Every federal agency, program, and institution being shut down — filtered through the lens of what it means for HBCU students and Black and Brown communities.
President Trump threatened military action against Oman and ordered reduced joint military exercises with South Korea amid escalating U.S.-Iran tensions. The threats represent a significant shift in longstanding U.S. military alliances and Middle East diplomacy.
The Senate is advancing a bill to expand paid family leave for federal employees from the current limited provisions to 12 weeks per year. However, senators stripped out protections that would have allowed federal workers to use this leave to care for family members affected by sexual assault, domestic violence, or stalking.
Federal mental health and suicide prevention hotlines at HHS and the VA continued operating after staffing cuts in 2024, according to a government watchdog report. Staff reductions happened through attrition and targeted layoffs, but positions have not been refilled.
The EPA has stopped publishing cancer-risk assessments in its air pollution data releases. The agency still tracks pollution levels, but removed the health impact analysis that tells communities how toxic their air actually is. This happened quietly, with no formal announcement.
American Oversight, a government watchdog group, is demanding that USAID abandon a policy that purges old Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests if requesters don't confirm they're 'still interested.' This comes after American Oversight won a court case against the Department of Energy over the same practice, which federal agencies use to dodge transparency requirements.
The Department of Labor is piloting artificial intelligence tools to process workplace accommodation requests from disabled federal employees, who report waiting months for decisions. The agency aims to use AI to sort requests and identify missing documentation in a system currently backlogged with cases.
As wildfires intensify across the U.S., some states are failing to pass regulations that would require homeowners to use fire-resistant building materials and manage flammable vegetation around properties. These protective measures exist but lack enforcement mechanisms in many regions.
Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy publicly accused HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of lying about his promise not to change the federal childhood vaccine schedule. President Trump issued an executive order directing changes to that schedule despite Kennedy's prior Senate confirmation testimony.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) is criticizing President Trump's executive order that would alter the childhood vaccine schedule, warning it could lead to higher insurance costs. The order would change how vaccines are administered, potentially requiring more doctor visits and separate shots instead of combination vaccines.
Attorney General Todd Blanche refused to commit that the Department of Justice would operate independently from the White House and President Trump. This breaks with decades of norms meant to prevent political interference in federal prosecutions and civil rights enforcement.
Attorney General Todd Blanche defended a recent DOJ legal opinion expanding executive privilege to cover communications between the president and private advisers outside government. The opinion has drawn criticism from congressional Democrats who see it as broadening presidential power beyond traditional boundaries.
The Guardian published an opinion piece criticizing Secretary of State Marco Rubio's diplomatic performance, alleging he has failed to use his position to promote peace amid global conflicts including an unresolved Iran war and Trump's failed military campaign that has driven up energy and food prices.
The State Department has revoked hundreds of thousands of U.S. visas for foreign nationals amid escalating tensions with Iran. The revocations affect students, workers, and families who hold valid visas to enter or remain in the United States.
Indiana and surrounding Midwest states are bracing for continued heavy flooding through the weekend, with Indiana requesting federal disaster aid to address the damage and support recovery efforts.
The Office of Personnel Management finalized new regulations expanding hazard pay for federal wildland firefighters to 25% when conducting prescribed burns, set to take effect next month. This updates compensation structures for federal firefighters who manage controlled burns to prevent larger wildfires.
President Trump signed a proclamation imposing a 100% tariff on larger drones with advanced capabilities like thermal imaging, plus tariffs on critical drone parts. The administration frames this as reducing reliance on foreign supply chains and addressing national security concerns.
The Treasury Department repealed a rule requiring U.S. companies to report who actually owns and controls them — information about individuals with at least 25% ownership or 'substantial control.' This beneficial ownership reporting requirement was designed to make it harder to hide money through shell companies and anonymous business structures.
Vice President Vance directed the Department of Justice to investigate dozens of hospitals and healthcare providers for alleged fraudulent billing related to transgender healthcare services. The move targets gender-affirming care providers and frames the issue as both healthcare fraud enforcement and policy restriction on transgender medical services.
Despite conservative threats that 'go woke, go broke,' U.S. companies that maintained DEI policies performed just as well financially as those that abandoned them—even after Trump's January 2025 executive order targeting diversity programs. The data directly contradicts the narrative that diversity initiatives harm business performance.
ProPublica investigates how Wall Street-backed nonprofit foundations use inconsistent and non-transparent criteria to defund charitable organizations. The report exposes how these donor-advised funds and private foundations make funding decisions that often lack clear logic or public accountability.
NPR investigated how ICE's 287(g) program works on the ground in Walton County, Florida, where local sheriff's deputies are deputized as immigration enforcement agents. The program allows local law enforcement to check immigration status during routine stops and arrests, dramatically increasing deportations. Details about how these agreements operate in practice have been closely guarded until now.
The White House released a report accusing China of using over 40 countries as intermediaries to bypass U.S. tariffs imposed in 2018, allegedly costing billions in lost federal revenue. The report, called 'The Great Transshipment Scam,' claims goods were routed through nations including Mexico and Israel to avoid duties.
A third detainee has died at Delaney Hall, New Jersey's largest ICE detention facility, following a medical emergency. Jose Chajon-Raxon, a Guatemalan immigrant, was found experiencing seizure-like symptoms and later died, marking the third death at this facility under DHS custody.
The Department of Homeland Security conducted widespread surveillance of leftwing organizations and anti-ICE protesters in Minnesota earlier this year, deploying undercover agents to community meetings and infiltrating digital communications of groups opposing Trump administration immigration enforcement.
The Trump administration canceled a Biden-era initiative to fast-track power line construction across seven states by designating three regions as National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors. The Energy Department will not move forward with these designations, which would have enabled federal support to accelerate grid infrastructure projects.
