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☆ Election Updates: Trump will speak at a Minnesota fund-raiser, hoping the state’s political divide will put it in play.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-17 | by ( Jonathan Weisman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

On Friday, the former president will be back, speaking at a fund-raising dinner for the Minnesota Republican Party in St. Paul that is open only to paying guests and invited media. Whether the visit is a feint to draw Democratic dollars to the state or a true effort to expand the electoral map, only the Trump campaign knows. The Trump campaign believes it can capitalize on — or foment — a backlash to the leftward march of the Twin Cities and still-fresh memories of the unrest after the killing of George Floyd. “We have a real opportunity to expand the map here,” Chris LaCivita, a senior Trump campaign adviser, told The Associated Press ahead of Mr. Trump’s visit. In an interview with a conservative radio station in March, Mr. Trump falsely claimed he won Minnesota in 2020.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Hillary Clinton, Paul, ”, Angie Craig, Richard M, Nixon, Trump’s, Clinton, Biden, “, Pete Stauber, Donald Trump, Dean Phillips, Phillips, Mr, Jack Rendulich, Collin Peterson, Rick Nolan, Stauber, Tim Walz, George Floyd, Ilhan Omar, Floyd’s, Chris LaCivita, Jim Manley, Barack Obama, Tim Pawlenty, Minnesota’s Organizations: Minnesota Republican Party, Trump, Republican, Republicans, Democratic, ”, Democrat, Mr, Associated, Agriculture, Democratic Socialists of America, City Council, Democrats, Twin, Alpha, Associated Press, North, North Carolina, Midwest, Minnesota Locations: Minnesota, St, Minneapolis, Paul, ” Minnesota, Northeast Minnesota, Twin Cities, Democratic, City, Gaza, North Carolina, Illinois

☆ Woman Could Have Prevented Great Recession; Ignored by Wall Street Men
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Josie Cox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +21 min

The story of Brooksley Born is not only the tale of a remarkable regulator whose Cassandra-like warnings — if heeded — could've prevented the great financial crisis from exploding into raging, ruinous enormity. Not long after she assumed chairmanship of the CFTC, Born started to feel a lingering unease with the rapidly expanding derivatives market. So to Rubin, Born was more of an inconvenience than anything, and she certainly wasn't in his club. Not long after, Treasury officials lobbied Congress to pass legislation preventing the CFTC from being able to regulate the OTC derivatives market. In the months and years that followed, it became increasingly hard to deny that the multi-trillion-dollar OTC derivatives market was the root cause of the great financial crisis.

Persons: Lehman Brothers, jolting, — could've, It's, Potter Stewart, Henry Edgerton, Porter, she'd, Bill Clinton, Clinton, Janet Reno, Brooksley, Michael Greenberger, Born, Gibson, weren't, Robert Rubin, Goldman Sachs, Rubin, Michael Hirsh, Alan Greenspan, Greenspan, Ayn Rand, Hirsh ., Hirsh, Greenspan didn't, braggadocian machismo, lauding Rubin, Lawrence Summers, Arthur Levitt, Josie Cox, Levitt, Summers, Jim Leach, Richard Lugar, —, Bethany McLean, Joe Nocera, Bob Rubin, Born's Cassandra, George W, Bush, Lauren Rivera, Christine Lagarde, Lehman, ABRAMS Organizations: Stanford University, Stanford Law School, Stanford, Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, Arnold, Futures Trading Commission, American, CFTC, Bankers Trust, Procter, Gamble, Sumitomo, Federal Reserve, Fed, Securities and Exchange Commission, Financial Markets, Abrams, Term Capital Management, Enron, SEC, Born, Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management, Financial, International Monetary Fund, Lehman Brothers, Reuters, Street, The Washington Post, Guardian, Abrams Press Locations: California, Vietnam, United States, Washington, America, ABRAMS , New York

WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday it will extend for up to 90 days a trial program that allows six U.S. pork plants to operate faster processing-line speeds while collecting data on how the speeds affect meatpacking workers. Some activist groups like Food & Water Watch had opposed the program as a risk to food safety. A judge in 2021 invalidated that rule after the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union, which represents many meatpacking workers, sued the USDA over worker safety concerns. Plants in the trial were also assigned to collect data on how line speeds affect workers and share it with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago and Leah Douglas in Washington; Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Tyson, JBS's, UFCW, Tom Polansek, Leah Douglas, Bernadette Baum Organizations: U.S . Department of Agriculture, Tyson, JBS SA, Water Watch, JBS's Swift Pork Company, Companies, United Food, Commercial Workers, U.S . Occupational Safety, Health Administration, U.S . Senate, Thomson Locations: Nebraska, Illinois, U.S, Chicago, Washington

