effect on people's health in the U.S. during the pandemic, researchers said."This research is important because many people experienced employment disruptions during the pandemic, which, in addition to loss of household income, also led to loss of employment-based health insurance coverage," lead researcher Xuesong Han, scientific director of health services research at the American Cancer Society, said in a news release.
Nasal bacteria may boost COVID-19 infection risk - A new study in eBioMedicine from researchers at George Washington University suggests certain types of nasal bacteria may make someone more likely to get a COVID-19 infection.The study was based on 1,548 self-collected nasal swabs from adults in Washington DC. The swabs were collected during two retrospective case-control studies and a nasal microbiome study. Cases were defined as those with a positive SARS-CoV-2 testand were matched with controls based on age and test date. Researchers found those who became infected with COVID had higher levels of gene expression for two key proteins, ACE2 and TMPRSS2. Elevated nasal ACE2/TMPRSS2 expression was associated with 3.6-fold increased risk of contracting COVID-19 (95%confidence interval [CI], 1.71 to 7.47) compared to those with no detectable levels of ACE2 or TMPRSS2. Having high densities of bacteria including Staphylococcus aureus, Haemophilus influenzae, or Moraxella catarrhalis/nonliquefaciens was linked to increased nasal ACE2/TMPRSS2 expression.“We’ve known that the virus SARS-CoV-2 enters the body through the respiratory tract, with the nose being a key entry point. What’s new—and surprising—is that bacteria in our noses can influence the levels of proteins that the virus uses to infect cells,” said Cindy Liu, PhD an associate professor of environmental and occupational health at the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health in a press release.
Using a study design from the past, researchers again show COVID-19 is airborne -In 1959, researchers built a facility near Pretoria, South Africa, to study the airborne route of tuberculosis transmission, replicating an experiment first done in Baltimore. With a detailed schematic of ward rooms, test and control chambers, and room exhaust fans, the researchers proved nature's deadliest bacterium traveled through the air, meaning infectious people in one part of a building could infect others through a ventilation system. Now researchers, led by Chad Roy, PhD, MSPH, from Tulane University, have used the South African Airborne Infections Research (AIR) facility to illustrate human-to-animal transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, through a building's ventilation system. The study was published last week in Open Forum Infectious Diseases. "This was the first time the facility was used to test virus transmission," Roy told CIDRAP News. "And the study continues to reveal things about the virus." Five years after the COVID pandemic began, it is widely accepted that airborne transmission fuels the spread of the novel coronavirus. But Roy said the study helps understand the virus dynamics at play, and shows the virus is hardier than other viruses. "We had evidence of long distance COVID transmission early on in the pandemic, like the choral event in Washington state," Roy said, referring to a March 2020 choir practice that resulted in up to 87% of participants infected with COVID-19. But for months in 2020 and into 2021—until the Omicron strain emerged—experts debated how the virus was spread, at what distance the virus was still transmissible, and how much physical distancing was required to keep people safe. In the new study, Roy and his colleagues used hamsters and newly diagnosed COVID-19 patients to test airborne transmission. Seven COVID-positive patients spent a cumulative 409.5 hours in the AIR facility in the last 2 weeks of November 2022, while 216 hamsters were exposed continuously to approximately 5% of the total ward ventilatory exhaust. Four of the seven patients were infected with the Omicron strain, one with Delta, and two had unknown sequencing. Two of the patients also had HIV. The hamsters were euthanized after 21 days in the exhaust path plus an additional 7 days housing, and blood was collected for further analysis. The authors found evidence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in 58% of the hamsters, though none of the animals showed signs of infection. "The simplest interpretation of our results is that human-generated aerosols seroconverted 58% of exposed hamsters after traveling the 7-10 meter distance through the ventilation system of the AIR facility," the authors wrote. "This data indicates that exposure to exhaust air from the clinical ward containing individuals actively infectious for SARS-CoV-2 can result in transmission to susceptible animals." Lisa Brosseau, ScD, CIH, an expert on respiratory protection, said the study adds to a growing body of literature showing SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted through the air. She said early debates about how and if COVID could be transmitted through the air existed because the virus behaves so differently than others. "Unlike bacteria, which have a cell wall to protect them, viruses are just strands of RNA and are usually not this hardy," she said. "The coronavirus evolved to stay alive in the air for quite a long time."
Studies: 1 in 7 US working-age adults report long COVID, with heaviest burden on the poor - Nearly 1 in 7 working-age US adults had experienced long COVID by late 2023, and socially disadvantaged adults were over 150% more likely to have persistent symptoms, two new studies find. Yesterday in Communications Medicine, Daniel Kim, MD, DrPH, of Northeastern University, analyzed data from the US Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey from September and November 2022 and August to October 2023 on more than 375,000 US adults, including nearly 50,000 with self-reported long COVID. Kim assessed sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors as predictors of long COVID; estimated the risk of unemployment, financial difficulties, and anxiety and depression among working-age adults (ages 18 to 64 years) and those currently experiencing lingering symptoms; and tallied the economic effects of the resulting lost wages. "In the United States, concerns have been increasingly raised over the future public health and economic burden of long COVID including disability and declines in labor force participation," he wrote. "However, only a handful of U.S. studies have explored sociodemographic or socioeconomic characteristics that put people at risk of long COVID or have investigated its economic and mental health sequelae." About 35 million adults and 30 million working-age adults, or roughly 1 in 7, said they had experienced long COVID by late 2022 and 2023. Lost wages due to long COVID among working-age survey respondents were estimated at $211 billion in 2022 and $218 billion in 2023. An age- and sex-adjusted model of 2022 data from 154,430 participants estimated that those vaccinated against COVID-19 had a 14% lower risk of protracted symptoms than their unvaccinated peers, but a fully adjusted model found no difference in risk. In comparison, a fully adjusted model of 2023 data from 220,664 respondents found a higher risk of long COVID among the vaccinated than the unvaccinated. Risk factors for the condition were lower household income, Hispanic ethnicity, female sex, and gay, lesbian, or bisexual status. Long COVID was tied to elevated risks of recent unemployment, financial problems, and anxiety and depression. Roughly 14.5 million adults overall and 10.9 million adults with long COVID still had symptoms in fall 2022 and fall 2023, respectively. Among adults with current long-COVID symptoms, there was evidence of a dose-response relationship, with those reporting the most impact on daily functioning having a more than two-fold higher risk of recent depression than those reporting no impact. "Overall, an estimated 24 million working-aged adults with long COVID had been or may still be at risk of adverse socioeconomic and mental health outcomes," Kim concluded. "The scale of long COVID and its sequelae necessitates large-scale governmental funding to address long COVID research priorities and a robust and coordinated policy response strategy, as well as ongoing national surveillance of the prevalence and health and economic burden of long COVID." A survey-based report this week in BMC Medicine by Anhui Medical University researchers in China highlights the relationship between adverse social determinants of health (SDoH) and long COVID in the United States. The investigators parsed data on 16,446 US adults with a history of COVID-19 infection, 3,111 (18.6%) of them with long COVID, from the 2022 and 2023 National Health Interview Surveys from the National Center for Health Statistics. They measured cumulative social disadvantage using 18 SDoH indicators categorized into quartiles. The average participant age was 48.1 years. Respondents in the highest quartile of social disadvantage were 152% more likely to report long COVID than those in the lowest quartile (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 2.52). This link persisted across demographic subgroups, with greater effects on women and Black participants and, to a lesser extent, Hispanic and White adults. "The stronger association among non-Hispanic Black groups reflects systemic inequalities beyond socioeconomic status," the researchers wrote. "Black communities are often concentrated in areas with limited healthcare access, environmental pollution, and food insecurity, factors all linked to chronic inflammation and impaired recovery." The greatest social disadvantage burden was seen more often among long-COVID patients than among those without the condition (29.2% vs 15.2%). Adults with protracted symptoms in the most disadvantaged group were more than six times more likely to report poor general health than those in the least disadvantaged group (aOR, 6.34). Risk factors for long COVID included mental illness, financial instability, and poor healthcare access. The authors noted that social disadvantage prolongs COVID-19 symptoms by amplifying oxidative stress and immune dysregulation and that disadvantaged groups are more likely to engage in harmful behaviors, which increases their susceptibility to chronic conditions. "Beyond poverty, social inequalities such as occupational exposure and racial discrimination also make certain populations more vulnerable to virus exposure," they wrote. "Workers in long-term care facilities and public service sectors, including education, social care, and transportation, are at higher risk for long COVID."
Child, adult COVID survivors more likely to have heart disease, symptoms, data suggest -- New studies from the United States and Poland detail COVID-19's cardiovascular toll, with one suggesting that infected children face significantly higher odds of conditions such as high blood pressure and heart failure and the other revealing that post-infection heart symptoms are common in adults.A University of Pennsylvania–led research team used electronic health records from 19 US children's hospitals participating in the Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) consortium to estimate the risk of cardiovascular disease 1 to 6 months after COVID-19 infection from March 2020 to September 2023, with at least 6 months of follow-up. Of the more than 1.2 million participants aged 0 to 20 years, 297,920 (24.6%; 13,646 with congenital heart defects [CHDs]) had COVID-19, and 915,402 (75.4%; 46,962 with CHDs) were uninfected controls. The average patient age was 7.8 years, and 51.4% were male.The findings were published today in Nature Communications.Relative to controls, children and adolescents who had COVID-19 were at significantly greater risk for high blood pressure (1.5% vs 1.1% in controls), abnormal ventricular rhythms (0.9% vs 0.7%), myocarditis (0.1% vs 0.02%), heart failure (1.6% vs 1.2%), cardiomyopathy (0.6% vs 0.4%), cardiac arrest (0.5% vs 0.4%), thromboembolism (0.9% vs 0.7%), chest pain (1.2% vs 0.6%), and palpitations (0.4% vs 0.3%). The findings were similar in patients with and without CHDs, but those with CHDs had a higher risk of atrial fibrillation. Risks were consistent regardless of age, sex, race, obesity status, COVID-19 severity, and SARS-CoV-2 variant.Overall, the CHD group had higher absolute risks of any post-COVID cardiovascular outcome than those without CHDs (5.6% for infected patients vs 4.0% for controls with CHD; 2.2% and 1.3%, respectively, in those without CHD)."Even children and adolescents without a history of any cardiovascular outcomes before SARS-CoV-2 infection showed increased risks, suggesting a broad potential impact on those previously considered at low risk of cardiovascular disease," the study authors wrote. The second study, published this week in BMC Infectious Diseases followed up with 1,080 adult participants from a COVID-19 registry in Poland after infection with a pre-Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant or Omicron up to January 2022. A follow-up visit at 3 to 6 months post-infection consisted of symptom monitoring and testing with ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM), Holter electrocardiography (ECG), and echocardiography. A total of 504 patients also took the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 2-item (GAD-2) test and the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) starting in June 2022.The average patient age was 56.9 years, 68.9% were women, 75.2% were vaccinated against COVID-19, 53.1% were infected during Omicron predominance, 44.4% had high blood pressure (hypertension), and 18.0% had abnormal cholesterol levels.At least one of the analyzed symptoms was noted in 586 patients (54.3%, including patients with any COVID-19 severity), indicating cardiac long COVID; those without cardiac symptoms served as controls. The most common symptom was fatigue (38.9%). Palpitations occurred in 17.6% of patients, and 1.8% reported fainting episodes. Nearly half of patients had only one cardiac symptom (45.7%), while 0.6% had all investigated symptoms. Patients with palpitations had stronger premature ventricular contractions than those without palpitations, but they also had lower average systolic and diastolic blood pressure.Patients with cardiac symptoms had higher scores on the PHQ-2 and GAD-2 and higher percentages of responses indicating increased risk of anxiety or depression. In this group, 290 (57.4%) reported one or more analyzed symptoms. Patients with PHQ-2 scores of at least 3 had higher heart rates.
Reports: Paxlovid doesn't relieve adult long-COVID symptoms, prevent condition in youth | CIDRAP -A pair of new studies finds no significant benefit of the antiviral drug nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (Paxlovid) in alleviating the symptoms of adult long-COVID patients or in preventing the development of the condition in adolescents. As described last week in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Yale University researchers led a decentralized phase 2 randomized controlled trial comparing Paxlovid with placebo in alleviating long COVID in 100 US adults who had symptoms for at least 12 weeks."Previous studies examining the association between antiviral therapy during acute SARS-CoV-2 infection and the prevalence of post-infection symptoms yielded mixed results," the authors noted.From April 2023 to February 2024, 66 women and 34 men were randomly assigned to receive either Paxlovid (two nirmatrelvir tablets and one ritonavir tablet; 49 patients) or placebo and one ritonavir tablet (51 patients) twice daily for 15 days. Three Paxlovid participants and two in the placebo-ritonavir group withdrew before treatment began and weren't included in the safety evaluation. The average patient age was 42.3 years.The researchers reviewed electronic medical records and tested blood and saliva specimens, and participants completed electronic diaries on treatment compliance, new or worsening symptoms, medication changes, and unscheduled medical visits throughout the study.The average Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)-29 Physical Health Summary Score (PHSS) at baseline was 39.6 in the Paxlovid group and 36.3 in placebo-ritonavir recipients. The adjusted change from baseline to day 28 was 0.45 in Paxlovid recipients and 1.01 in the placebo-ritonavir group (adjusted mean difference –0.55). No deaths or serious adverse events were documented from baseline to week 6. Drug-related treatment-emergent adverse events were reported in 76% of Paxlovid participants, versus 55% in the placebo-ritonavir group, primarily driven by alterations in or loss of taste (48%). Two Paxlovid recipients and one in the placebo-ritonavir group stopped participation early because of adverse events.For the second study, a non–peer-reviewed target trial emulation published on the preprint server medRxiv, a University of Pennsylvania–led team examined the ability of Paxlovid given within the first 5 days of illness to prevent hospitalization, emergency department (ED) visits, outpatient visits, moderate or severe acute illness, and long COVID in infected, non-hospitalized patients aged 12 to 20 years. The team analyzed acute and post-acute electronic health record data on 2,923 Paxlovid recipients and 31,947 controls who didn't receive the drug from April 2022 to December 2023 at 29 US medical centers participating in the National Institutes of Health's RECOVER consortium. The median patient age was 16.0 years, 46% were male, and 43.2% were White. Long COVID was defined using a single diagnostic code. "Adolescents may exhibit different immune responses and clinical outcomes compared with adults, raising questions about the generalizability of adult trial results although a phase 2/3 clinical trial assessing the safety and efficacy of nirmatrelvir-ritonavir treatment in children 6 to 17 years of age with COVID-19 is currently underway," the study authors wrote. Absolute COVID-19 rates in the Paxlovid and control groups were 0.58% versus 0.96% for hospitalization, 74.17% versus 82.66% for outpatient visits, 1.81% versus 2.28% for ED visits, 3.08% versus 3.99% for moderate/severe acute illness, and 0.21% versus 0.20% for long COVID. During acute infection, after adjusting for confounding factors, Paxlovid was tied to a lower risk of all-cause hospitalization (relative risk [RR], 0.48), outpatient visits (RR, 0.86), and moderate to severe acute illness (RR, 0.69). Paxlovid was also tied to a reduced risk of 7 of 16 conditions, including chest pain (RR, 0.41), fatigue and malaise (RR, 0.49), generalized pain (RR, 0.65), headache (RR, 0.60), mental illness (RR, 0.56), musculoskeletal signs or symptoms (RR, 0.63), and respiratory signs and symptoms (RR, 0.61). No evidence, however, suggested that the drug lowered the risk of long COVID (RR, 0.96).
Idaho Legislature Clears Way For Ivermectin To Be Sold Over The Counter -Idaho is set to become the latest state in the United States to allow anti-parasite drug ivermectin to be sold without a prescription after the state Legislature passed a measure.Senate Bill 1211 was easily approved in the state Legislature on Friday and delivered that same day to Gov. Brad Little’s desk.The bill, according to its text, “adds to existing law to provide that ivermectin may be sold or purchased without a prescription or consultation with a health care professional,” meaning it can be sold over the counter.The bill passed 29–9 in the state Senate and 66–1 in the House.Little has not publicly commented on whether he will sign the bill or not. The Epoch Times contacted the governor’s office for comment Sunday.Sen. Tammy Nichols, a Republican, presented the bill on the floor on April 3. “We’re not mandating use, we’re not prescribing treatment, and we are not mandating that it be sold,” Nichols told KTVB-7. “What we’re doing with this bill is simple. We’re removing a barrier.”A co-sponsor of the bill, Senate President Pro Tempore Kelly Anthon, a Republican, said that the drug has a wide range of applications.“This is a drug that has had really immeasurable impacts on improving the lives of billions and billions of people throughout the world since it was discovered. It’s been called, in many places, a wonder drug,” Anthon told lawmakers in an Idaho Senate committee in on-camera remarks last week. “It’s been able to serve in treating and in many ways curing human diseases—treating parasites, worms in humans. And in most countries, it is legal over the counter.”
US flu levels drop below baseline, but kids' deaths approach 200 - US flu activity declined steadily last week, with rates of influenza-like illness (ILI) dropping below the baseline level of 3% for the first time in 19 weeks, but flu-related deaths in children climbed to 188, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its weekly update today.The percentage of outpatient visits for ILI, or respiratory illness, dropped from 3.2% the previous week to 2.5% last week (see CDC graph below). Three US regions are below their baseline levels, down from five the week before.No jurisdictions are reporting high or very high flu activity, as opposed to two the previous week. Five have moderate activity. Test positivity for flu is now at 7.6%, down from 9.7%. Hospitalizations and deaths are both down, but the cumulative hospitalization rate for this season—124.3 patients per 100,000 population—is the highest since the 2010-11 season.The season has been classified as high severity, the first high-severity season since 2017-18. The CDC estimates there have been at least 46 million flu cases, 590,000 hospitalizations, and 26,000 deaths so far this season.The CDC confirmed 20 new pediatric flu deaths, bringing the season's total to 188. This now tops the 2022-23 total of 187 and approaches the 207 deaths confirmed for the 2023-24 flu season. Nineteen of the new deaths were from influenza A and 1 from influenza B. Of the 14 influenza A cases for which scientists performed subtyping, 9 were caused by the H1N1 strain, and 5 were H3N2.Meanwhile, COVID-19 levels, already low, continue to ebb, according to CDC data updates today. Wastewater detections last week remained generally low throughout the country. The percentage of overall deaths that were caused by COVID last week was 0.7% (down slightly from 0.8%), similar to the 0.6% level for flu.The CDC's variant proportion update shows that the LP.8.1 subvariant continues to increase and now causes 64% of infections.In its update on the three leading respiratory illnesses—flu, COVID, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)—the CDC notes that, nationally, flu (7.6%) and RSV (2.7%) test positivity decreased from the previous week, while COVID-19 (3.6%) remained stable. Wastewater levels for influenza A and COVID-19 are low, while for RSV they remain very low.
Study highlights hidden spread of C diff in ICUs - A new study by researchers at the University of Utah suggests one of the most common healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) spreads more widely in intensive care units (ICUs) than previously understood. The findings, published last week in JAMA Network Open, are based on genomic analysis of Clostridium difficile isolates collected from two ICUs in Utah in 2018. The researchers were aiming to quantify rates of C difficile spread across the two ICUs and describe transmission dynamics. C difficile causes severe diarrhea and is a leading cause of HAIs around the world, accounting for 223,000 hospitalizations and 12,800 deaths in the United States each year. While most genomic studies of C difficile transmission in hospitals analyze patient samples, this study also included sampling of healthcare provider (HCP) hands and the hospital environment to understand how the pathogen moves between patients and hospital surfaces. What the researchers found was that nearly 8% of admitted patients had C difficile that was genetically linked to another patients, and that movement of the pathogen was more than threefold higher than if they had relied on patient sampling alone. "There's a lot going on under the hood that we're just not seeing," senior study author Michael Rubin, MD, PhD, an epidemiologist and infectious disease specialist at the University of Utah, said in a university press release. During the 13-week study, researchers collected daily samples from three patient body sites, three surfaces in patient rooms (patient touch surfaces, HCP touch surfaces, and toilet surfaces), and hands or gloves of HCPs who cared for the patient. They then conducted whole genome sequencing (WGS) on both toxigenic and nontoxigenic C difficile isolates to identify transmission clusters (defined as isolates with two or fewer single nucleotide variants between them). Nontoxigenic C difficile strains are usually not associated with infection and not included in most surveillance studies.A total of 7,000 samples were collected across 278 unique ICU admissions over the course of the study, with 177 patients consenting to body-site sampling. From those samples, researchers recovered 178 C difficile isolates—46 from patient body sites, 87 from patient rooms, 1 from a shared environmental surface, and 44 from HCP hands. WGS analysis identified seven transmission clusters involving 22 (7.7%) of 287 occupant stays. Of the clusters, two included isolates from two distinct occupants' body sites, suggesting patient-to-patient transmission, while two others included environmental or HCP hand isolates and patient isolates, which means a patient acquired from or shed the pathogen into the environment or the hands of an HCP caring for another occupant. The remaining 3 included isolates from environmental surfaces from multiple occupant stays. Only two of the 22 clustered occupant stays involved sequential occupants of the same room."Importantly, 5 of these transmission clusters (71.4%) would have been missed without the expanded sampling of environmental surfaces and HCP hands because they did not include patient body site isolates from multiple occupant stays," the study authors wrote.
CDC study finds substantial US increase in invasive group A strep infections - A surveillance study of 10 US states shows the incidence of invasive group A Streptococcus (GAS) infection more than doubled from 2013 through 2022, researchers reported yesterday in JAMA. The study, led by researchers from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), analyzed clinical, demographic, and laboratory data on invasive GAS cases collected through the Active Bacterial Core (ABC) surveillance network, which covers nearly 35 million people across 10 states. While GAS is most widely known for causing noninvasive diseases such as strep throat and impetigo, it can also cause more severe and deadly invasive infections like sepsis, necrotizing fasciitis, and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. "What we're talking about here is a completely different beast, clinically," Joshua Osowicki, co-author of an accompanying editorial, said in a JAMA podcast. "These cases really test, and often best, the most capable, high-tech hospitals in the world." From 1995 to 2012, invasive GAS rates in the United States were fairly stable, ranging from 3.2 to 4.5 cases per 100,000 people, with cases disproportionately affecting adults 65 and over and nursing home residents. The authors of the study say that while that trend has continued, the substantial increase they found over the following decade reflects elevated incidence and outbreaks among groups that have been socially and economically marginalized. From 2013 through 2022, surveillance in the 10 states (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Tennessee) identified 21,312 cases of invasive GAS, with 20, 247 hospitalizations and 1,981 deaths. Bacteremic cellulitis (44.6%) was the most common syndrome, followed by septic shock (19.2%), bacteremia without focus (18.0%), and pneumonia (13.4%). Incidence of invasive GAS rose from 3.6 per 100,000 in 2013 to 8.2 per 100,000 in 2022. Incidence was highest among those 65 and older and increased from 9.1 to 15.2 per 100,000, but the relative increase over time was greatest among those aged 18 to 64 (3.2 to 8.7 per 100,000; IRR, 2.7; 95% CI, 2.4 to 2.9). The increase in invasive GAS incidence came despite significant decreases during the COVID-19 pandemic, when incidence fell by 73% among children younger than 18 and by 33% among adults 65 and older. Although they comprised only 5.6% of cases, incidence rates among American Indian or Alaska Native adults (33.3 cases per 100,000) were more than 4 times higher than for White (7.7 per 100,000) and Black (7.2 per 100,000) adults and more than 10 times higher than for Asian adults (2.5 per 100,000). Of the 19,515 case-patients with available data on substance abuse, the number of invasive GAS cases among people with documented injection drug use rose from 59 in 2013 to 515 in 2022. The number of cases among people experiencing homelessness increased from 52 in 2013 to 493 in 2022, and the estimated rate of invasive GAS cases increased from 85 to 806 per 100,000. The percentage of adult patients with one or more underlying condition rose increased from 86.6% in 2013 to 93% in 2022. The most common underlying conditions were obesity (36.2%), smoking (33.4%), diabetes (29.9%), and acute skin breakdown (28.7%). The analysis also found rising levels of antibiotic resistance among invasive GAS isolates. While all streptococcal isolates were susceptible to beta-lactam antibiotics, tetracycline nonsusceptibility rose from 16.2% in 2013 to 45.1% in 2022, and the percentage of isolates that were nonsusceptible to both macrolides and clindamycin increased from 12.7% to 33.1%. In the accompanying editorial, Osowicki and Theresa Lamagni, MSc, PhD, of the United Kingdom Health Security Agency note that increases in invasive GAS have also been reported in other high-income countries, particularly in the immediate wake of COVID-19. But they say the scale and character of the increase in the United States is "particularly alarming" and "illuminates the extent to which invasive GAS thrives in settings of social disadvantage and marginalization." They also suggest that the increase in incidence might even be greater, since the ABC surveillance system doesn't include 8 of the 10 poorest US states. One of the contributing factors cited in both the study and the editorial is the substantial increase over the study period in the injection of illicitly manufactured fentanyl, which has a relatively short duration of effect and as a result is linked to more frequent injections and higher-risk injection practices, like sharing needles. That could also be contributing to increases observed in the homeless population.Whatever is driving the increase in invasive GAS incidence, the study authors say it requires urgent attention..
Exposure to antibiotics as a newborn can impair immune response to vaccines, study finds - Immunization programs save millions of lives every year by protecting against preventable diseases. The immune response to vaccines, however, varies significantly between individuals, and the results can be suboptimal in populations at a higher risk of developing infectious diseases. Growing evidence suggests that differences in gut microbiota could be a key factor driving these variations.A recent Australian study published in Nature found that babies treated with antibiotics within the first few weeks of their life showed weaker immune response to vaccines due to reduced levels of Bifidobacterium—a bacterial species that lives in the human gastrointestinal tract. Replenishing Bifidobacterium in the gut microbiome using probiotic supplements such as Infloran showed promising results in restoring the immune response. The researchers followed 191 healthy, vaginally born infants from their birth to 15 months: 86% of the participants received the hepatitis B vaccine at birth, and, by six weeks of age, began their routine childhood vaccinations, according to the Australian National Immunization Program schedule. The infants were grouped based on their exposure to antibiotics: no direct or maternal exposure, exposed to maternal antibiotics and received at least 48 hours of antibiotic treatment during neonatal care. To monitor changes in gut microbiome and vaccine-related immune responses over time, stool samples were collected at seven days and six weeks of age, while blood samples were taken at multiple points between six weeks and 15 months. To prevent bias during sample collection and analysis, the researchers collecting the samples weren't aware of which infants belonged to which exposure group.The investigation revealed that children who were directly exposed to neonatal antibiotics, not the ones exposed to maternal antibiotics, produced much lower levels of antibodies against multiple polysaccharides included in the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine or PCV13 vaccine. Streptococcus pneumoniae, a bacteria known for causing serious diseases like pneumonia, blood infections, and meningitis, is surrounded by a capsule made up of polysaccharides, or sugar molecules that help the bacteria evade attacks by the body's immune system.The PCV13 vaccine makes it easier for the immune system to attack S. pneumoniae and produce antibodies by linking the polysaccharide capsule layer to proteins. Exposure to neonatal antibiotics reduces antibody production against such polysaccharides, weakening the immune response.Experiments on germ-free mice revealed that the lower immune response was linked to a reduced abundance of Bifidobacterium in the gut microbiome. However, giving the mice a mix of Bifidobacterium species or Infloran, a commonly used infant probiotic, helped reverse the negative effects of antibiotics and regain the immune response to PCV13.The researchers propose that restoring a healthy Bifidobacterium-rich microbiota in antibiotic-exposed infants before their vaccination might enhance the antibody responses to vaccination, leading to better protection against infectious diseases.
