'Who is at fault?' Rep. Clyburn calls for investigation into Signal group chat leak
Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) joins José Díaz-Balart to share his reaction to the Signal group chat controversy, saying there should be an Inspector General investigation into the incident for the safety of Americans.
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Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
NIH scientists speak out over estimated $12 billion in Trump funding cuts
By Chad Terhune (Reuters) -Dozens of scientists, researchers and other employees at the U.S. National Institutes of Health issued a rare public rebuke Monday criticizing the Trump administration for major spending cuts that 'harm the health of Americans and people across the globe,' politicize research and 'waste public resources.' More than 60 current employees sent their letter to NIH director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and members of Congress who oversee NIH. Bhattacharya is scheduled to testify Tuesday at the U.S. Senate appropriations committee about his agency's budget. Overall, more than 340 current and recently terminated NIH employees signed the letter, about 250 of them anonymously. In their letter, NIH staff members said the agency had terminated 2,100 research grants totaling about $9.5 billion and an additional $2.6 billion in contracts since President Donald Trump took office Jan. 20. The contracts often support research, from covering equipment to nursing staff working on clinical trials. These terminations "throw away years of hard work and millions of dollars" and put patient health at risk, the letter said. NIH clinical trials "are being halted without regard to participant safety, abruptly stopping medications or leaving participants with unmonitored device implants." Officials at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees NIH, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. In prior remarks, Bhattacharya has pledged support for Kennedy's Make America Healthy Again agenda, and he has said that means focusing the federal government's "limited resources" directly on combating chronic diseases. At his Senate confirmation hearings in March, Bhattacharya said he would ensure scientists working at NIH and funded by the agency have the necessary resources to meet its mission. NIH is the world's largest public funder of biomedical research and has long enjoyed bipartisan support from U.S. lawmakers. The Trump administration has proposed cutting $18 billion, or 40%, from NIH's budget next year, which would leave the agency with $27 billion. Nearly 5,000 NIH employees and contractors have been laid off under Kennedy's restructuring of U.S. health agencies, according to NIH staff. Dr. Jenna Norton, a program director within NIH's division of kidney, urologic and hematologic diseases, was one of 69 current employees who signed the letter as of early Monday. She said speaking out publicly was worth the risk to her career and family. "I am much more worried about the risks of not speaking up," Norton said. "There are very real concerns that we're being asked to do likely illegal activities, and certainly unethical activities that breach our rules." About 20 NIH employees who were recently terminated as probationary workers or "subject to reductions in force" added their names to the letter. In the letter, Norton and other NIH employees asked Bhattacharya to restore grants that were delayed or terminated for political reasons, where officials ignored peer review to "cater to political whims." They wrote that Bhattacharya had failed to uphold his legal duty to spend congressionally appropriated funds. One program director at the NIH's National Cancer Institute, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation, said she has repeatedly been asked to cancel research grants for no valid reason and in violation of agency rules. She said she fears she could become the target of lawsuits from grantees challenging those decisions. Dr. Benjamin Feldman, a staff scientist and core director at NIH's Institute of Child Health and Human Development, said he and other researchers want to work with Bhattacharya on reversing the cuts and restoring the NIH as a "beacon for science around the world." "This is really a hit to the whole enterprise of biomedical research in the United States," Feldman said. Dr. Ian Morgan, a postdoctoral fellow at the NIH, signed the letter and said he has heard from university researchers about patients losing access to novel cancer treatments in clinical trials due to the uncertainty over NIH funding. He also worries about the long-term effect from gutting NIH's investment in basic science research that can lead to lifesaving treatments years later. The NIH employees, based in Bethesda, Maryland, named their dissent the "Bethesda Declaration," modeled after Bhattacharya's Great Barrington Declaration in 2020 that called on public health officials to roll back lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Our hope is that by modeling ourselves after the Great Barrington Declaration that maybe he'll see himself in our dissent," Norton said.
