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Del Monte cruises to 9-point win in PAL Interclub

PAL

BACOLOD CITY — Yoyong Velez and Raul Minoza fired on all cylinders to lead Del Monte to a successful title defense in the Philippine Airlines (PAL) Senior Interclub tournament at Negros Occidental Golf and Country Club in Bacolod City on Thursday.

Messrs. Velez and Minoza each carded 53 points, helping Del Monte turn what was expected to be a fierce competition into a surprising and dominant victory.

“We thought we had the strongest team in the final round,” said Mr. Velez, the long-time team captain. “Our strategy paid off.”

It marked the first time Del Monte won the tournament outside its home course.

“Nobody can say now that we can’t win outside Del Monte,” Mr. Velez said, paying tribute to his teammates for their dedication. “We have been practicing every day for the last month.”

With Crispin Aparilla adding 47 points, Del Monte posted a tournament-best 153 points, securing a nine-point victory over Luisita and Manila Southwoods.

Del Monte made its move early, taking a three-point lead over Luisita at the turn. Mr. Minoza was 1-under, while Mr. Velez was even par. Both players faced challenges in the last two holes.

Mr. Minoza made a double bogey on the 17th after his approach shot veered left into a flower bed. He was given a free drop but couldn’t save bogey.

On the other hand, Mr. Velez mishit his three-wood second shot after opting to lay up on the 18th.

“They forwarded the tee. I was torn between going over the pond or playing it safe. I had a poor tee shot and was in a bad position for my next shot,” Mr. Velez explained.

Despite taking a penalty drop, Mr. Velez managed to save double bogey for one point.

In the end, they had nothing to worry about. No team came close to challenging Del Monte’s title-defense bid.

Luisita took second place, edging Southwoods via countback. The Tarlac-based squad posted 143 points, with contributions from Ronnie Littaua (49), Steven McDonald (48), and Rolando Punzalan (46).

Southwoods rallied with 146 points to tie Luisita. Don Breganza matched Plana’s 51 points, while either Thirdy Escano or Rusty Bayani’s 44 counted.

Canlubang finished fourth with a total of 559, following a closing 140. Damasus Wong shot 49, while Santiago Santos and Josefino Hernandez added 46 and 45, respectively.

The 76th staging of the PAL Interclub is supported by Platinum sponsors PRIMAX Broadcasting Network and Asian Journal.

Mastercard is a gold sponsor while RMN is a silver sponsor.

ABS-CBN Global is joining as a bronze sponsor while VISA, Philippine National Bank, SM Bacolod, Tanduay and Asia Brewery are minor sponsors. Citadines is a hotel partner.

New Taipei outlasts Meralco in double overtime thriller

TAIWAN’S New Taipei pulled the plug on Meralco’s Final Four bid in the East Asia Super League  (EASL) with a 106-96 double overtime victory on Wednesday night at the University of Taipei Gymnasium.

The Kings wiped out the nine-point lead the Bolts seized in the last seven minutes of regulation then outlasted the reigning PBA Philippine Cup kingpins in the final push to claim the last seat to the F4.

The Taiwanese club finished Group B at second with 4-2 and joined topnotcher and early qualifier Ryukyu Golden Kings (5-1) in the next round. The Kings earned the right to face Group A No. 1 Hiroshima Dragonflies (5-1) in the KO F4 slated March 7 in Macau, where Ryukyu is up against Group A No. 2 Taoyuan Pauian Pilots (4-2).

The Bolts wound up fourth in the group with 2-4, left to rue their failure to finish off the Kings in regulation.

The first extra time was almost disastrous for Meralco if not for Jansen Rios, who hit a triple at the buzzer to knot the count at 91-91. But the charges of Luigi Trillo failed to stop New Taipei from racking up nine unanswered points in the second OT that ultimately put the game out of reach.

DJ Kennedy shot 21 points to pace Meralco, which missed out on the EASL semis three days after falling short in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals sudden death against Barangay Ginebra back home.

Chris Newsome netted 17 points while Mr. Kennedy’s import partner Akil Mitchell produced 15 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists while battling back spasm. — Olmin Leyba

The scores

New Taipei 106 — Sakakini 31, Daye 24, Lin 19, Manigault 19, Lee 13, Chen 0, Chien 0, Lu 0, Su 0, Hung 0, Lin CP 0.

