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Trump undercuts GOP midterms message with snub of housing bill

Fortune – Tech

6h ago

Trump undercuts GOP midterms message with snub of housing bill

Summary

A sweeping housing bill became law on Saturday without Donald Trump’s signature, or any White House fanfare, after the president soured on a package of dozens of affordability provisions that he derided as “a yawn.” Trump’s scuttled support and the dead-of-night enactment are setbacks for his allies on Capitol Hill, who’d been looking to cast the law as a major bipartisan win on an issue voters are prioritizing heading into midterm elections. The president’s turnabout also serves as a reminder of how quickly he can swerve on policy matters — even on a law that features provisions he and his own advisers negotiated. Trump on Friday again linked the bills : “I will not sign the Housing Bill, which has been fully approved by Congress and sent to the White House, in PROTEST over the fact that the United States Senate is not capable of passing THE SAVE AMERICA ACT,” he wrote on social media hours before the bill was set to become law. Trump’s withdrawal from the planned June signing set the stage for an unusual waiting game in Washington: The president has 10 days, excluding Sundays, to sign or veto legislation once it’s been sent to their desk. That 10-day period expired Saturday, leaving the most consequential housing legislation in decades to become law in an uncommon way. The inclusion of that measure was critical to securing the White House’s support, according to Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican. By the time the Road to Housing Act passed Congress, Trump was dismissing its supply-oriented provisions as of “minor importance” compared to interest rates. Trump tied his revocation of support for the housing legislation to a demand that Congress back a controversial voter-ID bill, ignoring warnings from Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, that he lacks the votes to pass it. The relationship between Trump and the GOP-led Senate has frayed in recent weeks, as retiring Republicans – including two whose primary challengers Trump backed – have grown bolder about bucking the White House. In the last six weeks, GOP lawmakers axed $1 billion in funding for Trump’s new White House ballroom from an immigration spending bill and successfully pushed the administration to drop plans for a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund.

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One Nation is capitalising on Australians’ economic pessimism like never before. Is a ‘stagflation impulse’ to blame?

By tying housing costs to immigration, Pauline Hanson promises a simple solution to a multilayered problem Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast In the three decades since Pauline Hanson entered federal politics, Australia has experienced numerous bouts of voter frustration with the mainstream parties. But it is only lately that the negative sentiment towards the majors has propelled One Nation to unprecedented polling numbers and delivered Hanson higher net approval ratings than the prime minister and opposition leader. Households feel this “stagflation impulse”, as some economists describe it, through a cost-of-living squeeze accompanied by fear for their financial future, which often includes job insecurity. The difference this time, according to Jordan McSwiney, a researcher who has examined far-right movements, is that One Nation has been able to tie housing affordability concerns and other economic ailments to immigration. “Economic policy and housing are not really territories that One Nation is usually comfortable on,” says McSwiney, a research fellow at the University of Canberra’s centre for deliberative democracy. “This kind of link between immigration and housing allows them to address issues that are very front of mind to people, like the economy, but address it from their preferred terrain. “One Nation is doing a bit of a bait and switch, in that they use the context of housing and the economy to talk about what they really want to talk about, which is immigration.” The party also links cost-of-living pressures to its campaign against net zero emissions and renewables, which provides another well-established talking point for Hanson. AMP’s chief economist, Shane Oliver, says policymakers need to get the balance right on immigration and avoid drastic cuts that result in labour shortages and the economy struggling with the costs of an ageing population. One Nation’s intention to firmly blame housing costs and other economic ailments on immigration is clear, with Hanson arguing at her National Press Club address last month that “immigration policy has our country in the state of crisis”. The Coalition has already explicitly linked migration rates to housing supply , giving One Nation’s own policy mainstream legitimacy . The problem for Labor is that there’s no quick fix to the problem of housing, ensuring it will still be a major electoral issue over the next two years. McSwiney says Labor is tasked with the “long, slow process of announcing policies that are going to improve people’s everyday lives, and then delivering on those”. “That is what might take the wind out of One Nation’s sails, but that’s a long game. I’m sure the Labor party is very thankful that this spike in One Nation’s polling has happened at this point in the electoral cycle, and not six months out from an election. “For the Coalition , they need to get their act together, and present a serious opposition.” Jonathan Barrett is Guardian Australia’s business editor

General U.S. News3h ago

Trump rushed Kennedy Center renovations for Fifa peace prize ceremony, whistleblowers say

