Latest news with #WillScharf
Irish Independent
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Andrew Feinberg: Inside Donald Trump's shock-and-awe plan to transform US in his first 100 days
Republican's team aiming to keep enemies on the back foot with flurry of orders ©UK Independent Donald Trump was roughly eight hours into his second term in the White House when he sat down in the Oval Office before an eager pack of reporters, took up his familiar Sharpie-brand pen and opened the floodgates. Prompted by White House staff secretary Will Scharf, Trump began signing a series of executive orders – one to end what he called 'the weaponisation of the federal government', another to wipe away large chunks of his predecessor's work by rescinding dozens of orders signed by Joe Biden, plus more orders upon more orders that reimplemented policies he'd tested out during his first term, or trying out new and aggressive theories of presidential power to accomplish long-held goals that eluded him over his initial four years in office.
Newsweek
24-04-2025
- Business
- Newsweek
Trump Executive Order Raises Alarm Over Women's Financial Independence
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. An Executive Order (EO) signed by President Donald Trump is raising concerns over the protection of women's financial independence, as well as other potential civil rights violations. The EO, titled Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy is intended to encourage "meritocracy and a colorblind society, not race- or sex-based favoritism." It calls for an evaluation of all pending proceedings under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), which was first passed in 1974 and amended in 1976 to prevent lenders from discriminating against women based on marital status. Although the EO cannot change the law, that can only be done by an act of Congress, if independent federal agencies abide by the order they will stall litigation protecting women from being discriminated against for credit, and they will roll back guidance and regulations which were in place to protect people's rights. President Donald Trump being handed an executive order by White House staff secretary Will Scharf in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Washington. President Donald Trump being handed an executive order by White House staff secretary Will Scharf in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Washington. Alex Brandon/AP Photo Why It Matters Prior to the ECOA, women could be asked to have a male relative or spouse co-sign for their credit cards or loans. President Trump cannot singlehandedly remove the ECOA, but his EO can make it harder for women to get federal help advocating against gender discrimination and can allow federally funded projects to discriminate based on gender. What To Know The EO's main target is the principle of disparate-impact liability, the idea that racism, sexism, or some other form of discrimination can occur without explicit intent. The President believes that disparate-impact liability is a key tool in a "pernicious movement" that "endangers" the U.S.' foundational principle of "creating opportunity, encouraging achievement, and sustaining the American Dream." Ben Olinsky, senior vice president of Structural Reform and Governance at the Center for American Progress (CAP), explained to Newsweek that disparate-impact liability is: "A recognition that you could have certain hiring practices that, while not, not clearly discriminatory in have a disproportionate impact on a particular protected class. "It could be where you advertise, for example, around employment listings. It could get at certain kinds of redlining practices." President Trump said: "[Disparate-impact liability] not only undermines our national values, but also runs contrary to equal protection under the law and, therefore, violates our Constitution." "They're trying to argue that it is somehow violating civil rights law and the Constitution to require employers or housing providers to consider the disparate impact on race or gender or age, right or disability," Olinsky told Newsweek. "Because that somehow might, in individual cases, cause a white young man to lose out because the criteria has been shifted." The ECOA is also intended to protect people of all races, color, age, and ability, creating concern that many groups could become subject to banking discrimination if federal agencies abide by this EO. Evaluation of the ECOA falls under section six of the EO, which Olinsky explained to Newsweek means: "To the extent that there have been any kinds of consent judgments or injunctions or orders that have already been put into government should revisit some of those agreements to see if maybe some can be rolled back." He explained that the order would likely result in the dismissal or quashing of any ongoing cases. The ECOA falls under the jurisdiction of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The CFPB is supposed to be an independent agency, but the Trump administration has been working to couple independent agencies with the White House. This move has resulted in several court cases; however, Trump has appointed his own head of the CFPB, which he is allowed to do, and this head will likely follow through on this Executive Order. President Donald Trump signiing executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Washington. President Donald Trump signiing executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Washington. Alex Brandon/AP Photo Not only does President Trump's order for "restoring equality" result in a reevaluation of judgments based around sex discrimination, it also calls for an evaluation of ongoing cases related to Titles VII, and VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and says: "the