Ariana Figueroa, Georgia Recorder The White House Monday announced nearly $1 billion in investments to address economic causes of migration in several Central American countries, an effort being spurred by Vice President Kamala Harris. Spread over several years, 10 private companies from Target to Nestlé are pledging $950 million to create …

Ethan DeWitt, Kentucky Lantern The Democratic National Committee approved a presidential primary calendar Saturday that placed South Carolina as the first nominating state in 2024, pushing back New Hampshire and Iowa from their traditional spots in a party-wide push to diversify the early calendar. In a voice vote at the …

The Agriculture Department on Friday proposed new nutrition standards for school meals that would impose the first limit on added sugar in lunches and breakfasts served by school cafeterias. Via NBC News: The proposal also seeks to lower sodium levels and puts more of an emphasis on whole-grain products in …

Jake Johnson Former Vice President Mike Pence, a possible 2024 presidential candidate, has voiced support for a Social Security privatization scheme that the George W. Bush administration unsuccessfully pushed nearly two decades ago. In a closed-door event Thursday hosted by the National Association of Wholesale-Distributors, a corporate trade group, Pence …

Greg LaRose, Louisiana Illuminator Recent actions from the far right give proof that they have no interest in tackling the pressing concerns of our country – just the opposite in fact. What’s more important to them is earning meaningless merit badges from a dwindling flock of followers swayed more by …

As some families seek restitution for the suffering caused by former President Donald Trump’s family separation policy, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Thursday acknowledged that nearly five years after the policy was first enforced, 998 children have yet to be reunited with their relatives. On the two-year anniversary …

A U.S. Air Force fighter safely shot down a Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon on Saturday, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin said in a written statement. President Joe Biden ordered the action on Wednesday, but it was delayed until the balloon was over water off the coast of South Carolina …

Casey Quinlan, Georgia Recorder As states plan how they’ll spend the $25 billion remaining in federal COVID relief funds, some also are facing criticism and renewed scrutiny over how they allocated money already received from the American Rescue Plan Act. Of the $198 billion authorized by Congress in 2021, $173 …

Sen. Ed Markey on Thursday introduced legislation to outlaw the marketing of firearms to children amid growing outrage from federal lawmakers, gun violence prevention advocates, and parents over a weapon for kids inspired by the AR-15. The Massachusetts Democrat’s Protecting Kids From Gun Marketing Act would direct the Federal Trade …

Michael Moline, Florida Phoenix Florida judges no longer will need to learn how to at least try to ensure “fairness and diversity” while applying the law under a rule change that the Florida Supreme Court has adopted by a nearly unanimous vote. Florida’s Code of Judicial Conduct still requires 30 …

Dana DiFilippo, New Jersey Monitor Using sexual images to extort victims could soon become a crime in New Jersey after lawmakers in the Senate unanimously passed legislation Thursday to criminalize “sextortion.” Sextortion can involve someone hacking into a person’s computer or phone to steal sexual material and threaten to distribute it, …

Ariana Figueroa, Iowa Capital Dispatch The Congressional Black Caucus met with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris Thursday evening to urge the administration to use its executive power for law enforcement reform, following criminal charges for police officers in the killing of a Black man in Memphis, Tennessee. …

Jennifer Shutt, Minnesota Reformer The U.S. House voted along party lines Thursday to remove Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee for past antisemitic statements. The removal, the first for a Democrat during this session of Congress, followed Democrats’ vote to strip two Republicans of all their …

Ariana Figueroa, South Dakota Searchlight House Republicans on the Judiciary Committee blamed the Biden administration for fentanyl drug smuggling at the U.S.-Mexico border during a Wednesday hearing. Chair Jim Jordan of Ohio also blamed U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for the number of migrants at the border, …

Molly Minta, Mississippi Today Lawmakers have introduced 31 bills targeting the rights of LGBTQ+ Mississippians in education and health care as the first deadline to pass bills out of committee approaches. It is likely the highest number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in any state legislature so far this year, say …