<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">On Dec. 4, at the direction of <a href="https://twitter.com/SecWar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecWar</a> Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel in international waters operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization. Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was carrying illicit narcotics and… <a href="https://t.co/pqksvxM3HP">pic.twitter.com/pqksvxM3HP</a></p>&mdash; U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) <a href="https://twitter.com/Southcom/status/1996726797086457886?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 4, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

🎥After 3 week pause, US military strikes another drug boat

WASHINGTON —President Trump on Thursday evening had the first lady light the National Christmas Tree.

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                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/12/1764904009350.png" alt="<br>" />
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                    </figure><p>WASHINGTON —President Trump on Thursday evening had the first lady light the National Christmas Tree.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">President Trump and The First Lady Participate in the National Christmas Tree Lighting <a href="https://t.co/np5QSKP7eA">https://t.co/np5QSKP7eA</a></p>&mdash; The White House (@WhiteHouse) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1996723239284883938?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 4, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">MERRY CHRISTMAS!<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/FLOTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FLOTUS</a> light the beautiful National Christmas Tree ✨🎄 <a href="https://t.co/Um3Qf1pEIo">pic.twitter.com/Um3Qf1pEIo</a></p>&mdash; The White House (@WhiteHouse) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1996734857943437453?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 5, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

First lady lights the National Christmas Tree

<b>The ruling is a major win for the Trump administration and Texas Republicans, who engineered the map to give the GOP control of 30 of the state’s 38 congressional districts.</b>

by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/author/eleanor-klibanoff/">Eleanor Klibanoff</a><br><a href="https://www.texastribune.org/">Texas Tribune</a>

Texas can use its new, GOP friendly congressional map while a legal challenge plays out, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, temporarily pausing a lower court ruling that had blocked the map from going into effect<b>.</b>

With the Dec. 8 candidate filing deadline fast approaching, the high court’s decision likely means Texas’ new map will be used for the 2026 midterm elections.

Justice Samuel Alito ruled that it was “indisputable” that Texas’ motivation for redistricting was “pure and simple” partisan advantage, which the court has previously ruled is permissible. Alito rejected the argument that Texas had engaged in racial gerrymandering.

The ruling is a major win for Republicans in Texas and nationally. President Donald Trump had pushed Texas to redraw its map over the summer, hoping to secure five additional GOP seats to shore up the party’s narrow majority in the U.S. House through the midterms.

On Nov. 18, two federal judges&nbsp;<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/18/texas-redistricting-ruling-lawsuit-el-paso-court-2026-midterms/">barred</a>&nbsp;Texas from using the new map for 2026, saying there was evidence state lawmakers had racially gerrymandered in redrawing the lines. Galveston District Judge Jeffrey Brown, a Trump appointee, authored the opinion ordering Texas to return to its 2021 map, while 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jerry Smith vociferously dissented.

The state asked the Supreme Court to overturn Brown’s ruling entirely, but that could take weeks or months to proceed through the court system, especially if the justices decide they want to hear arguments in Washington, D.C. With Thursday’s ruling, the justices have temporarily paused Brown’s ruling while that longer legal process can play out.

The ruling said the lower court, under Brown, “improperly inserted itself into an active primary campaign, causing much confusion and upsetting the delicate federal-state balance in elections.”

The new map, approved by the Texas Legislature and signed by Gov.&nbsp;<a href="https://directory.texastribune.org/greg-abbott/">Greg Abbott</a>&nbsp;in August, is engineered to give Republicans control of 30 of the state’s 38 congressional districts, up from the 25 they currently hold under the 2021 map. Numerous Republican candidates have stepped forward to run in the newly favorable districts, while several Democratic incumbents were pushed into nearby districts already occupied by another Democrat, forcing them to contemplate primaries or retire.

Brown’s ruling&nbsp;<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/18/texas-congressional-redistricting-map-ruling-2026-effect/">upended those calculations</a>. But in restoring the new map, the Supreme Court likely ensured that Republicans running for redrawn districts will get to campaign under the new lines in 2026.

Attorney General Ken Paxton celebrated the ruling, saying it was a win for Texas and every conservative who is tired of watching the left try to upend the political system with bogus lawsuits.”

Texas Democrats, meanwhile, condemned the outcome, with House Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. Gene Wu of Houston saying the high court had “failed” Texans.

“This is what the end of the Voting Rights Act looks like: courts that won’t protect minority communities even when the evidence is staring them in the face,” Wu said.

In her dissent, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan criticized the court for reversing Brown’s 160-page ruling “based on its perusal, over a holiday weekend, of a cold paper record.”

“Today’s order disrespects the work of a District Court that did everything one could ask to carry out its charge,” Kagan wrote on behalf of the liberal justices. “Today’s order disserves the millions of Texans whom the District Court found were assigned to their new districts based on their race.”

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/12/1764898399072.png" alt="<br>" />
                        <figcaption><br></figcaption>
                    </figure><p><b>The ruling is a major win for the Trump administration and Texas Republicans, who engineered the map to give the GOP control of 30 of the state’s 38 congressional districts.</b></p><p>by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/author/eleanor-klibanoff/">Eleanor Klibanoff</a><br><a href="https://www.texastribune.org/">Texas Tribune</a></p><p>Texas can use its new, GOP friendly congressional map while a legal challenge plays out, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, temporarily pausing a lower court ruling that had blocked the map from going into effect<b>.</b></p><p>With the Dec. 8 candidate filing deadline fast approaching, the high court’s decision likely means Texas’ new map will be used for the 2026 midterm elections.</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1755030421448.png" alt="<br>" />
                        <figcaption><br></figcaption>
                    </figure><p>Justice Samuel Alito ruled that it was “indisputable” that Texas’ motivation for redistricting was “pure and simple” partisan advantage, which the court has previously ruled is permissible. Alito rejected the argument that Texas had engaged in racial gerrymandering.</p><p>The ruling is a major win for Republicans in Texas and nationally. President Donald Trump had pushed Texas to redraw its map over the summer, hoping to secure five additional GOP seats to shore up the party’s narrow majority in the U.S. House through the midterms.</p><p>On Nov. 18, two federal judges&nbsp;<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/18/texas-redistricting-ruling-lawsuit-el-paso-court-2026-midterms/">barred</a>&nbsp;Texas from using the new map for 2026, saying there was evidence state lawmakers had racially gerrymandered in redrawing the lines. Galveston District Judge Jeffrey Brown, a Trump appointee, authored the opinion ordering Texas to return to its 2021 map, while 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jerry Smith vociferously dissented.</p><p>The state asked the Supreme Court to overturn Brown’s ruling entirely, but that could take weeks or months to proceed through the court system, especially if the justices decide they want to hear arguments in Washington, D.C. With Thursday’s ruling, the justices have temporarily paused Brown’s ruling while that longer legal process can play out.</p><p>The ruling said the lower court, under Brown, “improperly inserted itself into an active primary campaign, causing much confusion and upsetting the delicate federal-state balance in elections.”</p><p>The new map, approved by the Texas Legislature and signed by Gov.&nbsp;<a href="https://directory.texastribune.org/greg-abbott/">Greg Abbott</a>&nbsp;in August, is engineered to give Republicans control of 30 of the state’s 38 congressional districts, up from the 25 they currently hold under the 2021 map. Numerous Republican candidates have stepped forward to run in the newly favorable districts, while several Democratic incumbents were pushed into nearby districts already occupied by another Democrat, forcing them to contemplate primaries or retire.</p><p>Brown’s ruling&nbsp;<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/18/texas-congressional-redistricting-map-ruling-2026-effect/">upended those calculations</a>. But in restoring the new map, the Supreme Court likely ensured that Republicans running for redrawn districts will get to campaign under the new lines in 2026.</p><p>Attorney General Ken Paxton celebrated the ruling, saying it was a win for Texas and every conservative who is tired of watching the left try to upend the political system with bogus lawsuits.”</p><p>Texas Democrats, meanwhile, condemned the outcome, with House Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. Gene Wu of Houston saying the high court had “failed” Texans.</p><p>“This is what the end of the Voting Rights Act looks like: courts that won’t protect minority communities even when the evidence is staring them in the face,” Wu said.</p><p>In her dissent, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan criticized the court for reversing Brown’s 160-page ruling “based on its perusal, over a holiday weekend, of a cold paper record.”</p><p>“Today’s order disrespects the work of a District Court that did everything one could ask to carry out its charge,” Kagan wrote on behalf of the liberal justices. “Today’s order disserves the millions of Texans whom the District Court found were assigned to their new districts based on their race.”</p>

Supreme Court lets Texas keep new congressional map

DICKINSON COUNTY KS—Law enforcement are investigating a vehicle theft and have taken a Kansas teen into custody.

On December 2, 2025, at approximately 12:30 PM, a deputy with the Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office located a Toyota Avalon in the area of East 1st Street and Bonebrake Street that had been reported stolen out of Nebraska. The vehicle was unoccupied at the time it was recovered. The vehicle was processed and evidence was collected. The vehicle was towed for safekeeping until it can be returned to the owner.

