Funding cuts threaten to deepen hunger crisis as rising costs send more families to food banks
NEW YORK — The Campaign Against Hunger was already struggling to feed thousands of families a week when the Trump administration pulled more than $1.3 million in grants.
Demand has only increased at the New York nonprofit since the city emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic and the related economic insecurity. In a first for the pantry, however, it isn't just the jobless lining up for its fresh produce and meats. It's working people, too.
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Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
Trump's actions in Los Angeles spur debate over deportation funds in his ‘big, beautiful' bill
'All you have to do is look at what's happening in Los Angeles to realize that our law enforcement needs all the support that we can possibly give them,' said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The focus on some $350 billion in national security funding comes as action on the massive package is lumbering along in Congress at a critical moment. Trump wants the bill on his desk by the Fourth of July. But Senate Republicans trying to heave it to passage without Democrats are also running up against objections from within their GOP ranks over the details. Advertisement At the same time, Democrats are warning that Trump's executive reach into California — sending in the National Guard over the governor's objections and calling up the Marines — is inflaming tensions in what had been isolated protests in pockets of LA. They warned the president's heavy-handed approach has the potential to spread, if unchecked, to other communities nationwide. Advertisement 'We are at a dangerous inflection point in our country,' said Rep. Jimmy Gomez, who represents the Los Angeles area. 'Trump created this political distraction to divide us and keep our focus away from his policies that are wreaking havoc on our economy and hurting working families,' he said. 'It's a deliberate attempt by Trump to incite unrest, test the limits of executive power and distract from the lawlessness of his administration.' At its core, the bill extends some $4.5 trillion in existing tax breaks that would otherwise expire at the end of the year without action in Congress, cutting some $1.4 trillion in spending over the decade to help offset costs. The Congressional Budget Office found the bill's changes to Medicaid and other programs would leave an estimated 10.9 million more people without health insurance and at least 3 million each month without food stamps from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. At the same time, CBO said the package will add some $2.4 trillion to deficits over the decade. One emerging area of concern for Republican leaders has been the bill's status before the Senate parliamentarian's office, which assesses whether the package complies with the strict rules used for legislation under the so-called budget reconciliation process. Late Monday, Republicans acknowledged potential 'red flags' coming from the parliamentarian's office that will require changes in the House bill before it can be sent to the Senate. Leaders are using the reconciliation process because it allows for simple majority passage in both chambers, were GOP majorities are razor-thin. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said Republicans are preparing to address the concerns with a vote in the House, possibly as soon as this week, to change the package. Advertisement Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer seized on the House's upcoming do-over vote as a chance for Republicans who are dissatisfied with the package to reassert their leverage and 'force the bill back to the drawing board.' 'They say they don't like parts of the bill — now is their opportunity to change it,' Schumer said. On Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance was dispatched to speak with one GOP holdout, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who has pushed for deeper spending reductions in the bill to prevent skyrocketing deficits from adding to the nation's $36 trillion debt load. Other Republican senators have raised concerns about the health care cuts. But Republicans are in agreement on border security, deportation and military funding, over the objections of Democrats who fought vigorously during the committee process to strip those provisions from the bill. The package includes about $150 billion for border security and deportation operations, including funding for hiring 10,000 new ICE officers — with what Johnson said are $10,000 hiring bonuses — as well as 3,000 new Border Patrol agents and other field operations and support staff. There's also funding for a daily detention capacity for 100,000 migrants and for flights for 1 million deportations annually. The package includes $46 billion for construction of Trump's long promised wall between the U.S.-Mexico border. Additionally, the bill includes $150 billion for the Pentagon, with $5 billion for the military deployment in support of border security, along with nearly $25 billion for Trump's 'Golden Dome' defense system over the U.S. Separately, the bill adds another $21 billion for the Coast Guard. Advertisement Democrats have argued against the deportations, and warned that Trump appears to be stirring up protests so he can clamp down on migrant communities. Rep. Nanette Barragan — whose district represents the suburban city of Paramount, where the weekend Home Depot raid touched off protests — implored Americans: 'Listen to the words of this administration: They're using words like insurrection. They're using words like invasion.' She warned the administration is laying the groundwork for even steeper actions. 'That's a concern,' she said. 'That is dangerous. It's wrong.' Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.
