• Police seek suspects in deadly birthday party shooting
  • Lawmakers launch inquires into U.S. boat strike
  • Nov. 29, 2025, 10:07 PM EST / Updated Nov. 30, 2025,…
  • Mark Kelly says troops ‘can tell’ what orders…

Be that!

contact@bethat.ne.com

 

Be That ! Menu   ≡ ╳
  • Home
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Contact Us
  • Politics Politics
☰

Be that!

Bill Nye slams NASA funding cuts at ‘No Kings’ rally

admin - Latest News - October 18, 2025
admin
31 views 15 secs 0 Comments



At a “No Kings” protest in Washington, D.C., Bill Nye tells NBC News’ Melanie Zanona that federal cuts to science funding, especially around NASA, are “thoughtless.”



Source link

TAGS:
PREVIOUS
Crowds gather for 'No Kings' protest in Miami
NEXT
NYC mayoral general election debate
Related Post
October 10, 2025
Oct. 10, 2025, 12:36 PM EDTBy Scott Wong and Sahil KapurWASHINGTON — The government shutdown is entering its 10th day, with both Republicans and Democrats dug in and refusing to give any ground to their political foes.But the coming days and weeks will bring some key pressure points that could potentially end the partisan impasse.Until now, the impacts of the shutdown have been fairly muted, with Smithsonian museums shuttered and some government services interrupted. But Friday, hundreds of thousands of civilian federal workers will get their first paycheck since the shutdown began, reflecting zero pay for October. On Wednesday, service members will see the same.With air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration agents not getting paid, staffing shortages will likely grow worse, exacerbating flight delays and cancellations that have already frustrated travelers.On top of that, Democrats’ focus on health care in the shutdown fight is starting to resonate with the public, as millions of Americans on Obamacare begin to receive notices that their insurance premiums are about to go up substantially.We’d like to hear from you about how you’re experiencing the government shutdown, whether you’re a federal employee who can’t work right now or someone who is feeling the effects of shuttered services in your everyday life. Please contact us at tips@nbcuni.com or reach out to us here.Missed paychecks It’s one thing when Americans can’t access national park facilities and museums. It’s another thing when millions of American families from around the country start missing paychecks and can’t pay their bills.Friday marks the first time when civilian federal workers will miss getting some pay because of the shutdown that began Oct. 1. While they will receive a partial paycheck for work performed from Sept. 21-30, they will not receive any pay for the opening days of October.That includes Capitol Police officers, Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and Federal Emergency Management Agency workers. After some confusion created by the White House, congressional leaders in both parties said this week that federal workers will receive back pay once the shutdown ends. But that still doesn’t help families right now who have to pay their rents or mortgages and put food on the table. Once they miss getting paid, workers are likely to amp up the pressure on lawmakers and the president, who for days has been threatening mass firings of federal employees.“That tells you everything you need to know about them. We don’t share the same values,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., a key member of the Democratic Caucus. “I mean, they want to punish workers.”Asked about the threat of layoffs Thursday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told NBC News’ “Top Story” that “there is too much inefficiency in the federal government.”“There are programs that probably should be eliminated, but we want federal employees to be protected,” he said.Speaker Johnson addresses military pay, layoffs during government shutdown11:20The two sides could feel an even greater sense of urgency Oct. 15, when the 1.3 million active duty service members will miss their first full paycheck of the shutdown. Lawmakers in both parties — especially those who represent military-heavy districts — are already feeling the heat.A bill authored by Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., would ensure that troops are paid during the shutdown, and has almost 150 co-sponsors, including more than 100 Republicans. But Johnson has argued that such a bill isn’t needed because the stopgap bill the House passed Sept. 19 includes funding for troops. During a call-in show on C-SPAN on Thursday, a woman identified as Samantha from Fort Belvoir, Virginia, made a personal plea to Johnson, telling the speaker that if her active duty husband doesn’t get paid on the 15th, “my kids could die” because her family won’t be able to afford their medication.Speaking at the White House on Wednesday, Trump told reporters that Democrats are to blame for the shutdown and workers missing paychecks, but he predicted that paying the troops “probably will happen.”Johnson on Friday again insisted that the House will not vote on a standalone measure to pay the military. “The Republican Party stands for paying the troops,” he said. “The Democrats are the ones that are demonstrating over and over and over, now eight times, that they don’t want troops to be paid.”Air traffic controller shortagesTravelers this week got a glimpse of how air traffic controller and TSA employee shortages could wreak havoc on the nation’s airports.Airports from Washington and Miami to Denver and Las Vegas were snarled by flight delays as officials said they were dealing with a slight uptick in the number of air traffic controllers calling in sick. The Hollywood Burbank Airport in the Los Angeles area operated for several hours Monday with no air traffic controllers because of staffing issues.As federal airport workers miss pay for the first time in the shutdown Friday, the number of them calling in sick could increase. Delays could get worse in the coming days, further straining the nation’s air system, the economy and the patience of already frustrated travelers.