WASHINGTON (AP) — While the scandals in the cryptocurrency industry seem to never end, Washington policymakers appear to have little interest in pushing through legislation to codify the structure of the industry. The latest shoe to drop is Binance’s multibillion dollar settlement with U.S. authorities and the resignation of its CEO this week. When cryptocurrencies collapsed and a number of companies failed last year, Congress considered multiple approaches for how to regulate the industry in the future. Brown has been highly skeptical of cryptocurrencies as a concept and he’s been generally reluctant to put Congress’ blessing on them through legislation. Yesterday’s development marks the same inflection point that we saw earlier at the intersection of the .com and post-.com eras.”

Persons: Sam Bankman, cryptocurrencies, Janet Yellen, Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, Binance, General Merrick Garland, — Binance, Debbie Stabenow, John Boozman, Sen, Sherrod Brown, Brown, He’s, ” Brown, Fried, can’t, ”, Dennis Kelleher, Yiannis Giokas Organizations: WASHINGTON, Treasury, White, Biden Administration, Binance, U.S . Treasury, U.S, Securities and Exchange Commission, Coinbase, SEC, PayPal, Futures Trading Commission, Agriculture Committee, U.S ., Financial Services, Senate, Consumer, Better, Moody’s Analytics, U.S . Authorities Locations: Washington, United States, Cayman Islands, Ohio, stablecoins, U.S

The trend worries some U.S. lawmakers who fear corporate interest will make agricultural land unaffordable for the next generation of farmers. Investment firm acquisitions are also outpacing farmland purchases by foreign entities, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Lawmakers debated this year whether to curtail foreign farmland ownership, concerned that adversaries might buy land to exert political influence. "If the next generation isn’t enticed to come back to the farm," he said, "then who’s going to own that land?" About 60% of U.S. farmland is farmer-owned and -operated, with the rest owned by non-farmer operators including individuals, trusts, and corporations, according to USDA.

Persons: Nuveen, Paul Schadegg, Tim Gibbons, isn’t, It’s, David Gladstone, Gladstone, Cory Booker, Bruce Sherrick, Leah Douglas, Richard Valdmanis, Anna Driver Organizations: Investment, Reuters, Manulife Investment Management, National Council of Real Estate Investment, United Nations, U.S . Department of Agriculture, Lawmakers, Senate, National Defense, Farmers National Company, Missouri Rural Crisis Center, USDA, Gladstone, Agriculture Committee, TIAA, Research, University of Illinois, Thomson Locations: U.S, United, China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Missouri

When cryptocurrencies collapsed and a number of companies failed last year, Congress considered multiple approaches for how to regulate the industry in the future. Ironically, the failure of Bankman-Fried's FTX and his subsequent arrest late last year may have contributed to the momentum for regulation stalling out. Before FTX imploded, Bankman-Fried spent millions of dollars — illegally taken from his customers it turns out — to influence the discussion around cryptocurrency regulation in Washington and push for action. “Moreover, almost everything the crypto industry does is clearly covered by existing securities and commodities laws that every other law-abiding financial firm in the country follow," he said. Bartlett Collins Naylor, a financial policy advocate for Public Citizen's Congress Watch said “laws on fraud and securities are currently sound.”__Hussein reported from Lewiston, Maine

Persons: Sam Bankman, cryptocurrencies, FTX, Fried, “, Sens, Debbie Stabenow, John Boozman, Sen, Sherrod Brown, Brown, He’s, ” Brown, can’t, Joe Biden, Dennis Kelleher, Bartlett Collins Naylor, __ Hussein Organizations: Securities and Exchange Commission, Coinbase, PayPal, SEC, Commodities Futures Trading Commission, Agriculture Committee, U.S ., Financial Services, White, Federal Reserve, Consumer, Better, Public Citizen's, Watch Locations: PALM SPRINGS, Calif, Washington, Ohio, stablecoins, Lewiston , Maine

☆ These are the House Republicans running for speaker
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-22 | by ( Jack Forrest | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —The high-stakes race for House speaker enters a new phase this week, with a slate of new candidates vying for the gavel following Rep. Jim Jordan’s exit from the race. The former National Republican Congressional Committee chairman was first elected to Congress in 2014 and became majority whip earlier this year. Bergman is a member of the House Armed Services Committee where he chairs the Intelligence and Special Operations Subcommittee. Scott, who represents Georgia’s 8th Congressional District, serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Armed Services Committee and the House Agriculture Committee. Johnson sits on the House Judiciary Committee, Select Committee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government and on the House Armed Services Committee.

