Alabama
Federal court blocks plan for new congressional districts that could help Republicans
Federal judges on Tuesday temporarily blocked Alabama’s plan to use a new congressional map that could give Republicans an advantage in a key House race in the midterm elections.
A three-judge panel in the state’s long-running redistricting case issued the preliminary injunction that prevents the state, at least for now, from switching maps. It requires the state to continue using the same court-ordered districts under which congressional representatives were elected in 2024.
Lawyers representing Black voters in the state’s lengthy redistricting case had sought the preliminary injunction, arguing the same panel in 2023 found the state map was intentionally discriminatory against Black voters. They also argued Alabama was creating chaos by trying to change lines in the middle of an election year.
The ruling was a defeat for state Republicans who want to use a map for the November midterms that will give the GOP a chance to reclaim the seat now held by Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures. However, the state could appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The court order is the latest development in the twisting legal and political saga following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down a Black-majority district in Louisiana and weakened the federal Voting Rights Act. That ruling has led Republicans in several Southern states, including Alabama, to take steps to reshape voting districts with large minority populations that have elected Democrats.
The redistricting frenzy is part of a broader push by President Donald Trump to try to hold on to Republicans’ slim House majority in the November elections.
Washington
Administration proposes NDAs for federal employees to stop leaks
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration wants all current and future federal employees to sign non-disclosure agreements, part of a continuing crackdown on leaks to the media.
The notice in the Federal Register from the Office of Personnel Management posted Tuesday asked for comment on a draft NDA to be used by federal agencies for “both new and existing employees.”
“The form is intended to document Federal employees’ acknowledgment of, and agreement to comply with, current legal obligations to safeguard non-public, confidential, or proprietary information, created or obtained through their official duties, while expressly preserving the right to make disclosures authorized by law,” the notice said.
The OPM noted “several recent instances” where internal agency communications related to rulemaking and policy development were disclosed without authorization. It also discussed specific instances in which federal employees at the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security disclosed information without authorization about planned immigration enforcement actions.
In one case, the New York Times and Washington Post received unauthorized information on the U.S. raid on Venezuela this past January and delayed “publishing what they knew to avoid endangering U.S. troops,” the OPM request for comment said.
Ferreting out leaks that the administration deems harmful to its messaging has been a priority across multiple agencies since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. As part of that crackdown, the FBI in January seized the electronic devices of a Washington Post reporter, a move that alarmed media organizations and advocates of press freedom.
One other notable incident occurred last year when dozens of reporters turned in their access badges at the Pentagon, rejecting new rules imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that would leave journalists vulnerable to expulsion if they sought to report on information — classified or otherwise — that had not been approved by Hegseth for release.
Washington
Trump administration raises U.S. refugee cap, but only for white South Africans
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said Tuesday that it will admit an additional 10,000 white South Africans into the U.S. as refugees this year, increasing its historically low annual cap but still blocking people from other countries from entering through the program.
Trump suspended the refugee program on his first day in office and, since then, has turned it into a vehicle to allow Afrikaners — a group of white South Africans descended mainly from Dutch settlers — into the U.S. Advocates say the decision to focus a decades-old program on one group has left people around the world fleeing war and strife stranded and with few options.
The administration says Afrikaners are subject to persecution in their home country, a charge the government in South Africa denies.
In the announcement Tuesday on the Federal Register, President Donald Trump said that because of “an unforeseen emergency refugee situation” he was raising the refugee cap. He blamed the South African government for “recent increases in the incitement of racially motivated violence” but gave no specific information.
The administration indicated last year that it would admit up to 7,500, mostly Afrikaners, during the fiscal year stretching from October 2025 through September 2026, but last week, in a notice to Congress informing it of the increase, the administration said that “unforeseen developments in South Africa created an emergency refugee situation.” The change raises the limit to 17,500.
The State Department has already admitted more than 6,000 people through the refugee program since the beginning of the fiscal year in October, according to official data. All of those were from South Africa except for three people from Afghanistan.
Presidents set the cap on how many refugees the U.S. will admit each year, and historically, they’ve allocated those numbers across various geographic regions while factoring in wars or conflicts that spark humanitarian needs around the globe.
The refugee program, administered by the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security, is distinct from asylum. People hoping to come through the refugee program must be living abroad and undergo vetting and other checks before being admitted to the U.S., whereas those seeking asylum are already on U.S. soil.
During his first administration, Trump slashed the number of refugees he admitted every year. Then the Biden administration built the system back up, setting a goal of admitting 125,000 refugees in his last year in office.
Groups that have for decades helped resettle refugees in the U.S. have sued to allow people who were in the refugee application process but are now stranded to be allowed to come to the U.S.
