LINCOLN, NE&nbsp;– Governor Jim Pillen has issued a new executive order stipulating that central and western Nebraska remain under a burn ban. Conditions in that half of the state are still very dry. Burning is prohibited through midnight May 10 due to the potential wildfire risk.

Last week, Gov. Pillen ordered a burn ban across Nebraska, after a prescribed fire got out of control in Plum Creek. The new order, effective today, specifies the border where burning is still not permitted. The line runs south along U.S. Highway 81 from the South Dakota border to Highway 92. The line then goes west to U.S. Highway 281 and runs south to the Kansas border. It should be noted that counties may be split when it comes to areas where burning is still prohibited.

<p>LINCOLN, NE&nbsp;– Governor Jim Pillen has issued a new executive order stipulating that central and western Nebraska remain under a burn ban. Conditions in that half of the state are still very dry. Burning is prohibited through midnight May 10 due to the potential wildfire risk.</p><p>Last week, Gov. Pillen ordered a burn ban across Nebraska, after a prescribed fire got out of control in Plum Creek. The new order, effective today, specifies the border where burning is still not permitted. The line runs south along U.S. Highway 81 from the South Dakota border to Highway 92. The line then goes west to U.S. Highway 281 and runs south to the Kansas border. It should be noted that counties may be split when it comes to areas where burning is still prohibited.</p>

Governors Burn Ban Extended Through May 10

President Trump did a sit down&nbsp;interview with ABC News and attended&nbsp;a rally in Michigan&nbsp;on Tuesday to mark&nbsp;the first 100 days&nbsp;of his second term.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/4/1745978717017.png" alt="Image from the ABC interview courtesy White House" />
                        <figcaption>Image from the ABC interview courtesy White House</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>President Trump did a sit down&nbsp;interview with ABC News and attended&nbsp;a rally in Michigan&nbsp;on Tuesday to mark&nbsp;the first 100 days&nbsp;of his second term.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">President Trump on his first 100 days in office: &quot;We&#39;ve just gotten started. You haven&#39;t&#39; seen anything yet...What the world has witnessed in the past 14 weeks is a revolution of common sense.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/0IiSgqVBxo">pic.twitter.com/0IiSgqVBxo</a></p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1917367752509079681?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &quot;I&#39;m doing one thing: I&#39;m Making America Great Again. We have a country that was failing... We had a leader that was grossly incompetent... Our country suffered greatly. And now, our country is coming back like nobody can believe.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/qZu0DK9iv9">pic.twitter.com/qZu0DK9iv9</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1917385367872852387?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">ABC: “Fraud is a crime. There have been no referrals to the Justice Department.”<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: “Well you don’t know that do you? How do you know that?”<br><br>ABC: “I’m asking you, sir.”<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: “You’re not asking me. You made a statement… Yes there have.” <a href="https://t.co/Gxu5bWKBdG">pic.twitter.com/Gxu5bWKBdG</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1917387251979297086?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">ABC: “It is an undeniable fact that illegal crossings at the southern border have plummeted, a staggering decline, but there are questions about your methods…”<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: “Well, they seem to work.” 🔥 <a href="https://t.co/G7YoAIKnBJ">pic.twitter.com/G7YoAIKnBJ</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1917386891982143984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on revoking security clearances for proven liars and fraudsters: &quot;It&#39;s not anger — these are people that I think are very dishonest. I don&#39;t think they&#39;re worthy of being able to go into top secret information.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/fq0aW3lnUU">pic.twitter.com/fq0aW3lnUU</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1917385024699076851?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: “We are a respected country again… We had a President that couldn’t walk up a flight of stairs… We had a President that was grossly incompetent. You knew it, I knew it… But you guys didn’t want to write it because you’re FAKE NEWS. And by the way, ABC is one of the… <a href="https://t.co/n7dK4xd4xi">pic.twitter.com/n7dK4xd4xi</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1917384901437055098?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on revoking Biden&#39;s clearances: &quot;That&#39;s not a man that should be allowed to be looking at things that are very confidential. Here&#39;s a man that used an AUTOPEN to sign very important documents!&quot; <a href="https://t.co/kdPMnZyppO">pic.twitter.com/kdPMnZyppO</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1917384138904023550?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">ABC: Are you using your powers as president to get personal revenge?<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &quot;No. I&#39;ll tell you what... there has never been a president in this country... that was persecuted like I was persecuted... When you say I&#39;m treating people rough, I&#39;m not treating people rough.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/tvB31oTlnU">pic.twitter.com/tvB31oTlnU</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1917384039448678733?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on the measles vaccine: &quot;I recommend it. Do I mandate it? No.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/Ig6wKo0b2d">pic.twitter.com/Ig6wKo0b2d</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1917381864806875145?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: “I think Putin wanted all of Ukraine. I think if I didn’t win the election, he would have gotten all of Ukraine… Never with me, he would have never gone in. With this group of losers, he went in. He saw what happened in Afghanistan. He said ‘wow this is my chance.’” <a href="https://t.co/728d0an8tp">pic.twitter.com/728d0an8tp</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1917379881773519278?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on his meeting with President Zelenskyy at the Vatican: &quot;The moment was a moment of solace in a sense because tremendous numbers of people are dying... and I feel very badly about it. That&#39;s a war that would&#39;ve never happened if I were president.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/93fP558ULt">pic.twitter.com/93fP558ULt</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1917378646219554972?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">&quot;This is an MS-13 gang member ... Beat the hell out of his wife ... This is not an innocent, wonderful gentleman from Maryland,&quot; says <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on deported criminal illegal Kilmar Abrego Garcia.<br><br>&quot;He came into our country ILLEGALLY!&quot; <a href="https://t.co/obsXcYMB1c">pic.twitter.com/obsXcYMB1c</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1917376156875251804?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

🎥Highlights of Trump's 100 days in office rally and ABC interview

MANAMA, Bahrain – USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) lost an F/A-18E Super Hornet assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 136 and a tow tractor as the aircraft carrier operated in the Red Sea on Monday, according to a statement from the office of United State's Navy Chief of Information.&nbsp; One Sailor was injured, all other personnel were accounted for.

The F/A-18E was actively under tow in the hangar bay when the move crew lost control of the aircraft. The aircraft and tow tractor were lost overboard.

Sailors towing the aircraft took immediate action to move clear of the aircraft before it fell overboard. An investigation is underway.

The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group and embarked air wing remain fully mission capable. The strike group consists of flagship Harry S. Truman, the nine squadrons of Carrier Air Wing 1, three guided-missile destroyers of Destroyer Squadron 28, and the Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG 64).

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/4/1745891273909.png" alt="An F/A-18E Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 136, launches from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75). US Navy Photo" />
                        <figcaption>An F/A-18E Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 136, launches from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75). US Navy Photo</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>MANAMA, Bahrain – USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) lost an F/A-18E Super Hornet assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 136 and a tow tractor as the aircraft carrier operated in the Red Sea on Monday, according to a statement from the office of United State's Navy Chief of Information.&nbsp; One Sailor was injured, all other personnel were accounted for.</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/4/1745891330505.png" alt="USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) on April 15, 2025. US Navy Photo" />
                        <figcaption>USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) on April 15, 2025. US Navy Photo</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>The F/A-18E was actively under tow in the hangar bay when the move crew lost control of the aircraft. The aircraft and tow tractor were lost overboard.</p><p>Sailors towing the aircraft took immediate action to move clear of the aircraft before it fell overboard. An investigation is underway.</p><p>The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group and embarked air wing remain fully mission capable. The strike group consists of flagship Harry S. Truman, the nine squadrons of Carrier Air Wing 1, three guided-missile destroyers of Destroyer Squadron 28, and the Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG 64).</p>

US Navy loses $60 million jet that fell overboard from aircraft carrier

As spring temperatures rise across Nebraska, now’s the time to plan your first alfalfa cutting. Getting that first cut right is more important than many realize—it sets the pace for the entire season.

Waiting too long to harvest can lead to lower forage quality and delayed regrowth. That pushes your second cutting later into the summer, when heat and drought stress can limit yield. It can also throw off your third or even fourth cuttings, shortening the season and reducing total tons per acre.

On the flip side, cutting too early—before late bud stage—can hurt stand vigor and root reserves, especially in younger fields.

A good rule of thumb? Aim for 750 growing degree days from green-up and target the late bud to early bloom stage. Depending on the quality you are shooting for, this typically falls between late-May and early-June. Check field conditions closely, including weevil activity and stand health, and plan around weather windows to avoid rain damage.

Poor timing in May can cost you in July and August. Start planning now. Sharpen blades, check and service equipment, and communicate with custom harvesters early. A timely first cut sets the tone for the rest of your hay season.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/4/1745851907586.png" alt="<br>" />
                        <figcaption><br></figcaption>
                    </figure><p><i>By&nbsp;Ben Beckman</i></p><p>As spring temperatures rise across Nebraska, now’s the time to plan your first alfalfa cutting. Getting that first cut right is more important than many realize—it sets the pace for the entire season.</p><p>Waiting too long to harvest can lead to lower forage quality and delayed regrowth. That pushes your second cutting later into the summer, when heat and drought stress can limit yield. It can also throw off your third or even fourth cuttings, shortening the season and reducing total tons per acre.</p><p>On the flip side, cutting too early—before late bud stage—can hurt stand vigor and root reserves, especially in younger fields.</p><p>A good rule of thumb? Aim for 750 growing degree days from green-up and target the late bud to early bloom stage. Depending on the quality you are shooting for, this typically falls between late-May and early-June. Check field conditions closely, including weevil activity and stand health, and plan around weather windows to avoid rain damage.</p><p>Poor timing in May can cost you in July and August. Start planning now. Sharpen blades, check and service equipment, and communicate with custom harvesters early. A timely first cut sets the tone for the rest of your hay season.</p>

Forage Minute: Planning first alfalfa cutting

The conclave to elect a new Pope will begin on May 7 according to the Holy See Press Office. The Cardinals present in Rome made the decision on Monday at their fifth General Congregation.

The conclave will take place in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel.&nbsp;

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/4/1745839969701.png" alt="Image courtesy CSPAN" />
                        <figcaption>Image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>The conclave to elect a new Pope will begin on May 7 according to the Holy See Press Office. The Cardinals present in Rome made the decision on Monday at their fifth General Congregation.</p><p>The conclave will take place in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel.&nbsp;</p>

Vatican sets May 7th for Conclave to Elect New Pope

By:&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/zachwendling/">Zach Wendling</a>&nbsp;-<br><a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/03/17/lincoln-senators-clash-over-nebraska-school-retirement-bill-as-school-leaders-weigh-in/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

Senators suggest new sales taxes, increased sin taxes, changes to prison or Perkins County Canal, ‘pause’ in income tax cuts to help fill budget hole

LINCOLN —&nbsp;Nebraska’s projected budget deficit for the next two years has grown by $190 million after the state’s economic forecasting board fixed its previous estimates to be more on target.

State lawmakers have less than a month to fill the gap.

The Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board on Friday afternoon revised its earlier projections for the final two months of this fiscal year as well as the next two fiscal years that lawmakers are considering in the annual budget-writing process. The budget advanced from the Appropriations Committee on Thursday, without revised projections, at the time with $124 million left to find.

Two measures advanced Thursday to the final stage of lawmaking, related to&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/04/24/former-nebraska-lawmaker-expresses-concern-about-major-changes-to-school-retirement-plan/">school retirement</a>&nbsp;and repealing recently passed&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/04/25/bill-targeting-nebraska-business-incentives-advances-with-some-shifts-after-an-intense-exchange/">business incentives</a>, filling that most recent budget hole with $7 million to spare.

That means the $190 million added to the next two fiscal years will nearly all need to be found in spending cuts or new revenue.

Lawmakers will begin debating the Appropriations Committee’s advanced budget bills May 6 and must send them to Gov. Jim Pillen by the end of the&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/Current/PDF/Rules/RuleBook.pdf" target="_blank">80th legislative day</a>: May 15.

