<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="11971766" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ted-cruz" source="Orion">Ted Cruz</keyword> asked DOJ officials Tuesday about any federal agents' involvement in the <keyword id="11897870" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="january-6" source="Orion">January 6</keyword> riot.</li><li>Several <keyword id="11899267" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="republicans" source="Orion">Republicans</keyword> also asked questions about the Ray Epps conspiracy theory.</li></ul>Sen. Ted Cruz pressed <keyword id="11897354" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="justice-department" source="Orion">Justice Department</keyword> officials on Tuesday to address a conspiracy theory that the federal government played a role in fomenting the January 6 riot at the US Capitol."A lot of Americans are concerned that the federal government deliberately encouraged illegal and violent conduct on January 6," the Texas Republican told top DOJ officials during a Senate Judiciary hearing on <keyword id="12069542" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="domestic-terrorism" source="Orion">domestic terrorism</keyword>, before adding this question: "Did federal agents or those in service of federal agents actively encourage violent criminal conduct on January 6?"Cruz was referencing a conspiracy theory that revolves around Ray Epps, a Marine veteran who was seen on a video urging the crowd to enter the US Capitol building the day before the January 6 riot. Conservatives have used this video to push the idea that Epps was a <keyword id="11964162" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="fbi" source="Orion">FBI</keyword> plant and worked on behalf of federal agents to incite the violence that took place that day.DOJ officials did not flat out reject questions from Cruz and other Republican senators about the role of Epps or other federal agents on the ground at the Capitol. Instead, they stuck with carefully-worded replies that do leave open room for interpretation."I simply don't have any information at all…about that individual," Matthew Olsen, the assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's National Security Division, said when asked if he knew who Epps was.Cruz also asked if there were any FBI agents present at the January 6 riot or involved in any other way on the grounds of the Capitol. "Not to my knowledge," replied Jill Sanborn, executive assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Security Branch.The Texas senator's questions about Epps came while remains under fire from conservatives over his public comments that the Trump mob participated in a "violent terrorist attack" when it brought last year's Electoral College certification to a halt. Cruz, a likely 2024 presidential candidate, has since tried to walk back the comments by saying his choice of words was "sloppy" while trying to clarify that he wasn't describing pro-Trump supporters as terrorists.Cruz wasn't alone in pressing DOJ for public answers on Epps. Republican Sen. <keyword id="12297627" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tom-cotton" source="Orion">Tom Cotton</keyword> of Arkansas, another possible White House candidate, also asked the Justice Department officials about Epps and if there were any FBI agents "in plain clothes" at the riot."You're the assistant attorney general for national security. You run the National Security Division," Cotton told Olsen during the hearing." The Department has said that these January 6 prosecutions are one of their highest priorities. This is a man who was on the most wanted page for six months. Do you really expect us to believe that you've never heard of the name?" The House select committee in charge of investigating the January 6 riot dismissed the Epps conspiracy theory."The Select Committee has interviewed Mr. Epps. Mr. Epps informed us that he was not employed by, working with, or acting at the direction of any law enforcement agency on January 5th or 6th or at any other time, and that he has never been an informant for the FBI or any other law enforcement agency," a committee spokesperson said in a statement following the hearing on Tuesday.Other Republican lawmakers have also embraced the Epps conspiracy theory. Last October, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky questioned Attorney General Merrick Garland during a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing about Ray Epps and if FBI agents played a role in inciting the violence on January 6.On the one-year anniversary of January 6, Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia held a press conference where they insisted that the riot last year was not an "insurrection" and showed videos of Epps.

Ted Cruz pressed DOJ officials to address a January 6 conspiracy theory days after he walked back 'terrorist' remarks

