Weekly Update-6/9/2025

Weekly Update-6/9/2025

President and Administration:

The Trump administration is working on a plan for time limits on rental aid: The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is reportedly drafting a rule to impose time limits and work requirements on federal rental assistance, bypassing Congress …

Tracking who Trump is appointing to fill key administration roles: President Trump has picked 329 nominees to fill key roles in his administration so far…

Congress:

Senate considering Reconciliation legislation: Republicans are advancing President Trump’s “big beautiful bill,” which includes proposals to reduce Medicaid spending by instituting work…

California: 

Newsom touts education funding amid budget shortfall: Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled California’s Golden State Literacy Plan, emphasizing continued investment in student literacy amid a $12 billion budget deficit….

California lawmakers advance bill clamping down on charter schools: The California Assembly narrowly passed a contentious bill to impose stricter regulations..

Education:

Education Department takes steps to bring back fired workers amid pending court challenges: The Education Department is working to reinstate employees it planned to fire after a federal judge…

Education secretary pledges to cooperate with agency watchdog ‘as the law requires’: Education Secretary Linda McMahon pledged to cooperate with the department’s inspector general “as the law requires,” after Democrats accused her agency of obstructing an internal investigation..,

Senate appropriators lob concerns at McMahon about proposal to zero out federal TRIO programs: During a Senate Appropriations hearing on Tuesday, 6/3, Education Secretary McMahon defended the Trump administration’s proposal to eliminate nearly $1.2 billion in TRIO…
Senate HELP Democrats grill top Education Department nominees: On Thursday, 6/5, Senate HELP Democrats, led by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), challenged Trump’s Education Department nominees Penny Schwinn and Kimberly Richey…

DOJ warns California districts of ‘legal liability’ in transgender athletic policies: The U.S. Department of Justice warned California school districts that they could face legal liability…

Weekly Update-06/02/2025

Weekly Update 06/02/2025

President and Administration:

Trump sanctuary list disappears from Homeland Security website after criticism; next actions unknown: The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) list of so-called “Sanctuary Jurisdictions” disappeared from its website over the weekend…

Trump agencies send details of FY26 budget recommendations to Congress: On May 30 federal agencies released detailed documents outlining President Trump’s budget proposal…

Trump budget cuts hobble anti-smoking programs: The Raze anti-vaping program at Wyoming East High School, part of West Virginia’s effort to curb teen tobacco use…

Supreme Court limits agency environmental reviews: On Thursday (5/29), the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that federal agencies can limit environmental reviews under NEPA…

EPA budget cuts eviscerate state grants, slash watershed programs in blue states: The Trump administration detailed plans to cut the EPA’s budget by 55 percent in fiscal 2026…

California: 

Trump threatens to slash federal funding from California over youth transgender sports participation: President Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from…

Gov. Newsom proposes ‘asset test’ for low-income and disabled Medi-Cal applicants: California Governor Gavin Newsom has proposed reinstating the “asset test” for Medi-Cal…

Education:

Lawmakers, judge push back on Education Department’s gutting, citing inefficiency: Lawmakers and a federal judge are pushing back against the Trump administration’s downsizing of the U.S. Department of Education…

Cuts to Medicaid, SNAP could hinder student access to free school meals: Cuts proposed in the House’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” could undercut school meal access…

Trump administration moves to slash education civil rights efforts: The Trump administration has proposed eliminating Equity Assistance Centers, which help schools address racial disparities…

Senate HELP to consider top Education Department nominations: The Senate HELP Committee will hold a June 5 hearing to consider President Trump’s nominations of Penny Schwinn…

Senate HELP GOP advances Trump’s Education Department nominees: In a 12-11 party-line vote on May 22, Senate HELP Republicans advanced three of President Trump’s Education…

McMahon sets out new priorities for federal discretionary grants: On May 20, Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced new priorities for federal education grants, emphasizing literacy…

McMahon asks for ‘partnership’ with Congress to wind down Education Department: Education Secretary Linda McMahon defended President Trump’s proposed $66.7 billion FY26…

Deadlocked Supreme Court won’t allow nation’s first public religious charter school: The U.S. Supreme Court deadlocked 4-4 on whether public charter school funding can go to religious institutions…

Public Safety and Justice Update 5/23/25

Public Safety & Justice Update-5/23/2025

Justice Dept. considers removing key check on lawmaker prosecutions: The Justice Department is considering a proposal to remove the requirement for federal prosecutors…

Justice Dept. to end oversight of local police accused of abuses: On Wednesday (5/21), The Trump administration announced it will halt or reverse federal civil rights investigations and oversight agreements—known as consent decrees…

New York funds legal costs for officials probed by the Trump administration: A controversial provision in New York’s newly approved state budget sets aside $10 million in public funds to cover legal defense costs for state officials and employees, including Attorney General Letitia James…

Police secretly monitored New Orleans with facial recognition cameras: An investigation by The Washington Post revealed that New Orleans police secretly used a network of facial recognition cameras from the private nonprofit Project NOLA to monitor city…

One dead and four injured in Palm Springs fertility clinic bombing: A bombing outside a fertility clinic in Palm Springs, California, on Saturday morning (5/17) killed…

What to know about the D.C. shooting of two Israeli Embassy workers: Two Israeli Embassy staff members, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, were fatally shot…

Transportation Update- May 2025

Transportation Update

Cities Are Buying EVs in Bulk for Government Fleets: City governments are adopting electric vehicles faster than individual car…

Will Electric Vehicle Mandate Be A Roadblock To Safe Commutes For California Farmworkers?: As part of its ambitious goals to slash emissions and achieve carbon neutrality by 2045…

U.S. Study Establishes the Cost Benefits of Electric School Buses: A new study found that replacing a seven year-old diesel school bus with electric would result in $84,200…

California

Oakland Becomes First District Nationwide With 100% Electric School Buses: Last month Oakland became the first school district nationwide to have a fully electric fleet of school..

Track California Wildfires: In a fast-changing natural world, there are some things California fire officials can reliably count on: the unpredictability of climate-driven wildfires..

California Gas Prices Could Spike 50 Cents Under Climate Offset Idea: California’s already high gas prices could see an additional spike of almost 50 cents…

Weekly Update- 5/19/2025

Weekly Update 05/19/2025

California: 

Gavin Newsom moves housing construction: California Governor Gavin Newsom has intensified efforts to address the state's housing crisis by bypassing stalled legislation and incorporating pro-development…

Newsom doubles down on encampments: Governor Gavin Newsom is urging California cities and counties to adopt a model ordinance banning homeless encampments…

Trump moves to halt $70M for California internet, computer access programs: The U.S. Commerce Department has canceled a $70 million federal grant to expand internet access in California…

Education: 

‘A true game changer:’ unprecedented school choice tax credit in GOP bill: A proposed $5 billion federal tax credit seeks to expand private school choice nationwide…

RFK Jr says HHS will ‘preserve’ Head Start: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Congress that the Trump administration will preserve funding for Head Start in fiscal year 2026…

Administration defunds a program to help launch teacher apprenticeships: Trump has defunded the Educator Registered Apprenticeship Intermediary program, which supported…

Boys outperform girls in middle school STEM, study finds: A new study finds that boys are outperforming girls in middle school math and science, reversing gains made by 2019…

Exclusive data highlights paradox: as enrollment falls, fewer schools close: Despite reports of school closures from declining enrollment, national data show fewer schools…