Texas’ Lamar Consolidated Independent School District Superintendent Roosevelt Nivens reportedly shows a solid understanding and strong support for transportation operations by staying in regular contact with operations and transportation leaders as well as frontline staff.
Chief Operations Officer Greg Buchanan said Nivens, “has contributed to meeting transportation needs by helping secure successful bond elections to fund fleet expansion.”
Plus, Nivens — one of four finalists for the National Superintendent of the Year award being given this week at the National Conference on Educaton — actively engages with employees during site visits, where he expresses appreciation for drivers, mechanics and leadership alike.
“Recently, he supported funding for 16 additional full-day drivers to cover absences and open routes, and he added leadership roles to keep transportation operations aligned with district growth,” Buchanan said.
Ahead of the 2026 Superintendent of the Year being named Feb. 12 at the National Conference on Education in Nashville, Tennessee, School Transportation News sat down with those in charge of transportation operations at the respective districts to gain a better understanding of how the services function.
The Superintendent of the Year Award is sponsored by AASA: The School Superintendents Association, along with Corebridge Financial and Sourcewell, celebrate the contributions and leadership of public-school superintendents.
A $10,000 college scholarship will be presented in the name of the 2025 National Superintendent of the Year to a student at a high school the winning superintendent graduated from or from the school district the winner now leads.
Transportation Operations
Lamar CISD runs an entirely in-house transportation system that facilitates daily student mobility across a rapidly expanding district, “which allows the district to directly oversee safety standards, staffing and service quality,” Buchanan said.
It employs 275 drivers across three terminals for265 daily bus routes. The district transports approximately 22,700 students each school day. During the 2024–2025 school year, school buses traveled more than 4.6 million miles, serving both general and special education routes.
Lamar CISD relies heavily on technology to streamline operations, enhance communication and improve safety. This includes Tyler Technologies’ comprehensive student transportation software for route planning, driver navigation, student ridership tracking, and a parent app. Fleet Vision helps the district manage fuel and parts inventory and Trip Tracker coordinates campus-based trip scheduling.
Lamar CISD also uses Safety Vision camera systems to monitor bus interiors and exteriors, aiding accident investigations. “Additionally, AI-enabled tools are used daily for operational planning, communication and leadership support, enabling staff to respond swiftly to changing conditions,” Buchanan said.
When it comes to workplace culture, transportation encourages engagement and morale through constant communication. Culture is a key focus of the department to align with the district’s overall strategic plan, “which highlights recognizing exceptional performance and fostering a culture of excellence,” he added.
Communication is fostered through including weekly newsletters, terminal-level outreach, and a sunshine committee that organizes employee recognition, morale-boosting activities and celebrations.
“These efforts culminate in an annual end-of-year awards banquet that honors outstanding service and achievement,” Buchanan said.
One current initiative is to address Texas Senate Bill 546, which requires all school buses to be equipped with three-point seatbelts by Sept. 1, 2029. “The district is meeting this mandate through a combination of new bus purchases and retrofitting select existing buses,” Buchanan said, adding that it is not operating alternative-fuel or energy school buses due to the significant costs and infrastructure requirements.
Another initiative was the opening of a new transportation facility, which was opened to support district growth and improve operational efficiency. In addition, the district opened a new Junior High School which was named after Ella Banks, a 40-year veteran school bus driver at the district.
“This recognition underscores the district’s commitment to treating transportation as an essential component of student success,” Buchanan said.
An unusually persistent cold front sweeping snow and freezing rain across the U.S. last month exposed a key vulnerability in school transportation systems across the South and Mid-Atlantic regions, where prolonged bouts with such severe winter weather is rare.
School districts unaccustomed to sustained winter weather were forced to suspend or significantly alter school bus operations, triggering widespread school closures, delays and logistical strain.
In Virginia, where snowfall is typically modest and short-lived, school districts across northern and central parts of the state struggled to safely operate school buses after repeated rounds of snow, freezing rain and overnight refreezing.
Fairfax County Public Schools, the state’s largest school district, canceled or delayed classes for multiple days, citing icy secondary roads and blocked school bus stops. Albemarle County Public Schools reported similar challenges, noting that while major roadways were largely cleared, neighborhood streets remained hazardous for large school buses navigating early-morning routes.
In neighboring North Carolina, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) also faced transportation disruptions as icy conditions lingered on secondary roads. District officials said decisions to close, delay, or shift to remote learning are guided by a broad, safety-first assessment that extends well beyond road conditions alone.
“CMS considers multiple factors, including primary and secondary road conditions, local and state plowing schedules, staff commute safety, student drivers and walkers, accessibility needs, and the readiness of more than 200 facilities that must be safely cleared of snow and ice,” said Tom Miner, assistant communications officer for the district.
Miner told STN that Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools and administrative sites are not maintained by city or county crews. While local agencies focus on public roadways, district operations teams are responsible for clearing school parking lots, entrances, walkways, and bus lots to ensure safe conditions on campuses.
Because Charlotte-Mecklenburg serves a geographically large and diverse community, Miner said decisions prioritize countywide student and staff safety. When school is in session, district operations significantly increase traffic on local roads through buses, staff vehicles, families and student drivers, a factor weighed carefully during weather-related decision-making. District leaders also rely on guidance from weather experts and emergency management officials as recovery efforts unfold across the county.
The impact of the cold front was also pronounced in Tennessee, where severe winter weather remains relatively infrequent outside of mountainous areas. In east and middle Tennessee, a rare combination of freezing temperatures, snow and icy road conditions prompted widespread school closures as bus fleets were sidelined. Metro Nashville Public Schools canceled classes after determining that residential roads and rural routes were unsafe for bus travel.
Rocky (and Icy) Top
In Knox County, back-to-back winter storms over the past two weeks forced multiple canceled instructional days and delayed schedules. Ryan Dillingham, executive director of transportation for Knox County Schools, said even modest winter weather can have outsized effects in the region.
“We’re in an area that typically does not see heavy winter weather, so a relatively small amount that wouldn’t even be worth considering in other parts of the country can impact us heavily,” Dillingham told STN.
Knox County Schools
Dillingham said the district relies on a network of contracted bus operators positioned throughout Knox County to assess road conditions during weather events, combining those reports with forecast data and information from law enforcement, first responders and school safety and maintenance teams to guide decision-making.
“One of the unexpected impacts of these storms has been to drain our supplies of salt and de-icing compounds,” he explained. “We’re almost out locally, and suppliers are facing delays getting resupplies. That has led the county to prioritize major thoroughfares over neighborhood roads, which is logical and appropriate, but we have a lot of stops on neighborhood roads, so we feel that impact.”
Transportation officials across the region emphasized that many school bus fleets in southern states are not equipped with snow tires or chains, equipment typically unnecessary given their usual climates. Even brief overnight refreezing made routes unpredictable, forcing districts to prioritize safety over maintaining regular schedules.
Educators expressed frustration with the disruptions but largely supported school district decisions, acknowledging that transportation systems designed primarily for extreme heat and heavy rain are ill-suited for winter storms. The disruptions also renewed discussions about preparedness, with some districts exploring expanded use of remote learning days or adjustments to academic calendars to account for weather-related instructional losses. While forecasters expect temperatures to gradually moderate, school leaders say the cold front has already left a lasting impression.
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Geotab Inc. (“Geotab”), a global leader in connected transportation, video telematics and asset tracking solutions, today at Geotab Connect 2026 launched the GO Anywhere family of asset trackers. Purpose built for distinct customer needs and use cases, the new hardware line delivers unified visibility across trailers and equipment while addressing critical business challenges, including the significant financial drain caused by lost or underutilized assets. The launch comes as the industry faces staggering costs from equipment misplacement and downtime; for instance, construction equipment loss alone exceeds $1 billion yearly in the U.S., often leading to project delays that multiply the total financial impact.
Geotab is including Starlink Direct To Cell connectivity in its GO Anywhere Plus asset tracker*. This marks a significant milestone in the industry, merging mobile and satellite networks, in a commercial IoT device. This innovation provides seamless coverage for high-value assets even in the most remote “dead zones,” at a fraction of the cost of traditional, hardware-intensive satellite connectivity.
