Trump Admin Tosses Biden-Era Policy Paying College Students for Poll Work
In new guidance issued Tuesday, the department clarified that the Federal Work Study (FWS) program, which provides part-time jobs for students with financial need, does not cover any jobs involving 'partisan or nonpartisan political activity.'
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Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
Trump administration revokes security clearances of 37 current and former government officials
Many of the officials who were targeted left the government years ago after serving in both senior national security positions and lower-profile roles far from the public eye. Some worked on matters that have long infuriated Trump, like the intelligence community assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election on his behalf. And several signaled their concerns about Trump by signing a critical letter in 2019 that was highlighted on social media last month by right-wing provocateur and close Trump ally Laura Loomer. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The action is part of a broader Trump administration campaign to wield the levers of government against perceived adversaries, and it reflects the president's continued distrust of career intelligence officials he has long seen as working against his interests. Advertisement The revocation of clearances has emerged as a go-to tactic for the administration, a strategy that critics say risks chilling dissenting voices from a national security community accustomed to drawing on a range of viewpoints before formulating an assessment. 'These are unlawful and unconstitutional decisions that deviate from well-settled, decades-old laws and policies that sought to protect against just this type of action,' Mark Zaid, a national security lawyer whose own clearance was revoked by the Trump administration, said in a statement. Advertisement He called it hypocritical for the administration to 'claim these individuals politicized or weaponized intelligence.' Gabbard on Tuesday defended the move, which she said had been directed by Trump. 'Being entrusted with a security clearance is a privilege, not a right,' she wrote on X. 'Those in the Intelligence Community who betray their oath to the Constitution and put their own interests ahead of the American people have broken the sacred trust they promised to uphold.' The security clearance suspension comes amid a broader effort by Gabbard and other Trump administration officials to revisit the intelligence community's assessment on Russian election interference, including by declassifying a series of years-old documents meant to cast doubt on the legitimacy of its findings. Multiple government investigations have reached the same conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 election in sweeping fashion, including through a hack-and-leak operation of Democratic emails and a social media campaign aimed at sowing discord and swaying public opinion. But Trump has long resisted the assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin interfered in his favor, and his Justice Department has authorized a grand jury investigation that could bring fresh scrutiny to Obama-era officials. Security clearances are important not only for current government workers but also former ones whose private-sector jobs require them to retain access to sensitive information. Stripping clearances from such employees could make it hard for them to do their jobs. On his first day of office, Trump said he would revoke the security clearances of the more than four dozen former intelligence officials who signed a 2020 letter saying that the Hunter Biden laptop saga bore the hallmarks of a 'Russian information operation.' Advertisement He's also revoked the clearances of former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris, and he attempted to do the same for lawyers at a spate of prominent law firms but was rebuffed by federal judges. Some of those who were targeted in the latest action were part of Biden's national security team. Many only learned of the Gabbard action from news reports Tuesday, said two former government officials who were on the list. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity as they ponder whether to take legal action.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
White House joins TikTok after delaying enforcement of sale-or-ban law
The White House launched a TikTok account on Tuesday amid uncertainty about the app's future, as another deadline approaches for its parent company, Bytedance, to sell to a US buyer or be banned in the United States. President Donald Trump has repeatedly extended the deadline of a sale-or-ban law passed under former President Joe Biden's administration, with the new deadline less than a month away on September 17. The latest delay in June kept the app accessible for its 170 million American users, despite the legislation that passed last year with bipartisan support over concerns that TikTok's Chinese ownership poses a US national security risk. And it came as both the United States and China sought leverage in tense trade talks. TikTok's ultimate fate in the US remains unclear, but the official White House account is a signal the app could be here to stay. The first post on the official White House TikTok account features video of Trump as he says, 'Every day, I wake up determined to deliver a better life for the people all across this nation. I am your voice.' The post's caption reads, 'America we are BACK! What's up TikTok?' As of 8 p.m. on Tuesday, shortly after launching, the account had garnered more than 20,000 followers. This is the administration's first official TikTok account. Both Trump and Biden launched accounts during the 2024 presidential campaign, drawing scrutiny as the leaders had previously raised national security concerns with the app. TikTok doesn't operate in China, but the Chinese government enjoys significant leverage over businesses under its jurisdiction. The US government has said it's worried China could use its national security laws to access the significant amount of personal information that TikTok, like most social media applications, collects from its US users. The TikTok sale-or-ban law went into effect on January 19 after Biden signed it last year. TikTok briefly took itself offline, sparking outcry from creators, but quickly came back after Trump signed an order delaying the ban's enforcement by 75 days in one of the first acts of his second term. The president's June delay marked his third extension of the ban.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
