RICHMOND, Va. — Democrat Abigail Spanberger won the Virginia governor’s race Tuesday, defeating Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears to give Democrats a key victory heading into the 2026 midterm elections and make history as the first woman ever to lead the commonwealth.

Spanberger’s victory will flip partisan control of the governor’s office when she succeeds outgoing Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

“We sent a message to every corner of the commonwealth, a message to our neighbors and our fellow Americans across the country,” Spanberger told cheering supporters Tuesday night in Richmond. “We sent a message to the whole word that in 2025, Virginia chose pragmatism over partisanship. We chose our commonwealth over chaos.”

Also Tuesday, Democrat Ghazala F. Hashmi won the race for lieutenant governor and will succeed Earle-Sears, and Democrat Jay Jones defeated Republican incumbent Jason Miyares in the race for attorney general. Jones is set to become the first Black attorney general in Virginia, while Hashmi is the first Muslim woman to win a statewide office in the U.S.

Spanberger, a former congresswoman and CIA case officer, won by emphasizing economic issues, a strategy that may serve as a model for other Democrats in next year’s elections as they try to break President Donald Trump’s and Republicans’ hold on power in Washington and gain ground in statehouses.

Campaigning, Spanberger often sidestepped the historic potential of her candidacy. In victory, she embraced it.

“Just a few minutes ago, Adam said to our daughters, your mom’s going to be the governor of Virginia. And I can guarantee those words have never been spoken in Virginia ever before,” she said

“It’s a big deal that the girls and the young women I have met along the campaign trail now know with certainty that they can achieve anything.”

Spanberger’s eyes welled up as she told her family she loved them, as her husband and three daughters, standing behind her, wiped tears from their cheeks.

Spanberger was intentional in how she criticized Trump

Throughout the campaign, Spanberger made carefully crafted economic arguments against Trump’s policies, while she spent considerable sums on ads tying Earle-Sears to the president. She campaigned across the state, including in Republican-leaning areas, and in her first appearance as governor-elect she wore a bright red suit.

Yet Spanberger also emphasized her support for abortion rights in the last Southern state that has not enacted new restrictions or bans on the procedure, and she railed against Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, the U.S. government shutdown and their negative impact on a state with several hundred thousand federal employees.

That approach helped corral Democrats’ core supporters while attracting the kinds of swing voters who elected Youngkin four years ago. It also continued a historical trend for Virginia: Since Jimmy Carter won the White House in 1976, Virginia has backed a governor from the opposite party of every first-term president in the following year. This year is a special case, given the gap between Trump’s terms.

Republicans, meanwhile, must grapple again with a battleground loss by an arch-conservative from the president’s party.

Trump never campaigned for Earle-Sears, though he did give her his tepid support. Their uneasy alliance raises questions about the ideal Republican nominee for contested general elections and how the president’s volatile standing with voters might affect GOP candidates next November. The midterm elections will settle statehouse control in dozens of states and determine whether Republicans maintain majorities in Washington for the final years of Trump’s presidency.

Earle-Sears 61, would have become the first Black woman to be elected as a governor in the U.S.

In her concession speech, she said she hoped Spanberger would support policies that unite Virginians.

“My opponent, Abigail, ran as a moderate. If she governs as one, then she will unite us, and she’ll heal our divide and win our support,” Earle-Sears said. “I hope and pray she does.”

Spanberger balanced policy and biography

Spanberger, 46, ran on a pledge to protect Virginia’s economy from the aggressive tactics of Trump’s second administration, which has culled the civil service, levied tariffs and shepherded a reconciliation bill curtailing the state’s already fragile health care system.

Accountant Sherry Kohan, 56, who cast her ballot at the Aurora Hills Library in Arlington, said she used to think of herself as a Republican but hasn’t felt aligned with either party since Trump’s first term. She said her vote for Spanberger was a vote against Trump.

Stephanie Uhl, 38, who also said she voted for Spanberger, had the federal government shutdown on her mind when casting her ballot at the library in Arlington, just across the river from Washington.

Uhl was working without pay for the Defense Department and though she said, “I can afford (it) just fine,” she was bothered “that it affects so many other people.”

Spanberger’s background also figured heavily into her victory. As a former CIA case officer, she noted her public service and national security credentials. And she pitched herself as the mother of daughters educated in Virginia’s public schools and a Capitol Hill veteran who represented a swing district and worked across the aisle.

The pitch helped the Democratic nominee withstand Earle-Sears’ attacks on cultural issues, notably the Republican’s assertion that Spanberger is an extremist on civil rights and health care for transgender people. Spanberger, who consistently argued that local school districts should decide whether transgender students can participate in competitive sports, cast her opponent as the candidate more out of step with the middle of the Virginia electorate.

Her strategy echoed the approach Democrats used to flip U.S. House control in the 2018 midterms, halfway through Trump’s first presidency. Spanberger was among several high-profile women who brought national security or military credentials to campaigns in battleground districts. Another of those women, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, was vying Tuesday to become New Jersey’s Democratic governor.

Together, they were held up as examples of successful mainstream Democrats at a time when the party’s left flank has been ascendent, most notably Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist and the party’s nominee in Tuesday’s New York mayoral contest.

In Congress, Spanberger was a quiet workhorse

When she first got to Washington, Spanberger concentrated on lower-profile issues: bringing broadband to rural areas, fighting drug trafficking and veterans’ services. And she quickly established a reputation for working with colleagues across the political spectrum.

In her new role, she will face tightening economic projections, rising utility costs and growing unemployment — in part because of the Trump administration’s federal contraction. But she could have the advantage of a friendly Legislature if Democrats are able to maintain their majority in the House of Delegates. All 100 seats in that chamber were on the ballot Tuesday, as were other statewide offices, including lieutenant governor and attorney general. The state Senate, also controlled by Democrats, was not on the ballot this year. If Democrats have the so-called trifecta in Richmond, as Republicans do now in Washington, they could enact many policy priorities that lawmakers advanced to Youngkin only for him to veto the bills.

Spanberger won despite a late surprise that threatened Virginia’s Democratic ticket. In October, news reports revealed that Jay Jones, the Democratic nominee for attorney general, sent texts in 2022 suggesting the former Republican House speaker get “two bullets to the head.”

Republicans across the U.S., including Trump and Earle-Sears, demanded Jones drop out. He apologized and said he was ashamed of the messages but declined to leave the race.

The controversy dogged Spanberger. She condemned the text messages but stopped short of asking Jones to withdraw from the race, and she notably did not withdraw her endorsement.

“I have denounced political violence, political rhetoric,” Spanberger said in her lone debate with Earle-Sears, “no matter who is leading the charge.”

Olivia Diaz is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Barrow reported from Atlanta. Helen Wieffering contributed from Arlington, Virginia.

By SEUNG MIN KIM, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is heading to Miami on Wednesday — the anniversary of his reelection to a second term — to speak to a forum of business leaders and global athletes about what he sees as his economic achievements.

His speech to the American Business Forum will be a broad look at his economic agenda and how investments he has secured abroad help U.S. communities, according to a senior White House official. It’s a significant effort from Trump to put a positive spin on the economy at a time when Americans remain uneasy about the state of their finances and the cost of living — and when major campaigns in Tuesday’s election were centered on affordability and the economy.

The AP Voter Poll survey, which included more than 17,000 voters in New Jersey, Virginia, California and New York City, suggested the public was troubled by higher prices and fewer job opportunities despite Trump’s promises to tame inflation and unleash growth.

