Trump administration takes aim at Harvard Law Review. See a recap of the day’s political news. - The Boston Globe (2025)

New York Times

House Republicans are proposing to charge migrants $1,000 to claim asylum, one of a series of new or increased fees on immigrants seeking to gain legal entry into the United States that is part of their effort to curb immigration and pay for the Trump administration’s border crackdown.

The fees on immigrants are one of several proposals in legislation released Monday by the House Judiciary Committee to be included in the major domestic policy bill Republicans are putting together to implement President Trump’s domestic agenda.

The application fee would be the first time the United States specifically charged migrants who are seeking asylum.

Associated Press

A race-based discrimination investigation launched by the Trump administration against the Harvard Law Review said authorities were looking into policies and practices involving the journal’s membership and article selection that they argue may violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

A spokesperson for Harvard Law said in a statement that a similar claim was dismissed in 2018 by a federal court.

“Harvard Law School is committed to ensuring that the programs and activities it oversees are in compliance with all applicable laws and to investigating any credibly alleged violations,” said Jeff Neal. “The Harvard Law Review is a student-run organization that is legally independent from the law school.”

Associated Press

One of the orders signed by Trump orders states and federal officials to publish lists of jurisdictions often referred to as “sanctuary cities” that limit cooperation with federal officials’ efforts to arrest immigrants in the country illegally.

A second order signed by Trump calls for increasing access to excess military for state and local law enforcement. It also calls for bolstering legal support for officers accused of wrongdoing while carrying out their official duties.

Trump in the order directs the office of Attorney General Pam Bondi’s “to create a mechanism to provide legal resources and indemnification to law enforcement officers who unjustly incur expenses and liabilities for actions taken during the performance of their official duties to enforce the law.”

Bloomberg

The Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services announced investigations into Harvard University and the Harvard Law Review citing reports of race-based discrimination.

“Harvard Law Review’s article selection process appears to pick winners and losers on the basis of race, employing a spoils system in which the race of the legal scholar is as, if not more, important than the merit of the submission,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in a statement on Monday.

The probe opens another front for the government to challenge the oldest and richest US university after initially accusing the school of tolerating antisemitism — a fight that’s escalated to the point where Harvard is suing the government over funding and the White House is suggesting it could revoke the university’s tax-exempt status.

By the Associated Press

Washington’s NFL franchise is set to return to the nation’s capital.

Mayor Muriel Bowser says the District of Columbia and the Commanders reached an agreement to construct a new home for the football team in the city on the site of the old RFK Stadium.

Trump posted on social media that “the new Stadium Deal is a HUGE WIN for Washington, D.C.” and the fanbase.

By the Associated Press

College Democrats at the University of Alabama are holding a rally to oppose Trump’s visit to campus on Thursday.

The University of Alabama College Democrats are holding an event titled “Tide Against Trump” — a play on the university’s “Crimson Tide” nickname — on the same day Trump is speaking on campus. The rally will be held at a Tuscaloosa park.

Trump is speaking at an event for graduating students ahead of commencement ceremonies over the weekend. All spring graduates at the university are invited to the event with Trump.

“UACD is shocked and disgusted to learn that our unpopular, divisive and authoritarian President will be involved in commencement for the graduating class of 2025,” the group wrote in a statement last week. “This insult will not go unanswered.”

Trump celebrates Eagles Super Bowl win at White House, tweaks Taylor Swift — 5:18 p.m.

By the Associated Press

Trump praised the team for their 14-3 regular season and playoff run behind running back Saquon Barkley and quarterback Jalen Hurts, who skipped Monday’s celebration.

“The Eagles have turned out to be an incredible team, an incredible group,” Trump said.

Trump attended the Philadelphia Eagles’ decisive Super Bowl victory in New Orleans over the Kansas City Chiefs. He predicted ahead of the game the Chiefs would win and offered lavish praise for quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

After the game, Trump mocked pop star Taylor Swift, who is dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Swift faced boos from some fans at one point during the game when she appeared on the jumbotron.

Trump referenced the moment at Monday’s White House ceremony.

“I watched in person, I was there along with Taylor Swift,” Trump said. “How did that work out?” Swift endorsed Trump’s 2024 Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris.

By the Associated Press

The Rev. William Barber, a prominent minister and activist, was arrested alongside other faith leaders at a demonstration in the Capitol Rotunda.

