President Joe Biden is proposing a plan to raise the Medicare tax on high-income Americans and push for additional drug price negotiations to fund the program through 2050.
The plan would raise the tax from 3.8 percent to 5 for those earning above $400,000 per year. The proposal is a bid to get Republicans on board with a 2024 budget bill.
"Millions of Americans have been working their whole lives, paying into Medicare with every working day, and want to know that they can count on Medicare to be there for them when they turn 65," the White House said in a statement. "The President’s Budget extends the life of the Medicare Trust Fund by at least 25 years. It achieves these gains with no benefit cuts—indeed, while lowering costs for Medicare beneficiaries.
The proposal also calls for closing loopholes in existing Medicare taxes and leveraging the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) authority to negotiate prices for high-cost drugs.
The president is set to release his full budget plan on Thursday. Medicare and Social Security account one-third of federal spending, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Concerns about their future solvency are a perennial concern in Congress.
Lawyer Kenneth Chesebro pleaded guilty to a felony on Friday just as jury selection was getting underway in his trial on charges accusing him of participating in efforts to overturn Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election in Georgia.
Republicans dropped Rep. Jim Jordan on Friday as their nominee for House speaker, making the decision during a closed-door session after the hard-edged ally of Donald Trump failed badly on a third ballot for the gavel.
Canada has removed 41 of its diplomats from India as tensions rise between the two nations.
Mitt Romney said he believes right-wing media is the reason for the radicalization of the GOP party.
An Army private who fled to North Korea before being returned home to the United States last month has been detained by the U.S. military, two officials said Thursday night, and is facing charges including desertion and possessing sexual images of a child.
Israel bombarded Gaza early Friday, hitting areas in the south where Palestinians had been told to seek safety, and it began evacuating a sizable Israeli town in the north near the Lebanese border, the latest sign of a potential ground invasion of Gaza that could trigger regional turmoil.
The Justice Department has secured a $9 million settlement with Ameris Bank over allegations that it avoided underwriting mortgages in predominately Black and Latino communities in Jacksonville, Florida, and discouraged people there from getting home loans.
Israel pounded the Gaza Strip with airstrikes on Thursday, including in the south where Palestinians were told to take refuge, and the country's defense minister told ground troops to “be ready” to invade, though he didn’t say when.
Addressing the nation from the Oval Office, President Joe Biden has made his case for major U.S. backing of Ukraine and Israel in a time of war.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday that inflation remains too high and that bringing it down to the Fed's target level will likely require a slower-growing economy and job market.
