Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill disclosed Tuesday that roughly 6,600 people who lack citizenship entered the rolls between June 2023 and June 2024 while seeking driver’s licenses and identification cards. Every one of them marked the application to show they were not citizens. The motor vehicle system enrolled them anyway.
A preliminary state review counted fewer than 400 who went on to cast ballots, the Journal reported. Their registrations split among Democrats, Republicans, and unaffiliated voters, and they turned upscattered across the state.
Sherrill, sworn in this January, separated her handling from Washington’s. “When we find a problem, we don’t hide it, deny it, or invent conspiracies. We investigate it, we fix it, and we tell the public,” she said. She learned of the malfunction last week, ordered her chief counsel to investigate, and told officials to delete every registration created in error. The breakdown dates to the tenure of Phil Murphy, a fellow Democrat, whose spokesman offered no comment.
“I am appalled by the reckless failures that allowed this to happen and the lack of transparency shown by those in charge at the time,” Sherrill said. “We have no evidence at this time that any elections were swayed.”
Her vendor disagrees. Idemia supplied the software built to screen non-citizens out, and the firm told the Journal that it merely relays records. Registration data “is transmitted to the New Jersey Department of State, Division of Elections, which is ultimately responsible for verifying eligibility to vote. Information submitted by Idemia must still be validated and adjudicated by the Division of Elections,” the company said. Idemia went further with the New York Post,insisting the records tracked New Jersey’s own specifications. According to an Axios report, the state has startedshopping for a successor to Idemia.
Timing sharpens the story. President Donald Trump wants Congress to impose tighter identification and proof of citizenship standards before November. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullinnotified state officials last Thursday that an early screen surfaced as many as 35,152 possible noncitizen registrations in New Jersey, part of some 250,000 the department alleges across four states. Those counts describe unconfirmed database matches rather than proven voters. The Justice Department opened aseparate inquiry, per NBC News.
New Jersey ranks among30 states fighting federal demands for unredacted rolls. About a dozen district judges, several of them Trump appointees, have sided with the states, and a split appellatepanel did the same in June as CNN reported.
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
(Money Metals News Service) In this episode of the Money Metals Midweek Memo, host Mike Maharrey argues that investors should look beyond daily headlines and recognize the long-term patterns reshaping financial markets. Drawing parallels between hockey goalies who rely on pattern recognition rather than reflexes, Maharrey contends that history provides valuable clues about where markets are headed—even if the exact events never repeat themselves.
His central thesis is that the U.S. Treasury market is undergoing a fundamental structural shift. If this trend continues, it could permanently alter interest rates, constrain Federal Reserve policy, weaken the traditional 60/40 investment portfolio, and strengthen the long-term case for owning gold and silver.
Why Pattern Recognition Matters More Than Headlines
Maharrey opens with an unusual analogy from professional hockey. NHL goalies routinely stop slap shots they physically cannot react to in time because they recognize patterns before the puck even leaves the stick. Investors, he argues, should approach markets the same way.
Instead of reacting to every social media post, Federal Reserve comment, or daily price movement, investors should study historical trends that unfold over years or decades. Technical analysis and long-term historical perspective can reveal recurring cycles that help anticipate future market behavior.
According to Maharrey, today’s financial markets suffer from “compressed timeframes,” where many participants remember little before the 2008 financial crisis. This has distorted expectations, leading many investors to mistakenly believe that the ultra-low interest rates of the last decade represent normal conditions.
Inflation Is Making Retirement More Difficult
Before diving into the bond market, Maharrey highlights a recent Morningstar survey showing that 46% of Americans say they cannot currently afford to save for retirement.
As one potential solution, Maharrey discusses Money Metals’ monthly installment program, which allows investors to accumulate precious metals beginning with contributions as low as $100 per month, gradually building a portfolio designed to preserve purchasing power over time.
A Fundamental Shift Is Happening in the Bond Market
The heart of the episode focuses on evidence suggesting the U.S. Treasury market has entered a long-term structural transition.
