Rnews Crooked Bough News Round-up: Source NM

Source NM

— Prosecutors drop vandalism charges for Reflecting Pool damage, blame ‘contractor error’: at 8/1/26 5:27pm
Construction work at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on May 5, 2026. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)WASHINGTON — U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro moved Friday to dismiss charges against a former Olympian canoeist alleged to have damaged part of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Pirro had charged David Hearn, of Bethesda, Maryland, with destruction of property of more than $1,000 for allegedly vandalizing the newly refinished Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on June 19. President Donald Trump, who has overseen the multi-million-dollar renovation of the Reflecting Pool, blamed vandals for damage to it. But in a 20-page motion to dismiss filed by the U.S. attorney’s office, Pirro said her office wouldn’t have sought charges if the Interior Department, which manages the Lincoln Memorial, had initially shared more information about repair work on the Reflecting Pool. Instead, the department only recently disclosed findings that Pirro said “strongly suggest that a rushed and botched installation by (Atlantic Industrial Coatings), the primary contractor, led to the damage to the lining of the Reflecting Pool.” That information was not known by prosecutors or the grand jury that returned an indictment of Hearn, she said. Information withheld She said it was not until her office “reached out to DOI dozens and dozens of times that DOI slowly started trickling information to USAO-DC. Had DOI been forthcoming with the information clearly in its possession, the government would not have sought a grand jury indictment.” Pirro related: “Specifically, the newly released documents reveal that work on installing the lining almost immediately fell behind, due to a combination of very rainy and windy weather, repeated failures of testing on the sealing of the expansion joints, and delays in obtaining sealing product at the worksite. The rush to complete the project led to hasty and botched work that was not remediated before the project was finished and the fencing removed.” Pirro said that “almost immediately after work was initially completed, peeling was observed along the pool perimeter.” A National Park Service engineers June 11, 2026, email “stated that the cause of the damage was contractor error via ‘overspray’; that the peeled lining would not float; and that the peeling would ‘not impact the strength of the liner,’” she said. “Moreover, the July 20, 2026, inspection by contractors confirmed that overspray and delamination had occurred, again pointing to contractor error,” Pirro said. “Finally, a recent visual inspection showed damage throughout the Reflecting Pool, even in the middle of the pool, where a vandal would not likely attempt to peel the lining. Given all of this newly discovered information, it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt.” Apology owed? Hearn on July 9 pleaded not guilty during a brief court hearing and was released on his own recognizance. His lawyers, Norm Eisen of Democracy Defenders Fund, Mary Dohrmann of the Washington Litigation Group and Steve Levin of Steptoe LLP, said in a statement on Friday night that the government owes Hearn an apology for pursuing the case. “The Trump administrations case against Davey Hearn should have never been brought,” they said. “Its dismissal today does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong. The government’s approach was ready, fire, aim. The administration owes Mr. Hearn an apology.” Hearn’s lawyers earlier this week had asked the judge in the case to release more information from the grand jury. They wrote in a motion that “the Government’s sole grand-jury witness on damages testified that the property was already damaged before Mr. Hearn allegedly touched it; that the same repairs would have been required regardless of Mr. Hearn’s conduct; and that he could not quantify any loss attributable to that conduct.” In a June 21 statement on its website, Atlantic Industrial Coatings defended its work on the Reflecting Pool. “Atlantic Industrial Coatings in conjunction with the US Park Service has identified some areas in the Reflecting Pool that require repairs. These areas are a very small part of the massive 7 acre project, and do not indicate a failure of the liner,” it said. “These repairs can not be made until the pool is drained. As soon as its feasible for the Park, the pool will be drained and AIC will be back to make those needed repairs as part of the warranty.” The company did not immediately return a request for comment. The Department of Interior also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
[Category: DC Bureau, Gov & Politics]
— New Mexico environment officials propose another delay on heat safety protections for workers: at 7/31/26 4:00pm
The New Mexico Environment Department recently filed a motion to postpone rulemaking on worker heat safety to early 2027. (Danielle Prokop/Source NM)The New Mexico Environment Department has proposed delaying the process to create and adopt rules aimed at protecting workers from heat-related illness and injuries to early 2027. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE In a recent filing with the state’s Environmental Improvement Board, NMED lawyers wrote that it hasn’t been able to reach consensus on the proposed heat protection standards with the many stakeholders on this issue — including labor organizations, employers and public health advocates — ahead of the current rulemaking hearing, which had been scheduled to begin Sept. 21. State environment officials first proposed the rulemaking in early 2025 and floated the possibility of requiring employers to provide rest periods, shaded areas and drinking water in hot conditions. Within months, however, the rulemaking was postponed. Groups representing a number of industries — including livestock, oil and gas and utilities — have pushed back on some of the proposed rule’s requirements. The latest delay is the fourth since the rulemaking was announced. Environmental advocates lamented NMED’s latest filing and pointed to the region’s recent bout of triple-digit temperatures as evidence that workers need heat-related protections as soon as possible. “Regardless of whether a job is in the field or the classroom, heat has the same impacts on the human body. All workers need protections,” Healthy Climate New Mexico Senior Program Consultant Shelley Mann-Lev said in a statement. The state Environmental Improvement Board is made up of seven members who are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate. If the rulemaking advances in March, as NMED requested, New Mexico’s next governor will have a chance to install the board overseeing the proceedings. “As the state moves forward under a new administration, we hope we will see new standards forworker protections adopted,” Conservation Voters New Mexico Chief Operating Officer Molly Taylor wrote in a statement. “Federal worker heat safety standards stalled under Trump. We believe this is an opportunity for New Mexico to lead the nation and show that we can protect our people in the wake of climate change.”
[Category: Environment & Climate Change, Gov & Politics, Health, climate change, Conservation Voters New Mexico, Environmental Improvement Board, extreme heat, Healthy Climate New Mexico, New Mexico Environment Department]
— Feds to impose new cuts on lower Colorado River states amid climate-fueled megadrought: at 7/31/26 3:46pm
Glen Canyon Dam holds back the waters of Lake Powell near Page, Arizona, on Feb. 2, 2025. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)The federal government on Friday formalized a set of guidelines for managing water use in the Colorado River Basin over the next decade, if Colorado and six other Western states cant come to an agreement on how to deal with declining flows caused in large part by climate change. “The Department has a responsibility to ensure the Colorado River system remains reliable and resilient for the millions of Americans, communities and industries that depend on it, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a press release. This framework provides the flexibility to respond to changing hydrologic conditions while preserving the opportunity for the Basin States to continue working toward durable, consensus-based solutions.” Under the U.S. Bureau of Reclamations preferred alternative for the management of the rivers reservoir system, outlined in a extensive environmental impact statement, the burden of the most severe cuts would continue to fall on the Lower Basin states of Arizona, California and Nevada, which could face mandatory cuts of up to 3 million acre-feet of water. The Upper Basin states of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming would face only voluntary conservation targets totaling 200,000 acre-feet. All seven states were parties to the Colorado River Compact, a 1922 agreement governing the use of water from the vital Western watershed. Today, the Colorado River provides water to an area inhabited by 40 million people across the Southwest, though agricultural uses account for the vast majority of consumption. Since 2000, a megadrought caused largely by global warming — the regions worst dry spell in at least 1,200 years — has stressed water supplies across the basin and pushed the Colorado River Compact to a breaking point. The last set of federal guidelines to address shortages, issued nearly 20 years ago, will expire Jan. 1, and the seven Colorado River Compact states failed to reach a new agreement before a federally imposed deadline in February. A map of the Colorado River Basin system. (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation) The combined amount of water stored in Lake Powell and Lake Mead, the Colorado River systems two key reservoirs, fell this month to its lowest level since May 1957 — before Lake Powell, created by the Glen Canyon Dam, had even begun to fill. Without a major turnaround in hydrologic conditions in the near future, water levels in Lake Powell are expected to fall by next spring to below minimum power pool, at which point the Glen Canyon Dams hydroelectric turbines would be unable to operate. Negotiations over a comprehensive new agreement have led to an increasingly bitter dispute between the Upper Basin states — led by Colorado, the rivers headwaters state and by far the Upper Basins largest water user — and the Lower Basin states, especially Arizona, which has borne the brunt of the cuts imposed in recent years. Arizona is widely expected to launch a high-stakes legal challenge as soon as this summer, alleging Colorado and other Upper Basin states are failing to meet an obligation under the original Colorado River Compact to allow enough water to flow downstream. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis issued a joint statement Friday with the governors of the other three Upper Basin states, saying that both the Upper and Lower divisions of the basin are feeling the pain of severe drought, and that they were committed to continued good-faith discussions with our counterparts.” Many hours of meetings and negotiations took place between the Colorado River Basin states and these discussions will continue, the statement said. Today’s framework does not represent a final solution, but enables the River to be managed in the short-term while the seven states and (the Interior Department) continue to negotiate a consensus solution. In the absence of a new agreement among the states, the Bureau of Reclamation says it will continue to update its new guidelines every two years until 2036. Andrea Travnicek, the Interior Departments assistant secretary for water and science, said the plan strikes a balance between flexibility and predictability given unprecedented hydrologic conditions and the potential for considerable impacts on water users.” In a statement, Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado said he was disappointed by the failure to reach a new long-term agreement among the seven Colorado River Compact states. “While a two-year operating plan is the bare minimum needed to operate the river, a long-term, consensus agreement that recognizes real hydrologic conditions is the only durable solution to bring certainty to the Colorado River,” Bennet said. Editors note: This story was updated at 3:47 p.m., July 31, 2026, to include a joint statement from Upper Basin governors. This story was originally produced by Colorado Newsline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Source New Mexico, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