The Friday revised projections also increased the budget hole for the current fiscal year by a separate $190 million amount. It will be absorbed through state reserves.

State Sen. Rob Clements of Elmwood, Appropriations Committee chair, attended the forecast and said future details will be day by day. Some cash reserves might be used.

Clements said he doesn’t like to be in a negative position but that Nebraska has good cash reserves. He’s hopeful the economy will be better than projected but senators “have to deal with the forecast that we have.”

State Sen. Brad von Gillern of the Elkhorn area, chair of the companion Revenue Committee, said he was disappointed in the forecast but that it’s reflective of global uncertainty, which leads to negativity in projections.

He said he doesn’t dispute the board’s numbers but was unhappy that internal projections between the Legislative Fiscal Office and Nebraska Department of Revenue weren’t more in sync. The average legislative estimates anticipated $300 million less revenue than the average department projections for the next biennium.

Former State Sen. John Kuehn of Heartwell, a member of the forecast board, was among the nine forecasters who said federal uncertainty is impacting their local communities.

“Chaos is the word of the day,” Kuehn said.

He said investments are unpredictable and that it is difficult for consumers or businesses to make firm long-term plans.

“Just keep your head on a swivel and see what the day’s news cycle is going to bring, and don’t open your accounts,” Kuehn said. “And if you do, be sitting down.”'

Other forecasters noted the up-and-down nature of tariffs from President Donald Trump. Clements said it could take a little while to settle down from that feeling of “chaos.”

“It’s unfortunate that we had to do this so quickly after these tariffs, before they were negotiated and resolved,” Clements said.

State Sen. Tom Brandt of Plymouth, upon learning of the amended economic forecast figures, gave a reaction some Nebraskans might share: “Holy s—.”

He said his immediate thought was that if senators want to consider a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/03/13/nebraska-lawmakers-told-easiest-way-to-dig-out-of-budget-deficit-is-to-pause-income-tax-cuts/">pause in the multi-year lowering of the income tax rate</a>&nbsp;for the highest earners and corporations, “it is there, ready to go.”

Pausing those rates at 4.99%, rather than going down to 3.99% by the start of 2027, could save nearly $500 million over the next biennium, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/109/PDF/FN/LB171_20250312-113225.pdf" target="_blank">fiscal estimate</a>&nbsp;for Brandt’s&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=58969&amp;docnum=LB171&amp;leg=109" target="_blank">Legislative Bill 171</a>.

“We could just stop it for a year or two to allow the state to catch its breath, and we can do that without increasing any taxes, no new taxes,” Brandt told the Nebraska Examiner.

Clements and von Gillern said they have no appetite for “pausing” income tax rates, which von Gillern said could lead to more harm. Opponents have said applicable Nebraskans are now expecting the 2023-enacted tax cuts and a change would equate to a tax increase for those folks.

“We know that the one thing we can do to improve our bottom line is to keep people here,” von Gillern said. “If we raise the income tax or pause the income tax cut, we’re going to continue to drive people off like we did for decades.”

LB 171 has not advanced from the Revenue Committee.

State Sen. Rob Clements of Elmwood, left, and Keisha Patent, director of the Legislative Fiscal Office, address lawmakers at a pre-session legislative retreat in Kearney on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

“Just keep your head on a swivel and see what the day’s news cycle is going to bring, and don’t open your accounts,” Kuehn said. “And if you do, be sitting down.”

State Sens. Tom Brandt of Plymouth, Jana Hughes of Seward and Teresa Ibach of Sumner, from left, talk at a legislative retreat in Kearney on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

Brandt also has&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=59353&amp;docnum=LB169&amp;leg=109" target="_blank">LB 169</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=59157&amp;docnum=LB170&amp;leg=109" target="_blank">LB 170</a>, which would add a statewide sales tax to pop, candy and about 18 other goods or services, such as swimming pool cleaning and maintenance, dating services, chartered flights, lobbying and pet grooming. Taxes on cigarettes would also increase.&nbsp;

Both bills have advanced from the Revenue Committee, as has&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=58761&amp;docnum=LB712&amp;leg=109" target="_blank">LB 712</a>&nbsp;from State Sen. Jana Hughes of Seward to increase taxes on vapes up to 40% wholesale.

Earlier on Friday lawmakers, in a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_votes.php?KeyID=12238" target="_blank">34-10 vote</a>, lawmakers approved&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=59013&amp;docnum=LB9&amp;leg=109" target="_blank">LB 9</a>&nbsp;from Hughes to increase taxes on&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/03/19/lawmakers-advance-bill-to-tax-nicotine-like-products-in-nebraska-such-as-zyn-pouches/">alternative nicotine products</a>, designed to automatically capture emerging tobacco products. A fiscal note estimates about&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/109/PDF/FN/LB9_20250401-152247.pdf" target="_blank">$3 million for the next biennium</a>.

Brandt called it a “test” as the body considers the broader sales tax and sin tax bills. He and von Gillern said the forecast could change the calculus.

“I think the body’s going to have to take those a little more seriously than they thought they were going to,” von Gillern said.

State Sen. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha, a freshman member of the Appropriations Committee, did not vote to advance the mainline budget Thursday. She declined to vote “yes” or “no,” and it advanced 7-1 over the opposition of State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha.

Spivey said she is not a fan of the Brandt sales tax bills, which she said could disproportionately impact people from marginalized communities. She said the deficit and tax burden can’t continue to be put “on people that are struggling to make ends meet that we really need to address some of the larger ticket items that we know are actually causing the deficit.”

Spivey said the forecast was not the news she and others were hoping for, but it was expected. She said difficult decisions are ahead and that senators need to take a different approach, such as revisiting expenditures for the new state prison, Perkins County Canal and income or property tax relief programs.

Cavanaugh and Spivey, among others, have said the deficit is self-inflicted and that future budget years look even worse. Spivey said senators must prioritize investments to grow the economy and provide a return on investment. That includes smart justice reform, she said.

“I think there needs to be some serious and deliberate conversations that we have to sit in and we cannot keep avoiding,” Spivey said.

Brandt, chair of the Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee, said cuts to the Perkins County Canal “ain’t going to happen.”&nbsp;

“If we do that, it’s going to get ugly,” he said. “I’m not willing to do that.”

On Tuesday, while on a different Brandt bill to merge two state agencies and prioritize water resources, State Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha sought to shrink the canal size, saving $61 million to $150 million. The $61 million effort&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_votes.php?KeyID=12128" target="_blank">failed 12-29</a>. The $150 million effort&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_votes.php?KeyID=12129" target="_blank">failed 13-33</a>.

Pillen, reflecting in a statement on the forecast, did not address a root cause of the revised forecast:&nbsp;volatility of $100 million less in individual income tax each of the next two years. Instead, he said the state had “a great opportunity to be strong fiscal conservatives.”

“I am looking forward to working with the Legislature to close the budget gap while delivering the property tax relief that Nebraskans expect and deserve,” Pillen said Friday.

Pillen’s original budget recommendations left&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/01/15/gov-pillen-proposes-his-answer-to-432-million-projected-budget-shortfall/">$62.4 million in wiggle room</a>&nbsp;for lawmakers, if all of his ideas and those from senators were adopted. That included&nbsp;<a href="https://das.nebraska.gov/budget/publications/docs/2025-2027/2025/ExecutiveBudgetinBrief2025-2027Biennium.pdf" target="_blank">investments in property tax relief</a>&nbsp;being led by Hughes, which, for now,&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/02/10/school-ag-advocates-largely-endorse-nebraska-school-finance-reform-proposal/">remain in the Education Committee</a>.

One major item different from the Appropriations Committee budget and Pillen’s is increasing rather than cutting&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/04/08/legislative-committee-reverses-cuts-to-university-of-nebraska-budget/">state funds to the University of Nebraska</a>, a difference of about $46 million.

Rebecca Firestone, executive director of the OpenSky Policy Institute think tank, said it’s clear that the state will face “significant headwinds” for the budget but that lawmakers have options to ensure access to “critical state services.”

“Now is the time to consider making thoughtful choices about raising revenue in a fair and sustainable manner,” Firestone said in a statement. “We urge the Legislature to resist the temptation to balance the budget by making deep cuts to critical services like health care and education.”