The prominent minister was protesting against the proposed Republican-led federal budget, which would extend and expand broad tax cuts alongside cuts to social and environmental programs.

“If you can’t challenge your adversary with the hope that they change and to know that even if they don’t, at least they will have no excuse that they did not get told what is right. That is a powerful witness,” Barber said in remarks outside the Capitol shortly before his arrest.

On Sunday, Barber joined House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey on the Capitol steps.

Asked whether he endorsed Barber’s act of civil disobedience, Jeffries said during a Monday press conference, “We’re in a more is more environment” for activism opposing Trump and said Barber “spoke powerfully at the sit-in yesterday.”

By the Associated Press

The president, in apost on Truth Social, held up a navy blue sweater emblazoned with the name of the New York school district and its logo of a Native American man wearing an elaborate feathered headdress.

The district in suburban Long Island has refused to comply with a state requirement that schools muststop using Native American referencesin mascots, team names and logos or face loss of state aid and other penalties.

Last week, Trump ordered the U.S. Department of Education to intervene in the dispute.The agency announced Friday it will investigate whether New York officials had violated federal laws and discriminated against the district.

By the Associated Press

Trump announced he’s forming a committee to review the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which the president has said he’s considered eliminating after critiquing the agency’s response to Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.

The new FEMA Review Council members will include Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Texas. Governor Greg Abbott, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley and others.

By the Associated Press

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer says Trump’s first 100 days have been “the worst start of any president in modern times.”

He warned there’s only more to come and vowed Democrats will provide the resistance.

“It’s been 100 days of hell for American families, for our economy and for our democracy,” he said as senators returned from spring recess.

By Anjali Huynh, Globe Staff

As Democratic voters haveincreasingly shouted for their elected officialsto more forcefully push back on President Trump ahead ofhis first 100 days in office, Massachusetts state senators seem to have gotten the message.

A group of Democratic state senators, including Senate President Karen Spilka, took to the floor during an informal session to address the sweeping changes and upending of political norms unleashed byTrump criticizing his approach to the law and his actions in areas such as immigration, health care, and LGBTQ rights. Some also demanded the state’s all-Democrat congressional delegation do more to fight the president.

Spilka, in her most forceful criticism of the Trump administration yet, said the US is being “forcefully remade” into an “unchecked authoritarian regime” and joined the chorus of left-leaning voters calling on Congress to stop his administration’s actions.

“As someone who lost family members to the Holocaust, I do not say this lightly, but what we are experiencing in America today is starting to feel like Europe in the 1930s,” Spilka said in her 20-minute speech. “It’s not just terrifying, it is enraging — this is not who we are.”

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By the Associated Press

The Trump administration said that the University of Pennsylvania illegally denied women equal opportunities by letting a transgender swimmer compete on the school’s women’s team and into team facilities.

The administration’s statement doesn’t nameLia Thomas, the transgender swimmer who last competed for the Ivy League school in 2022 and was the first openly transgender athlete to win a Division I title that year — an award Thomas now faces losing.

But the investigationopenedin February by the Education Department focused on Thomas, who became a leading symbol of transgender athletes and a prominent political target of Republicans and President Donald Trump.

The department said Penn has 10 days to resolve the violations or risk prosecution.

It wants Penn to issue a statement saying that it will comply with Title IX, strip Thomas of any awards or records in Division I swimming and apologize to female swimmers. Penn had no immediate comment.

By the Associated Press

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt hosted a briefing for influencers at the White House complex, and she told them that Trump would sign an executive order requiring truck drivers to know English.

“There’s a lot of communications problem between truckers on the road,” she said, which is “a public safety risk.”

“We’re going to ensure that our truckers, who are the backbone of our economy, are all able to speak English,” Leavitt said. “That’s a very common sense policy in the United States of America.”

By the Associated Press

Adam Schleifer was fired from his job as an assistant US attorney last month after right-wing activist Laura Loomer called for his removal in a social media post.

Loomer highlighted Schleifer’s past critical views about Trump while running in a Democratic primary for a New York congressional seat.

Schleifer argues in a complaint with the Merit Systems Protection Board that he was fired for “unprecedented partisan and political reasons.”

The filing obtained by The Associated Press says his removal undermines a “bedrock principle” of the justice system: “that the federal prosecutor is not a partisan political actor, but has a duty to prosecute without fear or favor.”

An email seeking comment was sent to the White House.

