Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer says she shared her concerns with President Trump about his new H1B visa policy which makes the price of applying for a visa $100,000.

H1B visas allow companies to bring in international workers for specialized jobs requiring higher education. Whitmer says she told President Trump that raising the application cost of those visas by around 10,000% could hurt Michigan’s economy.

Whitmer adds the state’s medical and automotive industries could be directly impacted by visa policy changes, saying large numbers of Canadian workers in fields like nursing and engineering rely on the visas.

Additional headlines from Tuesday September 30, 2025

Southwest Detroit hosts forum for candidates in upcoming election

A group of local community organizations is hosting the State of Southwest: A Municipal Candidate Forum on October 11.

Candidates for mayor, City Council District 6 and at-large seats have been invited to hear personal testimonies and concerns from residents of Southwest Detroit before sharing their plans to address the problems.

Organizers include 482Forward, Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation, Michigan League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, Michigan United, Raices Detroit, Urban Neighborhood Initiatives and We the People MI.

The forum is Saturday October 11 from noon to 3 p.m. in the  El Nacimiento warehouse at 7000 W Vernor Hwy. 

Resource guide for Native Americans returns

The state is relaunching a resource guide for Michigan tribal communities.

The Office of Civil Rights began publishing the Michigan Indian Quarterly more than 30 years ago. Now the Native American Resource Guide will be produced by the Department of Lifelong Education Advancement and Potential in partnership with Michigan State University’s Native American Institute.

The guide will include a list of tribal, state and federal contacts, education, legal and health resources, scholarship opportunities, genealogical research tools and artwork from Native artists from Michigan.

Print copies can be requested at nai@msu.edu.

Hamtramck Neighborhood Arts Festival 

The Hamtramck Neighborhood Arts Festival is this weekend.

The city’s creative community invites visitors to their home studios and front porches as well as to coffee shops, galleries and parks throughout the city. Organizers say the festival is meant to show that art is for everyone and that all are welcome.

The Hamtramck Night Bazaar will offer food and goods from a variety of vendors, and stores and restaurants will also be open. For more information visit hnaf.org.  

DNR on the lookout for Belle Isle alligator

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has confirmed sightings of a small alligator roaming on Belle Isle.

The Detroit Free Press reports someone took a picture of the gator and shared it on social media. The DNR reviewed the photograph and used geolocation data to determine its authenticity.

The agency says it doesn’t know how the reptile got there, but it reminds people that releasing pets or wild animals on Belle Isle or other state parks is illegal and harmful to native creatures.

Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Suzanne McAtee has attended the classes offered through Munson Hospital’s Fruit and Vegetables Prescription Program since they began five years ago.

At 93, she credits the program — through which doctors prescribe diet education as a treatment for chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure — with helping her manage her health.

“I have stage-five kidney disease. My next step is dialysis,” McAtee said. “I have controlled this through my diet, which is very important to me, and that’s the other reason I pay particular attention to everything I eat.”

Come month’s end, the class may not exist.

The class is led for free by educators who are part of the federally funded SNAP-Education program, which partners with more than 33,000 organizations nationwide to promote healthy eating, physical activity, and better food access. In Michigan, two agencies — Michigan State University Extension and the Michigan Fitness Foundation — operate SNAP-Ed programs in places such as schools, senior centers, and food pantries.

Funding cuts

Congress slashed funding for SNAP-Ed in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act earlier this year. More than 120 MSU Extension health educators will lose their jobs across Michigan this month, and the Michigan Fitness Foundation is in the process of sunsetting some of its programs into next year.

Michigan Congressman Jack Bergman, who supported the cuts in May, did not respond to a request for comment. In an email to constituents, he said that, while the SNAP-Ed initiative was “commendable,” the results were disappointing, citing rising childhood obesity rates. According to the Ballard Center for Social Impact, the rate of childhood obesity has tripled since the 1970s.

Sarah Eichberger, a Traverse City SNAP-Ed educator, disagreed that that was proof SNAP-Ed programs failed. Rather, she said, that highlights how large the American health crisis really is.

“How can you now say one underfunded federal nutrition program is responsible for not making our entire country healthy?” Eichberger said. “We live in a country where there are systems and structures that prevent people from being healthy.”

