President and Administration
Last week, President Biden told members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus that he was looking at different options for forgiving student loan debt…
The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday, 4/28, announced a plan to ban sales of menthol-flavored cigarettes in the U.S., a measure many public health experts hailed as the government’s most meaningful action in more than a decade of tobacco control efforts…
The U.S. economy contracted in the first three months of the year, but strong consumer spending and continued business investment suggested that the recovery remained resilient…
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously today, 5/2, that the city of Boston violated the Constitution when it refused to let a local organization fly a Christian flag in front of city hall…
Broadband resources for state and local governments…
Congress
Senate Majority Leader Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) have agreed on a pathway to begin an official House-Senate negotiation on the Bipartisan Innovation Act, a massive package to ensure U.S. technological competitiveness with China…
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) huddled last week to discuss putting together a package to address gas prices…
A small bipartisan group of lawmakers gathered again today, 5/2, to hash out whether a deal is possible to combat climate change and modernize U.S. energy policy…
Speaker Pelosi led a congressional delegation to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv over the weekend…
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), chair of the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, says the panel will hold public hearings in June. Thompson also said the panel will issue one final report in the fall…
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, introduced legislation last week that would reduce the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine to 2.5:1 from 18:1…
Republicans and Democrats are signaling they'll back President Biden's proposed $33 billion supplemental aid package for Ukraine's military, economic and humanitarian needs…
Mental Health
Three decades ago, the gravest public health threats to teenagers in the U.S. came from binge drinking, drunken driving, teenage pregnancy and smoking…
In partnership with the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has developed new, free informational resources that inform Americans of their rights under law on coverage for mental health benefits…
Education
Last week, the Department of Education announced major actions and investments from government, the private sector, and nonprofit organizations to support student academic and mental health recovery as part of ED’s broader effort to help students, schools, and communities recover from the pandemic and re-emerge stronger…
In a new article, the Education Secretary lays out his department's values and priorities for improving education in this next phase of recovery…
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration recently launched an equity action plan with steps to offer more resources and opportunities to faculty members and students at minority-serving institutions…
Student Defense, the Project on Predatory Student Lending and the National Consumer Law Center have filed a lawsuit against Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and the Department of Education on behalf of student loan borrowers with unresolved borrower defense to repayment claims…
The Department of Education is putting the finishing touches on a long-awaited rewrite of Title IX which is widely expected to codify the rights of trans students for the first time…
Rates of cheating in online examinations have hit a record high, according to proctoring data that show one in 14 students was caught breaking the rules last year…