On December 30, 2025, Jim O’Neill, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced that all federal child care payments to Minnesota are being frozen amid allegations of long-running fraud within the state’s child care assistance programs.

President Donald Trump has committed more than $8 billion  to a major new phase of southern border construction, advancing what U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials describe as a “Smart Wall” —an integrated border security system combining physical barriers with advanced surveillance technology. In the latest round of awards, the Trump administration approved five new construction contracts totaling $3.3 billion , funding 97 miles of primary border barrier , 19

In a sweeping rebuke to federal authority, U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer  ordered the Trump administration to end its federalization and deployment of the California National Guard in Los Angeles. The decision returns California’s Guard to the control of Governor Gavin Newsom and reaffirms the constitutional guardrails that have guided the nation through some of its hardest moments. Breyer—appointed by President Bill Clinton  in 1997 —has built a reputation over nearl