NewzIntel.com

Category: Elon Musk

  • MIL-OSI USA: Pelosi on the Republican Tax Scam: “One of the Largest Transfers of Wealth in our History.”

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi Representing the 12th District of California

    Washington, D.C. – Today, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi voted NO on the Republican Tax Scam bill: Donald Trump’s extreme legislation that will kick nearly 14 million people off their health care, take food out of the mouths of hungry kids and raise costs for health care and groceries across the board.

    For more than 29 hours, Speaker Emerita Pelosi and fellow House Democrats led sustained opposition to the Republican Tax Scam bill. Democrats offered hundreds of amendments to stop Republican cuts to health care and food assistance and to remove new tax breaks that Republicans are giving to their billionaire donors like Elon Musk.

    Watch Speaker Emerita Pelosi’s Floor remarks in opposition to the bill here.

    Watch Speaker Emerita Pelosi’s interview with Jen Psaki on MSNBC here.

    Watch Speaker Emerita Pelosi’s interview with Raj Mathai on NBC Bay Area here.

    Read the transcript of Speaker Emerita Pelosi’s Floor remarks below:

    Ranking Member Jim McGovern.  I’d like to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from California, the Speaker Emerita, Ms. Pelosi.

    Speaker Emerita Pelosi. I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his exceptional leadership, and to all the members of the Rules Committee for your stamina and for your values.

    Mr. Speaker, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and the most inhuman because it often results in physical death.’ He went on to talk about access to health care as a right.

    But the inequality and inhumanity of this bill is exactly what Republicans have in store for the American people.

    I sat for five hours at the Rules Committee—some of you were there even longer. It was stiff competition to determine which provision was the worst. But let’s just talk for a moment about work requirements.

    They said, with great pride: ‘If you have a seven-year-old child, you have to go to work.’ A seven-year-old child is a little child.

    I recalled a conversation I had with some moms. One of them said: ‘If there’s a work requirement tied to Medicaid, this is what it means for me: If my child is sick, I can’t go to work because I can’t afford childcare. If I miss work, I miss pay—and I can’t afford to miss that pay. If I don’t go to work, I can be fired. So I’m forced to put my sick child on the school bus—because I need to go to work to keep my Medicaid.’

    And as we mentioned, about the silencers, it’s just beyond comprehension in terms of safety for our children.

    Because of the Republicans’ tax bill scam, millions of American families—seniors, veterans, vulnerable children, people with disabilities—will lose their health care. Rural hospitals will be closed. And millions of jobs will be destroyed across America.

    And all of this to give another massive tax cut to the richest people in America.

    It is a Republican Robin Hood in reverse: one of the largest transfers of wealth from working families to the rich that our country has ever seen.

    I urge a ‘no’ vote on the rule and the bill.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Gabe Vasquez Opposes House Republican Bill That Slashes Health Care and Essential Services for New Mexicans

    Source: US Representative Gabe Vasquez’s (NM-02)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez (NM-02) voted against the House Republican reconciliation package, titled the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” citing its devastating impact on working families, rural communities, and public health in New Mexico. The bill imposes deep cuts to Medicaid, food assistance, and rural hospitals, while handing permanent tax breaks to billionaires and corporations.

    “This bill takes food and health care away from our families so the ultra-wealthy can get another tax cut,” said Vasquez. “In my district, it would rip away Medicaid from 29,000 people, slash food assistance for nearly 50,000 families, and put rural hospitals on the brink of closure. I came to Congress to fight for working people—not to help Elon Musk and his billionaire friends get richer.”

    The reconciliation package would:

    • Cut $698 billion from Medicaid, threatening care for over 35,000 New Mexicans.
    • Eliminate enhanced ACA tax credits, raising premiums and risking coverage loss for thousands.
    • Slash $267 billion from SNAP, cutting benefits for 120,000 New Mexicans—including 49,000 in NM-02—and costing New Mexico  $270 million.
    • Puts rural hospitals in New Mexico at risk of closure.
    • Add $3.8 trillion to the deficit while delivering 66% of tax breaks to the top 20% of earners.

    While Republicans push tax cuts that overwhelmingly favor the rich, Vasquez has introduced and supported legislation that puts working families first:

    • The Boost the Middle Class Act – Expands the Earned Income Tax Credit by 10% and indexes it to inflation, putting more money into the pockets of working families.
    • The Tax Relief from Tariffs and High Costs Act – Offers a fully refundable 10% tax credit to households making under $100,000 to offset rising prices.
    • The Honor and Hire Veterans Act – Increases tax incentives for businesses to hire veterans.

    As Congress debated the bill, Rep. Vasquez also fought for improvements, including his Honor Farmer Contracts Act to ensure USDA upholds contracts with farmers and the Affordable Insulin Now Act to cap insulin costs at $35/month for people with private insurance. However, Republicans blocked both amendments. 

    This vote underscores Rep. Vasquez’s commitment to protecting New Mexico’s working families, veterans, and rural communities. As House Republicans prioritize tax breaks for the wealthy at the expense of essential services, Vasquez continues to champion legislation that lowers costs, expands access to care, and delivers real relief to the people of southern New Mexico.

    ###

     

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Frankel Votes NO on GOP Tax Scam

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Lois Frankel (FL-21)

    Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Lois Frankel (FL-22) released the following statement after voting against the Republican tax scam.

    “The GOP Tax Scam kicks nearly 14 million people off their health care, including over 1.4 million in Florida, and takes food away from millions of Americans to give huge tax breaks to billionaires like Elon Musk,” said Rep. Frankel. “It’s cruel, reckless, morally indefensible, and balloons the national debt by more than $5 trillion. That’s why I voted no.”

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General James Advances Legislation to Protect Small Businesses and Consumers

    Source: US State of New York

    EW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today joined supporters to rally for the passage of the Fostering Affordability and Integrity through Reasonable Business Practices, or FAIR Business Practices Act, a program bill from the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and sponsored in the state legislature by Senator Leroy Comrie and Assemblymember Micah Lasher. This legislation will strengthen New York’s consumer protection law, GBL §349, to protect New Yorkers from predatory lending, abusive debt collection, junk fees, artificial intelligence (AI)-based schemes, online phishing scams, hard-to-cancel subscriptions, data breaches, and other unfair, deceptive, and abusive practices. Forty-two other states and federal law already prohibit unfair practices, making New York’s current law both antiquated and inadequate.

    “As the federal government steps back from protecting consumers and small businesses, New York must step up to help working families and Main Street businesses,” said Attorney General James. “The FAIR Business Practices Act will protect small businesses from predatory lenders, homeowners from bad mortgage servicers, patients from abusive debt collection, and much more. This legislation will strengthen New York’s consumer protection laws to stop businesses from taking advantage of New Yorkers. I look forward to working with my partners in the state legislature to get this legislation passed.”

    The FAIR Business Practices Act would also help stop lenders, including auto lenders, mortgage servicers, and student loan servicers, from deceptively steering people into higher-cost loans. It would reduce unnecessary and hidden fees, stop unfair billing practices by health care companies, and prevent companies from taking advantage of New Yorkers with limited English proficiency. With the federal government rolling back protections for consumers and small businesses, the FAIR Business Practices Act authorizes OAG and victims to seek civil penalties and restitution against businesses that use unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices against vulnerable New Yorkers.

    “New Yorkers deserve to be treated fairly, and this legislation helps ensure that,” said Senator Leroy Comrie. “The FAIR Business Practices Act gives our state stronger tools to hold bad actors accountable and protect everyday people from deceptive and abusive practices. I’m proud to sponsor this bill alongside Attorney General James and Assemblymember Lasher as we work to strengthen consumer protections and support small businesses across our state.” 

    “New York has one of the weakest consumer protection laws in the country. Donald Trump and Elon Musk are taking a hatchet to federal consumer protections, leaving New Yorkers even more vulnerable to abuse. The time to act is now,” said Assemblymember Micah Lasher. “Making sure that the Attorney General has the tools she needs to look out for New Yorkers is one of the best ways we can stop the damage Trump is trying to do. We must pass this bill this session to protect consumers from the high costs of unfair business practices. It is an honor to stand together in this fight with Attorney General James and Senator Comrie. Let’s get this done.”

    “We applaud Attorney General James for developing the FAIR Business Practices Act and we thank Assemblymember Lasher for introducing this bill,” said Mario Cilento, President of the New York State AFL-CIO. “The NYS AFL-CIO strongly supports modernizing the state’s consumer protection laws, particularly because of rollbacks at the federal level, but also to address technological, legal, and other developments that have made our current laws less effective. This bill, which will improve the rights and protections of workers who have been victims of various fraudulent and unfair practices, including unreasonable terms and conditions for payday loans or payroll check-cashing schemes, is a crucial step towards a fairer and more just society.” 

    “The FAIR Business Practices Act will protect working families from abusive business practices that are making it hard for people to get a car, keep a roof over their heads, and put food on the table,” said Henry Garrido, Executive Director of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, DC37. “Right now the federal government is stepping away from enforcing consumer protection laws that protect everyday people. I applaud Attorney General James, Senator Comrie, and Assemblymember Lasher for advancing this legislation to protect working families, small businesses, seniors, and much more. Let’s pass the FAIR Business Practices Act by the end of this session.”

    “AARP New York thanks Attorney General James, Senator Comrie, and Assemblymember Lasher for their leadership on this legislation,” said Kristen McManus, Senior Associate State Director for Advocacy for AARP New York. “Scammers are targeting older adults more than ever, with the FBI reporting that New Yorkers 60 and older lost more than $254 million to fraud in 2024, a more than $50 million increase from the previous year. Now is the time for the Governor and legislature to step up for all New Yorkers by establishing a consumer protection law that will foil scammers and discourage con artists from targeting some of the most vulnerable among us.” 

    “Where New York was once a leader in protecting small businesses from bad loans, our neighboring states have all since passed laws to stop unfair, abusive, and deceptive behavior,” said Lindsey Vigoda, New York Director of Small Business Majority. “We cannot continue to fall behind on these common-sense protections, which is why New York must pass the FAIR Business Practices Act. This legislation would shield Main Street from abusive fees that all too often place enormous strain on small businesses. With predatory lending products more prevalent today than ever, it’s time for New York to step up once again and defend our most precious asset — our small business community.” 

    “In response to the Trump administration’s gutting of federal consumer protection agencies and financial regulators, states must step up to stop big businesses from ripping off working families,” said Winston Berkman-Breen, Legal Director at the Student Borrower Protection Center. “This is especially true in New York, where abusive student loan servicers and private student loan companies take advantage of our weak consumer protections and prey on low-income households and vulnerable communities seeking to achieve financial stability through higher education. We applaud Attorney General James, Senator Comrie, and Assemblymember Lasher for meeting this moment by introducing the FAIR Business Practices Act. The bill will finally catch New York up with the rest of the country by providing commonsense and timely consumer protections for households and small businesses.”

    “The FAIR Business Practices Act strengthens New York’s core consumer protection law to ensure it is up to date and serves as an effective deterrent against wrongdoing,” said Chuck Bell, Advocacy Programs Director for Consumer Reports. “At a time when federal consumer protection initiatives are under attack, New York is stepping up to ensure consumers and small businesses will have the protections they need and deserve against financial ripoffs, fraud, and scams in the marketplace.” 

    “Every New Yorker should be able to work and invest in a prosperous future without fearing predatory lenders pulling the carpet out from under them,” said Diana Caba, Vice President for Community and Economic Development, Hispanic Federation. “It is deeply concerning how few protections consumers have in New York and how those protections are becoming even more limited because of the weakening of regulatory bodies at a national level. The FAIR Business Practices Act shows that New York is prioritizing the financial well-being of New Yorkers and catching state regulations up with the 42 other states who recognize why states must protect people’s financial future.” 

    “New York’s bedrock consumer protection law is intended to protect New Yorkers from new and evolving scams across all economic activity, but in practice it has fallen short, leaving gaps where scam victims have no recourse to get their money back, while making it profitable to continue abusing people,” said Ariana Lindermayer, Senior Staff Attorney of Mobilization for Justice. “The FAIR Business Practices Act would close these gaps and catch New York up with the 42 states that already ban unfair business practices. Honest businesses and everyday New Yorkers will welcome real protection from predatory businesses and competitors.” 

    “The FAIR Business Practices Act should be uncontroversial,” said Matthew Parham, Director of Litigation and Advocacy at the Western New York Law Center in Buffalo. “The unfair and abusive practices that it addresses are already illegal. It just does what most states have done for decades: lets individual consumers and state regulators enforce these rights, instead of relying on the federal government. This is vitally important now, when the federal government is completely abdicating its responsibility to protect consumers from scams and ripoffs.” 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Luján: Congressional Republicans Just Voted to Rip Away Your Health Care and Nutrition Assistance for the Most Vulnerable

    US Senate News:

    Source: US Senator for New Mexico Ben Ray Luján

    House-Passed Bill Includes Largest Cut to Medicaid in History

    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) issued the following statement after House Republicans passed President Trump’s sweeping plan to rip away health care and nutrition programs, close hospitals, cut incomes for working families, and deliver massive giveaways to the ultra-wealthy:

    “House Republicans just voted to gut Medicaid and SNAP – programs that thousands of New Mexicans rely on every day. Their bill would strip health care from working families, take meals away from children and seniors, and slash support for those who need it most – all while handing over billions in benefits to the wealthiest Americans.

    “In New Mexico, the consequences would be devastating. Slashing Medicaid means hospitals will close their doors, families across the state will lose access to care, and doctors, nursing homes, and home care providers will face deep payment cuts. House Republicans just voted to take away your health care and nutrition assistance – passing the largest cut to Medicaid and SNAP in our nation’s history.

    “It’s working families who will foot the bill. Americans earning less than $51,000 a year could actually see their incomes drop – while those at the top get a majority of the benefits. This bill lines the pockets of Elon Musk and his billionaire friends while ripping the rest of America off.”

    Impacts of the House GOP legislation include:

    • Cuts to Medicaid, jeopardizing health care access for millions;
    • Cuts to SNAP, reducing food assistance for children, families, and seniors;
    • Many Americans making less than $51,000 a year will lose money;
    • Delivers 65% of benefits to the wealthiest Americans;
    • According to a study by Wharton, the Republicans’ plan will add $4.6 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SPC Severe Thunderstorm Watch 311

    Source: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

    Note:  The expiration time in the watch graphic is amended if the watch is replaced, cancelled or extended.Note: Click for Watch Status Reports.
    SEL1

    URGENT – IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
    Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 311
    NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
    1055 AM CDT Thu May 22 2025

    The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

    * Severe Thunderstorm Watch for portions of
    Southern and East-Central Oklahoma
    North Texas

    * Effective this Thursday morning and afternoon from 1055 AM
    until 400 PM CDT.

    * Primary threats include…
    Scattered large hail likely with isolated very large hail events
    to 2.5 inches in diameter possible
    Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible

    SUMMARY…Clusters of storms will continue to spread generally
    east-southeastward across the region, with large hail possible. The
    most intense storms are expected across southern Oklahoma into parts
    of North Texas, where damaging wind potential may also increase this
    afternoon.

    The severe thunderstorm watch area is approximately along and 70
    statute miles east and west of a line from 40 miles west northwest
    of Muskogee OK to 35 miles south of Sherman TX. For a complete
    depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update
    (WOUS64 KWNS WOU1).

    PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

    REMEMBER…A Severe Thunderstorm Watch means conditions are
    favorable for severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch area.
    Persons in these areas should be on the lookout for threatening
    weather conditions and listen for later statements and possible
    warnings. Severe thunderstorms can and occasionally do produce
    tornadoes.

