Latest news with #SenateRepublicans
Fox News
7 hours ago
- Health
- Fox News
GOP senators rally around effort to end 'radical wokeness' in HHS task force
EXCLUSIVE: Three Senate Republicans are backing up Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s possible effort to reform the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, saying that the group has recently been ideologically motivated. The "independent" task force is used to determine recommendations of what services health insurance companies in the United States have to cover for free, such as checking for cancer. "Americans deserve to know health guidelines are based on real science, not radical wokeness. The Task Force needs to get back to its mission of giving clear, evidence-based recommendations people can trust," Sen. Jim Banks, R-Indiana, said in a statement. The Wall Street Journal reported that Kennedy is considering removing members of the board, and the senators are saying they back any change to veer away from certain DEI tactics employed by the group currently, including the 2023 Report to Congress on High-Priority Evidence Gaps for Clinical Preventive Services and "social justice activism" by people in the group. "In particular, the USPSTF departed from its proper activities in its December 2023 Health Equity Framework. The framework criticizes 'equal access to quality health care for all' as an inadequate goal of public health and announces that the Task Force will instead use equity as 'a criterion of the 'public health importance' of a topic' for consideration," the letter added. "Far from simply recognizing health disparities between certain populations, 'health equity' as described by the USPSTF includes 'information on risk factors that intersect with race and/or ethnicity or other disadvantaged populations (e.g., sexual and gender minorities) and that affect prevalence and burden of disease' and 'any inequities in how preventive services are provided, accessed, or received.' These criteria would allow the Task Force to issue recommendations outside its proper purview and impose leftwing ideology," it continues. Specifically, they said that changes could be needed to fulfill President Donald Trump's Executive Order to scrap DEI efforts within the federal government, along with an EO on "restoring merit-based opportunity" and "ending illegal discrimination." "Allowing the Task Force to pursue the Health Equity Framework means allowing it to exceed its statutory mission and target social groups that comport with a progressive agenda. It means discounting universally beneficial recommendations as inadequate. It means disregarding statutory limits and instead undertaking a social justice crusade through the lens of critical race theory and gender ideology. This would be a mistake. The result is ineffectiveness, discrimination, and division. The USPSTF should be working for all Americans equally," the letter added. "No final decision has been made on how the USPSTF can better support HHS' mandate to Make America Healthy Again," an HHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement when asked about the WSJ report. There has already been some opposition to the possibility of removing the members, including from the American Medical Association. "USPSTF plays a critical, non-partisan role in guiding physicians' efforts to prevent disease and improve the health of patients by helping to ensure access to evidence-based clinical preventive services," the AMA wrote in a letter to Kennedy. "As such, we urge you to retain the previously appointed members of the USPSTF and commit to the long-standing process of regular meetings to ensure their important work can continue without interruption."
Bloomberg
a day ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Tariff Uncertainty Hurting Businesses: Sen. Shaheen
Balance of Power Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) discusses whether or not she believes Senate Republicans will vote for her legislation claiming tariffs cannot be authorized under the International Emergency Powers Act and discusses the tariff uncertainty issues she is hearing from businesses in her state. Senator Shaheen speaks with Kailey Leinz and Joe Mathieu on the late edition of Bloomberg's "Balance of Power." (Source: Bloomberg)
New York Times
6 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
The White House Will Release $5.5 Billion for Schools
The Trump administration announced today that it would release $5.5 billion in frozen education funds, after an unexpected delay sent school districts around the country scrounging for the lost dollars before the new school year begins. President Trump faced growing pressure over the delay from within his own party, including from 10 Senate Republicans who signed a public letter urging him to release the funds. The money was part of nearly $7 billion in education funding that had been approved by Congress and was set to be released on July 1. It included funds to help train and recruit teachers, particularly in low-income areas. It also included money for arts and music education in low-income districts, help for children learning English and support for children of migrant farmworkers. In other Trump administration news: The president left today for Scotland, where he will spend five days playing golf and meeting with European leaders. Trump has encouraged people to move on from the Epstein case. That could be tough, in part because of the conservative crusade against child trafficking. Israel will allow aid to parachute into Gaza The Israeli military said today that it would allow foreign nations to fly over Gaza and drop humanitarian aid into the enclave, where a growing number of residents are starving. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
6 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
White House Will Release $5.5 Billion for Schools, After Surprise Delay
