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Kennedy tells US Senate panel new CDC director will be allowed to make own decisions

2026-04-22 18:39:57 UTC / Reuters

U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gestures as he testifies before a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on U.S. President Donald Trump’s budget request for the Department of Health and Human Services on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 22, 2026…. Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tabRead more

WASHINGTON, April 22 (Reuters) – U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy ​Jr. told senators ‌on Wednesday that if confirmed, the incoming director of ​the Centers for ​Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ⁠will have the ability ​to make decisions on ​vaccines independently and will not be subject to those ​of political appointees.

“That is ​correct,” said Kennedy, who is ‌appearing ⁠before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Education in his ​seventh ​congressional ⁠hearing this week, when asked if ​President Donald Trump’s ​nominee ⁠to head the CDC would be allowed to ⁠make ​independent decisions ​on immunizations.

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Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing ​by Ryan Patrick Jones

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

US hoping for wider farm goods purchases deal from China in Trump’s trip, Greer says

2026-04-22 16:09:19 UTC / Reuters

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U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer attends a press conference with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (not pictured) after two days of meetings with a Chinese delegation, in Paris, France March 16, 2026. REUTERS/Abdul Saboor/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

April 22 (Reuters) – The U.S. is aiming to get agreement ​on a broader range ‌of farm goods purchases by China beyond soybeans during ​President Donald Trump’s ​planned visit there next month, ⁠U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson ​Greer said on Wednesday.

“We’re ​also looking to get a commitment from the Chinese overall ​with respect to all ​agriculture,” Greer said during a congressional ‌hearing ⁠on the administration’s trade priorities. “This is something that we hope is a ​deliverable ​coming ⁠in May when the president goes ​to China, and we’re ​trying ⁠to establish a mechanism with China to facilitate ⁠expanded ​trade in nonsensitive ​goods, which would include of ​course agriculture.”

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Reporting By Dan Burns

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

As undocumented migrants line up for Spain’s amnesty program, political opponents vow a fight

April 22, 2026 / 12:56 PM EDT / CBS News

Madrid — There were long lines at registration points across Spain this week as applications opened under a new amnesty program expected to see at least 500,000 undocumented migrants gain legal status to stay and work in the country.

The program came into effect this month, offering undocumented migrants a one-year renewable residence permit if they can prove they have lived in Spain for at least five months and have no criminal record.

The application window opened Monday and runs until the end of June.

People wait in a line to enter the Spanish Commission For Refugee Aid (CEAR) in Madrid, Spain, April 22, 2026, to apply for regularized immigration status under an amnesty program for undocumented migrants approved by Spain’s left-wing government. Thomas COEX/AFP/Getty

But even as it gets underway, the program that sets Spain distinctly apart from other major European economies tackling the immigration issue with tighter restrictions, is itself facing major domestic challenges.

Why Spain’s leader says the immigration amnesty is needed

Spain’s government says the program will likely cover around 500,000 people, but estimates vary widely.

The Spanish think tank Funcas says, according to the Reuters news agency, there are likely some 840,000 undocumented people working in Spain. The National Center for Immigration and Borders (CNIF), part of Spain’s national police force, says between 750,000 and 1 million people in the country could ultimately apply.

Undocumented migrants in Spain overwhelmingly come from Latin American countries such as Colombia and Venezuela, but there are also many from Africa and Asia.

Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has framed the policy as both a moral and economic necessity, arguing that many undocumented workers are already embedded in Spain’s economy, and working in key sectors without legal protections.

Spanish President Pedro Sanchez is seen during a United Nations Panel of Experts on AI, April 22, 2026, in Madrid, Spain. Jesus Hellin/Europa Press/Getty

The amnesty, he says, will safeguard those workers and help sustain Spain’s economy and aging population.

Writing in The New York Times earlier this year, Sanchez contrasted his approach with more restrictive immigration policies elsewhere, writing: “Some leaders have chosen to hunt them down and deport them through operations that are both unlawful and cruel. My government has chosen a different way.”

“Bypassing Congress is alarming”

The program is set to face significant challenges from Sanchez’ political opponents, who argue that Spanish workers should fill labor market shortages to ease the country’s unemployment rate, which is one of the highest in the European Union.

