Author: rpnadmin

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins and Rep. Juan Ciscomani of Arizona at the Tucson VA Medical Center on April 28. Katya Mendoza/Arizona Public Media hide caption toggle caption Katya Mendoza/Arizona Public Media Data that employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs have shared with NPR shows that 11,273 agency employees nationwide have applied for deferred resignation, which the Trump administration is offering as part of its DOGE initiative to cut the VA’s workforce by 15%. The top positions across all networks that are requesting deferred resignation are nurses (about 1,300), medical support assistants (about 800) and social workers (about…

American cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church described the historic papal conclave that concluded this week as relatively easy, with no arm-twisting or overt politicking.When their work was done — and as the outside world waited to learn the new pope’s identity — the cardinals inside the Sistine Chapel “went wild,” one recalled on Friday, when the man they had elected privately told them that he would take the name Leo.That name, they said, could be an indication of the pope’s plans.“Leo was the first modern pope, who spoke in defense of workers’ rights and what workers needed to have…

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced Friday she will not run in next year’s Georgia Senate race, a closely watched contest as Republicans hope to eject Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff.”I’m not running,” Greene, a Georgia Republican and staunch Trump ally, wrote in a post on X that excoriated Senate Republicans, saying she “won’t fight for a team that refuses to win.”Greene’s decision came days after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who was widely seen as a top contender for the Senate seat, chose not to seek the Republican nomination Monday, leaving the primary field largely open.Georgia GOP Rep. Buddy Carter entered the Senate…

Politics / Hiding in Plain Sight / May 9, 2025 A judge has halted the plan, but only a fool would believe the threat is now over. Ad Policy “Don’t Open for ICE!” poster on a bridge over Los Angeles River, near the Frogtown/Ellysian Valley neighborhood of Los Angeles, on April, 30, 2025. (Citizen of the Planet / Universal Images Group via Getty Images) Earlier this week, Trump officials let it be known that they were readying a military flight, filled with immigrants, to send to Libya. Questions quickly arose, like, who would be deported? The government wasn’t saying. Immigration…

A federal judge on Friday called for a two-week pause in the Trump administration’s plans for mass layoffs and program closures, barring two dozen agencies from moving forward with the largest phase of the president’s downsizing efforts, which the judge said was illegal without congressional authorization.Of all the lawsuits challenging President Trump’s vision to dramatically scale back the form and function of the federal government, this one is poised to have the broadest effect. Most of the agencies have yet to announce their downsizing plans, but employees across the government have been anxiously waiting for announcements that have been expected…

Pharmaceutical companies have agreed to pay Hawaii $700 million to settle its lawsuit over the efficacy and safety of the blood thinner Plavix, the state attorney general’s office announced Friday.A court ruling last year ordered Bristol Myers Squibb Company and three U.S.-based subsidiaries of French pharmaceutical company Sanofi to pay a combined $916 million.But before an appeal was decided, a settlement was reached for the lower amount, the attorney general’s office said.In a joint statement, the companies said they “are pleased to resolve this litigation, and to continue their companies’ focus on discovering, developing, and delivering innovative medicines to patients.””Plavix…

The call from a supervisor came to the steel shop floor in Sheffield, England, on Thursday afternoon: The tariffs were off. “Everything had changed for us,” said Richard Bott, as he stood near stacks of steel slabs still radiating waves of heat from the mill.In a trade deal with Britain announced with much fanfare on Thursday, President Trump agreed to lift the 25 percent tariffs on steel that had posed a dire threat to Britain’s struggling industry and to Mr. Bott’s employer, Marcegaglia Stainless Sheffield.The cavernous plant is one of the last remaining large steel-making facilities in a city that…

President Trump ordered the Department of Homeland Security on Friday to increase the deportation force of the United States by 20,000 officers, a move that would lead to an enormous expansion of immigration enforcement if realized.In a provision tucked into a presidential proclamation focused on pushing undocumented immigrants to leave the country voluntarily, Mr. Trump called on the Department of Homeland Security to soon begin “deputizing and contracting with state and local law enforcement officers, former federal officers, officers and personnel within other federal agencies, and other individuals.”It was unclear how such an effort would be funded, one of several…

Breaking down the lawsuit over HHS cuts Breaking down the lawsuit from 20 attorneys general over HHS cuts 04:07 A judge temporarily barred the Trump administration from carrying out sweeping cuts and layoffs at over a dozen government agencies late Friday, part of a massive federal cost-cutting drive led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.U.S. District Judge Susan Illston ruled the plaintiffs — a group of federal employee unions — are likely to show that the Trump administration’s attempts to reorganize and downsize the federal government exceed its legal authority. Illston wrote that President Trump “likely must request Congressional…

As the Librarian of Congress, Hayden was tasked with digitizing the library’s massive collection. Al Drago/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Al Drago/Getty Images By firing the Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden on Thursday night, President Trump continued his remaking of American cultural institutions. Hayden was the first woman and the first African American to hold the post. She was also the first person in the job to be term-limited. Her time was set to expire next year. “There were quite concerning things that she had done at the Library of Congress in the pursuit of DEI and putting inappropriate…