    &&

    AVIATION…A few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to
    2.5 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 60 knots. A
    few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 500. Mean storm motion vector
    29020.

    …Guyer

    SEL1

    URGENT – IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
    Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 311
    NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
    1055 AM CDT Thu May 22 2025

    The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

    * Severe Thunderstorm Watch for portions of
    Southern and East-Central Oklahoma
    North Texas

    * Effective this Thursday morning and afternoon from 1055 AM
    until 400 PM CDT.

    * Primary threats include…
    Scattered large hail likely with isolated very large hail events
    to 2.5 inches in diameter possible
    Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible

    SUMMARY…Clusters of storms will continue to spread generally
    east-southeastward across the region, with large hail possible. The
    most intense storms are expected across southern Oklahoma into parts
    of North Texas, where damaging wind potential may also increase this
    afternoon.

    The severe thunderstorm watch area is approximately along and 70
    statute miles east and west of a line from 40 miles west northwest
    of Muskogee OK to 35 miles south of Sherman TX. For a complete
    depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update
    (WOUS64 KWNS WOU1).

    PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

    REMEMBER…A Severe Thunderstorm Watch means conditions are
    favorable for severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch area.
    Persons in these areas should be on the lookout for threatening
    weather conditions and listen for later statements and possible
    warnings. Severe thunderstorms can and occasionally do produce
    tornadoes.

    &&

    AVIATION…A few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to
    2.5 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 60 knots. A
    few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 500. Mean storm motion vector
    29020.

    …Guyer

    Note: The Aviation Watch (SAW) product is an approximation to the watch area. The actual watch is depicted by the shaded areas.
    SAW1
    WW 311 SEVERE TSTM OK TX 221555Z – 222100Z
    AXIS..70 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF LINE..
    40WNW MKO/MUSKOGEE OK/ – 35S GYI/SHERMAN TX/
    ..AVIATION COORDS.. 60NM E/W /22SSW TUL – 28NE TTT/
    HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT..2.5 INCHES. WIND GUSTS..60 KNOTS.
    MAX TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 29020.

    LAT…LON 35889478 33219546 33219788 35889728

    THIS IS AN APPROXIMATION TO THE WATCH AREA. FOR A
    COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE WOUS64 KWNS
    FOR WOU1.

    Watch 311 Status Report Message has not been issued yet.

    Note:  Click for Complete Product Text.Tornadoes

    Probability of 2 or more tornadoes

    Low (10%)

    Probability of 1 or more strong (EF2-EF5) tornadoes

    Low (10%)

    Wind

    Probability of 10 or more severe wind events

    Mod (40%)

    Probability of 1 or more wind events > 65 knots

    Low (20%)

    Hail

    Probability of 10 or more severe hail events

    Mod (60%)

    Probability of 1 or more hailstones > 2 inches

    Mod (40%)

    Combined Severe Hail/Wind

    Probability of 6 or more combined severe hail/wind events

    High (80%)

    For each watch, probabilities for particular events inside the watch (listed above in each table) are determined by the issuing forecaster. The “Low” category contains probability values ranging from less than 2% to 20% (EF2-EF5 tornadoes), less than 5% to 20% (all other probabilities), “Moderate” from 30% to 60%, and “High” from 70% to greater than 95%. High values are bolded and lighter in color to provide awareness of an increased threat for a particular event.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Doggett: “The Republican deficit hawks have become chicken hawks in submission to Trump”

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-TX)

    Like arsonists claiming to be firefighters, Republicans talk fiscal responsibility while adding trillions to the national debt and threatening the solvency of Social Security and Medicare.

    Contact: Alexis.Torres@mail.house.gov

    Washington, D.C.—Today, in the early morning hours after an all-night debate, U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) voted against President Trump’s and the GOP’s Tax Scam. To pay for even more tax breaks for billionaires like Elon Musk, their bill includes devoting $20 billion to undermining public schools with a new federal voucher scheme, ripping food assistance away from hungry families, repealing renewable energy credits, and denying nearly 14 million Americans access to a family physician and medications while triggering a $500 billion automatic cut to Medicare.

    Under the cover of darkness, through late-night debates, votes and meetings, Republicans rejected 522 amendments from Democrats, including three from Rep. Doggett to protect health care access, public schools, and to ensure any benefits from the bill only go to the 98% of Americans making under $400,000 a year, and no tax breaks for the country’s richest 2%. 

    Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” will lead to those earning $1 million or more annually to benefit 310x more than those making $50,000 or less. Indeed, the poorest 10% of Americans will see their incomes decrease due to all the cuts in this bill. The legislation now heads to the Senate, where it will likely be substantially changed. 

    For more than 29 hours, Rep. Doggett and House Democrats led sustained opposition to Republicans’ Tax Scam. His remarks on the House floor can be viewed here, and a transcript is below.

    U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett

    House Floor Speech

    May 22, 2025

    Breaking yet another promise, Republicans are cutting Medicare by $500 billion.

    On October 1 of this year, every Medicare healthcare provider will see a 4% cut, and that will occur year after year as seniors try to find someone who will accept Medicare.

    On January 1, millions of Americans who rely on the Affordable Care Act will lose their access to a family physician. Medicaid for those in nursing homes and for half the babies born in my hometown of Austin is cut. Almost 14 million Americans will lose their access to health care.

    The new Trump school voucher sabotage plan, atop State vouchers, incentivizes removing students from public schools.

    Meanwhile, our national debt, soaring by trillions from Republicans who talk fiscal responsibility but serve their cult leader, the deficit hawks have become chicken hawks tonight in submission to Trump, the self-described king of debt.

    All to reward billionaires with even more tax breaks.

     

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor Statement on House Republicans’ Budget for Billionaires

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Reprepsentative Kathy Castor (FL14)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL-14) blasted the House Republican “Billionaire Boondoggle” bill that would rip health care coverage away from at least 14 million Americans including children, seniors and people with disabilities, while ballooning the nation’s debt to give massive tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans like Elon Musk. The revised version of the bill also would further slash Medicare despite promises from Republicans and President Trump that it was “off the table.” Huge cuts to food assistance will also leave children and families in the lurch at a time of rising prices.

    “The billionaire tax giveaway will hit Floridians particularly hard, as 3.9 million rely on Medicaid and 4.6 million rely on Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage. The GOP bill takes health care away from children, seniors, pregnant and postpartum women, and people with disabilities to fund a massive tax break for billionaires and big corporations. That is fiscally irresponsible and morally wrong. The bill is chock full of special interest side deals and carve-outs that Republicans tried to hide by having most debate in the wee hours of the morning,” said Rep. Castor. “Medicaid and the ACA are a lifeline for millions of my neighbors back home in Florida. Slashing essential care means more Floridians will struggle to afford doctor visits, medications, long-term care and critical treatments needed to stay healthy and keep their heads above water. I have fought their shameful attempts to steal from Americans through the night and will not stop fighting to protect the health and well-being of my hardworking neighbors.”

    In addition to deeply damaging health care cuts, the Republican plan threatens nutrition assistance for almost 3 million Floridians by slashing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) at a time when families are struggling with high grocery prices and still rebuilding their lives after the devastating hurricanes.

    The plan also threatens numerous initiatives that are lowering costs for American families, including clean energy investments from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act (IIJA). 

    Rep. Castor is committed to fighting back against this reckless Billionaire Boondoggle bill and standing up for Florida families.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Larsen Votes NO on the Republican Rip-Off Budget

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Rick Larsen (2nd Congressional District Washington)

    Larsen Votes NO on the Republican Rip-Off Budget

    Washington, D.C., May 22, 2025

    Today, Rep. Rick Larsen released the following statement after voting against the Republican budget. The budget passed by a final vote of 215 to 214 with every House Democrat and two House Republicans voting no.

    “The Republican Rip-Off takes health care and food assistance away from millions of people, all so that Elon Musk and his billionaire buddies can enjoy a tax break. This budget is so terrible that the GOP had to force it through in the dead of night. I, alongside House Democrats, used every tool available for 29 hours straight to stop this bill. The fight isn’t over, and I will keep working to defeat this bill as the legislative process continues.”

    Republicans Take Food and Health Care Away from Northwest Washington Families

    •  In Northwest Washington, this budget will cause 10,000 people to lose their Affordable Care Act health coverage and 19,744 people to lose their Medicaid health coverage. (Joint Economic Committee)
    • It’s estimated that this loss of Medicaid coverage in Northwest Washington will lead to 70 additional deaths per year. (Center for American Progress)
    • This budget puts 14,000 people in Northwest Washington at risk of losing food assistance, also known as SNAP benefits. (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)

    Republicans Hand Wealthiest Americans a Tax Break

    Republicans Sneak Extremist Policies into the Budget

    • This budget effectively bans Affordable Care Act (ACA) health care plans from covering abortion, taking reproductive health care away from the nearly 1 in 7 Americans who are covered by ACA plans. (Congressional Reproductive Freedom Caucus)
    • This budget expands the cruel ban on gender affirming care to all individuals, not just minors. (Human Rights Campaign)
    • This budget accelerates the repeal of energy tax credits, which will increase energy costs, eliminate thousands of jobs and endanger transformational investments across the country. (CNBC)

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Sherrill Votes Against Republican Budget That Cuts Medicaid and Raises Costs for New Jersey Families

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11)

    WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Representative Mikie Sherrill voted against the Republican budget and reconciliation package, which includes extreme cuts to Medicaid, food assistance, and education funding, raising costs for New Jerseyans while providing tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy. Additionally, the package fails to repeal the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction cap, an unfair double-tax on New Jersey families. 

    “Once again, Donald Trump and House Republicans are pushing a budget that prioritizes tax cuts for billionaires over the needs of working families. This package slashes $736 billion from Medicaid and will take away health coverage for at least 13.7 million Americans, including hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans. It eliminates food assistance for vulnerable communities, strips funding from students, and pulls back funding for programs that help lower energy costs, all while adding $3.3 trillion to the national deficit through massive tax cuts for Trump’s donors like Elon Musk.

    “Moreover, this budget fails to deliver on Trump’s campaign promise to restore the SALT deduction. This bill will continue to penalize working families by making it more difficult for states like New Jersey to invest in our education, infrastructure, and communities. I have been fighting since day one to repeal this unfair double tax, and will keep working to ensure New Jerseyans are not shouldering the burden of Trump’s corruption and giveaways to the wealthiest Americans. 

    “I cannot support this reckless, cruel plan that makes it harder for families to make ends meet. I’m appalled by those who refuse to stand up for working people and choose instead to rubber stamp an extreme political agenda. I will never stop fighting for affordable healthcare, a fair tax system, and a government that delivers for New Jersey families.”

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Welch, Klobuchar Lead 25 Colleagues on Legislation to Expand Medicare Drug Price Negotiation and Lower Costs for Americans

