Nina Eichacker, an economics professor at the University of Rhode Island, says the downgrade speaks to a “growing disparity between an administration that talks about wanting to reduce the debt and then pursues policies that do anything but.”
The Social Security Administration could lose at least 7,000 workers under recommended staff cuts by DOGE. That could lead to serious delays in benefits processing.
Rural hospitals and clinics face potential closures, leaving patients with longer travel times, fewer options and more uncertainty about their access to care.
In Valley County, Idaho, for example, data show that the Forest Service is the area’s third largest employer — ahead of a school district, the local hospital and a major ski resort.
Timothy Nwachukwu for The Washington Post via Getty Images
Buying a bond is usually like going for ice cream (to a regular ice cream place): You pick your flavor, you pay, you enjoy a nice, predictable payoff. Lately though, that’s not the deal.