Investigators with the Sheriff’s Office continued the investigation and developed a suspect the following day. The investigation led to the arrest of 19-year-old&nbsp; Christopher Madison Bryant of Abilene on a requested charge of theft of the vehicle.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/12/1764861665339.png" alt="Bryant photo Dickinson Co." />
                        <figcaption>Bryant photo Dickinson Co.</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>DICKINSON COUNTY KS—Law enforcement are investigating a vehicle theft and have taken a Kansas teen into custody.</p><p>On December 2, 2025, at approximately 12:30 PM, a deputy with the Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office located a Toyota Avalon in the area of East 1st Street and Bonebrake Street that had been reported stolen out of Nebraska. The vehicle was unoccupied at the time it was recovered. The vehicle was processed and evidence was collected. The vehicle was towed for safekeeping until it can be returned to the owner.</p><p>Investigators with the Sheriff’s Office continued the investigation and developed a suspect the following day. The investigation led to the arrest of 19-year-old&nbsp; Christopher Madison Bryant of Abilene on a requested charge of theft of the vehicle.</p>

Sheriff: Teen arrested after car stolen in Nebraska recovered

Case centers on alleged ‘fraud’ in 2024 petition drive a judge rejected while upholding medical marijuana push

LINCOLN —&nbsp;The Nebraska Supreme Court appeared skeptical Wednesday about a case alleging fraud in and seeking invalidation of last year’s medical cannabis petition campaign, which voters widely supported.

Former State Sen. John Kuehn of Heartwell, a longtime opponent of medical marijuana, continues to&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/09/12/lawsuit-seeks-to-invalidate-nebraskas-medical-marijuana-ballot-measures/">allege widespread “fraud” in the 2024 medical cannabis petitions</a>.&nbsp;

His lawsuit argues a district judge incorrectly ruled last November that the&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/26/district-judge-sides-with-nebraska-medical-cannabis-ballot-sponsors-in-legal-challenge/">measures had enough signatures to reach the ballot</a>&nbsp;despite allegations from Kuehn and two top state officials, largely based on questions about notaries.

Kuehn sued Secretary of State Bob Evnen and the ballot sponsors, but Evnen and Attorney General Mike Hilgers&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/10/07/ag-secretary-of-state-target-nearly-100000-signatures-on-nebraska-medical-cannabis-petitions/">largely joined forces with Kuehn</a>. Together, they argued that at least enough signatures would lose a “presumption of validity” to force the trial into a second phase involving greater scrutiny of signatures.

“Notaries are, in effect, walking stamps of approval,” Zach Pohlman, state deputy solicitor general, said Wednesday. “They are professional truth tellers. And so when they lie, that presumption of truth … gets pierced, and they become just like every other witness.”

If the justices reverse, the 2024 medical cannabis ballot sponsors might need to rehabilitate enough signatures to show at least 86,499 valid signatures on two petitions apiece for the voter-approved laws to stand, or 172,998.

The campaign had 6,822 more signatures validated than it needed.

No other court in the country has adopted such a legal argument that would extend or “impute” one instance of notarial fraud to other documents that person had notarized, Daniel Gutman, attorney for the ballot sponsors, has repeatedly said.

Some justices probed how a ruling would fit more than a year after the 2024 election.

“What impact does it have that the signatures have already been verified?” asked Justice Stephanie Stacy, referring to county-level verification in summer 2024, before the ballot was&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/09/13/medical-marijuana-legalization-and-regulation-are-certified-for-nebraskas-november-ballot/">certified</a>.

“We know how the election turned out. What effect does that have?” asked Justice William Cassel.

Pohlman and former State Sen. Andrew La Grone of Dunbar, for Kuehn, said the Supreme Court could still legally invalidate the petitions. La Grone noted local election officials are not handwriting experts and can’t catch everything.

“When there are bad acts related to the affidavit … the value of the verification is destroyed, and the petition must fall unless the genuineness of the signature is permanently shown,” La Grone said.

Pohlman said the state’s highest court has invalidated a notary’s actions before, citing a 1944 case about a mail-in ballot. He said some other documents have also been invalidated.

“Of that document. But other documents notarized by the notary, have we invalidated those types of situations?” asked Chief Justice Jeffrey Funke.

“Not in Nebraska, your honor,” Pohlman responded.

Justice Jonathan Papik pressed whether the arguments from Pohlman and La Grone have ever been used in other states. Pohlman pointed to Oklahoma, where he said that because a notary failed to post a notary bond, 7,000 signatures the person had notarized were tossed.

Attorney Daniel Gutman, for the ballot sponsors, pointed to a case from&nbsp;<a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/north-dakota/supreme-court/2022/20220233.html" target="_blank">North Dakota</a>&nbsp;where the state supreme court declined a “wholesale rejection” of signatures and chose not to “impute” one bad act to other notarizations.&nbsp;

La Grone and Pohlman said the cases are different, in part because they’re not seeking “wholesale” invalidation, just a second trial phase. Gutman said the result is the same.

“The remedy the appellants seek in this case — which is the mass invalidation of petition signatures — is inconsistent with the high value this court places on the initiative right,” Gutman said. “It is inconsistent with the Election Act, which facilitates, not undermines, the initiative process. And it is inconsistent with common sense.”

State attorneys had previously asked the trial judge to toss the petitions without a second phase last year, a position that appears to have narrowed.

Wednesday’s arguments largely revolve around a 1919 Nebraska Supreme Court case —&nbsp;<a href="https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/barkley-v-pool-20946-908593188" target="_blank">Barkley v. Pool</a>&nbsp;—&nbsp;in which the court said a&nbsp;<a href="https://history.nebraska.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/doc_publications_NH1988Barkley.pdf" target="_blank">circulator’s fraudulent behavior</a>&nbsp;could be extended to other actions. In that case, three men against&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/nebraska-and-the-19th-amendment.htm" target="_blank">women’s suffrage</a>&nbsp;forged signatures in a petition campaign seeking to force a vote to overturn a 1917 law giving women some voting rights.

One circulator for the medical cannabis petitions from Grand Island&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/11/grand-island-petition-circulator-pleads-guilty-to-misdemeanor-and-fine/">pleaded guilty last year to forging signatures</a>, including by using a phone book. Campaign officials maintain he worked alone and agree any signatures he gathered should not be counted.

Lancaster County District Judge Susan Strong ruled last year that there were some signatures she said lost a “presumption of validity” and would need to be rehabilitated, identifying 711 signatures on the legalization petition and 826 on the regulatory petition.

However, Strong ruled that the challenges still&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/kuehn-v-evnen-decision.pdf">fell “well short” of affecting access to the ballot</a>.

Pohlman said Strong should have extended the wrongdoing she found to all other signatures the people touched, potentially tens of thousands of signatures. He said county-level verification is “some evidence on the front end” but that circulator oaths are critical.

Justice Jason Bergevin asked La Grone whether there was any evidence that electors who purportedly signed the petitions, outside of the Grand Island case, didn’t actually sign. La Grone said that’s a “very open question,” one which Kuehn wants to get to in the second trial phase.

Funke asked La Grone whether he was asking the court to transition Barkley to notaries. La Grone said the “focal point” is a circulator’s “oath,” one which requires a notary.

“We think it is merely an application of the rule to the notary context,” La Grone said.

Funke also asked whether, under Barkley, a trial judge must extend fraudulent acts to all other actions, or whether there is judicial discretion. La Grone told Funke it is “slightly unclear.” Strong ruled that, either way, the ballot sponsors would survive the Evnen-Kuehn challenge.&nbsp;

Gutman said the medical cannabis and women’s suffrage cases are different, and he asked the high court to consider whether the century-old case law is still good. He pointed to technological advancements and county officials now being part of the signature verification process.&nbsp;

For example, only the secretary of state verified signatures in 1919, Gutman said, so Barkley relied on a circulator’s oath more as “the only evidence of the genuineness of the signature.”

“Every expansion of the scope of wrongdoing that may be imputed increases the risk of unjustly depriving an honest [signer] of the right to have his or her signature counted,” a legal brief from the ballot sponsors reads.

The AG’s Office has sought to frame the case as protecting the integrity of the ballot measure process. Pohlman said Wednesday that if the “proven fraud” in this case didn’t require a second phase of trial, “then the public’s confidence and the precious power of initiative may be shaken.”

Many medical cannabis supporters and campaign attorneys have said the opposite, arguing that continued attacks from top officials against the medical cannabis petitions and laws are more harmful. Gutman has said ballot litigation is also made “extremely difficult” when the secretary of state certifies an initiative but “<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/09/13/nebraska-supreme-court-lets-voters-decide-fate-of-school-choice-law/">tries to pull the plug at the last minute.</a>”

Gutman said the Kuehn-Evnen case is about “numbers,” specifically at least 3,464 signatures on the campaign’s petition to legalize up to 5 ounces of medical cannabis with a physician’s recommendation and at least 3,358 signatures on a petition to set a framework for regulating the new medicine.&nbsp;

The legalization law received&nbsp;<a href="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/3yTDl/4/" target="_blank">71% support statewide</a>, including a majority in all 49 legislative districts. The regulatory law&nbsp;<a href="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/0LkpZ/3/" target="_blank">received 67% support</a>, including a majority in all but three legislative districts.

Gutman said that if the one bad notary act invalidates all others, those arguments could mean wills, real estate documents and more are “presumptively invalid right now.” Some targeted notaries have helped other petition drives in the state. La Grone said he was not asking to extend notarial wrongdoing on petitions to unrelated documents.

Of the notaries named in the Kuehn-Evnen challenges, just one —&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/04/22/judge-allows-charges-to-proceed-against-nebraska-notary-for-medical-cannabis-petitions/">Jacy Todd of York</a>&nbsp;—&nbsp;faces a criminal case in Grand Island. He is believed to be the first notary to face charges, with a trial set to begin Dec. 15. He is also running a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/07/08/medical-cannabis-advocate-targeted-notary-running-for-nebraska-governor/">2026 GOP campaign for governor</a>.

According to the Secretary of State’s Office, no notaries have had their notary commissions administratively canceled in 2025. According to a&nbsp;<a href="https://business.nebraska.gov/search/notary" target="_blank">state-run database of notaries</a>, all named notaries retain active notary licenses except Todd, whose commission expired July 29.&nbsp;

Funke asked what a second phase would look like, to which Gutman said he doesn’t imagine doing anything more than local election officials.

