Latest news with #DemocraticSenators
Wall Street Journal
01-08-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Labor Department Skirts Senators' Questions on Inflation Data
A group of Democratic senators pressed the Labor Department in June over concerns about missing data in the survey behind the government's official inflation statistics. On Thursday, a Labor official wrote back without answering most of their questions. The Labor Department said in a letter seen by The Wall Street Journal that the government is 'committed to providing accurate, timely, and impartial economic statistics,' but it didn't respond in the letter to specific questions that the senators had posed. A Labor Department representative declined to comment.
The National
30-07-2025
- Business
- The National
Nvidia defends H20 GPU sales to China amid criticism from Democratic senators
Nvidia has defended itself against recent criticism over a decision by President Donald Trump's administration to grant licences to the company to sell its H20 graphics processing unit (GPU) to China. The response comes after a group of Democratic senators on Monday urged the Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who largely crafts export policies, to reverse course on the licences. The lawmakers said a decision to sell H20 chips to China was "an abrupt departure" from the administration's position in April that Beijing's access to the processors posed a serious national security risk. "And it undermines the administration's recent Al Action Plan, which purports to strengthen export control efforts on Al compute,' the letter states, referring to Mr Trump's AI strategy that included 90 federal policy actions. The senators also warned that such policy reversals would bolster China's push to use AI to 'strengthen military systems'. The letter is the latest in a back-and-forth battle over how to best protect and promote US AI technology. 'The H20 helps America win the support of developers worldwide, promoting America's economic and national security,' an Nvidia representative told The National. 'It does not enhance anyone's military capabilities, and the US government has full visibility and authority over every H20 transaction.' Shortly after a trip to Beijing this month, Nvidia's chief executive Jensen Huang highlighted the Trump administration's assurances about resuming sales of the H20 to China, and said deliveries would begin soon. The H20 is designed to comply with US regulations that seek to prevent powerful AI technology from being used by countries it views as adversaries. But in recent years, and particularly during former president Joe Biden's administration, the US has sought to clamp down on the export of AI technologies to a greater degree, especially CPUs and GPUs, which have become critical for countries seeking to build up AI infrastructure. Nvidia came out in January against the stronger export controls proposed by Mr Biden, saying these undermined US leadership in AI with a 'regulatory morass'. Since his inauguration, Mr Trump has taken a softer approach to AI-related export controls. Recent deals announced with the UAE to build an AI data centre, which also included security stipulations to prevent the potential diffusion of US technology to adversarial countries, was widely seen as a win for US technology companies that have largely opposed strict export policies. Despite efforts in recent years to prevent the diffusion of US AI technology, some analysts have cast doubt on the effectiveness of the overall policy. A new report from Jefferies, an investment banking and capital market firm based in New York, indicated that strict US export policies had prompted China to recalibrate and build up its own chip-making capability, with companies like Huawei and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation making strides. Regardless, in their letter to Mr Lutnick, the senators maintained that 'restricting access to leading-edge chips has been the defining barrier for China's efforts to achieve Al parity', expressing concern that the Trump administration would make further exceptions to loosen various export policies it once advocated. 'This administration is permitting adversaries access to technologies critical to national security as part of trade discussions without consultation or input from Congress,' they wrote. A spokesperson with the US Department of Commerce said Biden administration didn't impose 'any restrictions on the H20 whatsoever and they flowed freely into China,' adding that the Trump White House was the first to implement a licence requirement for the exports to Beijing. 'The Trump administration will consider any H20 licence applications carefully, accounting for both the benefits and the costs of potential exports from America and considering the views of experts across the US Government,' the Commerce Department spokesperson told The National. White House officials have recently indicated that policies seeking to prevent the export of US AI technology might ultimately backfire. 'We don't want to create demand for Huawei,' White House AI chief David Sacks said during a round-table discussion at the Pennsylvania Energy and AI Summit.
