biller genie
biller genie
Fulcrum Therapeutics to Participate in Upcoming December Conferences
Donald Trump’s transition team is quietly strategizing how to assuage the anti-abortion wing of the Republican Party amid concerns that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s past comments supporting abortion access could complicate his confirmation as the president-elect’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Republican senators and anti-abortion leaders have already sounded the alarm about Kennedy, who was running as a Democrat as recently as last year, and his past support for abortion access until fetal viability, which Trump’s team sees as a key vulnerability. Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, a new member of Senate GOP leadership, recently told Fox News: “It’ll come up in the hearing 100%. There’s no question that this will be an issue. I will raise it if no one else does.” Trump’s team has already begun giving assurances to anti-abortion leaders that they plan to stack other top health care positions with anti-abortion advocates to help alleviate those concerns, two people with direct knowledge of the conversations said. “I made clear to them that this needs to be tended to,” one anti-abortion leader, who spoke with the transition team over their concerns, told CNN. “We have some serious policy and personnel concerns that have been propriety to our community for 30 years. The expectation they’ve given me is they will have an assistant HHS secretary who more aligns with us.” Few in Trump’s orbit were surprised by his decision to name Kennedy to the top health care role since he had repeatedly vowed on the campaign trail to give the former independent presidential candidate, who endorsed him in August, power over health policy. But questions over Kennedy’s ability to win over Senate Republicans vital to his confirmation arose with the transition team both before and after he was offered the position, two sources briefed on the matter told CNN. Even before Trump selected him, the team had discussed staffing HHS with deputies who are more conservative on reproductive rights to signal that the agency would not deviate from Trump’s position, sources briefed on the discussions said. Once those staffing decisions are made, Kennedy is expected to meet with anti-abortion rights senators on the Hill. Abortion opponents say they have two priorities they want Kennedy to address: installing anti-abortion advocates in top roles and restoring the anti-abortion policies enacted in Trump’s first term. “There’s no question that we need a pro-life HHS secretary, and of course, we have concerns about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. I believe that no matter who is HHS secretary, baseline policies set by President Trump during his first term will be re-established,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, told CNN. Some of the policies anti-abortion advocates, like SBA Pro-Life America, have said they want in a second Trump term are for HHS to revive restrictions on federal funding going to family planning organizations that provide information about abortion. One Republican senator, who spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity to speak freely, said Republican senators concerned about Kennedy’s position on abortion will expect him to commit to reintroducing the restrictions on federal funding when he meets with them privately ahead of his confirmation hearings. “My general sense is that those of us who are more on the pro-life side of the spectrum here certainly don’t want the federal government promoting abortions,” the Republican senator said. “I think it’s pretty simple, and I think that would be the expectation.” Anti-abortion groups are also calling for the Trump administration to bring back an expansive approach to enforcing so-called “conscience protections,” which allow doctors and even hospitals to opt out of performing the procedure, and pushing for a reversal of several Biden-era policies, including guidance instructing hospitals to perform abortion in medical emergencies, even in states that ban the procedure, as well as a policy that allows for abortion pills to be obtained without an in-person doctor’s visit. Trump, amid pressure from anti-abortion groups and allies, said in April he believes abortion policy should be left to the states to legislate and later vowed to veto a federal abortion ban as president should such a bill reach his desk. In a statement to CNN, Trump transition spokesperson Katie Miller said Kennedy “has every intention of supporting President Trump’s agenda to the fullest extent.” “This