#embed-20251002-shutdown-milestones iframe {width: 1px;min-width: 100%}Trump officials are paying close attention to the staffing issues. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Thursday threatened to fire “problem children” air traffic controllers if they don’t show up for work without a good reason.But lawmakers said widespread flight delays and cancellations could force Trump and the Republicans to the negotiating table that they’ve avoided during the shutdown fight. Air traffic controller shortages and the travel interruptions they caused helped end the 34-day shutdown during Trump’s first term — the longest in the nation’s history.”Of any of the factors that led President Trump in 2019 [to say] we got to solve this, it was the air traffic control issue,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said. Reagan National Airport in his home state experienced staffing shortages and delays this week; it’s one of three major airports in the area that members of Congress use to commute between Washington and home.Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said he’s been watching television coverage of the flight delays and long lines at airports this week. He believes Trump has been watching the same compelling visuals, and could be motivated to do a deal if things get worse. “Here’s a guy who watches TV nonstop … the visuals. People doing video of those long lines,” Blumenthal explained. “It’s a black eye for the country. … It should get them to the table.”Rising health care premiumsThe central demand by Democrats in the standoff is to extend expiring tax credits under Obamacare that have helped make premiums more affordable for families. And while the money technically expires Dec. 31, voters are starting to feel the sticker shock.This month, insurers are sending out notices of sharp premium hikes ahead of open enrollment beginning Nov. 1, now a little more than three weeks away.Democrats are betting that pressure will soften the GOP resistance to extending that money as part of a bill to reopen the government.“It’s been important to raise the issue with both our colleagues and with the American public, and also to point out the urgency of the issue,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., the author of a bill to permanently extend the Obamacare money, told NBC News.“A number of people thought, well, it doesn’t expire until the end of December, so it’s not an issue. And didn’t realize that insurance companies are setting rates right now. … It’s one more thing on top of the cost of food and electricity and rent and child care and all the other expenses that people are incurring,” Shaheen continued.Johnson, however, maintained that the health care funding issue can be “discussed and deliberated and contemplated and debated in October and November,” after the government reopens. But he faces a divided conference and hasn’t made any promises to hold a vote on the matter. “I support the speaker,” conservative Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said. Moderate Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said he backed the speaker’s strategy, as well.”A short, clean CR was always good in the past and should be good now,” Bacon told NBC News. “Most of the GOP are willing to negotiate on the tax credits as part of the appropriations process.” But far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., is publicly bashing Johnson and her party for not having a plan to address the looming premium hikes that she says will harm her own family members. “When it comes to the point where families are spending anywhere from $1,500 to $2,000 a month and looking at hikes coming on their insurance premiums,” Greene said, “I think that’s unforgivable.”Scott WongScott Wong is a senior congressional reporter for NBC News. Sahil KapurSahil Kapur is a senior national political reporter for NBC News.Kyle Stewart, Melanie Zanona and Ryan Nobles contributed.
October 7, 2025
Schiff recaps questions Bondi refused to answer during oversight hearing
October 29, 2025
Paramount Skydance to cut more than 1,000 employees
November 3, 2025
Nov. 3, 2025, 5:00 AM ESTBy Matt Dixon, Jonathan Allen and Henry J. GomezFor Hannah Szretter, the government shutdown is more than just a political fight.The 26-year-old Buffalo-area resident said she has had Type 1 diabetes since she was 10 and also now has a mental health disorder that prevents her from working. The $300 she receives each month in food assistance from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has been a needed lifeline to make sure she is able to maintain her blood sugar level.“I need these benefits for my food. If I don’t get the food, I won’t be able to control my numbers,” she told NBC News. “If you don’t get it taken care of, you can lose toes or limbs, or could go blind.”Now she is among the more than 40 million people who may not receive their November SNAP benefits as the government shutdown goes into its sixth week with no end in sight.“It’s scary,” she said.Along with the loss of SNAP benefits and the disruption of other social service programs for millions of people, the government shutdown has resulted in federal employees going without pay. Many of them have turned to food banks and unemployment benefits to get by.The shutdown is compounding problems that have intensified broader anxiety over an economy that in recent months has been marked by lingering high prices for many consumer goods, rough jobs numbers, mass layoffs at major companies — including Amazon and Target — and an uptick in inflation.That stagnation has in recent months eroded the high approval marks President Donald Trump once enjoyed on the economy.The bleak picture has some Republicans sounding the alarm to the White House — even though delivering the news isn’t easy.