President Donald Trump is sending a one-time US$90 Medicare rebate to about 20.8 million American seniors this week, paid from a fund no administration had ever used for beneficiaries. The White House announced the payments on Friday 2 October in a fact sheet, and most of the money is due to land by direct deposit on or around Thursday 8 October.
Latest in United States
DOE offers Vistra a conditional US$4.2 billion nuclear loan
Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced a conditional US$4.2 billion loan for Vistra uprates at Beaver Valley, Davis-Besse and Perry.Six tech firms join Melania Trump's children's tech coalition
Google, Amazon, Intel, Adobe, Zoom and Starlink joined Melania Trump's kids' tech coalition, with over $23 million pledged. Starlink's share isn't stated.Tick Act renewed: US Lyme disease programs extended to 2030
Trump signed the Kay Hagan Tick Reauthorization Act on 30 September, keeping US Lyme and tick-borne disease programs authorized through 2030.South Korea's $200B US pledge starts with a Texas power plant
South Korea and the US picked a $22.3 billion gas plant in Encinal, Texas, on 30 September as the first project in Seoul's $200 billion pledge.Mesabi Metallics picks Iowa for $15 billion steel complex
Mesabi Metallics will build a $15 billion steel plant in Lee County, Iowa, fed by its new Minnesota iron mine. It promises at least 1,750 permanent jobs.Student loan borrowers in default get an online help center
Treasury and the Education Department opened an online Defaulted Loans Support Center on 30 September for the 9.3 million student borrowers in default.CNN, MS NOW and Politico sue over the White House press ban
CNN, MS NOW and Politico have sued over Trump's White House ban and the loss of their reporters' press passes. A hearing was set for Wednesday.America marks 25 years since September 11 with 2,983 names
The 9/11 Memorial read 2,983 names on the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. They killed 2,977 people, not counting the 19 hijackers.Utah marks Charlie Kirk Day one year after UVU shooting
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox declared Sept. 10, 2026, Charlie Kirk Day, a year after the UVU shooting, as the case against Tyler James Robinson advanced.Four Reactors Hit Criticality
Four advanced reactors passed an early test, zero-power criticality, by 4 July 2026, beating the Trump administration's goal of at least three.Six bills, zero nays, four criticalities
Six nuclear permitting and fuel bills cleared House Energy and Commerce unanimously in early September, as a House panel heard reactor pilot results.SPARC Puts Lunar Reactor on Paper
NASA Glenn has posted a draft SPARC solicitation for space nuclear power, including a lunar reactor, with a 2030 goal for landing on the Moon.Six Nuclear Bills Cleared Committee
Six bipartisan nuclear permitting bills have cleared the House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously, one of them 44 to 0.The uranium left Venezuela
The US Energy Department moved the last 13.5 kg of enriched uranium from Venezuela's RV-1 research reactor to its Savannah River Site, with IAEA help.Wright says the US won't be operator in Venezuela's NABEP deal
Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC in Caracas that the US government won't be the operator or producer under the NABEP deal.Chris Wright lands in Caracas as Venezuela backs the oil deal
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright landed in Venezuela late on 1 September as the National Assembly backed the oil deal. Signing was set for the next day.Venezuela oil deal: Pentagon takes a stake, State gets oil
Trump's Venezuela oil deal gives the Pentagon a 35% stake in the parent of operator NABEP, the White House says, plus access to 20% of its oil at cost.Trump says Venezuelan crude will refill the US oil reserve
President Trump says Venezuelan crude will refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which held about 290 million barrels on 21 August.Washington is telling the NRC to stop taking a decade
President Trump has ordered a US nuclear rebuild, from about 100 gigawatts toward 400 by 2050. The Energy Department put $2.7 billion into enrichment.
