CNBC: House Republican tax bill skipped ACA credits — marketplace health insurance will get pricier without them

  • Premium tax credits under the enhanced Affordable Care Act were not included in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that House Republicans passed on Thursday.
  • Without action from Congress, the subsidies are on track to expire by the end of 2025.
  • “Pretty much everyone, almost everybody who’s buying their own health insurance, now would see their costs go up,” said Cynthia Cox, vice president and director of the program on the ACA at KFF.

But the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” is missing something health care advocates hoped to see: an extension of the insurance premium tax credits under the enhanced Affordable Care Act that are set to expire at the end of the year. The credits’ absence is notable as the bill includes other proposed changes to the ACA marketplace, experts say.

The ACA’s enhanced premium credits help make health insurance policies through the marketplace more affordable. Eligible applicants can use the credit to lower insurance premium costs upfront or claim the tax break when filing their return. 

Instead of a lower-income person paying 2% of their income on their premium, they pay nothing, according to KFF, a health policy research nonprofit. 

Without the extension, nearly all subsidized ACA enrollees can expect their monthly premiums to rise, said Cynthia Cox, vice president and director of the program on the ACA at KFF.

Yet another way to hurt the poor!

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/23/big-beautiful-tax-bill-skipped-aca-credits.html

Raw Story: ‘Rubber-stamping’ Supreme Court just shot itself in the foot: analyst

Legal experts are claiming that the U.S. Supreme Court may come to regret its emergency “shadow docket” decision allowing President Donald Trump to fire members of two federal boards — a move that was considered illegal.

Without hearing the merits of the case, the court issued its ruling Thursday that permitted Trump to fire a member of the National Labor Relations Board and a member of the Merit Systems Protection Board, an agency that ensures federal employment decisions are not influenced by politics.

In a preview of Slate’s “Amicus” podcast, legal journalist Mark Joseph Stern exclaimed, “He illegally fired people, and the Supreme Court just rubber-stamped it!”

Stern explained that the 6-3 ruling along conservative and liberal lines will empower Trump “to disregard the law in areas where the Supreme Court doesn’t want him to. And eventually, when the Supreme Court tells him he can’t do something, he might just say: You’ve already given me so much power that I’m going to choose not to respect yours any further.”

“So, magically, this decision does not apply to Jerome Powell, who gets to remain chair of the Fed.”

https://www.rawstory.com/scotus-decisions

Newsweek: Proposal may ban some green card holders from owning land throughout state

King told Newsweek that “this is about protecting our obligation to keep our power stations, water treatment plants, and gas lines safe from surveillance and espionage.” It seeks to do so byprohibiting noncitizens from designated “foreign adversaries,” including China, Russia, and Iran, among others, from owning land within 25 miles of “critical infrastructure.”

Designating “foreign adversaries” would seem to be a federal power, not permitted to individual states.

The bill exempts American citizens or those with dual citizenship from the ban. The Senate counterpart bill notes that impacted individuals would have to sell and divest their property within two years.

Under the bills, county sheriffs would be responsible for enforcing the new restrictions. If the legislation passes, individuals subject to the prohibition would be required to sell restricted property within two years.

Xiang Zhang, a professor of genomics at the University of Cincinnati, said at a hearing on Tuesday, as reported by the South China Morning Post: “I never thought that one day, I would have to stand here in front of you to defend myself solely because of my nationality. I never thought that one day, I would lose my house in Ohio solely because of my nationality.”

https://www.newsweek.com/proposal-may-ban-some-green-card-holders-owning-land-2076488

Miami Herald: ‘Evil is Powerless’: ICE Official Announces More Arrests

The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a targeted operation focusing on “egregious criminal alien offenders.” The operation is part of the “Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful” program, aiming to improve public safety through enforcement actions. President Donald Trump’s administration emphasized its commitment to reducing crime in the capital, and the latest efforts saw the arrests of 189 undocumented immigrants in Washington, D.C.

Director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations in Washington, D.C. Russell Hott stated that the operation targeted high-crime areas. The action resulted in arrests of individuals allegedly connected to violent criminal organizations, including MS-13 and the 18th Street gang.

And again I have to ask, “How many of these 189 “criminals” were guilty of anything worse than a traffic violation? And how many were actually convicted in a court of law? ICE is all about numbers, not quality or accuracy.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/evil-is-powerless-ice-official-announces-more-arrests/ss-AA1Fmyc2

Associated Press: Trump administration releases people to shelters it threatened to prosecute for aiding migrants

The Trump administration has continued releasing people charged with being in the country illegally to nongovernmental shelters along the U.S.-Mexico border after telling those organizations that providing migrants with temporary housing and other aid may violate a law used to prosecute smugglers.Here's The Average Price of a 6-Hour Gutter Upgrade in Minneapolis

Border shelters, which have long provided lodging, meals and transportation to the nearest bus station or airport, were rattled by a letter from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that raised “significant concerns” about potentially illegal activity and demanded detailed information in a wide-ranging investigation. FEMA suggested shelters may have committed felony offenses against bringing people across the border illegally or transporting them within the United States.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement continued to ask shelters in Texas and Arizona to house people even after the March 11 letter, putting them in the awkward position of doing something that FEMA appeared to say might be illegal. Both agencies are part of the Department of Homeland Security.

https://apnews.com/article/border-shelters-laredo-phoenix-trump-releases-afc2f4d2ca786161e7bb4b03f54033fa

Raw Story: ‘Another loss in court for Trump’ as teenager released from immigration custody

A Georgia teenager who was detained by federal deportation officers has been released from custody on Thursday, according to a CBS News report.