CNN
30-07-2025
- Business
- CNN
Electricity costs are rising under Trump. Democrats want to make it an issue for the midterms
Donald Trump Green energy Sustainability Oil & gasFacebookTweetLink Follow President Donald Trump came into office promising to lower energy and electricity costs. But with the cost of electricity rising, congressional Democrats and left-leaning groups see an opening to go on the offense ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. A Wednesday letter led by Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts to six of Trump's cabinet secretaries asks administration officials to explain why they are cutting programs to help Americans pay for high energy costs, while passing a tax cut bill that eliminated incentives for cheaper forms of energy like wind and solar. The letter was signed by three other Democratic senators: Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. The letter was first provided to CNN. 'Rather than keeping his campaign promise to 'cut the price of energy and electricity in half,' President Trump's shortsighted approach to energy policy is driving prices higher and doing so quickly,' the letter reads. 'Instead of feeling relief, families are paying higher and higher utility bills.' Warren's letter asks the Trump administration about several of its actions that could contribute to raising electricity costs, including mandating aging fossil fuel power plants to continue operating and proposing cutting federal programs that help low-income Americans pay their energy bills. Since 2022, retail electricity prices have increased faster than the rate of inflation, according to the US Energy Information Administration, which predicts prices will continue to rise through next year. Electricity prices are Americans' second biggest annual energy expense, after paying for gasoline to fuel their vehicles, the EIA found. An independent analysis from think tank Energy Innovation shows that US household energy bills will be higher over the next decade now that Republicans have passed Trump's tax and spending bill, which shredded incentives for cheap forms of energy like wind and solar as well as electric vehicles and energy efficient appliances. Trump's tax changes are expected to reduce the amount of cheap renewables on the grid and increase the cost of building them. Wind and solar are now largely cheaper than fossil fuels like natural gas and coal, and adding more renewable energy to the grid helps keep utility bills lower, experts say. A White House spokesperson repeated administration officials' claims that wind and solar have increased electricity costs because they are intermittent and don't stay on 24/7. That intermittency has diminished with the entrance of battery storage, which allows renewable energy to power the grid even when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow. 'The previous administration's reliance on unreliable wind and solar, while dismantling American energy dominance, led to higher costs,' White House spokesperson Harrison Fields told CNN in a statement. 'The Trump administration is working tirelessly to undo this damage and continue the success of lowering prices for consumers.' Prices for US natural gas, which generates most US electricity, have also gone up, and the EIA predicts they will continue to do so next year. 'You're moving from not using a lot of fossil fuels to using a lot of fossil fuels. That makes the price go up a lot,' Robbie Orvis, Energy Innovation's senior director of modeling and analysis, told CNN recently. Congressional Democrats and Democratic-aligned groups are pouncing on the rising electricity costs ahead of the 2026 midterms. 'We know that this issue of rising utility bills is top of mind for voters and we know Republicans voted to raise their utility bills,' said Alex Witt, the senior advisor for accountability campaigns at Climate Power, a left-leaning group focused on clean energy and climate. 'We're doing everything we can to make sure they pay the political price for that.' Climate Power is focused on states that are already seeing electricity prices spike, Witt said, including Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey. 'In terms of the impact of (Trump's) bill, it's only going to become more real for folks,' Witt said. 'As long as that's the case, we're going to be driving that accountability.'
