Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said during an interview on ‘Fox News Sunday’ that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is ‘wrong’ on the issue of vaccinations.
President-elect Donald Trump tapped Kennedy to serve as Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary.
Cassidy, a gastroenterologist who is currently serving Louisianans in the Senate, is the incoming chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
The senator, who noted that he is looking forward to meeting with Kennedy in the coming week, said that he agrees with Kennedy on some issues but disagrees with him on others.
While Cassidy described ultra-processed food as a problem, he said Kennedy is ‘wrong’ about vaccinations.
Fox News Digital inquired about whether Cassidy plans to vote against confirming Kennedy to HHS due to the disagreement on vaccines.
‘Cassidy does not discuss his votes prior to meetings with the nominees and the Senate process playing itself out,’ a Cassidy spokesman said in a statement. ‘Cassidy explained these are topics he wants to discuss with RFK Jr in his meeting with him this week and he looks forward to having a good dialogue with him.’
Reached by Fox News Digital on Monday, Kennedy declined to comment on Cassidy’s assertion that he is ‘wrong’ on the vaccine issue.
But Kennedy has previously said that he does not want to block people from getting vaccines.
‘Bottom line: I’m not going to take anyone’s vaccines away from them. I just want to be sure every American knows the safety profile, the risk profile, and the efficacy of each vaccine. That’s it,’ he declared in a tweet last year.
President-elect Trump on Monday reiterated his suggestion that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state, just hours after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his plan to resign.
‘Many people in Canada LOVE being the 51st State. The United States can no longer suffer the massive Trade Deficits and Subsidies that Canada needs to stay afloat. Justin Trudeau knew this, and resigned,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social.
‘If Canada merged with the U.S., there would be no Tariffs, taxes would go way down, and they would be TOTALLY SECURE from the threat of the Russian and Chinese Ships that are constantly surrounding them. Together, what a great Nation it would be!!!’ he added.
Sources told Fox News in December that Trump brought up the merger idea to Trudeau in person when the pair met at Mar-a-Lago in late November.
Trudeau jetted to Trump’s Florida residence unannounced that month after the president-elect threatened to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products. Trump is warning of 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico over failures by both nations to curb the flow of illegal immigrants and illicit drugs from those countries into the U.S.
‘We discussed many important topics that will require both countries to work together to address, like the fentanyl and drug crisis that has decimated so many lives as a result of illegal immigration, fair trade deals that do not jeopardize American workers and the massive trade deficit the U.S. has with Canada,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time.
Trudeau announced earlier this morning that he will resign as prime minister and as the leader of Canada’s Liberal Party.
‘I intend to resign as party leader, as Prime Minister, after the party selects its next leader through a robust nationwide competitive process,’ Trudeau said in a Monday morning address. ‘Last night, I asked the president of the Liberal Party to begin that process. This country deserves a real choice in the next election, and it has become clear to me that if I’m having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election.’
Trudeau, who has led Canada for nearly a decade, has been grappling for months with significant drops in his approval ratings over mounting frustration relating to issues like the soaring cost of living and rising inflation.
The long-time prime minister saw an increase in calls for his resignation — from at least seven Liberal Members of Parliament as well as opposition party leaders — following the abrupt departure of his finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, who wrote a scathing letter of resignation mentioning Trudeau’s handling of certain economic policies as well as the threats levied by Trump.
Fox News’ Michael Dorgan, Caitlin McFall and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia, who claimed victory in last year’s presidential election against current President Nicolás Maduro, met with President Biden on Monday in search of support in removing the incumbent from office.
Biden and González Urrutia met at the White House, where the latter, who represented Venezuela’s main opposition coalition in the country’s presidential election in July, tried to rally support for his effort to remove Maduro from office by Friday, when the South American country’s next presidential term starts.
‘We had a long, fruitful and cordial conversation with President Biden and his team,’ González Urrutia told reporters. ‘We, of course, thanked the United States government for the support it has given us in this fight for democratic recovery in Venezuela. That is a commitment that we take with us and that we will continue to follow until the last day of the president’s government.’
White House officials said in a statement that the two leaders met to discuss shared efforts to restore democracy in Venezuela.