“If we go back to a second trial, there’s nobody we can hire, nothing we can do, nothing I can say, that is better than what the election officials have already done to verify the signatures,” Gutman said.

Pohlman said a second phase would mean sponsors have to prove “by a preponderance” that they have enough signatures. He said the Supreme Court would need to require the trial move forward “as quickly as possible” and could prohibit circulator affidavits from being repaired by “self-serving testimony.”

“So does that mean they’d call 86,000 signatories to testify that the petition was read to them, they understood what they were signing and they actually signed it?” Funke asked.

Pohlman said he doesn’t think the sponsors would need to call that many people, just circulators, notaries and enough voters to clear the threshold, if possible. Some of the notaries targeted in the case also served as circulators.

The 2024 campaign marked the third attempt for Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana to reach a statewide vote. In 2020, a divided Supreme Court, 5-2, said the first attempt was too broad.&nbsp;<a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/nebraska/supreme-court/2020/s-20-623.html" target="_blank">Papik wrote the dissent</a>&nbsp;and would have let voters weigh in. In 2022, the campaign did not garner enough signatures.

Some campaign volunteers have privately worried about issue fatigue for voters or campaign workers. Some have also expressed concern about whether some circulators, notaries or voters would come forward as the state continues to pursue civil, criminal and political penalties against some medical cannabis supporters.

In a Wednesday statement, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, which ran the 2024 campaign, said: “They cannot undo the will of the voters. Every lawsuit, every delay, every political maneuver is confirmation that we are winning.”

The Supreme Court will issue a ruling in the coming months on the case.

<h2>Case centers on alleged ‘fraud’ in 2024 petition drive a judge rejected while upholding medical marijuana push</h2><p>By Zach Wendling | Nebraska Examiner</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/gutman-scone_ZJW_120325-01-1536x1024.jpg" alt="&nbsp;Attorney Daniel Gutman argues before the Nebraska Supreme Court. From left on the bench are Justices Jason Bergevin, Jonathan Papik, William Cassel (not pictured), Jeffrey Funke (chief justice), Stephanie Stacy and John Freudenberg. At right is Gage County District Judge Rick Schreiner, who is rounding out the court due to a temporary vacancy. Dec. 3, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)" />
                        <figcaption>&nbsp;Attorney Daniel Gutman argues before the Nebraska Supreme Court. From left on the bench are Justices Jason Bergevin, Jonathan Papik, William Cassel (not pictured), Jeffrey Funke (chief justice), Stephanie Stacy and John Freudenberg. At right is Gage County District Judge Rick Schreiner, who is rounding out the court due to a temporary vacancy. Dec. 3, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>LINCOLN —&nbsp;The Nebraska Supreme Court appeared skeptical Wednesday about a case alleging fraud in and seeking invalidation of last year’s medical cannabis petition campaign, which voters widely supported.</p><p>Former State Sen. John Kuehn of Heartwell, a longtime opponent of medical marijuana, continues to&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/09/12/lawsuit-seeks-to-invalidate-nebraskas-medical-marijuana-ballot-measures/">allege widespread “fraud” in the 2024 medical cannabis petitions</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>His lawsuit argues a district judge incorrectly ruled last November that the&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/26/district-judge-sides-with-nebraska-medical-cannabis-ballot-sponsors-in-legal-challenge/">measures had enough signatures to reach the ballot</a>&nbsp;despite allegations from Kuehn and two top state officials, largely based on questions about notaries.</p><p>Kuehn sued Secretary of State Bob Evnen and the ballot sponsors, but Evnen and Attorney General Mike Hilgers&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/10/07/ag-secretary-of-state-target-nearly-100000-signatures-on-nebraska-medical-cannabis-petitions/">largely joined forces with Kuehn</a>. Together, they argued that at least enough signatures would lose a “presumption of validity” to force the trial into a second phase involving greater scrutiny of signatures.</p><p>“Notaries are, in effect, walking stamps of approval,” Zach Pohlman, state deputy solicitor general, said Wednesday. “They are professional truth tellers. And so when they lie, that presumption of truth … gets pierced, and they become just like every other witness.”</p><p>If the justices reverse, the 2024 medical cannabis ballot sponsors might need to rehabilitate enough signatures to show at least 86,499 valid signatures on two petitions apiece for the voter-approved laws to stand, or 172,998.</p><p>The campaign had 6,822 more signatures validated than it needed.</p><p>No other court in the country has adopted such a legal argument that would extend or “impute” one instance of notarial fraud to other documents that person had notarized, Daniel Gutman, attorney for the ballot sponsors, has repeatedly said.</p><h2>Timing of election case</h2><p>Some justices probed how a ruling would fit more than a year after the 2024 election.</p><p>“What impact does it have that the signatures have already been verified?” asked Justice Stephanie Stacy, referring to county-level verification in summer 2024, before the ballot was&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/09/13/medical-marijuana-legalization-and-regulation-are-certified-for-nebraskas-november-ballot/">certified</a>.</p><p>“We know how the election turned out. What effect does that have?” asked Justice William Cassel.</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/cassel-funke_ZJW_120225-01-300x200.jpg" alt="Nebraska Supreme Court Justice William Cassel, left, and Chief Justice Jeffrey Funke. Dec. 2, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)" />
                        <figcaption>Nebraska Supreme Court Justice William Cassel, left, and Chief Justice Jeffrey Funke. Dec. 2, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>Pohlman and former State Sen. Andrew La Grone of Dunbar, for Kuehn, said the Supreme Court could still legally invalidate the petitions. La Grone noted local election officials are not handwriting experts and can’t catch everything.</p><p>“When there are bad acts related to the affidavit … the value of the verification is destroyed, and the petition must fall unless the genuineness of the signature is permanently shown,” La Grone said.</p><p>Pohlman said the state’s highest court has invalidated a notary’s actions before, citing a 1944 case about a mail-in ballot. He said some other documents have also been invalidated.</p><p>“Of that document. But other documents notarized by the notary, have we invalidated those types of situations?” asked Chief Justice Jeffrey Funke.</p><p>“Not in Nebraska, your honor,” Pohlman responded.</p><h2>A new legal theory</h2><p>Justice Jonathan Papik pressed whether the arguments from Pohlman and La Grone have ever been used in other states. Pohlman pointed to Oklahoma, where he said that because a notary failed to post a notary bond, 7,000 signatures the person had notarized were tossed.</p><p>Attorney Daniel Gutman, for the ballot sponsors, pointed to a case from&nbsp;<a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/north-dakota/supreme-court/2022/20220233.html" target="_blank">North Dakota</a>&nbsp;where the state supreme court declined a “wholesale rejection” of signatures and chose not to “impute” one bad act to other notarizations.&nbsp;</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/pohlman_ZJW_052025-01-300x200.jpg" alt="Deputy Solicitor General Zach Pohlman of the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office in Lancaster County District Court in a case arguing Nebraska’s medical cannabis laws are preempted by federal law. May 20, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)" />
                        <figcaption>Deputy Solicitor General Zach Pohlman of the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office in Lancaster County District Court in a case arguing Nebraska’s medical cannabis laws are preempted by federal law. May 20, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>La Grone and Pohlman said the cases are different, in part because they’re not seeking “wholesale” invalidation, just a second trial phase. Gutman said the result is the same.</p><p>“The remedy the appellants seek in this case — which is the mass invalidation of petition signatures — is inconsistent with the high value this court places on the initiative right,” Gutman said. “It is inconsistent with the Election Act, which facilitates, not undermines, the initiative process. And it is inconsistent with common sense.”</p><p>State attorneys had previously asked the trial judge to toss the petitions without a second phase last year, a position that appears to have narrowed.</p><h2>Circulators and notaries</h2><p>Wednesday’s arguments largely revolve around a 1919 Nebraska Supreme Court case —&nbsp;<a href="https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/barkley-v-pool-20946-908593188" target="_blank">Barkley v. Pool</a>&nbsp;—&nbsp;in which the court said a&nbsp;<a href="https://history.nebraska.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/doc_publications_NH1988Barkley.pdf" target="_blank">circulator’s fraudulent behavior</a>&nbsp;could be extended to other actions. In that case, three men against&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/nebraska-and-the-19th-amendment.htm" target="_blank">women’s suffrage</a>&nbsp;forged signatures in a petition campaign seeking to force a vote to overturn a 1917 law giving women some voting rights.</p><p>One circulator for the medical cannabis petitions from Grand Island&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/11/grand-island-petition-circulator-pleads-guilty-to-misdemeanor-and-fine/">pleaded guilty last year to forging signatures</a>, including by using a phone book. Campaign officials maintain he worked alone and agree any signatures he gathered should not be counted.</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/strong_ZJW_092024-02-300x200.jpg" alt="Lancaster County District Judge Susan Strong presides over the first day of hearings in a case related to medical cannabis ballot petitions. Sept. 20, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)" />
                        <figcaption>Lancaster County District Judge Susan Strong presides over the first day of hearings in a case related to medical cannabis ballot petitions. Sept. 20, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>Lancaster County District Judge Susan Strong ruled last year that there were some signatures she said lost a “presumption of validity” and would need to be rehabilitated, identifying 711 signatures on the legalization petition and 826 on the regulatory petition.</p><p>However, Strong ruled that the challenges still&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/kuehn-v-evnen-decision.pdf">fell “well short” of affecting access to the ballot</a>.</p><p>Pohlman said Strong should have extended the wrongdoing she found to all other signatures the people touched, potentially tens of thousands of signatures. He said county-level verification is “some evidence on the front end” but that circulator oaths are critical.</p><p>Justice Jason Bergevin asked La Grone whether there was any evidence that electors who purportedly signed the petitions, outside of the Grand Island case, didn’t actually sign. La Grone said that’s a “very open question,” one which Kuehn wants to get to in the second trial phase.</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/funke_ZJW_120325-02-300x200.jpg" alt="Nebraska Supreme Court Chief Justice Jeffrey Funke listens to arguments from former State Sen. Andrew La Grone of Dunbar. Dec. 3, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)" />
                        <figcaption>Nebraska Supreme Court Chief Justice Jeffrey Funke listens to arguments from former State Sen. Andrew La Grone of Dunbar. Dec. 3, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>Funke asked La Grone whether he was asking the court to transition Barkley to notaries. La Grone said the “focal point” is a circulator’s “oath,” one which requires a notary.</p><p>“We think it is merely an application of the rule to the notary context,” La Grone said.</p><p>Funke also asked whether, under Barkley, a trial judge must extend fraudulent acts to all other actions, or whether there is judicial discretion. La Grone told Funke it is “slightly unclear.” Strong ruled that, either way, the ballot sponsors would survive the Evnen-Kuehn challenge.&nbsp;</p><h2>Future of petition law</h2><p>Gutman said the medical cannabis and women’s suffrage cases are different, and he asked the high court to consider whether the century-old case law is still good. He pointed to technological advancements and county officials now being part of the signature verification process.&nbsp;</p><p>For example, only the secretary of state verified signatures in 1919, Gutman said, so Barkley relied on a circulator’s oath more as “the only evidence of the genuineness of the signature.”</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/guenzel-lagrone-mackin_ZJW_092024-01-300x170.jpg" alt="Attorneys Steven Guenzel, Andrew La Grone and Anne Marie Mackin for John Kuehn of Heartwell. Sept. 20, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)" />
                        <figcaption>Attorneys Steven Guenzel, Andrew La Grone and Anne Marie Mackin for John Kuehn of Heartwell. Sept. 20, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>“Every expansion of the scope of wrongdoing that may be imputed increases the risk of unjustly depriving an honest [signer] of the right to have his or her signature counted,” a legal brief from the ballot sponsors reads.</p><p>The AG’s Office has sought to frame the case as protecting the integrity of the ballot measure process. Pohlman said Wednesday that if the “proven fraud” in this case didn’t require a second phase of trial, “then the public’s confidence and the precious power of initiative may be shaken.”</p><p>Many medical cannabis supporters and campaign attorneys have said the opposite, arguing that continued attacks from top officials against the medical cannabis petitions and laws are more harmful. Gutman has said ballot litigation is also made “extremely difficult” when the secretary of state certifies an initiative but “<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/09/13/nebraska-supreme-court-lets-voters-decide-fate-of-school-choice-law/">tries to pull the plug at the last minute.</a>”</p><h2>A case about ‘numbers’</h2><p>Gutman said the Kuehn-Evnen case is about “numbers,” specifically at least 3,464 signatures on the campaign’s petition to legalize up to 5 ounces of medical cannabis with a physician’s recommendation and at least 3,358 signatures on a petition to set a framework for regulating the new medicine.&nbsp;</p><p>The legalization law received&nbsp;<a href="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/3yTDl/4/" target="_blank">71% support statewide</a>, including a majority in all 49 legislative districts. The regulatory law&nbsp;<a href="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/0LkpZ/3/" target="_blank">received 67% support</a>, including a majority in all but three legislative districts.</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/KF2024129_21-300x200.jpg" alt="Attorney Daniel Gutman, left, representing the Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana sponsors, and former State Sen. Adam Morfeld confer during the first day of the civil trial to determine the validity of the Medical Marijuana ballot at the Lancaster County Courthouse on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, in Lincoln. (Pool photo by Kenneth Ferriera/Lincoln Journal Star)" />
                        <figcaption>Attorney Daniel Gutman, left, representing the Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana sponsors, and former State Sen. Adam Morfeld confer during the first day of the civil trial to determine the validity of the Medical Marijuana ballot at the Lancaster County Courthouse on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, in Lincoln. (Pool photo by Kenneth Ferriera/Lincoln Journal Star)</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>Gutman said that if the one bad notary act invalidates all others, those arguments could mean wills, real estate documents and more are “presumptively invalid right now.” Some targeted notaries have helped other petition drives in the state. La Grone said he was not asking to extend notarial wrongdoing on petitions to unrelated documents.</p><p>Of the notaries named in the Kuehn-Evnen challenges, just one —&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/04/22/judge-allows-charges-to-proceed-against-nebraska-notary-for-medical-cannabis-petitions/">Jacy Todd of York</a>&nbsp;—&nbsp;faces a criminal case in Grand Island. He is believed to be the first notary to face charges, with a trial set to begin Dec. 15. He is also running a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/07/08/medical-cannabis-advocate-targeted-notary-running-for-nebraska-governor/">2026 GOP campaign for governor</a>.</p><p>According to the Secretary of State’s Office, no notaries have had their notary commissions administratively canceled in 2025. According to a&nbsp;<a href="https://business.nebraska.gov/search/notary" target="_blank">state-run database of notaries</a>, all named notaries retain active notary licenses except Todd, whose commission expired July 29.&nbsp;</p><h2>What would a second phase look like?</h2><p>Funke asked what a second phase would look like, to which Gutman said he doesn’t imagine doing anything more than local election officials.</p><p>“If we go back to a second trial, there’s nobody we can hire, nothing we can do, nothing I can say, that is better than what the election officials have already done to verify the signatures,” Gutman said.</p><p>Pohlman said a second phase would mean sponsors have to prove “by a preponderance” that they have enough signatures. He said the Supreme Court would need to require the trial move forward “as quickly as possible” and could prohibit circulator affidavits from being repaired by “self-serving testimony.”</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/papik_ZJW_120225-01-300x200.jpg" alt="Nebraska Supreme Court Justice Jonathan Papik listens to arguments from attorney Richard Griffin on behalf of the Nebraska Association of Public Employees. Dec. 2, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)" />
                        <figcaption>Nebraska Supreme Court Justice Jonathan Papik listens to arguments from attorney Richard Griffin on behalf of the Nebraska Association of Public Employees. Dec. 2, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>“So does that mean they’d call 86,000 signatories to testify that the petition was read to them, they understood what they were signing and they actually signed it?” Funke asked.</p><p>“And do that quickly?” Papik added.</p><p>Pohlman said he doesn’t think the sponsors would need to call that many people, just circulators, notaries and enough voters to clear the threshold, if possible. Some of the notaries targeted in the case also served as circulators.</p><p>The 2024 campaign marked the third attempt for Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana to reach a statewide vote. In 2020, a divided Supreme Court, 5-2, said the first attempt was too broad.&nbsp;<a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/nebraska/supreme-court/2020/s-20-623.html" target="_blank">Papik wrote the dissent</a>&nbsp;and would have let voters weigh in. In 2022, the campaign did not garner enough signatures.</p><p>Some campaign volunteers have privately worried about issue fatigue for voters or campaign workers. Some have also expressed concern about whether some circulators, notaries or voters would come forward as the state continues to pursue civil, criminal and political penalties against some medical cannabis supporters.</p><p>In a Wednesday statement, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, which ran the 2024 campaign, said: “They cannot undo the will of the voters. Every lawsuit, every delay, every political maneuver is confirmation that we are winning.”</p><p>The Supreme Court will issue a ruling in the coming months on the case.</p>

