Latest news with #WhiteHouseDomesticPolicyCouncil
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Federal Job Seekers Will Be Quizzed on Trump's Executive Orders
(Bloomberg) — The Trump administration is adding four essay questions to applications for civil service jobs, asking applicants about their favorite executive orders and their commitment to government efficiency. NYC Congestion Toll Brings In $216 Million in First Four Months Now With Colorful Blocks, Tirana's Pyramid Represents a Changing Albania NY Wins Order Against US Funding Freeze in Congestion Fight The Economic Benefits of Paying Workers to Move NY Congestion Pricing Is Likely to Stay Until Year End During Court Case The essay requirements apply even to relatively lower-level jobs starting at the GS-5 pay scale or above — positions that can begin at base salaries as low as $32,357. Those jobs include nursing assistants, park rangers and firefighters. The new questions, outlined in a memo from the Office of Personnel Management on Thursday, include ones that could give insight into the applicant's political philosophy for civil service jobs that are supposed to be nonpartisan. Among them: 'How has your commitment to the Constitution and the founding principles of the United States inspired you to pursue this role within the Federal government? Provide a concrete example from professional, academic, or personal experience.' Another question, about how a job seeker would advance the president's executive orders or policy initiatives — is similar to a question asked of applicants for top political jobs as a loyalty test. It asks applicants to 'Identify one or two relevant Executive Orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you, and explain how you would help implement them if hired.' Two other questions ask how applicants would improve government efficiency and about their personal work ethic. Responses must be 200 words or fewer and the memo seeks to prevent any cheating. 'Applicants will be required to certify that they are using their own words, and did not use a consultant or AI,' the memo says, referring to artificial intelligence. The 30-page memo, from White House Domestic Policy Council Director Vince Haley and OPM acting director Charles Ezell, implements President Donald Trump's executive order ending diversity, equity and inclusion in federal hiring. The order also required that the government prioritize hiring people 'committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.' But Trump is also reshaping the US government's workforce in other ways, overhauling the civil service system by giving him power to directly hire and fire as many as 50,000 jobs previously reserved for career federal employees. 'What we've seen is an overwhelming effort to cow the workforce and frankly ensure that there's a loyalty to the president of the day more than anything else,' said Max Stier, president of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan group focused on improving the federal workforce. Asking the new questions is 'deeply problematic,' he said. 'Bluntly, it's an almost partisan and ideological overlay without understanding the responsibilities they're hiring for.' For example, there's no reason why a dental hygienist at the Department of Veterans Affairs should have an understanding of Trump's executive orders, Stier said. Beyond the content of the questions, Stier said adding four essay questions to an already burdensome federal hiring process can only make it more difficult for the government to hire the best workers, calling it 'a recipe for dysfunction.' But OPM says the questions aren't much different from those any employer would ask to make sure that a prospective employee fits with company culture. 'It is a best practice in hiring to ask all applicants the same questions,' said OPM spokeswoman McLaurine Pinover. 'The answers can then be evaluated by the hiring manager and agency leadership to evaluate whether the candidate would be a good fit for the role.' The federal personnel agency said the plan's overall goal is to reduce the length of the hiring process to less than 80 days and create 'a federal workforce that reflects the highest standards of merit and service.' The memo also implements new skill-based assessments, consisting of at least two tests of technical skills for many jobs, and eliminates unnecessary college degree requirements for many positions. YouTube Is Swallowing TV Whole, and It's Coming for the Sitcom Mark Zuckerberg Loves MAGA Now. Will MAGA Ever Love Him Back? Millions of Americans Are Obsessed With This Japanese Barbecue Sauce Inside the First Stargate AI Data Center How Coach Handbags Became a Gen Z Status Symbol ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
