Photos of board members decorate the walls inside LAUSD headquarters Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Los Angeles. The exterior of the home of Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho is shown on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in San Pedro, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang) Media stages outside LAUSD headquarters Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Los Angeles. Los Angeles District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, at podium, holds a news conference as SEIU Local 99 Executive Director Max Arias, left, and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, right, listen, in Los Angeles City Hall, Friday, March 24, 2023. The exterior of LAUSD headquarters is shown Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Los Angeles. Federal officials in Los Angeles served the warrants as part of an ongoing investigation, according to a person familiar with the investigation who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the probe. Ciaran McEvoy, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles, confirmed that court-authorized searches were underway Wednesday. The district and the superintendent's office did not immediately respond to emails and a voicemail requesting comment. TV news footage showed agents in FBI shirts and jackets outside Superintendent Alberto Carvalho's modest home in the San Pedro neighborhood about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of downtown LA. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass's office said it had no information about the search and noted the district operates independently of city government. The sprawling Los Angeles Unified School District is the nation's second largest, with more than 500,000 students and covering more than two dozen cities. Carvalho has been its superintendent since February 2022. Before coming to Los Angeles, Carvalho oversaw Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Florida's largest school district, from 2008 to 2021, when he was credited with improving graduation rates and academic performance.

Neighbors, government workers, storeowners across New York have been digging out from a brutal storm that forecasters are calling the strongest in a decade. That has also brought out acts of kindness and generosity. AP reporter Kimberlee Kruesi shows snow removal efforts in Providence, Rhode Island, following a record-breaking storm that brought more than 3 feet of snow to the state. New Yorkers are continuing to dig out after heavy snow inundated the northeast on Monday. In New York City, more than a million students in the nation's largest public school system had a regular day, Mayor Zohran Mamdani declared, inviting kids to pelt him with snowballs over his decision. Mayor Zohran Mamdani says New York City is “back up and running” after a powerful snowstorm. He also commented on an incident Monday where NYPD officers were pelted with snowballs in a city park. A Brooklyn Bridge Park worker clears snow from a sidewalk near the park, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. NEW YORK (AP) — Light snow fell over parts of the Northeast on Wednesday as people navigated to work and school after a massive storm that dropped piles of powder on streets and sidewalks from Maryland to Maine. One to 3 more inches (2.5 to 7.6 centimeters) of snow was expected, much less than the last storm, but whatever melted likely froze again overnight, resulting in patchy black ice to make for some slippery roads, the National Weather Service said. As temperatures rose by mid-morning in some places, much of that became a slushy mess. The gigantic snowstorm this week has cities working overtime to clear towering heaps. In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani got creative: in addition to spreading 143 million pounds (65 million kilograms) of salt by Tuesday evening, the city signed up at least 3,500 people as emergency shovelers, working $30-per-hour shifts to clear snow from bus stops and streets. Power had returned for many of the hundreds of thousands who had lost electricity in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware and Rhode Island. But nearly 160,000 customers in Massachusetts were still without power early Wednesday. Cape Cod, which accounted for most of the outages in the state, slowly began to see power return Wednesday, with utility Eversource promising that “99% of customers” would have electricity restored by Friday. In an AP interview, National Weather Service forecaster Bob Oravec says additional light snow moved out across the Great Lakes and into the Northeast overnight. In Newport, Rhode Island, first responders found 21-year-old Salve Regina University student Joseph Boutros unresponsive in a car parked outside a university building. Joseph Carroll said the area had lost power and Boutros told another student he was going to his car to charge his phone. The vehicle's exhaust pipe was obstructed by snow, police said, calling his death from carbon monoxide poisoning accidental. There was plenty more work left to do. Parts of New York have people feeling like they're marooned on islands, according to Jeff Peters, spokesperson for the Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York. “Then you get to the corner and not only is it unshoveled, but you have basically a glacier at the end of it.” Tina Guenette, who uses a motorized wheelchair, had to shovel out her yard this week after more than 33 inches (84 centimeters) fell in Harrisville, Rhode Island, a town about 17 miles (27 kilometers) northwest of Providence. “I really have no choice if my service dog wants to go outside,” Guenette said. Harrisville's volunteer snow-shoveling program hasn't had volunteers for years, she said. Monday's storm blanketed the region with snow, canceled flights, disrupted transit and downed power lines. Meteorologist Ryan Maue, former chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, crunched the numbers, which show that if all the snow that fell from Maryland to Maine fell just on Manhattan, it would have towered over a mile high. If the snowfall blanketed only on Rhode Island, which got hit hardest, it would bury the entire Ocean State in more than 92 feet of snow. Melted, it's enough to fill the Empire State Building with water more than 9,000 times. In New York City, workers will use massive basins of warm water where large amounts of snow and ice will be dumped, acting Sanitation Commissioner Javier Lojan said. They helped melt 23 million pounds (11.5 metric tons) of snow during last month's storm. In snowbound Providence, Rhode Island, the city is taking snow to five locations, according to Josh Estrella, communications director for the city government. The challenge is so great that additional dumping grounds may be added, Estrella said. Some large school districts moved back to in-person classes on Wednesday, including Philadelphia, which had switched to online learning during the first two days of the week. They had been closed since last week for the winter vacation break. But in hardest-hit Rhode Island, Providence schools were closed for a third snow as the district moved into “virtual learning” on Wednesday. In New York City, it's another regular school day for more than 900,000 students in the nation's largest public school system, but many students and their caregivers had to scramble over mountainous snow banks and dodge salt spreaders during the morning drop-off. When Jamie Meyers' flight landed in New York from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday evening, the cabin full of relieved passengers burst into applause. The Manhattan resident was supposed to arrive home Sunday but faced a cancellation and significant delay.

