WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday revoked a scientific finding that long has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/climate-and-environment">climate change</a>, the most aggressive move by the Republican president to roll back climate regulations.

The rule finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency rescinds a 2009 government declaration known as the endangerment finding that determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare.

The endangerment finding by the Obama administration is the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/epa-endangerment-finding-zeldin-trump-climate-change-4b34246d5ca798154af08560fd94f7b9">legal underpinning of nearly all climate regulations</a>&nbsp;under the Clean Air Act for motor vehicles, power plants and other pollution sources that are heating the planet.

President Donald Trump called the move “the single largest deregulatory action in American history, by far” while EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called the endangerment finding “the Holy Grail of federal regulatory overreach.”

Trump called the endangerment finding “one of the greatest scams in history,” adding that it “had no basis in fact” or law. “On the contrary, over the generations, fossil fuels have saved millions of lives and lifted billions of people out of poverty all over the world,” Trump said at a White House ceremony.

Legal challenges are certain for an action that repeals all greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and trucks, and could unleash a broader undoing of climate regulations on stationary sources such as power plants and oil and gas facilities, experts say. Overturning the finding will “raise more havoc” than other actions by the Trump administration to roll back dozens of environmental rules, said Ann Carlson, an environmental law professor at the UCLA School of Law.

Environmental groups described the move as the single biggest attack in U.S. history against federal authority to address climate change. Evidence backing up the endangerment finding has only grown stronger in the 17 years since it was approved, they said.

The EPA also said it will propose a two-year delay to a Biden-era rule restricting greenhouse gas emissions by cars and light trucks. And the agency will end tax credits for automakers who install automatic start-stop ignition systems in their vehicles. The device is intended to reduce emissions, but Zeldin said “everyone hates” it.

Zeldin, a former Republican congressman who was tapped by Trump to lead EPA last year, has criticized his predecessors in Democratic administrations, saying that in the name of tackling climate change, they were “willing to bankrupt the country.”

The endangerment finding “led to trillions of dollars in regulations that strangled entire sectors of the United States economy, including the American auto industry,” Zeldin said. “The Obama and Biden administrations used it to steamroll into existence a left-wing wish list of costly climate policies, electric vehicle mandates and other requirements that assaulted consumer choice and affordability.”

The endangerment finding and the regulations based on it “didn’t just regulate emissions, it regulated and targeted the American dream. And now the endangerment finding is hereby eliminated,” Zeldin said.

Supreme Court has upheld the endangerment finding

The Supreme Court ruled in a 2007 case that planet-warming greenhouse gases, caused by the burning of oil and other fossil fuels, are air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.

Since the high court’s decision, in a case known as&nbsp;<a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fu7061146.ct.sendgrid.net%2Fls%2Fclick%3Fupn%3Du001.gqh-2BaxUzlo7XKIuSly0rC71V1zGV8xrgOOTNp90uc4hK9Q4LUXTGp-2FIwt04bUqVZwk1e2zS3tEArmKJLmuUkMSqEZ7inm-2BLkfYa-2BGLag8JuDMJ-2BkOUDhbLFPVn8MwbZ3ZAvhHROkUqEnaxSJ2GBko9996pZbkeU51PYG0DMfEA0FeKj74IN-2BweVF-2Fpy6bRlCS-2BMEpXVFzRIY8B6DB3MR619cmsyrshzXBiu-2B9BiqtBXMtsEi35YchKCuJALMO-2FRJu3AZJDq6FKIVsmqT9C4L6DSTyC0RGJhVD7-2Fpdad7rxJ0hzk87kg1hlbhuRXgzY-2Be7hQI1V6ExyRXx9y7t4gezNnLBqwmolhZhR3Vo2OpQ8YLFbQkyC-2B1WT02-2BPYFeKFHLRRgkIp2kNpiOjIqhgbYsAcRQCW5gbzGhgwuzyDf3HQA1f2Af8zWcgmcU1v03W6WEq4XWAysabeDYTffNHVlszTktd7Fb-2B3q4MJBIYvtIpujkHdocoZ1VCXxy8Zhb1nuWoh1M-2Br3LDqkN1eJAeQhkQqX2-2BDkVMxhX8lre5RugbZMia4yQBsFGQfhE6B0vEJci-2FEm5EyQQPhe8YyngDgREIUs3U8A1dzmQ1OBFjqBNi4-3D8nRS_SuYt8EWzCBCFJXOrlhZQt2TfY9BcyxUsWHxLNY-2BPnLxe9UooS0LV3GPam-2Fqk9k7r9QtMPZP5rgsaL-2F5Sq16ntOSmHN5oL4DBnx815JsXD-2B7Q4GYFW671UXZwvMicX6-2Bpj73yejLLv1MUjAVCWHl4wOvW4qYHh10aCkMavBkkS-2FXu5faHD-2Ffr9yP-2FaKAHc-2BTZwiCQE75m0iy9-2FhSpELN-2FlYPg-2BCi9DVYMAM8XBbFbp-2Bd-2FiiA4xuHbdq9s9TrGJGU84lPyxqrR51aY2PNk6z8hsjAw7tcfk2FFXj50VbXWxV7tQMHjWVExOfIX7nBop89CVT0Sm2X-2FC2bwM9cyoxd4hg-3D-3D&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cmdaly%40ap.org%7C870ca7a9f2ac46c6743008de544775f4%7Ce442e1abfd6b4ba3abf3b020eb50df37%7C1%7C0%7C639040863129566468%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=d2CaiNr%2B91GKqUXKVWVuYYMj5cPY6%2F2yuBAlk7e05hc%3D&amp;reserved=0">Massachusetts v. EPA</a>, courts have uniformly rejected legal challenges to the endangerment finding, including a 2023 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The endangerment finding is widely considered the legal foundation that underpins a series of regulations intended to protect against threats made increasingly severe by climate change. That includes deadly floods, extreme heat waves, catastrophic wildfires and other natural disasters in the United States and around the world.

Gina McCarthy, a former EPA administrator who served as White House climate adviser in the Biden administration, called the Trump administration's actions reckless. "This EPA would rather spend its time in court working for the fossil fuel industry than protecting us from pollution and the escalating impacts of climate change,” she said.

EPA has a clear scientific and legal obligation to regulate greenhouse gases, McCarthy said, adding that the health and environmental hazards of climate change have "become impossible to ignore.”

Dr. Lisa Patel, a pediatrician and executive director of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, said Trump's action “prioritizes the profits of big oil and gas companies and polluters over clean air and water” and children's health.

“As a result of this repeal, I’m going to see more sick kids come into the Emergency Department having asthma attacks and more babies born prematurely,” she said in a statement. “My colleagues will see more heart attacks and cancer in their patients.”

David Doniger, a climate expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said Trump and Zeldin are trying to use repeal of the finding as a “kill shot’’ that would allow the administration to make nearly all climate regulations invalid. The repeal could erase current limits on greenhouse gas pollution from cars, factories, power plants and other sources and could prevent future administrations from proposing rules to address global warming.

The EPA action follows&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/unleashing-american-energy/">an executive order</a>&nbsp;from Trump that directed the agency to submit a report on “the legality and continuing applicability” of the endangerment finding. Conservatives and some congressional Republicans have long sought to undo what they consider overly restrictive and economically damaging rules to limit greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

Withdrawing the endangerment finding “is the most important step taken by the Trump administration so far to return to energy and economic sanity,” said Myron Ebell, a conservative activist who has questioned the science behind climate change.

Zeldin and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy have moved to drastically scale back limits on tailpipe emissions from cars and trucks. Rules imposed under Democratic President Joe Biden were intended to encourage U.S. automakers to build and sell more&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/electric-vehicles">electric vehicles</a>. The transportation sector is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

The Trump administration announced a proposal in December to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-gas-mileage-per-gallon-electric-vehicles-363fcad4bb90a0859f6906d086aeac69">weaken vehicle mileage rules</a>&nbsp;for the auto industry, loosening regulatory pressure on automakers to control pollution from gasoline-powered cars and trucks. The EPA said its two-year delay to a Biden-era rule on greenhouse gas emissions by cars and light trucks will give the agency time to develop a plan that better reflects the reality of slower EV sales, while promoting consumer choice and lowering prices.

The mileage plan would significantly reduce requirements that set rules on how far new vehicles need to travel on a gallon of gasoline. Trump said the rule change will lower the price of new cars and increase Americans’ access to the full range of gasoline vehicles they need and can afford.

