Latest news with #federalprogram
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
White House Ends Controversial Practice Introduced by Musk
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Elon Musk in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 30, 2025. Credit - Allison Robbert—Getty Images The Trump Administration has axed a controversial program introduced by Elon Musk during his time serving as the lead of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has announced that federal employees will no longer be required to send a '5 things' email at the end of each working week, during which they were expected to summarize their work and list five things they accomplished. "We communicated with agency HR leads that OPM was no longer going to manage the 'five things' process nor utilize it internally,' said OPM Director Scott Kupor in a statement the White House shared with TIME on Wednesday morning. 'At OPM, we believe that managers are accountable to staying informed about what their team members are working on and have many other existing tools to do so.' OPM has been responsible for implementing Musk's email requirement since its introduction in February, but the now-axed program has long been the subject of contention across various federal agencies and high-ranking officials. It was not enforced across the board. Musk—who announced he was stepping down from his DOGE role in late May, before engaging in a public feud with his one-time ally, President Donald Trump—was tasked with slashing federal spending, gutting numerous federal agencies, and introducing efficient workflow methods. Here's a look at the '5 things' email instruction and the backlash that ensued. When did Elon Musk introduce the workflow-efficiency emails? Tesla CEO and X owner Musk announced his email requirement in February, via social media. 'All federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,' said Musk on X, saying that the instruction was consistent with Trump's directive. Musk added that 'failure to respond will be taken as a resignation,' however this threat to jobs was notably absent from the instruction email that was sent to federal employees. The email—which boasted the subject line 'What did you do last week?'—was sent from the OPM to workers in a number of government departments, including the FBI, the State Department, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Environmental Protection Agency, the Veterans Affairs Department, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). 'Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished this week and cc your manager,' the email sent on Feb. 22 reportedly read, telling employees to respond by midnight on the approaching Monday. Days later, after much backlash, Musk gave employees a 'second chance' to send their emails if they did not send a list of five accomplishments the first time round. Read More: Elon Musk Draws Ire Telling Federal Employees to Justify Their Jobs Over Email or Resign How did federal employees, lawmakers, and others respond? Some agencies ordered employees to comply with the instruction, in part, but to send the email to their 'first-line supervisors' instead. The Department of Commerce reportedly issued a notice to its workforce in line with this, saying: "In compliance with that email, please ensure you provide 5 bullet points relating to your activities last week.' However, other departments said that there was no requirement to respond. 'There is no HHS expectation that HHS employees respond to OPM and there is no impact to your employment with the agency if you choose not to respond,' the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) employees were told, according to a note obtained by the Washington Post. The Department of Defense also advised its workforce to 'pause' any response to the OPM. 'The Department of Defense is responsible for reviewing the performance of its personnel and it will conduct any review in accordance with its own precludes," read an official statement. FBI Director Kash Patel told FBI employees in an email to 'pause any responses' to Musk's directive. 'The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all our review processes, and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures,' the message from Patel reportedly read. Meanwhile, lawmakers across party aisles spoke out against the initiative. Speaking on CBS' Face the Nation shortly after the initial email was sent out, Utah Republican Sen. John Curtis said: "If I could say one thing to Elon Musk, it's please put a dose of compassion in this. These are real people, real lives, mortgages. It's a false narrative to say we have to cut and we have to be cruel to do it." Appearing on the same show, Maryland Democrat Sen. Chris Van Hollen said: 'There's no article in the Constitution that gives Elon Musk that authority.' Others were more in favour of the move. Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York said on ABC's This Week: 'There's no question, as the Department of Government Efficiency moves ahead, what they are seeking to do is ensure that every agency and department is effectively and efficiently doing their job.' 'The task at hand for Elon Musk and DOGE, at the direction of President Trump, is to find efficiencies and savings, and make sure that our federal workforce is doing their jobs.' Elsewhere, Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), released a statement against the initiative. 'It is cruel and disrespectful to hundreds of thousands of veterans who are wearing their second uniform in the civil service to be forced to justify their job duties to this out-of-touch, privileged, unelected billionaire,' Kelley said. Read More: Musk Reignites Row Over Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' as Senate Republicans Advance It: 'Utterly Insane and Destructive' How did Musk and Trump react to the controversy? In response to the lack of enforcement from some federal agencies, Musk appeared frustrated. Musk said that the email responses should take 'less than 5 mins' and that many 'good responses' from employees had already been received just one day after his instruction was sent out. 'These are the people who should be considered for promotion,' he argued. 'The email request was utterly trivial, as the standard for passing the test was to type some words and press send! Yet so many failed even that inane test, urged on in some cases by their managers,' he continued, venting on X. 