Latest in Politics
Jewish communities dispute whether antisemitism runs through Trump administration
Trump declared he would be “the best friend Jewish Americans have ever had in the White House.” Now Jews disagree if Trump is fulfilling his promise or perpetuating antisemitism himself.
read moreWatch: Layoffs at EPA may impact federal funding for communities
WASHINGTON – The federal government laid off more than 60 thousand workers in the first two months of 2025, while another 75,000 employees accepted a buyout and voluntarily resigned.
Among those laid off was James Clark, an Environmental Protection Agency employee who lost his job while on his honeymoon. “It’s just very sad to see someone like Elon Musk take a chainsaw on live TV and say what we do doesn’t matter,” said Clark.
Watch the video report here:
Watch: Rep. Delia Ramirez pushes back against Trump immigration policies
WASHINGTON– As Illinois and the Midwest’s first Latina congresswoman, Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) said she feels a responsibility to uplift immigrant communities like those she came from. This has meant protesting President Donald Trump and his administration’s attack on immigrants.
In early March, Ramirez organized a rally to voice support for Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson’s sanctuary policies, which have been a target of the Trump administration’s immigration raids. In the House, she also reintroduced the Dream and Promise Act to create a pathway for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, like her husband, to gain citizenship. These actions are part of her efforts to push back against the president’s immigration policies.
Watch the video report here:
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Latest in Education
Federal investigation of NU sparks academic censorship concerns
The Trump administration would probe pro-Palestinian protests amid a broader conservative attack on prestigious universities.
read moreTribal Leaders: BIE Schools Face Billion-Dollar Repair Backlog, Unsafe Conditions
WASHINGTON — Power outages regularly disrupt school in Arizona’s White Mountain Apache Tribe, leading to spoiled food, limited access to technology and cold classrooms. School administrators sometimes heat buildings with kerosene. In some cases, they must close the school when carbon monoxide levels become too high.
“Our students need and deserve better, and I hope you will help us deliver on the tremendous promise these young people possess,” White Mountain Apache Tribal Chairman Kasey Velasquez told congressional leaders at a Feb. 12 oversight hearing.
During the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing, tribal education leaders told congressional members that the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools face crumbling infrastructure, unsafe conditions and a massive backlog of deferred maintenance, while receiving less than half the per-student funding of other federally operated schools.
The 183 schools run by BIE have collectively accumulated more than $1 billion in overdue repairs as of September 2022, according to testimony shared by Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ariz.) during the hearing. Many maintenance requests have remained unaddressed for years.
Government inspectors recently observed a crumbling foundation and an inoperable boiler at separate schools in the same Arizona town, despite work orders dating back to 2008. About 1,000 orders placed in 2000 remained unaddressed over two decades later, including requests for exit signs, fire alarm systems and replacements for asbestos floor tiles.
“How can we expect BIE students to excel when their classrooms are crumbling around them,” Westerman said.
The delays in addressing maintenance issues distract students from learning, members of Congress and tribal leaders agreed.
“Delays mean an inability to feed children because of spoiled food in the broken refrigerators. Delays mean students struggling to focus as rainwater leaks into their classroom,” said Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), chair of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
A 2021 report from Stanford University, The Arizona Republic and ProPublica found that students in bureau-run schools score below the national average on standardized tests by more than two grade levels.
Several Indigenous leaders requested that the federal government transfer control over buildings, replacements and repairs to tribes under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975.
Jason Dropik, executive director of the National Indian Education Association, said tribal control of federal funding to run the schools themselves would help “eliminate some of that red tape.” Dropik, a member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, asked to increase funding from the Great American Outdoors Act and implement advance appropriations to address the backlog of deferred maintenance orders.
For the 2023-24 school year, the Interior Department projected spending about $6,900 per student in BIE schools. Conversely, the Defense Department said in 2023 that it spent about $25,000 per student in the Department of Defense Education Activity, the only other federally operated school system.
Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.) noted that none of the tribes at the hearing received more money for their schools after similar congressional testimonies in the past. She criticized Senate Republicans for seeking to decrease federal funding for tribal schools.
“We can’t fix an underfunding problem by further underfunding,” Dexter said.
Since 2013, the BIE has implemented the Government Accountability Office’s recommendations for school safety and construction, including conducting annual inspections at all buildings. However, Melissa Emrey-Arras, director of GAO’s education, workforce and income security team, said the bureau still lacks clear procedures for other key issues, like training special education staff or monitoring certain financial transactions.
Roy Tracy, interim superintendent of schools at the Department of Diné Education in the Navajo Nation, said the bureau’s changes in the last decade fail to fully compensate for over a century of failed policies for Indigenous schools. He praised the tribal leaders who sat before Congress and demanded more direct financial support for their nations.
“Empower us,” he said. “Trust us. Pass that funding along.”
Sec. of Education nominee evades questions on department’s agenda
WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats pressed Secretary of Education nominee Linda McMahon on her views for President Donald Trump’s education agenda including DEI, school choice and the president’s promise to downsize the Department of Education at her confirmation hearing Thursday.
“I’m not quite certain, and I’d like to look into it further and get back to you on that,” said McMahon, offering a similar answer to multiple questions from Democrats.
McMahon’s nomination comes at a time when President Trump is seeking to abolish the Department of Education. Though he will need approval from Congress to abolish the federal agency, downsizing efforts are already underway.
McMahon said she was on board with the president’s goals and she is “ready to enact” his vision if confirmed as secretary.
“Long before there was a Department of Education, we fulfilled the programs of our educational system… I am really all for the president’s mission which is to return education to the states. I believe as he does that the best education is closest to the child,” she said.
A point of emphasis was “taking the bureaucracy out of education.” However, she clarified that states and localities will continue to receive federal funding amidst downsizing efforts.
“It is not the president’s goal to defund the programs. It is only to have it operate more efficiently,” she said.
According to Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), this means “changing the way that the money gets to these students in schools,” not cutting funding for children and disabled children.
Though McMahon said she did not intend to cut funding for disabled children, she said the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) may be a better fit for a different federal agency.
“Might it be better served in a different agency, I’m not sure. It started at HEW (Health, Education and Welfare) and the concerns for disabilities and health issues with students may very well rest better within an agency that has more oversight of all of those,” she said.
McMahon said special education will continue to receive funding, but it could come from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), “where it started.”
“So I just want to be clear you’re going to put special education in the hands of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,” Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) said.
Despite Democrat senators questioning how exactly specific programs would be cut in the process of downsizing, McMahon gave evasive answers.
“It is my goal, if I am confirmed, to get in and access these kinds of programs because I’m not sure yet what the impact of all of those programs are,” she said.
With Trump’s recent executive order on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), McMahon was also questioned on how schools will be able to determine whether they are running a DEI program and therefore at risk of cuts in federal funding.
“[DEI] is a program that’s tough. It was put in place ostensibly for more diversity, for equity and inclusion and I think what we’re seeing is that it’s having an opposite effect,” McMahon said. “We are not achieving what we wanted to achieve with inclusion.”
McMahon struggled to answer Sen. Christopher Murphy (D-Conn.) when he asked if public schools would be risking funding if they had clubs that students could belong to based on their racial or ethnic identity.
“Well I certainly today don’t want to address hypothetical situations. I would like, once I am confirmed, to get in and assess these programs,” she said.
Murphy responded that this answer was “chilling,” and McMahon said she would “like to fully know what the order is and what those clubs are doing.”
