“Today’s settlement marks another victory in the Trump Administration’s fight to ensure that American educational institutions protect Jewish students and put merit first,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “Institutions that accept federal funds are obligated to follow civil rights law — we are grateful to Northwestern for negotiating this historic deal.”
The university said it expects to have all of the federal funding that was frozen fully restored within 30 days as part of the settlement.
In addition to the $75 million payment to the federal government, Northwestern also agreed to review its international admissions and develop training for international students to learn the “norms of the campus,” and reaffirm steps to protect Jewish members of the community.
In a statement, Northwestern Interim President Henry Bienen defended the settlement agreement, noting it fought to keep full control over hiring, admissions, and curriculum as part of the deal.
“As an imperative to the negotiation of this agreement, we had several hard red lines we refused to cross: We would not relinquish any control over whom we hire, whom we admit as students, what our faculty teach or how our faculty teach. I would not have signed this agreement without provisions ensuring that is the case,” Bienen wrote. “Northwestern runs Northwestern. Period.”
“Acquiescence to the administration’s tactics would make Northwestern complicit in an assault on higher education, which is an essential bulwark of civil society. The administration is skirting legal processes and demanding what amounts to ransom from universities; such actions continue its well-documented and dangerous abuse of executive power,” they wrote.
Several other major universities also have reached deals with the Trump administration in recent months to settle claims of antisemitism and other discrimination on campus.
Columbia University in New York agreed to a $200 million settlement in July, to be paid out over three years to resolve investigations into alleged violations of anti-discrimination laws. Columbia also agreed to an additional $21 million to settle investigations from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Cornell University in New York agreed earlier this month to pay $30 million to the federal government to put an end to an investigation into claims of antisemitic harassment and discrimination amid campus protests over the war in Gaza. Cornell also agreed to invest $30 million in U.S. agriculture research.
Brown University also cut a deal with the Trump administration to restore grant funding in exchange for commitments on women’s sports, antisemitism, admissions practices and a donation of $50 million to workforce development programs.
The University of Pennsylvania also recently reached a deal with the Trump administration over their policy on transgender athletes in women’s sports.
It was shocking to read that a few neighbors are opposed to having a cricket field in the proposed Palm Avenue Community Park in Fremont. The main fear is that flying cricket balls could injure a child or elderly person or damage homes or cars. Do baseballs ever fly out of the field and cause personal injury? Balls flying over to the street or neighborhood will be rare and can easily be prevented in the design and construction of the stadium.
It is more likely the fear of the unknown. People here are not familiar with cricket. Both baseball and cricket trace their origins back to medieval European bat-and-ball games and are more like “cousins.” Cricket fields all over the world are in the middle of cities and residential neighborhoods, and they are safe. It is fun to play and or watch cricket, so let us go for it.
The New York Times article about Phil Tagami’s proposed Oakland coal terminal is very misleading.
The article says, “a state judge ruled in 2023 that the city had to uphold its deal with Tagami.” However, that ruling only provided Tagami with $320,000 in damages. The disappointed coal developers found a judge in Kentucky whose suggestion of hundreds of millions in damages was rejected by Kentucky’s district court on November 21.
The article quotes Tagami as denying that the project “makes a difference in the world.” But several mile-long trains every day would be spewing unhealthy coal dust from Utah to Oakland. And when burned, that much coal would cost the world tens of billions of dollars in damages (using the EPA’s social cost of carbon).
The article says, ”The coal project must now go forward.” Those of us who care about the livability of Oakland will continue to oppose this deadly project.
My attention was drawn to Abby McCloskey’s column.
As this article asserts, a strong foundation in spelling in a child’s early learning years leads to reading and literacy proficiency down the road. My personal academic experience bears this out.
In my elementary school years in the 1950s, I had a natural strength in spelling, which was nurtured by my teachers. I still have all of my certificates of achievement, which span local through regional spelling contests that I entered.
Further, this skill led me toward my love of writing — whether it be in the form of a school essay, poetry or, as you are reading now, my penchant for submitting letters to the editor.
While “spell check” is a helpful tool, our brains still rely on the visualization of words to connect the dots in our educational journey.
Sharon Brown Walnut Creek
Immigration judges’ principles cost them
As the season of gratitude, peace, joy and hope approaches, recently unbenched San Francisco Immigration Judges Patrick Savage, Amber George, Jeremiah Johnson, Shuting Chen and Louis Gordon have inspired this letter. Although no reason was given for their forced departures, I wasn’t surprised. Having seen several preside over mandatory immigration hearings restored my hope in this country’s future. Unfortunately, the very behaviors that gave me hope put them at risk of losing their jobs. Behaviors like being well-versed in immigration law, diligent in their efforts to fully understand cases from both immigrant and government perspectives, and exhibiting both kindness and respect to all present within their courtrooms.
The current administration has rendered these judges easily disposable obstacles to any campaign promises conflicting with this nation’s laws, Constitution and system of checks and balances. Fortunately, obstacles like integrity and allegiance to oaths of office can’t be as easily disposed of.
President Trump announced Thursday that he would “permanently pause” immigration from “Third-World Countries.” The declaration comes as the Trump administration takes aim at U.S. immigration policies in the wake of the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C. Weijia Jiang has the latest.
The Trump administration on Friday directed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officers to pause all asylum decisions in the wake of the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C., according to an internal directive obtained by CBS News and two sources familiar with the order.
The move is the administration’s latest effort to tighten the American immigration system after Wednesday’s attack, which was allegedly carried out by an Afghan man who was granted asylum by U.S. immigration officials earlier this year.
Asylum officers at USCIS, a branch of the Department of Homeland Security, were instructed to refrain from approving, denying or closing asylum applications received by the agency, according to the internal notice and sources, who requested anonymity to describe an action that has not been publicly announced.
On Thursday, the Trump administration said it would start a review of asylum approvals under the Biden administration, citing the shooting of the two National Guard members, one of whom has died. The man accused of shooting the soldiers, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, is an Afghan national who entered the U.S. in 2021 during former President Joe Biden’s presidency and was granted asylum this spring under the second Trump administration.
The action relayed to USCIS asylum officers internally on Friday amounts to an indefinite pause on asylum adjudications for all nationalities. Asylum cases are filed by foreigners who claim they will suffer persecution if deported or returned to their home countries because of certain factors, including their race, nationality, religion or political views.
