Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Trump declines to rule out recession amid tariffs' effects on markets; SCOTUS to decide future of fund seen as a lifeline for rural broadband; Experts worry as zoonotic disease research is reviewed by Trump administration; Medicaid cuts could threaten school supports in NJ. 

Transcript

The Public News Service Daily newscast for March the 10th, 2025.

I'm Mike Clifford.

President Donald Trump declined to rule out a recession this year as the economy stutters from his efforts to impose tariffs and rebuild the US manufacturing sector.

Acknowledging in an interview broadcast on Sunday, it takes a little time before Americans will see a payoff from his policies.

That for The Washington Post.

They report Trump's recognition of the turbulence in the US economy was a reversal from previous cheering that his policies would deliver quick victories to voters and businesses.

And it's in contrast to reassurances from his own advisor Sunday that no recession was in sight.

Next up this month, the US Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case that challenges the constitutionality of a federal fund that aids rural broadband service.

A conservative organization brought the case, hoping to end an SEC fee that flows into what's known as the Universal Service Fund.

It provides $8 billion a year for telecommunications programs geared toward underserved populations.

That includes high speed internet service in rural areas.

Kara Semler of the South Dakota Telecommunications Association worries about the impact if the challenge is successful.

Children will be missing out on educational opportunities.

Businesses will lose their competitiveness.

Industry groups say service rates for customers benefiting from the fund will double if it's struck down.

The plaintiffs contend the fee mechanism used to prop up the fund is more like a tax, meaning Congress should have the oversight.

I'm Mike Moen.

And bird flu has now infected close to 1.7 million birds and hundreds of cattle herds, including some in Arizona.

Dozens of humans have been infected, but the risk remains low, according to the CDC.

But some scientists are growing worried that could change.

Former chief public health veterinarian for the USDA, Dr.

Pat Basu, says as the Trump administration reviews federal government spending, animal disease outbreak research, such as the Animal Health and Disease Research Capacity Program, is being put in jeopardy.

The last thing we need is this.

This is what controls the outbreak.

And through this program, which is part of the USDA, provides tens of billions of funding to states and to these organizations, universities, to carry out high-value research.

The AHDR program is funded by the National Institute for Food and Agriculture, which is a federal research and grant-making body.

I'm Alex Gonzalez reporting.

This story was produced with original reporting by Gray Moran for Settlement Law and Policy.

And from Reuters, the Homeland Security Secretary, Christy Dohm, appointed new leadership at U.S.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Sunday.

As the agency struggles to meet President Trump's stated goal of a massive deportation operation, this is public news service.

Next, as federal government spending cuts loom, advocates for keeping Medicaid intact are calling attention to how the funding is used in public schools in states like New Jersey and nationwide.

Medicaid provides health insurance for more than 37 million children in the nation, but it's less well-known that Medicaid funding also supports a number of services in public schools.

Jennifer Higgins, president of American Federation of Teachers New Jersey, says threats to the Department of Education, along with Medicaid funding, would affect millions of kids.

School districts can bill Medicaid for therapeutic and other services, such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, audiologists, psychologists, social workers, and nurses.

So when you combine the cuts to both, it's financially catastrophic to not only just New Jersey, but any state.

She says the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act funding supports more than 240,000 students in the state.

Brett Pivito reporting.

The state estimates up to 700,000 New Jerseyans would be at risk of losing health care.

And the Trump administration's recent executive order, entitled Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production, calls on federal land managers to ramp up timber production to protect the country's national and economic security.

Nick Cady is the legal director of Cascadia Wildlands in Eugene.

He says the order's claim that honors federal policies have forced the country to rely on imported lumber is incorrect.

In fact, he says the US is one of the world's leading timber exporters.

There are miles and miles of deck logs that are raw, exported to Asia every day out of Coos Bay and the ports here in Oregon.

So the premise which all of this is based on is false.

The order also states that a lack of logging has contributed to wildfires and degraded fish and wildlife habitats.

Cascadia Wildlands and other environmental groups plan to take legal action against the order.

I'm Isabel Charlay.

We head finally to Tennessee, where Disability Day on the Hill is an opportunity for people living with a disability to unite and engage in the legislative process.

The CDC reports nearly 1.6 million Tennesseans have a disability.

Keri Carlson with the Tennessee Disability Coalition says people are encouraged to meet them for the Disability Day on the Hill in Nashville.

The event focuses on issues and challenges policies that threaten protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Disability Day on the Hill is a day where hundreds of people with disabilities will come to Nashville, to Cordell Hall, and get involved in the legislative process, meaning having meetings with their Senate and House of Representatives.

For Public News Service, I'm Danielle Smith.

This is Mike Clifford.

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