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WASHINGTON D.C. - The Environmental Protection Agency canceled two $20 million environmental justice grants that the Biden administration awarded to its own advisers, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

On Monday, EPA administrator Lee Zeldin announced the agency's latest round of grant cancellations and cost-cutting measures. Included among the more than 400 canceled grants are 2 that the Biden administration awarded in December to Tennessee-based nonprofit Young, Gifted & Green and North Carolina-based nonprofit Democracy Green, a source familiar told the Free Beacon. Both groups had connections to the Biden White House and EPA—and neither had handled such a substantial amount of money before securing the taxpayer funds.

Young, Gifted & Green received its $20 million environmental justice grant after its CEO—LaTricea Adams—personally applied for the funding while simultaneously serving as a member of a top White House environmental justice council, the Free Beacon reported last month. The group has reported just $2.7 million in revenue—about 14 percent the size of the grant—since it registered as a nonprofit in 2020, tax filings show. Click here to read more.

 

NEW YORK, NY- On Tuesday, we saw a massive stock market dump. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged almost 900 points.

The stock market has been in a bit of a freefall over the course of the last couple of weeks, and I have been predicting this for a while.

It turns out that when you mess with the market mechanisms, people don’t like it. Investors tend to take the money out of the market and wait for things to be a little calmer, a little steadier. If you think of the free markets essentially as an ocean, sometimes it’s pretty choppy out there. Right now, it’s choppy.

If this administration is blamed for the choppy waters, that will be quite bad — not just for this administration, but also for everything it represents in the public mind.

Today, Emerson released a new poll showing President Trump’s handling of the economy underwater by 11 points. His job approval rating remains at 47-45, which is largely due to the widespread and correct perception that he totally changed the game on immigration. Click here to read more.

 

HENRICO, Va. - A registered nurse in Virginia who was arrested after several NICU babies were found with mysterious injuries is facing more charges, according to authorities.

Erin Strotman was initially charged with malicious wounding, child abuse, and neglect causing serious injury after an incident showing her mishandling a NICU baby on hospital surveillance video in November 2024.

However, on March 10, Strotman was charged with two more counts of malicious wounding and four other counts of child abuse and neglect.

“Not just video but also other evidence,” Taylor said. “Without going into details of this case, however, one of the things we can look at is to see if there is a pattern of behavior.”

A bond status hearing was held Monday to determine that these new charges do not impact her current bond.

These six new charges include two new babies who were allegedly harmed by Strotman, meaning she is now charged with abusing three of the seven injured children who are being investigated. Click here to read more.

 

LANSING, Mich - While homeowners in Michigan’s largest city are free to raise chickens, ducks and honeybees on their land, residents of the far-less populated Midland Township in the Mid-Michigan area face a legal ban.

Some township residents want to change that, and they say township officials stand in the way.

Residents of Detroit are free to raise up to eight chickens, or ducks, or a combination of the two, as of Jan. 31, thanks to a Detroit City Council 5-3 vote taken Nov. 12, 2024. James Tate, council pro tem, sponsored the legislation that lets residents have honeybees on site. Residents must pay an annual permit fee of $50 and comply with various regulations.

Midland Township, by contrast, forbids many residents to raise chickens on their land. The ban applies to anyone whose plot is less than five acres. Several residents used a Feb. 12 township board meeting to ask trustees to reverse the ban. Click here to read more.

 

CHICAGO, IL - The parental right “to direct the upbringing and education of children under their control” was recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court 100 years ago.

But Illinois lawmakers are considering a bill attacking that right. If passed, the bill would require private schools to report the personal information of all enrolled students and their parents to state and local authorities.

House Bill 2827 was filed by state Rep. Terra Costa Howard, D-Lombard, and has been co-sponsored by 15 other Democratic members of the House as of March 5. Teachers unions – ardent opponents of parents’ ability to choose alternatives to public school – have invested over $3 million in the 16 sponsors’ campaign committees, according to records with the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Restricting parents’ rights and limiting educational choice is nothing new in Illinois. Despite voter support for Illinois’ private school choice program, Illinois lawmakers listened to teachers unions and ended the Invest in Kids tax-credit scholarship program in 2023, taking away scholarships from more than 15,000 low-income students benefiting from the privately-funded program. Lawmakers let the program expire after teachers unions dropped nearly $1.5 million into their campaign coffers in the months ahead of the decision. Click here to read more.