Drawing heavily from research published by Massif Capital and work by analyst Will Thompson, Maharrey explains that for roughly the last two decades, long-term interest rates largely followed expectations surrounding Federal Reserve policy.
Today, however, that relationship appears to be changing.
Instead of central banks dominating Treasury demand, private investors seeking competitive returns increasingly determine bond prices. As these investors become more sensitive to risk and required yields, long-term interest rates are being driven more by fiscal concerns and geopolitical risks than by Federal Reserve policy alone.
This shift, Maharrey argues, fundamentally changes how Treasury markets function.
Jim Grant’s Long-Term Bond Bear Market Thesis
Maharrey then revisits the work of legendary bond analyst Jim Grant, publisher of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer.
Grant has long argued that interest rates move through multi-decade cycles. According to Maharrey, Grant believes the world is entering a generational bear market in bonds, meaning persistently higher interest rates and lower bond prices over many years.
Grant bases this conclusion on recurring historical cycles dating back more than a century. Interest rates fell during portions of the late nineteenth century, rose through the early twentieth century, declined again between 1920 and 1946, climbed from 1946 through 1981, then entered another extended decline that culminated in nearly a decade of zero-percent interest rates following the 2008 financial crisis.
At the peak of that era, nearly $18 trillion of global debt carried zero or even negative yields—something Grant considers one of history’s greatest bond market excesses.
Massif Capital Explains Why This Cycle Is Different
While Grant identifies the historical pattern, Massif Capital attempts to explain the mechanics behind today’s shift.
Maharrey explains that Treasury prices and yields remain governed by supply and demand. As demand falls, bond prices decline, and yields rise.
Recent behavior, however, has defied traditional expectations.
The 10-year Treasury yield climbed from roughly 1.5% in late 2021 to nearly 5% by the fall of 2023. Even after the Federal Reserve began lowering short-term interest rates, long-term yields remained elevated instead of declining.
According to Massif Capital, this represents a genuine “regime change” in Treasury markets.
The firm points to one particularly striking example.
After the Federal Open Market Committee cut rates by 50 basis points at its September 2024 meeting, the 10-year Treasury yield actually increased, rising from approximately 3.65% on September 17, 2024, to roughly 4.79% by January 2025.
By March 2026, despite projections for roughly 225 basis points of additional rate cuts, the 10-year Treasury still traded near 4.45%, suggesting Federal Reserve policy no longer fully controls long-term rates.
Bonds Are Losing Their Safe-Haven Status
Perhaps the most significant change Maharrey identifies is the evolving role of Treasury securities during periods of geopolitical stress.
Historically, investors rushed into U.S. government debt during wars or financial turmoil, pushing bond prices higher and yields lower.
Instead, recent conflicts—including heightened tensions involving Iran—have coincided with Treasury selling rather than buying.
According to Maharrey, this indicates investors increasingly view long-term government debt as a risk asset rather than a safe haven.
He notes that the New York Fed’s Adrian, Crump, and Moench model placed the 10-year term premium near 0.6% in late May 2026, after spending much of the previous decade near zero or negative territory. On January 13, 2025, the term premium exceeded 0.8%, its highest level since 2011.
These higher premiums indicate investors now demand greater compensation for holding long-term U.S. debt.
Why Global Demand for Treasuries Is Falling
Maharrey argues that two primary forces are reducing international demand for U.S. government debt.
The first is America’s deteriorating fiscal position.
With the national debt approaching $40 trillion, continued deficit spending has raised concerns among global investors about the long-term sustainability of U.S. finances.
The second is the weaponization of the U.S. dollar.
Following Western sanctions and the freezing of Russian dollar-denominated assets after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many governments began reassessing the risks associated with holding large quantities of U.S. financial assets.
According to Maharrey, these developments accelerated global de-dollarization efforts.
One notable example is China, whose Treasury holdings have fallen to approximately $652.3 billion, the lowest level since September 2008.
He also notes that earlier this year, gold surpassed U.S. Treasuries as the world’s leading reserve asset, underscoring how many central banks are increasingly substituting gold for government bonds.