The opposition also takes issue with the way Sanchez’s government ushered in the policy — by royal decree. It meant parliament, where the prime minister’s governing coalition lacks a majority, was bypassed.

Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo, a senior figure in the conservative People’s Party, told CBS News the move raises serious concerns about the democratic process in Spain.

“Such an important decision needs a parliamentary debate. Bypassing Congress is alarming,” she said.

Popular Party deputy Cayetana Alvarez de Toledo is seen speaking during a plenary session of Spain’s Congress, April 22, 2026 in Madrid, Spain. Jesus Hellin/Europa Press/Getty

On a practical level, Álvarez de Toledo said the measure could create a “pull effect,” potentially putting more people at risk of victimization by organized criminal networks that traffic migrants and refugees.

“If the message becomes: ‘Make it to Spain and you stay in Spain,’ that has obvious consequences,” she told CBS News.

Álvarez de Toledo also warned that the government’s “unilateral” move could affect Spain’s relations with its fellow EU members, many of which have taken measures in recent years to restrict migration, especially undocumented migration.

Spain’s opposition has pledged to fight the policy through multiple channels, and the far-right Vox party has already filed a formal request for the country’s Supreme Court to suspend the royal decree while the measure is adjudicated.

Spain has implemented similar programs before, granting amnesty to undocumented migrants six times between 1986 and 2005, including under conservative governments.

Whether this initiative eventually becomes a model for others to replicate, or a cautionary tale, may depend on how successfully the government can manage the volume of applications, and the political storm building around it.

US Health Secretary Kennedy to share David Geier’s HHS contract with senators by week’s end

2026-04-22 17:24:55 UTC / Reuters

By Ahmed Aboulenein

April 22, 2026 5:24 PM UTC Updated 2 hours ago

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies before a budget request hearing for the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S. April 21, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

WASHINGTON, April 22 (Reuters) – U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told senators on Wednesday he saw ​no issue with sharing his ally David Geier’s ‌Department of Health and Human Services contract with them by the end of the week.

Geier, a longtime anti-vaccine activist, ​is employed as a contractor and reports to ​the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ⁠Kennedy testified in his sixth congressional hearing over ​the past week.

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The release of his employment contract would ​be the first official detailed explanation of the role Geier is playing at the department. He has been listed as a ​senior data analyst in the HHS employee database.

Appearing ​before the Senate Finance Committee, Kennedy was asked by Senator Ben ⁠Ray ⁠Luján, a Democrat from New Mexico, if he would also commit to sharing the protocols that govern Geier’s work. Kennedy said he could not because the ​protocols do ​not exist ⁠yet but that he would share them once Geier’s work was complete.

Kennedy has previously ​said Geier, who like Kennedy has promoted ​debunked ⁠claims linking vaccines to autism, contrary to established science, is leading a vaccine safety review of CDC data.

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Geier ⁠was ​previously fined by Maryland for ​practicing medicine without a license and prescribing dangerous treatments to children with ​autism.

Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein in Washington Editing by Bill Berkrot

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Postal Service thrust into mail-in ballot fight as Trump order gets tied up in court

America First Legal petition aims to ramp up pressure on USPS as Trump’s executive order faces lawsuits from blue states

April 22, 2026 1:22pm EDT / Fox News

By Ashley Oliver

EXCLUSIVE: A conservative legal group urged the U.S. Postal Service this week to carry out President Donald Trump’s executive order on mail-in ballots, saying the USPS has an obligation to block possible “fraudulent ballots” ahead of this year’s midterms.

America First Legal laid out in a petition filed with the USPS and obtained by Fox News Digital that the postal service has the independent authority to impose restrictions on mail-in ballots, including by requiring barcode tracking on ballot envelopes and cross-checking ballot recipients against federally-approved voter registration lists.

The petition comes as part of a broader push by the Trump administration to tighten election security rules over concerns about ineligible voters casting ballots. It aims to ramp up pressure on the postal service to use its regulatory authority to unilaterally advance those efforts as the president’s executive order faces multiple lawsuits brought by blue states and voting rights groups.

TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER OVERHAULING MAIL-IN VOTING IN MAJOR ELECTION INTEGRITY PUSH

President Donald Trump displays a signed executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on March 31, 2026. The order aims to make it harder for voters to cast mail-in ballots.(Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg)

“Federal law gives every interested individual the right to file a petition for rulemaking with federal agencies,” America First Legal senior counsel James Rogers said in a statement. “Our petition gives the Postal Service the authority to implement these common-sense reforms, even in the face of this frivolous litigation against President Trump.”

AFL’s petition came after Trump issued an executive order last month directing the USPS to work with states on mail-ballot procedures tied to state-submitted voter eligibility lists, while separately calling on DHS and the Social Security Administration to help states verify citizenship data.

The executive order, titled “Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections,” also required the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration to coordinate with states to create a master list of registered voters. The order has become the subject of intense litigation.

SENATE GOP EYES BLAME GAME AS TRUMP-BACKED SAVE ACT HEADS FOR DEFEAT

Vote by mail ballots are inspected at the Los Angeles County Ballot Processing Center in City of Industry, Calif., on Nov. 4, 2025.(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

Voting rights groups immediately sued, calling it “an extraordinary and abusive assertion of executive power over the administration of federal elections” and arguing that the Constitution gives states, not the president, authority over federal election administration.

While the White House has framed the executive order as an effort to bolster election integrity, other lawsuits, brought by a coalition of blue states led by California, Democratic lawmakers and national Democratic campaign committees, accused Trump of attempting to reduce mail-in voting. Voting by mail has become more prevalent since the COVID-19 pandemic, when states expanded voters’ ability to cast ballots by mail because of what they said was a public health emergency. Trump called the policy changes an effort to “rig” the 2020 election, which he lost to former President Joe Biden.

Supporters of former President Donald Trump protest near the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, on March 31, 2023, following reports of a grand jury indictment related to hush money payments.(Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)

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“President Trump has tried again and again to rewrite election rules for his own perceived partisan advantage. If only he could ban mail voting—a favorite scapegoat for his 2020 electoral defeat—and impose other voting restrictions, he has proclaimed, Republicans will ‘never lose a race—for 50 years,’” one of the lawsuits, led by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, read.

Trump and Republicans have zeroed in on noncitizen voting, which is illegal, and have long argued it is a widespread problem. In addition to his executive order, Trump has been urging Congress to pass the SAVE Act before the 2026 midterms to impose a physical identification requirement on people registering to vote, though the bill lacks the needed support from Democratic senators to advance.

Fox News Digital reached out to the USPS press office for comment on AFL’s petition.

Ashley Oliver is a reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business, covering the Justice Department and legal affairs. Email story tips to ashley.oliver@fox.com.

Crypto billionaire Justin Sun sues Trump family’s World Liberty Financial, alleging fraud

2026-04-22T14:03:00-0400 / CBS News

By Aimee Picchi

Updated on: April 22, 2026 / 3:01 PM EDT / CBS News

Cryptocurrency billionaire Justin Sun is suing World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture co-founded by President Donald Trump and his sons, alleging the company illegally blocked him from selling digital tokens worth up to $1 billion.

The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in California federal court, also accuses World Liberty Financial of trying to pressure Sun into investing “hundreds of millions of dollars to mint USD1, World Liberty’s stablecoin.” The complaint alleges that the company froze his World Liberty Financial tokens after Sun refused to commit more money to the business.

Sun also alleged that World Liberty Financial secretly changed contractual rules governing when owners of its tokens could sell their holdings, giving the company “blacklisting power” over who could transfer the tokens.

“There was no governance proposal (let alone a vote of token holders) on whether World Liberty should have this power, nor did World Liberty announce to token holders what the company was doing. World Liberty simply took the power for itself,” the complaint alleged.

World Liberty Financial co-founder and CEO Zach Witkoff dismissed Sun’s allegations as “entirely meritless.”

“Justin Sun’s recent lawsuit against World Liberty Financial is a desperate attempt to deflect attention from Sun’s own misconduct,” Witkoff wrote on social media on Wednesday. “He engaged in misconduct that required World Liberty to take action to protect itself and its users. World Liberty will continue to take all necessary steps to protect its community.”

