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5.29pm BST
Biden spoke briefly then answered a f...
Trump administration
Why is a Trump official charging taxpayers thousands for a ‘girls’ night’?
In 2018, Seema Verma spent $2,933 on a girls’ night, according to a 17-month investigation by congressional Democrats – but it isn’t the worst of her claims
They say money can’t buy you happiness, but it can buy you a really expensive girls’ night – which is exactly what Seema Verma, the Trump administration’s top Medicaid official, has been spending on – and charging the taxpayer for it too.
In 2018, Verma spent $2,933 organizing a “girls’ night” at a reporter’s house and char...
H-1B workers pay billions in taxes to fund programmes that benefit American citizens
The Donald Trump administration has often blamed H-1B workers for stealing jobs from Americans. But this myopic view ignores how much these foreign workers contribute to the US economy.
As per a new study, an estimated three million H-1B visa holders contribute hundreds of billions to the US government programmes like social security and medicare—which they don’t even benefit from—and to local businesses and American companies.
The study, conducted by immigrant...
Covid-19 survivors could lose health insurance if Trump wins bid to repeal Obamacare
- ACA prevents denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions
- Abolition could mean Covid-19 victims could be turned down
Millions of Americans who have survived Covid-19 or face future infections could lose their insurance or be barred from getting coverage should the Trump administration successfully repeal Obamacare.
The Trump administration asked the supreme court late Thursday to overturn the Affordable Care Act – a move that, if successful, would bring a permanent end to the health insurance reform law popularly known as Obamacare.
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Trump administration asks supreme court to axe Obamacare
Democrats call legal push amid coronavirus crisis an ‘act of unfathomable cruelty’
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The Trump administration has asked the US supreme court to invalidate the Obamacare lawthat added millions to the healthcare safety net but has been at the centre of political controversy.
The government advocate, Noel Francisco, argued in a filing late on Thursday that the Affordable Care Act (ACA), one of Ba...
Coronavirus US live: death toll nears 80,000 as Trump rages over Russia
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Precautions against Covid-19 infection have been stepped up at the White House but are hampered by the cramped and poorly ventilated conditions in the West Wing, Kevin Hassett, a special adviser to Donald Trump on the pandemic response, said on Sunday.
Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin has been talking to Fox News Sunday about the Trump administration’s attempts to reopen and restart the stalled US economy, and whether there will be another huge stimulus bill. Democrats who control the House want one of those but the White House doesn’t – that’s the short version.
The White House is “absolutely pushing for a payroll tax cut”, Mnuchin says. Most observers think that is a non-starter, because Democrats won’t let it. Payroll taxes, meaning deductions from regular paychecks, include funds for Social Security and Medicare, vital social benefits.
Related: US job losses have reached Great Depression levels. Did it have to be that way?
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Ex-Obama official warns US health system faces ‘tsunami’ over coronavirus
Andy Slavitt, formerly Medicare and Medicaid administrator, tweets outline of threat after ‘Trump’s months-long denial’
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Hospitals in the US could be overrun by coronavirus cases in little more than a week, a former Obama administration senior health official has warned, fearing a “tsunami-like” escalation that would leave tens of thousands in need of inpatient medical care but unlikely to receive i...
Biden and Sanders cancel rallies over coronavirus concerns – live
- Sanders and Biden call off Ohio events to heed public warnings
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10.28pm GMT
Asked whether Trump — a self-described germaphobe — would continue to shake hands with people amidst the spread of coronavirus, the vice president said he expects so.
“Well, ...
Trump announces new visa restrictions and plan to extend travel ban
The president also showed a willingness to make cuts to social security and Medicare and will attend an anti-abortion event
As the impeachment trial gets into stride in Washington against Donald Trump, the president on Wednesday announced a plethora of new plans, policies and programs as he prepared to make his way back to the US from the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
Speaking with reporters in Davos, Trump announced that he intends to expand his controversial travel ban...
US think-tank says Trump and Obama ignored nearly a million “victims” of H-1B
An anti-immigration non-profit in the US has accused two successive governments of inaction on curtailing the H-1B visa programme, which it says has cost 1.2 million jobs to Americans.
