NewzIntel.com

Category: Trumpism

  • MIL-OSI Russia: US to impose 19 percent tariff on Indonesian goods – D. Trump

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    NEW YORK, July 16 (Xinhua) — Indonesia will pay a 19 percent tariff on all goods exported to the United States, while American exports to Indonesia will be exempt from tariff and non-tariff barriers, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Truth Social on Tuesday.

    “I have completed a major deal with the Republic of Indonesia after speaking with its highly respected President Prabowo Subianto. This landmark deal opens the entire Indonesian market to the United States for the first time in history,” he wrote.

    As part of the agreement, Indonesia committed to purchasing energy resources worth $15 billion and agricultural products worth $4.5 billion on the American market, as well as 50 Boeing aircraft, the head of the White House added.

    According to D. Trump, as a result of the deal, the United States will for the first time gain full access to the Indonesian market, where more than 280 million people live. –0–

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

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    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: D. Trump announced the introduction of a single tariff for small countries in the amount of slightly more than 10 percent

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    NEW YORK, July 16 (Xinhua) — The United States will impose a flat tariff of just over 10 percent on smaller countries, including many in Africa and the Caribbean, US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday.

    “We’ll probably put a single tariff on all of them,” he told reporters at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. That could be a duty of just over 10 percent on goods from at least 100 countries, the Associated Press quoted the president as saying.

    Earlier in the day, Trump announced a deal with Jakarta in which Indonesia will pay a 19 percent tariff on all goods exported to the United States, while American exports to the Asian country will be exempt from tariff and non-tariff barriers.

    The White House chief recently sent letters to leaders of several countries, including a number of major US trading partners, announcing 20-50 percent tariffs effective August 1.

    D. Trump also said that he could announce tariffs on pharmaceuticals at the end of July. –0–

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

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    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI China: US launches section 301 probe against Brazil

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced Tuesday that it will open an investigation into Brazil’s trade policies under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.

    The investigation, launched under U.S. President Donald Trump’s direction, will look into “Brazil’s attacks on American social media companies as well as other unfair trading practices that harm American companies, workers, farmers, and technology innovators,” said the office in a statement, citing U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

    Greer determined that Brazil’s tariff and non-tariff barriers “merit a thorough investigation, and potentially, responsive action” after consulting with other government agencies, cleared advisers and Congress.

    The investigation will seek to determine “whether acts, policies, and practices of the Government of Brazil related to digital trade and electronic payment services; unfair, preferential tariffs; anti-corruption interference; intellectual property protection; ethanol market access; and illegal deforestation are unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict U.S. commerce,” said the statement. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • Nvidia’s resumption of AI chips to China is part of rare earths talks, says US

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    Nvidia’s planned resumption of sales of its H20 AI chips to China is part of U.S. negotiations on rare earths, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Tuesday, and comes days after its CEO met President Donald Trump.

    “We put that in the trade deal with the magnets,” Lutnick told Reuters, referring to an agreement Trump made to restart rare earth shipments to U.S. manufacturers. He did not provide additional detail.

    Nvidia said late on Monday that it is filing applications with the U.S. government to resume sales to China of its H20 graphics processing unit, and has been assured by the U.S. it will get the licences soon.

    The planned resumption is a reversal of an export restriction imposed in April that is designed to keep the most advanced AI chips out of Chinese hands over national security concerns, an issue that has found rare bipartisan support. It drew swift questions and criticism from U.S. legislators on Tuesday.

    The decision “would not only hand our foreign adversaries our most advanced technologies, but is also dangerously inconsistent with this Administration’s previously-stated position on export controls for China,” Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, ranking member of the House of Representatives Select Committee on China, said in a statement.

    Republican John Moolenaar, chair of that committee, said in a statement he would seek “clarification” from the Commerce Department.

    “The H20 is a powerful chip that, according to our bipartisan investigation, played a significant role in the rise of PRC AI companies like DeepSeek,” Moolenaar said, referring to a Chinese startup that claims to have built AI models at a fraction of the cost paid by U.S. firms such as OpenAI. “It is crucial that the U.S. maintain its lead and keep advanced AI out of the hands of the CCP.”

    Shares of Nvidia, the world’s most valuable firm, closed up 4% and were nearly unchanged in after-market trading. Nvidia had estimated that the curbs would cut its revenue by $15 billion.

    Nvidia’s plan to resume sales has set off a scramble at Chinese firms to buy H20 chips, two sources told Reuters. The chips that Nvidia will resume selling are the best it can legally offer in China but lack much of the computing power of the versions for sale outside of China because of previous restrictions put in place by Trump’s first administration and then President Joe Biden’s administration.

    But critically, H20 chips work with Nvidia’s software tools, which have become a de facto standard in the global AI industry.

    CEO Jensen Huang, who is visiting Beijing and set to speak at an event on Wednesday, has argued that Nvidia’s leadership position could slip away if the company cannot sell to Chinese developers being courted by Huawei Technologies with chips produced in China.

    The significance of the shift depends on the volume of H20 chips that the U.S. allows to be shipped to China, said Divyansh Kaushik, an AI expert at Beacon Global Strategies, a Washington-based advisory firm.

    “If China is able to get a million H20 chips, it could significantly narrow, if not overtake, the U.S. lead in AI,” he said.

    CHINA IS CRUCIAL

    “The Chinese market is massive, dynamic, and highly innovative, and it’s also home to many AI researchers,” Huang told Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Tuesday.

    China generated $17 billion in revenue for Nvidia in the fiscal year ending January 26, or 13% of total sales, based on its latest annual report.

    Internet giants ByteDance and Tencent 0700.HK are also in the process of submitting applications for H20 chips, the sources familiar with the matter said. Central to the process is an approved list put together by Nvidia for Chinese companies to register for potential purchases, one of the sources said.

    Tencent did not respond to a request for comment. ByteDance denied in a statement that it is currently submitting applications. Nvidia declined to comment on the approved list system.

    Asked at a regular foreign ministry briefing in Beijing about Nvidia’s plans to resume AI chip sales, a spokesperson said: “China is opposed to the politicisation, instrumentalisation and weaponisation of science, technology and economic and trade issues to maliciously blockade and suppress China.”

    China halted exports of rare earths in March following a trade spat with Trump that has shown some signs of easing. It dominates the market for rare earths, a group of 17 metals used in cellphones, weapons, electric vehicles, and more.

    Huang’s visit is being closely watched in both China and the United States, where a bipartisan pair of senators last week sent the CEO a letter asking him to abstain from meeting companies working with military or intelligence bodies.

    The senators also asked Huang to refrain from meeting with entities named on the United States’ restricted export list.

    Rival AI chipmaker AMD also said the Department of Commerce would review its licence applications to export its MI308 chips to China; it plans to resume those shipments when licences are approved, it said. Its shares gained 7% in trading on Tuesday.

    (Reuters)

  • Trump to meet Qatar’s PM to discuss Gaza ceasefire deal, Axios reports

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani on Wednesday to discuss negotiations over a Gaza ceasefire deal, Axios reporter Barak Ravid posted on X.

    Israeli and Hamas negotiators have been taking part in the latest round of ceasefire talks in Doha since July 6, discussing a U.S.-backed proposal for a 60-day ceasefire that envisages a phased release of hostages, Israeli troop withdrawals from parts of Gaza and discussions on ending the conflict.

    Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff had said on Sunday that he was “hopeful” on the ceasefire negotiations underway in Qatar, a key mediator between the two sides.

    U.S., Qatari and Egyptian mediators have been working to secure an agreement, however, Israel and Hamas are divided over the extent of an eventual Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave.

    The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered in October 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel. Israel says Hamas killed 1,200 and took about 250 hostages.

    Gaza’s health ministry says Israel’s subsequent military assault has killed over 58,000 Palestinians. It has also caused a hunger crisis, internally displaced Gaza’s entire population and prompted accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice and of war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Israel denies the accusations.

    A previous two month ceasefire ended when Israeli strikes killed more than 400 Palestinians on March 18. Trump earlier this year proposed a U.S. takeover of Gaza, which was condemned globally by rights experts, the U.N. and Palestinians as a proposal of “ethnic cleansing.”

    Trump and Sheikh Mohammed are also expected to discuss efforts to resume talks between the U.S. and Iran to reach a new nuclear agreement, Ravid added citing a source familiar with the matter.

    (Reuters)

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Most Canadians Prefer Tough Approach in Trade Talks with Trump – Poll

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    OTTAWA, July 16 (Xinhua) — Nearly two-thirds of Canadians want their government to take a tough approach in trade talks with U.S. President Donald Trump, according to a recent poll by the non-profit Angus Reid Institute.

    Sixty-three percent of respondents said Canada should take a hard line rather than a soft line. The researchers note that the data was collected both before and after Trump announced the new 35 percent tariff.

    “For Prime Minister Mark Carney and the Canadian negotiating team, the approach appears to be to keep a low profile rather than to elbow each other. The Canadians appear to want a stronger pushback,” the institute said.

    Polsters defined a hard approach as refusing to make major concessions even at the cost of worsening trade relations with the United States, while a soft approach involves making serious concessions in order to maintain good trade relations with the largest partner.

    Canadians were divided on Mr Carney’s ability to get a deal done, with 46 per cent saying they trusted the prime minister and his negotiating team and 45 per cent expressing doubts.

    Only 11 percent of respondents said that D. Trump would act in good faith and strive for a win-win outcome in the negotiations. More than 84 percent of respondents called the US President an unscrupulous actor. –0–

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

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    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Pat Fallon Statement on HASC Passage of FY 2026 NDAA

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Pat Fallon (TX-04)

    WASHINGTON, DC – In response to the House Armed Services Committee’s 55-2 vote in favor of passing the fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, Military Personnel Subcommittee Chairman, Rep. Pat Fallon (TX-04) commented:

    “The FY 2026 NDAA delivers on the principle of peace through strength that President Trump has made a cornerstone of his America First agenda.”

    “I am proud to have voted in favor of this bill that would spur innovation, acquisition reform, and the restoration of America’s defense industrial base. In order to deter the looming threats posed by adversaries such as China and Russia, the US warfighter needs to have the best tools and resources at their disposal.”

    “After all, the potential conflicts of tomorrow will be decided by whomever has the best access to accurate, timely information, which means this bill’s investments in AI and drone technology will prove vital. At the same time, the United States’ missile defense status quo is currently unsustainable. Therefore, this bill also serves as a down payment on President Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense system, dovetailing with key investments in hypersonics and the space domain.”

    “America’s national security cannot wait, and this bill’s passage from committee is a major step in the right direction.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Van Orden Applauds Committee Passage of FY26 National Defense Authorization Act

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Derrick Van Orden (Wisconsin 3rd)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Navy SEAL veteran Congressman Derrick Van Orden (WI-03) released the following statement after voting to pass the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) out of the House Armed Services Committee: 

    “Under the Biden administration, the world was a much more dangerous place due to sheer incompetence and mismanagement. The Department of Defense (DoD) had gone so far off mission it put our servicemembers, national security, allies, and every single American at grave risk. 

    “With President Trump as our Commander-in-Chief and Secretary Hegseth leading the DoD, we are restoring readiness and lethality in our Armed Forces. Passage of this year’s NDAA is a critical step to delivering on President Trump’s promise of delivering Peace through Strength and ensuring our servicemembers have every tool and resource they need to meet any challenge and defend our interests at home and abroad.”

    Rep. Van Orden championed multiple provisions in the FY26 NDAA:

    • Inclusion of the Strengthening Our Servicemembers with Milk Act, which requires milk be available at dining facilities on military installations.
    • Inclusion of the TAP Promotion Act to provide veterans with information on Veteran Service Organizations who assist with the transition into civilian life and help navigate benefits available to servicemembers and their families.
    • Dental care coverage under TRICARE for reservists.
    • Codifying the DoD authority for joint task forces to support law enforcement agencies and other federal agencies conducting counterterrorism and counter transnational organized crime activities.
    • Codifying and expanding the Individual Longitudinal Exposure Record (ILER) as a centralized database of servicemembers’ occupational and environmental exposure data.
    • Prohibiting the use of DoD funds to promote or endorse CRT in military academies, servicemember training, or professional military education.
    • Establishing formal contracting goals for DoD in contracting with small businesses owned and controlled by veterans.
    • Requiring DoD to produce a briefing on the access levels and obstacles, and recommend improvements to ensure innovative companies can fully participate in national defense modernization.