Nebraska Supreme Court hears appeal in medical cannabis, election notary case

By:<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/ashley-murray/">Ashley Murray</a>

WASHINGTON — Federal authorities arrested a Virginia man Thursday morning who they say was involved in planting pipe bombs outside the Democratic and Republican national committee offices on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, according to numerous media reports.

The man’s identity has not yet been released, according to reports by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/live/donald-trump-news-updates-12-4-2025" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://wsj.com/politics/national-security/fbi-makes-arrest-in-connection-with-jan-6-pipe-bombs-4dcc6183?mod=hp_lead_pos11" target="_blank">The Wall Street Journal</a>&nbsp;that cited law enforcement officials.

The arrest marked a potential breakthrough in the five-year-old case.

The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to States Newsroom’s request for comment.

According to the FBI, the suspect placed pipe bombs near the offices of the Democratic and Republican national committees between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Eastern on Jan. 5, 2021.

Authorities had publicized several&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fbi.gov/video-repository/wfo-pipebomb-oct-2025-update-v2.mp4/view" target="_blank">video clips</a>&nbsp;of a masked individual in a gray hooded sweatshirt carrying a backpack to transport the pipe bombs. The FBI offered a $500,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

The suspect is expected in court Thursday, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/04/january-6-pipebomb-suspect-arrest-00676412" target="_blank">Politico</a>.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1735867762680.png" alt="FBI poster seeking a suspect who allegedly placed pipe bombs in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.&nbsp;" />
                        <figcaption>FBI poster seeking a suspect who allegedly placed pipe bombs in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.&nbsp;</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>By:<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/ashley-murray/">Ashley Murray</a></p><p>WASHINGTON — Federal authorities arrested a Virginia man Thursday morning who they say was involved in planting pipe bombs outside the Democratic and Republican national committee offices on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, according to numerous media reports.</p><p>The man’s identity has not yet been released, according to reports by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/live/donald-trump-news-updates-12-4-2025" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://wsj.com/politics/national-security/fbi-makes-arrest-in-connection-with-jan-6-pipe-bombs-4dcc6183?mod=hp_lead_pos11" target="_blank">The Wall Street Journal</a>&nbsp;that cited law enforcement officials.</p><p>The arrest marked a potential breakthrough in the five-year-old case.</p><p>The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to States Newsroom’s request for comment.</p><p>According to the FBI, the suspect placed pipe bombs near the offices of the Democratic and Republican national committees between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Eastern on Jan. 5, 2021.</p><p>Authorities had publicized several&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fbi.gov/video-repository/wfo-pipebomb-oct-2025-update-v2.mp4/view" target="_blank">video clips</a>&nbsp;of a masked individual in a gray hooded sweatshirt carrying a backpack to transport the pipe bombs. The FBI offered a $500,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.</p><p>The suspect is expected in court Thursday, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/04/january-6-pipebomb-suspect-arrest-00676412" target="_blank">Politico</a>.</p>

Man arrested in Jan. 2021 pipe bomb case targeting party headquarters

HHS Protects Parents’ Rights in Children’s Health Decisions

WASHINGTON&nbsp; — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced strong actions to protect the rights of parents within the practice of pediatric medicine. HHS opened an investigation into a complaint that a Midwestern school illegally vaccinated a child with a federally provided vaccine without the parents’ consent by ignoring a religious exemption submitted under a state law. HHS also issued a <a href="/sites/default/files/ocr-letter-hipaa-privacy-rule-and-parental-access-to-minor-childrens-medical-records.pdf" target="_blank">Dear Colleague letter [PDF, 265 KB]</a> reminding health care providers about federal law requiring them to provide parents access to their children’s health information. In addition, the Department directed the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to add a grant requirement stating that all funding recipients must comply with all applicable federal and state parental-consent laws for any services or care provided to minors at HRSA-supported health centers as a condition of receiving Health Center Program funds.

