Federal judge: Trump ignoring rule of law for ‘political or personal gain'
U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour offered his commentary while becoming the second federal judge in two days to issue a nationwide injunction that blocks the Trump administration from moving forward on an executive order aimed at curbing birthright citizenship.
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Yahoo
5 minutes ago
- Yahoo
FACT FOCUS: Trump says he's cut drug prices by up to 1,500%. That's not possible
Days after he sent letters instructing top pharmaceutical manufacturers to use a 'most favored nation' pricing model for prescription drugs, President Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday that he had cut costs by up to 1,500%. But Trump's grandiose claim is mathematically impossible. Here's a closer look at the facts. TRUMP: "You know, we've cut drug prices by 1,200, 1,300, 1,400, 1,500%. I don't mean 50%, I mean 14 — 1,500%.' THE FACTS: This is false. Cutting drug prices by more than 100% would theoretically mean that people are being paid to take medications. The Trump administration has taken steps to lower prescription drug prices, but experts say there's no indication costs have seen such a massive drop. Geoffrey Joyce, director of health policy at the University of Southern California's Schaeffer Center, called Trump's claim 'total fiction' made up by the Republican president. He agreed that it would amount to drug companies paying customers, rather than the other way around. 'I find it really difficult to translate those numbers into some actual estimates that patients would see at the pharmacy counter,' said Mariana Socal, an associate professor of health policy and management at Johns Hopkins University who studies the U.S. pharmaceutical market. She added that Trump's math is 'really hard to follow.' Asked what Trump was using to back up his claim, White House spokesman Kush Desai said: 'It's an objective fact that Americans are paying exponentially more for the same exact drugs as people in other developed countries pay, and it's an objective fact that no other Administration has done more to rectify this unfair burden for the American people.' The White House provided a chart of price differentials for drugs in the U.S. and comparable countries, but did not offer any other evidence. On Sunday, Trump also described cuts to drug prices as a future development, not that already happened. 'So we'll be dropping drug prices,' he said. 'It will start over the next two to three months by 1,200, 1,300 and even 1,400%.' Prices for most prescription drugs — unbranded generics are the exception — are higher in the U.S. than they are in other high-income countries. This is in large part due to the way drug prices are negotiated in the United States. Trump made his recent appeal in letters to 17 pharmaceutical manufacturers, the White House announced last week. He asked them to reduce costs in the U.S. by matching the lowest prices of prescriptions drugs in other comparably developed countries. Some drugmakers have since indicated that they are open to cutting costs. This move follows an executive order Trump signed in May setting a 30-day deadline for drugmakers to electively lower prices in the U.S. or face new limits in the future over what the government will pay. The federal government has the most power to shape the price it pays for drugs covered by Medicare and Medicaid. It's unclear what — if any — impact the Trump administration's efforts will have on millions of Americans who have private health insurance. Socal pointed out that if drug manufacturers had cut costs to the extent Trump claims, they would be shouting it from the rooftops, especially given the heat they've taken over the years for their pricing practices. 'My expectation would be that they would make announcements — public announcements — and that those announcements would come way in advance of the actual effective dates when those price cuts would come into effect,' she said. Joyce agreed that there has been no indication of a substantial cut. 'Not at all, not at all, none whatsoever,' he said. 'And let alone 1,500.' ___ Find AP Fact Checks here:
Business Wire
6 minutes ago
- Business Wire
L3Harris Expanding Huntsville Solid Rocket Motor Facility, Poised for Further Growth
HUNTSVILLE, Ala.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) hosted local and state leaders and customers today to showcase its newest Solid Rocket Motor (SRM) production facility known as Advanced Manufacturing Facility – South (AMF-South). The site, the size of more than six football fields, is designed and equipped to support surging production demands and emerging missile defense needs, including President Donald Trump's Golden Dome. 'Solid rocket motors remain essential to the vast majority of critical defense programs that protect our communities, military and allies,' said Ken Bedingfield, President, Aerojet Rocketdyne, L3Harris. 'Our growth in Huntsville represents another significant investment we are making to boost production capacity of critical components, and we're proud that they are being made in Alabama.' AMF-South features 379,000 square feet of space and specializes in manufacturing inert SRM components like nozzles, exit cones, aft closures and cases. L3Harris invested more than $20 million in renovations to support the facility, which is designed to be scalable, efficient and highly flexible. AMF-South features equipment like hydraulic presses, autoclaves, tape-wrap systems and composite machining that will help deliver high-quality inert components faster and with greater precision. The company's Title III Defense Production Act cooperative agreement with the Department of Defense helped to fund additional equipment and tooling purchases. AMF-South is currently supporting programs such as the Standard Missile, Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System and Javelin, with plans to support additional programs. Expansion efforts have already resulted in approximately 40 new jobs for the area, and the company expects to create more than 100 additional jobs to support operations at the site over the next few years. 'L3Harris' continued growth in Huntsville is a testament to Alabama's leadership in defense and aerospace innovation,' said Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey. 