‘President Biden emphasized that the world was inspired by the millions of Venezuelans who courageously voted for democratic change in Venezuela’s deeply flawed July 28 presidential election, as demonstrated through the collection of voting tally sheets that indicated that Gonzalez Urrutia received the most votes by an insurmountable margin,’ the statement read. ‘Both leaders agreed there is nothing more essential to the success of democracy than respecting the will of the people, as expressed through a transparent and accountable electoral process, and that Gonzalez Urrutia’s campaign victory should be honored through a peaceful transfer back to democratic rule.
‘Both leaders also expressed deep concern regarding Nicolás Maduro and his representatives’ unacceptable and indiscriminate use of repression against peaceful protesters, (sic) democracy activists, and civil society,’ the statement continued. ‘President Biden reiterated his support for Venezuela’s democratic aspirations and underscored the U.S. commitment to continue to hold Maduro and his representatives accountable for their anti-democratic and repressive actions, including by working closely with democratic allies in the hemisphere and around the world.’
On Saturday, González Urrutia began touring the Americas, making stops in Uruguay and Argentina.
Ahead of his stop in Washington, González Urrutia’s team called on Venezuelans in the area to gather outside the offices of the Organization of American States on Monday.
As González Urrutia continues to search for support in removing his opponent from office, the National Assembly has invited Maduro to be sworn in to a sixth term on Friday. The swearing-in would take place five months after the National Electoral Council declared Maduro the winner of the July 28 election, though the Associated Press reported the council was stacked with loyalists to Maduro’s party.
Unlike past presidential elections, election officials did not provide detailed vote counts. But the opposition obtained tally sheets from more than 80% of the electronic voting machines in the country and posted them online. Along with the post, the opposition said the tally sheets show González Urrutia won the election with twice as many votes as Maduro.
As such, the U.S. and most European governments have rejected the official results of the election and consider González Urrutia the legitimate winner.
In fact, the Carter Center, which Maduro’s government invited to observe the presidential election, has said the tally sheets González Urrutia posted online are legitimate.
The AP reported that Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello was asked about González Urrutia’s plans, to which he responded by insulting and attacking the politician, even threatening him with arrest.
Cabello insisted Maduro would be sworn in as president on Friday.
‘Coward,’ Cabello said of the retired diplomat, who he accused, without offering any proof, of being a CIA agent. ‘He has neither courage nor disposition. … Mr. González Urrutia knows that as soon as he steps in Venezuela he will be arrested.’
González Urrutia fled Venezuela for Spain in September after a judge issued a warrant for his arrest in connection with an investigation into the publishing of the election’s tally sheets.
The Venezuelan government also announced a $100,000 reward for information on his whereabouts last week.
On Monday, González Urrutia told reporters his campaign has been in contact with President-elect Trump’s team.
Mental health disorders are on the rise in the military, now accounting for more hospitalizations than any other ailment, according to a new Defense Department health report.
Diagnoses of mental health disorders are up 40% over the past five years, from 2019 to 2023, according to a Defense Health Agency report. It found that anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) doubled over the five-year period.
In 2023, active-duty service members experiencing a mental health disorder made up 54.8% of hospital bed stays, more than every other affliction combined.
From 2019 through 2023, 541,672 active-dutyservice members across all branches were diagnosed with at least one mental health disorder, according to the report. About 47% of those were diagnosed with more than one mental health disorder. In 2023, there were 1.3 million U.S. active duty troops.
The sobering report follows the New Year’s Day vehicle attack in New Orleans that killed 14 people, revealing that the suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was an Army veteran with multiple deployments.
That same day in Las Vegas, Col. Matthew Livelsberger, an active member of the Army Green Berets, shot himself in the head in a Cybertruck full of explosives.
‘As service members continue to experience increased rates of mental health disorders after the COVID-19 pandemic, help-seeking behaviors to address psychological as well as emotional well-being should be prioritized to maintain force readiness,’ the report read.
The Pentagon could not immediately be reached for comment on what’s behind the uptick in diagnoses and whether U.S. forces are mentally prepared to go into combat if needed.
Female service members, those who are younger and those in the Army, were most likely to be diagnosed.
The Navy led all other branches in depressive disorders, bipolar disorders and personality disorders.
Active duty female service members were diagnosed with PTSD twice as often as their male counterparts.