    Other priorities of Rep. Van Orden in the bill include:

    Modernizing the Armed Forces:

    • $10 million for robotic training targets to enhance National Guard lethality.
    • $2.5 million for modernization and manufacturing of engines for traditional Collaborative Combat Aircraft platforms.

    Enhancing Air Force Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Tracking (SRT) Capabilities:

    • Requiring use of commercial data analytics to provide the Air Force with tactical SRT capability to the combatant commands.
    • Requiring the Air Force to establish the SRT commercial data analytics program as a program of record.

    Elevating Defense Technology:

    • Creating a pilot program to accelerate development and procurement of innovative technology and equipment to enhance operational capabilities of Special Forces.
    • Requiring briefing on enhancing operational lethality through AI-enabled unmanned systems. 

    Strengthening Cooperation Operations with Our Allies:

    • Establishing an emerging technology cooperation program with Israel and other partner countries.
    • Broadening the U.S.-Israel C-UAS cooperation to include unmanned systems in all domains and extends authority through 2028.

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Sara Jacobs Votes Against NDAA Due to Lack of Constraints on Military’s Role in Domestic Law Enforcement

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (D-CA-53)

    July 15, 2025

    Following the lack of meaningful reforms and constraints to the Insurrection Act and the Posse Comitatus Act, Rep. Sara Jacobs voted against the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in the House Armed Services Committee.

    Rep. Sara Jacobs said: “Like so many Americans, I’m horrified and disturbed by President Trump’s abuse of the military to silence dissent, intimidate immigrant communities, and assist in domestic law enforcement. The military-civilian divide is a bedrock of our democracy, intended to protect civil rights and liberties and prevent the emergence of an authoritarian police state. In Los Angeles, we’ve already seen the military – at President Trump’s urging – use excessive force, commit questionable detentions, wield intimidation tactics, and violate people’s legal rights. This is only a glimpse of what could happen nationwide if President Trump invokes the Insurrection Act and turns U.S. troops on civilians. And our service members deserve better than to be used as political pawns in President Trump’s authoritarian games. 

    “The warning signs are here, and the American people are demanding that Congress do something. Unfortunately, my Republican colleagues on the House Armed Services Committee abdicated their responsibility to the Constitution and their constituents to rein in the Insurrection Act and the Posse Comitatus Act. It’s wildly disappointing but sadly unsurprising that they would rather stay in President Trump’s good graces than stop the democratic backsliding that’s happening right before our eyes. While I’m proud of the provisions I secured to expand military access to child care, housing, and fertility services and ensure transparency and accountability of the Pentagon’s use of AI, I can’t in good conscience support a bill that fails to put guardrails on the use of our military in such unprecedented times.”

    Rep. Sara Jacobs secured the following provisions in the FY26 NDAA:

    Improving Military Child Care

    • Extends the “Child Care in Your Home” (CCYH) pilot program that provides financial assistance to eligible military families, especially those with non-traditional work hours, large families, or children with special needs, for in-home child care.
    • Urges the Secretary of Defense to create a grant program to cover up to 75% of the cost for eligible civilian child care providers to expand their infant and toddler child care capacity 
    • Establishes a pilot program to raise the military fee assistance provider cap for children 24 months or younger by 30% near installations that face high child care costs

    Improving Access to Affordable Military Housing

    • Studies how the Basic Allowance for Housing can properly represent densely populated, expensive cities and rural communities
    • Excludes the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) from the calculation of gross household income of an eligible member of the Armed Forces, so it doesn’t hurt their access to the Basic Needs Allowance
    • Requires Privatized Military Housing landlords to report on their insurance policies, including their costs, and the amount of money made through remedial payments to landlords.

    Strengthening Access to Fertility Services 

    • Establishes TRICARE coverage of assisted reproductive technology, including IVF, for all active duty service members and their dependents and creates parity between service member and Member of Congress fertility services

    Helping Military Families Make Ends Meet

    • Increases the Family Separation Allowance to a mandatory $400 to reflect the rising cost of living and burdens on military families

    Upholding Human Rights, Enforcing Domestic and International Laws, and Preventing Conflict

    • Requires a report from the Department of Defense on its implementation of the Global Fragility Act (GFA), planned funding levels, and challenges and lessons learned from GFA implementation 
    • Requires notification to Congress anytime the Department of Defense enters into a basing agreement with a foreign military that includes whether any unit of that military has committed gross human rights violations
    • Authorizes full funding, consistent with FY25 levels, for institutional capacity building of partner militaries through the Institute for Security Governance (ISG) and for humanitarian support and demining through Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid (OHDACA)
    • Requires JAGs to be stationed at all combatant commands to ensure military operations follow domestic and international laws
    • Reinstates the requirement that Military JAGs be at the rank of 3-stars, making sure they have a seat at the table where critical strategic decisions are made

    Ensuring AI Transparency and Accountability

    • Studies how AI could be used to reduce civilian casualties
    • Requires a report from the Department of Defense with support from the Department of Energy on any efforts to incorporate non-Department AI data centers onto Department of Defense land, its plans for doing so, and potential impacts and consequences
    • Requires a report from the Department of Defense about the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office’s contract with xAI to ensure transparency and accountability
    • Requires the Secretary of Defense to notify Congress within 30 days of issuing any waiver under DoD Directive 3000.09 on autonomous weapons systems. The notice must include the rationale, description of the system, and expected duration. 
    • Directs the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, in coordination with the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer, to brief Congress on how the Department ensures humans authorize each use of force in autonomous and semi-autonomous weapons systems. The briefing must outline current policies, identify gaps, and describe steps being taken to maintain human oversight. 
    • Requires a report from the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer on how AI-enabled decision aides are being integrated into non-lethal, daily DoD operations. The report must include use cases, lessons learned, and recommendations for scaling, training, and addressing ethical or cybersecurity issues, followed by a congressional briefing.
    • Directs the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, in coordination with the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer, to assess how AI models are influencing national security policy decisions, including risks like automation bias and lack of transparency. Requires a report and briefing covering current efforts, gaps in responsible AI integration, oversight of waivers from key AI policies, and a plan to address identified issues, including potential follow-up studies.
    • Establishes requirements for the Department of Defense to promote competition, data security, and responsible use of government data in contracts for AI, cloud computing, and data infrastructure. It also mandates public reporting on innovation and barriers in defense tech procurement and restricts the use of government data for training commercial AI without explicit authorization.

    Advancing Improved and Accountable Procurement at DoD

    • Opens up cloud and AI contracts to real competition and blocks vendors from training their commercial models on Pentagon-owned data without explicit permission.
    • Gives Congress a faster warning when a weapons program busts its budget by cutting the Nunn-McCurdy notification window to 30?days and requiring DoD to consider canceling runaway projects.
    • Requires every major weapons program to pinpoint parts that can shift to 3-D printing or other advanced manufacturing and deliver a plan to slash cost and lead time within two years.
    • Stops the Pentagon from labeling purchases of more than 500 units a “prototype,” ensuring that large purchases receive full competition and oversight.
    • Places significant “Other Transaction” projects under the same documentation and milestone reviews as traditional acquisition programs, shedding light on a growing loophole.
    • Delivers the Pentagon’s first-ever “Right to?Repair” for major weapons systems. Contractors must hand over the parts, tools, and technical data DoD needs to fix its own gear—breaking decades-old vendor lock-ins, slashing sustainment costs, and speeding repairs that keep jets flying and ships sailing.

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • US launches probe into Brazil’s trade practices, digital payment services

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Tuesday he had launched an investigation into Brazil’s “unfair” trading practices, a week after President Donald Trump threatened a 50% tariff on imports from Latin America’s largest economy.

    Trump’s trade war, launched since starting his second term in January, sets tariffs on nearly all U.S. trading partners, aiming to reorder the global economy and end decades of what he calls discrimination against the United States.

    The USTR investigation, announced last week by Trump, will decide if Brazil’s treatment of digital trade and preferential tariffs, among others, is “unreasonable or discriminatory and burdens or restrict” U.S. commerce, Greer said.

    “At President Trump’s direction, I am launching a Section 301 investigation into Brazil’s attacks,” he added in a statement.

    Among victims of such attacks he cited U.S. social media and other companies, as well as workers, farmers, and technology innovators he described as harmed by Brazil’s “unfair trading practices”.

    Following extensive consultations, Greer added, “I have determined that Brazil’s tariff and non-tariff barriers merit a thorough investigation, and potentially, responsive action.”

    Trump justified his 50% tariff from August 1, well above the rate of 10% initially proposed, with a demand for an end to the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro for allegedly plotting a coup.

    The high tariff for Brazil surprised many trade experts since its U.S. goods imports exceed its exports, and because Trump linked the rate so clearly to Bolsonaro’s trial.

    Brazil offered no immediate reaction to news of the U.S. investigation. On Monday, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin said it had yet to receive a response from Washington to an offer it made in trade talks two months ago.

    During his first term, Trump used Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to justify a spate of tariffs against China. It was also used to investigate other countries for digital services taxes on U.S. tech firms.

    In a statement, USTR said Brazil disadvantaged U.S. firms by setting lower tariffs on exports of other trading partners and accused it of failing to battle corruption.

    It added that Brazil also charged substantially higher tariffs on U.S. ethanol exports, and “appears to be failing” to enforce laws against illegal deforestation, which it said harmed the competitiveness of U.S. timber producers.

    (Reuters)

  • Sensex, Nifty open lower amid mixed global cues

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    Indian benchmark indices opened on a flat note on Wednesday, reflecting weakness in Asian markets and investor caution ahead of corporate earnings releases and key global trade developments.

    At the start of the trading session, the BSE Sensex opened at 82,534.66, down 36.24 points, while the Nifty 50 at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) slipped 0.80 points to open at 25,196.60.

    In early trade, market breadth remained moderately positive, with 1,271 stocks advancing, 818 declining, and 171 remaining unchanged.

    On the NSE, SBI Life Insurance, Trent, Tech Mahindra, Hero MotoCorp, and Tata Consumer were among the top gainers. Meanwhile, Shriram Finance, Cipla, Hindalco, Reliance Industries, and TCS were notable laggards.

    Market analysts flagged concerns around US President Donald Trump’s recent announcement of 200% tariffs on pharmaceuticals, expected to be implemented this month, much sooner than his earlier indication of a 12–18 month timeline. Additionally, the threat of secondary tariffs up to 100% on countries engaging in trade with Russia, particularly those importing crude oil, is creating unease among investors. The deadline for these potential sanctions is September 2.

    “India is awaiting clarity on a US tariff deal. Trump’s abrupt announcement regarding pharma tariffs and the looming deadline for secondary sanctions on Russian oil imports are creating uncertainty. Disengaging from a strategic partner like Russia is not a viable option for India, which adds to investor anxiety,” said Ajay Bagga, Market and Banking Expert.

    Investors are also closely monitoring corporate margin pressures, global demand outlooks, and forward guidance from companies as earnings season progresses.

    Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research at Axis Securities, noted: “The Nifty gained 113 points to close at 25,196 yesterday, marking its first rise in five sessions. Technically, a swing low has been confirmed at 25,000. A close above 25,245 today could fuel further optimism. However, for bullish momentum to return convincingly, we need a daily close above 25,340. Support is currently seen between 24,940 and 25,000. While Asian markets remain flat, US index futures are down about 0.2%.”

    Indian benchmark indices had snapped a four-day losing streak on Tuesday, driven by gains in the Auto and Banking & Financial Services (BFSI) sectors. Broader markets outperformed, with the Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.8% and 1.0%, respectively. Market breadth was robust, with a healthy 2:1 advance-to-decline ratio, according to SBI Securities.

    (ANI)

     

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cortez Masto, Colleagues Press Administration on Conflicting Orders Fueling Uncertainty for Afghans Living in U.S.

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Nevada Cortez Masto

    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Congressman Glenn Ivey (D-Md.-04) and 73 of their colleagues in pressing U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio for answers on the Trump Administration’s inconsistent policies regarding the legal status of Afghan refugees living in the U.S. – many of whom played important roles in supporting American service members during the war in Afghanistan over two decades. 

    In the letter, the lawmakers point out that the justifications for the decisions to implement a large-scale travel ban, which applies to Afghanistan, and terminate Temporary Protected Status conflict with one another. The lawmakers ask Secretary Rubio how the State Department arrived at these determinations and whether it can guarantee that Afghans who may be forced to leave the U.S. will not face danger upon their return to their home country – should the termination of Afghanistan’s TPS designation be upheld.

