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

TVA has set a minimum bid of $36.4 million for its power plant and the 1,600 surrounding acres of waterfront property. The buyer gets two unfinished nuclear reactors, transmission lines, buildings, eight miles of roads, and a 1,000-space parking lot. One company has expressed interest so far. TVA says it isn't particular about what the purchaser does — using the site for power production, recreation or even residences are all fine.   read more

The proposed rules were in a long-awaited report released Thursday from the three largest banking regulatory agencies: the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The agencies were required to issue the report by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial overhaul. The report was supposed to be completed years ago. The most significant new rules were proposed by the Federal Reserve, which oversees all of the nation’s largest banks   read more

Civil rights groups argued that the requirements could lead to the "mass disenfranchisement" of thousands of potential voters — many of them poor and African-American. They took issue with the actions of EAC's Brian Newby, who changed the federal form after he took the job. The change requires people seeking to register to show proof of citizenship. Opponents said Newby had no authority to take the action on his own. Even the Justice Dept. has refused to defend Newby's actions.   read more

The cleanup of the Hudson paid for by GE was to remove over 2.5 million cubic yards of sediment and encompass a 40-mile stretch of the river. But Seggos said EPA had allowed GE to declare mission accomplished too soon. “Both the amount of sediment and the fish are suggesting that the initial goals of the remedy have not been, and may not be met, for decades,” he said. The state’s move has been cheered by environmentalists, who have lobbied for solutions to a pollutant dating back to the 1930s.   read more

The state's emissions have fallen 9.5% since peaking in 2004, and analysts now consider the 2020 goal well within reach. ``Here we are, 10 years later, emissions have gone down and the economy has gone up,'' said state Sen. Fran Pavley. ``It's a success story.'' Brown also signed a companion bill, AB197, to cut emissions in low-income or minority communities. Many are near facilities such as oil refineries and factories that produce both greenhouse gases and the toxic air pollution.   read more

The trends were encouraging, and long-running, experts said, and distinguished young Americans from their parents’ generation, which had much higher rates of smoking and drinking. Just 9.6 percent of adolescents, ages 12 to 17, reported using alcohol in 2015, down from 17.6 percent in 2002, according to the data. Far fewer American adolescents smoke every day: about 20 percent in 2015, down from 32 percent in 2002.   read more

The amount of money spent on homeland security to prevent another 9/11 is staggering. But what's driving the spending upward is fear, not facts, said John Mueller, a senior scientist at the Mershon Center. The level of fear Americans feel -- fueled by politicians and news reports -- isn't supported by the actual terrorism threat. An American has a 1 in 4 million chance of being killed by a terrorist on U.S. soil. One is far more likely to die from lightning or getting struck by a deer.   read more

The government’s move, announced minutes after a federal judge rejected efforts by the Standing Rock Sioux, appeared to seek to ease tensions and reset the terms of a passionate debate that has cast the 1,170-mile Dakota Access pipeline either as an economic boon or a threat to the Native American sovereignty, waters and lands. But perhaps more significantly, it appeared to signal a broader willingness to re-examine the involvement of the tribes in infrastructure decisions like this one.   read more

"Just this year, at least 12 humpbacks have been found dead along the U.S. East Coast and that number does not include the more than a dozen humpback whales that have been reported as entangled there," Regina Asmutis-Silvia, the WDC's North American executive director, said. "Further, their growth rate has not met goals in their recovery plan. For the NMFS to imply that these whales have somehow met recovery is tragically misleading at best and makes a mockery of the Endangered Species Act."   read more

The demand has been so overwhelming that the manufacturer ran out of raw material in just a few days. Enthusiasts extol its virtues all over the internet. Millennials are clamoring for it. "I'm telling all my friends about it," said Maddy Novich, 33. Like so many crazes these days, this one has been fueled by social media, word of mouth and the internet. "I have never seen such interest in a credit card, and I've been doing this for 15 years," said Gary Leff.   read more

Yovanovitch was named an ambassador for the first time when she took over the U.S. embassy in Kyrgyzstan, which served as a vital base in the U.S. war in Afghanistan. In 2008, Yovanovitch was nominated to be ambassador to Armenia. She was confirmed by the Senate, but not before going through hard questioning on why she wouldn’t use the term “genocide” to refer to the killing by Turkey of 1.5 million Armenians from 1915 to 1917. By 2011, she was back in Washington.   read more

The approach has set off some complaints among patients, who rely on regular injections of the drugs to keep painful symptoms in check. But Express Scripts said that the move was necessary to contain costs. The drugs account for nearly 10% of all drug spending among its members — costing an estimated $7.5 billion — even though fewer than 1% of its members use them. The company said the move would require drug companies to compete more directly, pushing drug companies to offer better discounts.   read more

"I felt I had to do something to help those who worked so hard for Japan," said the prime minister. "Maybe this isn't enough, but it will express our gratitude, that Japan is thankful." Sailors became sick with cancers, leukemia, and brain tumors, and they blame radiation. Their ships were in the direction of the radioactive plumes spewed from the Fukushima plant. Aircraft carriers routinely use drinking water from the ocean, which the lawsuit says was contaminated with radiation.   read more

Demographer William Frey said the slower growth is largely a factor of the economy. A slower economy is influencing families to hold off on having more children, and it's discouraging migration amid stronger border enforcement, he said. Kenneth M. Johnson, a senior demographer at the Carsey School of Public Policy, said U.S. Hispanic women between the ages of 20 to 24 have seen a 36% decline in birth rates. "That's by far the largest decline of any other group," Johnson said.   read more

It's no Nobel Peace Prize, but Barack Obama has a new honor to brag about. Scientists have named a parasite after him — and there's no worming out of it. Meet Baracktrema obamai, a tiny parasitic flatworm that lives in turtles' blood. A new study officially names the 2-inch, hair-thin creature after Obama. Thomas Platt, the newly retired biology professor at Saint Mary's College in Indiana who chose the name, says it's an honor, not an insult. Really.   read more

Part of her duties were organizing and staffing trips made by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Perez returned to Washington in 2011 as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. The following year, she had to defend the department after auditors found the United States wasted $200 million on a training program for Iraqi police.   read more