Persons: Jim Jordan’s, Kevin McCarthy, Tom Emmer Emmer, ” McCarthy, “ He’s, Tom, ”, ” Emmer, Donald Trump, Emmer, Kevin Hern The, Hern, McCarthy, Jack Bergman Bergman, –, Bergman, Austin Scott The, Austin Scott The Georgia Republican –, Scott, Byron Donalds The, ” Donalds, Francis Rooney, Donalds, Mike Johnson The, ” Johnson, Johnson, Pete Sessions, Colin Allred, Sessions, Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Ukraine –, Dan Meuser, Elise Stefanik, Meuser, Tom Corbett, Gary Palmer Palmer, Palmer, Steve Scalise Organizations: CNN, Republicans, GOP, Minnesota Republican, Press, Caucus, National Republican, Minnesota, Financial Services, Rep, Kevin Hern The Oklahoma Republican, Republican, Committee, McDonalds, Small Business, US Marines, Michigan’s, House Armed, Austin Scott The Georgia Republican, Jordan, California Republican, University of Georgia, Congressional, Intelligence, House Armed Services Committee, Agriculture, Byron Donalds The Florida Republican, Freedom Caucus, GOP Rep, Florida’s, Florida State University, Mike Johnson The Louisiana Republican, House Republican, House GOP, Federal Government, Pete Sessions Sessions, Texas, ”, Sessions, Trump, Pennsylvania Republican, Gov, Alabama’s, Energy, Commerce Locations: Michigan, Austin Scott The Georgia, Ohio, California, Georgia, Florida, Mike Johnson The Louisiana, House, Dallas, Waco , Texas, Ukraine, Pennsylvania, Alabama

☆ A little-known Georgia congressman is now running against Jim Jordan to be speaker of the House
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Georgia Rep. Austin Scott is running against Jim Jordan to be the GOP nominee for speaker of the House. Rep. Austin Scott, a Georgia Republican who's served in Congress since 2011, announced on Friday that he would be seeking his party's nomination to be speaker of the House. "We are busily googling Austin Scott right now," another House Democrat told Axios reporter Andrew Solender. AdvertisementAdvertisementScott appears to be running primarily to deny the nomination to Jordan, who he blames for denying Scalise the nomination. "I don't necessarily want to be the speaker of the House," Scott told Punchbowl News on Friday, adding that he doesn't think "anyone can get 217 votes."

Persons: Austin Scott, Jim Jordan, He's, Jordan, —, you've, Georgia Republican who's, Jim Jordan of, Steve Scalise, they'd, Scott, Andrew Solender, Mike Collins, Collins, they're, CNN's Manu Raju, I'm, Mike Pence Organizations: GOP, Service, Georgia Republican, —, Democrat, House Intelligence Committee, Armed Services Committee, Agriculture Committee, House Republicans, Electoral, Punchbowl News Locations: Georgia, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Arizona

A person walks past the U.S. Capitol building at sunset as the Republican-controlled House of Representatives reconvenes on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 9, 2023. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsAug 21 (Reuters) - A significant minority of members of the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday said they opposed a federal bill that would overturn a California animal welfare law, arguing it infringes on states' rights. The members urged Thompson and Scott not to include the EATS Act in the upcoming farm bill, a package passed every five years that funds nutrition and farm support programs. A spokesperson for Thompson, who has previously expressed support for the EATS Act, declined to comment. The current farm bill expires Sept. 30, although Congress will likely need to pass a short-term extension due to delays drafting and negotiating the next bill.

Persons: reconvenes, Leah Millis, Thompson, David Scott, Democrat Earl Blumenauer, Scott, Leah Douglas, Conor Humphries, Mark Porter Organizations: U.S . Capitol, Republican, REUTERS, U.S . House, Representatives, Agriculture, Democrat, Pork Producers Council, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, California

The letter written to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reflects rising partisan tensions in Congress over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The Democrats, all members of the House Agriculture Committee, told McCarthy that continuing Republican talk of SNAP cuts could jeopardize progress on this year's farm bill. Democrats now are seeking to protect the program from further cuts in the farm bill, which comes up every five years and funds farm commodity and conservation programs as well as SNAP and other food aid. Thompson, has said it will complete a farm bill draft by the end of August. The current farm bill expires on Sept. 30.

