ActiveInvestorMag.com: Government & Institutional

EXIM signs a letter of support for NioCorp’s Elk Creek mine as a federal loan moves closer

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 21:25:00 GMT

The export credit agency’s chairman and the energy secretary visited the Nebraska critical minerals project together.

The chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, John Jovanovic, signed a letter of support for NioCorp’s Elk Creek mine and toured the project, the agency said. He joined the secretary of energy, Chris Wright, and the state’s governor at the site in Elk Creek, Nebraska, according to the agency’s own account.

The project moved closer to an $840 million federal loan, according to a report on the visit. Local coverage put the visit on Wednesday and described federal and state leaders touring the critical minerals construction site, which sits about 10 miles from Tecumseh. Wright said development of the project was vital to America’s future because of the many uses of these minerals, and told those at the site: “This is not just the economics of the United States”.

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The Supreme Court will decide whether DOGE’s internal records can stay secret

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 21:28:00 GMT

The justices agreed to hear the administration’s fight with a watchdog group over whether the body that cut federal jobs and funding is subject to open-records law.

The Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to review access to the records of the US DOGE Service, taking up the administration’s bid to avoid turning over internal documents. The case reaches the justices as a dispute with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, and the question presented is whether the body is subject to federal freedom-of-information law.

The court had already intervened once. It stayed a discovery order last year that called on the group, then led by Elon Musk, to produce documents in compliance with federal records law. The justices will now consider halting the watchdog’s bid for information altogether, and decide whether the records can remain secret.

The administration’s argument is that the body made no decisions about cuts to programs or the firing of personnel at federal agencies, and simply offered advice. Musk led it initially and left the role a few months later, before falling out with Trump over the cost of the president’s tax and spending bill.

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The White House says manufacturing is reshoring as Trump attacks the Supreme Court’s tariff ruling

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 21:29:00 GMT

The Council of Economic Advisers says the sector is growing under the administration’s policies, while the president blames a court ruling for lost tariff revenue he has not quantified.

The Council of Economic Advisers published an evaluation of President Trump’s effect on manufacturing covering his second term to date, and said the data demonstrate that the sector is seeing robust growth under the administration’s pro-growth policies. The council also said manufacturing jobs are reshoring in America after the Biden administration shipped them abroad, in a sentence the published summary cuts off. This is the president’s own council assessing the president’s own record, and it is evidence of what the administration claims rather than of what the sector did.

Coverage of the release reported the White House claiming 72,000 new US manufacturing jobs in 2026. The same account referred to survey readings above 50 indicating expanding manufacturing activity, without naming the index in the part of the text available. A separate report described a blue-collar jobs boom in a key American industry as the re-shoring policies pay off and credited Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, in a passage the excerpt leaves unfinished.

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Fed survey shows median family net worth up 2 percent and financial stress rising

Fri, 09 Oct 2026 21:29:00 GMT

The triennial Survey of Consumer Finances found middle and lower earners gained real income while high earners lost ground.

The Federal Reserve Board released the results of its 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances, which the Board said provides the public and policymakers with detailed insights into the economic condition of American families. The dataset was published on Friday morning.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Fed study found overall median net worth rose 2 percent between 2022 and 2025, and that the typical American family got a little wealthier in the years following the pandemic while well-off and older Americans got much richer.

The income picture ran the other way at the top. Axios reported that the median American family’s income rose 7 percent in inflation-adjusted terms, and that middle and lower earners’ inflation-adjusted incomes rose during the Biden years while high earners saw their incomes fall. The ABA Banking Journal reported the survey finding an increase in family income and in financial stress together.

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War Department lends Wolfspeed $1.5 billion for a stake and adds $350 million for quantum

Fri, 09 Oct 2026 14:37:00 GMT

The Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital offered Wolfspeed a conditional loan that comes with an equity stake of up to 7.5 percent, and announced a $350 million quantum computing package the same day.