    The lawmakers quoted the determination that Secretary Rubio made upon consultation over the decision to include Afghanistan in the Administration’s travel ban proclamation, writing, “Specifically, the proclamation bans most entry into the United States from Afghanistan, stating the following as justification: ‘The Taliban, a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group, controls Afghanistan. Afghanistan lacks a competent or cooperative central authority for issuing passports or civil documents and it does not have appropriate screening and vetting measures.’”

    The lawmakers’ concerns over the safety of Afghan nationals who may be forced to leave the U.S. stem from a recent State Department human rights report covering Afghanistan finding that the Taliban has increased restrictions on freedom of expression and significantly eroded women’s rights. Additionally, Afghanistan remains gripped by violence and instability; the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), the Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State (ISIS), continues to launch attacks against ethnic and religious minorities and against the Taliban, leading to innocent civilian casualties.

    “As you are aware, many Afghan allies that received TPS stood shoulder to shoulder with American servicemembers for nearly two decades during the war in Afghanistan. Many fled to the United States out of fear of persecution by the Taliban or retaliation for such cooperation with the United States. It is unsafe for political targets of the Taliban to be forced to return against their will. TPS protections must be maintained for Afghan nationals in the United States,” the lawmakers concluded.

    Read the full letter here.

    The first and only Latina senator, Senator Cortez Masto has consistently supported immigrant communities in Nevada, calling on both administrations to protect TPS holders and other immigrants, as well as leading commonsense legislation to fix our broken immigration system. Last month, the Senator helped introduce the SECURE Act to provide qualified TPS and DED recipients a path to legal permanent residency. She has worked to pass meaningful immigration reform that balances critical border security measures with a path to citizenship for Dreamers, TPS holders, and essential workers.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • Trump sets 19% tariff on Indonesia goods in latest deal, EU readies retaliation

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the U.S. would impose a 19% tariff on goods from Indonesia under a new agreement with the Southeast Asian country and more deals were coming, while offering fresh details on planned duties on pharmaceuticals.

    Trump announced the pact with Indonesia, a relatively minor U.S. trading partner, as he continued to press for what he views as better terms with trading partners and ways to shrink a huge U.S. trade deficit. Letters setting tariff rates for dozens of smaller countries were also coming soon, he said on Tuesday.

    The deal with Indonesia is among the handful struck so far by the Trump administration ahead of an August 1 deadline when duties on most U.S. imports are due to rise again. The accord came as the top U.S. trading partner – the European Union – readied retaliatory measures should talks with Washington fail.

    As that deadline approached, negotiations were under way with other nations eager to avoid more U.S. levies beyond a baseline 10% on most goods that has been in place since April.

    Trump’s roll-out of the policies has often been chaotic. His moves have upended decades of negotiated reductions in global trade barriers, unsettling international financial markets and threatening a new wave of inflation.

    Based on Trump tariff announcements through Sunday, Yale Budget Lab estimated the U.S. effective average tariff rates will rise to 20.6% from between 2% and 3% before Trump’s return to the White House in January. Consumption shifts would bring the rate down to 19.7%, but it’s still the highest since 1933.

    Trump outlined an Indonesia deal similar to a preliminary pact struck recently with Vietnam, with a flat tariff on exports to the U.S. roughly double the current 10% and no levies on U.S. exports going there. It also included a penalty rate for so-called transhipments of goods from China via Indonesia and a commitment to buy some U.S. goods.

    “They are going to pay 19% and we are going to pay nothing … we will have full access into Indonesia, and we have a couple of those deals that are going to be announced,” Trump said outside the Oval Office. Trump later said on his Truth Social platform that Indonesia had agreed to buy $15 billion of U.S. energy products, $4.5 billion of American farm products and 50 Boeing BA.N jets, though no time frame was specified.

    He told reporters the deal with Vietnam was “pretty well set” but said it was not necessary to release details.

    TRUMP: INDIA TALKS MOVING SAME WAY

    Indonesia’s total trade with the U.S. – totalling just under $40 billion in 2024 – does not rank in the top 15, but it has been growing. U.S. exports to Indonesia rose 3.7% last year, while imports from there were up 4.8%, leaving the U.S. with a goods trade deficit of nearly $18 billion.

    The top U.S. import categories from Indonesia, according to U.S. Census Bureau data from the International Trade Centre’s TradeMap tool, last year were palm oil, electronics equipment including data routers and switches, footwear, car tires, natural rubber and frozen shrimp.

    Susiwijono Moegiarso, a senior official with Indonesia’s Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, told Reuters in a text message: “We are preparing a joint statement between U.S. and Indonesia that will explain the size of reciprocal tariff for Indonesia including the tariff deal, non-tariff and commercial arrangements. We will inform (the public) soon.”

    Trump had threatened the country with a 32% tariff rate starting August 1 in a letter sent to its president last week. He sent similar letters to about two dozen trading partners this month, including Canada, Japan and Brazil, laying out tariff rates ranging from 20% to 50%, plus a 50% tariff on copper.

    Speaking in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Trump said he favored blanket tariffs over complicated negotiations, but his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick were keen to land more trade agreements.

    Upon his arrival back in Washington, Trump told reporters that letters would be going out soon for many smaller countries, suggesting they would face a tariff of “a little over 10%.”

    He said his administration would also announce tariffs on pharmaceuticals imported into the United States, probably at the end of the month, starting with what he called a low tariff rate to give companies time to move manufacturing to the U.S. before imposing a “very high tariff” in a year or so.

    The August 1 deadline gives targeted countries time to negotiate about lower tariff rates. Some economists have also noted Trump’s pattern of backing off his tariff threats.

    Since launching his tariff policy, Trump has clinched only a few “framework” agreements, falling short of earlier promises to land “90 deals in 90 days.”

    So far, such deals have been reached with the United Kingdom and Vietnam, and an interim deal has been struck with China to forestall the steepest of Trump’s tariffs while negotiations continue between Washington and Beijing.

    Trump said talks with India were moving “along that same line,” saying the agreement would give U.S. firms access to the large Indian market.

    EU READIES RETALIATION

    The breakthrough with Indonesia came as the European Commission, which oversees trade for the EU, prepared to target 72 billion euros ($84.1 billion) worth of U.S. goods – from Boeing BA.N aircraft and bourbon whiskey to cars – for possible tariffs if trade talks with Washington fail.

    Trump has threatened a 30% tariff on imports from the EU from August 1, a level European officials say is unacceptable and would end normal trade between two of the world’s largest markets.

    The list, sent to EU member states and seen by Reuters on Tuesday, pre-dated Trump’s move over the weekend to ramp up pressure on the 27-nation bloc and responded instead to U.S. duties on cars and car parts and a 10% baseline tariff.

    The package also covers chemicals, medical devices, electrical and precision equipment as well as agriculture and food products – a range of fruits and vegetables, along with wine, beer and spirits – valued at 6.35 billion euros.

    (Reuters)

  • US opens probe into University of Michigan’s foreign funding

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    The U.S. Education Department said on Tuesday it opened a foreign funding investigation into the University of Michigan while alleging it found “inaccurate and incomplete disclosures” in a review of the university’s foreign reports.

    As part of the investigation, the department asked the university to share, within 30 days, tax records related to foreign funding, a list of foreign gifts, grants, and contracts with any foreign source, and other documents, the department said in a statement and in a letter to the university.

    The University of Michigan will cooperate fully with federal investigators and it takes its responsibility to comply with the law seriously, it said in a statement.

    “We strongly condemn any actions that seek to cause harm, threaten national security or undermine the university’s critical public mission,” the statement said.

    The Education Department said the university’s research laboratories were “vulnerable to sabotage,” citing charges brought by the U.S. Justice Department against two Chinese nationals allegedly involving a University of Michigan lab.

    In June, U.S. federal prosecutors accused two Chinese nationals of smuggling into the U.S. a dangerous biological pathogen that they said had the potential to be used as an agricultural “terrorism weapon”.

    Zunyong Liu, 34, a Chinese researcher, is alleged to have brought the pathogen into the U.S. while visiting his girlfriend, Yunqing Jian, 33, in July 2024, according to an FBI complaint.

    The complaint said he admitted to smuggling in a fungus so he could conduct research on it at a University of Michigan laboratory where his girlfriend worked. However, experts have raised doubt about the FBI’s claim that the crop fungus smuggled was a threat.

    In its statement, the Education Department said the university has received $375 million in foreign funding since 2020 and was late in reporting $86 million of that amount. U.S. law requires universities to report donations from foreign sources exceeding $250,000 in a year.

    President Donald Trump’s administration has launched a widely condemned crackdown against top U.S. universities over a range of issues including pro-Palestinian campus protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, transgender rights, climate initiatives and diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

    Similar foreign funding probes were opened earlier at Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Berkeley.

    -Reuters

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Ukraine Should Not Attack Moscow – D. Trump

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    WASHINGTON, July 15 (Xinhua) — Ukraine should not strike Moscow, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, media reported.

    “No, Kyiv should not target Moscow,” he told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House. Trump also said the U.S. “has no plans” to supply Ukraine with long-range missiles.

    When asked whether he was on Ukraine’s side, the head of the White House replied that he was on neither side.

    Let us recall that earlier the media reported that D. Trump called on Kyiv to launch strikes deep into Russian territory. –0–

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • Trump says Zelenskiy should not target Moscow

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy should not target Moscow and that Russian President Vladimir Putin should agree to a ceasefire deal by a 50-day deadline or sanctions will kick in.

    His comments came after The Financial Times, citing people briefed on discussions, reported on Tuesday that Trump had privately encouraged Ukraine to step up deep strikes on Russia.

    The newspaper said that Trump asked Zelenskiy whether he could strike Moscow if the U.S. provided long-range weapons.

    “No, he shouldn’t target Moscow,” Trump told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House when asked if Zelenskiy should attack the Russian capital.

    Trump on Monday announced a toughened stance against Russia for its three-year-old war in Ukraine, promising a fresh wave of missiles and other weaponry for Ukraine. He gave Moscow 50 days to reach a ceasefire or face sanctions.

    The announcement set off a scramble among European officials to figure out how to make Trump‘s plan work and ensure Ukraine gets the weapons it needs.

    Later on Tuesday, Trump told reporters that some of the Patriot missiles are already on their way to Ukraine.

    “They’re coming in from Germany,” he said.

    Trump said he had not yet spoken to Putin in the wake of his announcement, but said it might not take 50 days to make a deal.

    Asked earlier if he was now on the side of Ukraine, Trump said, “I am on nobody’s side,” and then declared he was on “humanity’s side” because “I want to stop the killing.”

    Trump defended the deadline he set for Russia to agree to a deal and head off tariffs and sanctions on countries that buy oil from Russia.

    He did not say whether any talks were planned to try to work out a deal with Russia.

    “At the end of the 50 days if we don’t have a deal, it’s going to be too bad,” he said.

    (Reuters)

  • AIDS program funding preserved ahead of US Senate vote on Trump cuts

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    The U.S. Senate late on Tuesday advanced President Donald Trump’s request to slash billions in spending on foreign aid and public broadcasting previously approved by Congress, the latest test of Trump’s control over his fellow Republicans.

    However, PEPFAR, a global program to fight HIV/AIDS launched in 2003 by then-Republican President George W. Bush, is being exempted after objections from lawmakers in both parties, bringing the size of the package of cuts to $9 billion from $9.4 billion.

    Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, told reporters after lunch with Republican senators that Trump could accept a change in the measure to exempt PEPFAR.

    “There is a substitute amendment that does not include the PEPFAR rescission and we’re fine with that,” Vought said.

    In initial votes on Tuesday, Republicans narrowly fended off solid Democratic opposition and cleared the bill over two procedural hurdles. Vice President JD Vance was needed to break a 50-50 tie in each of those tallies.

    Further votes were expected this week.

    Congress has until Friday to pass the rescissions package, originally a request to claw back $8.3 billion in foreign aid funding and $1.1 billion for public broadcasting. Otherwise, the request would expire and the White House will be required to adhere to spending plans passed by Congress.

    Three of the Senate’s 53 Republicans voted against moving the legislation closer to passage – Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Susan Collins of Maine.

    “You don’t need to gut the entire Corporation for Public Broadcasting,” Senator Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska moderate, said in a Senate speech.

