Politics

(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration revealed the list of materials that the National Park Service removed from parks across the country that relate to civil rights, diverse populations, science and the environment.

The list was made public on Wednesday as part of a court filing brought by various organizations. The Interior Department is appealing a federal judge’s order to restore those materials ahead of America 250 celebrations on July 4.

Included in the list are vague descriptions of the materials that were removed and their location. The list, however, does not provide images of the content that NPS found objectionable.

Examples of items that were removed include signs about climate change at parks like Acadia National Park in Maine and Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in New York; materials involving civil rights at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and at the Medgar and Myrtle Evans Home National Monument in Jackson, Mississippi; materials involving slavery at the President’s House in Philadelphia and materials on women’s rights at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge at the Gateway National Recreation Area in New York.

The list also includes reasons for the removals.

“Disparages Americans past or living” appears to be the reason provided by NPS for the removal of items related to civil rights, diverse communities, slavery and atrocities committed by the United States against Native Americans.

“Unrelated to beauty, abundance and grandeur of the national landscape” was listed as the reason for the removal of items related to science and the environment.

A spokesperson for the Interior Department confirmed to ABC News in a statement that the government is appealing the judge’s order to restore the items.

“We fully believe politically charged language denigrating our Founding Fathers is inappropriate and only further divides Americans,” the spokesperson said. “Through President Trump, we have encouraged Americans to visit our cultural and historic sites and engage in meaningful conversations about the moments that have shaped our country.”

The spokesperson added that the government seeks to “strengthen our shared understanding and ensure that future generations inherit not just the land we love, but the truth of the journey that brought us here.”

ABC News reached out to the Interior Department and NPS for further comment.

U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley ordered the restoration of the materials in a Friday ruling and cast their removal by NPS as “a dangerous precedent of censorship and sanitization.” She ordered the government to restore all items by July 3.

The federal government has filed a motion asking for an emergency stay pending appeal, which would block the restoration as the appeals court considers the case. In the motion, the government argued that the restoration of the materials would cause “irreparable harm.”

In response, Kelley ordered the government to produce the list of changes and the condition of the materials, writing that this information was necessary for her to consider the government’s argument.

The removal of materials, which relate to civil rights, diverse communities, science and the environment, was made in compliance with a March 27, 2025, executive order in which President Donald Trump ordered the Interior Department to remove content that cast the United States’ “founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light.”

The complaint filed in February challenges the removal of the materials and was brought by a coalition of organizations committed to preserving history, the parks and the environment.

“National parks belong to the American people and censorship of any kind goes against the values these places represent,” said Alan Spears, a senior director ” said Alan Spears, a senior director at the National Parks Conservation Association, one of organizations suing NPS. “Americans count on national parks to help us understand our full, rich history. Stories of triumph and tragedy alike deserve to be told out loud at parks.”

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(WASHINGTON) — In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a longstanding federal ban on guns for unlawful users of any controlled substance is unconstitutional as applied to a Texas gun owner who used marijuana several times a week.

The decision set new limits on federal prosecution of gun owners who are targeted simply for having a history of drug use. It was especially welcomed by millions of American cannabis users who have had to disarm or risk up to 15 years behind bars.

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the court’s opinion that unlawful drug use alone cannot be grounds to seek to send someone to prison and potentially force them to give up firearms for life.

“We do not question that sometimes an individual’s unlawful use of marijuana (or any other controlled substance) may render him a danger to others,” Gorsuch wrote. “But, again, the government disclaims the need to show anything like that in this case. … affording the government that kind of broad power to designate any group as dangerous and thereby disqualify its members from having a gun would risk allowing it to quickly swallow the Second Amendment.”

The Justice Department has said it prosecutes roughly 300 cases a year in which a violation of the drug-user gun ban is a leading charge. 

Gorsuch said the opinion was narrow and did not disturb other provisions of the law, which includes a ban on guns for drug addicts, ban on guns for people presently intoxicated and prohibition of firearms for those deemed a danger to themselves or others. 

