Transcript

4.16.26 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of Today's Washington Post for the
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sixteenth of April of twenty twenty six. Your reader is
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Alice Stainer, with the reminder that RADIOI is for those
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blinded with difficulties holding a reading printed material. So I
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start with today's front page. On the far left, President
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vows to fire Powell if he won't leave. Trump also
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declines to end a criminal probe into the Fed's office
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renovation by Andrew Ackerman. In the middle, there is a
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picture and you see green. It looks like sort of
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a crop. At the bottom green fields and then houses
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along the top two roadways, but the major roadway which
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is pictured is titled along Sirius Tarius Banius Highway. Iraqi
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trucks and I counted there were ten of them and
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nothing else on the highway except for one car riding
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alongside of them. Iraqi trucks wait to unload their cargo
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at the Banias Port refinery on the Mediterranean Sea. Iraq
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has begun exporting crude oil using tanker trucks through Syria
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amid the ongoing saga at the Strait of Hormuz. The
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article is entitled measure to block further around strikes fails
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in Senate, but Theodoric Maya and Noah Robertson war Power's
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resolution is the fourth to falter in the Chamber since
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war's start. On the far right, Trump Titans viz On Teyron,
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thousands more troops en route infusion of firepower as clock
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ticks down on Truce by Dan Lemonth and below the fold,
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Americans get bigger refunds as new deductions take hold by
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Julie z Wheel and to the right of that, voters
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in a Virginia data hub soar against centers by Evan Halper,
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Scott Clement, o'murray Daniels and Isabelle Gibson. And at the
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very bottom on the left, Slwell rose to top political
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tier even as rumors followed by Liz Goodwin and on
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the right, adorable adoptee lean my maighty, a two month
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old elephant calf spurned by her mother, makes an appearance
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at the National Zoo where a female Asian elephant is
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acting as a stand in mom. And you see between
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two rows of metal fencing. It's where it can be
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tightened and loosened. You just see this little pair of
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eyes with a trunk up on the top part top flie,
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and her mouth a little open, and two warm eyes
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just staring out at the world of this little two
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month old len Mia. First article, US sends thousands more
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troops to Mid East as Trump seeks to squeeze or
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on the infusion of firepower, coincides with the administration's Mayor
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Tom blockade against the regime in Tehran, and as mediators
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urge both signs to extend it their ceasefire. And we
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see a picture of the USS George H. W. Bush
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pulling away from Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia last month,
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and there's a picture of a soldier or a troop
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person standing on the pill and a lady with her
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foot up on it but her left arm extended towards
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the ship, with the sailors lined up along the edges
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all the way around it going out to sea. And
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we said goodbye to our son three or four times
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that way when he was in the service in the
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early two thousands. The Pentagon is sending thout. This is
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by Dan Lemonth. The Pentagon is sending thousands of additional
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troops into the Middle East in the coming days, as
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President Donald Trump attempts to pressure ran into a deal
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that could end the week's long conflict there, while considering
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the possibility of additional strikes or ground operations if a
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fragile ceasefire does not hold, US official said the forces
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moving into the region include about six thousand troops aboard
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the aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush and several
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warships escorting it, said current and former officials, who like
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some of the spoke on the condition of anonymity to
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discuss military movements. About four forty two hundred others with
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the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group and its embarked Marine Corps
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Task Force, the eleventh Marine Expeditionary Unit, are expected to
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arrive near the end of the month. The infusion of
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firepower appears likely to coaless with warships already in the
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Middle East, just as the two week cease fire is
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set to expire April twenty second, six days away, and
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as the US military enforces a naval blockade of the
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Strait of Hormuz. The personnel will join the estimated five
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fifty thousand troops that the Pentagon has said are involved
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globally in operations to counter Iran. The arrival of Edition
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American warships will put even greater pressure on Iran and
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provide Admiral Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, and
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other military leaders with more options should negotiations with Tehran fail,
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said James Fogo, a retired Navy admiral and dean at
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the Center for Marira Time Strategy in Northern Virginia. The
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more tools you have got in your kit, the more
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diversity of options that you have, Vogo said, calling the
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injection of additional forces a reserve capacity in the event
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that things go south. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt
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told reporters Wednesday that it's obviously in the best interest
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of Iran to meet the president's demands, which include ending
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its nuclear program in lifting its own lockdown on commercial
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shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The narrow passage is
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vital for the movement of Middle Eastern oil through the
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Persian Gulf. Its closure has caused the global economy to
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convulse and triggered a rise and energy including the cost
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of guys. Pakistani mediators are pushing for an extension to
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the ceasefire to give the United States and Iran more
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time to bridge their differences and return to the negotiating table.
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According to a Pakistani official, talks between the two sides
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are continuing, Levitt said, and there is a possibility officials
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from Washington and Tehran could meet again in Islamabad. The
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sight of last week's weekend summit in coming days, we
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feel good about the prospects of a deal, Levitt said.