    She said the Trump administration also had not provided assurances that battles against diseases such as malaria and polio worldwide would be maintained, along with programs including family planning and pandemic prevention. But most of all, Murkowski said, Congress must assert its role in deciding how federal funds were spent.

    If the Senate passes the bill without the PEPFAR cuts, the measure must go back to the House of Representatives for a vote before it can be sent to the White House for Trump to sign into law. Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota, a Republican, said he expected the House would act quickly to pass the measure.

    The amounts at stake are extremely small in the context of the sprawling federal budget, which totaled $6.8 trillion in the fiscal year ended September 30. Yet the proposed cuts have raised the hackles of Democrats and a handful of Republicans who saw an attempt to erode Congress’s constitutionally mandated authority over spending.

    They also represent only a tiny portion of all of the funds approved by Congress that the Trump administration has held up as it has pursued sweeping cuts to the federal government, including slashing thousands of jobs.

    As of mid-June, Trump was blocking $425 billion in such funds, according to Democratic lawmakers tracking frozen funding.

    LIFESAVING PROGRAMS

    The foreign aid initiatives in Trump’s request for cuts included lifesaving support for women and children’s health and the fight against HIV/AIDS that have long had strong bipartisan support. PEPFAR is credited with saving 26 million lives.

    The package also cuts funds supporting public broadcasting, which can be the main source of news and emergency information in rural parts of the U.S. Senator Mike Rounds, a South Dakota Republican, was concerned about funding cuts to Native American radio stations, but said on Tuesday he would support the rescissions package after the administration promised to fund some tribal broadcasters separately.

    Democrats also have said the U.S. withdrawal of “soft power” efforts from the international stage, such as limited emergency assistance after an earthquake in Myanmar, strengthens global adversaries like Russia and China.

    “It still leaves an enormous vacuum that China and Russia will fill,” Senator Charles Schumer of New York, the chamber’s Democratic leader, said.

    Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who chairs the Appropriations Committee, had said she opposed Trump’s request to cut the PEPFAR funding. After the lunch meeting with Vought, she said she still wanted detailed information about the proposals.

    FUNDING POWER

    Standalone presidential rescissions packages have not passed in years, with lawmakers reluctant to cede their constitutionally mandated control of government spending. During Trump’s first term in 2018, Congress members rejected Trump’s request to revoke $15 billion in spending.

    Trump’s Republicans hold narrow majorities in the Senate and House. So far, they have shown little appetite for opposing his policies.

    The rescissions legislation passed the House by 214-212 last month. Four Republicans joined 208 Democrats in voting against it.

    These cuts would overturn bipartisan spending agreements most recently passed in a full-year stopgap funding bill in March. Democrats warn a partisan cut now could make it more difficult to negotiate government funding bills that must pass by September 30 to avoid a shutdown.

    Appropriations bills require 60 votes to move ahead in the Senate, but the rescissions package needs just 51, meaning Republicans can pass it without Democratic support.

    “We’re going to have to work our way through that issue,” Rounds said on Tuesday, adding he felt confident Trump’s budget office would follow funding guidelines to redirect dollars to tribal media stations.

    [REUTERS]

  • MIL-OSI USA: President Trump Solidifies U.S. Position as Leader in AI

    US Senate News:

    Source: US Whitehouse
    President Donald J. Trump is making America the undisputed world leader in artificial intelligence — and today marked a massive leap forward with the announcement of over $90 billion in groundbreaking AI and energy investments in Pennsylvania.
    Joined by leaders of the nation’s premier tech and energy giants, administration officials, and lawmakers, President Trump showcased the investments this afternoon at the first-ever Energy and Innovation Summit — underscoring the Trump Administration’s unwavering commitment to innovation, job creation, and American dominance.
    The announcement covered tens of billions of dollars in AI and energy investment, including Google’s $25 billion investment in data centers and infrastructure, Blackstone’s $25 billion investment in data centers and natural gas plants, and CoreWeave’s $6 billion investment in data center expansion.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: President Trump Solidifies U.S. Position as Leader in AI

    US Senate News:

    Source: US Whitehouse
    President Donald J. Trump is making America the undisputed world leader in artificial intelligence — and today marked a massive leap forward with the announcement of over $90 billion in groundbreaking AI and energy investments in Pennsylvania.
    Joined by leaders of the nation’s premier tech and energy giants, administration officials, and lawmakers, President Trump showcased the investments this afternoon at the first-ever Energy and Innovation Summit — underscoring the Trump Administration’s unwavering commitment to innovation, job creation, and American dominance.
    The announcement covered tens of billions of dollars in AI and energy investment, including Google’s $25 billion investment in data centers and infrastructure, Blackstone’s $25 billion investment in data centers and natural gas plants, and CoreWeave’s $6 billion investment in data center expansion.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Ernst Calls on Senate to Make DOGE Cuts Permanent

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA)

    WASHINGTON – After exposing sweeping abuses at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) spoke on the Senate floor to urge her colleagues to pass President Trump’s rescissions bill to save taxpayer dollars and make Washington squeal.
    From funding fashion week to pickle makers, Ernst cited multiple wasteful USAID projects and taxpayer-subsidized partisan propaganda at National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) that she has uncovered.
    After being stonewalled, Ernst has been leading the fight to combat waste at USAID and sent Secretary of State Marco Rubio a letter detailing her experience with the rogue agency as it misled, lied, and deceived the American people about how their tax dollars are spent. She has continued her work exposing jaw-dropping waste at USAID.
    Last month, Ernst demanded transparency from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) over a $1.9 million grant it provided NPR last year.

    Watch Senator Ernst’s full remarks here.
    Ernst’s full remarks:
    “All Americans can take great pride in our nation’s generosity that has saved millions of people around the world from starvation and disease.
    “And, our government agencies coordinating aid efforts should be eager to share details about how their use of taxpayer money makes the world a better place.
    “Yet, over the past decade, USAID repeatedly rebuffed my requests for information, using intimidation and shell games to hide where money is going, how it’s being spent, and why.
    “As a result of my oversight, I learned that the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, is a rogue bureaucracy, operating with little accountability and even, sometimes, at odds with our nation’s best interests.
    “What warranted such secrecy and stonewalling?
    “Here’s just some of USAID’s questionable spending that I uncovered:
    “Money intended to alleviate economic distress in war-torn Ukraine was spent:
    “Sending models and designers on junkets to New York City and Fashion Weeks in Paris and London, at a cost of more than $203,000;
    “$148,000 went to a pickle maker;
    “A dog collar manufacturer fetched $300,000; and
    “A custom carpet manufacturer collected $2 million.
    “Elsewhere, $20 million was awarded to Sesame Workshop, which produces Sesame Street, to create content for Iraq;
    “$2 million went toward promoting tourism to Lebanon, a nation that our very own State Department warns against traveling to due to the risks of terrorism and kidnapping.
    “Yes, folks, $2 million for tourism to Lebanon when we are saying, don’t travel there.
    “$67,000 was spent to feed edible insects to children in Madagascar.
    “Over $800,000 was sent to China’s notorious Wuhan Institute of Virology to collect coronaviruses.
    “What exactly was our international development agency developing at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology?
    “Well, if the CIA, FBI, and other experts are correct that the COVID virus likely originated from a lab leak, USAID may have had a hand in a once-in-a-century pandemic that claimed the lives of millions.
    “There’s no shortage of other questionable USAID projects, but President Trump is putting an end to this deep state operation.
    “The foreign assistance programs that do advance American interests are now being administered under the watchful eye of Secretary Marco Rubio.
    “This includes projects previously supported by USAID that were caring for orphans and people living with HIV.
    “Imagine how much more good work like this could be done with the dollars that instead financed fashion shows, supported Sesame Street programs in Iraq, or ended up in China’s Wuhan Institute.
    “Overseas projects without merit are being ended and the tax dollars that were paying for them will be refunded if the Senate passes the rescissions bill.
    “It also cancels taxpayer subsidies to public broadcasting.
    “Too often, these programs are partisan propaganda.
    “You don’t have to take my word for it.
    “A National Public Radio senior editor recently confessed ‘It’s true NPR has always had a liberal bent.’
    “He admits the organization has ZERO Republicans in editorial positions.
    “Come on folks, even CNN has Scott Jennings to roast the looney liberal lunatics on that failing network.
    “NPR and PBS have a right to say whatever the heck they want, but they don’t have a right to force hardworking Americans to pay for their political propaganda being masked as a public service.
    “Defunding this nonsense is causing a lot of squealing from the big spenders around here.
    “Washington insiders are more upset at this effort to stop wasteful spending than at the misuse of taxpayer dollars.
    “In fact, saving tax money is such a crazy concept in Washington that Democrats are threatening to shut down the entire government if this bill passes.
    “It says a lot about the other side’s priorities when they’re willing to take hostage funding for veterans and senior citizens to prevent $9 billion in unnecessary waste, fraud, and abuse from being trimmed from our $7 trillion annual budget.
    “The interest that we are paying on our debt alone is costing nearly $3 billion every single day.
    “If we are ever going to get serious about our debt crisis, Congress needs to pass a rescissions bill like this every single week.
    “Folks, the simple truth is if you can’t find waste in Washington, it’s because you simply are not looking.
    “With our national debt now exceeding $37 trillion, the real question we should be asking isn’t ‘why is government spending now being scrutinized?,’ but rather, ‘why did it take so long?’”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Coons statement on President Trump’s decision to allow the export of advanced AI chips to China

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Delaware Christopher Coons

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) issued the following statement after the Trump administration announced it would allow Nvidia to resume selling its H20 advanced computer chips to Chinese customers:

    “President Trump’s decision today hands China cutting-edge technology that Beijing will use to erase our competitive advantage in artificial intelligence, undermine our military, and outpace our economy. Thanks to the efforts of the Biden administration and bipartisan work in Congress, the United States was better positioned at the beginning of the year than any other country on the planet to lead the way on artificial intelligence, from chip design to applications. Now, President Trump is throwing that all away, giving China a tool that will strengthen their economy and military, while, just today, China announced it will restrict American access to critical battery technology and equipment we need for our own economy and security. The administration must immediately reverse this harmful decision and take steps to make sure its actions on AI actually match its tough-on-China rhetoric.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Right-wing political group Advance is in the headlines. What is it and what does it stand for?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Riboldi, Lecturer in Social Impact and Social Change, UTS Business School, University of Technology Sydney

    Advance/Facebook

    Political lobby group Advance has been back in the headlines this week. It was revealed an organisation headed by the husband of the Special Envoy for Combatting Antisemitism, Jillian Segal, donated A$50,000 to the group.

    The news prompted outcry, though Segal denied any personal involvement.

    So what is Advance and what does it do?

    What is Advance?

    Advance (originally Advance Australia) is a digital campaigning organisation. It was formed in 2018 by a group of wealthy Australians, many with connections to the Liberal Party. The idea was to be a conservative counterpoint to progressive digital campaigning group GetUp!

    At the time, political journalist Mungo McCallum described them as a “stratospherically elite clique of rich, bored men looking for a hobby.” He suggested they would have little, if any, impact.

    Today the group has more than 330,000 members.

    They also successfully led the “No” campaign in the Indigenous Voice to Parliament Referendum in 2023.

    McCallum’s initial dismissal of Advance appears somewhat premature.

    What does Advance want?

    Advance’s stated aim is to “take the fight to the activists and elites” to “secure Australia’s freedom, security and prosperity”. They campaign against progressive taxation, immigration, the transition to renewable energy and even Welcome to Country ceremonies.

    This positions Advance alongside other right-wing populist actors, including Donald Trump, in the modern “war on woke”. This comparison was welcomed by founding Advance director, major donor and hedge fund manager Simon Fenwick.



    Read more:
    Follow the money: the organisations that spent the most on social media during the election

    These actors, which in Australia also include the Murdoch Press, construct elitism not along class lines, but along an urban/rural divide. In its view, Advance’s billionaire funders are apparently not elites. Instead, they attempt to foster divisions between urban “elites” and regional and suburban “mainstream Australians”.

    Like the Trumpian model of “flood(ing) the zone with shit”, Advance has been accused of pursuing these aims by “unleashing a veritable fire hose of disinformation”. The hose is often aimed at progressive political candidates, climate change, immigrants or the Voice referendum.

    Who runs and funds Advance?

