Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) sent messages to all members of Congress terminating their positions, stating “Your performance has not been adequate to justify further employment.” All Democratic and independent members of Congress, as well as two Republicans, found themselves locked out of their offices after everything inside had been confiscated.   read more

Christopher Jessop testified that church security ran his son off the road, and that the Marshal's Office helped cover it up. Nicknamed the "God Squad," church security is said to keep an eye out for outside law enforcement. Jessop also testified that the Marshal's Office failed to investigate dozens of incidents of vandalism against his vehicle. The jury awarded him $1 million. Another $1 million will go to John Cook, a man repeatedly denied a water connection on a property to park his trailer.   read more

“Basically we are being taxed for being women,” said Cristina Garcia, a California legislator. New York assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal called the taxes “a regressive tax on women and their bodies.” Now a growing number of advocates want periods put squarely on the public agenda, and are demanding that businesses and government take menstruation into consideration when they design facilities, develop budgets, supply schools or create programs. And they want free tampons in every public restroom.   read more

The Army concluded that a technicality in legislation passed in 1977 prevented the WASPs from being buried at Arlington. It didn't give them status with the armed services, and so did not confer the right to be buried there. “Think of the irony that at the same time the Pentagon is opening up all missions to men and women in the military they are closing the door to the women who were pioneers,” said Rep. McSally, referring to Defense Secretary Carter’s decision to open combat roles to women.   read more

Congress has mandated that the DNI produce and make public the reports on so-called recidivism by former detainees. They contain aggregate data based on intelligence assessments but do not give names or places. Intelligence analysts now believe that an additional former Guantánamo Bay detainee has engaged in terrorist activity after his release, while seven more have been added to a roster of those who might be causing problems, according to data disclosed on Monday.   read more

An American company that bills itself as a pioneer in tracking emerging epidemics made a series of costly mistakes during the 2014 Ebola outbreak that swept across West Africa — with employees feuding with fellow responders, contributing to misdiagnosed Ebola cases and repeatedly misreading the trajectory of the virus, an AP investigation has found. Emails obtained by AP and interviews with aid workers on the ground show that some of the company's actions made an already chaotic situation worse.   read more

While naturalizations generally rise during presidential election years, Trump provided an extra boost this year. He has described Mexicans as drug-traffickers and rapists. He has vowed to create a deportation force to expel the estimated 11 million immigrants here illegally, evoking mass roundups of the 1950s. “Donald Trump never! Never!” said Minerva Guerrero Salazar. “He has no conscience when he speaks of Latinos. And he is so rude. I don’t know what kind of education his mother gave him.”   read more

The issue has divided students, with classmates on both sides of the issue lobbying lawmakers, signing petitions and speaking out on social media. Faculty members have publicly opposed the measure, choosing to follow the lead of their school presidents, the chancellor and regents. Concerns from college officials that guns on campus would be dangerous for students and faculty and costly for schools are being countered by gun rights advocates and gun-friendly lawmakers.   read more

The judge disagreed with the argument that testing requirements for the helmet and gas mask would not burden Singh's religious rights. She also stated that the Defense Dept didn't explain how Singh's beard would pose a potential safety hazard when Special Forces members in war zones can grow beards. She said the Army "singling out" Singh was "unfair and discriminatory" and that such treatment "has a clear tendency to pressure the plaintiff, or other soldiers [seeking] religious accommodation..."   read more

With heroin cheap and widely available on city streets throughout the country, users are making their buys and shooting up as soon as they can, often in public places. Police officers are routinely finding drug users — unconscious or dead — in cars, in bathrooms of restaurants, on mass transit and in parks, hospitals and libraries. Nationally, 125 people a day die from overdosing on heroin and painkillers, and many more are brought back from the brink of death — often in full public view.   read more

Small companies captured 26% of the government’s contracting dollars last year, representing $90.7 billion, the SBA announced Wednesday. About $17.8 billion of that total went to businesses owned by women during the fiscal year. A Commerce Department analysis recently showing that businesses owned by women are 21% less likely to win government contracts than otherwise similar companies. Firms owned by women tend to be younger and smaller than other businesses, but the disparity remains.   read more

Today Anna will tell a story that has become all too familiar among U.S. law students. Since graduating and passing the bar, she has yet to find a full-time, salaried job as a lawyer. From there, though, her story has taken an unusual twist: Anna is the first former law student whose case against a law school, charging that it inflated the employment data for its graduates as a way to lure students to enroll, will go to trial.   read more

Qualifications for penalty exemptions include being a victim of domestic violence or having a religious opposition to insurance. There's an exemption for those who spent most of the year in another country, had an immediate family member die, or were caring for an ill or aging relative. Taxpayers can even get a pass if their utilities were shut off, if they were the victim of a natural disaster, being homeless or in jail, declaring bankruptcy, getting evicted, or having steep medical debt.   read more

Reda was deputy chief of mission in Berlin in 2004 when then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak came to Germany for back surgery and Reda dealt with the publicity surrounding that. Reda assumed a very sensitive assignment in 2008 when he was named ambassador to Israel. He was recalled in 2011 by his government to protest the deaths of three Egyptian soldiers killed in a shootout involving Israeli troops. He did return to Tel Aviv to complete his term, however.   read more

The 9/11 terror attacks spurred calls to shut down the reactors here, amid concern of a similar attack. Then the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan raised fears of a natural disaster on Indian Point. Now, the planned expansion of a natural gas pipeline across Indian Point property is again putting the power plant in a harsh glare. Elected officials, residents and environmental activists have criticized the project, saying that a rupture of the pipeline could unleash a nuclear catastrophe.   read more

The Remote Sensing System temperature data, promoted by many who reject mainstream climate science and especially most recently by Sen. Ted Cruz, now shows a slight warming of about 0.18 degrees Fahrenheit since 1998. "There are people that like to claim there was no warming; they really can't claim that anymore," said Carl Mears, the scientist who runs the Remote Sensing System temperature data tracking.   read more

The issue shows the real-world consequences of the current impasse between President Obama and the Republican-controlled Senate. The number of vacancies at federal agencies is growing, and congressional action on nominees has slowed in the final year of the administration. The Justice Dept. said the court decision “threatens to permanently impair an important presidential power,” to make temporary appointments to vacant positions throughout the government.   read more