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Congressional Updates
Laken Riley Act Becomes Law
The president signed the Laken Riley Act into law on Jan 29. This immigration-related bill requires the Department of Homeland Security to detain individuals who are unlawfully present in the U.S. and have been charged with, convicted of, arrested for or who admit to committing burglary, theft, larceny or shoplifting. The law allows state governments to sue for injunctive relief over certain immigration decisions made by the federal government if the decision causes the state or its residents harm valued over $100. Read more
Administration Updates
Executive Order Imposing New Tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China
Citing the “extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl,” President Donald Trump placed a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% additional tariff on goods from China. Energy resources from Canada will have a lower 10% tariff, the order states. On Feb. 3, Trump paused tariffs on imports from Mexico for 30 days.
Executive Order on Expanding School Choice
The order requires several departments to provide guidance, resources or other information regarding increasing access to schools other than students’ assigned district public school through existing grants or school systems. Specifically, the order directs the secretary of education to issue guidance on how formula funds can be used to support K-12 school choice initiatives and to prioritize school choice in the department’s discretionary grant programs. The order also requires the Department of Defense and Bureau of Indian Education to help families use federal funding for school choice. Read more
Executive Order on “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling”
The order directs several agencies, including the Department of Education, to develop an “ending indoctrination strategy.” The plans will evaluate where federal funds directly or indirectly subsidize “discriminatory equity ideology,” which the order defines as instruction treating people as “members of preferred or disfavored groups, rather than as individuals.” If the agency finds such instances, the plans will make recommendations where those funds could be rescinded “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”
The order reestablishes the 1776 Commission, which was originally formed at the end of Trump’s first term, to promote “patriotic education” surrounding the 250th anniversary of American independence and defines the term “patriotic education.” Read more
Executive Order on Enforcing the Hyde Amendment
The president revoked executive Order 14076, “Protecting Access to Reproductive Healthcare Services,” and executive Order 14079, “Securing Access to Reproductive and Other Healthcare Services,” restricting the use of federal funding for abortions, according to the order.
White House Rescinds OMB Memo but Court Cases Continue
The White House last week took major steps to curtail programming and spending adverse to President Trumps priorities with an Office of Management and Budget memorandum and related releases. These releases were soon rescinded but were, “requesting that agencies temporarily pause, to the extent permitted by law, grant, loan or federal financial assistance programs that are implicated by the president’s executive orders.” NCSL provides these OMB documents and links to executive orders with an Update on the Federal Funding Pause.
The administration is still active in efforts to target and cease funding for these programs even with the rescission of the OMB memorandum. Subsequently, multiple courts are addressing the issue, including a recent temporary restraining order issued Feb. 3 until further notice in New York v. Trump ordering that the Trump administration “shall not pause, freeze, impede, block, cancel, or terminate defendants’ compliance with awards and obligations to provide federal financial assistance to the states, and defendants shall not impede the states’ access to such awards and obligations, except on the basis of the applicable authorizing statutes, regulations, and terms.”
NCSL State-Federal Affairs team is engaged on this issue and will provide more updates in future Capital to Capital newsletters.
AI Meets Government: OpenAI’s ChatGPT Gov Aims to Enhance Federal Efficiency
OpenAI has introduced ChatGPT Gov, a new artificial intelligence chatbot service specifically designed for federal agencies. According to OpenAI, the service is tailored to work with government materials and documents, offering enhanced capabilities like document summarization and translation of foreign languages within texts. A key feature of ChatGPT Gov is its integration with Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, which meets federal security standards, enabling safe handling of sensitive data in compliance with regulations. By using these technologies, ChatGPT Gov aims to streamline government operations, improve efficiency and support agencies in delivering public services more effectively. ChatGPT Gov also offers flexibility, ensuring that it aligns with the U.S. government’s security requirements while making it easier for agencies to authorize and adopt AI tools for handling nonpublic information. OpenAI’s chief product officer, Kevin Weil, emphasized that AI has the potential to significantly enhance government operations and policymaking, particularly in sensitive fields like defense, intelligence and health care, where the need for secure, efficient technology is critical.
Math Scores Up Slightly, Reading Scores Slip on National Assessment
The department released math and reading scores from the 2024 administration of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the nation’s report card. The data show that student scores have not rebounded from the impacts of the pandemic. Compared with 2022, the average math score in grade four increased slightly, with no significant change in grade eight. In reading, the average score decreased in both fourth and eighth grades. The math and reading exams are given to a nationally representative sample of fourth and eighth grade students every two years. Read more