    Advance’s longtime Executive Director and “main man” is the somewhat enigmatic Matthew Sheahan. Their current spokesperson is Sandra Bourke, who has a background in law enforcement and national security. In 2024, Bourke claimed Advance was “the biggest grassroots movement in Australian political history”.

    While Advance is structurally independent of any political party, a variety of Liberal Party figures have been closely connected to the organisation, including former Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

    Early prominent members (and funders) of Advance included storage king Sam Kennard, far-right president of the Australian Jewish Association David Adler, and climate denier Maurice Newman.

    Founding Director Simon Fenwick has donated at least $400,000 to the organisation through his family trust since its inception.

    In 2023–24, Advance received a $500,000 donation from the Cormack Foundation, an investment fund created by the Liberal Party of Victoria.

    The organisation reported income of more than $15.5 million in the same period. It claims their average donation received from supporters is $160.

    What impact has Advance had?

    The 2023 Voice Referendum “made” Advance (and arguably Matthew Sheahan) via their management of two prominent No campaigns.

    Prior to this, Advance’s campaigning was arguably more nuisance than anything else.

    Advance’s No campaign featured significant amounts of dis- and misinformation across multiple media channels, including phone banking (cold calling voters). The campaign was characterised by contradictory micro campaigns that sowed the confusion that fed the slogan of “if you don’t know, vote No”.

    The Advance-led No campaigns also strongly embraced racism against leading First Nations voices. This included suggestions that media commentator Stan Grant had artificially darkened his skin, questioning the “blackness” of Victorian Senator Lidia Thorpe, and utilising “Jim Crow” style advertising against leading Yes campaigner Thomas Mayo.

    The Jim Crow era of American history refers to a time in the late 19th and early-mid 20th centuries where laws enforced racial segregation and discrimination.

    One of the key spokespeople for Advance’s No campaign was Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, a woman with Aboriginal and Anglo-Celtic heritage. She’s a former Advance staffer and current Liberal Party Senator and made the comments about Lidia Thorpe.

    Why is Advance important?

    Following their role in the Voice campaign, Advance have arguably “eclipsed” their inspiration and progressive rivals GetUp! as Australia’s leading digital campaigning organisation. Glen Berman, current GetUp! chair, has even admitted “there were things that GetUp! could learn” from Advance.

    Advance appeared influential over Liberal Party strategy ahead of the 2025 federal election campaign. During the campaign, it was the highest spending third party group (non-party, non-candidate) on Meta (Facebook and Instagram) advertising. This saw it emerge as the conservative third party “opposition” to the Australian union movement.

    However, following the Australian Labor Party’s landslide victory, Advance attempted to distance themselves from the Coalition’s campaign. While they claim to have been focused on “destroying” the Greens, analysis suggests Advance’s campaign was equally focused on framing Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as “weak, woke and sending us broke”.

    Senior Liberal Party figures, for their part, have also “cast doubt on the effectiveness of Advance”, saying it may have cost them seats.

    Generally, scholars Marian Sawer and Kurt Sengul argue Advance, along with the Murdoch media, have engaged in the “populist mobilisation of resentment which is likely to exacerbate the kind of divisions seen in the Voice referendum” since 2018.

    Part of a worldwide trend towards right-wing populism, Advance will likely continue to be at the centre of conservative politics in Australia.

    Mark Riboldi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Right-wing political group Advance is in the headlines. What is it and what does it stand for? – https://theconversation.com/right-wing-political-group-advance-is-in-the-headlines-what-is-it-and-what-does-it-stand-for-261164

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: LEADER JEFFRIES ON MSNBC: “REPUBLICANS ARE RUNNING SCARED”

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (8th District of New York)

    Today, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on MSNBC’s All In With Chris Hayes where he emphasized that Democrats will continue pushing back on the extremism being unleashed on the American people by the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress.

    CHRIS HAYES: Joining me now is House Democratic Leader, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries of New York. What do you make of all this, Congressman? Like, why are we here and what do you affirmatively want to see happen and the Democratic Caucus want to see happen?

    LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, it’s great to be with you, Chris. At the end of the day, the American people deserve to know the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth as it relates to this whole Jeffrey Epstein matter. Donald Trump and his MAGA extremist allies have fanned the flames of this conspiracy theory for years. And so there’s only two options at this point. Either Donald Trump, Pam Bondi and that whole crew have been lying to the American people over the last several years about what is actually in the Jeffrey Epstein files or, alternatively, Donald Trump, Pam Bondi and his allies in the Trump administration are hiding something from the American people right now. So we’re determined to get to the bottom of this on behalf of the American people who deserve transparency from their government.

    CHRIS HAYES: Reporter Annie Karni, who was just on in the last block, said that the line from Republicans on the House today—were talking about appointing a special counsel. I wonder if that’s something that you would support or other Democrats would support.

    LEADER JEFFRIES: It seems to me that a special counsel is just a diversionary tactic. If the files exist, produce them and produce them now to the American people. The Attorney General mentioned a few weeks ago that the files existed. In fact, she said it was on her desk. And so, all she really needs to do at this point is to release it, as Donald Trump promised that he would do. This is also a situation where what we’ve seen from the Trump administration is a government of the billionaires, by the billionaires and for the billionaires. We saw it during Trump’s inauguration. This One Big Ugly Bill was all about hurting everyday Americans to provide massive tax breaks to their billionaire donors. And now what we see is the possibility that there’s a massive coverup taking place within the Trump administration, because there may be people on the Epstein list, within the Epstein files, that Donald Trump is trying to protect, who happen to be part of his billionaire cabal.

    CHRIS HAYES: There’s—I want to talk about the one, the bill, in a second. But there’s something else happening this week in Congress, and it’s very strange. It’s called this rescission package. Basically, it’s clawing back money that’s already been appropriated. It would decimate public broadcasting in this country, including rural NPR affiliates and rural public radio. I know Democrats are opposed to it, but I want to ask about this technique. It seems like they’ve come up with a strange way to like, pass appropriations with a filibuster majority, where they come to Democrats, work out a bipartisan appropriations deal, and then they come back with a 50-vote threshold in the Senate so that they can kind of take back the money they don’t want. And if that’s the case, then, like, how can anyone do an appropriations deal with these people?

    LEADER JEFFRIES: I completely and totally agree. These people cannot be trusted. And why in the world would we ever enter into a bipartisan negotiation to try to arrive at a spending agreement that meets the needs of the American people if Donald Trump and his administration, at the end of the day, conspiring with MAGA extremists in the House, who are nothing more than a Reckless Rubber Stamp for his extreme agenda, decide that after passing into law a bipartisan spending agreement, they’re just going to come back through this rescission mechanism and undo the parts of that agreement that they don’t like because they want to hurt priorities that are important to Democrats because they’re important to the American people.

    CHRIS HAYES: Have you talked to Senator Schumer? Because ultimately, you know, we avoided a shutdown. Senator said, look, we had to avoid a shutdown. There was a bipartisan spending line set. You in the House took a different tact, but if they do this rescission package, I just can’t. I mean, how could there be some deal in September if they’re just going to do this? Like, have you talked about this with him?

    LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah. And in fact, I think Senator Schumer has made some public statements in this regard, that if they are going to take this approach, it will detonate the possibility of arriving at any bipartisan agreement because we can’t trust that these extremists are operating in good faith. And we’re going to have to do something about this particular vehicle that is being used around rescission, which is a part of the 1974 Budget Control and Impoundment Act, because it’s a backdoor to undermining actual bipartisan agreements.

    CHRIS HAYES: I mean, at the same time, their position is that another part of that Act is totally unconstitutional, and they can impound funds unilaterally. But we’ll put that part aside. On the huge bill that they just passed, I saw Josh Hawley talking about introducing legislation in the Senate to stop Medicaid cuts, having voted for Medicaid cuts—enormous, unprecedented, hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid cuts, talking about how bad Medicaid cuts are, voting for it, now wanting to go back at Medicaid cuts. Would Democrats support some kind of, like, let’s go back and take the Medicaid cuts legislation?

    LEADER JEFFRIES: I mean, Josh Hawley is a complete and total phony at this point. He spent the last few months talking about how devastating these Medicaid cuts would be for the people that he represents in Missouri, and then turned around and actually voted for it. If he wanted to do something about these Medicaid cuts, he actually was the deciding vote, and he could have stopped it, just like Lisa Murkowski could have stopped it. We saw the same thing in the House of Representatives, where many of these so-called moderates who spent months saying they would never vote to cut Medicaid benefits to their constituents, and then they turned around and did exactly that. We’re going to have to get this situation addressed, but we have no faith that Republicans are actually committed to doing it in good faith. This is going to fall to Democrats in the House and the Senate. It’s one of the reasons why the midterm elections are going to be so important.

    CHRIS HAYES: Two quick questions for you before I let you go. One is there’s an announcement that Texas is going to do mid-decade redistricting. They did this under the Bush administration. It’s a violation of the normal norms because they want to, like, juice Republican representation. And they’re going to call a special session. Is there anything Democratic governors can do in large states like New York and California to respond to this?

    LEADER JEFFRIES: Republicans are running scared. This is outrageous, that they’re going to attempt to rig the midterm elections by gerrymandering a congressional map in Texas that is already gerrymandered, Chris.

    CHRIS HAYES: Yes it is.

    LEADER JEFFRIES: And so, what’s interesting about this is that this may be what has often been referred to as a dummymander, where as part of the effort to actually steal some more seats, they may make it easier for us because they’re going to shift Democrats into Republican held districts to actually flip some seats currently held by Republican incumbents. In terms of the Governor of California, who has been very vocal on this, and the Governor of New York and other states, it seems to me that all options should be on the table to make sure that we are unilaterally disarming when everything we care about, the economy and healthcare and democracy itself are at stake.

    CHRIS HAYES: Final question quickly. You’re meeting with Zohran Mamdani. You have not endorsed him yet. What do you say to people who say, why are you not endorsing the guy that won the Democratic primary in a contested election in your backyard?

    LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, I look forward to sitting down and talking to him. I didn’t get involved in that primary election, and I don’t know him well. We had a very good conversation the day after the primary. We agreed to meet. And so, I’m looking forward to having that discussion on Friday.

    CHRIS HAYES: Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

    Full interview can be watched here.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for July 16, 2025

    ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on July 16, 2025.

    How a drone delivering medicine might just save your life
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Centaine Snoswell, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Health Services Research, The University of Queensland Flystock/Shutterstock Drones can deliver pizza, and maybe one day your online shopping. So why not use them to deliver urgent medicines or other emergency health-care supplies? Trials in Australia and internationally have shown

    Why it’s important young, unemployed Australians get a good job instead of just ‘any’ job
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Churchill, ARC Senior Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Sociology, The University of Melbourne Lightfield Studios/Shutterstock We often hear young people need to get a job – any job – but what if the problem isn’t whether they’re working or not, but the kind of job

    Why do some autistic people walk differently?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicole Rinehart, Nicole Rinehart, Professor, Clinical Psychology, Director of the Neurodevelopment Program, School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects how people’s brains develop and function, impacting behaviour, communication and socialising. It can also involve

    How to approach going to the cinema like a philosopher
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alain Guillemain, PhD Candidate in Philosophy, Deakin University Philosophy is the study of fundamental questions about reality, knowledge, and values. One “does philosophy” when they respond to such questions in ways that engage critical thought and inquiry. Many of us will often respond philosophically to the world

    Australia’s census is getting a stress test – keeping it going is good for everyone
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liz Allen, Demographer, POLIS Centre for Social Policy Research, Australian National University GoldPanter/Shutterstock The Australian Bureau of Statistics will roll out a large-scale census test next month. About 60,000 households will take part across the country to stress test the bureau’s collection processes and IT systems, ahead

    How safe are the chemicals in sunscreen? A pharmacology expert explains
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide aquaArts studio/Getty Last week, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) released its safety review of seven active ingredients commonly used in sunscreens. It found five were low-risk and appropriate for use in sunscreens at their current concentrations. However, the

    Control fire and ferals in Australia’s tropical savannas to bring the small mammals back
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alyson Stobo-Wilson, Research Adjunct in Conservation Ecology, Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University Alyson Stobo-Wilson In remote central Arnhem Land, finding a northern brushtail possum is encouraging for the local Indigenous rangers. Though once common, such small native mammals are now rare. Many

    Florida is fronting the $450M cost of Alligator Alcatraz – a legal scholar explains what we still don’t know about the detainees
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Schlakman, Senior Program Director, The Florida State University Center for the Advancement of Human Rights, Florida State University Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis leads a tour of the new Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention facility for President Donald Trump and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

    As house prices drop, will the retirement nest egg still be such a safe bet?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claire Dale, Research Fellow, the Pensions and Intergenerational Equity (PIE) research hub, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau MonthiraYodtiwong/Getty Images Changes to KiwiSaver, global economic uncertainty and predictions house prices could drop by as much as 20% by 2030 all mean retirement is looking very different to

    Fiji govt offers NZ$1.5m settlement to former anti-corruption head for ruined career
    By Margot Staunton, RNZ Pacific senior reporter The Fiji government looks set to pay around NZ$1.5 million in damages to the disgraced former head of the country’s anti-corruption agency FICAC. The state is offering Barbara Malimali an out-of-court settlement after her lawyer lodged a judicial review of her sacking in the High Court in Suva.