Rising Borrowing Costs Leave the Fed in a Difficult Position
Maharrey argues that higher bond yields create serious problems for Washington.
As interest rates increase, the federal government’s borrowing costs rise accordingly.
He notes that during fiscal year 2026, the U.S. Treasury has already spent approximately $1.5 trillion on interest expenses, representing a 14.2% increase over the comparable period in fiscal 2025.
Interest costs totaled approximately $1.22 trillion during fiscal 2025, up 7.3% from the previous year.
Interest on the national debt has now become the federal government’s second-largest spending category, exceeding defense and Medicare expenditures, with only Social Security costing more.
Maharrey contends that if foreign governments continue reducing Treasury purchases while private investors demand higher yields, the Federal Reserve may have little choice but to resume large-scale bond buying through quantitative easing.
The Federal Reserve’s Catch-22
According to Maharrey, this creates a dilemma the Federal Reserve cannot escape.
If policymakers continue fighting inflation through tighter monetary policy, they risk bursting the debt bubble and severely damaging the economy.
If they instead resume aggressive monetary easing and quantitative easing, they risk reigniting inflation through additional money creation.
Maharrey believes history suggests the Federal Reserve will ultimately choose inflation over recession, arguing that preserving economic stability has consistently taken priority over maintaining purchasing power.
He suggests that the changing bond market may increasingly limit the Fed’s ability to control long-term interest rates, forcing policymakers into decisions they would rather avoid.
Why Gold Could Replace Bonds in Traditional Portfolios
Maharrey concludes by examining what these structural changes could mean for investors.
That strategy depended on bonds rising when stocks declined.
Today, however, bonds and equities increasingly move together.
Massif Capital’s research found that the rolling correlation between stocks and bonds, which remained moderately negative from 2003 through 2021, surged to approximately +0.5 during 2022 and has since averaged near +0.6.
As a result, bonds no longer provide the diversification many investors expect.
Maharrey points to Morgan Stanley Chief Investment Officer Michael Wilson, who recently suggested a 60/20 strategy, replacing half of the traditional bond allocation with gold as a more resilient inflation hedge.
Central Banks Continue Choosing Gold
Supporting this view, Maharrey notes that central banks themselves increasingly favor gold over government bonds.
According to the figures cited in the episode, central banks have purchased more than 1,000 metric tons of gold annually for four consecutive years.
By comparison, average annual central bank gold purchases between 2010 and 2021 totaled only 473 metric tons.
For Maharrey, this trend reinforces the idea that gold has increasingly become the world’s preferred safe-haven asset as confidence in long-term government debt continues to erode.
Looking Beyond Today’s Headlines
Maharrey closes by returning to the episode’s central message: investors should focus less on daily market noise and more on long-term historical patterns.
Whether examining Treasury markets, Federal Reserve policy, inflation, or precious metals, he believes today’s developments point toward a prolonged period of structurally higher interest rates, persistent currency debasement, and increased demand for tangible assets.
(Headline USA) ESPN is undergoing a significant round of layoffs for the first time in three years after taking over NFL Network in April.
Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a memo to employees Tuesday morning, obtained by The Associated Press, that most moves are the result of ESPN’s acquisition of NFL Network and other league digital assets last year.
The deal was announced last August and also included NFL Fantasy and the rights to distribute the RedZone channel to cable and satellite operators. In return, the NFL got a 10% equity stake in ESPN.
It was approved by government regulators in January. NFL Network employees became part of ESPN on April 1.
“Over the past several months, we’ve made significant progress integrating the NFL assets that we acquired into ESPN,” Pitaro wrote in the memo. “Throughout this process, we have taken the time to carefully evaluate our collective teams, resources and organizational structure to best position us for the future. As a result, we had to make some difficult decisions about job impacts that we will be communicating today.
“While most of the job impacts are tied to the acquisition, we will also notify colleagues in other parts of the company today that their positions have been impacted. We are committed to treating employees with compassion and respect and to providing support as they navigate this transition.”