Texas announces second measles death in unvaccinated child - Texas officials yesterday announced the second death in its ongoing measles outbreak. The patient was an unvaccinated school-aged child who had been hospitalized in Lubbock. Health and Human Services (HHS) Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on X that the child is 8-year-old Daisy Hildebrand of Gaines County. She had no underlying health conditions and died April 3 from measles pulmonary failure, according to her physicians, Texas Health and Human Services said in its news release. This marks the third death in the United States this year in patients with measles, with two fatalities confirmed in Texas children and one suspected death in an adult from New Mexico. All three patients were unvaccinated against the virus, and the patients were linked to the growing West Texas outbreak, where at least 481 cases have been confirmed and 56 patients have been hospitalized. The United States now has more than 600 measles cases in 2025, double the number seen last year, and will likely pass the 1,274 cases reported in 2019, a year when a surge of measles activity threatened the nation's measles elimination status earned in 2000. Kennedy traveled to Texas yesterday to attend the girl's funeral, he said in his X post "I came to Gaines County, Texas, today to comfort the Hildebrand family after the loss of their 8-year-old daughter Daisy. I got to know the family of 6-year-old Kayley Fehr after she passed away in February." "I am also here to support Texas health officials and to learn how our HHS agencies can better partner with them to control the measles outbreak, which as of today, there are 642 confirmed cases of measles across 22 states, 499 of those in Texas." Gaines County is the home to a Mennonite community that is highly under-vaccinated against measles. The county has seen 315 cases since January. Kennedy said he had deployed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) workers to Texas to help manage the outbreak, but once again gave convoluted statements about measles. "The most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine," Kennedy wrote on X—his most forceful message yet in support of vaccination. He then said he visited with doctors "who have treated and healed some 300 measles-stricken Mennonite children using aerosolized budesonide and clarithromycin," and posted pictures of himself with the two Mennonite families who have lost a child in this outbreak. Neither budesonide, a steroid, or the antibiotic clarithromycin has been shown to be effective against measles. The disease is caused by a virus, and antibiotics target bacteria.
Kennedy pushes vaccine after second child dies of measles - Pressure and criticism over the measles outbreak response are mounting on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. © AP Kennedy on Sunday visited the center of the still-growing Texas measles outbreak to attend the funeral of a second Gaines County child who died from measles, the second known measles death in the United States since 2015. Public health and infectious diseases experts gave Kennedy some credit for a social media post that day saying the measles vaccine is the “most effective way to prevent the spread” of the disease. Still, experts said any effectiveness was undercut by Kennedy’s mixed messages and unwillingness to be more vocal about the benefits of vaccines outside of prepared remarks, social media posts or op-eds. “It’s heartening on one hand that the Secretary acknowledged vaccination is the primary way to stop the spread, but it’s noteworthy that the acknowledgement was the stuff of headlines,” said Jason Schwartz, an associate professor and vaccine researcher at the Yale School of Public Health. For example, hours after his post on X talking about vaccination, Kennedy also highlighted the work of two doctors treating infected children with steroids and an antibiotic that physicians say are ineffective and not recommended. One of the “extraordinary healers” Kennedy praised has criticized measles vaccination and said in a podcast last month that “it’s clear” the MMR vaccine causes autism. Kennedy also indicated the outbreak is easing, a fact belied by the numbers on the ground. There were 642 confirmed cases across 22 states earlier this month, with nearly 500 of them in Texas. The Texas outbreak has also spread to Kansas and Oklahoma. “Everyone should be vaccinated! There is no treatment for measles. No benefit to getting measles,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said in a post on X. Cassidy, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, had previously questioned Kennedy’s anti-vaccine past and expressed concern about his ability to lead HHS before eventually voting to confirm him. Cassidy invited Kennedy to testify at a hearing later this week, ostensibly about the recent firings across the agency. However, it’s not clear if Kennedy has accepted. A HELP Committee spokesperson said HHS was working on a response. HHS did not comment. Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel, Joseph Choi and Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.
Kansas, 2 other states report more measles cases - Health officials in Kansas today reported six more measles cases, bringing the total in the state's growing outbreak to 32 and adding to the national total. The outbreak, which began on March 13, is centered in eight counties in the southwestern corner of the state, according to the update from Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). Of the 32 case-patients, 27 are unvaccinated, 2 are pending verification, and 1 has unknown vaccination status. Twenty-six cases are in children and adolescents under 17. One patient has been hospitalized. KDHE officials say that because of the highly contagious nature of measles, additional cases in the outbreak area are likely. Kansas is one of 21 US states that have reported measles cases in 2025, which has now seen more than twice as many cases as all of last year, when 285 cases were reported. It's only the third year since 2000, when measles was declared eliminated in the United States, with more than 500 cases. At the current rate, it appears that the number of US measles cases will likely surpass the 1,274 reported in 2019. The vast majority of measles cases have occurred in Texas, where an outbreak that originated in an unvaccinated Mennonite community in the western part of the state has topped 500 cases, and resulted in two deaths in unvaccinated children. Yesterday officials in Colorado confirmed its third measles case this year, in an adult with unconfirmed vaccination status. "This case does not appear to be linked to the other cases reported in Colorado and the individual did not travel outside of Colorado, which leaves open the possibility of community transmission," Rachel Herlihy, MD, MPH, state epidemiologist said in a press release. In Hawaii, officials with the Hawaii Department of Health (DOH) confirmed a case of measles in an unvaccinated child under 5 years of age on Oahu that appears to be linked to recent international travel. A household member with similar symptoms is also being evaluated for a possible measles infection. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 97% of US measles cases in 2025 have been in individuals who are unvaccinated or have unknown vaccination status. Data reported by the CDC last year show that during the 2023-2024 school year, MMR vaccine coverage among US kindergartners fell to 92.7%. But a new report from healthcare analytics company Truveta suggests that figure is even lower, finding that only 80.4% of US children had received both MMR doses by age 6 in 2024. Maintaining measles elimination status requires vaccination coverage of 95% or higher. Meanwhile, US neighbors to the north and south are also dealing with growing measles outbreaks. According to the most recent surveillance report from the Canadian government, 615 measles cases have been reported in six jurisdictions in Canada as of March 22. Of these cases, 538 are linked to an outbreak that began in New Brunswick in October 2024. Ninety-three percent of the case-patients are either unvaccinated or have unknown vaccination status. From 1998 to 2024, Canada averaged 91 measles case a year, with spikes in 2011 (751 cases) and 2014 (418).Officials with the Macomb County Health Department Michigan said last week that an adult county resident with a confirmed measles infection recently traveled to Ontario.In Mexico, officials with the Ministry of Health have reported 126 confirmed and 934 probable measles cases, according to a post on ProMED Mail. Most of the confirmed cases (121) are in Chihuahua. One of the Colorado measles case-patients is an infant who recently traveled to the Chihuahua area with family.
Indiana reports measles outbreak as cases rise in Ohio and Michigan - Just days after reporting its first measles case of the year, in a child, the Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) yesterday reported five more related cases. The newly reported patients include three children and two adults who, like the first patient, are from Allen County in the northeast part of the state, an area that includes Fort Wayne. The IDOH said the four minors were unvaccinated, and the adults' vaccination status is unknown. All patients are recovering. Officials said though all cases are connected, there are no known links to cases in other states. Elsewhere, measles cases are rising steadily in Ohio, which in late March reported 10 cases centered in Ashtabula County, with exposures in Knox County. The Ohio Department of Health infectious disease dashboard still reflects 10 measles cases from Ashtabula County, 8 classified as locally acquired. Ashtabula County is in the far northeast corner of Ohio. Separately, Knox County, located in central Ohio, has reported 14 cases, which include 7 Ohio residents who have links to the county’s first case, according to an update this week from Knox Public Health. Officials said the patients are isolated, with their symptoms under monitoring. In Michigan, the Mid-Michigan District Health Department yesterday reported a measles case in a Montcalm County resident who had recently traveled outside the state. "The case lifts Michigan’s total for the year to four.
Cases top 500, outbreak area expands in Texas measles outbreak - In an ongoing measles outbreak centered West Texas, health officials in Texas and New Mexico today reported 26 more cases, with cases in Texas passing 500 and New Mexico reporting a third affected county. As cases rise in the main outbreak area and in other states, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today issued another alert to health providers, reminding them that measles infections can be severe, with complications that can include pneumonia, encephalitis, and death, and that 12% of reported US patients this year have been hospitalized. Three deaths have been reported, including a recently reported fatality in a second Texas child. Measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination is the best way to protect against measles and its complications. In other measles developments, the Indiana Department of Health today reported its first case of the year, and the Colorado Department of Public Health reported its second case. The new cases in Texas come a day after the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) issued a health alert, adding more counties to the designated outbreak area. Most of the cases are in Gaines County, which has been the outbreak epicenter. The area now also includes Cochran, Dallam, Dawson, Garza, Lynn, Lamar, Lubbock, Terry, and Yoakum counties. The TDSHS said the 10 counties have ongoing transmission and as of April 4 make up 95% of the state's measles cases. At least seven cases in Lubbock have been linked to exposure at a daycare center, the Associated Pressreported, citing Lubbock Public Health director Katherine Wells. Today's 24 newly reported cases push the state's total since January to 505. All but 10 patients were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccine statuses. Fifty-seven people were hospitalized, and two deaths have been reported in school-aged children. In the outbreak area in bordering New Mexico, health officials reported 2 more cases, pushing the state's total to 56. One of the cases is from a newly affected county, Chaves, which borders Lea and Eddy counties, which have now recorded 53 and 2 cases, respectively. The Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) yesterday announced its first confirmed measles case of the year, which involves an unvaccinated minor from Allen County, which is in the northeast part of the state and is home to Fort Wayne. Elsewhere, Colorado health officials reported the state's second case, which involves an unvaccinated Denver County infant who is younger than 12 months old. Babies typically receive a routine MMR dose when they are 12 to 15 months old. "Infants under 12 months are especially vulnerable to measles because they are typically too young to be vaccinated," "This case is a stark reminder that families traveling internationally should delay unnecessary travel or talk to their health care providers about early MMR vaccination for infants, especially when visiting areas with known measles outbreaks." In a statement yesterday, the Colorado Department of Public Health (CDPH) said the child had recently traveled with family to an area of Chihuahua, Mexico, that is experiencing an ongoing measles outbreak. It added that the case doesn't appear to be linked to a recently announced case in Pueblo, which also involved a patient—an unvaccinated adult—who had recently traveled to an outbreak area in Mexico.
US measles total passes 700 as Arkansas reports first cases -The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in its latest weekly update today reported 105 more measles cases, pushing the national total to 712, which is more than double the cases reported for all of 2024. Seven outbreaks have been reported across the country, and 93% of the cases reported so far are part of outbreaks. Infections have been reported from 25 jurisdictions, 3 more than last week. Among the sick patients, 97% were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status.Much of the activity reflects new cases from the main hot spot in west Texas, but infections continue to rise in other states, such as Ohio, as the virus crops up in new ones, such as Arkansas. The Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) today reported 36 more cases, putting the state's total at 541 since late January. More than half are in Gaines County, where the outbreak began, but 22 counties are affected, of which 10 are considered part of the outbreak area. All but 11 patients were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status. So far, 56 patients have been hospitalized, and the number of deaths remains at 2.Three cases have now been reported in El Paso County, at the westernmost tip of Texas. Two of those cases involve unvaccinated children, one of them who was treated at a military clinic at Fort Bliss, according to a local media report that cited the city's health department and William Beaumont Army Medical Center.New Mexico, which has cases related to the West Texas outbreak, reported 2 new cases today, pushing the state's total to 58. All are from three counties that border Texas. Some measles activity in Kansas and Oklahoma has been linked to the Texas outbreak, and Kansas this week reported 6 more cases, pushing its total to 32 infections in eight counties, all located near each other in the southwestern corner of the state, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) today reported 2 more cases, raising the state's total to 12. In its latest exposure update, the OSDH cited locations in Oklahoma City, including an Aldi grocery store and a children's hospital. The Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) yesterday reported its first measles case since 2018, which involves an unvaccinated child from Saline County who had traveled out of state. Shortly after, the ADH reported the state's second case, in an unvaccinated child from Faulkner County who had also traveled out of state. Elsewhere, Ohio confirmed 10 more measles cases, bringing its total to 20, mostly in Ashtabula and Knox counties, according to a dashboard from the Ohio Department of Health. All but 4 are considered locally acquired. One of the new patients is in Holmes County, an adult whose exposure to the virus is under investigation, according to the Holmes County General Health District. In Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Department of Health yesterday reported a measles infection in a person who had traveled abroad and may have exposed people at two hospital emergency departments.
UK reports clade 1b mpox case with no travel history or links to earlier cases - The United Kingdom’s Health Security Agency (HSA) today announced that a clade 1b mpox infection has been confirmed in a person who has no travel history and has no reported links to earlier confirmed cases.“More work is ongoing to determine where the individual, who is resident in the North East of England, may have caught the infection,” the group said in a statement, adding that the illness was diagnosed in March and no other infections were found among the patient’s contacts. All of the country’s earlier cases involved people who had traveled to an outbreak country or had contact with someone who did. On March 19, the country declared that it no longer considers clade 1 mpox a high consequence infectious disease, based on low mortality and availability of interventions. The HSA said the risk to the UK population remains low. The novel clade 1b virus was first identified in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 2024 and is thought to spread more easily among contacts, including in household settings.
Switzerland confirms clade 1b mpox as Hong Kong issues warning - A traveler returning to Switzerland from Africa has been confirmed to have clade 1b mpox. This is the first detection of clade 1b in Switzerland, which is more virulent compared to the clade 2 virus that circulated the globe in 2022 primarily among men who have sex with men. Clade 1b is fueling a central Africa mpox outbreak, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo seeing the most cases. At least 15 countries in Asia, Europe, and North America have now confirmed clade 1b detections, almost all travel related. However, earlier this week the UK Health Security Agency said it has recorded a clade 1b case in a patient with no history of travel to outbreak areas and no contact with any known case-patients.In response to the UK case, Hong Kong health officials are warning people to be vigilant about mpox. Hong Kong has not yet detected any clade 1b infections.So far this year, Hong Kong has reported only 4 mpox cases and 72 since 2022.
US cuts to HIV programs in Africa threaten to set progress back to 'dark ages,' experts say - The reduction or elimination of funding from the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) could lead to the deaths of nearly 500,000 children in sub-Saharan Africa from AIDS-related causes in the next 5 years, according to an expert policy analysis published today in The Lancet.Models also predict that another 1 million children will become infected with HIV, and 2.8 million will be orphaned after their parents die of AIDS, the University of Oxford–led research team said.The team analyzed data from UNAIDS, UNICEF, the World Bank, Violence Against Children Surveys, SPECTRUM model data, and Population-based HIV Impact Assessments, as well as from PEPFAR reports. The researchers also conducted in-depth interviews, searched PubMed for program effectiveness evidence, and reviewed economic reports.In January, shortly after taking office, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order pausing all foreign aid for 90 days pending a review. PEPFAR has distributed $6.5 billion to fight HIV in 50 countries around the world each year and has been credited with saving more than 26 million lives since its 2003 inception.In a Lancet news release, co-lead author Lucie Cluver, PhD, of the University of Oxford, said an abrupt withdrawal of funding for PEPFAR programs would turn back global HIV/AIDS progress to the "dark ages" of the epidemic. "A sudden withdrawal of PEPFAR programmes, especially in the absence of a long term strategy to replace them, could lead to a resurgence of HIV infections and preventable deaths, and a dramatic rise in the number of children orphaned by AIDS in the coming years—a setback that could erode two decades of progress," she said. The benefits of PEPFAR aren't limited to African countries, the authors noted, with improved health and national security through reduced forced migration and better odds of containing emerging transborder infectious diseases. PEPFAR also is a boon to the United States economically, with a fourfold rise in the export of US goods to Africa and the trade of $71.6 billion in goods between the United States and Africa in 2024, the authors noted. And PEPFAR-benefiting African countries have committed to taking responsibility for HIV responses by 2030. The study findings align with those of a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in February, which predicted that the cessation of PEPFAR funding would lead to more than half a million new HIV infections in the next 10 years in South Africa.
How a small number of mutations can fuel outbreaks of western equine encephalitis virus - New research shows how small shifts in the molecular makeup of a virus can profoundly alter its fate. These shifts could turn a deadly pathogen into a harmless bug or supercharge a relatively benign virus, influencing its ability to infect humans and cause dangerous outbreaks.This is the latest finding in a series of studies led by Jonathan Abraham at Harvard Medical School, and his team that aim to understand the risk of western equine encephalitis virus and related viruses. The work is published in Cell.The findings, the research team said, offer important insights that could help researchers and public health experts better anticipate the likelihood of future outbreaks. Historically, WEEV has caused large and dangerous outbreaks of encephalitis (a serious type of brain inflammation) among humans and horses throughout the Americas. The virus circulates mainly between mosquitoes and birds. Since the turn of the century, WEEV has disappeared as a pathogen in North America. In South America, the virus occasionally spilled over to sicken small numbers of humans and mammals. However, in 2023, WEEV caused the first major human outbreak in four decades in South America, involving thousands of horses and over a hundred confirmed human cases. How did the virus lose its ability to infect humans in North America? Why did the virus persist as a pathogen in South America and re-emerge to cause a major outbreak? The secret lies in alterations in its molecular makeup, the new study found. Using an advanced imaging technique, the researchers determined how the spike proteins on the surface of WEEV strains isolated over the past century interact with a type of cell receptor known as PCDH10 that is shared by humans and birds. The virus enters its host and causes infection by attaching one of its spike proteins to a receptor on the surface of the host cell. In order to cause infection, the spike protein and receptor need to fit each other, like matching pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. In a strain from 1958, when deadly WEEV outbreaks happened regularly, the virus was a good fit for both human and bird cell receptors. However, a North American WEEV strain isolated from mosquitoes in California in 2005 was a good fit for bird cell receptors but not for mammals. The researchers found that a single mutation in the virus's spike protein was enough to prevent it from attaching to human and horse cells. The mutation, however, still allowed the virus to enter and infect cells using the bird receptor. Strains isolated in South America over the past century, including the 2023–2024 outbreak strains, had never acquired the single mutation that would prevent them from attaching to human and horse cell receptors. The researchers also observed that a single change in the viral spike protein enabled WEEV strains to attach to a different receptor called VLDLR, found on mammalian brain cells. This same receptor is shared by WEEV's cousin, eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV), which is the most virulent alphavirus and has continued to cause outbreaks in North America. In the past, highly virulent, ancestral forms of WEEV were capable of invading host cells through VLDLR. Notably, when researchers blocked this key receptor using a decoy VLDLR protein, animals infected with the older, more dangerous WEEV strain were protected against the deadly brain inflammation caused by these virulent strains. The new findings offer critical clues for pandemic preparedness because they provide insights into the first major human outbreak of WEEV in four decades in South America and could help efforts to monitor North American WEEV strains for their potential to cause large outbreaks.
Mexico reports its first human H5N1 avian flu case -Mexico’s government on April 4 reported the country’s first human H5N1 avian flu infection, which involves a 3-year-old girl who is hospitalized in serious condition. The girl is from Durango state in northwest Mexico. She was treated with oseltamivir in the hospital in the city of Torreón.So far the source of the girl’s infection isn’t known. The country’s agriculture ministry hasn’t reported any H5N1 outbreak at commercial farms. Wild bird sampling was conducted around the girl’s home and permanent surveillance was set up to track wildlife detections in the area.The Durango state government said the girl is from the city of Gomez Palacio and that her parents have been evaluated and have tested negative for the virus, according to a statement translated and posted by FluTrackers, an infectious disease news message board.Mexico’s most recent H5N1 avian flu notification to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) involved detections in the first part of February in a flock of wild geese at a body of water in Durango state. The WOAH report said the nearest poultry production site was about 16 miles from where the outbreak in geese occurred. In late January, the virus was reported in captive vultures at a zoo in Durango state. In May 2024, Mexico reported a fatal human avian flu infection from a different strain, H5N2, which involved a 59-year-old man who had underlying health conditions and had no known exposure to poultry.
- A 3-year-old girl from Mexico who was recently hospitalized with H5N1 avian flu has died from her infection, Mexico’s government announced yesterday. In a statement, the government said the girl died due to respiratory complications of her illness. The girl’s case marked Mexico’s first from H5N1 and the second fatal case this year in North America. Also, a severe illness was reported in late 2024 in a Canadian teen. So far, it's not known how the Mexican girl contracted the virus or what H5N1 genotype was involved.
- Kenya’s health ministry yesterday declared a cholera outbreak, with illnesses reported in three counties, mostly in Migori and Kismu counties in the west but with some cases reported from Nairobi County in the west central part of the country. On X, the ministry said 97 cases have been reported, 6 of them fatal. Officials have stepped up surveillance and are urging community members to report cases quickly. In a recent cholera update, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Africa is currently experiencing the highest burden this year, with 14 countries reporting cases, mostly from South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Angola.
- The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today reported 3 more H5N1 avian flu detections in dairy cattle, all from Idaho, pushing the national total to 1,005 and Idaho’s total to 52. Also, APHIS confirmed two more detections in poultry flocks, both at commercial farms—one at a turkey farm in South Dakota and the other at a producer in Wisconsin. The agency also reported eight more confirmations in other mammals, including pet cats from three states: California, Colorado, and Ohio. The other detections involved a mink in Ohio and a skunk in Texas.
H5N1 detections in US dairy cattle reach 1,000 herds The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today reported two more H5N1 avian flu detections in dairy herds, one in California and the other in Nevada, raising the nation's total to 1,000 since March 2024.California has been the hardest-hit state, and though detections have dropped sharply, sporadic H5N1 confirmations continue and have now reached 759 in that state. In December 2024 when the situation was intensifying in California dairy cattle with spread beyond the Central Valley, the state's governor announced a state of emergency to shore up the state's response. Nevada has now reported 11 outbreaks since December 2024. In early February, the USDA reported a new spillover from birds to cattle in the Nevada outbreak. It involves the D1.1 genotype, which is distinct from the B3.13 genotype implicated in earlier dairy cattle outbreaks. Over the past 2 days, APHIS confirmed two more detections in poultry flocks. They involve backyard birds in Colorado's Larimer County and another live-bird market in New York's Queens County. Outbreaks of H5N1 in US poultry began in early 2022 and have led to the loss of more than 168 million birds across all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
USDA to lose bird flu response employees, source says (Reuters) - Several U.S. Department of Agriculture employees who worked on the agency's bird flu response will leave at the end of April, straining the federal capacity to monitor the spread of the virus, according to a source familiar with the situation.The USDA on April 1 gave employees seven days to decide whether to take financial incentives to quit, part of the effort by President Donald Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk to shrink the federal workforce. Three out of 13 employees in the USDA's National Animal Health Laboratory Network took the offer and will leave on April 30, said the source. A USDA spokesperson said the agency is reviewing how many employees took the incentive. "While Secretary Rollins is actively pursuing plans to reduce USDA’s workforce to better serve the needs of the people we serve, she will not compromise the critical work of the Department, including its ongoing response to avian influenza," the spokesperson said. NAHLN coordinates a network of 60 laboratories that test animal samples for disease, including bird flu. The departing employees worked on maintaining consistency in bird flu testing, managing funding for the lab network, and providing administrative support, said the source, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation.Wyoming reports 14% CWD prevalence in tested deer, elk -In Wyoming, 14% of all deer and elk tested last year were positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD), the Wyoming Game and Fish Department said yesterday.Officials tested 5,276 samples in 2024 from mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, and moose—members of the deer family also known as cervids. The samples were from hunter-harvested, targeted, and road-killed animals.Of hunter-harvested male mule deer tested, 19.4% came back positive, an increase from 18.9% in 2023. Of hunter-harvested white-tailed bucks, 29.2% tested positive, down slightly from 30.3% in 2023. And 2.3% of adult hunter-harvested elk tested positive, which was down from 2.8% in 2023.The number of samples tested was a bit higher than the number in 2023, when scientists assayed 5,100 samples.In 2024, CWD was detected in three new deer hunt areas and three new elk hunt areas. And earlier this year CWD was found in three additional elk hunt areas, and on four elk feeding grounds in western Wyoming.To determine CWD prevalence in individual herds, researchers used 5-year averages to ensure a significant sample size. At 66.3%, the Project herd in the Lander Region continues to have the highest CWD prevalence in Wyoming deer. The Shoshone River herd in the Cody Region is next, at 47.6%. The Iron Mountain herd in southeast Wyoming had the highest CWD prevalence among elk, at 10.1%. The North Bighorn elk herd in north-central Wyoming was second at 9.1%, a noticeable increase from 7.0% from 2019 through 2023.CWD is a fatal untreatable disease of the central nervous system in cervids and is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy—the same disease group as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or "mad cow" disease. These encephalopathies are caused by abnormally folded proteins called prions. There has not yet been a human CWD case, but officials recommend not consuming the meat of CWD-positive animals.
Scientists blame climate change for spread of infectious diseases and unleashing of ice-locked microbes in Arctic -Climate change is creating new pathways for the spread of infectious diseases like brucellosis, tularemia, or E. coli in the Arctic, according to a broad international consortium of scientists with a wide range of expertise in human, animal, and environmental health in the North Pole.The scientists have published their findings in the journal Science of the Total Environment, in which they demonstrate how the melting ice is opening new areas for travel or industry with people coming into closer contact with the once pristine Arctic.They warn that the thawing of soil frozen for thousands of years in the Arctic could unlock dormant microbes housed in the bodies of dead animals and other creatures, raising the risk of diseases with pandemic potential.As the ice in the Arctic melts, more industries and people are flocking to the area, raising the chance for infectious diseases to spread, says Dr. Khaled Megahed Abass of the University of Sharjah and a co-author, stressing that "permafrost thawing could even release ancient bacteria or viruses that have been frozen for thousands of years." "Climate change and pollution are affecting both animal and human health—our research looked into how these two forces are interconnected. As the Arctic warms faster than most other parts of the world, we're seeing changes in the environment—like melting permafrost and shifting ecosystems—that could help spread infectious diseases between animals and people.These diseases are zoonotic pathogens with the ability to jump from wildlife to humans, especially when human activities and animal habitats overlap in a manner upsetting environmental balance. The pathogens may be parasitic, viral, or bacterial. They can include unconventional agents with the ability to spread to humans through different means, like water, food or the environment.The Earth's warming is behind the permafrost thaw—a process which refers to the melting of the ice in the frosty soil of Arctic regions. A thawing permafrost can have grave consequences on the environment and the inhabitants as the frozen soil melts.The study is a comprehensive review of the literature and government documents from the North Pole in which a broad international consortium of scientists with a wide range of expertise "describe a selection of case studies highlighting the importance of a One Health approach to zoonoses in the circumarctic, encompassing human health, animal health, and environmental health aspects," the authors write. Specifically, the authors analyze scientific studies and government documents from the Arctic, with a particular focus on Canada, Alaska, Greenland, and Northern Europe.
Exposure to wildfire smoke linked to worsening mental health conditions --Exposure to fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) from wildfire smoke was associated with increased visits to emergency departments (ED for mental health conditions, according to a new study led by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health."Wildfire smoke isn't just a respiratory issue—it affects mental health, too," said corresponding author Kari Nadeau, John Rock Professor of Climate and Population Studies and chair of the Department of Environmental Health. "Our study suggests that—in addition to the trauma a wildfire can induce—smoke itself may play a direct role in worsening mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and mood disorders."The study is published in JAMA Network Open.The study is the first to isolate the short-term impact of wildfire-specific PM2.5, offering more precise insights into its impacts on mental health.A growing body of research suggests that PM2.5 may influence mental health outcomes, but few studies have investigated the effects of wildfire-specific PM2.5. Most studies of wildfire-specific PM2.5 have focused on its relationship to respiratory and cardiovascular outcomes.The researchers analyzed data on wildfire-specific PM2.5 levels and emergency department visits for mental health conditions throughout California between July and December 2020, a period covering the state's most severe wildfire season on record.Daily wildfire-specific PM2.5 levels and visits to the ED for mental health conditions—including psychoactive substance use disorders, psychotic disorders, mood-affective disorders, depression, and anxiety—were ascertained for each zip code in the state. Throughout the study period, there were 86,588 mental health ED visits. The average daily concentration of wildfire-specific PM2.5 was 6.95 micrograms per cubic meter of air (μg/m3), a level that rose to 11.9 μg/m3 during peak wildfire months and to 24.9 μg/m3 during the highest peak in September.The study found that exposure to wildfire smoke substantially increased mental health ED visits. A 10 μg/m3 increase in wildfire-specific PM2.5 was linked to a higher number of visits, including for depression, anxiety, and other mood-affective disorders, for up to seven days post-exposure.Women, children and young adults, Black and Hispanic individuals, and Medicaid enrollees showed the highest risk of mental health ED visits from exposure to wildfire-specific PM2.5."The disparities in impact by race, sex, age, and insurance status suggest that existing health inequities may be worsened by wildfire smoke exposure," added lead author YounSoo Jung, research associate in the Department of Environmental Health.