“Do not enter any decision information for affirmative cases,” a USCIS notice to asylum officers in one office read, referring to asylum cases overseen by the agency. “Defensive” cases, the other type of asylum applications, are filed by those facing deportation and are decided by federal immigration judges at the Justice Department.
Officers were told the pause applied to all USCIS asylum cases, including those filed by Afghans who arrived under a Biden administration resettlement effort dubbed “Operation Allies Welcome.” They were also told that in-person appointments for asylum applicants to find out what decisions have been made on their cases would be canceled, at least for Monday.
The guidance said officers could continue asylum application interviews and review cases up to the point of making a decision. “Once you’ve reached decision entry, stop and hold,” the directive said.
In a statement to CBS News Friday, USCIS Director Joe Edlow confirmed CBS News’ reporting.
“USCIS has halted all asylum decisions until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible,” Edlow said. “The safety of the American people always comes first.”
According to Homeland Security officials, Lakanwal was allowed to enter the U.S. in September 2021 through the humanitarian parole policy, which the Biden administration used to resettle tens of thousands of Afghans evacuated following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. He applied for asylum in 2024 and his application was granted earlier this year, the officials said.
Following Wednesday’s shooting, the Trump administration has unveiled a series of immigration measures it argues will bolster the government’s ability to mitigate the chances of similar attacks.
Officials first announced an indefinite pause on the processing of all legal immigration applications — ranging from citizenship and green card cases, to requests for work permits and asylum — filed by applicants from Afghanistan.
USCIS’ director, Joseph Edlow, then announced he had ordered, at President Trump’s direction, a “full scale, rigorous reexamination” of green card cases involving nationals affected by a presidential proclamation that fully or partially suspended travel and immigration from 19 countries. That list, released in June and which the White House referred to as a “travel ban,” includes Afghanistan and other countries in Asia and the Middle East, such as Iran, as well as African nations, including Somalia and Sudan. Mr. Trump’s order also applies to nationals of Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela.
USCIS published a policy Thursday that allows adjudicators to cite concerns about the inability to properly vet and identify green card applicants from the group of 19 countries as a potential reason to deny their cases.
“Certain countries (including but not limited to Afghanistan, Eritrea, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, and Venezuela) lack a competent or central authority for issuing passports and civil documents among other concerns, which directly relates to USCIS’ ability to meaningfully assess eligibility for benefit requests including identity, and therefore whether an alien warrants a favorable exercise of discretion,” USCIS said in its guidance.
Late Thursday, Mr. Trump vowed to “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries,” writing on Truth Social that his administration would revoke the citizenship of those it deems “undermine domestic tranquility” and deport any foreigner “who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization.”
The White House has not yet clarified publicly what actions would be taken to execute the president’s announcement.
There is now frustration and fear after President Trump’s new comments on immigration, including a possible crackdown affecting Afghan residents, following the National Guard shooting in Washington, DC.
Just days after the deadly National Guard shooting in DC, Afghan immigrants in the Bay Area say they’re feeling new fears following President Trump’s vow to stop immigration requests from what he called “third world countries,” and his call for “reverse migration.”
Trump’s comments come after authorities identified the suspect as an Afghan national, who once worked with a CIA-backed group, killed one national guard reservist and severely injured another.
A man who came from Afghanistan to the US in 1981, who asked to remain anonymous, said he is fearing retaliation against him and his community.
“My message is to others. Please be useful to this country. It is a very lovely country, and we hope that we have accomplished something that we are hoping for peace, prosperity, and happiness,” he said.
He says Afghans in America are overwhelmingly peaceful and shouldn’t be judged by one person’s actions.
The president also said he’ll re-examine the status of green card holders from 19 countries including Afghanistan.
Afghan immigration justice group ANAR warns against using a single incident to justify broad restrictions.
“What we are seeing right now is a form of large-scale harm and collective punishment in response to a specific incident and this really doesn’t do anything to keep our communities safer or to promote national security,” said Laila Ayub, ANAR Co-Director and an immigration attorney.
ANAR plans to monitor any new policies and says the US has legal and moral obligations to uphold.
“This bigger picture affect of restricting pathways for people and really abandoning our united states obligations under domestic and international law to ensure protections of people who are fleeing their homes,” Ayub said.
President Donald Trump announced Friday that he was cancelling executive orders signed by President Joe Biden’s autopen.
Like many presidents, including Trump, Biden used an autopen to sign certain official documents. Republicans have claimed the autopen was used by the people around Biden to circumvent a mentally declining president.
“Any document signed by Sleepy Joe Biden with the Autopen, which was approximately 92% of them, is hereby terminated, and of no further force or effect,” he wrote on Truth Social. “I am hereby cancelling all Executive Orders, and anything else that was not directly signed by Crooked Joe Biden, because the people who operated the Autopen did so illegally.”
Biden’s team did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the former presidenthas rejected these claims in the past, saying in June: “Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency.”
“I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations,” he said then. “Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false.”
The White House unveiled a new “Presidential Walk of Fame” featuring framed portraits of U.S. presidents, including what appears to be a photo of an autopen in place of Joe Biden’s portrait.
There’s no public record of how many documents were signed by autopen during Biden’s presidency. President Barack Obama was the first president to use an autopen and signed pardons while on vacation. Biden is known to have used it while traveling, too: CNN reported in 2024 that Biden signed a funding extension for federal aviation programs with the autopen, which an official said was used to avoid a lapse in funding while the president was on the West Coast.
Last month, House Republicans declared that they viewed executive actions signed by Biden’s autopen “without proper, corresponding, contemporaneous, written approval traceable to the president’s own consent” as void and urged the Department of Justice to investigate the matter.
“Joe Biden was not involved in the Autopen process and, if he says he was, he will be brought up on charges of perjury,” Trump continued in his Friday Truth Social post.
Perjury is the crime of lying under oath; Biden has not publicly testified under oath about the autopen. The former president has previously defended his use of the autopen in a New York Times interview.
An autopen is a mechanical tool used to reproduce signatures for everything from book signings and diplomas to presidential orders. Here’s what you need to know.