While most of the layoffs affect production and behind-the-scenes personnel, some on-air talent were affected. Ryan Clark, who joined ESPN in 2015 as an NFL analyst, learned of his layoff while on “NFL Live” on Monday. A person familiar with the situation said Clark was originally going to be told Tuesday morning before reports leaked about the decision.
Clark was told by company executives rather than hear about it elsewhere. He did not finish his appearance on the show.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not at liberty to discuss personnel decisions.
Clark took to social media on Tuesday to address the layoffs. He also shared a video of himself working out.
“Sending prayers and love to all those laid off today by ESPN. So many of you have poured your life into that company, & I know how you’re feeling right now,” Clark wrote on X. “My hope is as this door closes another opens for you all. God bless!”
Other notable names include Karl Ravech, who had been with ESPN since 1993 and had been an integral part of its baseball coverage. Ravech was the voice of “Sunday Night Baseball” from 2022-25 before the package moved to NBC this season. He did call Monday night’s game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies.
Tom Pelissero, who had been with NFL Network since 2017, is also part of the cuts.
ESPN had recently signed NFL insiders Ian Rapoport and Adam Schefter to extensions.
The ESPN cutbacks are also part of other reductions that are taking place throughout the Walt Disney Company this week.
(José Niño, Headline USA) Federal prosecutors are opening up a criminal investigation of Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla.,Fox News reported on Wednesday. A source familiar with the matter said the Justice Department inquiry stays active, though nobody has described its focus.
MS NOWbroke the story a day earlier, citing two sources, and reported that the FBI questioned someone last year about the congressman’s finances and associates.
Mills denies wrongdoing. Prosecutors have charged him with nothing.
Fox News noted the House Ethics Committee separately weighs campaign finance violations, sexual misconduct, and dating violence claims. The Office of Congressional Conduct opened that trail in August 2024, telling the panel it had substantial reason to believe Mills misstated financial disclosures, took improper contributions, and held federal contracts while serving, per theCongressional Record.
The committee seated an investigative subcommittee on November 19, 2025. Itscharter covers whether Mills “engaged in misconduct with respect to allegations of sexual misconduct and/or dating violence.”
Fox News reported the panel confirmed in April that its work continued and set no deadline. AMay statement went further, calling the allegations “serious and complex” while disclosing more than twenty subpoenas, thousands of documents, and dozens of witnesses. The Hill observed that such updates break the panel’s usual silence.
Washington police answered a call at the congressman’s residence in February 2025 after a woman alleged assault. She later recanted, though the Washington Post obtained body camera footage showing bruises on her arms. That July, another former partner told Florida authorities Mills threatened to release intimate images of her. A Columbia County judge granted her a protective injunction in October. MS NOW reports the order has since expired.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., forced a censure vote in November 2025. The Houseburied it 310 to 103 by sending the measure to Ethics. The Hill reported that she filed anexpulsion resolution on April 20, 2026, declaring that Mills “needs to be expelled immediately.” She never designated it privileged, so no vote followed.
Mills fired back, saying “Nancy thinks allegations and accusations is due process.” Speaker Mike Johnson kept his distance, telling reporters “The key word there is allegation.” Mills toldCNN that “There’s absolutely no reason to resign.”
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The man who supplied the gun used in the Old Dominion University school shooting in March has pled guilty to dealing in firearms without a license and three counts of making false statements during purchases of firearms.
Kenya Mcchell Chapman, 32, of Smithfield, will be sentenced on Dec. 18 for selling a gun to Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, who on March 12 committed a terrorist shooting at ODU during an Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corp (ROTC) class—killing one victim and wounding two more. Jalloh was fatally stabbed by a heroic cadet who intervened.
Chapman reportedly admitted that he stole a .22-caliber firearm from a car about a year before selling it to Jalloh the night before his attack.
According to court records, Chapman said he met Jalloh at work and that Jalloh told him he needed the gun for protection as a delivery driver. Chapman told agents he knew Jalloh had spent some time behind bars, but denied knowing he had a previous felony conviction.
