Author: potus

The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee is asking the Trump administration to do some explaining about U.S. citizens who were caught up in recent immigration enforcement actions.Following up on a report by NBC News, Rep. Jamie Raskin, House Judiciary Committee ranking member, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a subcommittee ranking member, asked for an accounting of immigration enforcement actions since Jan. 20 involving U.S. citizens.The request was made in a letter signed by Raskin, D-Md., and Jayapal, D-Wash., whose subcommittee oversees immigration. It was sent Tuesday to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Caleb Vitello, Immigration and Customs Enforcement…

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee raised concerns Tuesday that law enforcement agents from agencies like the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are being diverted from their regular duties to help President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.“This all-consuming focus on rounding up immigrants is not an efficient use of the Department’s resources,” Reps. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Lucy McBath, D-Ga., said in a letter to the Justice Department on Tuesday. “We hired and trained these law enforcement officials to handle extremely important and sensitive tasks essential to the safety and security of our nation,” said the letter to…

Throughout the 2024 U.S. presidential election campaign, observers spent much time puzzling over why voters seemed to be so unhappy with the economy, even when macroeconomic data—and most economists—suggested that the economy was historically strong. The United States was growing at nearly 3 percent (faster than it had for decades); unemployment (at under 4 percent) was at historic lows; the stock market was at a record high after the best two consecutive years this century; manufacturing jobs were coming back, and inflation—which had surged during the COVID-19 pandemic—was back down to near target levels. The U.S. economy was in many…

The Trump administration is careening down a path of attempting to merge the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) with the State Department, two entities that have operated as connected, but separated, agencies for decades. With the knives out on global aid worldwide, a merger is looking more and more likely. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed on a trip to El Salvador that he is now USAID’s acting administrator, and Elon Musk announced early on Monday morning that President Donald Trump has “agreed” that USAID should be shut down in the wake of a massive and unprecedented aid freeze…

(The Center Square) – On Wednesday, a joint House and Senate Appropriations Committee will hear Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s fiscal year 2025-2026 budget recommendations.Over the past week, the Democratic governor has laid out her funding priorities. These will include job creation, addressing price gouging and funding programs like free school lunches and universal Pre-K.The fiscal year 2024-2025 budget was passed last July and totaled $82.5 billion, including a general fund total of $15 billion. The budget has been steadily increasing every year over the past few decades, with the largest growth happening since the COVID-19 pandemic.In Michigan, the governor has the…

(The Center Square) – Federal legislation to increase access to multi-cancer early detection technology for seniors through Medicare coverage is getting another run from two Carolinas congressmen and bicameral colleagues from Texas, Iowa, Alabama, California, Illinois, Idaho, Colorado and Oregon.Medicare coverage, if the proposal is enacted, would cover the screenings once approved by the Food and Drug Administration. It is a complement to existing screening and enhances early detection capabilities.The bill of Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, is the Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act. It was introduced in the 118th Congress and made it as far…

(The Center Square) – The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee considered whether to permanently classify fentanyl and its related substances as Schedule I drugs, a move that could have significant impacts on law enforcement, public health and the deadly ongoing opioid crisis.The proposal seeks to extend the temporary Schedule I classification that is about to expire. Schedule I drugs, such as heroin and LSD, are each classified as having no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Fentanyl is currently a Schedule II drug, meaning it is highly addictive but has legitimate medical uses, such as pain management for cancer…

The Trump administration was sued Tuesday in two separate civil complaints related to a request for information about FBI employees who worked on cases involving President Donald Trump and the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, and a third suit challenging the removal of data from federal health agency websites.The lawsuits are the latest in a growing number of legal salvos seeking to block — or slow down — the rapid-fire series of executive actions Trump and his allies have taken since he returned to the White House on Jan. 20.The three cases were filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.The…

In 1962, nearly a century after the 15th Amendment sought to protect the voting rights of Black men, less than 7 percent of Mississippi’s eligible Black voters were registered to vote, the lowest rate in the country. Even as the civil rights movement gained traction across the South, significant barriers remained in what was considered the nation’s most racially repressive state as voter registration efforts were met with violence. In response, Black activists partnered with white volunteers to organize a major civil rights campaign in 1964. Their work, during what became known as Freedom Summer, aimed to increase Black voter registration and…

(The Center Square) – A new watchdog report highlights the ongoing issues concerning the oversight of foodborne illness in the United States and stresses the need for a national food safety strategy across multiple agencies due to fragmented federal oversight.In 2024, the budget for the Food and Drug Administration was $7.2 billion, which included a $372 million increase from the previous year, of which $133 million went directly to improving food safety, supply chain continuity and addressing food contamination issues.The report from the Government Accountability Office noted that foodborne illness has widespread economic consequences and costs Americans $75 billion annually. The…