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Trump admin sues Illinois, Chicago, Cook County over immigrant protection laws on Supremacy Clause grounds
Approved, Courthouse News Service, National

Trump admin sues Illinois, Chicago, Cook County over immigrant protection laws on Supremacy Clause grounds

By Dave Byrnes  | Courthouse News The Trump administration filed a federal lawsuit against Illinois, Chicago and Cook County on Thursday morning, claiming local laws designed to protect immigrants violate the constitution. The lawsuit declares a "national crisis" of illegal immigration and asserts a need to enforce federal immigration laws. "This action seeks to put an end to one state’s efforts to impede the federal government from doing that," the government writes in the suit. The government specifically claims Illinois' Way Forward Act and TRUST Acts, Chicago's Welcoming City Ordinance and Cook County's Ordinance 11-O-73 all violate the U.S. Constitution's Supremacy Clause, which establishes that federal law takes precedent over state law. READ THE FULL STORY A...
Employers say they need more skilled talent, but there’s a disconnect between workers and employers
Approved, State, The Sum & Substance

Employers say they need more skilled talent, but there’s a disconnect between workers and employers

By Ed Sealover | The Sum & Substance In less than three weeks, Colorado employers and educators will begin what many feel is a long-overdue process of identifying the greatest shortages in skills for in-demand jobs and working in partnership to create career pathways to fill those gaps. As simple as that collaboration may sound on paper, it is an idea that too many business leaders, as well as many K-12 and college officials, say has not germinated due to a lack of communication between the institutions that train the workforce and those who employ it. And the disconnect between those wanting to work and those wanting to hire workers has never been clearer. Colorado had 134,000 job openings late last year — the highest total of any state, according to the Bureau of Labor Stati...
Man convicted in Aurora operation that produced ‘millions’ of fentanyl pills
Approved, kdvr.com, Local

Man convicted in Aurora operation that produced ‘millions’ of fentanyl pills

By Jacob Factor | KDVR-TV Fox 31 News A Denver jury has convicted a man responsible for producing “millions of individual fentanyl pills” during 2024 in a drug manufacturing operation based in Aurora, the Denver District Attorney announced Wednesday morning. Tashon Roberts, 33, was convicted on four charges related to the manufacture, possession and distribution of fentanyl as well as three counts of child abuse – exposure to the manufacturing of a controlled substance and one count of tampering with physical evidence. The jury also convicted Roberts on three “Special Drug Offender” sentence enhancement charges. READ THE FULL STORY AT KDVR-TV FOX 31 NEWS
Freshman U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd chairs his first subcommittee meeting on Indian affairs
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Freshman U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd chairs his first subcommittee meeting on Indian affairs

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice If it takes years of tenure in Washington, D.C., to even earn subcommittee chairmanships, no one told U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, R-Grand Junction. The freshman congressman from Colorado's 3rd District on the Western Slope chaired his first subcommittee meeting Wednesday, the U.S. House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs under the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources. "I'm honored to serve as the new chairman of the subcommittee, and look forward to working with our American Indian, Alaska Native and Insular partners," Hurd began the subcommittee hearing. The subcommittee was previously chaired by Rep. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming. https://twitter.com/RepJeffHurd/status/1887182581998788904 The subcommittee oversees matters conf...
Trump teases big plans to celebrate America’s 250th birthday starting with a ‘National Garden of Heroes’
Approved, Daily Mail, National

Trump teases big plans to celebrate America’s 250th birthday starting with a ‘National Garden of Heroes’

By Emily Goodin | Daily Mail President Donald Trump teased big plans to celebrate America's 250th birthday next year, plugging his National Garden of Heroes as a centerpiece of the festivities. Trump, a real estate tycoon, has envisioned a national park filled with statues of great Americans since his first term in office. He needs Congress to fund the project and, when he spoke to lawmakers at the Capitol Thursday for the National Prayer Breakfast, put in a plug for his project, tying it to America's big birthday. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE DAILY MAIL
Education Department spent hundreds of millions injecting DEI into school districts
Approved, National, Washington Examiner

Education Department spent hundreds of millions injecting DEI into school districts

By Robert Schmad | Washington Examiner The Department of Education, which is facing the ax under President Donald Trump’s new administration, set aside over $300 million in grants intended to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion by prioritizing resources for racial minorities, according to a Washington Examiner analysis of grant records. Federal disbursements identified by the Washington Examiner occurred under both the Biden administration and the first Trump administration. Trump’s Office of Management and Budget, however, recently ordered a freeze of all federal grants shortly after the president took office, partially to rein in government DEI spending. “The American people sent a clear message to Congress in November — they are...
Trump lays out exactly how he plans for U.S. to seize control of Gaza
Approved, National, New York Post

Trump lays out exactly how he plans for U.S. to seize control of Gaza

By Emily Crane | New York Post President Trump on Thursday laid out how his proposed US takeover of the Gaza Strip would unfold, insisting it wouldn’t need military action and would ensure that “stability for the region would reign.” “The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting,” Trump stated in an early morning Truth Social post. “The Palestinians, people like Chuck Schumer, would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region,” he continued, with a knock on the Democratic New York senator. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE NEW YORK POST
More than 40k federal workers have taken Trump buyout offer, more could jump by midnight deadline
Approved, National, The Post Millennial

More than 40k federal workers have taken Trump buyout offer, more could jump by midnight deadline

By Thomas Stevenson | The Post Millennial Since the Trump administration sent out an email to nearly every federal employee offering them payment until September if they resign, over 40,000 federal workers have taken the offer. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) set a deadline for late Thursday for employees to decide whether to accept the buyout. According to the Wall Street Journal, OPM officials said that over 40,000 federal employees have agreed to resign, and they expect that number to rise by the deadline on Thursday at 11:59 pm. The White House anticipated that 5 to 10 percent of federal employees would accept the offer, aiming to cut costs by around $100 billion, but that goal has yet to be met, according to the outlet. Some uncertainty about whether ...
GS-14 DHS official admits department will defy Trump appointed Secretary Kristi Noem’s ‘marching orders’
Approved, National, OMG Media

GS-14 DHS official admits department will defy Trump appointed Secretary Kristi Noem’s ‘marching orders’

By OMG Team | OMG Media Brandon Wright, a GS-14 Platform Services Manager for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), admitted that career officials within the department actively resist directives from political appointees, including newly appointed DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. “The truth is, we don’t let them [secretaries] get in our way,” Wright disclosed to an undercover O’Keefe Media journalist. He went on to explain the deeply entrenched bureaucratic resistance within DHS, likening it to a multi-layered septic system that filters out directives it does not align with. “There’s a lot of layers, like [in] government… By the time the actual marching orders get to me and below, we can filter it in a way that steadies the ship.” READ THE FULL STORY AT OMG MEDIA
U.S. government dropped millions on media outlet Politico. Here’s what they spent it on
Approved, National, The Daily Caller

U.S. government dropped millions on media outlet Politico. Here’s what they spent it on

By Robert McGreevy | Daily Caller U.S. government agencies have dropped a staggering $34 million in contracts with Virginia-based news outlet Politico, mostly on subscriptions, according to data from USASpending.gov. The payments vary in size and scope and come from virtually every government agency. The Department of the Interior‘s (DOI) National Park Service awarded a contract worth $862,025 over a period between 2021 and 2025 for subscriptions to Politico’s Energy and Environment (E&E) News service. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, another DOI subsidiary, also made a purchase order of $455,140 to Politico for an “online news subscription” over a similar timeframe. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE DAILY CALLER