Milwaukee faces lead crisis without CDC experts RFK Jr. fired - When Milwaukee officials discovered in January that lead paint in school buildings had poisoned kids, they called the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. City Health Commissioner Michael Totoraitis has been leaning on federal experts to help prioritize which of the city’s 68,000 public school students to test first for the potent neurotoxin — and to advise what to do if lead tests come back positive.But he was forced to stop calling Tuesday morning when staffers at the CDC’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program were fired. “CDC was guiding us on how to triage these children we are anticipating to find, because we are just not equipped to handle the scale of the problem we are talking about here,” Totoraitis said in an interview Thursday evening. “Now I don’t have anyone to call now at CDC because the entire office is eliminated.”“The people who were answering our questions are just gone,” CDC’s lead experts were sent reduction-in-force (RIF) notices Tuesday as part of a massive restructuring at the Department of Health and Human Services that resulted in the elimination of multiple offices and 10,000 civil servants losing their jobs. The effort is meant to “streamline” the department and target chronic illness “by focusing on safe, wholesome food, clean water and elimination of environmental toxins,” HHS said. The lead program’s fate is uncertain.Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, jr., indicated Thursday evening that it could be “reinstated,” but HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard would say only that the agency “is planning to continue the important work” of lead poisoning prevention in another HHS office.Hilliard didn’t respond to questions about why the program’s entire staff received RIF notices earlier this week, whether any of those experts would be rehired, or when they might return to work. An HHS official told ABC news that “the personnel for that current division, of how it exists now, are not being reinstated.”As of Friday morning, none of the 26 experts in the lead program had been pulled back from administrative leave, said Paul Allwood, who leads CDC’s Lead Poisoning Prevention and Surveillance Branch.
Military's use of toxic 'forever chemicals' leaves lasting scars - Colorado Springs and its suburbs in El Paso County are surrounded byseveral military installations, including Peterson Space Force Base, the US Air Force Academy, and the US Army’s Fort Carson. Mark Favors grew up in the shadow of these bases, part of a tightly knit Black family within the largely White Colorado Springs. Military service was the bread and butter of the community, a major source of jobs in a rural region. The area is home to about 45,000 military personnel and 15,000 federal employees, as well approximately 90,000 veterans. Mark’s family is no different. Today an ICU nurse in New York City, Mark is himself a veteran, as is his uncle and multiple other relatives. His large squadron of cousins, multiple-times-removed—some blood relations, and others not—have served in most branches of the military, leaving an intercontinental web of bootprints in their wake. Likewise, his mom, Lillian Clark Favors, is a retired Air Force security manager, and his grandmother, Arletha, spent thirty-six years working as a civil servant at Fort Carson. It is a staunchly patriot family—but one that has, in recent years, begun to question why this long history of military service seems to dovetail with an extensive pattern of disease. Sitting at his mother’s dining room table in Colorado Springs, Mark attempted to tabulate exactly how many people in his extended family had suffered from various iterations of cancer and other sometimes-fatal illnesses. That headcount, he estimated, includes more than two dozen cousins, siblings, and in-laws—but does not even begin to touch upon the friends and neighbors who have similar stories. “Another one of my cousins, he’s getting a port now,” Mark said, referring to the under-skin catheters used in kidney dialysis. At least five of his sick family members suffered from kidney-related diseases. Mark has also noticed how tightly the illness tracks with proximity to certain bases. As far back as 1987, when his mother’s department was transferred from the older Ent Air Force Base, near downtown Colorado Springs, to a new building at Peterson Space Base, on the outskirts of the city, colleagues started falling ill. A colonel in her group, Lillian remembered, decided to retire so that he would be able to take his grandson to kindergarten every day. “And then he got sick, and it was like, in two months, he was dead,” she said. Most striking for Mark’s family, however, is the number of relatives who developed diseases after moving to Widefield, about five miles southwest of Peterson. Mark’s cousin Vikki recalled the moment when her grandmother pulled the family together one Thanksgiving in the late 1980s—with the news that her doctors had discovered a lump and that she was going to need surgery. Following the diagnosis and the surgery, Arletha went through a course of chemotherapy. “And then she started having issues breathing,” Vikki continued. Her cancer had returned. She succumbed to her illness on November 19, 1991, after about a week in the hospital. “She just never was able to recover,” Vikki said. Members of the immediate family who never moved from Colorado Springs to Widefield enjoyed long lives, several living into their nineties. Meanwhile, Arletha’s husband also died of cancer, and her son, who had no kidney issues prior to living in Widefield, developed renal failure and had a subsequent kidney transplant. But after the new kidney became cancerous, he too passed away, at the age of sixty-nine, in 2017. Less than a year later, Mark was visiting his mother when a CBS This Morning special came on TV. As they watched an episode about perfluorochemicals—PFCs—Mark had an unsettling epiphany. “I just started doing more research into it,” Mark remembered, detailing how he began exploring Colorado state environmental mapping data. Among Mark’s first moves was to talk to local politicians, as well as try to get his family’s water tested. Ultimately, Mark discovered that the Widefield property was contaminated with PFAS at levels that far surpassed the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) drinking water health advisories at the time. PFCs, which today are known as PFAS, are a family of synthetic chemicals that have been used in a wide variety of household products from nonstick pans to waterproof clothing and cosmetics to fast food wrappers. These substances have also been linked to various cancers, kidney, liver and thyroid problems and immune system and fertility issues. They were also used for years in military-grade firefighting foam known as aqueous film-forming foam, or AFFF, which in many cases leached off of bases and into the water supplies of unsuspecting communities nearby. Several sets of groundwater samples taken just a half mile west of the property between 2016 and 2018 indicated that the area’s contamination was up to four times those safety thresholds. Rising from his seat at the dining table, Mark milled around the room and picked up a framed certificate that honored his mother for her four decades of service at Peterson. Similar certificates are likely sitting in houses all over Colorado Springs, documenting not only years of service but years of exposure to toxic chemicals. Members of the Favors family had no idea that the firefighting foam being used on nearby bases contained PFAS, or that those chemicals were dangerous, or that they were leaching into the local water supply. But the military, like industry, already had some indication of AFFF’s toxic effects decades before such information became public knowledge.
EPA to reconsider fluoride's health impact in drinking water - The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will reconsider the health impacts of fluoride in drinking water — taking what could be an initial step toward new national limits or a ban on the substance.An EPA press release said Monday that the agency would “expeditiously review new scientific information on potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water” and that doing so will inform any potential moves to restrict fluoride under the Safe Drinking Water Act. “Without prejudging any outcomes, when this evaluation is completed, we will have an updated foundational scientific evaluation that will inform the agency’s future steps to meet statutory obligations under the Safe Drinking Water Act,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a written statement. In September, a judge ruled that the EPA must “engage with a regulatory response” to fluoride, though it did not dictate what that response should be. It’s not immediately clear whether Zeldin’s announcement differs from work the agency would have otherwise done in response to that order. But the administrator credited advocacy from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for bringing about the review. “Secretary Kennedy has long been at the forefront of this issue. His advocacy was instrumental in our decision to review fluoride exposure risks and we are committed to working alongside him, utilizing sound science as we advance our mission of protecting human health and the environment,” Zeldin said. Fluoride is intentionally added to drinking water to prevent tooth decay. About 200 million Americans drink water with added fluoride. While it’s clear that fluoride is good for teeth, some recent studies have linked it to lower IQ. Notably, the Department of Health and Human Services’s (HHS) National Toxicology Program found in August that higher levels of fluoride exposure are linked to lower IQs in children. However, health associations including the the American Academy of Pediatrics stood by recommendations in favor of adding fluoride to water and toothpaste even in light of the finding. The pediatrics organization said that among other issues, the toxicology program left out studies that did not find a link between fluoride and IQ. And earlier in 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement that “expert panels … have not found convincing scientific evidence linking community water fluoridation with any potential adverse health effect,” including low intelligence.
MAHA sinks its teeth into EPA - EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin credits one man for his agency’s decision to review new science on fluoride in drinking water: Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “If this is as important as it is to Secretary Kennedy,” Zeldin said at a Monday event in Utah with the Health and Human Services chief, “then it is top of the list for the Environmental Protection Agency.” Indeed, getting fluoride out of drinking water has been a priority of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement spearheaded by Kennedy. According to Zeldin, Kennedy “instantly reached out” after being nominated to discuss reviewing the science around fluoride — a natural mineral that has been added to drinking water for decades to improve dental health. Since giving up his own presidential campaign and endorsing President Donald Trump in August, questions have swirled around just how much influence the prominent environmental attorney-turned anti-vaccine-advocate would have over EPA’s regulations. Monday’s fluoride announcement is the first sign that at least some of Kennedy’s MAHA priorities have taken hold at the environmental agency. EPA — not the Department of Health and Human Services run by Kennedy — is the federal agency with the authority to regulate or ban adding fluoride to water systems, But EPA has bucked other MAHA priorities, like reducing exposures to neurotoxins through food. Less than a month ago, the agency announced a slew of regulations it would be rolling back — including air and water standards aimed at keeping mercury out of fish. Kennedy, who has often described his personal experiences with mercury poisoning, has remained silent on those actions. Meanwhile, HHS has moved to eliminate entire divisions of staff dedicated to tackling childhood lead poisoning as well as oral health. “There are a few things I agree with Kennedy about, but the way things are playing out I’m really troubled,” said Bruce Lanphear, a toxicologist whose studies of fluoride have underpinned the argument to get it out of drinking water and who also helped discover dangers of low-levels of lead exposure earlier in his career. “There are several things I could get excited about that he is saying, but with the slash and burn that we are seeing play out, it’s really hard,” he added. Both Kennedy and Zeldin announced plans to reevaluate the safe levels of fluoride in drinking water at a press conference in Utah, which became the first state to ban fluoridating public water systems last month. EPA announced it would “expeditiously review new scientific information” and decide if it should lower the standards that water utilities are required to keep fluoride levels below. The agency did not respond to questions on the timeline for the review before publication.
MAHA Texas-Style: Launches Investigation Into Kellogg's Over 'Healthy' Cereal Claims - Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) has launched an investigation into food company WK Kellogg Co. for potentially violating the state's consumer protection laws. Paxton alleged that the company’s cereals such as Apple Jacks, Froot Loops, Rice Krispies, and Frosted Flakes are advertised as "healthy” and claimed such products contain artificial food colorings that are linked to health issues.“A critical part of fighting for our children’s future is putting an end to companies’ deceptive practices that are aimed at misleading parents and families about the health of food products,” the Texas attorney general said in a statement. “Artificial food colorings have been shown to have disastrous impacts on health, and in no world should foods that include these dyes be advertised as ‘healthy.’ There will be accountability for any company, including Kellogg’s, that unlawfully makes misrepresentations about its food and contributes to a broken health system that has made Americans less healthy.”Paxton warned that companies found to be unlawfully misrepresenting their food products will be held accountable.Kellogg's previously announced plans to remove artificial dyes and the preservative BHT from its products, but so far, these changes have only been implemented in Canada and Europe, not in the United States, KVUE reports.Kellogg’s has yet to issue a statement in respond to Paxton’s investigation.Paxton's probe into Kellogg's coincides with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s rollout of the "Make America Healthy Again" initiative. Kennedy, a steadfast critic of processed foods for decades, has vowed to transform the U.S. food system to improve Americans' well-being in the face of escalating obesity rates and chronic diseases. Despite the FDA's stance that approved artificial food dyes are safe when used in compliance with regulations, Kennedy has specifically criticized several Kellogg’s cereals for their use of these dyes. “If you look at a pack of Froot Loops in this country, it’s all chemical dyes. Yellow, blue, red dye, which are poison,” Kennedy said. “In Canada, across the border, Froot Loops are a different color; they’re all colored by vegetable oils. It’s the same company. Kellogg’s knows how to create safer products that don’t have chemicals in them.” In the United States, Froot Loops contain a mix of artificial colorings, including Red Dye No. 40, Yellow Dye No. 5, Yellow Dye No. 6, and Blue Dye No. 1., according to ABC News. Last year, a crowd of hundreds assembled outside WK Kellogg's Michigan headquarters, urging the company to fulfill its commitment to eliminate artificial dyes from its U.S. cereals. "I'm here for the moms, all the moms, who struggle to feed their children healthy food without added chemicals," Food activist Vani Hari said at the time.
Trump orders agencies to ‘sunset’ environmental protections- President Trump directed agencies that regulate energy and the environment to sunset a wide array of environmental protections in an executive order issued Wednesday night. He ordered agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Energy Department, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and Fish and Wildlife Service to amend regulations so that they expire by October 2026. The order applies to all regulations issued under laws governing things like energy appliance standards, mining and offshore drilling — as well as regulations issued under the Endangered Species Act. It’s not yet clear whether the order will also apply to regulations at the EPA under laws like the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act or Safe Drinking Water Act because the order directs that particular agency to provide the White House with a list of statutes that should be subject to the order. There also may be exemptions, as the order allows agencies to extend the sunset date for up to five years. It’s not clear how widely such exemptions will be used. In a statement incorporated into the order, the White House lamented what it described as an “energy landscape perpetually trapped in the 1970s.” “By rescinding outdated regulations that serve as a drag on progress, we can stimulate innovation and deliver prosperity to everyday Americans,” it said. “This order directs certain agencies to incorporate a sunset provision into their regulations governing energy production to the extent permitted by law, thus compelling those agencies to reexamine their regulations periodically to ensure that those rules serve the public good,” it continued. Environmental activists, meanwhile, raised alarm — and indicated that they’ll challenge the legality of the order in court. “Attempting to repeal every environmental safeguard enacted over the past 50 years with an executive order is beyond delusional,” said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a written statement. “Trump’s farcical directive aims to kill measures that protect endangered whales, prevent oil spills, and reduce the risk of a nuclear accident. This chaotic administration is obviously desperate to smash through every environmental guardrail that protects people or preserves wildlife, but steps like this will be laughed out of court,” Hartl added.‘Quite a loss’: EPA research cuts threaten air quality reviews -With a potential gutting of EPA’s research office looming on the horizon, concerns are mounting that the agency’s air quality reviews that serve as the backbone for pollution control rules could be at risk.Those legally required reviews rank among the agency’s most complex and far-reaching regulatory endeavors, with the potential to prompt new compliance measures on industries ranging from oil refineries to tissue manufacturers. Since passage of the 1970 Clean Air Act, successive tightenings of what are technically known as National Ambient Air Quality Standards have been credited with driving major pollution cuts and saving tens of thousands of lives. Research office employees play a crucial role by crunching thousands of studies into bulky roundups of the state of scientific knowledge into an individual pollutant’s health or environmental effects.
What's contaminating Tampa Bay's fish? These scientists are angling for answers -- A handful of the region's top recreational fishing charter captains have partnered with scientists from the University of South Florida's College of Marine Science in St. Petersburg for the five-year study to catch and sample the popular species along the shores of the estuary's 400 square miles. Researchers are focusing on the inshore fish most commonly caught for food, Murawski said, which is why studying their chemistry is so crucial. After scientists reel in a catch, they bring them ashore to test the fish in the university's lab for a cocktail of contaminants, including pesticides, pharmaceuticals, a durable group of slow-to-break-down "forever chemicals" and more. "Tampa Bay is one of the fishing hotspots of western Florida and the Gulf, so if there are any threats to consuming these fish, it's important for us to know about them," said Murawski, a professor of oceanography at the College of Marine Science and the project's principal investigator. "The animals that we're catching are top predators," Murawski said. "But the ultimate top predator is people. Are these chemicals being transferred at higher and higher levels of concentration? We think that's true." Not only are researchers testing fish for pollutants, they also want to learn whether the people who fish in Tampa Bay for food are more at risk of contamination. A three-year survey of people in the region who fish for food should shed light on seafood-eating habits and help scientists come up with risk assessments for safer consumption, according to the project. "Our industry is heavily dependent on the sustainability of our natural resources. We need to take good care of our water," Santiago said. "The more information that we can gather about these chemicals, the better. It's a really important thing." Plus, the project's results could help local governments pinpoint where the bay's pollution is coming from. For instance, if a redfish caught in northern Tampa Bay has more pharmaceuticals, like opioids, in its system than a redfish caught in the bay's southern end, that could signal there is a wastewater pollution problem in the northern bay. It's difficult for treatment plants to filter out trace amounts of pharmaceuticals, so when humans urinate chemicals from the pills they ingest, that can ultimately end up in the bay.
An invasive frog in the Marshall Islands is displacing native species and threatening local ecosystems -Biologists from The University of Texas at Arlington are the first to discover an invasive frog—the greenhouse frog—in the Marshall Islands, a sprawling Pacific nation of volcanic islands and coral atolls located roughly halfway between Hawaii and Australia."Originally from the Caribbean, these frogs are notorious for expanding their habitat by hitching rides in soil, potted plants and agricultural materials," said Samuel Fisher, a UT Arlington graduate student working under the guidance of biology Professor Matthew Fujita. "We mostly found the frogs on Laura Island, one of the larger islands and home to the main airport, but we confirmed them on other islands as well."The greenhouse frog isn't the only introduced species raising concerns. The UTA team also studied the green anole, a lizard native to Texas and Oklahoma and commonly found across the southeastern United States. Possibly introduced from Hawaii, the green anole has become widespread on the Marshall Islands' main island. Researchers found evidence that it may be eliminating the emerald tree skink, a native lizard species."The lack of skinks suggests that imported anoles may be outcompeting native species, which could have ripple effects on the islands' ecosystems," UTA's Dr. Fujita said. "Although these frogs and lizards may seem harmless, they can cause major ecological disruptions by displacing native species, altering food webs and potentially spreading diseases—to both animals and humans."
Timber From Illegal Logging in Brazilian Amazon Discovered in U.S. and European Markets: Report - A new investigative report, Tricks, Traders and Trees, by international NGO the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) reveals widespread illegal logging, corruption and fraud in the Brazilian Amazon.The investigation traced illegal timber that had originated from five logging sites in Pará state to the United States and European Union, despite laws that prohibit the importing of illegal timber and require due diligence from companies.“Our investigation shows how illegal Amazon timber is flooding EU and U.S. markets, fueling unfair competition for legitimate companies despite laws banning the trade in illicit wood. European and U.S. consumers don’t want to walk on the remnants of illegally cut rainforest when strolling their local seaside boardwalk,” said Rick Jacobsen, senior policy manager at EIA US, in a press release from the NGO.The investigators were able to identify 30 importers that had bought the “tainted wood.” They found that Brazil’s illegal logging industry used “sophisticated schemes” to fake the origins of timber by artificially inflating standing tree volumes and falsifying paperwork.“In one case, timber was exported from a protected area where the owner was also illegally mining gold; in another, it was laundered through a site embargoed for illegal deforestation by Brazil’s environmental agency, IBAMA,” EIA said in the press release. “Twenty-six of the 35 sawmills and exporters that bought the tainted timber have been fined by IBAMA — a sign of systemic abuse.”Investigators discovered widespread corruption allegations throughout Brazil’s logging industry, including bribery of politicians and enforcement agents. “Everyone does it,” one insider said. The U.S. and the EU are the largest timber export markets for Brazil. Both have established laws that require companies to ensure they are not importing wood that is illegally produced: the Lacey Act in the U.S. and the EU Timber Regulation, soon to be replaced with the stricter EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). “Illegal logging harms forests, hurts ecosystems and feeds organized crime, undercutting the rule of law. Brazil ranks fourth in the global tropical hardwood industry, with the U.S. and EU its largest export markets. Yet almost one third of the timber extracted from the country’s Amazon states is thought to be illegal – a conservative assessment,” the report said.The dense tropical hardwood ipê (Handroanthus spp.) is one of the highest valued and most traded types of timber because of its durability. It is commonly used to make outdoor decks, including large public construction projects like New York’s Long Island boardwalk. Due to excessive logging, ipê trees are rarer than they once were and are now protected under the Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna.A 2019 report by the European Commission Expert Group confirmed that importing timber from the Brazilian Amazon was “extremely high risk,” and that additional due diligence measures would need to be taken by importers.“The investigative report calls for immediate and robust action including traceability and transparency in timber supply chains, stricter enforcement and penalties in Brazil and destination countries, and improved international collaboration to protect the Amazon rainforest from ongoing environmental crimes,” the press release said.The report’s findings come amid a decision late last year to delay EUDR’s implementation by one year, and as the EU has been attempting to weaken European companies’ new due diligence requirements.Meanwhile, in the U.S., environmental law enforcement resources have seen unprecedented cuts.
Economic realities cut into Trump timber plans - The Trump administration’s drive to harvest more timber from national forests will lead to a “thriving wood products economy” that doesn’t rely on imports, a top Forest Service official told the agency’s top brass in a memo last week. But the timber goal acting Associate Chief Chris French pinpointed — a 25 percent increase from current levels offered for sale — would fall short of the first Trump administration’s ambitions and barely make a dent in U.S. timber supplies, data shows.The chasm between the new administration’s rhetoric — cut more trees on national forests to reduce the country’s reliance on wood imports and rejuvenate the economy — and the math behind French’s memo reflect the hurdles to returning to the timber industry’s prosperous times around national forests.French told regional foresters and deputy chiefs in the April 3 memo obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News that the agency aims for the 25 percent increase in the next four to five years by using legal exclusions from environmental reviews wherever possible and setting timber appraisal rates across wide geographical areas, among other measures.“Today, we enter a new era marked by pressing issues like a growing demand for domestic lumber and wildfire resilience,” French said. His memo doesn’t mention responding to the changing climate, which helps create hotter, drier conditions that encourage wildfire. French’s memo details how the agency will implement Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins’ announcement last week declaring an “emergency” on 112.7 million acres of the 193-million-acre system to expedite harvesting, in the name of reducing wildfire risk and protecting public water supplies. Her announcement, in turn, followed President Donald Trump’s executive order earlier this year calling for increased timber production. A 25 percent jump from fiscal 2024 levels would translate to around 3.6 billion board-feet of timber. That’s less than the first Trump team’s target of 3.88 billion board feet for fiscal 2021 and roughly equal to the 3.68 billion board-feet goal the prior year, reflecting the last two years of Trump budget requests.If achieved, however, it would mark a turnaround in actual sales.The Forest Service said it sold 2.88 billion board-feet of timber in fiscal 2024, down from 3 billion board-feet in 2023. The biggest sales years recently were during the first Trump administration, at 3.23 billion board-feet in 2019 and 3.22 billion board-feet in 2020, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report on the timber program.Timber industry representatives and others familiar with the Forest Service’s timber program point to several flaws in the administration’s timber-boom narrative, although the industry welcomes the Forest Service’s moves to step up production.“There are some encouraging elements in the Secretary’s order, including direction to prioritize removal of dead and dying trees, but barriers to doing that remain in place,” said Nick Smith, a spokesperson for the American Forest Resource Council, representing timber companies that work in national forests and elsewhere.“The question is whether these efforts can overcome the fundamental barriers of litigation and obstruction, and the cost and time it takes to meet federal regulatory requirements,” Smith said. “Many of the necessary reforms need to come from Congress.”
Widespread floods leave 16 dead across five U.S. states - At least 16 people have died as a multi-hazard weather system brought widespread flooding from Texas to Ohio, with the heaviest impacts reported in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Arkansas since Wednesday, April 2, 2025. At least 16 deaths have been reported across the Midwest and the southern United States as a multi-hazard weather system continued affecting areas from Texas to Ohio through Saturday, April 5. Ten fatalities have been confirmed in Tennessee alone. Additional storm-related deaths have been reported in Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, and Indiana since the system began impacting the region on Wednesday, April 2. Flooding continues across much of the area from Tennessee to Missouri, with several locations reporting up to 508 mm (20 inches) of rainfall since Wednesday. Sections of several major highways in Tennessee and Kentucky have been closed due to rising water levels, with the National Weather Service (NWS) urging drivers to “turn around” if they encounter flooded roadways. Sections of Interstate 40 in Memphis, Tennessee, were closed due to standing water, while parts of the northbound and southbound lanes on Interstate 69 in Daviess County, Kentucky, were temporarily closed due to high water levels. At least 390 roads were closed across Kentucky on Saturday morning due to flooding, mudslides, and rockslides, Governor Andy Beshear said. Beshear declared a state of emergency for the western part of the state, citing potentially record rainfall in areas not typically prone to flooding. The Ohio River, which flows through Louisville, Kentucky, has risen more than 1.52 m (5 feet) over the past 24 hours and is expected to rise significantly over the next two to three days, Mayor Craig Greenberg said Saturday afternoon. In Mammoth Spring, Arkansas, a train was stopped on a bridge early Saturday morning due to multiple active weather warnings. Heavy floodwaters washed out the bridge and caused several cars to derail, according to BNSF Railway. BNSF personnel were on site Saturday afternoon, coordinating with Mammoth Spring State Park to clear the incident and repair the bridge. President Donald Trump on Saturday approved Arkansas’ request for an Emergency Declaration for Direct Federal Assistance to support the state’s response to the storms, tornadoes, and flooding.
19 fatalities reported across 6 states as floods continue to ravage Kentucky -At least 19 people were reported dead across multiple U.S. states, including Kentucky and Tennessee, as severe flooding continued on April 7, 2025, following a multi-day storm system that began on April 2. Nineteen people have been reported dead as flooding continued across multiple U.S. states on April 7, including Kentucky, following storms that affected central and eastern parts of the country beginning April 2. Tennessee reported 10 fatalities, Missouri and Kentucky 2, while Arkansas, Indiana, Mississippi, and Georgia reported one each. The death toll is still expected to rise. Several cities and states, including areas in Kentucky, were placed under a State of Emergency. One death occurred near the town of Boston, Kentucky, where the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office reported a 74-year-old driver was found dead in a vehicle following a water rescue call. The victim has not been identified. A curfew was imposed in Frankfort from the night of April 6 into the morning of April 7. Boats were deployed statewide to carry out rescue operations. Multiple landslides were reported across the state since April 2. Officials in Frankfort diverted traffic and shut off utilities to businesses as the river was expected to crest above 14.9 m (49 feet) on April 7, approaching a record-setting level, according to Mayor Layne Wilkerson. The city’s flood wall system is designed to withstand water levels up to 15.5 m (51 feet). The National Weather Service (NWS) warned on April 7 that dozens of locations across multiple states were expected to reach “major flood stage,” with significant flooding of buildings, roads, bridges, and other key infrastructure possible. In north-central Kentucky, mandatory evacuations were ordered for Falmouth and Butler, towns located near a bend of the Licking River. Thirty years ago, the river reached a record height of 15.2 m (50 feet), resulting in five deaths and the destruction of 1 000 homes. A multi-hazard weather system brought heavy rainfall to several states last week and produced over 60 tornadoes across areas from Oklahoma to Ohio. Rives, a town in northwestern Tennessee with approximately 200 residents, was nearly entirely submerged after the Obion River overflowed. All 95 counties in Tennessee were under a State of Emergency for most of the week. Over the weekend, dozens of individuals arrived at a storm shelter near a public school in Dyersburg, carrying blankets, pillows, and other essentials. The city had reportedly been struck by a tornado a few days earlier. In Jonesboro, Arkansas, the National Weather Service (NWS) reported that over 13 cm (5 inches) of rain fell on April 5, making it the city’s wettest April day on record. Ongoing severe weather across the region has intensified flooding, worsened by the cumulative impact of previous storms. Numerous roads across the region remain impassable due to river flooding and debris. Damage assessments are ongoing, including in Hot Springs, Arkansas, where floodwaters damaged a section of Highway 171—one of many impassable roads in the state. Many of the affected areas have experienced repeated storms since the beginning of the year. Saturated soils from heavy rainfall have increased flood vulnerability, including in Tennessee, which has not fully recovered from the effects of Hurricane Helene in 2024.