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/4/1745843774326.png" alt=" The Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board meets for its April meeting to revise economic projections for the state. (Screenshot of Nebraska Public Media livestream)" />
                        <figcaption> The Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board meets for its April meeting to revise economic projections for the state. (Screenshot of Nebraska Public Media livestream)</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>By:&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/zachwendling/">Zach Wendling</a>&nbsp;-<br><a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/03/17/lincoln-senators-clash-over-nebraska-school-retirement-bill-as-school-leaders-weigh-in/">Nebraska Examiner</a></p><h2>Senators suggest new sales taxes, increased sin taxes, changes to prison or Perkins County Canal, ‘pause’ in income tax cuts to help fill budget hole</h2><p>LINCOLN —&nbsp;Nebraska’s projected budget deficit for the next two years has grown by $190 million after the state’s economic forecasting board fixed its previous estimates to be more on target.</p><p>State lawmakers have less than a month to fill the gap.</p><p>The Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board on Friday afternoon revised its earlier projections for the final two months of this fiscal year as well as the next two fiscal years that lawmakers are considering in the annual budget-writing process. The budget advanced from the Appropriations Committee on Thursday, without revised projections, at the time with $124 million left to find.</p><p>Two measures advanced Thursday to the final stage of lawmaking, related to&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/04/24/former-nebraska-lawmaker-expresses-concern-about-major-changes-to-school-retirement-plan/">school retirement</a>&nbsp;and repealing recently passed&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/04/25/bill-targeting-nebraska-business-incentives-advances-with-some-shifts-after-an-intense-exchange/">business incentives</a>, filling that most recent budget hole with $7 million to spare.</p><p>That means the $190 million added to the next two fiscal years will nearly all need to be found in spending cuts or new revenue.</p><p>Lawmakers will begin debating the Appropriations Committee’s advanced budget bills May 6 and must send them to Gov. Jim Pillen by the end of the&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/Current/PDF/Rules/RuleBook.pdf" target="_blank">80th legislative day</a>: May 15.</p><p>The Friday revised projections also increased the budget hole for the current fiscal year by a separate $190 million amount. It will be absorbed through state reserves.</p><h2>Disappointing but not unexpected</h2><p>State Sen. Rob Clements of Elmwood, Appropriations Committee chair, attended the forecast and said future details will be day by day. Some cash reserves might be used.</p><p>Clements said he doesn’t like to be in a negative position but that Nebraska has good cash reserves. He’s hopeful the economy will be better than projected but senators “have to deal with the forecast that we have.”</p><p>State Sen. Brad von Gillern of the Elkhorn area, chair of the companion Revenue Committee, said he was disappointed in the forecast but that it’s reflective of global uncertainty, which leads to negativity in projections.</p><p>He said he doesn’t dispute the board’s numbers but was unhappy that internal projections between the Legislative Fiscal Office and Nebraska Department of Revenue weren’t more in sync. The average legislative estimates anticipated $300 million less revenue than the average department projections for the next biennium.</p><h2>‘Chaos is the word of the day’</h2><p>Former State Sen. John Kuehn of Heartwell, a member of the forecast board, was among the nine forecasters who said federal uncertainty is impacting their local communities.</p><p>“Chaos is the word of the day,” Kuehn said.</p><p>He said investments are unpredictable and that it is difficult for consumers or businesses to make firm long-term plans.</p><p>“Just keep your head on a swivel and see what the day’s news cycle is going to bring, and don’t open your accounts,” Kuehn said. “And if you do, be sitting down.”'</p><p>Other forecasters noted the up-and-down nature of tariffs from President Donald Trump. Clements said it could take a little while to settle down from that feeling of “chaos.”</p><p>“It’s unfortunate that we had to do this so quickly after these tariffs, before they were negotiated and resolved,” Clements said.</p><h2>‘Catch its breath’</h2><p>State Sen. Tom Brandt of Plymouth, upon learning of the amended economic forecast figures, gave a reaction some Nebraskans might share: “Holy s—.”</p><p>He said his immediate thought was that if senators want to consider a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/03/13/nebraska-lawmakers-told-easiest-way-to-dig-out-of-budget-deficit-is-to-pause-income-tax-cuts/">pause in the multi-year lowering of the income tax rate</a>&nbsp;for the highest earners and corporations, “it is there, ready to go.”</p><p>Pausing those rates at 4.99%, rather than going down to 3.99% by the start of 2027, could save nearly $500 million over the next biennium, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/109/PDF/FN/LB171_20250312-113225.pdf" target="_blank">fiscal estimate</a>&nbsp;for Brandt’s&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=58969&amp;docnum=LB171&amp;leg=109" target="_blank">Legislative Bill 171</a>.</p><p>“We could just stop it for a year or two to allow the state to catch its breath, and we can do that without increasing any taxes, no new taxes,” Brandt told the Nebraska Examiner.</p><p>Clements and von Gillern said they have no appetite for “pausing” income tax rates, which von Gillern said could lead to more harm. Opponents have said applicable Nebraskans are now expecting the 2023-enacted tax cuts and a change would equate to a tax increase for those folks.</p><p>“We know that the one thing we can do to improve our bottom line is to keep people here,” von Gillern said. “If we raise the income tax or pause the income tax cut, we’re going to continue to drive people off like we did for decades.”</p><p>LB 171 has not advanced from the Revenue Committee.</p><p>LINCOLN —&nbsp;Nebraska’s projected budget deficit for the next two years has grown by $190 million after the state’s economic forecasting board fixed its previous estimates to be more on target.</p><p>State lawmakers have less than a month to fill the gap.</p><p>The Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board on Friday afternoon revised its earlier projections for the final two months of this fiscal year as well as the next two fiscal years that lawmakers are considering in the annual budget-writing process. The budget advanced from the Appropriations Committee on Thursday, without revised projections, at the time with $124 million left to find.</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/clements-patent_ZJW_121324-01-300x200.jpg" alt="" />
                        <figcaption></figcaption>
                    </figure><p>State Sen. Rob Clements of Elmwood, left, and Keisha Patent, director of the Legislative Fiscal Office, address lawmakers at a pre-session legislative retreat in Kearney on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)</p><p>Two measures advanced Thursday to the final stage of lawmaking, related to&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/04/24/former-nebraska-lawmaker-expresses-concern-about-major-changes-to-school-retirement-plan/">school retirement</a>&nbsp;and repealing recently passed&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/04/25/bill-targeting-nebraska-business-incentives-advances-with-some-shifts-after-an-intense-exchange/">business incentives</a>, filling that most recent budget hole with $7 million to spare.</p><p>That means the $190 million added to the next two fiscal years will nearly all need to be found in spending cuts or new revenue.</p><p>Lawmakers will begin debating the Appropriations Committee’s advanced budget bills May 6 and must send them to Gov. Jim Pillen by the end of the&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/Current/PDF/Rules/RuleBook.pdf" target="_blank">80th legislative day</a>: May 15.</p><p>The Friday revised projections also increased the budget hole for the current fiscal year by a separate $190 million amount. It will be absorbed through state reserves.</p><h2>Disappointing but not unexpected</h2><p>State Sen. Rob Clements of Elmwood, Appropriations Committee chair, attended the forecast and said future details will be day by day. Some cash reserves might be used.</p><p>Clements said he doesn’t like to be in a negative position but that Nebraska has good cash reserves. He’s hopeful the economy will be better than projected but senators “have to deal with the forecast that we have.”</p><p>State Sen. Brad von Gillern of the Elkhorn area, chair of the companion Revenue Committee, said he was disappointed in the forecast but that it’s reflective of global uncertainty, which leads to negativity in projections.</p><p>He said he doesn’t dispute the board’s numbers but was unhappy that internal projections between the Legislative Fiscal Office and Nebraska Department of Revenue weren’t more in sync. The average legislative estimates anticipated $300 million less revenue than the average department projections for the next biennium.</p><h2>‘Chaos is the word of the day’</h2><p>Former State Sen. John Kuehn of Heartwell, a member of the forecast board, was among the nine forecasters who said federal uncertainty is impacting their local communities.</p><p>“Chaos is the word of the day,” Kuehn said.</p><p>He said investments are unpredictable and that it is difficult for consumers or businesses to make firm long-term plans.</p><p>“Just keep your head on a swivel and see what the day’s news cycle is going to bring, and don’t open your accounts,” Kuehn said. “And if you do, be sitting down.”</p><p>Other forecasters noted the up-and-down nature of tariffs from President Donald Trump. Clements said it could take a little while to settle down from that feeling of “chaos.”</p><p>“It’s unfortunate that we had to do this so quickly after these tariffs, before they were negotiated and resolved,” Clements said.</p><h2>‘Catch its breath’</h2><p>State Sen. Tom Brandt of Plymouth, upon learning of the amended economic forecast figures, gave a reaction some Nebraskans might share: “Holy s—.”</p><p>He said his immediate thought was that if senators want to consider a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/03/13/nebraska-lawmakers-told-easiest-way-to-dig-out-of-budget-deficit-is-to-pause-income-tax-cuts/">pause in the multi-year lowering of the income tax rate</a>&nbsp;for the highest earners and corporations, “it is there, ready to go.”</p><p>Pausing those rates at 4.99%, rather than going down to 3.99% by the start of 2027, could save nearly $500 million over the next biennium, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/109/PDF/FN/LB171_20250312-113225.pdf" target="_blank">fiscal estimate</a>&nbsp;for Brandt’s&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=58969&amp;docnum=LB171&amp;leg=109" target="_blank">Legislative Bill 171</a>.</p><p>“We could just stop it for a year or two to allow the state to catch its breath, and we can do that without increasing any taxes, no new taxes,” Brandt told the Nebraska Examiner.</p><p>Clements and von Gillern said they have no appetite for “pausing” income tax rates, which von Gillern said could lead to more harm. Opponents have said applicable Nebraskans are now expecting the 2023-enacted tax cuts and a change would equate to a tax increase for those folks.</p><p>“We know that the one thing we can do to improve our bottom line is to keep people here,” von Gillern said. “If we raise the income tax or pause the income tax cut, we’re going to continue to drive people off like we did for decades.”</p><p>LB 171 has not advanced from the Revenue Committee.</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/hughes_ZJW_121324-02-300x200.jpg" alt="" />
                        <figcaption></figcaption>
                    </figure><p>State Sens. Tom Brandt of Plymouth, Jana Hughes of Seward and Teresa Ibach of Sumner, from left, talk at a legislative retreat in Kearney on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)</p><h2>Sales taxes</h2><p>Brandt also has&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=59353&amp;docnum=LB169&amp;leg=109" target="_blank">LB 169</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=59157&amp;docnum=LB170&amp;leg=109" target="_blank">LB 170</a>, which would add a statewide sales tax to pop, candy and about 18 other goods or services, such as swimming pool cleaning and maintenance, dating services, chartered flights, lobbying and pet grooming. Taxes on cigarettes would also increase.&nbsp;</p><p>Both bills have advanced from the Revenue Committee, as has&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=58761&amp;docnum=LB712&amp;leg=109" target="_blank">LB 712</a>&nbsp;from State Sen. Jana Hughes of Seward to increase taxes on vapes up to 40% wholesale.</p><p>Earlier on Friday lawmakers, in a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_votes.php?KeyID=12238" target="_blank">34-10 vote</a>, lawmakers approved&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=59013&amp;docnum=LB9&amp;leg=109" target="_blank">LB 9</a>&nbsp;from Hughes to increase taxes on&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/03/19/lawmakers-advance-bill-to-tax-nicotine-like-products-in-nebraska-such-as-zyn-pouches/">alternative nicotine products</a>, designed to automatically capture emerging tobacco products. A fiscal note estimates about&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/109/PDF/FN/LB9_20250401-152247.pdf" target="_blank">$3 million for the next biennium</a>.</p><p>Brandt called it a “test” as the body considers the broader sales tax and sin tax bills. He and von Gillern said the forecast could change the calculus.</p><p>“I think the body’s going to have to take those a little more seriously than they thought they were going to,” von Gillern said.</p><p>State Sen. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha, a freshman member of the Appropriations Committee, did not vote to advance the mainline budget Thursday. She declined to vote “yes” or “no,” and it advanced 7-1 over the opposition of State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha.</p><p>Spivey said she is not a fan of the Brandt sales tax bills, which she said could disproportionately impact people from marginalized communities. She said the deficit and tax burden can’t continue to be put “on people that are struggling to make ends meet that we really need to address some of the larger ticket items that we know are actually causing the deficit.”</p><h2>Other big-ticket items</h2><p>Spivey said the forecast was not the news she and others were hoping for, but it was expected. She said difficult decisions are ahead and that senators need to take a different approach, such as revisiting expenditures for the new state prison, Perkins County Canal and income or property tax relief programs.</p><p>Cavanaugh and Spivey, among others, have said the deficit is self-inflicted and that future budget years look even worse. Spivey said senators must prioritize investments to grow the economy and provide a return on investment. That includes smart justice reform, she said.</p><p>“I think there needs to be some serious and deliberate conversations that we have to sit in and we cannot keep avoiding,” Spivey said.</p><p>Brandt, chair of the Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee, said cuts to the Perkins County Canal “ain’t going to happen.”&nbsp;</p><p>“If we do that, it’s going to get ugly,” he said. “I’m not willing to do that.”</p><p>On Tuesday, while on a different Brandt bill to merge two state agencies and prioritize water resources, State Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha sought to shrink the canal size, saving $61 million to $150 million. The $61 million effort&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_votes.php?KeyID=12128" target="_blank">failed 12-29</a>. The $150 million effort&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_votes.php?KeyID=12129" target="_blank">failed 13-33</a>.</p><h2>Other reactions</h2><p>Pillen, reflecting in a statement on the forecast, did not address a root cause of the revised forecast:&nbsp;volatility of $100 million less in individual income tax each of the next two years. Instead, he said the state had “a great opportunity to be strong fiscal conservatives.”</p><p>“I am looking forward to working with the Legislature to close the budget gap while delivering the property tax relief that Nebraskans expect and deserve,” Pillen said Friday.</p><p>Pillen’s original budget recommendations left&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/01/15/gov-pillen-proposes-his-answer-to-432-million-projected-budget-shortfall/">$62.4 million in wiggle room</a>&nbsp;for lawmakers, if all of his ideas and those from senators were adopted. That included&nbsp;<a href="https://das.nebraska.gov/budget/publications/docs/2025-2027/2025/ExecutiveBudgetinBrief2025-2027Biennium.pdf" target="_blank">investments in property tax relief</a>&nbsp;being led by Hughes, which, for now,&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/02/10/school-ag-advocates-largely-endorse-nebraska-school-finance-reform-proposal/">remain in the Education Committee</a>.</p><p>One major item different from the Appropriations Committee budget and Pillen’s is increasing rather than cutting&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/04/08/legislative-committee-reverses-cuts-to-university-of-nebraska-budget/">state funds to the University of Nebraska</a>, a difference of about $46 million.</p><p>Rebecca Firestone, executive director of the OpenSky Policy Institute think tank, said it’s clear that the state will face “significant headwinds” for the budget but that lawmakers have options to ensure access to “critical state services.”</p><p>“Now is the time to consider making thoughtful choices about raising revenue in a fair and sustainable manner,” Firestone said in a statement. “We urge the Legislature to resist the temptation to balance the budget by making deep cuts to critical services like health care and education.”</p>

Nebraska’s budget deficit grows by $190 million with less than a month to close the gap

<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">President Trump sat down to meet privately with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City this morning. <a href="https://t.co/QChPiZRKzM">pic.twitter.com/QChPiZRKzM</a></p>&mdash; The White House (@WhiteHouse) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1916106599506043104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Good meeting. We discussed a lot one on one. Hoping for results on everything we covered. Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out. Very symbolic meeting that has potential to… <a href="https://t.co/q4ZhVXCjw0">pic.twitter.com/q4ZhVXCjw0</a></p>&mdash; Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1916089502088524203?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

Trump and Zelensky meet just before pope's funeral

Pope Francis' funeral mass takes place at St. Peter's Square, followed by a procession and cortège to the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major for his burial.