White House says Trump is reviewing IVF policy recommendations promised in executive order
CHICAGO (AP) — Days after a bombing outside a Southern California fertility clinic, a White House official confirmed Tuesday that the Trump administration is reviewing a list of recommendations to expand access to in vitro fertilization. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February asking for ways to protect access and 'aggressively' lower 'out-of-pocket and health plan costs for IVF treatment.' White House spokesperson Kush Desai said the White House Domestic Policy Council wrote the list of recommendations over the last 90 days. 'This is a key priority for President Trump, and the Domestic Policy Council has completed its recommendations,' Desai said in a statement to The Associated Press. Desai did not offer additional details about when the recommendations or a plan would be released or give details about the contents of the report. The report was sent to the president days after an explosion damaged part of a fertility clinic in Palm Springs. The FBI believes a 25-year-old man was responsible for the blast, and authorities said his writings suggest he held anti-natalist views that include a belief that it's morally wrong for people to bring children into the world. Investigators have called the attack an act of terrorism. The explosion brought renewed attention to the common fertility treatment IVF after it became a major political talking point during the 2024 U.S. presidential race. Dr. Brian Levine, a New York City reproductive endocrinologist and IVF specialist, said he expects the White House report will contain recommendations for the states and also hopes it calls for expanding IVF coverage for members of the military and federal government employees. 'As a fertility doctor who's been practicing for the last 13 years, I don't think I've ever had this level of excitement for what the government is going to do," he said. "For the first time in my career, IVF is a priority at the highest levels of the government. It signals to patients that finally our advocacy is being heard. Both sides of the aisle are recognizing the problem we have in this country with access to IVF care.' Trump called for universal coverage of IVF treatment while on the campaign trail, after his Supreme Court nominees helped to overturn Roe v. Wade, which had provided a constitutional right to abortion for half a century. That 2022 decision has led to a wave of restrictions in Republican-led states, including some that have threatened IVF access by trying to define life as beginning at conception. During his campaign, Trump vowed to make the fertility treatment free for women but didn't give details about how he would fund his plan or precisely how it would work. Abortion rights groups countered that IVF would not be threatened if not for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which Trump has proudly taken credit for. IVF costs vary but range from about $12,000 to $25,000 per cycle, and people often need more than one cycle. Insurance coverage can be patchy. Some plans cover it, some partly cover it and some don't cover it at all. Most Americans want access to IVF protected. Last year, a poll from The Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about six out of 10 U.S. adults support that. Trump's stance on IVF has put him at odds with the actions of much of his own party. While Trump has claimed the Republican Party has been a 'leader' on IVF, many Republicans have been left grappling with the tension between support for the procedure and for laws passed by their own party that grant legal personhood not only to fetuses but to any embryos that are destroyed in the IVF process. GOP efforts to create a national narrative that it is receptive of IVF also have been undercut by state lawmakers, Republican-dominated courts and anti-abortion leaders within the party's ranks, as well as opposition to legislative attempts to protect IVF access. Mini Timmaraju, CEO and president of the national abortion rights organization Reproductive Freedom for All, called Trump's comments about IVF 'lip service.' "All Trump has done is stack his administration with extremists, restrict access to reproductive care, and implement the dangerous Project 2025 plan, which would threaten access to IVF nationwide,' she said. ___ The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP's democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content. ___ Associated Press Science Writer Laura Ungar contributed to this report from Louisville, Kentucky.
