Latest news with #SenateCommitteeonAppropriations
Time of India
02-08-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
'You can believe what you want…': Kennedy blasts Murray over ‘Qatari jet bribe' claim against Trump
After Republicans voted no on an amendment to ensure a gifted Qatari jet doesn't transfer to Trump after his presidency for his personal use, Patty Murray called this the "most corrupt administration in history." Senator John Kennedy pushed back during a Senate Committee on Appropriations hearing, saying "I don't think it's productive. It's up to you, this is America, you can say and believe what you want. But if you're going to say somebody has been bribed, you need to say specifically by whom? For what?" Show more Show less
Miami Herald
15-07-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Budget to pass tonight + ‘No Kings' protests over weekend + Hope Florida charity fundraiser ‘unusual,' per experts
It's Monday, June 16 and Florida lawmakers are expected to pass the state budget this evening. They are a month-and-a-half late. Senate Committee on Appropriations Chairman Ed Hooper summed it up on Friday: 'We thought this day would never come, but it did.' The $115.1 billion budget is smaller than last year's as lawmakers prepare for a possible recession. WHAT WE ARE WATCHING Lawmakers agree not to fund DeSantis' Hope Florida call line: It's a critical blow to one of the governor's signature priorities. During dealmaking to craft a state budget for the upcoming fiscal year, House and Senate leaders decided not to spend $2 million requested by Ron DeSantis to staff 20 Hope Florida call line agents. They also agreed not to give DeSantis four positions in the governor's office to create a new Office of Hope Florida. Ileana Garcia broke with Republicans on immigration. Will the choice haunt her? The state senator from Miami called recent deportation efforts in South Florida 'inhumane' and 'not what we voted for' — a position that few Republicans have vocalized. There has been little indication of support for her statements — but no public backlash from elected officials yet, either. Miami doubles down on proposal to delay election, teeing up battle with the state: Miami officials are moving forward with a controversial proposal that would push the November election back to 2026 and give the city's current elected officials an extra year in office, defying a written opinion from the Florida attorney general and a public rebuke from the governor, both of whom say the change requires voter approval. Miami mayor is lobbying behind the scenes for proposal to skip November election: Behind the scenes, Mayor Francis Suarez has been lobbying to push the proposal through. If the measure passes, Suarez — a former city commissioner who is reaching the end of his term limits as mayor — would get a 17th consecutive year in Miami City Hall. WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT DeSantis golf fundraiser for Hope Florida charity 'unusual,' nonprofit experts say: Ron DeSantis touted last year's Governor's Cup charity golf weekend as a fundraising success for the fledgling Hope Florida Foundation, saying it raised 'massive amounts of money.' Yet few of the attendees — which included officials in the governor's administration, his former campaign advisers and state contractors — donated to it. Several said they didn't even know the charity sponsored it, even though the nonprofit gave them custom golf bags and paid for their rooms, meals and drinks. Florida child welfare agency calls ICE on teen migrant in foster care, sparking criticism: Florida child welfare authorities turned over a 17-year-old foster child to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, sparking intense criticism that the action could hinder efforts to protect children in the state's large immigrant communities. 'No Kings' Protests DeSantis said protesters on roadways can be run over by drivers. Is that true? The governor had a grim word of advice for drivers ahead of the weekend 'No Kings' rallies: you can legally hit protesters with your car. Under Florida's relatively new anti-riot law, he's not completely wrong, legal experts say. What 'No Kings' protesters said at Trump marches in South Florida: Renditions of 'God Bless America' and 'We Shall Overcome' broke out among the crowd of protesters Saturday afternoon during Miami Beach's 'No Kings' rally. Attendees waved American flags and held signs reading 'We fought a revolution for this?' and 'Speak out while you still can!' 'What democracy looks like.' Why thousands marched in South Florida protests: Surrounded by a heavy police presence, the 'No Kings' protesters were passionate but peaceful. As people took to the streets, reports came in that two Democratic lawmakers were shot in Minnesota in what is being described as political violence. Photos from the 'No Kings' marches: Here are scenes from the more than 70 protests on Saturday, including in Miami, Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale. Protesters marched toward Mar-a-Lago: The president wasn't at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday. He was in Washington, D.C., to watch the military parade commemorating the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary. Saturday was also Flag Day, and Trump's 79th birthday. Thank you for reading! The Politics and Policy in the Sunshine State newsletter was curated this week by Miami Herald reporter Alexandra Glorioso. We appreciate our readers, and if you have any ideas or suggestions, please drop me a note at aglorioso@ or message me @aglorios. Please subscribe! Do you know someone who would like to get this free newsletter? Send this to a friend to receive it weekly.