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The U.S. Department of Education initiated a dramatic reduction in its workforce Tuesday night, laying off nearly 50% of its employees—approximately 1,315 workers—leaving just 2,183 staff members to carry out the agency’s operations. The mass layoffs, confirmed by senior officials, come as the Trump administration accelerates its push to shrink the federal government, with the Education Department emerging as a prime target for cuts or outright elimination. As civil servants rallied outside the department’s headquarters in protest, the move reignited a fierce debate over the agency’s role and whether dismantling it could benefit the nation’s education system.

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The layoffs, described as a “reduction in force” (RIF), began with notices emailed to employees around 6 p.m., instructing affected staff to vacate the premises by the end of the day for “security reasons.” Buildings nationwide were closed Wednesday, with employees directed to telework or stay home, reopening Thursday. Impacted workers will shift to paid administrative leave starting March 21, retaining full pay and benefits through June 9, according to department statements. The sudden cuts follow earlier terminations of 63 probationary employees last month and voluntary separations by over 300 staffers incentivized with up to $25,000 payouts.

President Donald Trump, who has long criticized the agency as a “big con job,” signaled his intent to dismantle it entirely, a promise echoed in the GOP’s campaign platform and the controversial Project 2025 blueprint from the Heritage Foundation. “I’d like it to be closed immediately,” Trump told reporters last week, aligning with his broader agenda—backed by adviser Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—to slash federal spending and bureaucracy. While closing the department requires Congressional approval, experts say the layoffs and a potential executive order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to wind down operations could effectively gut its functionality.

Why Some Advocate for Dismantling the Department

For critics of the Department of Education, the layoffs are a welcome step toward dismantling what they see as an inefficient and overreaching federal entity. Established in 1979 under President Jimmy Carter, the agency oversees federal student aid, enforces civil rights in schools, and allocates funds like Title I grants for low-income districts. Yet, opponents argue it has outlived its purpose, encroaching on state autonomy and bloating administrative costs without improving student outcomes.

“Education is best handled at the state and local level,” said Neal McCluskey, director of the Center for Educational Freedom at the Cato Institute. “The federal department adds layers of red tape and spends billions on programs that don’t measurably boost achievement. Returning control to the states could save money and let communities tailor education to their needs.” Data supports the claim of limited federal impact: roughly 90% of K-12 funding already comes from state and local sources, with the department’s $80 billion annual budget—a fraction of the $1.7 trillion in total U.S. education spending—seen by some as disproportionate to its influence.

Advocates for dismantlement also point to programs like Title I and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), suggesting they could be shifted to block grants or other agencies like Health and Human Services. Project 2025 proposes such a model, arguing it would streamline funding and empower parents with more school choice. “The department’s a middleman that distorts priorities,” one conservative policy analyst noted anonymously. “States could innovate faster without Washington’s one-size-fits-all rules.”

Opposition and Uncertainty Ahead

The layoffs sparked immediate backlash from educators and unions. National Education Association President Becky Pringle called the cuts “a direct attack on students,” warning that losing nearly half the staff threatens programs serving millions, including 7.5 million students with disabilities under IDEA and 2.8 million in low-income schools reliant on Title I. “These aren’t just jobs—they’re lifelines for kids,” she said.

Critics also question the logistics of dismantlement. Transferring student loan oversight—managing $1.6 trillion in debt—or civil rights enforcement to other agencies could create chaos, especially with reduced staff. Borrower advocates fear delays in loan forgiveness programs like Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), already strained by administrative bottlenecks. “Fewer people means more mistakes go unfixed,” said Sameer Gadkaree of The Institute for College Access & Success.

As the department consolidates offices and braces for potential further cuts, the debate intensifies. Supporters of dismantlement see a leaner, state-led system as a bold reform; detractors warn of abandoned students and a fractured safety net. With Congress unlikely to abolish the agency outright—requiring 60 Senate votes amid a filibuster—Trump’s next moves, including a rumored executive order, could test the limits of presidential power and reshape education for years to come. For now, the laid-off workers and the students they served face an uncertain future.

