January 2025 Archive
“People Will Die”: The Trump Administration Said It Lifted Its Ban on Lifesaving Humanitarian Aid. That’s Not True.
Organizations that provide vital care for desperate and vulnerable people around the world have been forced to halt operations, turn away patients and lay off staff. “I’ve never seen anything that scares me as much as this,” one doctor said.
ICE Enforcement Official Tapped to Lead Unaccompanied Migrant Children Office, Triggering Alarms
ICE official Mellissa Harper has been tapped to lead the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Her hire has concerned experts and advocates that information about children and their families could be shared for arrests and deportations.
ProPublica’s Coverage of Donald Trump’s Appointments — and How They Could Reshape Federal Agencies
President Trump’s nominees for key positions have a history of pushing back against the work of the departments and agencies they’ve been chosen to lead.
Boxed Up: A Portrait of an Immigrant Community Living Under Threat of Deportation
The Nicaraguans who keep Wisconsin’s dairy farms, restaurants and factories working are sending home their most prized possessions, bracing for potential mass deportations. “We don’t have much, but what we do have is important.”
The Rewriting of a Pioneering Female Astronomer’s Legacy Shows How Far Trump’s DEI Purge Will Go
The federal webpage for an observatory named for the late astronomer Vera Rubin was edited to omit any recognition of the fact that science remains a male-dominated field or that the observatory was working to be more inclusive.
To Pay for Trump Tax Cuts, House GOP Floats Plan to Slash Benefits for the Poor and Working Class
A menu of options being circulated by congressional Republicans also includes new tax cuts for corporations and the ultrawealthy.
In the Wild West of School Voucher Expansions, States Rely on Untested Companies, With Mixed Results
States are handing multimillion-dollar contracts to a handful of fledgling private companies to manage the rapidly growing, convoluted marketplace of school-choice programs. The process has been bumpy.
A Defense Department Directive to Expand Access to Military Courts Falls Short of Federal Law’s Requirements
The guidance comes more than two years after ProPublica sued the Navy over its failure to provide court records. Legal experts say it doesn’t go far enough to increase transparency in military courts.
How Many Students Have Been Expelled Under Tennessee’s School Threats Law? There’s No Clear Answer.
Tennessee gives public agencies wide latitude to refuse to release data. That made it challenging for our reporters to figure out just how many students were affected.
They Followed North Carolina Election Rules When They Cast Their Ballots. Now Their Votes Could Be Tossed Anyway.
A Republican judge is trying to overturn his election loss by challenging more than 60,000 ballots. These are some of those voters’ stories.
Dozens of People Died in Arizona Sober Living Homes as State Officials Fumbled Medicaid Fraud Response
Arizona officials acknowledged that a fraud scheme targeting Indigenous people with addictions cost taxpayers $2.5 billion. But they haven’t accounted publicly for the number of deaths tied to the scheme.
Madison and Nashville School Shooters Appear to Have Crossed Paths in Online Extremist Communities
A month after a student opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School, another killed a classmate at Antioch High School. Both were active in an internet subculture that glorifies mass shooters and encourages young people to commit attacks.
Insurers Failed to Comply With Mental Health Coverage Law, Department of Labor Report Finds
The probe found widespread noncompliance and violations of federal law in how health plans and insurers cover mental health care, echoing the findings of a recent ProPublica investigation.
North Dakota Sued the Interior Department at Least Five Times Under Gov. Doug Burgum. Now He’s Set to Run the Agency.
The state was hostile to Interior Department policies during the Biden administration. A review of its lawsuits under Burgum reveals an aggressively pro-fossil fuel agenda.
This Icebreaker Has Design Problems and a History of Failure. It’s America’s Latest Military Vessel.
The builder of the icebreaker Aiviq has given more than $7 million to political campaigns, parties and committees since 2012. Under pressure from Congress, the Coast Guard purchased the vessel late last year.
Is a New Mississippi Law Decreasing Jailings of People Awaiting Mental Health Treatment? The State Doesn’t Know.
Community mental health centers, counties and a state agency have reported vastly different numbers of people who spent time in jail while waiting to be treated for serious mental illness.
Donald Trump’s No. 2 Pick for the EPA Represented Companies Accused of Pollution Harm
David Fotouhi, a lawyer who recently challenged a ban on asbestos, worked to roll back climate regulations and water protections while serving in the Environmental Protection Agency during Trump’s first administration.
Women Made Electoral Gains in Statehouses Across the Country in 2024. The Southeast Is a Different Story.
All but one state that held legislative elections last fall in the Southeast saw losses of Republican women. In South Carolina, that means the Senate Republican caucus, which will make decisions that directly affect women, is an all-men’s club.