'Have you ever witnessed such incompetence and contempt for how your taxes are being spent?' Musk asked his American followers. The former DOGE head responded to comments from House Speaker Mike Johnson, who said it was not unreasonable for public servants to justify their work. 'Just applying the same standards to public vs private workforce. Fair rules for all,' said Musk. Trump staunchly defended Musk's push for work-efficiency emails, calling the move 'genius.' He argued that some federal employees on the payroll were not replying because 'they don't even exist.' The President also said that departments that did not comply with the email instruction did so 'in a friendly manner,' including the FBI where employees were working on 'confidential' items. 'They don't mean that in any way combatively with Elon. They're just saying there are some people that you don't want to really have them tell you what they're working on [the] last week,' he said. Contact us at letters@ Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
25-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Charter Communications Will Match New 'Trump Accounts' Federal Savings Plans For Children Of Employees
Charter Communications, which has a big merger pending before the FCC, announced today that it will match a new federal program giving $1,000 dollars to newborns for children of its employees The 'Trump Accounts' are part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act the president signed into law July 4. They are a relatively bipartisan component of the controversial legislation that extends 2017 tax cuts, adds tens of billions for border security and immigration enforcement and boosts defense spending, while slashing Medicaid and food stamps and rolling back clean energy initiatives. More from Deadline Stephen Colbert Tells Donald Trump To "Go F*ck Yourself" After 'The Late Show' Axing 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' Attracts Protesters; More Planned This Week Trump White House Pulls Wall Street Journal Reporter From Upcoming Press Travel Pool Because Of Jeffrey Epstein Story Under the new class of tax-deferred investment accounts, every American born between 2025 and 2028 will automatically receive an account with $1,000 from the U.S. Treasury, which will be invested in a low-cost index fund. The funds will be held in a custodial trust until the child turns 18 when it automatically becomes a traditional IRA but can be used for specific purposes including education, starting a business or buying a first home. They accounts, introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in May in the Invest America Act, will be available starting in July of 2026. Every account can take up to $5,000 in additional contributions per year, including up to $2,500 on a tax-free basis, by a parent's employer. Charter, which inked a $34.5 billion deal In May to acquire Cox Communications, said the matching contribution further strengthens 'its commitment to its 100% U.S.-based employee workforce.' Charter will also 'offer employees additional ways to direct their own pay into their children's Invest in America Trump Accounts.' 'When employees know their children have a pathway to financial security, it shapes how they view their future and their place at Spectrum – that's good for customers and our communities, and that's good business,' said CEO Chris Winfrey. 'This initiative helps nurture future prosperity, supporting our employees and their families as we grow together.' Charter said its participation in the new accounts builds on its broader commitment to employee financial security, and specifically, its frontline, U.S.-based sales and service workforce. It recently introduced an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. It also offers a retirement plan with a company contribution of up to 9% of eligible pay per year; comprehensive health benefits for which Charter has absorbed the full annual cost increase for the last 12 years; and a starting wage of at least $20 per hour — nearly three times the federal minimum wage. Best of Deadline Everything We Know About 'The Devil Wears Prada 2' 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery 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
Reuters
22-07-2025
- Automotive
- Reuters
Less than 400 EV charging ports built under $7.5 billion U.S. infrastructure program
WASHINGTON, July 22 (Reuters) - U.S. states have built less than 400 electric vehicle charging ports through April under $7.5 billion federal infrastructure programs, the Government Accountability Office said Tuesday. As of April 2025, 384 charging ports are operating at 68 stations in 16 states, GAO said, saying a joint office overseeing the program "has not defined performance goals with measurable targets and time frames for its activities." In May, California and 15 other states sued the U.S. Transportation Department, saying the federal government was illegally withholding at least $3 billion awarded to states for building EV charging stations under a 2021 infrastructure law. The Transportation Department under President Donald Trump in February suspended the EV charging program and rescinded approval of state plans pending a review. The GAO noted that Trump wants Congress to rescind $6 billion in unspent EV charging funding. Nationwide, there are about 219,000 publicly available EV charging ports, according to the Energy Department. In June 2024, a Democratic senator criticized the previous Biden administration for deploying just seven EV charging stations with a few dozen ports calling it "pathetic." We're now three years into this ... That is a vast administrative failure," said Senator Jeff Merkley. "Something is terribly wrong and it needs to be fixed." The Trump administration has taken a number of steps to discourage EV sales. Trump signed legislation this month that will end the $7,500 EV tax credit and $4,000 used EV tax credit on Sept. 30. Trump in January revoked a 2021 executive order signed by Biden that sought to ensure half of all new vehicles sold in the United States by 2030 were electric. In March, the General Services Administration told federal agencies that existing charging stations for government-owned EVs "that are deemed not to be mission-critical should be disconnected from the network and turned off." GSA said in April it had canceled 32 electric vehicle charging projects worth over $23 million.
