Politics and views in the United States.

Trump administration puts 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada. New York wants newly fired federal workers for state service, and the GAO's High Risk report finds ways to make the government more efficient. 

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2025 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

No room left for Mexico or for Canada.

No, the tariffs, you know, they're all set.

They go into effect tomorrow.

After a month's delay, President Donald Trump says 25 percent tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports are going into effect in response, he says, to illegal immigration and fentanyl smuggling.

Leaders from America's largest trading partners tried hammering out a last-minute deal, but Trump says time has run out.

The stock market fell dramatically on the news.

Trump has also suspended all U.S. military aid to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Israel has stopped shipment of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

A fragile ceasefire is holding, but planned negotiations on next steps are stalled.

Trump is expected to discuss many of these issues in a speech to a joint session of Congress tonight.

While it's not a State of the Union, the administration says it will help explain the administration's frantic early pace.

Billionaire Elon Musk is expected to be present in the chamber, though Democrats are inviting federal workers Musk and Trump have fired.

With so many facing the axe, New York says a new "You're Hired" campaign will help fill more than 12,000 state government vacancies with unemployed federal workers.

After a roundtable with fired federal employees, Governor Kathy Hochul said Trump and Musk are using real lives as fodder for a cheap second-rate reality show.

They fail to recognize that they're affecting people's real lives and their livelihoods.

These are essential jobs requiring many years of specialized experience done by real people, as I said, with bills to pay and families to support.

They should be commended for their service, not mocked by the president and handed a pink slip.

Musk's advisory group, the Department of Government Efficiency, plans to cancel leases for two massive National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasting centers.

Critics charge the centers are vital to predicting the weather and closing them as part of efforts to dismantle a widely used agency.

The Department of Government Efficiency reports to Trump, but the century-old General Accountability Office reports on government efficiency to Congress.

The agency's head, Gene Dodaro, says their newly updated high-risk list can help trim the fat.

"It's also helpful for the administration, particularly a new administration coming in, that highlights what we think to be the greatest risk of fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement in the government."

This year's list includes emergency small business loans several areas within the Department of Defense, enforcing tax laws and cybersecurity.

West Virginia's tourism industry could see declines from the state's share of the 3,500 National Park and Forest Service workers being laid off.

Olivia Miller with the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy says the state's economy will suffer from fewer people running and cleaning up campsites, especially in the summer.

"Public lands have an enormous economic impact in our state, bringing in around $9 billion annually and supporting about 91,000 jobs.

Many communities are built around outdoor recreation and tourism."

Speaker Mike Johnson says he wants a clean, continuing resolution without policy riders as Congress works to avoid a possible government shutdown.

His efforts face skeptical Democrats and Republican hardliners seeking deep budget cuts in a very narrowly divided House.

I'm Edwin J. Vieira for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.