They claim Ximena Arias Cristobal was released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after a judge granted her bond.

The 19-year-old was held at the ICE detention facility in Lumpkin, Georgia, after a traffic stop led to her arrest.

Her Immigration attorney, Dustin Baxter, said she was granted a $1,500 bond, which is the lowest amount allowed by law.

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-court-loss-teen-released

Houston Chronicle: Foreign Texas A&M student’s arrest and immigration hold leads to questions of legality

A Texas A&M University student with Chinese citizenship faces a federal firearms charge and an immigration hold just a month after the U.S. reinstated student visas for him and more than 1,000 other international students amid an outcry over their terminations.

Liluyue Xu’s case is complicated by the alleged involvement of his potential future father-in-law, a Texas Department of Public Safety official who apparently triggered the chain of events that led to his arrest, Xu’s attorneys said. A DPS agent was the first to send a tip to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in February, saying he suspected Xu of illegally possessing weapons and selling steroids, according to court documents.

Sounds like his girlfriend’s family ratted him out!

Dude, you might want to think twice about marrying into that family. 😀

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/texas-am-student-china-charge-20342850.php

Raw Story: Tom Homan is costing American taxpayers $1 million a month: reporter

One of President Donald Trump’s top staffers is costing American taxpayers around $1 million a month, according to a reporter.

Tom Homan, whose official title is White House Executive Associate Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations, is referred to by Trump as his “border czar” and is breaking the bank on security costs.

CBS News senior White House reporter Jennifer Jacobs reported Friday that sources told the network “it costs more than $500,000 a month.”

While “another source said the total—with ~$500k in salaries for agents plus airfare, hotel bills, and other travel expenses—actually adds up to around $1 million per month,” Jacobs wrote on X.

Homan has been tasked with helping carry out the “largest separation operation in U.S. history,” Jacobs explained. As a result, he has experienced threats.

Another Trump administration official complained that the sum is “extravagant” and accused they “sucked resources away from other senior leadership, including other cabinet members.”

Homan’s post is not a Cabinet-level position.

Let the bum fend for himself!

https://www.rawstory.com/tom-homan-security-fees-2672195111

Newsweek: Marjorie Taylor Greene responds to Ximena Arias ICE detainment backlash

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is defending immigration authorities’ efforts to deport a 19-year-old college student from her Georgia district.

“The law is the law, and we don’t get to pick and choose who gets to break the law and who gets to follow the law,” Greene told Chattanooga Local 3 News.

“It’s important for us to uphold the law, and that’s the most important thing that we can do and our government can do.”

A humanitarian visa is entirely within the realm of possibility for someone who’s been here since the age of 4. The only obstacles are Neanderthal Republicans who don’t care how many lives they turn upside down as they strive to maximize their deportation counts.

As I’ve already said, MTG is a

Cruel.

Heartless.

Bitch.

Emphasis on bitch!

https://www.newsweek.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-responds-ximena-cristobal-ice-detainment-2076245

TAG24 NEWS: Marjorie Taylor Greene applauds deportation of college student from her district: “The law is the law!”

On May 5, 19-year-old Ximena Arias-Cristobal of Dalton, Georgia, was stopped by police and charged with allegedly making an illegal right turn at a red light and driving without a valid license.

Though the charges were dropped after local police admitted to pulling over the wrong car, it was discovered Arias-Cristobal was in the country without documentation, and she was sent to a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Lumpkin, Georgia.

During an interview with Chattanooga Local 3 News on Thursday, MTG was asked to respond to a critic who argued the US should not kick people out who are “living productive lives.”

“The law is the law, and we don’t get to pick and choose who gets to break the law and who gets to follow the law,” Greene said. “It’s important for us to uphold the law, and that’s the most important thing that we can do, and our government can do.”

The congresswoman went on to say Arias-Cristobal, who was brought to the US from Mexico when she was four, was lucky to grow up in such a “great area,” but admonished her parents for not pursuing a proper path to citizenship for her – even though Congress has repeatedly obstructed efforts toward creating a pathway to citizenship for many immigrants.

Cruel, heartless bitch!

https://www.tag24.com/politics/politicians/marjorie-taylor-greene/marjorie-taylor-greene-applauds-deportation-of-college-student-from-her-district-the-law-is-the-law-3388610