The litigation threatens to chill Sun’s relationship with President Trump. The entrepreneur, best known as the founder of blockchain company Tron, revealed last year that he was the largest holder of another Trump-backed crypto token, dubbed $TRUMP.

“Fraudulent scheme”

In a social media post on his rationale for the lawsuit, Sun said he remains a supporter of Mr. Trump and blamed “certain individuals” for the alleged issues.

“They wrongfully froze all of my tokens, stripped me of my right to vote on governance proposals, and have threatened to permanently destroy my tokens by ‘burning’ them — all without any proper justification,” he wrote. “I do not believe President Trump would condone these actions if he knew about them.”

Sun’s complaint also accused World Liberty Financial executives, including co-founder Chase Herro, of seeking to “leverage the Trump brand” to illegally drive profits.

“Even though Mr. Sun was one of World Liberty’s anchor investors and biggest supporters, that did not stop Mr. Herro and the company’s other principals from making Mr. Sun a prime target of their fraudulent scheme.”

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Trump calls on Republicans to pass spending bill

2026-04-22 17:57:53 UTC / Reuters

By Reuters

April 22, 2026 5:57 PM UTC Updated 1 hour ago

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U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks to NCAA Collegiate National Champions in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 21, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper

WASHINGTON, April 22 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged fellow Republicans in Congress to band together and pass spending legislation as lawmakers prepared to move forward on funding aimed at ending a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.

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Reporting by Susan Heavey and Ryan Patrick Jones; Editing by David Ljunggren

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

SPLC faces blowback from ‘hate map’ targets after DOJ fraud indictment

April 22, 2026 1:31pm EDT / Fox News

Family Research Council, PragerU, Moms for Liberty and others say the charges confirm years of ideological targeting

By Charles Creitz Fox News

NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

The DOJ’s fraud indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center is prompting swift reaction from groups named on its “hate map,” many casting the charges as vindication after years of being labeled extremist.

After a grand jury in the Middle District of Alabama returned an 11-count indictment charging the SPLC with six counts of wire fraud, four counts of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, attention turned to groups the allegedly hate-group-linked organization itself has labeled as hate groups.

One of the more prominent names on SPLC’s “hate map” is the Family Research Council, which was the target of a 2012 attack by an armed man who allegedly found the group’s information on the SPLC’s website.

FRC President Tony Perkins said at the time that Floyd Lee Corkins II of Fairfax County — since sentenced to 25 years in prison — was responsible for wounding his building manager but believes “he was given a license by a group such as the Southern Poverty Law Center, who… labeled us a hate group because we defend the family and we stand for traditional, orthodox Christianity.”

‘WHITE SAVIORS” USE OF WHISTLES CAUSES BITTER INTERNAL RIFT INSIDE ANTI-ICE MOVEMENT

People attend a rally against hate on the steps of Central Synagogue-Beth Emeth in Rockville Centre, N.Y., on Dec. 1, 2021, following a Proud Boys march through the town days earlier.(Thomas A. Ferrara/Newsday RM via Getty Images | Southern Poverty Law Center)

Corkins’ signed statement of offense acknowledged he targeted FRC because of its views, including advocacy against gay marriage, and intended to kill “as many employees” as he could.

The SPLC denied the connection at the time and did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the blowback from groups featured on its hate map.

On Tuesday, Perkins called the indictment of the SPLC a “welcome development” that marks the beginning of a “long pattern of misrepresentation and harm.”

“For years, the SPLC has used its platform to label and target organizations with whom it disagrees, often blurring the line between legitimate concern and ideological attack,” he said, before noting Corkins’ attack.

“With over $750 million in their endowment which includes offshore accounts, the SPLC should be held responsible not only for what was done, but for the damage left behind,” Perkins said.

Shannon Adcock, leader of the Midwestern parental rights group Awake Illinois, responded to SPLC’s indictment by noting it had posted “incredibly inflammatory rhetoric against us as parents simply for standing up for our parental rights and for our liberty.”