<a href="https://www.c-span.org/event/international-telecasts/pope-francis-funeral-mass-in-vatican-city/432696">Click here to watch beginning at 3a.m. CDT</a>&nbsp;or the video below

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/4/1745658396155.jpeg" alt="Image from CSPAN video" />
                        <figcaption>Image from CSPAN video</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>Pope Francis' funeral mass takes place at St. Peter's Square, followed by a procession and cortège to the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major for his burial.</p><p><a href="https://www.c-span.org/event/international-telecasts/pope-francis-funeral-mass-in-vatican-city/432696">Click here to watch beginning at 3a.m. CDT</a>&nbsp;or the video below</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">LIVE --&gt; Pope Francis&#39; Funeral Mass in Vatican City – LIVE on C-SPAN <a href="https://t.co/mwpDK8FsiQ">https://t.co/mwpDK8FsiQ</a></p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1916036383530995983?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pope Francis&#39; casket drives by the Colosseum in Rome en route to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major. <a href="https://t.co/QL8AJdcd9M">pic.twitter.com/QL8AJdcd9M</a></p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1916085179371683994?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kielce Gussie, an American journalist with Vatican News, delivers the first reading at the funeral mass for Pope Fancis. <a href="https://t.co/PfkRfnSTlx">pic.twitter.com/PfkRfnSTlx</a></p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1916084533453013404?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">President Trump at Pope Francis Funeral. <a href="https://t.co/QhPK6RUUxQ">pic.twitter.com/QhPK6RUUxQ</a></p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1916041263771459660?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">President <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> and First Lady <a href="https://twitter.com/MELANIATRUMP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MELANIATRUMP</a> catch up with <a href="https://twitter.com/CardinalDolan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CardinalDolan</a> of New York this morning at St. Peter&#39;s Basilica in Vatican City… <a href="https://t.co/BYfpAkt7Ht">pic.twitter.com/BYfpAkt7Ht</a></p>&mdash; Dan Scavino (@Scavino47) <a href="https://twitter.com/Scavino47/status/1916094099469332731?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump pay their respects to Pope Francis in St. Peter&#39;s Basilica. <a href="https://t.co/PVSR33OU5p">pic.twitter.com/PVSR33OU5p</a></p>&mdash; The White House (@WhiteHouse) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1916102475121103198?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pres. Trump and Melania Trump arrive Rome Italy for Pope Francis Funeral ... <a href="https://t.co/jzwSNgnbKe">pic.twitter.com/jzwSNgnbKe</a></p>&mdash; Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) <a href="https://twitter.com/HowardMortman/status/1915879817133621549?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 25, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

🎥Pope Francis' funeral mass in Vatican City

By:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/henry-redman/">Henry Redman</a>

FBI agents arrested Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan on Friday, accusing her of obstructing an immigration enforcement&nbsp;<a href="https://wisconsinexaminer.com/briefs/fbi-investigating-milwaukee-county-judge-after-third-courthouse-ice-arrest/" target="_blank">action</a>&nbsp;last week.

Dugan was arrested at 8:30 a.m. at the county courthouse, according to the U.S. Marshal’s Service. She was scheduled to make an initial appearance in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Dries at 10:30 on Friday. According to a criminal complaint, she’s been charged with obstructing or impeding before a department or agency of the United States and concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest.

Online court records show that the government did not request that Dugan be held in detention and that she was released on an O/R bond, meaning she was released from custody without having to post bail and signed an agreement that she’d appear in court when required.

The agency’s director, Kash Patel, wrote on the social media platform X that Dugan had “intentionally misdirected federal agents away” from Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a 30-year-old Mexican immigrant accused of misdemeanor battery. In the now-deleted post, Patel accused Dugan of creating “increased danger to the public.”

Flores-Ruiz appeared in Dugan’s courtroom on April 18 for a pre-trial conference on charges of misdemeanor domestic battery. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/23/ice-arrested-mexican-immigrant-after-hearing-before-judge-dugan/83233154007/" target="_blank">reported</a>&nbsp;that when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents appeared outside Dugan’s courtroom, she led Flores-Ruiz and an attorney out a side door and down a private hallway.

ICE agents later apprehended Flores-Ruiz on foot. This is the third time since March that immigration agents have appeared at the Milwaukee County courthouse to conduct arrests — a tactic that local officials have said threatens to undermine the work of the local justice system by making immigrants fearful of coming to the courthouse to testify in court.

In an initial statement, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said he was aware of Dugan’s arrest and that the legal process should be allowed to play out.

“Like any individual in this country, I believe she is entitled to due process,” Crowley said. “We should let the facts come to light and the legal process play out.”

But later, he accused the FBI of politicizing the arrest to punish perceived enemies.

“It is clear that the FBI is politicizing this situation to make an example of her and others across the country who oppose their attack on the judicial system and our nation’s immigration laws,” he said. “FBI Director Kash Patel issued a public statement on X, which he hurriedly deleted, making unsubstantiated claims about Judge Dugan’s case before charges were officially filed and she could have her moment in court. Director Patel’s statement shows that Trump’s FBI is more concerned about weaponizing federal law enforcement, punishing people without due process, and intimidating anyone who opposes those policies, than they are with seeking justice.”

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin said the administration of President Donald Trump is attacking democratic values.

“In the United States, we have a system of checks and balances and separations of power for damn good reasons,” she said. “The President’s administration arresting a sitting judge is a gravely serious and drastic move, and it threatens to breach those very separations of power. Make no mistake, we do not have kings in this country and we are a Democracy governed by laws that everyone must abide by. By relentlessly attacking the judicial system, flouting court orders, and arresting a sitting judge, this President is putting those basic Democratic values that Wisconsinites hold dear on the line. While details of this exact case remain minimal, this action fits into the deeply concerning pattern of this President’s lawless behavior and undermining courts and Congress’s checks on his power.”

Gov. Tony Evers said the arrest was another example of the Trump administration’s attacks on the judiciary.

“Unfortunately, we have seen in recent months the president and the Trump Administration repeatedly use dangerous rhetoric to attack and attempt to undermine our judiciary at every level, including flat-out disobeying the highest court in the land and threatening to impeach and remove judges who do not rule in their favor,” he said. “I have deep respect for the rule of law, our nation’s judiciary, the importance of judges making decisions impartially without fear or favor, and the efforts of law enforcement to hold people accountable if they commit a crime. I will continue to put my faith in our justice system as this situation plays out in the court of law.”

U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee) said the arrest was “shocking.”

“This Administration’s willingness to weaponize federal law enforcement is shocking and this arrest has all the hallmarks of overreach,” Moore said. “Federal law enforcement coming into a community and arresting a judge is a serious matter and would require a high legal bar. I will be following this case closely and facts will come out, however, I am very alarmed at the increasingly lawless actions of the Trump Administration, and in particular ICE, who have been defying courts and acting with disregard for the Constitution.”

The ACLU of Wisconsin wrote on social media that ICE making arrests at courthouses interferes with the work of local justice officials.

“Judges have a duty to maintain order in their courtrooms and ensure the fair administration of justice, and federal law does not require state judges to act as agents of federal immigration enforcement,” the organization said. “Everyone is due their day in court, and when ICE starts showing up to courts looking to make arrests, it risks interfering with those rights. In recent weeks, the administration has attacked the integrity of our judicial system, refused to comply with a Supreme Court order, and arrested a judge for using her authority to protect the fair administration of justice.”

Wisconsin Examiner, a States Newsroom affiliate,&nbsp;<a href="https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2025/04/25/fbi-arrests-milwaukee-county-judge/" target="_blank">produced this story</a>.

<p>By:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/henry-redman/">Henry Redman</a></p><p>FBI agents arrested Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan on Friday, accusing her of obstructing an immigration enforcement&nbsp;<a href="https://wisconsinexaminer.com/briefs/fbi-investigating-milwaukee-county-judge-after-third-courthouse-ice-arrest/" target="_blank">action</a>&nbsp;last week.</p><p>Dugan was arrested at 8:30 a.m. at the county courthouse, according to the U.S. Marshal’s Service. She was scheduled to make an initial appearance in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Dries at 10:30 on Friday. According to a criminal complaint, she’s been charged with obstructing or impeding before a department or agency of the United States and concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest.</p><p>Online court records show that the government did not request that Dugan be held in detention and that she was released on an O/R bond, meaning she was released from custody without having to post bail and signed an agreement that she’d appear in court when required.</p><p>The agency’s director, Kash Patel, wrote on the social media platform X that Dugan had “intentionally misdirected federal agents away” from Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a 30-year-old Mexican immigrant accused of misdemeanor battery. In the now-deleted post, Patel accused Dugan of creating “increased danger to the public.”</p><p>Flores-Ruiz appeared in Dugan’s courtroom on April 18 for a pre-trial conference on charges of misdemeanor domestic battery. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/23/ice-arrested-mexican-immigrant-after-hearing-before-judge-dugan/83233154007/" target="_blank">reported</a>&nbsp;that when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents appeared outside Dugan’s courtroom, she led Flores-Ruiz and an attorney out a side door and down a private hallway.</p><p>ICE agents later apprehended Flores-Ruiz on foot. This is the third time since March that immigration agents have appeared at the Milwaukee County courthouse to conduct arrests — a tactic that local officials have said threatens to undermine the work of the local justice system by making immigrants fearful of coming to the courthouse to testify in court.</p><p>In an initial statement, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said he was aware of Dugan’s arrest and that the legal process should be allowed to play out.</p><p>“Like any individual in this country, I believe she is entitled to due process,” Crowley said. “We should let the facts come to light and the legal process play out.”</p><p>But later, he accused the FBI of politicizing the arrest to punish perceived enemies.</p><p>“It is clear that the FBI is politicizing this situation to make an example of her and others across the country who oppose their attack on the judicial system and our nation’s immigration laws,” he said. “FBI Director Kash Patel issued a public statement on X, which he hurriedly deleted, making unsubstantiated claims about Judge Dugan’s case before charges were officially filed and she could have her moment in court. Director Patel’s statement shows that Trump’s FBI is more concerned about weaponizing federal law enforcement, punishing people without due process, and intimidating anyone who opposes those policies, than they are with seeking justice.”</p><p>U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin said the administration of President Donald Trump is attacking democratic values.</p><p>“In the United States, we have a system of checks and balances and separations of power for damn good reasons,” she said. “The President’s administration arresting a sitting judge is a gravely serious and drastic move, and it threatens to breach those very separations of power. Make no mistake, we do not have kings in this country and we are a Democracy governed by laws that everyone must abide by. By relentlessly attacking the judicial system, flouting court orders, and arresting a sitting judge, this President is putting those basic Democratic values that Wisconsinites hold dear on the line. While details of this exact case remain minimal, this action fits into the deeply concerning pattern of this President’s lawless behavior and undermining courts and Congress’s checks on his power.”</p><p>Gov. Tony Evers said the arrest was another example of the Trump administration’s attacks on the judiciary.</p><p>“Unfortunately, we have seen in recent months the president and the Trump Administration repeatedly use dangerous rhetoric to attack and attempt to undermine our judiciary at every level, including flat-out disobeying the highest court in the land and threatening to impeach and remove judges who do not rule in their favor,” he said. “I have deep respect for the rule of law, our nation’s judiciary, the importance of judges making decisions impartially without fear or favor, and the efforts of law enforcement to hold people accountable if they commit a crime. I will continue to put my faith in our justice system as this situation plays out in the court of law.”</p><p>U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee) said the arrest was “shocking.”</p><p>“This Administration’s willingness to weaponize federal law enforcement is shocking and this arrest has all the hallmarks of overreach,” Moore said. “Federal law enforcement coming into a community and arresting a judge is a serious matter and would require a high legal bar. I will be following this case closely and facts will come out, however, I am very alarmed at the increasingly lawless actions of the Trump Administration, and in particular ICE, who have been defying courts and acting with disregard for the Constitution.”</p><p>The ACLU of Wisconsin wrote on social media that ICE making arrests at courthouses interferes with the work of local justice officials.</p><p>“Judges have a duty to maintain order in their courtrooms and ensure the fair administration of justice, and federal law does not require state judges to act as agents of federal immigration enforcement,” the organization said. “Everyone is due their day in court, and when ICE starts showing up to courts looking to make arrests, it risks interfering with those rights. In recent weeks, the administration has attacked the integrity of our judicial system, refused to comply with a Supreme Court order, and arrested a judge for using her authority to protect the fair administration of justice.”</p><p>Wisconsin Examiner, a States Newsroom affiliate,&nbsp;<a href="https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2025/04/25/fbi-arrests-milwaukee-county-judge/" target="_blank">produced this story</a>.</p>

FBI arrests Milwaukee County judge

Lincoln, Ne - Lawmakers gave select file approval April 24 to a measure that would gradually reduce contribution rates to the School Employees Retirement System based on its actuarial funding level.