In his speech, Trump will touch on deregulation, energy independence and oil prices, and affordability, said the White House official, who was granted anonymity to preview the president’s address.

Trump spent five days in Asia last week with stops in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea. He worked to ease trade tensions with Beijing in a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. In Tokyo, he promoted several major energy and tech projects for the U.S. that will be funded by Japan.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said he thinks Trump’s recent travels “have been transformational in his presidency” and said his speech will be a highlight of the forum, which organizers have described as a more accessible version of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, or the Milken Institute Global Conference, which gathers the world’s elite for discussions on the economy.

“This conference not only is creating this incredible collection of people, but it’s also creating them in a particular moment in time,” said Suarez, a Republican.

Trump’s visit also highlights how the Miami area is playing a key role during his second term.

Trump is set to host leaders of the world’s leading rich and developing economies at next year’s Group of 20 summit at his golf club at the nearby city of Doral, despite what critics say is the appearance of impropriety.

Trump’s sons have taken over running the Trump Organization while their father is in the White House, and the president has insisted that his family’s business will not make any money by holding the summit at the golf club.

The city is where Trump wants to locate his future presidential library, which is now facing a legal challenge over whether the plot of land in downtown Miami is being properly transferred. Miami is also one of the U.S. host cities for next year’s World Cup, which Trump has eagerly promoted as the kickoff to several major global sporting events for which the U.S. is playing host. Ensuring the success of the World Cup has been a top priority for the Trump administration.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino, with whom Trump has developed a close friendship, is scheduled to speak at the Miami forum later Wednesday.

TRENTON, N.J. — U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill on Tuesday was elected governor of New Jersey, shoring up Democratic control of a state that has been reliably blue in presidential and Senate contests but had shown signs of shifting rightward in recent years.

Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot and four-term member of Congress, defeated Jack Ciattarelli, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, and quickly cast her victory late Tuesday as a referendum on the Republican president and some of his policies from health care to immigration and the economy.

“We here in New Jersey are bound to fight for a different future for our children,” Sherrill told her supporters gathered to celebrate her victory. “We see how clearly important liberty is. We know that no one in our great state is safe when our neighbors are targeted, ignoring the law and the Constitution.”

Ciattarelli called Sherrill to congratulate her on the results and said he “gave her my very best wishes in hopefully solving New Jersey.”

The start of voting on Tuesday was disrupted after officials in seven counties received e-mailed bomb threats later determined by law enforcement to be unfounded, said the state’s top election official, Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way. A judge granted a one-hour extension at some polling places after Democrats made a request for three schools that received e-mailed bomb threats earlier Tuesday.

Sherrill, 53, offers some reassurance for moderates within the Democratic Party as they navigate the path forward for next year’s midterms. A former prosecutor and military veteran, Sherrill embodies a brand of centrist Democrats who aim to appeal to some conservatives while still aligning with some progressive causes. She campaigned on standing up to Trump and casting blame for voters’ concerns over the economy on his tariffs.

Earlier at Sherrill’s victory party, other Democrats were also framing the results Tuesday as a rebuke to the Trump agenda 10 months into his administration.

“Today we said no to Donald Trump and yes to democracy,” said New Jersey’s Democratic Party chair LeRoy J. Jones Jr. to the people gathered.

She will be New Jersey’s second female governor, after Republican Christine Todd Whitman, who served between 1994 and 2001. Her victory also gives Democrats three straight gubernatorial election wins in New Jersey, the first time in six decades that either major party has achieved a three-peat.

Ciattarelli lost his second straight governor’s election after coming within a few points of defeating incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy four years ago.

New Jersey’s odd-year race for governor, one of just two this year along with Virginia, often hinged on local issues such as property taxes. But the campaign also served as a potential gauge of national sentiment, especially how voters are reacting to the president’s second term and Democrats’ messaging ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

In the closing weeks of the campaign, Sherrill lambasted the president’s threat to cancel a project to build new rail tunnels beneath the Hudson River to replace the aging, disintegrating tubes now used by trains headed to and from New York City. She also pledged to order a freeze on electric utility rates, which have recently soared.

Sherrill steps into the governorship role after serving four terms in the U.S. House. She won that post in 2018 during Trump’s first term in office, flipping a longtime GOP-held district in an election that saw Democrats sweep all but one of the state’s 12 House seats.

During her campaign, Sherrill leaned hard into her credentials as a congresswoman and onetime prosecutor as well as her military service. But she also had to defend her Navy service record after a news report that she was not allowed to participate in her 1994 graduation ceremony from the U.S. Naval Academy commencement in connection with an academic cheating scandal at the school.

Sherrill said the punishment was a result of not turning in some classmates, not because she herself had cheated. But she declined to release additional records that the Ciattarelli campaign said would shed more light on the issue.

For her part, she accused Ciattarelli of profiting off the opioid crisis. He is the former owner of a medical publishing company that made continuing education materials for doctors, including some that discussed pain management and opioids. Sherrill called it “propaganda” for drug companies, something Ciattarelli denied.

Sherrill will inherit a state budget that swelled under Murphy, who delivered on promises to fund the public worker pension fund and a K-12 school aid formula after years of neglect under previous governors, by high income taxes on the wealthy. But there are also headwinds that include unfunded promises to continue a property tax relief program begun in the governor’s second term.

Also on the ballot Tuesday were all 80 seats in the Assembly, which Democrats control with a 52-seat majority.

New Jersey hasn’t supported a Republican for U.S. Senate or the White House in decades. The governor’s office, though, has often switched back and forth between the parties. The last time the same party prevailed in a third straight New Jersey election for governor was in 1961, when Richard Hughes won the race to succeed Gov. Robert Meyner. Both were Democrats.

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s power to unilaterally impose far-reaching tariffs is coming before the Supreme Court on Wednesday in a pivotal test of executive power with trillion-dollar implications for the global economy.

The Republican administration is trying to defend the tariffs central to Trump’s economic agenda after lower courts ruled the emergency law he invoked doesn’t give him near-limitless power to set and change duties on imports.

The Constitution says Congress has the power to levy tariffs. But the Trump administration argues that in emergency situations the president can regulate importation taxes like tariffs. Trump has called the case one of the most important in the country’s history and said a ruling against him would be “catastrophic” for the economy.

The challengers argue the 1977 emergency-powers law Trump used doesn’t even mention tariffs, and no president before has used it to impose them. A collection of small businesses say the uncertainty is driving them to the brink of bankruptcy.

The case centers on two sets of tariffs. The first came in February on imports from Canada, China and Mexico after Trump declared a national emergency over drug trafficking. The second involves the sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs on most countries that Trump announced in April.

Multiple lawsuits have been filed over the tariffs, and the court will hear suits filed by Democratic-leaning states and small businesses focused on everything from plumbing supplies to women’s cycling apparel.

Lower courts have struck down the bulk of his tariffs as an illegal use of emergency power, but the nation’s highest court may see it differently.

Trump helped shape the conservative-majority court, naming three of the justices in his first term. The justices have so far been reluctant to check his extraordinary flex of executive power, handing him a series of wins on its emergency docket.

Still, those have been short-term orders — little of Trump’s wide-ranging conservative agenda has been fully argued before the nation’s highest court. That means the outcome could set the tone for wider legal pushback against his policies.

The justices have been skeptical of executive power claims before, such as when then-President Joe Biden tried to forgive $400 billion in student loans under a different law dealing with national emergencies. The Supreme Court found the law didn’t clearly give him the power to enact a program with such a big economic impact, a legal principle known as the major questions doctrine.