The Department of War announced a conditional loan commitment of $1.5 billion to Wolfspeed. The loan carries a stake of up to 7.5 percent in the company. It was made by the Office of Strategic Capital, and is intended to support Wolfspeed as a US manufacturer of wide bandgap semiconductors.

The department separately announced $350 million in quantum computing initiatives. That package is highlighted by a $150 million loan commitment from the same office to PsiQuantum. PsiQuantum said the conditional commitment of $150 million will support the continuing expansion of its California factory.

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CBO puts the fiscal 2026 federal deficit at $2 trillion

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 21:30:00 GMT

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the government borrowed $2.0 trillion in the year to September 30, and has published scenarios showing what higher interest rates would do to the debt.

The federal budget deficit totaled $2.0 trillion in fiscal year 2026, $218 billion more than the deficit recorded in fiscal year 2025, the Congressional Budget Office estimated in its monthly budget review. The Wall Street Journal described the result as just under $2 trillion for the fiscal year that ended September 30. The outcome is worse than the office itself expected in February, when it projected a deficit of $1.9 trillion for the year.

The federal government spent about $7.4 trillion over the year, a 6 percent increase, while revenues rose 3 percent to about $5.4 trillion. Corporate income tax receipts declined by $70 billion, or 16 percent, a fall the American Action Forum attributed to the One Big Beautiful Bill. At the end of May, roughly two-thirds of the way through the fiscal year, the cumulative deficit stood at $1.2 trillion, meaning a large share of the gap opened in the closing months.

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Trump defers the federal diesel tax and opens dyed diesel to highway use

Wed, 07 Oct 2026 14:31:00 GMT

An executive order lets off-road fuel run on highways through the end of the year, and governors are following.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order that temporarily allows off-road “dyed” diesel for highway use and defers the applicable federal excise tax. The order opens highway use of tax-free dyed diesel and defers the federal diesel tax on that fuel through the end of the year, with no interest and no penalties. The order states that restricted global diesel supply has led to rising prices, and that farmers and truckers are essential to the American way of life.

The White House said the action is expected to save drivers as much as $100 per fill. Semafor reported the order before signing as an effort to contain diesel prices by expanding access to tax-exempt diesel. Semafor had reported in advance that the order would expand access to tax-exempt diesel, without putting a figure on the saving. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reported the same push to governors from the agriculture secretary.

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Trump defers the diesel excise tax weeks before the midterms

Tue, 06 Oct 2026 14:34:00 GMT

An executive order temporarily opens highway use of tax-free dyed diesel and defers the federal excise tax on that fuel through the end of the year.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order to cut diesel costs for truckers and farmers. The order temporarily opens highway use of tax-free dyed diesel and defers the federal diesel tax on that fuel through the end of the year, with no interest and no penalties. The accompanying fact sheet described it as temporarily allowing off-road dyed diesel for highway use and deferring the applicable federal excise tax.

The move had been signalled earlier in the day. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the administration was preparing to act on fuel prices on Monday, and she teased the measure before it was announced. Rollins issued a statement on the signing on October 5, 2026 and indicated the administration may announce additional assistance measures for farmers.

The mechanism is narrow. Dyed diesel is the off-road grade, and the order temporarily permits its use on highways while deferring the federal excise tax that would otherwise apply, with no interest and no penalties. The relief therefore comes from a tax that is not collected rather than from fuel that is added to supply.

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Fed Watchdog Clears Powell of Criminal Wrongdoing; Trump Renews Removal Push

Fri, 02 Oct 2026 14:31:00 GMT

The central bank’s inspector general found no grounds for a criminal referral over the headquarters renovation, and the president repeated his demand that the former chair quit the board anyway.

A Federal Reserve watchdog found no criminal wrongdoing by former chair Jerome Powell in its investigation of the central bank’s expensive headquarters renovation, in a report released on Wednesday. “At no point during our evaluation did we find reasonable grounds to believe that a violation of federal criminal law had occurred requiring a referral to the U.S. Attorney General,” the Office of Inspector General wrote.