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LANSING, Mich - Nearly 50 illegal immigrants have been arrested and charged with crimes in eastern Michigan in 2025, including many with multiple prior offenses and deportations.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan has charged 46 illegal immigrants with a range of crimes since the new year, from drug trafficking to illegal firearms possession to child pornography offenses.

The cases involved individuals from Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Venezuela who entered the country illegally with prior convictions for human smuggling, drug trafficking, drunken driving, assault, and theft.

“These cases represent a fraction of the criminal aliens we and our federal partners arrest every day across the Detroit Sector that’s making this country safer than it was just a few short months ago,” Detroit Sector Chief Patrol Agent John R. Morris said in a statement. Click here to read more.

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LANSING, Mich - Imagine you’re a parent considering the CDC’s vaccine schedule: 43 shots with somewhere around 63 doses of vaccine your child is supposed to get by age 18—measles, flu, Covid, the works. You’ve heard the pitch: vaccines save lives, protect the herd, keep diseases in check. But you may naturally wonder: What’s the actual risk to my kid from all these shots when compared to the diseases they’re meant to stop?

Here’s the catch—no one’s ever put out a full, public breakdown of those cumulative odds, assuming vaccines even work as advertised. (Spoiler: they don’t always—Covid shots don’t stop infection or spread, some vaccinated people still catch measles, mumps, and flu today, and all of the last cases of polio in the US were caused by the vaccine.)

Enter Grok, an AI from xAI, which I asked to crunch the numbers. Grok is imperfect, and yet it can still provide us a window and the best idea we, as outsiders, can get to arrive at ballpark numbers and some insight into a vexing controversy. Click here to read more.

 

WASHINGTON D.C. - The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said over the weekend that it found that the Small Business Administration (SBA) granted thousands of loans worth hundreds of millions of dollars to individuals who had an age listed as 11 years old or younger.

In a post on social media platform X on March 8 that was reposted by Elon Musk, who leads the department, DOGE wrote that in the COVID-19 pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, the SBA granted 5,593 loans worth $312 million “to borrowers whose only listed owner was 11 years old or younger at the time of the loan.”

“While it is possible to have business arrangements where this is legal, that is highly unlikely for these 5,593 loans, as they all also used [a Social Security number] with the incorrect name,” the post reads.

DOGE and the SBA are now working to investigate the matter, according to the post. The Epoch Times contacted the SBA for comment on March 9 but did not receive a response by publication time. Click here to read more.

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Many documents signed by President Joe Biden were done so using an autopen, according to a new report by an arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation, sparking questions over who was pulling the strings during the former president's four years in office.

'WHOEVER CONTROLLED THE AUTOPEN CONTROLLED THE PRESIDENCY,' the Oversight Project wrote in a post on X on Thursday.

'We gathered every document we could find with Biden's signature over the course of his presidency. All used the same autopen signature except for the announcement that the former President was dropping out of the race last year,' it continued.

The report comes after Biden's four-year presidency was hampered by accusations and concerns over his mental acuity and fitness to serve.

The former president dramatically exited the 2024 presidential race last July just months before Election Day after insisting for most of his time in office that he could serve a second term. Click here to read more.

 

WASHINGTON D.C. - Two U.S. senators are demanding documents from the Small Business Administration regarding how much COVID-19 relief aid Planned Parenthood chapters received.

Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Rand Paul, R-Ky., sent the letter Friday to Kelly Loeffler, the SBA’s administrator. The letter concerns funds from the Paycheck Protection Program, a creation of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020, which provided forgivable loans to small businesses struggling with economic disruption from the COVID-19 lockdowns.

“Not a single tax dollar should fund abortions,” Ernst told The Daily Signal. “The Paycheck Protection Program was designed to help Americans struggling during the pandemic, not to go to ineligible recipients fueling abortion-on-demand.”

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“The Biden administration obstructed our investigation of potentially illegal applications of PPP loans to Planned Parenthood entities, and we are confident the Trump administration will provide the transparency the American people deserve,” Paul, a medical doctor, told The Daily Signal. Click here to read more.