Michigan’s share of the SNAP-Ed budget

Of the SNAP-Ed budget — $536 million in fiscal year 2025 — Michigan received $27 million and relied on that funding more than any other state of its size — with only California, New York and Pennsylvania receiving more funding.

In 2024, the MSU Extension’s SNAP-Ed program reached more than 115,000 people across Michigan, with national SNAP-Ed outreach serving millions of low-income Americans.

Much of the work done by SNAP-Ed, according to Eichberger, is behind the scenes, like securing grants for its 1,000 community partners. Those partnerships allowed the program to stretch its budget further and reach more people.

How can you now say one underfunded federal nutrition program is responsible for not making our entire country healthy? We live in a country where there are systems and structures that prevent people from being healthy.

—SNAP-Ed educator Sarah Eichberger

Two years ago, Eichberger helped launch a program to deliver boxes of locally grown fruits and vegetables to daycares across 32 counties. That initiative, made possible through outside grants, relied on the network of SNAP-Ed staff working directly with child care providers to offer expertise and support.

The loss of SNAP-Ed, Eichberg said, is not just health and nutrition classes going away. It’s the loss of an entire network of people and partnerships working to create healthy systems and programs.

Making America healthy 

While the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again movement — which has focused on banning red food dyes and encouraged the fast food restaurant Steak ‘n Shake to switch from frying its food in seed oil to beef tallow — has made headlines, Eichberger said the work SNAP-Ed does to promote a healthy diet of fresh fruit and vegetables along with exercise is even more important.

“If you can get people to be healthier, if you can prevent Type 2 diabetes, heart disease… that’s so much more impactful than some of these things the conversation has been moving more towards,” said Eichberger.

Loss of funding, loss of access

The loss of SNAP-Ed is part of a larger trend of cuts to public health funding. That includes increased work requirements for Medicaid and cuts to SNAP’s food assistance program through the Big, Beautiful Bill, along with long enough delays in US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funding that local agencies have had to lay off staff.

Eichberger worries about the long-term effects, especially as fewer people will have access to food stamps and health care coverage.

“Less people are going to be able to access food stamps. There’ll be less access (to) health care coverage,” Eichberger said. “We haven’t fully seen the impact yet… but it will be significant.”

Hopes for new funding

Patti Tibaldi, the project manager for SNAP-Ed at Traverse City Area Public Schools through the Michigan Fitness Foundation, had to let go of four staff members when funding was cut earlier this year. However, she may be able to bring them back if new funding becomes available.

The US Department of Agriculture recently opened a new grant for SNAP-Ed programs, although with reduced funding. The grant is meant to sunset the program, Tibaldi said, and will only last until next summer. Many organizations, Tibaldi said, have chosen not to pursue it.

For now, Tibaldi and the few remaining SNAP-Ed programs are waiting to find out about that USDA grant — and see if they have just one year left.

“We’re going to try to hang in there — whatever little thing we can do to help these families and the kids,” said Tibaldi. “I think it’s very shortsighted to lose the focus on how important it is for kids and families to learn healthy habits.”

This reporting is made possible by the Northern Michigan Journalism Collaborative, a project led by Interlochen Public Radio and Bridge Michigan, and funded by Press Forward Northern Michigan.

It’s been another violent year in America. There’s been a renewed focus on political violence following the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and the attacks on Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota.

Jacob Ware studies terrorism for the Council on Foreign Relations and is the co-author of God, Guns, and Sedition: Far Right Terrorism in America.

In an interview with Detroit Public Radio, Ware says these latest acts of violence have done nothing to quell the potential for more.

Ware says it’s concerning that some of the safeguards to monitor extremism are gone.

Cuts to counterterrorism

“Our counterterrorism infrastructure has been largely eroded, if not destroyed, by the Trump administration, and in particular, DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) cuts in places like the FBI and DHS,” Ware said.

Under the Trump administration, efforts of federal law enforcement have been reassigned to immigration enforcement. Ware says undocumented immigrants are not a threat of political violence or terrorism.

“Undocumented immigrants can be a source of a variety of challenges, including crime, including drugs, but it typically has not had a relationship with with terrorism,” Ware said. “In fact, in a study I conducted last year, I found that the number of terrorist fatalities caused by undocumented immigrants in US history is actually zero.”

Ware believes law enforcement’s focus on immigration enforcement is one factor in a rise in terrorism. Another is a lack of deterrence.