Daily Mail
25-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Warning to thousands of Americans as more than 300 hospitals at risk of closure... check if your nearest is in danger
More than 300 hospitals across the US are at risk of closure under deep healthcare cuts in President Trump's Big Beautiful Bill. Some 338 facilities in rural areas could be forced to close, convert, or slash services, according to the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research. Democratic senators highlighted the findings in a letter to the President last month, urging him to reconsider the legislation. Congress, however, passed the bill earlier this month despite Republican rebels fighting back against its steep cuts to Medicaid among other issues. The act slashes over $1 trillion in healthcare spending over the next 10 years, mostly from Medicaid, which provides health coverage for millions of low-income Americans. 'A majority of adults living in rural areas are concerned that these health care cuts will "negatively impact hospitals, nursing homes, and other health care providers in [their] community,"' the senators' letter read. 'They are right to be worried, as these cuts will have devastating consequences for health outcomes and costs, jobs, and the economic success of rural communities.' The data found that 46 states had at least one rural hospital at risk, with Kentucky and Louisiana seeing the highest numbers, at 35 and 33, respectively. A rural hospital is labeled 'at risk' when it meets one or both of two criteria. It needs to either be in the top 10 percent Medicaid payer mix of rural hospitals across the country, or have experienced three consecutive years of negative total margin. 'In Louisiana, 32 rural hospitals — or a majority of rural hospitals in the state — are serving a high concentration of Medicaid patients,' the letter, signed by U.S. Democratic Senators Edward J. Markey, Ron Wyden, Jeffrey A. Merkley, and Charles E. Schumer. 'In Alaska and Kentucky, 44 percent of the rural hospitals with available Medicaid payer mix data serve high concentrations of Medicaid patients. 'In West Virginia, nearly a quarter of rural hospitals are serving high concentrations of Medicaid patients, and 15 percent of rural hospitals are at the highest relative risk of financial distress, per the financial distress index.' The letter pointed out that rural hospitals are already struggling. In 2023, there were 50 fewer rural hospitals than in 2017 — and a lack of healthcare access in rural America is contributing to worse health outcomes for residents. 'Enacting these drastic health care cuts that will kick millions of people off their health insurance coverage, rural hospitals will not get paid for the services they are required by law to provide to patients,' the authors wrote. Alongside Medicaid cuts, the bill will also cut from Affordable Care Act insurance plans and eliminate insurance coverage for 11.8 million people over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. In response to bipartisan criticism of the impact of the bill on rural hospitals, the Senate added $50 billion in funding for a new rural health fund. But critics say this will not be enough, as it is about a third of the estimated loss of federal Medicaid funding in rural areas. In response to the claim that the bill will close rural hospitals, the White House said: 'Rural hospitals comprise just 7 percent of all hospital spending on Medicaid, illustrating that they have not benefited from the massive increase in waste, fraud, and abuse under the Biden administration. 'By strengthening Medicaid, we are making more resources available for vulnerable populations and safety net providers, like rural hospitals. We are expanding rural hospital protection, providing targeted funds for rural care, and giving states flexibility to support local providers.' Following the signing of the bill into law, Senator Markey said rural hospitals are now sorting through 'difficult questions.' 'Will they have to lay off staff? Will they need to stop providing labor and delivery care or mental health care? Will they need to close their doors entirely? 