Meralco 96 — Kennedy 21, Newsome 17, Mitchell 15, Quinto 15, Rios 11, Hodge 10, Black 5, Kouame 2, Cansino 0, Banchero 0.

Quarterscores: 24-25, 42-44, 57-67, 78-78, 91-91, 106-96.

Luka Dončić’s Lakers debut scores ESPN huge ratings

LUKA DONČIĆ’S debut with the Los Angeles Lakers scored massive ratings for ESPN despite coming in a game that started at 10:30 p.m. ET and whose result was never in doubt.

The network’s audience for Monday night’s game — a 132-113 Lakers victory over the Utah Jazz — peaked at 2.55 million viewers. To put that into context, it was up 42% compared to last year’s average NBA game on ESPN.

The game averaged 2.01 million viewers, according to Nielsen, and was the most-watched game of the day among the coveted demographics of males 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 years old.

That’s despite Dončić playing only 24 minutes and scoring 14 points in a game Los Angeles led by 12 points after the first quarter and 25 points at halftime. The Lakers led by as many as 34 points, and Dončić sat out the fourth quarter.

The 25-year-old was acquired from Dallas in a shocking blockbuster trade earlier this month, and Monday night marked his first action since suffering a left calf strain on Christmas Day.

Dončić is listed as questionable but expected to play in Wednesday night’s game at Utah, when the Lakers will attempt to extend their winning streak to seven in their final game before the All-Star-Break.

It will give James and Dončić another chance to build chemistry after some have questioned whether two players who are accustomed to being the No. 1 option can be successful together in the long term.

The Lakers are next scheduled to play on national television on Feb. 22 against Denver, which will air on ABC. Dončić will then pay his first return visit to Dallas three days later. — Reuters

Knicks survive Hawks battle

JALEN BRUNSON hit the game-winning shot with 11 seconds left in overtime for the host New York Knicks, who overcame a five-point deficit in the extra session to edge the Atlanta Hawks 149-148 in the highest-scoring game of the season.

The Knicks recovered from blowing an 18-point lead in the second quarter lead and squandered a six-point edge in the final seconds of regulation.

Onyeka Okongwu drained two free throws with 24 seconds left to give the Hawks a one-point lead, before Brunson dribbled up the court and sank a fallaway over Dyson Daniels.

Following a timeout by Atlanta, Trae Young tried to drive the baseline, but his floater over Precious Achiuwa glanced off the side of the backboard. Okongwu collected the rebound and dished to a wide-open Georges Niang, who missed a 3-pointer from in front of the Knicks’ bench as time expired.

Karl-Anthony Towns joined some select company by posting 44 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks, who enter the All-Star Break with nine wins in their last 11 games. Towns, who scored 40 points in Tuesday’s 128-115 win over the Indiana Pacers, is the fifth player in franchise history to score 40 points in consecutive games.

Brunson had 36 points and eight assists, and Josh Hart added 18 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Achiuwa scored 26 points, while Mikal Bridges finished with 11 points and Cameron Payne added 10 points off the bench.

Young had 38 points and 19 assists for the Hawks, who forced overtime when Niang sank a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left and the duo of Young and Daniels combined to go 3-of-4 from the line in the last eight seconds, helped by a turnover by Towns.

Okongwu had 21 points and 14 rebounds, and Caris LeVert notched 20 points and 10 rebounds for Atlanta, which didn’t lead until overtime. Daniels scored 23 points and Niang had 21 points, while Zaccharie Risacher finished with 16. — Reuters

Journeyman

Ja Morant willingly gave Kevin Durant the game ball after dribbling away the last 15 seconds of the Grizzlies-Suns set-to the other day. It wasn’t due to his magnanimity after the blue and gray secured their 11th triumph in 13 outings, and on the road to boot. Rather, it was because he felt the 15-time All-Star deserved to take the leather home as memento for being just the eighth player in National Basketball Association history to amass 30,000 points. There would be no repeat of the Bucks-Pacers tiff a little over a year ago, when Giannis Antetokounmpo (in scoring a career-high 64) and Oscar Tshiebwe (in scoring one, albeit the first-ever in the league) both wanted to keep the rock as a souvenir.

