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The Hill
15 minutes ago
- The Hill
Nadler facing Gen Z primary challenger
Nonprofit CEO and activist Liam Elkind launched a primary challenge against longtime Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday, citing the issue of age. In a two minute launch video, Elkind, 26, noted that he appreciates Nadler's, 78, service in office and noted that he grew up voting for him. 'But we need new leaders to meet this moment because we can't wait.' Elkind said. 'We can't wait to fight Trump, end corruption, ban corporate PAC money, impose term limits, build more housing and serve our neighbors in need.' In the same spot, Elkind says 'the Democratic Party is dying,' showing media coverage of Democratic lawmakers who have died recently. 'And the leaders who got us here are refusing to retire with devastating consequences,' he continues. 'In the last five months three House Democrats have passed away, allowing Trump's billionaire bill gutting healthcare and food stamps for millions of people to go through by one vote.' Elkind's primary challenge against Nadler, who was first elected to Congress in 1992, comes as there have been more conversations about age particularly among Democrats. Former President Biden came under scrutiny for initially running for reelection amid questions about his own fitness for office, while a number of Democratic lawmakers, most recently Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) have died in office. Additionally, former Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg made waves when he launched his group Leaders We Deserve in an effort to elect a new generation of lawmakers and drew headlines for the group's $20 million effort to primary safe House Democrats. Nadler has a strong record of defeating past primary challengers and won reelection in 2022 after he faced off against another incumbent following redistricting. 2024 Election Coverage Elkind told CNN that he was motivated to run for Congress after he approached Nadler at an event earlier this year and asked him what the plan was going forward for Democrats under a second Trump administration. According to Elkind, Nadler told him that Trump's tariffs would crash the economy and help Democrats in the midterms. Elkind told CNN that he felt Nadler's comments were an 'unstrategic take.' A spokesman for Nadler told CNN there was not time to talk strategy at the event. 'Congressman Nadler will stake his record of accomplishments against anyone,' Rob Gottheim told the network. 'Unfortunately, with this individual, I don't think there's any record to speak of.'
San Francisco Chronicle
15 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
As Trump's tariff deadline looms, a clothing factory in the tiny African nation of Lesotho goes dark
MASERU, Lesotho (AP) — The deafening roar of hundreds of sewing machines has gone silent. Spools of thread in every color are covered in dust. The warehouse is dark and empty. In the tiny African nation of Lesotho, clothing manufacturer Tzicc's business has dried up in the face of tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration. A few months ago, work was steady. The factory's 1,300 employees has made and exported sportswear to American stores, including JCPenney, Walmart and Costco. But when Trump announced sweeping new tariffs on nearly all U.S. trading partners in April, Lesotho found itself topping the list, with a rate of 50% — higher even than that of China, where the economy is 8,000 times larger. Officials here and economic experts said they were baffled. Since then, Trump backed off — temporarily. During a monthslong pause for trade talks, the U.S. has charged a baseline 10% tariff and announced new rates for dozens of countries starting Friday. Lesotho's rate will be set at Trump's whim, with aides suggesting that tariffs charged on goods from smaller African countries could top 10%. Many nations have received letters laying out a new tariff. With the pause set to expire Friday, Lesotho officials say they've not received one and they find themselves among the countries where Trump says officials simply don't have time for one-on-one negotiations. Leaders — and the 12,000 people employed by garment factories exporting to the U.S. market — are still waiting. The damage has already rippled through Lesotho's economy, where textile manufacturing comprises the largest private industry with more than 30,000 workers in 2024. For Tzicc and its customers, the threat and apparent singling out of Lesotho were enough. Management decided to rush to deliver preexisting orders before tariffs resumed. But American buyers stopped placing new orders. With no work left, virtually all the factory's employees were sent home — potentially permanently. 'Well, unfortunately, we finished,' factory compliance manager Rahila Omar said, pointing out the irony of the strategy as she walked among rows of silenced and covered machines. 'That is why now we don't have any work.' Omar is one of a handful of employees left in the eerily quiet factory. A few remain in the accounting department; others empty leftover stock to a warehouse elsewhere. Officials and workers fear this may be a sign of what's to come for other factories in Lesotho, where poverty is widespread among the population of 2 million and most textile workers single-handedly support their families. Lesotho's tiny economy was threatened with giant tariffs In March, a month before slapping Lesotho with the 50% tariff, Trump described it as a place 'nobody has ever heard of," struggling to pronounce the nation's name in a speech criticizing U.S. foreign aid. It's true Lesotho is a 'very minuscule economy," as its own trade minister, Mokhethi Shelile, described it. But its relationship with Washington dates back decades. The U.S. was the first country to open an embassy in the capital, Maseru, after Lesotho declared independence from the United Kingdom in 1966. The military received U.S. training, and hundreds of millions in U.S. funds were sent to Lesotho to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic via the now defunctUSAID office and the PEPFAR program. As textiles grew to become Lesotho's main export, some 75% of its product went to the U.S. Lesotho became known as Africa's denim capital. If an American purchased jeans from a U.S. brand such as Wrangler or Levi's, they may have been 'Made in Lesotho,' as tags still note. In 2000, the U.S. signed the African Growth and Opportunity Act, allowing Lesotho and other African nations to export goods to the U.S. duty free. Shelile said he was in the process of negotiating AGOA's September renewal when he was awakened in the middle of the night by texts from aides bearing news of the 50% U.S. tariffs. 'No, this cannot be real,' Shelile remembers thinking. 