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Washington, <keyword id="56051" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="DC">DC</keyword>, has been demanding statehood since 1801. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, DC's only non-voting member of the House, told Insider she believes it is now "in sight."</li><li>After violent protesters forced their way into the Capitol this week, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser criticized the federal government for delays in deploying the National Guard and demanded that President-elect Joe Biden take up statehood during his first 100 days.</li><li>After winning two Senate races in Georgia, <keyword id="6534156" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Democrats">Democrats</keyword> will now control both houses of Congress. <keyword id="66537" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Republicans">Republicans</keyword>, and even some Democrats, have long opposed DC statehood. </li><li>Making Washington, DC, a state could also mean adding two additional Senate seats in a heavily Democratic area. </li></ul>The night before President <keyword id="6354862" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="trump">Trump</keyword>'s "Save America" rally on the Washington Mall, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser wanted to deploy National Guard forces to shore up security in preparation for protests. Normally, a request like that from a major US city would go to the governor of the state. But Washington, DC, is not a state. In fact, its National Guard is the only force in 50 states and four territories that reports directly to the president.So instead, Bowser's request went to the Pentagon, which approved the request, but <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/trump-protests-washington-guard-military/2021/01/07/c5299b56-510e-11eb-b2e8-3339e73d9da2_story.html">with a caveat</a>: Guardsmen would not carry ammunition and riot gear, or interact with the pro-Trump extremists. As the mob descended on the Capitol, terrified lawmakers and staff crouched under tables. Steny Hoyer, the House majority leader, frantically dialed Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, but the governor's hands were also tied. When Capitol Police, which is overseen by Congress, phoned the Pentagon for backup, that request was reportedly denied. In the meantime, the unit was savaged with public criticism as a shocked nation watched the Capitol Police were easily overwhelmed and failed to make mass arrests as the mob surged forward. In all, it took about <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/trump-protests-washington-guard-military/2021/01/07/c5299b56-510e-11eb-b2e8-3339e73d9da2_story.html">three hours</a> for guardsmen to arrive and help secure the building. Speaking at a press conference on Thursday about the events, Bowser, who was born and raised in the district, did not mince words: DC needs to become a state. Now. <div type="image" title="Mayor Muriel Bowser" height="2807" width="4210" msid="80182563" hostid="261"></div>"First, we must get statehood on the President's desk within the first 100 days of the 117th Congress," Bowser said. And Congress should transfer command and control of the DC National Guard to the district. If she gets her way, it would not necessarily translate to a more aggressive role for the Guard. In June 2020, when Trump activated guardsmen and other forces to patrol the streets during Black Lives Matter protests near the White House, Bowser reacted swiftly, calling on Trump to remove the patrolling forces and notifying him that the city would not pay the hotel bill for guardsmen deployed to the district against its wishes. DC has been calling for statehood <a href="https://statehood.dc.gov/page/about-dc-statehood">since 1801</a>. But the city's strong Democratic identity-since residents gained the right to vote for president in 1964, the popular vote has gone to the Democratic candidate every time has made that politically difficult. Sen. Mitch McConnell has criticized the effort to make "the swamp itself, Washington, DC, America's 51st state." Sen. Lindsey Graham has called DC statehood a "brazen power grab" for Democrats. With the addition of Georgia's Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, both Democrats, to Congress, the US Senate will now be split 50/50, with 50 Republicans, 48 Democrats, two independents who caucus with the Democrats and-as of Jan. 20-Vice President Kamala Harris able to cast the deciding vote. DC statehood would add two additional US Senators, and with it a huge Democratic advantage. For Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, DC's only non-voting member of the House, statehood is now "in sight.""We have upped the ante, I think, with what happened here in the Capitol," she told Insider on Friday. "The notion that the house in our own city-the city that happens to be the capital-and that city has no representation, no complete representation, at a time of crisis, points up the need for the District of Columbia to become a state and have the same tools that every other state has," Norton said.<div type="image" title="EHN at Trump speech .JPG" height="2268" width="3024" msid="80182565" hostid="261"></div>"Taxation without representation" adorns every DC license plate, but the issue has largely been seen as a local one-until recent years. The history of DC's disenfranchisement is older than the nation's capital itself. When the city was chosen as the seat of the US government in 1788, the politician Thomas Tredwell raised the issue of its lack of representation, but the concern largely fell on deaf ears. For centuries, Washingtonians have not had a say at the national level-whether the US can go to war or allocate Covid-19 relief funding or take action on climate change.Advocates of statehood argue that it's unfair to reduce the issue to its impact on national <keyword id="6358883" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="politics">politics</keyword> and that Washingtonians just want to have a role in their country's future.In addition to Holmes Norton, DC has two "shadow Senators," though none of them have voting power. Even local laws can be limited by Congress. On issues ranging from abortion to medical marijuana to efforts to stop the spread of HIV, federal lawmakers have exercised that power to approve or halt the city's democratically approved bills. And when states received $1.25 billion each for Covid-19 relief, DC received only $500 million, despite being one of the hardest-hit spots in the country. All this, despite the fact that DC's population of 705,000 people is larger than two states and on par with about a dozen others, and residents pay more in federal taxes per capita than anywhere else in the country. Most Americans, Holmes Norton said, are unaware that Washingtonians largely have no say in the nation's laws. Now, the effort is gaining momentum on a national stage.In June 2020, for the first time, the US House of Representatives passed a bill to grant DC statehood. The bill didn't make it through the Senate, where majority leader Mitch McConnell dismissed it as "<a href="https://twitter.com/senatemajldr/status/1139617930579251200">full-bore socialism.</a>" In response, Republican lawmakers introduced three different bills that would make DC part of Maryland-despite it being unpopular in both places-or cap the number of Senators at 100, preventing any new states from having representation in the Senate. (Those bills went nowhere.)Rep. Holmes Norton said she would reintroduce the Washington, DC, Admission Act into the new session of the House. Already, she told Insider, it has received more co-sponsors than it did last year, even before Congress reopened this week. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has vowed support, saying in a statement: "The sacred right to vote and to have a voice in our government is a core pillar of our freedom.""We really are sick and tired of Congress interfering," Elinor Hart, an organizer at the DC Statehood Coalition, told Insider. "We really need to get control over our own laws and our own budget."The hurdle, still, is the Senate. And it's not just Republicans. Last year, three Democrats-Doug Jones, Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema-and Independent Sen. Angus King, who caucuses with Democrats, did not sponsor the legislation. (Jones lost his reelection bid to a Republican challenger.)<div type="image" title="DSCF4840.JPG" height="1333" width="2000" msid="80182566" hostid="261"></div>As for Manchin, in November 2020, he said he didn't "see the need" for DC statehood. "I'd have to hear more [about] that, but right now I'm not convinced that's the way to go," he said. But in an email to Insider on Thursday, Manchin didn't repeat that stance. Instead, he said he was "focused on healing our country," and he would "review all other proposals to heal our nation when the time comes." In the meantime, DC's nonvoting congresspeople are working to see if they can secure Republican support for the bill, or find a way to modify Senate rules so that statehood could be included in budget reconciliation-which would save them from requiring the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. "Now that we have control of both houses, we're having to reconfigure how you would go about doing that," Holmes Norton said. "And we'll have word on that at some time later in the session." Typically, statehood has been a polarizing issue that falls along partisan lines. In the past, Holmes Norton said, two states are often added at once-a Democratic state and Republican state-to maintain Congressional balance. But in this case, that may not be possible. Puerto Rico, a US territory with Republican leadership, has been floated as an option. But, Holmes Norton says, "Puerto Rico is bankrupt. So it isn't a viable partner.""We're going to have to do this a new way," Holmes Norton said. "And we are in the process of trying to figure that out."

