'Hunted like sport': Outrage as Missouri bill puts bounty on immigrants

X/@Sec_Noem via REUTERS
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wears an ICE vest during a briefing with law enforcement agents ahead of immigration raids in New York City, U.S., January 28, 2025 in this image obtained from social media.

Rudi Keller,

 Missouri Independent

January 28, 2025

A confrontational legislative hearing Monday — with a witness calling a state senator a fascist and lawmakers battling over whether the state should put a bounty on undocumented immigrants — set the tone for this year’s debate on immigration and the state’s role in border security.

The most aggressive approach, in a bill filed by state Sen. David Gregory, would award a $1,000 bounty for tips that result in the arrest of a person present in the United States without authorization. Gregory, a Republican from Chesterfield, wants to authorize bounty hunters, usually employed by bail bond businesses to catch absconders, to track down people identified in tips.

And if the tip proves accurate, the person arrested would be charged with “trespass by an illegal alien,” and subject to life in prison without parole if federal immigration authorities declined to take custody.

“This bill seeks to create an ICE program at the state level,” Gregory told the Senate Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee. “That’s essentially all it does. This is an ICE program inside the state of Missouri.”

State Sen. Barbara Washington, a Kansas City Democrat, said it encourages people to make reports based on skin color or English proficiency.

“Don’t tell me it is not going to happen because it is happening now,” Washington said.

Gregory’s bill — and another heard Monday from state Sen. Jill Carter, a Joplin Republican — are among several introduced by Republicans this session seeking to make it more difficult for undocumented immigrants to remain in the state.

Carter’s bill would also create new crimes based on immigration status. For simply being undocumented, a person could be charged with “improper entry” and could be punished by a fine of up to $10,000 and removal to a U.S. port of entry for deportation

The crime of “aggravated illegal presence” would be a felony applying to undocumented people who violated any other Missouri law. The penalty would be increased if the violation was a felony law.

Immigration and border security have been a major issue for the GOP nationally, helping get President Donald Trump elected to a new term. Trump promised mass deportations, and roundups began almost immediately after he took office.

There were 956 arrests on Sunday, the BBC reported. Colombia, which initially refused to accept incoming flights of people being deported, relented after Trump threatened to impose a tariff of 25% on all imports from the South American country.

Federal courts have blocked attempts in Iowa, Texas and Georgia to make it a crime to be in those states if a person is in the U.S. illegally.

During Monday’s hearing, immigrants — with legal status and without — said the bills filed this year represent an escalation of oppression.

“It is inhumane to say people should be hunted like a sport,” said Aura Velasquez, who has been a citizen for five years. “It would turn neighbors against neighbors and friends against each other.”

Immigration advocates argued that a community already fearful about having documentation to remain in the U.S. revoked would become more fearful.

“This bill fosters a climate of fear, where people feel unsafe engaging in even the most basic activities beyond going to work or school,” said Gabriella Cepeda, representing the Hispanic Law Students Association at St. Louis University. “They are terrified of being profiled or targeted life in prison for simply existing in the state without documentation. It is not just extreme, it’s cruel and unusual punishment.”

The handful of supporters, representing law enforcement and a conservative Jewish group, said the state must protect itself from human trafficking and drug trafficking associated with lax border security.

“This legislation would simply give law enforcement another tool in the tool box to assist our federal partners,” Lewis County Sheriff David Parish said.

Last summer, a Missouri House interim committee studied the issue of crime associated with illegal immigration. The report, published Jan. 7, drew no conclusions and reported that many of the witnesses said they feared problems associated with border communities reaching Missouri.

The report did not estimate the number of undocumented immigrants in Missouri but said studies show a substantial economic impact.

Undocumented immigrants paid approximately $113 million in state taxes in 2022 but cannot use the public benefits those taxes support like Medicaid. Their economic activity supports 160,000 jobs and $19 billion in total economic activity, providing “real economic stability that benefits all Missourians,” the committee report stated.

Washington peppered Gregory and Carter with questions about whether the state should trade that economic support for a state free of undocumented immigrants.

“We have 77,000 illegal immigrants that we have here in Missouri,” Gregory said.

“So they should all be subject to this, because you’re saying that we should arrest them just because they’re here?” Washington asked.

“Yes,” Gregory replied.


Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com.

Trump crackdown spurs migrants to seek refuge in Mexico

Naucalpan de Juárez (Mexico) (AFP) – After US President Donald Trump dashed her hopes of gaining asylum in the United States, Arianne Dominguez joined hundreds of other migrants seeking refuge in Mexico instead.

RFI
Issued on: 29/01/2025 -

Migrants wait outside an office of the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance near Mexico City 

© ALFREDO ESTRELLA / AFP

The 24-year-old Cuban arrived in Mexico less than two weeks before Trump took office on January 20 and almost immediately halted access to an app introduced by his predecessor Joe Biden to help process claims for entering the United States.

"I was in shock," Dominguez said.

"I thought about my family in Cuba who were hoping I could get to the United States. Then I had to think about plan B," she told AFP.

The alternative she decided on was to stay in Mexico and obtain refuge status.

She went to an office of the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR) in a Mexico City suburb that is busy dealing with migrants seeking asylum in the Latin American nation.

Some migrants seeking assistance from the Mexican refugee agency have been waiting for days © ALFREDO ESTRELLA / AFP

Venezuelans, Cubans and other foreigners fleeing poverty, violence and political persecution wait in line for days to begin the process.

Juan Carmona, a 50-year-old Venezuelan mechanic, decided to stay in Mexico with his wife because they were unable to reach the United States.

"We decided on Mexico. We liked it a lot and for now we want to do this in the best way possible, completely legally, not to become undocumented," he said.

In 2024, Mexico granted refuge to more than 26,800 foreigners, according to official figures.

Migrants seeking assistance from the Mexican refugee agency have been waiting for days, some outdoors or sleeping in tents.

Others are on waiting lists operated by the migrants themselves.
'Things are not good'

In the southern city of Tapachula, long queues have also formed outside the COMAR offices as migrants wait under the gaze of soldiers guarding the building.

Many of the migrants had -- or were requesting -- appointments with US authorities through the CBP One app.

But now they see seeking asylum in Mexico as their best option for the moment.

"We're here to see if we can work while we're here or to make a life here. Things are not good," says Jose Ricardo Moreno, a 60-year-old Cuban who is traveling with his wife and 22-year-old daughter.

Before Trump took office, Moreno was given an asylum appointment in the United States for February 2, but he lost it when CBP One was axed.

Many migrants see seeking asylum in Mexico as their best option, at least for now © ALFREDO ESTRELLA / AFP

Janqui Martin, a 43-year-old Cuban doctor, said he was tired of moving between countries and decided to stay in Mexico.

"Mexico has welcomed us, opened the door to us and we have the possibility of working," said Martin, who left his wife and 12-year-old daughter in Cuba.

On his first day back in office, Trump declared a national emergency at the US southern border and vowed to deport "millions and millions" of migrants.

His administration said it would also reinstate a "Remain in Mexico" policy that prevailed during Trump's first term, under which people who apply to enter the United States from Mexico must remain there until their application has been decided.