[Category: Environment & Climate Change, Gov & Politics, Colorado River]
— Trump defends massive settlement for ‘great American Patriots’ of Jan. 6, attacks GOP senators: at 7/31/26 3:01pm
President Donald Trump on July 31, 2026 defended his "anti-weaponization" settlement fund as he sought confirmation of his nominee for attorney general, Todd Blanche. In this photo, Trump looks on during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on May 27, 2026 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump defended his highly criticized, nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” settlement fund on social media and in a Cabinet meeting Friday, as two key Republican senators withheld support for the president’s nominee for attorney general over Trump’s refusal to formally end the pot of money. Trump wrote on Truth Social that the fund, in exchange for him dropping his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS, would not benefit him, but rather “the great American Patriots who were hunted down like dogs and whose lives were unfairly and illegally destroyed by the Crooked Joe Biden Administration” after they participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. On the first day of his second term, Trump commuted the prison sentences of 14 of the attack’s ringleaders and members of the paramilitary groups the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys. The president granted a “full, complete and unconditional pardon” to all others charged with crimes after the attack. “Perhaps there has never been a group of people treated so badly in our Nation’s history. They are suffering still, many ruined, and I felt that they should be given compensation for what has been done to them,” Trump continued in a 254-word post. He also attacked Texas GOP Sen. John Cornyn and said acting Attorney General Todd Blanche should be “immediately approved” as attorney general. Cornyn and North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, both members of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, have refused to advance Blanche’s nomination from committee to the full Senate until Blanche, also Trump’s former personal defense lawyer, formally ends the “anti-weaponization” fund in writing. Blanche, of Florida, maintains his comments before a House Appropriations subcommittee in June prove the administration ended the fund. ‘Legal and political albatross’ In a late morning statement on X, Tillis said Trump “made it clear today that the so-called Anti Weaponization Fund is still alive, which is exactly why we are attempting to formally end it.” “While I never disagreed that the Biden Administration pursued a number of vindictive prosecutions related to January 6, the criminals who assaulted police officers and defiled our nation’s Capitol are not ‘great American patriots’ who are ‘victims of government abuse.’ Anyone who attacked law enforcement should still be in prison, not getting a check from the federal government,” Tillis wrote. He added he and Cornyn are working with Blanche, whom he described as “forthright, thoughtful and patient,” on ending the fund. “It’s a shame his confirmation has hit a snag only because an incompetent personal advisor to the President refuses to amend the bogus settlement. I will continue working in good faith to put an end this legal and political albatross and prevent any potential misallocation of taxpayer dollars,” Tillis wrote. Tillis’ office did not respond to a question about the identity of the adviser the senator mentioned in the statement. When being questioned by reporters at the Cabinet meeting at Camp David just over an hour later, Trump said Blanche should be confirmed as attorney general “forthwith” and that the fund is “dead.” “But you know, I wish it werent. To be honest with you, I think people were horribly treated, horribly abused. … and Id like to see them compensated for the pain.” The White House press office on Friday issued a press release linking to statements and quotes in support of Blanche from dozens of law enforcement associations, former Justice Department officials and Republican lawmakers. Trump, Cornyn and Tillis On Thursday, Trump threatened to pull Blanche’s nomination and leave him in an acting capacity until both Cornyn and Tillis leave office at year’s end. Cornyn’s career in the Senate is ending after he lost in a runoff election in May to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, whom Trump endorsed. Tillis announced last year he would not seek reelection after Trump threatened to find primary opponents to challenge the North Carolina Republican after he refused to support Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill Act in 2025. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, had scheduled a committee vote on Blanche’s nomination for Thursday morning, but postponed the vote late Wednesday when it was clear Cornyn and Tillis were not yet satisfied. The Judiciary Committee is split between 12 Republicans and 10 Democrats. All Democrats are expected to oppose Blanche, and a majority vote is required to advance Blanche’s nomination to the full Senate for confirmation. Judge slammed Trump settlement Trump’s settlement with the IRS faced opposition on multiple fronts, including in court. In a July 13 order, the Florida federal judge in Trump’s IRS case slammed the president’s settlement with his own administration as using the presidency to “manipulate” the courts. Lawyers for Trump, his two sons and the Trump Organization made public in a federal court filing Friday their plans to appeal a lower court order that bars them “from referring to the purported ‘settlement agreement’ as evidence of a ‘settlement’ reached in this matter.” The Justice Department’s announcement of the “anti-weaponization” fund in May immediately drew scrutiny from both sides of the aisle for the possibility that Jan. 6 defendants who assaulted police officers could reap a reward. Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. and Frank Bisignano, the Internal Revenue Service’s chief executive officer, a position created by Trump, signed the settlement that Trump negotiated with his own administration officials for himself, his sons and the private Trump Organization. Like Blanche, Woodward also had ties to Trump’s criminal cases prior to the president’s second term. Woodward represented Trump’s co-defendant Walt Nauta in the government’s 2023 case regarding classified material found at Mar-a-Lago. Opposition to the “anti-weaponization” fund among Republicans snarled quick passage of an immigration enforcement package to fund Trump’s mass deportation agenda for the remainder of his term. The settlement deal also includes immunity for Trump, his sons Don Jr. and Eric, and the Trump Organization from tax audits and enforcement connected to any tax information leaked by a government contractor in 2019. The contractor was prosecuted and sentenced to jail time in 2024. Cornyn pressed Blanche on the tax immunity portion of the deal during a July 15 confirmation hearing. Blanche defended the terms as “typical” of settlements with the IRS. Cornyn wrote on social media Thursday the president is “mistaken if he believes concerns about the provisions in his tax lawsuit settlement are limited to me and Senator Tillis.” Former Department of Justice officials told committee Democrats the IRS settlement language was “mind-boggling,” during a July 22 forum hosted by Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J. Amelia Twyman contributed to this report.
[Category: DC Bureau, Gov & Politics]
— Hearing for Project Jupiter data center’s air quality permit application rescheduled to September: at 7/31/26 2:24pm
Aerial photos taken on June 26, 2026, show the construction site for Project Jupiter, the Oracle and OpenAI data center project planned for southern New Mexico. (Courtesy of Alexa Reynaud, Food & Water Watch, with aerial support provided by LightHawk)A public hearing over whether the New Mexico Environment Department should issue an air quality permit for the controversial Project Jupiter data center is being rescheduled to September, according to newly filed documents. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE The hearing officer presiding over the matter had previously scheduled the hearing to begin in October. At a scheduling meeting this week, attorneys representing Project Jupiter’s developers requested that the hearing begin earlier, arguing that the October hearing date would risk giving New Mexico Environment Department staff too little time to make a final decision on whether to issue the permit before their Nov. 23 deadline. Max Shepherd, the hearing officer, told attorneys gathered at the scheduling hearing that he was not going to reschedule it. He said he would keep the October hearing date and examine his options to push out NMED’s Nov. 23 deadline. However, two days later when NMED published his written scheduling order on its website, it showed he rescheduled the hearing by more than a month. It is now set to begin Sept. 14 and “continue as necessary” at the Sunland Park Multi-Generational Center. “What happened between Monday morning, when he denied their motion for a new schedule, and Wednesday night?” Colin Cox, senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute, which has intervened in the case, told Source NM. Its highly concerning. Cox on Friday filed a new motion requesting that Shepherd revert back to the previously scheduled October hearing date. Maslyn Locke, senior attorney for the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, who has represented residents in lawsuits related to Project Jupiter, said the air quality permit case is among the most complex — and fast-moving — air quality complex cases she’s seen in her career. Under the revised scheduling order, she said attorneys will not have enough time to review the “thousands” of pages of the administrative record, catch their expert witnesses up to speed and prepare for oral arguments by the time the hearing begins in less than two months. “Rushing this through is going to create more problems,” she said. “The department is neglecting the fact that once this thing is built, its really impossible to undo it. Shepherd, the hearing officer, when contacted by Source NM, said he could not comment on the rescheduling. A spokesperson for the state Environment Department in a statement said the department “remains committed to meeting its statutory deadlines no matter the hearing date.” At Monday’s scheduling meeting, Jennifer Bradfute, an attorney representing Project Jupiter developer Yucca Growth Infrastructure, argued that the hearing needs to happen as soon as possible. Bradfute said her client would stand to lose $325 million per month, beginning in November. “This project will start to abandon employment opportunities in New Mexico and there are many kids from the labor unions who want to be placed in jobs,” Bradfute said during the meeting. “We really do need this to go to hearing as soon as possible. The state is at jeopardy to lose the project entirely, and I’m not blowing smoke as I state that.” At a Doña Ana County Board of Commissioners meeting earlier this week, Executive Vice President of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Mahesh Thiagarajan and STACK Infrastructure Chief Development Officer Bobby Hollis presented the project’s latest job numbers days before an annual report on the matter was due. Hollis said at the meeting that the project employed nearly 700 New Mexicans during its ongoing construction. To date, it has employed nearly 2,800 construction workers and generated $734 million of contracts with New Mexico suppliers, according to their joint presentation. The duo also told commissioners that they’re committing to 100% carbon-free energy matching by 2031. County commissioners had previously set a Friday deadline for Project Jupiter’s developers to file an annual jobs report. However, that report was not readily available Friday afternoon. In an email to Source NM, a Doña Ana County spokesperson said the report would contain personally identifying information for Project Jupiter employees and that county leaders “will be working with our legal team to get a form of the summary posted on the countys website as soon as possible.”