Violence at the Capitol has 'upped the ante' and helped put DC statehood 'in sight,' the District's House member tells Insider

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <keyword id="10092361" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="biden-administration">Biden administration</keyword> has inherited the task of reuniting <keyword id="485636" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="migrant-families">migrant families</keyword> separated under Trump.</li><li><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/biden-admin-name-refugee-advocate-director-task-force-reunite-separated-n1257255?cid=ed_npd_bn_tw_bn">NBC News reported</a> that the White House is likely to put a refugee advocate in charge of the effort.</li><li>Michelle Brané would be a welcome leader to the task force which is mostly made up of government officials.</li></ul>In a move likely to please the immigration community, the Biden Administration is expected to name a refugee advocate as executive director of the task force charged with reunifying migrant families that were <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-aggressively-pushed-for-the-family-separation-policy-2021-1">split up under former President Donald Trump's "zero-tolerance"</a> <keyword id="6638572" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="family-separation">family separation</keyword> policy, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/biden-admin-name-refugee-advocate-director-task-force-reunite-separated-n1257255?cid=ed_npd_bn_tw_bn">according to NBC News</a>.Sources told the outlet that if chosen, Michelle Brané, director of migrant rights and justice programs at the Women's Refugee Commission, would oversee the task force's day-to-day operations as it works to reunite nearly 550 children who were separated from their parents at the US southern border under the Trump Administration in 2018 and in pilot programs preceding the short-lived policy's implementation.Brané's organization, the Women's Refugee Committee is already part of a steering committee that a federal judge has tasked with finding the parents of the hundreds of children still separated from their families.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-the-effort-to-roll-back-the-family-separation-policy-2021-2">Insider reported earlier this month</a> that nonprofit groups were specifically put in charge of the effort because government representatives could not necessarily be trusted.Brané would be a welcome leader to the inter-agency task force which is mostly made up of government officials, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/biden-effort-reunite-migrant-families-separated-under-trump-not-enough-n1256495">NBC News reported.</a>Around 2,000 kids separated under the formal policy have already been reunited with their parents, and 600 more are either with sponsors in the US or have already reached legal age, Felipe De La Hoz reported for Insider. But late last year, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/parents-of-545-migrant-children-separated-by-trump-missing-lawyers-2020-10">ACLU lawyers said they hadn't been able to contact the parents of 545 migrant children</a>, and lawyers estimated that the administration had already deported two-thirds of those parents back to Central America without their children.Though Trump ended his "zero-tolerance" policy in June 2018 after public outcry, the Biden Administration has inherited the court-ordered effort to reunify those still separated nearly three years later.The process of reunifying families is tedious and delicate work, requiring a combination of combing through government data and deploying on-the-ground connections, De La Hoz wrote for Insider.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/senate-parliamentarian-elizabeth-macdonough-trump-impeachment-trial-stimulus-minimum-wage-2021-2?r=oo-pol" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Meet the little-known power player with the 'hardest job' on Capitol Hill. She's shaping Trump's impeachment trial and Joe Biden's agenda.</a>One source familiar with the matter told NBC News that Brané's role would be "essential to the success of the task force," which is chaired by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas."Michelle Brané is widely recognized as a leading expert on protection of at risk children and families displaced by violence and persecution in Central America. I can't imagine anyone else who would be better for the job of leading the effort to right the wrongs inflicted on families separated at the border by the Trump administration," Wendy Young, president of Kids in Need of Defense <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/biden-admin-name-refugee-advocate-director-task-force-reunite-separated-n1257255?cid=ed_npd_bn_tw_bn">told NBC News</a>.Brané declined to comment to NBC News.

The White House is expected to put a refugee advocate in charge of reuniting separated migrant families, per report