The White House has also halted an asylum program for people fleeing authoritarian regimes in Central and South America, leaving thousands of people stranded on the Mexican side of the border.

Trump's office additionally said he had ordered 1,500 more military personnel to the border.

Shakira Chaparro, a 29-year-old Venezuelan waiting in the border city of Tijuana, said that crossing over illegally was now too risky.

"The best option is to stay here, find a way to get a permit to stay for a while or return to our country," she said.

© 2025 AFP

What to make of Trump’s Guantanamo plan for migrants


By AFP
January 31, 2025


The United States leases the site holding the Guantanamo Bay prison from Cuba under a treaty dating back to 1903 - Copyright AFP PEDRO UGARTE

President Donald Trump has said he wants to send 30,000 “criminal illegal aliens” to the notorious Guantanamo Bay US military base in Cuba.

The site houses the prison where hundreds of terror suspects labelled “enemy combatants” were held — many for years without charge — after the 9/11 attacks. Some were tortured.

Trump said this week he had ordered the construction of a detention center there to “double our capacity immediately” to hold undocumented migrants.

The plan has raised questions and concerns.

– Is it new? –

Guantanamo Bay has for decades been used to hold Caribbean asylum seekers and refugees caught at sea. Migrants are held in a different part of the base than that used for terror suspects.

In the 1990s, it was used to house tens of thousands of Haitians and Cubans who fled crises in their homelands.

They were accommodated in tent cities, many eventually sent home after being held at Guantanamo for years.

Trump’s move would entail a significant expansion of what is known as the Guantanamo Migrant Operations Center (GMOC).

But Deepa Alagesan of the New York-based International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) says migrants are already being held “in inhuman conditions, and expanding the facility will be nothing short of disastrous.”

In a report last September, the IRAP reported conditions at the GMOC including “undrinkable water and exposure to open sewage, inadequate schooling and medical care for children, and collective punishment of detained Cuban and Haitian refugees.”

– Is it legal? –

“Some of them are so bad that we don’t even trust the countries to hold them because we don’t want them coming back,” Trump said of the migrants he plans to ship off to Guantanamo — adding it is “a tough place to get out of.”

Bill Frelick, refugee and migrants director at Human Rights Watch told AFP that Trump’s intention appears to be “to detain people indefinitely.”

He explained there was leeway under domestic and international law to detain migrants administratively for short periods of time until they can be sent back to their home countries.

If they cannot be returned, “there is no longer a legitimate reason for the detention, and it becomes arbitrary,” said Frelick.

Making matters worse, Guantanamo is a remote, closed military base “which the US government has used to evade legal protections and public scrutiny” in the past.

“When detention becomes prolonged and indefinite and untethered from proper oversight, it violates human rights and may amount to torture,” said Frelick.

The UN human rights office said Friday that migrants should only be detained “as a last resort. And only in exceptional circumstances.”

Observers say migrants in Guantanamo would find it hard to access legal counsel.

Many would be legitimate asylum seekers who have the right under US and international law to live and work in America while their applications are considered.

– Is it necessary? –

Thousands of undocumented migrants have been arrested since Trump’s January 20 inauguration, including some accused of crimes.

An unknown number have been repatriated to Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil and other countries. Trump has vowed to expel “millions.”

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency currently has funding for 41,500 detainee beds, according to the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank in Washington.

In a report this week, it said US military facilities such as Guantanamo “can play a central role in management of detention and deportation” — and already have been used for this purpose under previous administrations including that of Joe Biden.

The United States leases the site holding the prison from Cuba under a treaty dating back to 1903.

The communist government in Havana considers it an illegal occupation, but the US Department of State website states the lease was the product of “international agreement and treaty” and can only be ended by mutual agreement.

'Screwed up bigly': Stephen Miller slammed after calling OMB funding freeze a 'dumb media hoax'

Stephen Miller speaking at a Donald Trump rally at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, Gage Skidmore

David Badash

January 29, 2025

ALTERNET

Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump’s White House Deputy Chief of Staff, is under fire after appearing repeatedly to attempt to whitewash the Office of Management and Budget memo that ordered a funding freeze on “all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.”

The OMB memo, which was not publicly rolled out but rather discovered by journalist Marisa Kabas, appears to have led to the shuttering on Tuesday of the Medicaid portals in all 50 states. There were also reports that in addition to the Medicaid portal, the portal for SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program formerly known as “food stamps,” also went down on Tuesday, along with other sources or recipients of federal funding.

Miller declared that the massive nationwide concern and confusion were a media creation.

“I can’t help it if left-wing media outlets published a fake news story that caused confusion,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper. The confusion, Miller insisted, was a “false story” that was “created by the media.”

Later on Tuesday Miller doubled down, declaring on social media, “Welcome to the first dumb media hoax of 2025. OMB ordered a review of funding to NGOs, foreign governments and large discretionary contracts. It explicitly excluded all aid and benefit programs. Leftwing media outright lied and some people fell for the hoax.”

OMB was forced to issue an explainer Tuesday after media outlets accurately reported what the OMB memo stated. But some say that the FAQ was an opportunity for OMB to backtrack after massive, nationwide anger, fear, and confusion — which was somewhat quieted after a federal judge issued a temporary partial pause on the OMB memo.

U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI) responded to Miller’s remarks, writing: “They are back-tracking because we spoke up. Good. But make no mistake: their OMB memo ordered a freeze of *all* grants. The Medicaid and SNAP portals went dark. Head Start providers couldn’t draw funds. This was not a coincidence. It was their plan. And they screwed up bigly.”

Despite Miller’s repeated claims that the memo was clear and did not affect a wide array of federally-funded programs, The Boston Globe reported that “Children’s Friend, a Head Start program in Rhode Island, said it was unable to draw down $500,000 for this week’s payroll,” and “Open Door Health, an LGBTQ+ health clinic, said it could not access its federal funds on Tuesday.”

Congressman Magaziner also posted a list of organizations that he says are being blocked from receiving funding by the Trump Department of Homeland Security. “This is a gift to terrorists and our adversaries across the world. Trump needs to stop this madness and resume funding now,” Magaziner, the Homeland Security Ranking Member for Counterterrorism, wrote:

Outrage at Miller’s remarks calling the massive public upset and confusion over OMB’s memo a “dumb media hoax” was extensive.

“Completely false. Your first lie of the year. Payment Management Services (PMS), through which states get Medicaid funds from the federal government, had a banner saying payments were stopped because of Trump’s order. Stop lying,” wrote MSNBC columnist Rotimi Adeoye, whose bio says he is a former congressional aide and advisor for the ACLU Voting Rights Project.

“Sure there are dumb media hoaxes but if you accidentally turn off Medicaid people notice,” observed Matt Stoller, a political commentator, author, and the research director of the American Economic Liberties Project.

“Another familiar messaging strategy from the White House – cause confusion and blame it on a ‘media hoax.’ In reality, Programs like Medicaid, Meals on Wheels, etc were locked out of funding today. Either White House made errors or they aren’t telling the truth,” wrote Fox 32 Chicago Political Correspondent Paris Schutz.