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont)
    WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) reintroduced the Strengthening Medicare and Reducing Taxpayer (SMART) Prices Act, legislation to expand Medicare negotiation of drug prices to lower drug costs for consumers, reduce federal spending, and give the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) stronger tools to negotiate lower drug prices in Medicare Part B and Part D. 
    This Senators’ legislation builds on their provision passed into law in 2022 which empowered Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices for the first time, unleashing the power of 53 million seniors enrolled in Medicare Part D Drug Coverage. The SMART Prices Act would extend this progress by more than doubling the number of prescription drugs Medicare must negotiate to a minimum of 50 per year, allowing the most costly prescription drugs and biologics to have negotiated prices five years after approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and by increasing the discount that Medicare is allowed to negotiate. 
    “Far too many Americans struggle to pay for the prescription drugs they need,” said Senator Welch. “I’m proud to partner with my friend and colleague, Senator Klobuchar, and reintroduce the SMART Prices Act. This bill will build on the Inflation Reduction Act by giving Medicare the ability to negotiate the prices of more prescription drugs and lower the cost of the prescription drugs Vermonters need, faster.”  
    “No one should have to choose between putting food on the table and affording their medications. This bill builds on our progress to lower prescription drug costs by accelerating Medicare’s ability to negotiate prices for more drugs on behalf of the American people,” said Senator Klobuchar. “We will make prescriptions more affordable and save taxpayers more money by continuing to take on Big Pharma’s price gouging.” 
    According to preliminary estimates from a model by West Health and Verdant Research, if the SMART Prices Act was enacted in 2026, it would save 33% more by 2030 than current law. It would also allow Medicare to begin negotiations earlier and bring down the price of more expensive drugs.  
    In addition to Senators Welch and Klobuchar, the SMART Prices Act is cosponsored by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Angus King (I-Maine), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). 
    “Hard-working Nevadans often struggle to afford the high prices of the medications that they rely on,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “This common-sense fix builds on the legislation, passed and signed into law by Democrats, that caps insulin at $35 a month and allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices. We will continue to deliver real solutions that lower costs for American families and end Big Pharma’s price gouging.” 
    “People in the United States are paying four times more than people in similar countries pay for life-saving medications,” said Senator Durbin. “Democrats took the first step to address this issue three years ago by passing the Inflation Reduction Act, to enable Medicare to negotiate with Big Pharma to lower costs for seniors—while every Republican opposed these savings. Now, instead of focusing on lowering prices for Americans, Republicans in Congress are focused on cutting Medicaid to give tax breaks to billionaires. Senate Democrats are introducing the SMART Prices Act tohelp lower the outrageous cost of prescription drugs, expand on the progress we have made, and improve health care for Americans.”  
    “No one should be forced to choose between paying for lifesaving prescription drugs and putting food on the table,” said Senator Gillibrand. “This vital, commonsense legislation would help lower the unacceptably high cost of prescription medication for seniors on Medicare. I’m proud to champion this effort, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to get it passed.” 
    “In 2023, my colleagues and I took on Big Pharma and moved to help lower prescription drug costs by finally allowing Medicare to negotiate the price of medications. But rather than build upon this important work, the Trump Administration wants to add loopholes and exemptions that weaken this program and result in higher prices for patients,” said Senator Hassan. “This legislation rejects the Trump Administration’s handouts to Big Pharma and instead accelerates the drug price negotiation efforts that will help more people afford the medications that they need.”   
    “While the Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans work to gut Medicare to give massive tax handouts to billionaires like Elon Musk, I’m fighting to protect and strengthen Medicare for New Mexicans,” said Senator Heinrich. “I’m proud to co-sponsor legislation that will lower health care costs by making more prescription drugs affordable for New Mexico’s seniors enrolled in Medicare.” 
    “Lifesaving prescription medications shouldn’t break the bank,” said Senator King.“Expanding Medicare’s ability to negotiate drug prices will go a long way toward helping Maine people get the medication they need at a price they can afford. The SMART Prices Act is a commonsense step that will help Maine people save money and stay healthy, and I thank my colleagues for putting Maine people first.” 
    “No one should have to choose between paying for life-saving medication and putting food on the table. At a time when President Trump’s tariffs threaten to raise prices on everyday goods and medicine, the SMART Prices Act is more important than ever for New Mexican families,” said Senator Luján. “That’s why I’m proud to join my colleagues in introducing this legislation to lower prescription drug costs by strengthening Medicare’s ability to negotiate prices, helping Americans afford the medications they rely on.” 
    “The amount of money Minnesotans are paying for their medications is out of control & unsustainable,” said Senator Smith. “This legislation would empower Medicare to negotiate lower prices, faster — and for more prescription drugs. And yet here we are, with President Trump and Congressional Republicans sabotaging Medicare’s power to negotiate lower drug prices at every turn, all while raising prices for seniors and giving handouts to Big Pharma. I’ll keep working to get this bill passed and make sure everyone has access to the medication they need.” 
    “No one should ever have to decide between filling a life-saving prescription and putting gas in the tank or food on the table,” said Senator Merkley. “The Inflation Reduction Act was an important step forward to make sure Americans get the best price, not the worst, for several prescription drugs. President Trump has said he wants to lower drug costs for families and seniors across America, and Senate Democrats are offering real proposals to crack down on Big Pharma’s sky-high drug prices.” 
    “Drug companies have had a free pass to gouge seniors for decades and people in Connecticut are paying the price,” said Senator Murphy. “It’s time to put an end to the price games. This legislation would give the federal government power to negotiate drugs more quickly after they are approved and with more substantial cost-savings for patients. It’s time to stop the abuse.” 
    “The prices Americans pay for many medications that treat cancer, diabetes, and other common conditions have actually gone down in recent years thanks to the law Democrats passed in 2022 that forced Big Pharma to the negotiating table with Medicare for the first time ever,” said Senator Murray. “The SMART Prices Act would build on that important progress and expand these savings to more medications, and more people. Donald Trump is lying and making empty promises when it comes to lowering drug costs—meanwhile Republicans are pushing to pass a mega-bill that would rip away health care from millions of people. I’m going to keep fighting to make sure no person is forced to choose between putting food on the table and buying life-saving medication.”     
    “No one should have to choose between medicine and groceries. Multi-billion-dollar drug corporations are making obscene profits off of seniors and working families struggling just to get by,” said Senator Fetterman. “The SMART Prices Act is not complicated: it will boost Medicare’s ability to negotiate fair deals with pharmaceutical companies and bring drug prices down. Big Pharma lobbyists might hate it, but regular people sure as hell won’t.” 
    “One of the biggest expenses for seniors on fixed incomes is prescription drug costs. I helped include provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act to lower the prices seniors pay at the pharmacy counter. The SMART Prices Act builds on this progress by strengthening Medicare’s ability to use bulk purchasing power to negotiate lower prices,” said Senator Reed. 
    “Through the Inflation Reduction Act, we stood up to Big Pharma and took important steps to lower health care costs for seniors – empowering Medicare to negotiate lower prices for medications that millions of older Americans rely on. But there’s more we can do. This legislation expands Medicare’s negotiating leverage to cut the prices of even more drugs – a commonsense way to provide more health care cost relief for seniors while saving billions in taxpayer dollars,” said Senator Van Hollen. 
    “While Republicans in Congress are jamming through a bill that would rip health care away from 14 million Americans and raise drug prices for seniors, we’re doubling down on lowering drug prices and cutting costs for families. We’ll keep fighting to make sure people have access to the life-saving care and medications they need,” said Senator Warren. 
     “As Republicans move to cut health care, Democrats are working to lower health care and prescription drug costs for our nation’s seniors,” said Senator Whitehouse. “Our SMART Prices Act will build on progress made in our Inflation Reduction Act and strengthen Medicare’s ability to negotiate drug prices, providing welcome relief to seniors living on fixed incomes.” 
    The bill is endorsed by Center for American Progress, FamiliesUSA, Patients For Affordable Drugs NOW, Protect Our Care, and Public Citizen.  
    “The SMART Prices Act builds on the progress of the Inflation Reduction Act to help bring down today’s exorbitant prescription drug prices,” said Andrea Ducas, Vice President of Health Policy at the Center for American Progress. “The bill is an important step forward in holding pharmaceutical companies accountable and ensuring seniors are paying fair and affordable prices for life-saving medications.” 
    “One in three Americans can’t afford their prescription drugs. We hear from patients every day who are rationing medication or skipping doses because of high drug costs. The SMART Prices Act is a welcome step that builds on the historic drug price reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act byincreasing the number of drugs subject to Medicare negotiation – a proposal that has broad support from Americans on both sides of the aisle. We are grateful to Senator Klobuchar for her tireless leadership on this critical issue and are eager to expand Medicare negotiation to secure a better deal for more patients on Medicare,” said Merith Basey, Executive Director of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. 
    “Senators Klobuchar and Welch are fighting for seniors and their families by bringing down the high cost of prescription drugs,” said Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach. “Americans across the political spectrum support Medicare’s ability to negotiate drug prices and want to see the program expand. Instead, Trump and his cronies in Congress are charging ahead with their budget that not only guts Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act to fund billionaire tax breaks, but hands billions in give-aways over to Big Pharma. The contrast couldn’t be more clear. If Republicans are serious about wanting to lower drug prices and save taxpayer dollars, they should join Senators Klobuchar and Welch in passing the SMART Prices Act and deliver real, lasting relief for the American people.” 
    “The SMART Prices Act would save billions of dollars by empowering Medicare to negotiate lower prices for more patients sooner. We applaud Senators Klobuchar, Welch, and cosponsors for their leadership. Congressional Republicans should follow their lead instead of seeking to undermine Medicare drug price negotiations and take away health insurance from millions of our society’s most vulnerable people,” said Robert Weissman, Co-President of Public Citizen. 
    Learn more about the SMART Prices Act. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Beyer Statement on Federal Court Blocking Trump’s Illegal Assault on the Department of Education

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Don Beyer (D-VA)

    Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA) today issued the following statement in response to Judge Myong J. Joun’s order blocking the Trump Administration and the “Department of Government Efficiency’s” (DOGE) illegal efforts to gut the Department of Education and mandating the reinstatement of wrongfully terminated staff:

    “This ruling is a victory for millions of students, educators, and families across the country who rely on the Department of Education’s programs, protections, and support. Judge Joun accurately determined that the Trump Administration and DOGE’s political purge of the Department of Education was unlawful and reaffirmed that the executive branch cannot unilaterally work toward abolishing a congressionally established agency without the approval of Congress. I am grateful that thanks to Judge Joun’s ruling, more than 1,300 wrongfully terminated employees must be reinstated to fulfill the Department’s statutorily mandated functions.

    “Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Linda McMahon’s actions – reductions in force and the eliminations of entire offices, including key Office for Civil Rights (OCR) hubs – inhibited the Department from being able to carry out its statutory obligations. Their abuse of the federal civil service targeted attorneys, student aid workers, and civil rights office staff and had detrimental effects on our schools. It left millions of students and teachers without essential services they need, including the enforcement of anti-discrimination laws and support for students with disabilities. Their attempted purge of the Department of Education is a direct assault on the protection of student’s rights and the promise of equal opportunity through education. It was a gross betrayal of American students.

    “Today’s decision brings much-needed relief for students, educators, our public servants in the Department of Education, and civil rights across the country. It restores the rule of law and sends a clear message that our nation’s promise of equal educational opportunity cannot be unraveled by political whim.”

    Beyer has been critical of illegal attempts by the Trump Administration and “DOGE” to dismantle the Department of Education, and has led efforts to restore the Department’s ability to fulfill its statutorily required mandates. He also met with Education Secretary Linda McMahon to discuss the serious harm these actions inflicted upon his constituents, and on students and educators across the country.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: DeGette Statement Opposing Passage of the Republican Big, Bogus Bill

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Diana DeGette (First District of Colorado)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Diana DeGette (CO-01) released the following statement after House Republicans passed a bill that would kick millions of Americans off their health care and impose a massive cut in nutritional assistance, all to pay for their billionaire tax cuts.

    “After shady back-room deals, hearings in the dark of night, bullying from the president, and hyper partisanship, House Republicans have forced through Trump’s ‘One, Big Bogus Bill’ that will kick over 13 million Americans off their health care to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. They are kicking hard-working Americans to the side so they can pad the pockets of people like Elon Musk.

    “This bill was hastily put together following hidden negotiations, overnight markups, and the last-minute release of bill text so the American people couldn’t learn what is in the bill.

    “This bill will take health care away from seniors, children, disabled Americans, and veterans, including 26,760 Denverites. It takes food stamps and nutrition assistance away from millions of families. It defunds Planned Parenthood and takes away basic health care coverage for over 1 million Americans. This monstrosity of a bill is so skewed towards the wealthiest Americans that more than 66% of the benefits would go to the top 20 percent of households by income, and people making less than $51,000 a year will actually see their taxes go up.

    “This bill makes life harder for the American people while enriching the top earners in our country. I voted against this terrible legislation, and I will continue to fight against this extreme and cruel agenda.” 

    ### 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Casten Statement on Republican Bill to Gut Medicaid

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Sean Casten (IL-06)

    May 22, 2025

    Washington, D.C. — U.S. Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06) released the following statement after voting against the House Republican bill to gut Medicaid and roll back Inflation Reduction Act tax credits in order to give a tax cut to Donald Trump and Elon Musk:

    “The House Republican bill stands to strip over 20,235 people in the 6th Congressional District of their health insurance. It would gut Medicaid – a program that benefits ALL Americans. And, it would cut hundreds of billions of dollars from food assistance programs like SNAP, making it more difficult for children, seniors, and veterans to eat.

    “Who does it benefit? The bill gives a tax cut to the wealthiest 1% of Americans. It boosts fossil fuel companies by making it harder for consumers to access cheaper, more reliable energy sources. It makes life easier for people like Donald Trump and Elon Musk at the expense of hard-working families.

    “This bill is among the most harmful and dangerous that the House has considered during my time in Congress. There is a reason House Republicans worked almost exclusively in the middle of the night to pass it – they don’t want the American people to know about it. I was proud to vote Hell no.”

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Mike Levin Slams Passage of GOP’s “Big Ugly Bill”

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mike Levin (CA-49)

    May 22, 2025

    Washington, D.C. — Today, Rep. Mike Levin (CA-49) released the following statement after voting against the so-called “Big Ugly Bill” being pushed by House Republicans and the Trump Administration:

    “I voted no because this bill is a disaster for working families. It would rip health care away from 14 million Americans—including over 25,000 in my district—by slashing Medicaid and imposing harsh work requirements. It would take food assistance away from up to 10 million Americans. It would drive up household energy bills, even as nearly 80 million Americans already struggle to pay for utilities.

    “And what’s all this pain for? To pay for giant tax breaks for billionaires like Elon Musk. Meanwhile, the rest of us will be left with a $3.8 trillion increase in the national debt, triggering deep, automatic cuts to Medicare and other vital programs.

    “President Trump and Speaker Johnson are once again putting billionaire donors ahead of everyday Americans—at the direct expense of children, seniors, veterans, and working families.

    “This fight is far from over. The bill still has to pass the Senate, and it’s likely to come back to the House. I urge the Senate to reject this cruel, backward legislation and stand up for the people we’re here to serve.”

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Kamlager-Dove Statement on House Passage of Republicans’ Big Backstabbing Bill

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager California (37th District)

    WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37) released the following statement after House passage of the Republican reconciliation bill:

    “House Republicans just sold out their constituents to the highest bidders: Donald Trump and his billionaire boys club. Debated and brought to the House Floor in the dead of night, they passed a monstrosity of a bill that strips millions of Americans of their healthcare, food assistance, housing, and more.

    “Never before has it been clearer that Donald Trump and the Republican Party have completely abandoned seniors and working families. Trump’s reckless tariffs have already inflated the prices of everyday essentials like groceries and clothing. Now, they are gutting the very safety net programs that keep Americans alive—all to fund tax breaks for billionaires like Elon Musk. Meanwhile, Moody’s just downgraded the U.S. credit outlook, which will drive up interest rates, loans, and household debt.

    “The American people are suffering, and Donald Trump is to blame–along with every spineless Republican who refuses to stand up for their constituents. I am urging my Senate colleagues on both sides of the aisle to put the needs of their constituents first and vote against this Big Backstabbing Bill. Millions of lives are at stake.”

    # # #

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Pressley’s Statement on House Passage of Cruel Republican Reconciliation Bill

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07)

    In Early Morning Floor Speech, Pressley Made Final Appeal to Republicans to Reject Bill That Would Make Millions Poorer, Sicker, Hungrier, and More Vulnerable

    Bill Would Rip Away Healthcare and Food Assistance from Millions, Harm Everyone in America to Fund More Tax Breaks for Billionaires Like Elon Musk and Donald Trump

    Floor Speech (YouTube)

    WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) issued the following statement on the House’s passage of Republicans’ cruel reconciliation bill, which would gut Medicaid and SNAP, and rip healthcare and food assistance away from millions of people, including in Massachusetts. In an early morning speech on the House floor, Congresswoman Pressley made a direct, final appeal to her Republican colleagues to oppose this cruel and harmful bill.

    “Today, under the cover of night, House Republicans rammed through a cruel, callous, and morally bankrupt bill that would gut Medicaid, slash food assistance, and kick 14 million people off their healthcare—all to shower toy spaceship billionaires like Donald Trump and Elon Musk with hundreds of billions more in tax giveaways. This legislation would make communities in the Massachusetts 7th and across the country poorer, sicker, hungrier, and more vulnerable.

    “This bill would rip food out of the mouths of families already struggling to put meals on the table. It would decimate healthcare in America and worsen our maternal health crisis. It would gut mental health funding under SAMHSA and cut cancer research, putting lives at risk and turning its back on people struggling with addiction, mental health crises, cancer diagnoses, and much, much more. 

    “This bill is a shameful betrayal of our shared humanity. I urge the Senate to stand with the people and reject this heinous legislation. This is a somber day, but this fight is not over.”

    Across Massachusetts, over 955,000 Medicaid enrollees are at risk of losing healthcare coverage under MassHealth, the Commonwealth’s Medicaid program, due to the bill’s work reporting requirements for Medicaid. In the Massachusetts 7th Congressional District, approximately 135,000 enrollees would lose coverage.

    Republicans’ extreme budget plan also threatens the approximately 1,216,000 people in the Commonwealth who depend on SNAP to put food on the table, including 187,000 people in the Massachusetts 7th Congressional District.

    Congresswoman Pressley has been an outspoken critic of this harmful legislation since its inception.

    • Rep. Pressley delivered a floor speech in which she slammed the bill’s proposed Medicaid cuts, which would decimate reproductive healthcare in America and worsen maternal health outcomes.
    • Rep. Pressley co-hosted a press conference with Color of Change to oppose the Republicans’ cruel and harmful budget reconciliation package, which would gut critical programs like Medicaid and SNAP.
    • Rep. Pressley rallied with caregivers, advocates, and fellow lawmakers at a 24-hour vigil to protect Medicaid from Republicans’ cruel budget cuts that would devastate communities across this country.
    • In the House Oversight Committee’s markup of the Republican reconciliation bill, Rep. Pressley demanded Republicans answer to the families who would go hungry by way of this reconciliation bill – and she was met with silence.
    • In the House Financial Services Committee’s markup of the Republican reconciliation bill, Rep. Pressley condemned the bill’s proposed cuts to Medicaid and shared the story of Mary Marinelli, a 70-year-old hospice nurse from a Republican district in Michigan whose family depends on Medicaid to care for their autistic son.
    • In an impassioned speech on the House floor, Rep. Pressley slammed Republicans’ cruel and callous budget resolution that would slash Medicaid and other critical government services to pay for trillions of dollars in tax giveaways for Donald Trump’s billionaire donors.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Empathy can take a toll – but 2 philosophers explain why we should see it as a strength

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Emad H. Atiq, Professor of Law and Philosophy, Cornell University

    Empathy isn’t just about feelings. It’s also an aspect of knowledge. AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo

    In an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, billionaire and Trump megadonor Elon Musk offered his thoughts about what motivates political progressives to support immigration. In his view, the culprit was empathy, which he called “the fundamental weakness of Western civilization.”

    As shocking as Musk’s views are, however, they are far from unique. On the one hand, there is the familiar and widespread conservative critique of “bleeding heart” liberals as naive or overly emotional. But there is also a broader philosophical critique that raises worries about empathy on quite different and less political grounds, including findings in social science.