Asked in April about the potential consequences of hiking tariffs on nearly all American imports, President Donald Trump delivered a memorably blunt assessment.
“Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls,” Trump said during a cabinet meeting on April 30. “And maybe the two dolls will cost a couple bucks more than they would normally.”
A “couple bucks” here and a “couple bucks” there…and eventually, that adds up to a massive tax increase.
Federal data covering the first eight months of the year show that the government collected more than $1.1 billion in tariffs on toys, dolls, and games.
During the same seven months in 2024, the federal government collected no revenue on imports covered by those lines in the tariff code, because toys, dolls, and similar products entered the country duty-free thanks to trade agreemens that Trump’s tariffs now supercede, explained Ed Gresser, a former assistant U.S. trade representative and vice president at the Progressive Policy Institute, in an email to Reason. (Gresser wrote a post earlier this month pegging the figure at $888 million through July, but he shared more updated figures with Reason for this post.)
Those higher taxes paid by American importers are likely to be passed along to consumers doing their holiday shopping—and the actual total is likely quite a bit higher, since the tariff data lags by a few months.
The direct costs of the tariffs don’t even tell the whole story. As Reason has detailed, the tariffs have created headaches for board game and toy companies across the country, as normally reliable supply chains have become more expensive and sometimes totally unworkable amid the White House’s ever-shifting tariff edicts.
“The U.S. is our least trustworthy trading partner right now—and I say that as an American,” Price Johnson, COO of Cephalofair Games, toldReason last month. “I can’t trust what the policy is going to be tomorrow, let alone next week.”
Two weeks ago, the Trump administration seemingly admitted that its tariffs were making some goods more expensive. The White House rolled back tariffs on coffee, bananas, and several other items. That was framed as an attempt to lower grocery prices amid rising inflation and deepening skepticism from the American public about the merits of Trump’s tariff plans.
As Gresser notes, however, the tariffs that remain in place are in many cases bigger tax increases than the ones on goods like coffee and bananas, which have now been removed.
“The tariff hike on toys is twice as big as that of the banana and coffee tariffs put together, and that on shoes tariff increase alone offsets the entire 238-product exclusion list,” he wrote earlier this month.
Indeed, some limited reductions on tariffs might be welcome, but they are hardly enough: The Yale Budget Lab estimates that Trump’s tariffs will cost the average American household around $1,700 this year.
That might explain why retailers are bracing for a less robust holiday shopping season this year. Santa Claus might be able to smuggle toys past the authorities under the cover of darkness and with the help of magic, but many American parents are facing exactly the situation that the president predicted in April: Fewer and more expensive toys this holiday season.
President Trump told reporters Thursday night that Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom has died. Beckstrom was one of the National Guard troops shot in Wednesday’s Washington, D.C., ambush attack. Andrew Wolfe, the other victim, is still in critical condition. CBS News’ Nicole Sganga reports.
President Trump is spending Thanksgiving at his Florida estate Mar-a-Lago with his wife Melania.
Mr. Trump played golf in the morning, and he and the first lady plan to call service members.
Mr. Trump and Melania participated in the annual turkey pardoning at the White House on Tuesday, giving Waddle and Gobble a “full and unconditional pardon,” before heading off for the holiday.
On Wednesday night, two members of the National Guard were shot near the White House. The victims have been identified as members of the West Virginia National Guard, Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Pfc. Andrew Wolfe, 24. Both had been stationed in D.C. since August, and had been deputized to maintain their status to conduct presence patrols less than 24 hours earlier.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Alex Brandon / AP
Both Beckstorm and Wolfe are in critical condition, authorities said.
The suspect in the shooting has been identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who authorities said was paroled into the U.S. on Sept. 8, 2021, under a Biden-era program for Afghan nationals called Operation Allies Welcome. The CIA confirmed Thursday that Lakanwal had worked with the CIA in Afghanistan.
The suspect was shot by another Guard member and taken into custody, authorities said. Officials said Thursday that he had driven from Washington state to carry out the attack.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday that an additional 500 members of the National Guard to D.C., joining the roughly 2,200 troops who were deployed in D.C. as of Sunday morning.
Mr. Trump posted a video on social media on Wednesday night addressing the shooting, calling it an “act of evil and an act of hatred and an act of terror. It was a crime against our entire nation. It was a crime against humanity.”
Mr. Trump also noted that the suspect had come to the U.S. under the Biden-era program, vowed to “reexamine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden, and we must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here, or add benefit to our country.”
“No country can tolerate such a risk to our country,” Mr. Trump added, while pivoting to discussing Somali immigrants in Minnesota.