The medical data came from records accessed via the Defense Medical Surveillance System and Theater Medical Data Store. It analyzed ambulance encounters, hospitalization or outpatient visits to a psychiatric facility, and other factors to define a mental health diagnosis.
Meanwhile, military suicides ticked up again last year, following a dark trend the Pentagon has struggled to combat.
Overall, there were 523 reported suicides in 2023, the most recent data available, up from 493 in 2022. The number of active-duty troops who died by suicide increased to 363 from 331 the previous year, up 12%.
Suicide is by far the biggest killer of service members, killing more than training accidents, illnesses, homicides or combat, according to the Defense Department (DOD). In addition to the sheer number, the rate of suicides per 100,000 also went up last year.
Suicide deaths by active-duty service members have been on the rise since 2011.
Another troubling sign from the data is how many suicide victims sought help: 67% had a primary care encounter in the 90 days before their death; 34% had been to an outpatient mental health center; 8% had been discharged from an in-patient mental health facility; and 18% were on psychotropic medication at the time of their death.
Within a year prior to their death, 44% of military suicide victims reported intimate relationship problems, and 42% reported a behavioral health diagnosis.
Donald Trump Jr. is expected to travel to Greenland Tuesday after his father, President-elect Trump, signaled an interest in U.S. ‘ownership and control’ of the country, Fox News Digital has learned.
A source familiar with Trump Jr.’s plans told Fox News Digital that the president-elect’s son, who is traveling in a personal capacity, is set to arrive in Nuuk, Greenland, midday Tuesday for meetings with locals, to visit cultural sites and more.
‘As someone who has traveled to some fascinating places across the globe as an outdoorsman, I’m excited to stop into Greenland for a little bit of fun this week,’ Donald Trump Jr. told Fox News Digital.
A source familiar told Fox News Digital that Trump Jr. is ‘popping in for a quick day-long trip to shoot some fun video content for podcasting.’
‘He will not be meeting with any government officials or political figures,’ the source told Fox News Digital.
The trip comes as President-elect Trump seeks to buy the mineral-rich, geographically important territory.
American interest in Greenland dates back to the 1800s.
In 1867, the State Department explored buying both Greenland and Iceland, recognizing their strategic importance, Fox News reported. After World War II, Denmark turned down a $100 million offer from President Harry Truman for the island.
Acquiring the land would mark the largest expansion of American territory in history, topping the Louisiana Purchase.
But Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede said last week that the country is not interested.
‘Greenland is ours,’ he said. ‘We are not for sale, and will never be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom.’
Additional pardons, measures to prevent homegrown political extremism, and more military aid for Israel are among the plans that Biden and his administration have during their final days before passing the baton to President-elect Donald Trump and his team.
Biden will end his presidency with one more international trip, during which he will travel to Italy and Vatican City to meet with Pope Francis, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella. Biden’s trip to the Vatican is aimed at discussing ways to advance peace around the world with Pope Francis, and his time with Italy’s heads of state will serve to highlight the strength of the U.S.-Italy alliance, the White House said. Biden also plans to thank Meloni for her leadership of the G7 over the last year and discuss future challenges facing the globe’s leading nations.
Upon Biden’s return from overseas, the president will address the nation twice more before Trump’s inauguration, sources in the Biden administration told NBC News. The first speech will focus on foreign policy, while the second will serve as a farewell address for Biden to be held during his final days in the Oval Office. Neither speech has been fully drafted, sources said Saturday.
Sources familiar also indicated that Biden is considering additional pardons for people deemed to have been given unusually harsh sentences, measures to combat domestic violent extremism in the U.S., and additional military funding – roughly $8 billion, the State Department said – to Israel amid its ongoing war with Hamas.
The pardons come after Biden set a record for the largest single-day act of clemency when he commuted the sentences of roughly 1,500 people in mid-December. Sources told NBC News that Biden was also still considering pre-emptive pardons for those who might face political retribution from Trump.
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice indicated Monday that it was still weighing whether to prosecute an additional 200 Jan. 6 cases in the final days before Trump takes office, during which he is expected to grant pardons to many of those who were convicted of crimes related to their participation in the events of that day.
In addition to the plans of action that Biden and his administration plan to take ahead of Trump’s inauguration, it is also notable that Biden will not act on pressure to bolster protections for transgender student athletes or cancel any additional student loan debt, according to the Associated Press.