In a marathon State of the Union address, President Donald Trump ticked through claimed victories, insisting the U.S. is “winning so much” even as his approval slips, and blasting Democrats as “crazy” for remaining seated rather than standing to applaud. Now the challenge for him is to make that message stick. His address Tuesday was a declaration of pride in the achievements of his still-young second term, as he boasted of an economic renaissance at home while he's imposed a new world order abroad. Trump is getting his first opportunity to test drive that midterm year message later this week, when he travels to Texas, where the Latino voters whose shift toward Trump in his successful 2024 reelection campaign highlighted how he had reshaped the Republican coalition. The White House aims to promote that message to a broader electorate that's largely disenchanted with Trump's job performance, while a looming conflict in the Middle East threatens to shift focus from his domestic priorities. Trump also has a proclivity to go off-script during political rallies, such as during a speech last week in Rome, Georgia, asserting he's “solved” affordability when high prices remain a chief concern for voters. Still, the themes of economic prosperity and a more secure America that Trump emphasized in his 108-minute speech Tuesday will underpin the broader narrative he and his fellow Republicans will seek to sell to voters this November. A slew of Cabinet officials — including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins — blanketed the airwaves Wednesday, promoting the highlights from Trump's address. President Joe Biden, for instance, went to swing states such as Wisconsin and Pennsylvania the day after his speech in the last two years of his term. But Trump — who wove a series of made-for-social media surprises into his address — is known for being able to command attention in a fractured news environment, and he's likely to find other ways to break through aside from the usual post-State of the Union blitz. “Donald Trump is a master at the big moments, so he obviously cares a lot about how the speech goes, but what he cares a lot about are the clips that get replayed over and over again from the State of the Union,” said Austin Cantrell, who served as an assistant White House press secretary in Trump's first term. Cantrell, who's now with the Chattanooga, Tennessee-based firm Bridge Public Affairs, said: “I don't expect this to be some Aaron Sorkin-esque, perfectly choreographed post-State of the Union media fan-out.” Six years ago, it was Trump's move to award conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor, that surprised the audience. Tuesday's address — record-breaking in its length — included similar attention-grabbing moments. Trump called Hellebuyck and his teammates into the House chamber, where they were greeted with applause. Abigail Spanberger, in Democrats' response, argued costs remain high for many Americans and families are still struggling under Trump's policies. Trump called on both parties to “protect American citizens, not illegal aliens,” and pushed for measures to limit mail-in ballots and tighten voter identification rules, while warning about the dangers of unchecked, illegal migration. He so far has hit critical battleground states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania and North Carolina on his economy tour, but he also traveled to reliably conservative Iowa and the congressional district of former Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. He has boosted candidates — in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, he bantered with Republican Michael Whatley and promoted his Senate run — while sometimes veering far away from the economic points the trips are meant to emphasize. Just the optics of leaving Washington can help telegraph to voters that a president cares about connecting with them. Edward Frantz, a historian at the University of Indianapolis, said Herbert Hoover — an engineer, self-made millionaire and technocrat — believed he could solve the nation's ills by working with his team in isolation and rarely leaving Washington. That led to a perception among voters that Hoover simply didn't care, because they didn't see him connecting with Americans. How Americans feel about Trump has remained relatively stable throughout his second term, making it unlikely that one speech will meaningfully shift the way he's perceived. His approval rating has changed very little during his second term, Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research polling has found, falling only slightly from 42% in March 2025 to 36% in early February. Nevertheless, the annual address offers Trump the chance to reframe his message, just as it has for presidents who came before him. Presidential historian Timothy Naftali pointed out that in 1996, Bill Clinton used his State of the Union to set the themes of his Democratic reelection campaign. After George W. Bush's midterm drubbing in November 2006, the Republican struck a noticeably more conciliatory tone toward the new Democratic leadership that had just taken charge on Capitol Hill. “The State of the Union, they're less important than they once were because with a president like Trump, he's always available,” said Naftali, a senior research scholar at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. Associated Press polling editor Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux contributed to this report.

Phil Collins performs at Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City on March 9, 2018, left, Lauryn Hill performs during the draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup in Washington on Dec. 5, 2025, center, and Shakira performs during the Global Citizen Festival in New York on Sept. 27, 2025. Luther Vandross accepts the award for favorite soul or R&B male artist at the 29th American Music Awards in Los Angeles on Jan. 9, 2002. British singer Sade Adu performs during her “Soldiers of Love” concert in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Oct. 20, 2011. Members of the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, from left, Dave Murray, Nicko McBrian, Bruce Dickinson, Steve Harris, Janick Gers and Adrian Smith hold up their hands after being inducted into Hollywood's Rockwalk in Los Angeles on Aug. 19, 2005. Members of the Australian rock group INXS, from left, Garry Gary Beers, Andrew Farriss, Jon Farriss, Michael Hutchence, Kirk Pengilly and Tim Farriss appear at the 7th annual American MTV Video Music Awards in Universal City, Calif., on Sept. 6, 1990. NEW YORK (AP) — Phil Collins, Mariah Carey, Lauryn Hill, INXS, Iron Maiden, Luther Vandross and Shakira are some the 2026 nominees for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a wide net that includes rap, metal, R&B, hip-hop, Britpop, blues rock and pop. Billy Idol, Joy Division/New Order return to the nominations after missing induction last year. The list this time also repeats two sets of musical brothers who have had public feuds and recent reunions — The Black Crowes and Oasis. Carey, nominated in 2024 and 2025, has had 19 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, while soul-jazz vocalist Sade, also nominated in 2024, had such soft rock hits as “Smooth Operator” and “The Sweetest Taboo.” The Wu-Tang Clan have been hailed as rap innovators since their game-changing 1993 debut album “Enter the Wu-Tang.” INXS ruled the late 1980s charts with hits like “Need You Tonight,” “Devil Inside” and “New Sensation.” Two-time Grammy winner Etheridge is best known for her songs “Come to My Window” and “I'm the Only One.” Iron Maiden helped power the new wave of British heavy metal with iconic albums like “The Number of the Beast.” New Edition had the hits “Cool It Now” and “Candy Girl,” while Shakira has been lauded for her ability to bridge Latin music with rock and pop. Buckley, whose 1994 debut album “Grace” is widely acclaimed, died in 1997. The 2026 inductees will be revealed in April, along with inductees entering the hall under three special committee categories: Musical influence, musical excellence and the Ahmet Ertegun Non-Performer Award. Artists must have released their first commercial recording at least 25 years before they're eligible for induction. Nominees will be voted on by more than 1,200 artists, historians and music industry professionals. Last year, Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, Bad Company, Chubby Checker, Soundgarden, Joe Cocker, Salt-N-Pepa, The White Stripes, Carol Kaye, Nicky Hopkins, Lenny Waronker, Thom Bell and Warren Zevon all were inducted.