Laura Barrón-López

A look at life for small group of refugees allowed in U.S. since Trump took office Shortly after being sworn into office, President Donald Trump indefinitely suspended refugee admissions to the United States. After months of legal challenges, only a small group of refugees has been ...

A look at life for small group of refugees allowed in U.S. since Trump took office
thank you, @lbarronlopez.bsky.social for all your PBS reporting!
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

Jan. 6 prosecutor says firing of investigators, Trump's pardons send 'dangerous message' The Justice Department has fired several officials involved in the Jan. 6 criminal prosecution and others have been demoted to low-level positions. They are the latest moves that some say are part of ...

Our @pbsnews.org conversation with Greg Rosen, who helped lead the massive Jan 6th criminal prosecution. He says Trump’s mass pardons … and the DOJ firings of officials who worked on the investigation send a “dangerous message”
@lbarronlopez.bsky.social reports
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

Who would be affected by health care cuts in Senate version of Trump's budget bill Recent changes to President Trump’s tax and spending bill would cut roughly $1.1 trillion in health care spending over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. It als...

A CBO analysis finds far deeper Medicaid cuts in the GOP budget bill than previous versions: 11.8M would become uninsured in the next decade & more than $1T in Medicaid cuts
Our @pbsnews.org conversation @lbarronlopez.bsky.social with @larrylevitt.bsky.social @kff.org

www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

Who would be affected by health care cuts in Senate version of Trump's budget bill Recent changes to President Trump’s tax and spending bill would cut roughly $1.1 trillion in health care spending over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. It als...

With the big bill headed to the House, here’s a look at how many people could be affected by Medicaid changes & why claims of fraud and waste don’t reflect the real numbers of who will lose coverage. @larrylevitt.bsky.social with @lbarronlopez.bsky.social @pbsnews.org www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

Reporter: “What do you think the future of DOGE will be and who is exactly in charge?”

Former DOGE staffer: “I have no idea…To be honest, even when I was there, it was unclear who was in charge.”

#WITAOD

"To be honest, even when I was there, it was unclear who was in charge" of the Department of Government Efficiency, former DOGE staffer Sahil Lavingia tells @lbarronlopez.bsky.social.

A tweet from HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Today, the COVID vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women has been removed from @CDCgov recommended immunization schedule. Bottom line: it's common sense and it's good science. We are now one step closer to realizing @POTUS's promise to Make America Healthy Again.

A huge step from HHS that is at odds with science showing significant risks for young children and pregnant women — and that directly contradicts *the FDA's own publication* from last week listing pregnancy as a high-risk condition that would qualify people for this fall's Covid vaccine

Strategic Ambiguity, Preventable Misery RFK Jr. has Trump Administration officials cosplaying "pro-science" while staying true to his anti-vax roots. The result will be more disease.

New from me, guesting on @brianbeutler.bsky.social's Off Message: RFK Jr. and Trump officials are embracing strategic ambiguity to balance anti-vaccine propaganda with responsible-sounding public health policy. That balance doesn't exist. open.substack.com/pub/brianbeu...

YouTube video by PBS NewsHour WATCH: Georgetown scholar says he was 'chained, shackled' in ICE detention

EXCLUSIVE: In their first broadcast interview since his release from ICE detention, Georgetown scholar Badar Khan Suri and his wife, Mapheze Saleh, spoke to @lbarronlopez.bsky.social
about Khan Suri's release after nearly two months in a detention facility in Texas. www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e4X...

An in depth look at Trump Inc and the billions of dollars that has flowed to the Trump family.
And that was before “The Plane” … @pbsnews.org @lbarronlopez.bsky.social @schmitzmedia.bsky.social

@SchmitzMedia
t.co/OYaZgcMOyo

The Signal Clone the Trump Admin Uses Was Hacked TeleMessage, a company that makes a modified version of Signal that archives messages for government agencies, was hacked.

New from 404 Media: the Signal clone the Trump administration uses was just hacked. TeleMessage makes a modified version of Signal that archives messages for government agencies, Waltz used it. A hacker got some users' messages, group chats. Hugely significant breach www.404media.co/the-signal-c...

"Let's start with—at Signalgate. Trump was really mad with Mike Waltz at that moment, but he didn't want to succumb to the media pressure," said @alexward.bsky.social.

