Politics and views in the United States.

Medicaid and tribal health providers face possible cuts, corporations are accused of squeezing out independent farmers, and immigration lawyers say Hispanic motorists are being stopped based on how they look.

TRANSCRIPT

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

Do we need to make the Department of Education more efficient?

I believe we do.

Do we need to destroy it and wreak havoc for working class families across this country?

Absolutely not.

Progressive Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders says a coordinated effort is underway to privatize public schools.

And Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order directing Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to begin closing the department as far as allowed by law.

Staff have already been warned of deep program cuts and layoffs.

Meanwhile, at least five GOP-led states want to let local school boards deny enrollment to undocumented students.

Tennessee State Representative William Lamberth says lawmakers bear no responsibility for the children of those migrants.

We want to focus on legal citizens and U.S. citizens, especially when it comes to our limited dollars in the budget every single year.

The policy may violate the 1982 Supreme Court decision which says children get a free public education regardless of immigration status.

Supporters say they're eager to see if the current court would overturn that ruling.

House lawmakers have voted to censure Texas Congressman Al Green for disrupting Trump's address to Congress this week.

Ten Democrats voted with Republicans.

Amidst more last-minute tariff pauses, the stock markets again fell sharply.

Trump said he will suspend many Mexican and Canadian levies until next month.

The Dow fell by 1 percent Thursday.

The administration aims to cancel the leases for dozens of National Park Service buildings.

The locations are part of a larger list of hundreds of federal properties Trump says he wants to sell.

The race for a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat is on track to become one of the most expensive judicial races in history.

Billionaire Elon Musk is pouring money into TV ads for the conservative candidate.

Musk's Tesla company sued the state for blocking new dealerships there, a case which could end up before the court.

Ben Wickler leads the state Democratic Party.

So it's now clear that the attack on American democracy and the functioning of government isn't limited to the federal level.

Elon Musk wants it all.

A new study reveals state abortion bans are pushing women out of the workforce and changing where people want to live.

One in five prospective parents told the survey they moved or knew someone who had due to abortion restrictions.

Melissa Mahoney with the Institute for Women's Policy Research says young people are not willing to trade their health for a paycheck.

The labor markets in states that protect abortion tend to be more welcoming for women with higher wages, greater access to health insurance, also a stronger labor force participation.

Mahoney says they estimate the bans in 17 states are costing the economy more than $60 billion a year.

I'm Katherine Carley for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.