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG. Republican, Democrat and Independent voters reacted to President Donald Trump calling Democrats "crazy" for not applauding his call to ban secret teen gender transitions. President Donald Trump's decision to rip Democrats as "crazy" during his State of the Union address on Tuesday — after they remained seated while he demanded a ban on socially transitioning minors without parental consent — drew sharply divided reactions from a live panel of voters. The panel, assembled by polling group Maslansky & Partners, included 29 Democrats, 30 Independents and 40 Republicans. Their real-time reactions were displayed as colored lines on a graph, with higher values representing positive reactions and lower values indicating negative ones. "But surely we can all agree no state can be allowed to rip children from their parents' arms and transition them to a new gender against the parents' will," Trump said. Independents, represented in yellow, also ticked upward, while Democrats, shown in blue, trended downward into negative territory. President Donald Trump speaks during his State of the Union address as a live reaction panel assembled by Maslansky & Partners tracks voter responses to his remarks on banning school gender transitions without parental consent. They're crazy," Trump said, pointing his finger at Democratic senators and House members who remained seated. Republican reactions stayed elevated during the remarks, while Democratic responses remained negative and independent voters held relatively steady. Sage Blair and her mother, Michelle Blair, stand in the gallery during President Donald Trump's State of the Union address after he highlighted her case involving alleged school gender transition policies. Trump made the remarks as he called on Sage Blair, a Virginia teenager whose family filed a 2023 lawsuit alleging that Appomattox County High School staff socially transitioned her without parental knowledge. According to a lawsuit filed by her family, Blair began identifying as male at school, where staff used male names and pronouns and allowed her to use male facilities without informing her parents. WATCH: Trump highlights teen whose family says school hid her gender transition during State of the Union The family alleges the situation escalated after Blair ran away from home and later became a victim of sex trafficking, with the lawsuit alleging she was kidnapped and raped in multiple states. Highlighting the case during his address, Trump said Blair was 14 when school officials sought to socially transition her "to a new gender," treating her as a boy and hiding it from her parents. "But today, all of that is behind them because Sage is a proud and wonderful young woman with a full-ride scholarship to Liberty University. Sage and Michelle, please stand up," Trump said as Republicans in the chamber cheered. "Thank you for your great bravery," he added. President Donald Trump demanded a ban on schools socially transitioning minors without parental consent at Tuesday's State of the Union. Among supporters, several comments focused on protecting children and parental involvement, including: "Protect children," and "Parents should be informed." Opponents pushed back on the scope of the proposal, writing comments such as: "Every case is unique," and "A total ban is not good." The issue appeared to trigger deeply personal reactions on both sides. You can send tips to michael.dorgan@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @M_Dorgan. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters. At Vox, our mission is to help you make sense of the world — and that work has never been more vital. But we can't do it on our own. We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today? America's slaughterhouses could become even more dangerous for workers and animals. Last week, the US Department of Agriculture proposed a strikingly cruel policy, even for this administration: speeding up the kill lines at America's chicken, turkey, and pig slaughterhouses. The plan will make one of the country's most dangerous jobs — working in a meat processing plant — even more unsafe, labor advocates argue. The new draft rules would allow slaughterhouses that participate in certain inspection systems — which account for the majority of poultry and pork processing in the US — to move even faster than they already do. Pig slaughterhouses currently have a maximum line speed limit of 1,106 pigs per hour, but under the new rule, there will be no speed limit. The nearly 500,000 people who work in meat processing plants in the US — one-third of whom are immigrants — use sharp knives to quickly cut up animal carcasses over long shifts, already making them susceptible to high rates of cuts, lacerations, amputations, and carpal tunnel syndrome. The work can take a heavy toll on their mental health, too, as many suffer from anxiety, depression, and a form of PTSD they often didn't carry before taking up the job. Animal welfare groups worry the draft rules could increase botched slaughter, too, as faster lines can make it more difficult for workers to properly stun animals, leading to further suffering. “Thank you, Secretary Rollins and the Food Safety and Inspection Service, for taking steps to unleash the potential to process pork more efficiently,” reads part of a statement from Duane Stateler, president of the National Pork Producers Council. On top of the worker and animal welfare issues, Trump's USDA has also withdrawn a Biden-era rule to reduce salmonella in poultry and has reduced its number of slaughterhouse inspectors. Magaly Licolli, the cofounder and director of the poultry worker advocacy group Venceremos, said that increased line speeds can further compromise food safety: “Many workers explain that they simply cannot check for contamination, defects, or improperly processed meat when items pass by them in a blur.” The effort began in 1997 when, under President Bill Clinton, the USDA allowed a small number of poultry and pig slaughterhouses to operate faster. In 2012, President Barack Obama's USDA proposed increasing the chicken slaughter rate from 140 birds per minute to 175. After strong pushback from labor and food safety groups, the agency dropped it. Trump's USDA expanded the number of poultry slaughterhouses that could speed up their lines and finalized a rule to allow for some pig slaughterhouses to do the same. Still determined to increase slaughter line speeds, the USDA — during the Biden administration — hired third-party researchers to conduct experiments on how line speed affects worker safety. To compensate for the increased workload that came with faster line speeds, some chicken plants in the study also increased staffing, which prevented further injury risk. The researchers made it clear that this finding should be implemented in meat processing plants: “Any establishment anticipating an increase in evisceration line speed should proactively mitigate MSD [musculoskeletal disorder] risk by increasing job-specific staffing levels and/or decreasing job-specific line speeds.” But the USDA didn't incorporate any rules about increasing staffing to compensate for increased line speeds into its new draft proposals. When asked about this, an agency spokesperson told me that the USDA does not “have the power to regulate piece rates or how private companies manage their staff.” Debbie Berkowitz, who served as a chief of staff and senior policy adviser at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) under Obama, told me that she and other labor advocates have long urged the USDA to require companies to add workers to the line if they're going to increase line speeds. The National Pork Producers Council declined to answer questions about whether it would encourage its member companies to increase staffing when line speeds go up. Berkowitz said the two USDA proposals represent an effort on the agency's part to relinquish its responsibility to protect workers. During past rulemaking processes on line speeds, the agency — under both Obama and Trump administrations — asked the public for input on worker safety. And they're doing this “knowing full well that the Trump administration is hollowing out OSHA and the number of inspections has already fallen precipitously.” Taken together, the draft rules are a “very telling sign of this administration and how they view blue-collar workers…they have decided that they no longer have to care about workers at all.” But given the USDA's longrunning deference to the meat industry, its final rules are unlikely to look much different than its drafts. Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change. Apply here to receive a free annual Membership, made possible by another reader. William Foege helped give us a world without smallpox. We're marking his death by letting measles come back. Around the world, energy is becoming abundant — there's just one problem. The quiet economic miracle hiding in your grocery bill.