Federal court blocks plan for new congressional districts that could help Republicans
Federal judges on Tuesday temporarily blocked Alabama’s plan to use a new congressional map that could give Republicans an advantage in a key House race in the midterm elections.
A three-judge panel in the state’s long-running redistricting case issued the preliminary injunction that prevents the state, at least for now, from switching maps. It requires the state to continue using the same court-ordered districts under which congressional representatives were elected in 2024.
Lawyers representing Black voters in the state’s lengthy redistricting case had sought the preliminary injunction, arguing the same panel in 2023 found the state map was intentionally discriminatory against Black voters. They also argued Alabama was creating chaos by trying to change lines in the middle of an election year.
The ruling was a defeat for state Republicans who want to use a map for the November midterms that will give the GOP a chance to reclaim the seat now held by Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures. However, the state could appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The court order is the latest development in the twisting legal and political saga following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down a Black-majority district in Louisiana and weakened the federal Voting Rights Act. That ruling has led Republicans in several Southern states, including Alabama, to take steps to reshape voting districts with large minority populations that have elected Democrats.
The redistricting frenzy is part of a broader push by President Donald Trump to try to hold on to Republicans’ slim House majority in the November elections.
Washington
Administration proposes NDAs for federal employees to stop leaks
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration wants all current and future federal employees to sign non-disclosure agreements, part of a continuing crackdown on leaks to the media.
The notice in the Federal Register from the Office of Personnel Management posted Tuesday asked for comment on a draft NDA to be used by federal agencies for “both new and existing employees.”
“The form is intended to document Federal employees’ acknowledgment of, and agreement to comply with, current legal obligations to safeguard non-public, confidential, or proprietary information, created or obtained through their official duties, while expressly preserving the right to make disclosures authorized by law,” the notice said.
The OPM noted “several recent instances” where internal agency communications related to rulemaking and policy development were disclosed without authorization. It also discussed specific instances in which federal employees at the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security disclosed information without authorization about planned immigration enforcement actions.
In one case, the New York Times and Washington Post received unauthorized information on the U.S. raid on Venezuela this past January and delayed “publishing what they knew to avoid endangering U.S. troops,” the OPM request for comment said.
Ferreting out leaks that the administration deems harmful to its messaging has been a priority across multiple agencies since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. As part of that crackdown, the FBI in January seized the electronic devices of a Washington Post reporter, a move that alarmed media organizations and advocates of press freedom.
One other notable incident occurred last year when dozens of reporters turned in their access badges at the Pentagon, rejecting new rules imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that would leave journalists vulnerable to expulsion if they sought to report on information — classified or otherwise — that had not been approved by Hegseth for release.
Washington
Trump administration raises U.S. refugee cap, but only for white South Africans
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said Tuesday that it will admit an additional 10,000 white South Africans into the U.S. as refugees this year, increasing its historically low annual cap but still blocking people from other countries from entering through the program.
Trump suspended the refugee program on his first day in office and, since then, has turned it into a vehicle to allow Afrikaners — a group of white South Africans descended mainly from Dutch settlers — into the U.S. Advocates say the decision to focus a decades-old program on one group has left people around the world fleeing war and strife stranded and with few options.
The administration says Afrikaners are subject to persecution in their home country, a charge the government in South Africa denies.
In the announcement Tuesday on the Federal Register, President Donald Trump said that because of “an unforeseen emergency refugee situation” he was raising the refugee cap. He blamed the South African government for “recent increases in the incitement of racially motivated violence” but gave no specific information.
The administration indicated last year that it would admit up to 7,500, mostly Afrikaners, during the fiscal year stretching from October 2025 through September 2026, but last week, in a notice to Congress informing it of the increase, the administration said that “unforeseen developments in South Africa created an emergency refugee situation.” The change raises the limit to 17,500.
The State Department has already admitted more than 6,000 people through the refugee program since the beginning of the fiscal year in October, according to official data. All of those were from South Africa except for three people from Afghanistan.
Presidents set the cap on how many refugees the U.S. will admit each year, and historically, they’ve allocated those numbers across various geographic regions while factoring in wars or conflicts that spark humanitarian needs around the globe.
The refugee program, administered by the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security, is distinct from asylum. People hoping to come through the refugee program must be living abroad and undergo vetting and other checks before being admitted to the U.S., whereas those seeking asylum are already on U.S. soil.
During his first administration, Trump slashed the number of refugees he admitted every year. Then the Biden administration built the system back up, setting a goal of admitting 125,000 refugees in his last year in office.
Groups that have for decades helped resettle refugees in the U.S. have sued to allow people who were in the refugee application process but are now stranded to be allowed to come to the U.S.