The challengers say Trump’s tariffs should get the same treatment, since they’ll have a much greater economic effect, raising some $3 trillion over the next decade. The government, on the other hand, says the tariffs are different because they’re a major part of his approach to foreign affairs, an area where the courts should not be second-guessing the president.

The challengers are also trying to channel the conservative justices’ skepticism about whether the Constitution allows other parts of the government to use powers reserved for Congress, a concept known as the nondelegation doctrine. Trump’s interpretation of the law could mean anyone who can “regulate” can also impose taxes, they say.

The Justice Department counters that legal principle is for governmental agencies, not for the president.

If he eventually loses at the high court, Trump could impose tariffs under other laws, but those have more limitations on the speed and severity with which he could act. The aftermath of a ruling against him also could be complicated, if the government must issue refunds for the tariffs that had collected $195 billion in revenue as of September.

The Trump administration did win over four appeals court judges who found the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, gives the president authority to regulate importation during emergencies without explicit limitations. In recent decades, Congress has ceded some tariff authority to the president, and Trump has made the most of the power vacuum.

By LISA MASCARO and MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government shutdown has entered its 36th day, breaking the record as the longest ever and disrupting the lives of millions of Americans with federal program cuts, flight delays and federal workers nationwide left without paychecks.

President Donald Trump has refused to negotiate with Democrats over their demands to salvage expiring health insurance subsidies until they agree to reopen the government. But skeptical Democrats question whether the Republican president will keep his word, particularly after the administration restricted SNAP food aid, despite court orders to ensure funds are available to prevent hunger.

Trump, whose first term at the White House set the previous government shutdown record, is set to meet early Wednesday for breakfast with GOP senators. But no talks have been scheduled with the Democrats.

“Why is this happening? We’re in a shutdown because our colleagues are unwilling to come to the table to talk about one simple thing: health care premiums,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., in a late evening speech.

“Stop this mess, come to the table, negotiate it,” she said.

With Trump largely on the sidelines, talks have intensified among a loose coalition of centrist senators trying to negotiate an end to the stalemate. Expectations are high that the logjam would break once election results were fully tallied in Tuesday’s off-year races that were widely watched as a gauge of voter sentiment over Trump’s second term in the White House. Democrats swept key contests for governor in Virginia and New Jersey, and New York City mayor, certain to shake up the political assessments.

But earlier in the afternoon, Senate Democrats left an hours-long private meeting stone-faced, with no certain path forward.

“We’re exploring all the options,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said afterward.

Trump sets another shutdown record

Trump’s approach to this shutdown stands in marked contrast to his first term, when the government was partially closed for 35 days over his demands for funds to build the U.S.-Mexico border wall. At that time, he met publicly and negotiated with congressional leaders, but unable to secure the funds, he relented in 2019.

This time, it’s not just Trump declining to engage in talks. The congressional leaders are at a standoff and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., sent lawmakers home in September after they approved their own funding bill, refusing further negotiations.

In the meantime, food aid, child care funds and countless other government services are being seriously interrupted and hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been furloughed or expected to come to work without pay.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted there could be chaos in the skies next week if air traffic controllers miss another paycheck. Labor unions put pressure on lawmakers to reopen the government.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said this has been not only the longest shutdown but also “the most severe shutdown on record.”

The Republican leader has urged the Democrats to accept his overtures to vote on the health care issue and keep negotiating a solution once the government reopens, arguing that no one wins politically from the standoff.

“Shutdowns are stupid,” Thune said.

Senators search for potential deal

Central to any endgame will be a series of agreements that would need to be upheld not only by the Senate, but also the House, and the White House, which is not at all certain in Washington.

First of all, senators from both parties, particularly the powerful members of the Appropriations Committee, are pushing to ensure the normal government funding process in Congress can be put back on track.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., along with several Democrats, including Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and Chris Coons of Delaware, are among those working behind the scenes.

“The pace of talks have increased,” said Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., who has been involved in conversations.

Among the goals is guaranteeing upcoming votes on a smaller package of bills where there is already widespread bipartisan agreement to fund various aspects of government, like agricultural programs and military construction projects at bases.

“I certainly think that three-bill package is primed to do a lot of good things for the American people,” said Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., who has also been in talks.

Health care costs skyrocket for millions

More difficult, a substantial number of senators also want some resolution to the standoff over the funding for the Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at year’s end.

With insurance premium notices being sent, millions of Americans are experiencing sticker shock on skyrocketing prices. The loss of enhanced federal subsidies, which were put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic and come in the form of tax credits, are expected to leave many people unable to buy health insurance.

Republicans are reluctant to fund the health care program, also known as Obamacare, without reforms, but negotiating a compromise with Democrats is expected to take time, if a deal can be reached at all.

Thune has promised Democrats at least a vote on their preferred health care proposal, on a date certain, as part of any deal to reopen government. But that’s not enough for some senators, who see the health care deadlock as part of their broader concerns with Trump’s direction for the country.

The White House says its position remains unchanged and that Democrats must vote to fund the government before talks over health care can begin. White House officials are in close contact with GOP senators who have been quietly speaking with key Senate Democrats, according to a senior White House official. The official was granted anonymity to discuss administration strategy.

Trump’s demands to end the filibuster fall flat

The president has been pushing the senators to nuke the filibuster — the Senate rule that requires 60 votes to advance most legislation — as a way to reopen the government.

The GOP senators have panned Trump’s demands to end the filibuster, in a rare public break with the president. Thune and others argue the Senate rule, while infuriating at times, ensures the minority party can be a check on the administration, which is important when power shifts in Washington.

But in the current Senate, where Republicans hold a slim majority, 53-47, Democrats have been able to block the House-passed bill that would fund the government, having voted more than a dozen times against.

Trump has said that doing away with the filibuster would be one way the Republicans could bypass the Democrats and end the shutdown on their own. Republican senators are trying to avoid that outcome.

Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Stephen Groves, Seung Min Kim and Matt Brown contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mary Sheffield won the race for Detroit mayor on Tuesday, defeating Solomon Kinloch Jr. to become the first woman elected to lead the city.

Sheffield, the Detroit City Council president, received more than 50% of the vote in August’s all-party municipal primary. The office is officially nonpartisan.

Sheffield will succeed three-term incumbent Mike Duggan, who did not seek reelection. The Associated Press declared Sheffield the winner at 9:12 p.m. EST.

 

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For a long time, Michigan’s roads didn’t have the funding they needed. Last month lawmakers placed a 24%tax on marijuana products sold in the state to fill that gap. The vote was mostly along party lines with Democrats supporting it, and Republicans rejecting the measure.

But the vote needed bipartisan support, and they got it from Upper Peninsula State Senator Ed McBroom. Last week, Metro Producer Sam Corey spoke with the Republican about why he gave a “yes” vote, and how he’s found common ground with Democrats who live in Michigan’s cities. 

They spoke before the state Senate voted to cover SNAP funding and before President Donald Trump complied with rulings to temporarily and partially fund SNAP for this month.

At the end of the conversation, state Senator McBroom was asked about whether he would support state funding for SNAP. Senator McBroom, along with several other Senate Republicans, did not attend the vote for that in the state senate later the same day. 

McBroom’s office said that the senator was told by Democratic leadership that they wouldn’t be voting on anything and that the SNAP bill wasn’t originally on the day’s agenda. Democratic state Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks’ office said the Senate Republican caucus was provided the bill and had time to meet to discuss it ahead of the vote.

