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The Trump administration is planning to scrap Medicare subsidies, which could leave seniors facing higher rates for their prescription coverage next year.After 2026, the government will stop providing billions in subsidies to insurance companies that keep premiums low for Medicare prescription plans, known as Part D, Trump administration officials told The Wall Street Journal Tuesday. Roughly 25 million people have Part D plans, and the average monthly payment was roughly $36 in 2026. Medicare recipients will learn of their new rates in the fall, right around the midterm elections, in which affordability is sure to be a key issue. A Trump administration official told the Journal that 25 percent of Medicare enrollees would see their premiums stay the same, 30 percent would see an increase of less than $10 to their monthly bill, and 45 percent would see a monthly increase of between $11 and $20. Note: The Trump administration has already overseen a price increase for some 700 prescription drugs covered by Part D plans. The administration official claimed that the subsidies had encouraged insurers to raise rates, and that there would be other means of keeping premiums low. If not, there were other affordable options, the official said. But Americans are already struggling under the weight of rising prices. Health insurance premiums have drastically outpaced the growth of employee paychecks, a strain that is only compounded by the growing cost of groceries, climbing utility bills, and elevated oil and gas prices. Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed he would not cut Medicare funding, though his One Big Beautiful Bill is set to reduce the program’s funding by an estimated $500 billion over the next eight years. Earlier this year, the president admitted he believed it was “not possible” to keep paying for Medicare, although the White House removed a recording of those remarks after posting them.

The gravity inside Congress is already poised to radically shift – and the primary season is far from over.

The deal with Saudi Arabia is intended to capture a lucrative market while fastening Riyadh more securely to the United States. It is nuclear commerce presented as non-proliferation.

Instead of enforcing environmental laws, it’s suing states over their efforts to hold oil companies accountable.

The change speeds up deportation proceedings, and over 444,000 currently pending asylum applicants could be affected.

Three U.S. travel hubs are ditching federal transportation security for private contractors.

The US is the richest country in the world, yet an international outlier on many measures. Among industrialized nations, the US spends a lower percentage of its GDP on public social expenditure, has no universal healthcare system, union density is at an all-time low, and the average American’s standard of living is in decline, as [...]

British health organizations reiterated calls for the government to use an exit clause in its NHS contract with Palantir and turn to locally developed solutions.

Austin Sarat ScheerPost When the Congress of the United States appropriates funds for a particular purpose, it is the president’s job to expend those funds as directed by Congress. Seems simple enough.  While disputes have arisen from time to time when presidents have either refused to spend such funds or redirected them to other purposes, […]