By the Associated Press

Representative Gerry Connolly of Virginia announced he is stepping down as the top Democrat on the powerful House Oversight Committee and will not be seeking reelection next year due to his cancer returning, ending his long career in public life.

“The sun is setting on my time in public service,” Connolly said in a statement. “With no rancor and a full heart, I move into this final chapter full of pride in what we’ve accomplished together over 30 years.”

Connolly, 75, has served in Congress since 2009 and represents northern Virginia, including Fairfax County.

By the Associated Press

Jalen Hurts is one of several Philadelphia Eagles players who are expected to skip today’s White House celebration to honor the Super Bowl champs, according to a White House.

Hurts and other players cited scheduling conflicts as the reasons for their absences, according to the official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Asked by a reporter on the red carpet of Time magazine gala last week whether he would visit, Hurts responded with an awkward “um” and long silence before walking away.

Eagles star running back Saquon Barkley visited Trump over the weekend at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and caught a ride with the president to Washington on Air Force One.

By the Associated Press

Personnel cuts across the Defense Department will delay plans to hire at least 1,000 more civilians to help prevent sexual assault, suicides and behavior problems within the military, senior defense officials said.

But they insist that crucial programs aimed at addressing sexual misconduct and providing help for victims are not affected so far.

The officials told The Associated Press that plans to have about 2,500 personnel in place to do this prevention work throughout the military services, combatant commands, ships and bases by fiscal year 2028 have been slowed due to the hiring freeze and cuts.

But they said they’re looking to spread out the roughly 1,400 people they have been able to hire to date and try to fill gaps as best they can until the additional staff can be hired.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel decisions.

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By the Associated Press

A former supervisor of the team that prosecuted the 1,500 plus people charged in the attack on the US Capitol says he fears Trump’s pardons could embolden right-wing extremists and encourage future political violence.

Michael Romano resigned as a deputy chief of the now-disbanded Capitol Siege Section after 17 years in the Justice Department. In a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press, Romano said these defendants and other right-wing extremists got a clear message from Trump’s sweeping pardons:

“If you support the president and if you commit violence in support of the president, that he might insulate you from the consequences, that he might protect you from the criminal justice system,” Romano said. “And so that might encourage people to commit these sort of acts.”

By the Associated Press

Trump has urged investors worried about his tariffs’ impact to “be cool.”

But retired and near-retired Americans are anxiously watching the turmoil his trade war has injected into financial markets, worried about outliving their savings or having to put off big purchases.

Though stocks rallied this week, the S&P 500 is down 10% from its all-time high in February. Losses in the Nasdaq and among small-cap stocks are steeper. Even bonds and the US dollar have been volatile. Many economists are warning of a possible recession.

The Cboe Volatility Index, considered a “fear gauge” of investor pessimism, reached its highest level in five years this month.

By the Associated Press

The US House is ending a 17-day recess known as a district work period, when members of Congress typically return home to focus on their constituents.

The 10 most vulnerable House Republicans, as measured by their margins of victory last fall, were especially hard to find. None of these swing-district conservatives from across Arizona, Colorado, California, Iowa, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin hosted in-person events that were open to the public.

Just one planned a telephone town hall. Others favored invitation-only gatherings that weren’t promoted until after they were over.

GOP leaders have advised that there’s no benefit to creating more viral moments amid potential backlash over Trump’s first months in office.

By the Associated Press

“Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption, but I am now,” JB Pritzker said. Democrats “must castigate them on the soapbox and then punish them at the ballot box.”

The billionaire Hyatt heir has been laying the groundwork for a potential presidential campaign for years. He drew national attention in February when he drew a parallel between Trump’s rhetoric and the rise of Nazi Germany.

Pritzker invoked his Jewish faith again at the New Hampshire Democratic Party dinner Sunday night, drawing a standing ovation when he called on Trump to “stop tearing down the Constitution in the name of my ancestors.”

By the Associated Press

The US president trolled Canadians on social media as they voted Monday for Liberal Party Prime Minister Mark Carney or Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. Trump suggested that he himself was on the ballot, repeating that Canada should become the 51st state and incorrectly claiming that the US subsidizes Canada.

“It makes no sense unless Canada is a State!” Trump posted.

Canadians, infuriated, have canceled US vacations, refused to buy American goods and voted early — a record 7.3 million Canadians cast ballots before their Election Day.

By the Associated Press

Beijing’s repeated denials on Monday were unequivocal: There have been no recent calls between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

When asked about Trump’s claim in a recent TIME interview that the Chinese leader had called him, Guo Jiakun, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, said. “As far as I know, there have not been any calls between the two presidents recently.”