    Empathy can make people weaker – both physically and practically, according to social scientists. Consider the phenomenon known as “empathy fatigue,” a major source of burnout among counselors, nurses and even neurosurgeons. These professionals devote their lives to helping others, yet the empathy they feel for their clients and patients wears them down, making it harder to do their jobs.

    As philosophers, we agree that empathy can take a toll on both individuals and society. However, we believe that, at its core, empathy is a form of mental strength that enables us to better understand the impact of our actions on others, and to make informed choices.

    The philosophical roots of empathy skepticism

    The term “empathy” only entered the English language in the 1890s. But the general idea of being moved by others’ suffering has been a subject of philosophical attention for millennia, under labels such as “pity,” “sympathy” and “compassion.”

    One of the earliest warnings about pity in Western philosophy comes from the Greek Stoic philosopher Epictetus. In his “Discourses,” he offers general advice about how to live a good life, centered on inner tranquility and freedom. When it comes to emotions and feelings, he writes: “He is free who lives as he wishes to live … And who chooses to live in sorrow, fear, envy, pity, desiring and failing in his desires, attempting to avoid something and falling into it? Not one.”

    Feeling sorry for another person or feeling pity for them compromises our freedom, in Epictetus’s view. Those negative feelings are unpleasant, and nobody would choose them for themselves. Empathy would clearly fall into this same category, keeping us from living the good life.

    A similar objection emerged much later from the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche framed his discussion in terms of “Mitleid” – a German term that can be translated as either “pity” or “compassion.” Like Epictetus, Nietzsche worried that pity or compassion was a burden on the individual, preventing them from living the good life. In his book “Daybreak,” Nietzsche warns that such feelings could impair the very people who try to help others.

    Epictetus’s and Nietzsche’s worries about pity or compassion carry over to empathy.

    Recall, the phenomenon of empathy fatigue. One psychological explanation for why empathic people experience fatigue and even burnout is that empathy involves a kind of mirroring of other people’s mental life, a mirroring that can be physically unpleasant. When someone you love is in pain, you don’t just believe that they are in pain; you may feel it as if it is actually happening to you.

    From a philosophical standpoint, empathy is intimately related to the domain of knowledge.
    AP Photo/Elise Amendola

    Results from neuroscience and cognitive psychology research indicate that there are different brain mechanisms involved in merely observing another’s pain versus empathizing with it. The latter involves unpleasant sensations of the type we experience when we are in pain. Empathy is thus difficult to bear precisely because being in pain is difficult to bear. And this sharpens the Stoic and Nietzschean worries: Why bother empathizing when it is unpleasant and, perhaps, not even necessary for helping others?

    From understanding knowledge to appreciating empathy

    The answer for why one should see empathy as a strength starts with a key insight from 20th century philosophy about the nature of knowledge.

    That insight is based on a famous thought experiment by the Australian philosopher Frank Jackson. Jackson invites us to imagine a scientist named Mary who has studied colors despite having lived her entire life in a black and white room. She knows all the facts about the spectrum distribution of light sources and vision science. She’s read descriptions of the redness of roses and azaleas. But she’s never seen color herself. Does Mary know everything about redness? Many epistemologists – people who study the nature of knowledge – argue that she does not.

    What Mary learns when she sees red for the first time is elusive. If she returns to her black and white room, never to see any colored objects again, her knowledge of the colors will likely diminish over time. To have a full, rich understanding of colors, one needs to experience them.

    Bertrand Russell was actively involved in political activism on behalf of the experiences of others.
    Douglas Miller/Keystone/Getty Images

    Thoughts like these led the philosopher and logician Bertrand Russell to argue that experience delivers a special kind of knowledge of things that can’t be reduced to knowledge of facts. Seeing, hearing, tasting and even feeling delivers what he called “knowledge by acquaintance.”

    We have argued in a book and recent articles that Jackson’s and Russell’s conclusions apply to pain.

    Consider a variation on Jackson’s thought experiment: Suppose Mary knows the facts about pain but hasn’t experienced it. As before, it would seem like her understanding of pain is incomplete. In fact, though Mary is a fictional character, there are real people who report having never experienced pain as an unpleasant sensation – a condition known as “pain asymbolia”.

    In Russell’s terminology, such people haven’t personally experienced how unpleasant pain can be. But even people without pain asymbolia can become less familiar with pain and hardship during times when things are going well for them. All of us can temporarily lose the rich experiential grasp of what it is like to be distressed. So, when we consider the pain and suffering of others in the abstract and without directly feeling it, it is very much like trying to grasp the nature of redness while being personally acquainted only with a field of black and white.

    That, we argue, is where empathy comes in. Through experiential simulation of another’s feelings, empathy affords us a rich grasp of the distress that others feel. The upshot is that empathy isn’t just a subjective sensation. It affords us a more accurate understanding of others’ experiences and emotions.

    Empathy is thus a form of knowledge that can be hard to bear, just as pain can be hard to bear. But that’s precisely why empathy, properly cultivated, is a strength. As one of us has argued, it takes courage to empathically engage with others, just as it takes courage to see and recognize problems around us. Conversely, an unwillingness to empathize can stem from a familiar weakness: a fear of knowledge.

    So, when deciding complex policy questions, say, about immigration, resisting empathy impairs our decision-making. It keeps us from understanding what’s at stake. That is why it is vital to ask ourselves what policies we would favor if we were empathically acquainted with, and so fully informed of, the plight of others.

    The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Empathy can take a toll – but 2 philosophers explain why we should see it as a strength – https://theconversation.com/empathy-can-take-a-toll-but-2-philosophers-explain-why-we-should-see-it-as-a-strength-254554

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: A decade after the release of ‘The Martian’ and a decade out from the world it envisions, a planetary scientist checks in on real-life Mars exploration

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Ari Koeppel, Postdoctoral Scientist in Earth and Planetary Science, Dartmouth College

    ‘The Martian’ protagonist Mark Watney contemplates his ordeal. 20th Century Fox

    Andy Weir’s bestselling story “The Martian” predicts that by 2035 NASA will have landed humans on Mars three times, perfected return-to-Earth flight systems and collaborated with the China National Space Administration. We are now 10 years past the Hollywood adaptation’s 2015 release and 10 years shy of its fictional timeline. At this midpoint, Mars exploration looks a bit different than how it was portrayed in “The Martian,” with both more discoveries and more controversy.

    As a planetary geologist who works with NASA missions to study Mars, I follow exploration science and policy closely. In 2010, the U.S. National Space Policy set goals for human missions to Mars in the 2030s. But in 2017, the White House Space Policy Directive 1 shifted NASA’s focus toward returning first to the Moon under what would become the Artemis program.

    Although concepts for crewed missions to Mars have gained popularity, NASA’s actual plans for landing humans on Mars remain fragile. Notably, over the last 10 years, it has been robotic, rather than crewed, missions that have propelled discovery and the human imagination forward.

    NASA’s 2023 Moon to Mars Strategy and Objectives Development document lays out the steps the agency was shooting for at the time, to go first to the Moon, and from there to Mars.
    NASA

    Robotic discoveries

    Since 2015, satellites and rovers have reshaped scientists’ understanding of Mars. They have revealed countless insights into how its climate has changed over time.

    As Earth’s neighbor, climate shifts on Mars also reflect solar system processes affecting Earth at a time when life was first taking hold. Thus, Mars has become a focal point for investigating the age old questions of “where do we come from?” and “are we alone?”

    The Opportunity, Curiosity and Perseverance rovers have driven dozens of miles studying layered rock formations that serve as a record of Mars’ past. By studying sedimentary layers – rock formations stacked like layers of a cake – planetary geologists have pieced together a vivid tale of environmental change that dwarfs what Earth is currently experiencing.

    Mars was once a world of erupting volcanoes, glaciers, lakes and flowing rivers – an environment not unlike early Earth. Then its core cooled, its magnetic field faltered and its atmosphere drifted away. The planet’s exposed surface has retained signs of those processes ever since in the form of landscape patterns, sequences of layered sediment and mineral mixtures.

    Layered sedimentary rocks exposed within the craters of Arabia Terra, Mars, recording ancient surface processes. Photo from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment.
    NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

    Arabia Terra

    One focus of scientific investigation over the last 10 years is particularly relevant to the setting of “The Martian” but fails to receive mention in the story. To reach his best chance of survival, protagonist Mark Watney, played by Matt Damon, must cross a vast, dusty and crater-pocked region of Mars known as Arabia Terra.

    In 2022 and 2023, I, along with colleagues at Northern Arizona University and Johns Hopkins University, published detailed analyses of the layered materials there using imagery from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Odyssey satellites.

    By using infrared imagery and measuring the dimensions of surface features, we linked multiple layered deposits to the same episodes of formation and learned more about the widespread crumbling nature of the terrain seen there today. Because water tends to cement rock tightly together, that loose material indicates that around 3.5 billion years ago, that area had a drying climate.

    To make the discussions about this area easier, we even worked with the International Astronomical Union to name a few previously unnamed craters that were mentioned in the story. For example, one that Watney would have driven right by is now named Kozova Crater, after a town in Ukraine.

    More to explore

    Despite rapid advances in Mars science, many unknowns remain. Scientists still aren’t sure of the precise ages, atmospheric conditions and possible signatures of life associated with each of the different rock types observed on the surface.

    For instance, the Perseverance rover recently drilled into and analyzed a unique set of rocks hosting organic – that is, carbon-based – compounds. Organic compounds serve as the building blocks of life, but more detailed analysis is required to determine whether these specific rocks once hosted microbial life.

    The in-development Mars Sample Return mission aims to address these basic outstanding questions by delivering the first-ever unaltered fragments of another world to Earth. The Perseverance rover is already caching rock and soil samples, including ones hosting organic compounds, in sealed tubes. A future lander will then need to pick up and launch the caches back to Earth.

    Sampling Mars rocks could tell scientists more about the red planet’s past, and whether it could have hosted life.

    Once home, researchers can examine these materials with instruments orders of magnitude more sensitive than anything that could be flown on a spacecraft. Scientists stand to learn far more about the habitability, geologic history and presence of any signs of life on Mars through the sample return campaign than by sending humans to the surface.

    This perspective is why NASA, the European Space Agency and others have invested some US$30 billion in robotic Mars exploration since the 1960s. The payoff has been staggering: That work has triggered rapid technological advances in robotics, telecommunications and materials science. For example, Mars mission technology has led to better sutures for heart surgery and cars that can drive themselves.

    It has also bolstered the status of NASA and the U.S. as bastions of modern exploration and technology; and it has inspired millions of students to take an interest in scientific fields.

    A selfie from NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover with the Ingenuity helicopter, taken with the rover’s extendable arm on April 6, 2021.
    NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

    Calling the red planet home?

    Colonizing Mars has a seductive appeal. It’s hard not to cheer for the indomitable human spirit while watching Watney battle dust storms, oxygen shortages and food scarcity over 140 million miles from rescue.

    Much of the momentum toward colonizing Mars is now tied to SpaceX and its CEO Elon Musk, whose stated mission to make humanity a “multi-planetary species” has become a sort of rallying cry. But while Mars colonization is romantic on paper, it is extremely difficult to actually carry out, and many critics have questioned the viability of a Mars habitation as a refuge far from Earth.

    Now, with NASA potentially facing a nearly 50% reduction to its science budget, the U.S. risks dissolving its planetary science and robotic operations portfolio altogether, including sample return.

    Nonetheless, President Donald Trump and Musk have pushed for human space exploration to somehow continue to progress, despite those proposed cuts – effectively sidelining the robotic, science-driven programs that have underpinned all of Mars exploration to date.

    Yet, it is these programs that have yielded humanity’s richest insights into the red planet and given both scientists and storytellers like Andy Weir the foundation to imagine what it must be like to stand on Mars’ surface at all.

    Ari Koeppel receives funding from NASA.

    – ref. A decade after the release of ‘The Martian’ and a decade out from the world it envisions, a planetary scientist checks in on real-life Mars exploration – https://theconversation.com/a-decade-after-the-release-of-the-martian-and-a-decade-out-from-the-world-it-envisions-a-planetary-scientist-checks-in-on-real-life-mars-exploration-255752

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • Trump confronts South Africa’s Ramaphosa with false claims of white genocide

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    U.S. President Donald Trump confronted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday with explosive false claims of white genocide and land seizures during a tense White House meeting that was reminiscent of his February ambush of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

    South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world, but the overwhelming majority of victims are Black.

    Ramaphosa had hoped to use Wednesday’s meeting to reset his country’s relationship with the U.S., after Trump canceled much-needed aid to South Africa, offered refuge to white minority Afrikaners, expelled the country’s ambassador and criticized its genocide court case against Israel.

    The South African president arrived prepared for an aggressive reception, bringing popular white South African golfers as part of his delegation and saying he wanted to discuss trade. The U.S. is South Africa’s second-biggest trading partner, and the country is facing a 30% tariff under Trump’s currently suspended raft of import taxes.

    But in a carefully choreographed Oval Office onslaught, Trump pounced, moving quickly to a list of concerns about the treatment of white South Africans, which he punctuated by playing a video and leafing through a stack of printed news articles that he said proved his allegations.

    With the lights turned down at Trump’s request, the video – played on a television that is not normally set up in the Oval Office – showed white crosses, which Trump asserted were the graves of white people, and opposition leaders making incendiary speeches. Trump suggested one of them, Julius Malema, should be arrested.

    The video was made in September 2020 during a protest after two people were killed on their farm a week earlier. The crosses did not mark actual graves. An organizer of the protest told South Africa’s public broadcaster at the time that they represented farmers who had been killed over the years.

    “We have many people that feel they’re being persecuted, and they’re coming to the United States,” Trump said. “So we take from many … locations, if we feel there’s persecution or genocide going on,” he added, referring specifically to white farmers.

    “People are fleeing South Africa for their own safety. Their land is being confiscated, and in many cases, they’re being killed,” the president added, echoing a once-fringe conspiracy theory that has circulated in global far-right chat rooms for at least a decade with the vocal support of Trump’s ally, South African-born Elon Musk, who was in the Oval Office during the meeting.

    South Africa, which endured centuries of draconian discrimination against Black people during colonialism and apartheid before becoming a multi-party democracy in 1994 under Nelson Mandela, rejects Trump’s allegations.

    A new land reform law, aimed at redressing the injustices of apartheid, allows for expropriations without compensation when in the public interest, for example if land is lying fallow. No such expropriation has taken place, and any order can be challenged in court.

    South African police recorded 26,232 murders nationwide in 2024, with 44 linked to farming communities. Eight of those victims were farmers.

    Ramaphosa, sitting in a chair next to Trump and remaining poised, pushed back against his claims.

    “If there was Afrikaner farmer genocide, I can bet you, these three gentlemen would not be here,” Ramaphosa said, referring to golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen and billionaire Johann Rupert, all white, who were present in the room.

    That did not satisfy Trump.

    “We have thousands of stories talking about it, and we have documentaries, we have news stories,” Trump said. “It has to be responded to.”

    ‘THERE IS JUST NO GENOCIDE’

    Ramaphosa mostly sat expressionless during the video presentation, occasionally craning his neck to look at the screen. He said he had not seen the material before and that he would like to find out the location.

    Trump then displayed printed copies of articles that he said showed white South Africans who had been killed, saying “death, death” as he flipped through them, eventually handing them to his counterpart.

    Ramaphosa said there was crime in South Africa, and the majority of victims were Black. Trump cut him off and said: “The farmers are not Black.”

    Ramaphosa responded: “These are concerns we are willing to talk to you about.”