“No one wants to tell the president he’s losing on the economy,” said a Republican strategist who said they recently warned the White House about their concerns.Trump’s overall approval rating sits at 43%, while just 34% of registered voters say he has “lived up” to expectations on the economy, 33% say he has “looked out for the middle class” and 30% say he met expectations on inflation, according to a new NBC News poll released Sunday.Steve Kornacki: Most voters blame Republicans for shutdown in new NBC News poll04:24A White House official blamed Democrats for the prolonged shutdown and argued that some indicators, like growing wages and a booming stock market, are proof the economy has bright spots. The person also argued that the massive tax cuts and tariffs pursued by Trump are going to take time to fully take effect.“I don’t think anyone is under any illusions that things are perfect … but looking at the data, we feel good about the trajectory here,” said the White House official, who, like others in this article, was granted anonymity to speak candidly.“The bottom line is that the actual buying power and actual purchasing power of American consumers is going up, and, as far as specific prices go, you know there are things like gas and eggs that have gone down,” the official said. They also asserted that Trump’s pursuit of investment in the U.S. will pay major dividends in the future for American workers and consumers.Sen. Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican and Trump ally, said in an interview with NBC News that he remains optimistic about the economy.“The state of the economy is very strong, if you look at real wages that continue to go up,” Moreno said. “The Working Families Tax Cut Act worked really well. … The big thing is, obviously, the Democrats don’t want the economy to be successful, which is decently sad considering they should be cheering for the American people. But they shut down the government because they want Trump to fail.”Republicans are pushing for the passage of a “continuing resolution,” which would extend current funding levels until Nov. 21. Democrats, meanwhile, want to include an extension of tax credits that help people buy private insurance through the Affordable Care Act. Those credits expire at the end of the year, and without the extension, millions of people who receive them are likely to see steep premium increases. Republicans have argued the health care fight should be handled separately, after the government reopens.For his part, Trump for weeks has largely been focused on issues aside from the shutdown and economic concerns, with the exception of deals around his tariffs. Democrats have called on him to become more engaged to help end the stalemate.On Tuesday night, Trump did write on social media that Senate Republicans should use the “nuclear option” to get rid of the filibuster. The drastic move would allow Republicans to reopen the government without needing 60 votes — and the cooperation of Democrats — but it was swiftly rejected by Republican leaders.window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}});Last week, Trump’s attention was in Asia, far from the pain of the shutdown, with a big announcement on tariffs. Before that, much of his focus was on demolishing the East Wing of the White House to build a $300 million ballroom funded by private donors, a project that is ongoing.And on Thursday, a reporter asked Vice President JD Vance about the loss of SNAP benefits, and whether the administration was working to find a funding solution, as it has tried to do to pay troops and law enforcement during the shutdown.Vance avoided answering whether there would be a push around SNAP, instead blaming Democrats.“The unfortunate reality — and we’re starting to see this with our aviation industry — we’re going to find out the hard way with SNAP benefits, the American people are already suffering, and the suffering is going to get a lot worse,” Vance said.Some relief could be coming — but if it does, it’s over the Trump administration’s objections. On Friday, a federal judge ordered the administration to distribute money to SNAP recipients “as soon as possible” by tapping a contingency fund. Another federal judge in a separate case also said it was unlawful for the administration not to pay out the benefits.The White House has argued that it cannot use those funds and is seeking further clarification from the courts.Hassett: ‘If SNAP benefits run dry, it’s because they haven’t been funded by the Democrats’09:00Hannah’s mom, Betty, a 63-year-old recent retiree who is a caretaker for her daughter and a longtime Trump supporter, said she is losing confidence in the president she once supported amid the shutdown fight.“I think deep down he wants to help the country with things like food insecurity,” she said. “But now he is busy out of the country and demolishing the White House. I know that is being paid for with private funds, but those could be used to help people.”“It all seems very selfish,” she added.Betty Szretter said she now regrets voting for Trump in 2024 and would prefer a Democrat in the White House to “protect benefits he [Trump] wants to cut.”Several recent public polls have pointed to Trump having an economic problem, one that is quickly turning into a political one for Republicans trying to maintain slim majorities in the House and Senate headed into the 2026 midterms — an election where Republicans will have to energize Trump voters without his presence on the ballot.The new NBC News poll found Republicans have just a 1-point advantage over Democrats on “dealing with the economy,” a margin that has consistently been 15-20 points in favor of Republicans going back to 2018.Chuck Rocha, a Democratic strategist who advised freshman Sen. Ruben Gallego’s winning campaign in Arizona last year, said that economic hardship gives his party’s candidates an opening to win key segments of the electorate — including the young men who helped Trump take back the White House — if they focus on making the argument that their policies are better than the president’s.