40 h. ago What is the Smithsonian Institution and why is it important?

A Trump executive order aims to uproot ‘anti-American ideology’ from the US museum and research complexOn Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting the Smithsonian Institution, a behemoth of a research and museum organization that operates more than 20 museum and research centers and is visited by millions of people each year, mainly in Washington DC and New York City. The museums include the National Museum of African Art, the National Portrait Gallery, the National Museum of the American Indian and the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), which Trump name-checked in his executive order. Trump’s executive order instructs Vice-President JD Vance to “eliminate improper, divisive or anti-American ideology” from the Smithsonian’s museums.The Smithsonian has already come under scrutiny by Trump and his allies. Earlier this year, the institution was forced to close its diversity office and froze all federal hiring. Continue reading...

Politics

63 h. ago Trump signs executive order threatening to gut Smithsonian Institute funding unless ‘improper ideology’ removed: Live

President directs JD Vance to rid museums of ‘divisive narratives’ in latest culture war push

Politics

3 d. ago Trump executive order on Smithsonian targets funding to programs with 'improper ideology'

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order on the Smithsonian Institution that targets funding to programs that contain what he calls “divisive narratives” and “improper ideology.”

Politics

4 d. ago Trump news today: Journalist shares Signal attack plans after officials denied they contained classified information

President insists National Security Adviser Mike Waltz not at fault and blames ‘low level’ White House employee for blunder that saw Atlantic editor added to group chat on Yemen airstrikes by mistake

Politics

4 d. ago Trump live updates: Journalist shares Signal attack plans after officials denied they contained classified information

President insists National Security Adviser Mike Waltz not at fault and blames ‘low level’ White House employee for blunder that saw Atlantic editor added to group chat on Yemen airstrikes by mistake

Politics

4 d. ago Donald Trump signs sweeping executive order giving him more election control than ever

Donald Trump's new executive order will require all voters to provide proof of citizenship - and will target states with huge cuts in funding if they do not enforce the rules

Politics

4 d. ago Trump has signed an executive order overhauling elections. Here’s what it means

President Donald Trump's executive order demanding sweeping changes to US elections has the potential to significantly reshape the voting process, despite likely legal challenges.

Politics

4 d. ago ‘A capitalistic cowardice’: big law firms being threatened by Trump face pressure to speak out

Trump signed executive orders aimed at firms challenging his administration’s priorities, roiling the legal communityDonald Trump’s executive orders targeting law firms and attorneys who challenge his priorities are roiling the legal community, with some capitulating to the administration’s demands amid mounting pressure on the US’s biggest firms to speak out.The president signed an executive order on Tuesday targeting the firm Jenner & Block over its previous employment of Andrew Weissmann, a prosecutor who worked on Robert Mueller’s investigation into Trump’s connections to Russia. The order came after Trump issued similar executive orders targeting three other firms – Covington and Burling, Perkins Coie, and Paul Weiss – over their representation of his political rivals. Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago Trump’s order to dismantle education department sparks outrage: ‘see you in court’

Politicians and teachers unions condemn president’s effort to axe department, which can only be done by CongressTeachers unions and Democratic politicians joined in denouncing Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at eliminating the US Department of Education, with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) saying simply: “See you in court.”Trump’s move was long trailed, so much so that Randi Weingarten, the head of the AFT – which represents 1.8 million teachers – put out her statement the day before the order was signed. Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, which represents 200,000 members, teachers and other education workers mostly in New York City, said: “We will join our national union and public education allies to protect students and educators. We are working with our partners to file lawsuits to stop this executive overreach. Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Trump’s executive order to dismantle Department for Education sparks fears for low

Eliminating department, which distributes billions in federal money to schools and manages federal student loans, would likely require act of CongressGood morning and welcome to the US politics live blog. I’m Tom Ambrose and I’ll be bringing you all the latest news on this Friday morning.We begin with the news that president Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday calling for the dismantling of the Education Department, an agency Republicans have talked about closing for decades. The order says education secretary Linda McMahon will, “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law, take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities.” Eliminating the department altogether would be a cumbersome task, which likely would require an act of Congress, AP reported. In the weeks since he took office, the Trump administration already has cut the department’s staff in half and...

Politics

9 d. ago Trump signs executive order aimed at ‘eliminating’ Department of Education ‘once and for all’: Live updates

President claimed giving control of education to states will halve costs and improve standards

Politics

9 d. ago Trump administration briefing: Democrats denounce education department ‘shutdown’

Education secretary ordered to take ‘all necessary steps’ to dismantle department; US rejects Mexico’s request for water – key US politics stories from Thursday at a glanceDonald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that instructs the US education secretary, Linda McMahon, to start dismantling the education department, seemingly attempting to circumvent the need to obtain congressional approval to formally close a federal department.The administration may eventually pursue an effort to get Congress to shut down the agency, Trump said at a signing ceremony at the White House on Thursday, because its budget had more than doubled in size in recent years but national test scores had not improved. Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Donald Trump's behaviour has chilling echoes of North Korea as critics slam him for using kids as 'props'

President Donald Trump's decision to sign an executive order gutting the Department of Education has sparked outrage and drawn eerie comparisons to North Korean tactics

Politics

1 week ago Donald Trump signs bombshell executive order as Sky News cut coverage to share event

Sky News cut to the White House in Washington D.C. as he began the process

Politics

1 week ago Trump created a mock classroom in the White House to announce he was dismantling the Department of Education

Analysis: In signing an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, Trump was assigning homework that will never get done, Richard Hall writes.

Politics

1 week ago Trump turns White House into classroom as he moves to abolish America's 'no good' Education Department

Surrounded by school children of all ages, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to start the dismantling of the 'no good' Department of Education.

Politics

1 week ago Trump signs executive order to dismantle US Education Department

President Trump has ordered a plan to dismantle the US Education Department

Politics

1 week ago Trump signs executive order aimed at ‘eliminating’ Education Department ‘once and for all’: Live updates

President claimed giving control of education to states will halve costs and improve standards

Politics

1 week ago The Latest: Trump to sign executive order aimed at eliminating Education Department

President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order Thursday “aimed at eliminating” the U.S. Education Department

Politics

1 week ago Trump expected to sign executive order to abolish US education department

President made campaign promise to axe the department – but needs congressional approval to follow throughUS politics live – latest updatesDonald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Thursday that instructs the US education secretary, Linda McMahon, to start dismantling the agency, seemingly attempting to circumvent the need to obtain the congressional approval needed to formally close a federal department.The order – which has been anticipated for weeks given Trump campaigned on a promise to end the education department – directs McMahon to “take all necessary steps” shut down key functionalities “and return education authority to the states”. Continue reading...

Politics