“Losing a critical piece of equipment is about more than the replacement cost, it’s about the worker who can’t finish their job and the customer whose project is now stalled,” said David Wooten, Senior Manager Product Management at Geotab. “By providing near real-time visibility and vital data insights, we are helping remove the uncertainty that comes with managing valuable assets across multiple sites. Whether it’s ensuring a generator is maintained based on engine hour readings or confirming a trailer is ready for the road, we want to ensure that when a crew shows up for work, the tools and assets they need are working well and are exactly where they should be.”
Three Tailored Solutions for Total Fleet Visibility
The GO Anywhere family includes three distinct solutions tailored for various operational needs:
GO Anywhere Plus: The ultimate all-in-one solution for high-value mixed fleets. This hybrid tracker combines wired power for near real-time location, engine hours, and inferred hubometer readings with a field-replaceable backup battery for uncompromised insights. GO Anywhere Plus utilizes Starlink Direct to Cell technology, ensuring total operational awareness even in the most remote locations.This eliminates the need for expensive, specialized satellite hardware while maintaining connectivity where traditional cellular networks fail.
GO Anywhere: The definitive “set and forget” solution for non-powered assets, combining long battery life with consistent, reliable tracking. Engineered to deliver up to 10 years of battery life, the device lowers total cost of ownership by eliminating the need for frequent battery maintenance. GO Anywhere provides hourly location updates as a standard, helping ensure assets are trackable over time. In the event of theft, High-Frequency Mode can be activated for rapid recovery.
Small Asset Tracking: Utilizing Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons, this solution allows businesses to track portable tools and equipment via nearby connected assets. This helps reduce the “invisible” costs of equipment loss through geofences that trigger alerts when assets move or are left behind.
By integrating these devices into the unified MyGeotab platform, businesses can eliminate blind spots in their operations, moving from reactive recovery to proactive asset management. Whether protecting construction equipment or monitoring sensitive logistics, the GO Anywhere family helps ensure every asset is accounted for in an increasingly complex global supply chain.
The GO Anywhere will be available in North America in Q2 2026, with a global rollout to follow.
*Starlink Direct To Cell will be available through select carrier partners.
About Geotab:
Geotab is a global leader in connected vehicle and asset management solutions, with headquarters in Oakville, Ontario and Atlanta, Georgia. Our mission is to make the world safer, more efficient, and sustainable. We leverage advanced data analytics and AI to transform fleet performance and operations, reducing cost and driving efficiency. Backed by top data scientists and engineers, we serve approximately 100,000 global customers, processing 100 billion data points daily from more than 5 million vehicle subscriptions. Geotab is trusted by Fortune 500 organizations, mid-sized fleets, and the largest public sector fleets in the world, including the US Federal government. Committed to data security and privacy, we hold FIPS 140-3 and FedRAMP authorizations. Our open platform, ecosystem of outstanding partners, and Geotab Marketplace deliver hundreds of fleet-ready third-party solutions. This year, we’re celebrating 25 years of innovation. Learn more at www.geotab.com and follow us on LinkedIn or visit Geotab News and Views.
Sen. Mark Spreitzer (D-Beloit) said the bills are part of a larger effort to "legislate trans people out of public life.” (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
The Wisconsin State Senate passed bills that would restrict administrative rulemaking and that would place restrictions on health care for transgender youth. The bills are likely to be vetoed by Gov. Tony Evers.
Bills to restrict transgender youth headed to Evers
Democrats slammed five bills passed by Republicans that would restrict transgender children from receiving gender affirming care, from choosing the names and pronouns used for them in school and from participating on sports teams that align with their gender identity. Republicans said the bills are meant to protect children. Each bill passed 18-15 along party lines.
Sen. Mark Spreitzer (D-Beloit) said the bills are part of a larger effort to “legislate trans people out of public life.” He noted the Legislature’s emphasis on bills related to transgender people and said he felt a responsibility as a gay man to speak against them.
“Why are gay people and transgender people often lumped together politically? Why do we stand with each other? In large part because it is the same stereotypes. It is the same bias… and rigid ideas of male and female that have led to discrimination against gay people,” Spreitzer said.
Spreitzer said that even bringing the bills forward would do harm to transgender youth.
“It does harm to the mental health of our youth,” Spreitzer said. A 2024 survey by The Trevor Project found that 91% of LGBTQ+ young people in Wisconsin reported that recent politics negatively impacted their well-being. “What do they mean by recent politics? They mean bills like these as well as similar things coming down from the Trump administration.”
He added that he asked lawmakers to stop moving the bills forward during the committee process. “Yet forward they move, despite the Republican majority knowing full well that Gov. Evers will veto all five of these bills. They will not become law this session.”
Evers has vetoed similar bills several times over his seven years in office. Each time, he has promised to veto “any bill that makes Wisconsin a less safe, less inclusive, and less welcoming place for LGBTQ people and kids.”
Spreitzer said Senate and Assembly Democrats would sustain those vetoes if necessary.
One bill passed by the Senate is SB 405, which would create a civil cause of action against health care providers who perform gender transition procedures on someone under the age of 18 if they claim to be injured.
Spreitzer said SB 405 is a “blatant effort to threaten health care professionals with privileged litigation in the hopes that it will create a chilling effect and that they will stop providing gender affirming care.”
Sen. Melissa Ratcliff (D-Cottage Grove) made personal pleas, speaking to her own experience as the mother of a transgender child during the floor session. She said it would make life harder for transgender children and their families.
“It’s not about protecting children, it’s about controlling them,” Ratcliff said, adding that decisions about gender affirming care are deeply private and should only be made by families and doctors.
“Why are we not helping families instead of burdening them? Why are we attacking children instead of protecting them? Why are we prioritizing culture wars over real problems?” Ratcliff said. “It’s really pretty obvious you want to use kids as pawns in a cynical political crusade. It’s not your kids that you’re using. It’s my kid and other people’s kids being used as pawns. It’s really shameful.”
“Stop bullying trans kids, and stop bullying their families,” Ratcliff said.
The Senate also concurred in AB 100 and AB 102, which would prohibit transgender students from being able to participate on sports teams that align with their gender identity at Wisconsin K-12 public and choice schools, University of Wisconsin campuses and technical colleges.
Sen. Rob Hutton (R-Brookfield), the lead author of the sports and the civil action bills, said he has met with the “transgender community” while working on the legislation and added that it “doesn’t matter who that is, doesn’t matter what their name is, but all that matters is I’ve been able to reach out.”
Hutton said his bills would help “protect fairness, safety and privacy” in girls’ and women’s sports. He said SB 405 would ensure that there is the “same level of support for those who realize now that the issue that they’re physically dealing with and mentally dealing with, that they were wronged and they believe there should be some accountability to the health care professional.”
The Senate also concurred in AB 103, which would require that school districts adopt policies to inform and get permission from parents before a student would be allowed to use names and pronouns that differ from their legal ones, and AB 104, which would prohibit health care professionals from providing medical gender affirming care for those under 18.
Ratcliff said the bills are part of a political strategy for Republican lawmakers.
“Last year, you weaponized trans kids for campaign points and you’re doing it again,” Ratcliff said. “In both cases, the cost is the same. Real children are being harmed. It didn’t work last year and it’s not going to work this year.”
Wisconsin has a slate of elections coming up this year including a state Supreme Court race in April as well as an open governor’s race and state legislative races that will determine control of the Senate and Assembly.
The only Republican gubernatorial candidate, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, kicked off his campaign by playing up culture war issues including promising to keep transgender girls off of girls’ sports teams. He has also recently released a campaign statement calling on the New Richmond School District to reverse its current policy and bar transgender girls from being able to use the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity.
Sen. Cory Tomczyk (R-Mosinee) accused Democratic lawmakers of engaging in “political theater” and said anyone who allowed a minor to “make irreversible decisions is a catastrophic failure of parenting and society in general.”
All of the bills except SB 405 will now go to Evers for consideration.
GOP seeks to restrict administrative rules
Republican lawmakers introduced bills — packaged together as the “red tape reset” and supported by the conservative legal group Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) in May. The bills would increase legislative control over decisions made by executive agencies. Republicans have increased their efforts to limit and restrict agency rulemaking powers in the aftermath of state Supreme Court rulings that limited their ability to block rules.