Currently, the state contribution is an amount equal to 2% of the compensation of all members of the retirement system.&nbsp;<a href="http://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/search_by_number.php?DocumentNumber=LB645&amp;Legislature=109th" target="_blank">LB645</a>, introduced by Sen. Beau Ballard of Lincoln at the request of Gov. Jim Pillen, would require different contribution levels from plan participants, employers and the state, contingent on the funded ratio on the actuarial value of assets in the previous year.

Under LB645 as amended on general file, beginning July 1, 2025, state contribution rates would be set at three different funding levels. If the plan is:• less than 96% actuarially funded, the state’s contribution rate would drop to an amount equal to 2% of the compensation of all members of the retirement system;• between 96% and 100% actuarially funded, the state’s contribution would be 0.7% of total compensation; and• 100% or greater actuarially funded, the state would cease making contributions.

The employee contribution rate also would be set at different funding levels. If the plan is:• less than 96% actuarially funded, the rate would be 9.75% of employee compensation;• between 96% and 98% funded, the contribution rate would drop to 8.75%;• between 98% and 100% funded, the contribution rate would be 8%; and• 100% or greater actuarially funded, the rate would be set at 7.25%.

Employer contributions would continue to be coupled with employee contributions, which currently is 101% of employee contributions. The bill is projected to increase state revenue by $32.6 million in fiscal year 2025-26 and $51.4 million in FY2026-27.

Ballard withdrew an amendment that would have adjusted the calculation that determines the age at which a member of the School Employees Retirement System may retire without a reduction in benefits. He said opposition to the amendment at a public hearing April 23 indicated it would be better to wait and address the issue over the interim.

Lincoln Sen. Eliot Bostar offered an amendment on select file to add amended provisions of his LB76 that would make changes to the Nebraska State Patrol Retirement System.

Those provisions would increase survivor benefits under the plan from 75% of the plan member’s benefit to 100% of the plan member’s benefit. The original LB76 also included cost-of-living adjustments to the State Patrol plan, but those were stricken by the amendment.

The stress that State Patrol members face daily has measurable health impacts, Bostar said, including increased risks for some cancers and other long-term physical and mental health challenges.

“It’s imperative that our troopers know their families will be taken care of should the worst happen,” Bostar said.

Ballard supported the amendment, saying the current 75% survivor benefit is “uncommon,” especially for retirement plans that cover first responders.

Lincoln Sen. Danielle Conrad offered and later withdrew an amendment intended to clarify that the changes outlined in LB645 would not indicate changes to the state’s obligations under the Omaha School Employees Retirement System.

Conrad said she wanted to give lawmakers time to familiarize themselves with the amendment and indicated that she would refile it for consideration on the final round of debate.

Senators adopted a technical amendment offered by Ballard on a 36-0 vote and advanced LB645 to final reading by voice vote.

<p>Lincoln, Ne - Lawmakers gave select file approval April 24 to a measure that would gradually reduce contribution rates to the School Employees Retirement System based on its actuarial funding level.</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/4/1745580135995.jpeg" alt="LB645 discussion by Sen. Beau Ballard (photo by&nbsp;Bess Ghormley)" />
                        <figcaption>LB645 discussion by Sen. Beau Ballard (photo by&nbsp;Bess Ghormley)</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>Currently, the state contribution is an amount equal to 2% of the compensation of all members of the retirement system.&nbsp;<a href="http://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/search_by_number.php?DocumentNumber=LB645&amp;Legislature=109th" target="_blank">LB645</a>, introduced by Sen. Beau Ballard of Lincoln at the request of Gov. Jim Pillen, would require different contribution levels from plan participants, employers and the state, contingent on the funded ratio on the actuarial value of assets in the previous year.</p><p>Under LB645 as amended on general file, beginning July 1, 2025, state contribution rates would be set at three different funding levels. If the plan is:• less than 96% actuarially funded, the state’s contribution rate would drop to an amount equal to 2% of the compensation of all members of the retirement system;• between 96% and 100% actuarially funded, the state’s contribution would be 0.7% of total compensation; and• 100% or greater actuarially funded, the state would cease making contributions.</p><p>The employee contribution rate also would be set at different funding levels. If the plan is:• less than 96% actuarially funded, the rate would be 9.75% of employee compensation;• between 96% and 98% funded, the contribution rate would drop to 8.75%;• between 98% and 100% funded, the contribution rate would be 8%; and• 100% or greater actuarially funded, the rate would be set at 7.25%.</p><p>Employer contributions would continue to be coupled with employee contributions, which currently is 101% of employee contributions. The bill is projected to increase state revenue by $32.6 million in fiscal year 2025-26 and $51.4 million in FY2026-27.</p><p>Ballard withdrew an amendment that would have adjusted the calculation that determines the age at which a member of the School Employees Retirement System may retire without a reduction in benefits. He said opposition to the amendment at a public hearing April 23 indicated it would be better to wait and address the issue over the interim.</p><p>Lincoln Sen. Eliot Bostar offered an amendment on select file to add amended provisions of his LB76 that would make changes to the Nebraska State Patrol Retirement System.</p><p>Those provisions would increase survivor benefits under the plan from 75% of the plan member’s benefit to 100% of the plan member’s benefit. The original LB76 also included cost-of-living adjustments to the State Patrol plan, but those were stricken by the amendment.</p><p>The stress that State Patrol members face daily has measurable health impacts, Bostar said, including increased risks for some cancers and other long-term physical and mental health challenges.</p><p>“It’s imperative that our troopers know their families will be taken care of should the worst happen,” Bostar said.</p><p>Ballard supported the amendment, saying the current 75% survivor benefit is “uncommon,” especially for retirement plans that cover first responders.</p><p>The Bostar amendment was adopted 39-0.</p><p>Lincoln Sen. Danielle Conrad offered and later withdrew an amendment intended to clarify that the changes outlined in LB645 would not indicate changes to the state’s obligations under the Omaha School Employees Retirement System.</p><p>Conrad said she wanted to give lawmakers time to familiarize themselves with the amendment and indicated that she would refile it for consideration on the final round of debate.</p><p>Senators adopted a technical amendment offered by Ballard on a 36-0 vote and advanced LB645 to final reading by voice vote.</p>

School retirement plan changes clear second round in Legislature

OGALLALA, Neb. — April 24, 2025 — Soap box derby season is set to roll out this Saturday in Ogallala, where young racers from across the country will gather at the Wild West Soap Box Derby Track for a day of head-to-head competition.

Located at 1502 North Spruce Street, the event will begin early with pit crews arriving at 7:30 a.m. for registration, vehicle inspections, and weigh-ins. The first race is expected to start around 9:30 a.m., according to Rally Director Bob Collins, a longtime organizer who’s been with the Wild West Soap Box Derby for more than 25 years.

“We’ll try to get all the cars weighed in, get everybody registered, and get their wheels checked — they can’t run their own wheels, they run ours,” Collins said. “Then we’ll get the cars scaled and the first race hopefully around 9:30. It should be a pretty full day.”

LISTEN TO RALLY DIRECTOR BOB COLLINS CHAT WITH DEREK BECK

Organizers anticipate between 30 and 40 cars will compete, with participants traveling from states including Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, and occasionally from as far away as California, Nevada, and Florida.

Racing is free for spectators, and attendees are encouraged to support the on-site concession stand. This weekend's event is billed as a "Double/Double," meaning racers will compete in back-to-back heats across all three divisions: Stock, Super Stock, and Masters.

Collins expressed gratitude to sponsors who make the event possible, including the Ogallala Optimist Club, Pinnacle Bank, Adams Bank &amp; Trust, Kent’s Towing, NB Properties, and All Tech Electric. He added that the derby is actively seeking additional sponsors. Interested businesses can contact Collins at 308-289-6050 or Local Director Dave Barrett at 308-289-1464. <a href="https://ogallala.soapboxderby.org/">Get more info here</a>

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/4/1745505608369.jpeg" alt="Wild West Soap Box Derby in Ogallala, two cars line up to go down the track on April 19th in the "First Timers Only Race"" />
                        <figcaption>Wild West Soap Box Derby in Ogallala, two cars line up to go down the track on April 19th in the "First Timers Only Race"</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>OGALLALA, Neb. — April 24, 2025 — Soap box derby season is set to roll out this Saturday in Ogallala, where young racers from across the country will gather at the Wild West Soap Box Derby Track for a day of head-to-head competition.</p><p>Located at 1502 North Spruce Street, the event will begin early with pit crews arriving at 7:30 a.m. for registration, vehicle inspections, and weigh-ins. The first race is expected to start around 9:30 a.m., according to Rally Director Bob Collins, a longtime organizer who’s been with the Wild West Soap Box Derby for more than 25 years.</p><p>“We’ll try to get all the cars weighed in, get everybody registered, and get their wheels checked — they can’t run their own wheels, they run ours,” Collins said. “Then we’ll get the cars scaled and the first race hopefully around 9:30. It should be a pretty full day.”</p><p>LISTEN TO RALLY DIRECTOR BOB COLLINS CHAT WITH DEREK BECK</p><div><iframe title="Ogallala Wild West Soap Box Derby will run Double/Double this Saturday" allowtransparency="true" height="150" width="100%" style="border: none; min-width: min(100%, 430px);height:150px;" scrolling="no" data-name="pb-iframe-player" src="https://www.podbean.com/player-v2/?i=p6wgq-188d438-pb&from=pb6admin&share=1&download=1&rtl=1&fonts=Times%20New%20Roman&skin=1b1b1b&font-color=auto&logo_link=episode_page&btn-skin=ff6d00" loading="lazy"></iframe></div><p>Organizers anticipate between 30 and 40 cars will compete, with participants traveling from states including Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, and occasionally from as far away as California, Nevada, and Florida.</p><p>Racing is free for spectators, and attendees are encouraged to support the on-site concession stand. This weekend's event is billed as a "Double/Double," meaning racers will compete in back-to-back heats across all three divisions: Stock, Super Stock, and Masters.</p><p>Collins expressed gratitude to sponsors who make the event possible, including the Ogallala Optimist Club, Pinnacle Bank, Adams Bank &amp; Trust, Kent’s Towing, NB Properties, and All Tech Electric. He added that the derby is actively seeking additional sponsors. Interested businesses can contact Collins at 308-289-6050 or Local Director Dave Barrett at 308-289-1464. <a href="https://ogallala.soapboxderby.org/">Get more info here</a></p><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/4/1745505723337.png" alt="Wild West Soap Box Derby 2025 Schedule" />
                        <figcaption>Wild West Soap Box Derby 2025 Schedule</figcaption>
                    </figure>

Soap Box Derby Season Launches in Ogallala with Weekend Races (PODCAST)

Senator Dick Durbin announced Wednesday that he will not seek reelection in 2026, ending his more than four-decade career representing Illinois.

