Other News

Federal

Resolution Seeks Mutual Defense Pact to Shield Big 10 Universities from Government Overreach, Following Escalating Actions Against Harvard

Rutgers University Senate has introduced a resolution urging the creation of a Mutual Academic Defense Compact (MADC) among the 18 member institutions of the Big Ten Academic Alliance. This move aims to protect academic freedom, institutional integrity, and the research enterprise across some of the nation’s leading public universities. The […]

Federal

Contempt Charges Loom as Appeals Court Pauses Judge Boasberg’s Inquiry Into Trump Administration’s Defiance of Deportation Order

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg is at the center of a dramatic legal confrontation with the Trump administration, following his finding of probable cause that administration officials acted in criminal contempt of court by defying his order to halt deportation flights of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador. On […]

Federal

Supreme Court Halts Removal of Venezuelan Detainees Under Alien Enemies Act Pending Further Review

The Supreme Court has temporarily blocked the removal of a proposed class of Venezuelan men detained in U.S. immigration custody, issuing an order Saturday that prevents the government from deporting them under the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) until further notice.  The emergency order follows an application filed by attorneys for […]

State of Illinois

Social Security rescinding its plan to end phone-based filing called a win for Illinois seniors

by Isabella Schoonover and Medill Illinois News Bureau, Capitol News Illinois April 18, 2025 SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois chapter of AARP played a role in the Trump administration reversing itself and allowing Social Security beneficiaries to have the option of filing for benefits over the phone. The continuation of phone-based […]

Federal

Trump Order Opens 59% of National Forest Lands—Over 112 Million Acres—to Accelerated Logging and Timber Projects

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has directed a significant increase in timber production and the rapid implementation of forest management projects across a majority of National Forest System lands. This includes 112,646,000 acres of National Forest System lands (59 percent of all national forest acreage). The move, outlined in Secretary’s […]