Murphy followed up asking if a class on African American history could also be a violation of this executive order on DEI.
“I’m not quite certain, and I’d like to look into it further,” McMahon said.
Protests disrupted the confirmation hearing four times, mostly by teachers.
“Can you imagine these people teaching our kids in classrooms across America and they come here and act like children with outbursts…?” Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) said.
Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) responded to Banks’s statement.
“The passionate educators who have come here today not on behalf of themselves, they’re here on behalf of our children,” she said. “They are exactly the kind of people who we want teaching our children.”
The committee is scheduled to vote on McMahon’s nomination on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025.
Health & Science
Experts Warn Current Fentanyl Legislation Fails to Address Root Problem: Fentanyl
Bill in Congress targets fentanyl-related substances (FRS) but illegally manufactured fentanyl (IMF) is far more prevalent and kills more people.
read morePhoto Gallery: ‘Stand Up for Science’ rally draws lawmakers, Bill Nye and thousands more to National Mall
WASHINGTON – White lab coats dotted the crowd gathered in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial on Friday afternoon. Some attendees accessorized with oversized cardboard syringes, while others wore safety goggles pushed up onto their foreheads; this was – you guessed it – a march for science.
The Stand Up for Science protest drew several thousand people to the National Mall, and thousands more across the country and the world. In response to the Trump administration’s drastic cuts to government-funded research, they demanded funding be restored, protested political interference in science, and supported diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in STEM.
Many waved whimsical signs sporting science-themed critiques of the Trump administration. “Trump’s experiments with our democracy won’t pass peer review,” one read. Another sported the slogan “Making a statistically significant difference.”
To attendees’ delight, Dr. Francis Collins, who headed the National Institutes of Health until 2021, led the crowd in a sing-along, and award-winning science communicator Bill Nye (the Science Guy) gave an impassioned speech in defense of science later in the afternoon.
The diverse speaker lineup also included Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Illinois Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.), who is the only Ph.D. physicist in Congress.
In the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial, thousands gathered to express their frustration with the Trump administration’s attitude towards science. (Sasha Draeger-Mazer/MNS)
Eight years ago, the first March for Science, held just a few months after President Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration, drew tens of thousands of people to the National Mall. The global attendance was estimated at upwards of one million.
Friday’s gathering on the Mall was smaller, with just a few thousand in attendance, but again driven by a sense of urgency and fears about the administration’s new policies might mean for the future of science.
Many signs expressed anger at the Trump administration, Republican lawmakers and, frequently, DOGE head Elon Musk. (Sasha Draeger-Mazer/MNS)
Since Trump retook office in January, his administration has dealt severe blows to government-funded science and research. Proposed changes to the grant allocation policy of the National Institutes of Health may threaten life-saving research, and several Trump cabinet nominees have openly contradicted proven scientific findings.
At the rally, many signs denounced Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s newly confirmed health and human services secretary, whose nomination cleared the Senate despite his history of promoting vaccine-related conspiracy theories.
Also a frequent target: Elon Musk, the billionaire-turned-presidential-advisor. Many signs called for the defunding of the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
Lucas Dillard and Riley Auer posed with their signs on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. (Sasha Draeger-Mazer/MNS)
Lucas Dillard, a biophysicist, and Riley Auer, a behavioral scientist, made the trip up from Baltimore to, as Auer put it, “defend everyone’s right to a liveable future.”
“Science is a boon to our economy,” Dillard said. “If the defunding of science continues, the economic prosperity that America has seen will decline and we will become a faded superpower.”
China, he added, is doing the exact opposite for its science community: stepping up support and promoting research.
“They have increased funding to all of their universities in the past few years, and they will kind of eat our lunch,” he said.
Auer is a behavioral scientist; she once worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development and expressed concerns over the damage she said the administration has done to the agency.
“We’re relying on surveys that are sometimes five, ten years old already, and now we’re looking at a data crisis,” she said.
“We’re very supportive of the sciences,” said Jessica Blair, left. (Sasha Draeger-Mazer/MNS)
Rebecca and Jessica Blair drove almost six hours from Charlotte, N.C. to attend the rally. Neither are scientists, but came to show their support for the science community.
“My brother, he has a brand new baby, a newborn,” Rebecca Blair said, “and I’m worried that that baby’s going to grow up and not have access to the vaccines that she needs to grow up healthy, the way that we did.”
Her sister, Jessica, pointed to the increasing frequency of natural disasters in their home state.
“Climate change is a big issue for us, watching everybody being either on fire or flooded,” she said.
Someone in the crowd flew an upside-down American flag, a symbol historically used to signal distress. (Sasha Draeger-Mazer/MNS)
“A little fun fact: our estimates several years ago suggested every dollar the government invested in the human genome project led to $141 in economic returns,” said Dr. Collins, the former NIH director. “Science is responsible for more than 50% of the economic growth of the United States since World War II.”
Also present to recount their stories were several speakers who owed their lives to scientific innovations.
“Without funding research that went into developing the treatment that saved my life, I wouldn’t be here today,” said Emily Whitehead, who was diagnosed with a form of leukemia when she was five. After chemotherapy failed, she became the first pediatric patient treated with a novel experimental immunotherapy; now a sophomore in college, she has been cancer-free for nearly 13 years.
“I stand up for science because science saved my life,” she said, “and that is a fact.”
“Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill!” The crowd chanted along to Nye’s eponymous theme song. (Sasha Draeger-Mazer/MNS)
Bill Nye, perhaps the event’s most anticipated speaker, jogged onto the stage to the theme music from his signature show “Bill Nye the Science Guy.”
“The process of science, along with our hard-won scientific body of knowledge, has enabled us to feed and care for the world’s billions, build great cities, cure diseases, create global transportation and communications systems, and even know our place among the stars,” Nye told those gathered.
Gesturing towards the dome of the Capitol in the distance, he implored lawmakers to stand up to the Trump administration.
“Science is part of the American story,” Nye said. “If the United States is to lead the world, science cannot be suppressed.”
One attendee dressed up as Muppets lab assistant character Beaker, posing for photos with other rally participants. (Sasha Draeger-Mazer/MNS)
SCOTUS debates a death-row inmate’s request for DNA testing
DNA evidence — including scrapings underneath Harrison’s fingernails and a loose hair wrapped around one of her fingers — was recovered but has never been tested.
A Texas statute permits DNA testing only where favorable results would prove innocence, not ineligibility for a death sentence. On Monday, justices heard arguments over whether Gutierrez has the legal right, or standing, to request the post-conviction DNA testing.
The focus of the question was not whether Gutierrez was innocent, but whether he should face the death penalty. His execution was put on hold in 2024 — the second time the Supreme Court halted his execution — after the Court ruled in the similar case Reed v. Goertz that Rodney Reed had the legal right to sue Texas over its refusal to grant him access to post-conviction DNA testing.
For the last 14 years, Texas courts have denied Gutierrez’s requests to seek postconviction DNA testing of the crime scene and autopsy evidence to prove that his limited culpability in the murder would render him ineligible for the death penalty. They did so on the basis that Gutierrez did not have the legal right, or standing, to challenge the constitutionality of a provision of Texas’s postconviction DNA testing statute, which permits testing affecting an inmate’s conviction but not his punishment.