Indeed, Durant had cause to celebrate the feat, never mind the Suns’ inability to cap it off with a triumph. His milestone put him in distinguished company, joining all-time-great LeBron James as the only active players in the Top Nine, with all the others already in the Hall of Fame. Not coincidentally, Carmelo Anthony, the 10th on the list, is eligible for induction to Springfield this year. And, just like his contemporary, he appears to put up the eye-popping numbers with little to no effort; his silky-smooth jumper and singular skill set make his offensive forays all but unstoppable.

Ironically, Durant’s seeming nonchalance in plying his trade has given critics fuel to question his killer instinct, or relative lack thereof. The other day, for instance, the 34 markers to his name off a mere 18 field goal attempts could well have been much higher were he more inclined to look at the hoop more and his teammates less. From his naysayers’ vantage point, his show of efficiency actually doomed the Suns’ chances to win against the Grizzlies. After all, no one was more effective than he in getting the ball through the hoop. Yet, he kept on passing to others — even in the crunch, when selfishness on his part was, if anything, a necessity.

Significantly, the dichotomy has made Durant a journeyman in his own way. Not for nothing is he already on his fourth set of jerseys, with a fifth not out of the question despite his obvious value. When the Suns acquired him midway through the 2022-23 season, they deemed him a keeper. Two years later, they saw fit to dangle him in the trade market. Clearly, mediocrity breeds discontent, and only time will tell whether he has a case of wanderlust anew. Meanwhile, he keeps plodding on — the latest trophy in his mantel serving as testament to his greatness.

 

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.

Trump backs Ukraine, but gives early concessions to Russia

Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meet at Trump Tower in New York City, U.S., Sept. 27, 2024. — REUTERS

WASHINGTON/PARIS — US President Donald J. Trump has promised a swift end to the Ukraine war but with talks about to begin the author of “The Art of the Deal” may have already complicated his task by sacrificing leverage.

Mr. Trump, who took office on Jan. 20, separately discussed the war on Wednesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and told US officials to begin talks on ending the nearly three-year-long war.

The phone calls came shortly after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Ukraine’s military allies in Brussels that a return to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders —  before Russia annexed Crimea — was unrealistic and that the US does not see NATO membership for Kyiv as part of a solution.

He said US troops would not be part of any security presence in Ukraine.

Michael McFaul, former US ambassador to Russia under President Barack Obama’s administration from 2012 to 2014 questioned the Trump administration’s strategy towards Russia and Ukraine ahead of impending negotiations.

“Why is the Trump administration giving Putin gifts — Ukrainian land and no NATO membership for Ukraine — before negotiations even begin?” Mr.  McFaul asked on social media site X.

“I’ve negotiated with the Russians. You never give up anything to them for free.”

Russia occupies around a fifth of Ukraine and has demanded Kyiv cede territory and become permanently neutral under any peace deal. Ukraine demands Russia withdraw from captured land and wants NATO membership or equivalent security guarantees to prevent Moscow from attacking again.

Mr. Putin has said repeatedly that Russia is open to talks to end the conflict but that it would nevertheless achieve its goals in Ukraine of Moscow securing the country’s “demilitarization” and neutrality.

While Trump administration officials had signaled for some time that they would not support all of Ukraine’s goals, remarks by Mr. Hegseth and Mr. Trump jolted European allies.

“No NATO membership, no boots on the ground? Sounds like abandoning Ukraine,” former Lithuania Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis posted on X in response to Mr. Hegseth’s comments, which come ahead of the Munich Security Conference for political and military leaders later this week.

“Delegates are flying to Munich not to negotiate, but to deliver Zelensky the bad news.”

When asked later on Wednesday if Mr. Hegseth’s remarks had taken away any US leverage, Mr. Trump told reporters: “I’m backing Ukraine.”

‘CONCESSION TO REALITY’
Stephen Wertheim, senior fellow at Carnegie Endowment, described Mr. Hegseth’s comments as a “concession to reality.”

“Hegseth’s remark does not imply any US willingness to recognize occupied Ukrainian territory as legally Russian,” he said, adding that ruling out NATO membership “signals to Russia that a realistic settlement may be achievable.”

Since the war began in February 2022, Mr. Trump’s predecessor President Joseph Biden — along with European allies — stood firm in demanding Russia withdraw and held out the possibility of eventual NATO membership. The US and Europe have given Ukraine tens of billions of dollars in military aid.