[Category: Data Centers in New Mexico, Environment & Climate Change, Gov & Politics, Center for Biological Diversity, data centers, Doña Ana County, New Mexico Environment Department, New Mexico Environmental Law Center, Oracle, Project Jupiter, Project Jupiter data center, Stack Infrastructure, Trend – Data Centers]
— Key legal resource for immigrant kids to expire with federal contract, advocates say: at 7/31/26 2:15pm
The hallway to immigration court in the Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis on April 9, 2026. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer) WASHINGTON — Bryan Chavez knows that having access to legal representation as an unaccompanied minor can be a lifeline. In 2017, immigration officials separated him from his mother and brother at the southern border, as they were caught up in the family separation policy of the first Trump administration. The 15-year-old remained in a detention center for children, knowing that if he were sent back to Mexico, he would likely die at the hands of the cartel who threatened to kill him, his brother and father. “Everything changed when attorneys from (the Immigration Defenders Law Center) arrived,” he told reporters during a press conference Friday. “For the first time, someone explained what was happening. As a child, I couldnt understand why I was being separated from my mother.” Chavez, who is now a case worker at the same center that provided him legal services as an unaccompanied minor, worries about what will happen to the thousands of immigrant children who are set to lose their legal representation at midnight Saturday. That’s because the Trump administration declined to renew a federal contract with nonprofits that provide legal aid services to more than 20,000 unaccompanied immigrant children. Chavez, along with a handful of advocates and attorneys for immigrant children, detailed their concerns during a virtual press conference about the end of the contract. They warned that it will lead to children being quickly deported, because without a lawyer, fewer than 10% of immigrant children win the right to remain in the United States while their case goes through immigration court. “For many of them, an attorney can be the difference between fear and hope, separation and reunification, or even life and death,” Chavez said. “I came to this country asking for help. The children I work with today are asking for the same thing.” No reimbursements to lawyers For more than six months, the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services, has not reimbursed $65 million to the Acacia Center for Justice, which distributes the federal funding to roughly 100 organizations across the country who provide legal representation to unaccompanied children in immigration cases. The Acacia Center for Justice has said those funds are being withheld because attorneys refused to hand over to the Trump administration sensitive case data from the unaccompanied children, such as medical records and the types of legal relief the minors are seeking. “For months, Acacia has been negotiating in good faith with the government to find a way to continue representing unaccompanied children who would be left without their trusted lawyers, and at the whims of an administration that seems intent on finding new and crueler ways to target and deport them as quickly as possible,” said Bilal Askaryar, communications director at the Acacia Center for Justice. HHS did not respond to States Newsrooms request for comment. ‘A lot of uncertainty’ The Acacia Center for Justice’s chief of staff, Bettina Rodriguez Schlegel, said that on Wednesday, government officials submitted a solicitation notice giving the Acacia Center for Justice time to transition legal services to another provider. Rodriguez Schlegel said she doesnt know for sure to whom the Trump administration will contract legal services, but the administration is eyeing a small Texas state commission that aids low-income people with criminal defense representation. “What will happen on Monday morning when kids go to court?” she asked. “There remains a lot of uncertainty and a great deal of concern.” Sensitive job Additionally, with the contract ending, children who have experienced trauma will have to recount painful experiences to attorneys who might not have the proper training. That can cause more anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress for kids, said Dr. C. Nicholas Cuneo. Cuneo is an assistant professor of pediatrics and medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the executive director at HEAL Refugee Health and Asylum Collaborative, which provides trauma-informed healthcare services to immigrants. “A trusted attorney can buffer that harm, explaining an incomprehensible process, providing consistency and safety, protecting a childs interests, and connecting them to healthcare, school, housing, and other essential support,” he said. “Abruptly severing that relationship can not only reactivate the abandonment and powerlessness from which children are trying to recover, but really cause direct physical and mental health injury.” Cuneo said Congress recognized those consequences, and created the Unaccompanied Children Program to provide funding for legal representation of migrant children. Erin Maxwell, a social worker at Legal Services for Children in California, said so much of their training is in providing trauma-informed legal services. “Im afraid that if a group of attorneys that were not trained on working with children, were not trained on providing trauma-informed legal services, that children wouldnt be able to fully participate in their cases (to share their stories),” she said.
[Category: DC Bureau, Gov & Politics]
— Judge rejects states’ bid to block Medicaid work rules: at 7/31/26 1:43pm
Rhode Island Democratic Attorney General Peter Neronha in Providence earlier this year. Rhode Island is one of 25 Democratic-led states that sued the Trump administration over new Medicaid work requirements. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current) States will have to meet a Jan. 1 deadline to implement new Medicaid work requirements, after a federal judge denied 25 Democratic-led states’ request to pause implementation of the rule. The broad tax and spending law President Donald Trump signed last summer, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, requires states that have expanded Medicaid to cover more adults under the Affordable Care Act — 42 states plus the District of Columbia — to mandate that those adults work, go to school or volunteer for at least 80 hours a month to keep their coverage. On June 29, the Democratic-led states sued the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), taking aim at new federal guidance, published earlier that month, that narrows the definition of who can qualify as “medically frail.” That designation excuses Medicaid recipients from work requirements if they have serious disabilities or illnesses. The plaintiffs argued that the new exemption is too narrow, and would force patients with severe illnesses and disabilities to “jump through unnecessary administrative hoops” to keep their coverage. They also asserted that implementation would be costly and time-consuming, and noted that the new guidance came months after they’d already begun consulting with the federal government on how to implement the work requirements. But United States District Judge Richard Stearns of Massachusetts noted in a ruling issued on Wednesday that CMS has said it will reimburse states for 90% of the costs associated with designing and executing the requirements. Stearns said he wasn’t convinced that states would be unable to cover the remaining 10%, and pointed out that the Jan. 1 deadline was set by Congress, not CMS. “Because injunctive relief is the exception, not the rule, there is a certain point at which damages fail to justify the issuance of such an extraordinary measure,” he wrote. “Plaintiffs have not shown that their damages rise above that minimal threshold here. Moreover, the additional costs that may be incurred by the States are unlikely to bloom disproportionately given the familiarity of the responsible state agencies with the tasks to be performed.” The court acknowledged that the case presents “difficult issues” about the scope of what Congress delegated to HHS. It also raises questions about CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz’s “faithfulness to Congressional intent,” the judge wrote. Between 3 and 7 million people could lose coverage as a result of the new work requirements, the Urban Institute estimated earlier this year. With the addition of more frequent eligibility checks, up to 10 million people could lose coverage over the next decade. Along with the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania, the complaint was brought by Democratic attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. Stateline reporter Nada Hassanein can be reached at nhassanein@stateline.org. This story was originally produced by Stateline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Source New Mexico, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
[Category: Health, Medicaid]
— US Senate panel advances bill to reject Education Department transfers: at 7/31/26 11:20am
Republican U.S. Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, left, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska talk during a U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing in February 2025. The two were the only Republicans on the committee to vote for a bill to block Education Department interagency agreements July 30, 2026. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)WASHINGTON — A bipartisan effort to rein in President Donald Trump’s efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education has cleared its first major legislative hurdle in a bipartisan U.S. Senate committee vote. The measure, approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in a 13-9 vote Thursday, represents the most sweeping attempt from Congress so far in rejecting some of the interagency agreements, or IAAs, Education has signed with other departments as part of the administration’s push to eliminate the 46-year-old agency. The Senate bill, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, with GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska as original co-sponsors, would block IAAs that transfer programs regarding special education, elementary and secondary education, postsecondary education and Native American education. Part of the measure takes aim at Education’s efforts announced in June to outsource programs under its Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, or OSERS, to the Department of Health and Human Services. OSERS is responsible for administering the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, which guarantees a free public education for students with disabilities. Education has so far entered into agreements with HHS, along with the departments of Labor, Interior, State, Treasury and Justice, to offload several of the department’s core responsibilities to those agencies. Collins, Murkowski join Dems Collins said the “straightforward” bill “keeps the administration of important landmark education programs at the Department of Education — where Congress specifically put them and where they belong.” All Democrats on the panel voted to advance the measure. They are: Kaine, Patty Murray of Washington state, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, John Hickenlooper of Colorado, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Andy Kim of New Jersey, Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland. Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, ranking member of the panel who caucuses with Democrats, also voted to advance the bill. Collins and Murkowski were the only GOP members to join Democrats. GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky did not vote. The panel’s chair, Sen. Bill Cassidy, voted against the bill, saying that while he opposes the transfer of special ed programs to HHS, he is open to moving OSERS to the Labor Department. “I don’t oppose all of these IAAs,” the Louisiana Republican said. “I do think the administration should be allowed to pilot how to address inefficiencies and the potential for efficiencies by operationalizing these IAAs.” The other GOP members who voted against the measure were Sens. Roger Marshall of Kansas, Tim Scott of South Carolina, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Jim Banks of Indiana, Jon Husted of Ohio, Ashley Moody of Florida and Alan Armstrong of Oklahoma. ‘Show us the price tag’ The panel also approved an amendment to the bill from Murray that would require Education Secretary Linda McMahon to report to Congress on the cost estimates for each of the IAAs her agency has signed with other departments. “My amendment is very simple — it asks one thing: Tell Congress and the public what these interagency agreements actually cost taxpayers,” Murray said. “If you’re proud of this deal, show us the price tag,” she added. “What do you have to hide?” Education Department defends transfers Trump has sought to take an axe to the Education Department in his quest to send education policymaking “back to the states.” That push continues despite much of the oversight and funding of schools already occurring at the state and local levels. Savannah Newhouse, an Education Department spokesperson, said “the era of coddling a failed status quo must end,” in a statement to States Newsroom Thursday. “Secretary McMahon promised Congress a proof of concept that is currently underway and delivering results across our partner agencies, and it is entirely premature to sabotage this effort before it has the chance to eliminate bureaucratic barriers and fully deliver the results that our students, families, and educators deserve,” Newhouse added. McMahon, along with the heads of the six departments involved in the IAAs, defended the agreements in a letter sent to the GOP and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate the same day the Senate panel advanced the bill. “Misconceptions have circulated about our fourteen IAAs,” McMahon and the leaders of the agencies wrote. “Since these agreements were signed, however, they have demonstrated measurable results by driving stronger grant competitions, streamlining government operations, and producing better outcomes for Americans.” The Senate measure sharply contrasts with a package that advanced out of a House education panel this month that would greatly reduce the department’s responsibilities.
