Poli Alert Politics & Civics

In a significant rebuke to the Trump administration, a federal judge ruled Thursday that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) had no legal authority to order agencies to fire probationary employees, declaring its directives “illegal” and ordering them to be rescinded. Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California …

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is once again under fire as discrepancies emerge in its latest cost-cutting claims. For the second time in two weeks, DOGE’s self-published “receipts” of canceled contracts fail to match its savings figures, raising serious questions about the agency’s transparency and accuracy. On Monday, DOGE …

President Donald Trump has unveiled a new visa initiative dubbed the “Gold Card,” designed to grant lawful permanent residency to wealthy foreigners willing to invest $5 million in the United States. The initiative, which Trump says will launch within two weeks, aims to attract “very high-level people” while generating revenue …

LUBBOCK — A school-aged child has died in Lubbock from measles, the first death reported in an ongoing outbreak that has infected more than 120 people in West Texas since January, Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed on Wednesday. According to state officials, the child, who was unvaccinated, was …

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday it plans to spend up to $1 billion in Commodity Credit Corporation funds to try to reduce the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza in poultry. The virus, also known as bird flu or H5N1, has disrupted the work of poultry farmers for …

The Trump administration has directed federal agencies to submit large-scale workforce reduction plans as part of an initiative to cut costs and streamline government operations. A memo issued by Budget Director Russell Vought and Acting Office of Personnel Management Director Charles Ezell instructs agency heads to deliver their first phase …

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday aimed at strengthening enforcement of health care price transparency rules—one of his signature health policy initiatives. The move signals a more aggressive approach to ensuring hospitals and insurers comply with requirements to disclose the prices they negotiate for medical services, a …

Lawmakers in at least nine states have introduced measures aimed at undermining same-sex couples’ right to marry, with some explicitly calling for the Supreme Court to overturn its landmark 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges. One of the latest efforts comes from Michigan, where State Rep. Josh Schriver (R) introduced …

In a sharp departure from long-standing traditions, the White House announced Tuesday that it will now determine which news organizations receive close access to President Donald Trump. The decision upends a system that, for over a century, allowed a press pool of independently chosen journalists to follow the president and …

The House of Representatives passed a Republican budget resolution Tuesday in a razor-thin 217-215 vote, setting the stage for President Donald Trump’s economic and policy agenda. The passage marked a major victory for House Speaker Mike Johnson, who spent hours persuading reluctant GOP holdouts. 🔹 Key Facts:✔️ Only one Republican—Rep. …

In a rapid succession of legal rulings, three different federal judges on Tuesday delivered stinging rebukes to President Donald Trump’s administration, blocking key policies that had been at the center of his early second-term agenda. The decisions—issued in Washington, D.C., and Washington state—underscore the judiciary’s pivotal role in challenging the …

The Trump administration has reinstated applications for a federal scholarship supporting students at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) pursuing agricultural studies, following sharp criticism from lawmakers over its abrupt suspension last week. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) had halted the 1890 National Scholars Program, which provides full tuition, …

Vivek Ramaswamy officially launched his campaign for governor of Ohio on Monday, saying “America is back, and it feels fantastic.” Ramaswamy, a former 2024 presidential primary candidate and briefly co-head of the Department of Government Efficency, joins a Republican primary that also includes Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. On the …

Speaker Mike Johnson is forging ahead with a House vote this week on a multi-trillion-dollar budget resolution, a key test for President Donald Trump’s economic agenda. However, a group of conservative hardliners is threatening to derail the vote, citing concerns over insufficient spending cuts. Conservatives Revolt Over Spending Cuts Four …

President Donald Trump welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron to the White House on Monday, where Ukraine and Russia dominated the agenda as the world marks three years since Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion. At a joint press conference, Trump suggested that the war could end “within weeks” if handled “smartly” but …