Environmental groups said the plan would keep polluting, gas-burning cars and trucks on U.S. roads for years to come, threatening the health of millions of Americans, particularly children and the elderly.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday revoked a scientific finding that long has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/climate-and-environment">climate change</a>, the most aggressive move by the Republican president to roll back climate regulations.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">🚨 <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &quot;Under the process just completed by the <a href="https://twitter.com/EPA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EPA</a>, we are officially terminating the so-called Endangerment Finding — a disastrous Obama-era policy that severely damaged the American auto industry and massively drove up prices for American consumers.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/PqVUS1GtQN">pic.twitter.com/PqVUS1GtQN</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2022018893825692007?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Slashing regulatory red tape and freeing the American taxpayer from crushing regulations. 💰 <a href="https://t.co/JpIMgbEfPX">pic.twitter.com/JpIMgbEfPX</a>&mdash; The White House (@WhiteHouse) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/2022022474972770490?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> to Americans who may think revoking the fake Obama/Biden climate schemes would &quot;come at a cost to public health and the environment&quot;: &quot;It has nothing to do with public health. This was all a SCAM — a GIANT SCAM. This was a ripoff of the country by Obama and Biden.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/9DRli0wsuk">pic.twitter.com/9DRli0wsuk</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2022024287880982723?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">&quot;Under President Trump’s leadership today, the Trump EPA has finalized the single largest act of deregulation in the history of the United States of America,&quot; says <a href="https://twitter.com/epaleezeldin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@epaleezeldin</a>. &quot;With today’s announcement, American families will save over $2,400 for a new vehicle.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/beXDcODIix">https://t.co/beXDcODIix</a> <a href="https://t.co/b6WvkGvTDX">pic.twitter.com/b6WvkGvTDX</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2022023049357537358?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">🚨 <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &quot;Under the process just completed by the <a href="https://twitter.com/EPA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EPA</a>, we are officially terminating the so-called Endangerment Finding — a disastrous Obama-era policy that severely damaged the American auto industry and massively drove up prices for American consumers.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/PqVUS1GtQN">pic.twitter.com/PqVUS1GtQN</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2022018893825692007?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The rule finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency rescinds a 2009 government declaration known as the endangerment finding that determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare.The endangerment finding by the Obama administration is the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/epa-endangerment-finding-zeldin-trump-climate-change-4b34246d5ca798154af08560fd94f7b9">legal underpinning of nearly all climate regulations</a>&nbsp;under the Clean Air Act for motor vehicles, power plants and other pollution sources that are heating the planet.President Donald Trump called the move “the single largest deregulatory action in American history, by far” while EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called the endangerment finding “the Holy Grail of federal regulatory overreach.”Trump called the endangerment finding “one of the greatest scams in history,” adding that it “had no basis in fact” or law. “On the contrary, over the generations, fossil fuels have saved millions of lives and lifted billions of people out of poverty all over the world,” Trump said at a White House ceremony.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Today, the Trump administration repealed the endangerment finding: the ruling that served as the basis for limits on tailpipe emissions and power plant rules. Without it, we’ll be less safe, less healthy and less able to fight climate change — all so the fossil fuel industry can…&mdash; Barack Obama (@BarackObama) <a href="https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/2022034471336521953?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Legal challenges are certain for an action that repeals all greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and trucks, and could unleash a broader undoing of climate regulations on stationary sources such as power plants and oil and gas facilities, experts say. Overturning the finding will “raise more havoc” than other actions by the Trump administration to roll back dozens of environmental rules, said Ann Carlson, an environmental law professor at the UCLA School of Law.Environmental groups described the move as the single biggest attack in U.S. history against federal authority to address climate change. Evidence backing up the endangerment finding has only grown stronger in the 17 years since it was approved, they said.The EPA also said it will propose a two-year delay to a Biden-era rule restricting greenhouse gas emissions by cars and light trucks. And the agency will end tax credits for automakers who install automatic start-stop ignition systems in their vehicles. The device is intended to reduce emissions, but Zeldin said “everyone hates” it.Zeldin, a former Republican congressman who was tapped by Trump to lead EPA last year, has criticized his predecessors in Democratic administrations, saying that in the name of tackling climate change, they were “willing to bankrupt the country.”The endangerment finding “led to trillions of dollars in regulations that strangled entire sectors of the United States economy, including the American auto industry,” Zeldin said. “The Obama and Biden administrations used it to steamroll into existence a left-wing wish list of costly climate policies, electric vehicle mandates and other requirements that assaulted consumer choice and affordability.”The endangerment finding and the regulations based on it “didn’t just regulate emissions, it regulated and targeted the American dream. And now the endangerment finding is hereby eliminated,” Zeldin said.<h2>Supreme Court has upheld the endangerment finding</h2>The Supreme Court ruled in a 2007 case that planet-warming greenhouse gases, caused by the burning of oil and other fossil fuels, are air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.Since the high court’s decision, in a case known as&nbsp;<a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fu7061146.ct.sendgrid.net%2Fls%2Fclick%3Fupn%3Du001.gqh-2BaxUzlo7XKIuSly0rC71V1zGV8xrgOOTNp90uc4hK9Q4LUXTGp-2FIwt04bUqVZwk1e2zS3tEArmKJLmuUkMSqEZ7inm-2BLkfYa-2BGLag8JuDMJ-2BkOUDhbLFPVn8MwbZ3ZAvhHROkUqEnaxSJ2GBko9996pZbkeU51PYG0DMfEA0FeKj74IN-2BweVF-2Fpy6bRlCS-2BMEpXVFzRIY8B6DB3MR619cmsyrshzXBiu-2B9BiqtBXMtsEi35YchKCuJALMO-2FRJu3AZJDq6FKIVsmqT9C4L6DSTyC0RGJhVD7-2Fpdad7rxJ0hzk87kg1hlbhuRXgzY-2Be7hQI1V6ExyRXx9y7t4gezNnLBqwmolhZhR3Vo2OpQ8YLFbQkyC-2B1WT02-2BPYFeKFHLRRgkIp2kNpiOjIqhgbYsAcRQCW5gbzGhgwuzyDf3HQA1f2Af8zWcgmcU1v03W6WEq4XWAysabeDYTffNHVlszTktd7Fb-2B3q4MJBIYvtIpujkHdocoZ1VCXxy8Zhb1nuWoh1M-2Br3LDqkN1eJAeQhkQqX2-2BDkVMxhX8lre5RugbZMia4yQBsFGQfhE6B0vEJci-2FEm5EyQQPhe8YyngDgREIUs3U8A1dzmQ1OBFjqBNi4-3D8nRS_SuYt8EWzCBCFJXOrlhZQt2TfY9BcyxUsWHxLNY-2BPnLxe9UooS0LV3GPam-2Fqk9k7r9QtMPZP5rgsaL-2F5Sq16ntOSmHN5oL4DBnx815JsXD-2B7Q4GYFW671UXZwvMicX6-2Bpj73yejLLv1MUjAVCWHl4wOvW4qYHh10aCkMavBkkS-2FXu5faHD-2Ffr9yP-2FaKAHc-2BTZwiCQE75m0iy9-2FhSpELN-2FlYPg-2BCi9DVYMAM8XBbFbp-2Bd-2FiiA4xuHbdq9s9TrGJGU84lPyxqrR51aY2PNk6z8hsjAw7tcfk2FFXj50VbXWxV7tQMHjWVExOfIX7nBop89CVT0Sm2X-2FC2bwM9cyoxd4hg-3D-3D&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cmdaly%40ap.org%7C870ca7a9f2ac46c6743008de544775f4%7Ce442e1abfd6b4ba3abf3b020eb50df37%7C1%7C0%7C639040863129566468%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=d2CaiNr%2B91GKqUXKVWVuYYMj5cPY6%2F2yuBAlk7e05hc%3D&amp;reserved=0">Massachusetts v. EPA</a>, courts have uniformly rejected legal challenges to the endangerment finding, including a 2023 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.The endangerment finding is widely considered the legal foundation that underpins a series of regulations intended to protect against threats made increasingly severe by climate change. That includes deadly floods, extreme heat waves, catastrophic wildfires and other natural disasters in the United States and around the world.Gina McCarthy, a former EPA administrator who served as White House climate adviser in the Biden administration, called the Trump administration's actions reckless. "This EPA would rather spend its time in court working for the fossil fuel industry than protecting us from pollution and the escalating impacts of climate change,” she said.EPA has a clear scientific and legal obligation to regulate greenhouse gases, McCarthy said, adding that the health and environmental hazards of climate change have "become impossible to ignore.”Dr. Lisa Patel, a pediatrician and executive director of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, said Trump's action “prioritizes the profits of big oil and gas companies and polluters over clean air and water” and children's health.“As a result of this repeal, I’m going to see more sick kids come into the Emergency Department having asthma attacks and more babies born prematurely,” she said in a statement. “My colleagues will see more heart attacks and cancer in their patients.”David Doniger, a climate expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said Trump and Zeldin are trying to use repeal of the finding as a “kill shot’’ that would allow the administration to make nearly all climate regulations invalid. The repeal could erase current limits on greenhouse gas pollution from cars, factories, power plants and other sources and could prevent future administrations from proposing rules to address global warming.The EPA action follows&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/unleashing-american-energy/">an executive order</a>&nbsp;from Trump that directed the agency to submit a report on “the legality and continuing applicability” of the endangerment finding. Conservatives and some congressional Republicans have long sought to undo what they consider overly restrictive and economically damaging rules to limit greenhouse gases that cause global warming.Withdrawing the endangerment finding “is the most important step taken by the Trump administration so far to return to energy and economic sanity,” said Myron Ebell, a conservative activist who has questioned the science behind climate change.<h2>Tailpipe emission limits targeted</h2>Zeldin and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy have moved to drastically scale back limits on tailpipe emissions from cars and trucks. Rules imposed under Democratic President Joe Biden were intended to encourage U.S. automakers to build and sell more&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/electric-vehicles">electric vehicles</a>. The transportation sector is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.The Trump administration announced a proposal in December to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-gas-mileage-per-gallon-electric-vehicles-363fcad4bb90a0859f6906d086aeac69">weaken vehicle mileage rules</a>&nbsp;for the auto industry, loosening regulatory pressure on automakers to control pollution from gasoline-powered cars and trucks. The EPA said its two-year delay to a Biden-era rule on greenhouse gas emissions by cars and light trucks will give the agency time to develop a plan that better reflects the reality of slower EV sales, while promoting consumer choice and lowering prices.The mileage plan would significantly reduce requirements that set rules on how far new vehicles need to travel on a gallon of gasoline. Trump said the rule change will lower the price of new cars and increase Americans’ access to the full range of gasoline vehicles they need and can afford.Environmental groups said the plan would keep polluting, gas-burning cars and trucks on U.S. roads for years to come, threatening the health of millions of Americans, particularly children and the elderly.______

🎥Trump's EPA rolls back Obama-era climate change rules

WASHINGTON (AP) — A shutdown for the Department of Homeland Security appeared certain Thursday as lawmakers in the House and Senate were set to leave Washington for a 10-day break and negotiations with the White House over Democrats' demands for new restrictions had stalled.

The White House and Democrats have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/democrats-ice-white-house-homeland-security-funding-84d4b2e5a7123f2b316cca4857b7762a">traded offers in recent days</a>&nbsp;as the Democrats have said they want curbs on President Donald Trump’s broad campaign of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/immigration">immigration enforcement</a>. They have demanded better identification for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal law enforcement officers, a new code of conduct for those agencies and more use of judicial warrants, among other requests.

The White House sent its most recent offer late Wednesday, including what Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said were “concessions” on the part of the Republican administration.

Thune would not say what those concessions were, though, and he acknowledged the sides were “a long ways toward a solution” even as the Senate is scheduled to vote again on the DHS funding.

Democrats did not respond publicly to the White House offer, but Democratic senators voted against a funding bill for the department before leaving town, meaning the funding will&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/homeland-security-shutdown-ice-e5df415c1fd77b0609dded445edbb9d7">expire Saturday</a>&nbsp;without further action. The bill was rejected, 52-47, short of the 60 votes needed for passage.

Lawmakers in both chambers were on notice to return to Washington if the two sides struck a deal to end the expected shutdown. But for now, Democrats say they need to see real changes before they will support DHS funding.

Americans want accountability and “an end to the chaos,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Thursday before the vote. “The White House and congressional Republicans must listen and deliver.”

Schumer said it was not enough that the administration had announced an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-metro-surge-ice-523d18d5d75c81cbf9f24c602f1884ff">end</a>&nbsp;to the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-immigration-enforcement-trump-ice-3a948e7e3a4d7e254e9c1fab93625953">immigration crackdown</a>&nbsp;in Minnesota that led to thousands of arrests and the fatal shootings of two protesters.

“We need legislation to rein in ICE and end the violence,” Schumer said, or the actions of the administration “could be reversed tomorrow on a whim.”

Democrats made the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-immigration-enforcement-democrats-homeland-security-trump-bcde78c38605732106fb77e46373dc9a">demands for new restrictions on ICE</a>&nbsp;and other federal law enforcement after ICU nurse&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-enforcement-minnesota-protester-alex-pretti-15ade7de6e19cb0291734e85dac763dc">Alex Pretti</a>&nbsp;was shot and killed by a U.S. Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis on Jan. 24, Some Republicans suggested that new restrictions were necessary.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ice-shooting-minneapolis-minnesota-9aa822670b705c89906f2c699f1d16c5">Renee Good</a>&nbsp;was shot by ICE agents on Jan. 7.