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Federal student loan changes making you eye private lenders? Here are 7 with federal loan-like perks
Key takeaways Federal student loans are known for unique benefits like flexible qualification requirements, income-driven repayment plans and potential loan forgiveness. Recent changes to the federal loan program have taken some benefits away, at a time when private loan lenders are starting to offer products with features similar to federal loans. Even with recent changes and uncertainty, federal loans may still be the best first option. Issues with federal loan servicers, uncertainty about loan forgiveness and new changes to the federal student loan program have left many wondering if private student loans may be a better option. Some borrowers may now need to use private loans in addition to their federal ones due to new federal loan amount caps. When private student loans become necessary, borrowers may want to consider lenders that offer products with federal loan-like benefits. Changes to federal student loan benefits may force some to consider private loans The passing of the 2025 reconciliation bill brings major overhauls to the federal student loan system, most of them starting July 1, 2026. The bill eliminates certain programs, including the Grad PLUS loan and most income-driven repayment plans. Borrowers will also lose hardship and unemployment deferment, as well as long forbearance timelines. The program now limits forbearance to 9 months during every 24-month period. Additionally, the bill places borrowing limits on loans you could once use to fully fund your cost of attendance. With federal student loan borrowing limits now capped, many will need to find other funding sources. Learn more: Major changes coming to federal student loan program 'The new annual and aggregate loan limits specified in the budget reconciliation bill may shift some borrowing from federal student loans to private student loans when borrowers reach the loan limits, especially for parents and graduate students,' says leading student loan expert and Bankrate contributor Mark Kantrowitz. Some federal student loan benefits remain Federal student loans will still offer an income-driven repayment option, loan forgiveness programs and discharge options that most, if not all, private student loans lack. Federal loans also offer more flexible qualification requirements and fixed interest rates. These benefits may continue to make federal loans the clear winner in the federal vs. private student loans debate. 'You don't need to have good credit to qualify for a federal student loan,' Kantrowitz says. The interest rate on federal loans is also the same for every borrower of that particular loan, regardless of their credit. 'The fixed interest rates on federal student loans may be better than on private student loans, especially for borrowers who do not have excellent credit,' he adds. While some private student loan rates can be lower than federal loans, those rates are often reserved for borrowers (or cosigners) with excellent credit. But there are other federal loan-like benefits that some private lenders may offer to borrowers — some regardless of credit. What federal loan-like benefits can you find with private lenders? Federal loan benefit Offered by some private lenders A fixed interest rate that is the same regardless of credit No No credit history or cosigner required for undergraduate and graduate loans Yes Loan forgiveness programs, including public service loan forgiveness No Potential loan forgiveness at the end of repayment term Yes Interest on some loans may be covered while in school No Income-driven repayment plans Yes Grace periods Yes No prepayment penalty Yes Loan forgiveness for death or permanent disability Yes Some private student loans offer federal loan-like features Despite changes, Bankrate experts still agree that federal aid is the best place to start your search for education financing. However, if student and parent borrowers need to turn to private loans after exhausting those resources, they may be able to keep or recapture some federal loan benefits at one of these lenders. RISLA Benefit: Income-based repayment, potential loan forgiveness Rhode Island Student Loan Authority, or RISLA, provides an unusual income-based repayment (IBR) option for borrowers facing financial hardship. Just like the federal loan income-driven repayment plan, RISLA's IBR plan bases a borrower's monthly payment on income and family size. The borrower must show evidence of their financial hardship to qualify; additionally, they must verify their income and family size each year. IBR payments may change if that information changes. While the IBR program is intended to be a temporary program, not a standard repayment plan, RISLA will forgive any remaining balance after 300 payments or 25 years on the plan. Ascent Benefit: No credit score requirement, progressive repayment plan Instead of basing eligibility on a student's credit score, Ascent provides an outcomes-based student loan option for college juniors and seniors. This loan doesn't require a credit score or cosigner. Your eligibility is determined by factors including — but not limited to — your school, program, GPA, academic performance and cost of attendance. Ascent also offers a progressive repayment option for certain loans that allows you to reduce your monthly payment, then gradually increase it over time. With this option, you'll still be able to pay the loan off in full within your original repayment term. This mimics the government's now-eliminated graduated repayment plan, which featured low initial payments that gradually increased every two years. YELO Funding Benefit: No credit score requirement, income-contingent repayment, potential loan forgiveness Dan Rubin, founder and CEO of YELO Funding, saw a gap in what he calls the 'gap financing market' — when federal aid doesn't cover the full cost of tuition and students turn to other options. 