“When President Trump pardoned 1,500 people who committed an attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, he began to erode that deterrence,” Ware said. “People in America no longer feel like acts of violence perpetrators on behalf of political ideologies are going to be punished.”

The federal government also uses community outreach programs to stop radicalization.

“Prevention is basically federal grants that go to local organizations—grassroots organizations—that work to build resilience against radicalization in their own communities,” Ware said. “That grant making ability has been built up over several administrations, including the first Trump administration… and that work has now largely been been canceled through through the DOGE cuts.”

Response to latest political violence

The Trump Administration has used the killing of Charlie Kirk to blame left-wing groups, even though there’s been no evidence the alleged shooter was aligned with any.

President Trump wants to designate Antifa —the loose collective of left-wing individuals that oppose fascism—as a terrorist organization. Antifa has no leadership structure.

Ware says that’s not the only reason there’s little chance of Trump succeeding.

“It’s important to note that we actually don’t even have domestic terrorism laws, let alone domestic terrorism lists, in this country,” Ware said.

“So in theory, these are really empty threats. There is no way to designate a domestic group as a terrorist organization.

Political violence has been in the news so much, it can sometimes feel exhausting. Last week, the conservative activist, Charlie Kirk, was killed.

But there’s good reason the incident has gotten so much coverage. It’s an indicator of something much bigger and more devastating than the act alone — it’s a signal that our democracy is in a fragile state. 

That’s in part because political violence has been on the rise.

President Donald Trump was shot while on the campaign trail in 2024. An arsonist set fire to the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion in April. In June, a former Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband were assassinated. An insurrection took place at the capitol well before all that. 

And that’s all outside of Michigan. 

Here, a capital riot took place in 2020. A kidnapping was attempted on our governor, Gretchen Whitmer, that same year, in part with hopes of starting a civil war. Just last week, vandalism hit a mosque in Warren. 

But what’s troubling experts about this violence is not just these events. It’s also the reactions to them. 

Comments about Charlie Kirk’s death on social media were often ferocious. Conservatives were calling for war against liberals. Liberals were happy with Kirk’s death. 

To be sure, these are the loudest voices. That’s the way social media algorithms work. The most extreme voices get the most attention because they translate to more advertising revenue. 

But people are still choosing to express views of hate and vitriol. 

How did we get here? And how do we get to a place where our democracy is stronger — where disagreement, and the bodies that contain those various perspectives, can live side by side?

Shikha Dalmia studies authoritarianism in an effort to stop it, and make us a freer society. She’s the president of the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism, and the Founder and Editor of the Substack, The UnPopulist. She spoke with Robyn Vincent.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or NPR or wherever you get your podcasts.

More stories from The Metro

The race to electric vehicles is happening. That may be surprising for some when considering our political climate. 

President Donald Trump has reversed course on the electricity-forward Biden years. 

The new federal budget law will phase out tax credits for electric vehicles by the end of September. Congressional Republicans also eliminated penalties for companies that don’t comply with fuel economy standards. Those standards encouraged automakers to produce electric vehicles to offset the sale of gas-powered cars that emitted too much dirty energy.

But despite all this, Ford announced two weeks ago that it was charging ahead with its EV plans. The company announced the creation of a new electric vehicle production system to produce EVs more efficiently. Ford hopes to bring a $30,000 mid-size electric pick-up to market in two years. 

How might this plan turn out? And, can Ford and other American automakers outcompete China on EVs? 

John McElroy broadcasts three radio segments on WWJ, writes for Auto Blog and has a monthly column for Wards Auto. He spoke with Robyn Vincent.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or NPR or wherever you get your podcasts.

More stories from The Metro

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) may take legal action after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the termination of “Solar for All”, a $7 billion national program designed to bring solar energy to low-income areas. This comes after the state awarded funding to more than a dozen pilot projects.

On August 7th, the EPA called for an end to the national Solar for All program, walking back a promised $156 million investment in Michigan’s renewable energy future.

Projects in the city of Detroit, as well as Wayne, Oakland, Chippewa, Berrien, Hillsdale, Kent and Kalamazoo counties are affected, some already under construction. 

EGLE Director Phil Roos said in a statement that the program aimed to lower energy costs, create local jobs, and help vulnerable residents maintain power in extreme weather events.

At this time, EGLE says it is consulting with Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel to determine what actions they can take.

Business leaders say President Trump’s tariffs on various countries and products are creating a high level of uncertainty for companies.