Thune, who has urged Democrats and the White House to work together, indicated that one sticking point is the Democratic request for more judicial warrants.

“The issue of warrants is going to be very hard for the White House or for Republicans,” Thune said. “But I think there are a lot of other areas where there has been give, and progress.”

In a list of demands they sent to the White House last week, Schumer and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said DHS officers should not be able to enter private property without a judicial warrant and that warrant procedures and standards should be improved. They have said they want an end to “roving patrols” of agents who are targeting people in the streets and in their homes.

Most immigration arrests are carried out under administrative warrants. Those are internal documents issued by immigration authorities that authorize the arrest of a specific person but do not permit officers to forcibly enter private homes or other nonpublic spaces without consent. Traditionally, only warrants signed by judges carry that authority.

But&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26499371-dhs-ice-memo-1-21-26/">an internal ICE memo</a>&nbsp;obtained by The Associated Press last month&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ice-arrests-warrants-minneapolis-trump-00d0ab0338e82341fd91b160758aeb2d">authorizes ICE officers</a>&nbsp;to use force to enter a residence based solely on a more narrow administrative warrant to arrest someone with a final order of removal, a move that advocates say collides with Fourth Amendment protections.

Congress is trying to renegotiate the DHS spending bill after Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/government-shutdown-republican-trump-ice-homeland-security-1eb2706ef2c4f91a69a083d23e30ba95">agreed to a Democratic request</a>&nbsp;that it be separated from a larger spending measure that became law last week. That package extended homeland security funding at current levels only through Friday.

Schumer and Jeffries have said they want immigration officers to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ice-masks-congress-homeland-security-shutdown-funding-3c5b2050286aab930d8c81eb9cb1e03e">remove their masks</a>, to show identification and to better coordinate with local authorities. They have also demanded a stricter use-of-force policy for the federal officers, legal safeguards at detention centers and a prohibition on tracking protesters with body-worn cameras.

Democrats also say Congress should end indiscriminate arrests and require that before a person can be detained, authorities have verified that the person is not a U.S. citizen.

Republicans have been largely opposed to most of the items on Democrats’ list. But Trump has remained relatively silent about the talks.

Republicans tried to temporarily extend the funding, but Democrats blocked that bill as well.

“We will not support an extension of the status quo,” Schumer said.

The impact of a DHS shutdown is likely to be minimal at first. It would not likely block any of the immigration enforcement operations, as Trump’s tax and spending cut bill passed last year gave ICE about $75 billion to expand detention capacity and bolster enforcement operations.

But the other agencies in the department — including the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Secret Service and the Coast Guard — could take a bigger hit over time.

Gregg Phillips, an associate administrator at FEMA, said at a hearing this week that its disaster relief fund has sufficient balances to continue emergency response activities during a shutdown, but would become seriously strained in the event of a catastrophic disaster.

Phillips said that while the agency continues to respond to threats like flooding and winter storms, long-term planning and coordination with state and local partners is “irrevocably impacted.”

Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim and Rebecca Santana contributed to this report.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/1/1769741602366.png" alt="DHS Secretary Kristi Noem-image from White House video" />
 <figcaption>DHS Secretary Kristi Noem-image from White House video</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — A shutdown for the Department of Homeland Security appeared certain Thursday as lawmakers in the House and Senate were set to leave Washington for a 10-day break and negotiations with the White House over Democrats' demands for new restrictions had stalled.The White House and Democrats have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/democrats-ice-white-house-homeland-security-funding-84d4b2e5a7123f2b316cca4857b7762a">traded offers in recent days</a>&nbsp;as the Democrats have said they want curbs on President Donald Trump’s broad campaign of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/immigration">immigration enforcement</a>. They have demanded better identification for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal law enforcement officers, a new code of conduct for those agencies and more use of judicial warrants, among other requests.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Shutting DHS down has zero impact and zero changes for ICE. ICE already has $75B in funding from the BBB that I did not vote for. But it will hit FEMA, Coast Guard, TSA and our Cybersecurity Agency. As a Democrat, I can’t vote to shut down critical parts of our government. <a href="https://t.co/QYasx0LwCo">pic.twitter.com/QYasx0LwCo</a>&mdash; U.S. Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenFettermanPA/status/2022054385694781824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The White House sent its most recent offer late Wednesday, including what Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said were “concessions” on the part of the Republican administration.Thune would not say what those concessions were, though, and he acknowledged the sides were “a long ways toward a solution” even as the Senate is scheduled to vote again on the DHS funding.Democrats did not respond publicly to the White House offer, but Democratic senators voted against a funding bill for the department before leaving town, meaning the funding will&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/homeland-security-shutdown-ice-e5df415c1fd77b0609dded445edbb9d7">expire Saturday</a>&nbsp;without further action. The bill was rejected, 52-47, short of the 60 votes needed for passage.Lawmakers in both chambers were on notice to return to Washington if the two sides struck a deal to end the expected shutdown. But for now, Democrats say they need to see real changes before they will support DHS funding.Americans want accountability and “an end to the chaos,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Thursday before the vote. “The White House and congressional Republicans must listen and deliver.”Schumer said it was not enough that the administration had announced an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-metro-surge-ice-523d18d5d75c81cbf9f24c602f1884ff">end</a>&nbsp;to the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-immigration-enforcement-trump-ice-3a948e7e3a4d7e254e9c1fab93625953">immigration crackdown</a>&nbsp;in Minnesota that led to thousands of arrests and the fatal shootings of two protesters.“We need legislation to rein in ICE and end the violence,” Schumer said, or the actions of the administration “could be reversed tomorrow on a whim.”<h2>Judicial warrants a sticking point</h2>Democrats made the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-immigration-enforcement-democrats-homeland-security-trump-bcde78c38605732106fb77e46373dc9a">demands for new restrictions on ICE</a>&nbsp;and other federal law enforcement after ICU nurse&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-enforcement-minnesota-protester-alex-pretti-15ade7de6e19cb0291734e85dac763dc">Alex Pretti</a>&nbsp;was shot and killed by a U.S. Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis on Jan. 24, Some Republicans suggested that new restrictions were necessary.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ice-shooting-minneapolis-minnesota-9aa822670b705c89906f2c699f1d16c5">Renee Good</a>&nbsp;was shot by ICE agents on Jan. 7.Thune, who has urged Democrats and the White House to work together, indicated that one sticking point is the Democratic request for more judicial warrants.“The issue of warrants is going to be very hard for the White House or for Republicans,” Thune said. “But I think there are a lot of other areas where there has been give, and progress.”In a list of demands they sent to the White House last week, Schumer and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said DHS officers should not be able to enter private property without a judicial warrant and that warrant procedures and standards should be improved. They have said they want an end to “roving patrols” of agents who are targeting people in the streets and in their homes.Most immigration arrests are carried out under administrative warrants. Those are internal documents issued by immigration authorities that authorize the arrest of a specific person but do not permit officers to forcibly enter private homes or other nonpublic spaces without consent. Traditionally, only warrants signed by judges carry that authority.But&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26499371-dhs-ice-memo-1-21-26/">an internal ICE memo</a>&nbsp;obtained by The Associated Press last month&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ice-arrests-warrants-minneapolis-trump-00d0ab0338e82341fd91b160758aeb2d">authorizes ICE officers</a>&nbsp;to use force to enter a residence based solely on a more narrow administrative warrant to arrest someone with a final order of removal, a move that advocates say collides with Fourth Amendment protections.<h2>White House silence</h2>Congress is trying to renegotiate the DHS spending bill after Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/government-shutdown-republican-trump-ice-homeland-security-1eb2706ef2c4f91a69a083d23e30ba95">agreed to a Democratic request</a>&nbsp;that it be separated from a larger spending measure that became law last week. That package extended homeland security funding at current levels only through Friday.Schumer and Jeffries have said they want immigration officers to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ice-masks-congress-homeland-security-shutdown-funding-3c5b2050286aab930d8c81eb9cb1e03e">remove their masks</a>, to show identification and to better coordinate with local authorities. They have also demanded a stricter use-of-force policy for the federal officers, legal safeguards at detention centers and a prohibition on tracking protesters with body-worn cameras.Democrats also say Congress should end indiscriminate arrests and require that before a person can be detained, authorities have verified that the person is not a U.S. citizen.Republicans have been largely opposed to most of the items on Democrats’ list. But Trump has remained relatively silent about the talks.<h2>Impact of a shutdown</h2>Republicans tried to temporarily extend the funding, but Democrats blocked that bill as well.“We will not support an extension of the status quo,” Schumer said.The impact of a DHS shutdown is likely to be minimal at first. It would not likely block any of the immigration enforcement operations, as Trump’s tax and spending cut bill passed last year gave ICE about $75 billion to expand detention capacity and bolster enforcement operations.But the other agencies in the department — including the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Secret Service and the Coast Guard — could take a bigger hit over time.Gregg Phillips, an associate administrator at FEMA, said at a hearing this week that its disaster relief fund has sufficient balances to continue emergency response activities during a shutdown, but would become seriously strained in the event of a catastrophic disaster.Phillips said that while the agency continues to respond to threats like flooding and winter storms, long-term planning and coordination with state and local partners is “irrevocably impacted.”___Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim and Rebecca Santana contributed to this report.

Homeland Security shutdown seems certain as funding talks stall

KANSAS CITY—Law enforcement are investigating another homicide in Kansas City, Mssouri.

Just after 8p.m. Wednesday, police&nbsp;were dispatched to a shooting in 1500 block of E 59th Terrace in Kansas City, Missouri, according to KCPD Sergeant Jake Becchina.&nbsp; The caller advised there was a person outside that appeared to be injured and needed help.&nbsp;

On arrival officers located a victim later identified as 28-year-old&nbsp;Jamon Norfleet  in front of a residence there. Norfleet told officers he had been shot at a nearby location near an apartment complex in the 6000 block of Blue Hills Road.

The victim was unable to provide any additional information regarding suspects.&nbsp;Officers called for EMS who transported the victim to the hospital with life threatening injuries.&nbsp;

Additional officers responded to the area described by the victim in the 6000 block of Blue Hills Road and located evidence of a crime scene at that location.&nbsp;

Detectives and Crime Scene investigators began conducing investigation and processing the scene for evidence.&nbsp;Later in the evening detectives were notified from the hospital that&nbsp;Jamon Norfleet had died.

The case is now being investigated as a homicide.

KANSAS CITY—Law enforcement are investigating another homicide in Kansas City, Mssouri.Just after 8p.m. Wednesday, police&nbsp;were dispatched to a shooting in 1500 block of E 59th Terrace in Kansas City, Missouri, according to KCPD Sergeant Jake Becchina.&nbsp; The caller advised there was a person outside that appeared to be injured and needed help.&nbsp;On arrival officers located a victim later identified as 28-year-old&nbsp;Jamon Norfleet in front of a residence there. Norfleet told officers he had been shot at a nearby location near an apartment complex in the 6000 block of Blue Hills Road.The victim was unable to provide any additional information regarding suspects.&nbsp;Officers called for EMS who transported the victim to the hospital with life threatening injuries.&nbsp;Additional officers responded to the area described by the victim in the 6000 block of Blue Hills Road and located evidence of a crime scene at that location.&nbsp;Detectives and Crime Scene investigators began conducing investigation and processing the scene for evidence.&nbsp;Later in the evening detectives were notified from the hospital that&nbsp;Jamon Norfleet had died.The case is now being investigated as a homicide.