An Afghan national has been accused of shooting two West Virginia National Guard members just blocks from the White House in a brazen act of violence at a time when the presence of troops in the nation’s capital and other cities around the country has become a political flashpoint.Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said at a Thursday news briefing that the guard members shot were Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24. The guard members were hospitalized in critical condition after Wednesday afternoon’s shooting.Pirro said that the suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, drove across the country to launch an “ambush-style” attack with a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver. The suspect currently faces charges of assault with intent to kill while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. Pirro said that “it’s too soon to say” what the suspect’s motives were.The charges could be upgraded, Pirro said, adding, “We are praying that they survive and that the highest charge will not have to be murder in the first degree. But make no mistake, if they do not, that will certainly be the charge.”The rare shooting of National Guard members on American soil, on the day before Thanksgiving, comes amid court fights and a broader public policy debate about the Trump administration’s use of the military to combat what officials cast as an out-of-control crime problem.The Trump administration quickly ordered 500 more National Guard members to Washington.Video below: Trump condemned National Guard shooting as ‘heinous assault’The suspect who was in custody also was shot and had wounds that were not believed to be life-threatening, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.Attack being investigated as terrorist actFBI Director Kash Patel said the shooting is being investigated as an act of terrorism. Agents have served a series of search warrants, with Patel calling it a “coast-to-coast investigation.”Pirro said: “We have been in constant contact with their families and have provided them with every resource needed during this difficult time.”Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser interpreted the shooting as a direct assault on America itself, rather than specifically on Trump’s policies.“Somebody drove across the country and came to Washington, D.C., to attack America,” Bower said. “That person will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”Suspect worked with CIA during Afghanistan WarThe 29-year-old suspect, an Afghan national, entered the U.S. in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden administration program that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after the U.S. withdrawal from the country, officials said.The initiative brought roughly 76,000 people to the U.S., many of whom had worked alongside U.S. troops and diplomats as interpreters and translators. It has since faced intense scrutiny from Trump and his allies, congressional Republicans and some government watchdogs over allegations of gaps in the vetting process and the speed of admissions, even as advocates say it offered a lifeline to people at risk of Taliban reprisals.Lakamal has been living in Bellingham, Washington, about 79 miles north of Seattle, with his wife and five children, said his former landlord, Kristina Widman.Prior to his 2021 arrival in the United States, the suspect worked with the U.S. government, including the CIA, “as a member of a partner force in Kandahar,” John Ratcliffe, the spy agency’s director, said in a statement. He did not specify what work Lakamal did, but said the relationship “ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation” of U.S. servicemembers from Afghanistan.Kandahar in southern Afghanistan is in the Taliban heartland of the country. It saw fierce fighting between the Taliban and NATO forces after the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 following the al-Qaida attacks on Sept. 11. The CIA relied on Afghan staff for translation, administrative and front-line fighting with their own paramilitary officers in the war.Wednesday night, in a video message released on social media, President Donald Trump called for the reinvestigation of all Afghan refugees who entered under the Biden administration.“If they can’t love our country, we don’t want them,” he said, adding that the shooting was “a crime against our entire nation.”Jeffery Carroll, an executive assistant D.C. police chief, said on Wednesday that investigators had no information on a motive. He said the assailant “came around the corner” and immediately started firing at the troops, citing video reviewed by investigators.Troops held down the shooterThe shooting happened roughly two blocks northwest of the White House near a metro station. Hearing gunfire, other troops in the area ran over and held down the gunman after he was shot, Carroll said. “It appears to be a lone gunman that raised a firearm and ambushed these members of the National Guard,” Carroll said, adding that it was not clear whether one of the guard members or a law enforcement officer shot the suspect.“At this point, we have no other suspects,” Carroll said at a news conference.At least one of the guard members exchanged gunfire with the shooter, said another law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.Social media video shared in the immediate aftermath showed first responders performing CPR on one of the troops and treating the other on a sidewalk covered in broken glass.
WASHINGTON —
An Afghan national has been accused of shooting two West Virginia National Guard members just blocks from the White House in a brazen act of violence at a time when the presence of troops in the nation’s capital and other cities around the country has become a political flashpoint.
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said at a Thursday news briefing that the guard members shot were Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24. The guard members were hospitalized in critical condition after Wednesday afternoon’s shooting.
Pirro said that the suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, drove across the country to launch an “ambush-style” attack with a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver. The suspect currently faces charges of assault with intent to kill while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. Pirro said that “it’s too soon to say” what the suspect’s motives were.
The charges could be upgraded, Pirro said, adding, “We are praying that they survive and that the highest charge will not have to be murder in the first degree. But make no mistake, if they do not, that will certainly be the charge.”
The rare shooting of National Guard members on American soil, on the day before Thanksgiving, comes amid court fights and a broader public policy debate about the Trump administration’s use of the military to combat what officials cast as an out-of-control crime problem.
The Trump administration quickly ordered 500 more National Guard members to Washington.
Video below: Trump condemned National Guard shooting as ‘heinous assault’
The suspect who was in custody also was shot and had wounds that were not believed to be life-threatening, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
Attack being investigated as terrorist act
FBI Director Kash Patel said the shooting is being investigated as an act of terrorism. Agents have served a series of search warrants, with Patel calling it a “coast-to-coast investigation.”
Pirro said: “We have been in constant contact with their families and have provided them with every resource needed during this difficult time.”
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser interpreted the shooting as a direct assault on America itself, rather than specifically on Trump’s policies.
“Somebody drove across the country and came to Washington, D.C., to attack America,” Bower said. “That person will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
Suspect worked with CIA during Afghanistan War
The 29-year-old suspect, an Afghan national, entered the U.S. in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden administration program that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after the U.S. withdrawal from the country, officials said.
The initiative brought roughly 76,000 people to the U.S., many of whom had worked alongside U.S. troops and diplomats as interpreters and translators. It has since faced intense scrutiny from Trump and his allies, congressional Republicans and some government watchdogs over allegations of gaps in the vetting process and the speed of admissions, even as advocates say it offered a lifeline to people at risk of Taliban reprisals.
Lakamal has been living in Bellingham, Washington, about 79 miles north of Seattle, with his wife and five children, said his former landlord, Kristina Widman.
Prior to his 2021 arrival in the United States, the suspect worked with the U.S. government, including the CIA, “as a member of a partner force in Kandahar,” John Ratcliffe, the spy agency’s director, said in a statement. He did not specify what work Lakamal did, but said the relationship “ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation” of U.S. servicemembers from Afghanistan.
Kandahar in southern Afghanistan is in the Taliban heartland of the country. It saw fierce fighting between the Taliban and NATO forces after the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 following the al-Qaida attacks on Sept. 11. The CIA relied on Afghan staff for translation, administrative and front-line fighting with their own paramilitary officers in the war.
Wednesday night, in a video message released on social media, President Donald Trump called for the reinvestigation of all Afghan refugees who entered under the Biden administration.
“If they can’t love our country, we don’t want them,” he said, adding that the shooting was “a crime against our entire nation.”
Jeffery Carroll, an executive assistant D.C. police chief, said on Wednesday that investigators had no information on a motive. He said the assailant “came around the corner” and immediately started firing at the troops, citing video reviewed by investigators.
Troops held down the shooter
The shooting happened roughly two blocks northwest of the White House near a metro station. Hearing gunfire, other troops in the area ran over and held down the gunman after he was shot, Carroll said.
“It appears to be a lone gunman that raised a firearm and ambushed these members of the National Guard,” Carroll said, adding that it was not clear whether one of the guard members or a law enforcement officer shot the suspect.
“At this point, we have no other suspects,” Carroll said at a news conference.
At least one of the guard members exchanged gunfire with the shooter, said another law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Social media video shared in the immediate aftermath showed first responders performing CPR on one of the troops and treating the other on a sidewalk covered in broken glass.
(CNN) — The Department of Homeland Security has identified the suspect involved in the Wednesday shooting of two National Guard members, who remain in critical condition.