Anne E. Fisher, representing the petitioner, argued that certain procedures in the Texas post-conviction statute known as Chapter 64 that blocked post-conviction DNA testing were unconstitutional and that Gutierrez should not have been denied DNA testing.
“It’s not Mr. Gutierrez who keeps switching his position,” Fisher said. “We are simply reacting to the brand new arguments that respondents have come up with late in the process as to why we don’t have standing.”
To show that Gutierrez is ineligible for the death penalty, Fisher said she would need to show that he was not in the house and that he was not a “major participant” in the death of Harrison. Obtaining DNA testing would be one component of doing so.
Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts questioned whether a “tiny thimbleful of additional evidence” would help Gutierrez and Justice Samuel Alito pointed out that “at most, it could show that other people were there.” But Justice Brett Kavanaugh seemed among several justices sympathetic to Gutierrez. He observed that even if the district attorney refused to grant Gutierrez access to post-conviction DNA testing, he would still have the legal right to sue.
“I don’t see how we can say something’s not redressable just because the prosecutor is going to say, ‘I’m not going to comply with a court order,’” Kavanaugh said. “You know, if President Nixon said, ‘I’m not going to come turn over the tapes no matter what,’ you wouldn’t say, ‘Oh, I guess we don’t have standing to hear the executive privilege case.’”
However, William F. Cole, representing the respondents, argued that Reed v. Goertz was applied correctly and Gutierrez did not have standing to challenge the constitutionality of the DNA testing statute that permits testing affecting an inmate’s conviction but not his punishment. He also argued that Gutierrez had not challenged all the procedures needed to get the remedy for his injury — the denial of access to DNA testing evidence.
“That’s binary,” Cole said about Gutierrez’s assertion of his injury. “Either you get it or you don’t.”
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson seemed particularly interested in clarifying the theory of redressability in the case, while Justice Sonia Sotomayor seemed to lean in favor of Gutierrez, pushing back on Cole’s argument.
“Don’t you want to know you’re convicting the right person for the right thing? I mean, he’s going to spend time in jail no matter what because he admits to being at least an accessory to the robbery or a part of the robbery,” Sotomayor asked. “But at what point does this legal maneuvering become counterproductive to the state? If you are sure of your conviction and your theory, why not do the testing?”
Cole responded that Gutierrez previously made a “strategic choice” not to undergo DNA testing when it was available to him and that even if the evidence were exculpatory, it would not change Gutierrez’s sentence because he is still eligible for the death penalty.
The justices appeared to be divided. The Supreme Court challenged both lawyers by posing hypothetical situations and clarifying questions over issues of redressability and standing.
But to Miriam Becker-Cohen, the case appeared straightforward. Becker-Cohen is the lead author of an amicus brief in Gutierrez v. Saenz from the Constitutional Accountability Center, an organization focused on examining the whole Constitution’s history to uphold progressive values at its core.
Becker-Cohen emphasized that the case boils down to the simple question of whether a death-row inmate has the right to go to court and say that the DNA testing statute violates their right to a fundamentally fair process under the Constitution under the due process clause.
“This case isn’t going to decide whether or not he gets the death penalty. It’s not going to decide whether or not he’s exonerated or something,” Becker-Cohen said. “It’s really just a narrow issue: it’s whether he gets into court in the first place, which seems like such a fundamental thing that he should be entitled to under our concept of federal standing law and jurisdiction.”
Latest in Environment
Watch: Trump’s pick for EPA leader testified at Senate hearing
Lee Zeldin appeared before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on Thursday.
read moreClimate change activist groups demand action from Biden before term ends
WASHINGTON – Around 300 people gathered to demand climate action from the Biden administration outside the Environmental Protection Agency headquarters on Sunday, according to estimates from organizers.
Protesters called on President Joe Biden to protect public lands, cancel oil and gas projects and use all unspent money from the Inflation Reduction and Bipartisan Infrastructure Acts to invest in the climate.
Protesters came from the Washington DC metro area, New York and Pennsylvania to urge Biden to take action in his final 60 days of power before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.
A coalition of activist groups organized the rally, drawing hundreds of protesters to the Federal Triangle metro station. (Emma Richman/MNS)
“We cannot imagine trying to sleep any night during the Trump administration if we haven’t done everything we can first,” said Saul Levin, political and campaigns director for Green New Deal Network.
2024 has been the hottest year on record with the global average temperature reaching 1.54 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels, according to the World Meteorological Organization. This temporarily exceeds the Paris Agreement 1.5-degree temperature rise limit.
Trump is expected to take office in January, appointing former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Together, the administration is expected to roll back the more progressive climate policies under Biden.
Levin organized the rally with over 30 climate change activist groups. He said it was the launching point for a campaign over the next 60 days to demand Democrats do as much as possible for the climate before Trump takes office.
Some protesters also held signs urging Senate Democrats to confirm more judges that would uphold environmental laws to safeguard against the Trump administration.
Jason Rylander, legal director for the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute, said there are limits to what the Trump administration can reverse. Rylander, who attended Sunday’s rally, added that the legal system is an important wall of defense.
“We will stand up with our partners and take the Trump administration to court at every turn if they’re undoing environmental protections,” Rylander said.
Several speakers addressed the rally, telling personal stories and outlining demands. The crowd cheered and chanted for climate action. Organizers led the rally in chants saying “every day counts” and “YOLO Joe.”
Protests held signs that said “60 days,” the amount of time Biden has left in office to take action on climate change. (Emma Richman/MNS)
Some protesters held signs urging Biden to pardon environmental activists. Others advocated for Biden to stop new liquified natural gas projects. Student activists led the crowd in song, and protesters of all ages attended.
Keanu Arpels-Josiah, climate organizer and first-year student at Swarthmore College, said he’s been involved in climate change activism since high school. An organizer with Fridays for Future NYC, Arpels-Josiah came to Sunday’s rally with a group of students from Philadelphia and said around 30 others came on a bus from New York.
Arpels-Josiah gave a speech at the rally and led the crowd in song alongside fellow student organizers. He urged Biden to fulfill his promises to take progressive climate action to safeguard the Earth for future generations.
“We can’t have a transition of just resignation,” Arpels-Josiah said. “We must have a transition of action and setting the groundwork to protect our democracy, protect our future, protect our rights, protect climate action.”
Congress presses Coast Guard on Arctic icebreaker shortfalls amid growing international competition
WASHINGTON — Transportation committee ranking member Richard Larsen (D-Wash.), questioned Coast Guard leadership on the U.S. ability to ice break in the Arctic Circle compared to competitors Russia and China after the Government Accountability Office released a scathing report about the operations.
The U.S. Coast Guard is tasked with managing American responsibilities in the Arctic through its presence in Alaska. This team’s primary aim is icebreaking recapitalization, which involves regulating the quantity of and patrolling ice in the Arctic Circle.
Despite this, the American fleet has only two ships capable of breaking heavy ice in the Arctic. Russia has 55 vessels and China, which does not have an Arctic coast, has four.
Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.), appeared frustrated about the timeline for new ships still being many years away. He asked the panel whether the U.S. is threatened by our lack of ships.
“We have a national security threat now,” Coast Guard Vice Admiral Peter Gautier said. “We need eight to nine ships as soon as possible, but it’s going to take a long time to build them.”
In recent years, this task has become more difficult, with longer and colder winters affecting much of the northern hemisphere. Alaska and, by extension, the Arctic Circle are valuable to United States national security, serving as the closest domestic military port to Russia.