<p>Senator Dick Durbin announced Wednesday that he will not seek reelection in 2026, ending his more than four-decade career representing Illinois.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The decision of whether to run for re-election has not been easy. I truly love the job of being a United States Senator.<br><br>But in my heart, I know it’s time to pass the torch.<br><br>So, I am announcing today that I will not be seeking re-election at the end of my term. <a href="https://t.co/eiBTPjToFT">pic.twitter.com/eiBTPjToFT</a></p>&mdash; Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenatorDurbin/status/1915062730580427059?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

U.S. Senate’s No. 2 Democrat won't seek reelection to a 6th term

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/ashley-murray/">ASHLEY MURRAY</a>

WASHINGTON — A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Tuesday grilled the Trump administration and the attorney for transgender service members who won a lower court order reversing President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender troops.

One judge on the panel voiced serious concerns about the lack of evidence the Defense Department cited when instituting the ban, while another expressed skepticism that the lower court’s nationwide order —&nbsp;instead of applying only to the transgender individuals who brought the case —&nbsp;was appropriate.

Administration officials appealed the case to the D.C. Circuit after district Judge Ana Reyes, appointed by former President Joe Biden, granted a broad preliminary injunction blocking Trump’s Jan. 27 executive order.

Eight active-duty service members and transgender individuals who are actively pursuing enlistment in the armed forces brought the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69583866/talbott-v-trump/?filed_after=&amp;filed_before=&amp;entry_gte=&amp;entry_lte=&amp;order_by=desc" target="_blank">case</a>&nbsp;against Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, among other officials and three branches of the U.S. military.

Trump’s January order&nbsp;asserted the “adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.” Further, the order said that being transgender is “not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member.”

The Trump administration is expected to “imminently” escalate a separate case on the same issue to the Supreme Court, U.S. Department of Justice attorney Jason Manion said in court Tuesday.

Judges on the appeals bench queried both sides on whether the government has evidence to prove transgender individuals cannot fulfill military duties, and if the order bans all trans troops or only those diagnosed with gender dysphoria, a clinical diagnosis involving distress when a person’s gender identity differs from their sex at birth.

“If the military said people with red hair are just too fragile and vulnerable, we are going to kick them all out of the military, and we are going to not allow any of them ever to join, and we have no evidence of that, but we think they’re a threat to military preparedness, to unit cohesion, and too costly, and so we’re just going to kick them out?” asked Judge Cornelia Pillard, who was appointed during President Barack Obama’s second term.

Manion replied the transgender ban “policy relies on a condition that is marked by severe clinical distress.”

Under military deference — meaning the courts generally defer to the president and military on national security questions — the judges should accept Trump’s and Hegseth’s word on the policy, Manion said.

“If there are mental conditions that will impair someone’s ability to function in the military, or that the military could rationally judge would impair that, then that’s more than enough to satisfy rational basis review,” he said.

Pillard pushed back: Isn’t that the case for all people wanting to join the military, not just transgender individuals? Thousands of transgender troops are already serving, she said.

“If the concerns are with depression or suicidality, there already are standards that would screen someone out for those things, right?” Pillard said.

Judge Neomi Rao challenged the plaintiffs’ likelihood to succeed, highlighting that the Supreme Court generally views broad orders from district judges as “overreach.”

Reyes’&nbsp;<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.276845/gov.uscourts.dcd.276845.89.0.pdf" target="_blank">order</a>&nbsp;covers all transgender troops and those seeking to enlist, not just the eight plaintiffs who brought the case.

“The district court imposed effectively a universal injunction on this policy, going beyond any relief to these particular plaintiffs. So even putting aside the constitutional question, isn’t the government likely to succeed on challenging this remedy?” asked Rao, who was appointed during Trump’s first term.

Shannon Minter, civil rights attorney for the plaintiffs, said “the very nature of the injury” justifies far-reaching court protection.

“This is one of those cases where the injury alleged resides directly in the categorical nature of the policy itself, which declares that transgender people as a group lack the virtues of honesty, discipline, selflessness, integrity, that as such, they have to be purged from the military because they’re transgender, and because the government has this very negative view of what it means to be a transgender person,” Minter said.

In a separate case, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals&nbsp;<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca9.afaa7f8c-a307-4e35-a174-cf2fa59424fe/gov.uscourts.ca9.afaa7f8c-a307-4e35-a174-cf2fa59424fe.31.0.pdf" target="_blank">upheld</a>&nbsp;a lower court’s ruling that allowed transgender troops to continue serving, denying the government’s appeal.

Judge Gregory Katsas, appointed during Trump’s first term, asked Manion, “Can you tell us anything about the government’s plans for seeking Supreme Court (review)?”

“I can’t give you an exact date, but it will be very, very quickly, very soon, and I think that may well be quite relevant to this court’s analysis as well,” Manion said.

Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Foundation, who are representing plaintiffs in the 9th Circuit case, released a statement Tuesday afternoon saying they “stand ready to continue to zealously represent our clients as we have at every juncture.”

“Transgender service members have been openly serving our country with honor and distinction for almost a decade and have met and are meeting every neutral service-based standard. The U.S. Supreme Court should reject the invitation to stay the district court’s injunction so that they can impose their discriminatory ban while the litigation proceeds,” the statement said.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/4/1745411733333.png" alt="A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard arguments at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse on Tuesday over President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military (U.S. General Services Administration photo)." />
                        <figcaption>A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard arguments at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse on Tuesday over President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military (U.S. General Services Administration photo).</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/ashley-murray/">ASHLEY MURRAY</a></p><p>WASHINGTON — A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Tuesday grilled the Trump administration and the attorney for transgender service members who won a lower court order reversing President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender troops.</p><p>One judge on the panel voiced serious concerns about the lack of evidence the Defense Department cited when instituting the ban, while another expressed skepticism that the lower court’s nationwide order —&nbsp;instead of applying only to the transgender individuals who brought the case —&nbsp;was appropriate.</p><p>Administration officials appealed the case to the D.C. Circuit after district Judge Ana Reyes, appointed by former President Joe Biden, granted a broad preliminary injunction blocking Trump’s Jan. 27 executive order.</p><p>Eight active-duty service members and transgender individuals who are actively pursuing enlistment in the armed forces brought the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69583866/talbott-v-trump/?filed_after=&amp;filed_before=&amp;entry_gte=&amp;entry_lte=&amp;order_by=desc" target="_blank">case</a>&nbsp;against Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, among other officials and three branches of the U.S. military.</p><p>Trump’s January order&nbsp;asserted the “adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.” Further, the order said that being transgender is “not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member.”</p><p>The Trump administration is expected to “imminently” escalate a separate case on the same issue to the Supreme Court, U.S. Department of Justice attorney Jason Manion said in court Tuesday.</p><h2>Evidence</h2><p>Judges on the appeals bench queried both sides on whether the government has evidence to prove transgender individuals cannot fulfill military duties, and if the order bans all trans troops or only those diagnosed with gender dysphoria, a clinical diagnosis involving distress when a person’s gender identity differs from their sex at birth.</p><p>“If the military said people with red hair are just too fragile and vulnerable, we are going to kick them all out of the military, and we are going to not allow any of them ever to join, and we have no evidence of that, but we think they’re a threat to military preparedness, to unit cohesion, and too costly, and so we’re just going to kick them out?” asked Judge Cornelia Pillard, who was appointed during President Barack Obama’s second term.</p><p>Manion replied the transgender ban “policy relies on a condition that is marked by severe clinical distress.”</p><p>Under military deference — meaning the courts generally defer to the president and military on national security questions — the judges should accept Trump’s and Hegseth’s word on the policy, Manion said.</p><p>“If there are mental conditions that will impair someone’s ability to function in the military, or that the military could rationally judge would impair that, then that’s more than enough to satisfy rational basis review,” he said.</p><p>Pillard pushed back: Isn’t that the case for all people wanting to join the military, not just transgender individuals? Thousands of transgender troops are already serving, she said.</p><p>“If the concerns are with depression or suicidality, there already are standards that would screen someone out for those things, right?” Pillard said.</p><h2>Trial court ‘overreach’?</h2><p>Judge Neomi Rao challenged the plaintiffs’ likelihood to succeed, highlighting that the Supreme Court generally views broad orders from district judges as “overreach.”</p><p>Reyes’&nbsp;<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.276845/gov.uscourts.dcd.276845.89.0.pdf" target="_blank">order</a>&nbsp;covers all transgender troops and those seeking to enlist, not just the eight plaintiffs who brought the case.</p><p>“The district court imposed effectively a universal injunction on this policy, going beyond any relief to these particular plaintiffs. So even putting aside the constitutional question, isn’t the government likely to succeed on challenging this remedy?” asked Rao, who was appointed during Trump’s first term.</p><p>Shannon Minter, civil rights attorney for the plaintiffs, said “the very nature of the injury” justifies far-reaching court protection.</p><p>“This is one of those cases where the injury alleged resides directly in the categorical nature of the policy itself, which declares that transgender people as a group lack the virtues of honesty, discipline, selflessness, integrity, that as such, they have to be purged from the military because they’re transgender, and because the government has this very negative view of what it means to be a transgender person,” Minter said.</p><p>In a separate case, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals&nbsp;<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca9.afaa7f8c-a307-4e35-a174-cf2fa59424fe/gov.uscourts.ca9.afaa7f8c-a307-4e35-a174-cf2fa59424fe.31.0.pdf" target="_blank">upheld</a>&nbsp;a lower court’s ruling that allowed transgender troops to continue serving, denying the government’s appeal.</p><h2>U.S. Supreme Court case upcoming</h2><p>Judge Gregory Katsas, appointed during Trump’s first term, asked Manion, “Can you tell us anything about the government’s plans for seeking Supreme Court (review)?”</p><p>“I can’t give you an exact date, but it will be very, very quickly, very soon, and I think that may well be quite relevant to this court’s analysis as well,” Manion said.</p><p>Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Foundation, who are representing plaintiffs in the 9th Circuit case, released a statement Tuesday afternoon saying they “stand ready to continue to zealously represent our clients as we have at every juncture.”</p><p>“Transgender service members have been openly serving our country with honor and distinction for almost a decade and have met and are meeting every neutral service-based standard. The U.S. Supreme Court should reject the invitation to stay the district court’s injunction so that they can impose their discriminatory ban while the litigation proceeds,” the statement said.</p>

Transgender troops ban, nationwide freeze argued in U.S. appeals court

&nbsp;Attorney General Pamela Bondi hosted members of the President’s Cabinet on Tuesday for the inaugural meeting of the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias in the federal government, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Task Force, which was established by President Trump under&nbsp; &nbsp;<a href="https://links-1.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fwww.whitehouse.gov%2Fpresidential-actions%2F2025%2F02%2Feradicating-anti-christian-bias%2F%3Futm_medium=email%26utm_source=govdelivery/1/010001965f6b474d-310a9e22-2d38-416b-b2a0-fca271d37cc0-000000/bl7ZQLF3nf4Tl7J4pFSFrvf-gjwRutYBIUp9J4NtfXk=401" target="_blank">Executive Order 14202</a>, was joined by peaceful Christian Americans who were unfairly targeted by the Biden Administration for their religious beliefs.&nbsp; Click&nbsp;<a href="https://links-1.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fwww.whitehouse.gov%2Fpresidential-actions%2F2025%2F02%2Feradicating-anti-christian-bias%2F%3Futm_medium=email%26utm_source=govdelivery/2/010001965f6b474d-310a9e22-2d38-416b-b2a0-fca271d37cc0-000000/ksl7GbMsig7eTnD8ns9hJyk4vlnfNeduww5EY8J-6as=401" target="_blank">HERE</a>&nbsp;to read the&nbsp;Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias Executive Order.