That appears especially true for small business owners who often operate with razor-thin profit margins.

A national coalition of CEO’s called Small Business for America’s Future estimates owners of smaller firms account for the vast majority of U.S. imports, the kind directly impacted by tariffs.

The group recently drafted a letter to President Trump and other officials claiming tariffs place a disproportionate burden on small businesses and are creating a crisis for owners.

That includes Farmington Hills, MI-based Blitz Proto, a company that specializes in helping customers bring ideas from design and engineering to production.

Blitz Proto CEO Carrin Harris says tariffs are making it hard for her company to survive.

The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Carrin Harris:  Blitz Proto is a small, three-person team. We’re focused on bringing innovative ideas to life. We help companies make prototypes from toys to medical devices and auto parts. Most of our prototypes involve electronics. That’s why we are having difficulty with the tariffs right now. Most of the electronic parts come from China. But we also do machining. So, the cost of all materials for machining has gone up. Aluminum, steel, everything’s going up quite a bit.

Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: Have you been able to absorb some of the costs from the tariffs? Or do you have to pass the full cost on to consumers?

CH: We do work on very small margins. We have done what we can to absorb the cost. But for the most part, we are passing it on to the customers.

QK: How is that going over?

CH: So far, it has been very difficult. Many of our customers come to us with very small budgets and they can’t afford the additional cost to make their product. So, we have lost some opportunities this year due to the increased costs that we’re passing on.

QK: There’s been reports that some suppliers are demanding additional payments to cover tariff-related costs they say they were not expecting. Has that happened with your business?

CH: Yes, it has. We had placed some orders back in December. Then we received communication from our vendors telling us the cost had gone up. They’re attempting to absorb the costs as well but they had to pass some additional fees on to us to account for the tariffs and duties and additional shipping costs.

QK: How does that affect your business? I imagine it impacts not only costs but also quoting people what you might have to charge them or the time frame for when you’ll be able to deliver a product?

CH: Yes, it has. We have changed our policies internally this year. Our quotes are now expiring in one week rather than one month. And a lot of our lead times are being pushed out because the shipping times are much longer.

QK: It must be difficult to form a business plan with that kind of a situation.

CH: It has been extremely difficult. I’m doing the best that I can to assure our customers that we are exploring alternative vendors. We’re looking into more suppliers here in the United States, although costs for items coming from the United States tend to be quite a bit higher, sometimes three times the cost.

QK: You are one of the owners included in the letter sent to President Trump and other officials regarding tariffs and how they’re affecting small business. President Trump has said over and over that he loves tariffs. But he’s also proposed huge tariffs and then reduced them and then added others. Given all that, how realistic do you think it might be that he could reverse course on any of these tariffs, especially ones dealing with electronics from countries like China?

CH: It does sound like a possibility. But it’s pretty unpredictable. I’m hoping that he’ll at least choose and stick with a tariff rate so that we can anticipate better. Because we quote customers ahead of time, sometimes months ahead of time, so they can plan their budgets. If they’re ready to start a project and the cost has skyrocketed in the meantime, they usually have to scrap the project.

QK: The president said earlier this year that his use of tariffs could mean, for example, that maybe someone can only buy two dolls for a child this year for Christmas instead of 30. That’s as he says he’s bringing manufacturing back to the U.S. For you, whose company actually makes prototypes for toys, among other things, what do those comments mean to you?

CH: It really means the supplier that wants to create a new toy is probably not going to do it. We are a very small business among many small businesses and these tariffs are threatening our livelihood. We already are working with almost no capital. So I don’t see how we can sustain this in the long run. I’d like to see more consistency.

QK: How long have you had your business going and how has it been doing?

CH: We started in mid-2022. It’s done pretty well up until the tariffs were put in place. We had really good outlooks for this year. We’ve formed a lot more customer relationships and have had a lot of new opportunities this year. Unfortunately, a lot of those customers have held back from putting in orders that they planned on making with us this year. I am sure that’s due to the fluctuating cost.

QK: And not being a huge corporation, I imagine you don’t have the extra assets or resources available to help tide you over the way that a large company might?

CH: We’ve actually had some suppliers tell us that big corporations came in and bought up all of their stock. So they wouldn’t actually honor the orders that we’d already put in and paid for.

QK: How can they do that if you already paid for them?