Chapman told agents he had no idea the man would commit the attack.
Jalloh wasn’t the first person Chapman illegally sold arms to. According to court records, he was caught by the ATF making illegal straw purchases of weapons in 2021—but he went unpunished at the time.
“Two [of] the firearms were recovered from a homicide shooting in the fall of 2021—one from a victim and one from the shooter. Another firearm was recovered from a drunk in a public incident,” court records state. “Chapman was interviewed and admitted to straw purchasing all three firearms. ATF issued Chapman a straw purchaser warning letter and Chapman wrote a letter of apology.”
The guy who provided the Old Dominion shooter his firearm was under ATF investigation for straw purchases. He once bought weapons for both the victim and the shooter in a homicide case. https://t.co/UFNNKnM8kMpic.twitter.com/3TkRN0MphI
Some five years later, Chapman now faces 35 years in prison for selling a firearm to a terrorist—a convicted felon who wasn’t allowed to own guns.
Jalloh was a former Army National Guard member who pleaded guilty in 2016 to attempting to aid the Islamic State extremist group.
Jalloh, who yelled “Allahu akbar” before opening fire, was subdued and killed by ROTC students, according to FBI officials who praised the students’ bravery for preventing further harm. The shooting killed an ROTC leader who was a professor of military science at ODU, and left two others hurt.
Jalloh, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison in the Islamic State group case, was released from federal custody in December 2024. He was on supervised release, which is comparable to probation.
He was released about 2 1/2 years early after completing a drug treatment program. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and did so on condition of anonymity.
It wasn’t clear how Jalloh qualified for the program, which allows inmates to shave up to a year off their sentences. Inmates serving sentences for terrorism-related offenses typically aren’t eligible for such programs or other sentence-reducing credits.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
The U.S. government has maintained for decades that the TWA 800 explosion was caused by a mechanical failure—namely, the ignition of flammable fuel/air mixture in one of the fuel tanks. But thanks to dozens of witness reports and a plethora of other evidence, speculation remains that the explosion may have been caused by a missile or bomb.
And now, newly unearthed FBI records add to the theory that the TWA 800 explosion was the result of a terrorist attack. Those records were recently obtained by the transparency organization Judicial Watch, which published a documentary on TWA 800 on Monday. They include a three-page document written in the wake of the attack, stating that “FBI headquarters is in receipt of faxes generated from Cairo claiming credit.”
Newly unearthed records from Judicial Watch show that the FBI received faxes from Egypt claiming credit for the downing of TWA Flight 800 hours after that incident. The FBI initially pursued the theory that it was a missile attack, but later ruled it was a mechanical failure. pic.twitter.com/2i3kZLHldP
The document said that a meeting was scheduled for the night of July 18, 1996, to coordinate the bureau’s investigation, but no further information about Cairo, the capital of Egypt, is included. The document also includes more details about a possible missile attack.
“AN INDIVIDUAL ON LONG ISLAND, RESIDING IN THE VICINITY OF THE CRASH SITE, WHO, WHILE OUT ON A ROUTINE WALK, OBSERVED WHAT HE DESCRIBED AS A ‘FIREWORKS LIKE’ OBJECT ASCEND INTO THE AIR. HE OBSERVED A ‘WHITE PUFF’ EMERGE AND THEN BREAK IN TWO, GENERATING A FIREBALL, DESCENDING FROM THE SKY,” the FBI document says.
“NEW YORK IS CONDUCTING INVESTIGATION IN THIS REGION IN AN EFFORT TO DISCOVER ANY EVIDENCE REMAINING, SCORCH MARKS OR PARTS CONSISTENT WITH THE FIRING OF A MISSILE FROM THAT LOCATION … [REDACTED] STATES THAT A SHOULDER FIRED ROCKET, KNOWN AS A MANPAD, WOULD FUNCTION CONSISTENT WITH THIS EYEWITNESS’ ACCOUNT.”