'One hospital in Nebraska already announced it would close because of these cuts. That's a preview of coming atrocities,' he said. People would have to travel further for chemotherapy sessions and will miss their annual appointments, he added, saying that the consequences could be 'deadly' for communities. It comes as various private hospital chains have filed for bankruptcy in the last several years, with vital local services closing as a result. Steward Health Care, a major hospital system backed by private equity, filed for bankruptcy in May 2024. The chain is now suing its 'greedy' former CEO Ralph de la Torre, claiming he plundered the company of hundreds of millions of dollars that directly led to its collapse. Prospect Medical Holdings also devastated communities by closing several hospitals after filing for bankruptcy earlier this year. AT-RISK RURAL HOSPITALS Alaska Providence Valdez Medical Center Providence Seward Medical & Care Cen Prov. Kodiak Island Medical Center Cordova Community Medical Center Ketchikan Medical Center Alabama Community Hospital Inc. Marion Regional Medical Center Lawrence Medical Center Bullock County Hospital Hill Hospital of Sumter County Arkansas Wadley Medical Center at Hope Arizona Page Hospital Winslow Memorial Hospital Copper Queen Community Hospital Carondelet Holy Cross Hospital Cobre Valley Regional Medical Center California Adventist Health St. Helena Mad River Community Hospital Oroville Hospital St. Elizabeth Community Hospital Adventist Health Reedley Hi - Desert Medical Center Barstow Community Hospital Adventist Health Ukiah Valley Pioneers Mem. Hospital Memorial Hospital - Los Banos Eastern Plumas Health Care Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley Southern Inyo Hospital John C. Fremont Healthcare District Mayers Memorial Hospital Jerold Phelps Community Hospital Biggs-Gridley Memorial Hospital Mountains Community Hospital Kern Valley Healthcare District Trinity Hospital Fairchild Medical Center Adventist Health Clearlake Sutter Lakeside Hospital Modoc Medical Center Bear Valley Community Hospital Mee Memorial Hospital Hazel Hawkins Mem. Hospital Coalinga Regional Medical Center Colorado Delta County Memorial Hospital Conejos County Hospital Grand River Hospital District Prowers Medical Center Southwest Memorial Hospital Arkansas Valley Regional Med Center Connecticut Sharon Hospital Delaware Nanticoke Memorial Hospital Florida Lakeside Medical Center Georgia Washington Co Reg Med Center Irwin County Hospital Fannin Regional Hospital Flint River Community Hospital Hawaii Kau Hospital Kohala Hospital Molokai General Hospital Lanai Community Hospital Samuel Mahelona Memorial Hospital Hale Hoola Hamakua Iowa MercyOne - Newton Medical Center Manning Regional Healthcare Center Idaho Power County Hospital District St. Lukes Jerome Ltd Cassia Regional Hospital Illinois Katherine Shaw Bethea Hospital OSF Sacred Heart Medical Center Richland Memorial Hospital Harrisburg Medical Center Inc. Hoopeston Community Memorial Hospital Franklin Hospital Massac Memorial Hospital Hardin County General Hospital Crawford Memorial Hospital Indiana Daviess Community Hospital Memorial Hospital Logansport Community Hospital of Bremen Inc. Ascension St. Vincent Randolph Ascension St. Vincent Jennings Ascension St. Vincent Clay Ascension St Vincent Salem IU Health Jay Hospital Franciscan Health Rensselaer Sullivan County Community Hospital Adams Memorial Hospital Harrison County Hospital Kansas Centura Bob Wilson Memorial Hospital UKHS Great Bend Campus Kiowa County Memorial Hospital Rush County Memorial Hospital Norton County Hospital Great Plains of Smith County, Inc. Kentucky Whitesburg ARH Highlands Regional Medical Center UofL Health-Shelbyville T.J. Samson Community Hospital St. Claire Medical Center Middlesboro ARH Spring View Hospital AdventHealth Manchester Bourbon Community Hospital Harlan ARH Deaconess Henderson Hospital Saint Joseph Mount Sterling Tug Valley ARH Owensboro Health Twin Lakes Medical Baptist Health Corbin Clark Regional Medical Center Baptist Health Madisonville The Medical Center of Albany Three Rivers Medical Center Kentucky River Medical Center TJ Health Columbia Pineville Community Health Center Marcum & Wallace Memorial Hospital Our Lady of The Way Casey County Hospital Carroll County Memorial Hosp The Medical Center at Caverna Fort Logan Hospital Mary Breckinridge Hospital Jane Todd Crawford Hospital Barbourville ARH Hospital Saint Joseph Berea Russell County Hospital McDowell ARH Fleming County Hospital Louisiana Ochsner St. Mary Savoy Medical Management Group Inc. Iberia Medical Center