All articles tagged with #federal government
With the midterms approaching, Trump pursues greater federal involvement in election administration—through DOJ actions, FBI activity, and talk of ‘nationalizing’ elections—sparking Democratic fears of potential subversion, even as Republicans push tighter voting rules and courts block past efforts.
The Capital Weather Gang forecasts several inches of wet snow across the DC region by Monday morning, making school delays or closings likely and potentially altering federal government operations.
President Trump blamed Maryland, D.C., and Virginia leaders for a massive Potomac River sewage spill and said the federal government would help only if local leaders ask politely, as Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and others push back against the idea that federal responsibility lies with them. The incident involved more than 200 million gallons of wastewater after a 60-year-old sewer line collapsed in Montgomery County, with DC Water and the EPA involved in the response. The dispute centers on accountability for the Piedmont sewer project and federal funding and authority, with Trump criticizing Moore and Moore insisting the federal government has long had responsibility for the project.
The Trump administration will immediately withdraw 700 federal immigration agents from Minnesota, reducing ICE presence to about 2,000 in the state. The move follows increased county jail cooperation to notify ICE about detainee releases; Minnesota law limits detainer holds and counties could face liability, with some counties (like Hennepin) resisting cooperation. The policy’s scope and implementation across counties remain unclear.
President Trump argued that if a state cannot administer elections legally and honestly, the federal government should step in or be substituted, signaling a push to nationalize voting and drawing Democratic concerns about interference in the upcoming midterms; the remarks came after he signed a funding bill at the White House and build on his prior calls to nationalize voting.
President Trump announced that federal assistance for riots in Democratic-led cities will be offered only if asked, while directing ICE and Border Patrol to protect federal property and respond forcefully to violence.
Former President Trump says federal authorities will not intervene in protests unless local officials explicitly invite them, signaling a limited federal role in Democratic-led cities.
President Trump signed an executive order creating the Great American Recovery Initiative to coordinate a national addiction-response across government, healthcare, faith groups, and the private sector, with co-chairs from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Senior Advisor for Addiction Recovery. The initiative aims to align federal programs, raise awareness, expand prevention and treatment, support recovery, and provide data-driven progress updates, building on prior actions like the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act and the HALT Fentanyl Act, while expanding access to treatment, Naloxone, and recovery services and enhancing prevention and Medicaid demonstrations.
President Trump signed an executive order that would strip local and state permitting authority for rebuilding homes and other structures damaged in the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires and hand it to the federal government. The plan directs FEMA and the Small Business Administration to draft regulations that could preempt local rules and allow builders to certify compliance with health and safety standards. Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass criticized the move as unprecedented and potentially legally dubious, while supporters say it could speed recovery. About 16,000 structures were affected, with roughly 4,700 rebuild applications and 2,000 approvals so far, highlighting the ongoing struggles of survivors and the broader political fight over disaster aid.
OpenAI and Leidos announced a partnership to embed OpenAI's AI tools into U.S. federal workflows, aiming to boost efficiency across national security, defense, and infrastructure. Leidos, a $24 billion contractor with deep DHS ties, will help deploy AI across federal operations, expanding OpenAI's government work after prior contracts with the Pentagon and national labs.
Bill Scher argues that Trump’s second term moved quickly to redefine the presidency through sweeping executive actions, tariffs, and aggressive foreign policy, but most changes are reversible and do not constitute lasting legacies. A future administration could roll back tariffs, rebuild a gutted federal bureaucracy, and restore a rules-based liberal international order, though restoring public trust and attracting durable civil service talent will be challenging. The piece also advocates reviving a Kennedy-era ethos of public service to renew government legitimacy after Trump.
The Justice Department asked a federal judge to let a surge of about 3,000 ICE agents in Minnesota continue despite a lawsuit by Minnesota and Minneapolis/St. Paul officials claiming it violates the 10th Amendment and infringes state sovereignty; the administration calls the suit an absurd overreach, while the operation has so far resulted in thousands of arrests and clashes with protesters.
The U.S. Justice Department issued subpoenas to Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey as part of a criminal investigation into whether their public statements impeded federal immigration enforcement, highlighting a deepening clash between Minnesota and the federal government amid the ICE surge and related funding and oversight disputes; both officials denounced the move, with Walz condemning it as weaponizing the justice system and Frey vowing not to be intimidated.
The Trump administration is threatening to revoke Colorado's authority to manage its wolf reintroduction program, citing alleged violations of management plans, which could halt efforts to restore wolves in the state. Colorado's plan, approved after a 2020 ballot initiative, involves reintroducing wolves from Canada and other regions, but the federal government disputes some of these actions, raising legal and political tensions amid ongoing debates over wolf conservation and management authority.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, along with 18 states and D.C., filed a lawsuit against the U.S. HHS over a declaration that seeks to restrict access to gender-affirming care for youth, arguing it unlawfully oversteps legal authority, threatens healthcare providers, and endangers transgender youth's access to necessary medical treatment.