SoftBank and Trump may not be enough to save Intel
Intel (INTC) rose roughly 7% on Tuesday, a day after SoftBank Group announced it would take a $2 billion stake in the struggling chipmaker. News of SoftBank's investment follows a Bloomberg report last week that said the Trump administration is considering taking up to a 10% position in the company. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed in a CNBC interview Tuesday that the investment would involve the US government converting Intel's grants from the Biden-era CHIPS and Science Act — worth $10.9 billion — into an equity stake aimed at stabilizing the company's US manufacturing business. Bessent did not confirm the size of the stake the government would take. Intel has fallen behind in an industry it once dominated. Its manufacturing division is bleeding cash, just as its legacy computer chip segment forfeits market share to rivals Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Qualcomm (QCOM) in the PC space. Intel is also woefully behind AMD and Nvidia (NVDA) in the AI race. The company's market capitalization of $111 billion is less than half of its value in 2021. And CEO Lip-Bu Tan has been forced to lay off 15% of the company's workforce and shelve plans to build plants in Europe. But the troubled chipmaker is the only large-scale US-based leading-edge chip manufacturer, giving it geopolitical significance as the nation looks to reshore semiconductor production. Intel's problems, however, may be too big for either SoftBank or the Trump administration to solve on their own. Intel in need of direction Deutsche Bank analyst Ross Seymore said news of the US potentially taking a stake in Intel, combined with the SoftBank investment, shows that "[Tan] is taking bold actions to solidify Intel's financial and strategic positioning during its ongoing difficult transformation process." Tan became CEO in March after Intel's board ousted former CEO Pat Gelsinger late last year. But others on Wall Street expressed skepticism that those investments would be enough to save Intel from its decline, which resulted from years of missteps. Loop Capital analyst Gary Mobley wrote in a recent note to clients that the support from SoftBank and, potentially, the US government may be "akin to a lifeline with no secure anchor at the other end," because while Intel may be "finding new buyers of its primary equity capital," that may not guarantee it can find customers for its manufacturing business. Gelsinger established Intel's third-party chip manufacturing business, otherwise known as its Foundry, in 2021 as a means of competing with rival TSMC, which produces chips for companies including Nvidia, Apple (AAPL), AMD, and others. But so far, its Foundry business has been a disappointment, struggling to secure customers. While Intel has said it reached agreements to build chips for Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT), the company is still its own largest manufacturing client. Intel's plan includes building chips based on newer technologies, including its 18A and upcoming 14A node design processes, part of Gelsinger's plan for five process nodes in four years. But 18A, which was initially supposed to roll out in the first half of 2025, is now slated to debut in 2026. Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon was similarly critical of Intel's cash infusion in his own investor note, writing, "We do not believe that Intel's capability gap has anything to do with money." Rasgon also questioned whether the US taking a stake in Intel would be enough to complete the company's domestic manufacturing expansions. "Intel was originally supposed to get these CHIPS Act funds for free; giving up 10% of the company for them seems worse," he wrote in a note to clients. "And if the goal is to help Intel build substantial US capacity, $10.9B really isn't enough." Moor Insights and Strategy founder and chief analyst Patrick Moorhead told Yahoo Finance that while SoftBank's $2 billion investment and the prospect of a potential US stake are good things, the company would require as much as $40 billion to build out its next-generation 14A technology. Still, getting the US government involved, at least in the short term, could prove to be a boon for the company. "My short-term answer is that the US government is a kingmaker, and they just made Intel the king, and they are going to wrap policy around that to make Intel foundry successful," Moorhead said. If the government sticks with Intel for the long haul, though, Moorhead said it could further complicate the company's development problems, leading to a lack of innovation, inefficiencies, and growing costs. "My hope is that Intel gets back on its feet, it turns itself into a reputable, leading-edge foundry, and the government sells the stake," he said. Laura Bratton is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Bluesky @ Email her at Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@ Follow him on X/Twitter at @DanielHowley. Sign in to access your portfolio