The finding effectively clears Powell after the Justice Department opened an unprecedented criminal investigation into the then chair, which became public in January. A separate strand of that inquiry, into whether Powell had committed perjury during brief testimony about the renovation before a Senate committee, was dropped in April. The watchdog did find that the bank mismanaged the renovation, and reporting on the findings noted that the work was awarded without a guaranteed price.

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Trump announces a $15 billion Mesabi Metallics steel mill in Iowa

Mon, 28 Sep 2026 21:25:00 GMT

The White House calls the project one of the largest steel plants in American history, with production targeted for 2030.

President Donald Trump announced on Monday that Mesabi Metallics will build a $15 billion steel mill in Iowa, a project the White House called one of the largest steel plants in American history. WGEM reported that Trump described it as America’s largest ever steel plant and that it is headed for Lee County. Reuters put the planned cost of the Iowa mill at $15 billion. CNBC said the plant would be the largest in United States history.

The White House said the project will create 1,750 permanent Iowa jobs, support up to 6,000 construction jobs, and is projected to add $95 billion to the United States economy over the next decade. Mesabi Metallics, which is building the plant, aims to start production in 2030, a White House official told NBC News.

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Trump extends the $100,000 H-1B charge for another year

Sat, 19 Sep 2026 21:12:00 GMT

A new executive order and proclamation carry forward the restrictions first imposed on the skilled-worker visa in 2025.

President Trump has extended his push for US$100,000 H-1B visas by another year. He signed an executive order and a proclamation described by the White House as continuing to protect American national and economic security and American workers from abuses of the H-1B visa program.

The proclamation refers back to September 19, 2025, when Proclamation 10973, titled Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers, was issued to address significant abuses of the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program. The restrictions enacted by that 2025 proclamation have proven to be highly effective, the new document states. The White House said the 2025 proclamation effectively deterred abuses in the program and that further action would now follow. Other coverage described the step as extending the H-1B fee.

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Trump signs the Russia and Iran sanctions act, with tariff powers attached

Sat, 19 Sep 2026 14:12:00 GMT

Congress has granted the president broad new tariff authority over the countries that buy Russian oil, days before Xi Jinping arrives in Washington.

On Friday, 18 September, the president signed into law H.R. 5334, the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, which authorises and expands statutory sanctions, tariffs and prohibitions on Russia and extends existing sanctions on Iran. The law expands primary and secondary sanctions against Russian actors, targets the country’s shadow fleet and authorises presidential tariffs.

It allows for primary and secondary sanctions on Russia and on other countries that support Moscow in its invasion of Ukraine. It takes aim at Russia’s energy and defence sectors, alongside President Vladimir Putin and other senior officials, and sanctions Putin himself. The bill was championed by Senator Lindsey Graham. President Zelenskyy thanked Trump for signing what he called critically important legislation.

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Bank regulators propose third-party risk guidance and widen the 18-month exam cycle

Sat, 12 Sep 2026 14:13:00 GMT

The Fed board split six to one on new guidance covering banks’ core service providers, with Michael Barr dissenting.

The federal banking agencies are seeking comment on proposed third-party risk management guidance, and have issued a statement on community bank engagement with core service providers. American Banker reported that the Federal Reserve Board of Governors voted six to one to issue the proposed guidance. Governor Michael Barr was the lone dissent.

Barr opposed the proposal, citing concerns over the standard for material financial risk. Separately, the agencies moved to reduce regulatory burden for community banks and to increase eligibility for the 18-month examination cycle. Newsquawk reported that the Federal Reserve, the OCC and the FDIC were said to be increasing the number of banks eligible for that longer cycle.

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Appeals court strikes down the order keeping a Michigan coal plant open

Fri, 11 Sep 2026 21:13:00 GMT

The D.C. Circuit found the Energy Department failed to justify forcing the J.H. Campbell plant to keep running past its retirement date.

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found that Energy Secretary Chris Wright failed to show that federal intervention was warranted, vacating the order that required the J.H. Campbell plant in Port Sheldon Township to keep operating. The Detroit News reported that federal judges struck down the order directing the Energy Department to continue operating the plant, and other outlets described the ruling as a rejection of the administration’s directive.