CH: That’s a good question. They didn’t really have any answers for us

The Palisades nuclear plant in Covert Township got one step closer to reopening after federal regulators allowed the plant’s owners to load fuel into the facility. Some reporting suggests that Holtec International plans to reopen the reactor by October.  

That move is part of a larger trend. 

In recent years, there’s been a lot more political energy behind opening nuclear reactors. During his time as president, Joe Biden unveiled a plan to ramp up America’s nuclear energy capacity. When he got into office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order with the goal of quadrupling nuclear power in 25 years. 

Many climate change defenders are divided on these decisions. That’s because nuclear energy could provide a ton of clean energy for Americans, but it also has the capacity to kill people and contaminate the earth. That’s why environmentalists have generally stood against the nuclear energy comeback. 

In order to assess nuclear energy in terms of risk and reward, journalist, editor, producer, and co-founder of Foxtopus Inc Laura Krantz joined the show.

She produced the 2022 podcast, “Wild Thing: Going Nuclear,” where she explored the possibilities and drawbacks of nuclear energy. Krantz spoke with Robyn Vincent about why she thinks nuclear energy is important — and what concerns her about nuclear reactors.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or NPR or wherever you get your podcasts.

More stories from The Metro

More tariffs on imported goods took effect last week. 

The federal government is making big money from tariff revenues, which reached $29 billion last month. It is important to note that the money is coming from American wallets. 

Tariffs aren’t just numbers in a trade deal. They are hidden costs baked into the price of almost everything we buy and sell, and they have become a point of contention and anxiety with President Trump’s erratic maneuvers — announcing them, delaying them, increasing them, walking them back. 

He says his new tariffs aim to protect American industries, but they are hitting small businesses and big supply chains in Michigan and beyond. 

Economists warn that the state’s manufacturing base and retailers are especially vulnerable. That means higher costs for business owners, tougher choices on pricing, and potential sticker shock for many of us.

So we’re connecting the dots, from the global supply chain to the boutique sales floor with Rachel Lutz, owner of The Peacock Room, a women’s clothing and accessories boutique in Detroit, and Professor Jason Miller, interim chair of Supply Chain Management at Michigan State University. 

They joined The Metro’s Robyn Vincent to explain tariffs’ local and less understood impacts.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

More stories from The Metro

As the temperature has climbed this summer, so have energy bills—and frustrations. These higher costs are driven by more than extreme summer temperatures. Factors like outdated power grids and a recent $217 million rate hike approved for DTE Energy by state regulators earlier this year are also at play.

Meanwhile, federal clean-energy incentives that once encouraged investment in renewable energy are starting to phase out. Michigan was on track to increase its renewable energy capacity by 2035. But with key federal tax credits repealed by the Trump administration, the state faces higher future costs and delayed renewable projects.

At the same time, utility shutoffs in Michigan and nationwide have increased, hitting lower-income and marginalized communities hard. 

Nicholas Schroeck, dean of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, and an expert in environmental law and justice, joined The Metro’s Robyn Vincent to discuss energy affordability and sustainability and what residents can do about it.

Editor’s Note: DTE Energy and Consumers Energy are financial supporters of WDET.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

More stories from The Metro

Health care in Michigan is about to get more expensive.

According to a recent report from the health policy research group KFF, insurers offering plans through the Affordable Care Act will increase premiums by 15% next year, with some even proposing 20% hikes. Medicaid is set for $1.2 trillion in national cuts, including work mandates and higher fees.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel also announced last week that she joined a multi-state coalition lawsuit challenging a Trump administration rule that would “create significant barriers to obtaining health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act.”

So, what does all this mean for you and your family’s health care costs?

Thomas Buchmueller, a health economist at the University of Michigan, joined The Metro on Tuesday to break down what’s changing, who will feel it first, and what Michigan can do to soften the blow.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

More stories from The Metro

In Detroit, the fallout from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s doubling down on aggressive tactics has shaken local communities.

Just last month, a Detroit teen less than four credits from graduation was deported after getting stopped by ICE for a traffic violation.

These are some of the tactics that led over 300 faith leaders and community members to march this week from Corktown to Detroit’s ICE field office. The goal of the demonstration — organized by the advocacy group Strangers No Longer — was to deliver a pastoral letter demanding humane enforcement.