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Long after the Trump administration's family separation policy was stopped, many parents have yet to be located. The <keyword id="10092361" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="biden-administration">Biden administration</keyword> has inherited the effort. </li><li>Advocates look for clues and scour incomplete records. In the worst case scenario, a note might be as vague as "José, sent back to Guatemala." </li><li>No one expects that advocates will find every parent, but they hope, in time, to locate most of them.</li></ul>Dora Melara has led painstaking searches in <keyword id="50050" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Honduras">Honduras</keyword> to find dozens of parents separated from their children under the Trump administration's zero tolerance immigration policy."One of the difficulties we have is that you'll go to the reference address and maybe the person never went back there," Melara told Insider. Or, "there's a possible address, not even exact."She has also seen "whole <keyword id="46242" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="families">families</keyword> crying" over video chats she sets up between parents in Honduras and their child in the United States, sometimes as siblings chime in: "Look how big you are, look how much you've grown!" The Trump administration's family separation policy was relatively short-lived. But the process of locating the parents and reuniting families has dragged on. Now, it falls on the Biden administration to complete the untangling of the policy and address the lasting impacts of trauma. On Tuesday, President Joe Biden is expected to announce the creation of a task force that will recommend how to "reunify families," according to a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/02/02/fact-sheet-president-biden-outlines-steps-to-reform-our-immigration-system-by-keeping-families-together-addressing-the-root-causes-of-irregular-migration-and-streamlining-the-legal-immigration-syst/">fact sheet</a>. "I'm still hopeful that the vast majority of people are going to be found," Cathleen Caron, the executive director of Justice in Motion, part of the steering committee tasked with locating parents, told Insider. "It's impossible to guarantee that every single parent will be located. But we haven't given up on any of the parents yet, either." Advocates describe reunification as an exquisitely delicate process of tracking clues and false starts, deploying on-the-ground connections and local expertise, all while navigating enormous mistrust and a maze of bureaucracy spanning multiple countries.It is often tedious work, with investigators combing through every available scrap of government data that might point to where the parents ended up and how to reach them, and experts who can coordinate extraordinary outreach efforts over local radio and mail. And finally, it requires people like Melara, who is part of Justice in Motion's network of local defenders, to do the sensitive work of tracing clues and building trust.<h2>"José, sent back to Guatemala" </h2>From April to June 2018, roughly 2,800 children were taken from their parents during the now-infamous zero tolerance policy, while around 1,100 kids were caught up in pilot programs that started in late 2017. In 2018, in response to a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union, a federal judge halted the separations and ordered the government to locate the families and offer the chance to reunite. But the effort has dragged on, hampered by shoddy record keeping, stale data, natural disasters and the coronavirus pandemic, and parents' lingering misgivings about the government's earnestness in seeking to help them. <div type="image" title="Families belong poster at WH" height="3054" width="4896" msid="80659782" hostid="261"></div>So far, around 2,000 kids separated under the formal policy have been reunited with their parents, and almost 600 are either with sponsors in the U.S. or have reached adult age. Late last year, it was revealed that the parents of over 600 children separated during the pilot programs had yet to be contacted at all. According to the latest <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.casd.564097/gov.uscourts.casd.564097.567.0.pdf">status report</a>, from mid January, of the 611 children whose parents have yet to be found, 392 of them have had their parents deported..From the get-go, the federal government never created records that would be typical when a family enters custody. Children's files and legal proceedings were established as if they had entered the country alone. Since then, government lawyers have been tasked with scouring records from the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services to discover, first, which children in its custody arrived with their parents, and whether files for those family members can be located. "The data has been so spotty. It's obvious that recording families, tracking them in any meaningful way to facilitate reunification... was not a concern, not a priority, not done," said Leah Chavla senior policy advisor at the Women's Refugee Commission. The group, along with the nonprofit groups Kids in Need of Defense and Justice in Motion and the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton &amp; Garrison, which has a coordinated role, form a steering committee tasked with finding parents. Putting non-profits in the lead was a deliberate choice since government representatives would not necessarily be trusted. Each group has a certain expertise. Justice in Motion, for example gets involved "when the information is really bad, there's no phone numbers, people aren't responding, people don't want to speak," said Caron. The worst case scenario, she said, might be a note as vague as "José, sent back to Guatemala." Getting even basic data has not been easy. A highly consequential database from the Justice Department office that oversees immigration courts -- which advocates knew existed and had requested repeatedly -- was only produced last November. Government lawyers said they had not intended to withhold the information, and blamed the delay on not understanding what the committee required. "I had written emails to the government in August 2019 asking for all of the phone numbers that they had," said Steven Herzog of Paul, Weiss. "They said, 'you have everything we have.' And we didn't have everything that they had. And now, a year and a half later, we got more. And now that data is a year-and-a-half older, and it's more stale, and many of the phone numbers don't work."<h2>A "heart wrenching" decision</h2>Further complicating the effort is the fact that most of the parents are not themselves eligible to return to the U.S., and many had compelling reasons to ensure that their children did not remain in their home countries. Once a person is deported, as many of the parents separated under the pilot programs were, they are largely blocked from re-entering the country or seeking status. In these cases, reunification is only possible if the children also leave the United States. In the latest status report, filed on Jan. 13, 103 parents out of a total of 261 who'd filled out election forms decided not to avail themselves of the settlement.<div type="image" title="Mami Papi poster " height="3456" width="2898" msid="80659783" hostid="261"></div>"It's a heart-wrenching type of decision when your choices are to have the opportunity to have your child reunited with you, but it has to be that they're brought back to a situation that you yourself are afraid of," said Herzog, the lawyer at Paul, Weiss. "That does very much limit the options they have."A large number of the children have petitioned for asylum and might remain with their sponsors, who are often family members. There's a chance they can win their own cases and lead relatively normal lives in the U.S. But they may have no hope of seeing their parents again. Advocates are pushing for Biden to create a pathway for the parents to return with legal status, which could theoretically be done with executive action, or through Congress. Part of Biden's larger immigration legislative proposal could include measures targeting these specific families, but some GOP legislators have already <a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-legislation-immigration-border-security-2179887c74cfd8d156bbd293abfc9fb0">balked at the entire bill</a> Reunifications in the United States might be the best possible outcome, but it's difficult to measure the long term impacts of the trauma faced by children being torn apart from their parents. They could range from <a href="https://apnews.com/article/348936a5a306404ab20125d39a683a40">permanent brain damage</a>, especially for the youngest children, to difficulty <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/us/family-separation-complications.html">rebuilding their relationships</a> and lingering resentment.<h2>"They feel responsible" </h2>But first, the parents have to be found, and the effort only gets more difficult with time: People change their phone numbers, move houses, resettle in entirely different parts of the country. This is why advocates have warned against simply throwing resources at the problem. What is needed, they say, is a meticulous effort of combing through every available source of data for every scrap of information that might point to where the parents are and how to reach them.For those like Melora, in Honduras, the going was already tough before 2020. But the coronavirus pandemic and hurricanes that slammed the region late last year have proved catastrophic. The recovery has been slow, and the on-the-ground investigators have largely found themselves on their own, without robust government support. "Even today, there are places you have to travel very carefully because the roads are only one way, since a mudslide took the rest," Melara said. A general curfew throughout Honduras stopped Melara's outings for months, and even now there are limitations on movement, both legal and practical."There's a father we'd already located, but we couldn't get there because there was no longer any road access. Other parents were also very affected by the flooding, and some had to go to temporary shelters," she said. Some of the parents, who had been seeking asylum because they were fleeing threats of violence, went into hiding, making them much harder to locate. When she does finally make contact, Melara said, there is a human toll that families are reckoning with. Some have had no contact with children for years, and are living with the effects of traumas they have endured and often a deep sense of guilt. "They can feel responsible for what they lived through," she said. Still, she said that, once found, almost all of the parents eventually warm up to her."They're happy to know that there are people out there who are interested in meeting them, talking to them, knowing their story," she said

Inside the Herculean effort to reunite parents and kids split up by President Trump's family separation policy

