White House declares war over

Administration pushes to revamp social programs

The White House has declared the war on poverty “largely over and a success,” arguing there are few truly poor Americans and that those who remain on government aid should be pushed toward private employment.

But poverty experts say President Donald Trump’s team is understating the scope of U.S. economic hardship and that their plans to reorient anti-poverty programs would primarily hurt the most vulnerable.

The White House Council of Economic Advisers released a report Thursday saying almost all Americans have access to housing and food, and that poverty has fallen by as much as 90 percent over the past five decades. Only 3 percent of Americans are in poverty, the report said.

The report is the latest in a string of Trump administration efforts to argue that poverty is a shrinking problem. U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said last month that no more than 250,000 Americans are in “extreme poverty,” condemning a United Nations report saying 18.5 million Americans suffered from extreme impoverishment.

The dispute comes as the White House and Republicans in Congress prepare major changes in the federal government’s approach to poverty programs, pushing plans that would require recipients of government assistance such as Medicaid or food stamps to prove they are actively seeking employment.

The administration and fellow proponents of the work requirements argue low unemployment and a record-high number of job openings have made the private market a reliable and accessible path out of poverty.

Many poverty experts disagree both with the Trump administration’s assessment of poverty and the prescription for addressing it.

“There is a heck of a lot more poverty out there in this country than they are claiming,” said Mark Rank, a professor at the University of Washington in St. Louis who studies poverty. “To say that we have ended the war on poverty is totally ridiculous.”

Critics say work requirements impose additional barriers to receiving health care and food for those who need it, and that most people who can work are already working or looking for it. The problem, critics add, is that the jobs don’t pay enough for them to get by.

The White House is relying on a measure of poverty that measures consumption — how much money someone spends, rather than their income — to reach its conclusions. The 3 percent number roughly correlates with consumption by those earning under $24,000 for a family of four, said Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

“None of these statistics is intended to deny the ways in which millions of Americans sometimes struggle to make ends meets,” the CEA report says. “(But) the vast majority of Americans are able to meet their basic human needs.”

LONDON» British detectives investigating the poisoning of two people by the nerve agent Novichok in southwestern England said Friday that a small bottle found in the home of one of the victims tested positive for the deadly substance.

Dawn Sturgess, 44, and Charlie Rowley, 45, were sickened June 30 in a town not far from Salisbury, where British authorities say a Russian ex-spy and his daughter were poisoned with Novichok in March. Sturgess died in a hospital Sunday. Her partner, Rowley, initially was in critical condition but has regained consciousness.

The Metropolitan Police said the small bottle was found during searches of Rowley’s house Wednesday and scientists confirmed the substance in the bottle was Novichok. Police have interviewed Rowley in recent days since he recovered consciousness.

Police are still looking into where the bottle came from and how it came to be in Rowley’s house. Further tests will be carried out to establish whether it is from the same batch that was used to poison Russian exspy Sergei Skripal and his