KCPD: Homicide victim spoke to officers just before he died

WASHINGTON —President Trump invited Kansas 4th district Congressman Ron Estes to the Oval Office for the official&nbsp;signing of the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act.

On his social media page, Rep. Estes wrote, " I’m pleased to see this common sense legislation signed into law – President Trump and Republicans are leading with results and fighting to support the American taxpayer."

"By permanently allowing the SSA to share full death data with the Treasury’s "Do Not Pay" service, we are stopping erroneous payments to the deceased. This will stop hardworking Americans from footing the bill for waste, fraud, and abuse."

"The Fiscal Service estimates that by December 2026, this data exchange will save $330 MILLION in improper payments across the federal government."

Estes has served the 4th Congressional District since April 2017.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/2/1770863300074.png" alt="Photo Rep. Ron Estes" />
 <figcaption>Photo Rep. Ron Estes</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON —President Trump invited Kansas 4th district Congressman Ron Estes to the Oval Office for the official&nbsp;signing of the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act.On his social media page, Rep. Estes wrote, " I’m pleased to see this common sense legislation signed into law – President Trump and Republicans are leading with results and fighting to support the American taxpayer.""By permanently allowing the SSA to share full death data with the Treasury’s "Do Not Pay" service, we are stopping erroneous payments to the deceased. This will stop hardworking Americans from footing the bill for waste, fraud, and abuse.""The Fiscal Service estimates that by December 2026, this data exchange will save $330 MILLION in improper payments across the federal government."Estes has served the 4th Congressional District since April 2017.

Kan. Congressman invited to Oval Office signing ceremony

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/ghills/">GRACE HILLS</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/ghills/"></a><a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — More money could be flowing to the Kansas Water Plan under a new House bill, expanding the impact of a popular 2023 law aimed at addressing the growing water crisis.

Republicans, Democrats and proponents pointed to Kansas’ lack of funding for water projects and asked lawmakers to pass the bill Tuesday before the House Water Committee. There were no opponents.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/04/20/new-laws-increase-accountability-for-kansas-water-districts-set-aside-conservation-funding/">2023 law</a>&nbsp;established the Water Projects Grant Fund and the Water Technical Assistance Fund, two funds that help municipalities build and maintain water infrastructure.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/measures/hb2558/" target="_blank">House Bill 2558</a>&nbsp;would expand annual funding for the Kansas Water Plan from $35 million to $60 million.

The extra $25 million for the Kansas Water Plan would come from the State General Fund. Most of the increase would be earmarked to add $10 million to both the Water Projects Grant Fund and Water Technical Assistance Fund.

Made with Flourish&nbsp;•&nbsp;<a href="https://flourish.studio/visualisations/line-bar-pie-charts/?utm_source=showcase&amp;utm_campaign=visualisation/22038093" target="_blank">Create a chart</a>

Since the 2023 law,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kslegislature.gov/li_2024/b2023_24/measures/hb2302/" target="_blank">House Bill 2302</a>, was adopted, there have been more applications for the grants than money available. Wendi Stark, legislative liaison for the League of Kansas Municipalities&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/committees/ctte_h_water_1/misc_documents/download_testimony/ctte_h_water_1_20260210_07_testimony.html" target="_blank">said</a>&nbsp;about 37% of the cities who applied received some money.

Connie Owen testified on behalf of three of the state’s big water-related agencies: the Kansas Department of Agriculture, Kansas Department of Health and Environment, and the Kansas Water Office. She characterized her testimony as neutral, but admitted it was more “neutral positive.”

“The 2302 grants really made a difference for people and their communities all over the state,” Owen said. “All we continue to hear is, ‘Keep it coming, we need more,’ ” Owen said.

Last session,&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/03/13/kansas-house-bill-would-add-20m-for-state-water-plan-projects/">a more modest version</a>&nbsp;of the bill made it through the House but was never heard by the Senate. Both that bill and the one in the current session were introduced by Rep. Jim Minnix, a Republican farmer from Scott City and chair of the House Water Committee.

Owen is in the&nbsp;<a href="https://westernstateswater.org/" target="_blank">Western States Water Council</a>, a group of 18 states that meets three times a year to discuss water solutions. Minnix asked Owen to share what she has heard from other states.

“Kansas is doing incredible things. But in terms of the comparison to what we could be doing, and the investment that other states make, it’s enormous,” Owen said. “And I’m sure that’s why you asked me that question, Mr. Chair.”

Minnix smiled in acknowledgement, and brought up the recent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/04/texas-elections-2025-water/" target="_blank">Texas vote</a>&nbsp;to make a $20 billion investment in water. He said even for a state whose population and economy dwarfs those of Kansas, the investment was still significant.

“We kicked the can down the road for a lot of years, but when we have done programs we’ve been extremely efficient,” Minnix said.

“I definitely think the program is successful and worth continuing,” added Rep. Lindsay Vaughn, a Democrat from Overland Park.

While water issues sometime&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2026/01/29/kansas-house-bill-would-push-state-to-recycle-wastewater-into-tap-water/">fall along party lines</a>, the issue of the water crisis itself is rarely partisan.

Kansas&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/10/30/southeast-kansas-town-is-almost-out-of-water-and-signs-of-crisis-are-everywhere/">towns</a>&nbsp;are running out of water. The Ogallala Aquifer, which much of western Kansas relies on for daily life,&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/01/28/ogallala-aquifer-drops-by-more-than-a-foot-in-parts-of-western-kansas/">dropped</a>&nbsp;by more than a foot last year. Gov. Laura Kelly has identified the crisis as&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/12/24/kansas-governors-legislative-priorities-in-2026-center-on-budget-water-and-children/">a top priority</a>&nbsp;for her final year in office.

Last year a&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/05/02/kansas-water-task-force-to-gauge-current-and-future-supply-modernize-policy/">bipartisan</a>&nbsp;taskforce was created to fight the crisis. Sen Kenny Titus, a Republican from Wamego&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/07/15/kansas-lawmakers-outline-vision-for-finding-solutions-to-water-crisis-and-paying-for-them/">said in July</a>&nbsp;the water issue has been exacerbated in large part because of a “lack of past efforts.”

Minnix is the other taskforce co-chair. He said he typically gives the House committee a week to review bills before they’re brought back for discussion, but told the committee he wanted to discuss this one earlier than usual.

“This committee has been an extreme leader on water issues since ’23,” Minnix said. “I want you folks all to sleep on this, think about it and come back on Thursday so we can have a robust discussion on this.”

Rep. Doug Blex, a Republican farmer from Independence, said that while he will miss Thursday’s discussion, the bill has his full support. He was on the Water Committee in 2017, when the decade-long streak of governors not funding the Kansas Water Plan Fund was active.

“We have come a long way,” Blex said. “And even though we are not ranking on dollars with other states, I think we’re ranking with what we’ve got done and accomplished in many ways and the quality.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/2/1770922896294.png" alt=" Rep. Jim Minnix talks with Gov. Laura Kelly at a July 9, 2025, news conference on water at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption> Rep. Jim Minnix talks with Gov. Laura Kelly at a July 9, 2025, news conference on water at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/ghills/">GRACE HILLS</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/ghills/"></a><a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — More money could be flowing to the Kansas Water Plan under a new House bill, expanding the impact of a popular 2023 law aimed at addressing the growing water crisis.Republicans, Democrats and proponents pointed to Kansas’ lack of funding for water projects and asked lawmakers to pass the bill Tuesday before the House Water Committee. There were no opponents.The&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/04/20/new-laws-increase-accountability-for-kansas-water-districts-set-aside-conservation-funding/">2023 law</a>&nbsp;established the Water Projects Grant Fund and the Water Technical Assistance Fund, two funds that help municipalities build and maintain water infrastructure.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/measures/hb2558/" target="_blank">House Bill 2558</a>&nbsp;would expand annual funding for the Kansas Water Plan from $35 million to $60 million.The extra $25 million for the Kansas Water Plan would come from the State General Fund. Most of the increase would be earmarked to add $10 million to both the Water Projects Grant Fund and Water Technical Assistance Fund.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/2/1770922852213.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Made with Flourish&nbsp;•&nbsp;<a href="https://flourish.studio/visualisations/line-bar-pie-charts/?utm_source=showcase&amp;utm_campaign=visualisation/22038093" target="_blank">Create a chart</a>Since the 2023 law,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kslegislature.gov/li_2024/b2023_24/measures/hb2302/" target="_blank">House Bill 2302</a>, was adopted, there have been more applications for the grants than money available. Wendi Stark, legislative liaison for the League of Kansas Municipalities&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/committees/ctte_h_water_1/misc_documents/download_testimony/ctte_h_water_1_20260210_07_testimony.html" target="_blank">said</a>&nbsp;about 37% of the cities who applied received some money.Connie Owen testified on behalf of three of the state’s big water-related agencies: the Kansas Department of Agriculture, Kansas Department of Health and Environment, and the Kansas Water Office. She characterized her testimony as neutral, but admitted it was more “neutral positive.”“The 2302 grants really made a difference for people and their communities all over the state,” Owen said. “All we continue to hear is, ‘Keep it coming, we need more,’ ” Owen said.Last session,&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/03/13/kansas-house-bill-would-add-20m-for-state-water-plan-projects/">a more modest version</a>&nbsp;of the bill made it through the House but was never heard by the Senate. Both that bill and the one in the current session were introduced by Rep. Jim Minnix, a Republican farmer from Scott City and chair of the House Water Committee.Owen is in the&nbsp;<a href="https://westernstateswater.org/" target="_blank">Western States Water Council</a>, a group of 18 states that meets three times a year to discuss water solutions. Minnix asked Owen to share what she has heard from other states.“Kansas is doing incredible things. But in terms of the comparison to what we could be doing, and the investment that other states make, it’s enormous,” Owen said. “And I’m sure that’s why you asked me that question, Mr. Chair.”Minnix smiled in acknowledgement, and brought up the recent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/04/texas-elections-2025-water/" target="_blank">Texas vote</a>&nbsp;to make a $20 billion investment in water. He said even for a state whose population and economy dwarfs those of Kansas, the investment was still significant.“We kicked the can down the road for a lot of years, but when we have done programs we’ve been extremely efficient,” Minnix said.“I definitely think the program is successful and worth continuing,” added Rep. Lindsay Vaughn, a Democrat from Overland Park.While water issues sometime&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2026/01/29/kansas-house-bill-would-push-state-to-recycle-wastewater-into-tap-water/">fall along party lines</a>, the issue of the water crisis itself is rarely partisan.Kansas&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/10/30/southeast-kansas-town-is-almost-out-of-water-and-signs-of-crisis-are-everywhere/">towns</a>&nbsp;are running out of water. The Ogallala Aquifer, which much of western Kansas relies on for daily life,&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/01/28/ogallala-aquifer-drops-by-more-than-a-foot-in-parts-of-western-kansas/">dropped</a>&nbsp;by more than a foot last year. Gov. Laura Kelly has identified the crisis as&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/12/24/kansas-governors-legislative-priorities-in-2026-center-on-budget-water-and-children/">a top priority</a>&nbsp;for her final year in office.Last year a&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/05/02/kansas-water-task-force-to-gauge-current-and-future-supply-modernize-policy/">bipartisan</a>&nbsp;taskforce was created to fight the crisis. Sen Kenny Titus, a Republican from Wamego&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/07/15/kansas-lawmakers-outline-vision-for-finding-solutions-to-water-crisis-and-paying-for-them/">said in July</a>&nbsp;the water issue has been exacerbated in large part because of a “lack of past efforts.”Minnix is the other taskforce co-chair. He said he typically gives the House committee a week to review bills before they’re brought back for discussion, but told the committee he wanted to discuss this one earlier than usual.“This committee has been an extreme leader on water issues since ’23,” Minnix said. “I want you folks all to sleep on this, think about it and come back on Thursday so we can have a robust discussion on this.”Rep. Doug Blex, a Republican farmer from Independence, said that while he will miss Thursday’s discussion, the bill has his full support. He was on the Water Committee in 2017, when the decade-long streak of governors not funding the Kansas Water Plan Fund was active.“We have come a long way,” Blex said. “And even though we are not ranking on dollars with other states, I think we’re ranking with what we’ve got done and accomplished in many ways and the quality.”