SB 275 would limit scope statements, which are the first step in the rulemaking process, so they could only be used for one proposed rule.
SB 276 would allow those who have challenged the validity of administrative rule to receive attorney fees and costs if a court declares a rule invalid.
SB 277 would have all administrative rules sunset after seven years unless a rule is adopted again through an agency process.
SB 289 would require agencies to make cuts to offset the cost associated with new regulations.
Each bill passed 18-15 along party-lines. They will now go to the Assembly for consideration.
Democratic lawmakers did not speak on the bills during the floor session.
Megan Novak, the Americans For Prosperity Wisconsin state director, said in a statement that Wisconsin has been overregulated and that has restricted its economic growth.
“Between our excessive regulations and the misguided decision by our partisan Supreme Court that removed a necessary legislative check on the governor in the rulemaking process, Wisconsin businesses and families deserve regulatory relief,” Novak said. “These bills are a welcome step to get Wisconsin back on the right track.”
Grooming bill heads to Evers
The Senate concurred in a bill that would make “grooming” a felony crime in Wisconsin.
The bill was introduced after a report from the CapTimes that found there were over 200 investigations into teacher licenses stemming from allegations of sexual misconduct or grooming from 2018 to 2023, though authors of the proposal say they have been working on the legislation for longer.
Sen. Jesse James (R-Thorp) told reporters ahead of the floor session that the bill would protect “our vulnerable population from supposed trusted adults who would do our kids harm.”
“I can’t bear to think of the many dangers my grandkids will face, however, with this bill, I can sleep just a little bit better,” James said, adding that the bill would act as a deterrent to tell people that “our kids are not targets.”
The bill would define grooming as “a course of conduct, pattern of behavior, or series of acts with the intention to condition, seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a child for the purpose of producing, distributing or possessing depictions of the child engaged in sexually explicit conduct.”
Under the bill, a person convicted of a grooming charge would be guilty of a Class G felony. The charge would increase to a Class F felony if the person is in a position of trust or authority, and to a Class E felony if the child has a disability and to a Class D felony if the violation involves two or more children. A convicted person would need to register as a sex offender.
The bill, which passed the Assembly 93-6 last month, will now go to Evers for consideration.
Another bill that was introduced following the CapTimes report passed on a voice vote. SB 785 would require the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to maintain an online licensing portal that is searchable by the public at no cost. The portal would need to include information on license holders under investigation and the name of individuals who have had their licenses revoked.
A store in New York City displays a sign accepting Electronic Benefits Transfer, or EBT, cards for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program purchases for groceries. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
A bill in the Assembly seeks to order the Evers administration to follow a White House demand and turn over data on all Wisconsin food aid recipients since 2020 — despite a lawsuit that has put the federal demand on hold.
AB 1027 would give the administration six months to compile and share with the U.S. Department of Agriculture “all data” that USDA demanded in a letter to the states this past summer on applicants and recipients of benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Aid Program (SNAP).
SNAP funds the state’s FoodShare program. The letter threatened to cut off SNAP benefits to states that didn’t comply with USDA’s data demand.
Wisconsin is one of 21 states along with the District of Columbia that have sued to block the demand, and a federal judge in California granted the request for a temporary restraining order in their favor. The caseremains in litigation.
On Wednesday, the nine Assembly health committee Republicans who were present voted to advance the bill after holding a public hearing with just two witnesses. All five Democrats voted against the measure.
In the hearing, Rep. Nate Gustafson (R-Omro), the bill’s author, said it doesn’t change who is eligible for FoodShare.
“It is focused solely on compliance with the existing federal requirements, so that funding continues without disruption, and Wisconsin citizens can keep receiving the benefits that they have been promised,” Gustafson said.
Rep. Lisa Subeck (D-Madison) asked Gustafson exactly what information was being demanded from the state.
“I’m trying to figure out the motivation for wanting this data, and without a clear picture of what this includes, it certainly concerns me,” Subeck said. “Given what’s happening in the federal government right now, this raises a number of red flags.”
Gustafson said he had not spoken with the Department of Health Services, which administers the FoodShare program, but that in his view, “what this bill is trying to say is, why, we don’t have anything to hide, so let’s just comply.”
Subeck rejected the claim that the bill would help uncover fraud in the FoodShare program.
“I believe that we should absolutely root out any fraud that is in any of our programs,” she said. “I do not believe this bill does anything to address fraud.”
The only other hearing testimony was from Mike Semmann, president and CEO of the Wisconsin Grocers Association, which opposed the legislation. Wisconsin grocers have many customers who use FoodShare in order to meet their needs, Semmann told the committee.
“Many times Wisconsin’s retailers are on the front line, and they’re going to be the ones who are going to be asked the questions about the program and about the concept of what’s going on with their information,” Semmann said. “And we just think that due to everything that is going on with both the potential pending litigation, but other additional questions, that right now to pass a piece of legislation at this time is just a little bit premature.”
Booths await voters at the Pennington County Administration Building during early voting on Jan. 19, 2026, for a municipal election in Rapid City, South Dakota. (Photo by Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House passed legislation Wednesday that would require the public to produce a passport or birth certificate in most cases to register to vote, less than a year out from November midterm elections.
The 218-213 vote split mostly along party lines, with one Democrat, Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, breaking with his party to support the measure. One Republican, North Carolina’s Greg Murphy, did not vote.
Republicans argued the bill, dubbed by House Republicans as the “Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act,” or the SAVE America Act, will prevent noncitizens from voting in federal elections, which is already illegal and rare.
The Senate is considering its own version of the bill.
The GOP’s championing of the bill follows President Donald Trump’s comments advocating to nationalize elections, a mid-decade campaign to redraw state congressional districts in Republicans’ favor and more than two dozen Department of Justice lawsuits demanding Democratic-led states turn over unredacted voter rolls to the Department of Homeland Security.
The bill also includes a provision requiring each state to send an “official list of eligible voters for federal office” to Homeland Security to be run through the department’s database to identify any noncitizens.
‘Show your papers’
The legislation has attracted sharp criticism from Democrats and voting rights advocates as a “show your papers” law that will disenfranchise the roughly 146 million Americans who do not have a passport.
They say it would also affect those without ready access to a birth certificate and married women whose last names do not match the name appearing on birth records.
If passed by both chambers and signed into law by Trump, the measure would take effect immediately.
“Republicans know that they cannot win on the merits, so rather than change their policies, they’re seeking to change the rules. John Lewis was not bludgeoned on a bridge in my hometown for the Republicans and Donald Trump to take these rules away from us,” said Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., invoking the late Democratic Rep. John Lewis, who was beaten in 1965 in Selma, Alabama, during a march for voting rights.
“This is a blatant power grab, as Democrats will not stand for it,” Sewell, whose district includes Selma, said on the floor ahead of the vote.
Sean Morales-Doyle, director of voting rights and elections at the Brennan Center for Justice, said the timing of the measure, if enacted, would cause “maximum chaos.”
“A change of this magnitude to our election system right before an election would be not only terrible in substance in that it would block Americans from voting, but would also be chaos-causing,” Morales-Doyle said.
“It would change the rules that govern our elections and government registration right when that is happening at the highest rate. … There’s always a huge increase in registration in the run-up to an election.”
‘Daggum ID’
But Republicans argue the legislation provides “safeguards” to ensure only U.S. citizens vote, as Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said on the floor ahead of the vote.
“House Republicans and President Trump want to protect the ballot box and ensure integrity in our elections across this great country,” Burchett said.
“When you purchase a firearm, when you board a plane, when you open a bank account — if I put $100 in the bank and right then ask for $20 of it back, guess what: I gotta show a daggum ID,” Burchett continued.
Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., said Democrats’ arguments against the bill amounted to “hyperbole.”
“We should be checking and cleaning up the voter rolls and removing individuals who are not eligible to vote, because every citizen deserves the right to vote,” he said.
Claims of noncitizen voting in federal elections represent “tiny fractions of voters,” according to a July 2025 analysis from The Center for Election Innovation and Research. The report was updated this month.
