Saturday, February 1

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Republicans are in their honeymoon phase. But big clashes over Trump’s agenda are unresolved.
News

Republicans are in their honeymoon phase. But big clashes over Trump’s agenda are unresolved.

Doral, Florida. At President Donald Trump's golf club in sunny south Florida, ebullient House Republicans met this week to toast the president, Vice President JD Vance, and the party's takeover of the federal government. However, the question is not whether the honeymoon will end, but rather when. Trump, Vance, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and other prominent Republican leaders largely avoided discussing how they intend to pay for or pass a comprehensive package that will serve as the centerpiece of the president's legislative agenda during a three-day policy retreat at Trump National Doral Miami. Instead, a week after they took over Washington, the emphasis was on party unity. Instead of heated arguments about government expenditures and legislative process, the conference was full of s...
Trump administration may pull money from TSA, Coast Guard to help ICE afford costly deportations
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Trump administration may pull money from TSA, Coast Guard to help ICE afford costly deportations

According to two people familiar with the talks, Trump administration officials are thinking of taking money away from the Transportation Security Administration to make up for the budget deficit at Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, the main agency responsible for implementing President Donald Trump's pledge of mass deportations. Additionally, the government is considering funding ICE from the U.S. Coast Guard and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). In order to make up for a shortfall in the ICE budget, the Trump administration would not be the first to transfer funds granted by Congress from one agency to another inside a department. Requests for comment were not immediately answered by White House, ICE, and Department of Homeland Security spokespeople. Even b...
Trump allies coast in special House primary to fill vacant Florida seats
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Trump allies coast in special House primary to fill vacant Florida seats

Trump-backed Republicans swept two special House primaries Tuesday in Florida, positioning themselves to bolster the party's slender House majority and fill two deep-red, open seats. Shortly after votes in Florida's 6th District closed at 7 p.m. Eastern, the Associated Press predicted that state senator Randy Fine would win more than 80% of the GOP primary vote. When The Associated Press announced the results of the GOP primary in Florida's 1st District shortly after 8 p.m. Eastern, State Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis had more than two-thirds of the vote, handily defeating a huge field of contenders. As they looked to replace former Representatives, Fine and Patronis not only received the support of President Donald Trump but also that of House Republican leaders. Matt Gaetz and M...
Trump ally coasts in special House primary to fill vacant Florida seat
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Trump ally coasts in special House primary to fill vacant Florida seat

As voters choose nominees in two congressional districts in the state, state senator Randy Fine, who has been endorsed by Trump, handily won a special House primary in northwest Florida on Tuesday, positioning him to fill a deep-red, open seat. Shortly after the district's votes closed at 7 p.m. Eastern, the Associated Press predicted that Fine would win the GOP primary, with more than 80% of the vote counted. The state lawmaker sought to replace former Representative Mike Waltz and received support from both House Republican leaders and President Donald Trump. Earlier this month, Waltz left the House to serve as Trump's national security adviser. In the special general election, Fine will be the overwhelming favorite to defeat Democratic nominee Josh Weil. In 2024, Waltz won the seat by 3...
Trump administration offers the roughly 2 million federal workers a buyout to resign
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Trump administration offers the roughly 2 million federal workers a buyout to resign

The administration of President Donald Trump is giving federal employees the option to accept a "deferred resignation" with a severance package that includes benefits and around eight months' worth of pay. According to a senior administration official who spoke to NBC News, they anticipate that between 5 and 10% of federal employees will leave, which may result in savings of about $100 billion. All full-time federal employees are eligible, with the exception of those in the armed forces, the US Postal Service, employment involving immigration enforcement and national security, and other positions that agencies have excluded. In a statement, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated, "American taxpayers pay for the salaries of federal government employees, and therefore deserve em...
Trump signs sweeping order to further restrict trans care for minors nationwide
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Trump signs sweeping order to further restrict trans care for minors nationwide

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump issued a comprehensive executive order addressing kids' transition-related medical care. The directive, Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation, aims to prevent minors—defined as individuals under the age of 19—from receiving gender-affirming medical care, such as hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and surgery. It restricts research and education funds to hospitals and medical schools, forbids federal funding from paying for such care for children, and instructs the secretary of health and human services to develop regulations to stop such care for minors. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health, or WPATH, is a nonprofit organization that focuses on transgender medical treatment and publishes guidance that is frequently...
Oklahoma schools leader Ryan Walters moves to require students to prove citizenship
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Oklahoma schools leader Ryan Walters moves to require students to prove citizenship

The state education board passed new rules Tuesday requiring families to show proof of U.S. citizenship when enrolling children in public schools in Oklahoma. The governor and the legislature would need to approve the proposed regulation, which would mandate that school districts keep track of the number of children who are unable to confirm their immigrant status and submit those numbers to the Oklahoma State Department of Education. At the Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, state superintendent Ryan Walters stated that our law regarding illegal immigration accounting is simply to account for the number of pupils who are illegal immigrants in our schools. Dozens of Oklahoma City kids demonstrated outside the building against Walters' immigration policies and demanded th...
Trump ally coasts in special House primary to fill vacant Florida seat
News

Trump ally coasts in special House primary to fill vacant Florida seat

As voters choose nominees in two congressional districts in the state, state senator Randy Fine, who has been endorsed by Trump, handily won a special House primary in northwest Florida on Tuesday, positioning him to fill a deep-red, open seat. Shortly after the district's votes closed at 7 p.m. Eastern, the Associated Press predicted that Fine would win the GOP primary, with more than 80% of the vote counted. The state lawmaker sought to replace former Representative Mike Waltz and received support from both House Republican leaders and President Donald Trump. Earlier this month, Waltz left the House to serve as Trump's national security adviser. In 2024, Waltz won the seat by 33 points. However, since adding more members will offer them a little more breathing room in a legislature that ...
Immigration raid surprise New York City residents
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Immigration raid surprise New York City residents

Around six in the morning on Tuesday, the manager of a Bronx building was awakened by phone calls from worried tenants of an apartment complex. The property manager, who wished to remain anonymous, told NBC News, "They were telling me that ICE was there." As part of the Trump administration's increased push to increase deportations and make them highly visible, targeting major cities and publicizing the actions, Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently conducted raids in New York, drawing the attention of locals and business owners who were taken aback by the early morning activity. On social media, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noemann said she was there when ICE and other law enforcement agents detained at least one undocumented individual in the Bronx apartment complex in the H...
Pennsylvania teacher accused of calling Muslim student a ‘terrorist’ resigns
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Pennsylvania teacher accused of calling Muslim student a ‘terrorist’ resigns

After being charged with referring to a Muslim seventh-grader as a terrorist, a middle school teacher in Pennsylvania resigned. The school district said in a statement on Tuesday that the teacher had offered her resignation, which had been accepted earlier this evening. According to a press statement from the human rights organization Council on American-Islamic Relations, the incident is believed to have occurred at Harrisburg's Central Dauphin Middle School on January 16 after the kid requested that the instructor switch seats. According to CAIR, which identified the student as Palestinian Lebanese American, the teacher informed the student, "I do not negotiate with terrorists." At a press conference on Monday night, the boy's father, Adam Rahman, stated that although his son is doing we...