A federal judge dismissed Indiana voting rights groups’ lawsuit on procedural grounds, leaving in place laws that have canceled or rejected the voter registrations of about 62% of flagged naturalized citizens — with November midterms approaching.
State courts and officials this week drew protective lines around ballots in Indiana, after-school programs in Detroit, uranium-contaminated lands in New Mexico, and veterans waiting months for mental health benefits in North Carolina — each a concrete win against a backdrop of federal pressure running the other direction.
President Trump promised $5,000 checks to every American adult at the Republican midterm convention — but only if Republicans win Congress in November. The $1.2 trillion proposal faces federal election-law questions, bipartisan pushback, and a pattern of similar promises that never arrived.
Arizona’s Medicaid agency has launched a website to help some 417,000 enrollees navigate new federal work requirements taking effect in January 2027. Advocates warn that many eligible people could lose coverage through administrative confusion even if they qualify for exemptions.
Affordable housing solutions include single-stair multifamily buildings, cutting construction costs, and increasing density.
The Trump administration ended a federally mandated legal aid program for tens of thousands of unaccompanied immigrant children, replacing it with providers that advocates say cannot deliver real representation in court. A federal judge is now demanding proof the government is meeting its legal obligations.
Working communities in Texas, Tennessee, New York, and Pennsylvania secured concrete wins through organizing, courts, and executive action this year — from health coverage for musicians to $6.1 million in neighborhood infrastructure. The gains came through advocacy and, in one case, a successful lawsuit.
The acting head of the federal special education office resigned Wednesday, hours before her staff was set to transfer to HHS as part of the Trump administration’s effort to dismantle the Education Department. Disability advocates warn the vacancy will deepen confusion and erode accountability for families of students with disabilities.
Missouri’s Secretary of State faces a contempt hearing Thursday after instructing county clerks to use a Republican-drawn congressional map despite a state Supreme Court order blocking it. The clash follows contradictory rulings from two courts 28 minutes apart, leaving local election officials with no clear answer on which districts will appear on November’s ballots.
A 10% broadband adoption boost can cut waiting time by 1.19%, saving 36.5M hours annually—valued at $1.2 billion.
North Carolina’s Healthy Opportunities Pilot, the first program in the country to use Medicaid to pay for food, housing and transportation, will restart with $25 million — less than a third of the $80 million administrators requested.
The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to lift an order blocking the use of a revamped federal immigration database to scrub state voter rolls — a system that has already flagged thousands of eligible American citizens.