is President Trump’s administration that Robert F. Kennedy has been asked to serve in and he will carry out the policies Americans overwhelmingly voted for in President Trump’s historic victory,” Miller said. A spokesperson for Kennedy did not respond to requests for comment. But Kennedy himself is aware of the concerns about him, two people familiar with the discussions said, and plans to personally assure senators that he supports Trump’s view that abortion should be left to states. During the 2024 campaign, Kennedy adopted several different positions, drawing criticism at various points from both abortion rights organizations and anti-abortion groups. In August 2023, while still running in the Democratic primary, Kennedy said he would sign a law banning abortion after three months of pregnancy if he were elected, though his campaign walked back his statement at the time. During a podcast interview in May, when he was running as an independent, Kennedy said he opposed any government limits on abortion at the state or federal level but walked back his comment after blowback from anti-abortion advocates, including from inside his own campaign. In the final months of his campaign, before he suspended his bid and endorsed Trump, Kennedy advocated for abortion to be legal until fetal viability and endorsed the framework implemented under Roe v. Wade. But he often downplayed the importance of abortion access as a salient political issue for voters, minimizing it as one of several “culture war issues” that are less important than “existential issues” like the national debt, inflation, attacks on freedom of speech and the increase in diagnoses of chronic diseases. In recent conversations with Trump’s transition team, Kennedy has indicated that he has little interest in shaping abortion policy, even as his role as secretary would give him broad authority over abortion access, including access to abortion medication. Instead, he has said he plans to focus more of his efforts on his promises to curb obesity and upend the nation’s food industry, sources familiar with the talks said. There is also a general belief within Trump’s orbit that, despite being controversial, Kennedy may secure at least a couple of Senate Democratic votes. However, that sentiment is not strong enough to prevent the transition from working to reassure concerned Republicans. Kennedy’s wavering on the issue led Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence — who staunchly opposes abortion rights and declined to endorse Trump this year — to call on GOP senators to reject his nomination. “On behalf of tens of millions of pro-life Americans, I respectfully urge Senate Republicans to reject this nomination and give the American people a leader who will respect the sanctity of life as secretary of Health and Human Services,” Pence said in a statement following Trump’s selection of Kennedy for the HHS role, calling the pick “deeply concerning to millions of pro-life Americans.” South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who had lobbied Trump during his 2024 campaign to support a 15-week national abortion ban with exceptions, recently told The Dispatch of Kennedy: “I want to see what he has to say about abortion. ... That will matter a lot to me.” Some GOP senators, including those who sit on the chamber’s Pro-Life Caucus, said they are confident Kennedy will honor Trump’s position. “Being a Cabinet secretary is not an exercise in individuality, you know? These people serve the principal, the principal is the president,” Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley told CNN. “So, I assume that he will support the president’s policies, whatever his personal position is. You don’t get hired because of your personal positions.” Hawley added: “I don’t want to presume I know the answers, but I’d be really surprised if he didn’t say ‘I’ll support the president’s policies on this and faithfully execute those.’” Fellow Missouri Republican, Sen. Eric Schmitt, acknowledged he has concerns about Kennedy’s views on abortion but defended him nevertheless, arguing he was picked by Trump to shake things up and “challenge a lot of things that so-called scientists don’t seem to want to challenge anymore.” “So am I going to agree with him on everything? I am ardently pro life. Of course not. But again, I think the president deserves the opportunity to put people in place who are going to implement change within, within these agencies that got way too big, way too powerful and they’re not accountable to anyone,” Schmitt told reporters in the Capitol. CNN’s Tierney Sneed and Ted Barrett contributed to this report.
