This week at CBPP, we announced Keron Blair as our new vice president for state network strategy. We also focused on federal tax, the federal budget, health, Social Security, and food assistance.

• On federal tax, Samantha Jacoby testified before the Joint Economic Committee on the unfulfilled promises of tax cuts from the last 25 years and the need for policymakers to prioritize people and communities. Chuck Marr proposed several policies to prevent doubling down on the failures of the 2017 Trump tax law and make the tax code work better for low-income families and people of color.

• On federal budget, Richard Kogan answered frequently asked questions on the constitutional restrictions against presidential attempts to impound (not spend) congressionally provided funds. David Reich and Sonali Master warned that House Republican appropriations bills would deeply cut programs that help low-income people and underserved communities. We also updated our backgrounder on deficits, debt, and interest.

• On health, Jennifer Sullivan explained that with open enrollment having begun for Affordable Care Act marketplace coverage in 2025, people can still access enhanced premium tax credits that make coverage more affordable. We also updated our resource tracking states’ unwinding from Medicaid continuous coverage.

• On Social Security, Paul N. Van de Water pointed to a new paper by Kathleen Romig, and the Urban Institute’s Chantel Boyens and Jack Smalligan that presents lessons for policymakers to design a better Social Security minimum benefit.

On food assistance, we updated the Spanish-language version of our quick guide to SNAP eligibility and benefits.