[Category: DC Bureau, Gov & Politics]
— Many states expanded care for children, older adults and workers: at 7/31/26 11:20am
A new report found that in the past two years, more than half the states expanded care for children and services for older adults and disabled people. But they will be hard-pressed to maintain funding in the face of federal cuts. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice) Many states have made marked progress over the past two years in extending crucial care and benefits to children, workers and aging adults. But they will be hard-pressed to fill the void left by impending federal cuts to social services, according to a new analysis. A report released this week by The Century Foundation and Caring Across Generations found that more than half the states improved services for children, older adults and disabled people and made family and medical leave more available for workers. The report ranks states on both their overall performance in those areas and highlights progress since the nonprofit groups began to grade the states in 2021. It gave top grades to California, Oregon, New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey. The lowest rankings went to Alabama, Mississippi, Wyoming, Florida and North Carolina. But federal policy changes will have a major impact on state budgets, the authors note. The broad tax and spending measure that President Donald Trump signed last summer imposed major cuts and eligibility changes to Medicaid, the public health insurance program for low-income people, and to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps. Additionally, Congress allowed federal subsidies for Obamacare health care plans to expire at the end of last year, pushing millions off the program. The report says cuts to Medicaid, Obamacare and the food stamp program “have left state budgets with constraints that will be difficult, if not impossible, to overcome.” The report called out five states that saw the most improvement since the last evaluation in 2024: Virginia, New York, Nebraska, Michigan and Washington. While the liberal-leaning groups gave their top marks mainly to Democratic-led states, they did highlight incremental progress in conservative Southern states. In particular, the study highlighted efforts to expand paid leave for state employees in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee. Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at khardy@stateline.org. This story was originally produced by Stateline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Source New Mexico, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
[Category: Education]
— Humans are to blame for urban Cooper’s hawk deaths, study says: at 7/31/26 8:49am
A first-of-its-kind study published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has found the leading causes of death among Albuquerque’s urban raptor populations. (Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS)A first-of-its-kind study published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has found the leading causes of death among Albuquerque’s urban raptor populations. The research, which analyzed 10 years of Cooper’s hawk observations, recently won “best paper” in the Journal of Raptor Research. The Cooper’s hawk is a familiar sight across the continental United States, where countless backyard seed feeders have unnaturally boosted their primary prey: small birds. “They eat the rodents, they eat the birds. They love pigeons and doves, man. I mean, theyll eat all birds,” Kristin Madden, one of the head authors of the study told KUNM. She is an Albuquerque resident and the migratory bird program chief for the Southwest region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Because of the virtually endless supply of food and shelter offered by modern urban environments, these top predators have learned to prefer the city life – essentially becoming year-round residents. “But there are unique challenges in a city like cars and windows, electrical poles, the availability of pigeons and doves that have been eating poisoned bait,” Madden said. Tracking these birds throughout their life-span using GPS technology, Madden and her team found that human infrastructure is the No. 1 reason for Cooper’s hawk deaths, such as collisions with fences, electrical lines, windows, and vehicles. “You name it, theyll run into it,” Madden said. The study, which Madden calls “groundbreaking,” avoids a “biased” picture of hawk deaths. She said dead birds are usually found by chance, either when they are hit by a car or when they’re found in a backyard. By meticulously keeping tabs on these birds, researchers were able to find dead birds where they would likely go unnoticed; like in air conditioning systems or those who were illegally shot and bludgeoned to death, despite broad federal protections. Major studies show that urban areas are expanding rapidly, so much so that they are expected to house 68% of the world’s entire population by 2050. And with development, comes the inevitable destruction or encroachment of animal habitat. While it’s hard to remove the fencing around houses or the utility electrical power lines overhead, Madden stressed there are little things people can do to prevent collisions. This can be as simple as moving bird feeders away from buildings, creating shaded areas, putting stickers on glass windows, or using small noisemakers. Madden said their research has already been used to understand eagle population trends and could just as easily be mapped onto similar raptor species – like red-tailed hawks or the American kestrel. As it happens, the summer is a time when people are most likely to encounter raptor hatchlings as they grow and learn to leave the nest. With this often comes momma and poppa hawks that might show aggressive behavior in order to protect their kiddos. Madden said that raptors, especially the Cooper’s hawk, are not as problematic nor dangerous as people might believe. In order to reduce conflict and impacts on young birds, she said its important to pay attention to raptor vocal cues and keep a responsible distance from nesting sites. If a nest can’t be avoided, walking with an umbrella can help.
[Category: Environment & Climate Change, Cooper's hawk, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]
— Online prediction markets rile up state lawmakers: at 7/31/26 6:21am
Online prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket are attracting scrutiny from state lawmakers, who argue the platforms are undermining state gambling regulations. (Photo by Alyssa Chen/Minnesota Reformer) CHICAGO — The escalating feud between states and online prediction markets was on full display at a summit of state lawmakers this week as legislators publicly scolded Kalshi and Polymarket, the two most prominent platforms. Prediction market platforms say they are like commodity markets that offer contracts to speculate on the future price of corn or oil — not sportsbooks that allow gamblers to place bets. But many states reject those justifications, arguing the platforms are a backdoor to skirt state gambling regulations, particularly on sports. The issue has sparked action from state regulators, new legislation, and a flurry of lawsuits from states, prediction markets, and the Trump administration, which has sought to sideline state oversight. During a sometimes-heated panel discussion at the annual gathering of the National Conference of State Legislatures in Chicago, Iowa Republican state Sen. Dan Dawson told the audience that a group of students at his son’s high school recently enrolled in Kalshi to bet on World Cup matches. In Iowa, people must be at least 21 to participate in legal online sports betting. “States are the ones that pick up the pieces,” Dawson said as a Kalshi executive looked on. Dawson has previously raised concerns about the public health consequences of prediction markets. While an industry representative pledged to work with states, Dawson said a legislative subcommittee that recently studied the issue could not get even basic information from the prediction markets about their reach in Iowa. “We couldnt get one answer,” he said. In March, Kalshi preemptively sued to block Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, a Republican, from taking civil or criminal enforcement action against it. In its suit, Kalshi claimed there was “a substantial risk that the attorney general of Iowa will bring an enforcement action.” Regulation of prediction markets Sara Slane, Head of Corporate Development at Kalshi, told lawmakers in Chicago that the company was committed to building relationships with the states. But she said the prediction markets are not subject to state oversight, as they are regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates derivatives such as futures contracts on stocks. She said prediction markets require a national standard rather than a “state-by-state regulatory patchwork.” “This was exactly what the commodity exchange was set up for,” she said. The five-member, presidentially appointed CFTC currently has four vacancies. But it has aggressively sought to exclude states from overseeing prediction markets, suing red and blue states alike to maintain its jurisdiction over the markets. Earlier this week, a coalition of 44 state attorneys general wrote to the agency, arguing it does not have the power to regulate sports-related event contracts, which they say are subject to state gambling regulations. In addition to encroaching on state-regulated and state-taxed sports gambling, states argue that prediction markets are subject to potential insider trading, lack consumer oversight and can fuel problem gambling. Slane said her firm works to prevent money laundering and allows people who have problems with gaming to block themselves from the site. She said Kalshi also works with major sports leagues to prevent athletes and referees from trading on sports events. “We take this very seriously,” she said. “We want to promote integrity around our exchange.” But prediction markets continue to gain national attention for allowing people to unfairly bet on the outcome of events by leveraging nonpublic information. This week, the White House announced the president’s teleprompter operator was no longer on staff after he was accused of using inside knowledge to make bets about presidential speeches on Kalshi. Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday signed an executive order prohibiting state employees from using inside information to bet on prediction markets. At least eight states, including Arizona, California, Maryland and Wisconsin, have implemented similar restrictions. Mick Mulvaney, executive director of the Gambling is Not Investing Coalition, said he was sympathetic to the argument that prediction markets want to avoid a regulatory patchwork across the states. “That being said, thereve been two areas where the states have almost always been entirely sovereign: Thats on booze and gambling,” he said. Mulvaney, a Republican, represented South Carolina in the U.S. House and served as acting White House chief of staff during President Donald Trump’s first term. His organization argues that prediction markets should be subject to the same state and tribal regulations as other forms of gambling. With litigation flying, he said there’s no question the debate is heading toward the U.S. Supreme Court. Mulvaney said its unclear how the conservative court will rule, given its recent decisions. Some of those rulings have allowed the expansion of federal executive power, while others have tilted toward the states. “So that will be fascinating to see how it shakes out at the Supreme Court,” he told Stateline. “But I have every expectation that this is going all the way up.” Threat to tribal casinos Casino gambling has been the sole economic engine for many Native American tribes for years, said Michael Hoenig, vice president and associate general counsel for gaming at the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation in Southern California. He said tribes have built up the gambling industry over the last 40 years — sometimes in cooperation with states, other times “in friction with the states.” “This is just a profound affront to tribal sovereignty, tribal self-government,” he said. “Tribes are supposed to have the sovereign right to decide who gets to operate gaming on their lands and who doesnt.” Aside from regulatory concerns, state leaders worry about how the rise of prediction markets may impact the financial and mental health of their residents. Since a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling opened the door for states to legalize sports gambling, 39 states and the District of Columbia have done so. Advocates, researchers and lawmakers are already raising alarms about how the burgeoning market could fuel gambling addiction and hurt household finances. Aside from regulation, there is little difference between the potential impacts of prediction markets and online sports betting, said Rachel Volberg, a professor emerita of epidemiology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Volberg, who has studied gambling addiction for 40 years, told lawmakers in a separate presentation that the research is clear about how over involvement in gambling can hurt individuals and families. However, she told Stateline that legal sports gambling is too new for researchers to fully measure how much the high-speed and accessible world of online gaming has changed the dynamics. In North Carolina, a new poll found that most people generally approve of sports betting, but a majority wants the state to ban prediction markets. In the Meredith College poll released Tuesday, 51% of registered voters said they were satisfied with state regulation of sports gambling. Only 11% said they were dissatisfied, while 38% said they didn’t know. In that poll, two-thirds of registered voters said they would support state legislation banning prediction markets, while 24% said they should be legal. Though sports fans, policymakers and the researchers continue to grapple with the quickly evolving landscape, experts gathered in Chicago were clear that this industry is here to stay. “It’s not going anywhere,” said Anthony D’Angelo, who leads responsible gaming efforts at Fanatics Betting Gaming. D’Angelo said his company’s sportsbook invests heavily in providing assistance for problem gamblers, flags potentially problematic transactions and incentivizes customers to set and stick to betting limits. He said lawmakers can help keep people away from illegal and offshore betting platforms that have no oversight or consumer protections. “We all want the same things to happen,” he said. “I think we want a sustainable, long-term industry where customers are protected.” Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at khardy@stateline.org. This story was originally produced by Stateline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Source New Mexico, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
