Latest news with #CharlesE.Schumer
Los Angeles Times
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Trump re-ups his threat to strip Harvard University's tax-exempt status
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday re-upped his threat to strip Harvard University of its tax-exempt status, escalating a showdown with the first major college that has defied the administration's efforts to crack down on campus activism. He's underscoring that pledge even as federal law prohibits senior members of the executive branch from asking the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or an investigation. The White House has said any IRS actions will be conducted independently of the president. 'We are going to be taking away Harvard's Tax Exempt Status,' Trump wrote on his social media site Friday morning from Palm Beach, Fla., where he is spending the weekend. 'It's what they deserve!' The president has questioned the fate of Harvard's tax-exempt status — which a majority of U.S. colleges and universities have — ever since the school refused to comply with the administration's demands for broad government and leadership changes, revisions to its admissions policy, and audits of how diversity is viewed on the campus. That prompted the administration to block more than $2 billion in federal grants to the Cambridge, Mass., institution. The Treasury Department directed a senior official at the Internal Revenue Service to begin the process of revoking Harvard's tax-exempt status shortly after a social media post from Trump in mid-April questioning it, although the White House has suggested that the tax agency's scrutiny of Harvard began before Trump's public comments targeting the school. Democrats say Trump's actions against Harvard are purely political. The Senate minority leader, Charles E. Schumer, along with Massachusetts' two Democratic senators, Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, and the Senate Finance Committee chairman, Ron Wyden of Oregon, called for an inspector general investigation into Trump's attempts to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status. Trump's move 'raises troubling constitutional questions, including whether the president is trying to squelch Harvard's free speech rights and whether the revocation of its tax-exempt status will deprive the university of its due process rights,' the senators wrote in a letter Friday to Heather Hill, the acting Treasury inspector general for tax administration. Mike Kaercher, deputy director of NYU's Tax Law Center, said: 'Overwhelming bipartisan majorities in Congress have enacted laws making it a crime for the President and his staff to request an audit or investigation of a particular taxpayer.' An IRS representative did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment. Trump's battle against Harvard is part of a broader campaign the administration is framing as an effort to root out antisemitism on college campuses. But the White House also sees a political upside in the fight, framing it as a bigger war against elite institutions decried by Trump's loyal supporters. The 'next chapter of the American story will not be written by The Harvard Crimson,' Trump said Thursday night in Tuscaloosa, Ala., where he delivered the commencement address at the University of Alabama. 'It will be written by you, the Crimson Tide.' The Harvard Crimson is that school's student newspaper. The Crimson Tide refers to the Alabama school's athletic teams. In addition to threatening Harvard's tax-exempt status and halting federal grants, the Trump administration wants to block Harvard from being able to enroll international students. Kim writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Fatima Hussein contributed to this report.
Washington Post
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Chuck Schumer is listening — but he's still sure he was right
In the weeks since Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer infuriated much of his party by voting with Republicans to prevent a government shutdown, the New York Democrat has worked hard to repair the damage.
Washington Post
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Senate Democrats ask for answers from inspector general on Social Security cuts
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) and four other Senate Democrats are urging the Social Security Administration's inspector general's office to investigate the impacts of the U.S. DOGE Service's dramatic restructuring and sweeping cuts to the government agency.
Washington Post
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Democrats sue Trump administration over elections executive order
Several Democratic groups — including the Democratic National Committee — along with Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) on Monday sued the Trump administration over President Donald Trump's executive order that calls for changes to the election system, including a requirement that people provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
Washington Post
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Democrats want to revolt. The tea party showed what not to do.
Charles E. Schumer, the top Senate Democrat since 2017, is facing calls for a primary challenge. The proximate cause? Progressive fury at Schumer's decision to back a Republican budget bill to keep the government open. But the Democratic dissension runs deeper. It is starting to resemble the strife that afflicted Republicans 15 years ago during the tea party era. But the tea party did not solve Republicans' problems, and following a similar path is unlikely to lead Democrats somewhere better.