Severe weather claims 23 lives across South and Midwest; Kentucky among the hardest hit - YouTube videos - At least 23 people have died due to severe weather and flash floods sweeping the South and Midwest since early April 2025. The catastrophic weather, marked by heavy rain, widespread floods, and tornadoes, has left a trail of destruction across multiple states. As of April 8, 2025, at least 23 people have died due to severe weather and flash floods affecting the South and Midwest regions of the United States. Tennessee reported the highest number of fatalities with 10, followed by Kentucky with 4, including a 9-year-old boy who was swept away in Frankfort. Missouri confirmed 3 deaths, including a 16-year-old volunteer firefighter, while Arkansas reported 2, including a 5-year-old child. Georgia also reported 2 fatalities in Muscogee County, and Mississippi and Indiana each confirmed 1 death. Flooding peaked over the weekend, with Kentucky experiencing severe damage. In Frankfort, record river levels prompted mandatory evacuations and submerged residential areas. A 74-year-old person was found deceased in a submerged vehicle. The state closed hundreds of roads due to flooding and mudslides, and a state of emergency was declared in western Kentucky. Heavy rainfall triggered flash flood emergencies and overwhelmed river systems across multiple states, while communities from Memphis to Little Rock faced tornadoes and widespread power outages. More than 90 tornadoes were reported across at least 10 states, and rainfall exceeded 305 mm (12 inches) in several areas. In Kentucky, cities, including Louisville, experienced historic flooding, with rescue operations carried out in Hopkinsville and Frankfort, where inflatable boats were deployed. Federal assistance has been approved for Tennessee, and additional states may receive aid as damage assessments continue. Travel disruptions included over 500 flight cancellations and thousands of delays reported on April 5. High water levels forced temporary closures of landmarks, including Augusta National Golf Club and Buffalo Trace Distillery, both expected to remain closed until at least April 10. The storm system has since moved eastward, but recovery operations remain underway. Images from the affected regions show submerged homes, damaged roadways, and entire neighborhoods underwater, especially in parts of Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee. Estimated economic damages range between USD 80 billion and USD 90 billion.
Jeffersontown EF-3 tornado caused USD 100 million in damage, Kentucky - An EF-3 tornado that struck Jeffersontown on April 3, 2025, has caused more than USD 100 million worth of damages in the area. Jeffersontown council members approved a resolution to waive demolition, repair, and building fees over the next several months due to the damages. KEP electric warehouse destroyed by the EF-3 tonado in Jeffersontown, Kentucky on April 3, 2025. Image credit: Louisville Metro Emergency Services It was the strongest tornado to strike within the jurisdiction of the National Weather Service (NWS) Louisville office since 1996. Rated EF-3, the tornado reached peak winds of 233 km/h (145 mph), with a maximum width of 320 m (350 yards), and carved a 15.6 km (9.68 miles) long path through eastern Louisville. The tornado touched down at 12:29 EDT near Watterson Trail and Rivanna Drive in Jeffersontown and remained on the ground for 10 minutes before lifting near Pope Dale Road. Despite the intensity of the event, no fatalities or injuries were reported. Ad ends in 14 Survey teams documented extensive damage to industrial and commercial structures along the tornado’s path. In Jeffersontown, 35 businesses sustained significant damage, while another 90 were affected. The tornado intensified along Ampere Court and Ampere Drive, where it destroyed a building at KEP Electric, throwing debris nearly 1.6 km (1 mile). A concrete warehouse on Technology Drive collapsed due to structural failure, while severe damage was also reported at J&J Transportation, Chick-fil-A, and Warren Technology. Several residential areas, including Beckley Hills and the Stables Apartments, experienced roof damage, broken windows, and uprooted trees, particularly near Floyds Fork Park. At a special meeting called by Jeffersontown Mayor Carol Pike and council members Tuesday, Louisville emergency operations coordinator Amy Rose said the PVA assessment value of the 35 businesses is more than $100 million. The tornado was part of a larger weather system that spawned multiple tornadoes across the mush of central and eastern United States last week. At least 25 people were killed due to severe floods and thunderstorms that ravaged multiple states, including Tennessee and Kentucky.
Storms leave behind hail, damage and power outages accross the Tennessee Valley — As storms moved through the Tennessee Valley Thursday evening, several people were left without power as trees were also reported down across the area. As of 7:25 p.m., Huntsville Utilities was reporting 11,789 customers without power, according to the company’s outage map. That number was down to 7,210 by 9:45 p.m. Florence Utilities was reporting 10.9 thousand people without power throughout Lauderdale County as of 7:25 p.m. Thursday, according to its outage map. That number was down to 6.9 thousand as of 9:09 p.m. The company said that crews were working to restore power to those without power as of 5:43 p.m. In Morgan County, Decatur Utilities is reporting 998 people without power in Decatur as of 7:30 p.m. The utility company said 218 people remained without power as of 8:40 p.m. Joe Wheeler EMC was reporting 4,041 people without power in Morgan County as of 7:30 p.m. The company was reporting 2,255 people without power in Lawrence County at the same time. Joe Wheeler’s outage map showed 4,402 members without power as of 10 p.m. while there were only 997 people without power in Lawrence County. The Morgan County Sheriff’s Office reported a large tree down on Highway 36 at Morrow Street in Hartselle at 6:35 p.m. Sheffield Utilities is reporting 2,157 people without power in Colbert County as of 7:38 p.m. The utility company’s outage map showed only 932 people without power at 10 p.m. Thursday.
Over 144 000 livestock lost in devastating Queensland floods, Australia - Widespread floods affecting Queensland’s outback in March 2025 have killed or displaced more than 144 000 livestock, mainly cattle, sheep, and goats, across an area of over 500 000 km² (193 000 mi2). The crisis, caused by heavy rainfall and worsened by Cyclone Alfred, has also led to widespread damage to farms and essential infrastructure, significantly impacting local producers and markets. The Queensland Department of Primary Industries confirmed the livestock losses, warning that the number may rise as floodwaters recede. AgForce Queensland reported that some properties have lost up to 80% of their animals. The flooding spanned an area twice the size of Victoria, with some regions receiving up to 500 mm (20 inches) of rainfall in just one week, well above the annual average. Cyclone Alfred, which struck weeks earlier, contributed to already saturated ground and worsened conditions across southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales. Farmers are also dealing with severe infrastructure damage, including 3 180 km (1 900 miles) of fencing and 4 080 km (2 530 miles) of private roads. The Queensland Fire Service has been using helicopters to deliver hay to isolated livestock. The emotional and financial toll is increasing. Brendan Murray, a grazier, said he lost 6 000 of his 9 000 sheep. Emily Green reported that her homestead flooded when 100 mm (4 inches) of rain fell in one hour. According to AgForce Queensland, it may take years for many producers to rebuild their herds and restore lost genetics. Meat prices are expected to rise as livestock numbers decline and transport remains disrupted. The floods have also resulted in native wildlife deaths and widespread soil erosion. Queensland Agriculture Minister Tony Perrett described the situation as “shocking” and stated that further losses are likely as damage assessments continue.
At least 33 killed in one of Kinshasa’s worst floods in recent history, DR Congo - At least 33 people have died due to flooding in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, after heavy rainfall began on the night of Friday, April 4, 2025. Authorities have warned that the death toll may rise as rescue operations continue. The floods have disrupted transportation and essential services, placing further strain on the city’s infrastructure. Torrential rain that started on Friday night caused the Ndjili River to overflow, leading to severe flooding in Kinshasa (population 17 million) and killing at least 33 people. The current flood ranks among the deadliest in the city’s recent history. Low-lying districts, including Mont-Amba, Ndjili, and Masina, were the most affected, with submerged homes and reports of landslides. Authorities continue search operations in flooded areas and caution that the number of fatalities could increase. The flooding has severely affected transportation, submerging major roads, including access routes to N’djili International Airport, a key hub for the city of 17 million residents. Emergency ferries are in operation to assist stranded individuals. Power and water outages have further disrupted services across the capital. Kinshasa Governor Daniel Bumba activated a crisis unit on Saturday, April 5, deploying armed forces to evacuate vulnerable populations, including pregnant women and children. Forecasts of continued rain are complicating efforts to reach isolated communities. The government has appealed for both national and international assistance as infrastructure continues to be overwhelmed. The United Nations and Red Cross are mobilizing supplies such as water, food, and medical kits, though deliveries are being delayed due to impassable roads. Hospitals report increasing risks of waterborne diseases. Meteorologists forecast continued rainfall through mid-April, consistent with the November-to-May rainy season that regularly challenges Kinshasa’s drainage systems. The Congolese Weather Agency has advised residents near rivers to relocate temporarily. Economic disruption is increasing, with blocked trade routes and inaccessible markets threatening livelihoods in Kinshasa, one of Africa’s largest cities. Officials estimate that repairing damaged roads and bridges may take weeks. Local experts attribute the severity of the flooding to a combination of climate change and inadequate urban planning. Relief operations are focusing on providing shelter and sanitation to thousands of displaced individuals, with temporary camps established outside Kinshasa. International donors are evaluating the extent of required assistance as the city prepares for a prolonged recovery.
1 dead, 3 missing after severe floods in Badakshan, Afghanistan - At least one person died, and three others went missing after floods struck Badakshan Province in northeastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, following heavy overnight rainfall. Severe floods claimed at least one life and left three missing in the Badakshan Province, Afghanistan on Wednesday, April 9. The deceased was a resident of Gardez City in Paktia province who got caught in the flooding of the Rizak and Katak Villages following heavy rains on Tuesday night, April 8. Floods caused significant damage in the Badakshan province, destroying crops and inundating multiple villages in the region. Vehicles and heavy machinery in the region have also suffered significant damage. The flooding led to the closure of the Badakshan-Takhar highway on Wednesday morning, with local authorities urging citizens to avoid the route while they worked to clear the route. Badakshan-Takhar highway is one of the most vital routes in northeastern Afghanistan and is often threatened by landslides and flooding during the rainy season, which can often close it off for multiple days.
Floods claim 16 lives in Namibia and displace thousands - At least 16 people have died in Namibia’s Oshana Region as of April 10, 2025, following weeks of heavy rainfall and widespread flooding across the northern parts of the country. At least 16 people have died due to flooding in Namibia’s Oshana Region as of April 10. Oshana Regional Commander Commissioner Naftal Sakaria confirmed that the youngest fatality was a six-year-old child, and the oldest was 65 years old. Heavy rainfall has affected the Kunene, Omusati, Oshana, Ohangwena, and Zambezi regions in northern Namibia since March 1, causing flooding. Swartbooi Drift, also known as Otjimuhaka, is the most affected village. Most residents live along the riverbanks. Relief assistance included 170 mattresses, 680 cans of tin fish, 10 200 mosquito nets, 1 200 water purification sachets, and 200 bags of maize meal. Most residents have been relocated to higher ground. Three households were evacuated in the Engela Constituency, Ohangwena Region. Rural areas have been cut off from essential services, and schools have closed, affecting approximately 8 500 students. More than 2 500 residents have been affected in the Epupa Constituency, one of the hardest-hit regions, with over 200 reports of property damage.
Deadly floods and landslides strike Java and Kalimantan provinces, Indonesia - (YouTube video) Floods and landslides have claimed at least 10 lives in Java and affected over 700 people in Central and East Kalimantan as of April 10, 2025, with hundreds of homes damaged across multiple Indonesian provinces. Heavy rainfall caused flooding in Central Kalimantan’s Murung Raya Regency from April 9 to 10, affecting 194 families. Water levels ranged from 35–150 cm (14–60 inches), damaging 180 houses, two places of worship, and one school. Flooding was still affecting the region as of April 10. The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) reported that the Gula, Kohong, Tuhup, and Laung rivers overflowed, giving rise to severe flooding. In East Kalimantan’s Penajam Paser Utara Regency, flooding from April 9 to 10 affected 139 families in Karang Jinawi Village. The Miyango River overflowed, submerging homes. Although floodwaters have receded, main roads remained submerged as of April 10, causing transportation disruptions. BNPB reported existing infrastructure issues in the area. A landslide in East Java, Indonesia, on April 3 killed 10 people after heavy rainfall triggered a mass of mud, rocks, and trees to cascade down onto a mountain road near the Watu Lumpang resort area in Mojokerto district. The victims included seven family members traveling in a van and three vegetable traders in a pickup truck, all buried by the debris. Search and rescue teams recovered the final bodies on April 4, including those of three children. The incident was one of several hydrometeorological disasters reported across the country during the transitional weather season when extreme rainfall events are more frequent due to shifting atmospheric patterns. In South Sulawesi’s Sinjai Regency, a tidal surge on April 1 affected 100 houses in Pasimarannu Village. Water levels reached 30–60 cm (12–24 inches). The flooding has since subsided, and no casualties were reported. Central Sulawesi’s Donggala Regency and Java’s Grobogan Regency experienced flooding on April 1, affecting multiple houses across the villages of Kabonga Kecil, Kabonga Besar, and Batusuya. River overflows caused by upstream rainfall submerged roads. In Central Java, flooding on April 1 submerged 19 homes and part of the Purwodadi–Blora highway in Sambirejo Village. The incident followed heavy rainfall and river overflow. In Aceh’s Gayo Lues area, flooding from March 31 to April 1 affected homes and submerged 13 ha (32 acres) of rice fields and 1 ha (2.5 acres) of cornfields in Rerebe and Badak villages. The Aih Badak River overflowed, but water levels have since receded. BNPB has issued a forecast for continued heavy rainfall over the next 72 hours from April 10, particularly across Borneo, Sumatra, Sulawesi, and western New Guinea. Residents are advised to stay updated through platforms such as the InaRisk app and to prepare basic emergency supplies.
Severe thunderstorms leave 80 dead across Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, India - Severe thunderstorms killed at least 80 people in the Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in the 24 hours leading up to Friday, April 11, 2025. Most of the fatalities were caused by lightning strikes, collapsing walls, and falling trees. Bihar reported 58 fatalities within 24 hours to Friday, as heavy rain, strong winds, and lightning affected the region. Of these, 23 people died due to lightning strikes, while 35 deaths were caused by uprooted trees, collapsing walls, and other storm-related accidents. Nalanda district reported the highest number of fatalities at 22. Bhojpur reported 5 deaths, Siwan reported 4, while Jamui and Gaya each reported 3. Multiple other districts reported individual fatalities. Most victims were farmers and daily wage workers who were in the fields during the storm. Strong winds and heavy rains battering the region downed power lines across the region, causing power outages and causing significant infrastructural damage. This follows an earlier incident where 25 people died due to lightning in eight districts of Bihar. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced an ex gratia payment of Rs 400 000 to the next of kin of the deceased.
Wildfires in Siberia destroy 65 buildings, Russia - Wildfires in Siberia have destroyed 65 buildings, caused one death, and injured five people over the past week, as strong winds and storms prompted a state of emergency in several regions. In the Krasnoyarsk Region, 65 buildings were destroyed by wildfires, including 33 houses. One person died, and five others were injured, while multiple families have been displaced. More than 2 000 ha (4 940 acres) of land are burning, with over 110 fires reported. Wind speeds reaching up to 144 km/h (90 mph) have contributed to the rapid spread. A state of emergency has been declared due to the wildfires and severe storms, which have damaged power lines and trees. Approximately 6 000 people have experienced power outages. More than 300 firefighters are working to contain the fires, deploying aircraft and machinery to protect towns, including Minusinsk, where homes and other buildings are damaged.
How racism fueled the Eaton Fire's destruction in Altadena -The damage from the Eaton Fire wasn't indiscriminate. The blaze that ravaged the city of Altadena, California, in January 2025, killing 17 people and consuming over 9,000 buildings, destroyed Black Altadenans' homes in greatest proportion.About 48% of Black-owned homes sustained major damage or total destruction, compared with 37% of those owned by Asian, Latino or white Altadenans, according to a February 2025 report from the UCLA Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies.The Eaton Fire's uneven devastation reveals a pattern of racial discrimination previously concealed along neat blocks of mid-century, ranch-style homes and tree-lined streets.In the early 20th century, Altadena was a professional enclave connected to Los Angeles, 13 miles away, by the Pacific Electric Railway, or "Red Car" system. It was also lily-white, and that's how homeowner groups liked it, according to research by Altadena historian Michele Zack.These organizations urged homeowners to write language into their deeds that would bar Black, Latino or Asian tenants from buying or renting there.By the end of World War II, most properties in Altadena had racially restrictive deeds or covenants—a trend being repeated in white suburbs across the country. In 1948, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down such restrictions in Shelley v. Kraemer as unenforceable. Still, the 1950 census shows that Altadena had no Black residents. [detailed history]By 1970, roughly one-third of Altadena's population was Black, and 70% of Black households in Altadena owned their homes—nearly double Los Angeles County's Black home ownership rate of 38%.Black residents almost exclusively lived in West Altadena. Lots there weresmaller than those on the east side of town, so they were more affordable. They were also older, which made them more vulnerable to fires because they were built with materials that were more flammable than those used in newer homes.As my book "The Plunder of Black America: How the Racial Wealth Gap Was Made" shows, once Black families surmounted one obstacle, such as racial covenants, another rose in its place. [more history]Black homeowners who remained in Altadena were hit hard by the 2008 housing crisis. That crisis was caused in part by lenders steering borrowers, particularly borrowers of color, into subprime loans, even when they qualified for better deals.Between 2007 and 2009, Black households lost 48% of their wealth—nearly half their assets. White wealth dropped during the Great Recession, too, but only by about one-quarter. Research into this racial discrepancy later showed that because white families had more of a financial cushion, they could stem their losses.These and other factors have all dragged down the wealth of Black Californians over the years. In 2023, California's task force on reparations calculated that the state's discriminatory practices cost the average African American in California $160,931 in homeownership wealth compared with a white Californian.Those inequities were a tinderbox that the Eaton Fire ignited.Altadena is inherently prone to fire because it borders the Angeles National Forest, gets Santa Ana winds that spread embers, and has highly flammable vegetation. But because Black Altadenans' homes sit on smaller lots, with structures and landscaping located closer together, the ember fire spread more easily in Black neighborhoods.
Rare April snowfall blankets Mount Teide as Storm Olivier impacts Canary Islands - Storm Olivier brought a rare April snowfall to Mount Teide, the highest peak in Tenerife and all of Spain, on Thursday, April 10, 2025. The event was driven by a sharp drop in temperatures at higher elevations, allowing snow to accumulate on the summit. Wind gusts associated with the storm exceeded 90 km/h (56 mph), creating hazardous conditions across Teide National Park, while intense rainfall at lower elevations forced the closure of multiple recreational areas and trails. Storm Olivier brought rare April snowfall to Mount Teide, Tenerife’s highest peak at 3 718 m (12 198 feet), yesterday, following a significant temperature drop at higher elevations that allowed substantial snow accumulation. According to the Spanish State Meteorological Agency (AEMET), wind gusts exceeding 90 km/h (56 mph) affected Teide National Park, creating hazardous conditions, while heavy rainfall at lower elevations led to localized flooding and transport disruptions. The Tenerife Island Emergency Plan (PEIN) was activated on April 10, with Amber warnings issued for rain and Yellow alerts for wind and thunderstorms. Authorities closed recreational areas, campsites, and several trails in the park, including trails numbered 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 23, and 28. Canyoning activities were also suspended due to increased flood risk and hazardous terrain. Heavy rainfall amounts, forecast at 15–30 mm (0.6–1.2 inches) per hour and 40–80 mm (1.6–3.1 inches) over 12 hours, raised concerns about flooding in lower areas.
Explosive activity, strong ash emissions observed at Etna volcano, Italy - Mount Etna’s Southeast Crater exhibited intensified Strombolian activity on April 8, 2025, leading to strong emission of volcanic ash clouds reaching altitudes of approximately 5.5 km (3.4 miles) above the volcano and drifting southeast. The Aviation Color Code was raised to Red. Image credit: Vedetta The volcanic tremor amplitude at Etna volcano began increasing at 18:30 UTC on April 7, reaching high levels by 22:50 UTC. The tremor’s source was located beneath the Southeast Crater at an altitude of approximately 2.9 km (1.8 miles) above sea level. Infrasonic activity also intensified from 23:00 UTC, localized at the same crater. Despite these signs of escalating activity, ground deformation monitoring networks, including GNSS and tiltmeters, did not record significant variations. Strong strombolian activity was observed at summit craters with weak ash emissions around midnight, prompting the Etna Volcano Observatory to raise the Aviation Color Code from Orange to Red. The activity further increased with explosive activity and strong ash emissions by 04:18 UTC. The estimated volcanic cloud height was about 5.5 km (3.4 miles) from the top of the volcano, drifting southeast. Explosive activity decreased over the next four hours, with weak ash emissions ongoing as of 08:11 UTC. The Aviation Color Code was lowered back to Orange.
Where’s EPA’s greenhouse gas inventory? - EPA has not made its full draft inventory of greenhouse gas emissions available for public comment, raising questions about whether it will submit the detailed report of climate pollution sources by the deadline in one week, or end a decadeslong run required by a 30-year-old treaty.The agency has until April 15 to finalize the sprawling, 10-chapter report to the United Nations.EPA published a notice in the Federal Register on Jan. 15, saying it would release chapters of the inventory on a “rolling basis” in its docket by Feb. 13. The agency had customarily released a draft of the emissions tally about two months before it was required to send it to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The inventories, which are submitted by all developed countries, account for human-made emissions of seven heat-trapping gases and the so-called sinks that prevent some of the gases from entering the atmosphere, such as forests. There is a two-year lag in the report, so this year’s inventory is for emissions in 2023.
Ohio bills aim to sideline local critics of carbon capture projects -Ohio legislators are considering bills that would bar local governments from having a say in permitting projects that capture carbon dioxide emissions and inject them underground. The legislation could even force some landowners to let their property be used for carbon dioxide storage. The framework proposed in the twin bills being considered by the state House and Senate starkly contrasts with Ohio’s approach to wind and solar farms, most of which can be blocked by counties. Instead, carbon capture and storage projects would follow a process similar to what’s used for oil and gas drilling, in which property owners must allow development on or below their land if enough neighbors support it. At least one large energy company, Tenaska, is already talking to Ohio landowners about obtaining rights to drill wells and store carbon dioxide from industrial and energy operations deep underground. An executive with the firm said the legislation would provide “clarity” for its planned carbon storage hub serving Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. “This project will provide manufacturers, industrial facilities, and other businesses in this region with a solution to address growing environmental regulations and climate goals,” said Ali Kairys, senior director of project development for Tenaska. The company is in discussions with various carbon-emitting businesses, including steel refineries, ethanol plants, and power plants. The Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub could also be a potential customer, Kairys said. In Ohio, Tenaska is eyeing Harrison, Jefferson, and Carroll counties as prime places to store CO2 underground. The three counties are among the state’s top oil and gas producers and have a history of coal mining. Tenaska initially hopes to store captured carbon dioxide in the Knox formation, which ranges from 8,500 feet to 12,000 feet below the Earth’s surface, Kairys said. Second-stage storage would use another formation roughly 5,500 to 8,000 feet underground.Other carbon sequestration projects could be on the horizon. The Great Plains Institute has identified roughly three dozen industrial facilities across the state as candidates for carbon capture projects. And even though the Trump administration is relaxing the environmental regulations that may motivate such efforts, 45Q tax credits expanded by the Inflation Reduction Act incentivize companies nationwide to develop storage projects. Ohio’s House Bill 170 and Senate Bill 136 would give the state Department of Natural Resources “sole and exclusive authority to regulate carbon sequestration,” a power the agency also has over oil and gas production via existing law. The Ohio Supreme Court has interpreted the oil and gas law’s language to block local government regulation of drilling, even through general zoning rules that apply to other businesses.. If passed, the bills would similarly deprive counties and townships of any say over sequestration, said Bev Reed, an organizer for the Buckeye Environmental Network. “It’s … another really tragic thing that the Legislature is forcing on us.” The bills would also authorize a “consolidation” process that operators can undertake to force landowners to allow carbon dioxide storage in their property’s subsurface “pore space” if owners of 70% of the remaining area for an injection project have signed on. The process is similar to that for unitization, which lets oil and gas companies drill through dissenting landowners’ properties. The chief of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ oil and gas management division would be required to grant consolidation if it was “reasonably necessary to facilitate the underground storage of carbon dioxide.” A landowner could only object on the grounds that the facility’s design threatens “a commercially valuable mineral,” such as oil, gas, or coal. “You don’t get to object and say this is dangerous, this is ill-conceived or for any other reason,” said Heidi Gorovitz Robertson, a professor at Cleveland State University College of Law. “Reasonably necessary is a very low standard” for forcing property owners to give up the use of their pore space, she added. Asked to respond to advocacy groups’ complaints that the process is unfair, Tenaska’s Kairys focused instead on landowners’ potential for income.
Trump Administration Cuts Research Funding, Claiming It Creates ‘Climate Anxiety’ -The Trump administration announced it is cutting nearly $4 million in federal funding for climate change research at Princeton University, saying that the work promoted “exaggerated and implausible climate threats” and increased “climate anxiety” among young Americans.The cuts to programs that study topics like sea-level rise and coastal flooding were announced Tuesday by the Commerce Department, which houses the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, one of the world’s premier climate science agencies. They come after federal agencies including NASA and the Energy Department announced last week that they would pause dozens of research grants at Princeton. NOAA currently spends roughly $220 million per year funding climate research, but the Trump administration has signaled that it intends to pare back those efforts. Among the latest cuts was funding for the Cooperative Institute for Modeling the Earth System, a collaboration between NOAA and Princeton that focuses on improving computer models that show how the ocean and atmosphere are changing. One of the program’s meteorologists, Syukuro Manabe, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2021 for his work on modeling Earth’s climate and predicting the effects of global warming.In pulling funding for the program, the Commerce Department said that the collaboration “promotes exaggerated and implausible climate threats, contributing to a phenomenon known as ‘climate anxiety,’ which has increased significantly among America’s youth.” The agency also said it would stop funding the program’s educational initiatives targeted at students in kindergarten through high school students.The Commerce Department also said it would stop funding a five-year research effort at Princeton to understand how Earth’s water availability would fluctuate as a result of global warming. And the agency said it would pull funding for a different five-year research project aimed at predicting how changes in rainfall patterns and sea-level rise could affect coastal flooding. “Using federal funds to perpetuate these narratives does not align with the priorities of this Administration and such time and resources can be better utilized elsewhere,” the agency said.
Trump tries to sink shipping talks with new climate attack -President Donald Trump says he’s done with international climate agreements that harm American wealth. Now he may be working to blow them up. That was the underlying message in a letter the U.S. sent to countries participating this week in global negotiations to put a levy on shipping pollution. The Trump administration called those talks “blatantly unfair” and urged countries to drop their support for a climate tax. It threatened “reciprocal measures” to offset any fees on U.S. ships if the measure is adopted by the International Maritime Organization. It’s the latest move by the Trump administration to force other countries to bend to its will, and it sends a worrying signal that the U.S. might employ similar tactics in other international arenas, according to former U.S. officials and environmental advocates. Top among them is the COP30 global climate conference scheduled for November in Brazil.