'The opening of this advanced manufacturing facility strengthens our state's role in supporting critical national security programs and brings high-quality jobs to North Alabama. I commend L3Harris for its commitment to investing in our workforce and fueling the next chapter of growth in the Rocket City.' 'This state-of-the-art defense manufacturing facility, spanning an impressive area equivalent to 6.5 football fields, is a testament to our state's commitment to innovation and progress to support our warfighters,' said Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala. 'L3Harris' ongoing expansion is not only creating jobs but also reinforcing Huntsville as a leader in advanced manufacturing. I look forward to the incredible opportunities this facility will bring to Huntsville and the state of Alabama.' 'I am proud to see L3Harris expanding its solid rocket motor production right here in North Alabama,' said Rep. Dale Strong, R-Ala. 'This investment not only strengthens our region's role in supporting critical defense programs but also creates high-quality jobs for our residents. I look forward to seeing this facility grow and thrive in the years ahead as it drives innovation to help keep our nation safe.' 'Huntsville's dynamic business climate is centered on workforce and technology, and this L3Harris state-of-the-art Advanced Manufacturing Facility is at the intersection of those priorities,' said Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle. 'With this new facility, L3Harris will continue its commitment to innovation and excellence by developing the latest technologies in inert manufacturing for solid rocket motors to support critical defense programs designed to protect our nation. Congratulations, and thank you for being an excellent community partner.' L3Harris' expanded AMF-South facility complements the existing 136,000-square-foot Advanced Manufacturing Facility – North in Huntsville, which opened in 2019. About L3Harris Technologies L3Harris Technologies is the Trusted Disruptor in the defense industry. With customers' mission-critical needs always in mind, our employees deliver end-to-end technology solutions connecting the space, air, land, sea and cyber domains in the interest of national security. Visit for more information. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect management's current expectations, assumptions and estimates of future performance and economic conditions. Such statements are made in reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results and future trends to differ materially from those matters expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Statements about job creation are forward-looking and involve risks and uncertainties. L3Harris disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Politico
8 minutes ago
- Politico
The DOGE project that's still going strong
Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook: Remaking Government, your guide to Donald Trump's unprecedented overhaul of the federal government — the key decisions, the critical characters and the power dynamics that are upending Washington and beyond. Send tips | Subscribe | Email Sophia | Email Irie | Email Ben Even as the influence of DOGE wanes across Washington, at least one initiative from the once-feared project is thriving. The effort to digitize the federal government's paper-based retirement system, led by DOGE member and Airbnb co-founder JOE GEBBIA, is progressing steadily ahead of what is expected to be an unusually busy season. Unlike many of DOGE's controversial initiatives, this one is widely supported across President DONALD TRUMP's administration. That's thanks to both an impending flood of retirement applications and the absurdity of the current system, which relies in large part on Iron Mountain, a decommissioned limestone mine in western Pennsylvania, to store records. 'Gebbia carries a lot of clout,' said one official close to DOGE, granted anonymity to speak candidly. The need for modernization is unquestioned. Roughly 100,000 federal workers retire every year, and their forms are largely stored on paper in the vast mine located roughly an hour outside Pittsburgh. And this is unlikely to be a typical year. The Office of Personnel Management is bracing for a surge in retirements at the end of the year from the crush of federal employees who have opted into the administration's Voluntary Early Retirement and deferred resignation programs. OPM on July 15 stopped accepting paper applications and launched the third iteration of its Online Retirement Application system, which is replacing the Government Benefits Platform. The push is led by a small coalition of DOGE members and civil servants based at OPM. Alongside Gebbia, the group includes DOGE veterans AKASH BOBBA and JAMIE SULLIVAN, OPM Director SCOTT KUPOR, and a pair of former Airbnb engineers — YAT CHOI and ANDREW VILCSAK — who joined over the summer, according to agency records viewed by West Wing Playbook. They've worked hand-in-hand with longtime OPM career staff like KIMYA LEE and human resources officials from the IRS. 'We started with low-hanging fruit including the automation of the retirement application process, the calculation of basic retirement annuities, and with the capability to support digital signatures on a subset of retirement-related documents,' former OPM Chief Technology Officer AL HIMLER, who left government earlier this year, wrote in a blog post last month. 'The team at OPM have been working tirelessly to take the federal retirement system digital,' Kupor said in a statement. 'Success will be for nearly all federal employees to self retire in a matter of seconds as opposed to the antiquated process that can take several months if not years to complete.' Gebbia's presence, in particular, has helped inoculate the project from the political drama that stymied other DOGE efforts. Unlike STEVE DAVIS, the former DOGE lead who tried to stay past his welcome and had a falling out with senior White House officials as a result, Gebbia has maintained a low profile inside government. 'Joe's got a name that's well recognized, and the work that he's doing is not political,' said a person familiar with DOGE, also granted anonymity to speak freely. That wasn't always obvious. When Gebbia joined DOGE in February while the group was slashing and burning its way through federal agencies, Airbnb moved quickly to distance itself from its co-founder. 