“Republicans send out a vague, sloppy, unclear memo that gives everyone the impression that aid to orgs are under attack, Medicaid and other services stop working, Republicans go on AIR supporting this, but Democrats are blamed for pushing a hoax? C’mon get a new playbook,” wrote Tahra Jirari, Director of Economic Analysis at Chamber of Progress.

“No…you complete clowns put out a sweeping vaguely worded executive order that ORDERED ALL FEDERAL GRANT AND LOAN FUNDING TO CEASE, were called out by the public and the media for the disaster this would present, and are now blaming everyone else. You overstepped and got caught,” declared political commentator Andrew Wortman.

“Yeah, it was so explicit that OMB had to release another document in an attempt to clarify,” said Tad DeHaven, a Cato Institute policy analyst.

“Dude you guys literally shut off Medicaid. Which part of that were Democrats or the media involved with?” asked Paul Iskajyan, the Communications Director for U.S. Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA).

Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump’s White House Deputy Chief of Staff, is under fire after appearing repeatedly to attempt to whitewash the Office of Management and Budget memo that ordered a funding freeze on “all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.”

The OMB memo, which was not publicly rolled out but rather discovered by journalist Marisa Kabas, appears to have led to the shuttering on Tuesday of the Medicaid portals in all 50 states. There were also reports that in addition to the Medicaid portal, the portal for SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program formerly known as “food stamps,” also went down on Tuesday, along with other sources or recipients of federal funding.

Miller declared that the massive nationwide concern and confusion were a media creation.

“I can’t help it if left-wing media outlets published a fake news story that caused confusion,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper. The confusion, Miller insisted, was a “false story” that was “created by the media.”

READ MORE: ‘Despair and Violence’: RFK Jr. Is a ‘Predator’ Says Caroline Kennedy in ‘Damning’ Video

Later on Tuesday Miller doubled down, declaring on social media, “Welcome to the first dumb media hoax of 2025. OMB ordered a review of funding to NGOs, foreign governments and large discretionary contracts. It explicitly excluded all aid and benefit programs. Leftwing media outright lied and some people fell for the hoax.”

OMB was forced to issue an explainer Tuesday after media outlets accurately reported what the OMB memo stated. But some say that the FAQ was an opportunity for OMB to backtrack after massive, nationwide anger, fear, and confusion — which was somewhat quieted after a federal judge issued a temporary partial pause on the OMB memo.

U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI) responded to Miller’s remarks, writing: “They are back-tracking because we spoke up. Good. But make no mistake: their OMB memo ordered a freeze of *all* grants. The Medicaid and SNAP portals went dark. Head Start providers couldn’t draw funds. This was not a coincidence. It was their plan. And they screwed up bigly.”

Despite Miller’s repeated claims that the memo was clear and did not affect a wide array of federally-funded programs, The Boston Globe reported that “Children’s Friend, a Head Start program in Rhode Island, said it was unable to draw down $500,000 for this week’s payroll,” and “Open Door Health, an LGBTQ+ health clinic, said it could not access its federal funds on Tuesday.”

Congressman Magaziner also posted a list of organizations that he says are being blocked from receiving funding by the Trump Department of Homeland Security. “This is a gift to terrorists and our adversaries across the world. Trump needs to stop this madness and resume funding now,” Magaziner, the Homeland Security Ranking Member for Counterterrorism, wrote:

Outrage at Miller’s remarks calling the massive public upset and confusion over OMB’s memo a “dumb media hoax” was extensive.

“Completely false. Your first lie of the year. Payment Management Services (PMS), through which states get Medicaid funds from the federal government, had a banner saying payments were stopped because of Trump’s order. Stop lying,” wrote MSNBC columnist Rotimi Adeoye, whose bio says he is a former congressional aide and advisor for the ACLU Voting Rights Project.

“Sure there are dumb media hoaxes but if you accidentally turn off Medicaid people notice,” observed Matt Stoller, a political commentator, author, and the research director of the American Economic Liberties Project.

“Another familiar messaging strategy from the White House – cause confusion and blame it on a ‘media hoax.’ In reality, Programs like Medicaid, Meals on Wheels, etc were locked out of funding today. Either White House made errors or they aren’t telling the truth,” wrote Fox 32 Chicago Political Correspondent Paris Schutz.

“Republicans send out a vague, sloppy, unclear memo that gives everyone the impression that aid to orgs are under attack, Medicaid and other services stop working, Republicans go on AIR supporting this, but Democrats are blamed for pushing a hoax? C’mon get a new playbook,” wrote Tahra Jirari, Director of Economic Analysis at Chamber of Progress.

“No…you complete clowns put out a sweeping vaguely worded executive order that ORDERED ALL FEDERAL GRANT AND LOAN FUNDING TO CEASE, were called out by the public and the media for the disaster this would present, and are now blaming everyone else. You overstepped and got caught,” declared political commentator Andrew Wortman.

“Yeah, it was so explicit that OMB had to release another document in an attempt to clarify,” said Tad DeHaven, a Cato Institute policy analyst.

“Dude you guys literally shut off Medicaid. Which part of that were Democrats or the media involved with?” asked Paul Iskajyan, the Communications Director for U.S. Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA).

US judge blocks Trump freeze on federal aid spending


A US district court judge has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's freeze on funding for federal aid programs. "I think there is the specter of irreparable harm," District Judge Loren AliKhan said at an emergency hearing. Another hearing is scheduled for Monday. Implementation of the funding freeze is on hold until 5:00 pm (2200 GMT) on that day.


Issued on: 29/01/2025 -

FRANCE24
By: NEWS WIRES

People protest against a funding freeze of federal grants near to the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. © Ben Curtis, AP


President Donald Trump's attempt to freeze hundreds of billions of dollars in federal aid was temporarily blocked in court on Tuesday, even as it sowed chaos throughout the government and stirred fears that it would disrupt programs that serve tens of millions of Americans.

Minutes before it was due to take effect at 5 pm ET (2200 GMT), a federal judge blocked Trump's spending freeze that would have affected thousands of federal grant programs. US District Judge Loren AliKhan granted a temporary halt after an advocacy group argued the freeze would devastate programs ranging from health care to road construction. The court will revisit the issue on Monday.

Trump's sweeping directive was the latest step in his dramatic effort to overhaul the federal government, which has already seen the new president halt foreign aid, freeze hiring and shutter diversity programs across dozens of agencies.

Democrats castigated the funding freeze as an illegal assault on Congress' authority over federal spending Congress' authority over federal spending and said it was already disrupting payments to doctors and preschool teachers. Republicans largely defended the order as fulfilling Trump's campaign promise to rein in the $6.75 trillion budget.

The Trump administration said programs delivering benefits directly to Americans would not be affected. But Democratic Senator Ron Wyden said his office had confirmed that doctors in all 50 states were not able to secure payments from Medicaid, which provides health coverage to 70 million low-income Americans.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X that the government was aware of the Medicaid portal outage and no payments had been affected. She said the website would be back online shortly.

Health care industry officials said the interruption could cause lasting damage. "If the federal government stops pushing funds out to state Medicaid contractors, the result would be a complete debacle, with Medicaid providers going out of business," said Sara Ratner of health care company NOMI Health.