Trump declares war on state climate laws - President Donald Trump is throwing the weight of the Justice Department against the last bastion of U.S. climate action: states and cities. In a sweeping executive order signed late Tuesday, Trump ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to “stop the enforcement of State laws” on climate change that the administration says are unconstitutional, unenforceable or preempted by federal laws. The order names California, New York and Vermont as specific targets, while also listing a broad range of state policies that the administration would seek to nullify — from cap-and-trade systems to permitting rules. The executive order also targets the array of lawsuits that mostly Democratic-led states, cities and counties have brought against oil majors, seeking compensation for the ravages of climate change, such as rising tides and more frequent wildfires. “These State laws and policies are fundamentally irreconcilable with my Administration’s objective to unleash American energy,” Trump said in the order. “They should not stand.” The move came as Trump presided over a White House event Tuesday aimed at reviving the coal industry, which has withered against competition from less expensive natural gas and renewables. He pledged to a row of coal miners standing behind him that he’d direct the Department of Justice to “identify and fight every single unconstitutional state or legal regulation that’s putting our coal miners out of business.” Some legal experts said the White House’s executive order would be “toothless,” though climate advocates worry about gambling with a judiciary dominated by conservative appointees. And in a statement, Democratic governors said Trump would not intimidate them from climate action. “The federal government cannot unilaterally strip states’ independent constitutional authority,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement. The two Democrats co-chair the U.S. Climate Alliance, representing 22 states committed to reaching net-zero emissions. “We are a nation of states — and laws — and we will not be deterred,” they said. “We will keep advancing solutions to the climate crisis that safeguard Americans’ fundamental right to clean air and water, create good-paying jobs, grow the clean energy economy, and make our future healthier and safer.” Trump’s order represents a sharp escalation in his war on climate policy, as well as a continuation of his efforts to consolidate power in the White House at the expense of Congress, courts and, now, the states. The action comes just three weeks after oil and gas industry executives met with Trump at the White House and expressed worries about state climate efforts and the lawsuits, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported details of the meeting. An industry source, who was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive commercial information, confirmed to POLITICO’s E&E News that Trump appeared to agree that the states’ moves posed a threat to his energy agenda and signaled that he’d look at ways to help the industry. The American Petroleum Institute cheered Trump’s order as a response to New York’s and California’s laws. “Directing the Department of Justice to address this state overreach will help restore the rule of law and ensure activist-driven campaigns do not stand in the way of ensuring the nation has access to an affordable and reliable energy supply,” API senior vice president and general counsel Ryan Meyers said in a statement. During Trump’s first term, states and cities emerged as a potent counterweight to the White House’s retreat from climate policy — epitomized by groups like the U.S. Climate Alliance. Governors piloted energy policies, such as New Mexico’s methane regulations, that later grew into some Biden administration policies. Most state policies have also proven more durable than federal climate efforts. When Trump returned to the presidency this year, Democratic governors and attorneys general — now holding more offices than they did in 2017 — again assumed the role of Trump’s chief antagonists, filing two dozen lawsuits against the administration since January. Trump’s newest executive order, titled “Protecting American Energy From State Overreach,” seeks to smother that movement in its infancy. It directs the attorney general to target state laws on carbon taxes and fees, as well as state laws mentioning terms like “environmental justice” and “greenhouse gas emissions.” The order directs Bondi to “expeditiously take all appropriate action to stop the enforcement of State laws and continuation of civil actions … that the Attorney General determines to be illegal.” Within 60 days, the order says, the attorney general will report on the actions taken against state climate laws and recommend other actions from the president or Congress. Trump’s order argues that states have exceeded their constitutional authority by imposing energy policies that ripple beyond their borders. California’s cap-and-trade system is an example, the order said, of states “punishing carbon use” by requiring businesses to purchase allowances for their pollution. California has operated its cap-and-trade system since 2012. Washington state also has a carbon market, upheld by voters in 2024. Both states are working to “link” their carbon markets together with Quebec’s. Cap and trade also undergirds the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which covers the electricity system for 11 mostly northeastern states. California is also the largest player in the climate litigation landscape. The office of state Attorney General Rob Bonta said Tuesday that it “remains committed to using the full force of the law and tools of this office to address the climate crisis head-on and protect public health and welfare.” A spokesperson for Bonta said the office was reviewing Trump’s executive order, “but this much is clear: the Trump administration continues to attempt to gut federal environmental protections and put the country at risk of falling further behind in our fight against climate change and environmental harm.” The Trump administration also singled out New York and Vermont, which have recently passed so-called climate Superfund laws that aim to recover the costs of climate impacts, like flooding, from fossil fuel companies. Mimicking the “polluter pays” model from Superfund laws, those states are seeking billions of dollars from oil, gas and coal companies in proportion with the historical emissions from their products. Trump’s order called New York and Vermont’s laws “extortion” against energy producers for actions “anywhere in the United States or the globe.”
Trump’s tariffs ‘spell chaos’ for renewables, grid batteries --President Donald Trump’s tariffs could create significant disruptions for low-carbon industries that are already under strain because of potential rollbacks of key tax credits. Analysts are predicting that wind, solar and clean energy manufacturing could see higher costs and project delays after Trump announced 10 percent tariffs on nearly all U.S. imports last week, along with higher tariffs on some trading partners. Trump’s tariffs “spell chaos for clean energy markets,” research firm BloombergNEF said in a report Friday.Grid batteries, which are tied to many solar projects, are “particularly exposed,” said Antoine Vagneur-Jones, the firm’s head of trade and supply chains. The technology is now facing a roughly 65 percent tariff that could rise to more than 80 percent by next year. Most grid batteries come from China, which Trump has stacked with tariffs on top of the ones implemented during the Biden administration. Higher costs for storage because of Chinese tariffs could have a ripple effect for renewable energy projects, as well as plans to install batteries to even out grid fluctuations, Vagneur-Jones said.
Trump Signs 2 More EOs, 1 Memo Repealing Energy, Environment Regs - Marcellus Drilling News - Does Donald Trump ever sleep? He just keeps churning out the hits, day after day and week after week. Two days ago, President Trump signed two more executive orders (EOs) and a memorandum related to energy. On April 9, the President issued a new executive order requiring agencies to adopt one-year sunset dates on any existing regulations affecting energy. A second order requires agencies to identify regulations that limit competition. The President also signed a memorandum implementing a previous EO, directing the repeal of unlawful regulations under 10 recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, including the Supreme Court decision overturning the “Chevron doctrine.”
Microsoft Hits Pause Button on $1B Data Centers Near Columbus, OH- A number of data centers have been announced in Licking County, in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. They all will need enormous amounts of electricity to operate. MDN recently told you about three gas-fired power plants planned for New Albany, including one from PowerConneX and two from Williams subsidiary Will-Power (see Multiple Utica-Fired Power Plants Planned for New Albany, Ohio). Among those building data centers in Licking are Meta (i.e., Facebook), Cologix, and Amazon Web Services. Microsoft was supposed to invest $1 billion to build three data center campuses in Licking County, located in New Albany, Heath, and Hebron. Earlier this week, Microsoft announced it has indefinitely hit the pause button on all three projects.
Energy Department considers more than 40 percent of its staff non-essential as layoffs loom -The Energy Department (DOE) considers more than 40 percent of its staffers to be nonessential — meaning these people could be on the chopping block — as mass layoffs loom at the agency and across the federal government. A document viewed by The Hill on Friday states that out of the agency’s current headcount of 15,994 positions — 9,004 are essential, meaning some 7,000 other positions are not. The approximately 16,000 total positions listed by the agency does include nearly 1,300 people who are currently on leave because they accepted the “Fork in the Road” buyout or because their roles related to diversity, equity and inclusion, which the administration sought to eliminate from the government. It’s not immediately clear whether everyone deemed nonessential will be laid off. A spokesperson for the Energy Department said that no final decisions have been made as of Friday evening. The spokesperson said the department is conducting a “review of its organizational structures to ensure operations are best positioned to accomplish the DOE mission and align with the Trump administration’s priorities.” “No final decisions have been made and multiple plans are still being considered,” the spokesperson added. The Energy Department’s portfolio includes both energy technology and innovation as well as nuclear weapons. The announcement comes as the Trump administration seeks to cut workers more broadly, with as many as tens of thousands of staffers being ousted from the Health and Human Services and Veterans Affairs departments. However, these ousters — including previous attempts at the Energy Department to fire recent hires — resulted in some staff being let go and later recalled. At the DOE, this included staff who worked in nuclear security and electric power agencies. The document viewed by The Hill lists agencies and offices that the Energy Department considers to be essential. This includes the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response; the Office of Environmental Health, Safety and Security; the Office of Environmental Management; the Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence; the National Nuclear Security Administration; and the Bonneville, Southeastern, Southwestern and Western Area Power administrations.
Trump to sign executive orders aimed at reviving coal - -President Donald Trump is preparing to sign executive orders Tuesday to bolster the coal industry, including using his emergency authority to force some coal-fired power plants set for closure to stay open and keep producing electricity.The move has been widely anticipated as the Trump administration set the stage for loosening air pollution regulations that have been costly for coal. And there have been concerns that electricity consumption is rising too fast for the power industry to keep pace. Much of that surge in projected energy demand is tied to America’s build-big approach to data centers and artificial intelligence.Trump is expected to sign the orders at a 3 p.m. White House event.According to people familiar with White House plans, Trump’s orders would draw on existing emergency authority. That includes a 90-year-old section of the Federal Power Act, enacted primarily for wartime use, that allows the Energy secretary to direct any power plant to keep operating. Other emergency statutes allow the federal government to waive environmental rules implemented by states.People inside the coal and utility industries, top Cabinet officials, and the president himself have telegraphed that a multifaceted plan is underway to save dozens of coal plants that are scheduled to retire in the coming years.Trump wrote in a Truth Social post last month, “After years of being held captive by Environmental Extremists, Lunatics, Radicals, and Thugs, allowing other Countries, in particular China, to gain tremendous Economic advantage over us by opening up hundreds of all Coal Fire Power Plants, I am authorizing my Administration to immediately begin producing Energy with BEAUTIFUL, CLEAN COAL.”The White House has also been crafting a series of steps to support the coal sector in the longer term, including allowing utilities to temporarily sidestep EPA regulations under the Clean Air Act.Last week, EPA created an avenue for coal-fired power plants to seek hazardous pollutant regulatory exemptions. One of the nation’s top-polluting power plants — the coal-fired Colstrip power plant in Montana — quickly emerged as one of the first takers.Michelle Bloodworth, president of the coal lobbying group America’s Power, told POLITICO’s E&E News last month that her group had talked to the administration about the “need for swift and decisive action” … “to ensure that coal plants that are needed for reliability and national security continue operating.” Bloodworth also said more than 120 coal-fired generating units are set to close within the next five years due in part to regulations written by the Biden administration.The coal sector is also hoping to open up Western land — including the Powder River Basin — for more mining, reestablish the National Coal Council and make metallurgical coal a critical mineral.“We need them to stay open,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said during an interview with CNBC at an energy conference in Houston last month.“They’ve been the most regulated segment of our energy industry,” Burgum said.The nation’s coal-fired generating plants, long the backbone of U.S. electricity supply, have been in decline for more than a decade, pushed into retirement by cheaper natural-gas-fired power that followed the fracking revolution, by the steep declines in costs of wind and solar power, and by future costs of compliance with clean energy regulations.Of all the sources of electric power, coal plants are by far the greatest source of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions per kilowatt of energy produced.
Trump inks orders to resurrect US coal - President Donald Trump on Tuesday took aim at reviving the nation’s flailing coal power fleet and mining sector, fulfilling industry wish lists and alarming conservation groups who warn prices and public health threats will skyrocket.Flanked by miners donning hard hats at the White House, Trump blasted the “green new scam” and lauded “beautiful clean coal” before vowing to expand domestic mining and use of coal, a move he’s repeatedly said is necessary to feed the growth of energy-hungry data centers. Trump also vowed to build new coal plants and put miners back to work.“We’re bringing back an industry that was abandoned,” Trump said. “China’s opening two plants every week.”Trump signed a total of four executive orders, including one multifaceted measure meant to bolster the coal sector, which the president and his administration have said suffered under the Biden administration. A White House official said the president believes U.S coal resources are vast, with a “current estimated value in the trillions of dollars.” The text of the order was not yet available at press time.The president at the White House event also revealed that he signed a separate order earlier in the day to ensure coal-fired power plants are always available to produce power, casting wind and solar as unreliable. The move, widely expected, sets the stage for agencies to dip into power under the Federal Power Act to keep plants operating for reliability reasons.Other orders launched a Department of Justice probe into regulations affecting coal plants and halted rules that the administration believes are unfairly hampering coal-fired power generation. The Trump administration is also taking action to support a specific plant in Arizona and offering up “immediate” relief to 47 companies operating 66 coal plants across the nation, Trump said.The administration has said it’s pushing for more coal to power the proliferation of new artificial intelligence data centers in the United States. In one of his orders, Trump directed the chair of the National Energy Dominance Council to designate coal as a “mineral” under Executive Order 14241, “entitling coal to all of the benefits of that prior Order.”Trump’s order also directs Energy Secretary Chris Wright to determine whether coal used to produce steel should be defined as “critical” under the Energy Act of 2020 — a designation that would open coal to both streamlined permitting and federal funding. The president’s order “directs relevant agencies to identify coal resources on Federal lands, lift barriers to coal mining, and prioritize coal leasing on those lands,” and requires agencies to scrap any policies that push the nation to shift away from coal, the White House official said.The president also took aim at regulations affecting coal, and through his order directed the White House Council on Environmental Quality to help agencies in adopting “coal-related categorical exclusions” under the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA.He also directed the secretary of the Interior to “acknowledge the end” of an Obama-era moratorium on coal leasing on federal lands, which has repeatedly been slapped down in court. The White House official said Trump is pushing to promote coal and coal technology exports, facilitate international offtake agreements for U.S. coal, and accelerate development of coal technologies. The president said the order would slash regulations targeting coal, expedite leasing of federal lands for coal mining, streamline permitting, end government bias against coal and “unlock sweeping authority” under the Defense Production Act to supercharge coal mining, noting it’s also a source of critical minerals. Trump also said he had a last-minute idea to give the sector a legal guarantee to protect investments and jobs.“We’re going to give a guarantee that the business won’t be terminated by the ups and downs of politics,” he said.
Trump exempts dozens of coal plants from stricter pollution standard --President Trump on Tuesday exempted dozens of coal plants from a Biden administration regulation imposing stricter standards for mercury, lead, nickel and arsenic emissions.Trump announced the exemption as part of a series of actions he took to bolster the coal industry.“As part of our historic deregulatory efforts, this afternoon, I’m also granting immediate relief to 47 companies operating 66 coal plants, very big ones all over the country,” he said. He said that the Biden-era restrictions made it “impossible to do anything having to do, frankly, with energy.”Exposure to the pollutants in question raises the risk of developmental delays in children, as well as heart attacks and cancer. The move comes after the Environmental Protection Agency temporarily opened up an email portal for polluters to request presidential exemptions from various regulations that it plans to roll back. In addition, the Trump administration pledged to use the Justice Department to go after states whose laws or policies burden coal and prevent their enforcement.
Black lung rule delayed as Trump calls for more coal - Within days of signing orders to ratchet up U.S. coal mining, the Trump administration had to temporarily halt a rule aimed at protecting miners from silica dust and black lung disease because of federal staffing cuts. The Mine Safety and Health Administration in an online notice Wednesday said it was pushing back enforcement of a newly approved rule to limit miners’ exposure to dangerous dust, which can lead to incurable and debilitating lung disease, including silicosis, lung cancer and black lung.According to the notice, the rule will now take effect Aug. 18 as opposed to April 14. MSHA, which is a part of the Department of Labor, blamed the delay on restructuring at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH, which it said may have a knock-on effect on the Pittsburgh Mining Research Division, the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, and the supply of approved and certified respirators and personal dust monitors. NIOSH is a research agency within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention focused on research and making recommendations to prevent work-related injuries and illnesses.
Infinity's Utica Oil Output Rising as Play M&A, Expansion Underway - Newly public Infinity Natural Resources expects to ramp production up by 44% to some 33,500 net boe/d this year from its oily Utica Shale property in Ohio and gassy Marcellus Shale leasehold in Pennsylvania.The volume would rise from the company’s fourth-quarter average of 23,300 boe/d—80% from Ohio—that consisted of 6,900 bbl/d of oil, 4,600 bbl/d of NGL and 70.7 MMcf/d of natural gas, according to its Securities and Exchange Commission filings.Infinity received $286.5 million net from its IPO in January that sold 15.2 million shares,including an overallotment, at $20 a share.The stock quickly rose to $23.But it tumbled to less than $15 in mid-day trading April 7 as world markets reacted to the U.S.’ nearly worldwide tariffs and oil collapsed from $75/bbl on President Trump’s inauguration Jan. 20 to $60. Truist Securities analyst Bertrand Donnes reported in late March when oil was $70 that the Ohio Utica oil play might be expanding.“After recent conversations with public and private operators, we believe a newer area—Columbiana County—has begun to see sizable results,” Donnes wrote at the time.“We believe part of the new well performance upside could be attributed to recent heavier completions and potentially slightly changed chemicals [frac recipes].”Generally of the play, he wrote, “Utica wells continue to improve with notable liquids and gas results in several counties.”The highest production rates have been coming from along the north-south border of the oil and wet-gas fairways in Carroll, Stark, Guernsey, Noble and Harrison counties, he added. Houston-based, privately held Encino Energy recently won its $219,000 bid for 62.5 acres in the Leesville Wildlife Area in Carroll County in a state auction. Other Ohio Utica producers include privately held Ascent Resources, publicly held E&PsGulfport Energy and Expand Energy—all based in Oklahoma City—and Houston-based public EOG Resources. Formerly known as Chesapeake Energy, Expand regained an Ohio oil position, after having exited to Encino a half-decade ago, when merging in 2024 with Southwestern Energy Co.Hart Energy reported March 7 that Ascent told investors it would consider an IPO.An X user, @AndUpstream, replied, “I’ve long awaited someone locking Ascent, Encino and Gulfport management teams in a room with nothing but a hammer until only one management team is left.”More recently, Truist’s Donnes reported Infinity is looking to grow both organically through D&C’ing its leasehold and inorganically via M&A, “in contrast to many others that are holding production flat and letting pricing dictate free cash flow.”KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Tim Rezvan also reported he was awaiting “news on Infinity expanding its Ohio oil footprint via acquisition to gain scale.”A deal could boost Infinity’s trading multiple “as investors begin to appreciate the company's knowledge of and drilling expertise in the Utica shale,” Rezvan wrote.Ohio adds $27 million to fund for plugging ‘orphan’ oil and gas wells by Jake Zuckerman – State officials have freed an additional $27 million to plug some of the tens of thousands of idled and abandoned oil and gas wells around the state. The vote Monday from the Ohio Controlling Board, a panel of state officials that approves certain fiscal transfers, grows the Ohio Department of Natural Resource’s budget line for such “orphan well” plugging to more than $73 million. That’s funded via oil and gas permit fees and severance taxes.Unplugged wells can leak methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the air, along with certain volatile organic compounds that can damage human and environmental health.The exact number of unplugged wells around the state is unclear. ODNR has said there are nearly 20,000 “documented” orphan wells around the state. The Ohio River Valley Institute, a think tank focused on industry and the environment in the region, has estimated a much higher count between 160,000 and 180,000 in Ohio, part of the estimated 538,000 unplugged and abandoned wells in the region.What’s clearer is the slow pace of progress. The ODNR’s budget request to the Controlling Board states that its orphan well program is “on track” to plug 475 wells this fiscal year. A related program that reimburses landowners who contract privately for well plugging on their property has secured 335 commitment forms.Meanwhile, bipartisan legislation signed by former President Joe Biden provides $326 million to Ohio through 2030 to plug orphan wells on state and private lands, according to the ODNR. The state has received nearly $83 million of that so far.Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer reached out to ODNR spokespersons for estimates of the number of wells the federal program will pay to plug in the coming year.
Work begins on Utica Shale Academy's welding lab -— State and local officials gathered in Salineville March 20 as the Utica Shale Academy officially broke ground for its second welding lab. Community leaders, educators and stakeholders were present at the site, next to the current exterior welding lab at 83 E. Main St., to celebrate the latest addition to the community school’s campus. PDDM Solutions of Canonsburg, Pa., was awarded the initial $907,000 bid for the structure with FMD Architects Inc., of Fairlawn performing the work, but the addition of extra welding labs could bring costs closer to $1.5 million. Officials said funding was provided through an Appalachian Community Grant and work should be finished in August. Superintendent Bill Watson joined leaders for a brief reception at the Williams Collaboration Building and said the building would help train today’s students for tomorrow’s workforce. “Utica Shale Academy has had a very nice uptick in participation. We went from 50 students five years ago to 170 students now,” he said, adding that the facilities offer skills and trades for students to succeed. He thanked U.S. Rep. Michael Rulli, R-Salem, state Rep. Monica Robb Blasdel, R-Columbiana, and state Sen. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, for their support. Watson noted that the current outside welding facility likely was the only one of its kind in the state and students learn to work in various conditions to prepare them for the job. “It’s making our Ohio workforce stronger and can allow more students to weld. We never imagined having more than 80 students wanting to weld,” he added. “The Utica Shale Academy is a community coming together to raise our youth.”
Texas Gas Project to Build ~180 Miles of Greenfield Pipe in OH Utica -- Marcellus Drilling News - Last week MDN brought you the great news that Boardwalk Pipeline Partners launched an open season to offer an extra 2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of capacity along its 5,975-mile Texas Gas Transmission pipeline network that stretches from Ohio to Louisiana, running through Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Arkansas along the way (see Texas Gas Pipe Expanding to Flow Extra 2 Bcf/d of M-U Gas to La.). What we didn’t know at the time (not referenced in the Boardwalk announcement) is that the Borealis Natural Gas Pipeline Expansion Project, as it is called, will include building roughly 180 miles of new greenfield pipeline that spans nearly the entire length of Southern Ohio.
A New Path for Gas Out of Appalachia? - Natural gas production in Appalachia was on a sharp upward trajectory during the early part of the Shale Era but has stalled in recent years as pipelines out of the region have become much more cumbersome to build. Boardwalk Pipelines subsidiary Texas Gas Transmission (TGT) announced an open season on its Borealis project last week. The project would create an extension of its existing pipeline, allowing an incremental 2 Bcf/d of Marcellus and Utica gas to flow out of the region and onto Texas Gas’s existing system that flows to Louisiana. The Borealis line would extend nearly the entire length of Southern Ohio, bringing natural gas from Clarington, OH on the West Virginia border to the start of the legacy TGT system at Lebanon, OH. As seen in the graph below, around 0.7 Bcf/d of Appalachian gas currently makes its way to TGT during non-winter months. If the Borealis project comes to fruition it would more than triple the capacity for Marcellus and Utica outflows on the system.21 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Mar 31 – Apr 6 - Marcellus Drilling News - For the week of Mar 31 – Apr 6, the number of permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica to drill new shale wells increased by two from the previous week. Last week, 21 new permits were issued, with 12 going to the Keystone State (PA). Expand Energy, via its merged companies Chesapeake Energy and Southwestern Energy, scored five permits, with three permits for Southwestern in Susquehanna County and two for Chesapeake in Bradford County. Greylock Energy received three permits for drilling in Potter County. Range Resources also received three permits to drill wells in Lycoming and Washington counties. BELMONT COUNTY | BRADFORD COUNTY | CARROLL COUNTY | CHESAPEAKE ENERGY | ENCINO ENERGY | GREYLOCK ENERGY | GUERNSEY COUNTY |INR/INFINITY NATURAL RESOURCES | LYCOMING COUNTY | POTTER COUNTY | RANGE RESOURCES CORP | SENECA RESOURCES | SOUTHWESTERN ENERGY | SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY | TIOGA COUNTY (PA) | WASHINGTON COUNTY
Will Refracking Come to the Marcellus/Utica Region? - Marcellus Drilling News - For at least a decade, MDN has brought you stories about refracs, also called re-entries and re-completions, where a driller re-enters an existing and declining well to access more rock and pump new life out of it (see our refrac stories here). Last July, we brought you an article about refracs, detailing the two main types, how they are handled, and why refracing is growing in popularity (see Refracs Becoming Common Practice for Oil & Gas Operators). While we've seen a few experiments with refracs in our region, are there signs that more of this activity could soon come to the M-U?
WhiteHawk Energy Expands Marcellus Shale Holdings with $118 Million Acquisition — WhiteHawk Energy, LLC has completed its $118 million acquisition to significantly expand its assets in the Marcellus Shale region. The transaction doubles the company’s ownership interests across 475,000 gross unit acres in Washington and Greene counties, Pennsylvania, bolstering its holdings in one of the most prolific natural gas regions in the United States.The acquisition, effective January 1, 2025, adds production from more than 1,400 wells and increases WhiteHawk’s total mineral and royalty interests in the Marcellus and Haynesville Shale plays to approximately 1,050,000 gross unit acres. This includes over 3,400 producing wells across its portfolio. Key operators for the newly acquired assets include leading industry names such as EQT, Range Resources, and CNX Resources, signaling continued strong performance and reliability for the acquired properties. Daniel C. Herz, CEO of WhiteHawk, emphasized the strategic value of this purchase, stating, “The 2025 Marcellus Acquisition provides WhiteHawk additional production, line-of-site development, undeveloped inventory, and cash flow from our core Appalachia position. This acquisition consolidates our position in the Marcellus Shale, which offers proven and predictable output alongside the lowest break-even drilling costs in the U.S.”
Trump Signs EO Targeting NY, Other States Blocking Domestic Energy Yesterday, President Trump signed four more executive orders (EOs) dealing with energy issues. Three of the four EOs targeted reviving the declining coal industry, which Trump calls “beautiful, clean coal.” We’ll briefly cover the coal EOs below. However, it was the noncoal EO that caught our attention. Trump signed the Protecting American Energy from State Overreach EO, which removes unlawful and burdensome state-level impediments to domestic energy production. Trump tasked Attorney General Pam Bondi to challenge state laws that may be “unconstitutional, preempted by Federal law, or otherwise unenforceable” to go after states like New York, which is mentioned explicitly in the EO.
Will China’s 84% Tariffs Destroy U.S. Propane & Ethane Exports? -Marcellus Drilling News –In what has to be the stupidest trade move in history, China will enact an 84% reciprocal tariff on imports of U.S. goods beginning today. The increase was in response to a 104% tariff that the U.S. placed on imports of Chinese goods, which President Trump raised to 125% yesterday. China will LOSE this trade war. However, if the Chinese want to self-immolate their economy and persist with the tariff war, it has the potential, according to RBN Energy, of “destroying” propane and ethane exports from the U.S. Why?