The ruling would not, for example, have prevented the prosecution of Hunter Biden under the law since he was a known and admitted drug addict while in possession of a firearm. 

The decision was most immediately a victory for plaintiff Ali Hemani, a Texas man who admitted to using marijuana “every other day” while keeping a Glock 9mm pistol in his home. He was prosecuted by federal authorities for a single charge of unlawful possession as a drug user but was neither intoxicated nor physically holding the weapon when arrested.

A federal appeals court tossed out the Hemani indictment saying the ban as applied to him was unconstitutional. The justices agreed with that decision. 

While more than 40 states have legalized marijuana in some form, it remains prohibited under federal law.

“Today’s unanimous 9-0 decision makes it clear that the government cannot make it crime for people to own a gun, which the Supreme Court has held is a fundamental constitutional right, simply because they use marijuana,” said Cecillia Wang, legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union.

“With nearly half of Americans reporting marijuana use at some point in their lives, this ruling protects the rights of millions and curbs the government’s ability to impose arbitrary and discriminatory penalties,” Wang wrote in a statement. “The court has sent a strong message that the government cannot criminalize the conduct of large numbers of people by making categorical and unfounded assumptions about whether they are dangerous.”

The decision was also praised by the National Rifle Association as “a major victory for the Second Amendment and peaceable gun owners across America.” 

“No one should be deprived of their God-given right to keep and bear arms for engaging in nonviolent conduct, and there is no historical justification for doing so,” said NRA-ILA Executive Director John Commerford in a statement to ABC News. 

Gun safety advocates, which had joined the Trump administration in opposing a rollback of the drug-user gun ban, said the bulk of the law remains a robust and “common-sense” public-safety measure. 

“Although the Court said that the particular law at issue in this case cannot be upheld specifically as to the person challenging it, it reaffirmed the ability of legislatures to restrict firearms access by certain categories of people,” said Kris Brown, president of Brady, a gun safety group. 

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(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favor of Ali Hemani, a Texas man charged with unlawful possession of a gun since he admitted that he regularly smoked marijuana.

The court said the law as applied to him is unconstitutional.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(WASHINGTON) — Wednesday’s confirmation hearing for Jay Clayton to be the next director of national intelligence has been postponed, according to Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Tom Cotton, after President Donald Trump pushed for it to be canceled.

“It’s regrettable that the president has directed Jay Clayton not to appear at his confirmation hearing today,” Cotton wrote on X. “Mr. Clayton is a patriot and a highly qualified nominee, as the president has said repeatedly. While today’s hearing is now unfortunately postponed, I look forward to proceeding with his confirmation in the near future.”

Trump, in an early morning social media post, said the confirmation process for Clayton would not continue until his pick to replace Clayton as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jamie McDonald, is confirmed.

“Regarding the approval of our Great Patriot, Jay Clayton, we are cancelling the Senate Hearing RE: DNI today, and will not be going forward until Jamie McDonald is approved to be U.S. Attorney,” Trump wrote. “In the meantime, Bill Pulte will remain as the Acting Director of National Intelligence.”

Cotton, a Republican, at first rebuked Trump’s push for a delay, saying the Senate panel would proceed unless Trump specifically directed Clayton not to show or withdrew his nomination altogether.

Trump announced last week he was nominating Clayton to permanently lead ODNI amid backlash from Democrats and Republicans to his appointment of Bill Pulte to be acting director.

Pulte is best known in the Trump administration for launching probes into several of the president’s perceived political enemies over allegations of mortgage fraud and possible misuse of authority. Targets of the investigations include Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell. They’ve all denied wrongdoing.

Pulte’s appointment stalled efforts to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act — which allows the federal government to collect communications of foreigners abroad without a warrant. The program’s legal authorization lapsed over the weekend.

Trump on Wednesday said that he wanted both his SAVE America Act bill and an extension to FISA to now pass together.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the chamber’s top Democrat, slammed Trump’s latest moves.