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG. Republican, Democrat and Independent voters reacted to President Donald Trump introducing the gold medal-winning Team USA men's hockey team during the State of the Union address. (Credit: Maslansky & Partners for Fox News Digital) President Donald Trump's introduction of the gold medal-winning USA men's Olympic hockey team during the State of the Union address on Tuesday night was met with largely positive bipartisan reactions among voters. Lee Carter, of the polling group maslansky+partners, said Independent voters especially loved the moment when the players entered the House Chamber wearing their gold medals and USA sweatshirts, and were met with thunderous "U-S-A" chants. "The USA hockey team and military recognition moments were widely noticed," Carter said. "Visual, patriotic moments landed more consistently than policy-heavy segments." Dials showed reaction from Republican voters, who were already energized by the speech, also increased, while reaction from Democrat voters, who were overall the least enthused during Trump's speech, also saw a slight bump. Even some critics acknowledged, "They deserve recognition," and, "It's a nice moment." President Donald Trump applauds with Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson as he delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. "Here with us tonight is a group of winners who just made the entire nation proud. The men's gold medal Olympic hockey team," Trump said. "They beat a fantastic Canadian team in overtime as everybody saw, as did the American women who will soon be coming to the White House," the president said. Members of the United States' Olympic hockey team attend President Donald Trump's State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. Trump added that he would honor goaltender Connor Hellebuyck with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content. By entering your email and clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to the Fox News Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content and promotional communications from Fox News. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by

The boys sat in one waiting room and then another. Two hours and 20 minutes passed before the two were isolated, according to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services records obtained by KFF Health News. Health inspectors for CMS investigated the measles infections and other failures in care and concluded that the twins' symptoms should have triggered an isolation procedure for which Mission Hospital staffers had trained seven months earlier. CMS designated Mission in “Immediate Jeopardy” for the exposures and other unrelated issues, one of the most severe sanctions a hospital can face, threatening to pull federal funding unless it remedied the problems. A spokesperson for Mission said its staff was trained to manage airborne sickness and is following federal rules. As U.S. hospitals face an increasing risk of encountering measles, and pressure to immediately spot it, health care workers face an unusual barrier: Many don't know what it looks like. North Carolina has reported more than 20 cases since mid-December, and more than 3,000 people nationwide have been infected since the beginning of 2025. Children in areas with low immunization rates have been especially susceptible to outbreaks, triggering public health campaigns to promote the measles vaccine. CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz encouraged vaccination in a CNN interview on Feb. 8. With two doses of the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine, a person has a 3% chance of getting the virus after exposure. If exposed, an unvaccinated person has a 90% chance of being infected, according to the CDC. It can take a week or two before someone infected with measles shows symptoms. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was a longtime anti-vaccine activist before taking office, and under his leadership the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reduced the number of shots recommended to children. After measles erupted in West Texas last year, Kennedy publicly recommended unconventional and unproven treatments for the virus, including steroids, antibiotics, and cod liver oil. Infectious disease experts and doctors said federal policies have left health care workers to lean on their own experience or guidance from their state public health systems to fight a disease that many are preparing to see for the first time and that initially may behave like the common cold. “As measles becomes more common, all of us are leveling up in our ability to recognize and immediately respond to suspected measles,” Flynn said. After outbreaks in Texas, Arizona, Utah, and now South Carolina, the nation is on track to lose that designation before the year is out. Symptoms of measles, a virus that attacks the lungs and airways, can include fever, cough, a blotchy rash, and red, watery eyes. Researchers consider measles among the most contagious diseases, and the virus may remain active for up to two hours after an infected person leaves a room. It can be lethal, with 1 to 3 deaths per 1,000 cases in children. Along with tracking data, the CDC provides detailed summaries on its website for diagnosing measles. State public health agencies and some counties have developed dashboards tracing the disease as it surfaces in such places as hospitals, schools, grocery stores, and airports. Large hospital systems developed staff training protocols last year and shared them with area clinics. Look for the three C's, that guidance said: cough, coryza (cold symptoms), and conjunctivitis (pink eye). According to CMS inspection records, HCA Healthcare, which owns Mission Hospital, trained Mission staff on the three C's early last year. On top of failing to isolate the twin patients right away, Mission staff didn't have a designated area for patients with respiratory symptoms, federal inspectors found. The CDC advises health workers to immediately place patients with measles or suspicious symptoms in a special isolation room, where airflow is controlled inward. Mission spokesperson Nancy Lindell said the hospital was equipped and staffed to manage airborne illnesses like measles. “Our hospital has been working with state and federal health officials on proactive preparedness, and we are following guidance provided by the CDC,” Lindell said. Most U.S. clinics and hospitals have never experienced measles cases, said Patsy Stinchfield, a former president of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and a nurse practitioner. She called CMS' Immediate Jeopardy penalty for Mission “extreme,” given the virus can be so difficult to identify. “In the middle of winter right now, measles looks like every other viral respiratory infection that kids come in with,” Stinchfield said. The CDC has been less communicative in the past year with clinics about their response to outbreaks, said health workers and infectious disease experts. This disconnect began soon after Trump took office, according to a KFF Health News investigation finding that health officials in West Texas were unable to talk with CDC scientists as measles surged last February and March. “We certainly do not feel the support or guidance from the CDC right now,” said Brigette Fogleman, a pediatrician at Asheville Children's Medical Center, where staff members have come up with their own method of staving off the virus: screening patients over the phone and in their cars before a visit. Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist and director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University, acknowledged that diagnosing measles is a major challenge, emphasizing that coordination among public health agencies is critical in overcoming that challenge. “When you are at the highest level of measles cases in 30 years, we should be seeing lots more from our federal government,” Stinchfield said. In North Carolina's Buncombe County, home to Asheville and Mission Hospital, health officials had counted seven measles cases by mid-February and anticipated many more, according to state epidemiologist Zack Moore. It's unclear how many of those are connected to the Mission exposure. Fogleman, who is also a pediatrician, and Buncombe health department director Jennifer Mullendore spoke during a recent Facebook livestream hosted by the county, urging families to get their children vaccinated, debunking vaccine misinformation, and updating parents on local case numbers. Days before, a local private school had quarantined about 100 students after an exposure. Only 41% of students there were immunized, according to state data. At Fogleman's clinic, parents are asked to wait in their vehicles with their children, and staffers come out to screen them there. Some parents resist vaccination and note recently weakened federal recommendations around measles vaccines for children under 4, she said. One parent recently told a nurse, “It's only measles. “All we can do is try to educate and move forward.”

