U.S.
DHS Signs Contracts Worth Up to $7.3 Billion to Build ICE Detention Space at Government Sites in Five States
The contracts cover sites in New York, Texas, Arizona, Florida and California and are paid for from the $45 billion for detention that Congress approved in 2025. They were signed days before a federal watchdog reported that ICE's earlier warehouse-buying effort had wasted more than $20 million.
Federal Agents Pepper-Spray About 10 Protesters at Broadview ICE Site on Sept. 19; Portland 'Surge' Briefing in Assigned Story Dates to 2025
A year after clashes began at ICE sites near Chicago and in Portland, agents in Broadview, Illinois, sprayed protesters who were blocking a driveway, while the Portland emergency briefing described in the assigned story took place in September 2025, not this weekend.
FDA-Approved mRNA Flu Shot Has No CDC Recommendation While a Court Order Keeps the Vaccine Advisory Panel From Meeting
A federal judge's March order froze Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s reshaped vaccine advisory panel, and the CDC has kept last year's flu guidance in place instead of weighing in on Moderna's newly approved mFlusiva.
110 Lawmakers, All but One of Them Democrats, Urge Congress to Override Trump's 2027 Pay Freeze for Federal Civilian Workers
Twelve senators and 98 House members asked congressional leaders to add a raise of at least 3.8%, and preferably 4.1%, to fiscal 2027 spending bills. The White House's August 26 plan freezes most civilian pay but raises pay for law enforcement and the military.
Trump Order Tells Labor, DHS and State to Weigh Employer Layoffs in H-1B Cases; Labor Dept. Must Start Reviewing Past Filings by About Oct. 18
The Sept. 18 executive order does not bar companies that cut jobs from hiring H-1B workers. It adds layoffs as a factor at each stage of the visa process, and its only hard deadline falls on the Labor Department.
Lawmakers in Both Parties Seek Limits on Hegseth's Firings of Senior Officers; Army Has No Senate-Confirmed Leaders After Driscoll's Exit
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired or forced out at least 20 senior uniformed and civilian leaders and blocked dozens of promotions. The Pentagon says it is restoring merit. Critics in both parties say it has given no reasons. The one House letter often cited as new was sent in February 2025.
ICE Stops Listing Detainees With Final Removal Orders in Its Public Online Locator as of Sept. 15, AP Reports
ICE did not announce the change and has not confirmed it. Lawyers say clients have dropped out of the search tool, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association alerted its members on Sept. 18.
Supreme Court Votes 6-3 to Let DHS Resume Expanded SAVE Citizenship Checks of Voter Rolls While Appeal Proceeds
An unsigned emergency order paused a June ruling that found the overhauled federal database broke privacy and Social Security laws; the three liberal justices dissented, and a federal ban on systematic voter removals in the 90 days before an election limits what states can do before Nov. 3.
Uzbek-Born U.S. Citizen Extradited From Georgia to Brooklyn on Charges of Funding ISIS and al-Nusrah Fighters' Travel
Prosecutors say Davud Ansariy, 41, led a Brooklyn fundraising circle that paid for at least three men to travel to Syria in 2013 and supported fighters' families. He left the U.S. in 2016 and was arrested in Tbilisi in August 2026.
Senate Health Committee Holds Confirmation Hearing for Heidi Overton, Trump's Nominee to Lead the FDA
Overton, 37, a White House health aide, went before the Senate HELP Committee on Sept. 24, 2026. Senators were expected to question her on her pledge to speed up drug approvals, childhood vaccines, the abortion pill mifepristone, her lack of management experience, and an FDA that has lost staff and leaders since 2025.
Navy Tells Senator Eight Sailors in USS Abraham Lincoln Strike Group Attempted Suicide During Iran-War Deployment
In written answers to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao disclosed eight suicide attempts and no deaths across the carrier, its air wing and its escort ships during a deployment that included 286 days at sea without a port call.
Former Postal Worker Pleads Not Guilty to Federal Charge of Discarding About 300 Mail-In Ballots in Utah
Prosecutors say a letter carrier threw mail, including ballots for Utah's June 23 primary, into a church-lot dumpster in Eagle Mountain. He told investigators he did it out of "laziness," not for political reasons.