Chairman Daniel Webster said the U.S. needs to catch up in our need for more icebreaking ships.
“It is well beyond time to carry out our mission with new ships,” Webster said. “Nearly a year has passed [since Congress first inquired] and we don’t have a plan.”
Vice Admiral Thomas Allan Jr. emphasized that the Coast Guard must receive support from the Navy in this process, as these new ships will be the Coast Guard’s first icebreakers in more than fifty years.
“We do not have enough to complete ship one,” Allan said. “The Coast Guard is a capital intensive operation, and we fall further and further behind the Department of Defense each year.”
Larsen, whose district features the third largest domestic port with significant shipbuilding facilities, echoed this sentiment and insisted that “our presence in the Arctic equals our sovereignty.”
Heather MacLeod, who authored the GAO report and directs the Homeland Security and Justice team, testified before the subcommittee.
“The Coast Guard has done a good job at assessing risk in the region,” MacLeod said. “But its reliance on an aging fleet has hindered the service’s ability.”
MacLeod said the program to build new ships has experienced design challenges as it does not have its own facility. The Coast Guard leases its hangar space in Alaska.
Gautier, who has served in the Coast Guard for 37 years, said the committee must consider providing more funds to Arctic operations to see successful reinvestment rather than just focusing on vessels.
“The Coast Guard is more valuable today than ever before,” Gautier said. “We promote a peaceful, stable and cooperative Arctic in this unique and challenging maritime environment.”
Allan said the first of these ships will be approved to begin production before the end of the year.
Latest in National Security
Veterans fear Trump administration plans to privatize VA health
A seismic shift is potentially underway in how the VA provides medical care and support, which was accelerated during the first administration of President Donald Trump and is ready to expand over the next four years.
read moreDOD leadership firings spark concerns over support for female officers
WASHINGTON — Since President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, his administration cleared the military of most of its top female-ranking officers, disappointing many women veterans and active duty personnel.
Though Trump touted his plans to flush out military leadership during his campaign trail, the latest overhaul seems to have struck a different tone.
Following a series of high-profile departures, the U.S. military was without a single woman in a four-star general or admiral leadership position.
Trump’s actions have since raised serious questions from women veterans and service members about whether his administration’s trademark campaign on abolishing DEI initiatives played a role. And on top of that, some members of the military have begun to express concern about whether the firings could signal a growing vacuum of support for its female officers.
“I wish people would think about their mothers, ‘Are you really saying that this person who bore you is incapable of leading you?’” said Sgt. Maj. Pamela Wilson, an Army veteran who served for nearly 35 years.
String of firings
The departures began when Linda Fagan, the first female to lead the Coast Guard, was fired on Trump’s first day back in office. Officials cited reasons such as failure to address border security and “excessive focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion policies” for her dismissal, according to CNN.
Fagan’s firing immediately drew outcry from fellow veterans, including Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who worked with her.
From the start, Senators lauded her as a good pick for Coast Guard commandment after giving her unanimous support during her Senate confirmation hearing in 2022.
After she was fired, Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran and Purple Heart recipient, wrote on her X account that Fagan was “more qualified to serve in her role than Pete Hegseth is to be Defense Secretary.” She added that “Trump would rather appear ‘anti-woke’ than keep our military strong.”
During Fagan’s 37-year career, she served on all seven continents, including in high-ranking roles like Pacific Area Commander, District and Sector Commanders and Marine Inspector.
However, at times, Fagan’s tenure was mired by complaints about the agency’s response to problems of sexual assault and harassment.
Despite calling out Fagan over those issues at public hearings, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), said in a statement that Fagan’s firing still “raises concerns about how Donald Trump intends to treat professional, dedicated military men and women who have faithfully served our country for decades.”
Weeks later, Lisa Franchetti, the first female Chief of Naval Operations, was next to follow. Before then, Franchetti spent almost 20 years commanding various fleets, including the destroyer U.S.S. Ross, two aircraft carrier strike groups and naval forces in Korea.
Hegseth, who ordered Franchetti’s firing, did not provide a specific reason for the decision.
Hegseth’s decision came after he faced scrutiny during his Senate confirmation hearing in January for his past comments suggesting women should not serve in combat roles in the army.
“Why should women in our military, if you were the secretary of defense, believe that they would have a fair shot and an equal opportunity to rise through the ranks if, on the one hand, you say that women are not competent, they make our military less effective,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D – N.H.) pressed Hegseth during the hearing.
Most recently, Hegeth also dismissed his Senior Military Advisor Jennifer Short. A former C-130E navigator and an A-10 pilot, Short served in the role for less than a year.
Then came Telita Crosland, former head of the military’s Defense Health Agency, who was forced to retire by the Pentagon after a 32-year career.
“We were making progress”
In past transitions, those who served in the same high-ranking positions as Franchetti or Fagan usually lasted under multiple administrations until the end of their posts, experts said.
Many veterans, including Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D – N.J.), called these firings an affront to qualified female officers.
Last month, Sherrill wrote on her X account that Hegseth and others “are relegating women to second class citizens in our military, taking competent and qualified individuals out of important leadership posts in our armed forces.”
Before running for office, Sherrill served on active duty nine years as a helicopter pilot in the Navy, during which she met Franchetti at the Atlantic Fleet Headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia.
At a February town hall meeting in Monmouth County, New Jersey, she told a buzzing crowd that she was “so happy” to find out about Franchetti’s appointment months ago. She commended Franchetti as a top leader and trailblazer in the military.
“It would have been imaginable to me as a midshipman that we would have a woman in that role,” said Sherrill, while donning her Navy bomber jacket. “I was feeling like we were making progress here.”
The firings have also drawn sympathies from other veterans, who fear that the current situation might not be a one-off.
Wilson served 32 years as a religious affairs specialist and active duty in the military starting in 1985, the same year when Fagan also entered the Coast Guard.
“I can only imagine what’s going on in (Fagan’s) head, we’re hurting the wrong people,” Wilson said in an interview. “What is the metric that’s even being used? They haven’t been negligent in their duties.”
During the Iraq War, Wilson served as one of the few top female leaders in the operation.
She helmed a multinational unit of forces, directing them to provide religious support and guidance to the rest of the soldiers. After she retired, Wilson became the first female appointed as Honorary Sergeant Major of the Chaplain Corps in 2019.
She said these recent firings not only were “low blows” from the Trump administration but also fears they draw up a polarizing future for female officers.
Some women service members recalled the time when females serving in the military were a rarity.
Constance Edwards was 22 when she enlisted in the Army Student Nurse Cadet Corp. She was later deployed with the Army for a year during the Vietnam War, when most serving women were nurses then.
During her 33 years in the U.S. Army Reserve Nurse Corps, Edwards was appointed as a Colonel, the highest rank within the military branch’s Nurse Corps.
Edwards called the firings of recent military female leaders as the Trump administration’s “pure ignorance” and that they possibly reaffirm the military’s tradition of being male-dominated.
“They didn’t figure out whether these people were not doing what they were necessary,” Edwards said. We needed females into the military in top administration, because the military was set up for men.”
Lack of female military leaders today
In recent years, female enlistment in the U.S. military has continued to grow. In 2023, women made up 17.5% of active-duty military personnel. Women today serve in all branches of the military, including combat roles.
A recurring problem, however, has been the military’s struggles to recruit and retain women service members.