    The South African president cited Mandela’s example as a peacemaker, but that did not move the U.S. president, whose political base includes white nationalists. The myth of white genocide in South Africa has become a rallying point for the far right in the United States and elsewhere.

    “I will say: apartheid, terrible,” Trump noted. “This is sort of the opposite of apartheid.”

    The extraordinary exchange, three months after Trump and Vice President JD Vance upbraided Ukraine’s Zelenskiy inside the same Oval Office, could prompt foreign leaders to think twice about accepting Trump’s invitations and risk public embarrassment.

    Unlike Zelenskiy, who sparred with Trump and ended up leaving early, the South African leader kept his calm, praising Trump’s decor – the president has outfitted the Oval Office with gold accessories – and saying he looked forward to handing over the presidency of the Group of 20 next year.

    Trump declined to say whether he would attend the G20 meeting in South Africa in November.

    Later in the meeting, Rupert, the business tycoon, stepped in to back up Ramaphosa, saying that crime was a problem across the board and many Black people were dying too.

    Following the meeting, Ramaphosa sought to focus on trade, telling reporters the two countries had agreed to discuss critical minerals in South Africa. His trade minister said the government had submitted a trade and investment proposal that included buying liquefied natural gas from the U.S.

    But the president also flatly denied Trump’s allegations about a wave of racial violence against white farmers.

    “There is just no genocide in South Africa,” he said.

    (Reuters)

  • MIL-OSI USA: Murray Slams Secretary Burgum’s Plans to Fire National Park Staff, Sell Off Public Lands, & Slash Funding for Tribes

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
    Murray: “Our public lands are not for sale. Protecting our wilderness, living up to our tribal obligations, keeping our communities safe—it’s just not negotiable. It’s actually a core reason your Department does exist—and these have been places with strong, bipartisan support.”
    NEW REPORT: President Trump’s Attacks on National Park Service are Hurting Communities Across Washington State
    ***WATCH: Senator Murray’s remarks and questioning***
    Washington, D.C. — Today, at a Senate Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on the fiscal year 2026 budget request for the Department of Interior (DOI), U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, slammed Secretary Doug Burgum’s efforts to fire staff across the Department, sell off our public lands and abandon the National Park Service’s conservation mission, and betray the United States’ obligation to Tribes with devastating proposed funding cuts. Also today, Senator Murray released a new report on how President Trump’s attacks on the National Park Service are hurting communities in Washington state.
    In opening comments, Vice Chair Murray said:
    “Washington state is home to a number of pristine public lands—people travel from all over the world to experience my state, and Oregon.
    “Secretary Burgum, our public lands are not for sale. Protecting our wilderness, living up to our tribal obligations, keeping our communities safe—it’s just not negotiable. It’s actually a core reason your Department does exist—and these have been places with strong, bipartisan support.
    “So, I’m really concerned that one of the first things you did was make deep, painful cuts at our national parks, and start talking about our public lands kind of like they are a piggy bank.
    “I do not want to tell future generations: ‘See that that river of sludge—it used to be clear, it used to have salmon. See that charred mountainside—it used to be a forest with campgrounds and trails. See that smokestack? That used to be a National Park.’
    “I worry because it feels to me like your vision could lead to that with your budget cuts, and mass firings, and reorganization.
    “And I’m deeply concerned about the proposed cuts to programs and funding that our Tribes rely on, the mass firing of park rangers—they’re the people who help visitors, they clear trails, they clean the bathrooms, and they respond to emergencies.
    “As I watch this and hear from folks, and see what’s happening, on top of gutting bedrock environmental protections, I just don’t see how your Department can execute the law without staff in place.”
    [HURRICANE RIDGE REBUILD]
    Senator Murray began by her questioning by discussing the rebuild of Hurricane Ridge Day Lodge in Washington State: “I wanted to start by touching briefly on Hurricane Ridge, a place that as you know is very special to people in my home state of Washington and visitors who come from all over the world. I know that you visited Olympic National Park last week—and you saw how scenic it is, and a hint of how brutal the weather can be. It’s called Hurricane Ridge for a reason. The Hurricane Ridge Day Lodge burned down in a tragic fire two years ago. Congress delivered the emergency funding necessary to rebuild it last year. In the execution report that you delivered to the Committee in February—the disaster funding spend plan—you included the money for Olympic National Park, which I understand is for Hurricane Ridge. Do you have any updates on the next steps for that project?”
    Secretary Burgum said, “No, but I did have an opportunity with a park superintendent and some of the lead people who actually work at hurricane ridge and thankfully there was not 70 mile-per-hour wind, it was beautiful, sunny, calm, gorgeous. But I got to see the site where the fire had happened and was able to meet with them regarding the plans they have. It looks like a great project.”
    “Good, and can you just keep my staff and me updated on that project as it moves forward, it’s really important to all of us,” Senator Murray replied.
    [SWEEPING STAFF CUTS AT NATIONAL PARKS]
    Senator Murray turned her questioning to the sweeping staffing reductions taking place under Secretary Burgum’s leadership at DOI, “In your short tenure, you have overseen significant staffing reductions—over 10 percent—and reorganization efforts across the Department of the Interior, with I understand more firings to come. The National Park Service has lost 18 percent of its staff. You managed to fire the only plumber at Mount Rainier National Park. There is just nothing efficient about that kind of management. You’ve also decided that what few staff remain at our National Parks will focus solely on visitor services—that really abandons the conservation mission, which no doubt will lead to the degradation of our natural resources and our parks. On May 8th, five former NPS directors—from Republican and Democratic administrations alike—raised really grave concerns about these decisions. They wrote that the National Park Service’s founding statute requires conservation at our parks so they will be ‘unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.’ We need trail guides and biologists. We need EMTs and geologists. We need snow plow drivers and historians. Mr. Secretary, do you acknowledge that you have a statutory obligation to conserve our national parks? A simple yes or no here please.”
    Secretary Burgum responded, “Yes.”
    “Well, it just feels to me watching this that you are abandoning that obligation with your staffing cuts. Your job is to carry out the laws that Congress has passed, not as you wish they were written. Let me ask you, how many people do you plan to fire from the National Park Service?” Senator Murray pressed.
    “Let me respond by saying I’m going to repeat myself, that there is an opportunity to have more people working in our parks in all the positions that you described, Senator, and to have less people working for the National Park Service. We just have to accept that this math, that if you have a situation where slightly less than 50% of the people actually work in the park, that everything you said, I can increase the number of people in the park but still decrease the number of people on payroll at the National Park Service because we are eliminating overhead back office, IT, and HR roles,” answered Secretary Burgum in part.
    Senator Murray pushed back, “It’s huge cuts. The people you’re talking about are actually the support staff, and when you cut support staff, that’s not efficient. How does someone drive a snowplow if you don’t have a staffer that makes sure that the government gets the best deal to buy that snowplow? There is many, many detailed people that you are talking about that actually make sure that the spending is efficient, that the people are efficient. We all know how important staff is, you can’t survive without them. Those are the people that you are letting go. We can’t be efficient if they are not there.”
    Secretary Burgum tried to change the subject, “Are you suggesting that the National Park Service today is operating at peak efficiency?”
    “I would suggest that I welcome any suggestions to us about how to be efficient, but just mass across-the-board cuts and firing is really going to not increase efficiency at our parks. And that, I think, we all should be very concerned about,” Senator Murray responded, emphasizing that mass firings are not the answer.
    “But if the goal is for us to have more people working in the parks, you’re comfortable if I could get to a spot where I have more people working—” Secretary Burgum again avoided the question.
    Senator Murray said, “You show me what employees you are leaving behind that don’t support someone that makes sure that they have the equipment that they need that is up to date, it is running. Those kinds of things, you can’t just cut those people and expect people to be out in the national park without somebody who is making sure that their equipment is safe, that their hours are maintained, all the things that it takes to run a place. Our national parks are huge. They take a lot of people to run.”
    Secretary Burgum again dodged, failing to state the number of employees he expects to lose at NPS.
    Senator Murray then followed up to state: “One thing that I’m really concerned about, and everyone should be, is our national wildland firefighting efforts and countless staff who provide the necessary support there. For example, firefighters put their lives at risk. Without the support they need in many different roles, it just gets more dangerous. Those are the kinds of people I’m extremely concerned about, that without thought or really smart moves, that we are going to be putting our parks at risk.”
    [DEVASTATING PROPOSED FUNDING CUTS FOR TRIBES]
    Senator Murray then asked about proposed budget cuts at DOI, such as cuts of $617 million from core programs at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, $107 million from the BIA’s law enforcement office, and $187 million—nearly eliminating—funds to build Tribal schools, “You have a role in fulfilling the Federal Government’s trust and treaty responsibilities to our Tribes. I see numerous cuts across the budget that defunds Tribal police, the Bureau of Indian Affairs. How many Tribes have you personally consulted with on your budget request?”
    “I’ve been meeting with tribes every week since I’ve been here. I’ve got a deep understanding of our challenges and shortage in law enforcement,” replied Secretary Burgum.
    “There’s 574 Tribe—which ones have you consulted or met with?” Senator Murray asked again.  
    Secretary Burgum said, in part: “I’m happy to provide you a list, but I just recently had the Interior Secretary Tribal Advisory Committee, we had 24 representatives from tribes from across the country actually meeting in my office just a couple weeks ago.”
    Senator Murray and Secretary Burgum discussed the funding, and Murray concluded: “I just want to say that my tribes in Washington state are deeply concerned, they’re telling us that these layoffs will eliminate natural resource management, basic social services and they are horrified. So, I hope that in your list you will provide me, that I see some of their names.”
    [NEW MURRAY REPORT ON NATIONAL PARK SERVICE]
    Also today, Senator Murray released a new report on how the Trump administration’s cuts and planned cuts of National Park staff will reduce access to our public lands, harm Washington state’s gateway communities, jeopardize natural resources, and make National Parks less safe for visitors.
    The full report is available HERE and below:
    Report: President Trump’s Attacks on National Park Service are Hurting Communities Across Washington State
    This report is part of a series detailing the harm President Trump and Elon Musk’s reckless and devastating attacks on the federal workforce are causing on the ground in Washington state. The Trump administration’s mass firings and harmful actions have real consequences for Washington state residents and their communities.
    This report focuses on how the Trump administration’s cuts and planned cuts of National Park staff will reduce access to our public lands, harm Washington’s gateway communities, jeopardize natural resources, and make National Parks less safe for visitors.
    National Park Service is Critical to Ensuring All Americans Can Safely Visit Our Most Iconic Public Lands This Summer and Beyond
    Across the country, National Park Service rangers work hard to keep visitors safe, protect natural resources, and create an inspiring and educational experience for visitors. For over a decade, the National Park Service has had to operate at low staffing levels, despite significant increases in visitation.[1] Yet, under the Trump Administration, the National Park Service has frozen hiring, rescinded seasonal employment offers, pushed employees to resign, and laid off 1,000 permanent employees.[2] The National Park Service has also been ordered to submit a restructuring plan, and the Department of the Interior plans “additional massive layoffs” in the coming months. Without sufficient staff, visitor centers and campgrounds may close, bathrooms will not be properly maintained, emergency response times will drop, and important ranger services from interpretation to providing safety advice will be unavailable.
    Layoffs at the National Park Service Will Reduce Access to Washington’s National Parks.
    The National Park Service has a significant footprint in Washington, home of the iconic Mount Rainier, Olympic, and North Cascades National Parks, along with historically significant sites across the state—like Fort Vancouver, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial, and more. At the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, Sam Peterson was one of the National Park Service staff fired on February 14, after accepting a promotion to become a park ranger just three months prior.
    “Americans aren’t getting what they’ve paid for—they’re not operating under a new budget. The Park Service is supposed to have a park ranger in my position at Lake Roosevelt, so there’s going to be fewer visitors who get important safety messaging, fewer visitors who can have their questions answered, and fewer kids that can go on a field trip led by a ranger. There may be safety impacts during the busy season, if we aren’t able to get out safety messaging as effectively. There’s supposed to be a team of nine interpreters at Lake Roosevelt—now there are only three,” said Peterson.
    In response to court orders, the National Park Service offered many fired employees, including Peterson, their positions back.[3]
    “I want to return to the Park Service someday, but right now, it doesn’t feel stable for either myself or my family, because we just don’t know what the next couple of months—and certainly the next couple of years—will bring. I turned down my job when it was offered back to me, because I was living in government housing at the time of my termination—I was given 60 days to leave. I signed a new lease and started a new job six hours away just before I was offered my job back. Even though it was tempting to accept my job back, I couldn’t do it,” said Peterson.
    Washington state’s outdoor recreation community has a front row seat to the local impacts of cutting staff at the National Park Service. Last year, the Mountaineers—an outdoor recreation group—led 727 trips, activities, and courses in Washington’s National Parks, serving 3,456 students.
    “We got word that the only plumber at Mount Rainier National Park was fired. That’s the kind of thing that you don’t see when you’re visiting the parks. But if a wastewater system goes down then they’re going to have to close bathrooms, that’s a public safety issue. You can’t have people visiting our parks if there are no sanitary facilities,” said Betsy Robblee, Conservation and Advocacy Director for the Mountaineers.
    “We’re also concerned about campgrounds opening up. There’s a lot of staff that are needed to open campgrounds, whether that’s removing hazardous trees from areas near campsites or opening up and testing the water system. If you don’t have staff to do that, that’s going to either delay or maybe prevent many campsites from opening. Hurricane Ridge, in Olympic National Park, lost one of their road crew members as part of the firing of probationary employees. If you don’t have enough road crew members to clear the road up to Hurricane Ridge, that area just can’t open,” said Robblee.
    In addition to the critical work conducted by National Park Service staff, Washington state has a uniquely strong volunteer community. The Washington Trails Association contributes thousands of volunteer hours to critical trail maintenance projects in places like Mount Rainier National Park.
    “We have had a decades-long relationship with Mount Rainier, but it’s built on working with National Park Service staff to plan projects so that we can leverage volunteers and bring them to the Park to help steward those places. The fear is that the public side of that public-private partnership is being eroded. We won’t be able to complete our mission to take care of these places without the Park Service being there as our partner,” said Michael DeCramer, Policy and Planning Manager for the Washington Trails Association.
    DeCramer is keenly aware of how reduced staffing will impact visitor experience.
    “There are just enough people at Mount Rainier National Park in the winter to keep the roads open and if somebody calls out sick, the gate doesn’t open,” said DeCramer, highlighting how vital staff are for providing access to our public lands.
    Following public outcry, the National Park Service proposed expanding their hiring of seasonal workers to meet the needs of increased visitation during the high season.
    “While that’s great in theory, a lot of parks haven’t been allowed to repost seasonal job postings, so they’re having to use the candidate pool from when the job was posted in October or November of last year. That’s now almost six months ago—a lot of the people who applied have already moved on,” said Peterson.
    “Seasonal employees do great work, and they’re absolutely necessary, but you also need stability year-over-year through permanent employees to train those seasonal employees and maintain institutional integrity, especially in the off season. Even though we think of parks as places we go to in the summer, staff are still needed for visitors during the off season and shoulder season. The off season is also when a lot of maintenance and repair work takes place, so that parks are ready for their high season. It’s not efficient to just say, ‘oh, we will fire all of these people and then hire a bunch of part time workers instead,’” said Peterson.
    Reduced Park Access Will Hurt Local Economies in Washington’s Gateway Communities
    In 2023, outdoor recreation contributed $22.5 billion to Washington’s economy and made up 3.2% of the state’s total jobs.[4] This economic impact is particularly important for gateway communities—those located closest to Washington’s National Parks. 
    The American Alpine Institute is a mountain climbing school and guide service with 60 employees and a significant presence in Washington state. Executive Director Jason Martin is also a mountain rescue volunteer, a former president of the Bellingham Mountain Rescue Council, and has worked extensively with the American Mountain Guides Association. After the initial round of layoffs, he reached out to people working in the National Park Service to try to understand how the layoffs may impact outdoor recreation.
    “Throughout the outdoor industry—which I represent in a couple of different ways: as a commercial operator, as a volunteer rescuer, and as an outdoor recreationalist—in many cases, we just don’t know what’s going on right now. We don’t know who to talk to. We don’t know who to ask about things,” said Martin.
    The Mount Rainier Business Alliance is a coalition of local business owners in Ashford, Elbe, Alder, and Mineral, Washington, whose members deeply understand the economic impacts of staffing cuts to the National Park Service.
    “In Ashford, which is the main town right outside of Mount Rainier National Park, everything is closely tied to the National Park—from our economy to our safety. So these cuts, while perhaps just seen as being cuts to the National Park, in some ways are really cuts to our community,” said Nickolas Neville, President of the Mount Rainier Business Alliance.
    For small business owners near Mount Rainier National Park, reductions in staffing at the National Park Service could make it impossible for them to keep their doors open.
    “This whole part of our county relies entirely on the people that decide to make the trip out to Mount Rainier. Making that more difficult, especially with how challenging access to the mountain has been because of lack of staffing—I could see causing businesses to shut down, businesses that are already struggling. I could see it impacting how often we get tourists here renting out properties and short-term rentals. This part of Pierce County is already on life support,” said Cat Larrow, head of the Community Advocacy Committee of the Mount Rainier Business Alliance.
    Layoffs at the National Park Service Will Reduce Emergency Services at Washington’s National Parks
    In addition to maintaining the parks and educating visitors, park rangers ensure that visitors are safe and serve as first responders when emergencies arise. 
    “The Golden West Visitor Center at North Cascades National Park on Lake Chelan has struggled to stay open because they just haven’t had the staff they need to operate. That’s a key entry point for the Steven Mather Wilderness and the southern end of North Cascades National Park. My fear is that there’s just no slack at the Park Service. These folks are already doing everything they can. And you’re still going to have people wanting to visit the parks, but services are going to suffer,” said Michael DeCramer, Policy and Planning Manager for the Washington Trails Association. 
    “If there is a search and rescue operation needed, they might not be able to provide the staff for the level of service that we expect. Things might have to close if there’s a wildfire in the Park. We may not have the staff with the skills needed to respond in the way that we’re used to. And I see a lot of potential risk to the public. Not to be dire, but these cuts will be felt both in terms of loss of services but also decreased safety for the public, because park rangers are first responders,” said DeCramer.
    In addition to search and rescue and wildfire response, park rangers provide valuable safety information to visitors to prevent emergencies from happening in the first place.
    “Even just the rangers who sit at Artist Point handing out information to people about mountain rescues are important. I’ve done dozens and dozens of rescues in that area, mostly people who have broken bones. But if there’s nobody sitting there to warn someone that they’re actually walking into the wilderness. There’s a lot of concern,” said Jason Martin, the Executive Director of the American Alpine Institute, and a mountain rescue volunteer.
    Across Washington’s Parks, decreased staff creates safety concerns for visitors.
    “We are a very outdoor engaged state and people just go up to visit the woods constantly. I love that people are engaged, but the Park Service is putting people at risk on any given day by not having enough staff to maintain these parks,” said David Beard, Director of Policy & Government Affairs for the Children & Nature Network.
    Layoffs at the National Park Service Will Harm Washington’s Natural Resources for Future Generations
    Washington’s National Parks contain some of America’s most precious natural resources and iconic landscapes. When people visit these special places, it often has a lasting impact.
    “We all have memories of a visit to our National Parks. My three kids have more than 50 Junior Ranger badges they have earned over the years. Are there going to be people there to raise their hand and swear in the six-year-old to be a Junior Ranger? All those things are likely going to be in question,” said Tom Uniack, Executive Director for Washington Wild.
    “If people aren’t able to visit our Parks, or they have negative experiences, then we’re losing out on those amazing connections that people have to the natural world that can change their lives. They develop a stewardship ethic. They want to care for these places, and they want to advocate to protect these places. And looking towards future generations, if this continues, future generations may not get to have the same experiences in these places as we are fortunate to have today,” said Betsy Robblee, Conservation and Advocacy Director for the Mountaineers.
    “Washington is a beautiful state. I was born and raised here. My dad was a climber. I really worry that whether it’s the National Park Service or the Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management, not having the funding and staff to clean bathrooms, keep the gates open, and haul out trash. Garbage piling up can have lasting impacts on wildlife like bears and ravens and mountain lions,” said Jonathan Spitzer, Director of Operations for Alpine Ascents.
    As the summer season approaches, cuts to the National Park Service will be acutely felt across Washington state—from small businesses in gateway communities to the safety and quality of visitor experiences in Olympic, North Cascades, and Mount Rainier National Parks. Washingtonians understand that these iconic public lands belong to the public, and that it takes a strong National Park Service to steward them for visitors today and tomorrow.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: At Hearing on Murray’s Bill to Expand Menopause Research at VA and DOD, Senator Murray Presses VA Witness on Resources for Women Veterans, Harmful Pause on Clinical Trials at VA