The suspect is Rahmanullah Lakamal, who came to the US from Afghanistan in 2021, DHS said in a statement late Wednesday. Officials said earlier the suspect is in custody.
Multiple law enforcement officials briefed on the matter told CNN the shooter’s initial identification matches a man from Washington state who applied for asylum in 2024, which was granted by the Trump administration earlier this year.
The two guard members had been performing “high visibility patrols” near the White House before the suspect appeared, “raised his arm with a firearm and discharged at the National Guard,” said Jeffery Carroll, the executive assistant chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, during a news conference earlier Wednesday.
Bowser and FBI Director Kash Patel said during the news conference the two guard members are in critical condition.
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser described the attack as a “targeted shooting” in a post on X and said the two guard members shot were part of the West Virginia National Guard.
“To the American public and the world, please send your prayers to those brave warriors who are in critical condition and their families,” Patel said during the news conference.
Carroll added during the presser “there is no indication” that there is another suspect, adding that the suspect in custody was taken to an area hospital.
The shooting took place near Farragut Square — a tourist-heavy area located near a busy transit center and the White House.
A source familiar with the investigation told CNN earlier Wednesday that law enforcement officials are not tracking any other victims of the shooting beyond the two National Guard officers and the suspect.
Three law enforcement sources told CNN that the suspect approached the guardsmen and appeared to target them, firing first at one of the guardsmen who was mere feet away.
One source said the suspect then fired at the other guardsman, who tried to get behind a bus stop shelter. The source added that the suspect is not cooperating with investigators and had no identification on him at the time of his arrest.
What we know about the shooting
Video from the nearby Metro station showed the shooting as it happened, law enforcement officials told CNN.
The gunman approached three National Guard members who appeared to not see him until he began shooting, striking one guard member and then another, the officials said.
The gunman then stood over the first victim and appeared to try to fire another round. That’s when the third guard member returned fire at the alleged shooter, the sources said.
A woman who was near the scene of the shooting told CNN she heard gunshots and then saw a “bunch of people” administering CPR to people who were on the ground.
Two law enforcement sources said earlier Wednesday the suspect was detained and transported away from the scene on a stretcher.
Authorities ran the fingerprints of the man in custody and that’s how they got the initial name, one law enforcement official told CNN.
Investigators recovered a handgun believed to have been used in the attack on the National Guard members and are working to determine when and how the suspect obtained it, law enforcement officials told CNN.
US law restricts firearms sales to people who aren’t citizens or legal permanent residents and it’s unclear whether the alleged gunman could have legally bought the handgun, the officials said.
Prior to the Wednesday news conference, there were conflicting reports about the condition of the guardsman after West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey posted on social media — and later corrected — that the guardsmen were believed to be dead.
Earlier in the day, DC Metropolitan Police said on X that the scene is secure and one suspect is in custody. They advised people to avoid the area.
Joint Task Force — DC, the National Guard office responsible for organizing the Guard mission to Washington, DC, confirmed in a statement Wednesday afternoon that “several” of its members “were involved in a shooting near the Farragut West Metro Station,” adding that it is working with DC police and other “law enforcement agencies.”
A police car blocks a street in Washington, DC, following a shooting on November 26. Credit: Joe Merkel / CNN via CNN Newsource
Trump addresses nation and calls for re-examining Afghan immigrants
President Donald Trump identified the suspect as an Afghan national in a video from Mar-a-Lago posted late Wednesday and blamed the Biden administration for allowing him into the country.
“I can report tonight that based on the best available information, the Department of Homeland Security is confident that the suspect in custody is a foreigner who entered our country from Afghanistan — a hell hole on earth,” Trump said in the video, adding that the suspect “was flown in by the Biden administration in September 2021.”
“We’re not going to put up with these kind of assaults on law and order by people who shouldn’t even be in our country,” Trump added. “We must now reexamine every single alien who’s entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden and we must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here or add benefit to our country.”
Following Trump’s remarks, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a post on X that the processing of all immigration cases related to Afghan immigrants “is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols.”
The Trump administration was already in the process of re-interviewing Afghan migrants admitted to the US during the previous administration, CNN reported earlier this week. Trump officials have repeatedly argued that the previous administration didn’t sufficiently vet the people who entered the US.
In his video, Trump also reiterated his request to deploy 500 more National Guardsmen to Washington, DC, in response to the shooting, which was shared by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth earlier in the day.
Shortly after the shooting, Trump weighed in on Truth Social, saying, “The animal that shot the two National Guardsmen … is also severely wounded, but regardless, will pay a very steep price.”
Vice President JD Vance, during remarks at an event in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, called for prayers for the national guardsmen, who he said were in critical condition at the time.
The shooting is “a somber reminder that soldiers whether they’re active duty, reserve or National Guard are soldiers are the sword and the shield of the United States of America,” Vance added.
National Guard troops in nation’s capital since August
National Guard troops from multiple states have been in Washington, DC, for months as part of President Donald Trump’s anti-crime crackdown in the nation’s capital, which has since expanded to other cities across the country.
Trump mobilized the National Guard in August and the troops were authorized to conduct law enforcement activities.
CNN reported last month that National Guard troops will remain mobilized in the city at least through February.
However, last week a federal judge halted the mobilization of the National Guard in Washington, DC, ruling that Trump and the Defense Department illegally deployed the troops.
In her ruling, the judge said there were “more than 2,000 National Guard troops” every day in the city.
The judge did not immediately order the National Guard to leave the city, allowing the Trump administration some time to file an appeal, which it did Tuesday.
The administration earlier Wednesday asked a federal appeals court for an emergency stay of the judge’s order to remove the National Guard from Washington, DC.
This story and headline have been updated with additional details.
CNN’s John Miller contributed to this report.
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Zachary Cohen, Kaanita Iyer, Holmes Lybrand, Gabe Cohen, Evan Perez and CNN
Two members of the National Guard were shot on Wednesday afternoon in Washington, D.C.—just two blocks from the White House—while on deployment. News reports have described their status as critical. A suspect was also transported to a hospital and is in custody, according to reports.
