The Latest: Trump warns countries to abide by tariff deals despite Supreme Court decision

“Any Country that wants to “play games” with the ridiculous supreme court decision, especially those that have “Ripped Off” the U.S.A. for years, and even decades, will be met with a much higher Tariff, and worse, than that which they just recently agreed to,” Trump posted Monday on Truth Social.

One of Trump's executive orders says he can bypass Congress and impose a 10% tax on imports from around the world starting Tuesday, the same day as his State of the Union speech.

The Latest:

No. 2 official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention resigns suddenly

The CDC announced Monday that Dr. Ralph Abraham resigned, effective immediately, after only about three months on the job as the agency’s principal deputy director.

A CDC statement said he left “to address unforeseen family obligations.”

Abraham is a physician and former Republican U.S. representative. He was named Louisiana’s first surgeon general last year, tasked with crafting health policy and improving public health. In that role, he ordered staff to stop promoting vaccinations and criticized a CDC COVID-19 vaccination push.

American Bar Association condemns Trump’s attack on Supreme Court justices

The president called members of the court “disloyal to the Constitution” and an “embarrassment to their families” in remarks after they voted to strike down his tariffs.

The lawyers’ association said that while Supreme Court opinions are always subject to critique, it was “wholly inappropriate” for the president to personally attack individual justices.

“Such statements risk undermining the rule of law and the public’s faith in an impartial judiciary, foundational pillars of our democracy that have guided our nation since its founding,” said Michelle Behnke, president of the ABA. “Incendiary rhetoric has helped contribute to the alarming increase in attacks on and threats to our judges. It must stop.”

Coalition urges more attention on sexual violence at schools, universities

A coalition of advocacy groups is urging the Trump administration to devote more time and money toward addressing sexual violence in America’s schools, saying victims are being ignored amid the dismantling of the Education Department.

More than 100 groups signed a letter on Monday saying the administration has failed to investigate cases of sexual violence while it doubles down on anti-transgender efforts.

The letter cites a recent Associated Press story finding that the department’s Office for Civil Rights had opened fewer than 10 sexual violence investigations since March 2025.

“Instead of addressing actual discrimination, OCR has been preoccupied with using its limited resources to investigate over 50 schools for implementing trans-inclusive policies,” the groups wrote. “These are not competing obligations; these are choices.”

Trump officials have blamed the previous administration for leaving a backlog of cases.

Groups signing the letter include the National Women’s Law Center and the American Association of University Women.

Senate Democrats introduce bill to require tariff refunds

Democratic lawmakers are continuing to show opposition to Trump’s tariffs by pushing legislation that would require the government to reimburse, with interest, the import taxes paid by importers under the tariffs that were struck down by the Supreme Court last week.

Nineteen Democratic senators signed onto the bill, but it would need to gain significant support from Republicans, including those in leadership, to actually have a chance of passing.

“Trump’s illegal tax scheme has already done lasting damage to American families, small businesses and manufacturers who have been hammered by wave after wave of new Trump tariffs,” said Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, who is one of those leading the legislation.

Hundreds of children have been wrongly separated from their legal sponsors, lawsuit says

A team of lawyers is filing a suit against federal authorities on behalf of hundreds of children who have been separated from their migrant families and placed into government custody.

The lawsuit alleges that over 300 children have been inappropriately detained and separated from their legal sponsors.

The children were previously in custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement and approved to be released to their families, attorneys said. Now, though, they are being re-detained and sent back to ORR following encounters with immigration officials, according to the federal lawsuit filed in the District of Columbia.

Once detained, the government is refusing to send them back to their families unless their previously approved sponsors reapply through a complicated and months-long process, attorneys said.

“As a result, children remain detained for months — separated from their families, schools, communities,” according to the suit. “Their loving parents and other family members are ready and eager to care for them — yet are being kept apart.”

US military strikes alleged drug boat in Caribbean Sea, killing 3

The U.S. military said it killed three people Monday in a strike on an alleged drug-smuggling vessel in the Caribbean Sea as part of the Trump administration’s monthslong campaign against alleged traffickers.

Monday’s strike brought the death toll to at least 151 people since the administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in small vessels since early September.

Like most of the military’s statements on the more than 40 known strikes, U.S. Southern Command said it targeted alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. The military did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs, but posted a video on X that showed a boat being destroyed.

US gives details on allegation of Chinese nuclear test

A U.S. official focusing on arms control has provided what he called new, declassified details of a Chinese underground nuclear test nearly six years ago.

Christopher Yeaw, assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Arms Control and Nonproliferation, also urged countries to press China and Russia to do more on nuclear disarmament.

He spoke Monday to the U.N.-backed Conference on Disarmament in Geneva after the last nuclear arms pact between the U.S. and Russia expired this month. The Trump administration has argued for China to be a part of any new treaty.

Yeaw says Beijing has “massively expanded” its nuclear arsenal and pointed to an explosion detected at an underground site in western China on June 22, 2020.