The White House said the freeze was needed to ensure federal aid programs are aligned with the Republican president's priorities, including executive orders he singed ending diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
Wide-reaching programs

Trump's order faces another legal challenge from Democratic state attorneys general, who argued in a lawsuit that the freeze violates the US Constitution and would have a devastating effect on states that rely on federal aid for a substantial portion of their budgets.

Federal grants and loans reach into virtually every corner of Americans' lives, with hundreds of billions of dollars flowing into education, health care and anti-poverty programs, housing assistance, disaster relief, infrastructure and a host of other initiatives.

The proposed cuts could also take a heavy toll on Republican-leaning states, whose residents are significant beneficiaries of major federal programs.

The memo said Tuesday's freeze included any money intended for foreign aid and for nongovernmental organisations, among other categories. It directed 55 agencies to examine more than 2,600 grant programs.

The White House said the pause would not impact Social Security or Medicare payments to older Americans or assistance provided directly to individuals, such as some food aid and welfare programs for the poor. The Pentagon said it would not apply to its contractors.

In a second memo released on Tuesday, the White House said funds for Medicaid, farmers, small businesses, rental assistance and the Head Start preschool program would continue without interruption. But Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut said the reimbursement system for Head Start had been shut down in his state, preventing preschools from paying staff.

It was unclear whether other multibillion-dollar grant programs, such as scientific research, highway construction and addiction recovery, would be affected. The White House did not appear to exempt disaster aid to areas like Los Angeles and western North Carolina that have been devastated by natural disasters. Trump pledged government support when he visited both places last last week.

The freeze followed the president's suspension of foreign aid, which began cutting off the supply of lifesaving medicines on Tuesday to countries around the world that depend on US development assistance.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Tuesday found that Trump's approval rating has fallen slightly to 45% since he took office on Jan. 20 and majorities disapprove of his efforts to rename the Gulf of Mexico and his attempt to deny citizenship to babies born in the US whose parents are not citizens.
Disputed effects

Agencies were trying to understand how to implement the new order.

The Justice Department will pause $4 billion in funding, according to a memo seen by Reuters, including aid for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Trump's Republican allies have been pushing for dramatic spending cuts, though he has promised to spare Social Security and Medicare, which make up roughly one-third of the budget. Another 11% of the budget goes toward government interest payments, which cannot be touched without triggering a default that would rock the world economy.

Democrats criticised the spending freeze as unlawful and dangerous.

"This decision is lawless, destructive, cruel," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said. "It's American families that are going to suffer most."

The US Constitution gives Congress control over spending matters, but Trump said during his campaign that he believes the president has the power to withhold money for programs he dislikes. His nominee for White House budget director, Russell Vought, who has not yet been confirmed by the Senate, headed a think tank that has argued Congress cannot require a president to spend money. Democrats sought to delay his nomination, but would need Republican support to succeed.

At least one Republican centrist, US Representative Don Bacon, said he hoped the order would be short-lived after hearing from worried constituents, including a woman who runs an after-school program that depends on federal grant money.

"We don't live in an autocracy. It's divided government. We've got separation of powers," he said.

Trump orders federal funding freeze in possible violation of US constitution
Americas

US President Donald Trump ordered a pause on federal aid that could affect trillions of dollars earmarked for everything from education grants to medical research to small business loans starting on Tuesday. Democratic senators said the "illegal" order violates the constitution by usurping Congress's power to control the US budget.


Issued on: 28/01/2025

FRANCE24
By: NEWS WIRES

President Donald Trump campaigned on remaking the US government but he is accused of a power grab. © Kent Nishimura, AFP

The healthcare system for millions of low-income Americans and rafts of other programs were thrown into disarray Tuesday after President Donald Trump ordered a freeze on federal funding, a move opponents blasted as unconstitutional.

It was Trump's latest radical step since he took office a week ago, vowing to force the US government and its employees to back his right-wing political goals or face retribution.

Potentially trillions of dollars in federal grants, loans and other aid were frozen by the White House order set to take effect Tuesday at 5:00 pm (2200 GMT), casting a shadow over everything from education to small businesses.

Online portals used to access the Medicaid health insurance program for poor families and disabled individuals were quickly inaccessible.

"This is a blatant attempt to rip away health insurance from millions of Americans overnight and will get people killed," Oregon Senator Ron Wyden posted on X.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the website would be fixed soon and that "no payments have been affected."

She defended the drastic move as part of Trump's bid to make the government "good stewards of taxpayer dollars."

The freeze is not a "blanket" stop on spending, but a tool to check that "every penny that is going out the door is not conflicting with the executive orders and actions that this president has taken," Leavitt said.

She said the temporary pause would not impact individual Americans but would instead target programs to weed out anything "illegal."

She listed as examples racial equality and climate change programs that Trump has vowed to eradicate -- and did not answer a question about whether Medicaid recipients would be cut off.

The extraordinary measure follows a similar announcement that most US foreign aid is frozen.

Constitutional challenge

The order, signed by acting director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Matthew Vaeth, did not make clear how such a pause on disbursements of funding will work or for how long.

Several non-profit groups have filed suit in federal court seeking a temporary halt to the order until its legality is assessed.

Federal spending included more than $3 trillion in financial assistance like grants and loans in fiscal year 2024 -- all of which was approved by Congress.

Democrats accused Trump of usurping Congress' constitutionally mandated control over budget spending as part of a broader attempt to force the government to bend to his personal will.

This has included firing independent government watchdogs and several career prosecutors who were involved in an official probe of his attempts to overthrow the 2020 election.

The Trump administration says the funding stoppage is just a way to enforce compliance with the administration's policies.

This is "certainly within the confines of the law," Leavitt said, citing the White House legal team, and claiming Trump "has the power to fire anyone" in the administration.
'Sweeping halt'

Democratic Senator Patty Murray called the White House spending order "a brazen & illegal move."

"The law is the law -- Trump must immediately reverse course, follow the requirements of the law, & ensure the nation's spending laws are implemented as Congress intended," she posted on X.

Another Democratic senator, Richard Blumenthal, said the "illegal" order will create "havoc" in medical and research facilities, which receive major government funding.

The White House memo stated that "federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities."

It stated that Social Security and Medicare benefits -- used by retirees -- were excluded from the pause.

Areas that might be impacted, it said, include "financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal" -- references to racial equality and climate change programs that Trump has vowed to overturn.

Read moreTrump orders end of government DEI programs, LGBT protections

The Sierra Club, an environmental organization, said the freeze could jeopardize funding for everything from disaster relief to home heating subsidies, safe drinking water programs, and the National Suicide Prevention Hotline.

"In issuing a sweeping halt to federal funding, grants and loans, Donald Trump has... immediately and significantly put Americans in danger," Sierra Club executive director Ben Jealous.

(AFP)

POSTMODERN KNOW NOTHINGS

A new era of anti-intellectualism — and what all senior Trump officials have in common

REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem gestures, as President Donald Trump delivers a speech, during the Laken Riley Act signing event, at the White House, in Washington, U.S., January 29, 2025.

