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Navarro: Data centre builders should absorb costs
President Donald Trump’s trade manufacturing adviser, Peter Navarro, said the White House might force data centre builders to absorb their costs, as voters continue to sour on the economy and utility prices soar. “They need to pay, not only pay for the electricity that they’re using on the grid, but they have to pay for the resiliency that they’re affecting as well,” he told Fox News. “They need to pay for the water. So there’s activity, action here going forward, where we force them to internalise the cost.” He didn’t reveal what the White House’s plans to force data centre builders to internalise costs would look like. Navarro made specific mention of Meta, and in response, a spokesperson said the company already pays for all of its energy usage. “Meta pays the full costs for energy used by our data centres so they aren’t passed onto consumers — and we go beyond that by paying for new and upgraded local infrastructure as well as adding new power to the grid,” the spokesperson said. Data centres and their drag on utilities are part of the affordability problem as electricity prices surged 6.9% year-over-year in 2025, with little sign of easing. Navarro said the White House is “on it” and blamed the soaring co
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House votes to override Trump's Canada tariffs
The House voted to pass a resolution disapproving of President Donald Trump’s tariffs against Canada, with many Republicans siding with Democrats. The resolution cleared the House 219-211, signalling growing GOP discomfort with Trump’s aggressive tariff strategy and willingness from some Republicans to go against Trump. It also marked the first time the House formally weighed in on Trump’s trade agenda. Minutes before the vote, Trump took to Truth Social to warn Republicans from voting against his tariffs. “Any Republican, in the House or the Senate, that votes against TARIFFS will seriously suffer the consequences come Election time, and that includes Primaries,” he said. “TARIFFS have given us Economic and National Security, and no Republican should be responsible for destroying this privilege.” Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.), Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), Jeff Hurd (R-Colo.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) voted to terminate Trump's use of a national emergency to impose tariffs on Canada. Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) was the lone Democratic no. The Democratic side of the House celebrated the resolution when it passed. “The Speaker continues to abdicate his responsibilities
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Lutnick says he 'barely knew' Epstein amid calls to quit
United States Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has claimed he “barely knew” Jeffrey Epstein, as he faced bipartisan calls for his resignation. Addressing a Senate committee this week, he downplayed the extent of their relationship and interactions, despite new emails contradicting previous timelines Lutnick gave of their friendship. Despite having previously claimed he cut all ties with Epstein after he was convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution back in 2008, newly released files show their association continued. The leading Democrat of the committee, Senator Chris Van Hollen, heavily scrutinised Lutnick during the proceedings, saying he had “totally misrepresented the extent of your relationship with him [Epstein] to the Congress, to the American people and to the survivors of his despicable criminal and predatory acts”. California Senator Adam Schiff echoed a similar statement when he issued a statement calling for Lutnick's resignation. “Lutnick’s lies about his business dealings with a convicted child sex offender, raise serious concerns about his judgement and ethics. Lutnick has no business being our Commerce Secretary, and he should resign immediately," he wrote. At the time of reporting, the Wh
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Warren to call on Senate to reverse Trump-UAE chip deal
United States Senator Elizabeth Warren has confirmed she will call on the Senate to reverse the sale of 500,000 AI chips to the United Arab Emirates, amidst ‘Spy Sheikh’ revelations. At the end of last month, reporting found that UAE Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan purchased a secret 49% stake in World Liberty Financial, a Trump family cryptocurrency venture, just days before President Donald Trump’s inauguration. The purchased stake reportedly created a US$187 million flow to Trump family entities and drew strong backlash and accusations of bribery, as well as concerns that the chip technology could wind up with the Chinese. Senator Warren called the revelations “corruption, plain and simple” and demanded a reversal of a deal that took place after the investment, which would see 500,000 high-tech AI chips from Nvidia sent to the UAE every year. Now, she has confirmed she will call on the Senate to back her demands, as well as condemn the deal, this week. In a draft of the speech she is expected to deliver, shared with CNBC, Warren will accuse the UAE of having “greased the skids” of the Trump administration, leading to the chip deal. “Why in the world was Donald Trump trying to ship off our state-of-the-art c
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Job protections to end for thousands of US federal staff
The Trump administration has announced it will strip up to 50,000 federal employees of their job protection. This is an election promise made by President Donald Trump, which will allow him more control over job termination and hiring processes for these employees, who he says are “influencing” policy. The announcement came from the Office of Personnel Management this week, confirming that the rule Schedule Policy/Career would be coming into effect in 30 days, but is still subject to examination by a federal judge. It will allow the administration to choose which federal employees lose their job protections, which can leave them to be fired at will. Unions have fiercely opposed the new rule, and promised a court battle to challenge it, with Democracy Forward calling it “an unlawful effort” that will “threaten a nonpartisan federal workforce”. “This proposal was wrong when it was outlined in Project 2025, wrong when the President issued an executive order, and it remains wrong now," said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of the group. "We will return to court to stop this unlawful rule and will use every legal tool available to hold this administration accountable to the people.”

