The Hill – The White House said Tuesday it will use money from tariff revenue to fund a supplemental nutrition program facing a funding shortage amid the ongoing government shutdown.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on the social platform X that President Trump and the White House had identified the “creative solution” to shift tariff funds to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, commonly known as WIC, which was set to run out of money in the coming days.
“The Trump White House will not allow impoverished mothers and their babies to go hungry because of the Democrats’ political games,” Leavitt said.
It was not immediately clear how much money the Trump administration intended to infuse into the WIC program, or whether the White House could reallocate the funds without Congress …
MORE RECENT COVERAGE FROM KFF HEALTH NEWS DAILY BRIEFING
Axios: Exclusive: Organ Transplant Network Oversight Stalled Due To Shutdown
The Health and Human Services Department last week ordered the federal organ procurement and transplant network to halt many operations until the government shutdown is over, Axios has learned.
Patients will still be able to receive and donate organs, but many compliance and policy development activities will stop for the remainder of the shutdown, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. (Goldman, 10/8)
Throughout the government shutdown, President Trump and his top aides have repeatedly threatened to conduct another round of mass federal layoffs, insisting at times that they may have to shed workers to keep essential services from closing down. But the firings now under consideration may be unlawful or unnecessary, according to a wide range of budget experts, legal scholars and union officials. They say that the White House is only looking to exploit the fiscal stalemate to further its political agenda, shrink the government and punish Democrats. (Romm, 10/7)
Senate Republicans confirmed a staggering tranche of President Donald Trump’s nominees on Tuesday as the government shutdown continues. Lawmakers voted along party lines to confirm the batch of 107 of Trump’s nominees, a move that whittled down the remaining pending nominees on the Senate’s calendar to double digits.
It also came as the upper chamber was deadlocked in the midst of a government shutdown, during which floor votes have largely been dedicated to trying to reopen the government. (Miller, 10/7)
Sen. Susan Collins is reportedly shopping around a potential off-ramp to the government shutdown that has paralyzed Washington, but the Maine Republican is not ready to give in on the primary demand by her Democratic colleagues.
Collins has been circulating a “discussion draft” of a proposal that would include GOP pledges on a deal related to enhanced Obamacare tax credits, Punchbowl News reported. (Doherty, 10/7)
There are brewing legal fights against the Trump administration for language it’s posting on federal websites and in government emails blaming the Democrats for the government shutdown. (Siegler, 10/7)
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