US Senate passes bill to avert government shutdown
The Republican-led House agreed to keep the government funded through September 30, allowing Donald Trump months to steer his agenda of tax cuts and mass deportations through Congress.
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The US House of Representatives approved a stopgap plan to avert a government shutdown that would pile more pain on the economic chaos marring Donald Trump’s early weeks in office.
The Republican-led chamber agreed in a largely party-line vote on Tuesday to keep the government funded through September 30 - giving Mr Trump the summer months to steer his agenda of tax cuts, mass deportations and boosted energy production through Congress.
The drama now moves to the Republican-led Senate, which needs to provide its own rubber stamp before Friday night’s midnight shutdown deadline.
But the bill needs Democratic votes and is on a knife edge.
“Now it’s decision time for Senate Democrats: cast a vote to keep the government open or be responsible for shutting it down,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, laying down the gauntlet for the upper chamber minority.
Passing the first hurdle marks a big win for Johnson, who had to sell the package to backbenchers sceptical of stopgaps - known as continuing resolutions (CRs) - which mostly freeze spending rather than making cuts.
The threat of a weekend shutdown comes with Wall Street reeling from Mr Trump’s trade war and radical cuts to federal spending that have seen tens of thousands of layoffs.
If the Senate fails to follow the House, there will be more economic misery as the government grinds to a halt, potentially leading to tens of thousands of public employees being furloughed as federal agencies shutter.
Senate Democrats are mostly opposed to the 99-page CR.
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NASA CHIEF SCIENTIST DISMISSED UNDER TRUMP ORDERS
NASA announced on Tuesday the dismissal of its chief scientist and others to comply with orders from President Donald Trump, marking the latest in a series of administration actions undermining climate change research.
While the move affects only 23 people, a spokeswoman indicated more cuts are coming.
The first round notably eliminates the Office of the Chief Scientist, led by Katherine Calvin, a renowned climatologist who contributed to key UN climate reports. She and other US delegates were also barred from attending a major climate science meeting in China last month.
“To optimize our workforce, and in compliance with an Executive Order, NASA is beginning its phased approach to a reduction in force, known as a RIF,” agency spokeswoman Cheryl Warner said.
“A small number of individuals received notification March 10 they are a part of NASA’s RIF. If they’re eligible, those employees may opt to participate in the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority, or VERA, or complete the RIF process.”
Also eliminated are the Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy and the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Branch of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
NASA has so far avoided the deep cuts affecting other agencies, reportedly due to last minute intervention by Jared Isaacman, Trump’s nominee for NASA chief. Mr Isaacman, an e-payments billionaire and SpaceX customer, is seen as close to Elon Musk — Mr Trump’s key advisor and architect of federal cost-cutting efforts.
In February, NASA had been preparing to lay off around a thousand probationary employees. However, Mr Isaacman reportedly asked for the cuts to be put on hold, according to Ars Technica. NASA has not explained the reversal.
The new layoffs, first reported by NASA Watch citing an internal memo, could signal a shift away from research and toward exploration.
Mr Trump and Mr Musk both support a human mission to Mars.
In his State of the Union address last week, the President declared the US would “plant the American flag on the planet Mars and even far beyond.”
NASA plays a crucial role in climate research, operating a fleet of Earth-monitoring satellites, conducting airborne and ground-based studies, developing sophisticated climate models, and providing open-source data to researchers and the public.
Mr Trump, who has called climate change a “scam” and expressed disdain for the UN and climate science, has already pulled the US out of the Paris Agreement for a second time.
Meanwhile, his administration has dismissed hundreds of employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the nation’s other key climate agency, with more cuts expected.
US EDUCATION DEPARTMENT FIRES 1300 EMPLOYEES
The US Department of Education said it was slashing staff numbers by almost half.
The move appears to be the opening gambit in a move to dismantle a department that right-wing Republicans have long detested, accusing it of overreach.