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG. Paul Perez, who attended the State of the Union, joined 'Fox & Friends First' to discuss how President Donald Trump's State of the Union showcased border achievements and his plea to Congress on CDLs. A majority of the U.S. Supreme Court's justices were absent from President Donald Trump's 2026 State of the Union address Tuesday night — a conspicuous move coming just days after the high court struck down his signature global tariff policy. Only Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Associate Justices Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett attended the speech. Justices Samuel Alito., Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson were not present. The absences followed a 6–3 Supreme Court decision ruling that Trump's sweeping tariff plan exceeded presidential authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act — a major setback for the administration's economic agenda. His criticism included members of the conservative bloc, among them two justices he appointed during his first term. Invitations are extended as a matter of tradition, and participation is left to individual discretion. Those who do attend typically enter the House chamber together in their black judicial robes and sit prominently in the front row — a visual symbol of the judiciary's coequal status alongside the executive and legislative branches. Still, attendance has long been uneven, reflecting discomfort within the judiciary about appearing at what has increasingly become a partisan spectacle. Alito has not attended a State of the Union since 2010, when he famously shook his head and appeared to mouth "not true" as then-President Barack Obama criticized the Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. Months later, Alito said publicly that sitting through the address made him feel like "the proverbial potted plant," and he suggested he would not return in the near future. Despite those concerns, Roberts has attended every State of the Union since becoming chief justice in 2005. United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito on October 7, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Thomas has also largely stayed away in recent years. While some justices have consistently opted out — including past members of the court — others have continued to attend as a matter of institutional tradition. Fox News' Shannon Bream and Bill Mears contributed to this report. Bradford Betz is a Fox News Digital breaking reporter covering crime, political issues, and much more. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by

A prominent voice in the “Make America Healthy Again” movement is facing sharp questions from senators in a bid to become the nation's top doctor. Dr. Casey Means, best-selling author, wellness influencer and Stanford medical graduate, became an early ally of now-Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s MAHA campaign and has several important backers within the Trump administration. Along with her brother Calley, who serves as an adviser to Kennedy at the Health and Human Services department, Means has championed healthy eating, limited pharmaceutical use and alternative remedies. “As a physician, I have always been inspired that the root of the word healing means to return to wholeness,” Means told senators on Wednesday. “Nothing is more urgent than restoring wholeness for Americans, physically, mentally and societally.” Means immediately faced questions from senators about her stances on mifepristone, one of the pills used in abortion, contraception and vaccines, and about her qualifications. Advocates and some former officials have criticized Means' nomination because the surgeon general is typically a physician with clinical experience; Means had dropped out of her medical residency program and her Oregon medical license is inactive. Can Trump's surgeon general pick convince the country that RFK Jr. is Making America Healthy Again? Loomer also suggested Means could harness the surgeon general position to tip federal policies in favor of commercial interests in which she has personal stakes, such as her tech company. Means testifies during a fraught moment for the administration's health agenda. MAHA advocates, meanwhile, are railing against Trump's executive order to shield pesticide manufacturers. While the role of surgeon general does not carry policy or regulatory authority, surgeons general often help shape the national health conversation and build public momentum for policy change. Means said Wednesday that she would push to address root causes of chronic illness through nutrition, steering away from “frankenfoods made in factories.” She said she wants to focus the health care system on understanding “why we are sick and not just reactive sick care.” However, she faced sharp questions on several key health topics. On vaccines, Means has advocated for “unbiased research” into the childhood vaccine schedule and questioned the safety of giving a hepatitis B vaccine shortly after birth. “I bet that one vaccine probably isn't causing autism, but what about the 20 that they're getting before 18 months?” she said on Joe Rogan's podcast in 2024. On Wednesday, Means said “anti-vaccine rhetoric has never been a part of my message.” She added, “don't think it's responsible to say that we're not going to study when kids are getting many medications.” Means said she believes vaccines save lives, but wouldn't directly answer whether the flu vaccine reduces illness or hospitalization, despite longstanding evidence of its impact. In response to questions on Wednesday about abortion and mifepristone, the pill that has prompted Republicans' ire and multiple lawsuits about prescribing it remotely, Means said “all patients need to have a thorough conversation with their doctor and have true informed consent before taking any medication.” She said the current health care system often doesn't allow that. The nominee also said “oral contraception should be widely accessible,” but said patients need “informed consent before getting on a medication that's often prescribed for several years without follow up.” Speaking on Tucker Carlson's show in August 2024, Means said widespread contraception use is a sign that “we have lost respect for life.” Those comments brought consternation from public health advocates, such as Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group, who told CNN last year that she is unqualified for the surgeon general position. Means' hearing comes as MAHA acolytes rally for the administration to take strong action against pesticides such as widely used glyphosate, commonly known by the brand name Roundup. Last week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring glyphosate “central to American economic and national security.” “The things that give life in this world, which are women and soil, we have tried to dominate and shut down the cycles.” On Wednesday, she walked a careful line, saying farmers, like doctors, are in an “impossible situation.” “Obviously, changing anything overnight would be devastating to the American farmer,” Means said. However, “we need to understand how these chemicals are affecting our bodies.”