Letter from Democratic senator outlines more no-bid contracts and second botched reflecting pool redo The US senator Sheldon Whitehouse has sent a letter to the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts detailing allegations from whistleblowers that some renovations were “rushed” and federal contracting laws “were ignored” to get the center ready for events, including for Donald Trump to receive the Fifa “peace prize” during the World Cup draw he hosted there in December. “I have received allegations that the Kennedy Center has conducted rushed renovation and maintenance work with disregard to its commitments to Congress and the federal contracting standards the Center has long applied to its own procurements,” the Rhode Island Democrat wrote in the letter dated Thursday. Whitehouse said that the allegations stem from a whistleblower disclosure submitted to him by the Government Accountability Project, and said that the disclosure conveys “the firsthand accounts of multiple former Center project managers, supported by contemporaneous documents and photographs” and “describes conduct sharply at odds with both the procurement standards the Center has long applied and the representations it has made to Congress”. The senator wrote that the whistleblower disclosure includes allegations that “a cosmetic and rushed revamp of the Center’s Reflecting Pool is already rusting and peeling, and will need to be fully rebuilt”, and that Trump’s “preferred contractor cut corners when repainting the Center’s columns, sticking taxpayers with the repair bill”. Also among the whistleblowers’ claims detailed in the letter are allegations that “an $8m no-bid flooring contract went to a firm with no apparent concert-hall experience”, and that the Kennedy Center “tore out a brand-new bathroom floor because President Trump didn’t like the color”. Whitehouse also said whistleblowers alleged that the Kennedy Center “rewrote its own contracting rules in a post hoc effort to justify the no-bid contracts awarded to facilitate the rushed renovations”. The allegations, Whitehouse said, raise “serious questions about the Center’s leadership and the Board’s financial management of the Kennedy Center and whether the Center’s representations to Congress were made in good faith”. “Instead of pursuing renovations tailored to the building’s actual needs, the Center rushed a series of renovations driven by the President’s aesthetic whims and his desire to star in a series of televised events in December,” said Whitehouse, who is the ranking member of the Senate committee on environment and public Works. “The Center’s subservience to the President’s desires and its corner-cutting contracting practices have resulted in steel columns that are rusting through fresh paint, a reflecting pool that may have to be torn out and rebuilt, and a brand-new bathroom floor torn out over an offending tile color.” “This is waste, and it treats a national memorial to President Kennedy as if it were a private renovation project,” he added. In the letter, Whitehouse requested documents and answers to a series of questions from the executive director of the center by 23 July. The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday. But in a statement to the Times on Saturday in response to the allegations, a White House spokesperson accused previous Kennedy Center leadership for allowing the center to fall into disrepair. “President Trump did what Democrats wouldn’t,” the spokesperson said. “After decades of neglect, he committed the bold leadership and proper resources to fix the Kennedy Center and start the renovations of the finest performing arts facility in the world.” The letter comes after last year, Trump secured $257m from Congress for repairs and restoration at the center. In a statement issued Saturday, Representative Rick Larsen, the senior Democrat on the House infrastructure committee, said that the “Kennedy Center whistleblower allegations are serious and concerning”. “The Board of Trustees have the opportunity to focus on addressing these allegations and ensuring the $257 million Congress approved for renovations are used for legitimate, necessary repairs instead of cosmetic nickel and dime fixes that don’t last,” he said.

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Trump vs Supreme Leader Mojtaba: US warns it will ‘destroy all areas of Iran’; Tehran vows Khamenei revenge

US President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to launch devastating military strikes against Iran if Tehran attempts to assassinate him, while Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei vowed to avenge the killing of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the latest escalation threatening to derail already fragile US-Iran diplomacy. The exchange came as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi travelled to Oman for talks aimed at rescuing negotiations after a week of renewed hostilities over the Strait of Hormuz. The Express Global Desk at indianexpress.com which delivers authoritative, verified, and context-driven coverage of key international developments shaping global politics, policy, and migration trends. The desk focuses on stories with direct relevance for Indian and global audiences, combining breaking news with in-depth explainers and analysis. A major focus area of the desk is US immigration and visa policy, including developments related to student visas, work permits, permanent residency pathways, executive actions, and court rulings. The Global Desk also closely tracks Canada’s immigration, visa, and study policies, covering changes to study permits, post-study work options, permanent residence programmes, and regulatory updates affecting migrants and international students. All reporting from the Global Desk adheres to The Indian Express’ editorial standards, relying on official data, government notifications, court documents, and on-record sources. Core Team The Express Global Desk is led by a team of experienced journalists and editors with deep expertise in international affairs and migration policy: Aniruddha Dhar – Senior Assistant Editor with extensive experience in global affairs, international politics, and editorial leadership. Nischai Vats – Deputy Copy Editor specialising in US politics, US visa and immigration policy, and policy-driven international coverage. Mashkoora Khan – Sub-editor focusing on global developments, with a strong emphasis on Canada visa, immigration, and study-related policy coverage. ...

Trump undercuts GOP midterms message with snub of housing bill

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More in General U.S. News

One Nation is capitalising on Australians’ economic pessimism like never before. Is a ‘stagflation impulse’ to blame?

Trump rushed Kennedy Center renovations for Fifa peace prize ceremony, whistleblowers say

Trump vs Supreme Leader Mojtaba: US warns it will ‘destroy all areas of Iran’; Tehran vows Khamenei revenge