House bill would add $25 million to annual spending on Kansas water crisis

SEDGWICK COUNTY —A Kansas teen who admitted his role in a deadly drive-by shooting is going to prison.

On Wednesday, Judge Christopher Magana sentenced 15-year-old Elias Cerda to&nbsp;260 months in prison and 36 months of post release supervision, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.

In November, Cerda, who was charged as an adult, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, second degree murder and attempted aggravated robbery, according to the district attorney's office.

In January 2024, police responded to reports of shots being fired in the area of 5200 E Kensington in Wichita, according to Officer Juan Rebolledo.

Around the same time, officers were dispatched to an area hospital for the report of two walk-in shooting victims later identified as 14-year-old Emoni Shears and 19-year-old Jhiquez Roberts both of Wichita. They were later pronounced deceased at the hospital.

Detectives and patrol officers immediately began investigating this case and following up on leads. Police arrested Cerda, who was 14 at the time. He was booked into the Sedgwick County jail on November 27, according to online jail records.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/12/1734098604588.png" alt="Cerda photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>Cerda photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —A Kansas teen who admitted his role in a deadly drive-by shooting is going to prison.On Wednesday, Judge Christopher Magana sentenced 15-year-old Elias Cerda to&nbsp;260 months in prison and 36 months of post release supervision, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.In November, Cerda, who was charged as an adult, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, second degree murder and attempted aggravated robbery, according to the district attorney's office.In January 2024, police responded to reports of shots being fired in the area of 5200 E Kensington in Wichita, according to Officer Juan Rebolledo.Around the same time, officers were dispatched to an area hospital for the report of two walk-in shooting victims later identified as 14-year-old Emoni Shears and 19-year-old Jhiquez Roberts both of Wichita. They were later pronounced deceased at the hospital.Detectives and patrol officers immediately began investigating this case and following up on leads. Police arrested Cerda, who was 14 at the time. He was booked into the Sedgwick County jail on November 27, according to online jail records.&nbsp;

Kansas boy going to prison for drive-by double murder

By SAFIYAH RIDDLE and MICHAEL LIEDTKE Associated Press

Tuesday’s release of video surveillance footage showing an armed, masked person at Nancy Guthrie’s doorstep on the night she was abducted has raised a host of questions about why it took so long to publicly release, how it was retrieved and what it means for privacy.

The process involved days of searching, the FBI said, after law enforcement initially believed the footage was lost because the camera was disconnected and Guthrie didn't have a subscription to the camera company.

The surprising emergence of the video footage has resurrected questions about digital content's long afterlife, as billions of people increasingly entwine their lives with mishmash of internet-connected devices, making it possible to retrieve snapshots from their past like old photos stored in an attic.

In the days after her apparent abduction, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos initially said that a camera attached to Nancy Guthrie's door was disconnected just before 2 a.m. on the night she disappeared. Minutes later, the camera’s software detected movement, but no footage was preserved, he said.

At the time, Nanos said that there was no video available in part because Guthrie didn’t have an active subscription to the company. But unexpectedly, FBI Director Kash Patel said on Tuesday that investigators kept working for days to pull the videos from “residual data located in backend systems."

It was not immediately clear why it took so long to retrieve the video. The delay could, in part, be a law enforcement strategy, according to Joseph Giacalone, a retired New York police sergeant who managed hundreds of homicide and missing person cases.

Giacalone said the FBI likely tried to quietly identify the person on Guthrie’s porch before releasing the images.

“You’re trying to keep these things close to the vest. I think they worked this angle for a couple days,” Giacalone said.

Local and federal law enforcement didn't respond to questions clarifying what they meant by “disconnected" or who was working on recovering the data.

The footage appears to have come from a Nest camera fastened on or near Guthrie's door. Google, which has owned Nest since 2014, is among numerous companies that operates private surveillance cameras used in and around homes. Because common doorbell cameras aren’t equipped with the memory cards required for vast amounts of on-device storage, the video recorded on them is routinely transmitted to data centers scattered around the U.S. and other countries.

Google didn’t immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press about how the footage of the masked person was captured while the camera was apparently disconnected. They also didn't clarify how the footage was extracted from “backend servers” even though law enforcement said Guthrie didn't have a subscription.

However, Google's privacy policy — a document that users often blindly agree to after purchasing a device — makes it clear that videos can be captured when a device is offline.

“That means you may not see a visual indicator when your camera is sending the video footage to our servers," the policy states.

The policy also makes clear that footage can stay on cloud servers for varying amounts of time, but also gives users the right to view and delete video at their discretion.

Unless a Nest user subscribes to a service that allows for quick access to review footage recorded on a device, Google routinely purges the footage rather than retain it indefinitely, said Stacey Higginbotham, a policy fellow at Consumer Reports who specializes in cybersecurity issues.

But if law enforcement agencies such as the FBI reached out to Nest for the footage before it was overwritten, the video could still be retrieved and watched, Higginbotham said. “It’s basically like when you send an email to the trash. It’s still accessible,” depending on a provider’s retention policies.

There are ostensibly legal guardrails that are supposed to dictate how companies like Google access and share footage collected on cameras in and around people's homes.

Under many user agreements, camera companies need a warrant or consent from the camera owner to share footage with law enforcement, according to Michelle Dahl, the executive director at the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project.

But there are plenty of legal loopholes that would allow a company like Google to share data directly with law enforcement without either of those things, Dahl said.

“Our hearts are on her family and what they are going through, and we are glad for any information that can lead to her being found,” she said. At the same time, Dahl added, “We should absolutely be alarmed over the privacy implications that are at stake with this video that was recovered by the Nest camera."

Dahl said she doesn't know about Nest cameras specifically. But she said that some user agreements specify that the data collected on cameras belong to the camera company, not the private camera owner. In those cases, a company like Google can share footage with law enforcement at its own discretion, without even notifying its users.

Dahl, who litigates about privacy and surveillance, said that practice is becoming more common, making it harder for consumers to balance the security a camera provides with constitutional protections against surveillance.

“I think the public has gotten too comfortable with surveillance cameras in not only public spaces, but also their private homes, without thinking about the consequences of where that data ends up,” Dahl said. “If a camera is absolutely necessary for your security, look into options where that data is not transmitted off to a cloud.”

Associated Press writer Ed White contributed reporting.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/2/1770773830930.png" alt="Images from home security camera at the Guthrie home -FBI" />
 <figcaption>Images from home security camera at the Guthrie home -FBI</figcaption>
 </figure>By SAFIYAH RIDDLE and MICHAEL LIEDTKE Associated PressTuesday’s release of video surveillance footage showing an armed, masked person at Nancy Guthrie’s doorstep on the night she was abducted has raised a host of questions about why it took so long to publicly release, how it was retrieved and what it means for privacy.The process involved days of searching, the FBI said, after law enforcement initially believed the footage was lost because the camera was disconnected and Guthrie didn't have a subscription to the camera company.The surprising emergence of the video footage has resurrected questions about digital content's long afterlife, as billions of people increasingly entwine their lives with mishmash of internet-connected devices, making it possible to retrieve snapshots from their past like old photos stored in an attic.<h2>Unclear reasons for delay</h2>In the days after her apparent abduction, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos initially said that a camera attached to Nancy Guthrie's door was disconnected just before 2 a.m. on the night she disappeared. Minutes later, the camera’s software detected movement, but no footage was preserved, he said.At the time, Nanos said that there was no video available in part because Guthrie didn’t have an active subscription to the company. But unexpectedly, FBI Director Kash Patel said on Tuesday that investigators kept working for days to pull the videos from “residual data located in backend systems."It was not immediately clear why it took so long to retrieve the video. The delay could, in part, be a law enforcement strategy, according to Joseph Giacalone, a retired New York police sergeant who managed hundreds of homicide and missing person cases.Giacalone said the FBI likely tried to quietly identify the person on Guthrie’s porch before releasing the images.“You’re trying to keep these things close to the vest. I think they worked this angle for a couple days,” Giacalone said.<h2>Always recording</h2>Local and federal law enforcement didn't respond to questions clarifying what they meant by “disconnected" or who was working on recovering the data.The footage appears to have come from a Nest camera fastened on or near Guthrie's door. Google, which has owned Nest since 2014, is among numerous companies that operates private surveillance cameras used in and around homes. Because common doorbell cameras aren’t equipped with the memory cards required for vast amounts of on-device storage, the video recorded on them is routinely transmitted to data centers scattered around the U.S. and other countries.Google didn’t immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press about how the footage of the masked person was captured while the camera was apparently disconnected. They also didn't clarify how the footage was extracted from “backend servers” even though law enforcement said Guthrie didn't have a subscription.However, Google's privacy policy — a document that users often blindly agree to after purchasing a device — makes it clear that videos can be captured when a device is offline.“That means you may not see a visual indicator when your camera is sending the video footage to our servers," the policy states.<h2>Data on the cloud doesn't disappear</h2>The policy also makes clear that footage can stay on cloud servers for varying amounts of time, but also gives users the right to view and delete video at their discretion.Unless a Nest user subscribes to a service that allows for quick access to review footage recorded on a device, Google routinely purges the footage rather than retain it indefinitely, said Stacey Higginbotham, a policy fellow at Consumer Reports who specializes in cybersecurity issues.But if law enforcement agencies such as the FBI reached out to Nest for the footage before it was overwritten, the video could still be retrieved and watched, Higginbotham said. “It’s basically like when you send an email to the trash. It’s still accessible,” depending on a provider’s retention policies.<h2>Tensions with privacy concerns</h2>There are ostensibly legal guardrails that are supposed to dictate how companies like Google access and share footage collected on cameras in and around people's homes.Under many user agreements, camera companies need a warrant or consent from the camera owner to share footage with law enforcement, according to Michelle Dahl, the executive director at the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project.But there are plenty of legal loopholes that would allow a company like Google to share data directly with law enforcement without either of those things, Dahl said.“Our hearts are on her family and what they are going through, and we are glad for any information that can lead to her being found,” she said. At the same time, Dahl added, “We should absolutely be alarmed over the privacy implications that are at stake with this video that was recovered by the Nest camera."Dahl said she doesn't know about Nest cameras specifically. But she said that some user agreements specify that the data collected on cameras belong to the camera company, not the private camera owner. In those cases, a company like Google can share footage with law enforcement at its own discretion, without even notifying its users.Dahl, who litigates about privacy and surveillance, said that practice is becoming more common, making it harder for consumers to balance the security a camera provides with constitutional protections against surveillance.“I think the public has gotten too comfortable with surveillance cameras in not only public spaces, but also their private homes, without thinking about the consequences of where that data ends up,” Dahl said. “If a camera is absolutely necessary for your security, look into options where that data is not transmitted off to a cloud.”___Associated Press writer Ed White contributed reporting.

