- House Creates Panel on ‘Weaponization of the Federal Government’
By Mimi Nguyen Ly
The new Republican-majority House voted Tuesday afternoon to create a select subcommittee to investigate the “weaponization of the government” by federal law ...
- House Panel Launches Investigation Into Biden’s Classified Document Stash
By Tom Ozimek
The House Oversight Committee has launched an investigation into President Joe Biden’s handling of classified records from his time as vice president, following ...
- Operations ‘Resuming Gradually’ After All Flights Grounded Across US: Federal Agency
By Tom Ozimek
Operations in the United States are starting to resume after all flights across the country were grounded, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ...
- ‘No Legal Difference’ Between Biden’s Classified Document Stash and Trump’s: Lawyer
By Tom Ozimek
The White House’s disclosure that classified documents were found in an office President Joe Biden used before taking office has prompted comparisons ...
- McCarthy Plans to Remove Schiff, Omar, Swalwell From House Committees
By Jack Phillips
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) confirmed Monday that he plans to remove Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) from their committee ...
- Why No ‘Mar-a-Lago Raid’ for Biden?
By Nathan Worcester
As Republican lawmakers like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) worry that President Joe Biden’s retention of classified materials from his vice presidency may be ...
- Supreme Court Rejects Case Seeking to Overturn 2020 Election
By Zachary Stieber
The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 9 turned down a case that sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Justices decided against ...
- House Passes Bill to Rescind Over $70 Billion in IRS Funding
By Mimi Nguyen Ly
The House of Representatives voted late Monday to rescind over $70 billion to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the first ...
- Classified Documents Found at Penn Biden Center: President’s Lawyer
By Zachary Stieber
Documents with classified markings were found inside an institution at which President Joe Biden worked before he took office, according to a lawyer for ...
- California Storm Leaves a Dozen Dead and More Than 100,000 Without Power
By Naveen Athrappully
At least a dozen people in California have died and over 100,000 across the state are suffering outages as the region battles ...
- IRS Targeted More ‘Easy-Mark’ Low-Income Families Than Millionaires, University Report
By Naveen Athrappully
The IRS is continuing its historic trend of pursuing more low-income groups as relatively fewer billionaires and millionaires have come under its ...
- Gov. Kristi Noem, Family at ‘High Risk’ of Identity Theft After Jan. 6 Committee’s SSN Leak
By Bill Pan
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who has just begun her second term, says she and her immediate family are at a “very high ...
![Strong labor data and positive expectations about the incoming Trump administration pushed the U.S. dollar to a two-year high on Thursday. The U.S. dollar iIndex hit a high of 109.53 on Jan. 2, the first trading day of the year, and the highest since November 2022. The jump came as data released on Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor showed that initial jobless claims hit an eight-month low, suggesting a robust labor market, which is a positive sign for the overall economy. The dollar index was trading slightly lower on Friday at 108.96 as of 08:30 a.m. EST. The dollar index increase is also supported by investor confidence in the upcoming Trump administration, which assumes power this month. According to a recent survey by consulting company Teneo, “global CEOs and investors are optimistic about the economic impact of a second Trump administration, outweighing concerns about tariffs, geopolitical tensions, and trade barriers.” Story continues below advertisement In fact, “50 percent of global CEOs are accelerating activities in areas such as domestic and international investment and hiring based on the outcome of the 2024 U.S. election,” it said. While the dollar strengthened, the euro and sterling declined on Thursday. The euro fell to its lowest level in more than two years while the sterling declined to its lowest in eight months. A Dec. 17 report from JP Morgan predicts the U.S. dollar to reach even new highs over the coming months. Related Stories How Major US Stock Indexes Fared Jan. 2 1/2/2025 How Major US Stock Indexes Fared Jan. 2 Americans Have Hopes Trump Will Deliver on Immigration, Economy, Safety: Gallup 1/2/2025 Americans Have Hopes Trump Will Deliver on Immigration, Economy, Safety: Gallup “November’s election outcome has given way to lower global growth expectations, wider growth gaps between the U.S. and the rest of the world, and higher terminal federal funds rate forecasts for 2025—the perfect trifecta of bullish U.S. dollar cyclical impulse,” said Meera Chandan, co-head of Global FX Strategy at the company. “These are early first-order reactions that may give way to deeper rethinks once the full set of Trump administration policies are known next year [2025], but for now, they constitute a solid economic rationale for carrying a long U.S. dollar stance into the first quarter of 2025.” JP Morgan sees the euro’s outlook as bearish, noting the eurozone is especially vulnerable to trade conflicts. And while sterling was the best-performing currency against the dollar last year, such an outperformance is not expected this year, it said. US Economy Performance in 2025 With President-elect Donald Trump set to take power in less than three weeks, there are mixed views about how things could shape up for the American economy. According to a Dec. 9 post by Morgan Stanley, markets are “bullish on Trump’s second term, hoping for tax cuts and better growth.” “We expect no net stimulus and a decent size hit from tariffs and immigration. This should be bullish for bonds as the Fed continues cutting, but could be a disappointment for frothy stocks,” it said. Regarding tariffs, the most likely outcome is a 20 percent hike on Chinese imports and on vehicles from Mexico and the European Union, Morgan Stanley said. Story continues below advertisement It predicts the U.S. Federal Reserve to continue cutting interest rates to a range of 3 percent 3.5 percent by the end of 2025. S&P Global is forecasting the U.S. economy to grow by 2 percent in 2025 and 2026, following an estimated growth of 2.7 percent last year. The company sees inflation to likely remain above the 2 percent level for “longer than we previously thought.” Goldman Sachs predicts the U.S. economy to “beat expectations” this year. “The U.S. economy is in a good place,” said David Mericle, an economist with the company. “Recession fears have diminished, inflation is trending back toward 2 percent, and the labor market has rebalanced but remains strong.” While Trump’s policy changes are likely to be “significant,” Mericle does not see these actions changing the trajectory of the economy substantially. Goldman foresees the Fed reducing interest rates to a range of 3.25–3.50 percent, with the U.S. GDP predicted to grow by 2.5 percent. There have been three consecutive quarters of economic growth in the first nine months of 2024—1.6 percent in the first quarter, 3 percent in the second, and 3.1 percent in the third.](https://www.usnn.news/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/US-Dollar-Index-Hits-Highest-Level-in-2-Years-Euro-Falls-jpg.webp "US Dollar Index Hits Highest Level in 2 Years, Euro Falls | USNN World News")
