Tag Archives: United States Politics and Government

To President Trump, one economic number represents everything that is wrong with the global economy: America’s trade deficit. That deficit is the total value of what the United States imports from other nations, minus its exports to other countries. The fact that America runs a trade deficit reflects how the nation’s appetite for foreign goods now far outpaces what U.S. …

The Environmental Protection Agency plans to demote career employees who oversee scientific research, the enforcement of pollution laws, hazardous waste cleanup and the agency’s human resources department and replace them with political appointees, according to two people familiar with the approach. The move would give Trump administration loyalists more influence over aspects of the agency that were traditionally led by …

The Environmental Protection Agency plans to demote career employees who oversee scientific research, the enforcement of pollution laws, hazardous waste cleanup and the agency’s human resources department and replace them with political appointees, according to two people familiar with the approach. The move would give Trump administration loyalists more influence over aspects of the agency that were traditionally led by …

The Senate confirmed Chris Wright to lead the U.S. Department of Energy on Monday, putting the former oil executive in a key position to help shape President Trump’s energy policies. Mr. Wright, the founder and chief executive of Liberty Energy, a fracking firm, was confirmed by a vote of 59 to 38, with support from all Republicans present and a …

President Trump is brandishing the U.S. economy like a weapon, putting more than a trillion dollars of trade on the line as he opens economic wars on multiple fronts. He has threatened tariffs on the United States’ closest trading partners, which are together responsible for more than 40 percent of American imports, to try to force them to accede to …

President Trump’s decision to impose hefty tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China included a little-noticed but significant change to how online purchases will be taxed when they enter the United States. One provision of Mr. Trump’s executive order will increase costs for more than 80 percent of U.S. e-commerce imports. The decision could shift the landscape for online sales from …

Since 1978, every new group of NASA astronauts has included women and usually reflected a multiplicity of races and ethnicities. That is not simply by chance. NASA’s process for selecting its astronauts is not entirely gender- and race-blind. With so many outstanding applicants, choosing a diversified, highly qualified group of candidates has been achievable, said Duane Ross, who worked as …

President Trump’s move this weekend to slap sweeping tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China is threatening to fracture the global trading system and a world economic order that once revolved around a U.S. economy that prized open investment and free markets. The speed and scope of the import duties that Mr. Trump unveiled in executive orders on Saturday prompted widespread …

When marble-size hail fell on Alabama in 2023, it devastated Camp Hill, a town of 1,000 where nearly half the residents live below the poverty line. Decks were demolished, cars shattered, roofs destroyed, and few people had insurance. The community was expecting to get help this month in the form of a $20 million federal grant to help homeowners make …

In the latest effort to put his stamp on the federal work force, President Trump on Friday issued a memorandum invalidating government labor contracts finalized in the last 30 days before a presidential inauguration. The policy applies to certain contracts negotiated toward the end of the Biden administration, the memo says. Such “last-minute, lame-duck” agreements, it states, “are purposefully designed …