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By Tami Luhby, CNN

(CNN) — As part of its claims of widespread fraud in the federal safety net, the Trump administration is halting $10 billion in funding for several programs in five Democrat-led states.

The biggest chunk that’s being paused is $7 billion in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grants for California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York. Known as TANF, the program provides cash assistance and other support to low-income households.

It’s not clear why TANF is getting caught up in the administration’s probe into potential fraud in federal child care funding in Minnesota. The US Department of Health and Human Services declined to respond to CNN’s query on the issue but said in a statement that Democratic-led states have been “complicit in allowing massive amounts of fraud to occur under their watch.”

Created by the 1996 federal welfare reform law, TANF is dwarfed by better-known safety net programs such as food stamps and Medicaid, which help tens of millions of low-income Americans.

By contrast, just under 1 million families — with a total of 2.7 million people, most of them children — received cash assistance from TANF in fiscal year 2024, and there’s no tally of how many receive TANF-funded services, said Elizabeth Lower-Basch, a TANF policy expert and social services consultant. Beneficiaries receiving cash assistance have extremely low incomes with little other sources of support.

“It’s a relatively small number of families, but it’s ones who would likely be destitute without it,” she said, noting the freeze could result in families being evicted and unable to pay for basic necessities, including food.

What is TANF?

TANF replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, which was broadly known as welfare. But unlike its predecessor, TANF is a fixed block grant to states — with an annual allocation of $16.5 billion annually since its inception. That means inflation has taken a toll — the value of the block grant has fallen by half, according to The Center for Law and Social Policy, a left-leaning advocacy group. Also, the block grant has not been adjusted for population growth.

States typically kick in some of their own funds to meet the law’s so-called “maintenance of effort” requirement.

Under the law, states should use their block grants to provide assistance to needy families so children can be cared for in their homes or with relatives; end the dependence of needy parents on government benefit by promoting job preparation, work or marriage; reduce out-of-wedlock pregnancies; and encourage two-parent families.

But states have a lot of discretion over how to spend the money and who receives assistance. About a quarter of funds was used for cash assistance in fiscal year 2023, though the figure varies widely by state. That share has fallen drastically from 71% in fiscal year 1997, largely because the number of people receiving TANF aid has plummeted because of the program’s work mandate and time limits.

Conservative lawmakers and policy analysts have celebrated the trend, saying the 1996 law has helped put people on the road to self-sufficiency rather than government dependence. But advocates for low-income families say TANF does not provide much-needed support, especially in economic downturns.

States also use the block grants for child care subsidies, child welfare services and work-related needs, including job training and search, buying uniforms or covering transportation costs, among other supports.

TANF has a work requirement, but it’s not a mandate on individuals. Instead, states are supposed to have a 50% work participation rate among families with

By Jacqueline Howard, Katherine Dillinger, CNN

(CNN) — New US dietary guidelines released Wednesday echo past advice, but also include some nods to US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement — urging Americans to prioritize protein and whole grains and limit their consumption of ultraprocessed foods and added sugar.

The previous guidelines, issued in 2020, featured almost 150 pages of extensive advice on how to follow a healthy diet and incorporate healthy foods into Americans’ diets at every age. The new recommendations from HHS and the US Department of Agriculture issued fulfill Kennedy’s promise that they will run only a few pages, but they were to be supplemented with hundreds more pages of research and justification.

The latest update will include images of an inverted pyramid that puts meats and vegetables in the widest part at the top, flipping a longstanding visual of the American diet and moving away from the circular MyPlate.

Officials note that following the guidance “can help prevent the onset or slow the rate of progression of chronic disease” — a tentpole topic of the MAHA movement.

In addition to advice on protein, sugar and processed foods, they also tell Americans, when adding fats to meals, to “prioritize oils with essential fatty acids, such as olive oil. Other options can include butter or beef tallow,” another favorite of Kennedy’s.

The updated guidelines raised questions among some experts who worried they put too much emphasis on red meat and dairy products, but also garnered early approval from some influential voices.

“The American Medical Association applauds the Administration’s new Dietary Guidelines for spotlighting the highly processed foods, sugar-sweetened beverages, and excess sodium that fuel heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and other chronic illnesses,” AMA President Dr. Bobby Mukkamala, an otolaryngologist—head and neck surgeon, said in a statement. “The Guidelines affirm that food is medicine and offer clear direction patients and physicians can use to improve health.”

The guidance helps shape school meals, the Women, Infants and Children program or WIC and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP. Local health departments also will be looking at these updated dietary guidelines closely.

“The primary benefit of the dietary guidelines is to provide people with a tool that helps them stay on the track to being healthy. We have an obesity epidemic in this country that is causing chronic disease extensively,” said Lori Tremmel Freeman, chief executive offer at the National Association of County and City Health Officials. “Diet and exercise guidelines help us get people focused on how to stay healthy and avoid chronic conditions.

“Revisions to dietary guidelines and a review of them are certainly always welcomed by the public health and broader health community, especially when things haven’t been looked at for some time or there’s new or evolving data.”