According to a 2020 Government Accountability Office study, women were 28% more likely to withdraw than men. Studies also found that gender discrimination and sexual harassment have remained prevalent for female officers.
Women did not officially serve until June 1948, when President Harry S. Truman signed the Women’s Armed Service Integration Act allowing women to receive regular permanent status in the armed forces.
Rochelle Crump was among the thousands who served in the Women’s Army Corps, the sole women’s branch of the U.S. Army before it was merged with the male units in 1978. At 17, she joined her unit in 1971 near the height of the Vietnam War.
Crump was never deployed overseas but served tours in military forts across California, Alabama and Georgia. Seeing other young female officers around her at the time, she said, provided her a deeper sense of “can do” in the military.
Today, when women are still in the minority in the Army, they need to see that representation from leadership, Crump said.
“Those women will need that leadership, they need to see that leadership, they need to know they can do those things those officers can do now,” Crump, who serves as the president of the National Women Veterans United in Chicago, Illinois.
Crump added that the Trump administration’s recent dismissal of female military officials has been “a backwards situation that’s been coming a long time.”
“ It was not because of DEI they earned it,” Crump said. “They worked hard for it and they deserve to have been in those positions.”
Published in conjunction with 
Trump’s reversal on Ukraine undermines allies’ trust in U.S., experts say
WASHINGTON — In recent days, President Donald Trump lashed out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House and halted American military aid to the war-torn Ukraine.
Then, on Tuesday morning, Zelenskyy stressed that he would sign a minerals deal with the United States.
“My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts,” he wrote on X. “Regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it in any time and in any convenient format.”
Under the draft agreement, Ukraine would not receive any legally binding security guarantees against future Russian aggression, which Kyiv had requested for decades.
Igor Lukes, professor of history and international relations at Boston University, said this deal amounted to a “brutal shakedown” of Ukraine. He compared Ukraine’s dilemma to “some bad movie where some powerful cartel can blackmail a weaker party into conceding everything.”
Trump’s more combative, transactional approach toward Ukraine upended the existing world order, experts say. The U.S. had allied with European nations since World War II, but Trump moved decidedly toward Russia.
In the Oval Office on Friday, Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Zelenskyy and accused him of not wanting peace.
“You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III. You’re gambling with World War III, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to this country that’s backed you far more than a lot of people say they should have,” Trump told Zelenskyy.
In the days before the visit, Trump called Zelenskyy a “dictator” and falsely blamed the war on Ukraine, not Russia. A U.N. resolution that passed 93-18 condemned Russia’s aggression and demanded it withdraw all of its troops from Ukraine. The U.S. joined Russia, Belarus, and North Korea in opposing it.
Scheherazade Rehman, director of the European Union Research Center at George Washington University, said this foreign policy shift undermined America’s credibility as an ally.
“People around the world, leaders in countries around the world, are not going to trust the United States anymore from one election to the next because foreign policy has completely changed,” Rehman said. “American commitment now doesn’t mean much.”
Following Trump’s Friday meeting with Zelenskyy, leaders from various Western nations reaffirmed their support for Ukraine. The United Kingdom on Sunday hosted a summit of European leaders, who rallied behind Ukraine.
“Every nation must contribute to that in the best way that it can, bringing different capabilities and support to the table, but all taking responsibility to act, all stepping up their own share of the burden,” said U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer during the summit.
However, Lukes said European nations remained politically divided: Some countries, like Estonia and Lithuania, viewed a Russian victory as a threat to their survival, while right-wing leaders like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán have supported Putin over Zelenskyy.
If the U.S. were to become less active in NATO, Lukes said its European allies would have to “live up to the challenge” of increasing military spending and overcoming Russian misinformation.
“The democratic politicians will have to come together, establish alliances and hope that the voters will not all fall for the lies that they’re being fed on social media by the manipulations, by the Russian intelligence services,” Lukes said.
Trump’s decision to cut off military aid to Ukraine could hamper the nation’s effort to defeat Russia. Zelenskyy told NBC News in February that continuing the fight without U.S. support would be “very, very, very difficult.” Rehman echoed this concern, emphasizing that Ukraine cannot stand against Russia with only European support.
“Without American security support, Ukraine is done. We all know that. Europeans know that, too,” she said.
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read morePhoto Essay: New Orleans spirit comes to Washington at eighth annual Mardi Gras celebration
WASHINGTON – Mardi Gras celebrations filled Wharf Street Saturday as attendees packed the street with food, laughter, music and dancing.
The celebration kicked off with an hour-long parade down Wharf Street. Over 40 organizations participated in the parade, including community partners like the Eastern High School Marching Band and Command Force of the Washington Commanders.
Golf carts embellished in purple, green and gold, the Mardi Gras king and queen and jugglers were just a few of the parade’s highlights. The New Orleans spirit could be felt in Washington as crowds cheered and reached for the beads, toys and candy that were tossed their way.
The parade was followed by live music by local bands at different outdoor stages along Wharf Street. Families and friends came together to enjoy food and drinks while dancing to the music. The celebrations came to a close with fireworks that decorated the sky.
Mardi Gras flags lined Wharf Street as Batalá Washington, an all-women Afro-Brazilian music band, announced the start of the parade with the sound of drums. (Jiah Choe/MNS)
Addie, Asia and Jodie showed their Mardi Gras spirit from head to toe. Jodie is from New Orleans, and Addie and Asia are Washington residents. “It’s a big deal, bring the party home,” Asia said. (Jiah Choe/MNS)
Rachelle, Kathleen, Margie, Jennifer, Lynn and Melissa are long-time friends and residents of D.C. and Virginia. Kathleen has been to every single one of the eight Mardi Gras celebrations at The Wharf. “We love it. It gets us out of the house,” Rachelle said. (Jiah Choe/MNS)
Beads and candies weren’t the only things being tossed to the audience. Children and adults alike reached for the bubbles flowing out of the bubble machines while some took photos. (Jiah Choe/MNS)
The Wharf invited local businesses to decorate golf carts as an alternative to the floats traditionally used in New Orleans. The family friendly event had several young participants, some even playing a role in the parade and tossing beaded necklaces to attendees. (Jiah Choe/MNS)
Some attendees chose to enjoy the parade with an aerial view from restaurant balconies and rooftops. Parade participants made sure everyone was included in the celebration, as they tossed beads as high as they could to reach the attendees watching from above. (Jiah Choe/MNS)
Humans weren’t the only ones celebrating Mardi Gras at The Wharf. Local residents “Percy and his human servants” also joined the celebrations in colorful Mardi Gras costumes. (Jiah Choe/MNS)
Performers, jugglers and stilt walkers filled the parade with entertainment and excitement. (Jiah Choe/MNS)
Bella, Manny and Prince are from New Orleans. They came to Washington for their catering business, Mardi Gras Munchies (@mardigrasmunchies on Instagram). They are “an authentic Cajun Creole New Orleans cuisine” with pop-ups every week. Their son, Prince, is six months old. This was his first Mardi Gras. (Jiah Choe/MNS)
Attendees lined up to take photos with Mardi Gras performers at a photo station set up near the outdoor stages. (Jiah Choe/MNS)
Attendees gathered around outdoor stages along Wharf Street after the parade to listen and dance to live music performed by local bands. (Jiah Choe/MNS)
The Experience Band & Show was one of the local bands that performed live music at The Wharf. They performed on the Transit Pier Floating Stage. (Jiah Choe/MNS)
Watch: The Great American Water Taste Test brings friendly competition to Capitol Hill
WASHINGTON — The National Rural Water Association held its 26th annual Great American Water Taste Test on Wednesday. The Bear River Water Conservancy District of Utah took home the championship.