'Not every kid comes from a socioeconomic background where their parents can borrow money … so they go through private lenders,' he says. 'But private lenders mean you need to have a good credit score. And most importantly, you need to have a cosigner. And a lot of kids don't have a good cosigner.' According to Rubin, when a lack of credit or cosigner keeps students from borrowing money for school, they can't live up to their potential. Instead of requiring a credit score and/or cosigner, YELO considers factors like what the student will be studying and where, their GPA and experience, their earning potential and risk of unemployment. These are all important factors for YELO because the lender also uses an income-contingent repayment plan, similar to an income-share agreement. Borrowers enter into a contract in which they must pay a fixed percentage of their future income for a specific number of years. YELO pauses payments if the borrower loses their job and caps its APR and repayment amount. If the amount is not paid off within the repayment window, the borrower is off the hook for the rest. ELFI and Laurel Road Benefit: Forbearance up to 12 months Beginning in 2027, borrowers experiencing unemployment may only pause payments on their federal loans for nine months during a 24-month period. However, some private lenders, including ELFI and Laurel Road may offer forbearance for up to 12 months. ELFI's forbearance is considered on a case-by-case basis and granted at the discretion of the lender. Laurel Road may offer economic hardship forbearance for up to twelve months (in three-month increments) and forbearance assistance for natural disasters for two months. Sallie Mae Benefit: Graduated repayment period Sallie Mae offers a graduated repayment period (GRP) that allows you to make interest-only payments for the first 12 months after your grace period ends, then ramp up to standard principal and interest payments. This serves a similar function to the discontinued federal graduated repayment plan, allowing a less financially stressful transition school to career. According to Sallie Mae, it was the first private student lender to offer this type of repayment option. Splash Financial Benefit: Up to 25 years of repayment While most private student loan lenders have repayment terms of up to 15 or 20 years, Splash Financial is one of the only private lenders that has repayment terms of up to 25 years. This is more in-tune with federal student loan income-driven repayment and extended repayment plans (now eliminated) that lasted for 25 years. Bankrate insight The majority of private loans offer a grace period after college graduation as well as no prepayment penalty and loan discharge due to death or permanent disability. However, it's important to check with your lender and ensure you understand the terms of your loan before taking it out. What should students consider when choosing their student loans? 'When considering a private student loan, borrowers should consider the interest rates, fees, and repayment term. This can manifest in differences in the monthly payment and the total payments over the life of the loan,' says Kantrowitz. To see what different rates and terms will cause you to pay each month and in overall interest throughout the life of the loan, get prequalified with a few lenders and plug the different offers into a student loan calculator. While private loan costs may be higher now, that may change. Kantrowitz predicts that increased demand may produce more competition among lenders, causing some to offer discounts and other features to attract better quality borrowers. Decide what perks and features are most important to you. For most borrowers, federal loans will likely still check more of those boxes than private loans — at least for now. Bottom line: Federal loans should still be the first option Experts, including Kantrowitz, recommend students seek out federal student aid and federal loans before going for private options. They also warn that refinancing federal loans will forfeit those benefits and to think twice before doing so — even if student loan refinance rates may be lower or the loan may be easier to manage. And that advice still rings true. Because, despite recent changes and uncertainty, federal student loans still offer the most benefits. Additionally, applying for federal loans (start by completeing the FAFSA) also grants you access to other financial aid that doesn't need to be paid back. So should be the first place you go to finance your education before using private loans to fill in funding gaps. Rubin of YELO Funding agrees, saying he's competing with other lenders trying to fill the gap between federal loans and tuition costs, not the federal loan program itself. 'Take as many subsidized, unsubsidized [federal] loans, scholarships and grants — as much as you can,' he says. 'Then you can come to us.'