The White House will release $5.5 billion in frozen education funds, administration officials announced on Friday, bringing an end to a chaotic saga of the administration's making, which had sent school districts scrambling with weeks to go before the school year. The Trump administration had been facing growing bipartisan pressure, including from 10 Senate Republicans who signed a rare public letter urging the White House to release the funds. The money was part of nearly $7 billion in education funding that had been approved by Congress and was set to be released July 1, before the Trump administration abruptly withheld it a day before the deadline. The money included more than $2 billion to help train and recruit teachers, particularly in low-income areas that often have trouble competing for the most qualified teachers. It also included money for arts and music education in low-income districts, extra help for children learning English and support for children of migrant farmworkers. The Department of Education said that it would begin sending the money to states next week. On June 30, the administration said it was conducting a 'review' and later said it had found instances of federal dollars being 'grossly misused to subsidize a radical left-wing agenda.' But the administration quickly faced mounting pushback, including two lawsuits in federal court. Last week, the White House announced that it would release $1.3 billion that had been withheld for after-school programs. This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Fox News
24-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
'Shirts and Skins': How one Republican bridged the gap to pass Trump's 'big, beautiful bill'
FIRST ON FOX: Passing President Donald Trump's agenda was a team effort between the Senate and House, but one Senate Republican was key in smoothing over differences between the two chambers. "There's an inherent mistrust between senators and representatives," Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital in an interview. "There's a deep, deep mistrust, and it's like we're playing shirts and skins with our own team." "And trying to break down that barrier and let people know, 'Hey, we're all on the same team,' is a little tougher than what people think," he continued. House Republicans were dead set on crafting one, colossal package, while Senate Republicans preferred splitting the bill into two — even three — pieces. Then there were disagreements over the depth of spending cuts, changes to Medicaid and carveouts to boost the cap on the State and Local Tax Deduction (SALT). And while the House GOP worked to craft their version of the massive, $3.3 trillion tax cuts and spending package that eventually made its way to the Senate, Mullin was a crucial figure in bridging the roughly 100-yard gap between both sides of the Capitol. But it's a job he never really wanted. Mullin, who has been in Washington for over a decade, got his start in the House before being elected to the Senate in 2021. He wanted to maintain "lifelong friendships" with his House colleagues, but becoming the de facto liaison between the chambers was more a decision of practicality than one he truly desired. "The first couple of deputy whip meetings we had when [Senate Majority Leader John Thune] was whip was discussing what the House is going to do, and no one knew," Mullin said. "And I was like, 'Man, it's just down the hall, we can go walk and talk to them.' So the first time I did that, I went to the [House GOP] conference and just talked." "And then it just turned into me going to Thune and saying, 'Hey, why don't I just become a liaison between the two?' So I didn't, I never envisioned of doing that, other than just keeping a relationship, but it was a natural fit," he continued. That role began when former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who Mullin had a longstanding relationship with, led the House GOP, and has continued since House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., took the helm in 2023. And it paid dividends during the six-month slog to draft and pass Trump's budget reconciliation bill, which required full buy-in from congressional Republicans to do so given that no Democrats were involved in the process. Markwayne said that before the bill even made it to the Senate in early June, he played a role in ensuring that House Republicans didn't "dump a ton of stuff in there" that would be nixed by Senate rules. He effectively ping-ponged back and forth between the chambers, jetting from morning workouts to speak with lawmakers, meeting with House Republicans during their weekly conference confabs or holding smaller discussions with lawmakers, particularly blue state Republicans concerned about changes to SALT, to get everyone on roughly the same page. Much of it broke down to explaining how the Senate's Byrd rule, which governs reconciliation and allows either party to skirt the Senate filibuster to pass legislation, worked. "I mean, even though I spent 12 or 10 years in the House, I never understood the Byrd rule, but why would I? I didn't have to deal with it," he said. "So really getting to understand that, and breaking down that barrier helped." The flow of information wasn't just one way, however. His discussions with House Republicans helped him better inform his colleagues in the upper chamber of their priorities, and what could and couldn't be touched as Senate Republicans began putting their fingerprints on the bill. SALT was the main issue that he focused on, and one that most Senate Republicans didn't care much for. Still, it was a make-or-break agreement to raise the caps, albeit temporarily, to $40,000 for single and joint filers for the next five years, that helped seal the deal for anxious blue state House Republicans. "Just keeping them informed through the process was very important," he said. "But at the same time, talking to the House, and when we're negotiating over here, I'd be like, 'No guys, that's a killer,'" he said. "We can't do that if you, if you touch this, it's dead over there for sure. Guaranteed, it's dead." Over time, his approach to the role has changed, an evolution he said was largely influenced by Thune. A self-described "bull in a China cabinet," Mullin said that for a time his negotiating style was arguing with lawmakers to convince them "why you're wrong." But that style softened after watching Thune, he said, and saw him talking less and listening more. "I took his lead off of it to let people talk," he said. "Sometimes you're going to find out that they're actually upset about something that had nothing to do with the bill, but they're taking that, and they're holding the bill hostage to be able to let this one point be heard." "I don't think it was a good indication that we were butting heads. Everybody was very passionate about this. I mean, they've been working for a long time. We looked at it as maybe a once in a generation opportunity for us to be able to get this done," he continued. "We wanted to get it right, but everybody wanted to have their fingerprint on it and at the end of the day, we knew we [had] to bring it to the floor."