China’s ambassador to the conference, Jian Shen, says Beijing “resolutely rejects the unfounded accusations” and calls it “unfair, unreasonable and unfeasible” to demand China be part of three-way nuclear talks.

Schumer to bring an Epstein survivor and mom of ICE-detained teen to State of the Union

The Senate Democratic leader is bringing Dani Bensky, who has been an outspoken victim of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse, as well as Raiza Contreras, the mother of a New York City public school student who has been detained by immigration enforcement agents.

Schumer’s guests showed how Democrats are trying to confront Trump with the people who are affected by his aggressive crackdown on illegal immigration, as well as his administration’s handling of the release of case files on Epstein.

“No mother should have to go through what Raiza is experiencing right now — being unjustly separated from her son. Dylan followed the rules. He entered through a legal process, obtained permission to work to support his family, enrolled in school, and showed up to court as required,” Schumer said in a statement. “Instead, ICE ripped their family apart.”

Johnson will host Hong Kong media tycoon’s daughter at State of the Union

House Speaker Mike Johnson is bringing Claire Lai, the daughter of Jimmy Lai, to the State of the Union address tomorrow evening.

Her presence at the U.S. Capitol comes as she presses for the release of her father, who was sentenced earlier this month to 20 years in prison under a China-imposed national security law that has virtually silenced the city’s dissent.

Lai, 78, had been convicted of charges connected to the publication of articles that allegedly harmed China, as well as “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces” for meeting with U.S. political officials. The New York Times first reported that Claire Lai will be Johnson’s guest.

Trump is visiting China starting at the end of March and has said he felt “so badly” about Lai’s conviction and noted he spoke to Chinese leader Xi Jinping about considering Lai’s release.

Johnson discounts Congress addressing tariffs after Supreme Court decision

House Speaker Mike Johnson is discounting the House playing a role in cementing Trump’s tariff policy through legislation now that the Supreme Court has struck down the president’s far-reaching global tariffs.

Johnson said he believed it’s important to give the White House the time and space to respond to the court’s decisions, “and that’s not something that really involves the House at this point.”

Some have suggested that Congress could enact Trump’s tariffs through a Republican-only reconciliation bill. Republicans used such a process to get Trump’s big tax cut bill approved last year.

“It’s going to be, I think, a challenge to find consensus on any path forward on the tariffs on the legislative side,” Johnson told reporters. “And so that is why I think we see so much of the attention on the executive side.”

Oregon congresswoman to send Epstein survivor to State of the Union in her place

“I’m inviting Lisa Phillips, one of the many brave women who survived Epstein’s abuse, to attend the State of the Union on my behalf,” U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter said in a statement. “Her presence will send a clear message: Epstein survivors will not be silenced.”

Dexter is among the Democratic lawmakers who won’t be attending President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address before Congress on Tuesday. She will be holding a telephone town hall instead.

“I am deeply grateful to Representative Dexter for this honor. I sit in this seat not for myself, but for the girls who were never given a voice — and for the accountability they deserve,” Philips said in the statement.

Funding cuts and uncertainty have taken a toll on local communities, nonprofits say

Nonprofit leaders said communities are coping with rising demand while also seeing disruptions or reductions in federal funding.

“In the last year, nonprofits have faced record demand for food, housing, mental health services, and at the same time, funding freezes, payment delays, and administrative uncertainty, making their ability to respond even more difficult,” said Diane Yentel, president of the National Council of Nonprofits, speaking in advance of Trump’s State of the Union.

Danielle Clore, the CEO of the Kentucky Nonprofit Network, said federal funding cuts have reduced the availability of substance abuse counseling and food assistance in her state.

“Cuts don’t eliminate need. They simply shift costs elsewhere, often to emergency rooms or law enforcement,” Clore said.

Since the 1960s, the federal government has funded a vast network of nonprofits to address social problems or deliver services. The Trump administration’s policies have significantly strained that partnership, with nonprofits warning that neither local government funding nor charitable donations can replace federal support.

Court denies GOP effort to block Utah’s congressional remap favoring Democrats

New Utah voting districts that give Democrats an improved shot at winning a U.S. House seat can be used in this year’s election, a federal court ruled Monday while turning aside a Republican request to block the new map.

The ruling marked the second setback in recent days for Republicans, who also lost an appeal at the state Supreme Court.

A Utah judge imposed the new districts last November after striking down the congressional districts that the Republican-led Legislature had adopted after the 2020 census. The judge ruled that the Legislature had circumvented anti-gerrymandering standards passed by voters.

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Democrats are not just targeting toss-up suburbs in November midterms

Democrats’ initial list of top House challengers in 2026 includes several candidates running in districts that cover swaths of rural voters, and the party is touting those contenders’ biographies as perfect fits to reclaim area’s that Trump and Republicans have dominated.

Announcing its first slate of “Red to Blue” candidates Monday, Democrats said former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez in Arizona’s sprawling 2nd District is “determined to give rural Arizonans a real seat at the table.”

Iowa Democrat Christina Bohannan, the announcement noted, was raised “in a trailer in a rural small town” and wants to “grow the rural economy.” Western North Carolina’s Jamie Ager “grew up on his family farm” and built it “into a successful, sustainable small business.”