Biden’s actions after Trump’s election victory in November have garnered criticism from both sides of the aisle.
‘This is one of the lamest of lame ducks we’ve seen with a Democratic administration,’ a spokesperson for progressive nonprofit Justice Democrats said last month. ‘There is no leadership coming from the White House,’ a Democrat close to senior lawmakers also said. ‘There is a total vacuum.’
Some Democrat lawmakers, such as Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, were angry at Biden’s lack of resistance to many of Trump’s Cabinet picks.
Republicans, on the other hand, have challenged Biden’s actions during the final weeks of his presidency as an affront to the American public who voted for Trump.
‘On his way out the door, President Biden is governing as he has always wanted, as a far-left ideologue hellbent on pushing the country in a direction detached from the will of the voters,’ GOP campaign strategist Colin Reed said.
‘While Trump can undo whatever Biden does, Biden is trying to create litigation traps for Trump that will discourage investors from projects on public lands,’ added American Energy Institute fellow Steve Milloy after news broke Monday that Biden was once again moving to restrict domestic energy production on certain land. This move is part of a series of actions Biden has taken in his final weeks to strengthen the country’s defenses against Trump’s plans to reverse many of his green energy initiatives.
Trump blasted Biden’s last-minute policy decisions in an interview Monday, calling out the lame-duck president for making a ‘smooth transition’ more difficult.
‘I see it just came over that Biden has banned all oil and gas drilling across 625 million acres of U.S. coastal territory. It’s just ridiculous. I’ll un-ban it immediately. I have the right to un-ban it immediately. What’s he doing? Why is he doing it?’ Trump said during an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. ‘You know we have something that nobody else has. Nobody has to the extent we have it, and it’ll be more by the time we finish, because I’ll be able to expand.’
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
President-elect Trump ramped up his calls for the U.S. to take ownership of Greenland in an amusing social media post on Monday.
The move comes as the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., is preparing to travel to Greenland on Tuesday. The trip will be undertaken in a personal capacity, and he is not expected to meet with government officials.
In a Truth Social post, President-elect Trump said that he was ‘hearing that the people of Greenland are ‘MAGA’.’ The Republican attached a video that purportedly shows a Greenlander asking the U.S. to buy his country.
‘If you could tell Trump anything, what would it be?’ a woman is heard asking the man in the video.
‘Buy us. Buy Greenland,’ the man, who was wearing a MAGA hat, replied.
The Greenlander then added that he ‘loved Americans’ and wanted to be free of the Danish government.
‘We don’t want to be colonized by Danish government anymore,’ he explained. ‘We get ripped [off] every year [with] our minerals from Greenland. We are the richest nation in the world. And we don’t get to use it. Denmark’s using us too much.’
In his message, Trump confirmed that he plans to visit Greenland in the near future and that his son, Donald Trump, Jr., will be in the country soon. The president-elect said that he plans to see some of the island’s ‘most magnificent areas and sights.’
‘Greenland is an incredible place, and the people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our Nation,’ Trump wrote on Monday. ‘We will protect it, and cherish it, from a very vicious outside World. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!’
Trump’s latest post comes two weeks after he first made headlines by expressing support for U.S. ownership of Greenland.
‘[F]or purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,’ the president-elect’s Truth Social post read.
In response, Greenland Prime Minister Múte Egede declared interest in his country gaining independence from Denmark.
‘The upcoming new election period must, together with the citizens, create these new steps, based on the foundations that have already been created,’ Egede said. ‘It is about time that we ourselves take a step and shape our future, also with regard to who we will cooperate closely with, and who our trading partners will be.’
Trump has considered purchasing Greenland for several years now. In 2019, he floated the idea of buying Greenland and called it ‘a large real estate deal.’
‘A lot of things can be done. It’s hurting Denmark very badly because they’re losing almost $700 million a year carrying it,’ Trump said at the time. ‘So, they carry it at great loss, and strategically for the United States, it would be nice. And, we’re a big ally of Denmark and we help Denmark, and we protect Denmark.’
During a ‘Fox News Sunday’ interview about Trump’s remarks, then-White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow confirmed that the president’s sentiment was genuine.
‘Greenland is a strategic place up there, and they’ve got a lot of valuable minerals,’ Kudlow explained at the time.