“As part of the Department of Education’s final mission, the Department today initiated a reduction in force impacting nearly 50% of the Department’s workforce,” said Education Secretary Linda McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment.
The department had around 4100 employees when Trump took office. Almost 600 agreed to resign or retire over the last few weeks as part of a government-wide plan to reduce headcount, overseen by billionaire businessman Elon Musk.
A further 300 will be placed on administrative leave on March 21, although they will continue to be paid until June, a statement said, adding no area would be spared the cuts.
“All divisions within the Department are impacted by the reduction, with some divisions requiring significant reorganization to better serve students, parents, educators, and taxpayers,” a statement read.
TRUMP DOUBLES TARIFFS AGAINST CANADA - THEN REVERSES THEM
The president announced he will slap 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium imports in a dramatic escalation of the trade war between the once-close trading partners.
Mr Trump was responding to the province of Ontario placing a 25 per cent tariff on electricity coming into the US.
However, in another twist in the tit-for-tat trade war, the Canadian province subsequently suspended its electricity tariffs while the US in turn halted its 50 per cent tax and reverted to the 25 per cent levy previously announced.
The president, in a post to Truth Social, threatened further retaliatory action.
“Also, Canada must immediately drop their Anti-American Farmer Tariff of 250 per cent to 390 per cent on various US dairy products, which has long been considered outrageous,” he wrote.
“I will shortly be declaring a National Emergency on Electricity within the threatened area.
“This will allow the US to quickly do what has to be done to alleviate this abusive threat from Canada.”
Mr Trump said if other tariffs were not dropped, he would look at “substantially” increasing his other tariffs due to come into effect on April 2, saying he had the ability to permanently shut down Canada’s automotive manufacturing business.
“Those cars can easily be made in the USA,” Mr Trump wrote.
He then took aim at the country’s defence budget, saying Canada was relying on the US for military protection and warning “this cannot continue”.
“The only thing that makes sense is for Canada to become our cherished Fifty First State,” Mr Trump wrote.
“This would make all Tariffs, and everything else, totally disappear.
“Canadians taxes will be very substantially reduced, they will be more secure, militarily and otherwise, than ever before, there would no longer be a northern border problem, and the greatest and most powerful nation in the world will be bigger, better and stronger than ever — and Canada will be a big part of that.”
Mr Trump said amalgamating Canada with the US would create the “safest and most beautiful nation anywhere in the world”.
“And your brilliant anthem, “O Canada,” will continue to play, but now representing a great and powerful state within the greatest nation that the world has ever seen,” he said.
STOCKS TUMBLE AGAIN; RECESSION FEARS GROW
Stocks slipped again on Tuesday after a sharp sell-off on Wall Street fuelled by fears about the US economy as President Donald Trump presses ahead with steep tariffs.
Traders had initially welcomed Mr Trump’s election win in late 2024, optimistic that his promised tax cuts and deregulation would boost the world’s biggest economy and help equities push to further record highs.
But there is now a growing pessimism that a recession could be on the cards amid warnings that tariffs imposed on key trading partners will reignite inflation, forcing the Federal Reserve to again start raising interest rates.
“Markets are jittery and volatility seems like the only certainty while the White House pushes hard to usher in a new era, seemingly happy for stock markets to be collateral damage,” said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
“Trump’s trade policies, including ongoing tariff discussions, are creating uncertainty and fears of economic slowdown,” said Shaun Murison, senior market analyst at the online trading platform IG.
“These tariffs could potentially elevate prices and complicate efforts to reduce interest rates,” he said.
Markets in London and Tokyo were down on Tuesday.
The weak sentiment also filtered through to bitcoin, which tumbled below US$80,000 on Monday to its lowest level since November - having hit a record of close to US$110,000 in January.
The cryptocurrency’s losses have also been driven by disappointment that Mr Trump signed an executive order to establish a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” without planning any public purchases of it.