[Category: Economy]
— As fires rage in the Pacific Northwest, leaders call all hands on deck: at 7/31/26 6:15am
The Ptarmigan Fire burning in Washington’s Pasayten Wilderness, as seen in this aerial photo taken by smokejumpers July 20, has crossed the Canadian border and burned at least 18,000 acres so far. State leaders in Oregon and Washington have called for reinforcements and expect a grueling August. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Forest Service)With dozens of large fires burning across the Pacific Northwest, and nearly 2 million acres burned already, state leaders are calling for firefighting reinforcements and bracing for a grueling August. “We’re going to have a long year ahead,” said Washington state forester George Geissler. “I keep getting depressed every time I listen to the meteorologists. Theres really not any relief we can see.” Across Washington and Oregon, wildland fire crews are battling 45 large fires that have burned more than 1.8 million acres so far, an area larger than the state of Delaware. Roughly 2.6 million acres have burned nationwide this year. In Oregon, Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek issued an executive order in June making all wildfire qualified staffers at various state agencies available to fight fires. State forester Kacey KC said teams from 35 different states are currently fighting fires in the Northwest, and Oregon is No. 1 on the national priority list as new resources become available. “It’s not an award you want to win,” KC said. “It’s all hands on deck everywhere. We’ve seen some very aggressive fire runs this year.” In Washington, Geissler has issued a more targeted call for reinforcements. His “ready reserve” message, sent Tuesday, called for employees with qualifications to serve as strike team leaders, task force leaders, division supervisors, aviation positions, engine bosses, heavy equipment bosses and dispatch positions. “We are in a bad fire year,” Geissler said, speaking Wednesday. “We are at a straining point. Were in the third or fourth week of August (in terms of fire activity), and its not even August yet. We are out of the gate earlier than we have been in years and years and years.” Geissler said he had just finalized a plan to deploy 100 National Guard troops to help fight fires in Washington. Idaho Gov. Brad Little, a Republican, signed a wildfire disaster emergency Tuesday and ordered the Idaho National Guard to help fight a fire along the border of Oregon and Idaho, the Idaho Capital Sun reported. And crews from Utah have deployed to help fight fires in Oregon. Across the West, record heat and drought this winter left mountains bare of snow, forests parched and rivers dwindling. Leaders have been preparing for a brutal fire season, one that has now arrived in the Northwest. Washington state has brought in crews from the South, Southwest and California, Geissler said, along with teams from Australia and New Zealand. Unlike in previous years, Canada has been unable to send help since massive wildfires there have commanded all available resources. While other U.S. regions have seen less fire activity so far, experts say there’s a long way to go. “Its pretty dry,” said Riva Duncan, a former wildland fire chief who served more than 30 years with the U.S. Forest Service. “One lightning (storm) would put the northern Rockies into play, and thats gonna be more competition for resources.” Duncan serves as president of Grassroots Wildland Firefighters, a nonprofit that advocates on behalf of wildfire professionals. While the current situation in Washington is intense, Geissler said, the state Department of Natural Resources is playing the long game and planning out work and rest cycles for crews in the field. “You don’t want to burn everybody out all at one time,” he said. Stateline reporter Alex Brown can be reached at abrown@stateline.org. This story was originally produced by Stateline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Source New Mexico, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
[Category: Environment & Climate Change]
— New Mexico Secretary of State agrees to turn over voter death error records following lawsuit: at 7/30/26 4:00pm
The New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office on July 13, 2026, settled a lawsuit with the Public Interest Legal Foundation to turn over records regarding voters erroneously being labeled dead in state voter rolls. (Photo by Leah Romero/Source NM)The New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office agreed earlier this month to release records related to state voters erroneously labeled as deceased, following a lawsuit from a national foundation that has filed similar lawsuits against states across the country. The Public Interest Legal Foundation filed a lawsuit in June after the Secretary of State did not produce records that would show how often and how quickly the state corrected its voter rolls upon learning it had erroneously deemed a voter as deceased. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE Central to the lawsuit is the Electronic Registration Information Center, also known as ERIC, which New Mexico and 27 other states use to share information regarding voters who have moved or died. ERIC notifies New Mexico and other states when it learns, primarily through the federal Social Security Administration, that a voter has died. ERIC also notifies states if it later learns that state election systems wrongly marked voters as deceased. A report last week from the national nonprofit think tank Brennan Center for Justice characterized the Public Interest Legal Foundation as a critic of ERIC and as “long a promoter of misleading claims about the breadth of errors on voting rolls.” The report notes that so-called “election integrity” organizations have targeted ERIC in legal challenges intended to destroy it and “replace it with something weaker.” But Logan Churchwell, the foundation’s research director, told Source NM in a recent interview that the lawsuits are simply trying to understand better how states deal with deceased residents on voter rolls. “Its early days, but the goal is to understand not just how many people, but how long does it take to get corrected?” he said. “And if there is a significant gap between the correction and them being re-established, are they missing opportunities to vote?” Churchwell declined to provide Source NM with the records his foundation successfully sued over, saying he was still analyzing them. Churchwell’s foundation also successfully sued Arizona and Oregon for its ERIC-related death records, according to a news release. The Secretary of State’s Office also did not provide Source NM the full list of records, but did provide an “example” of three voter records. The records show that three voters — two in Doña Ana County, one in Lea County — were erroneously declared dead between September 2020 and May 2021. The state restored all three to the voting rolls by early December of 2021. Brennan Center report predicts mass voter challenges likely in midterm elections In an interview this week with Source NM, New Mexico State Elections Director Mandy Vigil defended the state’s participation in ERIC, which has access to federal death records that the state does not, as well as the state’s efforts more broadly to maintain accurate voter rolls. She also said the risk is “extremely low” of anyone wrongly deemed deceased being prohibited from voting. If a voter wrongly listed as deceased tries to vote, Vigil said, they can file a provisional ballot. Doing so gives the state the opportunity to “research and get it right” while preserving a voter’s right to cast a ballot. “Based on the controls and the system that has been built over time, I just dont think PILF is accurately reflecting the realities of how it works,” she said. “I think theyre attempting to create this idea that these corrections are unusual, widespread or significant in a way that people should be concerned. I dont share that sentiment.” Vigil cited an “administrative error” for the state’s failure to quickly provide the records the foundation requested. But she stressed that the state never refused to produce the records and produced them in full during the litigation. The records do not include Social Security numbers or other sensitive personal information like dates of birth. Churchwell’s foundation also successfully sued Arizona and Oregon for its ERIC-related death records, according to a news release. Federal judge dismisses USDOJ lawsuit seeking New Mexico voter rolls The July 13 settlement agreement between the Secretary of State’s Office and the foundation requires the state to maintain each “deceased retraction” record it creates for at least two years. The state also agreed to release the records upon request as required under the federal National Voter Registration Act. The settlement agreement also required the state to pay the foundation roughly $2,800 in legal fees. Vigil said she hopes New Mexicans maintain their faith in the state’s election security despite efforts from the foundation to “sow doubt in the integrity of elections.” “Were highly ranked in the country for a good reason, and so [voters] should feel confident in their ability to participate,” Vigil said.
[Category: Civil Rights, Gov & Politics, Brennan Center for Justice, Electronic Registration Information Center, New Mexico Secretary of State, Public Interest Legal Foundation, voter rolls]
— Trump looks to veterans to fill trucking jobs after booting immigrants from industry: at 7/30/26 3:14pm
Tractor trailers sit parked in a row at a truck stop in Bloomsbury, N.J. (Photo by Dana DiFilippo/New Jersey Monitor)WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced an initiative Thursday for veterans to quickly obtain commercial driver’s licenses, as the administration attempts to fill vacancies in the industry after pausing license renewals for foreign-born truck drivers. “The radical left wants more jobs for illegal aliens and more migrants (in) 18-wheelers, and (the) Trump administration wants safer roads and more jobs for the American veteran,” Trump said. The policy builds on a program that allows veterans to automatically obtain a commercial driver’s license if their service included operating heavy vehicles by expanding the waiver from 12 months since military service to 24 months. The initiative also creates a fast-track program for veterans without experience. The Veterans Affairs Department will cover the costs of the program, and will launch a campaign to inform veterans of the opportunity. “Any veteran with heavy vehicle experience from the military will now be eligible to skip redundant road tests to obtain a commercial drivers license,” Trump said. “If they didnt drive a truck in the military, theyre going to learn, and theyre going to learn very quickly and theyll be licensed in a matter of a few weeks.” As part of Trump’s broad immigration crackdown, his administration has aimed to curtail the number of foreign-born truck drivers, who make up about 18% of truckers nationwide, through several federal regulations. A March Department of Transportation rule to limit the types of visas that make someone eligible for a commercial drivers license is expected to push out of the industry about 200,000 immigrant truck drivers, the administration has said. The rule applied to immigrants with several forms of legal status, including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, Temporary Protected Status, asylum seekers and refugees. Those who were exempt from the rule included lawful permanent residents and some immigrants with H-2A and E-2 visas. So far, about 28,000 licenses from foreign-born truck drivers have been canceled, Trump said. He added that industry giant Werner Trucking has hired 1,400 veterans as drivers. Trucker shortage The industry has a shortage of roughly 60,000 to 80,000 drivers, according to the American Trucking Associations, the industry’s largest national advocacy group. “As we get illegal aliens off the roads today, were also taking action to replace these unqualified migrant truck drivers with highly qualified American veterans,” Trump said. The president has said, without evidence, that immigrants driving commercial vehicles pose a safety threat and has accused them of not knowing English. Trump issued an executive order last year that required truck drivers to be proficient in English, which he said has resulted in 24,000 commercial licenses being removed. And last year, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy threatened to pull federal highway funding from several states for not enforcing the presidents executive order that required commercial truck drivers to be proficient in English. Growing list of states Trump said that he hopes more states partake in the waiver program, known as the Even Exchange Program that allows qualified military drivers to be exempt from taking a test to obtain a commercial driver’s license. To qualify, a veteran needs a related speciality, including motor transport operator, fueler, equipment operator, or pavement and construction equipment operator. Dozens of states already participate in the waiver program. Trump announced two more Thursday: Indiana and Wyoming. The states already in the program are Illinois, Kansas, Wisconsin, North Carolina, North Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Missouri, South Carolina, Idaho, Georgia, New Mexico, West Virginia, California, Iowa, Minnesota, Texas, Ohio, Maine, Utah, Washington, Mississippi, Tennessee, Michigan, Montana, South Dakota and Pennsylvania. Maryland, Louisiana, Arkansas, Florida and Alabama have committed to implementing the program.
