Weekly Update 4/27/2026
Weekly Update 4/27/2026 Capitol Advocacy Partners
President and Administration:
Department of Justice targets hundreds of naturalized citizens in new denaturalization push: The Department of Justice (DOJ) has identified 384 foreign-born Americans whose citizenship it wants to revoke, assigning cases to civil litigators in 39 regional U.S. attorneys' offices across the country. Senior officials described the 384 individuals as "the first wave of cases" the government intends to pursue, with the effort framed as a White House initiative to increase the pace of denaturalizations, though it is unclear what led DOJ to targeting these specific individuals. The move represents a significant escalation: between 1990 and 2017…
Congress:
Johnson unveils revised plan to extend contested surveillance law: House GOP leaders last week unveiled a revised three-year extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows warrantless surveillance of foreign targets, ahead of the April 30 expiration deadline. The proposal includes additional oversight mechanisms and penalties for abuses of the surveillance authority but stops short of warrant requirements sought by some conservatives who worry about U.S. citizens being swept up in…
California:
President hosts Los Angeles leaders on wildfire relief as state scales back federal aid request: Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger met with the president at the White House last week to advocate for federal wildfire recovery aid, discussing Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance, rebuilding funds, insurance and mortgage relief. Gov. Gavin Newsom was notably absent from the meeting. In February, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin’s…
California lawmakers advance bill to increase legislative oversight of Newsom's school governance plan: The Assembly Education Committee unanimously advanced a bill last week that would give lawmakers more oversight over Gov. Gavin Newsom's proposal to restructure how California oversees public schools. The bill, AB 2117, introduced by Assemblymember David Alvarez, would require the governor's appointed education commissioner to be confirmed by the Legislature, add four legislative appointments to the State Board of Educations…
Appeals court blocks California law requiring federal officers to wear identification: In California, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked enforcement of a state law requiring federal law enforcement officers to wear identification, citing the Supremacy Clause, which mandates that state judges must follow federal law when conflicts…
No Alameda County victims have come forward in Swalwell case as prosecutors clash over the hotline: No reports of sexual misconduct involving former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) has been filed with law enforcement in Alameda County, even as a disputehas broken out between the county's current and former district attorneys over how potential victims should come forward. Recalled former District Attorney Pamela Price, who is running to reclaim her old seat in the June election, announced a hotline for potential…
Education:
27 states indicate interest in new federal school choice tax credit program: More than half of states, 27 in total (including states such as Colorado, Florida, Mississippi, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia) have notified the IRS of their desire to participate in the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit program, the first nationally available federal private school choice program, set to launch Jan. 1, 2027. The program, included in last year's reconciliation law, allows taxpayers to donate up to $1,700 annuallys…
Education Department opens civil rights investigation into LAUSD program for Black students: The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation last week into the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) over its Black Student Achievement Plan, which has received at least $120 million in district funding since the school board approved it in 2021. The investigation was triggered by a complaint from the nonprofit Defending Education alleging the program violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race…
Federal appeals court upholds Texas law requiring Ten Commandments displays in public school classrooms: A federal appeals court ruled last week in a 9-8 decision to uphold a Texas law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the law, rejecting arguments that the displays amount to government endorsement of religion, writing that no student "is made to recite the Commandmentss…
Federal formula grant funds for K-12 schools will continue flowing through Education Department this summer: Despite ongoing efforts to shift federal education programs to the Labor Department, the Education Department confirmed last week that formula grant funds due July 1 will be distributed through its own grant systems…
State-supported pre-K enrollment hits record high but quality lags in most states: State-supported preschool enrollment and funding hit record highs in the 2024-25 school year, with 37% of four-year-olds and 9% of three-year-olds enrolled nationally and states spending nearly $14.4 billion, according to The State of Preschool 2025 report by the National Institute for Earlys…
Survey finds general education teachers need more support to serve English learners: A new EdWeek Research Center survey of more than 1,100 educators found that 55% said staff in their school or district are not appropriately trained to serve English learners is insufficient, even as most English learners spend the majority of their school days…
California phone ban debate expands as legislature scales back high school restrictions: California's effort to expand its 2024 school smartphone law is running into resistance in the Legislature, with Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi agreeing to exempt high schools from a proposed bell-to-bell ban after pushback from school administrators…