- Trump Administration Rescinds Grants And Loans Freeze Following Court Injunction
- Trump’s Tariff Threats Disrupt North American Steel Trade
- Experts Tie Toll Smishing Uptick To "Spoofing," As FTC Joins Agencies Urging Caution
- These are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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Trump Administration Rescinds Grants And Loans Freeze Following Court Injunction
Associated Press reports, early this afternoon, the president’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) rescinded its January 27 directive to freeze the disbursement of grant and loan funds by federal executive agencies. An ambiguous memo announcing the action “sparked uncertainty over a crucial financial lifeline for states, schools and organizations that rely on trillions of dollars from Washington and left the White House scrambling to explain what would and wouldn’t be subject to a pause in funding.” Confusion over the intent and full effect of the freeze led a federal judge to block immediate implementation late yesterday, as Reuters and Roll Call report.
The Washington Post reports, according to a White House spokesperson, the purpose of today’s rescission was to “end any confusion” resulting from the court injunction, not to reverse Trump administration efforts to block spending — including budget allocations — it opposes. Other freezes, on foreign aid and some alternative energy funding, remain in effect.
The American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) had concerns about the breadth of the freeze, reporting yesterday that the OMB directive “renewed questions about the flow of reimbursements to state and local transportation agencies for federal-aid transportation projects.”
The advocacy group Transportation for America blogs about confusion resulting from the recent Trump administration attempts to delay or stop spending. It urges state and local agencies and other stakeholders to report any impacts on their receipt of federal aid and request that future government directives state unambiguously whether transportation funding is implicated.
The New York Times posted online an annotated list of the 2,600 government programs — including many administered by USDOT — that the January 27 spending freeze directive purported to cover.
Company and Agency Financial Issues And Reports Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Maintenance Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Safety (Includes COVID-19 Impacts) Issues of Law US Department of Transportation (USDOT) US Gov't Transportation Funding US Infrastructure Funding And Financing InitiativesTrump’s Tariff Threats Disrupt North American Steel Trade
Transport Topics reports, some steelmakers in Canada and Mexico have paused any new business or sales quotes with US-based customers due to concern that President Donald Trump will include steel in sweeping tariffs he’s threatened to impose starting February 1. “Canada is the top foreign import source of steel into the U.S. and Mexico is the third largest, according to U.S. Commerce Department data.”
Canada Economic & Social Considerations Affecting Transportation Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Maintenance MexicoExperts Tie Toll Smishing Uptick To "Spoofing," As FTC Joins Agencies Urging Caution
Tribune News Service (via “Government Technology”) reports, an ongoing wave of toll-related fraudulent texts could be tied to a popular Chinese “spoofing” kit that recently updated its features to show people how to mimic tolling authorities, according to the cybersecurity website KrebsOnSecurity. The article describes how spoofing scams work and notes that the Federal Trade Commission last week issued its own warning about this latest trend in smishing.
Crime Beat Cybersecurity ETC Systems US Federal Trade CommissionThese are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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