'What did we do to deserve this?' According to the Trump administration, Lesotho charges a 99% tariff on U.S. goods. The government here said it doesn't know how the U.S. calculated that. In theory, the tariff decision was based on trade deficit: Lesotho's exports to the U.S. were around $240 million last year — mainly clothing and diamonds — and imports from the U.S. were only $2.8 million. But in practice, the math is more complicated than that. And in reality, Lesotho simply cannot afford to import more U.S. products. Nearly half the population lives below the poverty line. 'The trade deficit that exists between Lesotho and the U.S. is a natural trade deficit that can happen when you have these types of disparities between two economies," Shelile said. "It cannot be breached and certainly cannot be breached by imposing tariffs.' Lesotho declared a state of emergency over unemployment Last year, Lesotho's overall unemployment rate was about 30%, national data shows. For those 35 and younger, it was nearly 50%. The threat of tariffs has exacerbated the national unemployment troubles, prompting the government to declare a state of disaster this month. 'No matter how we slice it, we've already had a lot of losses," Shelile said. "People have lost quite a lot money. And to claw back and come back to where we were before this is going to take time.' Most of the 12,000 people hired by Lesotho's 11 factories exporting to the U.S. are women with children to feed and school fees to pay. Of those, 9,000 jobs are directly in the line of fire and an additional 40,000 will suffer indirectly from the U.S.-imposed tariffs, Shelile said. 'We're talking people in real estate that are leasing some rooms,' he said. 'We're talking people in transport, whether it's long-distance haulage to the port, or it is a taxi driver taking people to work in the morning. They are going be affected.' Mapontso Mathunya used to work on Tzicc's cutting room floor and is now unemployed. Her husband also is out of a steady job. With two young children, Mathunya was the family's breadwinner. She now tries to sell snacks and cigarettes on the street but finds it a daily struggle to bring home even a few cents. 'Our financial burden has been heavy," she said. 'Things are bad.' The future of this factory and others remains in limbo The future of the Tzicc factory depends on what happens Friday, compliance manager Omar said. Owned by a Taiwanese national, the factory has been open since mid-1999. In a peak month, it made up to 1.5 million pieces of clothing for JCPenney. Key U.S. customers for Tzicc — JCPenney, Walmart and Costco — did not reply to AP to comment. Pivoting to the neighboring South African market, one of the solutions proposed by the trade minister and industry consultants, wouldn't be enough to even cover the employees' payroll, Omar said. And even if American buyers return, it's unlikely the factory could rehire all its 1,300 workers, she added. Today, just a few blocks away, former employees try their luck looking for work at other factories that are still operating. Most are turned away. 'Life is difficult,' former worker Mathunya said. 'There is nothing, nothing at all. People don't have money.' __ Pascalinah Kabi in Maseru, Josh Boak in Washington and Anne D'Innocenzio in New York contributed.
Newsweek
16 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Map Shows States Where IRS Tax Returns Could Change for 2026
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Options for filing tax returns are likely to change in 2026 for taxpayers in 25 states. IRS Commissioner Billy Long, whom President Donald Trump appointed to head the federal tax agency last month, appeared to confirm that Direct File—which offers free tax filing directly with the IRS—won't be an option for the next filing season. On Monday, at the National Association of Enrolled Agents' tax summit, he said: "You've heard of Direct File. That's gone. Big beautiful Billy wiped that out." Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed by Congress and signed by the president earlier this month, the Treasury has been directed to form a task force to replace the program, which has been running for only two years. Newsweek has contacted the IRS for comment via email. What Is Direct File? Direct File is a web-based service that allows taxpayers to submit simple returns directly with the government agency free of charge, eliminating the need for a third-party tax preparation service. The IRS launched its Direct File pilot in 12 U.S. states in March 2024, expanding it to 25 states for the 2025 tax season. These are the states: Alaska Arizona California Connecticut Florida Idaho Illinois Kansas Maine Maryland Massachusetts Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina Oregon Pennsylvania South Dakota Tennessee Texas Washington state Wisconsin Wyoming The program, created under the Biden administration, served 141,000 taxpayers across the initial 12 states it was available for in 2024. The Economic Security Project has estimated that the program saved an average of $160 in tax preparation fees for its users. Republicans and private tax preparation companies have derided the program, saying free options already exist for filers and that it is a waste of taxpayer money. Is Direct File Finished? The IRS has not announced that the program is shutting down, but provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act show that the administration is looking for a replacement. Under the legislation, which Trump signed into law on July 4, the Treasury has 90 days from the law's passage to send Congress a report that includes the following: How much it would cost to expand or create public-private partnerships that offer free tax filing for up to 70 percent of taxpayers based on their income. These partnerships would take the place of any IRS-run free filing programs. What taxpayers think about using a free, government-run tax filing system versus one provided by private companies. Whether a new system is possible, how to make all filing options simple and consistent for users, and how to meet different taxpayer needs. The estimated cost of creating and managing a free IRS-run online tax filing system, including options for adjusting the system based on a person's income and how complex their tax return is. Is Direct File Still Open? Direct File remains open through October 15, 2025, for anyone who has yet to file a 2024 tax return. But it is looking unlikely it will be in place for 2026. Given that the administration is looking to replace it, it is also unlikely that it will be expanded to any further states if it remains active for the next tax season. What Other Free Filing Options Are There? The longer-standing Free File program appears to be unaffected. Under that program, companies participating in a public-private partnership with the IRS offer free tax preparation software. IRS Free File offers guided tax software to taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of $84,000 or less. For those who don't qualify, IRS Free File still provides fillable forms that any taxpayer, regardless of income, can use if they prefer to prepare their own return.