“Today, we are putting pediatric medical professionals on notice: you cannot sideline parents,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “When providers ignore parental consent, violate exemptions to vaccine mandates, or keep parents in the dark about their children’s care, we will act decisively. We will use every tool at our disposal to protect families and restore accountability.”

The investigation by HHS’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) into the reported violation of the exemption from vaccination will examine whether the school failed to comply with the Vaccines for Children Program (VFC) requirement that conditions federal provision of vaccines for immunization on compliance with state religious and other exemptions from compulsory vaccination. OCR will also examine how the state agency and school district process religious exemption requests to ensure compliance with state law when implementing the VFC program. Program providers receive vaccines purchased for the VFC by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“The Vaccines for Children Program should never circumvent parents’ rights,” said Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary and CDC Acting Director Jim O’Neill. “Secretary Kennedy’s decision to probe potential abuse of the VFC is a necessary step in restoring public trust in immunization policy.”

OCR’s letter to health care providers spells out parents’ right to access their children’s protected health information under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule. Under the Privacy Rule, a parent is the personal representative of his or her minor child where the parent has the legal authority to make health care decisions for the child. The letter reinforces that parents who are their children’s personal representatives can exercise their children’s rights with respect to protected health information, including the right of access. OCR is also initiating compliance reviews of a number of large health care providers to ensure that parents receive timely access to their children’s health information.

As part of these actions to protect parents’ rights, HRSA is directly addressing the parental consent obligations that apply to HRSA-supported services for minors. Before a minor receives medical, dental, behavioral health, or other services at a HRSA-supported health center, the center must obtain consent from a parent or legal guardian in accordance with applicable state or federal law. This requirement applies to all forms of care, including treatment, preventive services, counseling, and services involving sensitive topics such as sexual identity or reproductive health. Existing state, federal, and local laws on parental consent and notification already apply, and HRSA is now clearly detailing these expectations as a condition of receiving Health Center Program funding. HRSA will also send a notice to grant recipients outlining this obligation.

If you believe that you or another person’s health information privacy or civil rights have been violated, you can <a href="/ocr/complaints/index.html">file a complaint</a> with OCR.

<p><i>For Immediate Release</i></p><h2>HHS Protects Parents’ Rights in Children’s Health Decisions</h2><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/12/1764869455715.png" alt="<br>" />
                        <figcaption><br></figcaption>
                    </figure><p>WASHINGTON&nbsp; — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced strong actions to protect the rights of parents within the practice of pediatric medicine. HHS opened an investigation into a complaint that a Midwestern school illegally vaccinated a child with a federally provided vaccine without the parents’ consent by ignoring a religious exemption submitted under a state law. HHS also issued a <a href="/sites/default/files/ocr-letter-hipaa-privacy-rule-and-parental-access-to-minor-childrens-medical-records.pdf" target="_blank">Dear Colleague letter [PDF, 265 KB]</a> reminding health care providers about federal law requiring them to provide parents access to their children’s health information. In addition, the Department directed the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to add a grant requirement stating that all funding recipients must comply with all applicable federal and state parental-consent laws for any services or care provided to minors at HRSA-supported health centers as a condition of receiving Health Center Program funds.</p><p>“Today, we are putting pediatric medical professionals on notice: you cannot sideline parents,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “When providers ignore parental consent, violate exemptions to vaccine mandates, or keep parents in the dark about their children’s care, we will act decisively. We will use every tool at our disposal to protect families and restore accountability.”</p><p>The investigation by HHS’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) into the reported violation of the exemption from vaccination will examine whether the school failed to comply with the Vaccines for Children Program (VFC) requirement that conditions federal provision of vaccines for immunization on compliance with state religious and other exemptions from compulsory vaccination. OCR will also examine how the state agency and school district process religious exemption requests to ensure compliance with state law when implementing the VFC program. Program providers receive vaccines purchased for the VFC by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).</p><p>“The Vaccines for Children Program should never circumvent parents’ rights,” said Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary and CDC Acting Director Jim O’Neill. “Secretary Kennedy’s decision to probe potential abuse of the VFC is a necessary step in restoring public trust in immunization policy.”</p><p>OCR’s letter to health care providers spells out parents’ right to access their children’s protected health information under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule. Under the Privacy Rule, a parent is the personal representative of his or her minor child where the parent has the legal authority to make health care decisions for the child. The letter reinforces that parents who are their children’s personal representatives can exercise their children’s rights with respect to protected health information, including the right of access. OCR is also initiating compliance reviews of a number of large health care providers to ensure that parents receive timely access to their children’s health information.</p><p>As part of these actions to protect parents’ rights, HRSA is directly addressing the parental consent obligations that apply to HRSA-supported services for minors. Before a minor receives medical, dental, behavioral health, or other services at a HRSA-supported health center, the center must obtain consent from a parent or legal guardian in accordance with applicable state or federal law. This requirement applies to all forms of care, including treatment, preventive services, counseling, and services involving sensitive topics such as sexual identity or reproductive health. Existing state, federal, and local laws on parental consent and notification already apply, and HRSA is now clearly detailing these expectations as a condition of receiving Health Center Program funding. HRSA will also send a notice to grant recipients outlining this obligation.</p><p>If you believe that you or another person’s health information privacy or civil rights have been violated, you can <a href="/ocr/complaints/index.html">file a complaint</a> with OCR.</p>

HHS Investigating Midwestern School for Child Vaccinations Lacking Parental Consent

<b>OMAHA, Neb.,</b>– The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is intensifying its fight against the deadly threat of synthetic opioids with the launch of&nbsp;<i>Fentanyl Free America,&nbsp;</i>a comprehensive enforcement initiative and public awareness campaign aimed at reducing the supply and demand for fentanyl.

Through intensified enforcement operations and heightened intelligence, DEA is applying unprecedented pressure on the global fentanyl supply chain, forcing narco-terrorists, like the Sinaloa and CJNG Cartels, to change business practices. These efforts have led to a decrease in both fentanyl powder purity and the number of fentanyl pills containing a potentially lethal dose.

As of December 1, DEA has seized more than 45 million fentanyl pills, and more than 9,320 pounds of fentanyl powder, removing an estimated 347 million potentially deadly doses of fentanyl nationwide. Fentanyl seizures across the five-state DEA Omaha Field Division account for the removal of nearly seven million potentially deadly doses from communities across the Midwest. DEA intelligence indicates a shift in cartel operations, with increased trafficking of fentanyl powder and domestic production of fentanyl pills. The seizure of more than two dozen pill press machines in October, including two from Minnesota, further highlights this trend.

“Fentanyl Free America represents DEA’s unwavering commitment to save American lives and end the fentanyl crisis, we are making significant progress in this fight, and we must continue to intensify efforts to disrupt the fentanyl supply and reduce demand,” DEA Administrator Terrance Cole said. “DEA is striking harder and evolving faster to dismantle the foreign terrorists fueling this crisis, while empowering all our partners to join the fight to prevent fentanyl-related tragedies. Together, we can achieve a fentanyl free America and create a safer future for generations to come.”

The DEA Omaha Field Division was one of 23 domestic field divisions and seven foreign divisions that initiated&nbsp;<i>Operation Fentanyl Free America&nbsp;</i>in October. This targeted enforcement effort resulted in the seizure of nearly 25,000 fentanyl pills and 37 pounds of fentanyl powder across Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.

"Countless families across the Midwest are entering a holiday season in which they face an empty chair at the dinner table, a space left vacant by a life lost to fentanyl,” DEA Omaha Field Division Special Agent in Charge Dustin Gillespie said. “Working together with our law enforcement and community partners, we remain committed to combatting this scourge. Our work begins in the middle of America, but rest assured, this fight will land in the laps of those narco-terrorists inflicting terror and destruction from thousands of miles away.”

The threat of poly-drug organizations; cartels that traffic multiple drugs, became even more apparent during<i>&nbsp;Operation Fentanyl Free America.&nbsp;&nbsp;</i>Aside from producing less potent fentanyl, cartels have increasingly diversified their operations in an attempt to minimize their risks and maximize profits. This was evident in October with the seizure of more than 340 pounds of methamphetamine and nearly 42 pounds of cocaine across the DEA Omaha Field Division.