Russia also has been diplomatically isolated at the United Nations, where three-quarters of the 193-member General Assembly repeatedly voted to denounce Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and demand it withdraw its troops.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump had agreed to meet, and Mr. Putin had invited Mr. Trump to visit Moscow. Such a trip would be a major boost for the Russian president, who faces an International Criminal Court arrest warrant over his actions in Ukraine.

Brett Bruen, a former foreign policy adviser in the Obama administration, likened Mr. Trump’s agreement to meet Mr. Putin to him granting two high-profile summits in his first term in office to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to try to curb Pyongyang’s nuclear program.

Mr. Kim pressed ahead with nuclear weapons development anyway. “This is the kind of stuff you should get concessions for,” he said. “You demand that the Kremlin not only free more Americans but cede territory in Ukraine.”

MINERALS FOR SECURITY
Mr. Trump’s calls and Mr. Hegseth’s remarks coincided with a visit to Kyiv by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent who said a minerals deal between Kyiv and Washington would provide Ukraine with a post-war “security shield.” Mr. Zelensky said he was ready to do a deal to open mineral resources to US investment.

Mr. Trump on Wednesday signaled a minerals deal would provide security for US funding for Ukraine, saying: “I told Biden, I said: ‘You ought to be asking for either a loan or some kind of a security, like their oil and gas or something for the money’.”

John Herbst, ambassador to Ukraine between 2003-2006 under President George W. Bush’s administration, said that the US had surrendered some leverage with Russia, but that Mr. Bessent’s visit to Kyiv was a positive signal.

“Trump is talking about exchanging American weapons for the Ukrainians minerals. So this is a vehicle under Trump’s logic for sending weapons to Ukraine, “  Mr. Herbst said. “That’s a big deal and very positive.”

Still, a quick deal on uneven terms would be a dangerous precedent.

British lawmaker and former foreign secretary James Cleverly said that starting a negotiation by setting out what one side should give up was “not a strong move.”

“Giving the impression that invasion pays off is not a strong move. Regimes are watching closely. Let’s send the message that violence and aggression don’t win out. I stand with Ukraine,” he posted on X. — Reuters

Israel seen as likely to attack Iran by midyear, Post reports

COLE KEISTER-UNSPLASH

US INTELLIGENCE warns that Israel is likely to launch a preemptive attack on Iran’s nuclear program by midyear, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing multiple intelligence reports.

Such an attack would set back Iran’s nuclear program by weeks or months while escalating tension in the region and risking a wider conflict, according to multiple intelligence reports from the end of the Biden administration and start of the Trump administration, the newspaper reported.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. The White House declined to comment. The Post said the Israeli government, CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency and Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.

Brian Hughes, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, told the Post that President Donald Trump “will not permit Iran to get a nuclear weapon.”

“While he prefers negotiating a resolution to Americans’ long-standing issues with the Iranian regime peacefully, he will not wait indefinitely if Iran isn’t willing to deal, and soon,” Hughes told The Post.

The most comprehensive of the intelligence reports came in early January and was produced by the intelligence directorate of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Post said.

It warned that Israel was likely to attempt an attack on Iran’s Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities.

Current and former US officials familiar with the intelligence said Israel has determined its bombing of Iran in October degraded Iran’s air defenses and left the country exposed to a follow-on assault, said the Post, which did not name the officials.

Iran and Israel engaged in tit-for-tat strikes last year amid wider tensions over Israel’s war in Gaza.

The intelligence reports envisioned two potential strike options that each would involve the United States providing aerial refueling support and intelligence, the Post said.

Mr. Trump told Fox News in an interview that aired on Monday he would prefer to make a deal with Iran to prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon, saying he also believed Iran would prefer a deal over an armed conflict.

“Everyone thinks Israel, with our help or our approval, will go in and bomb the hell out of them. I would prefer that not happen,” Mr. Trump said.

The United States under President Barack Obama and European allies negotiated an agreement with Iran to halt its nuclear program, but Trump in his first term in office, encouraged by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, withdrew the United States from the landmark accord and ordered sanctions reimposed on Tehran in 2018.

Iran has since restarted its nuclear program and is enriching uranium, according to the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency.