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The President told Fox Business in an interview that aired
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Wednesday morning that he thought the war in Iran could
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be over very soon. In the expected gas prices to
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fall to pre war levels from their terms on the
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assumption that the US is able to stop Iran from
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obtaining a nuclear weapon. When that's settled, gas prices are
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going down tremendously, the president said. Investors mostly cheered Trump's comments.
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Despite higher energy costs and forecast of lower economic growth,
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many are betting a deal to end the conflict is coming.
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The standard and poor sm P five hundred was up
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more than three quarters of a percent Wednesday, notching an
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all time high and a significant turnaround for that index
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compared with release in two weeks. The tech heavy Nasdaq
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Composite index was also up more than one point five percent,
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while the down zones Industrial average ticked down slightly. Tehran
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meanwhile escalated its threats to choke off international trade, with
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military commander Major General Ali Abdul Lahi saying Iran wood
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block imports and exports from the Persian Gulf, Golf of
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Oman and Red Sea. In response to the US blockade,
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Abdalayi said Iran will take powerful action to defend its
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national sovereignty and interest. As reported around semi official Taznin
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news agency, Trump in a bed disqueezed Tehran economically announced
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on Sunday a military blockade of maritime traffic leaving and
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arriving in Iran ports. More than a dozen Navy warships
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are positioned in the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea,
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confronting vessels as they exit the Strait of Homus. The
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US military officials said Wednesday that ten vessels have now
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turned around rather than attempt to make it through the blockade.
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One Iranian flagged vessel tried Tuesday, sitting the Strait of
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Hormus and moving along the Iranian coastline before it was
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redirected by the USS Spruance, a destroyer, The officials said.
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Radio transmission posted online Wednesday appeared to show a US
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Service member warning ships in the region do not attempt
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to breach the blockade. It says, continuing vessels will be
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boarded for intradiction and seizure, transising to or from an
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Iranian port, turn around, or prepared to be boarded. This week,
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the administration also announced traditional economic sanctions, warning countries whose
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financial institutions hold Iranian assets that it would impose secondary
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sanctions on them if they didn't immediately cease such activity.
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The notice was sent to the United Arab Emirates, Oman,
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Hong Kong, and China. Treasury Secretary Scott percent said at
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Wednesday's White House briefing that China purchases up to ninety
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percent of around oil. Two Chinese banks received letters from
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the US Treasury, bacent said, telling them that if we
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can prove that there is Iranian money flowing through your accounts,
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then we are willing to apply secondary sanctions. Bisent decline
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to name the banks. Secondary sanctions are penalties imposed on
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foreign countries, individuals, or entities that do business with the
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target of primary sanctions, and can lead to cutting off
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access to the US financial system, among other measures. The
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arrival of the additional US forces in the Middle East
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will provide commanders with three aircraft carriers, each with dozens
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of fighter jets. The USS Abraham Lincoln has been in
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the Middle East since January, while the USS Gerald R.
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Ford arrived in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea in February, extending
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a marathon deployment that included time last year in Europe
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and involvement in operations off Venezuela at the beginning of
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this year. The USS George H. W. Bush was closed
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to the Cape of Good Hope near South Africa on
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Tuesday and expected to make an unusual hook around the
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bottom of the continent on its way to the Middle East.
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Two officials familiar with the matters. The path to the
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region was first reported by USNI News. The three ship
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Boxer Amphibious Ready Group last week departed from Hawaii and
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is now a couple of weeks from the Middle East.
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Official said The embarked eleventh Marine Expeditionary Unit includes an
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infantry battalion of more than eight hundred personnel, plus helicopters
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in naval landing craft. A similar unit, the thirty first
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Marine Expeditionary arrived in the Middle East from Okinawa, Japan,
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late in March, a former senior defense official said that
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US forces involved in Trump's blockade are probably on the
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lookout for ships suspected of supporting Iran. Armed boarding teams
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from the US Navy, Seals, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard
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are trained as seas vessels, whether their crews cooperate with
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forces or not. The official said, boarding a ship can
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be exceedingly a dangerous mission, though any US p personnel
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who may have to do so face the risk that
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embarked mariners will fight back or that Iranium forces will
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target the boarding teams with drones or speedboats. The former
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senior defense officials said Trump has appeared to acknowledge the
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risks to the US personnel participating in the blockade, warning
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in social media post Monday that Iran's navy already is
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laying at the bottom of the sea completely obliterated, and
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that any smaller vessels that approach US personnel could face
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a similar fate. Warning if ane of these ships come
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anywhere close to our blockade in full caps, they will
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be immediately eliminated in full caps using the same system
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of kill that we use against the drug dealers on
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boats at sea, wrote referring to the Pentagon's campaign of
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strikes in Latin America waters. It is quick and brutal.
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He said. Any ships that are seen are likely to
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be sent to another location to be held in quarantine,
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the former senior official said. Fogo, the retired animal, said
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he sees promise in the blockade given how much Around's
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economy is underpinned by the export of oil through the
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Strait of Hormuz. Fogo said, it's a lot of pressure
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and if it's sustained over a period of time, it's
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going to really hurt the Iranian economy. At the same time,
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you have to admit gas prices are going to continue
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to go up, so that is a problem for US
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and their policy makers as well because people are not
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happy about it. As the blockade continues, military officials are
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planning for another potential escalation, US ground operations on Iranian soil.