Michael Farris:&nbsp;First Amendment Litigator and Founding President of Patrick Henry College

Dr. Scott Hicks:&nbsp;Provost and Chief Academic Officer, Liberty University

“As shown by our victims’ stories today, Biden’s Department of Justice abused and targeted peaceful Christians while ignoring violent, anti-Christian offenses,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Thanks to President Trump, we have ended those abuses, and we will continue to work closely with every member of this Task Force to protect every American’s right to speak and worship freely.”

Additionally, members of the Task Force highlighted specific cases within their own agencies where the Biden Administration unfairly and harshly punished Christian Americans for their religious beliefs. &nbsp;

FBI Director Kash Patel&nbsp;discussed the impact of the anti-Catholic memo issued by FBI Richmond and reiterated the FBI’s commitment to rooting out any anti-Christian bias that could be directing decisions or investigations.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio&nbsp;raised several concerning allegations of bias, including some against Christian Foreign Service Officers who preferred to homeschool their children.&nbsp;In one case, a family was threatened with an investigation for child abuse and curtailment if they insisted on homeschooling. In another case, a family was referred to the IRS, threatened with prosecution, and investigated by Biden’s Inspector General for insisting they homeschool their son.

He shared how State Department employees were stigmatized for opposing the COVID-19 vaccine mandate on religious grounds, including being called “murderers” and “troublemakers.” In one instance, an ambassador yelled at an employee, accusing the employee of wanting to kill the ambassador’s mother despite her being back in the States.

Other reports alleged retaliation against employees for opposing DEI/LGBT ideology that violated their religious conscience.&nbsp;Employees recounted being required to push LGBT agendas while serving overseas, even in countries where such activity constituted a blatant violation of the acceptable religious beliefs and practices. He also detailed allegations that that religious freedom policy offices and programs were sidelined unless they were promoting DEI-related programs.

He also highlighted how Christian holidays at American embassies under the Biden Administration were frequently stripped of any religious overtones, but non-Christian religious holidays like Losar, Eid, or Ramadan, used proper names and appropriate celebratory greetings.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.&nbsp;discussed how the previous administration ordered St. Francis Health System in Oklahoma to extinguish its sanctuary candle or lose its ability to treat patients covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program. He also discussed progressive rules put in place under the Biden Administration that would make it harder for Christians to become foster parents.

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon&nbsp;discussed how Oregon educators Katie Medart and Rachel Sager were suspended and terminated for starting the movement, “I Resolve.” The movement spoke about gender identity education policy and offered solutions for how educators could teach without violating their conscience and also respect the rights of parents.

Additionally, officials at the Skaneateles Central School District in New York began treating a middle-school girl as a boy without her mother’s knowledge or consent – violating their religious liberties as parents.

Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender&nbsp;discussed financial surveillance under the Biden Administration, including the previous removal of certain tax classifications of Christian and pro-life organizations by the IRS, the lack of involvement within Treasury to protect organizations from the issue of debanking, and FinCEN’s identification of certain pro-Christian groups as “hate groups.”

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins&nbsp;discussed actions the VA took to stop the speech code that the previous administration used to punish Chaplain Trubey of the Coatesville VA Medical Center for fulfilling his duties and preaching a sermon from the Bible.

Director of the Domestic Policy Council, Vince Haley,&nbsp;discussed how the previous DPC Director Neera Tanden helped lead and coordinate the Biden Administration’s efforts to push radical and anti-Christian gender ideology on kids in classrooms, foster care, sports, and healthcare.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/4/1745411952674.png" alt="AG Pam Bondi, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Heath Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. were among the top federal officials at Justice Department headquarters Tuesday for the first meeting of the task force.-Photo Department of Justice" />
                        <figcaption>AG Pam Bondi, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Heath Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. were among the top federal officials at Justice Department headquarters Tuesday for the first meeting of the task force.-Photo Department of Justice</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>&nbsp;Attorney General Pamela Bondi hosted members of the President’s Cabinet on Tuesday for the inaugural meeting of the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias in the federal government, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">🚨 BREAKING: First Meeting of the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias. <a href="https://t.co/PRlqJO48MD">pic.twitter.com/PRlqJO48MD</a></p>&mdash; Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) <a href="https://twitter.com/AGPamBondi/status/1914748203552932185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p>The Task Force, which was established by President Trump under&nbsp; &nbsp;<a href="https://links-1.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fwww.whitehouse.gov%2Fpresidential-actions%2F2025%2F02%2Feradicating-anti-christian-bias%2F%3Futm_medium=email%26utm_source=govdelivery/1/010001965f6b474d-310a9e22-2d38-416b-b2a0-fca271d37cc0-000000/bl7ZQLF3nf4Tl7J4pFSFrvf-gjwRutYBIUp9J4NtfXk=401" target="_blank">Executive Order 14202</a>, was joined by peaceful Christian Americans who were unfairly targeted by the Biden Administration for their religious beliefs.&nbsp; Click&nbsp;<a href="https://links-1.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fwww.whitehouse.gov%2Fpresidential-actions%2F2025%2F02%2Feradicating-anti-christian-bias%2F%3Futm_medium=email%26utm_source=govdelivery/2/010001965f6b474d-310a9e22-2d38-416b-b2a0-fca271d37cc0-000000/ksl7GbMsig7eTnD8ns9hJyk4vlnfNeduww5EY8J-6as=401" target="_blank">HERE</a>&nbsp;to read the&nbsp;Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias Executive Order.</p><p>The witnesses included:</p><p>Michael Farris:&nbsp;First Amendment Litigator and Founding President of Patrick Henry College</p><ul>
                        <li>Farris spoke on behalf of Senior Pastor Gary Hamrick to discuss how Cornerstone Church was under investigation and charged by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for so-called Johnson Amendment violations. Farris is an elder at the church, previously led Alliance Defending Freedom, and served as counsel on this case.</li>
                    </ul><p>Dr. Scott Hicks:&nbsp;Provost and Chief Academic Officer, Liberty University</p><ul>
                        <li>Hicks described how Liberty University and Grand Canyon University were singled out by the Biden Administration for fines due to the schools’ Christian worldview.</li>
                    </ul><p>Phil Mendes: Navy Seal</p><ul>
                        <li>Mendes was relieved of duty during Biden Administration for not taking the COVID-19 vaccine due to religious exemption requests that were denied by the Department of Defense.</li>
                    </ul><p>“As shown by our victims’ stories today, Biden’s Department of Justice abused and targeted peaceful Christians while ignoring violent, anti-Christian offenses,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Thanks to President Trump, we have ended those abuses, and we will continue to work closely with every member of this Task Force to protect every American’s right to speak and worship freely.”</p><p>Additionally, members of the Task Force highlighted specific cases within their own agencies where the Biden Administration unfairly and harshly punished Christian Americans for their religious beliefs. &nbsp;</p><p>FBI Director Kash Patel&nbsp;discussed the impact of the anti-Catholic memo issued by FBI Richmond and reiterated the FBI’s commitment to rooting out any anti-Christian bias that could be directing decisions or investigations.</p><p>Secretary of State Marco Rubio&nbsp;raised several concerning allegations of bias, including some against Christian Foreign Service Officers who preferred to homeschool their children.&nbsp;In one case, a family was threatened with an investigation for child abuse and curtailment if they insisted on homeschooling. In another case, a family was referred to the IRS, threatened with prosecution, and investigated by Biden’s Inspector General for insisting they homeschool their son.</p><p>He shared how State Department employees were stigmatized for opposing the COVID-19 vaccine mandate on religious grounds, including being called “murderers” and “troublemakers.” In one instance, an ambassador yelled at an employee, accusing the employee of wanting to kill the ambassador’s mother despite her being back in the States.</p><p>Other reports alleged retaliation against employees for opposing DEI/LGBT ideology that violated their religious conscience.&nbsp;Employees recounted being required to push LGBT agendas while serving overseas, even in countries where such activity constituted a blatant violation of the acceptable religious beliefs and practices. He also detailed allegations that that religious freedom policy offices and programs were sidelined unless they were promoting DEI-related programs.</p><p>He also highlighted how Christian holidays at American embassies under the Biden Administration were frequently stripped of any religious overtones, but non-Christian religious holidays like Losar, Eid, or Ramadan, used proper names and appropriate celebratory greetings.</p><p>Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.&nbsp;discussed how the previous administration ordered St. Francis Health System in Oklahoma to extinguish its sanctuary candle or lose its ability to treat patients covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program. He also discussed progressive rules put in place under the Biden Administration that would make it harder for Christians to become foster parents.</p><p>Secretary of Education Linda McMahon&nbsp;discussed how Oregon educators Katie Medart and Rachel Sager were suspended and terminated for starting the movement, “I Resolve.” The movement spoke about gender identity education policy and offered solutions for how educators could teach without violating their conscience and also respect the rights of parents.</p><p>Additionally, officials at the Skaneateles Central School District in New York began treating a middle-school girl as a boy without her mother’s knowledge or consent – violating their religious liberties as parents.</p><p>Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender&nbsp;discussed financial surveillance under the Biden Administration, including the previous removal of certain tax classifications of Christian and pro-life organizations by the IRS, the lack of involvement within Treasury to protect organizations from the issue of debanking, and FinCEN’s identification of certain pro-Christian groups as “hate groups.”</p><p>Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins&nbsp;discussed actions the VA took to stop the speech code that the previous administration used to punish Chaplain Trubey of the Coatesville VA Medical Center for fulfilling his duties and preaching a sermon from the Bible.</p><p>Director of the Domestic Policy Council, Vince Haley,&nbsp;discussed how the previous DPC Director Neera Tanden helped lead and coordinate the Biden Administration’s efforts to push radical and anti-Christian gender ideology on kids in classrooms, foster care, sports, and healthcare.</p><p>Additional attendees included:</p><ul>
                        <li>Todd Blanche, Deputy Attorney General</li><li>Emil Bove, Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General</li><li>Stanley Woodward, Nominee to be Associate Attorney General</li><li>Harmeet Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General</li><li>Pete Hegseth, U.S. Secretary of Defense</li><li>Kristi Noem, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security</li><li>Andrew Hughes, Chief of Staff (Dep. Sec. Nom.) at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development</li><li>Lori Chavez DeRemer, U.S. Secretary of Labor</li><li>Andrea Lucas, Acting Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission</li><li>Cameron Hamilton, Acting Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency</li><li>Dan Bishop, Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget</li><li>Kelly Loeffler, Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration</li><li>Pastor Paula White-Cain, Senior Advisor, White House Faith Office</li><li>Jennifer Korn, Faith Director, White House Faith Office</li>
                    </ul>

Attorney General convenes task force to root out ‘anti-Christian Bias’

<b>By Devin Watkins<br>Vatican News Service</b>

The Holy See Press Office announced on Tuesday that Pope Francis’ funeral Mass will take place on Saturday, April 26, 2025, at 10:00 AM in St. Peter’s Square.

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals, will preside at the Mass, which will be concelebrated by Patriarchs, Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, and priests from across the globe.

The Eucharistic celebration will conclude with the&nbsp;<i>Ultima commendatio</i>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<i>Valedictio</i>, marking the beginning of the Novemdiales, or nine days of mourning and Masses for the repose of Pope Francis' soul.

The late Pope's body will then be taken into St. Peter’s Basilica and then to the Basilica of St. Mary Major for entombment.

Earlier, on Wednesday, the coffin containing the Pope’s body will be carried from the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta to St. Peter’s Basilica, so that the faithful may pay their respects.

Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, will preside over the rite of translation on April 23, which will begin at 9:00 AM with a moment of prayer.

The procession will pass through Santa Marta Square and the Square of the Roman Protomartyrs, according to the Holy See Press Office.

The procession will then exit through the Arch of the Bells into St. Peter’s Square and enter the Vatican Basilica through the central door.