‘I don’t want to predict an outcome. I’m just saying the president, who knows a thing or two about buying real estate, wants to take a look.’
Fox News’ Nick Givas and Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
Vail Resorts shares have dropped in recent weeks as a labor dispute roiled one of America’s most prominent skiing destinations.
The Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association, a union representing patrollers at the Utah mountain of the same name, went on strike late last month. The work stoppage has spurred complaints of long lines, closures and delays on social media from patrons on costly ski trips.
This situation has raised awareness of the consolidation of America’s ski resorts under Vail and a handful of other companies. Vail’s history of involvement with a notable private equity firm has also stoked the ire amid the meltdown at Park City, which is billed as the largest U.S. mountain by lift access and has a storied history that includes hosting the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Among the Park City patrol’s main asks is a raise for base wages to $23 per hour from $21, which is where the union says it has sat since 2022. The patrol said on Dec. 27 — the first day of the strike — that Vail did not offer a counterproposal to its demands related to wages or benefits.
“We did everything in our power to avoid this work stoppage,” the patrol said in a statement on its Facebook page that encouraged readers not to buy lift tickets or spend at resorts for the strike’s duration. “Our goal has been and continues to be to secure a fair contract.”
Vail, which also owns Breckenridge and dozens of other resorts, said in a weekend statement that it has increased Park City patrol wages more than 50% over the past four seasons. The average entry-level hourly patrol wage currently sits at $22.40 when factoring in skill-based pay incentives, the company said. The average patroller earns $25 per hour.
“Our wages and benefits are strong, as demonstrated by the high return rate among patrol teams across our company and by the number of applicants we get for any patrol opening,” Bill Rock, president of Vail Resorts’ Mountain Division, said in the statement. “Still, we remain committed to reaching an agreement that demonstrates the great respect we have for our patrollers.”
Vail resumed mediation with the union on Monday, according to a Park City representative. But the stock has already taken a hit as word of conditions at the resort amid the strike spread online, with shares tumbling more than 5% compared with one week ago.
“By letting a labor dispute with its ski patrolmen fester, MTN now finds itself at odds with frustrated customers who travelled to Park City over the past two weeks,” said Don Bilson, head of event-driven research at Gordon Haskett, in a Monday note to clients. “Because of a strike, the mountain is barely open and customers, not surprisingly, are venting on social media. So too are investors.”
Bilson added that the situation could turn into a “professional crisis” for CEO Kirsten Lynch.
Angry customers shared videos of lines and noting the high cost of their ski getaways on social media. Just 103 of 350 trails and 25 of 41 lifts were operating as of Monday morning, according to Park City Mountain’s live tracker.
“Longest lines ever. No excuse,” one user wrote on X.
Some of the online vitriol has centered around what’s become a pressure point among American consumers: the involvement of private equity. While Apollo dissolved its Vail stake in 2004, the role of firm in the resort operator’s history has been pointed out by those wondering why ski resorts have become so expensive.
Many small businesses are breathing a bit easier as inflation has cooled and the race for workers slows. But consumers’ steady embrace of credit cards is taking a growing bite out of their margins.
Gene-Christian Baca, the owner of Walter’s Hot Dogs in Mamaroneck and White Plains, New York, estimated that he now pays $50,000 a year in costs associated with processing credit card transactions, a sum he says has ballooned with rising card processing rates and more customers paying with cards over cash.
“Every year, 3% of all of our sales is washed away just to credit card processing,” he said.
A Visa credit card inserted into a card reader in Tiskilwa, Ill., on Sept. 18, 2018.Daniel Acker / Bloomberg via Getty Images file
Merchants have long shouldered these “swipe fees,” the catchall term for businesses’ payments to banks and card companies each time customers swipe. While a federal rule caps debit card swipe fees at 21 cents per transaction, those for credit cards can be much higher.
And as many shoppers ditched cash for plastic cards or mobile payment apps, businesses have seen credit card transactions swell. They made up 32% of all U.S. consumer payments in 2023, up from 24% in 2019, according to a Federal Reserve study. Cash shrunk its share to 16% over the same period, down from 26%.
Spending on American Express, Discover, Mastercard and Visa cards in the U.S. soared to $5.25 trillion in the first half of 2024, up from around $4.98 trillion during the same period in 2023, according to data provided to NBC News by the Nilson Report, which covers the payments industry.