Hamilton Spectator
20-05-2025
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
White House says Trump is reviewing IVF policy recommendations promised in executive order
CHICAGO (AP) — Days after a bombing outside a Southern California fertility clinic, a White House official confirmed Tuesday that the Trump administration is reviewing a list of recommendations to expand access to in vitro fertilization. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February asking for ways to protect access and 'aggressively' lower 'out-of-pocket and health plan costs for IVF treatment.' White House spokesperson Kush Desai said the White House Domestic Policy Council wrote the list of recommendations over the last 90 days. 'This is a key priority for President Trump, and the Domestic Policy Council has completed its recommendations,' Desai said in a statement to The Associated Press. Desai did not offer additional details about when the recommendations or a plan would be released or give details about the contents of the report. The report was sent to the president days after an explosion damaged part of a fertility clinic in Palm Springs . The FBI believes a 25-year-old man was responsible for the blast, and authorities said his writings suggest he held anti-natalist views that include a belief that it's morally wrong for people to bring children into the world. Investigators have called the attack an act of terrorism . The explosion brought renewed attention to the common fertility treatment IVF after it became a major political talking point during the 2024 U.S. presidential race. Dr. Brian Levine, a New York City reproductive endocrinologist and IVF specialist, said he expects the White House report will contain recommendations for the states and also hopes it calls for expanding IVF coverage for members of the military and federal government employees. 'As a fertility doctor who's been practicing for the last 13 years, I don't think I've ever had this level of excitement for what the government is going to do,' he said. 'For the first time in my career, IVF is a priority at the highest levels of the government. It signals to patients that finally our advocacy is being heard. Both sides of the aisle are recognizing the problem we have in this country with access to IVF care.' Trump called for universal coverage of IVF treatment while on the campaign trail, after his Supreme Court nominees helped to overturn Roe v. Wade, which had provided a constitutional right to abortion for half a century. That 2022 decision has led to a wave of restrictions in Republican-led states, including some that have threatened IVF access by trying to define life as beginning at conception. During his campaign, Trump vowed to make the fertility treatment free for women but didn't give details about how he would fund his plan or precisely how it would work. Abortion rights groups countered that IVF would not be threatened if not for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which Trump has proudly taken credit for. IVF costs vary but range from about $12,000 to $25,000 per cycle, and people often need more than one cycle. Insurance coverage can be patchy. Some plans cover it, some partly cover it and some don't cover it at all. Most Americans want access to IVF protected. Last year, a poll from The Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about six out of 10 U.S. adults support that. Trump's stance on IVF has put him at odds with the actions of much of his own party. While Trump has claimed the Republican Party has been a 'leader' on IVF, many Republicans have been left grappling with the tension between support for the procedure and for laws passed by their own party that grant legal personhood not only to fetuses but to any embryos that are destroyed in the IVF process. GOP efforts to create a national narrative that it is receptive of IVF also have been undercut by state lawmakers, Republican-dominated courts and anti-abortion leaders within the party's ranks, as well as opposition to legislative attempts to protect IVF access. Mini Timmaraju, CEO and president of the national abortion rights organization Reproductive Freedom for All, called Trump's comments about IVF 'lip service.' 'All Trump has done is stack his administration with extremists, restrict access to reproductive care, and implement the dangerous Project 2025 plan, which would threaten access to IVF nationwide,' she said. ___ The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP's democracy initiative here . The AP is solely responsible for all content. ___ Associated Press Science Writer Laura Ungar contributed to this report from Louisville, Kentucky.
