Politics and views in the United States.

President Trump's latest executive actions on aviation safety, education and birthright citizenship spark debates. Critics say they threaten civil rights, while supporters say they support competency.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2025 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

We're making a change to no longer use that biographical assessment that the FAA has used since 2014.

Stephen Bradbury, Department of Transportation General Counsel and President Donald Trump's pick for Transportation Secretary, says the agency won't consider race or gender in staffing.

Trump responded immediately to the fatal collision of a commercial jetliner and a military helicopter by blaming diversity programs, before investigation into the actual cause began.

The crash is the first major fatal U.S. plane crash in a decade and a half.

Conservative lawmakers are pressing what they call "anti-woke" policies across the country.

In Ohio, Senate Bill 1 would end DEI programs and ban faculty strikes at public colleges.

Clara Conover with the Ohio Student Association says out-of-state groups are behind legislation she says would force the teaching of far-right positions.

"These are people from the national stage coming to push their agenda on Ohio students.

And our legislators are listening to these out-of-staters with this larger extremist agenda over actual students who are going to be impacted."

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is aiming to expand school choice by repurposing funds toward private school voucher programs and guiding states on how to use federal money for them.

Scott DeMoro of the Ohio Education Association says it's not a good idea to prioritize programs that lack oversight and have been proven not to improve student outcomes.

Public dollars belong in public schools where 90 percent of students attend.

Every student deserves fully funded public schools that give them a sense of belonging and prepare them with the life skills they need to follow their dreams and reach their full potential.

Federal immigration agents were denied entry into some Chicago public schools.

The White House changed policy to send ICE into schools, but city policy bans that, setting up a potential dispute.

The ICE agents were not allowed to speak to students or staff members.

Trump's order to end birthright citizenship is facing expected legal challenges.

Elected officials in New York and across the country point out birthright citizenship is in the Constitution.

New York State County official Michael Shemitis also says Trump's move is an attempt to distract from more serious issues and is poorly thought through.

If you take that conclusion down the line, you could imagine someone who's born here, who then has kids here, who then has grandkids here.

You could have generations of people living in the community, living as non-citizens.

So it's even worse than being a second-class citizen.

They would be forced to live in the shadows.

In a possible last-minute policy shift, the White House says Trump is deciding if Canadian and Mexican oil imports will be included in the 25 percent tariff set to take effect Saturday.

Two of Trump's more controversial nominees face tough Senate hearings.

Health pick Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced questions on his views of vaccines, and Tulsi Gabbard, picked for director of national intelligence, faced scrutiny on Russian aggression and her opinion of leaker Edward Snowden.

I'm Farah Sidiqi with Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

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