“Trump is twisting himself up in knots and jumping through hoops to make it impossible to reauthorize FISA right now, and he is embarrassing his Republican colleagues in the process,” Schumer said. “Trump can blame Democrats all he wants, but no one is going to believe him.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, when asked Wednesday about the Senate’s path forward on FISA and Clayton’s nomination, said they’re taking a day-by-day approach.

“All I know is that Chairman Cotton is planning to proceed — because you all know with the hearing — and then from there on, we’ll have to take it a day at a time until we get more clarity on kind of what the White House position is on this,” Thune said.

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(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Tom Cotton, the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Wednesday’s confirmation hearing for Jay Clayton to be the next director of national intelligence will continue as planned despite President Donald Trump announcing it would be canceled.

“Jay Clayton is a pending nominee before the Intelligence Committee. We will proceed with his hearing as scheduled unless the president directs him not to appear or withdraws his nomination,” Cotton wrote on X.

The committee’s website still lists Clayton’s hearing as scheduled for 2:00 p.m.

Trump, in an early morning social media post, said the confirmation process for Clayton would not continue until his pick to replace Clayton as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jamie McDonald, is confirmed.

“Regarding the approval of our Great Patriot, Jay Clayton, we are cancelling the Senate Hearing RE: DNI today, and will not be going forward until Jamie McDonald is approved to be U.S. Attorney,” Trump wrote. “In the meantime, Bill Pulte will remain as the Acting Director of National Intelligence.”

Trump selected Pulte to be acting director of national intelligence after Tulsi Gabbard announced her resignation last month. Pulte is best known in the Trump administration for launching probes into several of the president’s perceived political enemies over allegations of mortgage fraud and possible misuse of authority. Targets of the investigations include Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell. They’ve all denied wrongdoing.

Pulte’s appointment sparked pushback from Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill, and stalled efforts to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act — which allows the federal government to collect communications of foreigners abroad without a warrant. Amid the backlash over Pulte, Trump announced last week he was nominating Clayton to permanently lead ODNI. 

Trump on Wednesday also said that he wanted both his SAVE America Act bill and an extension to FISA, which lapsed over the weekend, to now pass together. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the chamber’s top Democrat, slammed Trump’s latest moves.

“Trump is twisting himself up in knots and jumping through hoops to make it impossible to reauthorize FISA right now, and he is embarrassing his Republican colleagues in the process,” Schumer said. “Trump can blame Democrats all he wants, but no one is going to believe him.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, when asked Wednesday about the Senate’s path forward on FISA and Clayton’s nomination, said they’re taking a day-by-day approach. 

“All I know is that Chairman Cotton is planning to proceed — because you all know with the hearing — and and then from there on, we’ll have to take it a day at a time until we get more clarity on kind of what the White House position is on this,” Thune said.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump said that Wednesday’s confirmation hearing for Jay Clayton to be the next Director of National Intelligence has been canceled and will not continue until his pick to replace Clayton as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jamie McDonald, is confirmed.

“Regarding the approval of our Great Patriot, Jay Clayton, we are cancelling the Senate Hearing RE: DNI today, and will not be going forward until Jamie McDonald is approved to be U.S. Attorney,” Trump posted on social media. “In the meantime, Bill Pulte will remain as the Acting Director of National Intelligence.”

Trump also repeated that he wanted both his SAVE America Act bill and an extension to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which lapsed over the weekend after an extension vote failed in the House last week, to pass together after more than a dozen Republicans voted against a short-term extension.

Former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard resigned from her post last month, saying that she was stepping down after her husband of 11 years, Abraham Williams, was diagnosed with “an extremely rare form of bone cancer,” according to a resignation letter she posted to social media.

Her departure marked another Cabinet-level shakeup during Trump’s second term after departures by former Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem earlier this year.

Gabbard’s tenure was marked by two major conflicts abroad, politically charged election-related investigations at home and the unresolved tension between the anti-war message that first defined her rise in politics and the national security office she later came to hold.