Iran, Britain, France and Germany have met in Geneva to search for a way to resume nuclear talks, Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Iran’s state TV in January. — Reuters

Italian police freeze cash from AI-voice scam that targeted business leaders

Fifty-euro notes are seen in this file photo. — REUTERS

MILAN — Italian police have found and frozen nearly one million euros ($1.04 million) that was wired to a foreign bank account by a leading businessman after he fell victim to an artificial intelligence (AI) scam, officials said on Wednesday.

Fraudsters used AI to mimic the voice of Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, making calls that claimed to seek urgent financial assistance for the release of kidnapped Italian journalists in the Middle East.

Some of Italy’s most prominent business figures, including fashion designer Giorgio Armani and Prada co-founder Patrizio Bertelli, were targeted, prosecutors in Milan said earlier this week. However, only Massimo Moratti, the former owner of soccer club Inter Milan, was believed to have sent the requested funds.

Officials said they thought it would be hard to retrieve the missing funds, but on Wednesday they revealed the cash had been located to the Netherlands.  

“I’m very pleased that the money fraudulently taken from an entrepreneur, using my falsified voice and name, has been traced to a Dutch account and completely frozen,” Mr. Crosetto said on X. “Excellent work by the magistrates and the police forces.”

There was no immediate comment from Mr. Moratti, who had transferred two payments totalling almost one million euros, under the mistaken belief that he would be reimbursed by the Bank of Italy, sources familiar with the case have said.

Mr. Moratti filed a legal complaint last week after realizing he had been duped. “It all seemed real. They were good. It could happen to anyone,” he told Italian daily La Repubblica at the weekend.

The scam involved fraudsters posing as officials from the defense ministry, with calls that appeared to originate from government offices in Rome. They then passed the phone to a man they said was Mr. Crosetto, who asked for money, saying the government could not be seen to be behind the transactions.

The defense minister has said they used AI technology to convincingly simulate his voice.  — Reuters

Trump says he wants Education Department to be closed immediately

RAWPIXEL

WASHINGTON — US President Donald J. Trump said on Wednesday he wanted the federal Education Department to be closed immediately.

Mr. Trump had said last week he would like to close the Department of Education using an executive order but acknowledged he would need buy-ins from Congress and teachers’ unions to fulfill his campaign pledge to do so.

An immediate closure of the Education Department could disrupt tens of billions of dollars in aid to K-12 schools and tuition assistance for college students.

Mr. Trump has spent his first weeks in office pushing through massive changes to the US government, demanding federal employees come back to work in offices or quit, seeking cost and job cuts and trying to shut down agencies such as the US Agency for International Development.

The Education Department has been high on Mr. Trump’s list of targets.

“I’d like it to be closed immediately,” Mr. Trump told reporters on Wednesday. “The Department of Education’s a big con job.”

The president has previously said he had tasked Linda McMahon, his pick to be education secretary, to shutter the department he wants her to lead.

Mr. Trump proposed shuttering the Education Department in his first term from 2017-2021 but Congress did not act. The agency employs 4,245 and spent $251 billion in the most recent year.

Conservative think tanks that have called for abolishing the Education Department have proposed that other agencies could handle its aid programs and oversight duties. — Reuters

US manufacturers face growing headwinds from trade tensions

A container ship crosses the Gulf of Suez towards the Red Sea before entering the Suez Canal, April 24, 2017. — REUTERS

AUSTIN RAMIREZ until recently planned to build a new factory in Mexico as part of his Wisconsin-based company’s strategy to expand global production and shift away from China.

“Mexico made a ton of sense six months ago,” said the CEO of Husco, a producer of hydraulic components used in automotive and off-road equipment like bulldozers.

Now, not so much.

Like many other US manufacturers, Husco faces a growing list of trade policies under the new administration of President Donald J. Trump that have jumbled investment plans and cast a shadow over an upturn in the domestic manufacturing economy.

The threat of tariffs against Mexico, the largest US goods trading partner, jolted many producers like this.

Mr. Trump made boosting manufacturing a theme on the campaign trail, promising among other things tariffs and fewer regulations. That stance helped win support in faded industrial regions, including swing states like Wisconsin.