Persons: Mary F, Kevin McCarthy, McCarthy, David Scott, Joe Biden, Garret Graves, G.T, Thompson, Leah Douglas, Will Dunham Organizations: U.S, Washington , D.C, REUTERS, Democratic, Monday, U.S . House, Assistance, Agriculture, Republicans, SNAP, Republican, Senate, Thomson Locations: Washington ,

The crypto industry has been in the regulatory crosshairs since investors were burned last year by sudden collapses of Celsius Network, Voyager Digital, FTX and other companies. A handful of Democrats, including Reps. Jim Himes and Ritchie Torres, joined committee Republicans in voting for the bill. The bill has galvanized many in the crypto industry, who say that with Democrats' support, the bill could have a shot in the Senate. But some Democrats, including Representative Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the Financial Services committee, fiercely oppose the bill. "This bill heeds the calls from the crypto industry while disregarding the views of the administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission and consumer and investor advocates," she said.

Persons: Jim Himes, Ritchie Torres, Patrick McHenry, we've, Kristin Smith, Miller Whitehouse, Levine, Maxine Waters, Waters, Sherrod Brown, Hannah Lang, Matthew Lewis, Mark Porter, Diane Craft Organizations: Capitol, Voyager, House Financial, Trading, Securities, Exchange, Republicans, Agriculture, Financial Services, Blockchain Association, DeFi, Securities and Exchange Commission, Democratic, Banking, SEC, Politico, Thomson Locations: Singapore, Australia, United States, McHenry, Washington

But Representative Patrick McHenry, the chair of the committee, said on Thursday at the outset of a hearing that he had not reached a deal with Representative Maxine Waters, the committee's top Democrat. "We had high hopes 48 hours ago that we were going to come to a conclusion and then the White House reviewed where we were and disagreed," said McHenry. The stalemate comes just a day after the committee advanced a bipartisan bill that aims to develop a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and clarify when a token is a security or a commodity. A handful of House Democrats, including Jim Himes and Ritchie Torres, joined committee Republicans in voting for that bill, which is also being considered by the House Agriculture Committee on Thursday. Reporting by Hannah Lang in Washington; Editing by Bill BerkrotOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Patrick McHenry, Maxine Waters, McHenry, Jim Himes, Ritchie Torres, Hannah Lang, Bill Berkrot Organizations: Republican, Democrat, U.S . House Financial, ., U.S . Federal, White House, Democrats, Republicans, House, Thomson Locations: Washington

The crypto industry has been in the regulatory crosshairs since investors were burned last year by sudden collapses of Celsius Network, Voyager Digital, FTX and other companies. The markups - where legislation is debated and brought to a vote, paving the way for a full vote by the House of Representatives - are the first time crypto regulatory bills will be put to a vote in Congress, a victory for crypto lobbyists that have pushed lawmakers to provide regulatory clarity for the industry. His committee is expected to consider that bill during a markup on Wednesday, while the House Agriculture Committee will consider the same bill on Thursday. The bill has galvanized many in the crypto industry, who say that with Democrats' support, the bill could have a shot in the Senate. That effort escalated last month when the SEC sued crypto exchanges Coinbase (COIN.O) and Binance for failing to register some crypto tokens.

Persons: we've, Kristin Smith, Sherrod Brown, Patrick McHenry, McHenry, Miller Whitehouse, Levine, Maxine Waters, Waters, Hannah Lang, Matthew Lewis, Mark Porter Organizations: Capitol, Voyager, Financial, U.S ., Representatives, Blockchain Association, Democratic, Banking, Trading, Securities, Exchange, DeFi, SEC, Financial Services, Securities and Exchange Commission, Politico, Thomson Locations: Singapore, Australia, United States, McHenry, Washington

The crypto industry has been in the regulatory crosshairs since investors were burned last year by sudden collapses of Celsius Network, Voyager Digital, FTX and other companies. Still, it remains to be seen if the bills will garner any Democratic support, a factor seen by many as crucial to the bills' ultimate chances of becoming law. His committee is expected to consider that bill during a markup on Wednesday, while the House Agriculture Committee will consider the same bill on Thursday. The bill has galvanized many in the crypto industry, who say that with Democrats' support, the bill could have a shot in the Senate. That effort escalated last month when the SEC sued crypto exchanges Coinbase (COIN.O) and Binance for failing to register some crypto tokens.