Video into Guthrie's abduction mystery raises questions about surveillance technology

By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/seung-min-kim">SEUNG MIN KIM</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/ben-finley">BEN FINLEY</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/mary-clare-jalonick">MARY CLARE JALONICK</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/konstantin-toropin">KONSTANTIN TOROPIN</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/morgan-lee">MORGAN LEE</a>

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — The Pentagon allowed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to use an anti-drone laser earlier this week, leading the Federal Aviation Administration to suddenly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday, according to two people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details.

The confusing arc of events began as the FAA announced it was shutting down all flight traffic over the city on the U.S.-Mexico border for 10 days, stranding some travelers, but the closure ended up only lasting a few hours. The Trump administration said it stemmed from the FAA and Pentagon working to halt an incursion by Mexican cartel drones, which are not uncommon along the southern border.

One of the people said the laser was deployed near Fort Bliss without coordinating with the FAA, which decided then to close the airspace to ensure commercial air safety. Others familiar with the matter said the technology was used despite a meeting scheduled for later this month between the Pentagon and the FAA to discuss the issue.

While the restrictions were short-lived in the city of nearly 700,000 people, it is unusual for an entire airport to shut down even for a short time. Stranded travelers with luggage lined up at airline ticket counters and car rental desks before the order was lifted.

Normal flights resumed after seven arrivals and seven departures were canceled. Some medical evacuation flights also had to be rerouted.

Jorge Rueda, 20, and Yamilexi Meza, 21, of Las Cruces, New Mexico, had their morning flight to Portland, Oregon, canceled, so they were losing part of their Valentine’s Day weekend trip.

Rueda said he was glad that “10 days turned into two hours.” They were booked on an evening flight out of El Paso.

The investigation into last year’s midair collision near Washington, D.C., between an airliner and Army helicopter that killed 67 people highlighted how the FAA and Pentagon were not always working well together.

The National Transportation Safety Board said the FAA and the Army did not share safety data with each other about the alarming number of close calls around Reagan National Airport and failed to address the risks.

Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a former Army helicopter pilot who serves on committees focused on aviation and the armed services, said the issue Wednesday was the latest example of “the lack of coordination that’s endemic in this Trump administration.”

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said he would request a briefing from the FAA on the incident.

Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democrat whose district includes El Paso, said neither her office nor local officials received any advance notice of the closure. After it was lifted, she said “the information coming from the federal government does not add up.”

“I believe the FAA owes the community and the country an explanation as to why this happened so suddenly and abruptly and was lifted so suddenly and abruptly,” Escobar said at a news conference.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said earlier that the airspace was closed as the Defense Department and the FAA halted an incursion by Mexican cartel drones and “the threat has been neutralized.”

Officials at the Department of Homeland Security, FAA and Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A Trump administration official insisted the agencies were in lockstep to protect national security and pointed to Duffy’s statement. The Pentagon said it had nothing to add to its statement that largely mirrored Duffy’s.

By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/seung-min-kim">SEUNG MIN KIM</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/ben-finley">BEN FINLEY</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/mary-clare-jalonick">MARY CLARE JALONICK</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/konstantin-toropin">KONSTANTIN TOROPIN</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/morgan-lee">MORGAN LEE</a>EL PASO, Texas (AP) — The Pentagon allowed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to use an anti-drone laser earlier this week, leading the Federal Aviation Administration to suddenly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday, according to two people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details.The confusing arc of events began as the FAA announced it was shutting down all flight traffic over the city on the U.S.-Mexico border for 10 days, stranding some travelers, but the closure ended up only lasting a few hours. The Trump administration said it stemmed from the FAA and Pentagon working to halt an incursion by Mexican cartel drones, which are not uncommon along the southern border.One of the people said the laser was deployed near Fort Bliss without coordinating with the FAA, which decided then to close the airspace to ensure commercial air safety. Others familiar with the matter said the technology was used despite a meeting scheduled for later this month between the Pentagon and the FAA to discuss the issue.While the restrictions were short-lived in the city of nearly 700,000 people, it is unusual for an entire airport to shut down even for a short time. Stranded travelers with luggage lined up at airline ticket counters and car rental desks before the order was lifted.Normal flights resumed after seven arrivals and seven departures were canceled. Some medical evacuation flights also had to be rerouted.Jorge Rueda, 20, and Yamilexi Meza, 21, of Las Cruces, New Mexico, had their morning flight to Portland, Oregon, canceled, so they were losing part of their Valentine’s Day weekend trip.Rueda said he was glad that “10 days turned into two hours.” They were booked on an evening flight out of El Paso.<h2>A troubling lack of coordination</h2>The investigation into last year’s midair collision near Washington, D.C., between an airliner and Army helicopter that killed 67 people highlighted how the FAA and Pentagon were not always working well together.The National Transportation Safety Board said the FAA and the Army did not share safety data with each other about the alarming number of close calls around Reagan National Airport and failed to address the risks.Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a former Army helicopter pilot who serves on committees focused on aviation and the armed services, said the issue Wednesday was the latest example of “the lack of coordination that’s endemic in this Trump administration.”Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said he would request a briefing from the FAA on the incident.Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democrat whose district includes El Paso, said neither her office nor local officials received any advance notice of the closure. After it was lifted, she said “the information coming from the federal government does not add up.”“I believe the FAA owes the community and the country an explanation as to why this happened so suddenly and abruptly and was lifted so suddenly and abruptly,” Escobar said at a news conference.Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said earlier that the airspace was closed as the Defense Department and the FAA halted an incursion by Mexican cartel drones and “the threat has been neutralized.”Officials at the Department of Homeland Security, FAA and Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A Trump administration official insisted the agencies were in lockstep to protect national security and pointed to Duffy’s statement. The Pentagon said it had nothing to add to its statement that largely mirrored Duffy’s.<h2>Cross-border drone activity is not new</h2>Normal flights resumed after seven arrivals and seven departures were canceled. Some medical evacuation flights also had to be rerouted.Jorge Rueda, 20, and Yamilexi Meza, 21, of Las Cruces, New Mexico, had their morning flight to Portland, Oregon, canceled, so they were losing part of their Valentine’s Day weekend trip.Rueda said he was glad that “10 days turned into two hours.” They were booked on an evening flight out of El Paso.<h2>A troubling lack of coordination</h2>The investigation into last year’s midair collision near Washington, D.C., between an airliner and Army helicopter that killed 67 people highlighted how the FAA and Pentagon were not always working well together.The National Transportation Safety Board said the FAA and the Army did not share safety data with each other about the alarming number of close calls around Reagan National Airport and failed to address the risks.Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a former Army helicopter pilot who serves on committees focused on aviation and the armed services, said the issue Wednesday was the latest example of “the lack of coordination that’s endemic in this Trump administration.”Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said he would request a briefing from the FAA on the incident.Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democrat whose district includes El Paso, said neither her office nor local officials received any advance notice of the closure. After it was lifted, she said “the information coming from the federal government does not add up.”“I believe the FAA owes the community and the country an explanation as to why this happened so suddenly and abruptly and was lifted so suddenly and abruptly,” Escobar said at a news conference.Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said earlier that the airspace was closed as the Defense Department and the FAA halted an incursion by Mexican cartel drones and “the threat has been neutralized.”Officials at the Department of Homeland Security, FAA and Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A Trump administration official insisted the agencies were in lockstep to protect national security and pointed to Duffy’s statement. The Pentagon said it had nothing to add to its statement that largely mirrored Duffy’s.

Pentagon let CBP use anti-drone laser before FAA closed El Paso airspace

SEDGWICK COUNTY —A man injured in a fatal fight on July 4, will return to court on Thursday.

&nbsp;Eduardo Diaz-Yobal, 33, will face a preliminary hearing in Judge Christopher Magana's courtroom, according to the Sedgwick District Attorney's office. Diaz-Yobal is charged with first-degree murder in&nbsp;the death of 33-year-old Cesar Gonzalez.

Early on July 4, police responded to a report of an assault in the 3000 block of North Fairview in Wichita, according to a media release from Wichita Police. A caller reported witnessing a man attacking another man. The victim was later identified as Gonzalez of Wichita.&nbsp;

Before officers arrived, the suspect fled the scene. Officers found Gonzalez unresponsive in the parking lot. Sedgwick County EMS transported him to an area hospital, where he was later pronounced deceased at 1:54 a.m.

Officers located the suspect identified as<a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/inmatesearch/Details.aspx?Id=254855">&nbsp;Diaz-Yobal, 33, of Wichita,</a>&nbsp;in the 300 block of W. 29th Street and took him into custody without incident.

Diaz-Yobal had injuries consistent with the altercation and was admitted to an area hospital for treatment, released and then booked into the Sedgwick County Jail where he is being on bond of over&nbsp;&nbsp;$1,500,000.00, according to online jail records.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/7/1751715135638.png" alt="DIAZ-YOBAL-photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>DIAZ-YOBAL-photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —A man injured in a fatal fight on July 4, will return to court on Thursday.&nbsp;Eduardo Diaz-Yobal, 33, will face a preliminary hearing in Judge Christopher Magana's courtroom, according to the Sedgwick District Attorney's office. Diaz-Yobal is charged with first-degree murder in&nbsp;the death of 33-year-old Cesar Gonzalez.Early on July 4, police responded to a report of an assault in the 3000 block of North Fairview in Wichita, according to a media release from Wichita Police. A caller reported witnessing a man attacking another man. The victim was later identified as Gonzalez of Wichita.&nbsp;Before officers arrived, the suspect fled the scene. Officers found Gonzalez unresponsive in the parking lot. Sedgwick County EMS transported him to an area hospital, where he was later pronounced deceased at 1:54 a.m.Officers located the suspect identified as<a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/inmatesearch/Details.aspx?Id=254855">&nbsp;Diaz-Yobal, 33, of Wichita,</a>&nbsp;in the 300 block of W. 29th Street and took him into custody without incident.Diaz-Yobal had injuries consistent with the altercation and was admitted to an area hospital for treatment, released and then booked into the Sedgwick County Jail where he is being on bond of over&nbsp;&nbsp;$1,500,000.00, according to online jail records.