But now that those policies are taking shape, including moves this week to put additional 25% tariffs on all imports of steel and aluminum, the true costs are also coming more into focus. Tariffs on metals, for instance, will help domestic mills that produce them but mean higher prices for the much larger network of companies like Husco that use those raw materials.

Meanwhile, the threat of trade wars has created growing uncertainty over how companies should shape their global supply chains.

Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Snap-On, a toolmaker based in Kenosha, Wisconsin, told investors last week that getting the election in the “rearview mirror” will reduce uncertainty among his customers and help boost business in the year ahead.

He noted it’s hard for these customers, many of them blue-collar mechanics, not to feel lingering “macro uncertainty” created by “ongoing wars, immigration disputes, and lingering inflation.”

Manufacturing, which accounts for 10.3% of the economy, was hit hard by the Federal Reserve’s aggressive monetary policy tightening between March 2022 and July 2023 to tame inflation. Though the central bank started cutting rates last September, the factory sector has shown few signs of a strong growth upturn.

A key survey of US manufacturing activity showed the sector experienced expansion in January for the first time in more than two years, but the threat of tariffs has economists questioning whether the rebound can be sustained.

To be sure, some parts of manufacturing are going strong, thanks in many cases to order books that were filled to overflowing during the pandemic boom. Emerson, the St. Louis-based engineering solutions provider, reported first-quarter profits that topped estimates last week, aided by resilient demand in its valves and regulators unit.

CEO Lal Karsanbhai told investors in a call that he sees orders ramping up meaningfully in the second half of the year.

But even they see tariff turmoil. The company said it was ready to implement price increases and surcharges to protect its profits if new tariffs hit Mexico, for instance.

David MacGregor, senior analyst and president of Longbow Research in Cleveland, said that “until the last couple of weeks” he thought US factories were setting up for a solid year in 2025.

“Most of these companies have a pretty good order backlog,” he noted.

But Mr. MacGregor said he now sees more companies “tapping on the brakes.” One telling detail he saw in the latest wave of earnings reports is the weakness in spending by consumers on big discretionary items, like motorcycles.

Harley-Davidson, the Milwaukee-based motorcycle maker, forecast 2025 profits and revenue to be flat to down 5% as the company feels the heat from consumers tempering big-ticket purchases. Demand for all types of high-priced toys, a type of spending that boomed during the pandemic days of lockdowns, has fallen off, while sticky inflation and high interest rates have forced more consumers to prioritize spending on necessities.

John Healy, a managing director at Northcoast Research in Cleveland, said he and other analysts were expecting consumers to feel more comfortable spending in the months ahead.

“But that hasn’t materialized at retail yet,” he said, noting that while interest rates set by the Fed have declined, consumer borrowing costs have moved down only marginally.

At Husco, which is based in Waukesha, Wis., Mr. Ramirez said his business remains robust and he still wants to move forward with that expansion once planned for Mexico, but not in the United States.

Building in the US isn’t an option, he said, because the items to be produced in the new operation have a high labor content. He is considering some other lower-cost country, perhaps India. But recent weeks have shown that tariffs could hit anywhere, Mr. Ramirez said.

“We’ve seen how things can change,” he said, “so it’s really debilitating to make a decision.” — Reuters

US judge clears the way for tens of thousands of federal workers to take Trump buyout

WESLEY TINGEY-UNSPLASH

BOSTON/WASHINGTON – Tens of thousands of U.S. civil servants were cleared to take a buyout from Donald Trump‘s administration on Wednesday after a federal judge ruled the unprecedented downsizing effort could proceed.

About 75,000 workers have signed up for the buyout, said a spokesperson for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, equal to 3% of the civilian workforce. Mr. Trump’s administration has promised to pay their salaries through October without requiring them to work, though unions have warned the offer is not trustworthy.

Unions representing federal workers had sued to stop the program, and had delayed it for six days while U.S. District Judge George O’Toole in Boston considered the issue. But the judge ruled on Wednesday that the unions did not have legal standing to bring the lawsuit and said the issue needed to be tackled in other forums before landing in court.

The administration said the program is now closed to new applicants.

“There is no longer any doubt: the Deferred Resignation Program was both legal and a valuable option for federal employees,” the Office of Personnel Management said in a statement.

Unions involved in the dispute did not immediately say whether they would appeal the judge’s decision or pursue other options.