"And so he waited and waited and waited until a moment where he could claim some sort of strength, some sort of change."

Is there any amount of financial chaos that would convince President Trump to reverse course?

"He's in the middle of a negotiating process right now with the world, and I think he's trying to project a very strong negotiating position," said @michaelscherer.bsky.social.

The first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s second term have seen pushback from federal judges across the country on his deportation agenda.

The US Has Spent Over $500,000 on Hyper-Targeted YouTube Ads to Discourage Irregular Migration A WIRED investigation reveals that the US Department of Homeland Security has deployed at least 30 YouTube ads since April 1 to threaten irregular migrants with deportation and a ban on reentry.

Since April 1st, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has spent more than $500,000 on YouTube ads that threaten undocumented migrants with deportation and a ban on reentry.

www.wired.com/story/dhs-yo...

AP is banned by Trump from WH pool, while this is happening:

I’ve personally viewed correspondence from a trade publication covering Washington warning that reporters are now ordered not to write the words “Musk” or “DOGE” & that the order is robbing stories of facts & context.

Beyond Columbia & Paul Weiss it’s happening in quiet ways few even know about.

Recreation of 3/13 Energy Dept memo below. DOE said fired probationary workers will be returned to previous position but put on administrative leave status. This memo was sent internally at DOE but as of last night a number of the fired DOE workers had not directly received any notice

WH says they “will fight back” against judge order reinstating fired fed workers

But at least 1 agency isn’t on same page. Energy Dept sent memo: "hereby rescinding the Notification of Termination During Probationary Trial Period" that workers received on Feb 13/14, per copy @pbsnews.org obtained

NEWS: A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to offer reinstatement to thousands of fired probationary employees at the Departments of Defense, Treasury, Agriculture, Energy, Interior and Veterans Affairs.

Judge Alsup is also demanding sworn testimony from a senior OPM official.

U.S. citizen child recovering from brain cancer deported to Mexico with undocumented parents The Texas family was on their way to an emergency medical checkup, they said, when they were detained at an immigration checkpoint.

U.S. citizen child recovering from brain cancer deported to Mexico with undocumented parents www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/...

Fired Air Force vet who voted for Trump told me: "Here's your wake-up call: You're destroying people's lives, you're destroying veterans' lives. A lot of these people are probably your supporters... It needs to be rectified, or you're going to lose the country."

Air Force vet said he was "treated like a criminal" when terminated, locked out of computer. Couldn't access records showing "this is a lie"
VA Sec Collins suggested this vet's boss probably didn't want to file exemption
Vet said: HR/leadership doesn't know what to do…

Air Force vet I talked to who was recently fired by VA was twice promoted & then OPM/DOGE sent termination citing poor performance. VA Secretary Collins told Geoff Bennett: Vet's firing was bc he's probationary, compared it to layoffs at Southwest
More of that vet’s story...

Jeremy Cope, Marine vet: "And so to the administration who says there's no effect on veteran care, I say you are absolutely wrong and come here and I will show you."

Jeremy on impact on care at his NY domiciliary unit for vets being treated for mental illness, substance use:

Cuts at Jeremy's VA care unit led to cancelled rehab activities like trips into community, gym time cut down. That's caused heightened tension and vets "end up isolating in our rooms. It's really risky behavior for people who experience these mental health issues"

Jeremy Cope, Marine vet deployed to Afghanistan, is staying at a NY VA unit that provides inpatient care for vets w/serious mental illness, substance use disorder, PTSD, and more.
Facility had 5 social workers for ~160 vets, after cuts now only two, Cope said. So 1 social worker per 80 vets now

VA Secretary Doug Collins on widespread cuts to his department and the impact on veterans The Trump administration announced it's planning to fire thousands more employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs as part of the White House effort to dramatically downsize the federal workforce...

VA Secretary Collins in interview w/ @GeoffRBennett rejected the story of vet who told me his care at an NY domiciliary unit has been hurt by VA firings. Collins: "Don't just simply sit there and think that you're by yourself." Here's what vets told me 1/

www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

Per USAID Nick Enrich's memo: Feb 26, when 5,000+ USAID contracts were terminated globally, he "immediately" notified leadership “of the grave impacts on lifesaving activities related to malaria, tuberculosis, & Ebola." USAID acting cos Joel Borkert admitted some “may have been sent out in error”