USANEWSBEST

Business & Finance

Here are the changes to expect

Djelics | E+ | Getty Images Retirees can expect to see some big changes in 2025 when it comes to their Social Security and Medicare benefits. President Joe Biden is expected to sign a bill that will increase Social Security benefits for certain pensioners. Additionally, the annual Social Security cost-of-living adjustment goes into effect for […]

Politics

One state’s requirement that voters prove citizenship didn’t work out so well

TOPEKA, Kan. — Republicans made claims about illegal voting by noncitizens a centerpiece of their 2024 campaign messaging and plan to push legislation in the new Congress requiring voters to provide proof of U.S. citizenship. Yet there’s one place with a GOP supermajority where linking voting to citizenship appears to be a nonstarter: Kansas. That’s […]

Politics

Senate eyes vote before midnight on government funding after House approves bill to prevent shutdown

WASHINGTON — Approaching a midnight government shutdown deadline, the Senate set up votes toward final passage late Friday of a new plan that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid, but drops President-elect Donald Trump’s demands for a debt limit increase into the new year. House Speaker Mike Johnson had insisted Congress would “meet […]

Politics

Elon Musk’s strange debut as a federal budget negotiator

In the wake of a successful effort to kill a year-end spending bill and replace it with more limited legislation to keep the government open, Elon Musk declared victory last week on X (formerly Twitter), the social media platform he owns: “Your actions turned a bill that weighed pounds into a bill that weighed ounces!” […]

Politics

What Trump’s decision to wade into spending fight tells us about the next 4 years

WASHINGTON — After days of threats and demands, Donald Trump had little to show for it once lawmakers passed a budget deal in the early hours of Saturday, narrowly averting a pre-Christmas government shutdown. The president-elect successfully pushed House Republicans to jettison some spending, but he failed to achieve his central goal of raising the […]

Politics

Lara Trump steps down as RNC co-chair and addresses speculation about Florida Senate seat

Lara Trump will step down as co-chair of the Republican National Committee as she considers a number of potential options with her father-in-law, President-elect Donald Trumpset to return to the White House. Among those possibilities is replacing Florida Sen. Marco Rubiowhom Trump tapped to be the next secretary of state. If Rubio is confirmed, Florida […]