The Supreme Court will soon decide whether a Michigan county violated a family's constitutional rights by selling their property as part of a tax foreclosure for well under its market value, years after the high court ruled counties may not pocket the profits from those kinds of sales. Justices will hear oral arguments on Wednesday in Pung v. Isabella County. In this case, Isabella County seized the Pung family's home to pay $2,242 in unpaid taxes, penalties, and interest. The county then sold the property at auction for $76,008 despite its fair market value of $194,400. The family's lawyers argued to the high court that they are entitled to roughly $192,000 in surplus rather than the $73,000 surplus they received, in a case which could transform the standard for tax foreclosure sales. “Historically, this has always been based on the property's ‘fair market value,' not the residue of an inferior distressed auction. Lawyers for Isabella County argued to the high court in their brief that they should reject Pung's arguments that the Fifth and Eighth amendments require them to rely on the property value, rather than the auction sale amount, to calculate how much the family is owed. Petitioner's fair-market-value theory has no foothold in history or precedent,” the brief said. “The robust tradition of requiring foreclosing governments to pay surplus proceeds (and no more) to property owners shows that neither the Takings Clause nor the Excessive Fines Clause requires a greater amount,” the county's brief continued. Lawyers for the county also warned that if the Supreme Court sides with the Pung family, they will “effectively eliminate foreclosure as an option to collect government debts, and cripple state property-tax collection systems.” “Doing so would benefit those who do not pay their taxes while increasing the burden on those who do,” the brief said. The Justice Department also filed a brief to the Supreme Court in the case and will have time to argue on Wednesday, arguing that the Eighth Amendment's excessive fines clause should not apply because there is no “fine” in this case. That is payment for unpaid taxes, not punishment for some offense,” the DOJ's brief said. “The taxpayer may therefore challenge the procedural fairness of the sale by arguing, for example, that it was conducted with insufficient notice or opportunity for bidding. The Supreme Court will hear arguments in Pung v. Isabella County at 10 a.m. Wednesday, shortly after justices are expected to release at least one ruling in a case they heard earlier this term. A decision in the Pung case is expected by the end of June, when the high court's final opinions are likely to be released.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG. Many conservatives quickly took to social media to praise President Trump's State of the Union speech, which lasted just under two hours, energizing Republicans and riling Democrats. "It's not just an excellent speech, it's mostly POTUS himself," conservative radio host Mark Levin posted on X. " "Trump is a colossus; an amazingly patriotic speech," FOX Business Senior Correspondent Charles Gasparino posted on X. "This is the best State of the Union Address I've ever seen," conservative commentator Buck Sexton posted on X. "President Trump's State of the Union put America's greatness on full display—celebrating our war heroes, everyday heroes, and Olympic champions," former GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy posted on X. "The President delivered a home run State of the Union tonight," GOP Rep. Chip Roy posted on X. Democrats on social media struck a different tone, with many prominent faces of the party bashing the president as the speech developed, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who accused Trump of "destroying the country" and posted "that was boring." "That State of the Union speech by Trump was humiliating for both him and the Republican Party," liberal influencer Harry Sisson posted on X. "He rambled incoherently and Republicans clapped like seals the whole time no matter what was said. I'm glad military heroes were honored, but he lied the entire time." U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with members of Congress as he departs following his State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on February 24, 2026. Trump invited a swath of various guests to the speech, including everyday Americans, Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk's widow, Erika Kirk, the U.S. men's hockey team fresh off their gold medal win, military members who acted heroically in the time of crisis and families who have suffered tragedy at the hands of illegal immigrants. Trump's speech came as the GOP prepares to defend its majority in the House and Senate as the November midterms loom, and also as the nation prepares to celebrate its 250 years of independence. "This July 4th, we will mark two and a half centuries of liberty and triumph, progress and freedom in the most incredible and exceptional nation ever to exist on the face of the earth. And you've seen nothing yet," Trump said. This is the golden age of America." Fox News Digital's Emma Colton contributed to this report. Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by

Painters are locking themselves inside the homes they're finishing. In the Twin Cities and surrounding suburbs, the Trump administration's immigration crackdown has slowed home construction to a crawl – at a time when Minnesota, like much of the country, faces a steep housing shortage. “I think most of us would probably take Covid over this,” said one large homebuilder in the Minneapolis area who asked for his name not to be shared since some of his job sites have been targeted by immigration officers over the last few weeks. “This is misery for us in the housing industry.” President Donald Trump has made housing affordability a central pillar of his domestic agenda, and the US House of Representatives passed legislation this month intended to encourage more homebuilding. But the president's stepped-up immigration enforcement threatens to undercut that effort, sidelining the workers needed to build new homes. Here's what to expect for home prices in 2026 The homebuilder, who oversees hundreds of residential projects across the Midwest, said many of his jobs are now facing monthslong delays as dozens of construction crews hesitate to return. He said US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were stationed at the site of one of his large apartment construction projects for weeks, waiting to make arrests. At one point this month, only six of the 80 roofers he had contracted were still showing up, regardless of their immigration status. “In real dollars, we're seeing a decline in revenues of somewhere between 25% and 30% – and that's directly attributed to the fact that we can't put work in place,” he said. At its height, about 3,000 federal officers were deployed as part of Operation Metro Surge, the large-scale immigration operation primarily carried out by ICE and Customs and Border Protection. What began in December in Minneapolis and St. Paul quickly spread to the rest of the state and led to confrontations between federal agents and protesters, including the fatal shootings of two US citizens by federal agents and the detention of thousands of individuals. It is unclear how many of those workers are undocumented. Builders in Minnesota told CNN they estimate thousands of construction workers, both documented and undocumented, are avoiding work for fear of harassment, detainment, or violent confrontations. Tenants' rights groups say eviction filings could rise if renters who fear going to work fall behind on rent payments. Mark Williams, a custom-home builder in Minneapolis, said skilled construction workers have been harder to come by lately – and he has struggled to break ground on some construction projects. “We work with three concrete masons, and two of them pushed us out by two months because they couldn't get any of their crews to show up on any of our jobs,” Williams said. Williams typically signs a contract with a roofing company about 30 days before he needs them to start the work. But recently, the siding and roofing company he normally works with told him they'll need at least four to five months' notice in order to guarantee they'll have the crew necessary to complete the work. He has had to tell clients that their projects will be delayed. Williams said that, to his knowledge, everyone who works on his homes is legally allowed to work in the country. But his company, like many other homebuilders, contracts out tasks it can't perform itself, so he doesn't directly hire all the laborers on site. Barak Steenlage, the co-owner of another Minnesota homebuilder, said that he has also fielded calls since the start of this year from his company's project manager, informing him that certain subcontractors or suppliers don't want to work on projects in Minneapolis, for fear of being harassed, regardless of their immigration status. For teams of painters and other construction work that is done primarily indoors, Steenlage said he has given crews permission to lock themselves inside the homes they are working on, so they aren't visible to agents outside. Home buyers might be hoping for lower mortgage rates with a new Fed chief. Steenlage, who has worked as a homebuilder for more than 20 years, said that without immigrants in construction, there wouldn't be enough people to handle the work. “There's a lot of important skill and work being done by the people that are currently feeling under attack and unsafe,” Steenlage said. Williams said that recent ICE activity could make homebuilding even more expensive in Minnesota, a state that is already relatively more expensive to build in, due to the need for specialized construction to handle the area's extreme temperature fluctuations. “If everyone wants their roof sided and no one is going to do it, anyone that can do it will charge whatever they want,” Williams said. US market indices are shown in real time, except for the S&P 500 which is refreshed every two minutes. 