YouTuber's livestream appears on White House website
A YouTube content creator whose livestream talking about investments mysteriously appeared to take over a White House website says he has no idea how it happened. The livestream appeared for at least eight minutes late Thursday on whitehouse.gov/live, raising questions about whether the site was hacked. The site is where the White House usually streams live video of the president speaking. It's unclear if the website was breached or the video was linked accidentally by someone in the government. The YouTube content creator says if he'd known his stream would go “super public like that” he'd have dressed nicer and had "more pointed topics!” The White House says it's "looking into what happened.”
Settlement calls for NPR to get $36M in government funds
National Public Radio will receive approximately $36 million in government funding to operate the nation’s public radio interconnection system under the terms of a court settlement. Monday's settlement resolves a legal dispute in which NPR accused the Corporation for Public Broadcasting of bowing to pressure from President Donald Trump to cut off its funding. On March 25, Trump said at a news conference that he wants to defund NPR and PBS because he believes they are biased in favor of Democrats. NPR accused the CPB of violating its First Amendment free speech rights when it moved to cut off its access to grant money appropriated by Congress.
Settlement calls for NPR to get $36M in government funds
National Public Radio will receive approximately $36 million in government funding to operate the nation’s public radio interconnection system under the terms of a court settlement. Monday's settlement resolves a legal dispute in which NPR accused the Corporation for Public Broadcasting of bowing to pressure from President Donald Trump to cut off its funding. On March 25, Trump said at a news conference that he wants to defund NPR and PBS because he believes they are biased in favor of Democrats. NPR accused the CPB of violating its First Amendment free speech rights when it moved to cut off its access to grant money appropriated by Congress.
Fannie Mae officials ousted after concerns over confidential data
A confidant of Bill Pulte, the Trump administration’s top housing regulator, provided confidential mortgage pricing data from Fannie Mae to a principal competitor. Emails reviewed by The Associated Press reveal the disclosure alarmed senior officials of the government-backed lending giant, who warned it could expose the company to claims that it colluded with a rival to fix mortgage rates. The emails show the data was shared with rival government-backed lender Freddie Mac by an associate of Bill Pulte, who was working on the Federal Housing Finance Agency director's behalf. Fannie Mae and the FHFA both say they take compliance with the law seriously.
Trump administration ramps up crackdown on US visa holders
The Trump administration says it’s reviewing more than 55 million foreigners who have valid U.S. visas for any violations that could lead to deportation. In a written answer to a question from The Associated Press, the State Department said all U.S. visa holders are subject to “continuous vetting.” It says it has an eye toward any indication that they could be ineligible for permission to enter or stay in the United States. The State Department’s new language suggests that the continual vetting process is far more widespread and could mean even those approved to be in the U.S. could abruptly see those permissions revoked.
Trump order on Smithsonian targets programs with 'improper ideology'
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order on the Smithsonian Institution that targets funding to programs that contain what he calls “divisive narratives” and “improper ideology.” Trump says there’s been a “concerted and widespread” effort over the past decade to rewrite American history by replacing “objective facts” with a “distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.” He has signed an executive order putting Vice President JD Vance in charge of an effort to “remove improper ideology” from the Smithsonian Institution, including its museums, education and research centers and the National Zoo.
Supreme Court seems likely to OK $8 billion phone and internet subsidy for rural, low-income areas
The Supreme Court seems likely to preserve the $8 billion a year the government spends to subsidize phone and internet services in schools, libraries and rural areas. The justices heard nearly three hours of arguments Wednesday as they reviewed a ruling that struck down as unconstitutional the Universal Service Fund. The tax has been added to phone bills for nearly 30 years. Liberal and conservative justices alike voiced concern about potentially devastating consequences of eliminating the fund that has benefited millions of Americans. A decision is expected by late June.
Judge tells agencies to restore webpages, data removed after Trump's executive order
A federal judge has told government agencies to restore public access to health-related webpages and datasets they removed to comply with an executive order by President Donald Trump. U.S. District Judge John Bates in Washington agreed Tuesday to issue a temporary restraining order requested by the Doctors for America advocacy group. The judge instructed the government to restore access to several webpages and datasets the group identified as missing from websites. Agencies removed the material after the Republican president signed an order for them to use the term “sex” and not “gender” in federal policies and documents. The scrubbed material includes reports on HIV prevention and a webpage for providing clinicians with guidance on reproductive health care.
President Trump highlights investing $500 billion in 'Stargate' AI project
President Donald Trump is talking up a joint venture investing up to $500 billion for infrastructure tied to artificial intelligence by a new partnership formed by OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank. The new entity, Stargate, will start building out data centers and the electricity generation needed for the further development of the fast-evolving AI in Texas, according to the White House. The initial investment is expected to be $100 billion and could reach five times that sum. While Trump has seized on similar announcements to show that his presidency is boosting the economy, there were already expectations of a massive buildout of data centers and electricity plants needed for the development of AI.
President Trump highlights investing $500 billion in 'Stargate' AI project
President Donald Trump is talking up a joint venture investing up to $500 billion for infrastructure tied to artificial intelligence by a new partnership formed by OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank. The new entity, Stargate, will start building out data centers and the electricity generation needed for the further development of the fast-evolving AI in Texas, according to the White House. The initial investment is expected to be $100 billion and could reach five times that sum. While Trump has seized on similar announcements to show that his presidency is boosting the economy, there were already expectations of a massive buildout of data centers and electricity plants needed for the development of AI.
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