These shifts in customer habits have added to many businesses’ costs. Merchants paid an average of 2.26% in swipe fees for transactions using the Visa and Mastercard credit card networks in 2023, the latest year with available data, according to Nilson. The two companies accounted for more than $100 billion of the $172 billion in total U.S. swipe fees in 2023, Nilson said, and Visa accounted for 52% of credit card spending on the four major card networks.
Some of Visa’s fees are now going up. The card network raised two of the credit card swipe fees it charges banks and processing companies on Jan. 1. The move comes amid growing pushback from critics, including some lawmakers, who say swipe fees are excessive and frequently get passed on to shoppers.
“Most likely, higher swipe fees from Visa would mean higher prices for people at the store eventually,” said Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree. “It’s unclear as to how quickly that would happen, but generally speaking, when these fees tend to go up, merchants would tend to pass those extra costs along to consumers.”
The Merchants Payments Coalition, an advocacy organization backed by leading restaurant, retail and other trade groups, estimates Visa’s additional fees will total $100 million per year.
“That seems like not a lot, but it increases the amount of every single transaction, and that really adds up over time,” said Doug Kantor, a member of the Merchants Payments Coalition’s executive committee and general counsel at the National Association of Convenience Stores.
The Merchants Payments Coalition says the $172 billion in swipe fees in 2023 set a record and estimates they cost the average family more than $1,100. The group is pushing for more transparency with credit card fees, more competition among networks and lower fees.
Visa says its changes are meant to make the network better. When confronted by policymakers about some of its swipe fees, the company has said that it “has no incentive to set [them] at levels that are too high or too low.”
A Visa spokesperson told NBC News in a statement: “We are constantly enhancing our network to better serve the businesses and consumers that increasingly choose to transact with us. Everything we do is designed to make paying and being paid with Visa more convenient, secure and reliable.”
The Electronic Payments Coalition, an advocacy group supporting card networks including Visa, says average swipe fees haven’t changed much over the last decade even as sales have increased. The organization has also noted that businesses incur distinct costs by handling cash. Those can range from operating cash registers to paying bank account fees.
Businesses handle swipe fees differently. Some, like Walter’s Hot Dogs, bake the costs into their prices. Others are trying to entice customers to use cash. Patz Deli in Manchester, New Hampshire, charges customers a 4% convenience fee for credit card transactions to cover the costs of processing fees and credit card equipment.
“It’s a cost that we don’t necessarily have to take on ourselves because it’s not our credit card,” said owner Pat Burns. “It’s your choice to use it, not ours, but we’re the ones who get charged for it.”
He said the deli introduced the convenience fee within the last couple of years as it faced mounting pressure from taxes, wages and other expenses.
“At the end of the month, by the time you bring home any type of money, 10 other people have already had their hands in it,” Burns said. “Even just a little bit like on the credit cards, 3, 4% goes a long way helping small businesses stay afloat.”
Consumer experts recommend using cash for small transactions, using rewards cards to make the most of each purchase and paying in person rather than over the phone when possible. Phone transactions often result in a higher fee for businesses due to security risks.
The fight over swipe fees has reached Congress. The Credit Card Competition Act, a bipartisan bill spearheaded by Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Roger Marshall, R-Kan., aims to boost competition among credit card processing companies — something the Merchants Payments Coalition says is essential.
But the bill has stalled. Several groups supporting banks, credit card networks and credit unions are opposing the measure, saying it would harm small businesses and consumers, in part by limiting rewards.
“Swipe fees are definitely a really contentious thing and have been a battlefield between credit card issuers and networks and merchants for a long time,” said LendingTree’s Schulz. “It feels like that battle is really only going to keep going on for the next little while.”
President Joe Biden said Friday that he has decided to block a $15 billion takeover of U.S. Steel by the Japanese company Nippon Steel, capping off a yearlong business saga that drifted into election politics.
A national security review by a Treasury Department committee failed to reach a consensus on the deal last month and deferred the final decision to the president. NBC News had reported in September that Biden was preparing to block the takeover.
The president, who leaves office in little more than two weeks, faced a challenging political calculus over the fate of the iconic Pittsburgh-based firm: Allowing a foreign entity with far greater resources to take it over could put the business on stabler financial footing, while keeping U.S. Steel in American hands risked the company’s survival under intense foreign competition. But the deal was opposed by a powerful steelworkers union.