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Democrats looking to block ICE funding, without reforms
Democrats are laying out demands for immigration enforcement changes, with increasing tensions and a push from the Trump administration for billions more in funding. Members from both the Senate and the House have made clear they will not vote for continued funding of the controversial Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and detention agencies without considerable reform. This comes after two incidents in recent weeks where two civilians were killed by ICE agents, sparking nationwide protests and backlash.Credit: Chad Davis via WikimediaPresident Donald Trump has given a huge boost in funding to ICE as part of his second term, with US$85 billion now at the disposal of the agency, but funding for the department expires on 13 February. This week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the top Democrat in the House, Hakeem Jeffries, have put forward reform demands as part of funding talks. These include identification for immigration agents, body cameras, warrants signed by a judge to be required, and more. Mike Johnson, a Republican and Speaker of the House, has already opposed two of the non-negotiable items on the Democrats' list: The removal of immigration agents’ masks and the requirement of judge-approved
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Delayed US jobs report to be released next week
The United States jobs report for the month of January will be released next week, after a delay caused by a government shutdown. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released a revised schedule for the report and other information on Wednesday, with the jobs numbers now scheduled for 11 February. While the jobs report is the most closely watched release, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey and the consumer price index for January will also be released later than scheduled. Predictions for the report include the U.S. unemployment rate holding steady at 4.4%, while payroll processing firm ADP has already called January a "lacklustre month” for employment, with their own report finding just 22,000 new jobs added for the month.
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Trump signs US$1.2tn bill to end shutdown
United States President Donald Trump has signed a roughly US$1.2 trillion (A$1.711 trillion) spending package to end the partial U.S. government shutdown, hours after the House of Representatives passed the measure in a bipartisan vote. The House narrowly approved the bill 217–214 earlier on Tuesday, following Senate passage last week. Much of the federal government had been shuttered since Saturday morning. The bill allocates funding until 30 September for the departments of Defense, Treasury, State, Health and Human Services, Labor, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and Education, while providing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with stopgap funding for two weeks. Lawmakers are set to return to negotiations over potential changes to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as Democrats push for tighter restrictions on its operations. The House vote drew support from both parties. Ahead of the vote, the lead Democratic negotiator on the spending bills, Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, urged colleagues to back the package. “Passing these five full-year funding bills today puts us in the best position to win that fight” over DHS funding, DeLauro said. Despite that appeal, many
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Trump sues JP Morgan and CEO for over US$5bn
United States President Donald Trump is suing JPMorgan Chase and its Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon and seeking at least US$5 billion (A$7.3 billion) in damages for allegedly dropping him as a customer for political reasons. The lawsuit, filed on 22 January in Miami-Dade County, Florida, alleges JPMorgan improperly closed bank accounts belonging to Trump, the Trump Organization, affiliated entities and members of his family following the 6 January 2021 Capitol riot. Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform that the Wall Street Journal newspaper falsely reported he had offered Dimon the role of Federal Reserve Chairman. “This statement is totally untrue, there was never such an offer and, in fact, I’ll be suing JPMorgan Chase over the next two weeks for incorrectly and inappropriately DEBANKING me after the January 6th Protest, a protest that turned out to be correct for those doing the protesting — The Election was RIGGED!,” Trump wrote in this post. Trump claimed the bank’s actions were politically motivated and violated its own internal policies, according to media reports. JPMorgan allegedly notified Trump and his businesses in February 2021 that it would close their accounts with 60 days’ notice,