There is a content warning on page 7 of a friend-of-the-court brief recently submitted in a high-stakes abortion medication case by women who say they were injured or traumatized from taking the pills. “Warning: these accounts are raw, graphic and real.” About 30 mostly anonymous people recount their medication abortions, saying they were uninformed about […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Democrats threw a spotlight Thursday on President Donald Trump’s attempts to yank funds away from minority-serving institutions, as the administration tries to end diversity, equity and inclusion policies in schools. Hawaii U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono hosted an unofficial hearing that gathered advocates, leaders, experts and students to sound the alarm on […]
WASHINGTON — American colleges and universities received gifts and contracts worth more than $5.2 billion from foreign entities in 2025, according to the U.S. Department of Education, which also recently published summaries of foreign investment in U.S. higher education dating back to 1986. Qatar, the United Kingdom, China, Switzerland, Japan, Germany and Saudi Arabia marked the […]
Protections for religious expression in K-12 schools could also be expanded to guard ideological and political speech through a bill that passed Thursday in the Missouri House. State Rep. Darin Chappell, a Republican from Rogersville and the bill’s sponsor, said the legislation is intended to guard First Amendment rights. “We don’t want anyone’s political ideas […]
Hundreds of Missourians with disabilities, their families and advocates crowded into the Capitol rotunda Wednesday for a rally on the state’s 25th annual Disability Rights Legislative Day, spilling into surrounding halls and onto the stairs framing the speakers’ podium. Personal testimony from dozens of Missourians earlier this month moved a bipartisan group of lawmakers to […]
When people hear “workplace violence,” they often picture a physical attack. But in health care settings, the more common reality is persistent threats, intimidation and verbal hostility — exposure that accumulates over time. In a Fall 2025 survey conducted by the Missouri Nurses Association, 90% of nurses reported verbal abuse and 63% reported physical violence. […]
WASHINGTON — The nation’s main agency for handling disaster response and recovery is shuttered for the third time in recent months and its workers are on the verge of missing paychecks, as members of Congress and the White House remain divided in a separate dispute over immigration enforcement. Lawmakers are raising questions about how the […]
Pressured by businesses on the importance of immigrant labor, some Republican states are backing off plans to require all employers to check for legal employment status before hiring workers. State and federal legislation to require that employers use E-Verify, a federal system to check legal status, has been limited this year as a push grows […]
Rhode Island’s congressional delegates want to know more after the ranking member of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday asked the congressional watchdog office to investigate FBI Director Kash Patel’s alleged misuse of government aircraft. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat and Senate Democratic Whip, accused Patel of delaying the arrival of a […]
The Missouri House passed a bill along party lines Thursday that would remove the expiration date on the state’s restrictions for transgender athletes. In 2023, the General Assembly passed a law that prevents transgender athletes from competing according to their gender identity alongside a ban on gender-affirming care for minors. Democrats in the Senate filibustered […]
The list of Republicans hoping to win Missouri’s gerrymandered 5th Congressional District grew by one on Thursday when state Sen. Rick Brattin joined the race. Brattin, of Harrisonville, is making his second bid for a seat in Congress. He said at an announcement in Jefferson City that he is the conservative the district needs. “I […]
A Republican lawmaker stripped of his influence on the state budget for bucking GOP leadership struck back Wednesday by introducing an alternative to Gov. Mike Kehoe’s spending plan. State Sen. Lincoln Hough, a Springfield Republican, was removed as Senate Appropriations Committee chairman in September, just 20 minutes after he voted against shutting off debate on […]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will transfer a large office building to the General Services Administration in a step toward shrinking the department’s footprint in and around Washington, D.C., Secretary Brooke Rollins said Wednesday. More than 70% of offices at the USDA’s South Building, in Washington, sit empty on any given day, while deferred maintenance costs […]
State officials across the country are looking to crack down on fraud and mistakes in the nation’s largest food assistance program, spurred by looming federal rules that will force states with high error rates to pay more. But the Republican proposals mostly focus on more frequently verifying the eligibility of individual households that participate in […]
The Missouri Senate is one of only two legislative chambers in the country that does not provide a video livestream of its proceedings. A Senate committee debated a resolution Wednesday that would change that, though its prospects remain uncertain. State Sen. Mike Moon, an Ash Grove Republican, is sponsoring a rule change that would require […]
Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to sentence former Missouri House Speaker John Diehl to two years in prison in his federal COVID relief fraud case, arguing his admitted misuse of nearly $380,000 in pandemic aid “should merit a significant punishment.” In a sentencing memorandum filed Monday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, Assistant […]
While a judge is rewriting the ballot summary for a proposal to put new barriers in front of Missouri initiative campaigns, opponents are focusing on a new line of attack — the measure cuts financial penalties for accepting foreign contributions or committing petition fraud. Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green on Thursday ruled that he […]
A bill that would prohibit state funds from going towards “low-earning” university degrees was discussed in the Missouri Senate Education Committee on Tuesday. The legislation would cut state funds for student financial aid and operational costs for students in programs where graduates do not earn more in their field than someone with only a high […]
The dining room table is the civic and moral hearth of our house on Constitution Street. Upon it rest a stack of utility and other bills to be sorted and paid (with cursing as necessary), issues of various magazines including “The New Yorker” and “Fortean Times,” a dog-eared paperback of a Tom Wolfe anthology, and […]
U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver was the first candidate to file for office Tuesday in Missouri, showing the 11-term Democratic incumbent will run for re-election despite uncertainty about the boundaries of the district he represents. Cleaver, a Kansas City Democrat, became a target when Missouri Republicans, acting at the urging of President Donald Trump, redrew the […]
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