Murkowski not on board
The Senate version, sponsored by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, may face stronger headwinds.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, issued a statement on social media Tuesday saying she won’t support the legislation.
“Not only does the U.S. Constitution clearly provide states the authority to regulate the ‘times, places, and manner’ of holding federal elections, but one-size-fits-all mandates from Washington, D.C., seldom work in places like Alaska,” Murkowski wrote, adding that changing procedures so close to the midterms would “negatively impact election integrity.”
Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) told reporters on Wednesday ahead of a floor session that he hadn’t spoken recently with Gov. Tony Evers or Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) about property tax relief proposals. LeMahieu speaks at a 2023 press conference with Vos (left) and other Assembly Republicans standing behind him. (Wisconsin Examiner photo)
Senate Republicans are not on the same page as Assembly Republicans and Gov. Tony Evers when it comes to how to use the projected $2.5 billion state surplus to provide tax relief to Wisconsinites.
Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) told reporters on Wednesday ahead of a floor session that he hadn’t spoken recently with Evers or Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) about property tax relief proposals. Vos told reporters on Tuesday that he was negotiating with Evers on a property tax proposal and was backing off a demand to repeal the partial veto that extended school revenue limit increases for 400 years.
LeMahieu said his caucus was working on fine tuning its own proposal.
“When you have a surplus, you want to give it back to the people who are paying taxes in Wisconsin, the hard working families of Wisconsin,” LeMahieu said.
Hours later, LeMahieu announced the introduction of SB 1, which would provide rebate payments of up to $1,000 to taxpayers, and SB 995, which would provide a sum sufficient appropriation for the proposal.
“You and your family know how to spend your hard-earned dollars best, not the state government,” LeMahieu said in a statement. “So, whether you need more room in your budget for groceries, or if Governor Evers’ 400-year veto sent your property tax bill through the roof, the State Senate intends to vote next week to return the surplus to the people who created it in the first place: you, the taxpayers.”
Wisconsin leaders are debating ways to provide some financial relief to residents in the aftermath of a significant jump in property tax bills in December. The hikes were fueled by a state budget that increases school revenue limits while keeping state general aid flat — pushing education costs onto local taxpayers — as well as voter approval of school district referendum requests. Further property tax hikes are expected if there is no action from policymakers.
The Senate bill would provide a one-time rebate to taxpayers who filed a Wisconsin individual income tax return in tax year 2024 and owed for that year. It would provide a rebate of $1,000 for joint married filers and a $500 rebate for other individuals.
The Department of Revenue (DOR) would make the payments without the taxpayers having to take any further action and they would need to be made by Sept. 15, 2026. The rebate would not exceed the amount of the taxpayer’s 2024 net income tax liability.
The bill will receive a public hearing Thursday afternoon in the Senate Agriculture and Revenue committee. The committee chair, Sen. Patrick Testin (R-Stevens Point), called the 400-year veto “irresponsible” and said Republicans “know that many families across Wisconsin are struggling financially” and they believe their proposal “will go a long way toward reducing the tax burden on our residents.”
Asked about the new proposal, Evers’ spokesperson Britt Cudaback referred the Wisconsin Examiner back to a statement she made on Tuesday.
“The governor’s been clear that any bipartisan bill on property taxes must include investments to ensure our K-12 schools receive the resources they need and were promised in the state budget,” Cudaback said. “We look forward to hearing back from Republican leaders regarding whether they will support the governor’s plan that both addresses property taxes and invests in our kids and our schools.”
According to emails shared by Cudaback, Evers has proposed to Republican lawmakers a bill that would pair funding for schools with tax relief. The proposal would include $200 million, including $80 million to bring the special education reimbursement rate to 42% in 2026 and $120 million to bring it to 45% in 2027, as well as $450 million in 2027 in general school aids to buy out the projected statewide school property tax levy.
In exchange, Republicans would get $550 million for the school levy tax credit to help with property tax relief and $97.3 million in 2027 for tax exempt cash tips.
According to the email, Evers was willing to discuss changes to the 400-year veto but only if Republicans would “approve a significant and ongoing state investment in K-12 schools, including, at minimum, closing the gap in special education funding from the 2025-27 Biennial Budget and making special education aid a sum sufficient appropriation,” meaning it would cover all special ed costs at the set rate, unlike a “sum certain” appropriation which is a limited pot of money regardless of increased expenses.
“However, we understand from our conversation that neither of the two leaders would like to have discussions about the 400-year veto,” Madden wrote in the email.
While Vos may not be set on eliminating the partial veto, LeMahieu told CBS58 on Wednesday that the veto would need to be repealed to do anything on property tax relief.
President Donald Trump, right, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speak to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on Oct. 7, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — In a notable break from President Donald Trump’s signature trade policy, several House Republicans joined Democrats in passing a resolution to terminate the president’s national emergency at the northern border that triggered tariffs on Canada just over one year ago.
The measure, passed 219-211, revokes Trump’s Feb. 1, 2025, executive order imposing tariffs on Canada, which he triggered under an unprecedented use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA.
Whether he has the power to invoke tariffs under the 1970s law is under review at the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard arguments in November. An opinion, still not released, has been expected for months.
Reps. Don Bacon, R-Neb., Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., Jeff Hurd, R-Colo., Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., broke ranks with the GOP to join Democrats in rebuffing Trump’s levies on Canadian goods.
Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, was the only Democrat to vote against the resolution.
Two Republicans, Greg Murphy of North Carolina and Riley Moore of West Virginia, did not vote.
The House vote occurred less than 24 hours after three House Republicans delivered a rebuke to Trump and joined Democrats in blocking House leadership’s effort to extend a ban on bringing any resolutions to the floor that disapprove of the administration’s tariffs.
Trump’s centerpiece economic policy has drawn criticism over its on-again, off-again changes, causing uncertainty for business and costs passed along to consumers.
The vote also comes just days after Trump threatened to close a new bridge between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan, if Canada does not negotiate a new trade deal with the United States.
In a nearly 300-word post Monday on his platform Truth Social, Trump predicted that if Canada struck a deal with China, the eastern power would “terminate ALL ice Hockey being played in Canada, and permanently eliminate The Stanley Cup.”
‘Canada is our friend’
Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., the resolution’s lead sponsor, criticized Trump’s “manufactured emergency” regarding Canada.
“Canada isn’t a threat. Canada is our friend. Canada is our ally. Canadians have fought alongside Americans, whether it was in World War II or the war in Afghanistan,” Meeks said.
Meeks also said tariffs are costing his constituents up to $1,700 per year.
“That’s what this is about. It’s about American people and making things affordable for them,” Meeks said on the floor ahead of the vote.
Analyses from the Tax Foundation and Yale Budget Lab pin the average cost per household between roughly $1,300 and $1,750 from all current tariffs combined — not just import taxes on products purchased from Canada.
Fentanyl debate
Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., disagreed, arguing the cost amounted not to lost income but to drug overdose deaths attributed to illicit fentanyl.
“Who will pay the price? It’s a very sad thing to have (been) asked by this colleague of mine … because it’s important to remember, what is this resolution? This resolution ends an emergency related to fentanyl,” Mast said during pre-vote debate.
But U.S. Customs and Border Protection data from fiscal year 2023 to the present shows fentanyl seizures at the northern border dwarfed by the amount intercepted at the southwest border.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency identifies China as the beginning of the illicit fentanyl supply chain that moves through clandestine labs in Mexico and then into the United States.
Trump’s Feb. 1, 2025 executive order conceded that Border Patrol agents seized “much less fentanyl from Canada than from Mexico last year,” but claimed the amount seized at the northern border in 2024 was still enough to kill 9.5 million people.
The synthetic opioid “is so potent that even a very small parcel of the drug can cause many deaths and destruction to America(n) families,” according to the executive order.
Senate action so far
A handful of Republican senators have also rebuked at least one category of Trump’s emergency tariffs.
In late October, Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul of Kentucky, along with Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, Maine’s Susan Collins and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, supported a joint resolution in a 52-48 vote to terminate Trump’s 50% tariffs on Brazilian products, including coffee.