Meanwhile, Judicial Watch is also suing the CIA for records on the incident. The agency published a video in 1997 claiming that witnesses who claimed to see a missile were mistaken, and that they actually saw burning fuel from the already-damaged aircraft ascending after the initial explosion.
“After 30 years, serious questions remain about the federal government’s handling of the TWA Flight 800 investigation,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a press release about his group’s efforts to investigate the incident.
“We are suing for transparency about how the CIA became involved and how it reached conclusions that differ so significantly from the accounts of other experts and more than 200 eyewitnesses.”
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
(Chris Wade, The Center Square) New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is backing off threats to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visits the city in September for the U.N. General Assembly meeting.
In a video posted on social media Tuesday night, Mamdani said his administration considered every “legal avenue” to make an arrest but determined that he doesn’t “have the independent legal authority” to put cuffs on the foreign leader.
But he called on the Trump administration to “execute the warrant” issued by the International Criminal Court for Netanyahu’s arrest on war crimes over his military campaign in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war.
“It is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant. The federal government, however, does,” Mamdani said in the video clip. “As I’ve said, I agree with the ICC that Benjamin Netanyahu should be arrested and tried for his crimes, as I do for anyone else charged by the ICC.”
Netanyahu and other world leaders will travel to New York City in two months for the General Assembly meeting, and the Israeli leader is expected to address the annual gathering.
Mamdani, New York City’s first Muslim mayor, has been highly critical of Netanyahu and the Israeli government. He has described the Israeli military’s actions in Gaza as a “genocide” and repeatedly called for the Israeli leader to be prosecuted.
“Anyone, with their eyes, with their heart, with their conscience, should recognize the devastation he has wrought and understand that he belongs before a court of law,” Mamdani said in Tuesday’s video clip.
Netanyahu has dismissed the mayor’s threats and accused Mamdani of siding with Hamas and other terrorist organizations.
U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz has called Mamdani’s push to arrest Netanyahu “pure political theater” and points out that the U.S. hasn’t signed the Rome Statute, which obliges countries to arrest people who have ICC warrants.
President Donald Trump blasted Mamdani’s threats in a social media post Monday that said Netanyahu won’t be arrested, “in any way, shape, or form,” when he visits New York for the U.N. meeting.
“He is fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which recently killed 52,000 innocent protestors, and has spent the last 47 years killing American Soldiers, and others,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The only ones that should be arrested are the people that led Iran into this unprecedented SPIRAL OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION, something that should have been dealt with years ago, by previous Presidents!”
(Chris Wade, The Center Square) U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., and over a dozen of his colleagues in the upper chamber have re-upped their calls to end the federal ban of marijuana.
On Tuesday, Fetterman’s office sent out a press release announcing his support for the reintroduction of the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, which he said would remove cannabis from the list of federally controlled substances and, as a result, empower states to create their own laws.
“I’ve always been very pro-weed,” Fetterman said. “In a very libertarian slant: I’m not going to judge anyone for using it to knock the edge off of life. I think your path to wellness should be without judgement or punishment—legal, safe, and regulated.”
“I supported President Biden and President Trump when they took steps on the issue,” he added. “But it is time for Congress to stop d—— around and make weed legal. This bill is a good step forward.”
The bill, filed on Thursday, has 17 co-sponsors, all of whom are Democrats.
According to Marijuana Moment, the latest effort is “largely similar” to versions filed in the two previous sessions of Congress, although the most recent proposal contains new provisions on hemp, specifically preventing the federal recriminalization of hemp THC products that is scheduled to take effect in November.
Fetterman believes the latest proposal provides a wide variety of benefits.
The proposal, according to Fetterman, would protect public health in a number of ways, including the establishment of a Center for Cannabis Products, which would regulate production, labeling, distribution, sales, and other manufacturing and retail elements of the cannabis industry, while also establishing programs and funding to prevent youth cannabis use.
In an effort to protect public safety, Fetterman said the proposal requires the Department of Transportation to create standards for cannabis-impaired driving and incentivize states to adopt cannabis open-container prohibitions.