Trump selected Bill Pulte as the acting director of national intelligence, but Democrats in both chambers signaled objections to him, saying that he does not have any national intelligence experience.

Pulte is best known in the Trump administration for launching probes into several of the president’s perceived political enemies over allegations of mortgage fraud and possible misuse of authority. Targets of the investigations include Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell. They’ve all denied wrongdoing.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said last week that reversing Pulte’s temporary appointment would only be a “starting point” to convince Democrats to pass FISA, but making another change at DNI wouldn’t be enough on its own to sway Democrats.

“It’s a step in the right direction, because it reverses something that is clearly out of bounds, unacceptable, and cannot be allowed to occur,” Jeffries said.

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(WASHINGTON) — The National Park Service continued a push Tuesday to eradicate algae from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool as tourists and locals gathered to view the green-tinged water.

The Department of Interior has deployed both a hydrogen peroxide treatment and nanobubble ozone technology, a DOI spokesperson said, to rid the pool of algae blooms that have discolored the landmark and marred the rollout of President Donald Trump’s renovation project.

Algae bloomed late last week just days after the completion of the renovation, turning the pool from deep blue to green and murky. A DOI spokesperson told CNN in a statement that the algae was “residual” and came from reactivated supply lines.

Workers were spotted dumping hydrogen peroxide into the pool Tuesday morning in videos posted to X.

The nanobubble ozone technology is “actively killing algae” and other contaminants, the spokesperson wrote. The nanobubble process releases tiny gas bubbles filled with ozone into the water, which helps to eliminate algae blooms.

Rangers from the National Park Service were also in place midday Tuesday to continue scraping algae off the bottom of the pool. A tubing system was set up in an apparent effort to siphon contaminated water out of the pool and into storm drains.

The DOI spokesperson wrote that the hydrogen peroxide would have “no harmful side effects to marine life or to the environment.”

The water was noticeably cloudy, one Park Service ranger said, due to stirred-up algae that had not yet been extracted from the pool.

White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told ABC News on Tuesday, “under regular NPS maintenance, a high-tech nanobubble ozone technology will be deployed to kill the algae and keep the Reflecting Pool crystal clear.”

Trump has touted the pool renovation in public and on social media. He said in May that the landmark was “going to have the great color,” claimed the pool was “filthy” and “dirty” before the updates and criticized his predecessors for failed renovation attempts.

But the plan — originally an expedited effort to resurface the pool and revamp its filtration in advance of America’s 250th birthday — ballooned into a nearly $15 million endeavor, federal contract records show, and a public headache for the administration.

Employees from Greenwater Services — an Ohio-based organization that specializes in water purification and the nanobubble technology — were on site Tuesday and were seen filling plastic water bottles with samples from the pool.

Federal records show the government paid Greenwater $1.7 million in April to install new filtration technology for the Reflecting Pool.

Greenwater directed ABC News to the DOI in response to a request for comment.

Algae has long plagued the 1920s construction — a broad, shallow pool in which it and Cyanobacteria easily proliferate, especially during warm summer months. Former President Barack Obama made his own attempt at renovations in 2012 when he paid $35 million to construct a plumbing system that pulls water from the Tidal Basin and purifies it in a treatment plant.

Longtime Washington resident Redmond Walsh was biking by the pool on Tuesday and spoke to ABC News. He said he first inspected the pool on Sunday and posted a video of the green algae to X, where it now has 2 million views along with many detractors who claimed that he posted outdated material from 2012.

Walsh was back on Monday and Tuesday to check in on the progress. He said he would post an update to his followers saying that the pool was “getting a little better.”

Tourists said they weren’t surprised that the algae returned after the renovation.

David Janes, an engineer visiting from Louisville, Kentucky, said he thought the government was “back to square one” and is “going to have to do it all over again.”

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(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Education is expected to announce a major step in the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the agency — moving special education services and civil rights responsibilities to the departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Justice (DOJ), respectively, according to sources familiar.

