Politics

The University of Alaska System is bracing for a 41% cut in funding it receives from the state, after Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed a $130 million line item in the state's budget.

The announcement came last Friday, three days before the fiscal year began on July 1. Dunleavy vetoed roughly $400 million in items in the budget, with education receiving the largest cut.

Updated at 5:42 p.m. ET

An official says the Justice Department has been instructed to keep looking for a way to ask 2020 census responders whether they are citizens of the United States.

The Supreme Court has left in place a lower court's order to block the question for now.

After the Supreme Court declined to allow the question, tweets by President Trump had sowed confusion about whether he planned to continue the legal fight.

Sen. Doug Jones represents Alabama. He replaced the former attorney general Jeff Sessions, a Republican — becoming the first Democrat Alabamans have elected to the Senate in 25 years.

Here’s how a HuffPo profile describes his record in the Senate:

Updated at 9:55 a.m. ET

A federal judge in Seattle ruled Tuesday that asylum-seeking migrants detained for being in the U.S. illegally have the right to a bond hearing in immigration court rather than being held until their cases are complete.

U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman said it is unconstitutional to indefinitely detain migrants who fled to the U.S. seeking asylum protections.

New Jersey is a decisively Democratic state, but last year Democratic lawmakers there decided to try to cement their power even further.

Hillary Clinton won by 14 percentage points in 2016. Barack Obama won by 17 percentage points before that, and a Republican hasn't won a Senate race there since 1972.

Even so, the state Legislature introduced a plan that would overhaul the map-making process in a way that would guarantee Republicans became a "permanent minority."

President Trump has a history of treating nonpolitical events like they're campaign rallies, especially if there is a large crowd on hand. His Fourth of July speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial will be just such a setting.

A White House official who declined to be named said the speech will be about celebrating America, the flag and members of the military — not political. But all assurances about what Trump will say or do need to be taken with a grain of salt.

Updated at 10:45 p.m. ET

The Trump administration has decided to print the 2020 census forms without a citizenship question, and the printer has been told to start the printing process, Justice Department spokesperson Kelly Laco confirms to NPR.

The Trump administration is seeking to fine some immigrants, who are in the United States illegally, hundreds of thousands of dollars for failing to take steps to leave after being ordered to do so, according to government documents obtained by NPR.

The Department of Homeland Security sent out a batch of notices across the country to targeted individuals ordering them to pay fines of up to nearly $500,000 for "failing to depart the U.S. as previously agreed," among other factors.

Updated at 5:20 p.m. ET

American taxpayers are looking at a bigger bill for this year's Independence Day party in the nation's capital.

For this Fourth of July, President Trump has added an address from the Lincoln Memorial, tanks stationed in the area, an extended fireworks display and military aircraft flyovers.

Democrats in Congress are complaining about the added expenses.

South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg stressed Tuesday that more work needs to be done not just in his community but across the country to make sure police understand that it's "not anti-police to be pro-racial justice."

Taking questions from reporters at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition with the Rev. Jesse Jackson by his side before making a broader speech, the Democratic presidential candidate again acknowledged that his administration hasn't done enough to fix the racial gap within the South Bend police force.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., sued Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig to obtain six years of President Trump's tax returns.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., is the latest step in a months-long battle with the Trump administration over the president's tax records. Democrats want the court to enforce a subpoena requesting the returns.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been leaving Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg hanging.

Customs and Border Protection has launched an investigation into a secret Facebook group for current and former Border Patrol agents in which members posted derogatory remarks targeting migrants and lawmakers.

This past term, the Supreme Court decided cases dealing with thorny issues such as a citizenship question on the U.S. census, political gerrymandering and the separation of church and state.

Updated at 3:56 p.m. ET

The Trump administration appears to have missed its own deadline Monday to start the printing of paper forms and other mailings that will play a key role in next year's constitutionally mandated head count of every person living in the U.S.