UPI
26-06-2025
- Politics
- UPI
Trump's budget director defends NPR, PBS, foreign aid cuts to senators
1 of 3 | White House budget director Russell Vought testifies at a Senate Committee on Appropriations hearing on Wednesda. Photo by Annabelle Gordon/UPI | License Photo June 25 (UPI) -- White House budget director Russell Vought on Wednesday urged U.S. senators to approve the Trump administration's proposed cuts of $8.3 billion in foreign assistance and $1.1 billion for public broadcasting. Vought testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee. The cuts, which are from the Department of Government Efficiency, are a tiny fraction of the nearly $7 trillion the federal government spends each year The House last week voted 214-212 to advance the request that reduces funds for the U.S. Agency for International Development, which has largely been dismantled, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps to fund NPR and PBS. Republicans have a 53-47 majority in the Senate. A simple majority is needed for passage. A group of protesters disrupted the meeting, saying "Vought's Cuts Kill," and "Vought Lies, People Die!" Capitol Police officers forcibly removed some protesters from the room, with at least one hitting his head on the floor. During his opening remarks, Vought touted the cuts as part of Trump's "steadfast commitment to cutting wasteful federal spending antithetical to American interests." "Most Americans would be shocked and appalled to learn that their tax dollars, money they thought was going to medical care, was actually going to far-left activism, population control and sex workers," Vought said. "To be clear, no lifesaving treatment will be impacted by this rescissions package." If Congress approves the cuts, the AIDS program would lose $400 million, and another $500 million would be stripped from global health programs that support child and maternal health, AIDS care and prevention of infectious diseases. Lawmakers from both parties have criticized the proposed cuts. "There's no way that President Trump's administration would allow such wasteful and questionable spending," Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, told Vought. "So, I am puzzled why you would be cutting funds that the president signed in March as part of the continuing resolution." Trump signed legislation in March to keep the government open through September. Vought responded the costs are "largely multiyear funding," and that "there is some expiring funds with regard to fiscal year '25, but the way that this was structured was to find the waste. "We are $37 trillion in national debt," Vought said. "Our view is to see, when we look at these programs, can we do it cheaper, as evidenced by what we find, and then to reflect that, with some savings to the taxpayer." Collins also questioned the administration's proposed cuts targeting the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR. "These are not only the right thing to do for humanitarian reasons, but they're incredible instruments of soft power," she said. That includes "lifesaving multivitamins for pregnant mothers and the food supplement that's used for malnourished children." Collins held up a packet of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food used to treat malnutrition in babies and young children. Sen. Lindsey Graham, the Republican serving South Carolina, said he was surprised that millions of dollars were being spent to support abortions and gender care under PEPFAR. The AIDS-fighting program has been credited for saving millions of lives since President George W. Bush launched it more than 20 years ago. Graham said he would approve the measure though he backs the program. "And to my Democratic colleagues: There is a consequence to this crap," Graham said. "The first thing I thought about: How is PEPFAR fraud, waste and abuse? Well, I had no idea there was one dollar spent like this." GOP members in the House and Senate have voiced concerns about the potential impact cuts would have on local stations and rural radio. "We have Native American radio stations in South Dakota. They get their funding through NPR," Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said during the hearing. "Ninety-some percent of what they use." The director called PBS and NPR "radical far-left networks," and "there is no longer any excuse for tax dollars to subsidize" them.