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

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A conservative Dearborn mayoral candidate who has made “faith, family, and freedom” the centerpiece of his campaign has struggled to pay his own bills, even as he poured more than $50,000 into his race for mayor.

The post Trump-supporting Dearborn mayoral candidate faced lawsuits, unpaid debts, and foreclosure appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.

By COLLIN BINKLEY, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 20 Democrat-led states are challenging a new Trump administration policy designed to block nonprofit and government workers from a student loan cancellation program if federal officials determine their employer has a “substantial illegal purpose.”

The policy is aimed primarily at organizations that work with immigrants and transgender youth.

In the lawsuit filed Monday in Massachusetts, the states argue the Trump administration overstepped its authority when it added new eligibility rules for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. The overhaul will worsen job shortages and create instability in state workforces, the suit said.

The legal challenge is being led by New York, Massachusetts, California and Colorado. New York Attorney General Letitia James said the rule is “a political loyalty test disguised as a regulation,” adding that it’s “unjust and unlawful to cut off loan forgiveness for hardworking Americans based on ideology.”

A separate coalition of cities, nonprofits and labor organizations also filed a legal challenge in Massachusetts on Monday. That suit was brought by Boston; Chicago; Albuquerque, New Mexico; San Francisco; Santa Clara, California; and the National Council of Nonprofits.

Responding to the lawsuits, Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said it’s unconscionable that the plaintiffs are standing up for criminal activity.

“This is a commonsense reform that will stop taxpayer dollars from subsidizing organizations involved in terrorism, child trafficking, and transgender procedures that are doing irreversible harm to children,” Kent said in a statement. “The final rule is crystal clear: the Department will enforce it neutrally, without consideration of the employer’s mission, ideology, or the population they serve.”

Another lawsuit challenging the rule is expected to be filed Tuesday on behalf of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights advocacy organization, the American Immigration Council and The Door, a legal group. They’re being represented by the groups Student Defense and Public Citizen.

Congress created the program in 2007 to steer more graduates into lower-paying public sector jobs. It promises to forgive their federal student loans after they make payments for 10 years while working in government jobs or for many nonprofits. More than 1 million Americans have had their loans canceled through the program, including teachers, firefighters, nurses and public defenders.

Under the new policy finalized last week, employers can be removed if they engage in activities including the trafficking or “chemical castration” of children, illegal immigration and supporting terrorist groups. “Chemical castration” is defined as using hormone therapy or drugs that delay puberty — gender-affirming care common for transgender children or teens.

The education secretary gets the final say in determining whether a group’s work has an illegal purpose, weighing whether the “preponderance of the evidence” leans against them.

In their lawsuit, the states argue that entire state governments, hospitals, schools and nonprofits could unilaterally be ruled ineligible by the secretary. They say Congress granted the benefit to all government workers, with no room for the Education Department to add limits.

The states also object to the department’s reliance on the phrase “substantial illegal purpose,” saying it’s an “overbroad and impermissibly vague term” that is aimed “at chilling activities that are disfavored by this Administration.”

The lawsuit asks a federal judge to declare the policy unlawful and forbid the Education Department from enforcing it.

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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Highland Park activist Robert Davis is suing Detroit mayoral candidate Solomon Kinloch Jr. for slander and defamation, claiming the megachurch leader maliciously lied about him during and after a recent debate. 

The post Highland Park activist sues pastor and mayoral candidate Solomon Kinloch for defamation appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.

By CLAUDIA LAUER, Associated Press

A U.S. Senate investigation has uncovered dozens of credible reports of medical neglect and poor conditions in immigration detention centers nationwide — with detainees denied insulin, left without medical attention for days and forced to compete for clean water — raising scrutiny about how the government oversees its vast detention system.

The report released by Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Democrat from Georgia, is the second in a series of inquiries examining alleged human rights abuses in the immigration detention system. It builds on an August review that detailed mistreatment of children and pregnant women and draws from more than 500 reports of abuse and neglect collected between January and August.

The latest findings document more than 80 credible cases of medical neglect and widespread complaints of inadequate food and water. Senate investigators say that points to systemic failures in federal detention oversight.

The report cites accounts from detainees, attorneys, advocates, news reports and at least one Department of Homeland Security employee, describing delays in medical care that, in some cases, proved life-threatening. One detainee reportedly suffered a heart attack after complaining of chest pain for days without treatment. Others said inhalers and asthma medication were withheld, or that detainees waited weeks for prescriptions to be filled.

A Homeland Security staff member assigned to one detention site told investigators that “ambulances have to come almost every day,” according to the report.

Ossoff said the findings reflect a deeper failure of oversight within federal immigration detention.

“Americans overwhelmingly demand and deserve secure borders. Americans also overwhelmingly oppose the abuse and neglect of detainees,” Ossoff told The Associated Press. “Every human being is entitled to dignity and humane treatment. That is why I have for years investigated and exposed abuses in prisons, jails, and detention centers, and that is why this work will continue.”

The medical reports also detailed how a diabetic detainee went without glucose monitoring or insulin for two days and became delirious before medical attention was given and that it took months for another detainee to receive medication to treat gastrointestinal issues.

Expired milk, foul water, scant food are reported

The Senate investigation also identified persistent complaints about food and water, including evidence drawn from court filings, depositions and interviews. Detainees described meals too small for adults, milk that was sometimes expired, and water that smelled foul or appeared to make children sick. At one Texas facility, a teenager said adults were forced to compete with children for bottles of clean water when staff left out only a few at a time.

The Associated Press asked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for comment on the report’s findings multiple times Wednesday and Thursday, but the agency did not provide a response. The Homeland Security Department previously criticized Ossoff’s first report in August, saying the allegations of detainees being abused were false and accusing him of trying to “score political points.”

Attorneys for some of those detained at facilities across the country said they’ve seen some of the issues with medical care and food firsthand.

Stephanie Alvarez-Jones, a Southeast regional attorney for the National Immigration Project, said one of the organization’s clients was denied a prescribed medical device while being detained at Angola’s Camp J facility in Louisiana in the last two months. The man, in his 60s, experienced stroke-like symptoms, including partial paralysis, and was eventually taken to the hospital, where he was transferred to an intensive care unit for several days.

Doctors there prescribed him a walker to help him move during his recovery, but Alvarez-Jones said the detention staff would not let him have it when he first returned and placed him in a segregation cell.

“He still could not walk by himself,” she said. “He still had paralysis on his left side.” She added: “He was not able to get up and get his food, to shower by himself or to use the bathroom without assistance. So he had to lay in soiled bedsheets because he wasn’t able to get up.”

Alvarez-Jones said the guards had insinuated to the man that they believed he was faking his illness. He was eventually given the choice of staying in the segregation cell and being allowed a walker, or returning to the general detainee population. She said he’s been relying on the help of others in the general population to eat and use the bathroom as he recovers.

The Baltimore field office is examined

Amelia Dagen, a senior attorney with the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, is working on a lawsuit against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Removal Operations Baltimore Field Office as well as officials in charge of national immigration enforcement efforts.

Dagen said several of the organization’s clients have had to fight for access to medication at the Baltimore holding facility. Through the lawsuit, she said the government agency had to admit in the court record that it does not have a food vendor to provide three meals a day or any onsite medical staff at the facility that was initially only supposed to hold detainees for about 12 hours.

But since January and the various immigration enforcement actions, it’s much more likely that detainees are held for as much as a week in the Baltimore Hold Room.