CORNELL UNIVERSITY HIT WITH FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS COMPLAINT OVER ALLEGED DISCRIMINATORY DEI PRACTICES

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6390690065112

“Many of my friends across the country have been labeled by the Southern Poverty Law Center as well, while meanwhile there are legitimate terrorists that are running around this country and they are silent on those efforts while targeting law-abiding people such as Illinois and our friends Moms for Liberty, Parents of Indian Education, Courage is a Habit and many others,” Adcock said. “So we celebrate this news. This is a good move by the FBI.”

Adcock said she would purchase a bottle of Veuve Clicquot to celebrate.

Awake Illinois’ website used the indictment to solicit donations, suggesting new donors choose “Suck it, Southern Poverty Law Center, your hate can’t cancel us” as a reason on its dropdown menu.

PragerU, the education media nonprofit founded by conservative commentator Dennis Prager, was also featured on SPLC’s “hate map.”

Marissa Streit, the group’s CEO, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that the DOJ’s indictment appears to confirm everything that people knew about the SPLC.

“The alleged shell game fraud reveals the Center as what it really is: a leftist political outfit and an actual hate group masquerading as one fighting for civil rights,” Streit said, as PragerU also highlighted its own recent video analysis of the SPLC: “The Anti-Hate Group That Is A Hate Group.”

TRUMP ADMIN CRACKS DOWN ANTISEMITISM AS DOJ OFFICIAL EXPOSES ‘VIOLENT RHETORIC’ OF RADICAL PROTESTERS

“Anyone paying any attention knows its ‘hate map’ is just a list of ideas the SPLC wants to destroy,” Streit added.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6393627458112

ACT for America, a group focused on combating the spread of radical Islamic ideology and threats from radical Islam, also responded via its founder Brigitte Gabriel.

“The SPLC labeled me and my organization, ACT for America a hate group year ago,” Gabriel said in a statement.

Gabriel founded the group after coming to America following years of living under threat of terrorism during the Lebanese Civil War, including attacks from Muslim militants who destroyed her house.

“[SPLC] considered us America’s largest hate group. A title we were proud to hold. It’s a wonderful thing to see the SPLC finally being held accountable for their lies.”

Moms for Liberty cofounder Tina Descovich said the organization’s affiliates make up more than half of the SPLC’s “hate map.”

“[That’s] simply because we’re empowering parents to get involved in their school board meetings and because we recognize the difference between boys and girls,” she told Fox News Digital.

“The SPLC’s hate map has been weaponized against us countless times, including by law enforcement where training manuals labeled us as an extremist group by citing the SPLC. We urge all who give to this dangerous organization to stop doing so immediately, and we call on all organizations who have used them in the past to condemn their actions.”

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Fox News Digital also reached out to the Center for Immigration Studies and its president, Mark Krikorian, for comment.

CIS pointed Fox News Digital to a column Krikorian wrote about being listed on the hate map in 2023, where he said the SPLC has been “lying low for some time, since the eruption of multiple humiliating scandals involving racism and sexual harassment that led to the firing of most of the group’s leadership, including founder Morris Dees.”

“The appearance of its annual ‘hate map’ was months late, raising suspicions that there were changes afoot. No such luck — the latest anathema was just pronounced. Google it yourself, if you want to see it,” he wrote.

“The Center for Immigration Studies is still there, of course; after operating for three decades, we graduated to ‘hate group’ status right after Trump’s election in 2016 — coincidentally.”

Fox News’ Kevin Ward, Alec Schemmel and David Spunt contributed to this report.

Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.

He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.

Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.

Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.

Trump claims Iran ‘starving for cash,’ ‘collapsing financially’ after extending ceasefire

April 22, 2026 1:52pm EDT / Fox News

Trump claims Iran is losing $500M a day and its military is complaining about not getting paid amid the blockade of Hormuz

By Alex Nitzberg Fox News

President Donald Trump said Iran is “starving for cash” after extending the ceasefire deadline, arguing that the regime is losing hundreds of millions of dollar a day due to the U.S.-enforced blockade.

Trump claims that that the foreign nation is “collapsing financially.”