When asked about the possibility of a recession, Mr Trump would not rule the scenario out, saying he disliked predicting such things.
“There is a period of transition, because what we’re doing is very big – we’re bringing wealth back to America,” Mr Trump said.
He said that would take some time, echoing his comments to joint Congress last week urging Americans to be patient during the transition.
Analysts have warned there is a higher risk of a global recession as a result of “extreme US policies”.
TRUMP’S ENERGY CHIEF TO REVERSE BIDEN CLIMATE POLICIES
The US energy secretary has vowed to reset federal energy policy to favour fossil fuels and deprioritise climate change as industry leaders gathered at their biggest event since President Donald Trump returned to office.
In the conference’s opening session, Energy Secretary Chris Wright cited the Trump administration’s moves to cut red tape that is delaying oil projects and promote liquefied natural gas exports as examples of a pivot away from policies pursued under former president Joe Biden.
“The Trump administration will end the Biden administration’s irrational quasi-religious policies on climate change that imposed endless sacrifices on our citizens,” Wright told a packed auditorium for the annual Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) conference.
Mr Trump made energy policy a central part of his agenda with his day-one “Unleashing American Energy” executive order, promising during his inaugural address to “end the Green New Deal” in favour of “that liquid gold under our feet.”
But Mark Brownstein, senior vice president at the Environmental Defense Fund, said Wright’s tone was “long on rhetoric,” adding, “at some point the administration needs to get off the campaign stump speech and get on with the business of governing.”
Brownstein described many CERA attendees as uncertain about investments, not only because of Mr Trump’s shifting position on energy and climate change, but also the nearly daily pivots on tariffs.
“The energy industry is a capital-intensive business and what they need to deploy capital at scale is certainty and consistency,” Brownstein told AFP.
USAID CONTRACTS SLASHED
The United States will cancel more than 80 per cent of USAID programs that do not align with the Trump administration’s “America First” agenda, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced.
“The 5200 contracts that are now cancelled spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, (and in some cases even harmed), the core national interests of the United States,” Mr Rubio said in a post.
“Thank you to DOGE and our hardworking staff who worked very long hours to achieve this overdue and historic reform.”
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) shout out comes amid reports of friction between Mr Rubio and DOGE architect Elon Musk.
Both men and Mr Trump have sought to downplay any dispute between the two chief advisers.
The majority of USAID worked were sacked or immediately placed on leave after Mr Trump came back into power.
The organisation’s 1000 remaining programs not slashed will be managed by the State Department.
Mr Musk responded to Mr Rubio’s post, describing the cuts as “tough but necessary”.
UN’S DIG AT TRUMP: ‘MASTERS OF MISOGYNY’
United Nations leader Antonio Guterres condemned rollbacks in women’s rights that he said had been condoned by some world leaders inferring US President Trump.
Without naming any country or leader, the UN secretary-general said “the poison of patriarchy is back – and it is back with a vengeance: slamming the brakes on action; tearing-up progress; and mutating into new and dangerous forms.”
Guterres said women’s rights were “under siege” at the annual meeting of the UN commission on the status of women, held 30 years after a major UN conference in Beijing agreed a blueprint for boosting sexual equality.
“Around the world, the masters of misogyny are gaining in strength, confidence and influence,” said Guterres, who added that progress on education and cutting maternal mortality was under threat.
“We see it in the bile hurled at women online. We see it in attempts to gut women’s human rights and fundamental freedoms. And we see it in the leaders happy to throw equality to the wolves.”
Guterres’s comments came as the US administration of President Donald Trump attacks diversity programs, Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities face mounting criticism over their treatment of women, and other countries have also cutback on rights.
Guterres said: “Reproductive rights are under attack, and equality initiatives discarded. Meanwhile, new technologies – including artificial intelligence – are creating new platforms for violence and abuse, normalising misogyny and online revenge.”
- with AFP
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Originally published as US Senate passes bill to avert government shutdown
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