“What we started hearing very quickly, maybe in February, was that the food they were being fed three times a day was incredibly inadequate,” Dagen said. “We would hear sometimes it would be a protein bar or sometimes just bread and water. There is very little nutritional value and very little variety. I mean, sometimes it was a military ration component, but just the rice and beans, not a full meal.”

Dagen said the detainees also have to ask for bottles of water and they aren’t always given. The ICE office has taken the stance that the sinks attached to the cell toilets are a continuous supply of water. But Dagen said the detainees complained the sink water has a bad taste.

“This is 100% a problem of their own making,” she said of the authorities. “These hold rooms were not used in this way prior to 2025. They are setting themselves these quotas, removing discretion to release people and trying to arrest numbers of people that are just impractical … fully knowing they don’t have the ability to hold these people.”

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights chief said Friday that U.S. military strikes against boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean allegedly carrying illegal drugs from South America are “unacceptable” and must stop.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk called for an investigation into the strikes, in what appeared to mark the first such condemnation of its kind from a United Nations organization.

Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for Türk’s office, relayed his message on Friday at a regular U.N. briefing: “These attacks and their mounting human cost are unacceptable. The U.S. must halt such attacks and take all measures necessary to prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats.”

She said Türk believed “airstrikes by the United States of America on boats in the Caribbean and in the Pacific violate international human rights law.”

President Donald Trump has justified the attacks on the boats as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States, but the campaign against drug cartels has been divisive among countries in the region.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday announced the latest U.S. military strike in the campaign, against a boat he said was carrying drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean. All four people aboard were killed. It was the 14th strike since the campaign began in early September, while the death toll has grown to at least 61.

Shamdasani noted the U.S. explanations of the efforts as an anti-drug and counter-terrorism campaign, but said countries have long agreed that the fight against illicit drug trafficking is a law-enforcement matter governed by “careful limits” placed on the use of lethal force.

Intentional use of lethal force is allowed only as a last resort against someone representing “an imminent threat to life,” she said. “Otherwise, it would amount to a violation of the right of life and constitute extrajudicial killings.”

The strikes are taking place “outside the context” of armed conflict or active hostilities, Shamdasani said.

By MARC LEVY, Associated Press

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) — Democrats and their allied groups are pouring in more money, cutting a fresh television ad with Gov. Josh Shapiro and sending in the national party chairman in the final week of campaigning for a Pennsylvania Supreme Court election, possible signs of concern for a race that could reshape the highest court in the largest presidential battleground.

Spending in the race is on track to exceed $15 million — far surpassing previous spending in what’s called a retention election — as Democrats try to blunt a late-emerging Republican campaign to oust three Democratic justices.

The outcome will have consequences for next year’s midterm election, the 2028 presidential race and the next decade’s congressional redistricting. The nation’s most populous swing state has a politically divided government that has left disputes over election laws and other major issues to the courts in recent years.

At issue in Tuesday’s election is whether the three justices will each serve another term, up to 10 years. They don’t face opponents and are not listed by party affiliation. The ballot merely asks voters to cast a yes-or-no vote.

Retention elections are supposed to be nonpartisan, but Christine Donohue, one of the justices running to remain the bench, said she’s “shocked at the partisan nature” of the election.

“This is extraordinarily unusual,” Donohue said in an interview on Wednesday. “I suppose that’s a sign of the times, though.”

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has a 5-2 Democratic majority, so an across-the-board loss for Democrats in Tuesday’s election could produce a 2-2 ideological split for two years. Political stalemate could likely prevent their seats from being filled until the next judicial election in 2027, potentially leaving the court unable to decide voting or election-related cases through next year’s midterm elections.

“It could lead to chaos,” Donohue said.

While the spending is far below the more than $100 million spent on a state Supreme Court election in Wisconsin earlier this year, it highlights how important these races have become for both parties because of the role state courts play in deciding redistricting disputes, lawsuits over voting and elections, and setting policy on hot-button issues such as abortion.

Donohue and the other justices up for retention, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht, were spending their final days of the campaign attending Democratic Party rallies and get-out-the-vote efforts. Ken Martin, the Democratic National Committee chairman, traveled across Pennsylvania to headline events on Wednesday and Thursday.

At a Lancaster County Democratic Party meeting Wednesday evening, Martin told a couple hundred people that Republicans were trying to steal power by buying court seats so they can enact right-wing policy through the courts.

“This isn’t just about Pennsylvania,” Martin told the crowd. “Because if they win here, you can bet your bottom dollar they bring this in every single state around the country. … This is about our democracy.”

Democrats and their allies were on course to outspend Republicans by a ratio of as much as 4-to-1 after a blitz of TV ads in the final weeks to counter a wave of Republican flyers and commercials.

The TV ads supporting the justices portray them as defenders of abortion rights, union rights and voting rights. Backing them are labor unions, trial lawyers and Planned Parenthood’s political arm.

While not all spending or financial sources have been disclosed publicly, groups linked to a network that typically spends campaign contributions from Pennsylvania’s richest man, securities billionaire Jeffrey Yass, so far has spent about $2 million, according to figures from AdImpact, which tracks advertising.

Democrats and their allies reported spending more than $7 million in October. The ACLU and Planned Parenthood are among left-leaning groups that have increased their spending late in the race as Democrats seek to counter a wave of Republican-aligned TV ads and flyers that launched in September, just before voters began casting mail ballots.

The blitz concerned Democrats. Lancaster County Democratic Party Chairman Tom O’Brien said party members were in “panic mode” as they worried about how the party would respond.

Particularly worrisome to Democrats was Republican messaging urging Democratic voters to “term limit” the justices by voting no. It was packaged with wording meant to convey sentiments typically expressed by Democrats, including “no kings” and “defend democracy.”

Democrats also realized that a major task was educating voters about what a retention election is. O’Brien and others said they are feeling better as canvassers have helped educate voters, and Democratic-aligned flyers and TV ads have flooded the state.

In an October TV ad running in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Shapiro told viewers that the justices “have proven that we can count on them to protect a woman’s access to abortion and birth control, and stand up for all our freedoms.”

Democrats say they are satisfied with their voting-by-mail turnout in the weeks leading up to the final day of voting, but they are continuing their campaign push. On Saturday, Philadelphia labor leaders and Mayor Cherelle Parker will lead a half-day motorcade through the city to promote the justices’ campaigns.

Republicans’ most potent voice, President Donald Trump, has not waded into the election, although his name has occasionally been invoked. A Republican-aligned TV ad says, “On Nov. 4, you can help President Trump to term limit three woke Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices.”

State Republican Party Chairman Greg Rothman suggested that a “no” campaign is only natural.

“Retention shouldn’t be automatic,” he said. “Otherwise, why even have it?”

Rothman said he didn’t know whether the Republican effort would succeed but said voters already cynical about government could be motivated to vote “no.” A state government budget stalemate approaching its fifth month and the federal government shutdown could put voters in a mood to vote against any incumbent.

“Based on the Democratic Party response, and Shapiro cutting ads and all the money that trial lawyers and the national DNC is bringing in, that they must think we’re onto something,” Rothman said.

Follow Marc Levy on X at https://x.com/timelywriter

By STEPHEN GROVES, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate passed a resolution Thursday that would undo many of President Donald Trump’s tariffs around the globe, the latest note of displeasure at his trade tactics in Washington that came just as the president celebrated his negotiations with China as a success.

After a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea, Trump said he would cut tariffs on the Asian economic giant and China would, in turn, purchase 25 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans annually for the next three years. The Republican president claimed his trade negotiations would secure “prosperity and security to millions of Americans.”