Guo went on and said: “Let me make it clear one more time that China and the U.S. are not engaged in any consultation or negotiation on tariffs.”

By the Associated Press

Homan said “the numbers are good.”

He said total deportations haven’t been higher because the Trump administration has been so effective at increasing enforcement along the US-Mexico border.

Homan also asserted that the Biden administration’s deportation totals were inflated by counting migrants who were turned away as they tried to cross the border illegally.

Under Trump, detentions at the border have plummeted while more people have been deported from around the country, Homan said.

By the Associated Press

President Trump has often raged against the Atlantic magazine and its editor, Jeffrey Goldberg. But he decided to grant them an interview anyways, talking extensively about his return to power and his plans for the presidency.

During the conversation, Trump compared his first and second terms.

“The first time, I had two things to do — run the country and survive; I had all these crooked guys,” he said. “And the second time, I run the country and the world.”

By the Associated Press

“I don’t accept the term error and Abrego Garcia,” Homan told reporters at the White House. “There is an oversight.”

He acknowledged that a court order would have blocked Abrego Garcia’s deportation. The Supreme Court later ordered the administration to facilitate his return to the US.

But Homan said “things have changed” given accusations that he was a gang member.

Trump officials have argued they have no jurisdiction in El Salvador. And Leavitt said Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has no plans “to smuggle a designated foreign terrorist back into the United States.”

Leavitt said the administration “plans to comply” with what Bukele said.

By the Associated Press

Tom Homan was asked if Mexico is paying for construction on the US-Mexico border, a Trump promise that didn’t happen during his first term.

He asserted that the US is saving millions a day on detention and transportation costs because Mexico has troops patrolling their side of the border.

“We’ve more than made up for the cost of that wall,” he said.

By the Associated Press

The orders will:

• Expand law enforcement operations to make it easier to detain migrants
• Direct state and federal officials to publish lists of “sanctuary city” jurisdictions where local authorities often don’t concentrate on enforcing federal immigration regulations.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said “sanctuary” cities have worked to “obstruct” enforcement.

“We are in the beginning stages of carrying out the largest deportation campaign in American history,” Leavitt said during a Monday morning briefing with reporters.

By the Associated Press

“I believe that it’s up to China to de-escalate, because they sell five times more to us than we sell to them, and so these 120%, 145% tariffs are unsustainable,” Scott Bessent said during an interview Monday on the business channel CNBC.

Bessent moved markets last week when he said in a private speech to JPMorgan Chase that he expects a deescalation in the trade war because “Neither side thinks the status quo is sustainable.”

By the Associated Press

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s government on Friday held a task force meeting on US tariffs and reaffirmed Japan’s response.

The US tariffs “could change the foundation of free and fair economic order and deal a serious blow to the auto and steel industries that support the Japanese economy as well as the entire global economy,” Ishiba said. “We must keep pushing (the U.S.) to reconsider.”

Ishiba’s government adopted emergency measures to expand support for the auto industry, cash-strapped small business owners and other companies, diversify export destinations and maintain jobs, promote industrial restructuring and competitiveness as well as domestic consumption and mitigate price hikes.

Economic Revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawa is expected to visit Washington next week for a second round of negotiations.

By the Associated Press

The weeks since Trump returned to office have been a whirlwind of activity to show Americans that his administration is relentlessly pursuing his promises.

With a compliant Republican-controlled Congress, Trump has had a free hand to begin overhauling the federal government and upending foreign policy.

As Trump hits his 100th day in office Tuesday, his imprint is everywhere. But the long-term impact is often unclear.

Some of the Republican president’s executive orders are statements of intent or groundwork to achieve what has yet to be done.

Trump’s goals occasionally conflict with each other. He promised both to lower the cost of living and to impose tariffs on foreign goods, which will most likely increase prices. Other issues are languishing.

Very much unsettled is whether Trump has run up his scorecard lawfully. He has faced lawsuits over some of his actions, meaning much of what he’s done could be undone as cases play out.

By the Associated Press

Trump is scheduled to have lunch with Vice President JD Vance and meet with House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Later in the day, he’s hosting the Philadelphia Eagles to celebrate their Super Bowl Victory. Running back Saquon Barkley traveled with Trump from New Jersey to Washington on Sunday, flying aboard Air Force One and Marine One.

