IF YOU ENJOY SR AND FIND IT USEFUL WOULD YOU PLEASE DONATE
When I began Schwartzreport my purpose was to produce an entirely fact-based daily publication in favor of the earth, the inter-connectedness and interdependence of all life, democracy, equality for all, liberty, and things that are life-affirming. Also, to warn my readers about actions, events, and trends that threaten those values. Our country now stands at a crossroads, indeed, the world stands at a crossroads where those values are very much at risk and it is up to each of us who care about wellbeing to do what we can to defend those principles. I want to thank all of you who have contributed to SR, particularly those of you who have scheduled an ongoing monthly contribution. It makes a big difference and is much appreciated. It is one thing to put in the hours each day and to do the work for free, but another to have to cover the rising out-of-pocket costs. For those of you who haven’t done so, but read SR regularly, I ask that you consider supporting it.
The stature of the United States in the world has suffered a massive wound. I predict the Chinese are going to step into the void created by “king” Trump. We are a declining nation both within our own borders, and geopolitically.
‘king” Trump Credit: Brian Snyder / Reuters
Chaos and uncertainty are swirling around the Trump adminisration’s new order halting most foreign aid grants for three months – and introduced the possibility that organizations dependent on federal funds could soon face bankruptcy, according to a report in Politico.
By Monday, groups spanning from health providers to landmine removers were still digesting the Friday directive issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with some bewildered by its scope and still struggling to make sense of it, the report added.
“This ‘stop work’ order is cruel and deadly,” Health GAP executive director Asia Russell told Politico. “It will kill people.”
The sudden freeze, which reportedly shocked State Department officials, is spurring organizations to weigh which programs to cut and whether to trim employees or even cease operations, according to the publication.
“We operate on a shoestring budget,” the head of one non-governmental organization on the receiving end of funding from the State Department and USAID told Politico, who was […]
“king” Trump, by gutting the science advisory panels of the EPA, is making it clear that the United States government during his administration is going to do nothing to prepare for the ongoing devastation of climate change. It is all part of Project 2025. As “king” Trump has said his administration is all about “drill, baby…drill.”
EPA’s acting administration has dismissed members of two science advisory panels. | Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP
Acting EPA Administrator James Payne has ousted all members of two of the agency’s most influential science advisory panels, giving President Donald Trump’s administration the opportunity to reshape them with its own appointees.
In an obliquely worded email sent late Tuesday afternoon, Payne said a decision had been made to “reset” the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee and Science Advisory Board “to ensure that the agency receives scientific advice consistent with its legal obligations to advance our core mission.”
EPA will seek nominations in the coming weeks, Payne added, with all members encouraged to reapply.
The CASAC provides independent expertise to EPA staff during statutorily required reviews of ambient air quality standards for lead, ozone and four other pollutants; the SAB offers scientific and technical advice on a range of issues.
Payne’s use of the word “reset” echoes language used by then-EPA Administrator Michael Regan, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, when he similarly fired members of both panels in 2021. […]
With all the other devastation being wrought by “king” Trump on the American government this hardly got mentioned, except in the medical newsletters. But “king” Trump’s purpose is clear. He and his MAGAt party are going to try to make political control of a woman’s body the national norm.
Anti-abortion demonstrators Credit: Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP
President Donald Trump announced Thursday he would pardon anti-abortion activists convicted of blockading abortion clinic entrances.
Trump called it “a great honor to sign this.”
“They should not have been prosecuted,” he said as he signed pardons for “peaceful pro-life protesters.”
Lauren Handy was sentenced to nearly 5 years in prison for leading the blockade by directing blockaders to link themselves together with locks and chains to block the clinic’s doors. A nurse sprained her ankle when one person pushed her while entering the clinic, and a woman was accosted by another blockader while having labor pains, prosecutors said. Police found five fetuses in Handy’s home after she was indicted.
Trump pardoned Handy and her nine co-defendants: Jonathan Darnel of Virginia; Jay Smith, John Hinshaw, and William Goodman, all of New York; Joan Bell of New Jersey; Paulette Harlow and Jean Marshall, both of Massachusetts; Heather Idoni of Michigan; and Herb Geraghty of Pennsylvania.
The outcry was so great yesterday that “king” Trump is backing down on some of his sweeping devastation of the American government through his OMB order. I think that should be prominently noted and reported on by media, although that isn’t what is happening. But I hope my readers have paid attention to this. I think we should also be very conscious that we are just at the beginning of what the MAGAts are going to try and carry out. For instance, look at this proposal that kids should be working at McDonald’s if they want to eat and free school lunches should be eliminated.
Republican Representative Rich McCormick. Credit: Samuel Corum / Getty
Republican congressman has suggested that children should work at McDonald’s instead of relying on federally funded school lunch programs.
Why It Matters
President Donald Trump‘s administration has ordered a temporary pause on nearly all federal grants and loans. The order, which is set to take effect at 5 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, could paralyze thousands of programs that use government money, including school lunch programs and childhood cancer research.
Matthew Vaeth, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote in an internal memo ordering the pause on Monday that it was necessary because “the use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve.”
What To Know
Representative Rich McCormick of Georgia suggested during an interview with CNN‘s Pamela Brown on Tuesday that free lunch programs were a way for school children to “sponge off the government” after being asked if he would “support getting rid of school lunch for vulnerable kids.”