The guardsmen are from West Virginia. That state’s governor, Patrick Morrisey (R), initially wrote on X that both had died, but walked back his statement amidst “conflicting reports.” His initial, possibly erroneous claim should serve as a powerful reminder that it is always best to hold off and wait for more information, so as not to communicate false gossip to the public and start rumors. Very soon, we will know the conditions of the victims, who they are, and the name of the suspect; we will also be able to form better theories about the suspect’s potential motivations. In the coming days, law enforcement will likely be able to provide concrete details that establish definitive motivations. Spouting off on social media or spreading rumors as fact at this early juncture is at best unhelpful.
This is clearly going to be a very political subject, since the National Guard is in Washington, D.C., as a result of President Donald Trump’s decision to federalize the city’s crime response. Some left-leaning pundits are already treating this attack as evidence that the National Guard presence has not worked to deter crime and instead has inflamed tensions. Some right-leaning pundits have heavily suggested that the Democrats’ criticism of federal troops has inspired such violence. Trump himself is wasting no time, and has already announced plans to send 500 additional troops to Washington, D.C.
How to make the nation’s capital a safer city, and what role federal resources could play in that effort, is a complicated subject that deserves nuanced debate and discussion, not scorching hot takes. Knee-jerk policymaking that occurs in the immediate aftermath of a tragedy is seldom well-considered. It would benefit the national discourse greatly if everyone could offer their prayers and well-wishes, but otherwise hold off for the time being.
A Brazilian woman who had been living in the United States for most of her life is being held in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Louisiana as she fights deportation.
Ferreira’s lawyer Todd Pomerleau said she was detained on Nov. 12 after leaving her home in Revere to pick up her 11-year-old son in New Hampshire. Pomerleau said ICE agents stopped her and detained her. She then was taken to Vermont before being moved to Louisiana.
The Department of Homeland Security said Ferreira overstayed a tourist visa and has a prior battery arrest — allegations Pomerleau disputes. He argues that Ferreira arrived in the U.S. as a child and later qualified for DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
“She came here at 6 years old,” said Pomerleau. “Age of 6, and they’re calling her a criminal illegal alien.”
He insists the government’s claims about a visa violation are not correct.
“They’re saying she violated a visa,” he said. “You can’t violate a visa under the immigration laws until six months after your 18th birthday. By then, she already had DACA, which you can’t get if you’re a criminal illegal alien, cause [of] its disqualifying factors for people who have crimes.”
Ferreira shares custody of her son with Michael Leavitt, brother to Karoline Leavitt. A source confirmed the family connection, but said the two women have not spoken in years. The White House press secretary has not publicly commented on the case.
Pomerleau described the past relationship between Ferreira and Michael Leavitt as typical of many young couples.
“Like a modern family,” he said. “They’re two people that were young and in love at one point. They were engaged to be married, and it didn’t work out, like countless others.”
In a statement, DHS described Ferreira as “a criminal illegal alien from Brazil” and said she entered the U.S. on a B-2 tourist visa requiring her departure by June 6, 1999.
Her attorney disputes the agency’s claims and said he has seen no evidence she ever committed a crime.
“Under the immigration laws, she’s following the only processes that she has available to her, and I’ve seen no proof whatsoever that she has ever committed a crime,” Pomerleau said.
Pedro Latorre, a church deacon who lives across from Ferreira’s home, said the situation has been painful for many Hispanic families in the area.
“It’s very painful for the family,” he said, adding that fear has been widespread. “I’m concerned because we know each other, and the problem is that … people are afraid about this.”
Ferreira remains in custody as her attorney seeks bond. A judge could decide on her release by Thanksgiving.
(CNN) — A coalition of 21 attorneys general have sued to block new guidance from the US Department of Agriculture that declares some immigrants, including refugees and those granted asylum, ineligible for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who led the coalition of other Democratic attorneys general, said in a statement Wednesday that the Trump administration is illegally cutting off benefits for tens of thousands of lawful permanent residents.
The USDA provided the new guidance to states narrowing SNAP eligibility last month, aligning with rollbacks of the program outlined in President Donald Trump’s domestic policy law that passed earlier this year.
The attorneys general argue in the lawsuit that the memo goes beyond what the law prescribes since it would make anyone who entered the country through humanitarian protection programs permanently ineligible for SNAP benefits — also known as food stamps — even if they become legal residents.
The group of attorneys general warn that the USDA’s guidance, which prompts a swift overhaul of eligibility systems, “threatens to destabilize SNAP nationwide,” and could put significant financial strain on states that would have to shoulder the cost of fines.
The lawsuit asks a federal judge in Oregon to vacate and block the implementation of the USDA’s guidance.
The filing comes just days after a federal judge in Virginia dismissed an indictment against James, whom President Donald Trump has viewed as a political opponent.
A spokesperson for USDA declined to comment on “pending litigation.”
Top U.S. military officials are meeting leaders of Caribbean nations this week as the Trump administration has escalated its firepower in the region as part of what it calls a campaign against drug trafficking.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will travel to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and meet Wednesday with the country’s top leaders, including President Luis Abinader, Minister of Defense Lt. Gen. Carlos Antonio Fernández Onofre and other officials, the Pentagon said Tuesday.The announcement came the same day that Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and President Donald Trump’s primary military adviser, met with Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.They “exchanged views on challenges affecting the Caribbean region, including the destabilizing effects of illicit narcotics, arms, and human trafficking, and transnational criminal organization activities,” according to a summary released by Caine’s office.The U.S. military has built up its largest presence in the region in generations and has been attacking alleged drug-smuggling boats since early September. To date, the military, under Hegseth’s command, has carried out 21 known strikes on vessels accused of carrying drugs, killing at least 83 people.The actions are seen by many as a pressure tactic to get Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to step down. The visits by Hegseth and Caine this week come as Trump evaluates whether to take military action against Venezuela, which he has not ruled out despite raising the possibility of talks with Maduro, who has been charged with narcoterrorism in the U.S.The Trump administration added extra pressure by officially designating the Cartel de los Soles, or Cartel of the Suns, as a foreign terrorist organization on Monday, although the entity that the U.S. government alleges is led by Maduro is not a cartel per se.While a majority of Caribbean leaders have been muted in their response to the strikes on alleged drug boats, urging peace and dialogue, Persad-Bissessar has stood out for her public praise of the deadly attacks.In early September, she said she had no sympathy for drug traffickers, adding that “the U.S. military should kill them all violently.” Her remarks and support of the strikes have been condemned by some opposition leaders and regional officials.Amery Browne, Trinidad’s former foreign affairs minister, told the local newspaper Newsday that Persad-Bissessar’s stance is “reckless,” and that she has isolated herself from Caricom, a regional trade bloc.According to the Pentagon, Hegseth’s trip to the Dominican Republic will aim “to strengthen defense relationships and reaffirm America’s commitment to defend the homeland.”Meanwhile, Caine also used his time in the region to visit American troops in Puerto Rico and on at least one U.S. Navy ship, thanking service members for their service and sacrifice over the Thanksgiving holiday, the Pentagon said.Caine and Hegseth also visited the region in September, going to Puerto Rico after ships carrying hundreds of U.S. Marines arrived for what officials said was a training exercise.