DEA remains at the forefront of the fight to disrupt trafficking networks and strengthen the government’s response to this epidemic.&nbsp;<i>Fentanyl Free America&nbsp;</i>represents DEA’s heightened focus on enforcement, education, public awareness and strategic partnerships. The goal of the campaign is clear: eliminate the fentanyl supply fueling the nation’s deadliest drug crisis. Since 2021, synthetic opioids have claimed nearly 325,000 American lives.

The&nbsp;<i>Fentanyl Free America&nbsp;</i>campaign also emphasizes the importance of public engagement.&nbsp; DEA encourages everyone from community leaders, clergy, educators, parents, physicians, pharmacists and law enforcement to take an active role in raising awareness by protecting others through education; preventing fentanyl poisonings by understanding the dangers; and supporting those impacted.&nbsp; Free resources including posters, radio advertising, billboards, and social media resources are available at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dea.gov/fentanylfree" target="_blank">dea.gov/fentanylfree</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

DEA’s efforts are part of a larger whole-of-government strategy to dismantle transnational criminal organizations and protect U.S. communities from fentanyl.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<p><i>For Immediate Release</i></p><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/11/1762211590340.jpeg" alt="<br>" />
                        <figcaption><br></figcaption>
                    </figure><p><b>OMAHA, Neb.,</b>– The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is intensifying its fight against the deadly threat of synthetic opioids with the launch of&nbsp;<i>Fentanyl Free America,&nbsp;</i>a comprehensive enforcement initiative and public awareness campaign aimed at reducing the supply and demand for fentanyl.</p><p>Through intensified enforcement operations and heightened intelligence, DEA is applying unprecedented pressure on the global fentanyl supply chain, forcing narco-terrorists, like the Sinaloa and CJNG Cartels, to change business practices. These efforts have led to a decrease in both fentanyl powder purity and the number of fentanyl pills containing a potentially lethal dose.</p><p>As of December 1, DEA has seized more than 45 million fentanyl pills, and more than 9,320 pounds of fentanyl powder, removing an estimated 347 million potentially deadly doses of fentanyl nationwide. Fentanyl seizures across the five-state DEA Omaha Field Division account for the removal of nearly seven million potentially deadly doses from communities across the Midwest. DEA intelligence indicates a shift in cartel operations, with increased trafficking of fentanyl powder and domestic production of fentanyl pills. The seizure of more than two dozen pill press machines in October, including two from Minnesota, further highlights this trend.</p><p>“Fentanyl Free America represents DEA’s unwavering commitment to save American lives and end the fentanyl crisis, we are making significant progress in this fight, and we must continue to intensify efforts to disrupt the fentanyl supply and reduce demand,” DEA Administrator Terrance Cole said. “DEA is striking harder and evolving faster to dismantle the foreign terrorists fueling this crisis, while empowering all our partners to join the fight to prevent fentanyl-related tragedies. Together, we can achieve a fentanyl free America and create a safer future for generations to come.”</p><p>The DEA Omaha Field Division was one of 23 domestic field divisions and seven foreign divisions that initiated&nbsp;<i>Operation Fentanyl Free America&nbsp;</i>in October. This targeted enforcement effort resulted in the seizure of nearly 25,000 fentanyl pills and 37 pounds of fentanyl powder across Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.</p><p>"Countless families across the Midwest are entering a holiday season in which they face an empty chair at the dinner table, a space left vacant by a life lost to fentanyl,” DEA Omaha Field Division Special Agent in Charge Dustin Gillespie said. “Working together with our law enforcement and community partners, we remain committed to combatting this scourge. Our work begins in the middle of America, but rest assured, this fight will land in the laps of those narco-terrorists inflicting terror and destruction from thousands of miles away.”</p><p>The threat of poly-drug organizations; cartels that traffic multiple drugs, became even more apparent during<i>&nbsp;Operation Fentanyl Free America.&nbsp;&nbsp;</i>Aside from producing less potent fentanyl, cartels have increasingly diversified their operations in an attempt to minimize their risks and maximize profits. This was evident in October with the seizure of more than 340 pounds of methamphetamine and nearly 42 pounds of cocaine across the DEA Omaha Field Division.</p><p>DEA remains at the forefront of the fight to disrupt trafficking networks and strengthen the government’s response to this epidemic.&nbsp;<i>Fentanyl Free America&nbsp;</i>represents DEA’s heightened focus on enforcement, education, public awareness and strategic partnerships. The goal of the campaign is clear: eliminate the fentanyl supply fueling the nation’s deadliest drug crisis. Since 2021, synthetic opioids have claimed nearly 325,000 American lives.</p><p>The&nbsp;<i>Fentanyl Free America&nbsp;</i>campaign also emphasizes the importance of public engagement.&nbsp; DEA encourages everyone from community leaders, clergy, educators, parents, physicians, pharmacists and law enforcement to take an active role in raising awareness by protecting others through education; preventing fentanyl poisonings by understanding the dangers; and supporting those impacted.&nbsp; Free resources including posters, radio advertising, billboards, and social media resources are available at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dea.gov/fentanylfree" target="_blank">dea.gov/fentanylfree</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>DEA’s efforts are part of a larger whole-of-government strategy to dismantle transnational criminal organizations and protect U.S. communities from fentanyl.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

DEA Launches Fentanyl Free America Initiative to Combat the Synthetic Drug Crisis 

By:<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jacob-fischler/">Jacob Fischler</a>

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will begin next week to block nutrition assistance funding for states led by Democrats that have not provided data on fraud in the program, Secretary Brooke Rollins told President Donald Trump at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday.

USDA sought data from states earlier this year related to their administration of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits, Rollins said Tuesday. She added the data was needed to address fraud that she called “rampant” in the program that helps 42 million people afford groceries.

Most states complied with the request, but 21, mostly run by Democrats, refused, she said. A USDA spokesperson later implied the department was missing data from 22 states.

“As of next week, we have begun and will begin to stop moving federal funds into those states until they comply, and they tell us and allow us to partner with them to root out this fraud and to protect the American taxpayer,” Rollins said.

A USDA spokesperson in an email listed 28 states, plus one territory, from which they said the department has received data.

That would leave the following 22 states, all led by Democratic governors, that have not provided data: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin.&nbsp;

The spokesperson provided some additional details of the initiative, including that the department was targeting administrative funds, and that the next step would be a formal warning.

Blue states sought to protect bad actors, including criminals and immigrants in the country without legal status, “over the American taxpayer,” the statement said.

“We have sent Democrat States yet another request for data, and if they fail to comply, they will be provided with formal warning that USDA will pull their administrative funds,” the spokesperson said.

Court&nbsp;<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.453513/gov.uscourts.cand.453513.109.0.pdf" target="_blank">records</a>&nbsp;show the department sent the states a new request for data on Nov. 28, and asked for a response within seven days, which would be Friday.&nbsp;

The letter was reproduced as part of a suit the 22 states have brought against the administration over the request for SNAP recipients’ data.

It’s unclear what authority Rollins would have to block funding, which Congress has appropriated.

The federal government pays for all benefits for SNAP, which was formerly known as food stamps. It splits the administrative costs with states.

The USDA spokesperson did not answer a direct question about the legal authority for withholding funds.

Democrats on the U.S. House Agriculture Committee said any effort to block SNAP funding would be illegal.

“Yet again, Trump and Rollins are illegally threatening to withhold federal dollars,” a social media post from an official account of committee Democrats read. “SNAP has one of the lowest fraud rates of any government program, but Trump continues to weaponize hunger.”

The committee’s lead Democrat, Angie Craig of Minnesota, issued her own statement that also accused the administration of “weaponizing hunger” and said Rollins “continues to spew propaganda.”

“Her disregard for the law and willingness to lie through her teeth comes from the very top – the Trump administration is as corrupt as it is lawless, and I will not sit silently as she carries out the president’s campaign against Americans struggling to afford food in part because of this president’s tariffs and disastrous economic policies.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

The data USDA has sought from states includes verification of SNAP recipients’ eligibility, along with a host of personal information such as Social Security numbers.

An early USDA review of data provided by the 28 states and Guam “indicates an estimated average of $24 million dollars per day of federal funds is lost to fraud and errors undetected by States in their administration of SNAP,” the department said in the Nov. 28 letter.

Preventing those losses could save up to $9 billion per year, the letter added.

But the types of fraud cited in some of the public statements from Rollins and the department are rare, existing data show.

A&nbsp;<a href="https://fns-prod.azureedge.us/sites/default/files/resource-files/snap-sar-fy23.pdf" target="_blank">2023 USDA report</a>&nbsp;showed about 26,000 applications, roughly 0.1% of the households enrolled in SNAP, were referred for an administrative or criminal review.

People in the country illegally have never been authorized to receive SNAP benefits.

“The long-standing data sources indicate that intentional fraud by participants is rare,” Katie Bergh, a senior food assistance policy analyst for the left-leaning think tank Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, said in a November interview.

SNAP has been a consistent target for cuts during Trump’s second presidency.

The issue was a focal point during the six-week government shutdown, during which the administration&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/shutdown-tug-war-over-snap-benefits-timeline" target="_blank">reversed itself often&nbsp;</a>but generally resisted calls — from states, advocates, lawmakers and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-administration-ordered-pay-full-9b-november-snap-benefits-amid-shutdown" target="_blank">federal judges</a>&nbsp;— to fund food assistance.

Shortly after the government reopened, Rollins in television interviews said she would force&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-administration-wants-everyone-reapply-food-stamps-what-does-mean" target="_blank">all recipients to reapply for benefit</a>s, a proposal seen as logistically challenging by program experts.