    Federal Court rules Australian government doesn’t have a duty of care to protect Torres Strait Islanders from climate change
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liz Hicks, Lecturer in Law, The University of Melbourne Australian Climate Case The Federal Court has handed down its long-awaited judgement in a four-year climate case brought by Torres Strait Islanders. Elders Uncle Pabai Pabai and Uncle Paul Kabai took the Australian government to court on behalf

    No more card surcharges: what the Reserve Bank’s proposed changes mean for your wallet
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Angel Zhong, Professor of Finance, RMIT University That extra 10c on your morning coffee. That $2 surcharge on your taxi ride. The sneaky 1.5% fee when you pay by card at your local restaurant. These could all soon be history. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has

    President Xi Jinping tells Albanese China ready to ‘push the bilateral relationship further’
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Chinese President Xi Jinping has told Anthony Albanese China stands ready to work with Australia “to push the bilateral relationship further”, in their meeting in Beijing on Tuesday. During the meeting, Albanese raised Australia’s concern about China’s lack of proper

    Tyranny is an ever-present threat to civilisations. Here’s how Classical Greece and China dealt with it
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shannon Brincat, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, University of the Sunshine Coast We’re just a few months into US president Donald Trump’s second term but his rule has already been repeatedly compared to tyranny. This may all feel very new to Americans, and to the

    A person in the US has died from pneumonic plague. It’s not just a disease of history
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas Jeffries, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, Western Sydney University Corona Borealis Studio/Shutterstock A person in Arizona has died from the plague, local health officials reported on Friday. This marks the first such death in this region in 18 years. But it’s a stark reminder that this historic

    Supermarket treatments for depression don’t require a prescription. But do they work?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jon Wardle, Professor of Public Health, Southern Cross University Australians have long been some of the highest users of herbal and nutritional supplements that claim to boost mood or ease depression. These include omega-3s (found in fish oil), St John’s wort, probiotics and vitamin D. In fact,

    Tyranny is an ever-present threat to civilisations. Here’s how Ancient Greece and China dealt with it
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shannon Brincat, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, University of the Sunshine Coast Panasevich/Getty Images We’re just a few months into US president Donald Trump’s second term but his rule has already been repeatedly compared to tyranny. This may all feel very new to Americans, and

    After a hopeful start, Labor’s affordable housing fund is proving problematic
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Raynor, Director of the Centre for Equitable Housing, Per Capita and Research Associate, The University of Melbourne When the Albanese government announced the A$10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund in 2023, the news reverberated through the housing sector. A new funding facility to help build 30,000

    The southern hemisphere is full of birds found nowhere else on Earth. Their importance has been overlooked
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthias Dehling, Researcher, School of Biological Sciences, Monash University Matthias Dehling The snow petrel, a strikingly white bird with black eyes and a black bill, is one of only three bird species ever observed at the South Pole. In fact, the Antarctic is the only place on

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Hawley Urges DHS Secretary Noem to Declassify Trump Butler Assassination Records

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo)

    U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, calling on the agency to declassify all documents related to the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt on President Trump in Butler, PA.

    “I write to you following the one-year anniversary of the first assassination attempt against President Donald J. Trump. This occasion marks a deeply troubling chapter in our nation’s history and serves as a reminder of the importance of transparency in preserving public trust during moments of national crisis. To that end, I urge you to take the necessary steps to declassify all documents within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) related to the events of July 13, 2024,” Senator Hawley wrote. 

    In September 2024, Senator Hawley released a 22-page whistleblower report detailing the failures of the United States Secret Service in connection with the July 13, 2024 attempted assassination of President Trump.

    Read the full letter here or below. 

    The Honorable Kristi Noem
    Secretary
    U.S. Department of Homeland Security
    2707 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave SE
    Washington, D.C. 20528

    Dear Secretary Noem,

    I write to you following the one-year anniversary of the first assassination attempt against President Donald J. Trump. This occasion marks a deeply troubling chapter in our nation’s history and serves as a reminder of the importance of transparency in preserving public trust during moments of national crisis. To that end, I urge you to take the necessary steps to declassify all documents within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) related to the events of July 13, 2024.

    As you know, assassination attempts against current and former presidents are rare but profoundly consequential events in American life. And the American people rightly expect full transparency from their government. Unfortunately, the Secret Service and DHS under your predecessor stonewalled numerous congressional investigations—including my own—and denied the American people basic facts. The public learned far more from whistleblowers than they did from public officials, and I released a report documenting these disclosures, many of which have been corroborated to date.

    In October of last year, in a unanimous vote, the Homeland Security Committee passed my legislation requiring the Secret Service release to the public all pertinent documents. Now, I am requesting that you immediately declassify and release all documents relating to the first assassination attempt on President Trump within the full extent of your authority, subject only to the narrowest possible redactions necessary to protect ongoing operations or individual safety.

    The public deserves a full and accurate account of this event, the circumstances that allowed it to happen, and the steps the government has taken since to strengthen protective measures. To that end, and to advance congressional oversight work, I request that you provide the following by July 30, 2025:

    1. A complete inventory of all classified or non-public materials related to the first assassination attempt on President Trump, including reports, internal communications, threat assessments, after-action reviews, and coordination records with other agencies.

    2. A formal explanation for the continued classification of any materials you believe must remain restricted.

    3. A proposed plan and timeline for the immediate declassification and public release of all remaining documents, with minimal redactions.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Hawley Urges DHS Secretary Noem to Declassify Trump Butler Assassination Records

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo)

    U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, calling on the agency to declassify all documents related to the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt on President Trump in Butler, PA.

    “I write to you following the one-year anniversary of the first assassination attempt against President Donald J. Trump. This occasion marks a deeply troubling chapter in our nation’s history and serves as a reminder of the importance of transparency in preserving public trust during moments of national crisis. To that end, I urge you to take the necessary steps to declassify all documents within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) related to the events of July 13, 2024,” Senator Hawley wrote. 

    In September 2024, Senator Hawley released a 22-page whistleblower report detailing the failures of the United States Secret Service in connection with the July 13, 2024 attempted assassination of President Trump.

    Read the full letter here or below. 

    The Honorable Kristi Noem
    Secretary
    U.S. Department of Homeland Security
    2707 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave SE
    Washington, D.C. 20528

    Dear Secretary Noem,

    I write to you following the one-year anniversary of the first assassination attempt against President Donald J. Trump. This occasion marks a deeply troubling chapter in our nation’s history and serves as a reminder of the importance of transparency in preserving public trust during moments of national crisis. To that end, I urge you to take the necessary steps to declassify all documents within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) related to the events of July 13, 2024.

    As you know, assassination attempts against current and former presidents are rare but profoundly consequential events in American life. And the American people rightly expect full transparency from their government. Unfortunately, the Secret Service and DHS under your predecessor stonewalled numerous congressional investigations—including my own—and denied the American people basic facts. The public learned far more from whistleblowers than they did from public officials, and I released a report documenting these disclosures, many of which have been corroborated to date.

    In October of last year, in a unanimous vote, the Homeland Security Committee passed my legislation requiring the Secret Service release to the public all pertinent documents. Now, I am requesting that you immediately declassify and release all documents relating to the first assassination attempt on President Trump within the full extent of your authority, subject only to the narrowest possible redactions necessary to protect ongoing operations or individual safety.

    The public deserves a full and accurate account of this event, the circumstances that allowed it to happen, and the steps the government has taken since to strengthen protective measures. To that end, and to advance congressional oversight work, I request that you provide the following by July 30, 2025:

    1. A complete inventory of all classified or non-public materials related to the first assassination attempt on President Trump, including reports, internal communications, threat assessments, after-action reviews, and coordination records with other agencies.

    2. A formal explanation for the continued classification of any materials you believe must remain restricted.

    3. A proposed plan and timeline for the immediate declassification and public release of all remaining documents, with minimal redactions.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Murray, Scott, Colleagues Reintroduce Child Care for Working Families Act—Democrats Advocate for Affordable Child Care While Trump & Republicans Blow Up Debt on Billionaire Tax Cuts and Attack Head Start and Federal Child Care Programs

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray

    As Republicans deliver fresh tax breaks for billionaires and kick Americans off their health care, Democrats continue their fight to help families find and afford child care

    ***WATCH PRESS CONFERENCE HERE***

    Washington, D.C. – Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA-03), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, joined their colleagues in reintroducing the Child Care for Working Families Act, comprehensive legislation to ensure families across America can find and afford the high-quality child care they need.

    Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Andy Kim (D-NJ) and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) joined Senator Murray in leading reintroduction of the legislation alongside 39 additional cosponsors in the Senate—the most in the bill’s history.

    House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA-05) and Representative Summer Lee (D-PA-12) joined Representative Scott in leading reintroduction of the legislation alongside 80 additional cosponsors in the House.

    “Right now, the cost of child care and other essentials is weighing millions of families down, but instead of tackling the affordability crisis, President Trump and Republicans have chosen to shower their billionaire donors with trillions of dollars in new tax breaks and kick 17 million Americans off their health care,” said Senator Patty Murray. “It’s an outrageous betrayal, and instead of wasting billions on handouts for the richest people on earth, Democrats are going to keep fighting to help working families afford the basics and get ahead—including by passing my Child Care for Working Families Act to ensure every family can find and afford the child care they need. Just about everyone now recognizes how urgent an issue the child care crisis is—and how badly it hurts families and our economy—so I invite my Republican colleagues to join us to finally deliver the actual reform we need to address this crisis. This is an ambitious and commonsense plan to build child care centers, hire and retain more early childhood educators, and make sure every family can afford child care—with the typical family paying less than $15 a day. Not only that, we’d finally set this country on the path to universal Pre-K. People actually want Congress to do this—don’t tell me we can’t afford to invest in child care and bring down costs for every family after Republicans just blew up the national debt to give tax breaks to billionaires who don’t need them.”

    “Our economy forces too many workers to choose between their jobs and caring for their children. Without investments in the care economy, jobs will remain unfilled because too many workers, especially women, will have to remain at home and our economy will never reach its full potential,” said Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott. “Let’s be clear. The child care crisis cannot be solved without sustained public funding. The Child Care for Working Families Act makes the investments we need to turn our child care system around and meet the needs of children, parents, and child care workers. We must finally pass this bill and expand access to affordable, quality early learning opportunities, provide child care workers with the support they deserve, and give parents the freedom to pursue rewarding careers and contribute to our economic growth.”

    As President Trump and Republicans in Congress choose to spend trillions on new tax cuts for billionaires and the biggest corporations, kick Americans off their health care, cut kids off from nutrition assistance, and raise costs on everyday essentials for working families, Democrats in Congress are continuing their push to help working people make ends meet—including by tackling the child care crisis. The cost of child care nationwide continues to rise—and far from helping tackle it, President Trump is exacerbating the affordability crisis. The average cost of child care is now $13,128—a 29% increase since 2020 that outpaces inflation. In 49 states and the District of Columbia, the average annual costs of child care for two children exceeds median rent—and in 41 states and the District of Columbia, the cost of care for one infant exceeds in-state university tuition. The crisis costs the U.S. economy over $100 billion each year. Nonetheless, President Trump has gutted oversight of and support for the federal child care office, held up child care funding to states, held up Head Start funding, and now created massive holes in states’ budgets with the “Big Beautiful Bill’s” cuts to Medicaid and SNAP—which may well force states to pare back on their own investments in child care. While two-thirds of Americans oppose Republicans’ Big Beautiful Betrayal that President Trump signed into law earlier this month, over three-quarters of Americans support increased investment to help families afford child care.

