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People walk into a New York City grocery store that accepts food stamps. The poverty rate declined last year, but participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps, is up in 18 states. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Poverty dropped last year nationwide and in 38 states, according to census estimates released Thursday. But since that decrease was recorded in mid-2024, more people have signed up for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps, in 18 states and the District of Columbia. In those places, more people were using food stamps in May 2025 than in May 2024, according to the latest data available from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Nationally, the number of people on food stamps decreased slightly, by about 11,000 people, according to the preliminary data. The broad domestic policy law President Donald Trump signed in July will cut federal funding for SNAP and tighten elig...

Planned Parenthood signage is seen in New York City on April 16, 2021. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — The Trump administration can block Medicaid funding from going to Planned Parenthood after an appeals court on Thursday overturned a lower court’s preliminary injunction.  Republicans in Congress included the one-year funding prohibition in their “big, beautiful” law, which President Donald Trump signed in early July.  The Department of Health and Human Services, however, has not been able to implement that policy change after a district court judge blocked it from taking effect in a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood.  The Trump administration appealed that ruling to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which released  a two-page order Thursday without explaining its decision.  The three-judge panel comprised Gustavo A. Gelpí, Lara E. Montecalvo and Seth R. Aframe, all of whom were nominated to their current position by forme...

File photo of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, which is among the nation's largest Hispanic-serving institutions. Hispanic-serving institutions and other colleges and universities serving students of color will lose funding under a recent U.S. Education Department decision. (Photo by Hugh Jackson/Nevada Current) WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Education announced it will withhold $350 million of congressionally approved funds to minority-serving colleges and universities and divert the funds elsewhere, saying that the institutions’ admissions quotas are discriminatory.   The move eliminated fiscal 2025 discretionary funding for institutions that serve students who are Asian, Black, Indigenous and Hispanic, as well as a program for students of color pursuing careers in science and engineering. It’s consistent with President Donald Trump’s longstanding objective to eliminate programs that center on diversity, equity and inclusion. “To further our commitment to ending...

U.S. Marshals and Homeland Security Investigations agents take a man into custody at the intersection of 14th and N streets NW in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 3, 2025. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — A siren blared down one of Washington, D.C.’s busiest thoroughfares. And then, a loud noise.  Residents in nearby apartment buildings peered through windows and from balconies to find a dark-colored SUV bumped up against a moped lying on the ground. A dog walker called 911 to report the incident before it became apparent that the unmarked vehicle belonged to federal law enforcement, when men in U.S. Marshals Service flak vests exited. The rear driver-side tire on the Chevy Tahoe had completely blown and the marshals struggled to find a jack and spare while a uniformed Washington Metropolitan Police Department officer stood guard. Bystanders pulled out phones to record and heckled. “Shame, shame, shame,” one repeatedly yelled. Another from a nearby apartment bal...

Law enforcement officers respond to a shooting at Evergreen High School in Jefferson County on Sept. 10, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office) Three students were hospitalized in critical condition after a shooting at Evergreen High School, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday. One of the hospitalized students is the suspected shooter. The shooting was reported shortly after noon and is believed to have taken place on school grounds but not inside the building, Jacki Kelley, a sheriff’s office spokesperson, said in a press conference. It was not immediately clear how the shooting suspect was injured, but Kelley said she did not “believe law enforcement fired any rounds today.” “There is no danger. No one needs to be locked down,” Kelley said. “The school has been swept, so now the hard work begins. We have to to protect our crime scenes, and we have to put together a case.” GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE Colorado Gov. Jared Polis...

Founder and executive director of Turning Point USA Charlie Kirk speaks at the opening of the Turning Point Action conference on July 15, 2023 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot at an event in Utah, at Utah Valley University in Orem on Thursday, according to reports from the scene.  Videos circulating on social media show students scattering after a popping sound is heard and Kirk appears to be impacted by something. In a statement, Utah Valley University confirmed Kirk was shot, but that his condition was unknown. A suspect is in custody, the university said in an X post . “Today at about 12:10 a shot was fired at the visiting speaker, Charlie Kirk. He was hit and taken from the location by his security,” the university wrote. Police are investigating and the campus has been closed for the rest of the day. President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social “We must all pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been...

