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OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly welcomed president-elect Donald Trump's pick for the next U.S. ambassador in Ottawa, a former longtime Michigan congressional representative who voted for NAFTA and later wavered on new free trade deals. Joly said at a news conference on Thursday at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., that she takes it as a good sign that Trump endorsed the Canada-U.S.-Mexico free-trade deal when he announced Pete Hoekstra as his next envoy to Canada. She also posted on social media Thursday that Canada looks forward to working with Hoekstra to strengthen bilateral ties and advance shared priorities "as close allies and neighbours." The minister was in Washington to talk trade and security with U.S. senators from both parties. Her meeting schedule included top Republican senators Lindsey Graham, Rick Scott and Lisa Murkowski. Following this trip, Joly is headed to the Halifax International Security Forum, where she said she will be meeting with more U.S. lawmakers, including Sen. James Risch from Idaho. Hoekstra will still have to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, but his early nomination is being taken as a good sign by several former diplomats. Former Canadian diplomat Colin Robertson, who has met with Hoekstra before, said he's someone Canada can work with. "He's not from the (WWE) or Fox News. He's an ambassador in the Netherlands previously ... and he's from Michigan, so somebody who understands Canada," Robertson said. "He's well suited to the posting and I think it'll be easier to do business with somebody who has his depth of experience." Canada's ambassador in Washington, Kirsten Hillman, also congratulated Hoekstra on the nomination, posting on social media she looks forward to working with him to make the bilateral relationship "even stronger." Hoekstra was a nine-term border-state lawmaker and holds high esteem in Trump's world. His long career in politics left a wake of stunning headlines, including for a 2012 Super Bowl ad critics and even some Republicans slammed as blatantly racist. He was Trump's chosen chairman for the Michigan GOP during a power struggle between two pro-Trump camps. He spoke at Trump rallies in the swing state during the campaign and earned high praise from the president-elect. "This guy, Hoekstra — he's unbelievable," Trump said at a February rally in Waterford Township, Mich. "Everything he did in Congress, he was incredible, and then he was an unbelievable ambassador." In his first term as president, Trump tapped Hoekstra to serve as U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands, where he was at one point embroiled in a political interference scandal for hosting a fundraiser at the U.S. Embassy with members of the far-right party Forum for Democracy. In a 2019 public talk organized by a Dutch news magazine, he said it's "not an unrealistic ask" that every member of NATO meets the target of spending the equivalent of two per cent of GDP on defence by 2024 — something Trump has railed about, and something Canada will not do until at least 2032. At an event in Ottawa last month, Trump's former ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft said his administration would expect Canada to meet that target much sooner than 2032. Hoekstra was a representative for Michigan from 1993 until 2011 and chaired the powerful House Intelligence Committee. In 2019, Trump floated him as a possible pick for national intelligence director. Not long after he was first elected, he voted in favour of the NAFTA trade deal in 1993 — something he called at the time a simple choice yet also the "toughest decision I have had to face in my first 11 months in office," according to Michigan newspaper reports from the time. By 2003, he was opposed to inking free-trade deals, including two proposed with Singapore and Chile, saying that NAFTA led to manufacturers in Michigan to "shift production to Canada and Mexico." Nearly a decade later, in 2011, he singled out NAFTA as something that had "come to symbolize what Americans believe is unfair trade." In the early 2000s, he was one of a number of Michigan lawmakers from both parties raising ire over Toronto shipping its trash into his state. "Michigan is better than taking Canadian trash," he was quoted saying in 2004 in the local Michigan newspaper the Ludington Daily News. The next year he co-signed a letter advocating for a bill that would clamp down on "foreign municipal solid waste" entering his state, according to an Associated Press report from the time. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2024. Kyle Duggan, The Canadian PressBy David Jolly This is an adapted excerpt from the Nov. 21 episode of “The ReidOut.” On Thursday, President-elect Donald Trump ’s pick for attorney general, Matt Gaetz, announced he was withdrawing his name from consideration . “[I]t is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition,” Gaetz wrote on X. But let’s be clear, Gaetz didn’t drop out because he was a “distraction”; he dropped out because the votes weren’t there . The incoming administration couldn’t convince enough Republican senators to back Gaetz. This abrupt withdrawal is a hugely embarrassing moment for Trump. The president-elect thought he had a mandate to nominate whomever he wanted and push them through, no matter what skeletons were in their closet. This is Trump’s