    The Child Care for Working Families Act would tackle the child care crisis head-on: ensuring families can afford the child care they need, expanding access to more high-quality options, stabilizing the child care sector, and helping ensure child care workers taking care of our nation’s kids are paid livable wages. The legislation will also dramatically expand access to pre-K, and support full-day, full-year Head Start programs and increased wages for Head Start workers. Under the legislation, which Murray and Scott have introduced every Congress since 2017, the typical family in America will pay no more than $15 a day for child care—with many families paying nothing at all—and no eligible family will pay more than 7% of their income on child care.

    “Families should not have to break the bank to afford child care. Democrats are fighting to ensure working families can access the child care they need, and that hardworking child care workers get paid what they deserve,” said Leader Chuck Schumer. “Republicans have a different priority – giving tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy, paid for by cutting health care and food assistance for millions of families. The contrast couldn’t be clearer and Republicans couldn’t be crueler. We hope Republicans will join us in moving forward legislation that will actually help working people and invest in kids and families.”

    “Child care enables parents to work and kids to thrive. But right now, it’s impossibly expensive,” said Democratic Whip Katherine Clark. “In the richest nation on earth, no parent should have to choose between groceries and child care. Under this bill, the typical family will pay no more than $15 a day for care. Ultimately, this bill is about giving every family a fair shot at the American Dream. I want my Republican colleagues to look parents in the eye and explain how they can oppose that.”

    “The child care crisis is holding our families, businesses, and economy back,” said Senator Tim Kaine. “I’ve heard from parents in every corner of Virginia about how they’re being locked out of the workforce because they can’t find affordable care for their kids, and from passionate child care workers who are pressured to leave their field because of low wages. Especially as we contend with the economic chaos and uncertainty caused by President Trump, Congress can and must do more to address this issue and put affordable care within reach. By raising salaries for low-wage child care employees and capping child care costs at seven percent of working families’ incomes, we can make child care more accessible and affordable, support passionate workers in the field, and strengthen our economy.”

    “Throughout our country, too many working and middle class families struggle to find access to high-quality, affordable child care, forcing parents to make tough sacrifices for their children,” said Senator Mazie Hirono. “Child care is essential to the strength of our communities, and every family should be able to access the affordable care they need and deserve. That’s why I am proud to reintroduce the Child Care for Working Families Act, which would provide a long-term investment in our children as an important step forward in tackling our country’s child care crisis.”

    “Parents and working families are struggling under an affordability crisis being made worse by the Trump administration — many without any childcare options they can afford or reasonably get their kids to every day,” said Senator Andy Kim. “This bill is the comprehensive reform we need to tackle the childcare shortage, deliver families immediate relief, and make sure we better support the workers who go above and beyond to deliver this high-quality care.”

    “We are experiencing a child care crisis in this country. Child care—if folks can even find it—is pushing families into poverty, and Trump’s Big Ugly bill will only exacerbate the struggles our families are dealing with,” said Representative Summer Lee. “The Child Care for Working Families Act is a means to putting an end to this crisis. We have to make sure families have access to child care slots, that no family spends more than seven percent of their income on child care, and that all early childhood educators make a livable wage. I am grateful for Ranking Member Bobby Scott and Senator Patty Murray for their partnership on this bill, and I look forward to seeing it over the finish line.”

    The Child Care for Working Families Act will:

    • Make child care affordable for working families.
      • The typical family earning the state median income will pay less than $15 a day for child care.
      • No working family will pay more than seven percent of their income on child care.
      • Families earning below 85% of state median income will pay nothing at all for child care.
      • If a state does not choose to receive funding under this program, the Secretary can provide funds to localities, such as cities, counties, local governments, districts, or Head Start agencies.
    • Improve the quality and supply of child care for all children and expand families’ child care options by:
      • Addressing child care deserts by providing grants to help open new child care providers in underserved communities.
      • Providing grants to cover start-up and licensing costs to help establish new providers.
      • Increasing child care options for children who receive care during non-traditional hours.
      • Supporting child care for children who are dual-language learners, children who are experiencing homelessness, and children in foster care.
    • Support higher wages for child care workers.
      • Child care workers would be paid a living wage and achieve parity with elementary school teachers who have similar credentials and experience.
      • Child care subsidies would cover the cost of providing high-quality care.
    • Dramatically expand access to high-quality pre-K.
      • States would receive funding to establish and expand a mixed-delivery system of high-quality preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-olds.
      • States must prioritize establishing and expanding universal local preschool programs within and across high-need communities.
      • If a state does not choose to receive funding under this program, the Secretary can provide funds to localities, such as cities, counties, local governments, districts, or Head Start agencies.
    • Better support Head Start programs by providing the funding necessary to offer full-day, full-year programming and increasing wages for Head Start workers.

    In the Senate, the bill is cosponsored by 44 Senators: Senators Murray, Kaine, Hirono, Kim, Schumer, Alsobrooks, Baldwin, Bennet, Blumenthal, Blunt Rochester, Booker, Cantwell, Coons, Cortez-Masto, Duckworth, Durbin, Fetterman, Gallego, Gillibrand, Hassan, Heinrich, Hickenlooper, Kelly, King, Klobuchar, Lujan, Markey, Merkley, Murphy, Padilla, Peters, Reed, Rosen, Sanders, Schatz, Schiff, Shaheen, Slotkin, Smith, Van Hollen, Warnock, Welch, Whitehouse, Wyden.

    In the House, the bill is cosponsored by 83 lawmakers: Representatives Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (MA-05), Summer Lee (PA-12), Danny K. Davis (IL-07), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Cleo Fields (LA-06), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), Nancy Pelosi (CA-11), Bennie G. Thompson (MS-02), Jonathan L. Jackson (IL-01), Melanie A. Stansbury (NM-01), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Nikema Williams (GA-05), Lucy McBath (GA-06), Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Eric Swalwell (CA-14), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), André Carson (IN-07), Kathy Castor (FL-14), George Latimer (NY-16), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Maggie Goodlander (NH-02), Hillary J. Scholten (MI-03), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Robin L. Kelly (IL-02), Lauren Underwood (IL-14), Troy A. Carter (LA-02), Mark Pocan (WI-02), April McClain Delaney (MD-06), Ted W. Lieu (CA-36), Sarah McBride (DE-AL), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03), Betty McCollum (MN-03), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Lois Frankel (FL-22), Donald Norcross (NJ-01), Jennifer L. McClellan (VA-04), Kristen McDonald Rivet (MI-08), Sarah Elfreth (MD-03), Suzan K. DelBene (WA-01), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Morgan McGarvey (KY-03), Jill N. Tokuda (HI-02), Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09), Seth Moulton (MA-06), William R. Keating (MA-09), Linda T. Sánchez (CA-38), Judy Chu (CA-28), Robert Menendez (NJ-08), Janice D. Schakowsky (IL-09), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24), Adam Smith (WA-09), Haley M. Stevens (MI-11), Greg Landsman (OH-01), Deborah K. Ross (NC-02), Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-03), Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Suhas Subramanyam (VA-10), Joyce Beatty (OH-03), Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05), Dina Titus (NV-01), Brittany Pettersen (CO-07), Nikki Budzinski (IL-13), Seth Magaziner (RI-02), Terri A. Sewell (AL-07), Shontel M. Brown (OH-11), Sean Casten (IL-06), John Garamendi (CA-08), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Donald S. Beyer Jr. (VA-08), and Sharice Davids (KS-03).

    A fact sheet on the legislation is available HERE.

    Text of the legislation if available HERE.

    “As Child Care Aware of America’s report, Child Care in America: 2024 Price & Supply shows, in every region of the country, there are far too many families that do not have access to affordable and high-quality child care. The high price of child care is often one of the largest household expenses for families. And yet, our educators and programs struggle to make ends meet. Current federal investment in child care is not meeting the needs faced by families across the country. The Child Care for Working Families Act would help ensure more families have access to high-quality and affordable child care,” said Child Care Aware of America.

    “For far too long, children, families, and providers have borne the burden of a broken child care sector. The Child Care for Working Families Act would make access to child care more equitable and affordable for families across the country while also better valuing and compensating the child care workforce. Families need relief from untenable child care prices. Children need reliable education and care settings. Providers need increased education supports, consistent employment, and higher wages. This bill will deliver necessary improvements to America’s child care sector,” said Wendy Chun-Hoon, President and Executive Director, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP).

    “Recognizing  and supporting child care as a true public good simply requires the political will from our elected leaders because the political will from families across the country is already there. Americans agree we should have equal opportunities to engage in the workforce regardless of gender and parental status and making that a reality shouldn’t break the bank for families. I want to thank Senator Murray, Rep. Scott and the child care champions leading the way on the Child Care for Working Families Act. The bill builds on the excellent foundation of its previous iterations, incorporates lessons from the pandemic, ARPA, and the experience of nearly achieving historic child care and early learning policy during the Build Back Better debate. Children, families, and America’s economic growth cannot wait,” said TCF Senior Fellow and Director of Women’s Economic Justice Julie Kashen.

    “Making child care more affordable isn’t just good for families—it’s essential for a thriving economy, strong businesses, and vibrant communities,” said Fatima Goss Graves, president of the National Women’s Law Center Action Fund. “Instead of working to pass legislation that will increase costs for families while giving tax breaks to billionaires, Congress should pass the Child Care for Working Families Act. This billwould lower costs for families, raise wages for early educators, and tackle the child care crisis head on.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Murray, Scott, Colleagues Reintroduce Child Care for Working Families Act—Democrats Advocate for Affordable Child Care While Trump & Republicans Blow Up Debt on Billionaire Tax Cuts and Attack Head Start and Federal Child Care Programs

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray

    As Republicans deliver fresh tax breaks for billionaires and kick Americans off their health care, Democrats continue their fight to help families find and afford child care

    ***WATCH PRESS CONFERENCE HERE***

    Washington, D.C. – Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA-03), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, joined their colleagues in reintroducing the Child Care for Working Families Act, comprehensive legislation to ensure families across America can find and afford the high-quality child care they need.

    Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Andy Kim (D-NJ) and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) joined Senator Murray in leading reintroduction of the legislation alongside 39 additional cosponsors in the Senate—the most in the bill’s history.

    House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA-05) and Representative Summer Lee (D-PA-12) joined Representative Scott in leading reintroduction of the legislation alongside 80 additional cosponsors in the House.

    “Right now, the cost of child care and other essentials is weighing millions of families down, but instead of tackling the affordability crisis, President Trump and Republicans have chosen to shower their billionaire donors with trillions of dollars in new tax breaks and kick 17 million Americans off their health care,” said Senator Patty Murray. “It’s an outrageous betrayal, and instead of wasting billions on handouts for the richest people on earth, Democrats are going to keep fighting to help working families afford the basics and get ahead—including by passing my Child Care for Working Families Act to ensure every family can find and afford the child care they need. Just about everyone now recognizes how urgent an issue the child care crisis is—and how badly it hurts families and our economy—so I invite my Republican colleagues to join us to finally deliver the actual reform we need to address this crisis. This is an ambitious and commonsense plan to build child care centers, hire and retain more early childhood educators, and make sure every family can afford child care—with the typical family paying less than $15 a day. Not only that, we’d finally set this country on the path to universal Pre-K. People actually want Congress to do this—don’t tell me we can’t afford to invest in child care and bring down costs for every family after Republicans just blew up the national debt to give tax breaks to billionaires who don’t need them.”

    “Our economy forces too many workers to choose between their jobs and caring for their children. Without investments in the care economy, jobs will remain unfilled because too many workers, especially women, will have to remain at home and our economy will never reach its full potential,” said Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott. “Let’s be clear. The child care crisis cannot be solved without sustained public funding. The Child Care for Working Families Act makes the investments we need to turn our child care system around and meet the needs of children, parents, and child care workers. We must finally pass this bill and expand access to affordable, quality early learning opportunities, provide child care workers with the support they deserve, and give parents the freedom to pursue rewarding careers and contribute to our economic growth.”