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To US officials, said, Administration officials have discussed scenarios that
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include launching a complex special operations mission to extract Iranian
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nuclear material, landing marines on coastal areas and islands to
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protect the strait, and seizing karg Island, an Iranian export
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facility in the Persian Gulf officials have said enforcing an
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extended blockade will be a tall order for US forces,
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but any of those ground operations would be significantly riskier,
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said Mick Molroy, a retired Marine and CIA officer who
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served in the Pentagon during the first Trump administration. Molroy
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said he hopes that the administration and Iran can find
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an agreement that is acceptable to both science. If, for example,
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they can agree to a deal that pauses the Iranian
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nuclear program for ten or twenty years, that must be
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balanced against the challenges marines and soldiers could face while
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deployed on Iranian soil. Mulroy said of such a mission,
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it's not going to be without consequences. There will likely
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be casualties. Senate rejects resolution to block Trump from striking Iran.
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The War Powers resolution was a fourth to fail in
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the Chamber since the war's start, but some Republicans expressed
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fresh concern about the conflict as it approaches the two
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month mark. By Theodoric Maya and Noah Robertson, the Senate
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rejected a resolution Wednesday to block President Donald Trump from
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ordering further strikes on Iran, even as some Republicans raised
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increasing concerns about Congress's lack of input on the wall.
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The vote was the latest test of lawmaker's support for
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the unpopular conflict, since Trump threatened last week to destroy
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Iran's whole civilization, then hours later agreed to a two
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week sease fire. Democrats have forced votes on three other
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War Palace resolutions since the war's start, all of which
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have failed. Wednesday's procedural vote failed forty seven to fifty two,
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with Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky joining Democrats to
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support the resolution and Senator John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania
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voting against it. Senator Jim Justice, Republican of West Virgins,
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did not vote. Some Republicans who opposed the resolution said
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they nevertheless want Trump to consult Congress as the war
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approaches the two month mark, an important legal deadline. The
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War Powers Resolution of nineteen seventy three, the law Democrats
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are using to force the votes, requires presidents to remove
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US forces from any conflict that Congress has not authorized
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within sixty days. Trump can obtain a thirty day extension
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if he certifies that it is an unavoidable military necessity.
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Trump predicted shortly after the war started that it would
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be over within four to five weeks, but the sixty
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day deadline, which arrives May first, is rapidly approaching. He
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has sent mixed signals about how long the conflict will
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go on, telling Maria Bartiromo a Fox Business on Tuesday
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that the war that he the war was very close
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to over, even as he imposed a naval blockade on
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Iran and sent thousands more troops to the Middle East.
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The President recognized ahead of time when he first went
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into Iran that this was going to be a short
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term thing, right, Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, said,
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adding we are probably not going to be dealing with
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sixty days. Well, here we are. Senate Majority Leader John Thune,
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Republican of South Dakota, did not say Wednesday whether he
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wants Trump to seek authorization from Congress before the sixty
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day mark, but he has called for the administration to
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articulate how it plans to end the war as the
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deadline approaches. Then told reporters they need a plan for
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how to wind this down and how to get an
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outcome that actually leads to a safer, more secure Middle East.
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Some Senate Republicans have gone further. Senator John Curtis, Republican
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of Utah has said he will not support more funding
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for military operations against Iran unless Congress declares war. Senator
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Susan Collins, Republican of Maine said Congress needs to authorize
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the conflict if it exceeds sixty days or if the
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US deploys ground troops, which Trump has not ruled out.
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I have been clear from the beginning of this military
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operation that the President's power is not unlimited as commander
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in chief, as the Constitution gives Congress an essential role
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in matters of war and peace, Colin said in a statement.
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The host is expected to vote Thursday on its own
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resolution to block Trump from ordering more strikes on Iran.
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A similar resolution narrowly failed last month, with two Hosts
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Republicans voting for it and four Democrats opposing it. Representative
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Don Bacon, Republican of Nebraska, who voted in January for
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an unsuccessful resolution to prohibit Trump from taking further military
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action against Venezuela, said he was inclined to oppose the
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Iran resolution because he wants Trump to finish the job
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in Iran. Still, he said Trump seeks to authorization from Congress.
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I before the sixty day deadline needs to seek authorization
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from Congress before the sixty day deadline. Bacon said. The President,
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if he wants to continue doing this, is going to
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have to sort of lead the way on it because
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the sixty days are coming due. Polling indicates the wars unpopular.
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Fifty five percent of Americans oppose it, in thirty two
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percent support it, according to an Economist dot dash you
24:24
gov poll conducted between Friday and Monday. A CBS News
24:30
slash you gov poll conducted last week found sixty four
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percent of Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of the conflict,
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all thirty six percent approve. Murkowski has spoken with other
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Republicans about drafting legislation to authorize the war if it
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drags on. She said. Congress passed similar authorizations before the
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start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, but Trump
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did not asked lawmakers to do so before striking Iran.