At the Altar of the Confession, the Cardinal Camerlengo will preside over the Liturgy of the Word, at the conclusion of which the visits to the body of the Roman Pontiff will commence.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/4/1745322565144.png" alt="The late Pope Francis' body lies in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta photo Vatican News Service" />
                        <figcaption>The late Pope Francis' body lies in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta photo Vatican News Service</figcaption>
                    </figure><p><b>By Devin Watkins<br>Vatican News Service</b></p><p>The Holy See Press Office announced on Tuesday that Pope Francis’ funeral Mass will take place on Saturday, April 26, 2025, at 10:00 AM in St. Peter’s Square.</p><p>Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals, will preside at the Mass, which will be concelebrated by Patriarchs, Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, and priests from across the globe.</p><p>The Eucharistic celebration will conclude with the&nbsp;<i>Ultima commendatio</i>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<i>Valedictio</i>, marking the beginning of the Novemdiales, or nine days of mourning and Masses for the repose of Pope Francis' soul.</p><p>The late Pope's body will then be taken into St. Peter’s Basilica and then to the Basilica of St. Mary Major for entombment.</p><p>Earlier, on Wednesday, the coffin containing the Pope’s body will be carried from the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta to St. Peter’s Basilica, so that the faithful may pay their respects.</p><p>Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, will preside over the rite of translation on April 23, which will begin at 9:00 AM with a moment of prayer.</p><p>The procession will pass through Santa Marta Square and the Square of the Roman Protomartyrs, according to the Holy See Press Office.</p><p>The procession will then exit through the Arch of the Bells into St. Peter’s Square and enter the Vatican Basilica through the central door.</p><p>At the Altar of the Confession, the Cardinal Camerlengo will preside over the Liturgy of the Word, at the conclusion of which the visits to the body of the Roman Pontiff will commence.</p>

Cardinals set date for Pope Francis’ funeral, public viewing

U.S. Representatives Maxine Dexter (Oregon), Robert Garcia(Calif.), Maxwell Frost (Fla), and Yassamin Ansari(Ariz) arrived in El Salvador Monday to pressure the Trump Administration to abide by a Supreme Court order to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man with "protected legal status" who was unlawfully deported by the Trump Administration, according to a statement from Dexter's office.

Abrego Garcia is currently detained in El Salvador despite having no criminal conviction in the United States, a direct violation of due process protected by the Constitution.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Congressional members are in El Salvador to bring attention to President Trump’s illegal defiance of the binding and unanimous Supreme Court decision in Noem v. Abrego Garcia that demands the Administration facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return and due process in the United States. This visit comes after the Trump Administration admitted that Mr. Abrego Garcia’s detention was an “error” but refused to abide by a federal judge and the Supreme Court’s orders to facilitate Mr. Abrego Garcia’s return home. Members will also advocate for other detainees who are being held without due process.&nbsp;

This trip is not being financed by taxpayer dollars and comes after Chairman James Comer refused to approve Garcia and Frost’s&nbsp;<a href="https://robertgarcia.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/robertgarcia.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/garcia-frost-letter.pdf" target="_blank">request&nbsp;</a>for an official CODEL.

“What happened to Kilmar Abrego Garcia is not just one family’s nightmare—it is a constitutional crisis that should outrage every single one of us,” said&nbsp;Congresswoman&nbsp; Dexter. “We will not rest while due process is discarded, and our constitutional rights are ignored. We will be loud in demanding that the Trump Administration abide by the Supreme Court’s decision and uphold the rule of law. Because if this can happen to Mr. Abrego Garcia, it can happen to anyone.”

“While Donald Trump continues to defy the Supreme Court, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is being held illegally in El Salvador after being wrongfully deported,” said&nbsp;Congressman Robert Garcia.&nbsp;“That is why we’re here– to remind the American people that kidnapping immigrants and deporting them without due process is not how we do things in America. We are demanding the Trump Administration abide by the Supreme Court decision and give Kilmar and the other migrants mistakenly sent to El Salvador due process in the United States.”

“Donald Trump and his Administration are running a government-funded kidnapping program– illegally arresting, jailing, and deporting innocent people with zero due process. Kilmar Abrego Garcia is Trump’s latest victim,”&nbsp;said Congressman Maxwell Frost. “As Members of Congress it is our responsibility to hold the President and Administration accountable for defying the constitution of the United States. Donald Trump and ICE are not above the law. Today it’s Kilmar, but tomorrow it could be anyone else. We cannot and will not let Donald Trump get away with this."&nbsp;

“My parents fled an authoritarian regime in Iran where people were ‘disappeared’ – I refuse to sit back and watch it happen here, too. Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s illegal abduction and President Trump’s complete disregard of due process and a unanimous Supreme Court ruling are deeply disturbing. We should all be appalled by this treatment by the United States government,” said&nbsp;Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari. “I’m in El Salvador to advocate for the Trump Administration to facilitate his safe return home, and make sure Trump’s attack on our Constitution and due process stops now. Trump has already threatened to illegally deport ‘home-growns’ and American citizens. If this can happen to Mr. Abrego Garcia, it can happen to any of us. This is a constitutional crisis. ”

<p>U.S. Representatives Maxine Dexter (Oregon), Robert Garcia(Calif.), Maxwell Frost (Fla), and Yassamin Ansari(Ariz) arrived in El Salvador Monday to pressure the Trump Administration to abide by a Supreme Court order to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man with "protected legal status" who was unlawfully deported by the Trump Administration, according to a statement from Dexter's office.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I am in El Salvador because I will not stand by while our country is thrown into a constitutional crisis. This is a moment to act. I will not rest until due process is upheld for all. <a href="https://t.co/q5b4cZg3iV">pic.twitter.com/q5b4cZg3iV</a></p>&mdash; Congresswoman Maxine Dexter (@RepDexterOR) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepDexterOR/status/1914346370841903519?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 21, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p>Abrego Garcia is currently detained in El Salvador despite having no criminal conviction in the United States, a direct violation of due process protected by the Constitution.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>The Congressional members are in El Salvador to bring attention to President Trump’s illegal defiance of the binding and unanimous Supreme Court decision in Noem v. Abrego Garcia that demands the Administration facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return and due process in the United States. This visit comes after the Trump Administration admitted that Mr. Abrego Garcia’s detention was an “error” but refused to abide by a federal judge and the Supreme Court’s orders to facilitate Mr. Abrego Garcia’s return home. Members will also advocate for other detainees who are being held without due process.&nbsp;</p><p>This trip is not being financed by taxpayer dollars and comes after Chairman James Comer refused to approve Garcia and Frost’s&nbsp;<a href="https://robertgarcia.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/robertgarcia.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/garcia-frost-letter.pdf" target="_blank">request&nbsp;</a>for an official CODEL.</p><p>“What happened to Kilmar Abrego Garcia is not just one family’s nightmare—it is a constitutional crisis that should outrage every single one of us,” said&nbsp;Congresswoman&nbsp; Dexter. “We will not rest while due process is discarded, and our constitutional rights are ignored. We will be loud in demanding that the Trump Administration abide by the Supreme Court’s decision and uphold the rule of law. Because if this can happen to Mr. Abrego Garcia, it can happen to anyone.”</p><p>“While Donald Trump continues to defy the Supreme Court, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is being held illegally in El Salvador after being wrongfully deported,” said&nbsp;Congressman Robert Garcia.&nbsp;“That is why we’re here– to remind the American people that kidnapping immigrants and deporting them without due process is not how we do things in America. We are demanding the Trump Administration abide by the Supreme Court decision and give Kilmar and the other migrants mistakenly sent to El Salvador due process in the United States.”</p><p>“Donald Trump and his Administration are running a government-funded kidnapping program– illegally arresting, jailing, and deporting innocent people with zero due process. Kilmar Abrego Garcia is Trump’s latest victim,”&nbsp;said Congressman Maxwell Frost. “As Members of Congress it is our responsibility to hold the President and Administration accountable for defying the constitution of the United States. Donald Trump and ICE are not above the law. Today it’s Kilmar, but tomorrow it could be anyone else. We cannot and will not let Donald Trump get away with this."&nbsp;</p><p>“My parents fled an authoritarian regime in Iran where people were ‘disappeared’ – I refuse to sit back and watch it happen here, too. Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s illegal abduction and President Trump’s complete disregard of due process and a unanimous Supreme Court ruling are deeply disturbing. We should all be appalled by this treatment by the United States government,” said&nbsp;Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari. “I’m in El Salvador to advocate for the Trump Administration to facilitate his safe return home, and make sure Trump’s attack on our Constitution and due process stops now. Trump has already threatened to illegally deport ‘home-growns’ and American citizens. If this can happen to Mr. Abrego Garcia, it can happen to any of us. This is a constitutional crisis. ”</p>

🎥More lawmakers visit El Salvador on Abrego Garcia's behalf

By:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/shauneen-miranda/">Shauneen Miranda</a>

WASHINGTON — The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/surprise-guest-shows-us-house-dems-slam-education-cuts-education-secretary" target="_blank">U.S. Department of Education</a>&nbsp;said Monday that it will&nbsp;resume collections May 5 for defaulted federal student loans.

After pausing during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency has not collected on defaulted loans in over five years. More than 5 million borrowers sit in default on their federal student loans, and just 38% of borrowers are current on their payments, the department said.

“American taxpayers will no longer be forced to serve as collateral for irresponsible student loan policies,” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-begin-federal-student-loan-collections-other-actions-help-borrowers-get-back-repayment" target="_blank">a statement</a>&nbsp;Monday.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/4/1745271542976.png" alt=" U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon speaks at a press conference outside the U.S. Department of Education headquarters in Washington, D.C., on April 2 (Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)." />
                        <figcaption> U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon speaks at a press conference outside the U.S. Department of Education headquarters in Washington, D.C., on April 2 (Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom).</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>By:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/shauneen-miranda/">Shauneen Miranda</a></p><p>WASHINGTON — The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/surprise-guest-shows-us-house-dems-slam-education-cuts-education-secretary" target="_blank">U.S. Department of Education</a>&nbsp;said Monday that it will&nbsp;resume collections May 5 for defaulted federal student loans.</p><p>After pausing during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency has not collected on defaulted loans in over five years. More than 5 million borrowers sit in default on their federal student loans, and just 38% of borrowers are current on their payments, the department said.</p><p>“American taxpayers will no longer be forced to serve as collateral for irresponsible student loan policies,” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-begin-federal-student-loan-collections-other-actions-help-borrowers-get-back-repayment" target="_blank">a statement</a>&nbsp;Monday.</p><p>During last year’s presidential campaign, President Donald Trump criticized his predecessor and successor, President Joe Biden, for his efforts to erase student debt. McMahon resumed that line of attack Monday, blaming Biden’s administration for unreasonably raising borrowers’ expectations of forgiveness.</p><p>“The Biden Administration misled borrowers: the executive branch does not have the constitutional authority to wipe debt away, nor do the loan balances simply disappear. Hundreds of billions have already been transferred to taxpayers,” McMahon said.</p><p>She added that “going forward, the Department of Education, in conjunction with the Department of Treasury, will shepherd the student loan program responsibly and according to the law, which means helping borrowers return to repayment — both for the sake of their own financial health and our nation’s economic outlook.”</p><p>The department said the Office of Federal Student Aid will restart the Treasury Offset Program, which the U.S. Treasury Department administers, on May 5.</p><p>The Education Department statement said all borrowers who are in default will get emails over the next two weeks “making them aware of these developments and urging them to contact the Default Resolution Group to make a monthly payment, enroll in an income-driven repayment plan, or sign up for loan rehabilitation.”</p><p>The department said the Office of Federal Student Aid will “send required notices beginning administrative wage garnishment” later this summer.</p><p>More than 42.7 million borrowers owe more than $1.6 trillion in student debt, according to the department.&nbsp;</p><p>The administration claims that “instead of protecting responsible taxpayers, the Biden-Harris Administration put them on the hook for irresponsible lending, pushing the federal student loan portfolio toward a fiscal cliff.”&nbsp;</p>