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On a bright afternoon under the hot Australian sun, small, dewy faces peer out from the holes in masonry bricks, enclosed by a simple greenhouse. The saunas are part of an experiment led by Anthony Waddle, a researcher at Macquarie University in Sydney, who created this novel, low-tech intervention to help frogs fight off a deadly fungus. Waddle, an American-born biologist, wasn't drawn to Australia for its stunning coastlines or unique marsupials — instead he relocated for a tiny, slimy, sun-loving creature found in freshwater habitats throughout the southeast — the green and golden bell frog. With bulging eyes, bulbous digits and vibrantly colored skin to match their name, these native frogs are one of the country's most striking amphibians, but also, one of its most threatened species. Over the past three decades, green and golden bell frog populations in New South Wales —once their stronghold — have declined to just 10% of their historical levels. Although habitat loss and climate change have contributed to their collapse, a major driver has been chytrid — an ancient fungus that has morphed into a modern-day killer. When these functions are disrupted, it places stress on the heart and can lead to cardiac arrest. “This is the worst disease ever to impact biodiversity, and most people don't even know it exists,” Waddle told CNN. Waddle has made it his life's work to help save species threatened by the fungus. He created a weakened form of chytrid that the frogs could easily fend off and discovered it could spread from frog to frog without causing illness — instead functioning as a transmissible vaccine boosting their resistance and improving survival when later exposed. He then turned his attention to how temperature shapes the disease's dynamics. This left Waddle wondering: “If the frogs had access to high temperatures, could they get better?” He found that when frogs' body temperatures reached about 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit), a threshold chytrid cannot tolerate, many were able to get rid of their infections. As a control measure, Waddle also placed frogs in shaded, cooler structures. “We found that frogs that had an infection cured with heat were 23 times more likely to survive a reinfection,” he told CNN, adding “they do get reinfected, but at really low rates.” For instance, raising the body temperature of Australia's endangered corroboree frog — an alpine-inhabiting species — would kill it. Frogs have endured four mass extinctions, evolving repeatedly to survive a changing planet. But now, facing a fast-moving fungal pandemic that has become the most devastating infectious disease in vertebrate history — according to a 2019 retrospective study — researchers like Waddle say they need our help. Untangling chytrid's role from other environmental pressures is difficult, but research estimates that globally, the fungus has driven around 90 species to extinction and pushed more than 500 others into decline. Once it enters, chytrid becomes part of the ecosystem and cannot be eradicated. It has been found on every amphibian-inhabiting continent, said Bree Rosenblum, an evolutionary biologist and professor at University of California, Berkeley. Because they occupy a critical middle rung of the food chain, she said, their disappearance could ripple outwards, setting off chain reactions that affect countless other species. “Once you start taking species out of ecosystems, it has cascading, catastrophic effects,” she said. More than two decades ago, Rosenblum started investigating where chytrid came from and how it spread, using genetic tools to reconstruct the fungus's evolutionary family tree. Her work revealed that chytrid was not a single invader but a collection of lineages that evolved in different parts of the world and later spread globally — likely through wildlife trade and human movement. “We can reconstruct it the best we can with our genetic data, but something changed in the last decades to hundreds of years that made it much more deadly,” she said. “The big question is, is it just that something changed in the chytrid, or did something also change in frogs to made them less able to fight it off because of other environmental stressors.” But “probably the most important thing is buying amphibians time,” she said. “The long-term solution is evolution, so they can adapt and build natural immunity.” They have been disappearing from this landscape, particularly from the southern end of their range, said Dr. Jonah Piovia-Scott, an associate professor of biological sciences at Washington State University. Having studied chytrid for two and a half decades, he knew that antifungal treatments could help eliminate the infection — at least in controlled, laboratory settings. In 2012, Piovia-Scott's team tested baths with diluted itraconazole, a common antifungal agent, and found they reduced chytrid infections and improved survival in wild populations of metamorphosed tadpoles (froglets) — the life stage most vulnerable to disease-related mortality. The team expanded into larger-scale field experiments at meadow sites in Northern California, immersing hundreds of froglets in medicated baths for five minutes a day over six consecutive days. In a study published in 2022, they found that treated frogs were four times more likely than those untreated to survive their first winter, which is a critical hurdle for young frogs; those that survive it are far more likely to reach adulthood and reproduce. “We're not trying to set up a situation where the only way we can keep these animals alive is treating them with an antifungal chemical every year,” he said. Instead, he said the treatment works best alongside other strategies, such as translocations — moving frogs back into their former habitats to help reestablish populations. His team is already putting that approach into practice by relocating frogs from a nearby healthy population into protected sites in Lassen Volcanic National Park, a former Cascades frog stronghold, after first treating them. Rosenblum praises the ingenuity behind solutions like frog saunas and antifungal baths, seeing them as proof of what human concern and ingenuity can achieve — while also underscoring the challenges involved in scaling such hands-on interventions across thousands of species and habitats. “These strategies are worth testing, but global implementation is really hard,” she said, adding that we need to carefully weigh both the benefits and the potential unanticipated effects of intervening in natural habitats. For Rosenblum, Waddle and Piovia-Scott, the long-term objective is to reach a point where frogs can survive on their own — without constant human intervention. For Waddle, that kind of futureproofing may lie in synthetic biology — making frogs genetically resistant to chytrid fungus. Scientists still don't fully understand how some frogs naturally fight off chytrid, but Waddle said certain amphibians produce antibodies in their skin that can kill the fungus. Waddle is now testing whether vulnerable frog species can be given those same natural defenses using genetic editing. He stresses the work is in its early days and must be approached with extreme caution. “We need to make sure it works and doesn't have negative effects on the frogs and we also have to think through every possible unintended consequence,” he said. Last October, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) adopted its first global policy on synthetic biology, acknowledging that it could play a role in conservation, while also emphasizing the need for careful, case-by-case evaluation of risks and benefits. For some species, less radical tools may be enough, Waddle acknowledged, but for amphibians that don't respond to classic conservation measures and are on the brink of extinction, he sees little alternative. At a time when antibiotic resistance is becoming a global crisis, these compounds could be important not just for frogs, but for human medicine, he noted. Scientists have already seen hints of that potential: a protein found in South Indian frogs has been shown to protect mice from influenza, preventing infection before it takes hold. “What blankets the world are those collaborative networks of humans who care enough to be inventive on behalf of other species on our planet,” she said.