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The US <keyword id="52568" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Citizenship">Citizenship</keyword> and <keyword id="50403" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Immigration">Immigration</keyword> Services just unveiled its new citizenship test for immigrants seeking to become US citizens. </li><li>The new 12-question civics exam is lengthier and has some updated terminology that could be construed as more difficult for test-takers to understand. </li><li>The term "citizens" also replaces "people" when it comes to some questions about representation in Congress. </li><li>It also comes with a new 128-question study guide, compared to the previous 100-question study guide.</li></ul>Although nearing the end of its term after an election defeat, the Trump administration just crossed off another to-do list item in advance of President-elect Joe Biden's new administration, crafting a new and more complex test that immigrants must take to receive their citizenship. Officials under <keyword id="3828720" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="President-Donald-Trump">President Donald Trump</keyword> <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-announces-a-revised-naturalization-civics-test">unveiled the new civics test on Friday</a> that replaces a President George W. Bush-era test that's been used for the last 12 years. It's the final hurdle to naturalization before America's immigrants receive their decision from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services and take the Oath of Allegiance in a naturalization ceremony. Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-burrowing-administration-biden-government-employees-agencies-deep-state-2020-11?r=tp-sub" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">EXCLUSIVE: Documents reveal Trump is building his own 'deep state' by leaving political appointees behind in government for the Biden administration</a> The <keyword id="137642" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="USCIS">USCIS</keyword> began revising the test in 2019 in an effort to refresh it every 10 years. The last time it was updated was in 2008 during Bush's presidency, leaving the Obama administration with no pressing need to touch the test during its tenure. With the 10-year mark coming in 2018, it fell squarely in the Trump administration's purview. <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship-resource-center/the-2020-version-of-the-civics-test/128-civics-questions-and-answers-2020-version">Basic civics questions</a> remain the same including "how many U.S. senators are there?" and "how many amendments does the U.S. Constitution have?" but the wording for some is more complex. Applicants are asked to "name two important ideas from the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution" instead of "what are two rights in the Declaration of Independence?" <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/questions-and-answers/100q.pdf">In the former test</a>, the applicant need only say a combination of terms in the famous phrase: "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Correct answers to the new test, however, include more specifics terms such as "equality," "social contract," "natural rights," "limited government," and "self-government."The term "citizen" also replaces "people" when it comes to representation in some questions, as the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/new-us-citizenship-test-trump/2020/11/13/2029723e-25e9-11eb-8672-c281c7a2c96e_story.html">Washington Post</a> noted. When asked, "who does a member of the House of Representatives represent?" or "who does a U.S. senator represent?" the correct answer must include citizens and not people.For US representatives, the right answers would be "citizens in their (congressional) district" and "citizens in their district," while for senators, the right answer would be "citizens of their state."In the previous test, the term citizen is typically used when discussing explicit rights not given to non-citizens, such as the right to vote. And when asked "who does a U.S. Senator represent?" in the previous test, the correct answer would be: "all people of the state."The idea of using the term "citizens" instead of "people" was a staple of the Trump presidency, especially as it came to the census and representation. The president fought to have the US Census Bureau ask respondents their citizenship status but <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-citizenship-census/">dropped the question following legal battles</a>. The soon-to-be Americans can also put their maps away as geography will be removed entirely from the test. Former geography questions were typically lay-ups that included "what ocean is on the West Coast of the <keyword id="6356955" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="united-states">United States</keyword>?" and "what is the capital of the United States?" The answers to those are the Pacific Ocean and Washington, DC, respectively. Changes are also coming to the testing procedure and scoring. Instead of correctly answering only six questions, candidates must correctly answer 12 and must answer the full 20 instead of stopping once they've reached the passing mark, according to the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/new-us-citizenship-test-trump/2020/11/13/2029723e-25e9-11eb-8672-c281c7a2c96e_story.html">Washington Post</a>.And that's after studying from a list of 128 potential questions, an increase of 28 from the 2008 study guide. The threshold to pass remains the same at 60%.Applicants of advanced age, 65 years or older, or those with 20 years of permanent residency in the US need only answer six correctly out of 10 instead of 20. Those applicants will also have the number of questions they're required to study reduced to 20.Luckily, applicants can view the test and its answers before they take it. Both the new 2020 and former 2008 versions are available on the <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship-resource-center/the-2020-version-of-the-civics-test/128-civics-questions-and-answers-2020-version">USCIS website</a>. But advocates fear that the test changes will make it harder to become a US citizen and increase wait times to become a citizen, according to the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/new-us-citizenship-test-trump/2020/11/13/2029723e-25e9-11eb-8672-c281c7a2c96e_story.html">Washington Post</a>. The process to become a US citizen can already take upwards of <a href="https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/">two years once you've met the requirements</a>, and that doesn't include the potentially years-long process of getting permanent residency just to begin living and working in the country.Those already scheduled to take the test won't need to brush up on the new lingo and study guides just yet, however. Citizenship applicants with a filing date later than December 1, 2020, will receive the 2020 test while existing applicants will be administered the 2008 test.

The outgoing Trump administration just revealed its new citizenship test that's twice as long and uses exclusive terms like 'citizens' instead of 'all people'