Immigrant rights and environmental justice advocate Odalis Perales is working with Strangers No Longer to break down barriers between faith communities, in schools, and among police about the challenges and tension of this moment.

She joined The Metro on Thursday to talk about her progress and respond to ICE’s refusal to engage with the group’s pastoral letter and demands. 

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

More stories from The Metro

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans on Tuesday advanced President Donald Trump’s request to cancel some $9 billion in previously approved spending, overcoming concerns from some lawmakers about what the rescissions could mean for impoverished people around the globe and for public radio and television stations in their home states.

The Senate vote was 50-50, with Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie.

A final vote in the Senate could occur as early as Wednesday. The bill would then return to the House for another vote before it would go to Trump’s desk for his signature before a Friday deadline.

Republicans winnowed down the president’s request by taking out his proposed $400 million cut to a program known as PEPFAR. That change increased the prospects for the bill’s passage. The politically popular program is credited with saving millions of lives since its creation under then-President George W. Bush to combat HIV/AIDS.

The president is also looking to claw back money for foreign aid programs targeted by his Department of Government Efficiency and for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

“When you’ve got a $36 trillion debt, we have to do something to get spending under control,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.

The White House tries to win over skeptics

Republicans met with Russ Vought, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, during their weekly conference luncheon as the White House worked to address their concerns. He fielded about 20 questions from senators.

The White House campaign to win over potential holdouts had some success. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., tweeted that he would vote to support the measure after working with the administration to “find Green New Deal money that could be reallocated to continue grants to tribal radio stations without interruption.”

Some senators worried that the cuts to public media could decimate many of the 1,500 local radio and television stations around the country that rely on some federal funding to operate. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting distributes more than 70% of its funding to those stations.

Maine Sen. Susan Collins, the Republican chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said she was particularly concerned about a lack of specifics from the White House.

“The rescissions package has a big problem — nobody really knows what program reductions are in it,” Collins said. “That isn’t because we haven’t had time to review the bill. Instead, the problem is that OMB has never provided the details that would normally be part of this process.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she didn’t want the Senate to be going through numerous rounds of rescissions.

“We are lawmakers. We should be legislating,” Murkowski said. “What we’re getting now is a direction from the White House and being told: ‘This is the priority and we want you to execute on it. We’ll be back with you with another round.’ I don’t accept that.”

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Collins and Murkowski joined with Democrats in voting against the Senate taking up the measure.

McConnell said he wanted to make clear he didn’t have any problem with reducing spending, but agreed with Collins that lawmakers didn’t have enough details from the White House.

“They would like a blank check is what they would like. And I don’t think that’s appropriate,” McConnell said.

But the large majority of Republicans were supportive of Trump’s request.

“This bill is a first step in a long but necessary fight to put our nation’s fiscal house in order,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo.

Democrats warn of the consequences

Democrats warned that it’s absurd to expect them to work with Republicans on bipartisan spending measures if Republicans turn around a few months later and use their majority to cut the parts they don’t like.

“It shreds the appropriations process,” said Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine who caucuses with Democrats. “The Appropriations Committee, and indeed this body, becomes a rubber stamp for whatever the administration wants.”

Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that tens of millions of Americans rely on local public radio and television stations for local news, weather alerts and educational programs. He warned that many could lose access to that information because of the rescissions.

“And these cuts couldn’t come at a worse time,” Schumer said. “The floods in Texas remind us that speedy alerts and up-to-the-minute forecasts can mean the difference between life and death.”

Democrats also scoffed at the GOP’s stated motivation for taking up the bill. The amount of savings pales compared to the $3.4 trillion in projected deficits over the next decade that Republicans put in motion in passing Trump’s big tax and spending cut bill two weeks ago.

“Now, Republicans are pretending they are concerned about the debt,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. “So concerned that they need to shut down local radio stations, so concerned they are going to cut off ‘Sesame Street.’ … The idea that that is about balancing the debt is laughable.”

What’s ahead in the Senate

With Republicans providing enough votes to take up the bill, it sets up the potential for 10 hours of debate plus votes on scores of potentially thorny amendments in what is known as a vote-a-rama. The House has already shown its support for the president’s request with a mostly party line 214-212 vote, but since the Senate is amending the bill, it will have to go back to the House for another vote.

