Author: potus

The price of bitcoin rose again on Wednesday, reaching above $108,000 at an intraday high, as investors looked past the recent tensions in the Middle East and the stock market hovered near an all-time record.But the trading in cryptocurrencies was uneven, with ether and solana both slipping modestly in afternoon trading.Washington, D.C., figured in a major way in the latest crypto headlines.Fed Chair Jerome Powell spoke about crypto in his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday morning, saying the stablecoin industry has matured significantly over the past few years, and increasingly become part of the mainstream financial landscape. The…

WASHINGTON (AP) — One key unsettled issue stalling progress on President Donald Trump’s big bill in Congress is particularly daunting: How to cut billions from health care without harming Americans or the hospitals and others who provide care?Republicans are struggling to devise a solution to the health care problem their package has created. Already, estimates say 10.9 million more people would be without health coverage under the House-passed version of the bill. GOP senators have proposed steeper reductions, which some say go too far.“The Senate cuts in Medicaid are far deeper than the House cuts, and I think that’s problematic,”…

(The Center Square) – As tensions flare over Republicans’ cost-saving reforms to Medicaid in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a new report from the Congressional Budget Office confirms that vulnerable populations currently on Medicaid would not lose health-care coverage.Out of the 7.8 million current Medicaid recipients estimated to lose health-care coverage under the bill, approximately 4.8 million are able-bodied adults between the ages of 19 and 64 who have no dependents and work less than 20 hours a week. Those recipients could still remain on Medicaid under the OBBBA if they decide to participate in work-related activities at least 80…

(The Center Square) – For three decades, politics in the 5th Congressional District have been shaped by the many “what if” questions about removing four dams on the Lower Snake River. The Washington State Department of Transportation is the latest agency to jump into the Lower Snake River dam breaching debate at a time when federal agencies are getting out of the water.The administration of President Donald Trump recently took action to halt efforts that could have led to the breaching of the lower Snake River dams in southeastern Washington. A June 12 Executive Order signed by President Trump directed all affected…

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, is seen on stage next to a small robot during the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, on June 11, 2025.Gonzalo Fuentes | ReutersNvidia CEO Jensen Huang said other than artificial intelligence, robotics represents the chipmaker’s biggest market for potential growth, and that self-driving cars would be the first major commercial application for the technology.”We have many growth opportunities across our company, with AI and robotics the two largest, representing a multitrillion-dollar growth opportunity,” Huang said Wednesday at Nvidia’s annual shareholders meeting, in response…

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Senate panel challenged on a bipartisan basis the merits of cancelling billions of dollars in spending for foreign aid and public media as part of a contentious hearing Wednesday examining the White House’s request for the cuts.The House has already voted to claw back $9.4 billion as requested by President Donald Trump. Now, the Senate is preparing to take up the package with a July 18 deadline for action. If the Senate declines to approve a measure by then, the Trump administration must obligate and spend the funds in question.Russell Vought, director of the White House…

(The Center Square) – According to the California Air Resources Board, the updated Low Carbon Fuel Standard is expected to add five to eight cents per gallon to the cost of gasoline when the rule comes into effect July 1. That’s on top of the existing eight to 10 cents per gallon CARB estimates consumers are already paying in pass-through gasoline costs for the LCFS.However, that estimate is still much lower than that from the University of Pennsylvania Kleiman Center for Energy Policy, which says that if LCFS credit prices reach their maximum allowable level, gasoline could become up to…

The Trump administration’s choice to oversee government-run news outlets like Voice of America told a congressional committee on Wednesday that “it’s best to just scrap the whole thing and start over.”Kari Lake, the former Arizona newscaster turned Republican politician, testified that the U.S. Agency for Global Media is “rotten to the core” and that any salvageable parts should be put under the control of the U.S. State Department.Lake appeared before the House Foreign Affairs Committee days after layoff notices were sent to hundreds of employees at the agency and Voice of America, cutting its staff by 85%. With politicians speaking…

Nestle said Wednesday it will eliminate artificial colors from its U.S. food and beverages by the middle of 2026.It’s the latest big food company making that pledge. Last week, Kraft Heinz and General Mills said they would remove artificial dyes from their U.S. products by 2027. General Mills also said it plans to remove artificial dyes from its U.S. cereals and from all foods served in K-12 schools by the middle of 2026.The move has broad support. About two-thirds of Americans favor restricting or reformulating processed foods to remove ingredients like added sugar or dyes, according to an AP-NORC poll.…

(The Center Square) – Under the Trump administration, the Department of Energy has so far issued five liquified natural gas (LNG) authorizations in the Gulf of America states of Louisiana, Texas and Florida.Under the first Trump administration, the U.S. became the largest LNG exporter in the world, led by the Gulf states of Louisiana and Texas. By 2023, Louisiana accounted for 61% of LNG exports, according to U.S. Energy Information Agency data.The new authorizations reverse Biden administration orders, including banning issuing new LNG export permits, which disproportionately negatively impacted Gulf states.“Exporting American LNG strengthens the U.S. economy and supports American…