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UPI
43 minutes ago
- UPI
Federal Reserve governor Kugler resigns, creating vacancy for Trump
Adriana Kugler announced she will be leaving as Federal Reserve governor on Aug. 8. Photo by Federal Reserve Aug. 2 (UPI) -- One of the seven members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Adriana Kugler, announced she is stepping down next week, creating an opening for President Donald Trump to fill. Her term was set to expire in January but Kugler said Friday she will depart in seven days. President Joe Biden appointed Kugler, a 55-year-old labor economist, in September 2023. Governors' terms are for 14 years, and Kugler filled an opening. "The Federal Reserve does important work to help foster a healthy economy and it has been a privilege to work towards that goal on behalf of all Americans for nearly two years," Kugler said in her resignation letter to Trump. "I am proud to have tackled this role with integrity, a strong commitment to serving the public, and with a data-driven approach strongly based on my expertise in labor markets and inflation." Kugler said she plans to return to teaching public policy at Georgetown University in the fall. She was a vice provost for faculty at Georgetown and earned her Ph.D. in economics at the University of California at Berkeley. "I am especially honored to have served during a critical time in achieving our dual mandate of bringing down prices and keeping a strong and resilient labor market," she wrote in the letter. Kugler did not vote on Wednesday when the central bank's Federal Open Market Committee kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged at a range of 4.25% to 4.5% for a fifth consecutive meeting. Two of the 11 committee members who did vote dissented, backing Trump's desire to lower rates. The 12-member committee includes the seven governors, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and four remaining 11 Reserve Bank presidents who serve one-year terms on a rotating basis. "We just found out that I have an open spot on the Federal Reserve Board. I'm very happy about that," Trump said late Friday before boarding Marine One. He later posted on Truth Social that Fed Chairman Jerome Powell "should resign, just like Adriana Kugler, a Biden Appointee, resigned. She knew he was doing the wrong thing on Interest Rates. He should resign, also!" The replacement may ultimately replace Powell, whose term ends in May, though he can remain as a governor until 2028. The president appoints each of the board members and designates one to serve as chair for four years. Trump appointed Powell during his first presidency in 2018. Biden appointed him to another term as chairman. "Trump's influence on interest rates will now be felt earlier and more strongly," Derek Tang, an economist at LHMeyer, an economic consulting firm, told The Washington Post. Contenders to lead the Fed are National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, former Fed governor Kevin Warsh and Fed governor Christopher Waller, each with distinct strengths, The Washington Post reported. Trump has said he wants Scott Bessent to remain as Treasury secretary. Trump has sought to replace Powell, calling him on Truth Social "a stubborn MORON" and "too late" on lowering interest rates. But he can only be fired "for cause," such as malfeasance, neglect of duty or inefficiency, rather than disagreeing with policies. Experts say his removal could disrupt the financial markets.
The Hill
44 minutes ago
- The Hill
Government probes Trump prosecutor Jack Smith over alleged Hatch Act violations: Report
The federal government reportedly launched a probe into the actions of special prosecutor Jack Smith who investigated President Trump's criminal cases beginning in 2022. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel said Saturday officials would look into Smith's potential violation of the Hatch Act, which restricts government employees from political involvement, according to NBC News. The office did not immediately respond to The Hill's request for comment. The investigation comes after Trump and his allies have previously alleged that Smith went after Trump without legal standing in an effort to thwart his second campaign for the presidency. Former Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith three days before the president announced his reelection bid. Still, GOP lawmakers said the special prosecutor needs to be investigated. 'Jack Smith's legal actions were nothing more than a tool for the [former President] Biden and [former Vice President] Harris campaigns. This isn't just unethical, it is very likely illegal campaign activity from a public office,' Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) wrote in a Wednesday post on the social media platform X. 'Special Counsel Smith pushed for an out-of-the-ordinary, rushed trial for President Trump, with jury selection to begin just two weeks before the Iowa caucuses. No other case of this magnitude and complexity would come to trial this quickly,' the Arkansas senator added in a separate post. However, Smith has long defended his actions. 'The ultimate decision to bring charges against Mr. Trump was mine. It is a decision I stand behind fully,' Smith wrote in his final report published in mid-January, adding that Garland nor anyone else at the Justice Department pushed him to prosecute Trump. 'To all who know me well, the claim from Mr. Trump that my decisions as a prosecutor were influenced or directed by the Biden administration or other political actors is, in a word, laughable.' Smith ultimately resigned from the Justice Department (DOJ) after Trump's November win and dismissed charges against the president-elect arguing that he believed he would have scored a conviction against the leader if the legal battles played out in court. 'The throughline of all of Mr. Trump's criminal efforts was deceit-knowingly false claims of election fraud-and the evidence shows that Mr. Trump used these lies as a weapon to defeat a federal government function foundational to the United States' democratic process,' Smith wrote. 'Until Mr. Trump obstructed it, this democratic process had operated in a peaceful and orderly manner for more than 130 years,' he added. Earlier this month, Attorney General Pam Bondi fired 20 additional employees tied to Smith weeks before the Office of Special Counsel said it would investigate the prosecutor. The independent agency can only research Smith's actions and seek disciplinary actions for the federal employee. Investigators can then present findings to the DOJ for criminal charges.
Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
Alligator Alcatraz Hunger Strike: What to Know
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Detainees at the controversial immigration facility known as "Alligator Alcatraz" have reportedly been on a hunger strike for more than 10 days, protesting conditions at the center. Newsweek has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' office for comment via email on Saturday. Why It Matters There have been allegations of medical neglect, verbal abuse, and poor conditions inside the Everglades immigration facility, and human rights advocates have repeatedly raised concerns about the center. Alligator Alcatraz was quickly created and holds an estimated 1,000 beds. The bunkbeds are stacked together in wire-fenced cages. The remote facility is expected to cost Florida about $450 million annually to operate. The center is part of the Trump administration's effort to crackdown on illegal immigration. President Donald Trump has vowed to carry out the largest mass deportation in U.S. history, an initiative that has seen an intensification of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and arrests across the country, including people with valid visas and documentation. What To Know Several detainees at the relatively new facility are refusing food as part of a hunger strike to protest conditions inside the center, with reports noting the strike has entered its 11th day. Pedro Lorenzo Concepcion one of the detainees, was hospitalized during the strike, and told El Pais in a call from inside the facility, "I feel weak, with a lot of heartburn." He told the outlet that he has refused to eat since July 22. He continued: "I don't want food, I refuse any treatment. I didn't even ask to be taken to the hospital, because I'm fighting for my family and all Cubans, and I belong where my people are, in prison, suffering the same hardship they are." His wife, Daimarys Hernández, has told the outlet and NBC that she is afraid he may die in custody or be deported back to Cuba alone. Lorenzo Concepcion, who NBC identified as Pedro Hernández, came to the U.S. from Cuba nearly two decades ago, in 2006. He was detained on July 8 after showing up at an ICE appointment in Miramar, Florida. So far this year, there have been 10 confirmed deaths in ICE detention, per the agency. "These deaths are clearly attributable to the Trump administration's increased and aggressive detention policies, and I have no doubt that when more complete investigations take place, it will likely provide information that these deaths were likely preventable," Eunice Cho, senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) National Prison Project, told Newsweek in July. Democratic leaders and human rights activists have called out the center over reported conditions. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has repeatedly defended the center and has promoted the facility as a model for other states as a way to increase ICE detention capacity. "We need to double our capacity in detention beds because we need to facilitate getting people out of this country as fast as possible," Noem said in July during a press conference. ICE is struggling with limited capacity and resources to fulfill its mission of millions of deportations. President Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and others, tour "Alligator Alcatraz," a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, on July 1 in Ochopee, Florida. President Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and others, tour "Alligator Alcatraz," a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, on July 1 in Ochopee, Florida. AP Photo/Evan Vucci What People Are Saying Thomas Kennedy, a policy analyst and consultant at the Florida Immigration Coalition, wrote in an X post Saturday: "People detained at Alligator Alcatraz have had to remove fecal matter from the toilets with their bare hands because the toilets lose pressure due to lack of water. That's the sort of depraved conditions that drove those in detention there to ten days of hunger strike so far." Derrick Evans, former member of the West Virginia House and pardoned January 6, 2021 Capitol riot participant, wrote in an X post: "I'm glad the illegals at Alligator Alcatraz are on a hunger strike. Just saves the tax payers money by not having to feed them. I have no sympathy for any of them." Representative Maxwell Alejandro Frost, a Florida Democrat, wrote in an X post about the center on Saturday: "438 veterans in Florida are taking a stand against the unconstitutional and illegal use of our military for immigration enforcement. I stand with them. We should be defending our nation, not using Marines to cage people." Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said in a July 25 X post: "We stood up Alligator Alcatraz in just eight days as a centralized facility for deportation staging. The facility has a two-mile runway that allows federal military aircraft to transport illegal aliens out of the country, right on site. These deportation flights operated by DHS are underway, and we will support efforts to increase cadence of the flights so that the number of illegal aliens deported keeps increasing." What Happens Next? It remains unclear when the hunger strike will end. In late July, deportation flights from the facility began and are expected to continue. Civil rights groups, including the ACLU, have filed lawsuits alleging "inhuman conditions" and lack of legal counsel at the center.