The Conversation

January 30, 2025

The many controversial people appointed to the Trump administration, from Elon Musk to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have at least one thing in common: They dislike and distrust experts.

While anti-intellectualism and populism are nothing new in American life, there has hardly been an administration as seemingly committed to these worldviews.

Take President Donald Trump’s decision to nominate Kennedy, a well-known vaccine skeptic, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy, whose Senate confirmation hearing is Jan. 29, 2025, epitomizes the new American political ethos of populism and anti-intellectualism, or the idea that people hold negative feelings toward not just scientific research but those who produce it.

Anti-intellectual attacks on the scientific community have been increasing, and have become more partisan, in recent years.

For instance, Trump denigrated scientific experts on the campaign trail and in his first term in office. He called climate science a “hoax” and public health officials in his administration “idiots.”

Skepticism, false assertions

This rhetoric filtered into public discussion, as seen in viral social media posts mocking and attacking scientists like Dr. Anthony Fauci, or anti-mask protesters confronting health officials at public meetings and elsewhere.

Trump and Kennedy have cast doubt on vaccine safety and the medical scientific establishment. As far back as the Republican primary debates in 2016, Trump falsely asserted that childhood vaccines cause autism, in defiance of scientific consensus on the issue.

Kennedy’s long-term vaccine skepticism has also been well documented, though he himself denies it. More recently, he has been presenting himself as “pro-vaccine safety,” as one Republican senator put it, on the eve of Kennedy’s confirmation hearing.

A researcher works in the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institutes of Health


Kennedy has mirrored Trump’s anti-intellectual rhetoric by referring to government health agency culture as “corrupt” and the agencies themselves as “sock puppets.”

If confirmed, Kennedy has vowed to turn this anti-intellectual rhetoric into action. He wants to replace over 600 employees in the National Institutes of Health with his own hires. He has also suggested cutting entire departments.

During one interview, Kennedy said, “In some categories, there are entire departments, like the nutrition department at the FDA, that are – that have to go.”
Populism across political spectrum

In lockstep with this anti-intellectual movement is a version of populism that people like RFK Jr. and Trump both espouse.

Populism is a worldview that pits average citizens against “the elites.” Who the elites are varies depending on the context, but in the contemporary political climate in the U.S., establishment politicians, scientists and organizations like pharmaceutical companies or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are frequently portrayed as such.

For instance, right-wing populists often portray government health agencies as colluding with multinational pharmaceutical companies to impose excessive regulations, mandate medical interventions and restrict personal freedoms.

Left-wing populists expose how Big Pharma manipulates the health care system, using their immense wealth and political influence to put profits over people, deliberately keeping lifesaving medications overpriced and out of reach – all of which has been said by politicians like Bernie Sanders.

The goal of a populist is to portray these elites as the enemy of the people and to root out the perceived “corruption” of the elites.

This worldview doesn’t just appeal to the far right. Historically in the United States, populism has been more of a force on the political left. To this day, it is present on the left through Sanders and similar politicians who rail against wealth inequality and the interests of the “millionaire class.”

In short, the Trump administration’s populist and anti-intellectual worldview does not map cleanly onto the liberal-conservative ideological divide in the U.S. That is why Kennedy, a lifelong Democrat and nephew of a Democratic president, might become a Cabinet member for a Republican president.

The cross-ideological appeal of populism and anti-intellectualism also partly explains why praise for Trump’s selection of Kennedy to head the Department of Health and Human Services came from all corners of society. Republican senators Ron Johnson and Josh Hawley lauded the move, as did basketball star Rudy Gobert and Colorado’s Democratic governor, Jared Polis.

Even former President Barack Obama once considered Kennedy for a Cabinet post in 2008.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is greeted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on stage during a campaign event on Aug. 23, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. Tom Brenner for The Washington Post via Getty Images


Anger at elites

Why, then, is disdain for scientific experts appealing to so many Americans?

Much of the public supports this worldview because of perceived ineffectiveness and moral wrongs made by the elites. Factors such as the opioid crisis encouraged by predatory pharmaceutical companies, public confusion and dissatisfaction with changing health guidance in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the frequently prohibitive cost of health care and medicine have given some Americans reason to question their trust in science and medicine.

Populists have embraced popular and science-backed policies that align with an anti-elite stance. Kennedy, for example, supports decreasing the amount of ultra-processed foods in public school lunches and reducing toxic chemicals in the food supply and natural environment. These stances are backed by scientific evidence about how to improve public health. At the same time, they point to the harmful actions of a perceived corrupt elite – the profit-driven food industry.

It is, of course, reasonable to want to hold accountable both public officials for their policy decisions and scientists and pharmaceutical companies who engage in unethical behavior. Scientists should by no means be immune from scrutiny.

Examining, for example, what public health experts got wrong during the COVID-19 pandemic would be tremendously helpful from the standpoint of preparing for future public health crises, but also from the standpoint of rebuilding public trust in science, experts and institutions.

However, the Trump administration does not appear to be interested in pursuing good faith assessments. And Trump’s victory means he gets to implement his vision and appoint people he wants to carry it out. But words have consequences, and we have seen the impact of anti-vaccine rhetoric during the COVID-19 pandemic, where “red” counties and states had significantly lower vaccine intent and uptake compared with the “blue” counterparts.

Therefore, despite sounding appealing, Kennedy’s signature slogan, “Make America Healthy Again,” could – in discouraging policies and behaviors that have been proven effective against diseases and their crippling or deadly outcomes – bring about a true public health crisis.

Dominik Stecuła, Assistant Professor of Communication and Political Science, The Ohio State University; Kristin Lunz Trujillo, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of South Carolina, and Matt Motta, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Boston University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Conservatives embrace raw milk even as regulators say it's dangerous

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Stephanie Armour,

 KFF Health News

January 30, 2025


In summertime, cows wait under a canopy to be milked at Mark McAfee’s farm in Fresno, California. From his Cessna 210 Centurion propeller plane, the 63-year-old can view grazing lands of the dairy company he runs that produces products such as unpasteurized milk and cheese for almost 2,000 stores.

Federal regulators say it’s risky business. Samples of raw milk can contain bird flu virus and other pathogens linked to kidney disease, miscarriages, and death.

McAfee, founder and CEO of the Raw Farm, who also leads the Raw Milk Institute, says he plans to soon be in a position to change that message.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the anti-vaccine activist President Donald Trump has tapped to run the Department of Health and Human Services, recruited McAfee to apply for a job as the FDA’s raw milk standards and policy adviser, McAfee said. McAfee has already written draft proposals for possible federal certification of raw dairy farms, he said.

Virologists are alarmed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends against unpasteurized dairy that hasn’t been heated to kill pathogens such as bird flu. Interstate raw milk sales for human consumption are banned by the FDA. A Trump administration that weakens the ban or extols raw milk, the scientists say, could lead to more foodborne illness. It could also, they say, raise the risk of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus evolving to spread more efficiently, including between people, possibly fueling a pandemic.

“If the FDA says raw milk is now legal and the CDC comes through and says it advises drinking raw milk, that’s a recipe for mass infection,” said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist and co-editor-in-chief of the medical journal Vaccine and an adjunct professor at Stony Brook University in New York.