Bad Blood - Burgeoning U.S.-China Trade War Has Potential to Devastate Propane, Ethane Markets -Starting on April 10, China will enact an 84% reciprocal tariff on imports of U.S. goods. This increase was in response to the 104% tariff that the U.S. placed on imports of Chinese goods, which was subsequently raised to 125% by President Trump on April 9. China is likely to retaliate further. Unlike China’s February retaliatory tariffs of 10%-15% on U.S. oil and LNG, this time NGLs and all energy products are included. These higher tariffs have the potential to destroy propane and ethane exports from the U.S. In today’s RBN blog, we look at the potential impact of China’s reciprocal tariffs on the propane and ethane markets. Like all of President Trump’s tariff wars, this front has been subject to rapid escalation. On February 1, he signed Executive Order 14195, imposing a 10% tariff on all Chinese imports, which took effect on February 4. That same day, China imposed a wide range of retaliatory tariffs against the U.S., including a 15% tariff on LNG and a 10% tariff on oil. At that point, there was no action on other energy products, so propane and ethane, along with other NGLs, were effectively exempt. But that was not the end of it. On March 4, the president increased the tariffs by another 10%. In retaliation, China announced a 15% tariff on U.S. goods. Then, as part of the “Liberation Day” proclamations of April 2, the U.S. tariff on Chinese goods was increased by another 34%, making the total tariff rate 54%. China followed with a retaliatory 34% tariff on all goods imported from the U.S., including oil, LNG, and all energy products. The situation escalated again on April 8, when President Trump formalized a further increase of 50% on imports of Chinese goods to the U.S., to go into effect April 9 if China did not rescind its most recent increase, pushing the total tariff rate to 104%. China vowed not to back down. As proof of that, China announced an additional 50% tariff on U.S. imports on April 9, bringing the total tariff to 84%. On April 9, President Trump announced a pause on retaliatory tariffs for all countries except China, whose tariff he further increased to 125%. China is likely to increase its own retaliatory tariff on April 10. China imports very little crude oil from the U.S., and those volumes can easily be rerouted so that other countries replace U.S. barrels. China also does not import much LNG or refined products from the U.S. However, liquified petroleum gas, or LPG (propane and butane), plays a much larger role, ranking as the second-highest import into China by value, exceeded only by electronic products.As a result, the tariffs have the potential to be a major disruptive force in global NGL markets. The U.S. sends about 20% of its propane exports to China. Most of that is used in the production of propylene via propane dehydrogenation (PDH). An 84% tariff on U.S. propane will devastate PDH economics, likely forcing China to drastically cut imports of U.S. propane. That, in turn, will place serious downward pressure on U.S. propane prices. China will try to replace as much U.S. supply as possible, but doing so would require uneconomic cargo rerouting — only possible if U.S. propane prices drop significantly at the point of origin to remain competitive.The outlook for ethane is even more dire — at least for China. Chinese petrochemical crackers that use ethane as a feedstock rely exclusively on U.S. volumes. The tariffs will make U.S. ethane uneconomical, and these facilities will face two choices: absorb the cost or shut down. If shutdowns occur, the U.S. won’t be able to export those ethane volumes and will have to reject the surplus molecules into the natural gas stream. Almost 50% of U.S. ethane exports go to China, all used in ethylene production. The U.S. is China’s only possible source of ethane imports as it is the only country that exports waterborne ethane. With that background out of the way, let’s look a little closer at the impacts on LPG and ethane. China was the second-largest importer of U.S. propane in 2024 at 311 Mb/d (red bar in left graph in Figure 1 below). The amount of butane in 2024 was much smaller at 26 Mb/d, or 5% of total U.S. exports, making China the sixth-largest importer of U.S. butane (red bar in right graph). Total U.S. exports of LPG to China were 337 Mb/d. Looking at these statistics from China’s point of view, it imported roughly 1.2 MMb/d of LPG, with just over 35% of that total volume coming from the U.S., making it the single-largest supplier of LPG to China by a wide margin. The UAE placed second in terms of total LPG exports to China, accounting for 14%. The current trading situation between China and the U.S. is much different than the last time there was an escalation of trade tensions between the two countries in 2018. At that time, the U.S. exported 79 Mb/d of propane to China, making it the fourth-largest recipient of U.S. propane. China retaliated against the first round of Trump administration tariffs seven years ago by imposing tariffs targeting a range of U.S. goods, including energy exports like propane. In response, Chinese propane buyers didn’t absorb the added cost — they simply scaled back their U.S. purchases and bought from other countries. The result was a sharp decline in U.S. LPG exports to China — China imported only 9 Mb/d of LPG from the U.S. in 2019. At that time, the volume coming from the U.S. was small enough that global trade was able to reroute itself such that China got less from the U.S. and the rest of the world got more from the U.S.This time around, however, the volume coming from the U.S. is too large to solve the entire problem by rerouting global trade. China now buys more than five times as much propane from the U.S. as it did in 2018, too much to turn to a different source to replace all the volumes. This is particularly true for China’s PDH market, which consumes most of the imported propane (see Where You Gonna Go?). Nearly all of the propylene produced at PDH plants in China is used to produce polypropylene, and it takes 1.32 pounds of propane to produce 1 pound of polypropylene.Taking a closer look at propane economics, China calculates its tariffs on a Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) basis. The price of Mont Belvieu non-TET propane was 73.9 c/gal on April 8, as reported by OPIS, and the terminal fee is about 5 c/gal. Shipping rates are quoted in $/ton and were at about $88.5/t on April 8, which translates to 17 c/gal. These prices and costs are changing rapidly in the wake of the tariff news and have fallen sharply since the start of the month. Given these inputs, the total landed cost of propane in China would then be 176.5 c/gal, including a tariff at 84% adds 80.6 c/gal to the total cost. This will increase the cost of a pound of propylene via PDH by 22.8 c/lb, or 67%, and the price of a pound of polypropylene would increase by 25 c/lb, or 60%. See Figure 2 below for a breakdown of the costs associated per pound of polypropylene. The question then becomes: Who absorbs this cost increase? It is not clear in the case of propane. The U.S. must export its propane volumes to prevent supply from backing up. If it does not, propane storage levels will get too high, which would cause propane prices in the U.S. to drop so low that either the tariff becomes irrelevant in PDH costs or other buyers from around the world emerge. As a result, the U.S. price of propane will have to adjust to ensure that the exports leave as required. On the other hand, to keep up with polypropylene demand, China needs the U.S. propane, so not all of the market power is with the Chinese buyers. In real life, this means that the cost increase will be spread between the market players. U.S. prices may go down to clear the market, but Chinese buyers may pay higher prices to keep the propane flowing. The shipping market will also be affected if trade flows slow or if ships are rerouted to use less-efficient trade routes, leading to them making up some of the difference in prices. All of this assumes that polypropylene producers can pass on the hike in their costs due to the tariff, which then assumes that the producer of the plastic good can absorb the increased feedstock price. Then if this product gets exported back to the U.S., there will be an additional 125% tariff added, which is then absorbed by who? This level of discussion is best left to professional economists; however, it means a lot of higher-cost goods when taken all the way through to the finish. The story with ethane is a lot less complex but a bigger deal for the export market. China imports all of its ethane from the U.S. and there is no other place to source waterborne ethane. Most of the new crackers in China that use ethane do not have feedstock flexibility, so they either run on U.S. ethane or they do not run.The U.S. exports nearly 500 Mb/d of ethane, 227 Mb/d of which go to China (nearly 50%), making U.S. exports to China as important to the U.S. as they are to China. As shown in Figure 3 below, China (blue bar sections) started importing ethane from the U.S. in 2019. That figure is expected to continue growing with the addition of new export terminal capacity from Enterprise and Energy Transfer (see Hot To Go!) and the expansion of the ethane tanker fleet. U.S. terminal capacity is expected to increase by nearly 700 Mb/d in 2025 alone. China’s decision on whether to continue importing will be made on the cost of producing ethylene from ethane. The price of U.S. ethane in today’s market is roughly 27 c/gal. Freight and terminal costs are more opaque in the ethane market than they are in the LPG market, but let’s assume a total terminaling and transport cost of $100-$110 per ton of ethane (13.5-14.8 c/gal). An 84% tariff increases the landed cost of ethane in China to about 76 c/gallon. Given today’s Asian naphtha price of around $540/ton, the cost to produce ethylene from ethane imported to China is far higher than the cost to produce ethylene from naphtha, as long as that naphtha does not come from the U.S. Figure 4 below compares the costs.Unless U.S. ethane prices go much lower, the economics for running ethane-based crackers in China will be unfavorable (see our Let’s Get Cracking series). If ethane prices go too low, ethane rejection could occur; however, Chinese buyers may be willing to pay a higher ethane price in order to keep their crackers running. The story of the tariffs and reciprocal tariffs between China and the U.S. is far from over, making it tough on U.S. LPG markets and China’s petrochemical markets. No matter how this plays out, it’s clear the consequences for ethane and propane markets will be severe. It’s shaping up to be a very difficult time for NGLs — and they’re likely to face some of the most turbulent impacts yet.
Trump: EU Must Buy $350 Billion in Energy Goods From the U.S. - The European Union should pledge to buy $350 billion worth of energy from the United States if it wants the U.S. tariffs on the EU eased, U.S. President Donald Trump has said. “We have a deficit with the European Union of $350 billion and it's going to disappear fast,” Trump said, as quoted by POLITICO. “One of the ways that that can disappear easily and quickly is they're going to have to buy our energy from us ... they can buy it, we can knock off $350 billion in one week. They have to buy and commit to buy a like amount of energy,” President Trump said. Last week, President Trump announced a 20% across-the-board tariff on all imports from the EU, which will take effect on Wednesday, April 9. Separately, imports of steel, aluminum, and cars are subject to 25% tariffs. Estimates point that $416 billion (380 billion euros) worth of EU goods would be affected by the U.S. tariffs. The EU is scrambling to respond to the tariffs, with various reports pointing to EU leaders considering retaliatory tariffs. However, on Monday European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that “Europe is ready to negotiate with the US.” “We have offered zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods. Because we're always ready for a good deal. But we’re also prepared to respond with countermeasures. And protect ourselves against indirect effects through trade diversion,” von der Leyen added. President Trump has dismissed the ‘zero-for-zero tariffs’ offer and told reporters in the White House who asked if the EU offer was sufficient to back down on tariffs on the EU, “No, it's not.” President Trump continues to insist that America running trade deficits with its major trade partners is “a big deal”. “A lot of people say, 'Oh, it doesn't mean anything having a surplus.' It means a lot, in my opinion. It's almost like a profit or loss statement,” he said.
FERC Approves 122-Mile East Tennessee Pipe Project for TVA Plant - - Marcellus Drilling News - The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally-owned electric utility corporation in the U.S. TVA’s service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. TVA is the country’s sixth-largest power supplier and the largest public utility company. In May 2023, TVA announced that it would convert the Kingston Fossil Plant (coal-fired plant) in East Tennessee to a natural gas-fired plant capable of generating 1,500 megawatts of electricity (see TVA Proposes NatGas Power Plant, 122-Mile Pipeline for East Tenn.). The project includes contracting with Enbridge subsidiary East Tennessee Natural Gas Pipeline to build a new 122-mile pipeline, called the Ridgeline Expansion Project. Good news for the pipeline portion of the project: Last Wednesday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) fully approved the project.
Henry Hub to Average $4.30 in 2025, Move Higher in ‘26, Says EIA --The cold weather that swept across the United States in January and February pummeled Lower 48 storage inventories, enough so that natural gas prices in 2025 will be nearly double 2024 prices, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Thursday. Natural Gas Intelligence's (NGI) spot Henry Hub daily natural gas price graph showing historical market volatility. Even though net gas storage injections began in March, earlier than usual, it still was not enough to overcome the large withdrawals early in the year. Henry Hub prices now are expected to average around $4.30/MMBtu in 2025, up about $2.10 from 2024. NGI’s Daily Historical Data show that through Thursday, the U.S. benchmark had averaged $4.141.
U.S. Natural Gas ‘Scathed’ by Tariffs, but Activity Still Seen as Bright Spot for Energy Sector -The U.S. natural gas and oil industry will begin to unveil first quarter results later this month, but uncertainty is clouding the near-term outlook, as operators are voicing concerns that President Trump’s policies may lead to higher costs and reduced activity. Natural Gas Intelligence's (NGI) spot Waha daily natural gas price graph showing historical market volatility. During the first quarter conference calls, executives often are peppered with questions about capital expenditure (capex) plans, as well as exploration and production (E&P) activity. Likewise, oilfield services (OFS) management often touts the latest technology investments and equipment orders. That may not be the main point of discussion – or analyst questions – this go round. President Trump’s seesawing tariff policies and orders sent global financial markets spiraling down this month, and the energy sector did not escape the mayhem. The president on Wednesday paused some tariffs for 90 days, sending markets soaring. However, the unease about what the president could do – and when – continued.
Trump bid to spur LNG projects hits harsh economic realities - The Department of Energy has come out early and often in support of liquefied natural gas exports under President Donald Trump — but there’s a limit to what the new administration can do. The Trump DOE granted Commonwealth LNG’s request to export gas from Louisiana to countries without a free-trade agreement with the U.S. The application, which was approved in February, dates to 2019.The department framed the Commonwealth decision as a return to “regular order” after a pause on LNG export approvals under former President Joe Biden. Still, while Trump’s DOE has shown its willingness to move quickly, observers say permit approvals for the super-chilled gas are only one piece of the puzzle in a business that requires customer contracts to make a project happen.“I think the main obstacles we’re seeing really in the U.S. are more about commercial terms, competitiveness of U.S. volumes,” said Jason Feer, global head of business intelligence at ship brokerage and consulting firm Poten & Partners, during a recent webinar. “We’re seeing significantly higher project costs and liquefaction fees.”Since mid-January, DOE has doled out a handful of similar approvals: a conditional approval, like Commonwealth’s, to Venture Global’s CP2 project in Louisiana; a February order around the transfer of LNG; and an export permit time extension for the Golden Pass LNG terminal in Texas, which is owned by QatarEnergy and ExxonMobil.The non-FTA category makes up the majority of the world, meaning that approval is crucial to a project’s ultimate success. While the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gave the facility a green light in 2022, Commonwealth sat waiting in DOE purgatory for years. FERC approves the siting and construction of onshore and near-shore US. LNG terminals.The Trump administration “is actively advocating for U.S. LNG around the world, reinforcing that America is once again open for business and remains the world’s most reliable supplier of energy,” DOE spokesperson Ben Dietderich said in a statement late last month. “The significance of re-establishing regulatory certainty for LNG exports, as the Trump administration has done since Day 1, cannot be understated.It remains to be seen how the ongoing upheaval in global trade may affect U.S. LNG projects.The so-called reciprocal tariffs Trump announced Wednesday exclude oil and gas, a move welcomed by the U.S. fossil fuel industry. Mike Sommers, CEO of the American Petroleum Institute trade group, said in a statement that Trump’s choice underscores “the complexity of integrated global energy markets and the importance of America’s role as a net energy exporter.”DOE — now overseen by Energy Secretary Chris Wright — also recently sought to bolster its deregulatory record by rescinding a 2023 policy statement from the department that required developers of LNG terminals to meet certain criteria before DOE would consider any request to extend the deadline to start exports.Original approvals by FERC and DOE are shown below. In a statement last month, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum argued the Biden administration carried out a “full-on attack against American energy” by stopping permitting and crippling “capital formation.” However, some projects with federal approvals in hand haven’t reached a final investment decision (FID), a key milestone when developers make a final commitment to move ahead. Multiple projects — slowed by factors such as the Covid-19 pandemic and litigation — have also sought time extensions, either from DOE on the deadline to commence exports or from FERC on their deadlines to complete construction.At least one proposal, the Magnolia LNG project in Louisiana, allowed its DOE authorization to expire. Glenfarne Group, the company behind the proposal, is still pursuing the project and has submitted a new application.Others, like the Lake Charles LNG project in Louisiana, have a DOE approval that will be expiring — and the department has yet to issue a new authorization. The company wrote in February asking DOE to act on its pending application.
Woodside Sells 40% Infrastructure Equity Stake in Louisiana LNG as FID Target Nears - Woodside Energy Group Ltd. plans to sell a 40% interest in its Louisiana LNG export project to Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners in a deal that could inject $5.7 billion toward the cost of construction. The Australian energy company disclosed it has entered into an agreement with the New York-based investment firm to sell off a non-operating position in its Louisiana LNG Infrastructure LLC unit. The deal is expected to close by the end of June. CEO Meg O’Neill said the deal was a major step in Woodside’s strategy of securing a series of partnerships that lowers overall capital risk and sets the estimated $15.85 billion first phase of the project on an accelerated course to a final investment decision (FID).
Energy Transfer Looking to Sell MidOcean 30% Stake in Lake Charles LNG - Energy Transfer LP and MidOcean Energy LLC are working on an equity offtake agreement for Lake Charles LNG that could bring the project closer to a final investment decision (FID) later this year. Under a tentative heads of agreement (HOA), Energy Transfer agreed to sell 30% of its LNG development unit and around 5 million tons/year (Mt/y) of production to MidOcean, an LNG investment firm managed by EIG Partners. Energy Transfer LNG President Tom Mason said the agreement is a “significant catalyst” to pushing the 16.45 Mt/y project to FID by the fourth quarter.
MidOcean Partners with Energy Transfer on Lake Charles LNG Exports --Just as the pandemic began to unfold in early 2020, Shell pulled out of a 50/50 joint venture partnership with Energy Transfer (ET) to build a new LNG export facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana (see Shell Pulls Out of Lake Charles LNG Project, Energy Transfer Stays). A boneheaded move on Shell’s part, if you ask us. Since that time, ET has continued to build support for the project. Last December, ET announced a new customer for its LNG when/if the plant gets built: Chevron (see Energy Transfer’s Lake Charles LNG Still Alive – Deal w/Chevron). We have excellent news: ET announced it has a new partner, MidOcean Energy, that will cover 30% of the cost of building the plant. In return, MidOcean will receive 30% of the plant’s LNG
Chevron Ordered to Pay $744.6 Million for Destroying Louisiana’s Coastal Wetlands - Oil giant Chevron has been ordered by a Louisiana civil court jury to pay $744.6 million to a parish government to help restore coastal wetlands destroyed by the company over a period of decades. The lawsuit was the first of 42 filed against the company since 2013, reported The Guardian.The jury found that energy major Texaco — bought by Chevron in 2001 — had been violating state coastal resources regulations by not restoring wetlands that were impacted by drilling oil wells, dredging canals and the billions of gallons of toxic wastewater dumped into the environment, The Associated Press reported.“No company is big enough to ignore the law, no company is big enough to walk away scot-free,” lead attorney for the plaintiffs John Carmouche told the jury during closing arguments, as reported by The Associated Press.A 1980 Louisiana coastal management regulation requires that “Mineral exploration and production sites shall be cleared, revegetated, detoxified, and otherwise restored as near as practicable to their original condition upon termination of operations to the maximum extent practicable.”The verdict is likely to affect similar lawsuits against big oil in the state, The New York Times reported.Plaquemines Parish, which filed the lawsuit, sought damages of $2.6 billion, arguing Chevron was directly responsible for the pollution and loss of wetlands.Chevron said its activities were not the cause of the damage and that the state regulations did not apply, since its oil and gas activities began before 1980.Following a four-week trial, the jury awarded the parish $575 million for land loss, $161 for contamination of the area and $8.6 million for equipment abandoned by the company.Chevron said it plans to appeal.
Commonwealth LNG Lands Investor, Bringing FID Closer - Abu Dhabi wealth fund Mubadala Energy said Thursday it would invest in Kimmeridge Energy Management Co. LLC’s Commonwealth LNG project and its upstream business in the Eagle Ford Shale. Mubadala agreed to acquire a 24.1% stake in Kimmeridge’s SoTex HoldCo LLC, which holds the assets. The acquisition price was not disclosed, but it marks Mubadala’s entry into the U.S. energy market. “As our first major investment in the U.S., this transaction offers a significant platform for future growth in one of the world’s most important energy hubs,” said Mubadala CEO Mansoor Mohamed Al Hamed.
Aramco Finalizes Deal for Rio Grande LNG Offtake, Expanding Global Natural Gas Portfolio - Saudi Arabian Oil Co., better known as Aramco, has finalized a deal to buy 1.2 million tons/year (Mt/y) of LNG from the fourth train under development at NextDecade Corp.’s Rio Grande export project in South Texas. NextDecade is currently building the first 17.6 Mt/y phase of the project that consists of three trains. It is working to commercialize the fourth and fifth trains at the facility. Aramco, one of the world’s largest integrated energy companies, has been working to boost natural gas output and extend its reach beyond oil to low-emissions fuel. A major part of that effort has been a push to secure LNG supply contracts and build a global trading portfolio.
Shell Trims 1Q LNG Estimate, While ExxonMobil Eyes Higher Profits and APA Curtails Permian Natural Gas -Unplanned maintenance and harsh weather were named the culprits in a first quarter earnings preview by Shell plc in reducing its natural gas production guidance. ExxonMobil, meanwhile, said an uptick in prices should boost the bottom line. Shell's global energy portfolio displayed on a bar chart. The integrated energy majors previewed their first quarter results in separate filings. ExxonMobil is the largest U.S.-based oil and gas producer. Shell is the top European major and the No. 1 LNG trader. Shell’s integrated gas production, which includes global LNG liquefaction volumes, is forecast to average 910,000-950,000 boe/d in the first quarter.The London-based supermajor during 4Q2024 produced 905,000 boe/d within the integrated gas arm.
US natgas prices drop 5% to 7-week low on record output and tariff worries -- U.S. natural gas futures dropped about 5% to a seven-week low on Monday on record output and worries U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs could reduce global economic growth and demand for energy. "Although gas is usually a weather-driven market, it is also an industrial commodity subject to the vagaries of the U.S. economic growth path and as a result, the tariff factor may require downward adjustments in expected U.S. gas demand this year," for May delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 18.2 cents, or 4.7%, to settle at $3.655 per million British thermal units, their lowest close since February 13. Prices declined despite forecasts for cooler weather and more gas demand over the next two weeks than previously expected. Looking ahead, the premium of futures for June over May (NGK25-M25) fell to around 9 cents per mmBtu, its lowest since February 2023. Energy traders said mild weather and low demand last month likely allowed utilities to add gas to storage in March for the first time since 2012 and only the second time in history. Gas stockpiles, however, were still about 3% below normal levels for this time of year after cold weather in January and February forced energy firms to pull large amounts of gas out of storage, including record amounts in January. Financial firm LSEG said average gas output in the Lower 48 U.S. states edged up to 106.3 billion cubic feet per day so far in April, slightly up from a monthly record 106.2 bcfd in March. Meteorologists projected temperatures in the Lower 48 states would remain mostly near normal through April 22. With seasonally milder weather coming, LSEG forecast average gas demand in the Lower 48, including exports, will fall from 109.4 bcfd this week to 98.7 bcfd next week. Those forecasts were higher than LSEG's outlook on Friday. The average amount of gas flowing to the eight big LNG export plants operating in the U.S. eased to 15.7 bcfd so far in April, down from a monthly record 15.8 bcfd in March. Gas was trading around a six-month low of around $11 per mmBtu at the Dutch Title Transfer Facility benchmark in Europe and held near a three-month low of around $13 at the Japan Korea Marker benchmark in Asia.
US natgas prices jump 10% after US President Trump pauses most tariffs -- U.S. natural gas futures jumped about 10% on Wednesday, rising along with Wall Street and other energy prices after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would temporarily lower new tariffs on many countries, even as he raised them further on imports from China. Gas prices also gained support from a decline in output in recent days, forecasts for more heating demand over the next two weeks than previously expected and record flows to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants. Gas futures for May delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 35.1 cents, or 10.1%, to settle at $3.816 per million British thermal units. Earlier in the session, prices for gas and other energy futures dropped on worries U.S. tariffs could reduce global economic growth and demand for energy. Traders said mild weather and low demand last month likely allowed utilities to add gas to storage in March for the first time since 2012 and only the second time ever for that month. Gas stockpiles remained about 3% below normal levels for this time of year after cold weather in January and February forced energy firms to pull large amounts of gas out of storage, including record amounts in January. Financial firm LSEG said average gas output in the Lower 48 U.S. states fell to 105.9 billion cubic feet per day so far in April, down from a monthly record of 106.2 bcfd in March. On a daily basis, output was on track to drop by 3.7 bcfd over the past four days to a preliminary six-week low of 103.4 bcfd on Wednesday. Looking forward, analysts noted the roughly 17% drop in U.S. crude futures over the past four days to a near four-year low on Tuesday could prompt energy firms to start cutting back on oil drilling. Any reduction in oil drilling in shale basins like the Permian in Texas and New Mexico and the Bakken in North Dakota could cut gas output associated with that oil production. With seasonally mild weather coming, LSEG forecast average gas demand in the Lower 48, including exports, will fall from 109.5 bcfd this week to 101.2 bcfd next week. Those forecasts were higher than LSEG’s outlook on Tuesday. The average amount of gas flowing to the eight big LNG export plants operating in the U.S. rose to 16.0 bcfd so far in April, up from a monthly record high of 15.8 bcfd in March. On a daily basis, LNG feedgas was on track to reach 17.1 bcfd on Wednesday, up from a daily record of 16.8 bcfd on Tuesday, with gas flows to Venture Global’s 3.2-bcfd Plaquemines export plant under construction in Louisiana on track to hit an all-time high of 2.4 bcfd. Gas was trading near a six-month low of around $11 per mmBtu at the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) benchmark in Europe and a seven-month low of around $13 at the Japan Korea Marker (JKM) benchmark in Asia.
Trump BLM nominee withdraws -President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management has withdrawn from consideration.Kathleen Sgamma, the head of an oil industry trade group, did not appear before the Senate on Thursday for her scheduled confirmation hearing.Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), the head of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said he was informed by the White House this morning that Sgamma had withdrawn her nomination without offering additional detailsThe sudden withdrawal comes after reporting earlier this week that Sgamma privately wrote that she had been “disgusted” by Trump “spreading misinformation” on Jan. 6, 2021. She withdrew her confirmation due to revelations about that post, said a person familiar with the move who was granted anonymity to discuss personnel matters.“It was an honor to be nominated by President Trump as director of the Bureau of Land Management, but unfortunately at this time I need to withdraw my nomination,” Sgamma said in a statement released by the White House. “I will continue to support President Trump and fight for his agenda to Unleash American Energy in the private sector.”White House spokesperson Liz Huston said they “accept her withdrawal and look forward to putting forth another nominee.”A spokesperson for the Western Energy Alliance, which Sgamma has led for nearly two decades, declined to comment.David Bernhardt, who served as Interior secretary in Trump’s first term, referred to the reporting about Sgamma’s Jan. 6 comments Thursday in a post on the social media platform X.Bernhardt wrote, “2 years ago, in my book, I explained that individuals who know their views don’t align with the president, and yet seek political appointments hoping such divergence will not be noticed cause needless harm and conflict, hindering the president’s agenda. Sad. Self-inflicted.”
Interior’s shift on Western oil leases reopens door to lawsuits - The Interior Department could face a fresh round of lawsuits after officials said Thursday they would no longer require the Bureau of Land Management to create an environmental impact statement for more than 3,200 oil and gas leases across seven states in the West. That environmental review, which the Biden administration started work on four days before Trump took office in January, was the culmination of nearly a decade’s worth of lawsuits on federal leases that date back to the Obama administration. The leases cover 3.5 million acres across Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. Jeremy Nichols, a senior advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, said the work done by BLM to guard against environmental effects of oil and gas production on federal lands has been weak. He said court decisions and settlements underscored that claim. He also called Interior’s decision to walk back the environmental impact statement likely illegal. Advertisement “Trump is vulnerable to lawsuits over this, but this administration does not seem to care about the law one bit,” Nichols said. “It’s doing everything it can to avoid complying with the law so it can give away federal lands and minerals to the fossil fuel industry.” The legal saga began when groups including the WildEarth Guardians sued over federal lease sales held during the Obama administration, arguing BLM’s environmental reviews of leases did not take the climate impacts of oil and gas production into account. Green groups continued filing suits voicing the same concerns during the Trump and Biden administrations, also arguing that the environmental reviews took only individual leases into account and ignored the cumulative environmental impact of leasing millions of acres for oil and gas development. The Biden administration opted to settle most of those cases, and four days before Trump took office, BLM announced it would create an environmental impact statement that would cover 3,200-plus oil and gas leases. It wrote in the Federal Register that the statement would “provide a comprehensive analysis of the potential environmental impacts from these leases, which have been remanded to BLM for further review, including the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions (to include the social cost of carbon) and other common impacts.” In response to questions from POLITICO’s E&E News, Interior spokesperson J. Elizabeth Peace said that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is focused on advancing responsible energy development while removing unnecessary regulations. “This action is about cutting red tape — not cutting corners. We’re committed to upholding environmental protections while also making the permitting process work for — not against — the American people,” Peace said in an email. The agency’s decision to forgo the multistate environmental review undertaken by the Biden administration still leaves BLM on the hook to do more environmental analysis of the challenged leases, said Kyle Tisdel, a senior attorney at the Western Environmental Law Center, which represented environmental and public health groups opposing the lease sales. “We obviously have multiple court decisions and settlement agreements that BLM has entered into that say they’ve got to do something,” Tisdel said. It’s unclear at this point when litigation might be filed. Nichols said the Center for Biological Diversity was looking at what steps they could take to either file new lawsuits or intervene legally. “We’ll certainly fire back, but what that looks like, I don’t know,” Nichols said. “But climate change is real, and politics does not trump the reality here that more oil and gas leasing would be a disaster for the environment.”
Keystone oil pipeline ruptures, portion shut down – WHIO — A portion of the Keystone oil pipeline has ruptured, forcing it to be shut down in North Dakota.It is not known what caused the break and the amount of crude oil that flowed into an agricultural field in Fort Ransom, North Dakota, is not known. A pipeline employee said he heard a “mechanical bang” on Tuesday morning, and was able to shut down the line in about two minutes, according to officials with the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality. The pipe that ruptured was a 30-inch pipe near a pumping station. The Keystone pipeline went online in 2011 and brings oil from Canada to the U.S.
