Trump Cancels 60-Year-Old Affirmative Action Employment Mandate for Federal Contractors

Six decades of race- and gender-based government hiring initiatives are set to end. President Donald Trump has repealed a legal landmark from the earliest days of the federal government that obliged federal contractors to establish “affirmative action” programs aimed at increasing workplace diversity. Trump’s Jan. 21 order titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity”

Interior Department Formally Implements ‘Gulf of America,’ ‘Mount McKinley’ Name Changes

The agency said the U.S. Board on Geographic Names is working quickly to make the name changes ‘effective immediately for federal use.’ The U.S. Department of the Interior announced on Jan. 24 that it is formally implementing President Donald Trump’s efforts to rename the Gulf of Mexico and Denali, the tallest mountain in North America.

JPMorgan Downgrades Panama Rating Amid Trump’s Vows to Reclaim Canal

Trump has vowed to take back the Panama Canal. The United States ceded the waterway to the Central American country in 1999. Financial services giant JP Morgan downgraded its assessment of Panama’s bonds on the growing concern that the United States may repossess the Panama Canal. On Jan. 23, JP Morgan’s Global Emerging Markets Research

White House Clarifies Executive Order Pausing IRA Disbursements

The Office of Management and Budget said the order only applied to some programs under the Inflation Reduction Act. The White House Office of Management and Budget released a memo this week clarifying what authorized allocations can potentially be rescinded from the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law under a Jan. 20 executive

Musk’s Efficiency Drive Sets Sights on the Penny

Nixing the coin could be one of DOGE’s recommendations for slashing government waste. Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is targeting the U.S. penny, or the cent, as something to eliminate to save costs. “The penny costs over 3 cents to make and cost US taxpayers over $179 million in FY2023,” the department wrote