first big failure since winning a second term, and it should be seen as such. It’s also a failure of Vice President-elect JD Vance, who personally lobbied his Republican colleagues in the Senate on behalf of Gaetz. Clearly, he failed to convince enough of them to come around. The president-elect thought he had a mandate to nominate whomever he wanted and push them through, no matter what skeletons were in their closet. Within hours of Gaetz’s withdrawal, Trump named longtime ally and former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as his new pick to lead the Justice Department. Bondi started as a relatively Jeb Bush-type Republican. As Florida’s attorney general, she pursued the opioid crisis and led an unsuccessful challenge to the Affordable Care Act — bread-and-butter Republican issues. She’s not somebody with a penchant for pursuing enemies like Gaetz, so it would be interesting to see if she pushes back against Trump. In 2017, Bondi was rumored to be in the running for a nomination as part of Trump’s first Cabinet but, at the time, they were not certain she would get confirmed because of a controversy surrounding a donation Trump made to her campaign in 2013 shortly before she declined to join a lawsuit against the now-defunct Trump University. Overall, I would say Bondi brings the basic qualifications that Gaetz did not. She certainly could be the administrator of the Justice Department. But, over the next few weeks, we’ll see how the politics, including that 2013 donation, play out. Allison Detzel contributed. David Jolly, an MSNBC political contributor, represented Florida's 13th Congressional District as a Republican in the House from 2014 to 2017. He is the chairman of the Serve America Movement. Jolly left the Republican Party in 2018.
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President Emmanuel Macron has named centrist Francois Bayrou as prime minister, handing him the daunting task of hauling France out of months of political crisis. The 73-year-old head of the MoDem group, which is allied to Macron’s party, was appointed nine days after parliament ousted Michel Barnier’s government in a historic no-confidence vote following a standoff over an austerity budget. “The president of the Republic has appointed Mr Francois Bayrou as prime minister and tasked him with forming a government,” the presidency said. The announcement capped hours of drama that saw Bayrou summoned to a morning meeting at the Elysee palace – where he was reportedly told Macron would choose another figure – only for the presidency to finally announce he had the post. Bayrou is the sixth prime minister of Macron’s mandate, with his predecessor Barnier France’s shortest-serving premier, having lasted only three months. He is also Macron’s fourth prime minister of 2024. Bayrou faces an immediate challenge to form a cabinet that can survive a no-confidence vote in a divided parliament, and to thrash out a 2025 budget in a bid to limit economic turmoil. At the traditional handover ceremony with outgoing prime minister Barnier, Bayrou declared that “no-one knows better than me the difficulty of the situation” with France facing a ballooning budget deficit coupled with political instability. “I am fully aware of the Himalayas that loom ahead of us,” he said of the budget deficit which is now 6.1% of GDP. He also vowed to fight what he described as the “glass wall that has risen up between citizens and the authorities”. Handing over, Barnier told his successor: “Our country is in an unprecedented and grave situation.” Several sources told AFP that the morning meeting between Macron and Bayrou, far from marking the anointment of the new prime minister, had been a stormy affair, with the president leaning towards naming his loyal Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu as premier. Losing his temper, Bayrou threatened to break the alliance with Macron, who decided that it would be best to plump for Bayrou in the name of unity, the sources said. “Sebastien Lecornu should have been the one named,” said a source close to the talks, “but Macron “did not have the choice”. Mujtaba Rahman, Europe director at risk analysis firm Eurasia Group, commented: “In the long history of the Fifth Republic (founded in 1958), this may have been the first time that a prime minister chose himself.” Bayrou will be tasked with holding dialogue with all political forces except the far-right National Rally (RN) and hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) parties “in order to find conditions for stability and action”, a member of Macron’s team said yesterday. “Francois Bayrou’s name emerged in recent days as the most consensual” choice, said the source, asking not to be named. Macron was first expected to name a new prime minister in an address to the nation last week. In a sign of the stalemate, the president did not name Barnier’s successor then and also missed a 48-hour deadline that he gave at a meeting of party leaders on Tuesday. Macron has been confronted with a complex political equation since snap parliamentary elections in July: how to secure a government against a no-confidence vote in a bitterly divided lower house where no party or alliance has a majority. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who teamed up with the left to topple the Barnier government, said that her RN party would not automatically do likewise to Bayrou, but did not rule out exploiting such a “lever”. “I’m not threatening no-confidence motions morning, noon and night. I’m just saying that I’m not giving up on this tool,” she said. The LFI said it would table such a motion. Socialists quickly posed conditions for not supporting a no-confidence motion in an open letter to Bayrou. He must agree not to ram laws through without a parliamentary vote and not to rely on support from the far right, the party’s board said, adding that they would not accept ministerial posts. Bayrou, the founder of the Democratic Movement (MoDem) party which has been a part of Macron’s ruling alliance since 2017, has been the long-time mayor of the southwestern town of Pau. His rustic roots are a key component of his political character. The mixed reactions to Bayrou’s appointment suggest he will likely be living day-to-day, at the mercy of Macron’s opponents, for the foreseeable future. Barnier’s three-month premiership was the shortest in modern French history. Macron will hope Bayrou can stave off no-confidence votes until at least July, when France will be able to hold a new parliamentary election. Macron named Bayrou as justice minister in 2017 but he resigned only weeks later amid an investigation into his party’s alleged fraudulent employment of parliamentary assistants. He was acquitted of fraud charges this year. Related Story France's Macron calls for an end to arms exports used in Gaza and Lebanon Macron urges halt to arms deliveries to Israel for use in GazaFACT FOCUS: Inspector general’s Jan. 6 report misrepresented as proof of FBI setupLUQUE, Paraguay — Sake is perhaps more Japanese than the world-famous sushi. It's savored in the country’s pub-like izakayas, poured during weddings and served slightly chilled for special toasts. The that plays a crucial role in Japan's culinary traditions was enshrined on Wednesday by on its list of the “intangible cultural heritage of humanity." At a meeting in Luque, Paraguay, members of UNESCO’s committee for safeguarding humanity's cultural heritage voted to recognize 45 cultural practices and products around the world, including Brazilian white cheese, Caribbean cassava bread and Palestinian olive oil soap. Unlike UNESCO’s World Heritage List, which includes sites considered important to humanity like the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, the Intangible Cultural Heritage designation names products and practices of different cultures that are deserving of recognition. Japan's Takehiro Kano, ambassador to UNESCO, reacts after the traditional Japanese brewing of sake was officially named to UNESCO's "intangible cultural heritage of humanity" list during a World Heritage Convention in Asuncion, Paraguay on Wednesday. A Japanese delegation welcomed the announcement in Luque. “Sake is considered a divine gift and is essential for social and cultural events in Japan,” Kano Takehiro, the Japanese ambassador to UNESCO, told The Associated Press. The basic ingredients of sake are few: rice, water, yeast and koji, a rice mold that breaks down the starches into fermentable sugars like malting does in beer production. The whole two-month process of steaming, stirring, fermenting and pressing can be grueling. The rice — which wields tremendous marketing power as part of Japan's broader cultural identity — is key to the alcoholic brew. For a product to be categorized Japanese sake, the rice must be Japanese. Japanese sake, a nominee for UNESCO's "intangible cultural heritage of humanity" list, are displayed on Japan's delegation table, during a UNESCO World Heritage Convention in Asuncion, Paraguay, on Wednesday. The UNESCO recognition, the delegation said, captured more than the craft knowledge of making high-quality sake. It also honored a tradition dating back some 1,000 years — sake makes a cameo in Japan’s famous 11th century novel, “The Tale of Genji,” as the drink of choice in the refined Heian court. Now, officials hope to restore sake's image as Japan's premier alcoholic drink even as the younger drinkers in the country switch to imported wine or domestic beer and whiskey. the listing could give a lift to the country's export economy as the popularity of sake booms around the world and in the United States amid heightened interest in Japanese cuisine. “I hope that this will also be an opportunity for Japanese people to take another look at sake, shochu and awamori, which are the essence of their culture," Hitoshi Utsunomiya, director of the trade group Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association, said in Tokyo. "I would like them to try it even once and see what it tastes like,” he said. Sake exports, mostly to the U.S. and China, now rake in over $265 million a year, according to the association. Japan's Takehiro Kano, ambassador to UNESCO, reacts as the traditional Japanese brewing of sake was named to UNESCO's "intangible cultural heritage of humanity" list during a World Heritage Convention in Asuncion, Paraguay on Wednesday. Japan's delegation appeared ready to celebrate Wednesday — in classic Japanese style. After the announcement, Takehiro raised a cypress box full of sake to toast the alcoholic brew and cultural rite. “It means a lot to Japan and to the Japanese,” he said of the UNESCO designation. "This will help to renew interest in traditional sake elaboration.” In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he was “delighted” by UNESCO's recognition of traditional sake-making techniques, and he congratulated those