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Senator Tom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, said he was
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open to supporting an authorization for the use of military force,
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but expected the administration to respect the sixty day deadline.
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Tillis said, at the end of the day, the law
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is the law, and we should follow it. The nineteen
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seventy three law bars presidents from ordering US forces into
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hostilities without congressional authorization unless the country or its troops
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are attacked. Other Republicans have downplayed the looming deadline. Senator
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Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, has said he believes
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the War Powers Law is unconstitutional. Senator Ron Johnson, Republican
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of Wisconsin, said Trump should not allow it to restrict
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him from removing the Iranian regime from power. Johnson told reporters,
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once we made the tough decision to do this to
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stir the hornet's nest, you better finish the job. I
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don't want to leave a regime in place that still
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wants to create nuclear weapons, to keep producing missiles, to
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keep producing drones. Senate Democrats have also brushed aside the
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sixty day deadline, arguing that Trump started the war illegally,
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so the deadline means little. If we allow this as
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a Congress. This is a new standard. Senator Corey Booker,
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Democrat of New Jersey, told reporters Donald Trump can wage
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war on Cuba for the next thirty sixty days before
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having to consult Congress. Senate Minority Leader Charles Z. Schuman,
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Democrat of New York, echoed those concerns. We don't need
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sixty days to know this war there was a mistake.
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Every day war means more risk, more chaos, and millions
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spent on a failed war, Schumer said in a statement.
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On a Hathaway, a professor of international law at Yale
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who served as a special counsel to the Defense Department
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during the Obama administration, said the sixty day deadline would
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still apply even if Trump started the war illegally. The
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sixty day threshold, Hathaway wrote in an email, is meaningful
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in that it makes exceedingly clear to anyone who is
27:40
wondering that the president is prepared to ignore the law altogether.
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The Trump administration argued last year that it was not
27:49
bound by the threshold during its campaign against the led
27:53
drug traffickers in the waters off Latin America, telling Congress
27:57
and private that he did not believe the strikes were
28:00
rose to the level of hostilities governed under the law.
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The Washington Post reported Rebecca Ingberg, a senior State Department
28:09
legal adviser during the Biden administration, said the same case
28:14
was nearly impossible to make with the current's operation. Ingber
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said there is no plausible argument that the US is
28:23
not engaged in hostilities in Iran. The White House is
28:28
not said whether Trump would seek a thirty day extension.
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The President's preference is always diplomacy, and Iran is desperate
28:37
to make a deal, but they first must renounce their
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desire for a nuclear weapon and agree to red lines
28:44
in articulated by the United States. Anna Kelly, a White
28:49
House spokeswoman, said in a statement. Trump would not be
28:54
the first president to be undeterred by the sixty day deadline.
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President Baraco Obama did not seek authorization from Congress before
29:03
ordering strikes on Libya in twenty eleven, which continued beyond
29:08
the sixty day threshold. This is in a parenthesis. Hathaway
29:13
warrant at the time that Obonamous failure to comply with
29:16
the law would condemn it to a quiet death by
29:21
a president who had solemnly pledged on the campaign trail
29:25
to put an end to its to indiscriminate warmongering in Perenne.
29:32
Neither did President Bill Clinton, when he ordered the bombing
29:36
of Kosovo in nineteen ninety nine, though his administration argued
29:40
that Congress implicitly authorized the strikes because it passed legislation
29:45
defined them within sixty days. At the start of the campaign,
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Senator Josh Harley, representative of Republican of Missouri, said he
29:56
hoped that the cease fire, which is set to expire
29:59
next week, is still enforced once the sixty day deadline arrives.
30:06
We're not engaged in hostilities now. I would hope that
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we would not be then and there, that there'd be
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a resolution to this by then, Holly told reporters. Tax
30:22
refunds shoot up as Americans take advantage of new deductions
30:29
as tax Day arrives. That was yesterday. The average refund
30:33
so far as more than ten percent above last years.
30:37
As breaks for tips, overtime pay, and carloan interest proved
30:42
popular by Julie's z Wheel. This tax Day, more people
30:48
might be celebrating their refunds than usual. The Internal Revenue
30:53
Service is sending more money back. The average refund for
30:57
the almost one hundred million households who had already filed
31:02
their returns as of April third was three thousand, four
31:06
hundred and sixty two dollars, more than ten percent above
31:10
last year's average of three thousand, one hundred and sixteen
31:15
for similarly early filers. The bigger refund checks reflect the
31:20
major tax cut passed by Congress in July, which reduced
31:25
many households tax bills. Because the law went into effect midyear,
31:31
it also meant that many companies ended up withholding too
31:34
much for markers paychecks based on previous formulations. As of
31:39
April third, the most recent data published by the IRS,
31:44
the number of returns filed was below the number at
31:47
the same point last year, a little under one hundred
31:51
million compared to more than one hundred and one million,
31:55
But the IRS sent much more money than at the
31:59
same point laste year, more than two hundred and forty
32:02
one billion dollars in refunds, a fourteen percent increase compared
32:07
to two hundred and eleven billion last year. The portion
32:12
of people who get a refund rather than owing money
32:16
at tax time seems to be going up. Just over
32:20
seventy percent of people whose returns were processed by April
32:24
third this year, compared to sixty seven percent of similar
32:28
fowlers last year and sixty two percent of all followers
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last year parenthesis. People who owe money understandably tend to
32:39
wait longer to file their taxes, so the early returns
32:42
show more refunds in pern. The Republican law increased this
32:48
dandred deduction and included many new tax cuts for specific groups.