CBS News
an hour ago
- CBS News
Trump administration and China agree on "framework" to ease trade war disputes
Senior U.S. and Chinese negotiators have agreed on a "framework" to move forward on trade talks after a series of disputes had threatened to derail them, representatives from both sides said. The disputes — over visas, minerals and microchips — had shaken a fragile truce reached in Geneva last month to ease some of the massive tariffs that both countries had imposed on each other, leading to a phone call last week between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to try to calm the waters. Tuesday night's announcement of an apparent thaw in relations followed two days of talks in London. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters late Tuesday that negotiators have "reached a framework to implement the Geneva consensus." He said the U.S. and Chinese sides will now go back to Mr. Trump and Xi, respectively, and they can start implementing their agreement if the two leaders approve. Chinese negotiator Li Chenggang, a vice minister of commerce and China's international trade representative, also said the two sides had agreed in principle on a framework, Chinese state media said. Further details, including any plans for a potential next round of talks, were not immediately available. The two sides had agreed in Geneva to a 90-day suspension of most of the 100%-plus tariffs they had imposed on each other in an escalating trade war that had sparked fears of a recession. Mr. Trump imposed large-scale tariffs on imports from China, leading to Chinese retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods earlier this year. But since the Geneva talks, the U.S. and China have exchanged angry words over advanced semiconductors that power artificial intelligence, visas for Chinese students at American universities and rare earth minerals that are vital to carmakers and other industries. China, the world's biggest producer of rare earths, has signaled it may ease export restrictions it placed on the elements in April. The restrictions alarmed automakers around the world who rely on them. Beijing, in turn, wants the U.S. to lift restrictions on Chinese access to the technology used to make advanced semiconductors. Meanwhile, China has pushed back on the Trump administration's vow to "aggressively revoke" the visas of some Chinese students who are studying at U.S. colleges, calling the move "politically motivated and discriminatory." Mr. Trump accused the Chinese side of violating the terms of the deal. "So much for being Mr. NICE GUY," the president wrote on Truth Social late last month. Days later, China said the Trump administration had "unilaterally provoked new economic and trade frictions." Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. trade negotiator, said the disputes had frittered away 30 of the 90 days the two sides have to try to resolve their disputes, before massive tariffs go back into effect. "The U.S. and China lost valuable time in restoring their Geneva agreements," Cutler, now vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute, told the Associated Press. "Now, only sixty days remain to address issues of concern, including unfair trade practices, excess capacity, transshipment and fentanyl." Cutler said it would be unprecedented for the U.S. to negotiate on its export controls, which she described as an irritant that China has been raising for nearly 20 years. "By doing so, the U.S. has opened a door for China to insist on adding export controls to future negotiating agendas," she said. Mr. Trump said earlier that he wants to "open up China," the world's dominant manufacturer, to U.S. products. "If we don't open up China, maybe we won't do anything," he said at the White House. "But we want to open up China."
Business Insider
an hour ago
- Business Insider
U.S., Mexico near deal to remove 50% steel tariffs, Bloomberg reports
The U.S. and Mexico are close to a deal that would remove President Trump's 50%tariffs on steel imports up to a certain volume, Joe Deaux and Eric Martin of Bloomberg report, citing people familiar with the matter. Trump hasn;t been directly involved in the negotiations and would need to sign off on any deal, Bloomberg added. The talks are being led by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, sources told Bloomberg. The agreement, which hasn't been finalized, would allow U.S. buyers to import Mexican steel duty-free as long as they kept total shipments below a level based on historical trade volumes, according to the people. The new cap would be higher than what was allowed under a similar deal during Trump's first term, the sources added. Publicly traded companies in the steel space include ArcelorMittal (MT), Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF), Nucor (NUE), Steel Dynamics (STLD) and U.S. Steel (X).