This bill would also regulate and tax cannabis by transferring federal jurisdiction over cannabis to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, or TTB, eliminating the tax code’s restriction on cannabis businesses claiming deductions for business expenses and implementing an excise tax on cannabis products, and establishing market competition rules meant to protect independent producers, wholesalers, and retailers and prevent anti-competitive behavior.
Cannabis research is also encouraged in the bill in a variety of ways, including requiring the Government Accountability Office to study and report on metrics that may be impacted by cannabis legalization and requiring the Department of Health and Human Services, HHS, and the National Institutes of Health, NIH, to conduct or support research on the impacts of cannabis.
The bill would also establish grants to build up cannabis research capacity at institutions of higher education, with a particular focus on minority-serving institutions and Historically Black Colleges and Universities, HBCUs.
In an effort to prioritize justice, Fetterman said the bill establishes a Cannabis Justice Office at the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs and would use federal tax revenue to fund an Opportunity Trust Fund to “reinvest in communities and individuals most harmed by the failed War on Drugs.”
Fetterman also believes the bill would strengthen workers’ rights by removing federal employee pre-employment and random drug testing for cannabis and would establish grants for community-based education, outreach, and enforcement of workers’ rights in the cannabis industry.
A variety of cannabis reform supporters back this proposal, according to Marijuana Moment, including the Drug Policy Alliance, Doctors for Drug Policy Reform, and Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition.
Twenty-four states have legalized recreational marijuana, Forbes reports, while 35 have passed legislation to permit the medicinal use of cannabis.
Fetterman has a long record of calling for the legalization of marijuana and led a statewide listening tour on the matter during his time as lieutenant governor.
Marijuana regulations have also been in the news during Trump’s second term. In April, Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche issued an order immediately placing both FDA-approved marijuana products and marijuana regulated by state medical licenses in Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act.
U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., has a different view on marijuana policy.
In December, he signed a joint letter with 21 of his Republican Senate colleagues to the Trump administration opposing reclassifying the drug.
“Rescheduling marijuana to a Schedule III drug will undermine your strong efforts to Make America Great Again and to usher in America’s next economic Golden Age,” the senators write in the letter to the Trump administration. “The only winners from rescheduling will be bad actors such as Communist China, while Americans will be left paying the bill.”
During a telephone town hall that same month, McCormick referred to himself as a “big advocate of the use of medical marijuana” but said at that time he was “opposed to rescheduling Marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III.”
A Susquehanna Polling and Research survey conducted in April showed that 72% of Democrats, 67% of Republicans, and 64% of independents support the legalization of recreational marijuana in Pennsylvania.
However, because of the decision by the Trump administration in April, any marijuana not sold through a state medical program or approved by the FDA remains Schedule I.
(zachery Schmidt, The Center Square) U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs defeated U.S. Rep. David Schweikert in the Arizona Republican primary for governor Tuesday.
With 7% of Arizona precincts reporting, Biggs, R-Gilbert, received 71.5% of the votes, while Schweikert, R-Scottsdale, only got 16%.
Biggs will now go up against Gov. Katie Hobbs, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, in the Nov. 3 general election.
On social media after winning the nomination, Biggs said on social media he was “deeply honored to be chosen by Arizona Republicans as their nominee” to beat the governor in November.
“This campaign has been driven by our grassroots supporters from the day we launched in January 2025 with a clear mission of Restoring the American Dream in our great state,” Biggs said.
“Tonight’s results show that Arizonans overwhelmingly believe in our vision and I’m grateful to have earned their support. Our goal has always been to unite the Republican Party and we’ve done that as much as any nominee in recent memory,” he noted.
The Republican Governors Association congratulated Biggs on his victory over Schweikert.
“Throughout his career in public service, Andy has fought to lower costs, grow Arizona’s economy, unleash American energy, and secure the border,” said RGA Chair Governor Greg Gianforte.
