Why Do Republicans Want to Dismantle the Education Department?

Two months after the Education Department officially opened its doors in 1980, Republicans approved a policy platform calling on Congress to shut it down. Now, more than four decades later, President Trump may come closer than any other Republican president to making that dream a reality. Though doing away with the agency would require an … Read more

Trump Administration Prepares to Revive and Expand Travel Bans

The Trump administration is finalizing a new ban on travel to the United States for citizens of certain countries that would be broader than the versions President Trump issued in his first term, according to two officials familiar with the matter. A draft recommendation circulating inside the executive branch proposes a “red” list of countries … Read more

Immigration Judges and Court Staff Take Payout Offers to Leave

A number of immigration judges have accepted government payout offers to leave, a union official said on Thursday, further depleting an overwhelmed system that President Trump had promised to fortify. A total of 85 employees, including 18 judges, at the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review accepted the government’s deferred resignation offer or early … Read more

Two Army Soldiers Are Accused of Selling Military Secrets

Two U.S. Army soldiers in Washington State and a former soldier were arrested on Thursday on bribery and theft charges, accused in separate federal indictments of conspiring to obtain and sell sensitive government information, the Justice Department said. The defendants were identified as First Lt. Li Tian, a health services administrator; Sgt. Jian Zhao, a … Read more

Judge Reinstates NLRB Member Fired by Trump

A federal judge on Thursday reinstated Gwynne Wilcox, a Democratic member of the National Labor Relations Board, declaring that President Trump’s attempt to fire her was unlawful. The ruling, which the Trump administration immediately moved to appeal, was a rebuke of Mr. Trump’s expansive view of executive power and his efforts to establish presidential control … Read more

Trump’s Tariffs by Whim Keep Allies and Markets Off Balance

When the White House finally released the text of Mr. Trump’s orders on Thursday evening, it appeared that some of the tariffs — those covered in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement that Mr. Trump negotiated and celebrated in his first term — were indeed permanently suspended. Other tariffs were merely paused. Most everyone involved was confused, … Read more