Company says thousands of gallons of oil have been recovered from a pipeline spill in North Dakota (AP) — Workers have recovered thousands of gallons of crude oil from an underground pipeline spill on North Dakota farmland, the owner of the line said Thursday, but it remains unclear when oil will again start flowing to refineries. South Bow is still investigating the cause of the spill Tuesday along the Keystone Pipeline near Fort Ransom, North Dakota, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southwest of Fargo, the company said. The spill released an estimated 3,500 barrels, or 147,000 gallons of oil, onto farmland. The company said 700 barrels, or 29,400 gallons, have been recovered so far. More than 200 workers are on-site as part of the cleanup and investigation. South Bow has not set a timeline for restarting the 2,689-mile (4,327 kilometers) pipeline, which stretches from Alberta, Canada, to refineries in Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas. The company said it “will only resume service with regulator approvals.” A map from the company shows the pipeline is shut down from Alberta, Canada, to points in Illinois and a liquid tank terminal in Oklahoma. The line is open between Oklahoma and points on Texas’ Gulf Coast, according to the map. Regulators order corrective action as Keystone Pipeline operators aim to restore service South Bow is working with the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and the state Department of Environmental Quality. Continuous monitoring of air quality hasn’t indicated any adverse health or public concerns, South Bow said. The site remains busy, said Myron Hammer, a nearby landowner who farms the land affected by the spill. Workers have been bringing in mats to the field so equipment can access the site, and lots of equipment is being assembled, he said. The area has traffic checkpoints, and workers have been hauling gravel to maintain the roads, Hammer said. There is a cluster of homes in the area, and residents include retirees and people who work in nearby towns, he said. But the spill site is not in a heavily populated area, Hammer said. The pipeline shutdown means that refineries that rely on crude oil will have 3% to 4% less of the total flows in a daily market of 17 million to 20 million barrels, said Ramanan Krishnamoorti, vice president for energy and innovation at the University of Houston. “It’s hard to see how you replace that into the stockpile that goes into these refineries,” he said. “Typically you have storage of crude in storage tanks and ships and everything. That might be a few days. But when you start to lose 3%, 4% of daily demand, it’s going to have impacts.” Gas prices in the Midwest have already seen an increase that is likely to grow, and diesel prices could be impacted significantly and quickly, he said.
The Keystone pipeline's history of spills (Reuters) - The approximately 600,000-bpd Keystone oil pipeline from Canada to the United States remained shut down Wednesday after an oil spill near Fort Ransom, North Dakota, on Tuesday released an estimated 3,500 barrels of oil.The latest spill comes two years after the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) identified what it called a pattern of "increasingly frequent incidents" on the Keystone system.
- * The Keystone pipeline spans more than 4,300 km and moves oil from Alberta to U.S. refining markets in Illinois, Oklahoma, and Texas. It has been owned by Canadian company South Bow (SOBO.TO)<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = [default] http://www.w3.org/2000/svg NS = "http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" />, opens new tab since last year, when former owner TC Energy (TRP.TO), opens new tab spun off its crude pipelines business to focus on natural gas instead.
- * A 2021 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office found there had been 22 spills from the pipeline between 2010 and 2020. The report said while Keystone's accident history has been similar to other crude pipelines, the severity of spills has worsened in recent years.
The report also identified issues relating to the "original design, manufacturing of the pipe, or construction of the pipeline" as contributing to the largest incidents.Here is a look at some recent Keystone spills:
- * December 2022: The pipeline spilled about 14,000 barrels of oil into a creek in Washington County, Kansas, the biggest U.S. oil spill in nine years. The resulting third-party investigation concluded the pipeline ruptured due to a crack in a weld, which progressed due to pressure and temperature "fatigue."
- * October 2019: The pipeline spilled an estimated 4,515 barrels near Edinburg, North Dakota.
- * November 2017: The pipeline spilled an estimated 6,592 barrels near Amherst, South Dakota.
- * The Keystone pipeline is the flagship asset for South Bow, contributing approximately 95% of the company's earnings in 2024, according to ATB Capital.
- * The pipeline's physical integrity is one of the biggest risks to South Bow's investment thesis, RBC Capital said Tuesday.
Los Angeles Basin has little untapped oil left: USGS --Only minimal amounts of untapped oil and gas resources remain in the historic Los Angeles fossil fuel production basin, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).New estimates released by USGS on Wednesday indicate that just 61 million barrels of oil are technically recoverable in this region — equivalent to just 0.68 percent of the mammoth quantities already extracted.As a basis of comparison, since exploration began in the area in the 1880s, 9 billion barrels of oil have been produced or discovered in the basin. That total is about the same as the quantity of oil that the U.S. currently uses in 14 months, according to the agency. “Almost 150 years since exploration began, the Los Angeles Basin has little remaining undiscovered oil,” Sarah Ryker, acting director of the USGS, said in a statement. Regarding natural gas availability, the USGS assessments indicated that about 240 billion cubic feet of this resource remain available. Historic data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed that about 504 billion cubic feet of onshore dry natural gas have been produced from the basin since the late 1970s. The Los Angeles Basin includes the coastal plain and waters of Los Angeles: extending north to the Santa Monica Mountains, east to the Angeles National Forest and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and east and south into much of Orange County. The USGS assessments first began about 50 years ago, after an oil embargo against the U.S., which led the government to require the agency to assess the country’s untapped resources with geologic data.These evaluations, Ryker explained, usually “focus on undiscovered resources – areas where science tells us there may be a resource that industry hasn’t discovered yet.”The USGS is continuing to identify new such resources both in the domestic arena and in global hotspots that could affect market conditions. Having such information available, the agency added, is critical to providing “actionable insight to U.S. leaders, other federal agencies, industry and the public.”
Oil Price Crash Is Already Hitting Alberta’s Production -The oil industry in Alberta is bracing for difficult times ahead, with WTI prices crashing to $60 per barrel and uncertainties about oil demand growing in a world of trade and tariff wars.Last week, the tariffs announced by the Trump Administration and the decision by OPEC+ producers to add in May more barrels to the market than expectedcrushed oil prices, with WTI Crude, the U.S. benchmark, crashing to $60 per barrel—the lowest level in four years.The benchmark U.S. oil price, against which Alberta’s producers plan and budget their activity, dropped by around $10 a barrel in just a few days, and fears are that prices could slide further into the mid $50s per barrel if trade war-fueled recessions crush oil demand.Even the $60 per barrel WTI price is already painful for Alberta and its oil producers and oilfield service providers.The province may see a larger-than-planned budget deficit. At the end of February, Alberta guided for a budget deficit in 2025 based on an assumption that WTI Crude oil prices would average $68 per barrel this year.In the 2025 budget, the province’s economists said that “Stormy skies are on the horizon for Alberta’s economy after ending last year on a solid footing.”The storm has already hit global markets and oil prices, dragging the WTI price $8 a barrel lower than the 2025-2026 forecast of the Alberta government.Canada was spared any new tariffs in last week’s announcement of tariffs on nearly all other countries and penguin-inhabited territories. But Alberta and its oil producers and drillers must now brace for the economic fallout from the trade wars.“The short-term pain and unpredictability right now is hard to stomach,” Kevin Neveu, president and CEO at Precision Drilling, told CTV News. Oil prices so low are already impacting production, the executive said.“We’ll end up having rig workers without jobs for weeks or months,” Neveu added.Alberta’s Finance Minister Nate Horner sought to reassure the energy industry and investors that the province’s budget oil price of $68 per barrel is for the average of 2025, not a particular moment in time.“We are monitoring the situation and expect that oil prices will eventually stabilize,” Horner said in a statement carried by CTV News.Alberta’s oil patch is currently in a wait-and-see mode, but it could cut some capital expenditure if these lower oil prices persist, according to Mark Parsons, chief economist at ATB Financial.“It’s still early, but it’s something you’re watching closely,” Parsons told The Canadian Press.“If these low prices persist, you might be shaving something off your capital expenditure guidance for the year.”If demand is hit in a U.S. recession and overall global economic slowdown, it wouldn’t matter that Canada’s energy is spared from U.S. tariffs, as oil prices would fall even further, analysts say.Large investment banks are raising the odds of a recession. Goldman Sachs has just raised these odds to 45% over the next 12 months, up from a 35% chance estimated previously. Goldman’s analysts and economists cited “a sharp tightening in financial conditions, foreign consumer boycotts, and a continued spike in policy uncertainty that is likely to depress capital spending by more than we had previously assumed.” In the wake of last week’s tariff announcement, JP Morgan raised itsrecession odds to 60% in a research note titled “There Will Be Blood.”Commenting on the tariff announcement from April 2, Ole Hansen, Head of Commodity Strategy at Saxo Bank, wrote in a weekly report on Friday,“What Trump delivered on this so-called "Liberation Day" was an economic war declaration likely to cause chaos across global supply chains, while in the short term raising the risk of an economic fallout, hurting demand for key commodities, with energy and industrial metals being the sectors most at risk.”LNG Prices, Volumes Into Latin America Down Amid U.S. Tariff Hikes — LatAm Recap - May delivered ex-ship (DES) prices to LNG import terminals in Latin America fell over the past week as the market continues to come to terms with potential new barriers for international trade. Chart showing delivered ex-ship LNG prices specific to the Latin American LNG market. May DES prices to the Bahia Blanca terminal in Argentina were $11.93/MMBtu on Monday, up slightly on the day but down from $12.59 on April 2, when President Trump announced a broad array of tariffs on most nations around the world. DES prices at the Pecém terminal in Brazil were $11.77 on Monday, down from $12.41 in the same comparison, and prices on Mexico’s West Coast at Manzanillo dropped to $12.17 from $12.61. DES prices are NGI’s cost-plus formulations based on natural gas benchmark prices from the supplying country, such as the United States or Trinidad and Tobago. They also factor in shipping costs to Latin America. More than half of LNG imports into Latin America currently come from the United States, according to Kpler data. Some volumes to Latin America are also re-routed from Europe.
BP Sanctions Another Natural Gas Development Offshore Trinidad - BP plc, the largest natural gas producer in the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago, has pulled the trigger on its fourth subsea project, Ginger, with first production slated for 2027. Subsidiary BPTT, which produces about one-half of the island nation’s natural gas, said it also has unearthed “multiple stacked gas reservoirs” in its Frangipani exploration well. Options now are being considered for that prospect. The BP subsidiary holds 100% working interest in Ginger and Frangipani.
European Natural Gas, LNG Prices Sink as Traders Weigh U.S. Tariff Fallout — The Offtake --A look at the global natural gas and LNG markets by the numbers
- $12/MMBtu: The Title Transfer Facility (TTF) benchmark dipped below the $12/MMBtu mark and is expected to head lower as European trades react to U.S. tariffs. Analysts with Energi Danmark wrote that traders are likely betting a U.S. trade war with China would divert more LNG cargoes to Europe this year. LNG delivered to the European Union (EU) had a 20-cent discount to TTF on Tuesday, falling to $11.485, according to the EU’s price assessment.
- 16 Bcf/d: U.S. LNG feed gas demand ticked up to 16.8 Bcf/d on Wednesday, according to Wood Mackenzie data. It marked the fourth day in a row deliveries to terminals were above 16 Bcf/d. Nominations to Venture Global LNG Inc.’s Calcasieu Pass and Plaquemines facilities have continued to tick up, easing a gradual fall in prompt Henry Hub since last week.
- 10 months: A second midscale liquefaction train at Cheniere Energy Inc.’s Corpus Christi Stage 3 expansion could begin producing LNG and adding feed gas demand by February 2026. Cheniere notified the Texas environmental agency that commissioning activities for the 1.4 million ton/year capacity train could take about 10 months, resulting in some flaring activities. Commissioning for the first train was completed in five months.
- 8 cargoes: Argentina’s state-owned Energía Argentina SA (Enarsa) launched another tender for LNG cargoes to cover winter demand, adding competition for U.S. cargoes. Enarsa is seeking eight cargoes for delivery from June-July. The importer recently awarded a tender for six cargoes delivered April-June, according to Kpler data. Argentina imported 24 cargoes last year, amounting to 0.9 million tons. The majority of the country’s LNG volumes over the last two years came from the United States.
Trade War Weighs on Global Natural Gas Prices as Market Grapples With Uncertainty – LNG Recap - Global natural gas prices were mixed on Monday as the market continues to weigh the effects of an expanding trade war and how it could impact energy consumption across the world. Image showing a comprehensive market analysis of the European Union’s gas storage levels with graphs representing trends in inventories, highlighting key insights into energy market dynamics and gas data projections for the near future. President Trump’s plans announced last week to impose a 10% tariff on all U.S. imports and levy far higher rates on some nations continued to roil financial markets on Monday. The president threatened even higher rates against China Monday for its own countermeasures. Other nations, like those in the European Union, are expected to respond this week as well. The prompt Title Transfer Facility (TTF) fell 9% last week to dip below $12/MMBtu and hit a six-month low. The prompt Japan-Korea Marker (JKM) followed suit, finishing 1% lower at under $13, while JKM spot prices also hit a six-month low.
Saudi Arabia cuts May oil prices to Asia close to four-year low after OPEC+ supply boost (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, on Sunday slashed its prices for Asian buyers to close to their lowest level in four years, adding to speculation it is seeking to regain market share as part of OPEC+'s strategy to speed up oil output hikes. State oil company Saudi Aramco cut the May official selling price (OSP) for flagship Arab Light crude by $2.30 to $1.20 a barrel above the average of Oman and Dubai prices, a pricing document from the producer showed. The drop marks the biggest decline in more than two years and is the second consecutive month Aramco has lowered its prices, Reuters' record of Saudi OSPs showed. January's price of plus 90 cents was the lowest since early 2021 during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Eight OPEC+ countries in a surprise decision agreed on Thursday to advance their plan to phase out oil output cuts by increasing output by 411,000 barrels per day in May, triple the expected increase, representing around 0.4% of global supply. Aramco's price cut, coming just days later, recalled past market share battles when OPEC producers competed to sell extra barrels, pushing prices lower. "This could raise fears of the Kingdom reverting to the market share strategy of 2015 and 2016 when OPEC was unable to respond effectively to rising U.S. supply," said Callum Macpherson, head of commodities at Investec. "However, it does not look that serious yet. This could also be in response to producers like Iraq and Kazakhstan who consistently produce above their quota," he said. Saudi Arabia has been an aggressive supporter of production control to balance the market in the last five years since its budget requires oil prices of around $90 per barrel. Thursday's OPEC+ decision represents a major departure from those policies. Aramco also lowered May prices for other grades it sells to Asia by $2.30 per barrel. News of the OPEC+ production boost, together with an escalating global trade war, sent oil prices plunging nearly 11% in the week ending April 4, hitting more than three-year lows. Prior to the latest OPEC+ decision, analysts surveyed by Reuters had expected Arab Light for Asia to be cut by $1.80 to $2.00, tracking the steep declines in benchmark prices in March. The spot premium of Dubai averaged $1.38 per barrel in March, down from $3.33 per barrel, the average in February. The drops were also due to more Russian supply returning to Asia, following disruptions in January and February caused by U.S. sanctions on Russian energy trade. The tables below show the full free-on-board (FOB) prices for May in U.S. dollars.
Oil prices plummet as US-China trade tensions fuel recession fears - Hindustan Times -Brent futures declined to $63.04, while WTI dropped to $59.49, marking their lowest since April 2021. Oil prices extended last week's losses on Monday, with WTI falling more than 4%, as escalating trade tensions between the United States and China stoked fears of a recession that would reduce demand for crude. As growing trade tensions between the US and China fuelled concerns of a recession that would lower demand for crude, oil prices continued their losses from last week on Monday, with WTI dropping more than 4%.(AFP/representative ) As growing trade tensions between the US and China fuelled concerns of a recession that would lower demand for crude, oil prices continued their losses from last week on Monday, with WTI dropping more than 4%.(AFP/representative ) Brent futures declined $2.54, or 3.9%, to $63.04 a barrel at 0745 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures lost $2.5, or 4.03%, to $59.49. Both benchmarks dropped their lowest since April 2021. Oil plunged 7% on Friday as China ramped up tariffs on U.S. goods, escalating a trade war that has led investors to price in a higher probability of recession. Last week, Brent lost 10.9%, while WTI dropped 10.6%. "It's hard to see a floor for crude unless the panic in the markets subsides and it's hard to see that happening unless Trump says something to arrest snowballing fears over a global trade war and recession," said Vandana Hari, founder of oil market analysis provider Vanda Insights. Responding to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, China said on Friday it would impose additional levies of 34% on American goods, confirming investor fears that a full-blown global trade war is underway. Imports of oil, gas and refined products were given exemptions from Trump's sweeping new tariffs, but the policies could stoke inflation, slow economic growth and intensify trade disputes, weighing on oil prices. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Friday that Trump's new tariffs are "larger than expected," and the economic fallout including higher inflation and slower growth likely will be as well. Adding to the downward momentum, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC ) decided to advance plans for output increases. The group now aims to return 411,000 barrels per day (bpd) to the market in May, up from the previously planned 135,000 bpd. "This potential influx of supply, reversing cuts maintained over the past two years, represents a major shift in market dynamics and acts as a significant headwind for prices," said Sugandha Sachdeva, founder of SS WealthStreet, a New Delhi-based research firm. Over the weekend, top OPEC ministers stressed the need for full compliance with oil output targets and called for overproducers to submit plans by April 15 to compensate for pumping too much. On the geopolitical front, Iran on Sunday rejected U.S. demands that it hold direct nuclear talks or face strikes. Russia claimed to have captured Basivka in Ukraine's Sumy region and said its forces were attacking multiple nearby settlements.
The Oil Market Continued to React to Sweeping Tariffs – The oil market on Monday continued to tumble for the third consecutive session amid concerns that U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs announced last week could push economies around the world into recession and cut global demand for oil. In a volatile trading session, the market sold off more than $3 in overnight trading to a low of $58.95 and later swung into positive territory, rallying over $1.90 as it posted a high of $63.90 in mid-morning trading. The market quickly rallied higher and just as quickly gave up those sharp gains following reports of what the White House called “fake news” that U.S. President Donald Trump was considering a 90-day pause on tariffs for all countries, except China. The market was also pressured as Saudi Arabia cut its official selling prices for next month. The market later traded within a $2 trading range from $60-$62 during the remainder of the session. The May WTI contract settled down $1.29 at $60.70 and the June Brent contract settled down $1.37 at $64.21. The product markets ended lower, with the heating oil market settling down 1.2 cents at $2.0699 and the RB market settling down 3.44 cents at $2.0201. U.S. President Donald Trump said he will impose an additional 50% tariff on China on Wednesday if Beijing did not withdraw its 34% retaliatory tariffs on the United States. Goldman Sachs revised down its annual average price forecasts again for Brent and WTI crude in 2026, citing increased recession risks and the possibility of higher than expected OPEC+ supply. On Sunday, Goldman Sachs cut its 2026 average price forecast by $4 for Brent to $58/barrel and WTI to $55/barrel. On Friday, it initially cut its 2026 average price forecast for Brent to $62/barrel and for WTI to $59/barrel and warned that the new estimates could be further reduced. Goldman Sachs now expects oil demand to grow by 300,000 bpd in 2025, down from its previous forecast of 600,000 bpd, and to increase by 400,000 bpd in 2026. The bank attributes the reduction in demand growth to the negative influence of a weaker GDP, which outweighs support from a weaker dollar and lower oil prices. Citi Research lowered its 0-3 month Brent price forecast to $60/barrel. Top OPEC+ ministers stressed the need for full compliance with oil output targets and plans to compensate for producing too much. Several ministers from OPEC+ held an online joint ministerial monitoring committee meeting on Saturday. OPEC said “The committee noted the countries that did not achieve full conformity and compensation and reiterated the critical importance of achieving full conformity and compensation.” Kazakhstan’s Energy Minister said that he would work with companies that produce the country’s oil to make the additional cuts pledged to OPEC+. Countries are to submit new plans for their compensation cuts by April 15th. The next joint ministerial monitoring committee meeting is scheduled for May 28th, when the full OPEC+ group also plans to gather next to set policy. According to a Reuters survey, OPEC oil output fell in March ahead of a scheduled output increase, as Nigeria cut deliveries to domestic refineries and Iranian and Venezuelan supply fell on renewed U.S. attempts to cut the flows. OPEC produced 26.63 million bpd in March, down 110,000 bpd from February’s total.
Oil prices slide 2% to near 4-year low as US trade conflict fuels recession fears (Reuters) - Oil prices slid 2% to a near four-year low on Monday on worries U.S. President Donald Trump's latest trade tariffs could push economies around the world into recession and reduce global demand for energy. Brent futures fell $1.37, or 2.1%, to settle at $64.21 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell $1.29, or 2.1%, to settle at $60.70. That pushed both crude benchmarks, which fell about 11% last week, to their lowest closes since April 2021. The session was marked by extreme volatility with intraday prices down more than $3 a barrel overnight and up over $1 Monday morning after a news report said Trump was considering a 90-day pause on tariffs. White House officials quickly denied the report, sending crude prices back into the red. Confirming investor fears that a full-blown global trade war has begun, China, the world's second-biggest economy behind the U.S., said on Friday it would impose additional levies of 34% on American goods in retaliation for Trump's latest tariffs. Trump responded that the U.S. would impose an additional 50% tariff on China if Beijing does not withdraw its retaliatory tariffs on the U.S., and said "all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated." The European Commission, meanwhile, proposed counter-tariffs of 25% on a range of U.S. goods on Monday in response to President Donald Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum, a document seen by Reuters showed. Goldman Sachs forecast a 45% chance of recession in the U.S. over the next 12 months, and made downward revisions to its oil price projections. Citi and Morgan Stanley also cut their Brent outlooks. JPMorgan said it sees a 60% probability of recession in the U.S. and globally. In addition to growing recession worries, there are growing concerns that the Trump administration's policies will cause the price of goods to increase. U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler said some of the recent rise in goods and market-services inflation may be "anticipatory" of the effect of the Trump administration's policies, adding that it is a priority for the Fed to keep inflation in check. The Fed and other central banks use higher interest rates to combat inflation. Higher interest rates, however, boost consumer borrowing costs and could cause economic growth and oil demand to decrease. Saudi Arabia on Sunday announced sharp cuts to crude oil prices for Asian buyers, dropping the price in May to the lowest level in four months. "It's a demonstration of the belief that tariffs will hurt oil demand,". "It goes to show the Saudis, just like every man and his dog, expect the supply and demand balance to be affected and they are forced to cut their official selling prices." Adding to the downward momentum, the OPEC+ group comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies decided to advance plans for output increases. The group now aims to return 411,000 barrels per day to the market in May, up from the previously planned 135,000 bpd. During the weekend, OPEC+ ministers emphasized the need for full compliance with oil output targets and called for over-producers to submit plans by April 15 to compensate for pumping too much.
Oil Prices Surge As Global Trade Concerns Intensify - bizwatchnigeria.ng -Crude oil prices experienced a rebound in the global commodity market on Tuesday, despite ongoing trade tensions initiated by the U.S. and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies (OPEC+) planning to boost output in May amid uncertainty. Brent crude rose by approximately 0.3%, reaching $64.49 per barrel, up from $64.29 in the previous session. Similarly, the U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained about 0.2%, settling at $60.95 per barrel, up from $60.80. Oil prices had recently plunged to their lowest levels in four years following U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of stringent tariffs on several major economies. However, prices began to recover partially as investors sought to capitalize on the lower prices through profit-taking. Trump’s protectionist trade policies continue to be a significant source of global uncertainty, with retaliatory actions from other countries elevating risk perceptions in the market. Trump, when asked if the tariffs were a permanent measure or part of a negotiation strategy, responded, “There can be permanent tariffs, and there can also be negotiations because there are things that we need beyond tariffs.” Trump also reiterated that if China does not withdraw its 34% retaliatory tariffs, the U.S. would impose an additional 50% tariff on Chinese goods. Meanwhile, EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic commented, “The U.S. tariffs now affect €380 billion ($416.8 billion) worth of EU exports—around 70% of the total—with duties ranging from 20% to over 25%. The current trade situation with the United States, our most significant partner, is in a tough spot.” Sefcovic added that the U.S. views these tariffs not as a tactical move but as a corrective measure and emphasized the EU’s willingness to negotiate when the U.S. is ready. In the oil market, Saudi Arabia announced it would lower crude oil prices for Asian markets in May, marking the lowest level in the past four months. This move follows an announcement from OPEC and the OPEC+ alliance, which includes both OPEC members and selected non-OPEC producers. The group revealed plans to accelerate its production increase, with output set to rise by 411,000 barrels per day in May, equating to a three-month increase.
Global slowdown could drive oil prices below $40 - Goldman Sachs - Oil prices could tumble to less than $40 a barrel, Goldman Sachs warned on Tuesday, on the back of a slowing global economy and output hikes. Having topped $82 a barrel in mid-January, benchmark Brent crude has since plunged and is now trading at $64.45. As well as mounting fears of a global economic slowdown, on the back of Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff regime and subsequent market chaos, Opec and its allies last week agreed to boost supply by more than expected next month. The oil cartel was expected to continue gradually unwinding recent supply cuts but the size of May’s increase shocked markets. Opec+ cited the "positive market outlook" for the decision. But analysts also pointed to the organisation taking a stricter approach to compliance, after some members did not cut output earlier this year as agreed. In a note discussing the future for oil prices, Goldman Sachs said it expected Brent to remain under pressure, hitting $62 by the of this year and $55 by the end of 2026. WTI was forecast to reach $58 in December before falling further to reach $51 by the end 2026. The Wall Street bank based its forecasts on two assumptions: that the US avoids a recession, and Opec+ supply rises are only moderate. But it warned oil prices would fall significantly further should those assumptions not pan out. In particular, it said a US recession and greater supply rises could see Brent fall to $58/$50 by December 2025/26 respectively, while a slowdown in global GDP could drive Brent down to just under $40 a barrel in late 2026. Brent last traded at $40 in 2020, during the early months of the pandemic. However, Goldman Sachs acknowledged that its worst-case scenario - which would also include a full unwind of Opec cuts - was "more extreme and less likely". It also did not expect oil prices to fall well below $40 on a sustained basis. "First, US shall offers an increasingly firmer floor at lower prices," it argued. "Second, a potential 2025 US recession is unlikely to be very deep, in part given a lack of major financial imbalances in the private sector."
Fears of a Recession Offset a Stock Market Rebound - The oil market sold off once again and settled down 1.85% as fears of a recession due to the impact of the Trump administration’s sweeping tariffs offset a stock market rebound seen earlier in the day. The crude market traded higher in overnight trading, posting a high of $61.75 as the equities markets rebounded following three consecutive sessions of sharp losses. The markets were supported by news that China’s state-owned companies announced plans to buy back shares to increase investor confidence and mitigate the impact of an escalating global trade war. The oil market continued to trade over the $60.00 level for most of the session before it sold off further as the White House announced that the U.S. would impose a 104% tariff on China from 12:01 AM ET on Wednesday, after China did not lift its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods by a noon deadline on Tuesday. The crude market extended its losses to $1.80 as it traded to $58.90. The May WTI contract settled down $1.12 at $59.58 and continued to sell off in the post settlement period to a low of $57.88. The June Brent contract settled down $1.39 at $62.82. The product markets ended the session in negative territory, with the heating oil market settling down 1.29 cents at $2.0570 and the RB market settling down 2.87 cents at $1.9914. A White House official said the United States will impose a 104% tariff on China from 12:01 AM ET on Wednesday, after Beijing did not lift its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods by a noon Tuesday deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump. White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said nearly 70 countries have reached out to the White House looking to begin negotiations on reducing the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariff policy. Goldman Sachs sees Brent and WTI oil prices declining to $62/barrel and $58/barrel by December 2025 and to $55/barrel and $51/barrel by December 2026, respectively under two assumptions. First, the U.S. economy avoids a recession given a large reduction in tariffs, which are scheduled to take effect on Wednesday, April 9th and second, OPEC+ supply increases moderately with two final increments of 130,000-140,000 bpd each in June and July. Goldman Sachs said assuming a typical U.S. recession and its OPEC baseline, it estimates that Brent crude would fall to $58/barrel by December 2025 and to $50/barrel by December 2026. In a global GDP slowdown scenario and maintain its OPEC baseline, the bank estimates that Brent would fall to $54/barrel by December 2025 and to $45/barrel by December 2026. It estimates a similar price path assuming its GDP baseline and full unwinding of the 2.2 million bpd OPEC+ cuts. In the more extreme and less likely scenario, with both a global GDP slowdown and a full unwinding of OPEC+ cuts, Goldman Sachs estimates Brent oil prices would fall to just under $40/barrel in late 2026. The Keystone Pipeline was shut down following a spill in southeast North Dakota. The pipeline, which carries as much as 15% of Canada’s crude exports to the U.S., was quickly shut down after a pressure drop was detected. A yet-unknown volume of oil was discovered in a field near a pump station. There is no timeline for restarting the pipeline as workers will need to excavate to find the source of the leak and repair it.