The raw milk controversy reflects the broader tensions President Donald Trump will confront when pursuing his second-administration agenda of rolling back regulations and injecting more consumer choice into health care.

Many policies Kennedy has said he wants to revisit — from the fluoridation of tap water to nutrition guidance to childhood vaccine requirements — are backed by scientific research and were established to protect public health. Some physician groups and Democrats are gearing up to fight initiatives they say would put people at risk.

Raw milk has gained a following among anti-regulatory conservatives who are part of a burgeoning health freedom movement.

“The health freedom movement was adopted by the tea party, and conspiracy websites gave it momentum,” said Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, who has studied the history of the anti-vaccine movement.

Once-fringe ideas are edging into the mainstream. Vaccine hesitancy is growing.

Arkansas, Utah, and Kentucky are weighing legislation that would relax or end requirements for fluoride in public water. And 30 states now allow for the sale of raw milk in some form within their borders.

While only an estimated 3% of the U.S. population consumes raw milk or cheese, efforts to try to restrict its sales have riled Republicans and provided grist for conservative podcasts.

Many conservatives denounced last year’s execution of a search warrant when Pennsylvania agriculture officials and state troopers arrived at an organic farm tucked off a two-lane road on Jan. 4, 2024. State inspectors were investigating cases of two children sickened by E. coli bacteria and sales of raw dairy from the operation owned by Amish farmer Amos Miller, according to a complaint filed by the state’s agricultural department.

Bundled in flannel shirts and winter jackets, the inspectors put orange stickers on products detaining them from sale, and they left toting product samples in large blue-and-white coolers, online videos show. The 2024 complaint against Miller alleged that he and his wife sold dairy products in violation of state law.


The farm was well known to regulators. They say in the complaint that a Florida consumer died after being sickened in 2014 with listeria bacteria found in raw dairy from Miller’s farm. The FDA said a raw milk sample from the farm indicates it was the “likely source” of the infection, based on the complaint.

Neither Miller’s farm nor his lawyer returned calls seeking comment.

The Millers’ attorney filed a preliminary objection that said “shutting down Defendants would cause inequitable harm, exceed the authority of the agency, constitute an excessive fine as well as disparate, discriminatory punishment, and contravene every essential Constitutional protection and powers reserved to the people of Pennsylvania.”

Regulators in Pennsylvania said in a press release they must protect the public, and especially children, from harm. “We cannot ignore the illnesses and further potential harm posed by distribution of these unregulated products,” the Pennsylvania agricultural department and attorney general said in a joint statement.


Unpasteurized dairy products are responsible for almost all the estimated 761 illnesses and 22 hospitalizations in the U.S. that occur annually because of dairy-related illness, according to a study published in the June 2017 issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

But conservatives say raiding an Amish farm is government overreach. They’re “harassing him and trying to make an example of him. Our government is really out of control,” Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Doug Mastriano said in a video he posted to Facebook.

Videos show protesters at a February 2024 hearing on Miller’s case included Amish men dressed in black with straw hats and locals waving homemade signs with slogans such as “FDA Go Away.” A court in March issued a preliminary injunction that barred Miller from marketing and selling raw dairy products within the commonwealth pending appeal, but the order did not preclude sales of raw milk to customers out of state. The case is ongoing.

With Kennedy, the raw milk debate is poised to go national. Kennedy wrote on X in October that the “FDA’s war on public health is about to end.” In the post, he pointed to the agency’s “aggressive suppression” of raw milk, as one example.


McAfee is ready. He wants to see a national raw milk ordinance, similar to one that exists for pasteurized milk, that would set minimal national standards. Farmers could attain certification through training, continuing education, and on-site pathogen testing, with one standard for farms that sell to consumers and another for retail sales.

The Trump administration didn’t return emails seeking comment.

McAfee has detailed the system he developed to ensure his raw dairy products are safe. He confirmed the process for KFF Health News: cows with yellow-tagged ears graze on grass pastures and are cleansed in washing pens before milking. The raw dairy is held back from consumer sale until it’s been tested and found clear of pathogens.

His raw dairy products, such as cheese and milk, are sold by a variety of stores, including health, organic, and natural grocery chains, according to the company website, as well as raw dairy pet products, which are not for human consumption.

He said he doesn’t believe the raw milk he sells could contain or transmit viable bird flu virus. He also said he doesn’t believe regulators’ warnings about raw milk and the virus.

“The pharmaceutical industry is trying to create a new pandemic from bird flu to get their stock back up,” said McAfee, who says he counts Kennedy as a customer. His view is not shared by leading virologists.

In December, the state of California secured a voluntary recall of all his company’s raw milk and cream products due to possible bird flu contamination.

Five indoor cats in the same household died or were euthanized in December after drinking raw milk from McAfee’s farm, and tests on four of the animals found they were infected with bird flu, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Health.

In an unrelated case, Joseph Journell, 56, said three of his four indoor cats drank McAfee’s raw milk. Two fell sick and died, he said. His third cat, a large tabby rescue named Big Boy, temporarily lost the use of his hind legs and had to use a specialized wheelchair device, he said. Urine samples from Big Boy were positive for bird flu, according to a copy of the results from Cornell University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

McAfee dismissed connections between the cats’ illnesses and his products, saying any potential bird flu virus would no longer be viable by the time his raw milk gets to stores. He also said he believes that any sick cats got bird flu from recalled pet food.

Journell said he has hired a lawyer to try to recover his veterinary costs but remains a staunch proponent of raw milk.

“Raw milk is good for you, just not if it has bird flu in it,” he said. “I do believe in its healing powers.”

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

This article first appeared on KFF Health News and is republished here under a Creative Commons license

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Trump action stalls studies of deadly bird flu as outbreak escalates across the U.S.

Photo by Hana Oliver on Unsplash

Amy Maxmen, 

KFF Health News

January 30, 2025


The Trump administration has intervened in the release of important studies on the bird flu, as an outbreak escalates across the United States.

One of the studies would reveal whether veterinarians who treat cattle have been unknowingly infected by the bird flu virus. Another report documents cases in which people carrying the virus might have infected their pet cats.


The studies were slated to appear in the official journal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The distinguished journal has been published without interruption since 1952.

Its scientific reports have been swept up in an “immediate pause” on communications by federal health agencies ordered by Dorothy Fink, the acting secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Fink’s memo covers “any document intended for publication,” she wrote, “until it has been reviewed and approved by a presidential appointee.” It was sent on President Donald Trump’s first full day in office.

That’s concerning, former CDC officials said, because a firewall has long existed between the agency’s scientific reports and political appointees.


“MMWR is the voice of science,” said Tom Frieden, a former CDC director and the CEO of the nonprofit organization Resolve to Save Lives.

“This idea that science cannot continue until there’s a political lens over it is unprecedented,” said Anne Schuchat, a former principal deputy director at the CDC. “I hope it’s going to be very short-lived, but if it’s not short-lived, it’s censorship.”

White House officials meddled with scientific studies on covid-19 during the first Trump administration, according to interviews and emails collected in a 2022 report from congressional investigators. Still, the MMWR came out as scheduled.