Central Government Capex To Surge By 25% YoY In Second Half Of FY25: Jefferies
Feds suspend ACA marketplace access to companies accused of falsely promising ‘cash cards’He is not yet in power but President-elect Donald Trump rattled much of the world with an off-hours warning of stiff tariffs on close allies and China — a loud hint that Trump-style government by social media post is coming back. With word of these levies against goods imported from Mexico, Canada and China, Trump sent auto industry stocks plummeting, raised fears for global supply chains and unnerved the world’s major economies. For Washington-watchers with memories of the Republican’s first term, the impromptu policy volley on Monday evening foreshadowed a second term of startling announcements of all manner, fired off at all hours of the day from his smartphone. “Donald Trump is never going to change much of anything,” said Larry Sabato, a leading US political scientist and director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. “You can expect in the second term pretty much what he showed us about himself and his methods in the first term. Social media announcements of policy, hirings and firings will continue.” The first of Trump’s tariff announcements — a 25 percent levy on everything coming in from Mexico and Canada — came amid an angry rebuke of lax border security at 6:45 pm on Truth Social, Trump’s own platform. The United States is bound by agreements on the movement of goods and services brokered by Trump in a free trade treaty with both nations during his first term. But Trump warned that the new levy would “remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country” — sowing panic from Ottawa to Mexico City. Seconds later, another message from the incoming commander-in-chief turned the focus on Chinese imports, which he said would be hit with “an additional 10% Tariff, above any additional Tariffs.” The consequences were immediate. Almost every major US automaker operates plants in Mexico, and shares in General Motors and Stellantis — which produce pickup trucks in America’s southern neighbor — plummeted. Canada, China and Mexico protested, while Germany called on its European partners to prepare for Trump to impose hefty tariffs on their exports and stick together to combat such measures. – Framing the debate – The tumult recalls Trump’s first term, when journalists, business leaders and politicians at home and abroad would scan their phones for the latest pronouncements, often long after they had left the office or over breakfast. During his first four years in the Oval Office, the tweet — in those days his newsy posts were almost exclusively limited to Twitter, now known as X — became the quasi-official gazette for administration policy. The public learned of the president-elect’s 2020 Covid-19 diagnosis via an early-hours post, and when Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani was assassinated on Trump’s order, the Republican confirmed the kill by tweeting a US flag. The public and media learned of numerous other decisions big and small by the same source, from the introduction of customs duties to the dismissal of cabinet secretaries. It is not a communication method that has been favored by any previous US administration and runs counter to the policies and practices of most governments around the world. Throughout his third White House campaign, and with every twist and turn in his various entanglements with the justice system, Trump has poured his heart out on Truth Social, an app he turned to during his 20-month ban from Twitter. In recent days, the mercurial Republican has even named his attorney general secretaries of justice and health via announcements on the network. “He sees social media as a tool to shape and direct the national conversation and will do so again,” said political scientist Julian Zelizer, a Princeton University professor. AFP
Harris still fared better against Trump than any other potential Democratic nominee, poll findsBreaking Down BorgWarner: 6 Analysts Share Their ViewsTrump says he's a 'believer' in polio vaccine, and other news conference takeaways
Feds suspend ACA marketplace access to companies accused of falsely promising ‘cash cards’
WINNIPEG - Manitoba Métis Federation President David Chartrand told a ceremony for a new treaty that recognizes his organization as the government for the Red River Métis that the moment was 154 years in the making. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * WINNIPEG - Manitoba Métis Federation President David Chartrand told a ceremony for a new treaty that recognizes his organization as the government for the Red River Métis that the moment was 154 years in the making. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? WINNIPEG – Manitoba Métis Federation President David Chartrand told a ceremony for a new treaty that recognizes his organization as the government for the Red River Métis that the moment was 154 years in the making. “We will pursue something that’s rightfully ours, and no matter how long it takes, we will never give up.We will try and try and try,” Chartrand told the ceremony in Winnipeg on Saturday. The federation is the first Métis group to sign a modern treaty with the federal government, and the ceremony came after its members voted overwhelmingly in favour of the agreement last year during an assembly. It recognizes the Red River Métis have an inherent right to self-government and law-making powers over their own citizenship, elections and other operations. While the treaty doesn’t lay out specific