“Iran doesn’t want the Strait of Hormuz closed, they want it open so they can make $500 Million Dollars a day (which is, therefore, what they are losing if it is closed!). They only say they want it closed because I have it totally BLOCKADED (CLOSED!), so they merely want to ‘save face.’ People approached me four days ago, saying, ‘Sir, Iran wants to open up the Strait, immediately.’ But if we do that, there can never be a Deal with Iran, unless we blow up the rest of their Country, their leaders included!” he declared in a Tuesday night Truth Social post.

IRAN THREATENS ‘NEW CARDS’ ON BATTLEFIELD AS CEASEFIRE WANES

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to address the nation from the Cross Hall of the White House on April 1, 2026, in Washington, D.C.(Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images)

“Iran is collapsing financially! They want the Strait of Hormuz opened immediately- Starving for cash! Losing 500 Million Dollars a day. Military and Police complaining that they are not getting paid. SOS!!!” the president claimed in another Tuesday night post.

Trump had indicated in a Tuesday afternoon Truth Social post that he would extend the ceasefire.

Motorists ride past the Imam Sadiq (AS) mosque with a giant Iranian flag installed on its front at the Palestine Square in Tehran on April 19, 2026.(ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images)

“Based on the fact that the Government of Iran is seriously fractured, not unexpectedly so and, upon the request of Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, of Pakistan, we have been asked to hold our Attack on the Country of Iran until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal,” Trump declared in the post.

“I have therefore directed our Military to continue the Blockade and, in all other respects, remain ready and able, and will therefore extend the Ceasefire until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other,” he added.

KEITH KELLOGG URGES US TO ‘FINISH THE JOB’ AGAINST IRAN BY SEIZING ISLANDS, STRANGLING ECONOMY

President Donald Trump on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, April 16, 2026.(Graeme Sloan/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Earlier on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi had declared in a post on X that “Blockading Iranian ports is an act of war and thus a violation of the ceasefire. Striking a commercial vessel and taking its crew hostage is an even greater violation. Iran knows how to neutralize restrictions, how to defend its interests, and how to resist bullying.”

Iran reportedly fired upon three ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Alex Nitzberg is a writer for Fox News Digital.

Fannie, Freddie to accept ‘predictive’ credit scores, US officials say

2026-04-22 18:07:58 UTC / Reuters

By Pete Schroeder and Douglas Gillison

April 22, 2026 6:07 PM UTC Updated 1 hour ago

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A densely populated residential neighborhood of Staten Island is seen from above New York City, U.S., March 30, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

WASHINGTON, April 22 (Reuters) – Housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now accepting additional credit scores ​that take into account rent and utility payments, a U.S. ‌government official overseeing the agencies announced on Wednesday.

The move is aimed at boosting access to affordable mortgages, a goal of President Donald Trump’s administration.

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Federal Housing ​Finance Agency Director William Pulte said the pair, which guarantee ​most U.S. mortgages, will now accept mortgages assessed using ⁠the VantageScore 4.0 model, which uses advanced data and analytics to ​generate scores. He said they are also working to implement a ​similar modified score system from FICO.

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Wednesday’s announcement is that Fannie and Freddie are now incorporating the scores into their guarantee process. FHFA approved those models in ​2022.

Similarly, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner announced his ​department would consider those scores for mortgages underwritten by the Federal Housing Administration.

The officials ‌said ⁠the expanded use of other credit score models should boost competition and potentially lower mortgage costs, allowing opportunities for potential homebuyers who otherwise would have struggled to gain an affordable mortgage.

“We are modernizing ​credit scoring with ​more predictive ⁠models, helping millions of Americans who responsibly pay rent qualify for mortgages. That’s fair, it’s commonsense, and ​it’s finally delivering the benefits of competition to homebuyers ​nationwide,” ⁠said Pulte in a statement.

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The Trump administration has increased focus on housing affordability in recent months, as part of an effort to address ⁠general concern ​with rising prices ahead of midterm ​elections in November where Trump’s Republican Party will defend slim majorities in both chambers ​of Congress.

Reporting by Pete Schroeder and Douglas Gillison; Editing by David Gregorio

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