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="976198" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Peter-Marks">Peter Marks</keyword>, the director of the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said he would resign if the agency pushed out an unproven <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> <keyword id="24209" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="vaccine">vaccine</keyword>.</li><li>The <keyword id="6354656" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="fda">FDA</keyword> is under immense pressure to release a vaccine, as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases continues to rise, and as President Donald <keyword id="6354862" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="trump">Trump</keyword> urges health officials to act speedily. </li><li>"You have to decide where your red line is, and that's my red line," Marks said. </li></ul>A high-level official within the Food and Drug Administration threatened to resign if the agency green-lights an unproven coronavirus vaccine.In a statement to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-vaccines-fda-exclu-idUSKBN25H03H">Reuters</a>, Peter Marks, the director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said he "would feel obligated" to step down from his role if the agency approves a dubious vaccine."In doing so," Marks said, "I would indicate to the American public that there's something wrong."In his role, Marks oversees a team of experts who are responsible for identifying potential coronavirus treatments, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/coronavirus-vaccine-approval-decider/2020/08/11/7c6fb7a0-d8f1-11ea-930e-d88518c57dcc_story.html">the Washington Post reported</a>. Historically, FDA officials like Marks have the final say on medical items issued out to the public. If this trend holds, Marks will be the determining figure on when a vaccine will be released, according to the Post. The FDA did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.There is mounting pressure to secure a vaccine for the coronavirus, as the number of confirmed cases continues to climb worldwide. More than 5.5 million people have contracted the virus in the United States, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Of that sum, more than 174,000 Americans have died from it.<div type="image" title="Moderna vaccine" height="1564" width="2085" msid="77679040" hostid="261"></div>President Donald Trump has been <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/06/17/trump-coronavirus-vaccine/">urging health officials to work faster to approve a vaccine</a> and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-trump-vaccine/trump-says-coronavirus-vaccine-possible-before-nov-3-idUSKCN25221Q">said it was possible that one would be available before the November 3 election</a>. Most health experts say it's unlikely that a vaccine could be proven safe that soon.Trump's eagerness to put out a vaccine comes as lawmakers remain critical of him for his response to the coronavirus pandemic.Perhaps more importantly, voters who will take to the polls in November to determine whether he gets re-elected have also indicated <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/15/trumps-approval-rating-on-the-economy-tanks-in-new-quinnipiac-poll.html">they're not satisfied with the way he's handled the pandemic</a>. Only 35% of voters said they approved of his response in a July Quinnipiac University poll. That figure is compared with the overwhelming 62% who said they didn't. Adding on to the pressure, earlier this month Russia <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-coronavirus-vaccine-putin-phase-three-trial-2020-8">announced the release</a> of what President Vladimir Putin has called the first coronavirus vaccine in the world. But the pressure isn't enough to drive officials to put out a vaccine just yet. "You have to decide where your red line is, and that's my red line," Marks said in the statement, adding that he "could not stand by and see something that was unsafe or ineffective that was being put through."Still, scientists and health officials have concerns that the quickly approaching November election will only encourage Trump to double down on the pressure, Reuters reported. The federal government is testing possible treatments, but a vaccine is not likely to be approved before the election, health officials have said. The government hopes to release a proven vaccine by January 2021, Reuters reported, citing Michael Caputo, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services.

A top FDA official threatened to resign if the agency green-lights an unproven coronavirus vaccine

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Oil must stop flowing from <keyword id="3632536" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="dakota-access-pipeline">Dakota Access Pipeline</keyword> by August 5, with a US District Court for the District of Columbia judge ruling that the Dakota Access company failed to secure proper environmental protections when getting permits for the project.</li><li>The ruling comes as a major victory for the <keyword id="2333043" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Standing-Rock">Standing Rock</keyword> Sioux Tribe, whose water supply was put at risk by the pipeline.</li><li>"Today is a historic day for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the many people who have supported us in the fight against the pipeline," Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Mike Faith said in a statement.</li></ul>The controversial Dakota Access Pipeline will have to close down operations by August 5 following a Monday court ruling.The US District Court for the District of Columbia <a href="https://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/desktop/document/STANDINGROCKSIOUXTRIBEvUNITEDSTATESARMYCORPSOFENGINEERSDocketNo11/7?1594048033">found</a> Dakota Access' plans for environmental protections to be inadequate, failing to fully meet requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act.Judge James E. Boasberg ordered the company to shut the pipeline down and empty its oil by August 5.The Trump administration backed the pipeline, with President Trump going so far as to sign an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-dakota-access-pipeline-dapl-water-environment-2017-1">executive order to advance its construction</a> amid legal challenges shortly after taking office in 2017.The ruling comes as a major victory for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. After being approved in 2014, the pipeline was rerouted near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, drawing concerns from members over the oil endangering their only water supply.Protests began as early as 2014 but picked up by the late summer in 2016, with indigenous peoples and thousands of activists <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-north-dakota-pipeline-protest-2016-9">descending on North Dakota</a> in an attempt to block the pipeline through peaceful resistance.In September 2016, the oil company used dogs and pepper spray to disperse protesters, drawing widespread condemnation and international <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news">news</keyword> coverage. Standing Rock Chairman Dave Archambault II would eventually testify before the United Nations Human Rights Council to decry the crackdown, but oil would still begin flowing commercially in June 2017.Yet after four years of litigation, the Standing Rock Sioux have emerged victorious. "Today is a historic day for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the many people who have supported us in the fight against the pipeline," Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Mike Faith said in a statement."This pipeline should have never been built here. We told them that from the beginning."

In a blow to Trump, the Dakota Access Pipeline was ordered to shut down by a district court

