U.S. and world news for May 23

(COVER PHOTO credit: Kris Snibbe/Harvard University)

Trump makes another move against Harvard

The Trump Administration has revoked Harvard’s ability to enroll international students by terminating its Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification. Now, it’s considering doing the same to other universities. Harvard and Trump officials have been at odds for months over the administration’s demands that the Ivy League school change its hiring and admission requirements, eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs and alter rules for on-campus protests or face major losses of federal funding. Harvard has resisted the orders and filed a lawsuit claiming the government’s actions violate the First Amendment.

Senate resistance to Trump budget bill

President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending cuts package, which passed in the House yesterday, is running into some resistance from his own party in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader John Thune does not agree with the big tax deduction win it gives New York’s House Republicans. Sen. Lisa Murkowski railed against the bill’s work requirements for Medicaid. Sen. Josh Hawley wants a bigger child tax credit. And Sen. Rand Paul has vowed to oppose the bill because it raises the debt limit. Fiscal hawks also want bigger cuts to federal spending. “Somebody’s got to be the dad that says, ‘I know y’all want to go to Disney World, but we can’t afford it.’ I guess I’m going to be that guy,” Sen. Ron Johnson said. On the other side of the aisle, Democrats are slamming their rivals for slashing federal support of safety net programs like Medicaid and food stamps.

Trump holds dinner for buyers of his cryptocurrency meme coins

President Trump held a dinner last night for an estimated 200 to 250 buyers of tens of millions of dollars worth of his cryptocurrency. The buyers who spent the most money were invited to a private reception with Trump. Protesters assembled outside of the event to allege that what Trump was doing amounted to fundamental corruption and a way for people to buy access to the president. The White House declined to provide a list of the people who attended the president’s dinner. However, reports said that the top investor in Trump’s meme coin is a Chinese billionaire named Justin Sun. During the Biden Administration, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged him with fraud and market manipulation. The Trump Administration halted prosecution of the case in February.

Supreme Court blocks taxpayer funded religious charter school

A deadlocked Supreme Court will leave in place a ruling from Oklahoma’s top court blocking the first religious charter school in the US. The 4-4 vote was made possible because conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the case. Although Barrett didn’t say why, she has multiple ties to the attorneys representing the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. Some 8,000 charter schools are currently operating nationwide and serving 3.8 million students. These schools, which offer an alternative to traditional public schools, are privately run but funded with taxpayer dollars. When the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled on the case last year, it determined that the Catholic school had violated the First Amendment’s establishment clause. Had the case succeeded at the US Supreme Court, it could have cleared the way for taxpayer-funded religious schools.

FEMA chaos as hurricane season gets closer

Less than two weeks before the start of hurricane season, there’s been yet another major shakeup at FEMA. According to multiple sources and an internal memo obtained by CNN, the Department of Homeland Security is replacing several experienced FEMA leaders with a half-dozen of its own officials. The new hires will serve in critical advisory positions under the agency’s new acting administrator, David Richardson, who is also a Homeland Security official. Based on their biographies, these new FEMA officials appear to have limited experience managing natural disasters. Like Richardson, most have been working in the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office at DHS. Sources say only two of Richardson’s seven advisers currently hold positions at FEMA, and neither has served in such a senior role. Roughly 10% of FEMA’s staff have left since January. The agency is projected to lose close to 30% of its workforce by the end of the year.

Investigation into Israeli Embassy staff shooting

The Department of Justice is investigating the murder of two Israeli Embassy staff members as both an act of terrorism and a hate crime. The couple, Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Milgrim, 26, were standing with others outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, on Wednesday night when they were gunned down. A video showed the alleged shooter, 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez, yelling, “Free, free Palestine” as he was detained. Rodriguez was charged on Thursday with first-degree murder, murdering foreign officials and using a firearm during a violent crime. “Antisemitism will not be tolerated, especially in the nation’s capital,” interim US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said.