Author: rpnadmin

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent is seen in Park Ridge, Ill., Sept. 19, 2025. Erin Hooley/AP hide caption toggle caption Erin Hooley/AP Just 10 years ago, the annual budget for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, was less than $6 billion — notably smaller than other agencies within the Department of Homeland Security. But ICE’s budget has skyrocketed during President Trump’s second term, becoming the highest-funded U.S. law enforcement agency, with $85 billion now at its disposal. The windfall is thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, enacted last July. After hovering around the $10 billion mark…

Today is the first anniversary of Donald Trump’s inauguration. From ICE deportations to the dismantling of DEI to the criminalization of pregnancy to environmental rollbacks, the administration has narrowed whom it protects and who, through degradations to citizenship, it has determined is expendable.In this country, gender often determines who bears risks, absorbs costs, and is rendered responsible for the failures of markets and the state. This administration’s policies are, accordingly, especially harrowing for women as well as those who won’t or can’t conform to its gender regime.When people think of “women’s issues,” they tend to think of abortion, childcare, or…

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is seen Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in Minneapolis. Adam Gray/AP hide caption toggle caption Adam Gray/AP The Justice Department has issued grand jury subpoenas to multiple government officials in Minnesota, including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, expanding the agency’s probe alleging that Minnesota officials conspired to impede law enforcement amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her have also been subpoenaed. NPR has not yet confirmed reports that other state and local leaders have also been issued subpoenas. Frey’s subpoena requires him to…

In the dire months since Donald Trump’s return to power, you’ve no doubt read a version of the famous mea culpa “First They Came”—perhaps woven into the lines of an essay or op-ed, perhaps thumbed out on social media. Part warning, part exhortation, the short text (it’s often mistaken for a poem) comes to us as tragically earned wisdom from the rise of the Nazis, alas grimly relevant to the America of today. The variation considered the most authoritative (if not the most commonly cited) reads:  First they came for the Communists, and I did not speak   out—because I was not…

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says her swing state is preparing for Trump administration efforts to disrupt voting in 2026 and 2028. In an NPR interview, Whitmer did not accuse the administration of specific plans to interfere. But, she said, “it would be a mistake to assume that they’re not going to” and said Democrats are preparing through “tabletop” exercises. The governor sat down with me for the video interview on Thursday during her visit to the Detroit Auto Show, pulling up a chair next to a red Cadillac Escalade. The show is at Huntington Place, the same convention center that…

Feature / January 20, 2026 Parents’-rights crusaders seeking to impose their Christian nationalist vision on the United States took their playbook from South America. Illustration by Melinda Beck. This article appears in the February 2026 issue, with the headline “Moms on the March.” Last spring, the Mayday USA tour—a traveling road show of Christian parents’-rights activists campaigning against gender and sexual expression in children—brought its message to five American cities. Each of its appearances, in highly visible public arenas such as Times Square in New York City and Discovery Green in Houston, was something between a political rally, a Christian…

Israeli soldiers take up positions during an army raid in the West Bank city of Hebron Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. Mahmoud Illean/AP hide caption toggle caption Mahmoud Illean/AP Israel has been asked to join U.S. President Donald Trump’s new Board of Peace that will supervise the next phase of the Gaza peace plan, an Israeli official said Monday, while France is holding off accepting for now. It’s not known whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted the offer, said the Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing a behind-the-scenes diplomatic matter. Russia, Belarus, Slovenia,…

Books & the Arts / January 20, 2026 What are the politics of free speech? A new history explores the political limits as well as possibilities of freedom of speech. Ad Policy Angelo Herndon, whose conviction for a crime related to free speech was overturned in 1935, arrives at NYC’s Penn Station.(Getty) This article appears in the February 2026 issue. The subtitle of Fara Dabhoiwala’s ambitious new book, What Is Free Speech? The History of a Dangerous Idea, raises a question: In what sense is free speech “dangerous”? For autocrats, to be sure, free speech is perilous. It enables subjects…

Good morning. You’re reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day. Today’s top stories Up to 1,500 active-duty troops in Alaska are on standby for possible deployment to Minnesota, a U.S. official informed NPR. This comes as the Trump administration has escalated pressure on the state, including threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act to suppress protests happening in Minneapolis. Anti-ICE protesters continued to take to the streets over the weekend, even as temperatures plummeted. Minnesota Army National Guard soldiers post up…

From right, U.S. Cardinals, Joseph Tobin of Newark, and Blase Cupich of Chicago, attend a press conference at the North American College in Rome on May 9, 2025. Along with Cardinal Robert McElroy, archbishop of Washington (not pictured), the men issued a strongly worded statement on Monday criticizing the Trump administration’s foreign policy. Gregorio Borgia/AP hide caption toggle caption Gregorio Borgia/AP The three highest-ranking heads of Roman Catholic archdioceses in the United States issued a strongly worded statement on Monday criticizing the Trump administration’s foreign policy — without mentioning President Trump by name. Cardinals Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, Robert…