Persons: we've, Kristin Smith, Sherrod Brown, Patrick McHenry, Miller Whitehouse, Levine, Maxine Waters, Waters, McHenry, Hannah Lang, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Capitol, Voyager, Financial, U.S ., Representatives, Blockchain Association, Democratic, Banking, Trading, Securities, Exchange, DeFi, SEC, Financial Services, Politico, Thomson Locations: Washington

☆ Analysis: U.S. crypto lobbyists court Democrats in fresh legislative push
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Michelle Price | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

That effort escalated last month when the SEC sued crypto exchanges Coinbase and Binance for failing to register some crypto tokens. Most crypto companies dispute the SEC's jurisdiction. It would expand the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) oversight of the crypto industry, while clarifying the SEC's jurisdiction. With Democrats' support, the bill could have a shot in the Senate. McHenry and Thompson are discussing the proposal with crypto companies, regulators and Democrats, and hope the committees will vote on it before the August recess, senior Republican policy staff said.

Persons: Cody Carbone, Patrick McHenry, Glenn Thompson, Brett Quick, McHenry, Thompson, Maxine Waters, David Scott, Scott, Vicente Gonzalez, Sylvia Garcia, Carbone, Spokespeople, Waters, Gonzalez, Garcia, Sam Bankman, Fried, Kristin Smith, Coinbase, spender, Kara Calvert, It's, Michelle Price, Hannah Lang, Douglas Gillison, Richard Chang Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Capitol, Blockchain Association, Chamber of Digital Commerce, Crypto, Innovation, Coinbase, Financial Services, Agriculture, Trading, Republican, Thomson Locations: Washington, United States

☆ Sen. Tommy Tuberville voted against a bill that just gave his state $1.4 billion for rural broadband. He's celebrating it anyway.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Biden administration announced Monday that Alabama will get $1.4 billion in broadband funding. Sen. Tommy Tuberville celebrated the news, calling the funding "crucial" for rural broadband. But he voted against the 2021 infrastructure bill that established the program he's now touting. "Coach voted against the infrastructure bill because it wasted Alabamians' tax dollars. He's advocated for including expanding rural broadband as part of an upcoming farm bill, and he introduced legislation earlier this year to shield broadband grants from being taxed as income.

Persons: Sen, Tommy Tuberville, —, Republican Sen, Tuberville, I've, Terri Sewell, Terri A, Sewell, Steven Stafford, Stafford, He's Organizations: Biden, Alabama, Service, Republican, Broadband Equity, Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Infrastructure Law, White House, Democratic, Agriculture, Rural Development, Energy Locations: Alabama

☆ Opinion | America Has a Chance to Make Farming More Climate Friendly
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Robert B. Semple Jr. | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +14 min

Why, when we think of climate change, do we think of big oil, not big ag; Exxon and not Tyson? It’s time you met the big ag lobby, one of the most powerful influences on policy in America. But when we started digging into the big ag lobby, we discovered it’s basically — “The most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. So the big ag lobby has one key aim — block environmental regulation. I absolutely envy how good these lobbyists are at their job.” It’s outrageous what the big ag lobby has gotten away with.

Persons: “, Peter Lehner, He’s, I’m, It’s, Tyson, Jennifer Jacquet, She’s, Peter, she’s, ”, Zippy Duvall, “ —, John Boehner, —, You’ve, Waxman, Markey, Obama, American Farm Bureau Federation didn’t, ” —, JBS, don’t, they’re, Chuck Schumer, Cory Booker, I’ve, they’ve Organizations: Agriculture, ExxonMobil, Shell, Exxon, Washington , D.C, American Farm Bureau Federation, Capitol, U.S . Farmers, Tyson, New York Times, Republican, Senate’s Agriculture, pharma Locations: America, United States, Lake Erie, U.S, China, Washington ,, Kyoto, Senate’s

☆ Crypto Crackdown: Coinbase and Binance Lawsuits Shake Markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Ephrat Livni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

said Coinbase made billions of dollars facilitating the sale of crypto assets as an unregistered exchange and deprived investors of significant protections. Coinbase and the S.E.C. Last year, Coinbase petitioned the S.E.C. Binance is accused of funneling billions of dollars of customer money to a company owned separately by Mr. Zhao. In addition to those charges Binance, like Coinbase, is accused of operating an unregulated exchange and issuing crypto currencies that the agency said should have been registered as securities.

