Senate passes $9 billion in spending cuts to public broadcasting, foreign aid

Just after 2 a.m. ET, the Senate passed about $9 billion in federal spending cuts requested by President Donald Trump, including deep reductions to public broadcasting and foreign aid, moving forward on his top priorities despite concerns from several Republican senators.

The legislation, which now moves to the House, would have a tiny impact on the nation’s rising debt but could have major ramifications for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and U.S. food aid internationally. It also could complicate efforts to pass additional spending bills this year, as Democrats and even some Republicans voice objections to broadly ceding congressional spending power with little idea of how the White House Office of Management and Budget would apply the cuts.

The 51-48 vote came after Democrats sought to remove many of the proposed rescissions during 12 hours of amendment votes. None of the Democratic amendments were adopted.

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Trump administration says civil rights groups are doing the discriminating

The administration has said many policies implemented by both Democratic and Republican administrations are discriminatory and unconstitutional, arguing that acknowledgments of race and federal and corporate policies that seek to address disparities between different demographics are themselves discriminatory. Trump has signed executive orders banning “illegal discrimination” and promoting “merit based opportunity.”

In response to the Urban League’s report, White House spokesman Harrison Fields said civil rights groups that oppose the administration “aren’t advancing anything but hate and division, while the president is focused on uniting our country.”

Urban League declares a ‘state of emergency’ for civil rights

One of the nation’s oldest civil rights organizations is calling for a “new resistance” to the administration’s agenda.

The National Urban League’s annual State of Black America report accuses the federal government of being “increasingly determined to sacrifice its founding principles,” according to a copy obtained by The Associated Press.

“For a long time, people saw white supremacist politics and white nationalism as on the fringe of American politics. It has now become the mainstream of the American right, whose central foundation is within the Republican Party,” said Marc Morial, president of the Urban League.

The report directly critiques Project 2025, condemns major corporations, universities and top law firms for reversing diversity, equity and inclusion policies and accuses social media companies of censoring Black voices while enabling “extremists” to spread “radicalizing” views.

▶ Read more about the State of Black America report

Nationwide protests planned against Trump’s immigration crackdown and health care cuts

Protests against the Trump administration’s mass deportations and cuts to the nation’s health and safety nets for poor people are planned Thursday at more than 1,600 locations around the country.

The “Good Trouble Lives On” national day of action honors the late congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis. Organizers are calling for the demonstrations to be peaceful, as Lewis would have wanted.

“We are navigating one of the most terrifying moments in our nation’s history,” Public Citizen co-president Lisa Gilbert said during an online news conference. “We are all grappling with a rise of authoritarianism and lawlessness within our administration … the rights, freedoms and expectations of our very democracy are being challenged.”

Republican senators caution Trump against firing Fed chair Jerome Powell

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is gaining some key backing on Capitol Hill from GOP senators who fear the repercussions if Trump follows through with threats to try and remove the politically independent central banker.

As Trump seemingly waffled back and forth this week on trying to dismiss the Fed chair, some Republicans in Congress began to speak up and warn that such a move would be a mistake. Trump would potentially obliterate the Fed’s independence from political influence and inject uncertainty into the foundations of the U.S. economy if he fires Powell.

“If anybody thinks it would be a good idea for the Fed to become another agency in the government subject to the president, they’re making a huge mistake,” GOP North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said in a floor speech.

The measure of support from GOP members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs showed how traditional Republicans are carefully navigating a presidency in which Trump often flirts with ideas — like steep tariffs or firing the Fed chair — that threaten to undermine confidence in the U.S. economy.