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A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration's plan to suspend spending on grants and loans. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — A federal district judge issued a temporary restraining order on Friday, blocking the Trump administration from moving forward with a proposed spending freeze on grants and loans. Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. of the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island wrote in the  13-page ruling the administration’s “actions violate the Constitution and statutes of the United States.” “Federal law specifies how the Executive should act if it believes that appropriations are inconsistent with the President’s priorities–it must ask Congress, not act unilaterally,” McConnell wrote. “The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 specifies that the President may ask that Congress rescind appropriated funds. Here, there is no evidence that the Executive has followed the law by notifying Congress and thereby effectuating a potentially legally per...

The White House announced that tariffs on products from Mexico, Canada and China will begin Feb. 1. (Getty Images) WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump plans to implement tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China on Saturday, potentially starting off a trade war that would likely lead to price increases on groceries and numerous other products. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a briefing Friday that Trump will place 25% tariffs on goods coming into the United States from Canada and Mexico, and a 10% tariff on imports from China. Tariffs are paid by businesses bringing goods into the United States from other countries and they often pass on the increase in costs to consumers. “The tariffs are incoming tomorrow on Canada and the reason for that is because both Canada and Mexico have both allowed an unprecedented invasion of illegal fentanyl that is killing American citizens and also illegal immigrants into our country,” Leavitt said. Trump hasn’t yet decided if he w...

Calvin Gorman, 50, left, walks last year near Gallup, N.M., on the way from his job in Gallup to his home in Fort Defiance, Ariz., part of the Navajo Nation. American Indians in Western and Midwestern states had the lowest life expectancy of any group in the country in 2021. (Tim Henderson/Stateline) This story originally appeared on Stateline . There’s growing evidence that some American demographic groups need more help than others to live longer, healthier lives. American Indians in Western and Midwestern states have the shortest life expectancy as of 2021, 63.6 years. That’s more than 20 years shorter than Asian Americans nationwide, who can expect to live to 84, according to a recent study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. White residents live shorter lives in Appalachia and some Southern states, as do Black residents in highly segregated cities and in the rural South, the study found. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCR...

Emergency response units search the crash site of an American Airlines plane on the Potomac River on Jan. 30, 2025, after the plane crashed on approach to Reagan National Airport just outside Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — U.S. senators said Thursday they are investigating the deadly midair collision between a commercial jet carrying 64 people and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia, just outside the District of Columbia. Meanwhile, with no conclusive evidence on the cause of the worst U.S. air disaster in years yet disclosed, President Donald Trump in a White House press event tied the tragedy to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at the Department of Transportation. The president blamed air traffic controller standards and the Biden administration’s “big push to put diversity into the FAA program,” pointing to former DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg in particular. Butti...

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services ,departs after testifying in a confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington, D.C.  (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s opinions about vaccine safety, both past and present, appeared likely to lead at least a few Senate Republicans to vote against his nomination following a second confirmation hearing Thursday. Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician and chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said at the end of the three-hour hearing that he agrees with Kennedy that vaccines should be safe and effective, but that the two are far apart in how they went about their research. “As someone who has discussed immunizations with thousands of people, I understand that mothers want reassurance that the vaccine the...

The University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa. Professors and students at UA and the University of Alabama Birmingham, as well as civil rights groups are seeking a preliminary injunction against Alabama’s SB 129, arguing that the law is unconstitutional. (Getty Images) Professors, students and civil rights advocates filed a motion Thursday seeking a preliminary injunction against Alabama’s SB 129, a law they claim imposes restrictions on discussions of race and gender in public universities. The lawsuit was filed on Jan. 14 and brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Alabama, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) and the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP on behalf of three University of Alabama professors and three University of Alabama in Birmingham students. It argues that the law violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments by restricting academic freedom and imposing vague prohibitions that chill free speech.  “This law undermines the fundamental mission of hi...

Surrounded by members of Congress and the family of Laken Riley, President Donald Trump signs the Laken Riley Act, the first piece of legislation passed during his second term in office, in the East Room of the White House on Jan. 29, 2025, in Washington, D.C.  U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, a Georgia Republican who represents the district where Riley was killed, is at far left.  (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump Wednesday signed into law the first bill of his second term, a measure that would require immigration officials to detain immigrants arrested or charged with property crimes, among others, and give broad legal authority to state attorneys general to challenge federal immigration law. “Today’s signings bring us one step closer to eradicating the scourge of migrant crime in our communities once and for all,” Trump said. Immigration advocates and attorneys have warned the bill would help fuel Trump’s promise to enact mass deportati...

President Donald Trump attends inauguration ceremonies in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Wednesday rescinded a memo issued less than 48 hours earlier that had called for a spending freeze on numerous federal grant and loan programs. The original memo, released Monday evening by the Office of Management and Budget,  led to widespread confusion and frustration by organizations like Meals on Wheels and grantees that rely on funding from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, as well as members of Congress from both political parties. Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, welcomed OMB rescinding the memo. “I am pleased that OMB is rescinding the memo imposing sweeping pauses in federal programs,” Collins wrote in a statement. “While it is not unusual for incoming administrations to review federal programs and policies, t...

U.S. Senate Republicans on Jan. 28, 2025, blocked a resolution condemning pardons for supporters of President Donald Trump who violently attacked and injured police officers when they broke into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.  Shown are some Trump supporters that day. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans Tuesday blocked a resolution condemning pardons for supporters of President Donald Trump who violently attacked and injured police officers when they broke into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Democratic Sen. Patty Murray requested unanimous consent for the  resolution on the floor but was met with opposition from Majority Whip John Barrasso. Unanimous consent is a common route senators take for simple resolutions, military nominations and other actions, but adoption can be blocked by just one senator. Hours after his Jan. 20 inauguration, Trump commuted the prison sentences for 14 of the most serious offenders on Jan. 6, includ...

The office of the Alabama Medicaid Agency, as seen on Jan. 23, 2023 in Montgomery, Alabama. President Donald Trump’s federal aid freeze has caused confusion and disrupted funding for Alabama’s Medicaid and education agencies. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)) President Donald Trump’s freeze on federal assistance created confusion and concern Tuesday among state agencies and nonprofits that depend on federal money for operations. A spokeswoman for the Alabama Medicaid Agency said Tuesday that the agency appeared to have been locked out of its federal funding portal. The Alabama State Department of Education said that at least some of its discretionary funding had been affected. In a memo dated Monday, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced a freeze on all federal financial assistance, including grants and loans. The move affected both state programs and nonprofits that depend on federal funding for programs. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE T...

Police ballistic markers stand near a stroller and a child’s chair at a crime scene in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The number of homicides across the United States declined sharply in 2024, according to the Council on Criminal Justice’s latest crime trends report. Still, New York City is one of the major cities with a higher number of homicides in 2024 compared with pre-pandemic levels. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) The number of homicides across the United States declined by 16% in 2024, continuing a recent downward trajectory, according to the latest crime trends report from the Council on Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan think tank. Homicides spiked during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, and crime became a central focus of President Donald Trump’s 2024 reelection campaign. Trump insisted that FBI crime data showing declines was “fake” and claimed that crime was “through the roof.” The second Trump administration is expected to adopt a tough-on-crime approach...