WASHINGTON —
Top U.S. military officials are meeting leaders of Caribbean nations this week as the Trump administration has escalated its firepower in the region as part of what it calls a campaign against drug trafficking.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will travel to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and meet Wednesday with the country’s top leaders, including President Luis Abinader, Minister of Defense Lt. Gen. Carlos Antonio Fernández Onofre and other officials, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
The announcement came the same day that Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and President Donald Trump’s primary military adviser, met with Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
They “exchanged views on challenges affecting the Caribbean region, including the destabilizing effects of illicit narcotics, arms, and human trafficking, and transnational criminal organization activities,” according to a summary released by Caine’s office.
The U.S. military has built up its largest presence in the region in generations and has been attacking alleged drug-smuggling boats since early September. To date, the military, under Hegseth’s command, has carried out 21 known strikes on vessels accused of carrying drugs, killing at least 83 people.
The actions are seen by many as a pressure tactic to get Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to step down. The visits by Hegseth and Caine this week come as Trump evaluates whether to take military action against Venezuela, which he has not ruled out despite raising the possibility of talks with Maduro, who has been charged with narcoterrorism in the U.S.
The Trump administration added extra pressure by officially designating the Cartel de los Soles, or Cartel of the Suns, as a foreign terrorist organization on Monday, although the entity that the U.S. government alleges is led by Maduro is not a cartel per se.
While a majority of Caribbean leaders have been muted in their response to the strikes on alleged drug boats, urging peace and dialogue, Persad-Bissessar has stood out for her public praise of the deadly attacks.
In early September, she said she had no sympathy for drug traffickers, adding that “the U.S. military should kill them all violently.” Her remarks and support of the strikes have been condemned by some opposition leaders and regional officials.
Amery Browne, Trinidad’s former foreign affairs minister, told the local newspaper Newsday that Persad-Bissessar’s stance is “reckless,” and that she has isolated herself from Caricom, a regional trade bloc.
According to the Pentagon, Hegseth’s trip to the Dominican Republic will aim “to strengthen defense relationships and reaffirm America’s commitment to defend the homeland.”
Meanwhile, Caine also used his time in the region to visit American troops in Puerto Rico and on at least one U.S. Navy ship, thanking service members for their service and sacrifice over the Thanksgiving holiday, the Pentagon said.
Caine and Hegseth also visited the region in September, going to Puerto Rico after ships carrying hundreds of U.S. Marines arrived for what officials said was a training exercise.
The U.S. Department of Education launched an investigation into the University of California at Berkeley Tuesday over violence that erupted earlier this month at protests outside an event organized by conservative group Turning Point USA.
The department said it will investigate whether UC Berkeley violated the Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act, a federal law that requires colleges and universities that receive federal financial aid to record and report campus crime data.
The announcement comes as UC Berkeley also faces a Department of Justice investigation into the university’s handling of the event and protests, which resulted in at least four arrests and left one person injured after being struck in the head by a thrown object. Turning Point USA, a nonprofit that promotes conservative values on high school and college campuses, was co-founded by Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot in September during a tour stop at a university in Utah.
“Just two months after Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was brutally assassinated on a college campus, UC Berkeley allowed a protest of a Turning Point USA event on its grounds to turn unruly and violent, jeopardizing the safety of its students and staff,” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement Tuesday.
She said the department is reviewing UC Berkeley’s procedures to ensure that it maintains campus safety and security.
“This is not about students’ First Amendment rights to protest peacefully. This is about ensuring accurate and transparent reporting of crime statistics to the campus community and guaranteeing that every student can safely participate in educational programs and activities,” McMahon said. “The department will vigorously investigate this matter to ensure that a recipient of federal funding is not allowing its students to be at risk.”
In a statement Tuesday, UC Berkeley said the university has “an unwavering commitment” to abide by the laws and will cooperate with the investigations, as well as continue to host speakers and events representing a variety of viewpoints “in a safe and respectful manner.”
The university said the campus provided public reports about two violent crimes that happened that evening — a fistfight over an attempted robbery and the person hit by a thrown object.
“The campus administration went to great lengths to support the First Amendment rights of all by deploying a large number of police officers from multiple jurisdictions and a large number of contracted private security personnel,” the university said Tuesday. “The campus also closed adjoining buildings and cordoned off part of the campus in order to prevent criminal activity, keep the peace, and ensure the event was not disrupted by protests.”
The Education Department’s office of Federal Student Aid will lead the investigation. It gave UC Berkeley 30 days to provide copies of the school’s annual security report, all incidents of crime from 2022-2024, all arrests made by law enforcement and referrals for disciplinary action against students or employees disclosed in the annual security report, daily crime logs from 2022-2025 and several other reports.
In 2020, UC Berkeley was fined $2.35 million for failing to comply with the Clery Act after a six-year federal review revealed thousands of crime incidents were misclassified — the majority of which were related to liquor, drug and weapons violations. UC Berkeley said the campus had referred students for disciplinary proceedings but wrongly classified the violations — many involving minors in possession of alcohol in residence halls — as a campus policy violation rather than a law violation, as required under the Clery Act.
The Department of Education’s investigation — started in July 2014 — also found a range of issues including failure to comply with sexual violence policies and procedures, failure to maintain accurate and complete daily crime logs, failure to disclose accurate hate crime statistics and failure to issue emergency notifications. UC Berkeley entered into a settlement agreement with the Education Department in 2020 and acknowledged that the campus had made “many administrative errors in the past,” but said it has taken aggressive steps toward improvement.