32:53
The child tax deduction increased from a maximum of two
32:58
thousand to twenty two hun hundred per child. New tax
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breaks for the years twenty twenty five through twenty twenty
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eight let people deduct their tip income, overtime pay, and
33:10
certain carloan interests paid. Aliyah Shawa, thirty five, benefited from
33:17
the new tip in carlan deductions as a server at
33:20
a New York City restaurant who bought a new car
33:24
in July. She earned abate forty thousand in tips and
33:28
was able to skip paying taxes on twenty five thousand
33:32
of it. In twenty twenty four, Shahwah's husband, a chef,
33:37
earned more money than he thought he would, so they
33:40
owed a painful twelve thousand dollars tax bill. It totally
33:45
broke us, she said. In twenty twenty five, they withheld
33:49
much more during the year, plus they benefited from the
33:53
new deductions, adding up to a wopping twenty six thousand
33:57
dollars refund. I finally got something back dot dot dot
34:02
for how much we work we weren't getting help. Chahwa,
34:07
an immigrant from Spain, enthusiastically supported the new deduction, saying
34:12
it would help both service workers and the low margin
34:15
restaurant industry. They're not able to pay us a liverabolwage
34:20
dot dot dot if we were only taxed on our wage,
34:23
not tips. That make so much more sense for the
34:26
cost of living here in New York. The car loaned
34:30
deduction that Chawa claimed is available only for certain American
34:34
made cars that were bought new in twenty twenty five.
34:38
So far, just over a million households have claimed it,
34:43
according to Politico, well below the Trump administration's predictions. The
34:48
overtime deduction, on the other hand, has proven far more
34:52
popular than anticipated, with more than twenty three million households
34:57
claiming it as of early April. Some experts were that
35:01
people who misunderstood the new rules are improperly claiming the deduction,
35:06
which only applies to specific workers and only to part
35:12
of their pay. Again. Perenne the and a half part
35:18
of time and a half, not their full pay for
35:22
those hours into perenne. The popularity of the overtime deduction
35:29
has a lot to do with the overall average rise
35:32
in refundaments, said Casey Pittman, Managing director of tax policy
35:38
at the tax firm Cherry Beckart. It's sometimes very hard
35:43
to parse that information about what overtime pays should be
35:48
tax deductible, she said, adding those provisions are driving a
35:53
lot of the increase in tax refunds. The Republican law
35:58
also gave qualifying scene of citizens a new six thousand
36:02
dollar deduction, which can cut their overall tax bill by
36:06
as much as thirteen hundred and twenty dollars, according to
36:11
an analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center. Karen Richardson, sixty eight,
36:18
has had a predictable tax return since she retired from
36:21
her job in ministering government benefits four years ago. She
36:26
lives on a fixed income and usually owes some money
36:29
at tax time, so she was surprised to get one
36:32
thousand dollars refund this year due to the senior deduction.
36:37
The big Beautiful Bill worked for me. I didn't think
36:41
it applied to more than the richer people thought that
36:45
I really didn't think it applied to me, she said.
36:50
The Bipartisan Policy Center found that the potential SAX savings
36:54
for households from any single provision in the Republican law
36:58
varies widely. The most that any household can save from
37:03
the increased standard deduction is five hundred and fifty dollars
37:07
for the highest earners. The vast majorities save much less
37:11
than that. The tax deductions for tips and over time
37:15
can be worth up to six thousand dollars for a
37:18
married couple. The biggest potential savings comes from the bills
37:23
higher threshold for deducting state and local tax salt salt
37:29
state and l local t tax amounts from federal income.
37:34
A married couple earning up to five hundred thousand dollars
37:37
a year can now deduct forty thousand in salt instead
37:41
of ten thousand, which would save them close to ten
37:45
thousand dollars on their taxes. That newly general salt deductions
37:50
benefits wealthier people much more than lower income households. The
37:55
most low and middle income households don't have more more
38:00
than ten thousand dollars in state and local taxes to deduct.