Attorney General shall initiate appropriate action to repeal or amend the implementing regulations for Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964." Title VI prohibits federal funds from going to programs that discriminate against people based on their race, color, or national origin, Title VII prohibits employment discrimination, and Title VIII is also known as the Fair Housing Act which is intended to prevent housing discrimination. Olinsky stressed to Newsweek that this EO does not mean people cannot file private suits. There are still protections in place for women and other minorities, for example, lawsuits against private companies. However, without the federal government, there will be less data collection to aid people in understanding whether they were simply an individual denied a loan or if they were part of a discriminatory pattern, and there will be less support from agencies that are supposed to enforce, educate on, and regulate, federal civil rights laws. What People Are Saying Ben Olinsky, senior vice president of Structural Reform and Governance at the Center for American Progress told Newsweek: "You will see fewer to perhaps no effort by the federal government to make sure that women have equal access to credit, that Black people have equal access to credit. I think that will likely be a consequence." President Donald Trump, Executive Order: "Because of disparate-impact liability, employers cannot act in the best interests of the job applicant, the employer, and the American public. Disparate-impact liability imperils the effectiveness of civil rights laws by mandating, rather than proscribing, discrimination." What Happens Next Olinsky warned that the full legal consequence of this EO could come later, as these actions may work their way up to a Supreme Court case and to a bench that has shown it is willing to roll back Civil Rights Act protections in the name of equal opportunity, as demonstrated in Students for Fair Admissions vs Harvard.
Forbes
24-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Inside The Trump AI Education Executive Order & Why It Matters
President Trump put AI firmly on the educational agenda when he signed an executive order today aimed at K-12 schools. The White House described this as a forward-looking initiative to prepare young Americans for a future where AI is woven into nearly every aspect of life and work. In the eyes of the administration, the order is about more than education reform. It's about national competitiveness. Will Scharf, White House staff secretary, emphasized the administration's rationale: 'The basic idea of this executive order is to ensure that we properly train the workforce of the future by ensuring that school children, young Americans, are adequately trained in AI tools.' At the heart of the policy is a newly formed White House Task Force on AI Education. It brings together leadership from education, labor and science agencies. Its mission is to create a national roadmap for introducing AI into schools. The task force is expected to propose partnerships with tech companies, non-profits and universities. The goal is to build a system where students learn how to use AI tools and gain the capacity to think critically about their use. That means not just using technology but questioning it. Understanding its limits. Seeing its potential and its pitfalls. A major part of the initiative is the upcoming Presidential AI Challenge. Though few details have been released, it will likely showcase how students and educators can creatively apply AI. Whether it becomes a meaningful part of the strategy or just a ceremonial gesture remains to be seen. The Department of Labor will also be involved. It has been instructed to direct funding toward AI apprenticeships and certification programs. This includes efforts to give high school students early access to workforce credentials tied to AI-related careers. How accessible these programs will be to students in rural or underserved communities is still unclear. Questions remain around infrastructure, teacher preparedness and equitable access. Embedding AI into the curriculum won't be simple. Schools will need new resources. Teachers will need training. Administrators will need time to adjust their systems. Around the world, other countries are moving ahead with their own AI education agendas. These offer a glimpse into how such strategies might evolve and what the U.S. could learn from them. In China, AI education is not a side program. It's becoming central to the national agenda. In Beijing, public schools are now required to offer a minimum of eight hours of AI instruction each year. These lessons begin in elementary school and continue through high school. More broadly, AI is being woven into national textbooks and teaching methods as part of a long-term plan to establish China as a global education powerhouse by 2035. Singapore has also taken decisive steps. Its national initiative includes mandatory AI training for teachers across all grade levels by 2026. The curriculum will not only teach technical skills but also address the ethical and societal dimensions of AI. Singapore's approach reflects a belief that AI literacy must include both the power and the potential harm of the technology. Estonia has gone a different route, partnering directly with OpenAI. The Baltic nation plans to roll out ChatGPT Edu to every secondary student and teacher in the country. The program begins in September 2025 with 10th and 11th graders. The focus is not just on using AI, but on making it a personalized and adaptable learning assistant. These countries are taking a different path, but the direction is the same. These governments are waking up to the reality that AI literacy could become as important as reading and math. It is no surprise that