The president declared a national emergency and imposed the steep tariff on Brazilian goods on July 30 after accusing Brazil’s government of “politically persecuting” its former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro for plotting a coup to remain in power in 2022.
The Senate vote marked a shift from two earlier efforts in April to stymie Trump’s tariffs, including a measure to terminate the president’s levies on Canadian imports.
The Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 25, 2024. (Photo by Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Democrats on Wednesday rebuked ongoing efforts from President Donald Trump’s administration to dismantle the Department of Education, including moves to shift some of its core functions to other agencies.
Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia — who hosted a spotlight forum alongside several colleagues — said “over and over again, the administration has circumvented the law to hamstring the future of public education without the consent of Congress or the American people.”
Scott, the top Democrat on the House Committee on Education and Workforce, brought in education advocates and legal voices pushing back against the administration’s ongoing attempts to axe the agency.
The lawmakers and witnesses expressed particular alarm over the administration’s six interagency agreements, or IAAs, announced with four other departments in November 2025 that transfer several of its responsibilities to those Cabinet-level agencies.
‘Illegal’ transfers
Ashley Harrington, senior policy counsel at the Legal Defense Fund, said that “while these agencies all provide important services for our nation, none of them are adequately prepared to take on the massive portfolio of programs that these interagency agreements strip from (the Education Department).”
Harrington, who previously served as a senior adviser at the department, pointed to a “lack” of institutional knowledge at the four departments compared with career employees at the Education Department who have gained expertise from spending decades running the affected programs.
Rachel Homer, director of Democracy 2025 and senior attorney at Democracy Forward, the legal advocacy group that is leading the ongoing case challenging the department’s dismantling efforts in federal court, pointed out that Congress creates and decides which agencies exist.
“Congress charges those agencies with performing certain functions, Congress determines the mission of those agencies, and the executive branch’s obligation is to carry that out, is to implement those laws faithfully,” said Homer, who previously served as chief of staff of the Office of the General Counsel at the department.
The advocacy group is representing a broad coalition in a legal challenge against the administration’s attempts to gut the agency.
That challenge, consolidated with a similar suit brought by Democratic attorneys general, was expanded in November in the wake of the interagency agreement announcement to include objections to those restructuring efforts.
“These transfers through the IAAs, they’re illegal,” Homer added. “That’s not what Congress has set up — that’s not how Congress has instructed the agencies to function.”
Mass layoffs, downsizing
Meanwhile, the administration’s attempts to wind down the department have also included mass layoffs initiated in March 2025 and a plan to dramatically downsize the agency ordered that same month. The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily greenlit these efforts in July.
Trump has sought to end the 46-year-old agency as part of his quest to send education “back to the states.” This effort comes while much of the oversight and funding of schools already occurs at the state and local levels.
“I know I don’t just speak for myself when I say I can’t believe we’re here having to actually defend the existence of the Department of Education,” said Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education.
“As Education committee members, we came here to work on improving education and opening doors of opportunity and addressing the civil rights disparities, but here we are having to defend the actual existence of the Department of Education,” the Oregon Democrat said.
Civil rights in the spotlight
Employees at the Office for Civil Rights — tasked with investigating civil rights complaints from students and families — were targeted in March as part of a broader Reduction in Force, or RIF, effort and put on paid administrative leave while legal challenges against the administration unfolded.
Though the agency moved to rescind the RIF against the OCR employees in early January while legal challenges proceeded, a Government Accountability Office report released earlier in February found that the Education Department spent between roughly $28.5 million and $38 million on the salaries and benefits of the hundreds of OCR employees who were not working between March and December 2025.
The government watchdog also found that despite the department resolving more than 7,000 of the over 9,000 discrimination complaints it received between March and September, roughly 90% of the resolved complaints were due to the department dismissing the complaint.
“We’re extremely concerned of what this means for OCR to actually uphold its statutorily defined duty of protecting the civil rights of students in schools, including the rights of Black students, other students of color, girls, women, students with disabilities and members that identify with the LGBTQI+ communities,” said Ray Li, a policy counsel at the Legal Defense Fund.
Li, who previously served as an attorney for OCR, called on Congress to ensure that the unit “remains in a functioning Department of Education” and not transferred to the Department of Justice or another agency.
He also urged Congress to provide “adequate funding for OCR” and to “play an important role in transparency, sending oversight request letters to get information on the quantity of complaints that are being received, the types of discrimination that they allege, how OCR is processing those complaints and what the basis of dismissals are.”
The Education Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
“Maybe, we are getting the best value currently with WisconsinEye, but we don’t know... We want to be responsible with taxpayer money," Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) said. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
Senate Republicans are proposing that Wisconsin solicit bids for parties interested in taking over livestream coverage of the state government — making WisconsinEye, the nonprofit that has done the job since 2007, compete for the job.
The introduction of SB 994 follows the state Assembly unanimously passing a proposal Tuesday that would eliminate match requirements for $10 million that was set aside in the state budget for WisconsinEye, and place it in a trust fund from which the organization could draw interest.
WisconsinEye had to halt its coverage for about a month due to financial difficulties and has turned to state lawmakers for a long-term funding solution, and while the Assembly has been on the same page, the Senate has expressed skepticism about providing help.
Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) told reporters Wednesday that his caucus wants to see whether there is another party that could do the job for less. He said his local county board livestreams its meetings and it “doesn’t seem like it’s rocket science.”
LeMahieu said his caucus has been frustrated trying to get answers from WisconsinEye and with the lack of fundraising by the nonprofit since state funds were first set aside in 2023.
“There was a promise to raise funds to keep going over the last three years with state matching funds. That has not worked, so we think there is a different path,” LeMahieu said. “Maybe, we are getting the best value currently with WisconsinEye, but we don’t know… We want to be responsible with taxpayer money.”
WisconsinEye’s current annual operating budget is nearly $1 million. The Assembly proposal would allow the organization to use the interest on the trust fund for its operating expenses, though it is expected the organization would still need to fundraise hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to meet its annual costs.
The coauthors on the Senate bill include 15 of the 18 Republicans; those not on the bill include Sens. John Jagler, Chris Kapenga and Eric Wimberger. The Assembly lawmakers coauthoring the Senate bill are Reps. Lindee Brill (R-Sheboygan Falls) and Chuck Wichgers (R-Muskego). Both voted in favor of the Assembly bill this week.
Under the Senate proposal, the state Department of Administration would solicit bids for the operation of a statewide public affairs network that would provide unedited live video and audio coverage of state government proceedings.
Those proceedings would include Senate and Assembly floor sessions, legislative committee meetings, state agency meetings, state Supreme Court and other judicial meetings. The bill states that if “practicable,” the network can also cover eligible news conferences and civic events.
Lawmakers said in a cosponsorship memo that the bill would ensure “high-quality, secure, and cost-effective coverage of legislative, executive and judicial proceedings while maintaining strict nonpartisanship.”
“For years, the state has relied on a single public affairs network model without a competitive procurement process that ensures taxpayers receive the best return on their investment,” the cosponsorship memo on the bill states. “As technology evolves and expectations for public access increase, it is time to modernize how Wisconsin provides live coverage and archives of government proceedings.”
The bill also requires the network to prohibit coverage from being used for campaign purposes.
The Senate proposal would prohibit fees from being charged to access live and archived coverage of floor sessions and Joint Finance Committee meetings. Other meetings are not covered under this part of the bill.
The Assembly bill, in contrast, would generally require WisconsinEye to provide free online public access to all of its live broadcasts and archives. That bill would have WisconsinEye focus its coverage primarily on official state government meetings and business.
Assembly lawmakers also wanted to implement some additional accountability measures, requiring WisconsinEye to submit an annual financial report to the Legislature and place additional members on its board of directors who would be appointed by legislative leaders.
Masked federal agents on the scene near where a federal officer shot a Minnesotan for the third time in as many weeks. (Photo by Madison McVan/Minnesota Reformer)
The Barron County Sheriff on Wednesday said in a social media post that area residents shouldn’t trust the news media about Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s presence in the area.
In the post on Facebook, the sheriff’s office challenged the accuracy of local news reports on ICE activity in the area that prompted “a flurry of calls and messages” to the sheriff’s office. The post stated that ICE was in Barron County on Sunday looking for two individuals but did not locate either of them. The post also said that information about ICE should come from the agency itself.