[Category: DC Bureau, Gov & Politics]
— Trump administration rules out mass ICE enforcement at the polls in midterms: at 7/30/26 3:14pm
Voters fill out their ballots at a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, polling place during the South Dakota primary election on June 2, 2026. (Photo by Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)WASHINGTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is not planning an aggressive campaign at voting sites during the upcoming midterm elections, the Department of Homeland Security said Thursday in response to a States Newsroom inquiry about a letter from U.S. Senate Democrats voicing concerns about armed federal agents at polling places. ICE, an agency within DHS that has sustained intense criticism since the start of the second Trump administration for its aggressive and sometimes deadly tactics, has no plans to target polling sites in November, a DHS official told States Newsroom in an email. The official left open the possibility, though, that the agency’s plans could change based on available intelligence. “ICE is not planning operations targeting polling locations,” the DHS official said. “ICE conducts intelligence-driven targeted enforcement, and if an active public safety threat endangered a polling location, they may be arrested as a result of that targeted enforcement action.” The email came from a general DHS media account and did not name the official. The statement did not specify anything about DHS agencies other than ICE. While DHS made similar statements earlier this year, this one responded to a request for comment about a letter this week from a dozen U.S. Senate Democrats to three Cabinet members demanding to know more about the administration’s possible plans to send federal law enforcement officers to polling places across the country. The group, led by Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, sent a letter Tuesday to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in which the lawmakers asked whether armed federal agents would be deployed at election sites, which they said would be prohibited under federal law. “Congress has enacted longstanding criminal prohibitions against sending federal personnel to polling places and using federal power to interfere with elections,” they wrote. “Americans should never have to wonder whether the federal government intends to police the ballot box with armed agents.” Democrats have voiced increasing worries that President Donald Trump is seeking to control elements of election administration, which is a state responsibility under the U.S. Constitution. The issue is at the center of lawsuits brought by Democratic campaign and nonpartisan voting-rights groups challenging an executive order restricting mail-in voting. And U.S. House Democrats say the administration is withholding disaster relief funds as leverage to force states to change their election laws. “The letter reflects my and my Senate colleagues’ deep concerns that Donald Trump appears to be planning to steal the upcoming election, which Republicans cannot win on the merits,” Markey said in a Thursday statement to States Newsroom. “We know that no unlawful, illegal, and unconstitutional act is beyond him and we must be ready for it.” Joining Markey on the Tuesday letter were Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York, Gary Peters of Michigan, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Andy Kim of New Jersey, Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Raphael Warnock of Georgia, Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Maria Cantwell of Washington. Growing concern The senators’ concerns, they said, arise partly from findings revealed earlier this month that came out of an investigation launched in 2025 by the Democratic National Committee. Last October, the committee sought records regarding the possible deployment of federal law enforcement officers to polling stations, ballot-drop sites and election offices. The departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Defense initially did not produce any documents, and during ensuing litigation, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement represented it had found “no responsive records,” according to the July 28 letter. But after the DNC challenged the search results, ICE admitted to finding “more than 11,000 potentially responsive pages,” while U.S. Customs and Border Protection, another DHS agency, said it located nearly 117,000, lawmakers wrote. The Department of Defense declined to comment Thursday on the senators’ letter, telling States Newsroom that it will instead follow its typical protocol of responding directly to the authors themselves. The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment. Trump’s focus on elections Democrats’ inquiries into the administration’s plans also stem from comments President Donald Trump has made in recent months about election integrity. When a PBS Newshour correspondent asked Trump in May if he would send ICE agents or National Guard troops to polling sites for the midterms, he said he would “do anything necessary to make sure we have honest elections.” And earlier this month, during a nationwide primetime address, he again reiterated claims about the country’s voting systems being vulnerable to hacking and disputed his 2020 presidential loss, sowing doubts about the entire election process despite having a lack of evidence to back up his words. “President Trump’s statements, coupled with his repeated threats to invoke the Insurrection Act — which authorizes the president to deploy military forces inside the United States to suppress rebellion or domestic violence — only heighten concerns,” the senators added in their letter. “The Administration now has a choice,” they wrote. “It can continue to fuel the appearance that it is laying the groundwork for an unprecedented federal intrusion into state-run elections, or it can finally provide Congress and the American people with the transparency they deserve.” The lawmakers requested that Blanche, Mullin and Hegseth provide details about any possible plans to deploy federal troops at election sites in November and identify who may have authorized such deployments, setting a deadline of August 11. They also asked that the federal agency leaders produce records “concerning the possible deployment of federal law enforcement personnel or troops to polling places or other election sites.”
[Category: DC Bureau, Gov & Politics]
— 3 Republicans break with Trump in US Senate vote to block war in Iran: at 7/30/26 3:14pm
The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)WASHINGTON — For the second time in as many weeks, a War Powers Resolution aimed at curbing President Donald Trump’s war with Iran failed to pass the U.S. Senate Thursday. The vote breakdown, 49-50, fell along familiar lines as previous War Powers votes, with Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Susan Collins of Maine supporting the measure. Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voted no, as he’s done in just over a dozen similar measures. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., continues to be absent while in medical rehab. A similar War Powers Resolution to rein in Trump’s military conflict in Iran passed in the U.S. House on July 23, but failed in the Senate — both led by Republican majorities. War heats up The regional war reignited yet again this week after Trump ordered retaliatory strikes Tuesday, along with Saudi Arabia’s armed forces, on Iran-backed militias in eastern Iraq. The strikes on “multiple terrorist logistics and weapons sites” were in response to Iranian drone attacks on U.S. forces in the region, according to U.S. Central Command. Trump told Fox News on Wednesday, “We are going to beat the f— s—- out of them.” The United States launched a “heavy wave” of strikes on Iranian military sites beginning at 10 p.m. Eastern Wednesday “in response to yesterdays attempted missile attacks on U.S. forces,” according to U.S. Central Command. The cost of oil jumped to just over $90 a barrel Wednesday in response to renewed fighting and a continued chokehold on traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, where one-fifth of the world’s petroleum traveled prior to the U.S. and Israel launching the war in late February. This means Americans are again paying more for fuel. According to AAA, the U.S. national average for a gallon of regular gasoline rose to $4.09 Thursday. Before the volley of strikes began again, Trump had announced a pause, after the U.S. and Iran traded rocket fire for nearly two weeks following the collapse of ceasefire talks. Service members killed The president on July 22 attended the dignified transfer, in which the remains of soldiers are transferred from an aircraft arriving from the theater of operations back to the United States, for four U.S. service members killed as a result of the conflict with Iran. Three of the service members were killed July 17 and July 18 in an Iranian strike at a U.S. airbase in Jordan, and a fourth was killed during a controlled detonation of an Iranian drone July 19 at a U.S. base in Iraq. The most recent deaths of U.S. soldiers in the conflict bring the total killed to 18, while the number of injured increased to 653. But the Pentagon does not recognize the four most recent deaths among those in the Iran war, dubbed by the administration as Operation Epic Fury. Instead, the Pentagon is categorizing the latest deaths and injuries as casualties of “overseas operations starting July 7, 2026.” The administration is asking Congress for an additional $67 billion for the war in Iran. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Senate appropriators July 21 that the war has already cost $37.5 billion.