Oil settles down $1 at four-year low as US-China trade war escalates (Reuters) - Oil prices settled down more than $1 a barrel on Tuesday at a four-year low as investors priced in an increasing likelihood of a recession due to the escalating trade war between the U.S. and China, the world's two biggest economies. Brent futures settled down $1.39, or 2.16%, at $62.82 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled down $1.12, or 1.85%, at $59.58. The two benchmarks have slumped by 16% since U.S. President Donald Trump's April 2 announcement of tariffs on all U.S. imports. The U.S. will impose a 104% tariff on China from 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT) on Wednesday, a White House official said, adding 50% more to tariffs after Beijing failed to lift its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods by a noon deadline on Tuesday set by Trump. Beijing vowed not to bow to what it called U.S. blackmail after Trump threatened the additional 50% tariff on Chinese goods if the country did not lift its 34% retaliatory tariff. China's Commerce Ministry said the country would fight to the end, ratcheting up fears about a contraction of the global economy. Both oil benchmarks continued to fall in post-settlement trade. U.S. crude futures dipped to $57.88, while U.S. stock indexes also broadly sank. "The scenario has presented a case for a global recession, where fears of energy demand declining have emerged," U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told U.S. senators on Tuesday that China has not indicated it wants to work toward trade reciprocity. Goldman Sachs forecast that Brent and WTI crude prices would be at $62 and $58 a barrel, respectively, by December 2025, and at $55 and $51, respectively, a year after that, under different scenarios. The U.S. administration has indicated a strong preference for reducing crude prices to $50 or lower, considering this goal a top priority among its objectives, according to Natasha Kaneva, head of global commodities strategy at J.P. Morgan. "This includes being willing to endure a period of industry disruption similar to the one experienced by the shale sector during the 2014 price war between OPEC and shale, if it ultimately results in lower cost of oil production," Kaneva said. On Monday, Trump also made a surprise announcement that the U.S. and Iran were set to begin direct talks on Tehran's nuclear program, but Iran's foreign minister said the discussions would be indirect. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Tuesday that Iran can expect tighter sanctions if it does not come to an agreement with Trump on its nuclear program. "So absolutely, I would expect very tight sanctions on Iran, and hopefully drive them to abandon their nuclear program," Wright said in an interview on CNBC. Meanwhile, U.S. crude and distillate inventories fell while gasoline stocks rose last week, market sources said, citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday. Crude stocks fell by 1.1 million barrels in the week ended April 4, the sources said on condition of anonymity. Gasoline inventories rose by 210,000 barrels and distillate stocks fell by 1.8 million barrels, they said.
Oil hits four-year low on US-China trade war, Brent, WTI slump 16% in one week -- Oil prices plunged as much as seven per cent on Wednesday, April 9, hitting fresh four-year lows before recovering some ground after China announced additional tariffs on US goods in retaliation against US President Donald Trump's tariff policy. China said it will impose 84 per cent tariffs on some US goods starting Thursday, up from the previously announced 34 per cent.Crude oil has lost about one-fifth of its value since Trump announced higher tariffs on a range of US trading partners on April 2, the biggest five-day drop since March 2022. Brent crude index crashed below $60-barrel on Tuesday.Brent futures were last down $2.47, or 3.9 per cent, to $60.35 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down $2.35, or 3.9 per cent, at $57.23. Both contracts lost about seven per cent before paring losses. The two crude oil benchmarks have slumped by nearly 16 per cent since Donald Trump's April 2 announcement of tariffs on all US imports. Back home, crude oil futures last traded 2.41 per cent higher at ₹5,322 per barrel on the multi-commodity exchange (MCX). During Wednesday's session, MCX crude futures hit an all-time record low of ₹4,798.The MCX benchmark pared losses and hit an intraday high of ₹5,324 per barrel, up from a previous close of ₹5,197. MCX crude futures currently trade 18.4 per cent lower than their record high of ₹6,525 per barrel.Trump's 104 per cent tariffs on China kicked in from 12:01 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, ratcheting up duties after Beijing failed to lift its initial retaliatory tariffs on US goods. Countermeasures over trade in Canada, a major US trading partner, took effect on Wednesday.On Wednesday, European Union countries agreed to impose 25 per cent tariffs on a range of US imports in a first round of countermeasures. Brent and WTI have fallen for five sessions since Trump announced tariffs on most imports, prompting concerns over economic growth and fuel demand.A decision last week by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies to raise output in May by 411,000 barrels per day, which analysts say will likely push the market into surplus, limiting oil's gains Goldman Sachs now forecasts that Brent and WTI could be at $62 and $58 a barrel respectively by December 2025 and $55 and $51 by December 2026. Morgan Stanley lowered price forecasts for Brent crude by $5 a barrel to $65 for the second quarter, $62.50 for the third quarter and $62.50 for the fourth. According to Gyan Ranjan Singh, Commodity Analyst, Choice Broking, “Recently, the price of crude oil on the MCX fell to a four-year low, breaking through a significant long-term support level. The technical situation is now negative with a descending triangle breakdown and the price trading below all significant weekly moving averages," said Ranjan Singh.Although the oversold zone raises the prospect of a brief recovery, a rise in volume during the breakdown and an RSI reading close to 21 indicate a strong bearish sentiment. According to Singh, the next crucial level is at 4,666, and the 4,870–4,800 area provides immediate support.According to Rahul Kalantri, VP of Commodities, Mehta Equities, the escalating trade war has fuelled global recession fears dragging equity markets and oil prices. With inflation risks and demand destruction looming large, oil remains under pressure, caught in the crossfire of a global trade war. “We expect crude oil prices to remain volatile. Crude oil has support at $56.50-55.40 and resistance at $58.90-60.00. In INR, crude oil has support at ₹5,080-4,950 while resistance is at ₹5,360-5,450,” said Kalantri.
Global Oil Prices Plummet Amid Intensifying Trade War And Supply Concerns -- Global oil prices have fallen to their lowest levels in over four years, driven by escalating trade tensions and fears of a global economic slowdown. Brent crude dropped by 3.79% to $60.44 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate declined by 4.13% to $57.12, marking their lowest points since February 2021. This decline follows the United States' implementation of 104% tariffs on Chinese imports, after Beijing maintained its 34% retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods. The escalating tit-for-tat measures have dampened hopes for a swift resolution, raising concerns about a deepening global recession and diminishing energy demand. Compounding the situation, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies plan to increase output by 411,000 barrels per day in May, potentially leading to a supply surplus. Analysts warn that this move could further destabilize the market. Despite a slight easing from a 1.1 million-barrel decrease in U.S. crude inventories, overall sentiment remains bearish. Goldman Sachs forecasts further declines in oil prices through 2025 and 2026. Additionally, Russia's ESPO Blend oil has, for the first time, dropped below the $60 Western price cap, underlining the global pressure on oil markets.In Canada, oil and gas executives are adopting a cautious approach in response to the price slump. Doug Bartole, CEO of InPlay Oil, indicated that while immediate cutbacks in production or spending are not planned, sustained low prices, especially around $50 per barrel, could prompt strategic reassessments. InPlay recently completed a C$321 million acquisition of Alberta oil assets from Obsidian Energy, despite market uncertainties. Analysts from ATB Capital Markets have downgraded InPlay's share target based on current low WTI price levels. Economist Peter Tertzakian noted that while major oil sands companies can sustain lower prices, smaller firms may need to adjust capital expenditures if the price slump continues. Meanwhile, Birchcliff Energy CEO Chris Carlsen highlighted a potential benefit for natural gas producers, as reduced oil drilling may decrease associated gas output, potentially tightening supply.The sharp decline in oil prices poses significant challenges for Saudi Arabia's ambitious Vision 2030 megaprojects, including the futuristic Neom city. Oil remains the backbone of the kingdom's economy, despite efforts to diversify. With Brent crude recently falling to $62 a barrel and forecasts suggesting further declines due to global economic instability and increased OPEC+ output, the country faces a budget deficit and reduced oil-derived income. Saudi Aramco's anticipated dividends have dropped significantly, compounding financial pressures. Analysts expect the government may scale back or delay lower-priority projects, focus on key investments like global events, or increase borrowing and taxation. Notably, plans for“The Line” have reportedly been reduced to a 1.5-mile stretch associated with the 2034 FIFA World Cup. Despite reassurances from Saudi officials, concerns persist that the ambitious Neom development, championed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, may need to be downsized unless oil revenues recover.The U.S. administration's tariff policies have been a significant factor in the market's volatility. While some argue that the tariffs, impacting about 1% of the $28 trillion U.S. economy, are intended to shift global trade dynamics in favor of the United States and counter countries like China, others believe that the market's reaction has been exaggerated. Despite the uproar, these tariffs would channel approximately $300 billion annually to the U.S. Treasury. Critics argue that the U.S., while the world's largest importer, has a relatively low import-to-GDP ratio compared to other countries. They contend that China has more to lose in a trade war due to its export-reliant economy and employment structure. American public sentiment appears cautiously supportive of fair trade measures, especially against perceived Chinese industrial subsidies. Some suggest that markets should adopt a wait-and-see approach rather than panicking, likening the administration's stance to the backlash faced by UK Prime Minister Liz Truss over her economic reform attempts, suggesting a resistance to market-driven pressure.Falling oil prices, encouraged by policies aimed at reducing regulatory burdens, may bring lower gasoline costs but also discourage new oil production due to unprofitable pricing levels and economic uncertainty. Efforts to stimulate future energy production, such as expanding drilling access and reviving coal via executive order, are counterbalanced by cautious industry investment amidst global trade tensions. Additionally, March 2025 was the second-warmest on record globally, with Arctic sea ice hitting a near half-century low, continuing a concerning trend of climate anomalies.
WTI Extends Losses After Crude Inventory Build; US Production Dropped - Oil prices fell to fresh four-year lows early on Wednesday on expectations economies will slump as China, Canada and the European Union push back against tariffs imposed by Trump, but are off the lows ahead of the official inventory and supply data. "Crude prices slumped to a four-year low with focus squarely on the escalating global trade war and its potential negative impact on growth and demand for energy," Saxo Bank noted. A mixed bag from API overnight (small crude draw) is being overwhelmed by the global geopolitical picture being adjusted by Trump. API
- Crude: -1.057M
- Cushing: +0.636M
- Gasoline: +0.207M
- Distillates: -1.844M
DOE
- Crude: +2.55mm (+2.6mm exp)
- Cushing: +681k
- Gasoline: -1.60mm
- Distillates: -3.55mm
US crude stocks rose for the second week in a row (along with inventories at the Cushing Hub). Products saw drawdowns... The Trump admin added 276k barrels to the SPR last week... US Crude production slipped notably last week WTI is trading lower after the print... Graphs Source: Bloomberg. The shape of the oil futures curve is rapidly shifting into contango - a fresh sign that traders are hastily dialing back their expectations for global demand this year. “The contango implies deteriorating demand perspectives,” said Tamas Varga an analyst at brokerage PVM Oil Associates Ltd. “Evidence of worsening Chinese oil demand growth will put immense pressure on the front-end.” Finally, there is a potential silver for Main Street as crude prices have collapsed, so gasoline prices at the pump are set to follow...
The Market Bounced Off Four-Year Lows, Breaking a Losing Streak - The oil market on Wednesday posted an outside trading day, with a trading range of over $7.80. The market bounced off four-year lows earlier in the session and ended the session up 4.65%, breaking a four day losing streak, in light of the ever changing Trump administration tariff policies. The market sold off sharply in overnight trading, posting a low of $55.12 early in the morning as tariffs on dozens of nations went into effect on Wednesday morning and China announced additional tariffs on U.S. goods, imposing 84% tariffs starting Thursday, in retaliation against President Trump’s tariff policy which increased its duties on Chinese goods by a further 50% to 104%. The market later retraced some of its losses and traded mostly sideways within a range from $56-$58 before it rallied sharply higher. It retraced almost 50% of its move from a high of $72.28 to today’s low of $55.12 as it posted a high of $62.93 after President Trump announced a pause in the new tariffs for 90 days to non-retaliating countries as he raised the tariffs further on Chinese imports to 125%. The May WTI settled up $2.77 at $62.35 and the June Brent contract settled up $2.66 at $65.48. The product markets settled sharply higher, with the heating oil market settling up 5.66 cents at $2.1136 and the RB market settling up 4.7 cents at $2.0384. U.S. President Donald Trump said he would pause many of his new tariffs for 90 days, as he raised them further on imports from China. He said he would raise the tariff on Chinese imports to 125% from the 104% level that took effect at midnight, further escalating a high stakes confrontation between the world’s two largest economies. He said he authorized a 90-day pause to non-retaliating nations to allow time for U.S. officials to negotiate with countries that have sought to reduce them. The White House said a 10% blanket duty on almost all U.S. imports will remain in place.China’s Finance Ministry said the country will impose 84% tariffs on U.S. goods starting Thursday, up from the 34% previously announced, firing back in a global trade war sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump. China also imposed restrictions on 18 U.S. companies, mostly in defense-related industries, adding to the 60 or so American firms punished over Trump’s tariffs. The move comes after Trump made good on his threat to impose an additional 50% tariff on China unless it withdrew its retaliatory levies on the United States, taking total new U.S. duties on Chinese goods this year to 104%.The EIA reported that total U.S. distillate fuel oil stocks fell last week to 111.08 million barrels, the lowest level since November 2023. Distillate fuel inventories fell by 3.54 million barrels in the week ending April 4th, the largest decline since the end of January.IIR Energy said U.S. oil refiners are expected to shut in about 1.7 million bpd of capacity in the week ending April 11th, increasing available refining capacity by 59,000 bpd. Offline capacity is expected to fall to 1.47 million bpd in the week ending April 18th. The owner of the Keystone Pipeline, South Bow Corp, issued a force majeure notice to companies that ship oil on the pipeline after a leak in North Dakota on Tuesday released an estimated 3,500 barrels. According to the notice, Keystone pipeline, which transports more than 620,000 bpd, may not be able to meet obligations to send oil down the pipeline as of 5 p.m. Tuesday
Latest Trade War Shot Sends Oil Prices Lower Crude oil prices resumed their downward trajectory today after jumping higher on news that most trading partners would get a 90-day pause on tariffs. President Trump’s decision to double down on his tariff offensive against China, raising the total tariff burden on Chinese goods to 125%, effective immediately, has added to bearish sentiment. The move followed China’s announcement of 84% tariffs on U.S. goods in response to Trump’s initial tariffs. Beijing has said it would “fight to the end”. Amid these developments, Brent crude was trading at $64.70 per barrel at the time of writing, with West Texas Intermediate at $61.71 per barrel. According to analysts, the tariff spat between China and the United States has created excessive uncertainty on oil markets, although it might be more accurate to say that what it has created is quite a bit of certainty that the tariffs will disrupt demand and flows. “We may expect oil prices to resume its broader downward trend once the optimism around the recent tariff reprieve fades,” IG analyst Yeap Jun Rong told Reuters. “Demand-side headwinds persist, with China's growth outlook at risk from the ongoing tit-for-tat,” he added. While Washington keeps cranking up the pressure on China, the rest of the world got a 90-day break on tariffs. Media demonstrated surprise with President Trump’s decision to announce a three-month pause, citing governments’ willingness to negotiate new trade deals, even though it was exactly the same move he made with Canada and Mexico earlier in the year. This was not enough to reverse oil’s slide, however, because of China’s status as the biggest importer of crude in the world and the second-biggest consumer, after the United States. Chances are the decline will continue, although it might slow down a little while traders digest the implications of the trade war in the coming days. In the U.S. oil patch, concern is growing already as WTI dipped below $60 per barrel earlier in the week. This is below the breakeven level for many producers, and even larger ones with lower costs may have to curb spending in shareholder return plans, according to analysts.
The Markets Reassessed the Details of a Planned Reprieve - The oil market on Thursday erased Wednesday’s sharp gains as the markets reassessed the details of a planned reprieve in the sweeping U.S. tariffs and turned its focus on the escalating U.S.-China trade war. The market rallied to a high of $63.34 on the opening but quickly began to erase some of the gains seen during Wednesday’s trading session following the announcement of a 90-day pause, which excluded China, whose tariffs were increased to 145% from 104%, deepening a trade standoff with the world’s second-largest economy. The crude market erased more than 50% of its move from Wednesday’s low of $55.12 to Thursday’s high of $63.34 as it sold off to a low of $58.76 by mid-morning as the market remained concerned about a possible recession. The market later retraced some of its losses and remained in a sideways trading range. The May WTI contract settled down $2.28 at $60.07 and the June Brent contract settled down $2.15 at $63.33. The product markets also settled in negative territory, with the heating oil market settling down 6.72 cents at $2.0464 and the RB market settling down 7.71 cents at $1.9613. In its Short Term Energy Outlook, the EIA reported that it sees 2025 world oil demand at 103.6 million bpd, down from a previous forecast of 104.1 million bpd and sees 2026 world oil demand increasing by 1.1 million bpd on the year to at 104.7 million bpd, down from a previous forecast of 105.3 million bpd. World oil output in 2025 is forecast at 104.1 million bpd, down 100,000 bpd from a previous forecast, while output in 2026 is forecast to increase by 1.2 million bpd to 105.3 million bpd, which is down from a previous forecast of 105.8 million bpd. U.S. oil output in 2025 is forecast total 13.51 million bpd, down 100,000 bpd from a previous forecast, while output in 2026 is estimated at 13.56 million bpd, down 200,000 bpd from a previous forecast. The EIA sees U.S. oil demand in 2025 at 20.4 million bpd, down 100,000 bpd from a previous forecast and demand in 2026 is seen at 20.5 million bpd, down 100,000 from a previous estimate. The EIA sees the 2025 Brent price at $67.87/barrel, down from a previous forecast of $74.22/barrel and the 2026 Brent price forecast is $61.48/barrel, down from a previous forecast of $68.47/barrel. The EIA forecast a 2025 WTI price of $63.88/barrel, down from a previous estimate of $70.68/barrel and forecast a 2026 WTI price of $57.48/barrel, down from a previous forecast of $64.97/barrel.China’s Foreign Ministry said China is not interested in a fight but will not fear if the United States continues its tariff threats. The foreign ministry’s spokesperson, Lin Jian, said “The U.S. cause doesn’t win the support of the people and will end in failure.” Meanwhile, China’s Commerce Ministry said that China is open to dialogue with the U.S. but this must be on the basis of mutual respect and equality.European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, said the European Union will pause its first countermeasures against U.S. tariffs after President Donald Trump temporarily lowered the duties he had just imposed on dozens of countries.The Trump administration’s high pressure campaign to deal with Iran’s nuclear program has put U.S. allies in the Middle East on edge that failure at the negotiating table could spark another war. U.S. President Donald Trump said he prefers a diplomatic solution to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon but he has threatened that Iran is “going to be in great danger” if talks do not go well. President Trump’s special envoy for Middle East and Russia issues, Steve Witkoff, is expected to talk with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Oman on Saturday.
Oil settles down over 3% as investors reassess Trump's tariff flip (Reuters) - Oil prices settled more than $2 per barrel lower on Thursday, wiping out the last session's rally, as investors reassessed a planned pause in sweeping U.S. tariffs and focus shifted to a deepening trade war between Washington and Beijing. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell $2.28, or 3.7%, to settle at $60.07 per barrel. Brent crude futures fell $2.15, or 3.3%, to $63.33 a barrel. Both contracts had gained more than $2 a barrel on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump paused the heavy tariffs he had announced against dozens of U.S. trading partners a week ago, marking an abrupt U-turn less than 24 hours after the levies took effect. At the same time, however, Trump also raised tariffs against China. U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports now total 145%, the White House told media on Thursday. China announced an additional import levy on U.S. goods, imposing an 84% tariff. Higher tariffs against China are likely to prompt lower U.S. crude imports by Beijing, backing up supply and raising U.S. storage levels, trading advisory firm Ritterbusch and Associates told clients on Thursday. U.S. crude oil exports to China fell to 112,000 barrels per day (bpd) in March, nearly half of last year's 190,000 bpd, data from vessel tracker Kpler showed. "If these trade disputes continue much longer, it's likely global economics will suffer significant economic damage," said Henry Hoffman, co-portfolio manager of the Catalyst Energy Infrastructure Fund. U.S. crude stockpiles rose by 2.6 million barrels last week, government data showed on Wednesday, almost double the increase of 1.4 million barrels analysts projected in a Reuters poll. Macquarie analysts said on Thursday that they expect another build this week. The United States is also moving ahead with a 10% levy on all of its imports. The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Thursday lowered its global economic growth forecasts and warned that tariffs could weigh heavily on oil prices, as it slashed its U.S. and global oil demand forecasts for this year and next. "The tariff-driven expectation of reduced demand amid the continued possibility of a U.S. recession will remain front and center of trader concerns in likely keeping a lid on near-term price gains,"
Oil Prices Drop as China Retaliates With 125% Tariff on U.S. Goods China hit back at the U.S. tariffs by raising on Friday the Chinese tariff on U.S. goods to 125% from 84% earlier, escalating the U.S.-China standoff. “The U.S. imposition of abnormally high tariffs on China seriously violates international and economic trade rules, basic economic laws and common sense and is completely unilateral bullying and coercion,” China’s Finance Ministry said in a statement. Oil prices, which had been climbing before China's announcement, dropped in response to the news. At the time of writing, both WTI and Brent were in the red at $59.91 and $63.16, respectively. U.S. President Donald Trump backed down earlier this week from a full-blown trade war with the entire world and announced a 90-day pause in the planned tariffs on all countries. However, China remained in the crosshairs of the Trump Administration, which continued to impose higher and higher tariffs on imports from China. The U.S. Administration had signaled that countries would be “rewarded” if they did not retaliate. On Friday, China retaliated and hiked its tariff to 125% for U.S. goods. “Even if the U.S. continues to impose higher tariffs, it will no longer make economic sense and will become a joke in the history of world economy,” according to a CNBC translation of a statement from the Customs Tariff Commission of the Chinese State Council. While equity markets took a breather with a short-lived relief rally after the 90-day tariff pause, oil prices continued to be hammered by the U.S.-China trade and tariff tit-for-tat as investors fear economic downturns would dent demand for oil. Early on Friday in Asian trade, crude oil prices were on track to book their second consecutive weekly loss as markets reel from President Trump’s tariff offensive. “While the pause offers some relief to markets, there’s still plenty of uncertainty on the trade front,” ING commodity analysts Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote in a note on Thursday. “This uncertainty is still likely to drag on global growth, which is clearly a concern for oil demand. Still, conditions are not looking as bad as they were just a few days ago.”
Brent, WTI prices climb more $1 on possible Iran crude restriction (Reuters) - Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude climbed more than $1 on Friday after U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the United States could end Iran's oil exports as part of an effort to bring the Islamic Republic to terms over its nuclear program. Brent crude futures settled at $64.76 a barrel, up $1.43, or 2.26%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude finished at $61.50 a barrel, up $1.43 or 2.38%. Sign up here. "Strict enforcement of restrictions on Iranian crude exports would reduce global supply," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. "I suspect China will continue to buy oil from Iran." Wright's comments provided upward momentum for oil prices, following volatile price swings this week as U.S. President Donald Trump's new tariff regime forced traders to reassess the geopolitical risks facing the crude market. "The U.S. being a geopolitical risk is new for the market," said John Kilduff, partner with Again Capital. "We'll have this reordering of the chessboard like we did after Russia invaded Ukraine." China announced on Friday it will impose a 125% tariff on U.S. goods starting on Saturday, up from the previously announced 84%, after Trump raised tariffs against China to 145% on Thursday. Trump this week paused heavy tariffs against dozens of other trading partners, but a prolonged dispute between the world's two biggest economies is likely to reduce global trade volumes and disrupt trading routes, weighing on global economic growth and reducing demand for oil. "Although the implementation of some tariffs, excluding those on China, was delayed by 90 days, the market damage had already been inflicted, leaving prices struggling to regain stability," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank. The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Thursday lowered its global economic growth forecasts and warned that tariffs could weigh heavily on oil prices. It reduced its U.S. and global oil demand forecasts for this year and next year. China's 2025 economic growth is expected to fall relative to last year's pace, a Reuters poll showed, as U.S. tariffs raise pressure on the world's top oil importer. The impact of tariffs could be "catastrophic" for developing countries, the director of the United Nations' trade agency said. ANZ Bank analysts forecast oil consumption will decline by 1% if global economic growth falls below 3%, said senior commodity strategist Daniel Hynes.
Israel's Innocent Oopsie-Poopsie Medical Massacre Mistake -- Caitlin Johnstone -The Israeli military has changed its story about why its forces killed 15 medical workers and then buried them and their vehicles to hide the evidence. After their initial claim that the medical vehicles were approaching “suspiciously” without their emergency lights on was disproven by video evidence, they are now calling the whole thing a big mistake.Sure, who among us has not accidentally massacred 15 medical workers and buried them and their vehicles in a shallow grave from time to time? We’re only human, mistakes happen.Asked by the press about Israel’s latest war crime scandal, White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes blamed the whole thing on Hamas, saying, “Hamas uses ambulances and more broadly human shields for terrorism. President Trump understands the impossible situation this tactic creates for Israel and holds Hamas entirely responsible.”Netanyahu could live stream himself eating a Palestinian baby and telling the camera “I am eating this baby because I love genocide,” and the next day Trump’s podium people would be responding to questions from the press by shrieking “HAMAS!” with their fingers in their ears.To be helpful I have written some headlines the western press can use to frame Israel executing 15 medical workers in the most positive light possible:
- “Fifteen medical workers pause rescue duties following bullet-related incident”
- “Rescue workers, vehicles found in shallow grave after perishing for mysterious and unknowable reasons”
- “Israeli forces appear to be suspected of possibly accidentally firing on ambulance staff by mistake, perchance”
- “Medical workers killed by IDF, says Hamas-affiliated United Nations”
- “IDF assists medical workers in locating scene of latest massacre in Gaza”
- “Jews in New York City feeling unsafe, unsupported in wake of latest Israel controversy”
- “IDF to launch investigation into alleged IDF oopsie-poopsie in Gaza”
- “The universe is an ineffable mystery; objectivity is a myth and our finite primate brains were not evolved to comprehend any ultimate truths about absolute reality in its naked form”
- “Gunshots heard in the Middle East. A flashing siren. Innocence no more.”
- “IDF hunted and slaughtered 15 healthcare workers and buried them and their vehicles to try to cover it up, please don’t fire me, that’s what happened, I’m just trying to do my job”
Israel To Turn Gaza’s Rafah Into a ‘Buffer Zone,’ May Completely Wipe Out the City - The Israeli military is preparing to bring the southern Gaza city of Rafah into its so-called “buffer zone” it has established along Gaza’s border with Israel, Haaretz reported on Wednesday. In the buffer zone areas, the Israeli military has demolished virtually every building and destroyed agricultural land to make the area uninhabitable. The Haaretz report said that similar destruction could happen in Rafah,which has already been left in ruin due to Israeli attacks, but it hasn’t been decided yet.The Haaretz report reads: “According to defense sources, it has yet to be decided whether the entire area will simply be designated a buffer zone that is off-limits to civilians – as has been done in other parts of the border area – or whether the area will be fully cleared and all buildings demolished, effectively wiping out the city of Rafah.”The Israeli military has a policy in its buffer zone and other areas it has said are off limits to Palestinians of shooting anyone who approaches the area even if they’re unarmed. An IDF soldier who spoke to The Associated Press said if a person came within 500 meters of tanks deployed in the buffer zone, they would be shot, including women and children.The Israeli military has ramped up its seizure of land in Gaza since restarting its genocidal war on March 18 and now controls more than 50% of the Palestinian territory, which includes the buffer zone around the border and the Netzarim Corridor, which separates northern Gaza from the rest of the Strip.According to Haaretz, the Rafah Governorate by itself accounts for about one-fifth of Gaza’s territory. The IDF has been working to establish a corridor between Rafah and the city of Khan Younis, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dubbed the “Morag axis,” using the name of a Jewish settlement that was located in the area before the 2005 “disengagement.”The Haaretz report said that turning Rafah into a buffer zone was meant to put pressure on Hamas, but it also aligns with Netanyahu’s long-term goal of a full Israeli military occupation of Gaza and the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian population.
No comments:
Post a Comment