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Former President Joe Biden returns to the national stage Tuesday to elevate liberal concerns that President Donald Trump’s agenda is threatening the health of Social Security.The 82-year-old Democrat has largely avoided speaking publicly since leaving the White House in January. That’s even as Trump frequently blames Biden for many of the nation’s problems, often attacking his predecessor by name.Biden is expected to fight back in an early evening speech to the national conference of Advocates, Counselors and Representatives for the Disabled in Chicago. While Biden has made a handful of public appearances in recent weeks, Tuesday’s high-profile address focuses on a critical issue for tens of millions of Americans that could define next year’s midterm elections.“As bipartisan leaders have long agreed, Americans who retire after paying into Social Security their whole lives deserve the vital support and caring services they receive,” said Rachel Buck, executive director of the ACRD. “We are thrilled the president will be joining us to discuss how we can work together for a stable and successful future for Social Security.”Trump almost immediately began slashing the government workforce upon his return to the White House, including thousands of employees at the Social Security Administration.Along with a planned layoff of 7,000 workers and controversial plans to impose tighter identity-proofing measures for recipients, the SSA has been sued over a decision to allow Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to access individuals’ Social Security numbers and other personally identifiable information.Musk, the world’s richest man and one of Trump’s most influential advisers, has called Social Security “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.”At the same time, Social Security recipients have complained about long call wait times as the agency’s “my Social Security” benefits portal has seen an increase in outages. Individuals who receive Supplemental Security Income, including disabled seniors and low-income adults and children, also reported receiving a notice that said they were “not receiving benefits.”The agency said the notice was a mistake. And the White House has vowed that it would not cut Social Security benefits, saying any changes are intended to reduce waste and fraud.Biden will be joined in Chicago by a bipartisan group of former elected officials, including former Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., former Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and former Social Security Administrator Martin O’Malley.“Social Security is a sacred promise between generations,” O’Malley said. “We are deeply grateful to the President for joining us at ACRD to discuss how we can keep that promise for all Americans.”Biden is not expected to make frequent public appearances as he transitions into his post-presidency. He still maintains an office in Washington, but has returned to Delaware as his regular home base. Trump has revoked his security clearances.While Biden may be in position to help his party with fundraising and messaging, he left the White House with weak approval ratings. Biden also faces blame from some progressives who argue he shouldn’t have sought a second term. Biden ended his reelection bid after his disastrous debate performance against Trump and made way for then-Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump in the fall.Just 39% of Americans had a favorable opinion of Biden in January, according to a Gallup poll taken shortly after Trump’s inauguration.Views of the Democratic former president were essentially unchanged from a Gallup poll taken shortly after the November election. They broadly track with the steadily low favorability ratings that Biden experienced throughout the second half of his presidential term. Peoples reported from New York. Associated Press writer Linley Sanders contributed to this report. Steve Peoples and Fatima Hussein, Associated Press
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Despite a court order, a reporter and photographer from The Associated Press were barred from an Oval Office news conference on Monday with President Donald Trump and his counterpart from El Salvador, Nayib Bukele.Last week’s federal court decision forbidding the Trump administration from punishing the AP for refusing to rename the Gulf of Mexico was to take effect Monday. The administration is appealing the decision and arguing with the news outlet over whether it needs to change anything until those appeals are exhausted.The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. circuit set a Thursday hearing on Trump’s request that any changes be delayed while case is reviewed. The AP is fighting for more access as soon as possible.Later Monday, two AP photographers were admitted to an event honoring Ohio State’s championship football team on the more spacious South Lawn. A text reporter was turned away.Since mid-February, AP reporters and photographers have been blocked from attending events in the Oval Office, where President Donald Trump frequently addresses journalists, and on Air Force One. The AP has seen sporadic access elsewhere, and regularly covers White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s briefings. Leavitt is one of three administration officials named in the AP’s lawsuit.The dispute stems from AP’s decision not to follow the president’s executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico, although AP style does cite Trump’s wish that it be called the Gulf of America. The AP argued and U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden agreed last week that the government cannot punish the news organization for exercising its right to free speech.McFadden on Friday had rejected Trump’s request for more delay in implementing the ruling; now the president is asking an appeals court for the same thing.“We expect the White House to restore AP’s participation in the (White House press) pool as of today, as provided in the injunction order,” AP spokeswoman Lauren Easton said Monday.The extent of AP’s future access remains uncertain, even with the court decision.Until being blocked by Trump, AP has traditionally always had a reporter and photographer among the small group of journalists invited into the Oval Office. McFadden did not order that to be restored, only that no news organization should be shut out because the president objects to its news decisions under a principle called “viewpoint discrimination.”“No other news organization in the United States receives the level of guaranteed access previously bestowed upon the AP,” the administration argued in court papers over the weekend. “The AP may have grown accustomed to its favored status, but the Constitution does not require that such status endure in perpetuity.” David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social David Bauder, AP Media Writer
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Want more housing market stories from Lance Lamberts ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Last week, Zillow announced a new policy that bans home listings from appearing on the platform if they were first listed for sale in private networks more than 24 hours before appearing on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Thats an attempt by Zillow to keep more inventory on the public housing market. If a listing is online, it should be online everywhere. . . . If a listing is marketed to any home shoppers, it should be marketed to all home shoppers, wrote Zillow. The announcement comes as some brokerages, most infamously Compass, are pushing for more “private exclusives”a strategy that allows sellers to market their properties privately within the brokerages network before or instead of listing them on public platforms like the MLS. Over the past year, Compass has seen its inventory of private exclusives climb from just over 2,000 to nearly 10,000 active off-market homes for sale. Zillow seemingly fears that the private listing market could soon gain momentum, so its using its massive influenceand the fact that its the go-to source for so many high-intent buyersto try and throw cold water on private listings before they absorb too large of a market share. On Saturday evening, CoStar CEO Andy Florance took a shot at the announcement, writing on LinkedIn that Zillows policy hurts home sellers. This week Zillow Executive Errol Samuelson announced that homes not listed on the MLS within 24 hours of public marketingwont be published on Zillow for the life of the listing. Simply put, if your listing is not on Zillow within 24 hours, Zillow will retaliate against you and your homeowner by turning off your ability to list on Zillow. It is an incredible move of audacity and a pure power play of epic proportion, wrote Florance. CoStar, which owns Homes.com, is in the midst of a feisty battle that has been called the portal wars with Zillow and Realtor.com. According to RISMedia, there is one loophole to Zillows ban: if the home seller fires their agent. “A seller who parts ways with their agent after using a private listing service and subsequently re-lists with a new agent or broker would be eligible again to have their property on Zillow, a Zillow spokesperson told RISMedia last week.
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