Winnipeg Free Press
20-05-2025
- Health
- Winnipeg Free Press
White House says Trump is reviewing IVF policy recommendations promised in executive order
CHICAGO (AP) — Days after a bombing outside a Southern California fertility clinic, a White House official confirmed Tuesday that the Trump administration is reviewing a list of recommendations to expand access to in vitro fertilization. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February asking for ways to protect access and 'aggressively' lower 'out-of-pocket and health plan costs for IVF treatment.' White House spokesperson Kush Desai said the White House Domestic Policy Council wrote the list of recommendations over the last 90 days. 'This is a key priority for President Trump, and the Domestic Policy Council has completed its recommendations,' Desai said in a statement to The Associated Press. Desai did not offer additional details about when the recommendations or a plan would be released or give details about the contents of the report. The report was sent to the president days after an explosion damaged part of a fertility clinic in Palm Springs. The FBI believes a 25-year-old man was responsible for the blast, and authorities said his writings suggest he held anti-natalist views that include a belief that it's morally wrong for people to bring children into the world. Investigators have called the attack an act of terrorism. The explosion brought renewed attention to the common fertility treatment IVF after it became a major political talking point during the 2024 U.S. presidential race. Dr. Brian Levine, a New York City reproductive endocrinologist and IVF specialist, said he expects the White House report will contain recommendations for the states and also hopes it calls for expanding IVF coverage for members of the military and federal government employees. 'As a fertility doctor who's been practicing for the last 13 years, I don't think I've ever had this level of excitement for what the government is going to do,' he said. 'For the first time in my career, IVF is a priority at the highest levels of the government. It signals to patients that finally our advocacy is being heard. Both sides of the aisle are recognizing the problem we have in this country with access to IVF care.' Trump called for universal coverage of IVF treatment while on the campaign trail, after his Supreme Court nominees helped to overturn Roe v. Wade, which had provided a constitutional right to abortion for half a century. That 2022 decision has led to a wave of restrictions in Republican-led states, including some that have threatened IVF access by trying to define life as beginning at conception. During his campaign, Trump vowed to make the fertility treatment free for women but didn't give details about how he would fund his plan or precisely how it would work. Abortion rights groups countered that IVF would not be threatened if not for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which Trump has proudly taken credit for. IVF costs vary but range from about $12,000 to $25,000 per cycle, and people often need more than one cycle. Insurance coverage can be patchy. Some plans cover it, some partly cover it and some don't cover it at all. Most Americans want access to IVF protected. Last year, a poll from The Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about six out of 10 U.S. adults support that. Trump's stance on IVF has put him at odds with the actions of much of his own party. While Trump has claimed the Republican Party has been a 'leader' on IVF, many Republicans have been left grappling with the tension between support for the procedure and for laws passed by their own party that grant legal personhood not only to fetuses but to any embryos that are destroyed in the IVF process. GOP efforts to create a national narrative that it is receptive of IVF also have been undercut by state lawmakers, Republican-dominated courts and anti-abortion leaders within the party's ranks, as well as opposition to legislative attempts to protect IVF access. Mini Timmaraju, CEO and president of the national abortion rights organization Reproductive Freedom for All, called Trump's comments about IVF 'lip service.' Wednesdays A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future. 'All Trump has done is stack his administration with extremists, restrict access to reproductive care, and implement the dangerous Project 2025 plan, which would threaten access to IVF nationwide,' she said. ___ The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP's democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content. ___ Associated Press Science Writer Laura Ungar contributed to this report from Louisville, Kentucky.
Japan Times
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
A world restored: The U.S. takes the offensive against paper straws
Little noticed amid the Trump administration's efforts to close U.S. borders to illegal drugs, impose tariffs that rebalance global trade, rid the country of illegal immigrants and end the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, is its determination to end the use of paper straws. The Trump team has issued an executive order and a national strategy to rid the country of 'the pulpy, soggy mess that torments too many of our citizens whenever they drink through a paper straw.' Trump has been drinking from this bitter cup for some time. During the 2020 campaign he complained that 'Has anyone tried those paper straws? They're not working too good,' adding, 'It disintegrates as you drink it.' Worse, 'on occasion, they break, they explode.' His campaign website offered plastic recyclable straws in packs of 10 for $15, noting 'liberal paper straws don't work' and urged customers to buy them to 'stand with President Trump.' Reportedly, they sold over 