38:04
Before this year, the average total refund amount hadn't changed
38:09
much in recent years. Three thousand, one hundred and sixty
38:13
seven dollars in twenty twenty five, three thousand, one hundred
38:17
and thirty eight dollars in twenty twenty four, three thousand,
38:21
one hundred and sixty seven dollars in twenty twenty three,
38:25
three thousand, two hundred and fifty two dollars in twenty
38:29
twenty two. Going forward, taxpayers shouldn't expect the bigger refunds
38:35
to be the new normal. Employers are supposed to withhold
38:41
about the right amount of money from paychecks to pay
38:44
the workers' taxes. This coming tax year. Withholding formulas will
38:48
reflect the new law. Workers will get to keep more
38:52
money throughout the year, and that refunds tax next tax
38:57
season will be smaller. In some sense, it's truly better
39:01
for workers to get their money upfront, Pittman noted, adding
39:06
refunds just me and you've given the tax a government
39:10
an interest free loan. But many people feel good getting
39:16
a bigger paycheck on tax day A big but many
39:23
people feel good getting a bigger check on tax day, adding,
39:28
Pittman said that was a strategic decision. Republicans did not
39:33
adjust the withholding tables this year because it was likely
39:37
to result in a boon at refund time, which is
39:40
strategically not too far from midterm elections. The Republicans in
39:47
Congress have been toting the bigger average refund checks, casting
39:51
the money as an answer to the rising cost of
39:54
living driven by inflation. April fifteenth is the deadline to
39:59
file a record quest and extension. People who file on
40:03
the deadline should expect to receive a refund if they
40:06
are od one in about three weeks, the IRS said.
40:12
Going inside. Immigrants who care for seniors under threat in
40:18
Trump court fight nursing home say lower courts block the
40:24
effort to send home Haitian immigrants, part of an already
40:28
shrinking workforce in nursing homes. The Supreme Court will hear
40:33
the case this month by Christopher Roland. Revoking the right
40:40
of Haitian immigrants to remain in the United States would
40:44
deliver a blow to the workforce that cares for America's seniors.
40:49
Nursing home operators a warning in a case to be
40:52
heard this month by the US Supreme Court. Before the
40:57
court is a fight over the Trump administration effort to
41:00
strip three hundred and fifty three thousand Haitian immigrants of
41:06
temporary protected status, which the US grants to people fleeing
41:11
conflict or natural disasters in other countries. Haitians won their
41:17
status in twenty ten after a devastating earthquake in the
41:21
Caribbean nation. The Trump administration now argues conditions in Haiti
41:27
are safe enough for their return, while advocates say gang
41:32
warfare and civil strife pose ongoing dangers and they should
41:38
not be forced to leave the US. The nursing home
41:42
industry relies heavily on immigrant labor across the country. It
41:47
faces enormous challenges keep people in these low age difficult jobs,
41:54
and its staffing reached crisis proportions during the coronavirus pandemic.
42:00
Industry representatives keeping sorry Industry in representatives filed a Friend
42:13
of the Court brief Monday, advising the justices that sending
42:18
Haitians home would pose consequences for senior ko. The filing
42:23
did not detail how many Haitians work in the senior
42:26
care industry, but the Migration Policy Institute estimated that in
42:31
twenty twenty one, about one hundred and three one hundred
42:36
and three thousand Haitian immigrants were healthcare workers Perenne, the
42:42
sixth largest group of immigrant healthcare workers in the United
42:45
States and Perenne, and many work as nursing assistants, personal
42:52
care aids, and home health aids. These caregivers are not
42:58
only vital to the daily operations of their communities, but
43:01
to the quality of life and continuity of care our
43:05
residents depend on, Steve Bama, president and CEO of Leading
43:11
Age Southeast, said in a press relief. The organization represents
43:17
nonprofit nursing homes and filed the brief. The Department of
43:22
Homeland Security did not respond to her request for comment
43:27
oral arguments in the cases scheduled for April twenty ninth.
43:32
Since the Department of Homeland Security revoked temporary protected status
43:37
for the Haitians last year, lower courts have blocked their deportation,
43:42
causing the administration to appeal to the Supreme Court. The
43:48
fate of so many people lies in their hands, said
43:53
Rachel Bloomberg, president and CEO of Sinai Residences, a nonprofit
43:59
senior community and Bocerra Tom profit and co foller of
44:03
the Amikas Brief. Immigrants make up about twenty eight percent
44:08
of the nation's long term care workforce, according to a
44:11
twenty twenty five report by KFF, a nonprofit health policy
44:17
research and news organization. The percentage exceeds the share of
44:21
immigrants in the overall US workforce, which is seventeen percent.
44:27
Bloomberg said nine percent of the community's workforce of more
44:31
than four hundred and fifty people are Haitians facing deportation
44:36
under the Trump administration's order. The Friend of the Court
44:41
brief filed by Sinai Residences and Leading Edge Southeast emphasized
44:47
the importance of continuity of care and nursing homes. Nurses
44:52
and nursing aids help residents with basically daily needs such
44:56
as showering, going to the bathroom, eating, and getting dressed.
45:01
Knowing individual residents with dementia, who often are unable clearly
45:06
to communicate, can only be learned over time. Bloomberg said,
45:12
they are not cogs and wheels, and they are not
45:16
x'es and o's. They are real human beings that have
45:20
real human relationships with the dementia residents, she said. She
45:26
said her workers are scared, many of them have spouses
45:31
who also face revocation of temporary protected status, but they
45:36
have children born in the US. She said, they are
45:41
not doing anything illegal, but they are petrified. They don't
45:46
know what their destiny will be. Bloomberg said, here's an
45:54
article just below the other one has defies Trump on
45:59
immigration with move deshield Haitians. The vote to advance a
46:05
bill extending protections for Haitians marks the first time Republican
46:09
lawmakers have voted this term to oppose Trump's immigration policy.