“When you talk about school lunches, hey, I worked my way […]
JoNel Aleccia, Moriah Balingit, Collin Binkley, Matthew Daly, Lisa Mascaro, Adithi Ramakrishnan, Amanda Seitz, Michael Sisak, Lindsay Whitehurst and Tammy Weber, Reporters - Huffington Post | Associated Press
Stephan:
Criminal Trump basically shut down the government today, despite his administration’s denial, but this move has been blocked by U.S. Districct Court Judge Loren L. AliKhan. However, the block only lasts until Monday. So we have five days to see whether Congress and governors can do something to stop what Trump has done. The United States literally stands on the edge of a precipice. By this coming Tuesday we will know whether America remains a democracy.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the House Republican Members Conference Dinner at Trump National Doral Miami, in Miami, Florida on January 27, 2025. Credit: Mandel Ngan | Getty
WASHINGTON , D.C. — U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan blocked the Trump Administration freeze action Tuesday afternoon, minutes before it was set to go into effect. The administrative stay pauses the freeze until Monday.A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked a push from President Donald Trump to pause federal funding while his administration conducts an across-the-board ideological review to uproot progressive initiatives.
The Trump administration plan plunged the U.S. government — and states and organizations that rely on federal funding — into panic and confusion and set the stage for a constitutional clash over control of taxpayer money.
The order from U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan came minutes before the funding freeze was scheduled to go into effect. The administrative stay, prompted by a lawsuit brought by nonprofit groups, lasts until Monday afternoon and applies only to existing programs.
Administration officials said the decision to halt loans and grants — a […]
The United States has become the most corrupt democracy (if you can still call America a democracy) in the developed world, and the reason for this is the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision which legalized the bribery of politicians. This produced a Congress of political whores, a corrupted Supreme Court, and a deranged President who thinks he is a king. Nothing will change any of this until Citizens United is overturned either by the Court or Congress. Whether that will happen before we become a christofascist state is up to you. It is going to take millions of Americans rising up in protest for any of this transformation to stop.
As President Donald Trump triumphantly returned to the White House thanks in part to a tsunami of campaign cash from oligarchs and corporate interests, democracy defenders on Tuesday marked the 15th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that unleashed such spending by urging action to overturn the decision.
In a nation where corporations and moneyed interests already wielded disproportionate power and influence over elections, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commissionreversed campaign finance restrictions dating back to the era of Gilded Age robber barons. The ruling affirmed that political spending by corporations, nonprofit organizations, labor unions, and other groups is a form of free speech protected by the 1st Amendment that government cannot restrict. The decision ushered in the era of super PACs—which can raise unlimited amounts of money to spend on campaigns—and secret spending on elections with so-called “dark money.”
In his Citizens Uniteddissent, Justice John Paul Stevens asserted that “in a functioning democracy the public must have faith that its representatives owe their positions to the people, not to the corporations with the deepest […]
Thanks to criminal Trump about a third of Americans just lost their healthcare. If you are on Medicaid you may be one of them. If you have a child that depends on food support, or an elderly person who gets some kind of federal aid, they are cut off as well. What can you do? Please call (202) 224-3121 and ask for your Senators and Representative, and register your outrage and displeasure over what Trump has done.
Hospital hallway corridor lined with medical equipment. Credit: Catherine McQueen / Getty
President Donald Trump’s move to freeze federal funding for a massive number of government programs seems to have impacted Medicaid payment systems across the country, potentially locking 72 million Americans out of their health insurance. “Can confirm. Connecticut’s Medicaid payment system has been turned off. Doctors and hospitals cannot get paid,” wrote Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut in a post on the social media site X. “Discussions ongoing about whether services can continue.”
Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden said on X that his staff has confirmed that Medicaid portals in all 50 states are down due to the Trump administration’s federal funding freeze.
The U.S. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) did not immediately respond to request for comment from Quartz.
“The White House is aware of the Medicaid website portal outage. We have confirmed no payments have been affected — they are still being processed and sent,” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt wrote in a post on X on Tuesday.
As part of his effort to dismantle the American government and turn it into a dictatorship, Trump has isolated the United States from the international healthcare network maintained by the World Health Organization. This is the organization that coordinates amongst countries when a pandemic occurs. This is the organization that shares research on new medical developments. The impact of this withdrawal will be devastating.
US public health officials have been told to stop working with the World Health Organization (WHO), effective immediately.
A US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) official, John Nkengasong, sent a memo to senior leaders at the agency on Sunday night telling them that all agency staff who work with the WHO must immediately stop their collaborations and “await further guidance”.
Experts said the sudden stoppage was a surprise and would set back work on investigating and trying to stop outbreaks of Marburg virus and mpox in Africa, as well as brewing threats from around the world. It also comes as health authorities around the world are monitoring bird flu outbreaks among US livestock.
The Associated Press viewed a copy of Nkengasong’s memo, which said the stop-work policy applied to “all CDC staff engaging with WHO through technical working groups, coordinating centers, advisory boards, cooperative agreements or other means – in person or virtual”. It also says CDC staff are not allowed to visit WHO offices.
Donald Trump last week issued an executive order to begin the process of withdrawing the US from WHO, but that did not take immediate effect. Leaving WHO […]