140,000 straws and raised more than $200,000. The last straw for Trump was a Biden program that sought to phase out single-use plastic utensils, including drinking straws, across government agencies by 2035. That was part of a larger eco-friendly agenda and sought to reduce the purported half billion straws used in the United States each day. After all, the biggest single consumer of straws is the federal government, which deploys them in federal buildings and offices, national parks and other places. Less than a month after Donald Trump returned to the White House, he issued an executive order that 'ended the procurement and forced use of paper straws.' It denounced 'an irrational campaign against plastic straws (that) has resulted in major cities, States and businesses banning the use or automatic inclusion of plastic straws with beverages.' It directs the heads of federal agencies and departments to 'take all appropriate action to eliminate the procurement of paper straws and otherwise ensure that paper straws are no longer provided within agency buildings' and it calls for 'The elimination of all policies within the executive branch designed to disfavor plastic straws.' It also mandates creation of a National Strategy to End the Use of Paper Straws within 45 days, a tight deadline given the customary speed at which the government works. The White House Domestic Policy Council made it a priority, however, and delivered, issuing that strategy on March 28. It is a 36-page document, with seven pages of references, that provides 'a whole host of reasons as to why paper straws are unsatisfactory and a plan of action to combat their promotion and usage.' The strategy is guided by a single, simple principle: 'When American citizens visit a coffee shop or restaurant, they deserve effective and safe utensils. Too often, they have not had that option because of absurd government mandates to use paper straws.' It dismisses the Biden plan as a 'disastrous Green New Scam' that calls for the elimination of plastic straws. Not only does the strategy '(bring) common sense back to our beverages' but it's patriotic, too: 'Aside from apple pie, there's hardly anything more American than the plastic straw,' an assertion that is documented in the paper. The case for paper straws, warns the strategy, is paper thin. They're 'not only an annoyance but also a genuine risk to human health, public safety and the environment. Across nearly every relevant criterion, replacing plastic straws with paper alternatives is not justified.' The strategy identifies six inadequacies. First, they lack the structural integrity of plastic alternatives. They get wet, the paper weakens and tears. Researchers at the North Carolina State University found after less than 30 minutes of exposure to liquid, paper straws experienced a 70% to 90% reduction in compressive strength. (The scientific research that dots this analysis underlines the seriousness with which the administration takes this issue.) Second, paper straws contain PFAS (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), often called 'forever chemicals' because of their extremely long lifespans that have been linked to harms affecting reproductive health, developmental delays in children, cancer, hormone imbalance, obesity and other dangerous health conditions. Again, research shows paper straws contain more PFAS than plastic ones, placing Americans 'at an unnecessarily higher health risk every time they drink from paper straws.' Third, paper straws pose safety hazards: choking, especially for young children, and insufficient durability for people with disabilities that prevent them from drinking quickly. (See point 1, above.) Fourth, paper straws 'unduly burden Americans with disabilities.' The document gives special weight to the inconveniences and dangers experienced by those with disabilities, contrasting the Trump administration's concern for this group with that of Biden. It concludes that 'The voices of individuals with disabilities — who had difficulty with modern straw alternatives and therefore could not always receive equal accommodation in public spaces — were marginalized.' Indeed, 'all Americans, regardless of their disability status, deserve an equal right to drink from a straw at a restaurant.' Fifth, plastic straws represent an insignificant share of pollution — 0.025% of all plastic in the oceans. The authors conclude that the 'overall threat posed by plastic straws is tiny and suggest that the product has been unfairly demonized and focused on.' Finally, there is cost. Paper straws can cost as much as four times that of conventional plastic straws, contributing to government expense and waste. Biden's paper straw procurement mandate would cost taxpayers 88% more each time the government ordered straws. Thus, the strategy concludes that 'Trump is cutting government waste on ineffective plastic straws.' All U.S. government agencies and departments are instructed to help end Americans' 'suffering the indignity of this useless product.' In addition to ending their procurement in government-run cafeterias and coffee shops, the Commerce Department, for example, has been tasked with thoroughly examining the supply chains and countries of origins for paper straws. As the strategy concludes, 'Americans deserve better than paper straws.' Common sense, says its authors, 'requires us to do battle with the ridiculous, whatever form it takes. The end of paper straws is yet another victory in this campaign.' This long national nightmare will end. Brad Glosserman is deputy director of and visiting professor at the Center for Rule-Making Strategies at Tama University as well as senior adviser (nonresident) at Pacific Forum. His new book on the geopolitics of high-tech is expected to come out from Hurst Publishers this fall.