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
    ICYMI: Murray Calls Out VA for Stonewalling Congress, Grills VA Secretary Collins on How Trump Administration Mass Firings are Increasing Wait Times for Veterans, Further Jeopardizing EHR Rollout & VA Research
    ***VIDEO of Senator Murray’s Q&A HERE***
    Washington, D.C. — Today, at a Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing to consider pending legislation, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, spoke with Dr. Thomas O’Toole, Acting Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Clinical Services for the Veterans Health Administration at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), about her bipartisan Servicewomen and Veterans Menopause Research Act that would require VA and the Department of Defense (DoD) to coordinate on research studying the effects of menopause and perimenopause on women servicemembers and women veterans to close treatment gaps and help ensure women veterans receive appropriate, high-quality gender-specific health care throughout their lives.
    Senator Murray also questioned Dr. O’Toole about VA’s 90-day pause on clinical trials—which is delaying important research right now—and on progress toward establishing permanent in-house mammography services for veterans in VISN-20, which covers veterans in Washington state, Oregon, Alaska, most of Idaho, and parts of Montana and California.
    “Women veterans, particularly those who have suffered from PTSD or sexual assault, tend to experience menopause much earlier than women who did not serve in the military. One VA study found that 15 percent of women veterans experience menopause before the age of 40—that is 10 years earlier than most women,” Senator Murray said. “It is really important that we strengthen menopause research at the VA and DoD so we can provide better care for women servicemembers and our veterans. That is why I was very proud to join Representative Houlahan and Senator Ernst in introducing the Servicewomen and Veterans Menopause Research Act last month to do that.”
    “Can you tell me today what resources are available right now, at the VA, for women veterans who are experiencing menopause? Are there any plans to expand that—what do you have right now?” SenatorMurray asked.
    “I acknowledge and fully appreciate and agree with what you’re saying there,” said Dr. O’Toole. “I do not have that information readily available in terms of what resources are currently being dedicated. I would have to get it for the record.”
    “How long will that take you to get to me?” SenatorMurray asked.
    “We will get it as quickly as we can,” Dr. O’Toole replied. “We strongly support the bill.”
    SenatorMurray continued her questioning: “During a hearing earlier this month, I actually asked Secretary Collins about the Trump administration’s 90-day ‘pause’ on VA clinical trials, which is right now delaying planned trials and putting a halt to ongoing clinical trials at VA, everything from predicting stroke risks to addressing substance abuse. Now, Secretary Collins said at the time, there was no decision regarding what would happen to VA researchers and trials when that pause ended.”
    “Do you have an answer to the question I asked a few weeks ago—what will happen after this this 90-day ‘pause’ ends?,” Murray asked. “Where will you direct the patients whose clinical trials were canceled or delayed?” asked Senator Murray.
    “I do not have that information available to me, I would have to take it for the record,” Dr. O’Toole replied.
    SenatorMurray followed up: “Can you provide my office with a list of clinical trials that were canceled?”
    “I don’t have that available, but we can get that information to you,” Dr. O’Toole responded.
    Senator Murray pushed back, “Well, the VA has to have this information. Certainly, if you care about transparency, which we keep hearing, I see no reason why this information would be secret. When can you get that information to us? These are people who were in trials, these are researchers, they—just for the next 10 years, they’re not supposed to know? When are you going to get that to us?”
    “We will get it to you as soon as we can,” said Dr. O’Toole.
    “What does that mean? I’ve heard that from so many people in the last couple weeks,” SenatorMurray said.
    Dr. O’Toole said, “I would, obviously, defer to our legislative team and our research office on those specifics, but—”
    “It’s a disappointing response, I have to tell you,” SenatorMurray interjected.
    “I would imagine we would be able to get it to you within the next few weeks, 1-2 weeks, hopefully,” Dr. O’Toole finally answered.
    Murray continued by asking about services for women veterans, in particular the lack of in-house mammography services for veterans at Puget Sound VA—an issue Senator Murray has taken up with VA before. “In my home state of Washington, Puget Sound VA saw a seven percent increase in women veterans utilizing their services over the past two years. I am appreciative of the mobile mammography centers that were made available for our Puget Sound veterans, but it’s  a temporary fix. Can you provide me any update today on the progress in establishing permanent in-house mammography services for veterans in VISN-20? Or a timeline?” SenatorMurray asked.
    Dr. O’Toole replied that he did not have the specifics but would get back to Senator Murray with a response to her questions.
    “I would appreciate answers to those questions as soon as you can, this is critical information we need,” Senator Murray said.
    Senator Murray was the first woman to join the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the first woman to chair the Committee—as the daughter of a WWII veteran, supporting veterans and their families has always been an important priority for Murray. Advocating for women veterans in particular has been a longtime focus for Senator Murray. As Chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee in 2010, Senator Murray passed her landmark Women Veterans Health Improvement Act into law. Murray has worked to permanently authorize the VA child care pilot program to increase access to free, quality child care for veterans during their appointments, make much-needed improvements to the women veterans call center, and fix a loophole that left veterans footing the bill for medically-necessary emergency newborn transportation that VA should be covering. Murray introduced and helped pass the Deborah Sampson Act, legislation to address gender disparities at VA that established a dedicated Office of Women’s Health at VA and required every VA health facility to have a dedicated women’s health primary care provider, among other things. Murray also helped to pass the MAMMO Actto expand access to high-quality breast cancer screening and treatment services for veterans. Last year, as Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray delivered a record $900 million investment in women veterans’ health care.
    Also last Congress, Senator Murray introduced the Advancing Menopause Care and Mid-Life Women’s Health Act, comprehensive bipartisan legislation that would be the most expansive effort so far to boost federal research on menopause and would—for the first time—coordinate the federal government’s existing programs related to menopause and mid-life women’s health.
    Senator Murray has been a leading voice in the Senate speaking out forcefully against President Trump and Elon Musk’s mass firing of VA employees and VA researchers across the country and Elon Musk and DOGE’s infiltration of the VA, including accessing veterans’ sensitive personal information. Earlier this month in an oversight hearing with VA Secretary Doug Collins, Senator Murray pressed Secretary Collins on how the Trump administration’s mass firing of VA employees is hurting veterans’ ability to get the health care they need—from jeopardizing VA research, to creating new risks around the deployment of the Electronic Health Record (EHR) system to additional VA Medical Centers—and on new policies the Trump administration recently rolled out that severely limit Congressional engagement with veterans and VA for no legitimate reason. Last month, Senator Murray released a report on how Trump’s mass firings at VA are already hurting veterans’ services and health care in Washington state and across the country.
    The full text of the Servicewomen and Veterans Menopause Research Act is available here. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Durbin Warns Republicans Against Their Plan To Overrule The Senate Parliamentarian

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin

    May 21, 2025

    Durbin: “Should my Senate Republican colleagues overrule the Parliamentarian, it will have major long-term impacts for the Senate and the legislative filibuster.”

    WASHINGTON – In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today cautioned his Senate Republican colleagues from overruling a decision by the Senate Parliamentarian and the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which would eliminate longstanding guardrails and pave the way for a future Senate majority to overrule the Parliamentarian to achieve its partisan goals.

    Last month, the Senate Parliamentarian, after analyzing the GAO’s opinion, ruled that Senate Republicans cannot use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn a waiver granted to California by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate its own vehicle emissions. Republicans are attempting to block a California law requiring all new cars sold in the State by 2035 to be zero-emission vehicles.

    “That’s right—despite claims of being the party of states’ rights, Republicans want to end this state-level regulation in the state of California. And get this: Elon Musk, the un-elected advisor to the President, previously wrote to the EPA in favor of California’s waiver. Now, he has joined the Republican majority to try to gut the rule,” Durbin said. “The Parliamentarian’s decision was not one of party loyalty. It followed decades of precedent showing that California’s Clean Air Act waivers are not subject to the Congressional Review Act. Despite the Parliamentarian’s decision, my Senate Republican colleagues want to override the GAO and the Senate Parliamentarian to advance the fossil-fuel agenda. It’s ‘burn, baby, burn,’ ‘drill, baby, drill.’”

    Durbin continued, “Now, I understand that using the CRA might be faster than agency rulemaking or even considering legislation… In fact, President Trump, in his first term, took administrative action to rescind California’s Clean Air Act waivers and could take that path again. But what Republicans are pursuing today is a procedural nuclear option—a dramatic break from Senate precedent with a profound consequence. Let me repeat: Should my Senate Republican colleagues overrule the Senate Parliamentarian, it will have a major long-term impact for the Senate and the legislative filibuster.”

    Durbin noted that this move by Senate Republicans is unprecedented—the Senate has never overruled the Parliamentarian regarding the CRA.

    “And before, when the tables were turned and the Senate Democrats were in the majority, my Republican colleagues were singing a very different tune about never breaking from the Parliamentarian,” Durbin said. “Leader Thune himself acknowledged in January of this year that overruling the Parliamentarian is ‘totally akin to killing the filibuster. We can’t go there. People need to understand that.’”

    Durbin concluded, “If Senate Republicans disregard the Parliamentarian’s decision, they would set a new precedent in the Senate: eliminating longstanding guardrails and paving the way for a future Senate majority to overrule the Parliamentarian to achieve its partisan goals. I caution my Senate Republican colleagues from toeing this line and setting the wrong precedent. And as I’ve said time and time again—there cannot be one set of rules for Republicans of the Senate and another set of rules for the Democrats. I hope my Republican colleagues will heed my warning and make the right choice—the only choice—accept the GAO and the Senate Parliamentarian’s decision.”

    Video of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.

    Audio of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.

    Footage of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here for TV Stations.

    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: President Trump is Right About What’s Happening in South Africa

    Source: The White House

    Today, President Donald J. Trump showed the world the shocking treatment of white farmers in South Africa — including with a video montage that highlighted the discrimination and violence targeted at the innocent minority victims.

    President Trump was exactly right.