The Education Department’s investigation said the university failed to notify students of any violence until an hour after protests began to escalate — a delay the department said could have compromised community members’ safety. In a response to the department, UC Berkeley said the finding was based on an incorrect timeline of events and that it had alerted the community immediately after learning the protest had become violent.
The U.S. Interior Department said Tuesday the National Park Service is going to start charging the millions of international tourists who visit U.S. national parks each year $100 per person to enter some of the most popular sites, while leaving them out of fee-free days that will be reserved for American residents.
The fee change for international visitors will impact 11 national parks, including the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Yosemite, according to the Interior Department.
As part of the changes, which are set to take effect Jan. 1, foreign tourists will also see their annual parks pass price jump to $250, while U.S. residents will continue to be charged $80, according to the department’s statement.
Visitors walk through the California Tunnel Tree in Mariposa Grove amidst the ongoing federal government shutdown in Yosemite National Park, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025.
Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
Only approximately 100 of the more than 400 parks in the national park system collect an entrance fee.
The announcement declaring “America-first entry fee policies” comes as national parks deal with the strain of a major staff reduction and severe budget cuts, along with recovering from damage during the recent government shutdown and significant lost revenue due to fees not being collected during that time. The park service furloughed well over half its staff during the shutdown.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a post on the social platform X that the changes make sure U.S. taxpayers who support the park service “continue to enjoy affordable access, while international visitors contribute their fair share to maintaining and improving our parks for future generations!”
A White House social media post laying out the increased fees ended with the phrase, “AMERICANS FIRST.”
The announcement follows a July executive order in which President Donald Trump directed the parks to increase entry fees for foreign tourists.
At the time, Mr. Trump also ordered the Interior Department to give U.S. residents “preferential treatment” over foreign visitors regarding “recreational access rules, including permitting or lottery rules” that parks might have in place.
In its 2026 fiscal year budget proposal released in May, the Interior Department estimated that such a surcharge on international visitors would generate more than $90 million annually.
“There’s a lot to unpack in this announcement, including many questions on its implementation – all which NPCA will raise with the Department of Interior,” Kati Schmidt, a spokesperson for National Parks Conservation Association, said in an email.
The U.S. Travel Association estimated that in 2018, national parks and monuments saw more than 14 million international visitors. Yellowstone reported that in 2024, nearly 15% of its visitors were from outside the country, which was down from 30% in 2018.
The money made off the new fees will help support the national parks, including with upgrading facilities for visitors and maintenance, according to the statement.
The “resident-only patriotic fee-free days” next year include Veterans Day, which was one of the parks’ eight free days open to everyone in 2025. The Department of the Interior had announced those days by saying they wanted to ensure that “everyone, no matter their zip code, can access and enjoy the benefits of green spaces and our public lands.”
The White House’s plan to draft an Affordable Care Act subsidies extension may have hit a snag. CBS News has confirmed that House Speaker Mike Johnson called senior Trump officials, telling them that most House Republicans have little interest in extending the tax subsidies once they expire at the end of the year. CBS News political reporter Hunter Woodall has more details.
California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta sued the Trump Administration Tuesday seeking to stop a federal policy change that advocates say could force 170,000 formerly homeless Americans back on the streets or into shelters.
The lawsuit focuses on a federal program known as Continuum of Care that sends money to local governments and nonprofits to fight homelessness.
This month, the Trump Administration announced it was drastically cutting the amount of money the program will pay for rental subsidies in permanent housing and shifting those dollars to temporary housing and services instead.
With subsidies for permanent housing reduced, advocates say 170,000 people could return to homelessness. Locally, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority has warned 5,000 L.A. County households, containing 6,800 people, could be at risk of losing their homes, which would erase the small decline in homelessness reported this year.
“This [federal] program has proven to be effective at getting Americans off the streets, yet the Trump Administration is now attempting to illegally slash its funding,” Bonta said in a statement.
HUD did not immediately respond to a request for comment. This month, the department said its policy change “restores accountability to homelessness programs and promotes self-sufficiency among vulnerable Americans” in part by redirecting most money to transitional housing and supportive services that it sees as more effective than permanent housing.
Bonta filed the lawsuit along with 19 state attorneys general and two governors.
The lawsuit alleges the HUD policy change violated the law in several ways, including that the department failed to properly notice the change and that the new restrictions on funding violate the separation of powers because they were not imposed by Congress.
In addition to capping the amount of funds that can be spent on permanent housing, HUD is requiring more total homeless dollars be subject to competitive bidding.
Bonta‘s office said the new rules also “eliminate funding to applicants that acknowledge the existence of transgender and gender-diverse people” and make it harder for cities and counties to get funding if they don’t “enforce certain policies this Administration favors, like bans on public camping.”
Democratic lawmakers who appeared in a social media video urging U.S. troops to defy “illegal orders” say the FBI has contacted them to begin scheduling interviews, signaling a possible inquiry into the matter.
Among those contacted is Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan, who represents Chester County, after she was seen in the now viral video.
In a post on Instagram, Rep. Houlahan accused the president of using the FBI to intimidate members of Congress.
“We swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. That oath lasts a lifetime, and we intend to keep it. We will not be bullied. We will never give up the ship,” she wrote.
Houlahan had previously served in the U.S. Air Force.
The Capitol Hill Police referred questions to the FBI which declined to comment to NBC.
The news came after the Pentagon announced it is investigating Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona over potential violations of military law related to the video, and President Donald Trump has accused the lawmakers of sedition “punishable by DEATH” in a social media post.
In the video, Kelly, who was a fighter pilot before becoming an astronaut and then retiring at the rank of captain, told troops that “you can refuse illegal orders,” while other lawmakers — all veterans of the armed services and intelligence community — called on U.S. troops to “stand up for our laws … our Constitution.”
Kelly and the other lawmakers didn’t mention specific circumstances in the video. Troops, especially uniformed commanders, do have specific obligations to reject orders that are unlawful, if they make that determination. However, the U.S. military legal code will punish troops for failing to follow an order should it turn out to be lawful.
The Associated Press, Lauren Mayk and Emily Rose Grassi