The sources told ABC News the HHS is expected to receive the Offices of Special Education Programming (OSEP) and Rehabilitative Services Administration (RSA). The Justice Department will be responsible for the agency’s civil rights oversight. Transferring the offices will impact millions of students and families, including 7 million people who receive around $15 billion in grants through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the law creating free and appropriate education for children with disabilities.

President Donald Trump campaigned in 2024 on closing the agency.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance both signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran, which would cease fighting on all fronts for 60 days and is expected to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to all traffic, a senior administration official said Monday.

The official said the signatures were done digitally and that a formal signing will happen in Geneva, Switzerland on Friday.

While the official said the details of the agreement will be released within the next 24 to 48 hours, Trump on Monday said the text of the memorandum of understanding would be released “pretty soon,” but sometime after Friday.

“This is a very powerful document, and I want it to be released. So, probably pretty soon,” Trump said during a press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron shortly after landing in France for the G7.

Trump said “it depends” if he will attend the signing ceremony in Geneva on Friday, but that Vance would be there. 

Senior administration officials on Monday acknowledged there was still significant work to be done during the detailed nuclear negotiations to come, but asserted they now had direct relationships with “a number of people at the highest levels of Iranian government” and had reached “what we believe will be an understanding in the next phase.” 

A senior administration official said the memorandum of understanding “provides for the immediate opening of the Strait of Hormuz,” which Iran closed after the war started. The official also emphasized “immediate — just to be clear here, it takes a little bit of time, because you know you have mines in the strait.”

Spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Esmaeil Baqaei, said that, according to the MOU, Iran will be responsible to provide “the security and safe traffic of the ships,” adding that Tehran will do so in cooperation with Muscat and in consultation with stakeholders.

On Monday, the president said that “the strait is already partially opened” and that it will be fully opened by Friday. They are still working to clear the area of sea mines, he said.

“I think it will adjust very, very quickly, and I think obviously the prioritization will be on the heavy tankers, you know, the gas, the oils. I think that will actually flow very quickly,” the official said.

The U.S. blockade of Iranian naval ports will lift as well, but the U.S. Navy warns that it will remain in place until the agreement is formally completed. 

On the topic of tolls, the official said that the MOU ensured the Strait of Hormuz be “toll-free for 60 days,” with the expectation that it will become part of the “final agreement as well.”

Iranian officials said that a ceasefire in Lebanon is included within the deal. However, Israel’s defense minister said after the agreement was announced that Israel does not plan to remove its forces from southern Lebanon.

When pressed about Israel’s role in the MOU, one of the senior U.S. administration officials responded, saying that Israel withdrawing from Lebanon was “not a condition of the deal.”

“The deal is a ceasefire, and it will not be a one-way ceasefire, meaning that if Iran is not able to control Hezbollah, and if they attack Israeli positions or Israeli towns, Israel will have the right to defend themselves and respond,” a senior administration official said.

The senior U.S. administration official said that MOU’s outline includes “verifying that [Iran is] not building a nuclear weapon and not funding radicalism and terrorism in the region.” In return, the official said it would open up the Iranian economy. 

Iranian officials have long publicly maintained that the country’s nuclear program operates only for civilian purposes, although Western officials have said their uranium enrichment has gone beyond what would be needed for civilian use. Iran has also said it does not have ambitions to create nuclear weapons, a claim that American officials have disputed.

The officials also said the MOU does not reduce the U.S. force posture in the region. 

The senior administration official confirmed that so far “zero dollars of unfrozen assets” have been released to Iran at this point. 

The officials made clear that there are not specific things that Iran has to do to receive sanctions relief, but that it’s tied to Iran “behaving more appropriately” in general.

“Their economy is in rough shape, and they need relief badly, and so hopefully we’ll find a way to get to a deal quickly, and if not, President Trump has a lot of tools in his arsenal that he’ll be able to use,” the senior administration official said.

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(NEW YORK) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Monday that the Department of Justice is investigating him as well as his wife, and claimed that President Donald Trump is “coming after me because I’m considering running for president.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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