Supreme Court blocks rule that blocks Voting Rights Act for now
The order guarantees voters, at least for now, the ability to sue to enforce rights guaranteed under the landmark 1965 law. (Image credit: Drew Angerer)
Six months in, how Trump has changed the Education Department.
Federal education policy has seen a lot of changes since President Trump’s inauguration. For example, the Department of Education itself, which Trump has vowed to close. But that hasn’t stopped the Trump administration from also wielding the Department’s power. Most recently, by withholding billions of dollars for K-12 schools. The Trump administration has drastically changed the federal government’s role in education. What does that mean for American classrooms? For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org. (Image credit: J. David Ake)
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Supreme Court blocks rule that blocks Voting Rights Act for now
The order guarantees voters, at least for now, the ability to sue to enforce rights guaranteed under the landmark 1965 law. (Image credit: Drew Angerer)
Texas lawsuit challenges telehealth abortions, citing Comstock Act
A Texas man is suing a California doctor for allegedly providing his girlfriend with abortion medication. The lawsuit—a civil complaint filed in the federal court for the Southern District of Texas—accuses a physician named Remy Coeytaux of violating state and federal laws by mailing abortion pills to “murder” the “unborn child” of the plaintiff,…
US will skip UN conference on 2-state solution for Israel, Palestine
The U.S. will skip the upcoming United Nations conference aimed at bolstering efforts to reach a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestine slated for next week, according to the State Department. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said during his Thursday briefing to reporters that he had “nothing further” to add about the summit, scheduled…
Bipartisan lawmakers propose making FEMA a Cabinet-level agency
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) would be a Cabinet-level agency that reports directly to the president under a new bipartisan bill. The proposal comes as the Trump administration weighs changes at or even abolishing the emergency management agency. The new legislation from Reps. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), Daniel Webster (R-Fla.) and Greg Stanton…
Republicans back Graham, Cornyn’s call for Obama special counsel
A handful of Senate Republicans on Thursday offered support for a move by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) to get a special counsel appointed to investigate former President Obama and the 2016 election. The Graham-Cornyn call for a special counsel comes as Republicans and the Trump administration have been upended by the…
Former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis asks Supreme Court to reverse same-sex marriage decision
Kim Davis, the former Kentucky county clerk who was briefly jailed in 2015 for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to revisit its landmark decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which effectively legalized same-sex marriage nationwide and celebrated its 10th anniversary in June. Davis’s attorneys at the Christian nonprofit…
US signs MOU with Mexico on Tijuana River sewage crisis
The U.S. and Mexico on Thursday took collaborative steps toward curbing a long-standing, cross-border environmental crisis: the unfettered sewage flow from Tijuana into Southern California. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin and his Mexican counterpart Alicia Bárcena Ibarra signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that addressed the “environmental, public health and national security consequences”…
‘Whites-only’ community seeks Missouri expansion
A “whites-only” group called Return to the Land (RTTL), derided by critics as racist and antisemitic, is looking to expand its reach from its base in northern Arkansas to an area near Springfield, Mo., a co-founder of the group said recently. The prospect of a growing “whites-only” community — where members are evaluated based on…