The president is expected to finish the day by signing executive orders.

By the Associated Press

The first one will feature Tom Homan, the president’s top border adviser.

Officials set the stage by lining up posters with mug shots of migrants who have been accused of crimes. They’re positioned outside the West Wing to be in the background of correspondents’ television shots.

By the Associated Press

As Trump’s trade war locks the world’s two largest economies on a collision course, America’s unnerved allies and partners are cozying up with China to hedge their bets. It comes as Trump’s trade push upends a decade of American foreign policy — including his own from his first term — toward rallying the rest of the world to join the United States against China. And it threatens to hand Beijing more leverage in any eventual dialogue with the US administration.

With Trump saying that countries are “kissing my ass” to negotiate trade deals on his terms or risk stiff import taxes, Beijing is reaching out to countries far and near. It portrays itself as a stabilizing force and a predictable trading partner, both to cushion the impact from Trump’s tariffs and to forge stronger trade ties outside of the US market.

“America and China are now locked in a fierce contest for global supremacy,” Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said in an April 16 speech. “Both powers claim they do not wish to force countries to choose sides. But in reality, each seeks to draw others closer into their respective orbits.”

By Amanda Gokee, Jonathan Saltzman, and Robert Weisman, Globe Staff

The funding geyser that propelled US medical advances for much of the past century may be drying up as the Trump administration pulls back federal research money from Harvard University and other New England institutions that have been reliable engines of discovery and innovation.

Yet as labs scramble for alternative funding sources — from foundations, industry, even their university hosts — there’s little hope, in the short term, that those players can fill the gaps resulting from White House rollbacks.

“The extent of the federal investment in research, including biomedical research, is the reason the U.S. has been dominant in research worldwide,” said Dr. Dan Barouch, head of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, whose lab helped develop a COVID-19 vaccine. “If the federal government stops supporting research, the U.S. will lose its global dominance.”

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By Katie Johnston and Janelle, Nanos Globe Staff

As Washington escalates its broad crackdown on immigrants, Boston-area employers are getting increasingly anxious.

They’re tightening employment verification for new hires. They’re devising code words to warn workers to hide if the feds show up. One restaurant owner in suburban Boston has been working the phones, doing everything she can to protect a worker who was ordered to self-deport. It’s thrown the kitchen staff into turmoil, with other workers worried they’ll also be ensnared if ICE comes knocking.

“Even if you have your paperwork in order, they’re revoking it,” the owner said. “It’s all bullying and we don’t have any way to combat it.”

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By Anjali Huynh, Globe Staff

In President Trump’s first 100 days in office, Attorney General Andrea Campbell has waged a war on his policies in court, raising her political profile on the national and local levels.

She has sued him more than a dozen times on issues ranging from funding cuts to dismantling the Department of Education and signed onto efforts challenging federal employee firings, diversity initiative restrictions, and more.

The first-term attorney general says her team has worked nights and weekends to maintain the frenetic pace of legal back-and-forths while also advocating for policies at home, such as a cellphone ban in schools.

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By Paul Heintz, Globe correspondent

Todd Smith stepped across a missing plank on a dock jutting out into Lake Champlain as workers reconnected water lines to Burlington Harbor Marina’s 160 boat slips. A brisk south wind whipped through American, Canadian and Vermont flags as Smith, the marina’s general manager, gestured toward a concrete fuel dock.

“On a nice summer day, this is where all the action is,” he said.

Smith hopes that’ll be the case when the brief but busy boating season in Vermont’s largest city begins next month, but he worries that tensions between the United States and its northern neighbor could prompt Canadian boaters to navigate elsewhere.

“That would be detrimental to not just us but the whole waterfront region — the shops, the restaurants — which is a shame,” he said. “They are key to our summer tourism here.”

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By the Associated Press

One went to the United States. The other went to China. It was a sign of the times.

While the Swiss president was in Washington last week to lobby US officials over President Trump’s threatened 31 percent tariff on Swiss goods, the Swiss foreign minister was in Beijing, expressing his nation’s willingness to strengthen cooperation with China and upgrade a free trade agreement.

As Trump’s trade war locks the world’s two largest economies on a collision course, America’s unnerved allies and partners are cozying up with China to hedge their bets. It comes as Trump’s trade push upends a decade of American foreign policy — including his own from his first term — toward rallying the rest of the world to join the United States against China. And it threatens to hand Beijing more leverage in any eventual dialogue with the U.S. administration.

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