rights around health care, harvesting or land, Chartrand has said those aspects will likely be negotiated later with the federal government on a nation-to-nation basis. It is subject to legislation passing in Parliament, and Chartrand has said the NDP, Bloc Quebecois and Greens have promised to support the Liberal government. Métis leader Louis Riel negotiated a treaty with Canada some 150 years ago, which led to Manitoba joining Confederation, a development that was supposed to reserve 1.4 million acres of land for Métis residents in the province. But Ottawa did not follow through with the promises of that agreement and Riel was eventually executed for high treason in 1885 for resisting Canada’s encroachment on Métis lands. Chartrand told the crowd gathered for Saturday’s signing ceremony, which included federal ministers, MPs and Premier Wab Kinew, that the injustices against Métis aren’t ancient history. When COVID-19 vaccines arrived in Canada, the federation’s leader fought to get Métis prioritized with other Indigenous groups to receive them, arguing that they, too, faced higher health risks. But he said that never happened because Métis didn’t have constitutional protection, and he said the federal and provincial governments argued over who had jurisdiction over them. “I still, to this day, will hold a grudge, and I’m one that doesn’t, but I’ll never forget what they did to us then. And that’s now, not 1800,” he said. Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree called the day “long overdue” and said he hopes to advance the necessary legislation to enable the treaty in the coming days. “I call upon all parliamentarians to support this initiative and ensure we have swift passage of this bill,” he said Saturday. Anandasangaree said once the treaty comes into effect, it will apply to the Manitoba Métis Federation’s approximately 42,500 Red River Métis citizens. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Chartrand has said he has not heard whether the Conservatives will back it. He noted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had intended to be at Saturday’s signing ceremony, but was pulled away Friday to fly to Florida for a dinner meeting with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump. “He’s doing his part and we clearly accept his regrets, because he personally wanted to be here,” Chartrand said. — By Rob Drinkwater in Edmonton, with files from Alessia Passafiume in Ottawa This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 30, 2024. Advertisement AdvertisementBy Keith Laing | Bloomberg California Governor Gavin Newsom is promising to step in with a state electric-car tax credit if US President-elect Donald Trump repeals a federal subsidy after he takes office next year. Newsom, a prominent Democrat and frequent critic of Republican politics, said in a statement Monday that he will propose rebooting a program California phased out in 2023 to provide EV buyers relief in lieu of a $7,500 tax credit targeted by Trump. Trump has long criticized President Joe Biden administration’s efforts to subsidize electric vehicles in a bid to boost adoption of cleaner cars. His transition team is now looking to slash fuel-efficiency requirements for new cars and light trucks as part of plans to unwind Biden policies the president-elect has blasted as an “EV mandate,” Bloomberg News reported last week. California clashed with Trump frequently on auto emission regulations during the incoming president’s first term, and the state’s leaders have made clear they are now girding for another fight. Newsom already has sought to shield the state’s policies on issues including reproductive rights, climate and immigration from potential threats under a Trump administration. California, as well as states including Oregon and Colorado, currently are exempt from rules that preempt them from enacting their own emissions standards for new vehicles. More than a dozen states representing more than a third of the US auto market now have formally opted to follow California’s rules. Trump in his first term targeted California’s right to set tougher gas mileage rules than the federal government. He is expected to make another attempt to roll back the California carve out under the 1970 Clean Air Act after taking office in January. Tesla settling technology theft suit against Rivian Tesla said last week it’s reached a “conditional” settlement in its 2020 lawsuit accusing Irvine-based Rivian Automotive of poaching employees to steal electric-vehicle trade secrets. Tesla didn’t disclose specifics about the agreement in a court filing, but told a California state judge that it expects to seek dismissal of the case by Dec. 24 upon satisfactory completion of the terms. Rivian declined to comment. A lawyer for Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The dispute kicked off more than four years ago when Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle maker accused Rivian of an “alarming pattern” of poaching its employees and stealing trade secrets. Some workers were “caught red-handed” misappropriating core technology for its next-generation batteries, Tesla later said. Rivian has denied wrongdoing and criticized the lawsuit as an effort to suppress competition in the EV market. Rivian and a group of its employees who defected from Tesla lost bids to get the lawsuit thrown out and a trial was set for March. —Malathi Nayak at Bloomberg contributed to this report.
KR, Sinokor, and HD Hyundai Marine Solution Join Forces to Transform Ship Maintenance with Advanced CBM Technology