Democrat Rebecca Cooke is running in southwest Wisconsin’s 3rd District as a nonprofit leader and waitress who is “a 6th generation Wisconsinite” and “grew up on a dairy farm.”

Democrats’ ‘Red to Blue’ list includes several return candidates

House Democrats aren’t shy about backing candidates who’ve lost before and now want potential rematches against incumbent Republicans.

In 2024, Christina Bohanan lost the general election in southeast Iowa’s 1st District by just 799 votes (less than 0.25%) to Republican Rep. Marianette Miller-Meeks. Broadcast journalist Janelle Stelson lost to Republican Rep. Scott Perry in Pennsylvania’s 10th District by 1.2 percentage points (about 5,000 votes).

Former Rep. Elaine Luria won Virginia’s 2nd District in 2018. She lost to Republican Jen Kiggans in 2022 by about 10,000 votes (3.4 points) and is seeking a rematch.

Arizona’s Jonathan Nez would need the biggest turnaround. He lost in 2024 to Republican Rep. Eli Crane by 9 points (more than 36,000 votes).

All four Democrats are on the party’s initial “Red to Blue” list of top House challengers released Monday. Democrats believe voter discontent with Trump will yield considerable swings from previous election cycles.

Democrats name their first 12 ‘Red to Blue’ challengers in bid to flip House

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s initial list of “Red to Blue” midterm candidates includes two military veterans, two mayors, two state senators (one of them a Lutheran minister), a fourth-generation farmer, a waitress, a local prosecutor, small business owners and a former Navajo Nation president.

The 12 challengers in Republican-held districts are intended to highlight Democrats’ focus on selling their candidates as advocates for middle- and working-class voters, while contrasting that with Trump’s tumultuous second presidency and compliant GOP incumbents.

The Republican targets span from suburban districts that have been toss-ups in recent election cycles to more small-town and rural districts that Trump won comfortably. There are two seats in Arizona, Iowa, Pennsylvania and Virginia and one each in Michigan, North Carolina, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

The program, launched Monday, is not an official endorsement but offers designated candidates staff resources, training and fundraising support.

Army veteran who was detained by ICE invited to State of the Union

Democratic Rep. Mark Takano of California is inviting George Retes to be his guest at Trump’s State of the Union address. The U.S. citizen was arrested during an immigration raid at a Southern California marijuana farm last year and held for days before being released.

Some Democrats are seeking to draw attention to the excesses of Trump’s immigration crackdown by inviting guests who have suffered at the hands of federal immigration agents. Other Democrats are inviting survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse who have become outspoken critics of how the Trump administration has handled the release of case files on the late financier.

Trump is under pressure to deliver on the economy to an increasingly skeptical public

Trump swept back into the White House on promises to bring down prices and restore order to immigration in America. But on both issues, public sentiment has turned against him.

Only 39% of U.S. adults approve of his economic leadership and just 38% support him on immigration, according to the latest Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey. Those low numbers show the country is still fretting about the costs of groceries, housing and utilities, a problem compounded by Trump’s whipsawing use of tariffs. They also show how the public was disturbed by videos of violent clashes with protesters, including two U.S. citizens killed by federal agents.

Since his party passed a massive tax cut bill last year, Trump has yet to unveil major new economic policy ideas, instead offering reruns about his tax cuts, ideas about reducing mortgage rates and a new government website for buying prescription drugs.

Trump says his State of the Union address will be a ‘long’ one

How long is an important question.

As he was wrapping up the White House event recognizing “angel families,” Trump talked about how well the country is performing, in his view, and his administration’s work to cut off illegal immigration from Mexico to the U.S.

“I’m making a speech tomorrow night, and you’ll be hearing me say that,” he said. “I mean, it’s going to be a long speech because we have so much to talk about.”

Last year, the Republican president spoke for a record-setting 100 minutes to a joint session of Congress. Such a speech in a president’s first year in office technically is not considered a State of the Union address.

Angel families event wraps up

Trump concluded the event by signing a proclamation designating Feb. 22 as “National Angel Family Day.” A candle was lit in memory of victims killed by people in the U.S. illegally, whose names were read aloud. Members of the military then sang “Amazing Grace.”

The event featured remarks by family members of the victims who thanked Trump for his work honoring their loved ones and securing the border. Trump acknowledged their suffering and derided the press for its coverage of the issue.

Tariff taxes should be refunded to benefit consumers, Democrats say

The bill being introduced by Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire would require the Trump administration to refund the taxes, plus interest. It would prioritize small businesses and encourage importers, wholesalers and large companies to pass the refunds on to their customers.

Shaheen said that repairing any of the damage starts with “President Trump refunding the illegally collected tariff taxes that Americans were forced to pay.”

The bill is unlikely to become law, but it reveals how Democrats are starting to apply public pressure going into November’s midterm elections for control of Congress. Democrats have begun telling the public that Trump illegally raised taxes and now refuses to repay the money back to the American people.