“What’s happening now is quite different than what we experienced in covid, because there wasn’t a stop in the MMWR and other scientific manuscripts,” Schuchat said.

Neither the White House nor HHS officials responded to requests for comment. CDC spokesperson Melissa Dibble said, “This is a short pause to allow the new team to set up a process for review and prioritization.”

News of the interruption hit suddenly last week, just as Fred Gingrich, executive director of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners, a group for veterinarians specializing in cattle medicine, was preparing to hold a webinar with members. He planned to disclose the results of a study he helped lead, slated for publication in the MMWR later that week. Back in September, about 150 members had answered questions and donated blood for the study. Researchers at the CDC analyzed the samples for antibodies against the bird flu virus, to learn whether the veterinarians had been unknowingly infected earlier last year.

Although it would be too late to treat prior cases, the study promised to help scientists understand how the virus spreads from cows to people, what symptoms it causes, and how to prevent infection. “Our members were very excited to hear the results,” Gingrich said.

Like farmworkers, livestock veterinarians are at risk of bird flu infections. The study results could help protect them. And having fewer infections would lessen the chance of the H5N1 bird flu virus evolving within a person to spread efficiently between people — the gateway to a bird flu pandemic.

At least 67 people have tested positive for the bird flu in the U.S., with the majority getting the virus from cows or poultry. But studies and reporting suggest many cases have gone undetected, because testing has been patchy.

Just before the webinar, Gingrich said, the CDC informed him that because of an HHS order, the agency was unable to publish the report last week or communicate its findings. “We had to cancel,” he said.

Another bird flu study slated to be published in the MMWR last week concerns the possibility that people working in Michigan’s dairy industry infected their pet cats. These cases were partly revealed last year in emails obtained by KFF Health News. In one email from July 22, an epidemiologist pushed to publish the group’s investigation to “inform others about the potential for indirect transmission to companion animals.”

Jennifer Morse, medical director at the Mid-Michigan District Health Department and a scientist on the pending study, said she got a note from a colleague last week saying that “there are delays in our publication — outside of our control.”

A person close to the CDC, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of concerns about reprisal, expected the MMWR to be on hold at least until Feb. 6. The journal typically posts on Thursdays, and the HHS memo says the pause will last through Feb. 1.

“It’s startling,” Frieden said. He added that it would become dangerous if the reports aren’t restored. “It would be the equivalent of finding out that your local fire department has been told not to sound any fire alarms,” he said.

In addition to publishing studies, the MMWR keeps the country updated on outbreaks, poisonings, and maternal mortality, and provides surveillance data on cancer, heart disease, HIV, and other maladies. Delaying or manipulating the reports could harm Americans by stunting the ability of the U.S. government to detect and curb health threats, Frieden said.

The freeze is also a reminder of how the first Trump administration interfered with the CDC’s reports on covid, revealed in emails detailed in 2022 by congressional investigators with the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis. That investigation found that political appointees at HHS altered or delayed the release of five reports and attempted to control several others in 2020.

In one instance, Paul Alexander, then a scientific adviser to HHS, criticized a July 2020 report on a coronavirus outbreak at a Georgia summer camp in an email to MMWR editors, which was disclosed in the congressional investigation. “It just sends the wrong message as written and actually reads as if to send a message of NOT to re-open,” he wrote. Although the report’s data remained the same, the CDC removed remarks on the implications of the findings for schools.

Later that year, Alexander sent an email to then-HHS spokesperson Michael Caputo citing this and another example of his sway over the reports: “Small victory but a victory nonetheless and yippee!!!”

Schuchat, who was at the CDC at the time, said she had never experienced such attempts to spin or influence the agency’s scientific reports in more than three decades with the agency. She hopes it won’t happen again. “The MMWR cannot become a political instrument,” she said.

Gingrich remains hopeful that the veterinary study will come out soon. “We’re an apolitical organization,” he said. “Maintaining open lines of communication and continuing research with our federal partners is critical as we fight this outbreak.”KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

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This article first appeared on KFF Health News and is republished here under a Creative Commons license

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CONTRAILS BY ANY OTHER NAME

Chemtrail conspiracy theorists sway Republicans to support ban on geoengineering

Screenshot via ACTV/azleg.gov
Jodi Brackett speaks to the House Regulatory Oversight Committee on Jan. 28, 2025, alongside pictures of contrails she believes are evidence of “chemtrails” in Arizona.
Jerod Macdonald-Evoy, Arizona MirrorJanuary 29, 2025


Conspiracy theorists came out in force Tuesday afternoon to support a Republican bill that aims to ban “geoengineering,” citing the long debunked “chemtrails” conspiracy theory as evidence that nefarious actors are already turning Arizona’s skies into a laboratory and treating its unsuspecting residents as guinea pigs.

“This started when I noticed lines in the sky that did not look normal,” Jodi Brackett told the House Regulatory Oversight Committee.



As Brackett stood at the podium in the legislative hearing room, a man held a collage of photos of contrails taken in Arizona. Brackett said she brought the issue to freshman GOP legislator Lisa Fink’s attention.

Claims that Arizona has seen an increase in contrails left behind by airliners was a major theme among many of the speakers who came to support the bill.

“Whether you know it or not, your body is part of their laboratory,” Crystal Hansen told the committee claiming that the vapor trails left behind by airliners are “not condensation,” citing a website that has posted altered videos and photos as “evidence” of the conspiracy.

The geography of the Phoenix metropolitan area, where many of those who spoke in favor of Fink’s House Bill 2056 said they reside, plays a role in those long-hanging contrails that many see as “proof” of a larger conspiracy. The region sits basically in a bowl surrounded by mountains, with an inversion above that bowl that traps the air below it. That results in high ozone and other pollutant levels — as well as contrails that linger in the air longer than they do in most other places.

“We, the people, are extremely concerned with all the trails in our skies,” Melissa Price said to the committee, adding that she wants lawmakers to send the bill to the ballot for voters to decide on.

But Price did concede that “even with all the weather modification” she claimed was happening, the state is “not seeing any rain” and remains facing the effects of a historic drought.

Fink’s bill would ban geoengineering in Arizona. In simple terms, geoengineering is the practice of intentionally attempting to modify the atmosphere. In recent years, it has been explored as a possible way to combat the increasingly extreme effects of climate change.

The field is largely theoretical with only small projects taking place, some of which have faced backlash from local communities. Geoengineering has recently become the focus of groups that have previously pushed unfounded conspiracy theories about vaccines.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration currently monitors the planet’s atmosphere for signs of geoengineering programs by other nations or by small venture capitalist backed groups.

The emerging field has caused fierce debate among scientists, some of whom see it as a way to combat mankind’s impact on the planet, while others see it as another way to create climate chaos.

Many refer to the practice as climate intervention, and some scientists have been studying it as a means of combating climate change. These efforts have included studying things like solar radiation modification, a process that aims to decrease surface temperatures by reflecting sunlight away from the planet.