Samples are judged on three categories: clarity, bouquet and overall taste.
This competition is a part of the NRWA’s annual rally. Members of the organization travel to the nation’s capital to lobby their representatives about issues facing the rural water industry.
Watch the video report here:
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read moreA penny for your thoughts: what’s next for the one-cent coin?
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump proposed removing the penny from U.S. circulation in February.
The one cent coin costs the U.S. Mint about 3.7 cents to make. Will discontinuing the coin contribute to higher costs and inflation or save the government millions of dollars?
Watch the video report here:
Strategic bitcoin reserve signals Trump administration’s increased loyalty to cryptocurrency industry
On the campaign trail, President Donald Trump made a promise to the cryptocurrency entrepreneurs that they have not forgotten: a pledge to be the first “crypto president.”
Last week, Trump took his latest in a string of actions to align himself with the digital asset industry by establishing a strategic bitcoin reserve in an executive order.
“I promised to make America the bitcoin superpower of the world and the crypto capital of the planet,” Trump said at the White House cryptocurrency summit. “We’re taking historic action to deliver on that promise.”
A strategic bitcoin reserve would consist of bitcoin that the federal government seized, according to the executive order. Under the order, the U.S. government would not purchase any more cryptocurrency. To further expand the reserve, the Trump administration authorized the Department of Treasury and Commerce to find other ways to acquire additional bitcoin where no tax dollars would be spent, instead of direct market purchases.
The reserve’s creation signaled a shift in U.S. policy toward bitcoin. Previously, the Treasury sold seized bitcoin rather than holding onto it. By choosing to keep the digital asset, the U.S. government increased its current stake in cryptocurrency and cemented the administration’s allegiance to the industry.
While Trump’s bitcoin policy was in line with what the industry previously advocated for, not all pro-cryptocurrency lawmakers were overjoyed about the reserve.
Early last week, Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Majority Leader Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) launched a bipartisan Congressional Crypto Caucus, intending to boost U.S. leadership in cryptocurrency innovation. But despite Torres’ pro-cryptocurrency stance, he said he was “skeptical” about the federal government creating a cryptocurrency reserve.
“I do see blockchain as an emerging technology that has the potential to transform our society for good, but there are two visions of blockchain,” Torres said to Medill News Service. “There’s blockchain as a computer, and then there’s blockchain as a casino. I’m skeptical about blockchain as a casino, and I feel like Donald Trump is promoting speculation that’s going to do more harm than good.”
However, Congressional advocates for the reserve saw it as serving a significant economic purpose and predicted that it would serve as a hedge against inflation.
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), a former blockchain entrepreneur, expressed he was not concerned about bitcoin’s volatility, and instead, worried about the dollar’s devaluation with inflation.
“I’m concerned about the dollar’s volatility,” Moreno told Medill News Service. “A dollar is worth a lot less today than it was five years ago, and bitcoin is worth a lot more today than it was five years ago.”
The claim that bitcoin can act as a hedge against inflation faced scrutiny, however. The cryptocurrency’s value is based solely on speculation, making it a volatile asset.
Other supporters of the government holding onto bitcoin argued the reserve could help reduce the national debt. However, the order specified that the U.S. will not sell the bitcoin within the reserve.
George Selgin, a senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute, said any future attempt by the U.S. government to sell the bitcoin would face strong opposition from the industry. This is because a mass cryptocurrency sell off by the government would tank bitcoin’s value.
Selgin voiced concerns about a strategic reserve’s fate because of the U.S. government’s reluctance to sell in the future. He said the reserve may end like the U.S. gold reserve, which Selgin argued did not serve any economic purpose since former President Richard Nixon effectively eliminated the gold standard.
“The bitcoin people are also comparing the reserve to the gold reserve, but they’re trying to make a positive comparison,” Selgin said. “There’s a more valuable negative comparison because the gold reserve no longer serves any economic purpose either.”
SOTU: Health Care
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Congress should approve his plan to replace Obamacare with a new health care program that would provide “affordable alternative” insurance options and criticized Democrats for trying to impose “a socialist takeover of our health care system.”
“A good life for American families requires the most affordable, innovative and high-quality health care system on earth,” Trump said in his third State of the Union address.
Trump said he has proposed health care plans that would be up to 60% cheaper than the Affordable Care Act plans. Both the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services did not respond when asked if a specific replacement plan has existed or ever will.
The president blamed Democrats for not providing the American people with the health care reforms he has promised.
“As we work to improve Americans’ health care, there are those who want to take away your health care, take away your doctor, and abolish private insurance entirely,” said Trump, referring to the Democrats.
Democrats stood up at this comment, pointed their fingers at Trump and shouted “YOU.”
Trump said 130 Democrats endorse legislation to impose a “socialist takeover” of the health care system by “taking away the private health insurance plans of 180 million.”
Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., are pushing for a “Medicare for All” plan that would end private health insurance while other candidates like former Vice President Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., are pushing to expand on Obamacare.
“We will never let socialism destroy American health care,” Trump said.
Trump emphasized the administration’s efforts to protect patients with pre-existing conditions, to which Democrats threw up their hands and shook their heads in disagreement. Led by House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate and House Democrats brought more than 80 patients, doctors and health care advocates from across the country as guests to the speech.
“President Trump will speak to an audience filled with Americans who are suffering because of his broken promises on prescription drug costs and his all-out assault on Americans with preexisting conditions,” Pelosi said in a press release Tuesday morning.
The president also called upon Congress to pass legislation to lower prescription drug prices.
“Get a bill to my desk, and I will sign it into law without delay,” the president said.
Democrats responded to this by booing and holding up three fingers to represent H.R. 3, legislation proposed by the late Rep. Elijah E. Cummings that would require the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to negotiate certain drug prices. The bill has been on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s desk for over a month after being passed in the House.
Generic prescription drug prices dropped 1% in 2018, the first price drop in 45 years, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Trump said it was the first time in 51 years. Brand-name drug prices, however, are still increasing.
Trump said the administration will continue to make health care more transparent by requiring hospitals to make their prices negotiated with insurers public and easily accessible online. He also pointed to the passage of administration-backed legislation called “Right to Try,” which allows terminally ill patients access to drugs not fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration if they feel they have tried all other options.
He also said he has launched new initiatives to improve care for Americans with kidney disease, Alzheimer’s and those struggling with mental health challenges, in addition to pursuing new cures for childhood cancer and AIDS.
The House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday afternoon to further discuss Trump’s health care policies and overcoming pharmaceutical barriers in particular.
Trump Sticks By Wall in State of the Union Address
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s call for a wall to secure America’s southern border in his State of the Union address Tuesday night was no surprise to opponents.
Jennifer Johnson, the policy director at the Southern Border Communities Coalition, said Trump continually characterizes the southern border as a violent area.
“More of a reality check, these are families and children seeking protection, fleeing spiraling violence and poverty,” she said.
Chris Montoya, who served as a Customs and Border Protection agent for 21 years, said that “crime rates are pretty low in border cities. Being a border patrol agent is one of the safest law enforcement jobs. All those things together means a safe border.”
Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., invited as his guest a mother who had been separated from her children at the border.
Other Democrats brought undocumented immigrants as their guests, including Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., and Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J.
Rep. Sheila Jackson, D-Texas, was enthusiastic about their attendance at the address. “Their presence here today is representative of the big tent that America is,” she said.
In his address, Trump attributed what he called at crisis at the border to America’s “reduced jobs, lower wages, overburdened schools, and hospitals that are so crowded you can’t get in.” He referenced San Diego and El Paso as being cities that were once violent, and now safe with the addition of physical barriers.
Trump also mentioned the prevalence of MS-13 within the country. “They almost all come through our Southern border,” he said.
Montoya said MS-13 members do enter through the southern border on rare occasions, but it is uncommon for CBP agents to make an arrest.
Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin is the ranking member on the Senate Subcommittee for Border Security and Immigration. He said nothing changed in Trump’s rhetoric. “If we’re waiting on him, we’re not going to get this solved,” he said.
Washingtonians alternately protest, celebrate the State of the Union
WASHINGTON – DC-area residents had very different reactions to President Donald Trump’s second State of the Union address Tuesday night. But whether they celebrated or denounced the event, emotions were strong.
Around 40-50 people gathered at each of two intersections near the Capitol ahead of the address — far fewer than the 400 people who protested last year, according to Resist DC, the community action group that organized both years’ protests.
People lined the sidewalks along the streets that President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and other Trump cabinet members’ motorcades were expected pass by. They held homemade signs lit with string lights so they would be visible to government officials in their cars and chanted anti-Trump messages to music and drums.
Eileen Minarick, 70, said she was protesting simply “because the state of our union is terrible.”
Elsewhere in the city, local bar patrons gathered to drink beer, compete in presidential bingo and watch the State of the Union.
Grassroots activist group CODEPINK hosted a number of guest speakers, including actor Danny Glover, for a lively discussion before the main event. Topics ranged from the Bolivarian revolution to ending domestic violence.
Anita Jenkins, spokeswoman for Stand Up for Democracy, riled the crowd with a call to establish the District of Columbia the 51st state in the United States.
“The people of D.C. have no representation… We have nobody to speak for us,” she said. Modifying the words of America’s early founders, she said, “Taxation without representation is a rip-off.”
As President Trump appeared on the projector, shouts of disapproval rose from the bar patrons. The State of the Union 2019 had begun and the energy was energetic in its moroseness.
Across town, the atmosphere was also charged. Members of DC Young Republicans and Arlington Falls Church Young Republicans filled a restaurant for a celebratory viewing party.
“In the past, most of the people in this room voted for a wall… but the proper wall never got built,” said Donald Trump. He paused and then said, “I’ll get it built.” Hoots and hollers erupted in the bar and two girls were seen smiling and hugging each other.
Though Trump stressed unity in his national address, DC-area residents remained divided in their reactions.
2020 Candidates Alternate Cheers, Hisses to Trump Wall, Immigration Proposals during State of Union
WASHINGTON – Several Democratic 2020 presidential candidates expressed their displeasure with many of President Donald Trump’s policies during the State of the Union address Tuesday.
Sens. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., could be seen shaking their heads when Trump mentioned controversial topics such as his commitment to building a border wall and the dangers of migrant caravans heading to the U.S. southern border.
Harris, who announced her candidacy on Jan. 21, shook her head and visibly mouthed, “They’re not,” as Trump said, “Large, organized caravans are on the march to the United States.”
In a Facebook Live address before the State of the Union, Harris told viewers, “It’s a moment for a president to rise above politics and unite the country with a vision that includes all Americans, not just the ones who may have voted for them. It’s a moment to bring us together.”
Early in the address, Harris was often reluctant to give Trump a standing ovation, asking her colleagues, “Really?” as they cheered the president’s comments about space exploration.
The candidates and their Democratic colleagues booed and hissed as Trump labeled the numerous investigations into his campaign finance and relationship with Russia “ridiculous partisan investigations.”
“If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation,” he said. “It just doesn’t work that way!”
Democrats cheered later as Trump mentioned that women have filled 58 percent of new jobs in the past year. New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who has formed a presidential exploratory committee, pointed at the newly elected House Democrats, who stood up and chanted, “USA, USA.”
“I think he didn’t realize that all the female jobs he created were for [congresswomen],” Gillibrand said after the speech.
The Democratic candidates stood and applauded with everyone in the chamber when Trump recognized World War II veterans, a SWAT team member and a childhood cancer survivor.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., sat stoically as Trump denounced socialism. Sanders, who calls himself a democratic socialist, is widely considered likely e to enter the presidential race. Unlike Sanders, Gillibrand and Harris stood and applauded as Trump said, “America will never be a socialist country.”
TRUMP STRIKES CHORD WITH WOMEN, FALLS FLAT ON BIPARTISAN BORDER WALL PITCH
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump got one of his biggest rounds of applause during his State of the Union address Tuesday night when he noted that Congress now has a record-high number of elected women, but it wasn’t lost on the crowd that when the women rose to cheer they were mostly on the Democratic side of the aisle.
“Americans can be proud that we have more women in the workforce than ever before,” Trump said as the women lawmakers rose to clap and celebrate. He then advised them “Don’t sit. You’re going to like this.”
“Exactly one century after the Congress passed the constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote, we also have more women serving in the Congress than at any time before,” he said. There were 117 women elected to Congress in 2018.
Bipartisan chants of “USA! USA!” filled the chamber as both the Democrats and Republicans broke into uproarious applause. Many of the Democratic women wore white and donned pins that read “ERA YES,” in a nod to the women of the suffragette movement.
Trump called his list of priorities “the agenda of the American people” in his second State of the Union address Tuesday, which was delayed a week because of the 35-day government shutdown, which didn’t end until the previous Friday. The address was the first the president has delivered before the new Democratic majority in the House.
The president remained on-script for the duration of the 84-minute speech and touted his administration’s achievements from the past two years. He also laid out several legislative priorities going forward, including a “smart, strategic, see-through steel barrier,” an infrastructure bill and the eradication of HIV and AIDS.
Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., was glad that health care was a topic in the speech, while Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., described the speech as “terrific.”
“We haven’t gotten that right when it comes to protection our citizens with pre-existing conditions, correcting all the problems and costs associated with the ACA,” French said. “I like that he kept an emphasis on that while also tackling the prescription drug process.”
For Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., laying out these broad initiatives wasn’t enough.
“I wrote down a number of initiatives — defense spending, cancer research, transportation, infrastructure — and never heard anything of how we’re going to pay for them,” he said.
The president also pushed his plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria and to reduce drastically the number of troops in Afghanistan.
Among Democrats, reactions were mixed as Trump highlighted his achievements. When Trump lauded the U.S. increase in gas and oil production, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who has championed a Green New Deal to address accelerating climate change, remained seated.
Many Democrats applauded Trump’s push for a new infrastructure bill and decision to withdraw troops from Syria and Afghanistan.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who sat behind Trump with Vice President Mike Pence, was clearly following a printed version of the speech. She applauded when Trump mentioned criminal justice reform and bipartisan efforts on lowering drug costs and furthering women’s rights.
After praising a recent bipartisan effort to secure criminal justice reform, Trump shifted to a project he said would require the same bipartisan effort: a southern border wall.