The president split his time between touting his alleged successes from the past year and announcing a handful of new policy proposals, goading Democrats on issues ranging from immigration to transgender children. Green had been holding up a sign reading “Black People Aren't Apes,” in reference to a racist meme posted to the president's Truth Social account earlier this month. Here's what you need to know from Trump's speech Tuesday night. Just last week, speaking in Georgia, Trump declared that he'd “won affordability,” despite the economy consistently polling as a top issue for voters heading into the 2026 midterm elections. Republican lawmakers and officials have quietly pressed the president to do more to address affordability concerns, and almost immediately upon stepping on the dais, Trump sought to compare former President Joe Biden's economic stewardship with his own agenda. Still, the president gave a tacit nod to voters' concerns by announcing new economic proposals. The president also pressed Congress to pass a second budget reconciliation package this year. Trump hopes the new package will include tax cuts for American households that didn't make it into last year's One Big Beautiful Bill, as well as additional cuts for American corporations. He also said his administration would allow adult workers without a 401K “access to the same type of retirement plan offered to every federal worker,” with a federal match of up to $1,000 per year. But Tuesday night, Trump presented a more even tone, referring to the ruling as “unfortunate” and seeking to spin it into a positive. “The good news is that almost all countries and corporations want to keep the deal that they already made,” he declared, noting that sectoral and unfair trade tariffs remain on the books. There's very little Trump cares about more than winning. And true to form, he hosted members of the U.S. Men's Olympic Hockey team, fresh off a gold medal victory over Canada on Sunday, as special guests of the White House. “And actually not all of them did get up.” Trump later announced that he would award goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who saved 41 of 42 Canadian shots on goal during the gold medal game, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. Traditionally a standout issue for the president, immigration has proven a tricky spot for Republicans after federal agents shot and killed two American citizens in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Though Trump's base continues to voice support for the president's deportation agenda, polls show a rising majority of Americans believe that Trump's policies have gone too far. The Department of Homeland Security has been shut down for nearly two weeks, as Democratic lawmakers have refused to fund the department to rebuke Trump's immigration policies. However, Trump did push the “softer” immigration touch he's alluded to in recent weeks, instead calling for the “immediate” restoration of DHS funding. So tonight, I'm inviting every legislature to join with my administration in reaffirming a fundamental principle. If you agree with this statement, then stand up and show your support,” Trump declared, earning a lengthy ovation from Republicans. And a select number of Democrats, including Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), took the bait, keeping their seats and yelling at the president. “You should be ashamed of yourself,” Trump shot back, earning raucous cheers from GOP members. Trump, in his three previous States of the Union and two other joint addresses to Congress, has slowly perfected the art of baiting Democrats into cutting campaign ads for Republicans. How do you not stand?” he shot at Democrats who did not cheer following his exchange with Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian immigrant killed in North Carolina by a multiple-time offender. “Did Nancy Pelosi stand up?” Trump additionally joked after his call for Congress to pass legislation ensuring that “members of Congress cannot corruptly profit from using insider information” to trade stocks. As he frequently does, Trump again on Tuesday claimed to have ended “eight wars” during his first year back in office. Still, the president had few words Tuesday, the fourth-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, on ending that specific conflict, a “ninth war” ended on his watch. “A war which would have never happened if I were president.” On the other hand, Trump had much more to say about a brewing conflict with Iran. Yet they continue starting it all over,” Trump said, referencing Operation Midnight Hammer, a series of airstrikes on Iranian nuclear industry targets last year. They want to make a deal, but we haven't heard those secret words. “My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy, but one thing is certain: I will never allow the world's No. 1 sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon. We have the most powerful military on Earth.”

President Donald Trump unveiled a new retirement savings plan for workers during his State of the Union address. During the Tuesday night address, Trump said that, despite the typical 401(k) retirement savings account rising under his administration, millions of working people still do not have access to a retirement plan that includes matching employer contributions. “To remedy this gross disparity, I am announcing that next year my administration will give these oft-forgotten American workers, great people, the people that built our country, access to the same type of retirement plan offered to every federal worker, we will match your contribution with up to $1,000 each year,” Trump said. The White House intends to use an existing Savers Match enacted by legislation signed by then-President Joe Biden in 2022, the SECURE 2.0 Act, as an avenue for providing an annual $1,000 match to low-income workers. The plan will provide an account vehicle for eligible workers to get that Savings Match. The idea comes after Republicans created “Trump accounts” as part of their One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed into law last year. The Trump accounts are a form of savings account for children. Beneficiaries are not permitted to pull from their Trump accounts until they turn 18. At that time, they can withdraw up to half the funds only for higher education costs, training programs, small business loans, or first-time home purchases. Several major companies, including Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, have since pledged to match $1,000 contributions to their employees who open Trump accounts.

Democrats stayed seated when President Donald Trump asked if the first duty of the government is to protect its citizens at his State of the Union address. “If you agree with the statement, then stand up and show your support: The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.” Republicans stood, clapped, and whistled for a couple of minutes before the president condemned Democrats for not standing. “Isn't that a shame? You should be ashamed of yourself, not standing up,” Trump said after applause died down. The chamber got rowdy as Trump condemned Democrats, as a handful of members yelled back. Democrats such as Tlaib and Omar are shouting at Trump about the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by immigration officers"You killed Alex!" Tlaib saidAlso heard "you are literally killing American citizens" from the Dem side LIVE UPDATES: TRUMP DELIVERS 2026 STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS Democrats proceeded to respond to the president, saying, “You killed Alex,” referring to Minnesota resident and ICU nurse Alex Pretti, who was shot and killed by immigration enforcement personnel in Minneapolis on Jan. 24. Deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser Stephen Miller echoed the president's condemnation of Democrats, saying in a post on X, “The immortal visual of the entire Democrat party—upon explicit repeated invitation—refusing to stand for the core moral principle that US government owes its allegiance to US citizens and not foreign criminal invaders, is the most shocking image in the history of the US Congress.”