National

By Medill News Service  |  D.C. Bureau By Zara Norman/Medill News Service WASHINGTON — John Bailey said he’s saved tens of thousands of dollars over the last decade by relying on a generic prescription to lower his cholesterol. The 68-year-old from central Texas was able to get a generic because the patent on a brand-name medication expired. He and many...

By Jonathan Shorman  |  D.C. Bureau President Donald Trump on Thursday moved to capitalize on a U.S. Supreme Court decision weakening the federal Voting Rights Act as he urged one governor to gerrymander his state and praised another for suspending an approaching primary. The court’s decision on Wednesday struck down Louisiana’s congressional map as unconstitutional and empowered other Republican states to...

By Ariana Figueroa  |  D.C. Bureau WASHINGTON — Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus raised serious concerns Thursday about the impact of a recent Department of Justice decision that will make it easier to deport hundreds of thousands of people brought into the country unlawfully as children, referred to as Dreamers. Texas Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro said the April 24 decision from the...

By Jennifer Shutt  |  D.C. Bureau WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans adopted their budget resolution Wednesday night, clearing the way for the party to pass a bill in the coming weeks that will provide tens of billions in additional funding for immigration enforcement. The 215-211 party-line vote unlocks the complicated budget reconciliation process that will allow the GOP to fund Immigration...

By Jennifer Shutt  |  D.C. Bureau WASHINGTON — State officials say they need more information from the Trump administration before they can fully implement new requirements for Medicaid, according to a survey released Thursday by KFF and the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. Republicans' “big, beautiful” law made several changes to the state-federal health program for lower income people...

By Ariana Figueroa  |  D.C. Bureau WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court appeared poised Wednesday to uphold the Trump administration's efforts to end temporary legal protections for 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians. The decision could also affect several other lawsuits related to what is known as Temporary Protected Status that are pending in lower courts. The suits challenge the Trump...

By Jacob Fischler  |  D.C. Bureau The U.S. House approved, 224-200, a five-year farm bill Thursday as members of Congress attempt to update major agriculture and nutrition policy after three years of extensions. The bill would authorize subsidy and nutrition assistance programs through fiscal 2031. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated an earlier version of the bill would not meaningfully affect discretionary...

By Jonathan Shorman   |  D.C. Bureau The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision gutting the federal Voting Rights Act sent Black Democrats in the U.S. House reeling on Wednesday, as they confronted a new reality where Republicans could gerrymander some of them out of office and limit the ability of Black voters to elect candidates in the future. Members of the...

By Jonathan Shorman  |  D.C. Bureau The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision gutting the federal Voting Rights Act could upend American politics and trigger a new rush to redraw congressional districts. The opinion released on Wednesday, in a case called Louisiana v. Callais, holds sweeping consequences for how states and local governments draw district lines at all levels of government, from Congress...

By Jennifer Shutt  |  D.C. Bureau WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed a bill Thursday that will fund almost every agency in the Department of Homeland Security for the next five months, ending the shutdown that began in mid-February. The House approved the bill, which doesn’t include additional spending on Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Border Patrol, on a...