Republicans who vote against the measure also face the prospect of incurring Trump’s wrath. He has issued a warning on his social media site directly aimed at individual Senate Republicans who may be considering voting against the rescissions package. He said it was important that all Republicans adhere to the bill and in particular defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

“Any Republican that votes to allow this monstrosity to continue broadcasting will not have my support or Endorsement,” he said.

–Reporting by Kevin Freking, The Associated Press. Congressional correspondent Lisa Mascaro and staff writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Stephen Groves contributed.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A federal judge in New Hampshire issued a ruling Thursday prohibiting President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship from taking effect anywhere in the U.S.

Judge Joseph LaPlante issued a preliminary injunction blocking Trump’s order and certified a class action lawsuit including all children who will be affected. The order, which followed an hour-long hearing, included a seven-day stay to allow for appeal.

The judge’s decision puts the birthright citizenship issue on a fast track to return to the Supreme Court. The justices could be asked to rule whether the order complies with their decision last month that limited judges’ authority to issue nationwide injunctions.

The class is slightly narrower than that sought by the plaintiffs, who wanted to include parents, but attorneys said that wouldn’t make a material difference.

“This is going to protect every single child around the country from this lawless, unconstitutional and cruel executive order,” said Cody Wofsy, an attorney for the plaintiffs.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a pregnant woman, two parents and their infants. It’s among numerous cases challenging Trump’s January order denying citizenship to those born to parents living in the U.S. illegally or temporarily. The plaintiffs are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and others.

At issue is the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.” The Trump administration says the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” means the U.S. can deny citizenship to babies born to women in the country illegally, ending what has been seen as an intrinsic part of U.S. law for more than a century.

“Prior misimpressions of the citizenship clause have created a perverse incentive for illegal immigration that has negatively impacted this country’s sovereignty, national security, and economic stability,” government lawyers wrote in the New Hampshire case.

LaPlante, who had issued a narrow injunction in a similar case, said while he didn’t consider the government’s arguments frivolous, he found them unpersuasive. He said his decision to issue an injunction was “not a close call” and that deprivation of U.S. citizenship clearly amounted to irreparable harm.

In a Washington state case before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the judges have asked the parties to write briefs explaining the effect of the Supreme Court’s ruling. Washington and the other states in that lawsuit have asked the appeals court to return the case to the lower court judge.

As in New Hampshire, a plaintiff in Maryland seeks to organize a class-action lawsuit that includes every person who would be affected by the order. The judge set a Wednesday deadline for written legal arguments as she considers the request for another nationwide injunction from CASA, a nonprofit immigrant rights organization.

Ama Frimpong, legal director at CASA, said the group has been stressing to its members and clients that it is not time to panic.

“No one has to move states right this instant,” she said. “There’s different avenues through which we are all fighting, again, to make sure that this executive order never actually sees the light of day.”

The New Hampshire plaintiffs, referred to only by pseudonyms, include a woman from Honduras who has a pending asylum application and is due to give birth to her fourth child in October. She told the court the family came to the U.S. after being targeted by gangs.

“I do not want my child to live in fear and hiding. I do not want my child to be a target for immigration enforcement,” she wrote. “I fear our family could be at risk of separation.”

Another plaintiff, a man from Brazil, has lived with his wife in Florida for five years. Their first child was born in March, and they are in the process of applying for lawful permanent status based on family ties — his wife’s father is a U.S. citizen.

“My baby has the right to citizenship and a future in the United States,” he wrote.

Reporting by Holly Ramer and Mike Catalini, Associated Press.

Today on The Metro, we continue our coverage on the fight over public media funding and what’s at stake for local news and music stations across the country.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order to eliminate funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) due to alleged bias. Now, in the House Rescissions Act of 2025 — which narrowly passed the House last month — he’s asking Congress to claw back CPB funding that has already been approved.

The Senate Appropriations committee held a hearing on the bill last month, and the Senate will need to vote on the package by July 18.

If passed, local stations — including WDET and the programs you love — would face profound impacts. At WDET, about 6% of our annual budget comes from CPB.

Kelly McBride, senior vice president at the Poynter Institute, serves as NPR’s public editor. She says in her role with NPR, she serves as an independent critic of NPR reporting, engaging with listeners and critiquing public media stations when appropriate.

