Politics and views in the United States.

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff says he feels optimistic about a Gaza ceasefire. Clean energy tax credits are in jeopardy in Congress' big budget and policy bill. And Trump administration pauses new student visa interviews. 

TRANSCRIPT

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

We are on the precipice of sending out a new term sheet.

The president is going to review it and I have some very good feelings about getting to a long term resolution.

US Special Envoy Steve Whitcoft says he feels confident about reaching a ceasefire that could lead to a long term resolution in Gaza.

The UN is criticizing Israel's handling of aid delivery after hundreds of Palestinians stormed a UN warehouse in a desperate attempt to get food, leaving four dead.

Top aid to Russian President Vladimir Putin says President Donald Trump's comments show he's uninformed about the Ukraine war.

Trump says Russia's continued attacks on civilians make him doubt if Putin wants peace, although he's not imposing additional sanctions on Russia because he thinks a ceasefire is close.

As the Senate starts work on Trump's big budget and policy bill, some Republicans are critical of its repeal of clean energy tax credits.

Christian Stumpf with The Nature Conservancy says the credits were designed to channel billions of dollars and thousands of jobs into rural and urban districts, red and blue alike.

You kind of have to see this through a Republican or Democrat lens.

We really think that there's a strong case to be made for economic vibrancy and supporting sustainable communities.

Democratic billionaire and Trump adviser Elon Musk said he's disappointed by what Trump calls his "big beautiful bill," saying it'll explode the deficit and undermine the work of Musk's Doge team.

I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful.

I don't know if it can be both.

This week, a federal judge has greenlit lawsuits challenging the legality of Doge.

D.C. Judge Tanya Chutkin said the advisory department of government efficiency was created without statutory or constitutional basis.

A U.S. trade court has also temporarily blocked Trump's sweeping tariffs from going into effect.

The Court of International Trade says the Constitution gave tariff authority to Congress.

The State Department has paused new visa interviews for foreign students as it ramps up screening of applicants' social media for signs of extremism.

The agency says the suspension is temporary and won't apply to already scheduled interviews.

In response to the mistaken deportation of Gilmar Armando Abrego-Garcia to El Salvador, Maryland lawmakers have passed restrictions on actions by federal immigration agents.

Katherine Jackson with immigrant advocacy group CASA praises limits on sweeps at schools and hospitals.

She says residents, and especially anyone born here, deserves constitutional due process protections.

The 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil, no exceptions, period.

This is not about policy reform.

What's happening is we're seeing the Trump administration try to rewrite the Constitution to exclude certain people.

I'm Alex Gonzalez for Pacific Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.