“The Barron County Sheriff’s Department encourages everyone to read past the headlines and question what they see or hear in the news, and especially on social media, as it relates to ICE operations,” the department wrote. “Do your own research and visit the Immigration and Customs Enforcement website to see what their operations entail and who they are apprehending.”
The post appears to reference Trump administration claims that ICE is targeting the “worst of the worst.” However, recent reporting from CBS News found that less than 14% of the 400,000 immigrants arrested by ICE in President Donald Trump’s first year in office had been charged or convicted of violent crimes.
Data from Wisconsin has shown that the immigrants ICE has arrested here have largely been people charged with but not yet convicted of crimes — a practice that some county law enforcement officials have complained prevents the conclusion of local criminal cases.
Additionally, ICE has frequently lied about its encounters with the public and the people it has arrested. After an operation in Manitowoc County in which ICE arrested several dairy workers — one of the highest profile ICE actions in Wisconsin of the past year — ICE claimed that one of the men arrested was a sex offender. However the man it referred to had been in ICE custody for months prior to the Manitowoc County arrests. ICE claims about violent activity by Renee Good and Alex Pretti, have also been disproven.
ICE has been expanding operations throughout western Wisconsin since the surge of personnel into Minnesota began in December. In the Facebook post, the Barron County sheriff’s office said it would cooperate with local ICE operations.
“As previously stated, if ICE comes to Barron County and requests assistance of the Barron County Sheriff’s Department, we will support our law enforcement partners,” the Barron County sheriff’s post stated. “Unlawful obstruction and interference with any operations will not be tolerated.”
The Wisconsin Supreme Court chambers. (Henry Redman/Wisconsin Examiner)
Liberal members of the Wisconsin Supreme Court said they were “shocked” at the ramifications of the right-wing Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty’s arguments against a grant program meant to help prevent minority students from dropping out of technical college.
The Court on Wednesday held oral arguments in a case that began in a 2021 lawsuit in Jefferson County Circuit Court. The suit alleges that the state’s Minority Undergraduate Retention Grant program, administered by the Higher Education Aids Board, unlawfully discriminates based on race.
The program, established in the 1980s, provides small-dollar grants to Black, Native American and Hispanic students, as well as Southeast Asians who came to the U.S. from Laos, Cambodia or Vietnam after 1975. On average, members of these groups drop out of school or fail to graduate at substantially higher rates than their peers, the state has argued.
The program has been a frequent target of Wisconsin Republicans in recent years — especially after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which ended the legality of affirmative action in college admissions.
The Wisconsin Examiner previously reported that money through the program has largely been used to assist Black students at Milwaukee Area Technical College.
In a decision last year, the 2nd District Court of Appeals sided with WILL and the taxpayers it is representing, declaring the program unconstitutional. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul appealed the decision and in November the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.
WILL attorney Luke Berg argued Wednesday that any program that targets specific racial groups is unconstitutional — regardless of whether those groups face statistical disparities.
“I think the worst form of discrimination is discrimination under the law, when the law treats individuals differently based on their race,” Berg said. “I’m not asking the Court to ignore that there are disparities in statistics, and I think we should all be concerned about that. But there are poor white students, there are poor Asian students, there are poor Afghani students, there are poor Palestinian students, there are poor Egyptian students.”
“It cannot have explicit race discrimination under the law,” he continued later. “It can target racially neutral criteria like poverty, and it can solve those disparities indirectly. Give the scholarship to every student that needs it. If there are more poor Black students, more of them will get that scholarship.”
Several of the Court’s left-leaning justices pushed back on Berg’s comments, questioning how ignoring race-based statistical gaps achieves the 14th Amendment’s promise of equal protection. Justice Jill Karofsky told him, “your argument basically asks us to stick our heads in the sand.”
Justice Rebecca Dallet noted that in Wisconsin, Black mothers and babies face much higher rates of health issues and under Berg’s legal construction, the state couldn’t do anything to specifically target that problem.
“If the purpose is to help Black babies live who are not living at the same rate as white babies. How would they do that without mentioning the word Black?” Dallet said.
Berg responded that the state could pass a program that applies to “all babies” because “there are some white babies in the world who might need that program, too, and so you would make the program available to all.”
“That is shocking, and if that’s what our U.S. Supreme Court wants to say, that is shocking, but I don’t think that that’s what they said in SFFA,” Dallet responded.
Charlotte Gibson, the Department of Justice attorney arguing on behalf of the HEAB, called the appeals court’s decision “radical” saying that it went further than the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling to end affirmative action.
“The court of appeals decision was radical,” Gibson said. “I’m not aware of any court in the country that has come up with a ban this categorical that would impact things like medical research that’s targeted a particular racial group that’s suffering from specific health outcomes. But … that’s exactly what the rule of law they’re looking for would do.”
Berg opened his arguments to the Court saying he believed the justices should dismiss the case and accept the appeals court’s decision. He argued that if the Court sides with the state, an appeal will immediately be filed in federal court.
“If this court reverses, either on standing or the merits, the next thing that will happen is someone will file this case in federal court, us or somebody else,” Berg said. “It may be a race to the courthouse, because this is, like I said, the lowest of low hanging fruit in terms of federal claims … So what will happen is the taxpayers will pay for this court’s time. The taxpayers will pay for their time to litigate the case again for three to four years. The taxpayers will pay the time [of] federal district court counsel.”
Justices Susan Crawford, Janet Protasiewicz and Dallet objected, saying they took his comments as a “threat.”
“That is such an inappropriate argument. It is so inappropriate and disrespectful to the state and their program that they are here to argue in front of us, it’s basically a threat to us,” Dallet said.
At a congressional hearing on Feb. 11, 2026, lawmakers were told a funding lapse has lasting challenges for the Coast Guard workforce, its operational readiness and its long-term capabilities. In this photo, Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael Tate, an aviation maintenance technician at Coast Guard Air Station Astoria, hooks up a net full of beach debris and trash to the bottom of an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter near Neah Bay, Washington, on Jan. 22, 2015. (Photo by U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonathan Klingenberg)
WASHINGTON — Leaders from several agencies within the Department of Homeland Security testified before a U.S. House panel Wednesday about how a shutdown would affect the programs they oversee, though Democrats argued the hearing was a “show” that wasn’t going to get lawmakers any closer to agreement on constraints to federal immigration enforcement.
Congress has until Friday at midnight to pass a stopgap spending bill or reach bipartisan agreement on the department’s full-year funding bill, which was held up by Democrats after the killing of two U.S. citizens by immigration agents in Minneapolis. Otherwise, the department will begin a shutdown.
House Appropriations Committee ranking member Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said it was unacceptable that neither Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem nor any leaders from Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection were at the hearing.
“Democrats requested that they be present. Why are they not here?” DeLauro said. “That should tell you everything you need to know about what this hearing is really all about. It is not to address the real concerns of millions of Americans over the unchecked brutality of officers within those agencies, brutality that has left two Americans dead and countless others seriously injured.”
DeLauro countered that Republicans held the hearing to imply Democrats don’t care about consistent funding for the many agencies within DHS, including the Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Secret Service and Transportation Security Administration.
“In fact, it is the Republican leadership that has chosen to hold your agencies hostage to avoid implementing reforms that they know are necessary to keep our community safe from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Customs and Border Patrol,” DeLauro said.
Nevada Republican Rep. Mark Amodei, chairman of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, said he opted not to invite Noem because he wanted to “talk to the operational people” and that he decided not to invite leaders of ICE and CBP since they testified in front of a separate House committee Tuesday.
Amodei said enacting a DHS funding bill before the Friday midnight deadline seemed “like a very tall order.”
“A shutdown has gone from a distinct possibility to a probability,” Amodei said. “But not all components will equally share the pain during a Homeland shutdown.”
Amodei said that ICE and CBP’s “missions will be largely unaffected by a shutdown,” in part, because Republicans provided the two agencies with more than $150 billion in the party’s “big, beautiful” law.