the U.S. feels it is necessary to do similar. The executive order shows intent, but turning that into impact will be a longer journey. Schools will need support to adopt AI responsibly. Policymakers will need to ensure rural and low-income districts don't get left behind. The broader question for the U.S. is less about policy and more about purpose. What kind of relationship do we want young people to have with AI? Should they be passive users or thoughtful creators? Do we want them to compete with machines or learn how to work alongside them? The executive order opens the door. What happens next will determine whether America walks through it or watches others take the lead. This isn't just an education issue. It's an economic one. It's cultural. It's generational. It's about giving the next wave of students the tools they need to thrive in a world that's already being shaped by artificial intelligence.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump signs executive order incorporating AI into classrooms
President Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday that aims to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) into America's classrooms. 'The basic idea of this executive order is to ensure that we properly train the workforce of the future by ensuring that school children, young Americans, are adequately trained in AI tools, so that they can be competitive in the economy years from now into the future, as AI becomes a bigger and bigger deal,' said Will Scharf, White House staff secretary. Although the exact text of the order has not been released, The Washington Post reported on a pre-decisional draft that said the president wants schools to partner with the private sector to implement the technology into school programs. The order would instruct Education Secretary Linda McMahon to prioritize federal funds for training teachers and administrators in how to use AI for their benefit but also to incorporate it into all subjects. 'AI is where it seems to be at,' Trump said during the signing. An AI education task force would be created to encourage federal agencies to partner with the private sector with the goal of teaching students 'foundational AI literacy and critical thinking skills,' according to the Post. AI has taken classrooms by storm over the last few years, with both benefits and risks to educators and students. Schools have already begun partnering with organizations to teach educators and students how to use AI responsibly. Downsides to the technology include concerns of cheating and bullying, along with ethical worries. Trump also signed an executive order in January taking away some regulations from the AI industry and investing in AI data centers. —Updated at 5:39 p.m. EDT Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Post
23-04-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Trump signs executive order demanding transparency from colleges receiving billions in foreign money
WASHINGTON — President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday to toughen disclosure requirements for colleges that receive foreign funding, demanding top universities be more transparent about the billions of dollars they rake in from other countries. Elite American schools have pocketed some $60 billion in foreign cash in recent years, according to a government watchdog group. Trump's new order threatens to pull federal aid from those that fail to disclose the foreign gifts. Universities are currently supposed to reveal foreign gifts and contracts topping $250,000, but the law hasn't been well enforced, according to White House staffers. Advertisement President Trump is requiring colleges to boost transparency around foreign funding. AFP via Getty Images 'There are currently laws on the books requiring certain disclosures of universities when they accept large foreign gifts,' White House staff secretary Will Scharf told Trump as he presented the document for his signature in the Oval Office. 'We believe that certain universities, including, for example, Harvard, have routinely violated this law, and this law has not been effectively enforced. So this executive order charges your departments and agencies with enforcing the laws on the books with respect to foreign gifts to American universities.' Advertisement At least $60 billion in foreign funds have flowed to American universities in recent decades, according to a report from the group Americans for Public Trust published this month. Much of the haul went to elite schools like Harvard ($3.2 billion), Cornell ($2.8 billion), Carnegie Mellon ($2.8 billion) and the University of Pennsylvania ($2.5 billion). Major foreign sources of funds include oil-rich Arab states and China. 'For far too long, foreign funds have flowed to US colleges and universities with inadequate transparency or oversight,' states a White House document describing the order, which was first reported by Politico. Advertisement 'Undisclosed foreign funding raises serious concerns about potential foreign influence, national security risks, and compromised academic integrity.' Harvard President Alan Garber is in a standoff with the Trump administration over policy demands. Harvard University The order requires Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take action to reverse Biden administration actions 'that allow universities to obscure details regarding their foreign funding.' Advertisement Trump's order comes after he paused more than $2 billion in federal grants to Harvard in a standoff over demands for reforms to combat alleged antisemitism and overhaul admissions policies. Trump signed several other orders Wednesday pertaining to education, including requiring a review of college accreditation to prioritize merit and allowing schools more leeway to discipline students.
