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January 31, 2025


 

News

Overview: The White House Office of Management and Budget ordered a pause on federal assistance this week, which caused great confusion and concern among many organizations and program providers (including Catholic Charities agencies) who collaborate with the federal government in serving people with low incomes and other vulnerabilities. Kerry Alys Robinson, president and CEO of CCUSA, responded with a statement ([link removed]) (as did other nonprofit leaders) urging the president to reconsider the pause.

By week's end, the White House press secretary reported that President Trump had rescinded the memo ordering the pause but had not ended the spending freeze otherwise ordered in various executive orders.The announcement caused further confusion. At present, given the administration's actions, U.S. District Judge Jack McConnell is leaning towards issuing a block on the president's efforts to freeze federal assistance funds ([link removed]). The CCUSA government relations team is monitoring the developments closely and will continue to provide updates.

The Laken Riley Act ([link removed]), mentioned in this space last week, was signed into law by President Trump.

Federal budget: The Senate and House of Representatives are pursuing different paths regarding their budget reconciliation plans. The Senate prefers two bills, one dealing with border security, defense, and energy, and the second one focusing on taxes. The House was looking at one bill, but failed to reach consensus. Regarding the House's efforts, it is unfortunate for those who rely on safety net programs that any forthcoming bill may include work requirements in Medicaid (which the Congressional Budget Office has said would lead to an increase in the number of uninsured people ([link removed])) and expanded work requirements in SNAP and TANF.

Catholic Social Ministry Gathering: The CCUSA government relations team participated in the CSMG this week. In addition to hosting a breakfast at the event, the team accompanied CSMG participants to Capitol Hill for meetings with members of Congress and their staff. CCUSA CEO and President Kerry Alys Robinson offered comments at the breakfast and at a Hill reception later in the day. Also at CSMG was Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, who read a message from Pope Francis ([link removed]) asking those present to be "protagonists of history," working for justice that guarantees the dignity of every human person.

Economy: In the week ending January 25, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims ([link removed]) was 207,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 223,000. The 4-week moving average was 212,500, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 213,500.

 

 

Trivia

Q. The Feast of the Presentation, celebrated this Sunday, has another name. What is it and what does it refer to?

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