    As President Trump and Republicans in Congress choose to spend trillions on new tax cuts for billionaires and the biggest corporations, kick Americans off their health care, cut kids off from nutrition assistance, and raise costs on everyday essentials for working families, Democrats in Congress are continuing their push to help working people make ends meet—including by tackling the child care crisis. The cost of child care nationwide continues to rise—and far from helping tackle it, President Trump is exacerbating the affordability crisis. The average cost of child care is now $13,128—a 29% increase since 2020 that outpaces inflation. In 49 states and the District of Columbia, the average annual costs of child care for two children exceeds median rent—and in 41 states and the District of Columbia, the cost of care for one infant exceeds in-state university tuition. The crisis costs the U.S. economy over $100 billion each year. Nonetheless, President Trump has gutted oversight of and support for the federal child care office, held up child care funding to states, held up Head Start funding, and now created massive holes in states’ budgets with the “Big Beautiful Bill’s” cuts to Medicaid and SNAP—which may well force states to pare back on their own investments in child care. While two-thirds of Americans oppose Republicans’ Big Beautiful Betrayal that President Trump signed into law earlier this month, over three-quarters of Americans support increased investment to help families afford child care.

    The Child Care for Working Families Act would tackle the child care crisis head-on: ensuring families can afford the child care they need, expanding access to more high-quality options, stabilizing the child care sector, and helping ensure child care workers taking care of our nation’s kids are paid livable wages. The legislation will also dramatically expand access to pre-K, and support full-day, full-year Head Start programs and increased wages for Head Start workers. Under the legislation, which Murray and Scott have introduced every Congress since 2017, the typical family in America will pay no more than $15 a day for child care—with many families paying nothing at all—and no eligible family will pay more than 7% of their income on child care.

    “Families should not have to break the bank to afford child care. Democrats are fighting to ensure working families can access the child care they need, and that hardworking child care workers get paid what they deserve,” said Leader Chuck Schumer. “Republicans have a different priority – giving tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy, paid for by cutting health care and food assistance for millions of families. The contrast couldn’t be clearer and Republicans couldn’t be crueler. We hope Republicans will join us in moving forward legislation that will actually help working people and invest in kids and families.”

    “Child care enables parents to work and kids to thrive. But right now, it’s impossibly expensive,” said Democratic Whip Katherine Clark. “In the richest nation on earth, no parent should have to choose between groceries and child care. Under this bill, the typical family will pay no more than $15 a day for care. Ultimately, this bill is about giving every family a fair shot at the American Dream. I want my Republican colleagues to look parents in the eye and explain how they can oppose that.”

    “The child care crisis is holding our families, businesses, and economy back,” said Senator Tim Kaine. “I’ve heard from parents in every corner of Virginia about how they’re being locked out of the workforce because they can’t find affordable care for their kids, and from passionate child care workers who are pressured to leave their field because of low wages. Especially as we contend with the economic chaos and uncertainty caused by President Trump, Congress can and must do more to address this issue and put affordable care within reach. By raising salaries for low-wage child care employees and capping child care costs at seven percent of working families’ incomes, we can make child care more accessible and affordable, support passionate workers in the field, and strengthen our economy.”

    “Throughout our country, too many working and middle class families struggle to find access to high-quality, affordable child care, forcing parents to make tough sacrifices for their children,” said Senator Mazie Hirono. “Child care is essential to the strength of our communities, and every family should be able to access the affordable care they need and deserve. That’s why I am proud to reintroduce the Child Care for Working Families Act, which would provide a long-term investment in our children as an important step forward in tackling our country’s child care crisis.”

    “Parents and working families are struggling under an affordability crisis being made worse by the Trump administration — many without any childcare options they can afford or reasonably get their kids to every day,” said Senator Andy Kim. “This bill is the comprehensive reform we need to tackle the childcare shortage, deliver families immediate relief, and make sure we better support the workers who go above and beyond to deliver this high-quality care.”

    “We are experiencing a child care crisis in this country. Child care—if folks can even find it—is pushing families into poverty, and Trump’s Big Ugly bill will only exacerbate the struggles our families are dealing with,” said Representative Summer Lee. “The Child Care for Working Families Act is a means to putting an end to this crisis. We have to make sure families have access to child care slots, that no family spends more than seven percent of their income on child care, and that all early childhood educators make a livable wage. I am grateful for Ranking Member Bobby Scott and Senator Patty Murray for their partnership on this bill, and I look forward to seeing it over the finish line.”

    The Child Care for Working Families Act will:

    • Make child care affordable for working families.
      • The typical family earning the state median income will pay less than $15 a day for child care.
      • No working family will pay more than seven percent of their income on child care.
      • Families earning below 85% of state median income will pay nothing at all for child care.
      • If a state does not choose to receive funding under this program, the Secretary can provide funds to localities, such as cities, counties, local governments, districts, or Head Start agencies.
    • Improve the quality and supply of child care for all children and expand families’ child care options by:
      • Addressing child care deserts by providing grants to help open new child care providers in underserved communities.
      • Providing grants to cover start-up and licensing costs to help establish new providers.
      • Increasing child care options for children who receive care during non-traditional hours.
      • Supporting child care for children who are dual-language learners, children who are experiencing homelessness, and children in foster care.
    • Support higher wages for child care workers.
      • Child care workers would be paid a living wage and achieve parity with elementary school teachers who have similar credentials and experience.
      • Child care subsidies would cover the cost of providing high-quality care.
    • Dramatically expand access to high-quality pre-K.
      • States would receive funding to establish and expand a mixed-delivery system of high-quality preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-olds.
      • States must prioritize establishing and expanding universal local preschool programs within and across high-need communities.
      • If a state does not choose to receive funding under this program, the Secretary can provide funds to localities, such as cities, counties, local governments, districts, or Head Start agencies.
    • Better support Head Start programs by providing the funding necessary to offer full-day, full-year programming and increasing wages for Head Start workers.

    In the Senate, the bill is cosponsored by 44 Senators: Senators Murray, Kaine, Hirono, Kim, Schumer, Alsobrooks, Baldwin, Bennet, Blumenthal, Blunt Rochester, Booker, Cantwell, Coons, Cortez-Masto, Duckworth, Durbin, Fetterman, Gallego, Gillibrand, Hassan, Heinrich, Hickenlooper, Kelly, King, Klobuchar, Lujan, Markey, Merkley, Murphy, Padilla, Peters, Reed, Rosen, Sanders, Schatz, Schiff, Shaheen, Slotkin, Smith, Van Hollen, Warnock, Welch, Whitehouse, Wyden.

    In the House, the bill is cosponsored by 83 lawmakers: Representatives Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (MA-05), Summer Lee (PA-12), Danny K. Davis (IL-07), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Cleo Fields (LA-06), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), Nancy Pelosi (CA-11), Bennie G. Thompson (MS-02), Jonathan L. Jackson (IL-01), Melanie A. Stansbury (NM-01), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Nikema Williams (GA-05), Lucy McBath (GA-06), Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Eric Swalwell (CA-14), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), André Carson (IN-07), Kathy Castor (FL-14), George Latimer (NY-16), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Maggie Goodlander (NH-02), Hillary J. Scholten (MI-03), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Robin L. Kelly (IL-02), Lauren Underwood (IL-14), Troy A. Carter (LA-02), Mark Pocan (WI-02), April McClain Delaney (MD-06), Ted W. Lieu (CA-36), Sarah McBride (DE-AL), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03), Betty McCollum (MN-03), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Lois Frankel (FL-22), Donald Norcross (NJ-01), Jennifer L. McClellan (VA-04), Kristen McDonald Rivet (MI-08), Sarah Elfreth (MD-03), Suzan K. DelBene (WA-01), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Morgan McGarvey (KY-03), Jill N. Tokuda (HI-02), Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09), Seth Moulton (MA-06), William R. Keating (MA-09), Linda T. Sánchez (CA-38), Judy Chu (CA-28), Robert Menendez (NJ-08), Janice D. Schakowsky (IL-09), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24), Adam Smith (WA-09), Haley M. Stevens (MI-11), Greg Landsman (OH-01), Deborah K. Ross (NC-02), Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-03), Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Suhas Subramanyam (VA-10), Joyce Beatty (OH-03), Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05), Dina Titus (NV-01), Brittany Pettersen (CO-07), Nikki Budzinski (IL-13), Seth Magaziner (RI-02), Terri A. Sewell (AL-07), Shontel M. Brown (OH-11), Sean Casten (IL-06), John Garamendi (CA-08), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Donald S. Beyer Jr. (VA-08), and Sharice Davids (KS-03).

    A fact sheet on the legislation is available HERE.

    Text of the legislation if available HERE.

    “As Child Care Aware of America’s report, Child Care in America: 2024 Price & Supply shows, in every region of the country, there are far too many families that do not have access to affordable and high-quality child care. The high price of child care is often one of the largest household expenses for families. And yet, our educators and programs struggle to make ends meet. Current federal investment in child care is not meeting the needs faced by families across the country. The Child Care for Working Families Act would help ensure more families have access to high-quality and affordable child care,” said Child Care Aware of America.

    “For far too long, children, families, and providers have borne the burden of a broken child care sector. The Child Care for Working Families Act would make access to child care more equitable and affordable for families across the country while also better valuing and compensating the child care workforce. Families need relief from untenable child care prices. Children need reliable education and care settings. Providers need increased education supports, consistent employment, and higher wages. This bill will deliver necessary improvements to America’s child care sector,” said Wendy Chun-Hoon, President and Executive Director, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP).

    “Recognizing  and supporting child care as a true public good simply requires the political will from our elected leaders because the political will from families across the country is already there. Americans agree we should have equal opportunities to engage in the workforce regardless of gender and parental status and making that a reality shouldn’t break the bank for families. I want to thank Senator Murray, Rep. Scott and the child care champions leading the way on the Child Care for Working Families Act. The bill builds on the excellent foundation of its previous iterations, incorporates lessons from the pandemic, ARPA, and the experience of nearly achieving historic child care and early learning policy during the Build Back Better debate. Children, families, and America’s economic growth cannot wait,” said TCF Senior Fellow and Director of Women’s Economic Justice Julie Kashen.

    “Making child care more affordable isn’t just good for families—it’s essential for a thriving economy, strong businesses, and vibrant communities,” said Fatima Goss Graves, president of the National Women’s Law Center Action Fund. “Instead of working to pass legislation that will increase costs for families while giving tax breaks to billionaires, Congress should pass the Child Care for Working Families Act. This billwould lower costs for families, raise wages for early educators, and tackle the child care crisis head on.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Murray Statement on Federal Arrests of Spokane Residents for Protests Against ICE

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray

    ICYMI from June: Senator Murray Statement on Protests in Response to Immigration Arrests in Spokane

    Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released the following statement on the news, reported by the Spokesman-Review, that federal agents arrested and searched the homes of Spokane residents who took part in a protests in Spokane on June 11th. The protests in June were sparked by the sudden detention of two asylum-seekers whose work visas were abruptly revoked days before.

    “The Trump administration is abusing the force of the law to intimidate Americans exercising their First Amendment rights—whether you are a Democrat or Republican, this is wrong and we all need to speak out against this disturbing perversion of justice.

    “If you are as angry as I am about Trump’s unconstitutional and cruel assault on immigrants, we need to speak out peacefully against inhumane policies. We lose our democracy when our voices fall silent.

    “Let’s be perfectly clear about Trump’s unconstitutional immigration crackdown: he is diverting limited federal resources away from pursuing violent criminals to instead round up individuals with no criminal record—and now, apparently, he’s going after peaceful protestors as well. We cannot be silent and I will be contacting DOJ directly regarding this gross abuse of federal resources.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Murray Statement on Federal Arrests of Spokane Residents for Protests Against ICE

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray

    ICYMI from June: Senator Murray Statement on Protests in Response to Immigration Arrests in Spokane

    Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released the following statement on the news, reported by the Spokesman-Review, that federal agents arrested and searched the homes of Spokane residents who took part in a protests in Spokane on June 11th. The protests in June were sparked by the sudden detention of two asylum-seekers whose work visas were abruptly revoked days before.

    “The Trump administration is abusing the force of the law to intimidate Americans exercising their First Amendment rights—whether you are a Democrat or Republican, this is wrong and we all need to speak out against this disturbing perversion of justice.

    “If you are as angry as I am about Trump’s unconstitutional and cruel assault on immigrants, we need to speak out peacefully against inhumane policies. We lose our democracy when our voices fall silent.

    “Let’s be perfectly clear about Trump’s unconstitutional immigration crackdown: he is diverting limited federal resources away from pursuing violent criminals to instead round up individuals with no criminal record—and now, apparently, he’s going after peaceful protestors as well. We cannot be silent and I will be contacting DOJ directly regarding this gross abuse of federal resources.”

    MIL OSI USA News –