The Department of Justice accused California's prison system of failing to protect incarcerated women from sexual abuse and harassment by staff at two women's prisons. The DOJ investigation found systematic failures at Central California Women's Facility and another facility under the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Fifteen months after the Supreme Court ruled that federal employees serving as military reservists don't need to prove their deployment connects to a national emergency to receive full pay benefits, the Office of Personnel Management still hasn't updated its guidance. A lawsuit is now pushing OPM to enforce the 2025 ruling that improved compensation protections for dual-service workers.
Government Executive published a guidance piece on Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) withdrawals for federal employees, outlining financial consequences including tax implications, Medicare premium increases, retirement savings longevity, and inheritance considerations.
Progressive politicians Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Zohran Mamdani are distancing themselves from previous support for police defunding and prison abolition, statements they made during the 2020 uprisings following George Floyd's murder. This marks a broader retreat among democratic socialist and progressive elected officials from abolitionist positions they once championed.
The Trump administration finalized a rule blocking Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) from covering gender-affirming care. The policy cuts off federal healthcare funding for transgender youth and adults who rely on these programs for medical treatment.
The U.S. economy lost 23,000 jobs in July according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, with May and June numbers revised downward by a combined 103,000 jobs. Robert Reich's analysis connects this to broader concerns about AI displacing workers while tech oligarchs drive an AI agenda without democratic input or worker protections.
The State Department is expanding its effort to reclassify career civil service employees into 'Schedule F'-style at-will positions, stripping job protections. This follows Trump-era attempts to politicize the federal workforce. Internal sources say the process is moving quickly despite being in early stages.
The Department of Justice publicly criticized the D.C. City Council after multiple councilmembers sent letters to ten state governors requesting removal of National Guard troops from Washington, D.C. streets. The requests were sent in early March, prompting a sharp rebuke from DOJ officials.
President Trump has escalated economic sanctions against Iran after military strikes and diplomatic threats failed to force Iranian concessions. The administration is returning to economic warfare tactics as negotiations continue to stall.
The National Institutes of Health is launching a $1 million open innovation challenge for HIV prevention and treatment solutions. The program explicitly welcomes non-traditional applicants without formal research backgrounds, breaking from the usual academic-credentialed pool that typically dominates federal research funding.
Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed that his proposed 'anti-weaponization' fund — designed to compensate individuals who claim they were unfairly targeted by federal law enforcement — is permanently shelved. Blanche proposed the fund shortly after taking office, then quickly retracted it amid criticism, and now says it was 'never set up' and is 'dead.'
The Department of Justice arrested Heidi Beirich, a prominent researcher who tracks far-right extremism, charging her with financial crimes as part of a broader federal crackdown on the Southern Poverty Law Center. This represents an escalation in the Trump administration's targeting of civil rights organizations that monitor hate groups and extremism.
The State Department created a task force to stop 'birth tourism' — when people travel to the U.S. to give birth so their child gets citizenship. This is part of Trump's larger push against birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.
The Treasury Department officially repealed a Biden-era rule requiring American companies to report who actually owns and controls them to federal financial crime investigators. The Corporate Transparency Act reporting requirement was designed to expose shell companies used for money laundering, tax evasion, and fraud. Treasury proposed the repeal in March 2025 and finalized it this week.
The Trump administration's Justice Department is asking the Supreme Court to reinstate an executive order that would tighten vote-by-mail rules after lower courts blocked it. This is the second time DOJ has escalated this voting rights fight to the nation's highest court.
Tech policy experts argue that if AI companies OpenAI and Anthropic fail commercially, the US government should nationalize them rather than let them be acquired by big tech. They point to historical precedents like NASA and ARPANET where government stewardship of emerging technology served public interest over corporate profit.
The Trump administration issued an executive order targeting changes to the childhood vaccine schedule three months before midterm elections. The move puts vaccine policy back in national focus and creates political challenges for Republican candidates in swing districts.
A new coastal highway spanning 600 miles across Nigeria, Togo, Ghana, and Ivory Coast is transforming West Africa's urban landscape, connecting major cities and potentially reshaping regional migration, trade, and economic development patterns across four nations.
Trump ordered the closure of USAID in February 2025, claiming corruption. The Guardian reports millions in U.S. taxpayer dollars were sent to right-wing European think tanks instead of serving domestic needs or traditional development goals.
Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan won the Democratic Senate primary against Rep. Angie Craig in a race defined by opposition to Trump administration immigration enforcement. The progressive victory signals growing voter backlash against ICE crackdowns that turned deadly earlier this year.
The Trump administration created and hosted the 'Patriot Games,' a new federally-backed youth athletic competition emphasizing 'biological sex categories.' Two athletes were crowned champions in the three-day event held in Geneva, Ohio, with President Trump in attendance.
The Department of Homeland Security announced plans to spend up to $20 million equipping ICE officers with shock-delivering gloves called G.L.O.V.E. (Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter). These devices would allow immigration enforcement officers to deliver painful electric shocks during detentions and arrests.
HHS announced that 35 states have stopped taking Social Security survivor benefits from children in foster care — a practice known as the 'orphan tax.' For decades, states intercepted these federal payments intended for kids who lost parents, using the money to offset foster care costs instead of holding it for the children.
A federal judge blocked the Trump administration's executive order that would have required states to submit voter eligibility lists before the U.S. Postal Service could deliver mail-in ballots. The ruling maintains access to mail-in voting without additional state-level barriers.
ICE is spending up to $20 million to purchase electric shock gloves for immigration enforcement officers by March 2025. The manufacturer claims the devices force compliance within three seconds through painful electric shocks.