Vertex reports an earnings miss and pause on cystic fibrosis trial

Boston Globe

06-05-2025

TAXES
IRS lost 31 percent of auditors in DOGE downsizing, report says
The Internal Revenue Service headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg
The Internal Revenue Service lost 31 percent of its auditors from buyouts and layoffs tied to Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, departures that are likely to hamper the agency's ability to go after tax cheats. More than 3,600 revenue agents — responsible for conducting audits — have left the IRS, according to an IRS watchdog report. In addition, 18 percent of revenue officers, who collect taxes, and 10 percent of tax examiners — front-line employees who review returns — have also left the agency, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said in a recent report. More than 7,300 probationary employees were terminated. More than 4,100 workers took Musk's 'Fork in the Road' resignation offer, followed by a second round of buyouts where more than 13,100 were approved to leave, according to the report. The IRS had a large number of newly hired probationary auditors due to a funding boost under former president Joe Biden, who increased funding for tax enforcement to rebuild the agency's depleted capabilities. That means the cuts targeting recent hires disproportionately affected those with auditing jobs. The terminations have been the subject of ongoing litigation. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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LEGAL
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US expands attempt to blow up Google with proposed teardown of its ad technology
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Google's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.
JASON HENRY/NYT
The US Justice Department is doubling down on its attempt to break up Google by asking a federal judge to force the company to part with some of the technology powering the company's digital ad network. The proposed dismantling coincides with an ongoing federal effort to separate Google's Chrome browser from its dominant search engine. The government's latest proposal was filed late Monday in a Virginia federal court two-and-half weeks after a federal judge ruled that its lucrative digital ad network has been improperly abusing its market power to stifle competition to the detriment of online publishers. In a 17-page filing, Justice Department lawyers argued that US District Judge Leonie Brinkema should punish Google by ordering the company to offload its AdX business and DFP ad platform, tools that bring together advertisers, who want to market their products, and publishers, who want to sell commercial space on their sites, to bring in revenue. The government also is seeking other restrictions, including a 10-year ban on Google from operating a digital ad exchange, to undercut the power of a 'recidivist monopolist.' Not surprisingly, it's an idea that Google vehemently plans to oppose when the penalty phase of the antitrust case — known as remedy hearings — begins in late September. The Justice Department's proposal 'would cause economic chaos and technological dysfunction resulting in harm to millions of advertisers and publishers, and in so doing, degrade the experience of internet users,' Google said in a court filing late Monday. In its counterproposal, Google outlined a plan that it believes will bring more transparency to its ad network and eventually foster more competition. Google proposed the appointment of a trustee to oversee its behavior for three years. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
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ACQUISITIONS
DoorDash plans to buy Deliveroo and SevenRooms
A DoorDash bag on a bicycle in New York.
Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg
DoorDash announced two deals worth billions of dollars Tuesday, saying it has agreed to acquire Deliveroo, a British food delivery company, and SevenRooms, a platform used by hotels and restaurants to manage reservations and marketing. The acquisitions would enable DoorDash, the dominant food delivery app in the United States, to expand overseas and add reservation management technology to be used by global businesses. DoorDash said its agreement to buy Deliveroo in a roughly $3.9 billion deal would give it a larger footprint in Europe and a presence in the Middle East, covering millions of users in more than 40 countries. It said it had agreed to acquire SevenRooms, a New York City-based software company, for about $1.2 billion. The all-cash transaction was expected to close during the second half of 2025, it said. DoorDash made the announcements as it released financial results for the first quarter of 2025 that showed continued growth in the volume and dollar amounts of grocery and restaurant orders by its users. — NEW YORK TIMES
AFFORDABILITY
Trump critics launch new group to highlight rising costs
An Aldi grocery store in Washington, D.C.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty
A bipartisan group of President Trump's critics is launching a new organization, dubbed the Cost Coalition, to highlight Trump's struggle to control rising costs in the early months of his presidency. The group expects to be especially active ahead of upcoming elections in Virginia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, according to preliminary plans shared with the Associated Press this week ahead of a formal announcement. The Cost Coalition will push its message through a combination of paid advertising, social media, press interviews, and on-the-ground events with small business leaders, veterans, and the faith community. Terry Holt, a former spokesperson to former president George W. Bush and former House speaker John Boehner, both Republicans, is serving as a senior communications adviser along with Andrew Bates, a former spokesperson for former president Joe Biden, a Democrat. The new group enters a political landscape already packed with powerful voices fighting to shape the national conversation little more than 100 days after Trump began his second term. The Republican president vowed to 'end inflation' on Day 1, but he has focused more on immigration, culture wars, and exacting revenge against his political adversaries while launching a global trade war that has pushed some costs higher and threatens to send the US economy into recession. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
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HIGHER EDUCATION
Columbia cuts 180 employees after 'intense' strain of losing federal funding
The Columbia University campus in New York.
BING GUAN/NYT
Columbia University will cut 180 staffers working on research impacted by the Trump administration's withdrawal of federal funding for grants, university leadership said in a statement Tuesday. The school said the financial strain had become 'intense' as it continued to fund individuals whose salaries and stipends had until recently been funded with federal support. The reductions amount to 20 percent of individuals employed by Columbia who were funded at least in part by now-terminated grants. 'Moving forward, we will be running lighter footprints of research infrastructure in some areas and, in others, maintaining a level of research continuity as we pursue alternate funding sources,' the university said. 'In some cases, schools and departments are winding down activity but remain prepared to reestablish capabilities if support is restored.' Columbia, which has an endowment of about $15 billion, said it made the decision after reviewing and prioritizing research activity. In March, the Trump administration canceled $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia, citing inadequate response to complaints of antisemitism by Jewish students since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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HOME APPLIANCES
Trump administration plans to end Energy Star program
An energy star logo is displayed on a box for a freezer on Jan. 21 in Evendale, Ohio.
Joshua A. Bickel/Associated Press
The Environmental Protection Agency plans to end Energy Star, a popular program whose iconic blue labels have certified the energy efficiency of home appliances for more than three decades, according to two people briefed on the matter. During an all-hands meeting Monday of the EPA's Office of Atmospheric Protection, Trump administration officials announced that the office would be dissolved and that Energy Star would be eliminated, the two people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. The move, first reported by CNN, builds on the Trump administration's broader attacks on energy efficiency standards for appliances found in millions of American homes. Such standards have become a flash point in the nation's culture wars and a source of conservative resistance to former president Joe Biden's environmental agenda. Yet the decision is likely to draw pushback on Capitol Hill, where Energy Star has historically enjoyed modest bipartisan support. — WASHINGTON POST