All About The Deficit
NPR Congress’ two-year budget deal includes spending increases for the military, domestic programs and disaster relief. But it might also bring back trillion dollar annual...
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Author: Scott Horsley
White House Plan Giving Restaurant Owners More Control Over Tips Under Fire
NPR Enlarge this image Tip on Plate Gusto Images/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Gusto Images/Getty Images It’s last call for public comment on a Trump administration proposal that would give bar and restaurant owners more control over workers’ tips. The Labor Department has been asking for feedback, and already hundreds of thousands of people have weighed in. Many say they say they’re opposed to a rule that would allow restaurant owners to pocket tips for themselves. “I think it’s another example of corporate greed gone wrong,” says Julie Holmes, a former waitress from Virginia. “It basically makes people...
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From Taxes To The Swamp: Trump’s Promises, Kept And Incomplete, 1 Year In
NPR Enlarge this image Among the promises President Trump has kept during his first year in office is passing a tax bill, which he signed in December. Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images As President Trump approaches his first anniversary of taking office, he and others are taking stock. “2017 was a year of tremendous achievement, monumental achievement, actually,” Trump told members of his Cabinet last week. “I don’t think any administration has ever done what we’ve done and what we’ve accomplished in its first year.” The president has delivered on some of his major...
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Dr. Ronny Jackson: The White House Doctor Who Gave Trump A Clean Bill Of Health
NPR Enlarge this image White House physician Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson speaks at the press briefing at the White House on Tuesday. Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson has served with Navy bomb disposal units and underwater salvage teams. His latest assignment: defusing doubts about the health and mental fitness of the nation’s 71-year-old president. For nearly an hour Tuesday, Jackson stood in the White House briefing room, answering questions from reporters about President Trump’s physical exam, conducted last Friday. His lectern-side manner was both professional and disarming — the polar...
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Trump Ducks Questions On Mueller Interview
NPR Enlarge this image President Trump speaks during a news conference with Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg at the White House on Wednesday. Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images Updated at 4:27 p.m. ET President Trump refused to say Wednesday whether he would grant an interview to special counsel Robert Mueller, who is probing Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible ties between the Trump campaign and the Russians who attacked that election. “Certainly I’ll see what happens,” Trump said. “But when they have no collusion, and nobody’s found any collusion at...
Read MoreRepublicans Say They Delivered Tax Cuts, Democrats Say Not So Fast
NPR President Trump signed into law a massive tax cut bill, a major goal for him and Republican leaders in Congress. But Congress left Washington for the year with many issues still unresolved. SCOTT SIMON, HOST: President Trump is in Florida for the holiday weekend. Most members of Congress have also headed home for the holidays. Republicans say they’ve delivered a big Christmas gift to American workers with a $1.5 trillion tax cut. Democrats say humbug. They insist most of the savings from that bill will go to the wealthy and big corporations. NPR’s Scott Horsley joins us now to unwrap this package. Scott, thanks so much for being with us. SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE: Good morning, Scott. SIMON: President Trump signed the tax bill, of course, on Friday. According to polls, though, it’s still unpopular with the public. How might that change? HORSLEY: Well, the president and his Republican allies are certainly hoping it’s going to change. Trump says one reason he was eager to get this done now is so the IRS can go to work updating the tax tables that employers use to figure out how much to withhold from workers’ paychecks. That should be done over the next month or so. And that’s when the president thinks workers will start liking this tax bill a lot better. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Come February,...
Read MoreTrump To Outline His Blueprint For Military And Foreign Policy
NPR Enlarge this image President Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping leave a business leaders event in Beijing on Nov. 9. Trump’s national security strategy acknowledges that some world powers may be both allies and competitors. Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images President Trump will outline his goals for military modernization and economic advancement when he unveils his national security strategy Monday. The document — which every president is required by law to produce — offers a blueprint for Trump’s military and foreign policy. It could help to guide future decisions on defense spending, trade negotiations and international cooperation. Trump is set to showcase the strategy with an afternoon speech at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington. Administration officials say the strategy is built around four pillars: protecting the homeland; promoting prosperity; peace through strength; and advancing American influence. It also identifies three types of challenges: revisionist powers such as Russia and China; rogue regimes like North Korea; and transnational actors such as ISIS. The strategy acknowledges that some players may be both allies and competitors. The United States is counting on China, for example, to help contain North Korea’s nuclear threat, even as the administration tries to counter what it sees as China’s unfair trading practices. Likewise, the U.S. remains wary of Russia’s movements in Ukraine. But that didn’t stop the CIA from sharing...
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Tug Of War Over Tips Looms As Trump Administration Proposes Rule Change
NPR Enlarge this image The Trump administration has proposed a new rule that would give owners of restaurants and other service businesses more control over workers’ tips. Francis Dean/Corbis via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Francis Dean/Corbis via Getty Images Americans are big tippers. Every year, we leave more than $30 billion in tips, mostly in restaurants but also casinos, nail salons and other service businesses. Traditionally, the owners of those businesses have not had much control over how tips are distributed. But a proposed rule from the Trump administration could change that. “This rule has really been...
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