What’s new in the guidelines

The previous guidelines recommended 13 to 56 grams of protein per day, or 5% to 35% of calories. By comparison, the new recommendation is based on body weight: 1.2 to 1.6 grams per kilogram, the equivalent of 81.6 to 109 grams for a 150-pound person.

The updated guidelines favor full-fat dairy with no added sugars, calling for three servings per day for someone on a 2,000-calorie diet; the previous guidelines recommended three cups per day.

Por Gonzalo Jiménez, CNN en Español

El actor Sebastian Stan ha trabajado en nueve películas y dos series de streaming para Marvel, como el personaje de Bucky Barnes. Pero, según reportes, está por pasarse al sello rival, DC Studios, ya está en negociaciones para unirse al elenco de la película “The Batman 2”.

DC Studios no ha confirmado la contratación de Stan, pero Deadline, Variety y The Hollywood Reporter reportaron las negociaciones, que permitirían que el actor se una a un elenco que recientemente incorporá también a la actriz Scarlett Johansson en un papel no descrito. (DC Studios pertenece al, igual que CNN en Español, a la corporación Warner Bros. Discovery).

Los reportes tampoco mencionan a quién interpretaría Stan en la secuela de “The Batman”, de 2022. ¿Otro superhéroe? ¿Un villano? No en balde, el personaje de Bucky Barnes fue inicialmente un villano con la identidad del Soldado de Invierno en “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (2014) para transformarse luego en un superhéroe y convertirse en el líder de un nuevo grupo de superhéroes de Marvel en “Thunderbolts” (2025).

La nueva entrega de la saga “The Batman” será dirigida nuevamente por Marr Reeves y, según reportes, se comenzará a filmar esta primavera con miras a estrenarse en cines en octubre de 2027.

“The Batman” recaudó US$ 772 millones a nivel global, según el sitio web Box Office Mojo.

Robert Pattinson protagoniza “The Batman 2” en el papel dual de Batman/Bruce Wayne. Le acompañan Scarlett Johansson, Colin Farrell (Oz Cobb/El Pingüino), Jeffrey Wright (Comisionado Gordon), Andy Serkis (Alfred Pennyworth) y Barry Keoghan (Joker).

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By Alicia Wallace, CNN

(CNN) — Finding a job continued to be a slog at the end of the year, new data shows: US businesses sought out fewer workers in November and hiring rates wilted even further.

The number of estimated job openings – a closely watched indicator of labor demand – fell to its lowest level in more than a year, slumping to 7.15 million at the end of November from 7.45 million the month before, according to the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

With the exception of retail and construction, job openings trended lower across the majority of industries.

Hiring activity trended in a similar direction. There were an estimated 5.12 million new hires in November, a drop-off from 5.37 million the month before.

Job openings are at their lowest level since September 2024, while hires are at their lowest since June of that year.

Very few industries posted net gains during November, and those gains were meek. Information added 12,000 jobs, federal government gained 11,000 and construction got a boost of 11,000 new roles.

The hiring rate (hires as a percentage of total employment) slunk back to 3.2%, matching its lowest rate in more than a decade (excluding the pandemic), BLS data showed.

But Wednesday’s report showed that fewer employees were laid off in November and there was an uptick in workers quitting their jobs, an important indicator of worker confidence.

However, despite the monthly swings, the longstanding trend was clear: It remains a low-hire, low-fire labor market where the all-important turnover activity continues to grind slower and slower.

The November JOLTS report is one of several key pieces of labor market data released this week, culminating with the December jobs report on Friday morning.

Economists are expecting that the US labor market added about 55,000 jobs in December. That would cap off what was a sluggish year of employment gains as high uncertainty (from sweeping policies such as those related to tariffs) and dramatic shifts in the nation’s immigration flows weighed on hiring.

“You’re not seeing a dynamic labor market,” ADP chief economist Nela Richardson told reporters earlier Wednesday morning following the payroll company’s monthly release of private-sector hiring data.

A ‘K-shaped’ labor market

ADP on Wednesday reported that hiring activity in the US private sector rebounded in December after jobs were shed the month before.

Private-sector employers added an estimated 41,000 jobs last month, a higher-than-expected gain after posting a net loss of 29,000 jobs in November, according to ADP’s latest National Employment Report.

Health care and education businesses as well as those in the leisure and hospitality sector drove the job gains reported for December, adding an estimated 39,000 jobs and 24,000 jobs, respectively, for the month.

The biggest net job losses were in the professional and business services sector (-29,000) and the information sector (-12,000).

“Health services is an expensive type of service for most consumers; leisure and hospitality is a discretionary service for all consumers,” Richardson said during the call with reporters. “These two sectors are consistent with a K-shaped economy where higher-income consumers are driving spending.”

Businesses of all sizes added jobs last month, which marks a reversal from November, when the smallest firms saw a significant drop-off in employment.

“Small establishments recovered from November job losses with positive end-of-year hiring, even as large employers pulled back,” Richardson said in a