McBride spoke with Metro co-host Robyn Vincent about how public editors at major media outlets help hold journalists accountable, and how NPR could improve its coverage of federal funding cuts to public media and allegations of bias.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

More stories from The Metro

WASHINGTON (AP) — A divided Supreme Court on Friday ruled that individual judges lack the authority to grant nationwide injunctions, but the decision left unclear the fate of President Donald Trump’s restrictions on birthright citizenship.

The outcome was a victory for the Republican president, who has complained about individual judges throwing up obstacles to his agenda.

But a conservative majority left open the possibility that the birthright citizenship changes could remain blocked nationwide. Trump’s order would deny citizenship to U.S.-born children of people who are in the country illegally.

The cases now return to lower courts, where judges will have to decide how to tailor their orders to comply with the high court ruling, Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote in the majority opinion. Enforcement of the policy can’t take place for another 30 days, Barrett wrote.

The justices agreed with the Trump administration, as well as President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration before it, that judges are overreaching by issuing orders that apply to everyone instead of just the parties before the court.

The president, making a rare appearance to hold a news conference in the White House briefing room, said that the decision was “amazing” and a “monumental victory for the Constitution,” the separation of powers and the rule of law.

In dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote, “The court’s decision is nothing less than an open invitation for the government to bypass the Constitution.” This is so, Sotomayor said, because the administration may be able to enforce a policy even when it has been challenged and found to be unconstitutional by a lower court.

Rights groups that sued over the policy filed new court documents following the high court ruling, taking up a suggestion from Justice Brett Kavanaugh that judges still may be able to reach anyone potentially affected by the birthright citizenship order by declaring them part of “putative nationwide class.” Kavanaugh was part of the court majority on Friday but wrote a separate concurring opinion.

States that also challenged the policy in court said they would try to show that the only way to effectively protect their interests was through a nationwide hold.

“We have every expectation we absolutely will be successful in keeping the 14th Amendment as the law of the land and of course birthright citizenship as well,” said Attorney General Andrea Campbell of Massachusetts.

Birthright citizenship automatically makes anyone born in the United States an American citizen, including children born to mothers in the country illegally. The right was enshrined soon after the Civil War in the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.

In a notable Supreme Court decision from 1898, United States v. Wong Kim Ark, the court held that the only children who did not automatically receive U.S. citizenship upon being born on U.S. soil were the children of diplomats, who have allegiance to another government; enemies present in the U.S. during hostile occupation; those born on foreign ships; and those born to members of sovereign Native American tribes.

The U.S. is among about 30 countries where birthright citizenship — the principle of jus soli or “right of the soil” — is applied. Most are in the Americas, and Canada and Mexico are among them.

Trump and his supporters have argued that there should be tougher standards for becoming an American citizen, which he called “a priceless and profound gift” in the executive order he signed on his first day in office.

The Trump administration has asserted that children of noncitizens are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States, a phrase used in the amendment, and therefore are not entitled to citizenship.

But states, immigrants and rights groups that have sued to block the executive order have accused the administration of trying to unsettle the broader understanding of birthright citizenship that has been accepted since the amendment’s adoption.

Judges have uniformly ruled against the administration.

The Justice Department had argued that individual judges lack the power to give nationwide effect to their rulings.

The Trump administration instead wanted the justices to allow Trump’s plan to go into effect for everyone except the handful of people and groups that sued. Failing that, the administration argued that the plan could remain blocked for now in the 22 states that sued. New Hampshire is covered by a separate order that is not at issue in this case.

The justice also agreed that the administration may make public announcements about how it plans to carry out the policy if it eventually is allowed to take effect.

–Reporting by Mark Sherman, Associated Press

Federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is the focus of a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Wednesday. 

The publicly-funded nonprofit, which provides funding to PBS, NPR and its affiliates like WDET, would lose $1.1 billion — two years’ worth of funding that has already been approved by Congress — if the bill passed by the House earlier this month gets Senate approval. It would also rescind more than $8 billion in funding for foreign aid programs addressing global public health, international disaster assistance and hunger relief.

That bill passed in the House by a margin of 214 to 212, with four Republicans crossing the aisle to vote against the package. There were also four Democrats and two Republicans who did not vote on the bill at all.

President Donald Trump has already signed an executive order to eliminate CPB funding, claiming all public media is biased, but the Rescissions Act of 2025 would go beyond that, revoking funding already approved by Congress.

Today on The Metro, we break down what it would mean for public media organizations like WDET if the legislation gets Congressional approval.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

More stories from The Metro