The fight over defunding Stars and Stripes, explained
The Trump administration moved to close Stars and Stripes, a popular state-supported newspaper serving US military members, and was criticized for the plan Friday. Shortly afterward, President Donald Trump reversed the Pentagon decision and said the federal government wont cut funding to the paper.
Trumps announcement came as he faced fierce blowback over reports that hed called slain American soldiers losers and suckers. But it also renewed a longstanding debate over whether the Pentagon should be funding its own newspaper while raising new concerns about the Trump administrations approach toward taxpayer-funded news outlets.
Pentagon officials sent an order to Stars and Stripes in August requiring the paper to present a plan for shutting down by September 15, and for stopping publication by September 30, according to a report by Kathy Kiely for USA Today. The military leaders claimed authority to shut down the paper under Trumps 2021 defense department budget request, which sought to eliminate its $15.5 million annual budget.
But Congress has yet to approve the presidents budget request; an appropriations bill that passed the House of Representatives in July reversed Trumps proposal and restored Stars and Stripess funding. The Senate version of the bill did not include funding for the paper; however, as the Military Times notes, the issue of funding the paper is expected to be taken up later by both chambers later this year.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-fight-over-defunding-stars-and-stripes-explained/ar-BB18Kahq?li=BBnbcA1&ocid=DELLDHP
Proud liberal 80
(4,167 posts)Trumps rescue of Stars and Stripes is like if someone kidnapped someone and then pretended to be the hero who rescued them.
Iliyah
(25,111 posts)but no mention of suckers and losers.