Last year, Tennessee lawmakers passed a law that banned geoengineering, with lawmakers during debate alluding to the debunked “chemtrails” conspiracy theory. Online conspiracy theorists have long pointed to the condensation left behind by airliners as being part of a larger conspiracy to modify the weather or poison the populace, though no evidence of such programs exist and the contrails planes sometimes leave behind are little more than water vapor that has frozen into ice crystals.

Other speakers also saw the bill as a way to combat other bogus geoengineering conspiracy theories that have long had a place in the fringes of conspiracy culture.

Leslie Forster told the committee that the bill would help protect Arizonans from the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program, also known as HAARP, which studies the planet’s upper atmosphere. The research project has been accused of causing a litany of weather-related events, despite its inability to impact the weather.

Speakers also confused sulfur iodide with sodium iodide, a chemical commonly used in cloud seeding. Cloud seeding eventually became a focus of the committee, as Fareed Bailey, a lobbyist representing the Salt River Project, said the utility was concerned about the bill’s ban on it.

Fink’s HB2056 bill would ban a litany of geoengineering practices, including cloud seeding, deploying aerosol particles in the stratosphere, releasing chaff into the atmosphere, solar radiation modification or any other attempts to modify the weather. Her legislation is similar to several others filed in other states this year.

Bailey said SRP has been studying cloud seeding as a possible way to help with the state’s water woes, but all research has been theoretical in computer models. SRP has not flown any aircraft to conduct cloud seeding tests, Bailey said.

“We do not want to close the door to this promising technology,” he said, adding that silver iodide, the main chemical used in cloud seeding, has been found to be largely non-toxic. Bailey’s claim was met with boos and jeers from many in the audience.

The bill initially was written to bar any government agency, research project, university, “public or private organization” or “military force” from engaging in geoengineering, with violators facing a $500,000 fine and a felony, with up to three years of prison; the the director of the Department of Water Resources would have been tasked with investigating any claim of geoengineering.

But the GOP-led committee amended the proposal to remove those penalties and the responsibility of the head of the water agency, instead allow citizens to bring any geoengineering claims to court, where they’d be awarded injunctive relief if they proved their case. The amendment also adds a ban on universities funding any research into solar radiation modification.

One attendee felt the amendment lacked “teeth” and suggested that the punishment for geoengineering be treason — which is punishable by death — eliciting cheers from the attendees.

Others asked members of the committee to “get on Instagram” to see the evidence of geoengineering that is allegedly happening out of Sky Harbor International Airport. Many cited increased issues with asthma as proof of the geoengineering plot.

With the increase in population and heat, the Phoenix metro area has seen a marked increase in the number of high pollution days, which leads to more adverse reactions to those with asthma and other breathing complications.

Some in attendance also appeared to believe in other conspiracy theories, sporting t-shirts supporting election reforms based on election fraud falsities and sharing with the committee their belief that a large number of children are being sex trafficked, a core component of the QAnon conspiracy theory. Local election conspiracy theorist Gail Golec also came out to support the bill Tuesday afternoon.

The formal GOP platform makes no mention of climate change, greenhouse gases, the environment, pollution, clean air or clean water. It makes a brief mention of conservation in a section on restoring “American Beauty.” And although there is broad scientific consensus that human activity is causing climate change, and that its effects are becoming more extreme, Arizona Republicans largely reject that it is happening at all.

Last year, state Senate Republicans backed a bill to bar state government and universities from spending money to reduce greenhouse gases or research climate change, deeming them both “Marxist” ideas that are “anti-God.”

Democratic committee members voiced concern that they did not hear from any experts, such as physicians or scientists. When the minority lawmakers said they didn’t see evidence of what the bill’s proponents were saying, many in attendance booed, leading Republican Committee Chair Joseph Chaplik to threaten bringing in security if outbursts continued.

Rep. Rachel Keshel, R-Tucson, who is married to conspiracy theorist Seth Keshel, said she has seen “adequate research” that the alleged chemicals involved in the fictional geoengineering leads to increased Azlhiemers.

And Chaplik said his inability to see individual airplanes flying more than 20,000 feet above Phoenix that are leaving contrails in the sky was concerning enough to support changing Arizona law to ban geoengineering.

“You’re seeing these in the sky at nighttime or early morning, you’re really not seeing the planes fully flying around the air,” he said, adding that he has been talking with Fink about the issue for “a few months.”

The bill passed out of the committee along party lines, with Republicans voting in favor and Democrats opposing. The bill heads next to the full House of Representatives for consideration.

Arizona Mirror is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arizona Mirror maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jim Small for questions: info@azmirror.com

Republican AGs pressure Costco to drop 'unlawful' diversity policies — citing Trump

DEI policies are often aimed at removing bias and promoting fairness in areas like employment and education.

Photo by Vlad Vasnetsov on Unsplash


Mckenna Horsley, 

Kentucky Lantern

January 29, 2025


A group of Republican attorneys general — including Kentucky’s Russell Coleman — is pressuring Costco “to end all unlawful discrimination imposed” by the retailer’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

The 19 attorneys general sent a letter to Costco CEO Ron Vachris this week citing Republican President Donald Trump’s executive order that encouraged “all agencies to enforce our longstanding civil-rights laws and to combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities.”

Writing that Costco “should treat every person equally and based on their merit, rather than based on divisive and discriminatory DEI practices,” the attorneys general asked Vachris to either repeal Costco’s DEI policies or explain why the company is keeping them in place within 30 days.

Costco shareholders recently rejected a proposal from a conservative think tank to examine risks posed by its DEI policies. Nearly 98% of shareholders voted against the measure. Costco’s board had recommended rejection of the proposal.

At the Jan. 24 shareholders meeting, Costco board chair Tony E Curtis said the company’s commitment to inclusion “does not and has never included quotas or systematic preferences, nor does it mean compromising merit. The demands of our business and our steadfast commitment to serve our members mean that we cannot afford to do anything but hire and promote the most qualified individuals.”

Costco has not publicly responded to the letter. A spokesperson for the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Kentucky AG Coleman said in a statement, “Costco has a motto to ‘Do the right thing,’ but their DEI business practices are all wrong. By pushing a DEI agenda, Costco is out-of-step with the Kentuckians who just want affordable prices.”

Costco has four stores in Kentucky, according to its website.

Nationwide, some companies are rethinking their commitment to DEI, while others are standing by their diversity practices. Brands like Walmart and Meta have rolled back DEI policies while tech giants Microsoft and Apple reaffirmed their policies within the last week. Last year, Kentucky-based whiskey maker Brown-Forman suspended its DEI policies.

DEI policies are often aimed at removing bias and promoting fairness in areas like employment and education.

Former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron crusaded with other Republican attorneys general to curb DEI in the private sector, including issuing a letter to Fortune 100 CEOs calling on them to use “race-neutral principles in your employment and contracting practices” following the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of affirmative action in higher education.

After losing a race for Kentucky governor in 2023, Cameron became CEO of the 1792 Exchange, a group that aims to “steer public companies back to neutral on divisive, ideological issues.”

Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear in an appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, recently defended private sector decisions to maintain DEI policies. If companies think encouraging a diverse workforce helps them, Beshear said, “the state that you’re working with should support you.”
Read the letter below

FINAL Costco Letter (1)

Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com.