And the Republican taxes and spending law passed by Congress and signed by Trump earlier this year included new work requirements and other restrictions on SNAP eligibility that advocates say will lead to major drops in benefits.&nbsp;

The law will also make states pay for some share of benefits and increase the share of administrative costs that states are responsible for, potentially leading some states to cut benefits.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/10/1761944916334.png" alt="Post photo" />
                        <figcaption>Post photo</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>By:<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jacob-fischler/">Jacob Fischler</a></p><p>The U.S. Department of Agriculture will begin next week to block nutrition assistance funding for states led by Democrats that have not provided data on fraud in the program, Secretary Brooke Rollins told President Donald Trump at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">NO DATA, NO MONEY — it’s that simple.<br><br>If a state won’t share data on criminal use of SNAP benefits, it won’t get a dollar of federal SNAP administrative funding.<br><br>Let’s see which states stand for accountability and which are just protecting their bribery schemes. 🤔💸 <a href="https://t.co/Y1UXXDOoao">pic.twitter.com/Y1UXXDOoao</a></p>&mdash; Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecRollins/status/1995933975211397454?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p>USDA sought data from states earlier this year related to their administration of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits, Rollins said Tuesday. She added the data was needed to address fraud that she called “rampant” in the program that helps 42 million people afford groceries.</p><p>Most states complied with the request, but 21, mostly run by Democrats, refused, she said. A USDA spokesperson later implied the department was missing data from 22 states.</p><p>“As of next week, we have begun and will begin to stop moving federal funds into those states until they comply, and they tell us and allow us to partner with them to root out this fraud and to protect the American taxpayer,” Rollins said.</p><p>A USDA spokesperson in an email listed 28 states, plus one territory, from which they said the department has received data.</p><p>That would leave the following 22 states, all led by Democratic governors, that have not provided data: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin.&nbsp;</p><p>The spokesperson provided some additional details of the initiative, including that the department was targeting administrative funds, and that the next step would be a formal warning.</p><p>Blue states sought to protect bad actors, including criminals and immigrants in the country without legal status, “over the American taxpayer,” the statement said.</p><p>“We have sent Democrat States yet another request for data, and if they fail to comply, they will be provided with formal warning that USDA will pull their administrative funds,” the spokesperson said.</p><p>Court&nbsp;<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.453513/gov.uscourts.cand.453513.109.0.pdf" target="_blank">records</a>&nbsp;show the department sent the states a new request for data on Nov. 28, and asked for a response within seven days, which would be Friday.&nbsp;</p><p>The letter was reproduced as part of a suit the 22 states have brought against the administration over the request for SNAP recipients’ data.</p><h2>Leading Dem calls threat illegal</h2><p>It’s unclear what authority Rollins would have to block funding, which Congress has appropriated.</p><p>The federal government pays for all benefits for SNAP, which was formerly known as food stamps. It splits the administrative costs with states.</p><p>The USDA spokesperson did not answer a direct question about the legal authority for withholding funds.</p><p>Democrats on the U.S. House Agriculture Committee said any effort to block SNAP funding would be illegal.</p><p>“Yet again, Trump and Rollins are illegally threatening to withhold federal dollars,” a social media post from an official account of committee Democrats read. “SNAP has one of the lowest fraud rates of any government program, but Trump continues to weaponize hunger.”</p><p>The committee’s lead Democrat, Angie Craig of Minnesota, issued her own statement that also accused the administration of “weaponizing hunger” and said Rollins “continues to spew propaganda.”</p><p>“Her disregard for the law and willingness to lie through her teeth comes from the very top – the Trump administration is as corrupt as it is lawless, and I will not sit silently as she carries out the president’s campaign against Americans struggling to afford food in part because of this president’s tariffs and disastrous economic policies.”&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><h2>SNAP fraud</h2><p>The data USDA has sought from states includes verification of SNAP recipients’ eligibility, along with a host of personal information such as Social Security numbers.</p><p>An early USDA review of data provided by the 28 states and Guam “indicates an estimated average of $24 million dollars per day of federal funds is lost to fraud and errors undetected by States in their administration of SNAP,” the department said in the Nov. 28 letter.</p><p>Preventing those losses could save up to $9 billion per year, the letter added.</p><p>But the types of fraud cited in some of the public statements from Rollins and the department are rare, existing data show.</p><p>A&nbsp;<a href="https://fns-prod.azureedge.us/sites/default/files/resource-files/snap-sar-fy23.pdf" target="_blank">2023 USDA report</a>&nbsp;showed about 26,000 applications, roughly 0.1% of the households enrolled in SNAP, were referred for an administrative or criminal review.</p><p>People in the country illegally have never been authorized to receive SNAP benefits.</p><p>“The long-standing data sources indicate that intentional fraud by participants is rare,” Katie Bergh, a senior food assistance policy analyst for the left-leaning think tank Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, said in a November interview.</p><h2>Trump administration target</h2><p>SNAP has been a consistent target for cuts during Trump’s second presidency.</p><p>The issue was a focal point during the six-week government shutdown, during which the administration&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/shutdown-tug-war-over-snap-benefits-timeline" target="_blank">reversed itself often&nbsp;</a>but generally resisted calls — from states, advocates, lawmakers and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-administration-ordered-pay-full-9b-november-snap-benefits-amid-shutdown" target="_blank">federal judges</a>&nbsp;— to fund food assistance.</p><p>Shortly after the government reopened, Rollins in television interviews said she would force&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-administration-wants-everyone-reapply-food-stamps-what-does-mean" target="_blank">all recipients to reapply for benefit</a>s, a proposal seen as logistically challenging by program experts.</p><p>And the Republican taxes and spending law passed by Congress and signed by Trump earlier this year included new work requirements and other restrictions on SNAP eligibility that advocates say will lead to major drops in benefits.&nbsp;</p><p>The law will also make states pay for some share of benefits and increase the share of administrative costs that states are responsible for, potentially leading some states to cut benefits.</p>

USDA threatens to yank food stamps funding from Democratic-led states

&nbsp;President Donald Trump&nbsp;on Tuesday said he did not want Somali immigrants in the U.S.

<p>&nbsp;President Donald Trump&nbsp;on Tuesday said he did not want Somali immigrants in the U.S.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> tells it like it is about ungrateful Somali refugees amid the Minnesota fraud scandal:<br><br>&quot;When they come from hell and they complain and do nothing but bitch — we don&#39;t want them in our country. Let &#39;em go back to where they came from and fix it.&quot; 🔥 <a href="https://t.co/fuaAKP8VsW">pic.twitter.com/fuaAKP8VsW</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1995933974171189565?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">🚨 HOLY CRAP! President Trump calls Somalians and 3rd worlders &quot;GARBAGE&quot; who do &quot;nothing but B*TCH&quot;<br><br>&quot;We keep taking in GARBAGE to our country. Ilhan Omar is GARBAGE. Her friends are garbage...these people come from hell, complain, and do nothing but B*TCH.&quot;<br><br>&quot;WE DON&#39;T WANT &#39;EM!… <a href="https://t.co/TCIoEOFLoS">pic.twitter.com/TCIoEOFLoS</a></p>&mdash; Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/1995934758073667785?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

🎥What President Trump said about Somali immigrants in the U.S.

House Speaker Mike Johnson lit the Capitol Christmas Tree on Tuesday evening.&nbsp;A fourth grade Nevada student who won an essay contest joined Johnson in lighting the tree.

This year's tree is a 53-foot red fir from the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in Nevada.

The tree lights will be on each evening from dusk until 11 p.m. now through early January 2026.&nbsp;

<p>House Speaker Mike Johnson lit the Capitol Christmas Tree on Tuesday evening.&nbsp;A fourth grade Nevada student who won an essay contest joined Johnson in lighting the tree.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerJohnson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SpeakerJohnson</a> (R-LA) lit the Capitol Christmas Tree on Tuesday evening.<br> <br>This year&#39;s tree is a 53-foot red fir from the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in Nevada. <a href="https://t.co/HFd0n12YuS">pic.twitter.com/HFd0n12YuS</a></p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1995994486623871294?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p>This year's tree is a 53-foot red fir from the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in Nevada.</p><p>The tree lights will be on each evening from dusk until 11 p.m. now through early January 2026.&nbsp;</p>

4th grader joins House speaker in lighting U.S. Capitol Christmas tree

<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="zxx" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/LpRHm2TYhK">pic.twitter.com/LpRHm2TYhK</a></p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1995955384201195680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">President Trump Makes an Announcement, Dec. 2, 2025 <a href="https://t.co/p39M5Ke4LV">https://t.co/p39M5Ke4LV</a></p>&mdash; The White House (@WhiteHouse) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1995945069031960820?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">$6.25 billion. 25 million children. $250 each.<br><br>Susan and I believe the smartest investment we can make is in children. That’s why we’re so excited to contribute $6.25 billion from our charitable funds to help 25 million children start building a strong financial foundation… <a href="https://t.co/4Bcv3RKp0q">pic.twitter.com/4Bcv3RKp0q</a></p>&mdash; Michael Dell 🇺🇸 (@MichaelDell) <a href="https://twitter.com/MichaelDell/status/1995835745806786973?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="zxx" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/FKL1oV3EGC">https://t.co/FKL1oV3EGC</a> <a href="https://t.co/YT9J2eA4XQ">pic.twitter.com/YT9J2eA4XQ</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1995946698129252834?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="qme" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/FKL1oV3EGC">https://t.co/FKL1oV3EGC</a><a href="https://twitter.com/TrumpAccounts?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TrumpAccounts</a> <a href="https://t.co/Wsym6SuigS">pic.twitter.com/Wsym6SuigS</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1995952304688955888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

