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Trump wants to gut local libraries and museums. Congress is not on board.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is looking to eliminate funding in fiscal 2027 for the agency that serves as the primary federal funding source for libraries and museums nationwide. But congressional appropriators — who rebuffed similar efforts to gut the agency in fiscal 2026 — expressed little enthusiasm for the proposed cut in interviews with […]
GOP offers DHS deal without immigration reforms, Democrats vow to send it back
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans on Tuesday were waiting to hear back from Democrats after they sent them a new offer to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which has been shut down since mid-February. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said the proposal would fund many of the agencies within DHS, including the Federal […]
Democrats push back against Trump anti-DEI funding cuts for minority-serving colleges
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Democrats threw a spotlight Thursday on President Donald Trump’s attempts to yank funds away from minority-serving institutions, as the administration tries to end diversity, equity and inclusion policies in schools. Hawaii U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono hosted an unofficial hearing that gathered advocates, leaders, experts and students to sound the alarm on […]
Dems ditching State of the Union blast Trump on immigration, ‘lawlessness’
WASHINGTON — Some congressional Democrats boycotted President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, opting to attend counter-programming to protest the administration’s actions. Lawmakers took to alternative stages in Washington, D.C., in rebukes of what they see as Trump’s lack of regard for constitutional norms, immigration enforcement tactics and response to the affordability […]
Department of Homeland Security shutdown nears, as US Senate remains stuck on funding
WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security is headed for a shutdown as lawmakers on Capitol Hill remained stuck Thursday over bans on face masks and other immigration tactics. The department’s funding expires Friday night. A procedural vote to advance a funding bill failed in the Senate, 52-47, with Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., the only Democrat […]
Trump Education Department bolsters protections for prayer in schools
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Education reinforced the right to prayer in public schools in guidance issued Thursday. Under the guidance to state and local education agencies, students, teachers and school officials have “a right to pray in school as an expression of individual faith, as long as they’re not doing so on behalf of […]
Congress rebukes Trump’s push to axe Education Department, and actually increased its funding
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s attempts to dramatically slash funding for the U.S. Department of Education amid a broader push to dismantle the agency hit a major roadblock this week in the form of bipartisan approval of a spending law that gives the department a small raise. The president signed a measure that funds the […]
Renee Good’s brothers demand change at hearing on federal immigration enforcement
WASHINGTON — Renee Good’s family, distraught and in disbelief over her killing, took some comfort in the past few weeks thinking her death might prompt change in the country, her brother Luke Ganger said Tuesday. “It has not,” Ganger told congressional Democrats at a forum on the disproportionate use of force by U.S. Department of […]
DOJ releases 3 million pages of Epstein files, taking in 180,000 images and 2,000 videos
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice released more than 3 million pages of documents Friday related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The release, which in the 3 million pages includes more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, comes more than 40 days after the agency was legally required to release the full set of […]
Arizona voucher program cited as cautionary tale during school choice hearing
WASHINGTON — The fierce debate surrounding school choice initiatives took center stage Wednesday during a hearing in a U.S. Senate panel. President Donald Trump’s administration and congressional Republicans have made school choice a central point of their education agenda, including a sweeping national school voucher program baked into the GOP’s mega tax and spending cut bill […]
Every US House Democrat who has signed the resolution to impeach Kristi Noem
WASHINGTON — A growing number of U.S. House Democrats are pushing for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s impeachment after another fatal shooting of an American citizen by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis this month. At least 164 members — more than three-fourths of all House Democrats, who total 213 — backed an impeachment resolution against Noem as […]
Supreme Court conservative majority signals support for state bans on trans athletes
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared likely Tuesday to keep in place laws in Idaho and West Virginia banning transgender athletes from participating on women’s and girls’ sports teams. The outcomes from the nation’s highest court expected later this year could have sweeping implications for transgender rights more broadly as President Donald Trump’s […]