“Today’s ruling is a setback in the fight for dignity and fairness for public servants. But it’s not the end of that fight,” said Everett Kelly, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 800,000 federal workers.

The buyout is one of many approaches Trump is taking to slash a civilian workforce of 2.3 million that he has blasted as ineffective and biased against him. He has also ordered government agencies to prepare for wide-ranging job cuts, and several have already begun to lay off recent hires who lack full job security.

Officials have been told to prepare staff cuts of up to 70% at some agencies, sources say.

Mr. Trump’s offer to pay salaries and benefits until October may not be ironclad. Current spending laws expire on March 14, and there is no guarantee that salaries would be funded beyond that point.

Lawyers with the U.S. Department of Justice had described the initiative as a “humane off-ramp” for those frustrated by Mr. Trump’s broader plans to reduce the size of the workforce and end the ability of many to work from home.

Unions representing federal employees argued in their lawsuit that the program was “stunningly arbitrary” and violates a law that prevents agencies from spending more money than approved by Congress.

They warned the buyout, which does not apply to border guards, air traffic controllers and some other workers, could thin the workforce in an arbitrary fashion and disrupt vital government services.

Unions and Democratic attorneys general have brought several other lawsuits challenging Trump’s rapid remaking of government and won some initial victories.

In a separate lawsuit filed on Wednesday, five unions sued to block what they called a possible mass firing of hundreds of thousands of workers who resist pressure to accept the buyouts.

 

LAYOFFS VS CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET PLAN

Mr. Trump has deputized billionaire Elon Musk to head the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, which is combing through payment and personnel records in an effort to cut $1 trillion from the federal budget, which totaled $6.75 trillion last year.

Civilian worker salaries account for less than 5% of that total. If the buyout reduces headcount by less than 3%, it could deliver less than $10 billion in annual savings.

Roughly 6% of the workforce either resigns or retires each year, federal figures show.

Mr. Trump has ordered federal agencies to work with Mr. Musk’s team to identify employees who can be laid off and functions that can be eliminated entirely.

CNN late on Wednesday reported that terminations of probationary employees were underway at the Department of Education and the Small Business Administration, citing federal employees and union sources. Neither the DOE nor the SBA immediately responded to a Reuters request for comment.

Mr. Musk’s team has focused on 15 agencies so far and has dismantled two – one that provides a lifeline to the world’s needy and another that protects Americans from unscrupulous lenders. Some Republican budget experts say the effort reflects conservative ideology more than a good-faith effort to save taxpayer dollars.

Mr. Trump himself has ruled out cuts to popular retirement and health benefits for seniors that account for 36% of federal spending and are projected to eat up more of the budget as the population ages.

Mr. Trump’s Republican allies in Congress, meanwhile, are preparing a budget plan that would cut taxes and increase security spending, which independent experts say would add trillions of dollars to the national debt. – Reuters

More than 40% of Indians feel Trump will be favorable to India, survey shows

REUTERS

MUMBAI – More than 40% of Indians polled in a survey by India Today magazine think U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term will be favorable to their country, in findings published a day before Mr. Trump meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington.

Mr. Trump also enjoys a positive image among most supporters of Mr. Modi and his party, the “Mood of the Nation” survey showed, and only 16% of those polled felt he would be bad or disastrous for India. The balance of those surveyed saw Mr. Trump as having no impact on the country either way.

The findings were published late on Wednesday, hours before Mr. Trump said he would impose reciprocal tariffs on every country that charges duties on U.S. imports, and a day before Mr. Modi is scheduled to meet Mr. Trump at the White House.

The Trump administration has complained that India has high tariffs that lock out U.S. imports.

“There is a classical division on the left and right, and you find that supporters of Modi, of Trump, they tend to ally,” said Yashwant Deshmukh, a psephologist with CVoter, the agency that conducted the poll, on the India Today news channel.

The poll also showed that Mr. Modi and his party’s alliance would get a 47% vote share if general elections were to be held now, while the opposition alliance led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi would get 41%.

India Today’s biannual poll is one of the few to gauge the mood of Indians on a broad range of political issues and is tracked widely.

Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost its majority for the first time in ten years in general elections last year and relied on alliance partners to form a government.

Since then, the BJP alliance has won three key state elections, in spite of India’s sluggish economy. – Reuters

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