“As governor, Andy will continue to put Arizona families first while Katie Hobbs focuses on serving special interests instead of addressing affordability, increasing the supply of housing and creating more good-paying jobs,” Gianforte said. “Arizonans have a clear choice this November, and Andy Biggs is the leader to get the state back on track.”
After securing her nomination, Hobbs said she is “grateful to every Arizonan who’s already shown up for this campaign.”
“I’ve never lost an election, but I’ve also never won one alone. This will be a close race, but I’m excited to be in this fight with all of you to keep Arizona moving forward,” she noted on social media.
Looking ahead, Hobbs has a cash-on-hand advantage over Biggs. According to the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office, she has nearly $2 million while Biggs has almost $1.3 million.
In other state races, Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, is beating Rodney Glassman by 12 percentage points for the Republican nominee for attorney general. Petersen had 56% of the vote on Tuesday night.
The Senate president is leading the race despite having less money on hand. According to the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office, Glassman had nearly $2.4 million in cash on hand compared to Petersen’s $523,863.
Attorney General Kris Mayes ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Mayes thanked Arizonans for their support on social media.
“From day one, I’ve stayed focused on the work at hand — protecting Arizona families from drug smugglers and scammers, holding greedy corporations accountable, defending our water, and keeping our communities safe,” Mayes said.
“That work isn’t done. Now we’re heading into the general election ready to win and keep delivering results for every Arizonan,” she added.
Right now, Mayes has $2.3 million of cash on hand.
For Arizona’s school superintendent races, Kimberly Yee is beating Superintendent Tom Horne in the Republican primary race by 8.2%.
Teresa Leyba Ruiz defeated Brett Matthew Newby in the Democratic nomination for school superintendent.
She had more cash on hand than Newby, with $146,232 compared to his $109,141.
The administration froze more than $867 million in Medicaid funds from California and more than $200 million in Minnesota, Kennedy said.
“They violated the social contract that makes this country strong and makes our democracy function,” Kennedy said at a news conference.
Kennedy said California and Minnesota can get those funds back if they provide documentary proof that the payments are legitimate. The administration used artificial intelligence, advanced analytics and traditional financial verification to uncover the fraud in both states, he said.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said Minnesota’s fraud came from 14 high-risk programs, including personal care and home health services.
Roughly $3 million were identified as fraudulent payments tied to documentation gaps, including payment claims for treatment provided to a deceased person, Oz said.
In California, Oz said, spending on in-home services over the past two years increased by 24%, double the rate of spending in other states, which accounts for $391 million of the funds deferred on Tuesday.
He also said fraud in California came from items billed more than a year after services were provided, or billing for more than four patients at the same time. Oz said individuals with “unsatisfactory immigration status” make up a significant portion of fraud in California.
“We can’t prove that they’re supposed to be in America and that they’re eligible for these services because this is an ongoing, massive problem for California,” Oz said.
Kennedy also announced that the Department of Health and Human Services will expand its exclusion authority, which would allow the secretary to block or completely eliminate certain actors suspected of fraudulent activity.
“If Gov. Gavin Newsom or Gov. Tim Walz wants this funding released, all they have to do is provide basic documentation showing that these services are legitimate and not fraudulent,” Kennedy said.
Dan Brillman, deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the states can retrieve frozen funds if they provide documentation to validate beneficiaries eligibility, services were actually delivered and go after improper payments when they are identified.
“Right now, there are hundreds of thousands of Medicaid beneficiaries waiting on what we call home- and community-based services wait lists,” Brillman said. “Every dollar lost to fraud is $1 that cannot pay for a child with complex medical needs, an adult with intellectual disabilities, or a veteran like that I serve with, are waiting to receive services at home.”
Oz said officials in Minnesota have provided the Trump administration with documents that are being evaluated. He said the fraud issues in California are more complex.
“We’re still working many issues with California,” Oz said. “It’s a much bigger program, and lots of different kinds of issues happening.”
“We have to end the fraud, waste, and abuse, and this administration will do whatever it takes to keep your taxpayer dollars out of the hands of criminals and fraudsters,” Kennedy said.