But back in Washington, senators — several from Trump’s Republican Party — have demonstrated their dissent with Trump’s tariff tactics by passing a series of resolutions this week that would nullify the national emergencies that Trump has declared to justify the import taxes. Already this week, the Senate approved resolutions to end tariffs imposed on Brazil and Canada. While the legislative efforts are ultimately doomed, they exposed fault lines in the GOP.

The latest resolution, which would effectively end most of Trump’s tariff policies, passed on a 51-47 vote, with four Republicans joining with all Democrats.

Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who backed Democrats on the resolutions, credited Trump for decreasing the tariffs on China, but said the result is “still much higher than we’ve had.”

“It still will lead to increased prices,” he said.

The votes were orchestrated by Democrats using a decades-old law that allows Congress to nullify a presidential emergency. But House Republicans have instituted a new rule that allows the leadership to prevent such resolutions from coming up for a vote. Plus, Trump would surely veto legislation that inhibits his power over trade policy, meaning the legislation won’t ultimately take effect.

Democrats can force a vote but not a result

But Democrats have still been able to force the Senate to take up an uncomfortable topic for their Republican colleagues.

“American families are being squeezed by prices going up and up and up,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, in a floor speech. He added that “in many ways, red states in rural areas are being hit the hardest,” and pointed to economic strain being put on farmers and manufacturers.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said that Americans shouldn’t be fooled by Trump’s announcement.

“Donald Trump has folded, leaving American families and farmers and small businesses to deal with the wreckage from his blunders, from his erratic on again off again tariff policies,” said the New York Democrat.

How Republicans see Trump’s trade policy

Overall, there has been little movement among Republicans to oppose Trump’s import taxes publicly. A nearly identical resolution failed in April on a tied vote after Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was absent. On Thursday, McConnell and Paul, as well as Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, voted along with all Democrats to pass the resolution.

Those four Republicans helped advance similar resolutions this week to end the tariffs on Brazil and Canada. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, also voted in favor of the resolution applying to Brazil, but otherwise, GOP senators have held the line this week behind the president.

“I agree with my colleagues that tariffs should be more targeted to avoid harm to Americans,” said Sen. Mike Crapo, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, in a floor speech. Yet, he added that Trump’s negotiations “are bearing fruit” and praised his announcement that Beijing would allow the export of rare earth elements and start buying American soybeans again.

Republicans representing farm states were especially enthused by the announcement that China would be purchasing 25 million metric tons of soybeans annually, starting with 10 million metric tons for the rest of this year.

Sen. Roger Marshall, a Kansas Republican, said the deal with China “absolutely” justifies Trump’s use of tariff threats to negotiate trade policy with other nations. He called the announcement “huge news” for Kansas farmers, but also acknowledged that they would still probably need financial help as they deal with the strain of losing their biggest customer for soybeans and sorghum.

“It’s not like you can snap your finger and send over $15 billion worth of sorghum and soybeans together overnight,” he said.

China had been the largest purchaser of U.S. soybeans until this year. It purchased almost 27 million metric tons in 2024, so Trump’s negotiated deal only guarantees to return soybean exports to China to less than their previous level.

Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, called the purchase agreement a “start.”

Asked whether he agreed with Trump’s assessment that his meeting with Xi had been a runaway success, Cramer smiled and said the president “is nothing if not optimistic.”

By Michael Smith, Alicia A. Caldwell, Myles Miller, Bloomberg News

The federal government is supercharging its use of local cops to hunt down immigrants suspected of being in the U.S. illegally as part of an unprecedented effort to fulfill President Donald Trump’s campaign pledge to deport millions of people.

Some 10,500 local police, county sheriffs, state troopers, university law enforcement and even lottery investigators have been signed up to stop, arrest and detain undocumented immigrants. Nationwide data reviewed by Bloomberg show these officers, across 40 states, nabbed almost 3,000 people since Trump took office through the end of July. Florida keeps its own tally under the same program, and its deputized cops have arrested another 2,500 people since then.

Combined, that’s a small fraction of the total number of immigration arrests this year, but almost double the amount that deputized cops made in 2024 under President Joe Biden’s watch.

Local law enforcement usually doesn’t have the authority to enforce immigration rules, but a nearly 30-year-old program called 287(g) allows the federal government to grant immigration arrest power to agencies that sign on. Trump has overseen a dramatic expansion at the start of his second term, with the number of accords surging seven-fold to almost 1,100 by September.

It’s “a force multiplier,” Immigration and Customs Enforcement Deputy Director Madison Sheahan said in an interview.

But among the local law-enforcement agencies, some have been much more enthusiastic participants than others. About three-fourths of the 330 participating police forces in Florida, by far the largest ICE partner after Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed through a law requiring them to sign up, have made zero arrests months into their partnerships, the state’s data show. Officials frequently say that it isn’t a priority for officers focused on fighting violent crime, thwarting robberies and improving community relations.

In greater Miami, which has one of the largest concentrations of Latino immigrants in America, police and sheriff’s departments have made about two dozen immigration arrests since August.

“We have other priorities in this community that I’m focused on, and immigration is not one of them,” Gregory Tony, the Democratic sheriff of Broward County, north of Miami, said at a county budget committee meeting in June. “It’s not within our purview, it’s not within our responsibility, and I won’t participate in it.”

Tony’s comments led Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier to threaten to remove the sheriff from office, citing the state law that requires police to use “best efforts to support” federal immigration agents. As of Oct. 27, Tony’s deputies had made zero immigration arrests. Uthmeier declined to comment.

Over the decades, just a handful of local law-enforcement agencies cut 287(g) deals with ICE, according to the American Immigration Council. But Trump has hugely expanded these agreements to supplement roughly 65,000 ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents with additional forces.

St. Johns County Sheriff Robert Hardwick, who polices a 40-mile stretch of I-95 around St. Augustine, Florida, says his officers now routinely question people’s immigration status when they get pulled over someone for speeding or other infraction. He already has 66 of his sheriff’s officers trained and deputized by ICE, and is adding another 45.

This year his deputies have arrested about 700 people on immigration charges, mainly during vehicle stops, expanding a years-long practice of running a check for federal immigration violations when they suspected someone may be undocumented, he said.

“So to take this enforcement on as a sheriff when our new president took office was easy because we were kind of already doing it, holding people accountable,” Hardwick said in an interview. But now, he says, there’s much more support from the federal government.

It’s part of the president’s growing toolkit for his immigration crackdown. Even amid court challenges, Trump has deployed thousands of active duty military troops, along with combat vehicles and more than 100 Coast Guard boats, to the border, where crossings have plummeted. He’s also sought to deploy National Guard troops in major cities — including Los Angeles — though many of those efforts have been legally blocked or scaled back.

In the interior of the country, ICE recorded more than 196,000 arrests between Jan. 20 and Sept. 20, according to data posted by the agency. During that same time, ICE has deported about 180,000 people.

Police chiefs and sheriffs who have criticized the 287(g) agreements often point to the complexities of immigration law, limited training for their officers and the legal liabilities they could create.

Allegations of racial profiling have dogged previous iterations of the program. A Justice Department report in 2011 concluded sheriff’s officials in Maricopa County, Arizona, which includes Phoenix, had engaged in profiling to target and arrest Latino residents.

Florida’s push for immigration arrests may have led to mistakes, according to court records and interviews with immigration lawyers.

Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a 21-year-old U.S. citizen, was headed from his home in Georgia to a carpet installation job in Tallahassee with two co-workers on April 16. Soon after crossing into Florida, a state trooper pulled over their vehicle for speeding and questioned their immigration status.

“I told him I was born here, showed them my license, my Social Security card, but he didn’t believe me,” Lopez-Gomez said in an interview in Spanish. The trooper handcuffed and arrested Lopez-Gomez for allegedly violating a Florida law against entering the state as an illegal alien, records show. It was the same law a federal judge had blocked as unconstitutional two weeks before.

A county judge threw out the case after Lopez-Gomez’s mother showed up with his birth certificate, but said only ICE could get him out of jail, Lopez-Gomez said. He spent 38 hours locked up before an ICE agent reviewed his documents and let him go. He says he is considering filing a lawsuit for unlawful arrest.

“I still don’t understand why they did that to me,” Lopez-Gomez said from his home in Cairo, Georgia. “Every day I leave the house scared they will try to deport me again – the anxiety gets the best of me.”

The Florida Highway Patrol declined to comment.

DeSantis has aggressively gone after towns and sheriffs perceived as resisting working with ICE.

Fort Myers, a town on the Gulf Coast, backed down from refusing to sign a deal with ICE after Uthmeier threatened to remove city commissioners from office for violating state law.

A few miles west of downtown Miami in Doral, a heavily Latino city where Trump owns a golf course, Police Chief Edwin Lopez has no plans to order his officers to hunt for undocumented immigrants even though the department plans to sign a 287(g) agreement.

“I do a lot of educating the community and let them know that the police department is here to protect and serve,” Lopez, the son of Cuban immigrants, said in an interview. “We’re not necessarily arbitrarily requesting or asking questions in terms of immigration status.”

Among the state agencies that has made immigration arrests is the Florida Lottery’s security division. The force of roughly a dozen officers is charged with securing lottery drawings, investigating fake tickets and running background checks on retailers. But on April 24, it signed a 287(g) agreement, and it has since made 10 immigration arrests. A spokesperson for the agency declined to comment.

One major incentive for law-enforcement agencies to sign the 287(g) agreements is the promise of a cash infusion. ICE is now offering to fully reimburse salary and benefits and part of the overtime for each trained 287(g) officer, and to pay quarterly bonuses of as much as $1,000 if certain arrest targets are met.

The money hasn’t always worked.

Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux turned down a request from ICE to join the 287(g) program that came with a promise of $25 million in reimbursements for salaries and operational costs.

“Our officers are focused on serving our city by answering 911 calls and aggressively fighting violent crime,” Comeaux said in a statement. “Federal authorities have a different mission with the same importance.”

In Loudoun County, Virginia, one of the nation’s wealthiest suburbs, Sheriff Mike Chapman has an agreement to hold inmates flagged by ICE until federal officers can take custody.

But he isn’t going to order his deputies to become immigration agents. He wants them to focus on local safety and community engagement.

“People may not like what we’re doing, but they trust us,” he said in an interview. “They realize it’s important to keep them safe, and that’s what we’re about.”

Some cops just don’t know what to do with their partnership with ICE, like Sheriff K. Zane Hopkins in Nebraska’s Banner County. His desolate 745-square-mile rectangle in the southwest part of the state has fewer than 700 residents, making it home to “more cows than people.”

Hopkins, a Republican elected in 2023, signed a 287(g) agreement in part because Banner somehow ended up on the Department of Homeland Security’s list of so-called “sanctuary” counties, which restrict local police from assisting federal immigration agents. Signing up with ICE was an effort to help clear up any misconceptions. But a traffic stop that involves an immigration issue, he said, can keep him or his sole deputy occupied for an hour or more.

Hopkins recalls two traffic stops since 2023 that involved a driver suspected of being in violation of federal immigration laws, and both times ICE agents opted not to respond. The county is a nearly seven-hour drive from Nebraska’s lone ICE office in Omaha.

“We are not actively going out and looking for people.” Hopkins said of immigration enforcement. “If we do it, we do it as part of our daily duties. I’m not super worried about trying to enforce it and I’m not going to chase reimbursement.”

—With assistance from Fabiola Zerpa and Phil Kuntz.

©2025 Bloomberg News. Visit at bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By STEVE PEOPLES, AP National Political Writer

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Democrat Abigail Spanberger is more eager to talk about struggling soybean farmers than President Donald Trump’s attack on American institutions. She plays down the historic nature of her campaign for Virginia governor and avoids making big, bold promises about what she will accomplish if elected.

Yet some believe the moderate approach — others call it boring — that the former congresswoman and CIA case officer has taken heading into Tuesday’s election holds the key to the Democratic Party’s national revival.

“Don’t promise things you know you can’t deliver,” Spanberger said aboard her bus campaigning this week to be the state’s first female governor. It was a sober warning to Democratic leaders across the country — New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and former President Joe Biden among them.

It may be an underwhelming message for the millions of angry voters who have flocked to anti-Donald Trump protests in recent weeks demanding that Democratic leaders take bold action to fight the Republican’s norm-busting presidency. But as the Democratic Party searches for an effective message and messengers in the wake of last fall’s Election Day drubbing, Spanberger is offering a pragmatic focus on economic concerns and a toned-down pledge to address Trump’s most damaging policies, when possible.

That tack is in line with a growing group of Democratic governors, top party operatives and Mikie Sherrill, the New Jersey congresswoman and former Navy helicopter pilot who is the only other Democratic gubernatorial hopeful on the ballot next week. They are betting big that a centrist message aimed at voters’ economic concerns will deliver victory where an intense focus on stopping Trump from unraveling American democracy failed in 2024.

The Republican nominees in Virginia and New Jersey, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and Trump-endorsed former business owner and state legislator Jack Ciattarelli, have tried to paint their Democratic opponents as out-of-touch liberals more concerned about transgender rights and immigrants who are in the United States illegally than they are about the safety of school children.

That playbook worked for Trump in the last presidential election. But given the national security backgrounds of Spanberger and Sherrill, it is unclear whether that will work Tuesday.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who has campaigned alongside Spanberger and Sherrill over the past week, noted that both candidates have focused on rising costs while offering a clear contrast to the chaos that has consumed Trump’s Washington. It’s largely the same approach that Shapiro has taken as he gears up for a 2026 reelection campaign in the swing state before a possible 2028 presidential bid.

“The lesson is winning,” Shapiro said when asked about whether the approach reflects lessons learned from Democrats’ struggles in 2024.

Democratic divisions loom

The Democratic Party is far from united on how to move forward.

Just as Spanberger and Sherrill embrace moderation, progressive leaders such as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have lined up behind Mamdani, who is also on the ballot Tuesday. The self-described democratic socialist has called for government-run grocery stores, free public transit and rent freezes, among other policies that may be difficult to enact if he wins.

Mamdani is in an increasingly caustic race with former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani.

“The socialists want to take over the Democratic Party,” Cuomo said in a weekend radio interview. “He wins, book airline tickets for Florida now.”

But some Democratic voters, even some who came out to hear Spanberger’s message in Virginia this week, say they are excited about Mamdani.

Mikal Blount, a 31-year-old commercial window cleaner, joined dozens of voters at a Norfolk restaurant on Sunday to see Spanberger. He said he is impressed by her bipartisan approach and experience in law enforcement, but he also hopes Mamdani wins and emerges as a national star.

“It’s OK to have moderates create common ground and progressives who are down to fight,” he said, expressing frustration with his party’s leaders in Washington. “I’m like what are we doing? We’re not hitting back. MAGA Republicans aren’t holding back, so why are we?” — referring to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement.