46:16
By Lauren Coori Gurley, and Mariano Alfaro. Several Host Republicans
46:22
joined Democrats to oppose President Donald Trump on his immigration
46:27
policy Wednesday, forcing a vote to advance a measure to
46:31
reinstate temporary protections for some three hundred and fifty thousand
46:37
Haitians living in the United States. Six Republicans voted, with
46:41
two hundred and twelve Host Democrats and one independent reaching
46:46
the threshold to force a vote on the bill, which
46:49
would keep Haitians eligible for temporary protected status for three years.
46:55
The program is intended for foreign nationals from countries facing
47:00
dangerous conditions such as armed conflict and environmental disasters. The
47:06
vote was forced using an increasingly popular legislative tool called
47:11
a discharged petition that allows two hundred and eighteen or
47:16
more representatives to circumvent the Host speaker to bring a
47:20
vote to the floor. Final passage of the bill in
47:23
the Host is expected Thursday or Friday. I have one
47:28
of the largest Haitian populations in the country in my district,
47:33
said Representative Michael Lawler, Republican of New York, who voted
47:39
Wednesday to push the bill to the Host floor. Quote
47:43
dot dot. If you end temporary protections with addressing work authorization,
47:49
it will cause a huge crisis in our healthcare system,
47:52
especially in an area like mine, where a lot of
47:56
our Haitian TPS holders are nurses. The measure to reinstate
48:03
the temporary Protected STATISFI Haitians was first introduced by Representative
48:08
Laura Gillion, Democrat of New York, along with Lawler. Gillian
48:13
said in his statement, noting the bipartisan support behind the measure.
48:18
Without this protection, they would be forced to return to
48:22
the horrors in Haiti. The move to help Haitian immigrants
48:26
faces an uncertain fate in the Senate, but the HOST
48:29
vote demonstrates a rare Republican willingness to break with the
48:33
White House. It is the first time GOP members have
48:37
voted to invalidate Trump's tougher immigration policies this legislative urn.
48:44
Discharged petitions have found increasing success this Congress. At least
48:48
five have received the required two hundred eighteen signatures, including
48:53
one this past fall to release the FBI's records on
48:57
the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Two received significant signatures
49:03
in the last Congress from twenty Only two received significant
49:08
signatures sufficient signatures in the last Congress from twenty twenty
49:12
three to twenty twenty five. Sarah Bender, a government studies
49:18
expert at the Brookings Institution, said Democrats in this Congress
49:22
have pursued this process on big, salient political issues, but
49:27
this was the first time on an immigration policy. Benders
49:32
said this goes straight at one of Trump's administration's key
49:36
deportation tools, which is to cancel this protected status for
49:40
immigrants from particular countries. The Trump administration announced an end
49:46
to temporary protections for Haitians in June, arguing that conditions
49:50
in Haiti have improved since the est polishment of protections
49:55
after the twenty ten earthquake and calling the country safe.
50:00
The Lower Court stepped in pausing the termination of the protections,
50:04
which the Trump administration has appealed to the Supreme Court.
50:08
The High Court will help arguments on April twenty ninth.
50:12
Immigration advocates say gang violence and civil unrest could pose
50:17
danger serious danger to Haitians forced to leave the US. Meanwhile,
50:23
the elder care and healthcare industries, which rely heavily on
50:28
Haitians with temporary protections, have also lobbied against the end
50:33
of the program. We cannot afford to lose the fairy
50:40
people staffing our hospitals and nursing homes, said Rebecca she
50:46
CEO of the American Business Immigration Coalition, which lobbies for
50:53
employers on Capitol Hill. She added the success of the
50:58
Haitian tp the s Dish Church petition shows that economic
51:04
reality is finally breaking through partisan gridlock. Republican Representatives Mariah
51:13
Elvira Salazar Florida, Brian Fitzpatrick Pennsylvania, Don Bacon Nebraska, Carlos A.
51:22
Golmanez Florida, Nicole Malao Takis, New York, and LAWLA voted
51:31
to advance the bill. Malayo Takei said that she's heard
51:35
from nursing home employers in her district. She said these
51:42
are Haitian immigrants who are working, paying taxes, and contributing
51:47
to our economy and fulfilling a health care need, she
51:51
said in this statement to the Post. To strip them
51:55
of their status and deport them to a country in
51:58
peril would be un compassionate and misguided. Trump has repeatedly
52:04
criticized Haitian immigrants over the years. Last week, Trump shared
52:09
on social media a video of a fatal attack by
52:12
a man who the administration says is from Haiti on
52:16
a woman at a Florida gas station, saying that democratic
52:20
policies led to the alleged killer gaining temporary protections in
52:25
the US. The effort to strict strip legal protections for
52:30
Haitians is a part of a wide ranging effort by
52:34
Trump's Department of Homeland Security to end the program for
52:38
more than a million people, including Venezuelan's, Hondurans and Afghans.