Preliminary Hearing for Kan. man in deadly 4th of July fight

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans rushed to approve legislation on Wednesday that would impose strict new proof-of-citizenship requirements ahead of the midterm elections, a long shot Trump administration priority that faces sharp blowback in the Senate.

The bill, called the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-save-act-citizenship-voting-elections-a37c139461d11eb5f82086680b67ffe7">Safeguard American Voter Eligibility</a>, or SAVE America Act, would require Americans to prove they are citizens when they register to vote, mostly through a valid U.S. passport or birth certificate. It would also require a valid photo identification before voters can cast ballots, which some states already demand. It was approved on a mostly party-line vote, 218-213. GOP members of the Kansas delegation voted with the majority.

Republicans said the legislation is needed to prevent voter fraud, but Democrats warn it will disenfranchise millions of Americans by making it harder to vote. Federal law already requires that voters in national elections be U.S. citizens, but there’s no requirement to provide documentary proof. Experts said voter fraud is extremely rare, and very few noncitizens ever slip through the cracks. Fewer than one in 10 Americans don’t have paperwork proving they are citizens.

“Some of my colleagues will call this voter suppression or Jim Crow 2.0,” said Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., presenting the package at a committee hearing.

But he said “those allegations are false,” and he argued the bill is needed to enforce existing laws, particularly those that bar immigrants who are not citizens from voting. “The current law is not strong enough,” he said.

The GOP’s sudden push to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/midterms-voting-laws-photo-id-citizenship-republicans-feecb51a6efa41cf32d18fe4b15c08ce">change voting rules</a>&nbsp;at the start of the midterm election season is raising red flags, particularly because&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">President Donald Trump&nbsp;</a>has suggested he wants to nationalize U.S. elections, which, under the Constitution, are designed to be run by individual states.

The Trump administration recently seized&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fbi-georgia-elections-fulton-county-2020-ballots-9dfecd778c09134e9aa0bba2848718f5">ballots in Georgia</a>&nbsp;from the 2020 election, which the president insists he won despite his defeat to Democrat Joe Biden. The Department of Justice is demanding voter rolls from states, including Michigan, where a federal judge this week&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/federal-judges-dismisses-lawsuit-michigan-voter-rolls-b18568bec27026c97e41885b80d15fe9">dismissed the department’s lawsuit</a>&nbsp;seeking the voter files. Secretaries of state have raised concerns that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/justice-department-homeland-security-voters-noncitizens-9ad3293b2f188b8a5b0bc166a61c225c">voters’ personal data</a>&nbsp;may be shared with Homeland Security to verify citizenship and could result in people being unlawfully purged from the rolls.

“Let me be clear what this is about: It’s about Republicans trying to rig the next election,” said Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Rules Committee, during a hearing ahead of the floor vote. “Republicans are pushing the Save America Act because they want fewer Americans to vote. It’s that simple.”

The legislation is actually a do-over of a similar bill the House approved last year, which also sought to clamp down on fraudulent voting, particularly among noncitizens. It won the support of four House Democrats, but stalled in the Republican-led Senate. Only one Democrat, Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, voted for the revised bill.

This version toughens some of the requirements further, while creating a process for those whose names may have changed, particularly during marriage, to provide the paperwork necessary and further attest to their identity.

It also requires states to share their voter information with the Department of Homeland Security, as a way to verify the citizenship of the names on the voter rolls. That has drawn pushback from elections officials as potentially intrusive on people’s privacy.

The new rules in the bill would take effect immediately, if the bill is passed by both chambers of Congress and signed into law.

But with primary elections getting underway next month, critics said the sudden shift would be difficult for state election officials to implement and potentially confuse voters.

Voting experts have warned that more than 20 million U.S. citizens of voting age do not have proof of their citizenship readily available. Almost half of Americans do not have a U.S. passport.

“Election Day is fast approaching,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. “Imposing new federal requirements now, when states are deep into their preparations, would negatively impact election integrity by forcing election officials to scramble to adhere to new policies likely without the necessary resources.”

In the Senate, where Republicans also have majority control, there does not appear to be enough support to push the bill past the chamber’s filibuster rules, which largely require 60 votes to advance legislation.

That frustration has led some Republicans, led by Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, to push for a process that would skip the 60-vote threshold in this case, and allow the bill to be debated through a so-called standing filibuster — a process that would open the door to potentially endless debate.

Lee made the case to GOP senators at a closed-door lunch this week, and some said afterward they are mulling the concept.

“I think most people’s minds are open,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., “My mind’s certainly open.”

But Murkowski of Alaska said she is flat out against the legislation.

“Not only does the U.S. Constitution clearly provide states the authority to regulate the ‘times, places, and manner’ of holding federal elections, but one-size-fits-all mandates from Washington, D.C., seldom work in places like Alaska,” she said.

Karen Brinson Bell of Advance Elections, a nonpartisan consulting firm, said the bill adds numerous requirements for state and local election officials with no additional funding.

“Election officials have a simple request of Congress — that you help share their burdens not add to them,” she said.

This story has been corrected to fix a statistic. Fewer than one in 10 Americans do not have paperwork proving they are citizens; an earlier version incorrectly said fewer than one in 10 have valid passports.

Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/2/1770863394074.png" alt=" " />
 <figcaption> </figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans rushed to approve legislation on Wednesday that would impose strict new proof-of-citizenship requirements ahead of the midterm elections, a long shot Trump administration priority that faces sharp blowback in the Senate.The bill, called the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-save-act-citizenship-voting-elections-a37c139461d11eb5f82086680b67ffe7">Safeguard American Voter Eligibility</a>, or SAVE America Act, would require Americans to prove they are citizens when they register to vote, mostly through a valid U.S. passport or birth certificate. It would also require a valid photo identification before voters can cast ballots, which some states already demand. It was approved on a mostly party-line vote, 218-213. GOP members of the Kansas delegation voted with the majority.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">The House just passed the SAVE America Act — commonsense legislation that requires voter ID and implements other critical measures to protect federal elections from fraud. Next up: Senate <a href="https://t.co/ciBQL7fnoJ">pic.twitter.com/ciBQL7fnoJ</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2021732716534739290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Today, <a href="https://twitter.com/HouseGOP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HouseGOP</a> passed the SAVE America Act to protect the integrity of our elections. This commonsense legislation requires voter ID in federal elections and ensures that only U.S. citizens can register and vote. Securing our elections is about confidence in the system, and…&mdash; Tracey Mann (@RepMann) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepMann/status/2021732856075100610?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">The SAVE America Act has PASSED the House and is now headed to the Senate. ✅ One step closer to SECURING America&#39;s elections with common sense reforms: proof of citizenship to register &amp; ID to vote. 🇺🇸 <a href="https://t.co/OAQPzfYCWU">pic.twitter.com/OAQPzfYCWU</a>&mdash; The White House (@WhiteHouse) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/2021774969055707361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Republicans said the legislation is needed to prevent voter fraud, but Democrats warn it will disenfranchise millions of Americans by making it harder to vote. Federal law already requires that voters in national elections be U.S. citizens, but there’s no requirement to provide documentary proof. Experts said voter fraud is extremely rare, and very few noncitizens ever slip through the cracks. Fewer than one in 10 Americans don’t have paperwork proving they are citizens.“Some of my colleagues will call this voter suppression or Jim Crow 2.0,” said Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., presenting the package at a committee hearing.But he said “those allegations are false,” and he argued the bill is needed to enforce existing laws, particularly those that bar immigrants who are not citizens from voting. “The current law is not strong enough,” he said.<h2>Election turmoil shadows the vote</h2>The GOP’s sudden push to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/midterms-voting-laws-photo-id-citizenship-republicans-feecb51a6efa41cf32d18fe4b15c08ce">change voting rules</a>&nbsp;at the start of the midterm election season is raising red flags, particularly because&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">President Donald Trump&nbsp;</a>has suggested he wants to nationalize U.S. elections, which, under the Constitution, are designed to be run by individual states.The Trump administration recently seized&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fbi-georgia-elections-fulton-county-2020-ballots-9dfecd778c09134e9aa0bba2848718f5">ballots in Georgia</a>&nbsp;from the 2020 election, which the president insists he won despite his defeat to Democrat Joe Biden. The Department of Justice is demanding voter rolls from states, including Michigan, where a federal judge this week&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/federal-judges-dismisses-lawsuit-michigan-voter-rolls-b18568bec27026c97e41885b80d15fe9">dismissed the department’s lawsuit</a>&nbsp;seeking the voter files. Secretaries of state have raised concerns that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/justice-department-homeland-security-voters-noncitizens-9ad3293b2f188b8a5b0bc166a61c225c">voters’ personal data</a>&nbsp;may be shared with Homeland Security to verify citizenship and could result in people being unlawfully purged from the rolls.“Let me be clear what this is about: It’s about Republicans trying to rig the next election,” said Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Rules Committee, during a hearing ahead of the floor vote. “Republicans are pushing the Save America Act because they want fewer Americans to vote. It’s that simple.”The legislation is actually a do-over of a similar bill the House approved last year, which also sought to clamp down on fraudulent voting, particularly among noncitizens. It won the support of four House Democrats, but stalled in the Republican-led Senate. Only one Democrat, Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, voted for the revised bill.This version toughens some of the requirements further, while creating a process for those whose names may have changed, particularly during marriage, to provide the paperwork necessary and further attest to their identity.It also requires states to share their voter information with the Department of Homeland Security, as a way to verify the citizenship of the names on the voter rolls. That has drawn pushback from elections officials as potentially intrusive on people’s privacy.<h2>Warnings from state election officials</h2>The new rules in the bill would take effect immediately, if the bill is passed by both chambers of Congress and signed into law.But with primary elections getting underway next month, critics said the sudden shift would be difficult for state election officials to implement and potentially confuse voters.Voting experts have warned that more than 20 million U.S. citizens of voting age do not have proof of their citizenship readily available. Almost half of Americans do not have a U.S. passport.“Election Day is fast approaching,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. “Imposing new federal requirements now, when states are deep into their preparations, would negatively impact election integrity by forcing election officials to scramble to adhere to new policies likely without the necessary resources.”<h2>The fight ahead in the Senate</h2>In the Senate, where Republicans also have majority control, there does not appear to be enough support to push the bill past the chamber’s filibuster rules, which largely require 60 votes to advance legislation.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Republicans are still trying to pass the SAVE Act—a bill that would make it harder to vote and disenfranchise millions of Americans. Join <a href="https://twitter.com/redistrictact?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RedistrictAct</a> and tell your member of Congress to vote no: <a href="https://t.co/Cc4JHKr73Q">https://t.co/Cc4JHKr73Q</a> <a href="https://t.co/tUyxEbYJ0y">pic.twitter.com/tUyxEbYJ0y</a>&mdash; Barack Obama (@BarackObama) <a href="https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/2021721313144877484?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>That frustration has led some Republicans, led by Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, to push for a process that would skip the 60-vote threshold in this case, and allow the bill to be debated through a so-called standing filibuster — a process that would open the door to potentially endless debate.Lee made the case to GOP senators at a closed-door lunch this week, and some said afterward they are mulling the concept.“I think most people’s minds are open,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., “My mind’s certainly open.”But Murkowski of Alaska said she is flat out against the legislation.“Not only does the U.S. Constitution clearly provide states the authority to regulate the ‘times, places, and manner’ of holding federal elections, but one-size-fits-all mandates from Washington, D.C., seldom work in places like Alaska,” she said.Karen Brinson Bell of Advance Elections, a nonpartisan consulting firm, said the bill adds numerous requirements for state and local election officials with no additional funding.“Election officials have a simple request of Congress — that you help share their burdens not add to them,” she said.___This story has been corrected to fix a statistic. Fewer than one in 10 Americans do not have paperwork proving they are citizens; an earlier version incorrectly said fewer than one in 10 have valid passports.__Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

Kan. lawmakers help House pass proof-of-citizenship requirement for voters

KANSAS CITY—Law enforcement investigating a double homicide in Kansas City, Missouri have identified the victims as 26-year-old&nbsp;Brittnee McMillon and and 28-year-old&nbsp;Jerrell Westmoreland.