dedicated to preserving and promoting the tradition. A tasting party is all about sampling different wines and evaluating and hopefully enjoying them—and there are a variety of ways to do that. Would you like to host a playful gathering where each guest brings a mystery bottle of wine within a certain price range—a BYOB affair? Or would it be better to have more control over which wines are featured by curating and supplying all the wines as a host? This decision sets the tone—a tasting where guests contribute wine can be a bit of a free-for-all, whereas one where you select wines you supply allows guests to sit back and simply enjoy. And you don't have to break the bank to buy excellent wines—there are lots of wine experts ready to share their affordable picks. How much folks know about wine differs—and that's a good thing. Tastings are group learning experiences. Expertise isn't necessary to host or attend a tasting, but it is helpful to think about what will keep guests comfortable and having fun. Decide whether the vibe will be relaxed and laid-back, like friends sipping wine fireside, or more upbeat and formal. Think about elements like the atmosphere and the location, and consider whether folks will be seated or standing. Will you have a spirited playlist (couldn't resist) or live music? Do you want an expert to introduce each wine, or will you be that expert? Consider how guests will share their thoughts on what they are tasting. Do you want to just talk about them or do something more organized, like take notes or give ratings? Then supply notebooks or notecards and pencils, with categories or questions established ahead of time—all of which can reflect your evening's tone as well. How many people to invite is a question largely informed by the answers to tip #1: Are you having a big, formal affair or an intimate catch-up with close friends? Or something in between? Whatever the case, an RSVP is essential because not only do you need to plan the setup of the space, but you must also make sure there's enough wine for everyone to taste, including each of the wines featured. There's nothing worse than a tasting that runs dry! The math to determine how much wine you need considers the size of the tasting pours—a full glass of wine at a restaurant is usually around 5 ounces, which yields around five glasses of wine from a standard bottle. For tastings, you'll want to do less, depending on how many wines you are featuring—say, 2 ounces if you'll be trying a lot of different wines. Experts agree, having more wine than you need is always a good idea—that way you can send guests home with a bottle should there be a prize at the end of the night. Picking a theme is essential to curating the selection of wines—it's the organizing principle behind your selections. Otherwise, your tasting might as well be just walking down the wine aisle at the grocery store and taking sips from random bottles. There's too much wine out there not to be strategic about this. Plus, a theme helps you to tell the story of each wine better—it's the plot line of the night, if you will. Common themes are types of wine, regions they are from, or even price points—really, one can get as creative as they wish. For inspiration, check out local wine shops and see what they do for tastings. Often, they will follow seasonality and group wines in novel ways for their own in-house tastings. Don't let food be an afterthought for the festivities—after all, food can enhance particular qualities of wine and vice versa. There are many rules around what foods to pair with which wines, but consider this simple advice from Alder Yarrow's : "Stick with eating good food and drinking good wine." Since the focus is on the wines, allow the drinks to determine what food makes sense, but don't overthink it. Food is a supporting character here—at the very least, guests will need something to soak up all the alcohol (unless you are spitting it out). Eating foods that contain a mixture of protein, fats, and carbs when drinking helps . Whether it's a full meal or heavy hors d'oeuvres, thoughtful noshes are necessary. The crisp autumn air ushers in more than just pumpkin spice latte season. Consider cozying up inside with friends for a wine tasting and sharing delicious food and drinks with more complex flavors than cinnamon and sugar. Perhaps once thought of as stuffy affairs only for wine connoisseurs, today a tasting can be as casual as pouring a few bottles while doing another activity—say, bar games like darts or art activities like painting. The tasting can also be more traditional, especially if held at a winery or local wine shop, which is a great way to learn about what wines you might like to later serve at home. To host the ultimate wine tasting, it pays to do some R&D. One of the best aspects of hosting a wine tasting at home is that you get to establish the mood, tone, and guest list for the gathering—you can't pick a playlist when you sample wines at a bar or wine shop or make the dress code loungewear. So whether the mood is serious or playful, sophisticated or laid-back, the key to a successful tasting is enjoying and appreciating the wine and having fun with friends and family. Of course, there are a few other things to figure out along the way. put together a few tips for hosting your wine-tasting party. The bottom line is, however you do it, hosting the ultimate wine tasting should be fun. Wine can feel intimidating to many people, but