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

Holzhall Richard was sent to Kabul, Afghanistan in 2006 as director of counter-narcotics, law enforcement and rule of law programs there. After that assignment, she took time to earn an M.S. at the National War College in 2008. She began her ambassadorial career in a bit of limbo. Lebanon had no president when she began her tenure and as such could officially be only chargé d’affaires until she could present her credentials to the head of state.   read more

The move is one of many piecemeal efforts by the Obama administration to expand American immigration policies without action from Congress. Entrepreneurs in any industry would be eligible to apply, but the new rule would be especially significant for the tech field. Creating an immigration route for startup founders has been one of Silicon Valley’s political priorities. “I think it will have major impact on U.S. entrepreneurship, and potentially on the broader economy," said Patrick Collison.   read more

The ruling was the first judicial rebuke of a statute that has been condemned as discriminatory and, with lawsuit after lawsuit, has deepened the national debate about transgender rights. His ruling is a milestone victory for critics of the measure, and a setback to many Republican leaders in North Carolina who have championed the statute. “Today is a great day for me, and hopefully this is a start to chipping away at the injustice of H.B. 2,” said Carcaño, a transgender plaintiff in the case.   read more

The American Egg Board allegedly increasingly funded pro-egg research on dietary cholesterol over the last 20 years. In 2013, it funded 92% of studies on dietary cholesterol. The Physicians Committee claims that the Egg Nutrition Center nominated seven people to the dietary guidance committee, including one who failed to disclose she received funds from the Egg Board for "the sole purpose of overturning defendants' recommended limits on dietary cholesterol intake."   read more

The man perhaps most famous for pharmaceutical price-gouging, Martin Shkreli, called the drug's makers "vultures." Sens. Charles Grassley and Richard Blumenthal demanded answers from Mylan CEO Heather Bresch. Sen. Hillary Clinton blasted the price of EpiPens as "outrageous," and Sen. Amy Klobuchar called for an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission. And now, on Tuesday, six consumers from across the country brought the issue to court — filing suit against Mylan in Detroit, Michigan.   read more

She joined the State Department in 1992 after serving as a trade policy assistant in the International Trade Administration in the Department of Commerce. Early assignments included postings in Bonn and Berlin, Germany. From 2002 to 2004, Elder was cultural affairs officer in the embassy in Budapest, Hungary. She began a stint in Washington in 2005 as senior watch officer in the State Department operations center.   read more

The attorneys accuse the private prison firm of sealing documents where no genuine security concern exists in order to protect itself from embarrassment, violating the public's right to access court proceedings. "The reason for it is probably to keep it out of the public press," said Yarbrough. "That can sometimes be legitimate and can sometimes be because the company doesn't want their dirty laundry aired." Said Friedman: "They disclose as little information as they can get away with."   read more

The DOJ asserts that in practice, the program allows students with disabilities to be taught in the basement of a school building with its own separate entrance. The students are also educated in "often old, poorly maintained buildings, some of which formerly served as schools for black students under Jim Crow laws," the complaint states. Moreover, the program denies students with disabilities an equal opportunity to benefit from educational services available to students throughout the state.   read more

Authorities who had been targeting prescription painkiller abuse say the problem has changed quickly in recent years as users turned to heroin, fentanyl and even stronger drugs. Ohio has been among the states hardest hit by the overdose epidemic. Fentanyl overdose deaths spiked so quickly last year that scientists with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention visited the state to study the problem.   read more

Health officials warn that e-cigarettes and other vaping devices are poisoning kids with nicotine. But the market has evolved, and a lot of vaping these days is done with devices that can be loaded with flavored "e-juice" that comes in both nicotine and nicotine-free versions. "Strawberry. Watermelon. Passion fruit. There's a churros — you know, like cinnamon toast?" said Brooklyn Vape's Hosam Essa. CDC officials question whether many teens know the exact content of what they're vaping.   read more

Michigan developed an automated program that compares the list of public-assistance recipients with a list of outstanding felony warrants maintained by the law enforcement information network. However, the system repeatedly wrongly identifies SNAP recipients as felons and cuts off their food stamps. A federal judge found the state's use of the database deprived plaintiffs of their right to food assistance because they were neither actively fleeing nor avoiding prosecution for a felony.   read more

The reduction among the 60 officers who wore cameras amounts to about 20 fewer incidents of physical force per year. The authors speculate that if the cameras were worn by the entire department, the same reduction would translate to about 250 fewer incidents per year. The study cautions that cameras alone are just one piece of the puzzle. It notes that community policing strategies and better officer training are also essential to preventing such encounters.   read more

The study is the first to assess soda drinking since the tax went into effect. And its results are consistent with research from Mexico, which passed a nationwide soda tax in 2014. When Berkeley passed its soda tax, it stood alone among cities in the U.S. for embracing the policy. But that has changed: Philadelphia passed a soda tax this year, and several other cities are putting similar taxes on the ballot this fall. Among them are two of Berkeley’s neighbors, Oakland and San Francisco.   read more

Last week, researchers studying maternal mortality in the U.S. reported an ominous trend: The rate of pregnancy-related deaths in Texas seemed to have doubled since 2010, making the state one of the most dangerous places in the developed world to have a baby. The bottom line: Maternal deaths have indeed been increasing in Texas, and black women are bearing the brunt of the crisis. For 2011 and 2012, black mothers accounted for 11.4% of Texas births but 28.8% of pregnancy-related deaths.   read more

Judge Logan dismissed the lawsuit, which claimed that the bill required doctors tell their patients the lie that medication abortion could be reversed. "The reversal of this unjustified restriction is good news for women, but it shouldn't have taken a year in court to convince Arizona politicians to keep junk science out of the exam room," said ACLU's Andrew Beck. "Lawmakers should recognize that Arizona women deserve high-quality medical care — not political ideology masquerading as medicine."   read more

Increase in fatalities since 2014 "is really getting to the crisis level," said GHSA's Jonathan Adkins. "While many factors likely contributed to the fatality increase, a stronger economy and lower unemployment rates are at the core of the trend," said the council. The council also predicts that 438 people will be killed on the nation's roads over the three-day Labor Day weekend that begins Sept. 2, which would make it the deadliest Labor Day weekend since 2008.   read more