The White House has withdrawn President Donald Trump's order to freeze funding for federal social programs, BNR reported. The head of the Office of Management and Budget sent a memorandum to the heads of US departments and agencies, saying that the earlier order was being revoked, NBC reported.
The suspension caused tension and was also challenged in courts.
Trump's decision did not affect Medicaid benefits (a government health insurance program for adults and children with limited means) and other social programs.
Days earlier, the US suspended almost all foreign aid, including humanitarian and military, AFP recalls.
The Republican-controlled Senate yesterday confirmed Lee Zeldin as head of the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
The agency notes that this is a key role that will help President Donald Trump fulfill his promise to repeal important environmental regulations, including those aimed at slowing climate change and promoting the use of electric vehicles.
The vote was 56 to 42 in favor of Zeldin.
A former Republican congressman from New York, Zeldin is a longtime Trump ally. He was part of Trump's defense team during his first impeachment. Zeldin also voted against certifying Trump's 2020 election loss to former President Joe Biden.
During his Senate hearing yesterday, Zeldin, 44, said he has a moral responsibility to be a good steward of the environment and pledged to support professionals who are dedicated to the agency's mission to protect human health and the environment.
Robert F. Kennedy, President Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of health and human services, was sharply criticized during his Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday for his anti-vaccination views. One Democratic senator even called him a conspiracy theorist and a person who persuades people not to take life-saving medications, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
In his appearance before the Senate Finance Committee, during which he tried to prove to congressmen that he had the necessary qualities for the post, Kennedy assured senators that he was not against vaccines and indicated that he would fight the growing share of chronic diseases. The health secretary candidate added that he would fully follow Trump's policies on abortion.
"I believe vaccines play a key role in health care. All my children are immunized", said Kennedy, 70, who came to his hearing with his wife Cheryl Hines and some of their children.
"We are number one in the world in chronic diseases, there is no other country ahead of us in this indicator", he pointed out. "This is an existential threat", Kennedy added.
An environmental lawyer, he is considered a controversial nomination by both parties in the US Congress, mainly because he has spread misinformation about the safety of vaccines in the past.
During the hearing, Democratic senators recalled a number of his statements, including that no vaccine is safe and effective. They also questioned other public statements he made in the past without evidence, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he claimed that the virus was engineered to strike white and black people, and also that it was highly likely that Lyme disease was a biological weapon.
Democratic Senator Michael Bennett said that Kennedy spoke with conviction, but in the past he had told half-truths and untruths.
"It doesn't matter what you come in here and say now," Bennett said. "It doesn't reflect your actual views," the senator added.
The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate has not yet rejected a single Trump nomination. On Friday, however, the president's nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, had to be approved by a vote of 51 to 50, with the casting vote of Vice President J.D. Vance.
Outside the hearing, Republican Senator Tom Tillis said that Kennedy was doing a "wonderful job".
Tillis is one of the Republicans that opposition groups in the United States have targeted to convince and entice them to vote against Kennedy.
Republican Senator Ron Johnson spoke in support of Kennedy during the hearing. He thanked him and asked, "Can't we come together as a nation and get the job done?"
Kennedy seemed unsure how to answer questions about the Medicaid program and the Medicare program, which make up the bulk of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services budget. In response to a series of questions from Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, Kennedy said he had no specific proposal for reforming Medicaid.