Most Homeland Security workers will stay on duty
A government shutdown this time around, unlike the one last year, would only affect the Department of Homeland Security, since Congress has approved the other 11 annual government funding bills.
The other agencies housed within DHS would sustain varying ramifications. In general, any employees who focus on national security issues or the protection of life and property would continue to work through a shutdown, while federal workers who don’t are supposed to be furloughed.
Neither category of employees will receive their paychecks during the funding lapse, though federal law requires they receive back pay once Congress approves some sort of spending bill.
Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, said the “reality is that nearly 90% of the department will continue operating, even if Congress fails to complete its work by the end of the week.”
Leaders urged to give up recess next week
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., urged GOP leaders to cancel the recess scheduled for next week, when many lawmakers plan to travel to Germany for the Munich Security Conference.
Cole argued that members should stay on Capitol Hill to negotiate an agreement on Homeland Security funding if a deal isn’t reached before the deadline.
“I will tell you personally, I think it’s unconscionable if Congress leaves and does not solve the problem,” Cole said. “I’m sure Munich is a great place. I’ve been there many times. The beer is outstanding. But we don’t need to go to a defense conference someplace in Europe when we’re not taking care of the defense of the United States of America.”
Cole said he “would be embarrassed to walk past a TSA agent that wasn’t getting paid so I could go someplace else. And that’s my personal opinion.
“That’s not necessarily the opinion of my leadership or anybody else, but we should stay here and get this resolved. We should make sure that men and women that we have already put in a terrible position once for 43 days don’t have to go through it again.”
Missing paychecks for the Coast Guard
Admiral Thomas Allan, vice commandant for the U.S. Coast Guard, told lawmakers “a funding lapse has severe and lasting challenges for our workforce, operational readiness and long-term capabilities.”
“A lapse lasting more than a few days will halt pay for the Coast Guard’s 56,000 active duty, reserve and civilian personnel,” Allan said. “This is not a distant administrative issue. The uncertainty of missing paychecks negatively impacts readiness and creates a significant financial hardship for service members and their families.”
Shutdowns, he said, “cripple morale and directly harm our ability to recruit and retain the talented Americans we need to meet growing demands.”
Ha Nguyen McNeill, acting administrator at the Transportation Security Administration, said during the 43-day government shutdown that ended in November, she heard stories about “officers sleeping in their cars at airports to save money on gas, selling their blood and plasma and taking on second jobs to make ends meet.”
“Many were subject to late fees from missed bill payments, eviction notices, loss of child care and more. All the while, expected to serve their country and perform at the highest level when in uniform,” McNeill said. “Twelve weeks later, some are just recovering from the financial impact.”
McNeill testified that “TSA’s critical national security mission does not stop during a shutdown; around 95% or 61,000 of TSA’s employees are deemed essential and continue to work to protect the traveling public during a shutdown, while not getting paid.”
Matthew Quinn, deputy director at the United States Secret Service, said agents will continue to report to work though he emphasized a shutdown would still have consequences.
“To the casual observer, there will be no visible difference,” Quinn said. “However, gaps in funding have a profound impact on our agency today and into the future.”
Gregg Phillips, associate administrator in the Office of Response and Recovery at FEMA, said a shutdown “would severely disrupt FEMA’s ability to reimburse states for disaster relief costs and to support our recovery from disasters.”
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., listens as Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., speaks on the failed grand jury indictment against them during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 11, 2026 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — Democratic members of Congress said Wednesday the Trump administration was using the “authoritarian playbook” when it tried to secure a grand jury indictment against them for releasing a video that reminded members of the military and intelligence communities they can refuse illegal orders.
Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin said during a joint press conference they don’t expect this will be the last time administration officials seek to punish them for the video. They also expressed frustration and dismay that more Republicans haven’t spoken out.
“This isn’t the judicial system at work,” Kelly said. “It’s not supposed to be a president deciding right out of the gate here that members of the United States Senate should be hanged, calling for our execution. And then, I guess when he realized that was not a good idea, or somebody told him that that’s ridiculous. Then he went with prosecution for something that is in the First Amendment.”
Slotkin, a former CIA officer, said the unsuccessful attempt to convince a District of Columbia federal grand jury to indict her and the other five lawmakers in the video is not something she expected to happen in America.
“If things had gone a different way, we’d be preparing for arrest,” Slotkin said.
The Department of Justice and the office of United States Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro did not respond to a request for comment.
No word from Justice Department
Slotkin said she and the other Democrats learned about the attempt to indict them from news articles. The Justice Department didn’t reach out to say what they were trying to charge the lawmakers with or what law they allege they may have violated.
Kelly noted during the press conference that he is waiting to learn if a federal judge will issue a preliminary injunction, blocking the Defense Department from downgrading his retirement rank and pay as a Navy captain for appearing in the video.
Kelly, Slotkin, Colorado Rep. Jason Crow, Pennsylvania Reps. Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan, and New Hampshire Rep. Maggie Goodlander, all Democrats with backgrounds in the military or national security, posted the video on Nov. 18.
“No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution. We know this is hard and that it’s a difficult time to be a public servant,” they said. “But whether you’re serving in the CIA, in the Army, or Navy, or the Air Force, your vigilance is critical.”
Trump reaction, DOD investigation
President Donald Trump reacted on social media a few days later, falsely claiming the video represented “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”
The Defense Department opened its investigation into Kelly later that month and Secretary Pete Hegseth announced in January that officials had started the process to downgrade Kelly’s retirement rank and pay.
Kelly filed a lawsuit shortly afterward, asking a federal court to block the Defense Department from moving forward and alleging its actions violated his constitutional rights, including the First Amendment.
House members speak out
The four House Democrats in the video held a press conference of their own in the afternoon, criticizing the Trump administration for seeking a grand jury indictment and hinting at possible legal action of their own.
“My lawyers just sent a letter today to the Department of Justice, putting them on notice that there will be costs,” Crow said. “We will not just sit back and let them lob false allegations after false allegations at us.”
Crow declined to answer several questions about what exactly he meant and his office did not return a request for details from States Newsroom.
Houlahan said Trump administration officials do not get to pick which parts of the Constitution they are going to respect and which they are going to ignore, especially when criticized by members of Congress.
“The First Amendment is not optional. It is not conditional. It does not expire because someone who’s in power is threatened by it,” Houlahan said. “It does, thankfully, limit the power of our government, especially when that power is tempted to punish lawful speech.”
Deluzio said the Trump administration’s actions show they wanted to “throw us in prison for stating the law.”
“I have little doubt that Donald Trump and those around him are willing to abuse their power. We’ve seen it with us, with other perceived political opponents,” Deluzio said. “There has to be accountability and there has to be justice. And I know that all of us will see that through.”
Goodlander said it was “truly sad and it is downright dangerous” that Trump became “so unglued by a cornerstone and completely uncontroversial principle of American law” that illegal orders should not be obeyed.
“A principle of law that was born of the hard-earned, the unparalleled tragedies of the Holocaust. A principle that has always guided us,” Goodlander said. “A principle that makes us who we are as Americans.”
Construction workers install finishing touches at a Scout Motors electric vehicle assembly plant in Blythewood, S.C., in February. Health care and construction hiring helped boost January jobs, but downward revisions for the whole of 2025 marked the lowest increase in U.S. jobs outside a recession since 2003. (Photo by Jessica Holdman/SC Daily Gazette)
U.S. jobs increased by 130,000 in January, buoyed by hires in health care, social assistance and construction.
But in another sign of anemic hiring last year, estimates for 2025 were revised down by more than a million jobs to a level of low growth rarely seen outside of recessions.
The revisions show the United States added only 181,000 jobs last year — the first year of the new Trump administration — one of the lowest increases ever outside recessions.
Jobs dropped in 2020 at the height of the pandemic and in 2008-2009 in the Great Recession, but otherwise the last time was a lower increase in jobs was in 2003, when they rose 124,000 after two years of decreases, during a period labeled a “jobless recovery” by economists.
Economist Claudia Sahm, who had predicted 2025 would be “a year without jobs, but no recession” before the annual revisions based on more complete data, said Wednesday that “the downward revisions are huge” in an X post.