Minister of Justice and Public Security Héctor Villatoro, right, accompanies Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, center, during a tour of the Terrorist Confinement Center on March 26, 2025 in Tecoluca, El Salvador.  (Photo by Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — The Trump administration paid El Salvador $4.76 million to detain up to 300 immigrant men for up to a year at a notorious mega-prison and barred the funds from being used to help asylum seekers, reproductive care or diversity initiatives, according to a court document filed Tuesday.  It’s the first time the  financial agreement has been made public after the White House initially said the deal amounted to $6 million.  The payments were part of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown and decision to invoke a wartime law to remove Venezuelan nationals.  The four-page agreement between the United States and El Salvador verifies that the funds came out of ...

New Mexico Lt. Gov. Howie Morales, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Early Childhood Education and Care Department Secretary Elizabeth Groginsky announced the state will implement a universal free child care system during a news conference on Sept. 8 in Santa Fe. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source NM) New Mexico will offer child care at no cost to all residents, regardless of incomes, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced on Monday , thus becoming the first U.S. state to offer universal free child care, she said. The state Early Childhood Education and Care Department will begin writing rules to entirely remove the income eligibility threshold for a family to receive child care assistance by Nov. 1. The state currently waives parent copays on child care for families whose income is up to 400% of the federal poverty level. “Child care is essential to family stability, workforce participation, and New Mexico’s future prosperity,” the governor said in a statement issued following a new...

The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 9, 2024. (Photo by Jane Norman/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday said the Trump administration can temporarily hold on to $4 billion in foreign aid funding approved by Congress, overturning a lower court’s order and continuing a struggle over who controls the nation’s purse strings.  The one-page ruling from the emergency docket, signed by Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., came just one day after the administration appealed the lower court’s ruling.  While the original lawsuit over withheld foreign aid began in February and stemmed from an executive order, the Trump administration  sent Congress a rescissions request covering some of the spending in late August.  The proposal is part of the formal process laid out in a 1974 law that allows the president to ask lawmakers to cancel previously approved spending.  Congress typically has 45 days to approve, modify, or disagree with a rescissions re...

Officials celebrated the launch of Maryland’s legal sports betting market at MGM National Harbor in December 2021 in Oxon Hill, Md. As many states legalize sports betting, officials are increasingly eyeing a certain type of wager known as a prop bet for increased regulation. (Photo by Shannon Finney/Getty Images for MGM National Harbor) As a bankruptcy attorney, New Jersey Assemblymember Dan Hutchison said he sees clients “all the time” whose betting on football and baseball quickly leads to missed car payments, delinquent mortgages and, ultimately, bankruptcy. The rise of live, in-game bets — in which a gambler could place more than 200 individual bets during a baseball game if they wager on each pitch thrown — has only amplified his misgivings. “And I’m like, are you kidding me? I mean, they’re betting on the next pitch, the next play, and it’s constant,” he said. “There’s no pause. It’s just not healthy.” Worried that those bets can worsen problem gambling and threaten the inte...

Iowa crops emerge from a field along south-bound Interstate 35 on May 12, 2025. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch) This story was originally published by ProPublica . ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox . Reporting Highlights Paid to Stay: In some of the most flood- and drought-prone parts of the country, subsidies are keeping farmers on land that is no longer productive. In Dogtooth Bend: One family couldn’t afford to leave their failing land, so they kept planting fields to collect federally subsidized insurance. “It was a nightmare.” Trump Doubles Down: This year’s budget bill expanded farm support. But the Trump administration cut employees who manage programs that could help pull troubled farmland out of production. These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story. The seed tractor sank again, no surprise to Steve...