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <keyword id="1817616" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="SPAC">SPAC</keyword> backed by <keyword id="1565339" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Thomas-Barrack">Thomas Barrack</keyword> withdrew its <keyword id="6354763" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ipo">IPO</keyword> application with the SEC on Friday.</li><li>The move comes days after the billionaire was arrested and charged with seven felony counts.</li><li>Falcon Acquisition had filed for a $250 million IPO in March with the goal of targeting tech-driven businesses. </li></ul>The blank-check company backed by billionaire Thomas Barrack <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001828134/000121390021038273/ea144678-rw_falconpeak.htm">withdrew</a> its application for an initial public offering Friday, just days after the 74-year-old was arrested and <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1413316/download" target="_blank" rel="noopener">charged</a> with seven felony counts.Falcon Acquisition, the New York based-SPAC led by Barrack, <a href="https://www.renaissancecapital.com/IPO-Center/News/80053/SPAC-Falcon-Acquisition-files-for-a-$250-million-IPO-targeting-tech-driven-">filed</a> for a $250 million IPO in March this year with the goal of targeting tech-driven businesses. Falcon Acquisition was founded in 2020.In a <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001828134/000121390021038273/ea144678-rw_falconpeak.htm">letter</a> to the Securities and Exchange Commission dated July 23, the company only said, "it has elected to abandon the transactions subject thereto."On July 20, Barrack, the chairman of Donald Trump's inaugural fund, was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-2017-inaugural-chairman-tom-barrack-arrested-report-2021-7">accused</a> of illegally lobbying the Trump administration on behalf of the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/thomas-barrack-trump-considered-uae-ambassador-prosecutors-2021-7">United Arab Emirates</a>.Barrack was <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/former-advisor-presidential-candidate-among-three-defendants-charged-acting-agents">charged</a> along with Matthew Grimes and Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi.The billionaire's spokesperson <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-2017-inaugural-chairman-tom-barrack-arrested-report-2021-7">told</a> Insider that Barrack, founder and former executive chairman of the investment-management firm Colony Capital, would plead not guilty.Barrack was arrested in Sylmar, California, and has been held in a federal jail in Los Angeles since then. He is scheduled to appear before a federal judge in Los Angeles on Friday.

Tom Barrack's SPAC withdraws its IPO filing days after the billionaire was arrested and charged with illegal lobbying

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="7090743" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Treasury-Secretary-Steven-Mnuchin">Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin</keyword> said that the Trump administration is willing to resume talks with Democrats over the next <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> stimulus bill in a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/video/2020/08/10/were-prepared-to-put-more-money-on-the-table-treasury-secretary-steven-mnuchin.html">Monday interview with CNBC.</a></li><li>"The president is determined to spend what we need to spend," <keyword id="3853835" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="mnuchin">Mnuchin</keyword> said. "We're prepared to put more money on the table." </li><li>Mnuchin declined to comment on the timeline of when discussions would resume between himself, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.</li></ul>The Trump administration is open to resuming talks on the coronavirus stimulus package with Democratic leaders, Treasury Secretary <keyword id="3357303" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Steven-Mnuchin">Steven Mnuchin</keyword> told <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/video/2020/08/10/were-prepared-to-put-more-money-on-the-table-treasury-secretary-steven-mnuchin.html">CNBC in an interview Monday. </a>In addition, they'd be willing to offer more money in an attempt to reach a compromise, he said. "The president is determined to spend what we need to spend," Mnuchin said. "We're prepared to put more money on the table." Mnuchin declined to comment on the timeline of when discussions would resume between him, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Negotiations halted Friday after Democrats and Republicans failed to come to a deal on the next stimulus package. One area where the two sides did not agree was on how to extend the additional $600 weekly unemployment insurance benefit that expired at the end of July, slashing income for millions of Americans. Democrats wanted to extend the benefit in full, while Republicans wanted a lower amount. Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/real-estate-investing-strategy-steps-from-flipping-homes-to-syndication-2020-8">No money, no education, and no connections: Here's how Brian Burke went from a small-time house flipper to a real-estate investing magnate with over 750 deals and 3,000 units</a>The total cost is also in question. While Democrats last week were pushing for a $3 trillion bill, Republicans' proposal would cost about $1 trillion. On Friday, Pelosi and Schumer said the White House rejected a $2 trillion coronavirus deal, <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/511055-pelosi-schumer-say-white-house-declined-2t-coronavirus-deal">The Hill reported</a>.Mnuchin said that both sides have agreed on a number of details in the bill, including more money for the Paycheck Protection Program to help small businesses and another round of direct checks to American households. In addition, they are working on compromises for funding for food and coronavirus vaccines. "There's a deal to do if the Democrats are reasonable and willing to compromise," Mnuchin said. "If we can get a fair deal we'll do it this week." Over the weekend, <keyword id="3828720" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="President-Donald-Trump">President Donald Trump</keyword> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-executive-orders-actions-coronavirus-economic-relief-unemployment-2020-8">passed four executive actions to extend aid after Congress failed to come to an agreement.</a> The orders included a reduced $300 weekly unemployment benefit, with an additional $100 coming from states, as well as a ban on evictions, temporary payroll tax holiday, and deferral of student loan payments.

'We're prepared to put more money on the table': Mnuchin says Trump administration is open to resume talks on coronavirus stimulus

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e70c0a6c4854064c339d252-1560/2020-03-16t221412z295890651rc2alf98sjiortrmadp3health-coronavirus-usa-trump.jpg" alt="Donald Trump" />REUTERS/Leah MillisUS President Trump gives a press briefing on the coronavirus in Washington D.C. on March 16, 2020.<ul class="summary-list"><li>At a White House briefing Tuedsay, Trump claimed that he had always taken the threat of coronavirus seriously.</li><li>In the past, Trump has called the coronavirus a "hoax" used by Democrats to try to hurt him politically, and inaccurately compared it to the flu.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>At a Tuesday press conference dedicated to the government's coronavirus response, President Donald Trump claimed that he's "always viewed it as very serious."Trump's response was prompted by a question from NBC News' Kristen Welker, who asked about whether his tone on coronavirus had shifted to a more "somber" one."I have seen that where people actually liked it, but I didn't feel different. I've always known this is a real - this is a pandemic," Trump said, adding that he "felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic."In fact, at the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, Trump repeatedly downplayed threat, inaccurately comparing it to the flu and telling his supporters that it was a "hoax."At a Feb. 28 rally in Charleston, S.C., <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/five-times-the-trump-administration-downplayed-the-coronavirus-2020-3#their-new-hoax-1">Trump told thousands of cheering fans that</a> "the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus.""One of my people came up to me and said, 'Mr. President, they tried to beat you on Russia, Russia, Russia.' That did not work out too well." Trump told his supporters. "They could not do it. They tried the impeachment hoax. ... They tried anything. ... And this is their new hoax."When criticism of his adminitration's response ramped up, he tried to compare the coronavirus to the flu.As late as March 9, Trump continued to claim that the flu was more dangeorus than the coronavirus (a fact refuted by his own top expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who said Congressional testimony that the coronavrius was ten times more fatal) and that that Democrats and the press were inflaming the public reaction to the cononvirus, which his administartion is now taking "unprecedented" steps to curb.<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/5h7ulAg3_Ls" frameborder="0"></iframe><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life &amp; the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1237027356314869761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2020</a></blockquote><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">The Fake News Media and their partner, the Democrat Party, is doing everything within its semi-considerable power (it used to be greater!) to inflame the CoronaVirus situation, far beyond what the facts would warrant. Surgeon General, "The risk is low to the average American."- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1236975196642390022?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2020</a></blockquote> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bidets-better-than-using-just-toilet-paper-2019-9">Why bidets are better than buying countless rolls of toilet paper</a></h3> <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/o0Zx9wwE-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;"></iframe>