The new revisions changed the most for January 2025, which went from a gain of 111,000 to a loss of 48,000 jobs. Only one month, October, saw an upward revision: A reported loss of 173,000 jobs was trimmed to a loss of 140,000 jobs. There are now four months of job losses reported last year, up from three.
Overall, the number of total U.S. jobs at the end of the year was revised down by 1,029,000, from a little more than 159.5 million to a little less than 158.5 million.
State by state jobs estimates for January are not yet available.
There have been about 29,000 layoffs announced so far in 2026,according to notices tracked by WARN Tracker. They include 7,705 layoffs in California, 6,109 in New Jersey, 3,999 in Pennsylvania, 3,483 in Washington state and 2,607 in Texas.
This story was originally produced by Stateline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Wisconsin Examiner, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
A child gets an MMR vaccine at a clinic in Lubbock, Texas, in March 2025. Wisconsin experts say vaccination rates here are lower than they should be to guard against a wider outbreak. (Photo by Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images)
With three measles cases in three different Wisconsin communities since New Year’s Day, the state could be vulnerable to a larger outbreak, according to public health experts.
“We’ve gotten three cases in the state of Wisconsin so far in 2026, and there’s been many years in which we had zero,” said Dr. Joe McBride, a pediatric infectious disease physician at UW Health Kids and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. If the cases spread, “those are incredibly, incredibly difficult for us to slow down and to prevent.”
Ajay Sethi (UW-Madison photo)
“There may be only three people with measles, but the cases are occurring in three different places,” said Ajay Sethi, director of the Master of Public Health Program at the UW medical school. “These are three separate public health responses, and that is significant given the potential for spread to others from just one person with measles.”
In January, state health officialsreported a measles infection in a Waukesha resident. This month, measles infections have been identified inDane County and in a person who traveled throughMilwaukee County’s Mitchell International Airport to Walworth County. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services has also identified possible locations when other people might have been exposed in the Dane County and Mitchell Airport cases. All three were described as connected to travel.
“It’s good, in that they don’t seem to be related, and we don’t see an outbreak,” McBride said. “But it’s also bad because that means there’s a lot of measles,” he added. “It’s kind of a tinderbox, and we have large cohorts of our population who are not immune.”
The year 2025 saw a resurgence of measles nationwide, approaching 2,000 cases,Stateline reported in December, with outbreaks in Texas, Arizona, South Carolina, Utah and New Mexico.
Sethi said an August 2025 cluster of cases inOconto County started with a case in St. Croix County in someone who was visiting from out of state. Across Wisconsin in 2025, “Ultimately 36 people got measles, and two of them needed hospitalization,” he said.
‘Incredibly infectious’ illness
Although most widely known for its trademark rash, the measles virus “is a respiratory virus, just like really any other cough and cold virus that we think about,” said McBride. “However, it’s incredibly, incredibly infectious.”
Dr. Joe McBride (UW-Madison photo)
The virus is airborne, McBride said, and can hang in the air for up to two hours. In one landmark case, at the 1991 Special Olympics at the Minneapolis Metrodome, a participant on the field had measles, McBride said, “and people who were susceptible to the infection got the infection who were sitting in the upper deck.”
Vaccination is the primary tool to stop measles, and in Wisconsin as well as in much of the U.S. vaccination rates are below the 95% that public health practitioners say allows for widespread “herd immunity.”
The measles vaccine is usually given in combination with mumps and rubella vaccines, first at the age of 1 with a booster by the time a child is 5.
Some people aren’t eligible for the vaccine, either because they’re younger than 6 months old or because they have a compromised immune system due to another illness.
“It’s a live vaccine, and live vaccines have the potential of causing infections in people who are immune-compromised, like bone marrow transplant recipients or a patient with AIDS” or people on medications that suppress the immune system, McBride said.
That makes it even more important for people who are eligible to get the vaccine, public health experts say.
Anational map produced by ABC News in collaboration with Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York shows that none of the counties in Wisconsin has as many as 90% of 5-year-olds fully vaccinated for measles.
The lowest rates of measles vaccinations for that age group are in Portage and Columbia counties, with fewer than 60%. A cluster of counties around Oshkosh have vaccination rates in the low 60s; another cluster around Eau Claire in the mid-60s, and Milwaukee, Racine and Waukesha counties have vaccination rates in the high 60s. In the rest of the state, vaccination rates for children 5 or younger are in the range of 70% to more than 80%.
“The decision to get vaccinated is still very nuanced,” Sethi said — influenced by a variety of factors. Those include complacency, which may lead people to dismiss the need for a vaccine, he said. Other factors include how convenient it may be to get the shot, confidence in the vaccine’s effectiveness and a sense of community responsibility.
HHS shift, CDC silence
One source of shakier confidence has been a shift at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in the agencies’ stance on vaccines under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who had a history of anti-vaccine campaigning for years before his appointment.
Kennedy has made some appeals for people toget the measles vaccine, and in an appearanceon CNN Sunday, Dr. Mehmet Oz, director of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, urged viewers, “Take the vaccine, please.”
But researchers at Johns Hopkins Universityin a report published in December documented that amid the 2025 measles surge, CDC social media accounts “have gone quiet, creating a ‘void’ in online health communication. In this vacuum, measles messaging has been dominated by news media rather than expert health authorities, resulting in polarized and potentially inaccurate information.”
By the year 2000, measles vaccination had become so widespread that the U.S. was identified as having eliminated the disease. Canada, which also had that status, lost it in 2025, and the U.S. appears to be on the verge of losing it as well, Sethi said.
Yet the measles vaccine is both extraordinarily effective and essentially the only weapon against the virus.
“There isn’t any kind of other medicine that can abort it,” McBride said. “It is completely dependent on either preventing it or having natural infection and supporting the individual through it.”
The infection itself can be extremely serious, however, he said. In addition to fevers, cough and the rash, which is painful, secondary complications can do much more bodily damage. Those can include bacterial infections, pneumonia, vision and neurological damage and cardiovascular system harm as well.
In about one of every 1,000 cases, a delayed neurological condition can arise 10 years after a person is infected “that is completely fatal,” McBride added. Among the hundreds of cases across the U.S. now, “there certainly is somebody who’s walking around today who will be dead of measles in 10 years, who doesn’t know it. And that’s incredibly scary.”
People born before 1957 are more likely to have natural immunity from having been exposed to measles in childhood. “After 1957 we can’t really make that claim for people,” McBride said. “And so our immunity is dependent on vaccine status.”
People living in Wisconsin can look up their immunization status on theWisconsin Immunization Registry, McBride said. Some people’s records might be incomplete, either because they received a vaccine in another state or because they got a vaccine before 1999, when the registry was launched. Earlier vaccines were logged on paper by health providers, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
Interest in the MMR vaccine appears to be rising. News reports and public health announcements drawing attention to recent measles cases and the importance of the vaccine “certainly raises new awareness and attention to it,” he said.
More patients are asking about the shot and more doctors and nurses are asking whether there needs to be any changes to the current vaccine schedules recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics or the state health department.
McBride said the current cases in Wisconsin don’t point to any change in those recommendations, however. For health care providers, “The most helpful interventions would be to evaluate your patients and make sure they are up to date with the measles vaccine.”
What to do if you’re exposed to measles
If you’re exposed to someone with measles and you are not immune, there’s as much as a 90% chance you’ll get infected with the virus, said Dr. Joe McBride. People with measles should quarantine for 21 days to avoid infecting others.
McBride recommends that people exposed to measles follow these steps:
Find out what your level of immunity is. If you can check your vaccine record and if it confirms you’ve had the MMR vaccine, “that’s really wonderful,” he said. “The measles vaccine is incredibly effective at preventing infections.”
If your vaccine status is uncertain, a blood test can confirm whether there are antibodies to the virus — another indicator that you’ve had the vaccine.
If you haven’t had the vaccine and don’t have antibodies, a vaccine within the first three days of exposure can still help a person develop an immune response and ward off the illness.
But that’s difficult. The incubation period for measles can range from 7 to 21 days. “Many times we don’t even know where the people are in that time frame,” McBride said. The better alternative is for people who haven’t been vaccinated and who are eligible to get it now, he said.
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