West Carroll Health Systems LLC North Louisiana Medical Center Winn Parish Medical Center Avoyelles Hospital Oakdale Community Hospital Morehouse General Hospital Desoto Regional Health System Allen Parish Hospital Franklin Medical Center Minden Medical Center Richland Parish Hospital Service District 1-B Byrd Regional Hospital Mercy Regional Medical Center Citizens Medical Center Caldwell Memorial Hospital East Carroll Parish Hospital Sabine Medical Center Our Lady of The Angels Hospital Mc Southeast Regional Medical Center Acadian Medical Center St. Helena Parish Hospital Union General Hospital Inc. West Feliciana Parish Hospital West Ascension Parish Hospital Hood Memorial Hospital Franklin Foundation Hospital Christus Coushatta Health Care Center Madison Parish Hospital Trinity Medical Lallie Kemp Regional Medical Center Massachusetts Baystate Franklin Medical Center Maine The Aroostook Medical Center Maine Coast Memorial Hospital Michigan Mclaren Central Michigan Carson City Hospital Aspirus Ontonagon Hospital Ascension Borgess-Lee Hospital Minnesota Range Regional Health Services Mayo Clinic Health System-Fairmont Missouri Bothwell Regional Health Center Scotland County Memorial Hospital Parkland Health Center - Bonne Terre Lafayette Regional Health Center Mississippi Alliance Healthcare System Delta Health-Northwest Regional Baptist Mem Hospital Booneville Greenwood Leflore Hospital Jeff Anderson Regional Medical Center Highland Community Hospital Panola Medical Center Baptist Medical Center - Yazoo Montana Northeast Montana Healthcare-Poplar Prairie Community Hospital Garfield Co. Health Center Logan Health Cutbank Big Horn Hospital Northeast Montana Health Services Providence St Joseph Medical Center Big Sky Medical Center North Carolina UNC Rockingham Hospital Person Memorial Hospital Inc. Chatham Hospital Inc. MH Angel Medical Center LLLP Blue Ridge Regional Hospital North Dakota Nelson County Health System-Hospital Presentation Medical Center Mercy Hospital Nebraska Avera Creighton Hospital Ogallala Community Hospital New Hampshire Cheshire Medical Center New Mexico Alta Vista Regional Hospital Eastern New Mexico Medical Center Espanola Hospital Plains Regional Medical Center - Clovis Rehoboth Mckinley Christian Hospital Carlsbad Medical Center Covenant Health Hobbs Hospital Roosevelt General Hospital Lovelace Regional Hospital-Roswell Socorro General Hospital Dr. Dan C. Trigg Memorial Hospital Lincoln County Medical Center Miner Of Colfax Medical Center Mimbres Memorial Hospital Holy Cross Hospital Nevada Battle Mountain General Hospital Humboldt General Hospital New York Wyoming County Community Hospital Newark Wayne Community Hospital Geneva General Hospital Bon Secours Community Hospital Westfield Memorial Hospital Claxton Hepburn Medical Center Massena Memorial Hospital Garnet Health Medical Center - Catskills Clifton-Fine Hospital Gouverneur Hospital Lewis County General Hospital Ohio Southern Ohio Medical Center Wayne Hospital Company East Liverpool City Hospital Coshocton Regional Medical Center Twin City Hospital Harrison Community Hospital Bucyrus Community Hospital Holzer Medical Center Jackson Galion Community Hospital Adams County Regional Medical Center Fayette County Memorial Hosp Oklahoma Integris Miami Hospital Blackwell Regional Hospital McAlester Regional Health Center Hillcrest Hospital Cushing Choctaw Memorial Hospital Sequoyah County City of Sallisaw Hos Integris Grove Hospital Perry Memorial Hospital Wagoner Hospital Authority Adair County Health Center Hillcrest Hospital Henryetta Lindsay Municipal Hospital Authority Mercy Hospital Watonga Mercy Hospital Tishomingo Mercy Health/Love County Mercy Hospital Healdton Inc. Cleveland Area Hospital Carnegie Tri-County Municipal Hospital Haskell Regional Hospital Harmon Memorial Hospital Memorial Hospital of Texas County Oregon Silverton Hospital Providence Seaside Hospital St Charles Madras Good Shepherd Medical Center Pennsylvania UPMC Jameson UPMC Northwest Hospital UPMC Kane UPMC Horizon Hospital Highlands Hospital South Carolina Oconee Memorial Hospital MUSC Health Chester Medical Center MUSC Health Marion Medical Center The Regional Medical Center Abbeville Area Medical Center South Dakota Sanford Aberdeen Medical Center Bennett County Hospital Tennessee Unicoi County Hospital Wayne Medical Center Baptist Mem Hospital Huntingdon West Tn Healthcare