Trump, who has previously called the coronavirus 'a hoax' and compared it to the flu, now says he's 'always viewed it as very serious'

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e69966d84159f5aa23a2532-2400/1a37f56750775c25f18414c1c1ab8ed2.jpg" alt="President Donald Trump listens during a meeting with banking industry executives about the coronavirus, at the White House, Wednesday, March 11, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)" />Associated PressPresident Donald Trump listens during a meeting with banking industry executives about the coronavirus, at the White House, Wednesday, March 11, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)<ul class="summary-list"><li>The Trump administartion is moving ahead with rule changes to the food stamp program that could boot 700,000 Americans from public assistance as the spread of the coronavirus continues damaging the US economy.</li><li>The new guidelines are set to take effect on April 1, and most adults without disabilities or children will need to work at least 20 hours to qualify.</li><li>Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said the administration had decided to move forward with implementing the guidelines and any change would require approval from Congress.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. </a></li></ul>The Trump administration is moving forward with rule changes to the nation's food stamp program that could kick 700,000 Americans <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-foodstamps/trump-administration-moves-to-remove-700000-people-from-food-stamps-idUSKBN1Y82C9">off the rolls</a>, even as coronavirus takes a toll on the US economy.The new guidelines for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) are set to take effect on April 1. They will tighten the ability of states to provide access to food stamps and implement new work requirements for people seeking them.Adults without children or disability will need to work at least 20 hours to qualify for the program.At a Tuesday congressional hearing, Democratic Rep. Sanford Bishop called the scheduled rule change "particularly cruel" as more Americans stay home from work to avoid the virus or lose their jobs.Over a quarter of American workers - or 32 million people - don't have paid sick leave.Sonny Perdue, the secretary of the Department of Agriculture, told lawmakers that states would be granted leeway to determine "good cause" and exempt people from the rules."Obviously if your job says you can't come to work or you're sick in that way, that good cause would eliminate need for work requirements under this rule," Perdue said. "That will be under the discretion of the states to determine that good cause." Perdue said that the Trump administration had decided to move forward with implementing the new regulations - and any changes in the timeline would require approval from Congress and the White House.The Department of Agriculture did not return requests for comment.Experts say that the timing of the new regulatory changes could end up hurting people who lose their jobs as a result of the virus. Both consumers and companies are forecasted to cut their spending, and gig workers are starting to lose their jobs, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/11/layoffs-coronavirus/">The Washington Post reported.</a>"It just seems shortsighted and counterproductive to condition SNAP benefits on making those kinds of decisions during a public health emergency," Ed Bolen, senior policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/paulmcleod/coronavirus-food-stamps-trump-administration">told Buzzfeed News.</a> The move echoes the White House's efforts to put similar requirements in place for Medicaid back in 2018. That met fierce legal challenges that ultimately blocked many states from enacting them after people lost their health insurance coverage.House Democrats unveiled an economic stimulus package on Thursday that includes emergency food stamp assistance, <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/487167-house-democrats-unveil-coronavirus-economic-response-package">The Hill reported.</a> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/youtube-influencer-creator-crash-course-how-to-make-money-ads-2020-2">CRASH COURSE: An influencer explains how YouTube ads work, her advice for making more money, and how much she earns</a></h3> <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/4Qf2YrW7-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;"></iframe>

You Searched For "trump administartion" and got 11 results

Ted Cruz pressed DOJ officials to address a January 6 conspiracy theory days after he walked back 'terrorist' remarks

Camila DeChalus

Violence at the Capitol has 'upped the ante' and helped put DC statehood 'in sight,' the District's House member tells Insider

Melody Schreiber

The White House is expected to put a refugee advocate in charge of reuniting separated migrant families, per report

Erin Snodgrass

Inside the Herculean effort to reunite parents and kids split up by President Trump's family separation policy

Felipe De La Hoz

The outgoing Trump administration just revealed its new citizenship test that's twice as long and uses exclusive terms like 'citizens' instead of 'all people'

Thomas Pallini

A top FDA official threatened to resign if the agency green-lights an unproven coronavirus vaccine

Yelena Dzhanova

In a blow to Trump, the Dakota Access Pipeline was ordered to shut down by a district court

Jake Lahut

Tom Barrack's SPAC withdraws its IPO filing days after the billionaire was arrested and charged with illegal lobbying

Isabelle Lee

'We're prepared to put more money on the table': Mnuchin says Trump administration is open to resume talks on coronavirus stimulus

Carmen Reinicke

Trump, who has previously called the coronavirus 'a hoax' and compared it to the flu, now says he's 'always viewed it as very serious'

Kayla Epstein

The Trump administration is moving forward with a rule change that could kick 700,000 Americans off food stamps as coronavirus hits a fever pitch

Joseph Zeballos-Roig