Spanberger was less enthusiastic about Mamdani’s emergence.

In an interview, Spanberger said she fears his approach could push people away from the party, but not necessarily because of his most controversial policies, even those she disagrees with. She sees it as a matter of telling the truth.

“We should always, always, always, dream big. It’s not a focus on, just do little things,” she said. “But if he’s making promises that he can’t keep to people who are struggling to put food on the table for their kids or to pay their bus fare to get to their second job of the day, then what’s the long term impact on the people who put their faith in somebody?”

Spanberger offered a similar criticism of Biden’s campaign promises to cancel student debt.

“We wonder why people are like, ‘Oh, I’m tired of voting for the Democrats.’” she said. “If you were to talk to people about canceling debt, a number of people will express some level of, ‘He didn’t do what he said he was going to do.’ Well, he was never going to be able to do that, right?”

A move to the middle

A collection of Democratic operatives released a report this week, “Deciding to Win: Toward a Common Sense Renewal of the Democratic Party,” that effectively endorses Spanberger’s approach.

The report features input from top advisers to Biden, former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Kamala Harris. It calls on Democratic candidates to reject progressive purity tests and talk less about democracy, climate change and far-left cultural priorities and more about health care, the cost of living and public safety.

Veteran Democratic operative Jesse Ferguson, who provided input, said Spanberger is doing well because she’s “able to connect the pain from Washington to the pockets in Virginia.”

“Trump’s authoritarianism will fail — not because we convince people it’s authoritarian, but because we show them it’s expensive,” Ferguson said.

Spanberger has not attended any of the “No Kings” protests that have featured millions of anti-Trump voters concerned with the threat he poses to U.S. democracy. She rarely said his name on a statewide bus tour this week that took her from Virginia’s affluent suburbs in the north to its military base communities on the Eastern Shore and the Appalachian hills in the rural southwest.

“I feel like if I say it too much, it’s like Beetlejuice. He’s gonna show up,” Spanberger joked.

This election, she said, is more about the struggles of everyday voters than Trump’s attack on democracy.

“When we win, it’s repudiation of the policies that are harming Virginia, whether it’s the shutdown, DOGE, or tariffs,” Spanberger said. “Like one guy like is single-handedly crushing Virginia soybean farmers, like one guy is single-handedly raising input costs for fertilizer and for farm equipment.”

Another topic Spanberger does not mention much: the possibility of becoming the first woman elected governor in Virginia.

“I’m delighted that we will have a woman governor. I’m delighted by the fact that when the next generation of candidates step forward, it’s not, ‘Oh, do you think a woman can win?’” she said. “It’s very significant to other people. But I don’t want to ever make the race about me.”

Update: Just hours after this segment aired, the Michigan Senate passed a measure that would put $71 million toward food assistance. Supporters say it wouldn’t take effect by Nov. 1 or cover all SNAP benefits, but it would help food banks bridge the gap in the meantime. The measure still needs approval from the House. (Reporting by Colin Jackson, MPRN)

The federal shutdown has migrated from Washington to the dinner tables of Michigan families.

The federal shutdown began October 1, after Congress failed to pass a new budget to fund government operations. The stalemate centers on disputes over spending levels and policy riders, including aid to Ukraine and domestic program cuts. In the meantime, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has warned states that November SNAP benefits may be delayed. If nothing changes, families could find no new funds on their EBT cards when the month begins.

In Michigan, roughly 1.4 million people—about one in seven residents— rely on the aid once known as food stamps to help cover groceries.

State leaders are scrambling. 

In Lansing, Democrats are drafting a short-term plan: one option would front limited state dollars to keep benefits flowing or to bolster food banks until Congress and the White House break the stalemate. 

Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks is at the center of that push, pressing federal officials to move faster even as the USDA says it won’t tap contingency funds for November. 

She is pointing blame at Republicans because they control Congress, calling this impending crisis “a weaponization of hunger.”

In a conversation with The Metro’s Robyn Vincent, Brinks discussed Michigan’s next steps, and the need for federal action to keep dinner on the table.

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The post The Metro: Michigan braces for a SNAP gap as shutdown drags on appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has stripped references to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack from court papers and punished two federal prosecutors who filed the document seeking prison time at sentencing Thursday for a man arrested with guns and ammunition near former President Barack Obama’s home.

The prosecutors from the U.S. attorney’s office in the District of Columbia were locked out of their government devices and told they were being put on leave Wednesday morning shortly after they filed a sentencing memorandum describing the crowd of President Donald Trump supporters who attacked the Capitol as a “mob of rioters,” according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss personnel issues.

Later Wednesday, the Justice Department replaced the court filing with an updated version that stripped references to the Jan. 6 riot. The new filing also no longer included a reference to the fact that Trump posted on social media what he claimed was Obama’s address on the same day that the defendant, Taylor Taranto, was arrested in the former president’s neighborhood.

It’s the latest move by the Justice Department to discipline attorneys tied to the massive Jan. 6 prosecution and represents an extraordinary effort by the government to erase the history of the riot that left more than 100 police officers injured.

Trump himself for years has worked to downplay the violence and paint as victims the rioters who stormed the Capitol and sent lawmakers running into hiding as they met to certify Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory. Since Trump’s sweeping Jan. 6 pardons in January, his administration has fired or demoted numerous attorneys involved in the largest investigation in Justice Department history.

The Justice Department declined to comment on Thursday.

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said her office would not comment on personnel decisions, but added: “We have and will continue to vigorously pursue justice against those who commit or threaten violence without regard to the political party of the offender or the target.”

Prosecutors are seeking more than two years in prison for Taranto when he is sentenced Thursday in federal court in Washington. He was convicted in May for illegally possessing two guns and roughly 500 rounds of ammunition in Obama’s neighborhood in June 2023. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, also convicted Taranto of recording himself making a hoax threat to bomb a government building in Maryland.

The defense argued at trial that the video showed Taranto was merely joking in an “avant-garde” manner, and that he believes he is a “journalist and, to some extent, a comedian.”

Taranto, a Navy veteran from Pasco, Washington, was separately charged with four misdemeanors related to the Capitol attack before Trump’s sweeping clemency order erased his case. He was captured on video at the entrance of the Speaker’s Lobby in the House around the time that a rioter, Ashli Babbitt, was fatally shot by an officer as she tried to climb through the broken window of a barricaded door.

The prosecutors overseeing Taranto’s case were not told why they were being put on leave, the person familiar with the matter said. Two new prosecutors, including the head of the criminal division for the office, entered the case and submitted the new brief on Wednesday. ABC News first reported that the prosecutors, Samuel White and Carlos Valdivia, had been placed on leave.

Trump’s pardons in January released from prison people caught on camera viciously attacking police as well as leaders of far-right extremist groups convicted of orchestrating violent plots to stop the peaceful transfer of power after his 2020 election loss. Those pardoned include more than 250 people who were convicted of assault charges, some having attacked police with makeshift weapons such as flagpoles, a hockey stick and a crutch.

In January, then-acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove ordered the firings of about two dozen prosecutors who had been hired for temporary assignments to support the Jan. 6 cases, but were moved into permanent roles after Trump’s presidential win in November.

And in June, the department fired two attorneys who worked as supervisors overseeing the Jan. 6 prosecutions in the U.S. attorney’s office in the District of Columbia, as well as a line attorney who prosecuted cases stemming from the Capitol attack.