“Simply put, walls work and walls save lives,” he said. “So let’s work together, compromise and reach a deal that will truly make America safe.”
However, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, was not encouraged by the president’s attempt to strike a bipartisan tone.
“I just don’t think he is to be trusted,” she said. “This is not a president who is working for the middle class of this country.”
Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., said that while parts of Trump’s speech were good, he was too combative at times.
“There should have been more emphasis on the fact that the government was shut down and we all need to work together to bring it back,” he said. “Blaming the Democrats is not going to keep the government open.”
Freshmen members of Congress excited, disappointed at their first State of the Union address
WASHINGTON — Before attending his first State of the Union address, Rep. Jefferson Van Drew, D-N.J., felt a sense of excitement and joy, but also feared the president might once again fan partisan flames by rehashing controversial issues.
“I hope that right now, he doesn’t talk about closing the government again. I hope he doesn’t talk right now about declaring a national emergency. I would so much rather see that we try to work together and get something done. That requires flexibility on Democrats side as well. Both sides have to do this,” said Van Drew.
Partisanship is the reason the approval rating for Congress is so low, but issues like border security, and infrastructure deserve cooperation between the two parties, said Van Drew.
“Rather than just argue and disagree and investigative and be hurtful on both sides, maybe we can actually get something get done.”
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Chris Pappas, D-N.H.
Although having been full-fledged members of Congress for a little over a month, the freshmen class of senators and representatives still retains a “sense of awe” about the State of the Union address, said Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H. Pappas said he hoped Trump would strike a conciliatory tone with Democrats, allowing lawmakers to avoid a second government shutdown.
Pappas brought a transgender military veteran from his home state to hear the president as a symbol of his hope that Trump’s transgender military service ban will be lifted.
“That doesn’t make us any safer and in fact plays politics with the military,” he said.
In addition to passing social justice reform, Pappas said he would like Trump to speak about the opioid crisis, prescription drug costs and infrastructure — and Trump did.
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Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill.
In Illinois Rep. Sean Casten’s dreams, Trump’s State of the Union address would make climate change a priority, but said his expectations were low. Trump did not in fact mention the environment.
“Truth is what I hope he doesn’t say is what I fear he will say,” Casten said, “which is that he’s going to threaten to shut down the government again if he doesn’t get a wall.”
Casten’s guest was Julie Caribeaux, the executive director of Family Shelter Service, which receives federal aid and provides support for victims of domestic abuse. He said domestic violence victims are some of the “primary victims” of Trump’s rhetoric.
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Anthony Brindisi, D-N.Y.
Rep. Anthony Brindisi, D-NY, was hoping for a message of bipartisanship and unity, things that “the American people are calling for.” Trump did call on Congress to act together on many issues.
Brindisi’s top priorities this year are trying to find common ground with the Republicans on immigration reform, infrastructure and lowering prescription drug costs. On infrastructure, he said he specifically wanted to hear Trump’s ideas on investing in job training programs. Trump mentioned all the issues, but with little specificity except that he wants a border wall and enforcement to stop what he called “caravans of migrants” heading to the southern border.
“Those are things that I talked about during the campaign that many people back in upstate New York are calling for and those are things I hope he does say,” Brindisi said.
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Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev.
Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev., said she gets excited every time she walks onto the House floor, and Tuesday was no exception. Although there were parts of the speech she did not agree with, namely Trump’s insistence on a border wall, Lee said she appreciated the call for bipartisanship.
Lowering prescription drug prices, investing in infrastructure and a comprehensive border control strategy — these are all components of his speech Lee said she could agree with.
“These are all ideas I can get behind and they work together to produce some results for American families,” she said.
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Rep. Deb Halaand, D-N.M.
Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., said she was dismayed about Trump’s urgency regarding funding for a border wall.
“I wasn’t surprised. Let’s put it that way about the president’s speech. I mean, of course, we don’t want a wall,” said Halland. “He instilled fear and everybody about the danger, you know, the danger that’s coming across the border.”
Haaland hopes to focus on promoting awareness about climate change and wished the President would be more receptive to the diverse issues and people around the country.
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Rep. Chuy Garcia, D-Ill., said he enjoyed his first State of the Union in a historical sense, but wanted President Trump to address issues he feels are important, including raising the minimum wage and healthcare.
Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, D-Ill.
He said while the president did mention lowering prescription drug costs, there was another area of healthcare that was not noted, such as the millions who do not have healthcare at all.
“He wrapped himself around a lot of patriotism and recognition of your courageous battles and victories and but in the end, I think he failed to address important things more,” Garcia said.
Post-SOTU Interviews with Illinois Democratic Reps. Jan Schakowski and Cheri Bustos
Our Alex Lederman sat down with Illinois Democratic Reps. Jan Schakowski and Cheri Bustos after the State of the Union to hear their thoughts on President Obama’s address.
Schakowski — Evanston’s congresswoman since 1999 — said “(Obama)’s vision of what makes our country strong was so human and so true.”
Bustos said Obama is focused on the future — our children and grandchildren — and working together to solve the nation’s problems.
Medill’s State of the Union night on social media
Medill on the Hill produces live State of the Union broadcast
WASHINGTON — It was the third day of reporting for the 21 students in Medill on the Hill. It also happened to be the day the president would deliver his final State of the Union address.
Months ago, buoyed by the excitement of the possibilities and the folly of youth, some of us came up with the idea of taking Medill on the Hill to a new level — producing live TV while also finding new ways of storytelling for the website and social media.
On State of the Union night, Jan. 12, the Washington web team led by Alex Duner and Celena Chong managed the flow of copy and constant web updates streaming in from reporters around Capitol Hill and elsewhere in D.C. There also was a constant stream of @medillonthehill tweets and snapchats as well as several Periscopes.
Tyler Kendall, Allyson Chiu and Shane McKeon were responsible for the main story, and Chiu said the experience was, “the highlight” of her journalism career.
“It was hectic, crazy and we were definitely all running on adrenaline by the end of the night,” she said.
Other reporters were assigned to stories on specific issues the president mentioned, or how local college students reacted to the speech. One even tweeted the speech in Spanish.
My task was to produce the Washington end of a live television broadcast.
Nine months ago Jesse Kirsch came back from 2015 Medill on the Hill with an idea for Carlin McCarthy, another producer with the Northwestern News Network, and me.
He said, with the optimism of a television anchor, that for the 2016 State of the Union we should produce a live broadcast with analysts at our home studio in Evanston and reporters in our D.C. bureau and on Capitol Hill. I said, with the skepticism of a television producer, that I thought he was crazy.
It took long nights, patience and a lot of support from the Medill faculty and staff, but we pulled it off.
Jesse opened the show in Evanston and before we knew it Isabella Gutierrez was doing a live hit from the Washington bureau. Then we were live in Statuary Hall with Noah Fromson, followed by a live report from graduate student Ryan Holmes on what to watch for just minutes before we streamed the live feed of President Barack Obama addressing a joint session of Congress for his final State of the Union.
We did a live interviews with Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, wrote scripts while we counted down the seconds until they were read and gathered quotes from senators and members of Congress. Alex Lederman also provided quick-turn video interviews with two congresswomen.
Associate Producer Geordan Tilley, who interviewed Durbin, was nervous before the show, but she said she is proud of the Medill effort.
“I thought the show was some of our best work, Tilley said. “Especially considering how many firsts were involved, not the least of which was our first time going live.”
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