'Joe is joining DOGE in his personal capacity,' CHRISTOPHER NULTY, Airbnb's head of corporate communications, told Skift,a travel news site. 'His personal views don't reflect the views of Airbnb or Though Gebbia was a longtime Democratic donor, he says he 'voted Republican' in 2024. He embraced the Make America Healthy Again movement, including Trump's revival of the Presidential Fitness Test and HHS Secretary ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.'s plans to overhaul the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. He's also shown flashes of the pugnacious tone that has become a DOGE trademark. 'At this point anyone still taking time out of their life to protest @DOGE and name call using the third reich has outed themselves as having an actual disorder,' Gebbia posted on X last week. Elsewhere in the Trump administration, the DOGE effort to negotiate better rates for the federal government by forming direct relationships with IT manufacturers is also moving forward. That project, dubbed 'OneGov,' is being led by OG DOGE members JOSH GRUENBAUM, head of the General Services Administration's Federal Acquisition Service, and STEPHEN EHIKIAN, deputy acting administrator of GSA. MESSAGE US — West Wing Playbook is obsessively covering the Trump administration's reshaping of the federal government. Are you a federal worker? A DOGE staffer? Have you picked up on any upcoming DOGE moves? We want to hear from you on how this is playing out. Email us at westwingtips@ Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe! POTUS PUZZLER Who was the only U.S. president to never marry? (Answer at bottom.) Agenda Setting (NOT) TO INFINITY AND BEYOND: The Trump administration wants to end two major satellite missions that collect data on carbon dioxide and crop health, which is used by scientists, farmers and oil and gas companies, according to current and former NASA staffers, NPR's REBECCA HERSHER reports. Administration officials asked NASA to draw up plans to end the programs, which are the only two federal satellite missions designed specifically to monitor greenhouse gases. The missions, known as the Orbiting Carbon Observatories, are made up of two satellites. One is attached to the International Space Station, while the other is a stand-alone satellite that would burn up in the atmosphere if terminated. NASA did not return NPR's request for comment. LUNAR NUCLEAR REACTOR: NASA, in a sign of the space agency's shifting priorities, is speeding up plans to replace the International Space Station and build a lunar nuclear reactor to compete with China in space, our SAM SKOVE reports. The space station directive aims to replace the aging, leaky International Space Station with commercially run ones by changing how the agency awards contracts. The nuclear reactor order directs the agency to start work on a means to power a lunar station. The plans align with the Trump administration's focus on human spaceflight. The White House has proposed a budget that would increase human spaceflight funds for 2026, even as it advocates for major cuts in other programs, including a nearly 50 percent cut for science missions. DOGE-WHAT? Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS earlier today threw his support behind a movement calling for his state's version of DOGE to be renamed the Florida Agency for Fiscal Oversight — or FAFO. Florida CFO BLAISE INGOGLIA rolled out the new name this weekend to a rave reception, our KIMBERLY LEONARD reports. HOLD PLEASE: GOP Sens. CHUCK GRASSLEY of Iowa and JOHN CURTIS of Utah are holding up three of Trump's Treasury nominees over the implementation of the Republican megabill's renewable energy tax provisions, our KELSEY TAMBORRINO and JOSH SIEGEL report. A handful of Senate Republicans have been trying to meet with administration officials over forthcoming guidance that will determine the phase-out timing of the tax credits and wind and solar power. They are concerned that an aggressive timeline would strangle pending projects. The White House and Treasury Department did not immediately provide comment. WHERE TRUMP AND BIDEN AGREE: The Trump administration said today it will defend a Biden-era rule requiring that nearly all lead pipes be removed from the country's drinking water systems within a decade, our ANNIE SNIDER reports. The Trump administration made lead contamination a major focus at EPA during his first term and issued its own update to the regulation governing it in drinking water systems. But that rule did not require lead lines to be removed unless they were leaching the contaminant into tap water at elevated levels. The Biden-era rule was issued in the administration's waning months and was eligible for expedited repeal by lawmakers under the Congressional Review Act. While legislation to do so was filed by Republican lawmakers, GOP leaders opted not to take it up. Musk Radar CHA-CHING: Former DOGE leader ELON MUSK today was awarded 96 million shares of Tesla, worth about $29 billion, CNBC's CHRIS EUDAILY and LORA KOLODNY report. The car maker said the sum will vest in two years so long as he remains as CEO or in another senior executive position. The deal would be void if a pending legal battle over Musk's 2018 compensation ends with him being able to capture a larger, $56 billion, pay package. SPEAKING OF MUSK MONEY: Building America's Future, a dark-money group that has been supported by Musk, is spending more than $1 million dollars to promote recent White House wins, including the GOP megabill that Musk once called 'a disgusting abomination.' A 30-second ad due to run on Fox News will congratulate Trump on the bill's passage. The Oval PAY THE MAN: Trump again threatened to raise tariffs on India over its Russian oil purchases — even as the White House has hinted for months that it was close to a trade deal with India, our GREGORY SVIRNOVSKIY reports. The move comes as Trump prepares to send his special envoy STEVE WITKOFF to Russia this week. What We're Reading Meet the former federal workers documenting their unemployment online (Axios' Mimi Montgomery) Trump's slew of federal layoffs is benefitting at least one industry (POLITICO's Michael Schaffer) POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER The 15th president, JAMES BUCHANAN, was the only president who never married.