most wine experts are passionate, inspired folks who want to share what they know and help you find wines you like. So visit your local wine store or winemaker and ask questions. There are good guides specifically concerning how to taste wine. Dig a little, taste a lot, and have fun. It's all research for your next ultimate wine tasting. Get local news delivered to your inbox!David Hilzenrath, Jodie Fleischer, Cox Media Group | (TNS) KFF Health News In March, newly installed Social Security chief Martin O’Malley criticized agency “injustices” that “shock our shared sense of equity and good conscience as Americans.” He promised to overhaul the Social Security Administration’s often heavy-handed efforts to claw back money that millions of recipients — including people who are living in poverty, are elderly, or have disabilities — were allegedly overpaid, as described by a KFF Health News and Cox Media Group investigation last year. “Innocent people can be badly hurt,” O’Malley said at the time. Nearly eight months since he appeared before Congress and announced a series of policy changes, and with two months left in his term, O’Malley’s effort to fix the system has made inroads but remains a work in progress. For instance, one change, moving away from withholding 100% of people’s monthly Social Security benefits to recover alleged overpayments, has been a major improvement, say advocates for beneficiaries. “It is a tremendous change,” said Kate Lang of Justice in Aging, who called it “life-changing for many people.” The number of people from whom the Social Security Administration was withholding full monthly benefits to recoup money declined sharply — from about 46,000 in January to about 7,000 in September, the agency said. Asked to clarify whether those numbers and others provided for this article covered all programs administered by the agency, the SSA press office did not respond. Another potentially significant change — relieving beneficiaries of having to prove that an overpayment was not their fault — has not been implemented. The agency said it is working on that. Meanwhile, the agency seems to be looking to Congress to take the lead on a change some observers see as crucial: limiting how far back the government can reach to recover an alleged overpayment. Barbara Hubbell of Watkins Glen, New York, called the absence of a statute of limitations “despicable.” Hubbell said her mother was held liable for $43,000 because of an SSA error going back 19 years. “In what universe is that even legal?” Hubbell said. Paying down the overpayment balance left her mother “essentially penniless,” she added. In response to questions for this article, Social Security spokesperson Mark Hinkle said legislation is “the best and fastest way” to set a time limit. Establishing a statute of limitations was not among the policy changes O’Malley announced in his March congressional testimony. In an interview at the time, he said he expected an announcement on it “within the next couple few months.” It could probably be done by regulation, without an act of Congress, he said. Speaking generally, Hinkle said the agency has “made substantial progress on overpayments,” reducing the hardship they cause, and “continues to work diligently” to update policies. The agency is underfunded, he added, is at a near 50-year low in staffing, and could do better with more employees. The SSA did not respond to requests for an interview with O’Malley. O’Malley announced the policy changes after KFF Health News and Cox Media Group jointly published and broadcast investigative reporting on the damage overpayments and clawbacks have done to millions of beneficiaries. When O’Malley, a former Democratic governor of Maryland, presented his plans to three congressional committees in March, lawmakers greeted him with rare bipartisan praise. But the past several months have shown how hard it can be to turn around a federal bureaucracy that is massive, complex, deeply dysfunctional, and, as it says, understaffed. Now O’Malley’s time may be running out. Lang of Justice in Aging, among the advocacy groups that have been meeting with O’Malley and other Social Security officials, said she appreciates how much the commissioner has achieved in a short time. But she added that O’Malley has “not been interested in hearing about our feelings that things have fallen short.” One long-standing policy O’Malley set out to change involves the burden of proof. When the Social Security Administration alleges someone has been overpaid and demands the money back, the burden is on the beneficiary to prove they were not at fault. Cecilia Malone, 24, a beneficiary in Lithonia, Georgia, said she and her parents spent hundreds of hours trying to get errors corrected. “Why is the burden on us to ‘prove’ we weren’t overpaid?” Malone said. It can be exceedingly difficult for beneficiaries to appeal a decision. The alleged overpayments, which can reach tens of thousands of dollars or more, often span years. And people struggling just to survive may have extra difficulty producing financial records from long ago. What’s more, in letters demanding repayment, the government does not typically spell out its case against the beneficiary — making it hard to mount a defense. Testifying before House and Senate committees in March, O’Malley promised to shift the burden of proof. “That should be on the agency,” he said. The agency expects to finalize “guidance” on the subject “in the coming months,” Hinkle said. The agency points to reduced wait times and other improvements in a phone system known to leave beneficiaries on hold. “In September, we answered calls to our national 800 number in an average of 11 minutes — a tremendous improvement from 42 minutes one year ago,” Hinkle said. Still, in response to a nonrepresentative survey by KFF Health News and Cox Media Group focused on overpayments, about half of respondents who said they contacted the agency by phone since April rated that experience as “poor,” and few rated it “good” or “excellent.” The survey was sent to about 600 people who had contacted KFF Health News to share their overpayment stories since September 2023. Almost 200 people answered the survey in September and October of this year. Most of those who said they contacted the agency by mail since April rated their experience as “poor.” Jennifer Campbell, 60, a beneficiary in Nelsonville, Ohio, said in late October that she was still waiting for someone at the agency to follow up as described during a phone call in May. “VERY POOR customer service!!!!!” Campbell wrote. “Nearly impossible to get a hold of someone,” wrote Kathryn Duff of Colorado Springs, Colorado, who has been helping a disabled family member. Letters from SSA have left Duff mystified. One was postmarked July 9, 2024, but dated more than two years earlier. Another, dated Aug. 18, 2024, said her family member was overpaid $31,635.80 in benefits from the Supplemental Security Income program, which provides money to people with little or no income or other resources who are disabled, blind, or at least 65. But Duff said her relative never received SSI benefits. What’s more, for the dates in question, payments listed in the letter to back up the agency’s math didn’t come close to $31,635.80; they totaled about a quarter of that amount. Regarding the 100% clawbacks, O’Malley in March said it’s “unconscionable that someone would find themselves facing homelessness or unable to pay bills, because Social Security withheld their entire payment for recovery of an overpayment.” He said that, starting March 25, if a beneficiary doesn’t respond to a new overpayment notice, the agency would default to withholding 10%. The agency warned of “a short transition period.” That change wasn’t automated until June 25, Hinkle said. The number of people newly placed in full withholding plummeted from 6,771 in February to 51 in September, according to data the agency provided. SSA said it would notify recipients they could request reduced withholding if it was already clawing back more than 10% of their monthly checks. Nonetheless, dozens of beneficiaries or their family members told KFF Health News and Cox Media Group they hadn’t heard they could request reduced withholding. Among those who did ask, roughly half said their requests were approved. According to the SSA, there has been almost a 20% decline in the number of people facing clawbacks of more than 10% but less than 100% of their monthly checks — from 141,316 as of March 8 to 114,950 as of Oct. 25, agency spokesperson Nicole Tiggemann said. Meanwhile, the number of people from whom the agency was withholding exactly 10% soared more than fortyfold — from just over 5,000 to well over 200,000. And the number of beneficiaries having any partial benefits withheld to recover an overpayment increased from almost 600,000 to almost 785,000, according to data Tiggemann provided. Lorraine Anne Davis, 72, of Houston, said she hasn’t received her monthly Social Security payment since June due to an alleged overpayment. Her Medicare premium was being deducted from her monthly benefit, so she’s been left to pay that out-of-pocket. Davis said she’s going to need a kidney transplant and had been trying to save money for when she’d be unable to work. Related Articles National News | California case is the first confirmed bird flu infection in a US child National News | Colorado funeral home owners accused of letting 190 bodies decay plead guilty to corpse abuse National News | Another E. coli recall: falafel bites from Florida, California and 16 other states National News | US budget airlines are struggling. Will pursuing premium passengers solve their problems? National News | Hyundai, Kia recall over 208,000 electric vehicles to fix problem that can cause loss of power A letter from the SSA dated April 8, 2024, two weeks after the new 10% withholding policy was slated to take effect, said it had overpaid her $13,538 and demanded she pay it back within 30 days. Apparently, the SSA hadn’t accounted for a pension Davis receives from overseas; Davis said she disclosed it when she filed for benefits. In a letter to her dated June 29, the agency said that, under its new policy, it would change the withholding to only 10% if she asked. Davis said she asked by phone repeatedly, and to no avail. “Nobody seems to know what’s going on” and “no one seems to be able to help you,” Davis said. “You’re just held captive.” In October, the agency said she’d receive a payment — in March 2025. Marley Presiado, a research assistant on the Public Opinion and Survey Research team at KFF, contributed to this report. ©2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
We're Rocking These Metallic Sneakers This New Year's Eve
More than 20 states and cities designate December as Osteopathic Medicine MonthGiants' Tyrone Tracy focused on doing his job, not outdoing Ravens' Derrick Henry