U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works in Clairton, Pa. Quinn Glabicki for The Washington Post via Getty Images
‘As I have said many times, steel production — and the steel workers who produce it — are the backbone of our nation,’ Biden said in a statement. ‘A strong domestically owned and operated steel industry represents an essential national security priority and is critical for resilient supply chains. … Without domestic steel production and domestic steel workers, our nation is less strong and less secure.’
President-Elect Donald Trump had also voiced opposition to the takeover proposal during the 2024 presidential campaign. A Trump representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
U.S. Steel’s stock fell more than 6% Friday.
In a joint statement, U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel condemned Biden’s decision, saying it ‘reflects a clear violation of due process and the law.’ The companies also hinted at taking legal action.
‘Instead of abiding by the law, the process was manipulated to advance President Biden’s political agenda,’ the statement said. ‘The President’s statement and Order do not present any credible evidence of a national security issue, making clear that this was a political decision. Following President Biden’s decision, we are left with no choice but to take all appropriate action to protect our legal rights.’
Later Friday, U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt released a statement ripping Biden, calling the president’s decision ‘shameful and corrupt.’
‘He insulted Japan, a vital economic and national security ally, and put American competitiveness at risk. The Chinese Communist Party leaders in Beijing are dancing in the streets. And Biden did it all while refusing to even meet with us to learn the facts,’ he wrote in the statement. ‘We intend to fight President Biden’s political corruption.’
The roughly 11,000-worker company, founded in 1901, has dwindled since its heyday, when it employed a peak of roughly 340,000 during World War II. Its share price has barely edged higher since the 1990s as cheaper steel production abroad ramped up, especially in Asia.
When reached for comment Thursday night, a spokesperson for U.S. Steel referred to a previous statement, saying that the deal ‘enhances U.S. national and economic security through investment in manufacturing and innovation,’ going on to argue that the transaction would ‘combat the competitive threat from China.’
‘It is the best way, by far, to ensure that U. S. Steel, including its employees, communities, and customers, will thrive well into the future,’ the spokesperson said. ‘It is our hope that President Biden will do the right thing and adhere to the law by approving a transaction that so clearly enhances U.S. national and economic security.’
Nippon Steel, Japan’s largest steelmaker, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
United Steelworkers, the union representing many of the company’s employees, hailed the announcement.
“We’re grateful for President Biden’s willingness to take bold action to maintain a strong domestic steel industry and for his lifelong commitment to American workers,” the union said in a statement. “Moving forward, we’re confident that with responsible management, U.S. Steel will continue to support good jobs, healthy communities and robust national and economic security well into the future.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro issued a separate statement calling on U.S. Steel to continue to continue to prioritize protecting jobs in the western part of the state.
“This matter is far from over,” he said. “We must find a long-term solution that protects the future of steelmaking in Western Pennsylvania and the workers who built U.S. Steel and built this country.”
The potential blocking of the deal had raised concerns that it could harm U.S. relations with Japan, a key U.S. ally and the country’s largest foreign investor.
There was no immediate comment from officials in Japan, where Friday was a bank holiday. Japanese government officials have previously declined to comment on matters concerning the management of individual companies but said it is essential for the U.S. and Japan to strengthen economic relations, “including the expansion of mutual investment.”
American and international business groups have also criticized what they say is the politicization of the deal.
The proposed acquisition drew controversy almost as soon as it was announced in December 2023, with Biden saying in a statement that month that it “appears to deserve serious scrutiny in terms of its potential impact on national security and supply chain reliability.”
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, both campaigned against the proposed acquisition, saying U.S. Steel should remain American-owned.
Trump said in December that he would block the acquisition and revive U.S. Steel through a combination of tax incentives and tariffs.
Nippon Steel tried to assuage politicians’ concerns, saying in a statement in September that U.S. Steel would remain an American company owned by Nippon Steel North America. Nippon Steel also said that Americans would make up the majority of the board of directors of U.S. Steel, and that the American company, under its new ownership, would stay headquartered in Pittsburgh.
‘Nippon Steel will prioritize production at U. S. Steel to meet the demand in the U.S. steel market,’ Nippon Steel said.