“Right now, people’s prices are going up. Their prices are going up for the utility bills, going up for lots of things in their life, because of the tariffs,” Rocha said. “If you show up and start talking to folks about actually trying to provide for their family, there’s going to be a lot of men who right now feel a little regret because they were promised lower prices and they’re not getting them.”Moreno said he was not worried “about the politics” of the shutdown, noting that he has pledged to serve no more than two Senate terms and, as a native of Colombia, is constitutionally ineligible to be president. But he said Republicans need to better articulate their message: that they hold Democrats responsible for the shutdown and its economic ramifications.He specifically alluded to recent remarks from House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., who in an interview with Fox News acknowledged that families would “suffer” because of the shutdown but emphasized that Democrats needed to exert their political “leverage” to address health care costs.“We’ve got to speak up more loudly and more aggressively, like [Senate Majority Leader] John Thune did the other day. I think we haven’t shown enough outrage. We do it privately, but we haven’t done it enough publicly. Just call these guys out. It’s disgusting,” Moreno said.“We need to speak clearly, with humanity, not political talk,” he added.Trump remains popular with Republicans on things like immigration enforcement — Betty Szretter says she still supports the president on that issue — but pocketbook issues more often than not have an outsize role in swaying election outcomes.The NBC News poll found 83% of registered voters said the “cost of living” was their single most important issue or very important to them, a number that was at 58% when they were asked about “immigration and border security.”On the Asia trip last week, Trump nevertheless told reporters he had the “highest [poll] numbers I ever had.”He has also directly avoided questions about the economy.“Let’s just make it about this subject,” Trump said at an event centered around an autism announcement last month. “I’d rather not talk about some nonsense on the economy. I will say this: The economy is unbelievable.”Republicans running in swing House seats across the country, however, have not been eager to talk about Trump’s economy.NBC News reached out to eight Republicans either defending swing seats they currently hold or challenging Democrats in winnable seats; seven did not return requests seeking comment. Two judges issue rulings in lawsuits challenging Trump admin. withholding SNAP benefits13:24Brinker Harding is a Republican city councilman in Omaha running to replace Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., who is not seeking re-election in one of the most up-for-grab seats in the country. Harding said he believes that once the midterm campaigns really begin, moves Trump has made will have the economy in a better place.“Come next November, Republicans’ tax cuts for working families and small businesses, in addition to projected interest rate cuts, will have the American economy moving more than it already is,” he said.Other swing state Republicans where vulnerable Democrats are on the ballot are pinning economic woes on those Democrats.“Maine’s issues are especially pronounced on the economic front,” said Lauren LePage, who is the Republican national committeewoman from Maine. “And the blame for our high cost of living, nation-leading electricity price increases and more lies at the feet of Democrats here.”Maine is home to one of the nation’s most closely watched 2026 Senate contests as Democrats try to knock off Republican Sen. Susan Collins. LePage’s father, former Republican Gov. Paul LePage, is himself running to challenge Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, in a House seat that is considered winnable for either party.Other Republicans, including some former Trump allies, are acknowledging that prices have remained stubbornly high during Trump’s second term in office.“Prices have not come down at all,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said on “The Tim Dillon Show” last week. “The job market is extremely difficult. Wages have not gone up.”She has also made an uncharacteristic pivot in recent weeks. After being one of Trump’s staunchest defenders, she has been critical of the president and her own party of late, agreeing with Democrats that the Affordable Care Act tax credits should be included as part of any deal to reopen the government.“When it comes to the point where families are spending anywhere from $1,500 to $2,000 a month and looking at hikes coming on their insurance premiums, I think that’s unforgivable,” she told NBC News in early October.For people like Betty Szretter, they just want the fight to be over and the focus to return to Americans hurting in the current economic climate.“I would say practice what you preach and save the country as a true servant,” she said when asked what she would say to Trump directly. “There are not a lot of people who use their wealth to actually help others. Really no one.”Matt DixonMatt Dixon is a senior national politics reporter for NBC News, based in Florida.Jonathan AllenJonathan Allen is a senior national politics reporter for NBC News. Henry J. GomezHenry J. Gomez is a senior national political reporter for NBC News
Comments are closed.
Scroll To Top
  • Home
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Contact Us
  • Politics
© Copyright 2025 - Be That ! . All Rights Reserved