NewzThe United States’ debt surpassed a record $40 trillion Wednesday, a staggering milestone as defense costs, social programs and interest on the burgeoning deficit make up an enormous share of federal spending. The milestone figure was recorded just five months after the U.S. hit a record $39 trillion debt in March.
It reached $38 trillion five months before that, in October. The Latest: White House legislative affairs director James Braid is leaving his post Braid was in charge of helping to shepherd Trump’s legislative agenda through a Congress where his Republican Party controlled both chambers. Vice President JD Vance wrote on X that Braid “played a critical role in all of the administration’s achievements in Congress,” including the sweeping tax and spending legislation approved last summer.
Vance described Braid as “brilliant” and “one of the hardest workers you will ever meet.” The vice president didn’t provide details of Braid’s next job, saying only that he was “very excited to see what he does next.” Fresh US aircraft carrier arrives in Middle East The Asia-based USS George Washington aircraft carrier is now operating in the Middle East, the U.S. The Washington is relieving the long-deployed USS Abraham Lincoln after reports that sailors were facing mental health challenges and supply shortages while supporting the Iran war. The Lincoln’s deployment has included a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea.
Democratic lawmakers are pressing for accountability from the Pentagon over conditions aboard the carrier, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said were “completely misrepresented.” The deployment of the Washington to the Middle East has left Asia without an American carrier strike group at a time when China shows more signs of aggression. Rubio designates US citizen jailed in China as ‘wrongfully detained’ Secretary of State Marco Rubio has designated a U.S. citizen scholar jailed in China as “wrongfully detained” as Trump prepares to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping to the White House next month.
The State Department said Thursday that Rubio had decided that Min Zin, who was arrested by Chinese authorities in June, is being unjustly held. “We call on Beijing to release all U.S. citizens arbitrarily detained or exit-banned in China,” the department said.
The designation raises the profile of his case within the U.… It reached $38 trillion five months before that, in October.The Latest:White House legislative affairs director James Braid is leaving his postBraid was in charge of helping to shepherd Trump’s legislative agenda through a Congress where his Republican Party controlled both chambers.Vice President JD Vance wrote on X that Braid “played a critical role in all of the administration’s achievements in Congress,” including the sweeping tax and spending legislation approved last summer.Vance described Braid as “brilliant” and “one of the hardest workers you will ever meet.”The vice president didn’t provide details of Braid’s next job, saying only that he was “very excited to see what he does next.”Fresh US aircraft carrier arrives in Middle EastThe Asia-based USS George Washington aircraft carrier is now operating in the Middle East, the U.S. military said Thursday.The Washington is relieving the long-deployed USS Abraham Lincoln after reports that sailors were facing mental health challenges and supply shortages while supporting the Iran war.The Lincoln’s deployment has included a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea.
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