    • “We left because of the attacks. You can’t stay on a farm as a white person in South Africa. You know you’ll be killed,” said one South African refugee.
    • New York Post: White South African couple say they’re victims of racial attacks — and can’t wait to be in Trump’s America
    • The Daily Mail: Why white South Africans are fleeing surging violence and ‘racist’ laws for new lives in America
    • BBC: ‘I didn’t come here for fun’ – Afrikaner defends refugee status in US
    • Breitbart: Trump Vindicated as South Africa Considers Bill to Redistribute Land on Racial Lines
    • BBC: South African president signs controversial land seizure law
      • The law is vague, stating that expropriation is allowed in circumstances where it is “just and equitable and in the public interest” to do so.
    • BBC: “Close to 70,000 South Africans have expressed interest in moving to the US following Washington’s offer to resettle people from the country’s Afrikaner community, a business group has said.”
    • The New York Times: ‘Kill the Boer’ Song Fuels Backlash in South Africa and U.S.
      • “The political rally was winding down when the brash leader of a leftist South African party grabbed the microphone and began to stomp and chant. Thousands of supporters joined in, and when he reached the climax, they pointed their fingers in the air like guns. ‘Kill the Boer!’ Julius Malema chanted, referring to white farmers. The crowd in a stadium in Johannesburg on Saturday roared back in approval.”
    • The New York Times: Killing of White Farmer Becomes a Flash Point in South Africa
    • Sky News: ‘Anti-white racism’: Farmers being targeted in South Africa
    • news.com.au: South Africans trapped ‘like frogs in boiling water’ as racial violence escalates
    • The Independent: South Africa: Taking farms from whites is justified because ‘it’s not really their land’, says EFF spokesman
    • New York Sun: From Murdered White Farmers to ‘Racially Disfavored Landowners’: Why Trump and Musk Are Targeting South Africa
    • The Independent: Farmers in South Africa claim they are being targeted in ‘horrific’ attacks
    • news.com.au: South Africa farm attacks: Brutal crimes landowners face
    • The Daily Mail: There’s been a murder a week on farms in South Africa this year. Now a race-baiting Marxist who loves singing Kill the Boer is set to become Vice President
    • Fox News: South African political leader calls for violence against White citizens at rally: ‘Kill the Boer, the farmer’

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Hickenlooper, Small Business Democrats Call Out Trump Admin for Turning Back on Small Businesses, Blocking Funding to Help Entrepreneurs Grow

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator John Hickenlooper – Colorado
    SBA is currently blocking funding that supports small businesses, plans to cut $167 million from future programs
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper, along with his Democratic colleagues on the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, called on Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Kelly Loeffler to stop hurting small businesses and release entrepreneurial development program funding. 
    “Gutting counseling and training services for women, veterans, and underserved small businesses is not how we can grow our economy,” wrote the senators. “We strongly condemn the President’s budget and call on SBA to immediately release entrepreneurial development program funding owed to counseling and training providers.”
    SBA’s entrepreneurial development programs provide free or low-cost counseling and training to support the small business owners, specifically targeting veterans, women, and other underserved entrepreneurs. Last year alone, SBA counseled and trained more than 744,000 small businesses, supported the creation of 33,240 new businesses, and supported over one million jobs.
    The Trump administration’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 cuts $167 million dollars from SBA’s entrepreneurial development programs and $111 million from the agency’s budget for the cost of staff and other administrative expenses. The proposed budget would eliminate 15 entrepreneurial development programs, which would mean the closure of more than 150 WBCs, 250 SCORE chapters, and 31 VBOCs.
    To better understand SBA’s budget plans and the extent to which entrepreneurial development program funding has been delayed or mismanaged, the lawmakers request written responses to the following questions no later than May 30:
    With the elimination of all but one of its entrepreneurial development programs under President Trump’s proposed budget, what is SBA’s plan to provide quality counseling and training to America’s 34 million small businesses?
    Why does the Administration believe that women and veteran entrepreneurs do not merit specialized assistance given the unique challenges they face?
    Why has SBA failed to distribute appropriated funding to its entrepreneurial development programs, specifically the SBDC, WBC, VBOC, and SCORE programs
    Please identify every payment, by program, to SBA’s entrepreneurial development programs that are currently past due.
    Please provide a detailed timeline for disbursement, by program, of the delayed payments identified in response to the previous question.
    Full text of the letter HERE and below.
    Dear Administrator Loeffler:
    Gutting counseling and training services for women, veterans, and underserved small businesses is not how we can grow our economy. As if the Trump Administration’s disastrous and destructive tariff policy had not caused enough harm to the nation’s entrepreneurs, the President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 budget for the Small Business Administration (SBA) proposes to eliminate the vast majority of SBA’s entrepreneurial development programs. Additionally, SBA is currently blocking funding Congress has already appropriated for these programs. We strongly condemn the President’s budget and call on SBA to immediately release entrepreneurial development program funding owed to counseling and training providers.
    SBA’s entrepreneurial development programs provide free or low-cost counseling and training to America’s 34 million small businesses, with specific assistance targeting veterans, women, and other underserved entrepreneurs. In FY 2024 alone, SBA counseled and trained more than 744,000 small businesses, supported the creation of 33,240 new businesses, and supported over one million jobs. SBA’s resource partners, which include Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs), Women’s Business Centers (WBCs), SCORE, and Veterans Business Outreach Centers (VBOCs), have long had bipartisan support and provide critical, costeffective assistance that catalyzes local economic growth. These programs work together to provide holistic aid to entrepreneurs in all states, creating an ecosystem of support for small businesses at every stage of development.
    On May 2, 2025, President Trump released a summary of his proposed budget for FY 2026 that cut $167 million dollars from SBA’s entrepreneurial development programs and $111 million from the agency’s budget for the cost of staff and other administrative expenses.
    Specifically, the proposed budget does away with 15 entrepreneurial development programs, which would mean the closure of more than 150 WBCs, 250 SCORE chapters, and 31 VBOCs. Only the SBDC program would survive. The President’s decision to eliminate dedicated veterans counseling services is particularly shocking. Although President Trump proposed $10 million in additional funding for SBDCs to serve veteran small businesses, that amount is still 46 percent less than SBA’s current level of funding for veteran services.
    Equally troubling are reports that the SBA is blocking previously appropriated funding from reaching its entrepreneurial development programs. The Senate Committee on Appropriations released a report exposing the wide variety of federal funding that President Trump, Elon Musk, and Russ Vought have illegally withheld. The report revealed that, under President Trump, SBA has failed to expend at least $30 million that Congress approved to carry out small business counseling and training programs. Additionally, the Administration has attempted to renege on contracts to grantees in the Regional Innovation Clusters (RIC) program, which provides direct support, accelerators, and other services to support small innovators. Of the 25 RIC awardees across the country, it appears that the Administration unjustifiably terminated at least 20 of their contracts.
    We are now five months into the second Trump presidency and it is unacceptable that the Trump SBA is incapable of properly managing its congressionally mandated responsibilities. Congress holds the power of the purse, and the executive branch must comply with the law, including duly enacted appropriations acts. SBA’s continued delays and cancellation of congressionally mandated spending not only goes against congressional intent but jeopardizes the viability of small businesses across the country.
    Federal funding is subject to the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, meaning that the funds Congress appropriates to federal agencies cannot be temporarily withheld from obligation or expenditure without a presidential special message and cannot be cancelled without congressional approval. The Comptroller General of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is required to report when a president has failed to disclose an impoundment to Congress. For this reason, GAO is currently investigating 39 federal agencies that are not expending appropriated funds. If SBA is unwilling or unable to release the funds appropriated for its entrepreneurial development programs, we will be requesting that GAO perform a formal review and pursue potential enforcement actions.
    We strongly reject President Trump’s budget proposal and demand that SBA release delayed payments to its entrepreneurial development programs. To better understand SBA’s budget plans and the extent to which entrepreneurial development program funding has been delayed or mismanaged, we request written responses to the following questions no later than May 30:
    With the elimination of all but one of its entrepreneurial development programs under President Trump’s proposed budget, what is SBA’s plan to provide quality counseling and training to America’s 34 million small businesses?
    Why does the Administration believe that women and veteran entrepreneurs do not merit specialized assistance given the unique challenges they face?
    Why has SBA failed to distribute appropriated funding to its entrepreneurial development programs, specifically the SBDC, WBC, VBOC, and SCORE programs
    Please identify every payment, by program, to SBA’s entrepreneurial development programs that are currently past due.
    Please provide a detailed timeline for disbursement, by program, of the delayed payments identified in response to the previous question.
    Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Peters Unveils New Investigative Report Finding Fired Inspectors General Identified More Savings than DOGE

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Michigan Gary Peters
    WASHINGTON, D.C. —U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, released a report detailing the Trump Administration’s unprecedented attacks on Inspectors General – the independent watchdogs tasked with rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in federal agencies. Peters’ report finds that the 19 Inspectors General (IGs) President Trump fired earlier this year identified billions of dollars more in potential savings to taxpayers than the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) created by the Trump Administration and Elon Musk with the supposed goal of identifying wasteful spending. 
    “This report underscores the value of professional, independent and nonpartisan Inspectors General and the work they do to effectively identify waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars,” said Senator Peters. “If the Trump Administration were serious about eliminating waste, it would rely on the proven track record of independent Inspectors General. Instead, President Trump’s decision to fire them will not only undermine efforts to reduce waste – it sends a message of intimidation to anyone who wants to hold this Administration accountable.”
    READ THE FULL REPORT: “Undermining the Watchdogs: The 19 Independent Inspectors General Fired by President Trump Uncovered Billions in Fraud, Waste, and Abuse”
    Inspectors General play a critical role in ensuring transparency and accountability in government operations. The report documents how, in his first week in office, President Trump fired 18 Inspectors General across major federal agencies, including the Departments of Defense, State, Commerce, and Veterans Affairs. The Administration later removed the USAID Inspector General, an act widely seen as retaliatory for conducting oversight of the Administration’s actions to shutter the agency. These terminations violated the Inspector General Act, which requires the President to provide Congress with a 30-day notice and a detailed justification before dismissing an IG.
    The report finds that the fired IGs had a collective monetary impact of over $50 billion in fiscal year 2024 alone through investigations and audits, uncovering significant fraud and abuse. To date, the Offices of Inspectors General (OIGs) have pinpointed $175 billion in potential savings that could be achieved if federal agencies implement all of their outstanding recommendations.
    These watchdogs have also conducted criminal investigations that resulted in financial recoveries, including a Department of Energy OIG probe that halted an illegal semiconductor export scheme, which led to the cancellation of $100 million in grants. Similarly, an investigation by the Department of Defense OIG uncovered fraudulent financial practices targeting Gold Star families, leading to a 12-year prison sentence and a $1.4 million penalty. 
    The impact of the Administration’s actions has been deeply felt across federal oversight agencies, as staffing cuts further compromise their ability to conduct audits, evaluations, and investigations. Interviews with affected IG offices revealed serious concerns about the erosion of independence and morale within these agencies.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: King, Colleagues Demand Explanation for DOGE Cuts at VA Impacting Healthcare for Maine Veterans

