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Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, speaks at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C., in December. CMS this week released guidance on how states should implement new Medicaid work requirements. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) The federal government released new guidance this week on how states should roll out the Medicaid work requirements that will affect  healthcare coverage for millions of Americans. The new interim rule, issued by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, is intended to give states more details on how they’re supposed to verify the work status for about 20 million adults enrolled in Medicaid, the publicly funded health insurance program for people with low incomes. The new details come as states are staring down the January 1, 2027, deadline to put the new work requirements in place, and have requested more clarity from the feds on how they’re supposed to implement ...

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin leaves at the conclusion of the public portion of his confirmation hearing on March 18, 2026. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin appeared before the U.S. Senate Appropriations Homeland Security panel Tuesday and defended his threats to cripple international air travel into some cities led by Democrats. Democratic senators on the panel also pressed Mullin about aggressive immigration tactics from federal officers; whether the department would follow court orders from federal judges; and his recent  televised comments floating plans to pull customs employees from airports in cities that don’t cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. Republicans also probed Mullin about visa issues affecting rural hospitals and employers in the hospitality industry. It was the first time Mullin, who was advocating for President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2027 budget request, has appeared befo...

The U.S. Supreme Court as seen on April 9, 2026. The Supreme Court on Tuesday evening allowed Alabama to use a 2023 congressional map that was previously ruled racially discriminatory, blocking a lower court's ruling, in an August special primary. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom) The U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday evening allowed Alabama to use a 2023 congressional map, reversing a lower court’s ruling that repeatedly deemed the map racially discriminatory. In an unsigned 6-3 decision on the case known as Allen v. Milligan, the court wrote that the lower court’s map would not be “more convenient” for Alabama than the congressional map the Legislature passed in 2023.   “Here, the District Court interposed itself into Alabama’s ongoing efforts to conduct its imminent 2026 congressional elections under maps that its elected representatives selected,” the justices wrote. “While federal courts should not impose changes close to an election, states are free to decide for themselves...

Tamara Taitt, the executive director of the Atlanta Birth Center and a plaintiff in a lawsuit against Georgia’s midwifery restrictions, speaks at a news conference outside the state Capitol in Atlanta on April 2, 2026. Midwives are suing the state over a law that requires them to have collaborative practice agreements with physicians, a regulation that they say limits their scope of care. (Photo by Maya Homan/Georgia Recorder) Black midwives in the South, a region rife with racial disparities in maternal health access and maternal mortality, are leading lawsuits over state regulations that they say limit their ability to provide care. Women behind the litigation say midwives can help improve birthing outcomes in Southern states, where maternal mortality rates are higher than the overall U.S. rate, and treat low-risk pregnancies in rural and underserved areas. They turned to the courts, they said, after legislative attempts to widen their scope of practice stalled. The lawsuits were f...

U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, the Republican nominee for governor, speaks to reporters after voting in Auburn, Alabama on May 19, 2026. Tuberville on Monday submitted Alabama income tax returns from 2018 to 2024 to defend his residency, but an expert said they are not enough on their own to prove the nominee has met the Alabama Constitution's seven year residency requirement. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector) U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville submitted partially redacted income tax records on Monday evening from 2018 to 2024 to prove that he meets the Alabama Constitution’s residency requirement for governor. The Alabama Republican Party (ALGOP) announced Monday that it will hear Ken McFeeters’ third challenge of Tuberville’s residency , who won the Republican nomination for governor on May 19. McFeeters, who got second place in the primary, would become the party’s nominee if the challenge finds that Tuberville has not the eligibility requirement to be a candidate for that office. The Al...

A volunteer records details about a person experiencing homelessness in Salt Lake City on Jan. 30, 2026. There was a slight year-over-year decline in homelessness between 2024 and 2025, according to new federal data. (Photo by Aline Walker for the Utah News Dispatch) There were fewer homeless people in the United States on a single night in January 2025 than in January 2024, but homelessness increased in 28 states, according to the latest federal count. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development counted 745,652 homeless people in its latest “point-in-time” estimate , down 3% from the year before. The count was conducted before the Trump administration late last year announced a shift away from long-term housing in favor of funding transitional housing with work and addiction treatment requirements. HUD said the decrease was driven largely by a 4% decline in the number of people in emergency shelter. The number of unsheltered homeless people fell by 3%. In releasing the n...