Benjamin Hulac

4 weeks ago | njspotlightnews.org | Benjamin Hulac

WASHINGTON — Funding for nine environmental grants in New Jersey worth about $24 million has been targeted as part of the Trump administration’s sweeping push to cut federal investment to combat the human-fueled climate crisis. Congress approved funding for the grants largely through a 2022 climate, health and tax law commonly known as the Inflation Reduction Act, one of the signature legislative accomplishments of former President Joe Biden.

1 month ago | njspotlightnews.org | Benjamin Hulac

WASHINGTON — Two months into his second White House term, President Donald Trump has prioritized shrinking the U.S. government. He has ordered the closure of departments, fired federal workers and frozen federal money Congress had already approved. Yet actually abolishing a federal department, as Trump and political allies have sworn to do with the U.S. Department of Education, is incredibly difficult.

1 month ago | njspotlightnews.org | Benjamin Hulac

WASHINGTON — Oil and gas companies operating in federal waters will not have to submit more detailed archeological reports when they file business plans with the U.S. government, a requirement the Biden administration put in place last year. Along New Jersey’s coastline is a trove of archeological sites, in particular shipwrecks, due in part to the two major shipping hubs — New York and Philadelphia — that have bookended the state for centuries.

1 month ago | njspotlightnews.org | Benjamin Hulac

WASHINGTON — Republicans have promised the public for weeks their budget plan moving through Congress would not touch funding for Medicaid, Medicare or Social Security. The director of the Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan agency that provides economic and budget analysis for Congress, said this week that’s impossible.

1 month ago | njspotlightnews.org | Benjamin Hulac

WASHINGTON — From art and music classes to karaoke and virtual get-togethers, the nonprofit Arc of Monmouth has organized events that have enriched Dani Zalepka’s life after high school. Through the Arc, Dani, 33, puts on shows with friends. “She’s a bit of a diva,” Lauren Zalepka, Dani’s mother, said, warmly, in an interview with NJ Spotlight News.