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Maine Angus King
    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Angus King (I-ME) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), senior members of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee (SVAC), led their House and Senate colleagues in a letter to Doug Collins, the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) requesting detailed information on the hundreds of cancelled contracts across the agency impacting earned health care and benefits for veterans in Maine. In the letter, the senators slam the Secretary’s untruthful narrative about these various contract cancellations across the country and demand answers on the true updated list of canceled contracts.
    The letter comes on the heels of mass firings and contract cancellations executed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) at the request of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
    The members began, “Since February, our Committees have made more than a dozen requests, many of them bipartisan, for you to provide Congress with the complete lists of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) contracts you have cancelled or proposed be cancelled. Today, we write to once again demand these lists. In addition, we are requesting a briefing from VA officials on the process by which contracts were and continue to be identified and cancelled, any meaningful advance consultation with career VA officials whose programs are impacted by these cancellations, and all activities of the VA-designated Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) personnel or liaisons and other DOGE personnel involved in VA programs, operations, and management. Our requests for information on DOGE operations at VA began on February 12, 2025, and to date have received no substantive response.”
    “…Now, more than two months later, Congress is still waiting for accurate and complete information on the contracts you have cancelled, the contracts you have restored after being cancelled, the process the Department is using, and documentation for the savings generated and reinvested. When asked about receiving this information and a briefing on DOGE’s operations at the Department, your leadership stated simply that VA “will not be providing a briefing on the issue.” Additionally, even though many of these contracts were officially cancelled more than two months ago, your staff has indicated “VA cannot release any contract lists as this is all ‘pre-decisional’ until the Contracting Officer officially notifies and signs the termination letter and negotiates potential settlement costs.” This statement is another attempt to hide the truth from Congress and runs counter to logic given that many companies and public databases list hundreds of VA contracts as already cancelled,” the members continued.
    The members concluded, “So that we may conduct our independent and constitutionally authorized oversight of the Department, we ask again for a copy of the list of more than 870 contracts cancelled or proposed for cancellation you discussed in your social media posting and video on February 24 and 25, 2025, which you indicated had a value of $2 billion; a copy of the list of 585 cancelled contracts VA announced publicly on March 3, 2025, with an estimated value of $1.8 billion; and a list of all contracts cancelled by VA from January 20, 2025, to present. Further, we request a briefing to the Committees to explain the timeline and process by which these contracts were selected and ordered cancelled; how the material provided to Congress on May 16, 2025, was assembled; and on DOGE operations inside VA related to contracts and more generally.”
    Representing one of the states with the highest rates of military families and veterans per capita, Senator King is a staunch advocate for America’s servicemembers and veterans. A member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee (SVAC), he works to ensure American veterans receive their earned benefits and that the VA is properly implementing various programs such as the PACT Act, the State Veterans Homes Domiciliary Care Flexibility Act, and the John Scott Hannon Act. Recently, Senator King introduced bipartisan legislation to help reduce suicides among veterans by providing free secure firearm storage to veterans. In addition, he helped pass the Veterans COLA Act, which increased benefits for 30,000 Maine veterans and their families. This year, he cosponsored the bipartisan Major Richard Star Act that would provide more combat-injured veterans with their full earned benefits. Most recently, he joined Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS), Chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, in introducing bipartisan legislation to permanently authorize a program that would expand access to veteran disability claims exams.
    Recently, Senator King introduced bipartisan legislation alongside SVAC Chairman Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) to improve care coordination for veterans who rely on both VA health care and Medicare. In February, Senator King was honored by the Disabled American Veterans as its 2025 Legislator of the Year. Last year, he was recognized by the Wounded Warrior Project as the 2024 Legislator of the Year for his “outstanding legislative effort and achievement to improve the lives of the wounded, ill, and injured veterans.” Senator King recently joined SVAC Ranking Member Senator Blumenthal in writing a letter to Secretary Collins raising concerns over proposed $1 spending limits on VA purchase cards which are used to pay for gas to transport disabled veterans to apportionments, buy medical supplies and more. Senator King also joined his colleagues in raising concerns over proposed plans to terminate 83,000 VA employees and demanded information from the VA in a previous letter to Secretary Collins.
    The full text of the letter can be found here and below.
    +++
    Dear Secretary Collins,
    Since February, our Committees have made more than a dozen requests, many of them bipartisan, for you to provide Congress with the complete lists of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) contracts you have cancelled or proposed be cancelled. Today, we write to once again demand these lists. In addition, we are requesting a briefing from VA officials on the process by which contracts were and continue to be identified and cancelled, any meaningful advance consultation with career VA officials whose programs are impacted by these cancellations, and all activities of the VA-designated Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) personnel or liaisons and other DOGE personnel involved in VA programs, operations, and management. Our requests for information on DOGE operations at VA began on February 12, 2025, and to date have received no substantive response.
    On February 24 and 25, 2025, you publicly celebrated on social media your plan, carried out with Elon Musk and DOGE, to cancel hundreds of VA contracts you claimed were for “PowerPoint slides and meeting minutes” and you indicated were valued at $2 billion. After you had given the orders for career officials in the Department to start the cancellations, a list of more than 870 contracts was leaked to Congress and the media. In reality, these contracts were predominantly for direct services for veterans or supporting VA operations including: suicide prevention and mental health treatment; radiology services; outreach regarding burial benefits and health care services; cancer care; the PACT Act; disability claims processing and audits; and ensuring safe and clean facilities. Amazingly, while claiming the purpose of cancelling these contracts was to improve efficiency and reduce waste, you also directed the cancellation of more than a dozen contracts whose purpose was to assist VA in conducting oversight activities to identify and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse and follow the recommendations of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the VA Office of Inspector General.
    When the true purpose and impact of your mass contract cancellations were exposed, you and your leadership team directed career officials to pause some cancellations, stating in an internal email “VA Leadership is reconsidering previous guidance,” and “further contract reviews will be conducted to arrive at a new final decision.” Records show some contracts previously cancelled at your direction were then reversed while others remain cancelled. On March 3, 2025, you announced that instead of more than 870 contracts, you would cancel 585 contracts with an alleged value of $1.8 billion. This announcement provided no detail or information to support that claim while also stating VA would redirect about $900 million toward health care, benefits, and services for VA beneficiaries – again without evidence.
    Also, on March 3, 2025, the Department indicated the 585 contracts would be cancelled “over the next few days” and that “the termination of these contracts will not negatively affect Veteran care, benefits or services, and will help VA better focus on its core mission: providing the best possible care and services to Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors.” In your response to Senator King’s letter requesting information on these contracts, you refused to take accountability for your chaotic contract cancellation process and subsequent damage control. Your letter describes “a deliberative, multi-level review that involved the career subject-matter expert” but then admits the feedback from these experts was disregarded until after the fact when “VA rapidly reversed and restored contracted services in response to feedback from resident expert specialties, to include radiation safety, Veteran suicide prevention, and all other critical VA mission areas to avoid any clinically significant effect on patient care.” If this was in fact a consultative and deliberate process, why did the Department have to reverse your orders of just a few days prior to blindly terminate hundreds of contracts?
    Now, more than two months later, Congress is still waiting for accurate and complete information on the contracts you have cancelled, the contracts you have restored after being cancelled, the process the Department is using, and documentation for the savings generated and reinvested. When asked about receiving this information and a briefing on DOGE’s operations at the Department, your leadership stated simply that VA “will not be providing a briefing on the issue.” Additionally, even though many of these contracts were officially cancelled more than two months ago, your staff has indicated “VA cannot release any contract lists as this is all ‘pre-decisional’ until the Contracting Officer officially notifies and signs the termination letter and negotiates potential settlement costs.” This statement is another attempt to hide the truth from Congress and runs counter to logic given that many companies and public databases list hundreds of VA contracts as already cancelled.
    Further, on May 16, 2025, your staff provided Congress with a list of more than 445 contracts which it indicated were “terminated and closed contracts” and then went on to say “there are additional contracts in negotiation to be closed, and this list does not include contracts modified to change scope. The frequently mentioned list of over 800 contracts was not released by VA as finale (sic) and complete; it was an initial review followed by several additional reviews.” Our initial review of these statements and the information provided indicates a number of contradictions and inaccuracies, and raises numerous additional concerns and questions.
    First, the statements from VA staff attempt to once-again mischaracterize the sequence of events associated with your multi-month effort to withhold information about your disorganized contract cancellation effort. The public record is clear: you directed the cancellation of hundreds of contracts impacting services for veterans and only reversed yourself when the nature of those contracts were publicly disclosed. Second, the list of 447 contracts includes at least 80 that were terminated during the Biden Administration. Third, according to the documentation you provided, the list of canceled contracts totals $120.8 billion dollars in contracting value and claimed savings. Given VA’s entire budget for Fiscal Year 2025 is approximately $426.3 billion, the value of these contracts would represent 28 percent of the Department’s budget. This questionable number is compounded by numerous contracts with wildly inaccurate value/savings figures. For example, one contract labeled “VA Program Management Support Services Contract” is shown with an astronomical value of $44.8 billion. However, federal data shows the value of this contract at approximately $85 million – meaning the Department has misstated the value by $44 billion. Finally, a number of the contracts provided do not appear on the list of cancelled contracts in the official Federal government system of record – the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS). All of these points call into question the accuracy of the data in the document you provided to Congress.
    We firmly support VA efforts to regularly review services procured by the Department. And that process should be built into any functioning acquisition and program management operation at VA. However, cancelling hundreds of contracts in a several-day period and then scrambling to restore dozens just a few days later is not an indication of good program management. It’s an indication of waste and incompetence.
    So that we may conduct our independent and constitutionally authorized oversight of the Department, we ask again for a copy of the list of more than 870 contracts cancelled or proposed for cancellation you discussed in your social media posting and video on February 24 and 25, 2025, which you indicated had a value of $2 billion; a copy of the list of 585 cancelled contracts VA announced publicly on March 3, 2025, with an estimated value of $1.8 billion; and a list of all contracts cancelled by VA from January 20, 2025, to present. Further, we request a briefing to the Committees to explain the timeline and process by which these contracts were selected and ordered cancelled; how the material provided to Congress on May 16, 2025, was assembled; and on DOGE operations inside VA related to contracts and more generally. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
    Sincerely,

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Ramaphosa, Trump meeting all set for early evening, SA time

    Source: South Africa News Agency

    President Cyril Ramaphosa’s engagement with United States President Donald Trump is expected to get underway at 5:30pm South African time – starting with a welcome of the visiting President at the Oval Office. 

    The Oval Office is the official workspace used exclusively by the President of the U.S. in Washington, D.C.

    The two leaders aim to rebuild and strengthen their relations amid ongoing tensions, including the recent resettlement of white Afrikaners in America.

    According to The Presidency of SA,  President Trump is set to welcome South Africa’s Head of State at 5:30pm. This will be followed by President Ramaphosa signing the visitors’ book at 5:35pm.

    At 5:45pm, the two leaders will participate in a working lunch, leading to their bilateral meeting scheduled for 6:45pm, which will include an opportunity for media interaction.

    President Ramaphosa is expected to depart from the White House at 6:30pm.

    Ahead of the meeting this afternoon, the President attended the 2025 Budget Speech virtually.

    The South African delegation to Washington D.C. consists of several Cabinet Ministers, notable business figures, and prominent South Africans.

    Included in the delegation are Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Ebrahim Patel, and Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen.

    President Ramaphosa has leveraged President Trump’s passion for golf by inviting South African pro golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen to join the trip.

    In addition, the President will be accompanied by Johann Rupert, the Founder of Richemont and Chairman of Remgro.

    The delegation also includes Vice President of Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) Adrian Gore and President of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) Zingiswa Losi. 

    They are currently in Washington, D.C. to offer strategic support to President Ramaphosa and the South African delegation.

    Meanwhile, President Trump will be flanked by several key officials during his event. 

    These include Vice President JD Vance, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Special Government Employee Elon Musk, and Dr Massad Boulos, who serves as a Senior Advisor for Africa as well as on Arab and Middle Eastern Affairs.

    SAnews reported this morning that discussions will focus on revitalising bilateral relations, rethinking economic cooperation, and exploring new trade and investment opportunities that align with South Africa’s development goals. 

    President Ramaphosa arrived in the United States on Monday, landing at Andrews Air Force Base to a warm reception.  

    A red carpet was laid out, and ceremonial guards held the South African and United States flags as he was escorted to his motorcade, signaling the start of his visit with the honours fitting for a Head of State.

    Upon his arrival at the hotel, he was greeted by the South African delegation and members of the media.

    Since then, he has been engaging with his Ministers, including Mcebisi Jonas, the Special Envoy to the United States and the official representative of the President and the South African government.

    Speaking to the media on Tuesday, the President appeared cheerful and optimistic. 

    He expressed that he was “ready and hopeful” for productive discussions at the Oval Office.

    For the latest coverage on President Ramaphosa’s visit to the United States, follow SAgovnews on X, formerly known as Twitter. – SAnews.gov.za

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-Evening Report: What’s the obscure Australian online safety standard Elon Musk’s X is trying to dodge in court? An expert explains

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Cover, Professor of Digital Communication and Director of the RMIT Digital Ethnography Research Centre, RMIT University

    In its most recent battle with authorities in Australia, X (formerly Twitter) has launched legal action in the Federal Court, seeking an exemption from a new safety standard aimed at preventing the spread of harmful material online.

    The standard in question is known as the Relevant Electronic Services Standard. It came into effect in December 2024, but won’t start being enforced by Australia’s online regulator, eSafety, until June this year.

    Compared with the social media ban for under-16s, this standard has been a side issue in the broader topic of online safety. So what exactly is it? And will it be effective at preventing the spread of harmful material online?

    What is the standard?

    The Relevant Electronic Services Standard contains criteria to help address the pervasiveness of harmful and illegal material distributed online. It is particularly focused on child sexual exploitation content, depictions of extreme violence, illegal drug material, and pro-terror content.

    Relevant electronic services (RES) are digital services that enable user-to-user content. This includes instant messaging, email and chat platforms. The legal definition also includes some online gaming services.

    Under Australia’s Online Safety Act 2021, the communications minister may exempt some services or platforms from being defined as an RES. The minister can also set conditions on the service for exemption, such as having a robust moderation service, or being a messaging service for internal employees of a company.

    Some social media platforms, such as Facebook and X, may be defined as RES. That’s because they also offer user-to-user messaging services. It is sensible, then, for the Federal Court to determine whether they fall under social media codes or RES standards, or both.

    The standards require RES to implement systems, processes and technologies to detect and remove child sexual abuse and pro-terror material from their services, and to actively deter end-users from distributing this material.

    There are consequences for services that fail to comply. The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, can issue a formal warning or infringement notice, or have the courts apply a civil penalty.

    What does the standard do?

    The Online Safety Act 2021 imposes obligations on RES providers, particularly regarding the handling of harmful material. This material is categorised into several classes, including Class 1A and Class 1B content.

    Class 1A material typically means child exploitation and pro-terror content. Class 1B material refers to extreme violence, promotion of crime, and illegal drug-related content.

    The class of content is determined by referring to the National Classification Scheme. This scheme sets standards for the ratings of films.

    Class 1A and 1B material is content, texts and images that would be “refused classification” under the scheme. That is, it would be material that is usually not allowed to be distributed at all. Class 2 material is what we usually consider X-rated or 18+ material.

    At the moment, the eSafety commissioner can ask a RES to remove Class 1 or Class 2 content, or the service can be penalised. However, the next step has been to work with industry to develop codes that require service providers to be more proactive in preventing Class 1 content being shared between their users.

    Will the standard be effective?

    X wants its platform to be treated as exempt, and governed by the similar but less stringent Social Media Code instead. Whatever the Federal Court decides, however, there are other issues to consider.

    Part of the difficulty with the scheme is that it relies on harmful content coming to the attention of the eSafety commissioner. This usually happens when an end-user makes a complaint.

    But our recent research, which surveyed 2,520 representative Australians and will be published later this year, found that only about 10% of users who were the target of digital harms reported them to the eSafety commissioner. Among those who had witnessed harmful content or behaviour, only 6% reported. About 40% of Australians don’t believe reporting will make any difference.

    Another issue with the industry standards raised by digital rights activists is that it may require services to investigate user messages even when end-to-end encryption of messages is used. That may have serious privacy implications.

    New global treaties could help address the problem of online harm.
    nexus 7/Shutterstock

    A global treaty could help

    This ties into broader problems with the online safety framework.

    Much of the focus has been on managing platforms and getting platforms to police users and content – a necessary approach to avoid penalising individuals and overwhelming courts.

    However, service provider policing often fails to meet the norms of due process, such as transparency and the right to appeal decisions.

    It also makes platforms and messaging providers the “arbiters” of free speech and censorship, instead of governments, courts and communities.

    While setting standards on platforms is one part of the solution, we need to continue developing remedies to protect users. This may include global agreements and multilateral treaties, similar to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, so all countries can share the burden locally for digital harms that occur across jurisdictions, and ensure due process and the protection of privacy.

    Rob Cover receives funding from the Australian Research Council

    – ref. What’s the obscure Australian online safety standard Elon Musk’s X is trying to dodge in court? An expert explains – https://theconversation.com/whats-the-obscure-australian-online-safety-standard-elon-musks-x-is-trying-to-dodge-in-court-an-expert-explains-257222

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • Trump Unveils $175B Golden Dome Missile Defense System, Cites China and Russia Threats

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    President of the United States Donald Trump said on Tuesday he had selected a design for the $175-billion Golden Dome missile defense shield and named a Space Force general to head the ambitious program aimed at blocking threats from China and Russia.

    The program, first ordered by Trump in January, aims to create a network of satellites, perhaps numbering in the hundreds, to detect, track and potentially intercept incoming missiles.

    Trump told a White House press conference that U.S. Space Force General Michael Guetlein would be the lead program manager for an effort widely viewed as the keystone to Trump’s military planning.

    Golden Dome will “protect our homeland,” Trump said, adding that Canada had said it wanted to be part of it.

    In a statement, the office of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he and his ministers were discussing a new security and economic relationship with their American counterparts.

    “These discussions naturally include strengthening NORAD and related initiatives such as the Golden Dome,” it added.

    Trump said the defense shield, which would cost some $175 billion, should be operational by the end of his term in January 2029, but industry experts were less certain of that timeframe and the cost.

    “Ronald Reagan wanted it many years ago, but they didn’t have the technology,” Trump said, referring to the space-based missile defense system, popularly called “Star Wars”, that Reagan proposed.

    The Golden Dome program faces both political scrutiny and funding uncertainty.

    “The new datapoint is the $175 billion, but the question remains, over what period of time. It’s probably 10 years,” said Tom Karako of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

    Silicon Valley and U.S. software expertise can be leveraged to bring advances, while also using existing missile defense systems, he added.

    This month, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that Golden Dome could cost as much as $831 billion over two decades.

    Democratic lawmakers have voiced concern about the procurement process and involvement of Trump ally Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which has emerged as a frontrunner alongside Palantir PLTR.O and Anduril to build key components of the system.

    “The new autonomous space-age defense ecosystem is more about Silicon Valley than it is about ‘big metal’,” Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota said at the White House event.

    “So what’s exciting about this is it makes it available to everybody to participate, to compete.”

    “Big metal” refers to legacy defense contractors.

    The Golden Dome idea was inspired by Israel’s land-based Iron Dome defense shield that protects it from missiles and rockets.

    Trump’s Golden Dome is much more extensive, including a massive array of surveillance satellites and a separate fleet of attacking satellites that would shoot down offensive missiles soon after lift-off.

    Tuesday’s announcement kicks off the Pentagon’s effort to test and ultimately buy the missiles, systems, sensors and satellites that will constitute Golden Dome.

    Trump said Alaska would be a big part of the program, while Florida, Georgia and Indiana would also benefit.

    Many of the early systems are expected to come from existing production lines. Attendees at the press conference named L3Harris Technologies LHX.N, Lockheed Martin LMT.N and RTX Corp RTX.N as potential contractors for the massive project.

    L3 has invested $150 million in building out its new facility in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where it makes the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor satellites that are part of a Pentagon effort to better detect and track hypersonic weapons with space-based sensors and could be adapted for Golden Dome.

    Golden Dome’s funding remains uncertain. Republican lawmakers have proposed a $25-billion initial investment for Golden Dome as part of a broader $150-billion defense package, but this funding is tied to a contentious reconciliation bill that faces significant hurdles in Congress.

    “Unless reconciliation passes, the funds for Golden Dome may not materialize,” said an industry executive following the program, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “This puts the entire project timeline in jeopardy.”

    (Reuters)