[Category: DC Bureau, Gov & Politics]
— Trump says he might pull Blanche nomination for AG until GOP holdouts leave office: at 7/30/26 3:14pm
President Donald Trump speaks during a rally at Mount Rushmore National Memorial on July 3, 2026 in Keystone, South Dakota. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to pull acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination to lead the Justice Department until two Republican holdouts, Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas, leave office. “Todd Blanche is a STAR, and everyone knows it! He has the potential to go down as one of the Greatest Attorney Generals of All Time. However, John Cornyn, of Texas, and Thom Tillis, of North Carolina, both of whom I refused to Endorse, and whose political careers have been ended by my action, are refusing to vote for this Great Nominee, who will remain, in any event, as Acting,” Trump wrote Thursday morning on Truth Social in his signature style of mixed capitalization. “Remember, both Cornyn and Tillis voted for Merrick Garland, and others, too numerous to mention. I have no objection to temporarily withdrawing Todd’s name, if they do not do the right thing, and putting him back after Cornyn and Tillis are out of office. President DONALD J. TRUMP,” he continued on the social media platform that he owns. One problem for Trump in a postponement is that the Senate is currently controlled 53-47 by Republicans but could shift to Democrats in the November midterm elections. Both senators seats could be filled by Democrats. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who chairs the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, postponed a committee vote that was scheduled for Thursday morning to advance Blanche’s nomination to the full Senate. Cornyn responded to Trump’s statement on X: “POTUS is mistaken if he believes concerns about the provisions in his tax lawsuit settlement are limited to me and Senator Tillis.” Tillis’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s latest statement. Already on the outs Both Cornyn and Tillis do not risk losing Trump’s favor or hurting their Republican Senate careers. Before deciding to retire, Trump subjected Tillis to intense criticism for opposing the Big Beautiful Bill Act in 2025 and said he would find candidates to oppose Tillis in his primary. Cornyn was knocked out of the Republican primary in a runoff election in May after Trump endorsed his opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The Judiciary Committee is split between 12 Republicans and 10 Democrats. All Democrats are expected to oppose Blanche, and a majority vote is required to advance Blanche’s nomination to the full Senate for confirmation. A spokesperson for Grassley said in a statement Wednesday night that the chair “works to set President Trump’s nominees up for success in committee, not failure” and that Cornyn and Tillis had not yet received written assurances from Blanche on the department’s formal end to Trump’s IRS settlement deal. The two-part settlement that Trump’s own Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service negotiated with the president to drop the $10 billion lawsuit established a nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, and a tax enforcement immunity deal for Trump, his sons Don Jr. and Eric, and their private Trump Organization. Blanche, during his July 15 confirmation hearing before the committee, defended the tax immunity deal as “typical” of IRS settlements. He also maintained the “anti-weaponization” fund portion of the deal had been completely scrapped, citing his comments during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing in June. Former Department of Justice officials told committee Democrats the IRS settlement language was “mind-boggling,” during a July 22 forum hosted by Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J. In a July 13 order, the Florida federal judge in the IRS case slammed Trump’s settlement with his own administration as using the presidency to “manipulate” the courts. Prior to Trump appointing him, and to Senate Republicans confirming him, as deputy attorney general in March 2025, Blanche, of Florida, previously worked as Trump’s personal defense lawyer on three criminal cases, according to his own bio on the DOJ website. Cornyn and Tillis were among the 52 Senate Republicans who voted along party lines to install Blanche among Justice Department leadership. Blanche represented Trump in a New York state case on which the president was convicted of 34 felonies of falsifying business records.
[Category: DC Bureau, Gov & Politics]
— New Mexico utility regulators approve NM Gas Co sale to private equity firm: at 7/30/26 2:06pm
The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission on July 30, 2026, approved the sale of New Mexico Gas Company to a subsidiary of a private equity firm in a 2-1 vote. (Danielle Prokop/Source NM)The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission approved the sale of New Mexico Gas Company to an affiliate of a Louisiana-based private equity firm in a 2-1 vote Thursday. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE The controversial, nearly $1.3 billion sale carries several requirements, including a freeze on base rates through early 2028, $22.4 million in bill credits in the year following the sale’s close and a $10 million economic development investment in New Mexico Gas Company’s service territory. Environmental advocates and several elected officials had vocally opposed the sale, citing reports that Bernhard Capital Partners’ founder previously operated a firm that Louisiana accused of overbilling the state for work done related to the infamous BP oil spill. New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez similarly opposed the deal, arguing that Bernhard’s reliance on short-term investments and private debt could lead to rate hikes and that its “complex web” of holding companies could thwart regulators’ oversight. Public Regulation Commissioner Gabriel Aguilera seemed to agree with the critics’ objections when casting Thursday’s lone “no” vote. “I’ve concluded that the proposed transaction is inconsistent with the public interest,” he said during Thursday’s meeting. “There is risk associated with BCP’s ownership of this currently well-managed company.” PRC staff in May recommended that the commission approve the sale. Although its new owner is based in Louisiana, a PRC announcement noted that New Mexico Gas Company will maintain its New Mexico headquarters, leadership team and workforce. In a statement, company President Ryan Shell said the new ownership guarantees that New Mexico Gas Company has access to the money needed to invest in its infrastructure. “Our team at New Mexico Gas Company remains committed to providing safe, reliable, affordable service to our fellow New Mexicans,” Shell wrote. Bernhard Senior Managing Director Jeff Baudier in a statement wrote that Thursday’s vote “reflects a shared confidence in New Mexico Gas Company’s future” and referred to the sale as an “investment in exceptional people, a strong utility and the communities it serves.” State Rep. Matthew McQueen (D-Galisteo), who unsuccessfully ran to be the Democratic nominee for the Commissioner of Public Lands in June’s primary election, had previously criticized the deal at PRC meetings. In a phone call with Source NM Thursday, he said he had not yet closely reviewed the terms of the sale, but echoed Aguilera’s concerns. “I question selling a public utility to an inexperienced operator,” he said, adding that he thought the requirements of a $10 million economic development investment and base rate freezes were too small. Given the size and the importance of the transaction, those dont seem very meaningful.
[Category: Economy, Environment & Climate Change, Gov & Politics, Bernhard Capital Partners, new mexico attorney general raúl torrez, New Mexico Gas Company, New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, Rep. Matthew McQueen]
— New Mexico state agency CFO files lawsuit alleging $83M budget shortfall from universal childcare: at 7/30/26 1:00pm
A new lawsuit alleges that the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department chief financial officer voiced concerns about the financial impacts of the state’s universal childcare program to department Secretary Elizabeth Groginsky, pictured right, alongside Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Sept. 8, 2025, before being placed on leave. (File photo/Source NM)The New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department’s chief financial officer is suing the department and alleging that its leaders retaliated against her for raising concerns that the implementation of the universal childcare program late last year caused an $83 million budget shortfall. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE Carmel Pacheco-Aragon filed the whistleblower protection lawsuit in the state’s First Judicial District Court late Wednesday evening. In the lawsuit, she alleges that ECECD leaders illegally shuffled funding between programs to cover the shortfall. The lawsuit says she told ECECD Secretary Elizabeth Groginsky that state law requires written authorization and legislative approval for such budgetary adjustments — and alleges that ECECD leaders had only secured verbal authorization from the state Department of Finance and Administration. “The law doesn’t take this position of, ‘Do whatever the hell you want. We’ll figure it out next session.’ That’s not how the appropriation statutes work,” Jacob Candelaria, an attorney and former state lawmaker who’s representing Pacheco-Aragon, told Source NM Thursday. “That’s what’s happening, from what we can tell.” Candelaria previously represented a trio of Republicans who unsuccessfully challenged the legality of the state’s universal childcare program. After a Second District Court judge denied their claim in June, Candelaria appealed to the New Mexico Supreme Court, where he similarly lost. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham first announced the program in September. The state lifted income restrictions on free childcare in November. Earlier this year, she signed a bill into law that provided a framework for the program, such as requiring co-pays from high-earning families during economic downturns. Pacheco-Aragon’s lawsuit contends that she was “abruptly put on administrative leave” in early July and that department leaders did not provide her with specific allegations. Days after going on leave, the suit says a department official told Pacheco-Aragon she was suspended because she had BCC’d a longtime personal friend on an email that reflected her “deep anxieties regarding the agency’s handling of the childcare assistance program budget shortfall.” As of the filing of the lawsuit, she is still on leave and “believes her termination from employment at ECED is imminent,” it says. “That is textbook whistleblower protection retaliation,” Candelaria said. Her lawsuit seeks reinstatement to her job and two times the amount of her backpay plus interest. A statement provided to Source NM by Early Childhood Education and Care Department Deputy Secretary Kendal Chavez said Pacheco-Aragon is currently on administrative leave pending an active HR investigation. However, she was not placed on administrative leave for the reasons alleged in the complaint. We cannot make any additional comment on this personnel matter. Chavez also said the allegations about the FYI26 childcare budget are false. ECECD, she said, has worked closely with the Department of Finance and Administration and the Legislative Finance Committee to appropriately and lawfully meet our child care expenditures. We will respond to these allegations in court. Her agency, she concluded, does not and will not take retaliatory action against any employee for coming forward with information, questions, or concerns about the operations of our department. July 31, 20266:14 amThis story was updated following publication to include responses from the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department.
