10 things you need to know today: September 29, 2017

Trump waives a shipping law as Puerto Rico complains of aid delays, HHS Secretary Tom Price vows to pay back taxpayers for flights, and more

Tom Price
(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

1. Trump waives shipping law to speed aid to Puerto Rico

The Trump administration announced Thursday that it was waiving the Jones Act, a century-old shipping law that prevented the use of foreign ships to deliver disaster aid to Puerto Rico. Under the law, only U.S. ships can transport goods among U.S. ports, which Puerto Rican officials said was slowing the arrival of food, water, medicine, and other supplies the U.S. Caribbean island needed after a devastating blow from Hurricane Maria last week. "It is an act of justice. It will allow Puerto Ricans to rebuild," said San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz said. The change came as thousands of people lined up at San Juan harbor to board a cruise ship in one of the largest evacuations to the U.S. mainland since the storm.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.