52:45
In my final article, is a little animal interest, world's
52:50
oldest gorilla, known for her dignified amount of turns sixty nine.
52:57
Legend has it that FO two was brought from Africa
53:01
to France in the late nineteen fifties by a sailo
53:05
who then traded her to settle a bar bill and
53:09
there is a picture of Fattu the gorilla celebrating her
53:13
sixty ninth birthday at the Berlin Zoo. In a statement,
53:18
the zoo said, Fatu captivates our guest with her dignified manner.
53:24
There is a basket with radishes and all kinds of
53:28
vegetables in it, with a big sixty nine sitting in
53:33
front of her with hearts and all kinds of things
53:36
saying Happy birthday by Maggie Penman. The world's oldest gorilla
53:42
in captivity, turned sixty nine on Monday, celebrating with a
53:47
vegetable feast and a shudder from Guinness World Records. In
53:52
a human age, she would be more than one hundred
53:56
sipheline Heikemeister, a spokesperson for Zoo Berlin, Reftu, where Fatu
54:04
has lived for more than six decades, becoming a mother
54:07
and a grandmother. Legend has it that fat Iu, a
54:12
Western Lowland guerrilla, was brought from Africa to the port
54:16
of Marseilles in France in the late nineteen fifties by
54:19
a saila who traded her to settle a barbuil. She
54:23
ended up with the French animal trader who sold her
54:26
to the Berlin Zoo. She is one of the very
54:30
few and very old animals that still came from the wild,
54:35
Hegmeister said. Nowadays we send the animals back to the
54:39
wild and not the other way around. While the zoo
54:44
has been unable to confirm the stories about Fatu being
54:49
traded in a tavern, they said she arrived at the
54:52
zoo in what was then West Berlin when she was
54:55
around two years old in nineteen fifty nine, decades ago,
55:02
she was already one of the oldest gorillas in the world,
55:05
so zoo keepers picked a date to celebrate her birthday,
55:10
April thirteenth. Fatu was first recognized by Guinness World Records
55:15
as the world's oldest gorilla in twenty nineteen, and her
55:19
story was highlighted again on her birthday. Fatu, who moves
55:24
a bit slower than she used to, still enjoys time
55:28
outside and captivates visitors with her dignified manna. According to
55:34
the zoo, Hegmeister noted that Fatu has some health challenges
55:39
in her old age. Her eyesight is weaker and though
55:42
she can still hear well, she has arthritis and no
55:46
longer has teeth, so her food, mostly vegetables, is cooked
55:50
to make it easier to eat. She can no longer
55:54
eat some of her favorite snacks, blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries
55:59
because the fruit is too high in sugar Fatou's health
56:03
is closely monitored by a team of veterinarians and caretakers
56:08
who have worked to keep her comfortable and happy decades
56:11
beyond the typical life expectancy of a gorilla in the wild.
56:15
According to the Zoo, life in the wild is hard,
56:20
said Tarasunsky, president of the Diane Fasi Gorilla Fund, explaining
56:27
that the oldest gorillas they've monitored in the wild live
56:30
up to around forty She said gorillas are critically endangered
56:36
because of climate changes, poaching, and threats to their habitat.
56:41
These are some of the most at risk animals on
56:44
the planet, and a lot of people aren't aware of that,
56:48
Stunsky said. Western Lowland gorillas, which generally weigh between one
56:54
hundred and fifty and three hundred pounds, are family oriented
56:58
and often live in groups led by an adult male.
57:02
They form lifelong friendships, take care of their most vulnerable members,
57:07
and mourn one another's deaths. I always say that they
57:11
reflect some of the best things that we love most
57:14
about our own species. Christ And Lucas, director of Conservation
57:20
and Science at Cleveland Metro Parks Zoo, said that contrary
57:24
to the image perpetuated by King Kong, gorillas often live
57:29
as gentle giants and mostly eat plants. She's been very
57:34
well cared for and making it to the age of
57:36
sixty nine is just incredible. It ways surpasses anything we
57:40
would expect, Lucas said of fat two. Much has changed
57:45
in Fatuo's lifetime, including the practices of reptible reputable zoos.
57:51
While Berlin Zoo, Berlin said it would never remove an
57:54
animal from the wild. Now Fattu has become an ambassador
57:58
for her species. She Fatu looks at you and looks
58:03
right at into your soul, Heypemeister said. She said, having
58:08
a personal interaction with an animal like Fatu, you can
58:11
drive home the importance of saving her species. She has
58:15
this dignity. She looks at you and it's like looking
58:18
at your grandma. That's what I'm thinking every time I
58:21
go past her, Heypemeister said. And with that, happy birthday too, Fatu.
58:28
And this concludes today's reading for the Washington Post on
58:32
April the sixteenth of twenty twenty six. I'm going to
58:36
wish my birthday a happy birthday up in Massachusetts. Have
58:41
a good day back on Saturday. Bye.