[Category: Community, Gov & Politics, Elizabeth Groginsky, New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexico Whistleblower Protection Act, universal childcare]
— String of outbreaks tests US public health system amid funding cuts, vaccine resistance: at 7/30/26 11:02am
Diseases like measles have surged to the highest level in decades in the United States.(Photo by Getty Images Plus)WASHINGTON — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged during his confirmation hearing to do everything in his “power to put the health of America back on track.” Kennedy testified that when he worked as a lawyer he “learned that human health and environmental health are intertwined and inseparable.” He referred to the Make America Healthy Again agenda as “one of the most powerful and transcendent movements Ive ever seen.” “The nation is ready for change and recognizes that this is a unique inflection moment,” Kennedy said. Less than two years into his tenure at the helm of the department responsible for the health of millions of Americans, a string of outbreaks has repeatedly made headlines. Public health experts interviewed by States Newsroom said the upswing is the result of several factors, but that Kennedy’s decision to cut back the country’s safety net while spreading misinformation about vaccines has aggravated the problem. “We track serious infectious diseases, and over the last year and a half, the number of diseases weve had to put on the list has quadrupled,” said Jennifer B. Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center and professor of epidemiology at Brown University. Old diseases like measles have surged to the highest level in decades after vaccine misinformation left entire communities vulnerable to a virus once eradicated in the United States. Americans learned about an unfamiliar strain of hantavirus after cruise ship passengers were moved to a quarantine facility in Nebraska and public health officials raced to contact trace those who left the ship before the illness was detected. Cases of West Nile virus reached the highest level seen in more than two decades as mosquitoes spread that virus as well as several others. Monthly emergency room visits for tick bites spiked in April to their highest level since 2017. And the cyclospora parasite sickened thousands as public health officials struggled to determine the cause. Disease spread among animals, which could easily become a human health problem if not properly contained, has also cropped up, some more unexpected than others. Bird flu continued to decimate poultry flocks and wreak havoc on dairy herds as well as some people, raising concerns about the possibility it would evolve into something more problematic. And New World screwworm reemerged in cattle after more than half a century without a case in this country. HHS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not agree to interview requests or to send a statement on the cause of the myriad of disease outbreaks. Outbreaks growing Environmental changes like deforestation, people moving into new places that used to belong to wildlife and climate change have all contributed to more disease spread among people. But those factors have been exacerbated by cuts and other policy changes put in place during this administration, Nuzzo said. “We dont have the protections against these outbreaks in place at the level that we used to, which allows them to continue,” she said. “We had bad measles before, but we managed to stop them before we got to the point where wed lose measles elimination status. Were going to lose measles elimination status this year.” The CDC has tried to keep track of it all but the agency has experienced both staffing and funding cuts under Kennedy’s leadership. Complicating matters, the CDC had a Senate-confirmed director for just 29 days after Susan Monarez was fired for refusing to pre-approve vaccine recommendations or fire career officials for no reason. “Most of the activity for public health exists at the state and local level,” Nuzzo explained. “But the CDC is really important for not just providing funding to those state and local health officials, but also to nudge them. To say, Yes, this is worth prioritizing. Or pay closer attention to this now, because what we see in one place might be happening in another place.’ “And the more we can collectively learn and act, the more likely it is to be able to stop it in its tracks.” In addition to hollowing out certain domestic programs, the administration has cut how the U.S. government monitors and responds to disease outbreaks overseas, which are typically just one airplane flight away. That includes how U.S. officials have handled the outbreak of Ebola caused by the Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “The fact that we didnt hear about this outbreak publicly until nearly 200 cases were identified means that normal checks and balances just werent happening,” Nuzzo said. “So thats the kind of thing where when we contract our overseas presence and our overseas assistance, we lose a protection. “Now, do I think Bundibugyo is going to come here? It could. Is it going to spread? No. Its not going to spread in the same way like a COVID would.” States stuck with the burden American Public Health Association CEO Dr. Georges C. Benjamin said public health officials faced severe burnout and “left in droves” following the global coronavirus pandemic. That has left public health departments to track more disease circulating in their communities with less staff and funding. “If youre in a local or state health department, the same people dealing with measles are the same people that are going to deal with cyclospora, are going to be the same people if you have a Legionella outbreak,” Benjamin said. Those challenges were compounded by efforts under the Trump administration to shift more of the responsibility for preventing and containing outbreaks to state governments “without adequate planning,” he said. “Half of both state and local health department budgets are from federal dollars. Some whole programs are almost 100% federally funded. Most immunization programs are pretty much federally funded,” Benjamin said. “So when the feds abruptly decide not to fund something, the money just goes out the door. And you just cant fill that hole overnight.” The situation doesn’t seem likely to change anytime soon, he said, possibly leading more people to suffer from vaccine-preventable illnesses as well as those that spread from animals to people or from person to person. “If we dont pay attention to this, were going to be spending more money on the healthcare side of the ledger for people who will be sicker at a higher cost, because were not paying attention to the prevention side of the house,” Benjamin said. “I mean, we have the knowledge and tools to mitigate a lot of this stuff. We really do. And the challenge I think we have here is that as a society were pretty good at dealing with emergency stuff, but very poor at prevention.” More infectious diseases expected Dr. Amesh A. Adalja, senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said there has been progress in recent years on some vaccine-preventable diseases even as there’s been backsliding in others. “Now we have RSV vaccines for the elderly, we have RSV vaccines for pregnant women and monoclonal antibodies for babies to protect them against RSV,” he said. The American Lung Association writes on its website that respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, “is a common virus that you have undoubtedly been sick with before.” But that it “has the potential to make you really sick.” Measles, however, isn’t becoming less common as doctors and other healthcare professionals struggle against an undercurrent of misinformation about vaccine safety, including from Kennedy, as they’re trying to treat all the other illnesses circulating. “In measles, its less about public health burnout, rather, its more about the anti-vaccine movement making inroads,” Adalja said. “For cyclospora, thats always been a threat. We always get cases every year. But the fact that the malaria and parasite division in CDC has basically been gutted does play a role.” Overall, he said, the infectious disease trend in the United States has become worse since the coronavirus pandemic. And that’s not likely to change in the near future. “If youre saying, How resilient is the U.S. or should we expect more infectious disease problems in the United States? I would say yes,” Adalja said. “But its not clear which ones they would be. I definitely would think the vaccine-preventable diseases, the control of them is going to slip. And its not just going to be measles.” Then there are the bugs Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota Michael T. Osterholm said on his podcast the El Nino weather pattern that leads to warmer temperatures in some parts of the country and heavier rainfall in others can be a “perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes.” “We talked about the El Nino in previous episodes in the context of hantavirus but it can actually play a large role in disease transmission for a number of viruses, West Nile included,” Osterholm said. That could be one of the reasons the CDC reported in early July it observed “the earliest start to the West Nile virus (WNV) season in the United States with the highest number of human disease cases reported by this time of year since 2004.” Osterholm said that is likely “a really major underestimation of the true number of infections.” “Approximately 20% of West Nile infections in humans are symptomatic and less than 1% result in the severe neurologic symptoms for which testing would typically be sought by medical providers,” he said. “I say that not to undermine the public health importance of West Nile, but to highlight that this virus is likely much more widespread than our surveillance data might suggest.” Ticks are also leading to more illness among Americans, including Lyme disease and Alpha-gal syndrome. That second condition, caused by the Lone Star tick, can cause people to become allergic to red meat that contains Alpha-gal sugar. This includes beef, pork, lamb, venison, goat and rabbit, he said. Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Public Information Officer Lynn Sutfin wrote in a statement that even though “infectious disease threats have been trending up in general, there are several practices and issues that are contributing to the increased awareness of outbreaks.” “Outbreak definitions, modernized reporting, investigative capacity, improved diagnostics, genetic sequencing and even declining vaccination rates are all having an impact on disease spread and information about their spread,” Sutfin wrote. “Globally, additional considerations like climate change, antibiotic overuse, modern travel, industrialization and deforestation also need to be considered.”
[Category: DC Bureau, Gov & Politics]
— New Mexico Democratic lieutenant governor race heats up, with ‘mudslinging,’ celebrity endorsement: at 7/21/26 4:59pm
Members of New Mexico’s Democratic Party will cast votes starting July 25, 2026, and choose between state Sen. Harold Pope (D-N.M.) and Commissioner of Public Lands Stephanie Garcia Richard for the party’s Nov. 3 general election lieutenant governor candidate. (Courtesy photos)Four days before an election takes place to name the New Mexico Democratic Party’s lieutenant governor nominee, endorsements and accusations are flying among Democrats supporting the two main candidates. The political rhetoric targets the roughly 500 members of the state Democratic Party’s State Central Committee, who will cast votes between July 25 and July 29 for the nominee to replace Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver. Toulouse Oliver dropped out of the general election last month due to health reasons after winning the Democratic primary race. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE Two candidates want to take Toulouse Oliver’s spot: New Mexico Sen. Harold James Pope (D-Albuquerque), who lost to Toulouse Oliver in the primary by 60 percentage points; and New Mexico Public Lands Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard, whom Democratic gubernatorial nominee Deb Haaland endorsed to join her on the November general election ticket. The campaign that has formed in the final stretch before the SCC vote resembles a regular election targeted at voters, with prominent leaders and groups endorsing or attacking candidates, along with allegations of “mudslinging” and pleas for campaign donations. New Mexico Sen. Antonio “Moe” Maestas (D-Albuquerque), who represents the city’s West Side along with Pope in the state Senate, went on the attack against Pope this week. He released a video Monday in front of an elementary school in Pope’s district and criticized Pope for failing to distribute any of the roughly $4 million he receives annually in discretionary capital outlay funding to the school. In contrast, Maestas noted, Garcia Richard has overseen an office that has collected more than $3 billion, largely from oil and gas royalties, to benefit New Mexico schools and other public services. Maestas told Source NM on Tuesday that he decided to film the video out of frustration with the way he said Pope had positioned himself as a “progressive deity” in the ongoing lieutenant governor race while failing to fund schools in his district. “I mean, thats just bread-and-butter government,” he said. “It’s just indicative of the contradiction that surrounds his candidacy. When you compare their accomplishments, theres no comparison. So instead of Deb Haaland and Stephanie Garcia Richard barnstorming the state this past month, theres this power grab by the ultra-left, which does not serve the party or the state.” Pope told Source NM that he sees Maestas’ offensive as proof that his message is resonating with SCC voters, roughly 40% of whom hail from Bernalillo County. “When a senator within my caucus is on the attack like this, I think it shows that were probably doing well, when the mudslinging and things like this happen,” Pope said. Pope also said he had other worthy priorities for his capital outlay spending, including a longstanding road-widening project and law enforcement. Garcia Richard did not respond to Source NM’s requests for comment Tuesday. Democratic socialists and Jane Fonda Inline photo: The Albuquerque chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America endorsed state Sen. Harold James Pope Jr. (D-Albuquerque) on July 21, 2026. From left are DSA members Ceryn Schoel, Nikhil Aranda and Grace Dukes. (Patrick Lohmann/Source NM) Separate from the “mudslinging,” Tuesday also marked two noteworthy endorsements in the race. The Albuquerque chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America held a small news conference in front of the New Mexico Democratic Party to endorse Pope. Both the Albuquerque and Santa Fe DSA chapters have now endorsed Pope, saying he is the candidate who best reflects “grassroots” Democratic voters. “The senator is not just the choice that reflects the values of New Mexicans. I think hes also the electable choice,” Albuquerque DSA co-chair Nikhil Ananda said. “But regardless of our preferences, I just want to make sure that the State Central Committee provides an election process and a decision-making process that reflects the conscience of delegates and their perspective on whats best for New Mexicans.” Also on Tuesday, environmental activist and actress Jane Fonda jumped into the fray on Garcia Richard’s behalf, touting the commissioner’s environmental record over two terms in office. “Its about damn time we have two bad-ass women leading New Mexico and protecting the states natural beauty for all New Mexicans,” she said in an email to Garcia Richard supporters.
[Category: Election 2026, Gov & Politics, Antonio "Moe" Maestas, Deb Haaland, Democratic lieutenant governor, Democratic Party of New Mexico, Jane Fonda, Sen. Harold Pope, State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard]

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