Newsweek
03-06-2025
- Business
- Newsweek
Susan Collins' Chances of Losing Maine Senate Election, According to Polls
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. Susan Collins' chances of being reelected in Maine are improving, according to latest polling. A new survey shows the Republican Senator's favorability rating has risen compared to previous polls, ahead of the November 2026 midterms. Why It Matters Collins, a moderate who spoke out against Donald Trump during his first term, has represented Maine since 1997. The state is politically split because it is also represented by independent Senator Angus King, and Governor Jane Mills, a Democrat. Former vice president Kamala Harris won the state by seven points in 2024 and former President Joe Biden won it by nine points in 2020. In 2020, when Collins was most recently up for reelection, she beat former Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon, a Democrat, with 51 percent of the vote. This was a smaller margin than when she won her 2014 reelection with a 37-point margin. Sen. Susan Collins, R,Maine, questions witness Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., during a Senate Committee on Appropriations subcommittee hearing to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2026 for the Department... Sen. Susan Collins, R,Maine, questions witness Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., during a Senate Committee on Appropriations subcommittee hearing to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2026 for the Department of Health and Human Services, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, May 20, 2025, in Washington. More AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta If Collins loses her seat, it will prove more difficult for Republicans who currently control the Senate with a 53 to 47-seat majority. What To Know According to a Pan Atlantic Research poll of 840 Maine likely voters, 49 percent of people see Collins favorably, 45 percent unfavorably, making her net favorability +4 percent. The polling was conducted between May 12 and May 26 with a margin of sampling error of +/- 3.5 percent. This is an improvement on previous polling released by the University of New Hampshire (UNH) in April, which showed 71 percent of respondents did not believe Collins should be reelected. That poll also showed only 12 percent of respondents had a favorable view of the Senator, and 58 percent had an unfavorable view. What People Are Saying Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), who ran the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) during the 2020 cycle told the Hill: "In general, for any senator who's served their state and been out there and talking to the voters and engaging them and working to solve those problems, they're going to be effective with their voters to gain their support." James Melcher, a professor of political science at the University of Maine at Farmington, previously told Newsweek "there's no question" that a run by Collins would make it more difficult for Democrats to flip the seat. "Mainers are ticket splitters to a large degree, and even in a polarized climate, many may vote for her and also vote for a D for governor," he said. "She's also generally run well ahead of top of the ticket Republicans, though last time she lost a lot of D and independent support compared to past runs." Dan Shea, a professor of government at Colby College in Waterville, told Newsweek in March: "It's a blue state that she can win. But the snag is that group is getting smaller and smaller. Swing voters might not be extinct in Maine, but they are on the endangered species list." What Happens Next With over a year to go until the midterms, Collins' popularity and chances of winning her seat are likely to fluctuate depending on her policies and on what other politicians step into the ring in opposition.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Federal funding for Hawaiian Home Lands on chopping block
The state agency helping Native Hawaiians with housing needs is at risk again of a federal funding cutoff. President Donald Trump is proposing to eliminate the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant program as part of a rough budget plan for the next federal fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 In a May 2 letter from Trump's Office of Management and Budget to the chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, OMB Director Russell Vought indicated that the federal grant funding for the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands should be cut off in part because DHHL has an accumulation of unspent proceeds from prior years. 'The program has large balances and only one grantee, which would be more appropriately funded by the State of Hawaii, ' the letter said. Annual funding from the program in each of the last three years has been about $22 million. However, such funding at times has been much lower, and got zeroed out during the Democratic administration of President Barack Obama in 2016 because DHHL had amassed a pile of unspent funding that drew the ire of some state leaders and DHHL beneficiaries. U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii ) disagrees with the proposed move by the Republican president, but also believes DHHL needs to be spending more of its past federal grant awards. 'Sadly these carryover balances, and these high annual re-appropriations that they have, kind of made it low-hanging fruit for the Trump Administration, ' Tokuda said. 