Politics and views in the United States.

Medicaid and tribal health providers face possible cuts, corporations are accused of squeezing out independent farmers, and immigration lawyers say Hispanic motorists are being stopped based on how they look.

TRANSCRIPT

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

This is going to affect everybody.

People aren't using these program dollars to go to Disneyland.

They're using them to go to the dentist and to seek primary care services.

Rick Lucas, president of the Ohio Nurses Association, warns that the Medicaid cuts in the budget outline passed by Republicans in the House will hit the working poor in rural health care especially hard.

And Washington state's tribal health services face potential federal and state cuts.

Jessica McKee with the American Indian Health Commission says new support had helped fund maternal care, disease tacking, and helped some tribes hire their first ever public health staff.

If there's a reduction, they might not be able to maintain their public health person anymore, and that's a big deal.

A pause in some of President Donald Trump's tariffs has stopped two days of sliding stock prices.

The administration says the auto industry will be exempt for a month.

Markets rose on the news.

Trump has issued what he says is a last warning for Hamas, demanding the immediate release of hostages in Gaza and vowing full support for Israel to "finish the job."

His statement came as the White House is under fire for holding what it has confirmed are direct negotiations with a group officially designated as a terrorist organization.

At a closed-door lunch, Republican senators told tech billionaire and Trump adviser Elon Musk that his moves to slash government staffing and spending will require congressional approval.

Lawmakers proposed a legislative path to make the cuts permanent, which Musk reportedly embraced.

Congress is also facing the threat of a government shutdown next week.

Independent farmers warn that corporate control of food production is squeezing them out.

Justin Perkins, publisher of Barnraiser, says just four companies dominate the U.S. livestock industry.

These corporate monopolies are structural all across the agriculture industry, and this has made the livelihood of small and even medium-sized farmers nearly untenable.

Large agriculture firms argue they've made food production more efficient and kept prices low.

But critics say concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, pollute air and water in surrounding communities.

Immigration lawyers say they're looking at due process issues under Trump's mass deportation plans.

Elliot Ramirez with the Indianapolis firm Greskin Singleton says many immigrants don't know their rights, fueling fear and uncertainty in the Latino community.

If Trump moves to dismantle the Department of Education, would append Virginia school budgets.

According to Teachers Union estimates, it would leave the state with a $2.5 billion funding gap.

I'm Farah Siddiqui with Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.