Wright had argued the 64-year-old J.H. Campbell Generating Plant was needed to ensure reliable electricity in the region, and used emergency powers to keep it running. The plant, in operation for over 60 years, had been scheduled for retirement on May 31, 2025. Friday’s ruling applies only to the first of six emergency orders Wright has issued since May 2025 to keep the plant open.

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Trump Bans Canadian Dairy, Alcohol and Motorcycles Under a 1930 Tariff Law

Thu, 10 Sep 2026 21:16:00 GMT

Five proclamations move the North American trade war from tariffs to outright import bans, taking effect at the end of September.

President Donald Trump signed five proclamations pursuant to Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 to ban certain products from Canada and to modify the scope of tariffs on certain Canadian products previously announced on July 20. The White House framed the action as countering Canada’s latest retaliation against American exports and its increased discrimination against US commerce. Separate proclamations cover alcoholic beverages and dairy, each citing an earlier finding that Canada is discriminating in fact against the commerce of the United States.

The import bans take effect on 29 September, cutting off US market access for the targeted Canadian goods rather than simply making them more expensive, and Section 338 allows the president to bar imports from countries that maintain or increase discrimination against US commerce. The Wall Street Journal reported that the orders ban the importation of many dairy products, alcoholic beverages and motorcycles from Canada in three weeks.

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CBO Puts the Federal Deficit at $2.0 Trillion Through Eleven Months

Thu, 10 Sep 2026 14:22:00 GMT

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the deficit totalled $2.0 trillion in the first 11 months of fiscal 2026, $6 billion less than the same stretch a year earlier.

The federal budget deficit totalled $2.0 trillion in the first 11 months of fiscal year 2026, the Congressional Budget Office estimates, an amount $6 billion less than the deficit recorded in the same period of the previous fiscal year. The United States borrowed $2.0 trillion over those eleven months. The monthly budget update was released on Wednesday.

The near-flat comparison is a timing artefact. Absent shifts in the calendar of certain payments, the deficit for the year would have been $82 billion larger than last year rather than marginally smaller. On the same basis, August’s deficit alone would have been $10 billion larger than August 2025. The period covered runs from October 2025 through August 2026.

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Trump Orders Import Bans on Canadian Alcohol, Dairy and Motorcycles

Wed, 09 Sep 2026 21:14:00 GMT

The escalation moves the fight with Canada past tariffs into outright exclusion, with the prohibitions due to take effect in three weeks.

President Trump signed orders barring the importation of many dairy products, alcoholic beverages and motorcycles from Canada, with the bans due to take effect in three weeks. Quartz reported the start date as 29 September. Newsmax framed the orders as giving Ottawa three weeks to respond.

The proclamations build on earlier duties. The alcohol order cites Proclamation 11046 of July 2026, which found as a fact that Canada is discriminating against US commerce with respect to alcoholic beverages, and the dairy order cites Proclamation 11047 making the same finding for dairy. Trump is separately barring Canadian goods from US government contract lists after Canada’s retaliatory tariffs took effect.

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Trump bans Canadian alcohol, dairy and motorcycles as Ottawa’s tariffs bite

Wed, 09 Sep 2026 14:27:00 GMT

Washington moved from tariffs to outright import prohibitions hours after Canada’s retaliatory duties took effect.

President Trump said the United States would ban Canadian alcohol, some dairy products and large motorcycles, sharply escalating a trade war that had been fought largely with tariffs. The White House said Trump signed five proclamations under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 to bar certain Canadian products and to modify the scope of tariffs on Canadian goods announced on July 20, 2026.

Axios reported that the import bans take effect on Sept. 29, cutting off US market access for the targeted goods rather than simply making them more expensive. The move followed Canadian counter-tariffs coming into force. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer issued a statement after the president used his Section 338 authority, and Politico reported the response paired import bans with tariff increases. Trump also threatened to stop the sale of Canadian Bombardier jets in the United States.

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