Persons: Coinbase, Paul Grewal, Mr, Grewal, Binance, Zhao Locations: U.S

If Biden and McCarthy reach a deal, possibly as soon as Sunday, Congress could struggle to get enough votes for passage ahead of a June. Liberal Democrats, including Senator Raphael Warnock and Representative Ro Khanna, put Biden on notice that they do not support more stringent requirements to existing law. Republicans have called for saving $120 billion by expanding work requirements to qualify for food aid, monetary help for poor families and other assistance. Warnock accused Republicans of "using poor people as pawns" in negotiations, saying their proposal "presupposes that poor people are in some way morally deficient. The Republican-controlled House Ways and Means Committee describes the steps as "common-sense work requirements to help lift families out of poverty and revitalize the American workforce."

WASHINGTON, May 16 (Reuters) - Rural electric cooperatives, utilities, and other energy providers will soon be able to apply for nearly $11 billion in grants and loans for clean energy projects, funded by the $430 billion Inflation Reduction Act signed into law last August, the Biden administration said on Tuesday. Expanding clean energy to rural communities is critical to meeting the administration's goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, officials told reporters on a Monday press call. Rural electric cooperatives will be eligible to apply beginning July 31 for $9.7 billion in grants for deploying renewable energy, zero-emission, and carbon capture systems, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) said. Rural electric cooperatives serve 42 million people and draw about 22% of their energy from renewable sources, according to the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA). The new funds will help rural electric cooperatives reach parity with private utility companies who have already begun significant investment in clean energy, Vilsack told reporters.

REUTERS/Evelyn HocksteinWASHINGTON, May 15 (Reuters) - Expanding work requirements for the largest U.S. food assistance program is still a "red line" in negotiations over raising the country's debt ceiling to avert a looming default, Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow said Monday in an interview with Reuters. Republicans, whose party control the House of Representatives, have proposed increasing work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, as part of a spending deal. Expanding work requirements for SNAP would affect about 1 million people, the Department of Agriculture has estimated. "It is a red line as far as I’m concerned," the senator said of tying the expansion of work requirements to the debt ceiling talks. The debt ceiling plan released by Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in April would raise that top age to 56.

☆ U.S. food benefits for poor to shrink as pandemic provisions end
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Leah Douglas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives may also pursue further cuts to food assistance to shrink the U.S. deficit. “It’s going to put millions of households at risk of hunger,” said Eric Mitchell, president of the Alliance to End Hunger. The changes mean cuts of about $82 a month beginning in March for recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, said Ellen Vollinger of the Food Research & Action Center, an anti-hunger group. But in December’s spending bill fight, Congress negotiated a compromise to end them in February in exchange for a new summer food program for children. More than 76% of the current farm bill’s $428 billion price tag went to food assistance programs that serve 41 million people annually.

The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives may also pursue further cuts to food assistance to shrink the U.S. deficit. "It’s going to put millions of households at risk of hunger," said Eric Mitchell, president of the Alliance to End Hunger. The changes mean cuts of about $82 a month beginning in March for recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, said Ellen Vollinger of the Food Research & Action Center, an anti-hunger group. But in December's spending bill fight, Congress negotiated a compromise to end them in February in exchange for a new summer food program for children. More than 76% of the current farm bill's $428 billion price tag went to food assistance programs that serve 41 million people annually.

☆ Republicans want to restore 'dignity' for millions of Americans on food stamps by cutting their benefits even more
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Millions of Americans are about to see their allocation of food stamp benefits drop in March. For some Americans, especially older ones on fixed incomes, that means $258 will evaporate for their monthly food budgets. "Structural reforms to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will better position funding for people in need while incentivizing able-bodied people to return to the workforce," they wrote. "These incentives will prevent the condemnation of SNAP beneficiaries to a life of dependency; instead, incentives will restore their dignity." Democratic lawmakers are unlikely to be on board with the Republicans' proposal to cut benefits.

☆ John Fetterman's picture-taking, buddy-making, convention-breaking first month on Capitol Hill
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Delegation-mate Sen. Bob Casey told Insider that Fetterman is “off to a great start.”Top editors give you the stories you want — delivered right to your inbox each weekday. Insider spoke to Fetterman's colleagues, his staff, and congressional reporters about the newcomer's first month in Washington, and what to expect from him as Congress gets rolling. "I know Sen. Fetterman is interested in nutrition, and I share his concerns there, so I look forward to collaborating to get things done for folks in Pennsylvania and Vermont," Welch said. Food issues definitely fall under their purview as newly minted members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. 'Off to a great start'Sen. Casey told Insider that Fetterman has already hit the ground running.

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