New York Post
26 minutes ago
- New York Post
Kamala Harris slammed by California sheriff for 'embarrassing' statement on LA riots
A California sheriff has ripped Kamala Harris after the former vice president blamed President Trump for starting the anti-ICE protests that are wreaking havoc in Los Angeles. 'President Trump didn't start these riots. He's not out there lighting cars on fire, hurling projectiles at law enforcement or blocking freeways,' Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said in a post on X as he shared Harris' remarks. 3 Kamala Harris blamed Donald Trump for the anti-ICE riots taking over Los Angeles. Connor Terry/ZUMA / 'This statement is an embarrassment and does nothing to diffuse the violent riots taking place across the city.' 'The Democrats and their 'leaders' own this,' he added. 3 Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco took aim at Harris on X Monday. Chad Bianco / Facebook Bianco, who is running for governor in 2026, lashed out Harris after she accused the Trump administration of 'stoking fear' by opting to deploy the National Guard to quell the violence. 'Los Angeles is my home. And like so many Americans, I am appalled at what we are witnessing on the streets of our city,' Harris said. 3 Bianco called Harris' statement an 'embarassment.' Fox News 'Deploying the National Guard is a dangerous escalation meant to provoke chaos.'
Miami Herald
33 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
New DOT rule could mean you spend $600 more on gas each year
The United States is a pretty car-dependent country, and we are also a country with a lot of cars that are not the most fuel-efficient in the world, including a substantial number of pickup trucks and large SUVs that guzzle gas. Since we do use a lot of gasoline, it's probably not surprising that the U.S. Energy Information Administration says that gas is consistently the type of energy that we devote the largest portion of our household energy spending to. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter In fact, the Consumer Expenditure survey shows that the average annual household spending on gas came in at around $2,148 per year in recent years. This is more than the amount that we're spending on natural gas, electricity, and fuel oil combined. There's no getting around the fact that you're going to have to keep putting gas in your car if you live the typical American lifestyle and aren't ready to abandon it for a walkable city and public transportation. Unfortunately, for those of us who are frequent drivers, it is entirely possible that fuel costs are going to rise. In fact, a new final rule issued by the Department of Transportation recently could mean that Americans end up spending around $600 more on gas each year than original projections suggested they would. Here's why gas spending may be higher than anticipated. The DOT action that is going to have an impact on your gas consumption came last Friday. On June 6, 2025, the DOT officially declared that Joe Biden had exceeded his authority as president when establishing fuel economy rules while in office. Specifically, under the Biden Administration, the DOT had put a rule in place that was finalized in 2024 that required manufacturers to improve fuel economy by 2% per year for passenger cars made between 2027 and 2031 and by 2% annually for SUVs and other light trucks made from 2029 to 2031. Related: New DOT rule could worsen trucker shortage, cause delivery delays Now, the DOT claims the Biden Administration did not properly exercise its authority when setting those fuel economy rules because it set them based on the assumption that there would be increased usage of electric vehicles regardless of what the emissions standards required. A statement accompanying the DOT's rule publication explained that the problem with the Biden administration's actions was that current statutory requirements prohibit the consideration of electric cars when the government establishes fuel efficiency requirements. The DOT says that the Biden Administration ignored that limitation and assumed a high number of consumers would switch to EVs. This new declaration has opened up the door for the Trump Administration to rescind the Biden standards and put in their own looser limits. When the Biden Administration established the stricter fuel efficiency standards, that rule was expected to save consumers more than $600 in gas costs each year, as well as help to fight climate change. Without those new standards going into effect, though, the $600 in savings promised by Biden's plan is not likely to materialize. Consumers will have to spend that extra money instead, since car makers are no longer going to be required to make such drastic cuts to the fuel that common vehicles use. Related: Major trucking company files Chapter 11 bankruptcy While spending $600 more per year on fuel costs doesn't sound very appealing, those who support the Trump Administration's actions believe that the order will give consumers more choice. Many car makers had their hands severely tied in trying to meet the Biden administration's standards, which would likely either force them to increase costs or to change the kinds of vehicles they were producing. They won't be subject to these rules anymore and can continue making cars that consume more gasoline, which, frankly, appear to be the cars many Americans want. "We are making vehicles more affordable and easier to manufacture in the United States. The previous administration illegally used CAFE standards as an electric vehicle mandate," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement regarding the rule change. More Economic News: Tesla, Elon Musk make drastic decision amid U.S.-China trade warMajor U.S. automaker makes harsh decision in the wake of tariff tussleTariffs will devastate this entire industry Still, those hoping car makers would have been inspired to find new ways to improve fuel efficiency may be disappointed in the fact that some key incentives that could have prompted those changes are now disappearing. Related: Veteran fund manager unveils eye-popping S&P 500 forecast The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