Volunteer Hospital Dyersburg Regional Medical Center St Thomas Dekalb Hospital Saint Thomas Highland Hospital Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital Saint Thomas Stones River Hospital Texas Anson General Hospital Ascension Seton Smithville Val Verde Regional Medical Center Falls Community Hospital and Clinic Covenant Hospital Plainview Scenic Mountain Medical Center El Campo Memorial Hospital Covenant Hospital Levelland North Runnels Hospital District Palacios Community Medical Center Haskell Memorial Hospital Mitchell County Hospital TMC Bonham Hospital Mid Coast Medical Center-Central Baylor Scott & White - Marble Falls Utah Fillmore Community Hospital Blue Mountain Hospital Beaver Valley Hospital Virginia Southampton Memorial Hospital Southern Virginia Regional Medical Center Community Memorial Hospital Carilion Tazewell Community Hospital Rappahannock General Hospital Lee County Community Hospital Washington Samaritan Hospital Toppenish Community Hospital Summit Pacific Medical Center Odessa Memorial Hospital Coulee Medical Center Providence St Joseph's Hospital Prosser Memorial Health Klickitat Valley Health Othello Community Hospital Three Rivers Hospital Forks Community Hospital Mid-Valley Hospital Astria Sunnyside Hospital Mason General Hospital Wisconsin Holy Family Memorial Inc. MCHS Oakridge Aspirus Stanley Hospital West Virginia Logan Regional Medical Center Welch Community Hospital Broaddus Hospital Association Minnie Hamilton Health Care Center Grafton City Hospital Montgomery General Hospital Jackson General Hospital Wyoming Summit Medical Center LLC Platte County Memorial Hospital (Source: Office of Senator Edward J. Markey)
Reuters
22-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Delta plans to use AI in ticket pricing draws fire from US lawmakers
WASHINGTON, July 22 (Reuters) - Three Democratic senators have pressed Delta Air Lines (DAL.N), opens new tab CEO Ed Bastian to answer questions about the airline's planned use of artificial intelligence to set ticket prices, raising concerns about the impact on travelers. "Delta's current and planned individualized pricing practices not only present data privacy concerns, but will also likely mean fare price increases up to each individual consumer's personal 'pain point' at a time when American families are already struggling with rising costs," Senators Ruben Gallego, Mark Warner and Richard Blumenthal wrote in a letter dated Monday and made public on Tuesday. The senators cited recent comments from Delta that the airline plans to deploy AI-based revenue management technology across 20% of its domestic network by the end of 2025 in partnership with Fetcherr, an AI pricing company. They said a Delta executive had earlier told investors the technology is capable of setting fares based on a prediction of "the amount people are willing to pay for the premium products related to the base fares." The airline said in a statement: "There is no fare product Delta has ever used, is testing or plans to use that targets customers with individualized offers based on personal information or otherwise." Delta added that dynamic pricing has been used for more than three decades, in which pricing fluctuates based on a variety of factors like overall customer demand but not a specific consumer's personal information. Delta said AI technology for dynamic pricing is being tested to eliminate manual processes while accelerating analysis and adjustments and it emphasized all customers see the same exact fares and offers in all retail channels. Delta said it was testing AI for use in forecasting demand for specific routes and flights, adapting to market conditions in real-time, factoring thousands of variables simultaneously and learning from each pricing decision to improve future outcomes. In January, Blumenthal along with Senators Maggie Hassan and Josh Hawley asked Frontier Airlines (ULCC.O), opens new tab and Spirit Airlines to disclose whether they were manipulating seat fees by using customers' personal information to charge different fees to passengers on the same flight. The senators said the airlines were apparently "using customers' personal information to charge different seat fees to passengers on the same flight" despite having the same fare. Frontier and Spirit did not immediately respond to requests for comment on their current practices on Tuesday.