At 9:30p.m. Tuesday, police were dispatched to the 1300 block of E. Armour Blvd. in Kansas City, Missouri, on a sound of shots call, according to KCPD Sergeant Jake Becchina.

Multiple callers reported the sound of gunfire from behind an apartment building there. On arrival officers were directed to a parking lot in the back of an apartment building where they located a vehicle with shooting victims McMillon and Westmoreland unresponsive inside.&nbsp;

Officers called for EMS who declared both victims deceased at the scene.&nbsp;Homicide detectives responded to the scene to conduct their investigation along with crime scene investigators processed the scene for available evidence.&nbsp; Police have not released details on possible suspects.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/2/1770822843585.png" alt="Police at the scene of the investigation -photo courtesy KMBC" />
 <figcaption>Police at the scene of the investigation -photo courtesy KMBC</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY—Law enforcement investigating a double homicide in Kansas City, Missouri have identified the victims as 26-year-old&nbsp;Brittnee McMillon and and 28-year-old&nbsp;Jerrell Westmoreland.At 9:30p.m. Tuesday, police were dispatched to the 1300 block of E. Armour Blvd. in Kansas City, Missouri, on a sound of shots call, according to KCPD Sergeant Jake Becchina.Multiple callers reported the sound of gunfire from behind an apartment building there. On arrival officers were directed to a parking lot in the back of an apartment building where they located a vehicle with shooting victims McMillon and Westmoreland unresponsive inside.&nbsp;Officers called for EMS who declared both victims deceased at the scene.&nbsp;Homicide detectives responded to the scene to conduct their investigation along with crime scene investigators processed the scene for available evidence.&nbsp; Police have not released details on possible suspects.

Homicide: Police ID couple found dead in car in Kansas City

SHAWNEE COUNTY–Law enforcement are investigating a school threat in Topeka.

Just after 6:30a.m. Tuesday, police responded to a call regarding an online social media threat involving Eisenhower Middle School, 3305 SE Minnesota Avenue in Topeka, according to a media release.. No other schools are involved in this incident.

Topeka Police are working jointly with the FBI and are investigating the credibility of this online threat. The impacted school has notified families.

Anyone who sees or hears anything related to this incident is asked to immediately contact the Topeka Police Department by emailing telltpd@topeka.org or by calling the TPD Criminal Investigation Bureau at 785-368-9400.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/10/1697128767642.png" alt=" " />
 <figcaption> </figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY–Law enforcement are investigating a school threat in Topeka.Just after 6:30a.m. Tuesday, police responded to a call regarding an online social media threat involving Eisenhower Middle School, 3305 SE Minnesota Avenue in Topeka, according to a media release.. No other schools are involved in this incident.Topeka Police are working jointly with the FBI and are investigating the credibility of this online threat. The impacted school has notified families.Anyone who sees or hears anything related to this incident is asked to immediately contact the Topeka Police Department by emailing telltpd@topeka.org or by calling the TPD Criminal Investigation Bureau at 785-368-9400.

FBI investigating social media threat at Kansas middle school

A member of the federal&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-faith-agenda-evangelicals-conservative-christians-88a9ce8ac81a46fafb7e337366be8e9c">Religious Liberty Commission</a>&nbsp;has been ousted after a hearing this week that featured tense exchanges on the definition of antisemitism. The ousted member, Carrie Prejean Boller, had defended prominent commentator Candace Owens, who routinely shares antisemitic conspiracy theories.

Prejean Boller, a model turned conservative activist, denied that Owens had ever said anything antisemitic, quoted a Bible verse that attributed the death of Jesus to Jews and pushed back on the idea that some people mask antisemitism in their criticism of Israel.

“No member of the commission has the right to hijack a hearing for their own personal and political agenda on any issue,” said Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, chair of the commission, in a statement Wednesday. “This is clearly, without question, what happened Monday in our hearing on antisemitism in America. This was my decision.”

Prejean Boller challenged Patrick’s authority to remove her, saying only President Donald Trump has that power. In a post on the social media site X, she said Patrick's actions “reflect a Zionist political agenda.”

The hearing took place as the commission, created by Trump last year, is the subject of a new federal lawsuit this week from progressive religious groups. The suit says the panel fails to represent diverse views and religions and consists almost entirely of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-evangelicals-christian-conservatives-religious-freedom-1532250eb2fe620e4341b1b033123276">conservative Christian</a>&nbsp;members.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/2/1770859990361.png" alt="In May President Trump&nbsp;officially establishes the Religious Liberty Commission -image from White House video" />
 <figcaption>In May President Trump&nbsp;officially establishes the Religious Liberty Commission -image from White House video</figcaption>
 </figure>By PETER SMITH Associated PressA member of the federal&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-faith-agenda-evangelicals-conservative-christians-88a9ce8ac81a46fafb7e337366be8e9c">Religious Liberty Commission</a>&nbsp;has been ousted after a hearing this week that featured tense exchanges on the definition of antisemitism. The ousted member, Carrie Prejean Boller, had defended prominent commentator Candace Owens, who routinely shares antisemitic conspiracy theories.Prejean Boller, a model turned conservative activist, denied that Owens had ever said anything antisemitic, quoted a Bible verse that attributed the death of Jesus to Jews and pushed back on the idea that some people mask antisemitism in their criticism of Israel.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/2/1770860621977.png" alt="Carrie Prejean Boller and members of the Religious LIberty Commission held a hearing this week on Antisemitism-image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Carrie Prejean Boller and members of the Religious LIberty Commission held a hearing this week on Antisemitism-image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>“No member of the commission has the right to hijack a hearing for their own personal and political agenda on any issue,” said Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, chair of the commission, in a statement Wednesday. “This is clearly, without question, what happened Monday in our hearing on antisemitism in America. This was my decision.”<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Dear Chairman Patrick, I write in response to your public statement falsely claiming that you “removed” me from President Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission. As the name states, this is President Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, not yours. You did not appoint me to the… <a href="https://t.co/r4VoEXSrPp">https://t.co/r4VoEXSrPp</a>&mdash; Carrie Prejean Boller (@CarriePrejean1) <a href="https://twitter.com/CarriePrejean1/status/2021728963572404534?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Prejean Boller challenged Patrick’s authority to remove her, saying only President Donald Trump has that power. In a post on the social media site X, she said Patrick's actions “reflect a Zionist political agenda.”<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Can you even imagine this? a Religious Liberty Commission prepared to fire a commissioner for her Catholic faith? If that happens, it proves their mission was never religious liberty, but a Zionist agenda. I refuse to resign.&mdash; Carrie Prejean Boller (@CarriePrejean1) <a href="https://twitter.com/CarriePrejean1/status/2021225160330641760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The hearing took place as the commission, created by Trump last year, is the subject of a new federal lawsuit this week from progressive religious groups. The suit says the panel fails to represent diverse views and religions and consists almost entirely of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-evangelicals-christian-conservatives-religious-freedom-1532250eb2fe620e4341b1b033123276">conservative Christian</a>&nbsp;members.Prejean Boller's removal came amid a wider, increasingly&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/turning-point-charlie-kirk-vance-republicans-2028-e28a332d7f55eb44346ef9d47e8906e4">contentious debate</a>&nbsp;over whether the right should give a platform to commentators espousing antisemitic views.It followed a hearing Monday in Washington that was focused on antisemitism. It featured multiple witnesses, including first-hand accounts of students and others who said universities failed to protect Jewish students amid pro-Palestinian protests during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.Prejean Boller had sharp exchanges with witnesses&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNxkwMlJZL4&amp;t=2382s">during the hearing</a>. Seth Dillon, CEO of the conservative satirical site The Babylon Bee, which routinely lampoons progressives, was there to testify that conservatives need to push back against a growing antisemitic movement on the right.Prejean Boller challenged him, questioning whether critics of Israel should be considered antisemitic. Dillon said no, but that context matters. There are “people who try to conceal their antisemitism under the guise of merely criticizing Israel," he said.Prejean Boller also questioned whether social media sites should be pressured to ban quotations of a Bible verse that attributes the death of Jesus to Jews. And she disputed Dillon's criticisms of Owens, saying she had never heard her say anything antisemitic.“You should look up more of her statements,” Dillon said, citing such things as Owens saying her critics were “of the synagogue of Satan.”Prejean Boller, the 2009 Miss California, drew criticism during the Miss USA contest that same year when she said she believed marriage should only be between a man and a woman. She became politically active in subsequent years, supporting Trump's presidential runs and criticizing such things as COVID-19 restrictions.The hearing was the latest of several by the commission, which has featured testimony accusing the administration of former President Joe Biden of allegedly repressing religious freedom in different ways. The commission is preparing to deliver a report to Trump this spring.Also this week, various faith groups filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in New York, challenging the makeup of the commission.The lawsuit was filed by the progressive Interfaith Alliance as well as Muslim, Hindu and Sikh organizations.It argued that the 1972 Federal Advisory Committee Act requires that any advisory committees be fairly balanced among competing viewpoints.The lawsuit says the commissioners, “consisting of almost exclusively Christians with one Orthodox Jewish Rabbi, represent the narrow perspective that America was founded as a 'Judeo-Christian' nation and must be guided by Biblical principles.”It said this excludes people of other faiths and no religions, as well as those in the Judeo-Christian tradition who "are committed to religious freedom and pluralism, and reject Christian nationalism."___Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s&nbsp;<a href="https://bit.ly/ap-twir">collaboration</a>&nbsp;with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.