'I know for beneficiaries it's extremely frustrating because there's so much need.' Under the program, which is part of the 1996 Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act also known as NAHASDA, DHHL has helped beneficiaries in ways that include homestead development, rent subsidies for low-income seniors, home loans, affordable-housing construction, land acquisition, emergency rent and utility payments, and financial literacy training. Homestead development is the agency's main mission and costliest endeavor. There are close to 30, 000 DHHL beneficiaries waiting for homestead leases that cost $1 a year but require recipients to buy or build their own homes. The homestead program was established in 1921 by Congress to return Hawaiians to their ancestral lands after the U.S. annexed the islands. The program, administered by the state since 1959, offers residential, agricultural or pastoral land leases to DHHL beneficiaries, who must be at least 50 % Hawaiian. DHHL Director Kali Watson said in a statement that the agency fully supports Hawaii's congressional delegation in efforts to educate and convince the current federal administration of the grant program's value and importance. 'We are very appreciative of the recent increased funding over the last three years and are hopeful we can continue to receive the same level of funding, ' Watson said. Tokuda said DHHL has a $53.6 million unspent grant funding balance from prior years, not including a $22.3 million appropriation for the current fiscal year. According to DHHL's most recent annual performance report for the federal program produced in September 2024, the agency's fund balance at that time was $66.6 million, of which $36.8 million was encumbered by contracts for spending and $29.8 million was unencumbered. The agency reported spending $12 million in the 2024 fiscal year, which included $3.2 million for capital improvement projects, $1.9 million for home loans, $1.8 million to assist seniors with rent, $1.5 million for planning and administration, $1.2 million for general homeowner assistance and $875, 000 for emergency rent and utility assistance. DHHL's stockpile of federal funding coincides with an effort by the agency to encumber $600 million appropriated by Hawaii lawmakers in 2022 before a June 30, 2026 deadline. Watson has said that the agency has pretty much done so, and earlier this year asked the Legislature for another $600 million that he said could roughly double homestead deliveries. The Legislature did not approve the additional funding. Tokuda is hard-pressed to understand why DHHL, which is using the state funding to produce more than 3, 000 homesteads at 29 projects and used much of the $600 million to buy land for longer-term homestead development, has not spent more of its federal funding. 'This was something that literally generations of members of Congress have fought for and protected, ' she said, 'and now it's going to be very difficult to defend why we need this money when they're not spending it.' Tokuda vows to fight the proposed cutoff, in part because she said DHHL has committed to spend most of its federal funding from past years by the end of June. She also said eliminating NAHASDA funding for DHHL disregards the federal trust responsibility to Hawaiians, and unfairly shifts the duty solely to the state, thus ignoring generations of legal, historical and moral obligations. 'DHHL must step up and the federal government must not walk away, ' Tokuda said. Previously, DHHL has been able to ramp up spending of federal funds after drawing fire from federal and state leaders for amassing an even bigger stash of cash from the U.S. government. In 2012, DHHL was holding $75 million received under NAHASDA, which led to complaints that the agency was making poor use of the federal appropriations that had been around $10 million a year during the preceding decade. In 2016, during the last year of the Obama Administration, DHHL got no federal funding. And then from 2017 to 2021, which included Trump's first term and one year with Democratic President Joe Biden in office, funding for DHHL was $2 million a year. During a state budget briefing in 2016 for the administration of then-Gov. David Ige, members of Hawaii's Legislature including Tokuda and Sylvia Luke, who then was chair of the House Finance Committee and is now lieutenant governor, chastised DHHL for the hoard of unspent federal funds. 'NAHASDA money was no strings attached … ' Luke said during the briefing. 'All that the federal government wanted us to do was was to spend the money. But what does DHHL do ? They don't spend the money.' DHHL was at that time working to level-up spending federal dollars. From 2015 to 2018, the agency more than doubled such spending to around $15 million per year during those four years. Spending subsided from 2019 to 2021 as federal appropriations stayed low, but then didn't rebound much in tandem with the big appropriation increases under President Biden from 2022 to 2024. According to the most recent annual report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees NAHASDA funding for DHHL, $155 million of such funding has been spent by DHHL over 22 years through the 2023 fiscal year largely to help develop 693 homestead lots and to build, acquire or rehabilitate 765 affordable homes. Some of the spending also was used to rehabilitate three community centers and provide 4, 098 families with housing services that included financial literacy and home ownership education, self-help home repair training and rental assistance, the HUD report said. Watson, in his statement, said continued federal funding is critical and needed to sustain a similar variety of help for beneficiaries. 'We will continue to be diligent and very active in the use of these funds, which have been instrumental in increasing our rental and homeownership housing opportunities for our DHHL beneficiaries, ' he said.