CBS News
05-06-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Thousands of students in limbo as Trump administration seeks to shut down Job Corps centers
Emily Scott is a Job Corps student in Los Angeles who is also a caretaker for her disabled mother. She is four months away from graduating from the Job Corps program as a licensed nurse. Andrea Watts of Las Vegas was homeless before finding her way to a Job Corps center in L.A. for an opportunity to obtain her high school diploma and eventually become a pharmacy technician. Both are students who are undergoing training at Job Corps, but whose careers are in limbo as the centers were abruptly shut down last week. On May 29, the Labor Department announced a "phased pause" in operations at 99 contractor-operated Job Corps centers nationwide. These are federally-funded centers that offer career training, housing and career assistance to more than 25,000 young people ages 16 to 24. The Labor Department program was funded by Congress in 1964 and has generally received bipartisan support. However, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said in a news release that the program was "no longer achieving the intended outcomes that students deserve" as evidenced by "a startling number of serious incident reports and our in-depth fiscal analysis." U.S. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C., on May 22, 2025. Annabelle Gordon/Bloomberg via Getty Images On Wednesday, U.S District Judge Andrew Carter in Manhattan temporarily blocked the Trump administration from eliminating the Job Corps program while the case plays out. The temporary restraining order was issued after Job Corps contractors sued the Trump administration Tuesday arguing the Labor Department violated federal law by shutting down the Job Corps centers, arguing the White House does not have the power to dismantle a program established and funded by Congress. A hearing is set for June 17. CBS News has reached out to the Labor Department and Job Corps for comment on the ruling. Job Corps officials told CBS News that even before the Labor Department paused operations last week, it had halted their ability to conduct background checks, effectively freezing the enrollment process. Though it was initially communicated as a pause, staff had been given dates for their last date of employment, they said. Prior to Carter's ruling, a stop in operations at all contractor-operated Job Corps centers was slated to occur by June 30. A transparency report released in April by the Labor Department found that the average graduation rate for the program was under 40%. The yearly average cost per student was $80,000 and there were over 14,000 serious incident infractions, including inappropriate sexual behavior, sexual assaults and reported drug use. The decision to pause operations aligned with President Trump's 2026 budget proposal, according to the Labor Department, and the administration's commitment to "ensure federal workforce investments deliver meaningful results for both students and taxpayers," the agency said last week when it announced the pause. According to Michelle Matthews, who helps lead the L.A. Job Corps centers, the Labor Department's findings were "unbelievable" given that students are under strict rules and are drug tested in order to qualify. "All of the numbers presented were inflated, deflated lies and their intent was clear from the start," said Matthews, adding that news of the centers' closure was communicated to students last Friday. "That was a day I will never forget," Matthews told CBS News in tears. "To see what they were going through and to know that the impact was going to be devastating." Students were required to abandon their dorms, but more than 50 students in the L.A. centers had nowhere to go. Matthews says she is part of the staff still working around the clock to find them housing. It was not immediately clear whether Wednesday's ruling will allow it to immediately reopen to students. Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have denounced the Trump administration's move to suspend Job Corps operations, a move they say is illegal. "We funded the program through fiscal year 2025 and they are cutting these slots and shutting things down that Congress has already funded," said Democratic Rep. Jimmy Gomez of California in a phone interview with CBS News. "The money is already there, so they should use it to help these kids finish out their degrees and certifications and then we can have a debate on what the future of Job Corps looks like." Gomez added that he has personally witnessed the success of the program as his two siblings are Job Corps graduates. "The kids are in the pipeline, don't take this away from them because they don't have many opportunities as it is," Gomez said. In May, Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, sent a letter to Chavez-DeRemer requesting information on Job Corps contracts, background check processing and evaluation plans. "I strongly oppose the Department of Labor's directive to pause operations at Job Corps centers in Maine and across the country," Collins said in a statement. "Serving nearly 500 students in Maine, the Loring Job Corps Center and the Penobscot Job Corps Center have become important pillars of support for some of our most disadvantaged young adults." Scott, who has autism, was forced to drop out of college at the age of 19 to care for her disabled mother. "I watched my whole life get put on pause and our circumstances never improved," Scott said. The nursing student says she's unable to pay for her training on her own if Job Corps is effectively shut down. "My future, I don't see it, I don't see anything being different than how I started," Scott said. For Watts, leaving Job Corps would mean returning to Las Vegas — where she doesn't have a home — without achieving her initial hopes of becoming a pharmacy technician. "I wanted to set an example for my future self, and I enrolled into Job Corps thinking that I would come out with a career, with my high school diploma," Watts said. "But that was all just taken from me in a short amount of time."