🎥Dells donate $6 billion to fund ‘Trump Accounts’ for millions of kids

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/12/1764640848301.png" alt="U.S. attack on an alleged drug boat Sept. 2-image from Department of War" />
                        <figcaption>U.S. attack on an alleged drug boat Sept. 2-image from Department of War</figcaption>
                    </figure><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/SecWar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecWar</a>: &quot;This is called the fog of war. This is what you in the press don&#39;t understand. You sit in you air conditioned offices or up on Capitol hill, and you nit-pick and you plant fake stories...and then you want to throw out really irresponsible terms about American heroes.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/TNAUjTd4ag">pic.twitter.com/TNAUjTd4ag</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1995931807674773554?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">For your Christmas wish list… <a href="https://t.co/pLXzg20SaL">pic.twitter.com/pLXzg20SaL</a></p>&mdash; Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) <a href="https://twitter.com/PeteHegseth/status/1995291042346852861?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Secretary Hegseth: &quot;We&#39;ve only just begun striking narco boats...We&#39;ve had a bit of a pause, because it&#39;s hard to find boats to strike right now.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/YwKbVuuHMy">pic.twitter.com/YwKbVuuHMy</a></p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1995908101862486021?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">President Trump: &quot;As far as the attack is concerned, I still haven&#39;t gotten a lot of information because I rely on Pete...I didn&#39;t know about the second strike...&quot;<br><br>Secretary Hegseth on Admiral Bradley: &quot;It was the right call. We have his back.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/ClTUtAY7mb">pic.twitter.com/ClTUtAY7mb</a></p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1995932265239425224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

🎥Hegseth defends, Trump distances himself from second boat strike

<i>Allison Peck | North Platte Post/Sandhills Post</i>

LINCOLN, Neb. — The Nebraska State Patrol reports that troopers took 24 impaired drivers off the road during the Thanksgiving travel period.

Between Wednesday, November 26, and Sunday, November 30, troopers arrested 24 motorists on suspicion of driving under the influence as part of the agency’s holiday enforcement efforts.

“Last weekend’s winter weather created an additional challenge for many families traveling across the state,” said Colonel Bryan Waugh, Superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol. “As the holiday season continues, our troopers will remain on the road ready to keep families safe as they travel to and from their holiday destinations.”

Along with the DUI arrests, troopers issued 363 citations for speeding, 11 for seat belt violations, 5 for improper child restraints, and 6 for minor-in-possession violations. Troopers also helped 303 motorists in need of roadside assistance during the long weekend.

With winter weather now affecting travel across the state, NSP encourages drivers to prepare for changing road conditions. Motorists can check conditions before and during their trips at 511.Nebraska.gov or through the Nebraska 511 smartphone app. Passengers are encouraged to monitor updates during travel for any closures or crash-related delays.

Anyone who becomes stranded or needs help on the road can contact the NSP Highway Helpline at *55 or 800-525-5555. Dispatchers are available 24/7 to send the nearest trooper to assist.

<p><i>Allison Peck | North Platte Post/Sandhills Post</i></p><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1574730582704.png" alt="<br>" />
                        <figcaption><br></figcaption>
                    </figure><p>LINCOLN, Neb. — The Nebraska State Patrol reports that troopers took 24 impaired drivers off the road during the Thanksgiving travel period.</p><p>Between Wednesday, November 26, and Sunday, November 30, troopers arrested 24 motorists on suspicion of driving under the influence as part of the agency’s holiday enforcement efforts.</p><p>“Last weekend’s winter weather created an additional challenge for many families traveling across the state,” said Colonel Bryan Waugh, Superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol. “As the holiday season continues, our troopers will remain on the road ready to keep families safe as they travel to and from their holiday destinations.”</p><p>Along with the DUI arrests, troopers issued 363 citations for speeding, 11 for seat belt violations, 5 for improper child restraints, and 6 for minor-in-possession violations. Troopers also helped 303 motorists in need of roadside assistance during the long weekend.</p><p>With winter weather now affecting travel across the state, NSP encourages drivers to prepare for changing road conditions. Motorists can check conditions before and during their trips at 511.Nebraska.gov or through the Nebraska 511 smartphone app. Passengers are encouraged to monitor updates during travel for any closures or crash-related delays.</p><p>Anyone who becomes stranded or needs help on the road can contact the NSP Highway Helpline at *55 or 800-525-5555. Dispatchers are available 24/7 to send the nearest trooper to assist.</p>

NSP Removes 24 Impaired Drivers Over Thanksgiving Weekend

WASHINGTON&nbsp;– The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced today that it will refer all passengers who do not present an acceptable form of ID and still want to fly an option to pay a $45 fee to use a modernized alternative identity verification system, TSA Confirm.ID, to establish identity at security checkpoints beginning on February 1, 2026, according to a media release from the TSA.

Travelers will be able to pay $45 to use TSA Confirm.ID for a 10-day travel period. TSA urges travelers who do not have a REAL ID to schedule an appointment at their local DMV to update their ID as soon as possible.

All travelers without an acceptable ID, including those who present a non-REAL ID-compliant state driver’s license or ID, will be referred to the optional TSA Confirm.ID process for identity verification upon TSA check-in and prior to entering the security line. This process will differ airport to airport, and TSA is working with private industry to proactively offer online payment options prior to arrival at the airport.

The REAL ID law was signed more than 20 years ago, but previous presidential administrations failed to properly implement it. Under President Trump’s leadership, the law was finally implemented and enforced by Secretary Kristi Noem as of May 7, 2025.

Currently, more than 94% of passengers already use their REAL ID or other acceptable forms of identification.&nbsp;TSA expects increased wait times for passengers who do not provide an acceptable ID.

“Identity verification is essential to traveler safety, because it keeps terrorists, criminals, and illegal aliens out of the skies and other domestic transportation systems such as rail,” said Senior Official Performing the Duties of Deputy Administrator for TSA Adam Stahl. “The vast majority of travelers present acceptable identification like REAL IDs and passports, but we must ensure everyone who flies is who they say they are. Beginning February 1, travelers who do not present an acceptable form of ID at our security checkpoints and still want to fly can pay a $45 fee and undergo the TSA Confirm.ID process. This fee ensures the cost to cover verification of an insufficient ID will come from the traveler, not the taxpayer. The security of the traveling public is our top priority, so we urge all travelers to get a REAL ID or other acceptable form of ID as soon as possible to avoid delays and potentially miss flights.”

TSA urges all travelers who do not have a REAL ID to pay the fee online before traveling. For passengers who arrive at the airport without paying the fee, information about how to pay for the TSA Confirm.ID option will be available at marked locations at or near the checkpoint in most airports. Travelers who undergo TSA Confirm.ID processing at an airport should expect delays. &nbsp;&nbsp;

TSA’s list of acceptable forms of ID can be found at&nbsp;<a href="https://links-2.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fwww.tsa.gov%2Ftravel%2Fsecurity-screening%2Fidentification/1/0101019adaed595c-96865191-bcc2-43a1-965f-d5ac642ae099-000000/OolXH2EJrqwNHp8pKwLnzpPoLnVSLa90uiGmDJ_m-Hs=433" target="_blank">TSA.gov/travel/security-screening/identification</a>.

For more information on REAL ID, please visit&nbsp;<a href="https://links-2.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fwww.tsa.gov%2Freal-id/2/0101019adaed595c-96865191-bcc2-43a1-965f-d5ac642ae099-000000/rlIgRwnDC3uSOyUcWNwGNdpedz0TxGUsS1KTWjAvEcY=433" target="_blank">TSA.gov/real-id</a>&nbsp;or text 275-872 (“AskTSA”) or&nbsp;<a href="https://links-2.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fx.com%2FAskTSA/1/0101019adaed595c-96865191-bcc2-43a1-965f-d5ac642ae099-000000/XvKffNzS8IXJ4xe-y1peIboZCAJl7_cg6SQCb5jM5n8=433">@AskTSA</a>&nbsp;with questions.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/12/1764636170272.png" alt="Real ID -photo KCI" />
                        <figcaption>Real ID -photo KCI</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>WASHINGTON&nbsp;– The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced today that it will refer all passengers who do not present an acceptable form of ID and still want to fly an option to pay a $45 fee to use a modernized alternative identity verification system, TSA Confirm.ID, to establish identity at security checkpoints beginning on February 1, 2026, according to a media release from the TSA.</p><p>Travelers will be able to pay $45 to use TSA Confirm.ID for a 10-day travel period. TSA urges travelers who do not have a REAL ID to schedule an appointment at their local DMV to update their ID as soon as possible.</p><p>Acceptable forms of ID include:</p><ul>
                        <li><a href="https://links-2.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fwww.tsa.gov%2Freal-id/1/0101019adaed595c-96865191-bcc2-43a1-965f-d5ac642ae099-000000/WDYagsF_q2ZnJz9Pg_z9jbEWD0vyCJOgUmyJ0lY23lM=433">REAL ID</a>-compliant driver's licenses or other state photo identity cards issued by Department of Motor Vehicles (or equivalent)</li><li>If you are not sure if your ID complies with REAL ID, check with your state Department of Motor Vehicles.</li><li>A temporary driver’s license is not an acceptable form of identification.</li><li>State-issued Enhanced Driver's License (EDL) or Enhanced ID (EID)</li><li><a href="https://links-2.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Ftravel.state.gov%2Fcontent%2Ftravel%2Fen%2Fpassports.html/1/0101019adaed595c-96865191-bcc2-43a1-965f-d5ac642ae099-000000/DcixX7IgNLMrahll1IM8m7IKRalC57koKuBiR1HFe3s=433">U.S. passport</a></li><li><a href="https://links-2.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Ftravel.state.gov%2Fcontent%2Ftravel%2Fen%2Fpassports%2Fneed-passport%2Fcard.html/1/0101019adaed595c-96865191-bcc2-43a1-965f-d5ac642ae099-000000/2rqVGIsFCRyG_7doKiIekytKvboeVp86mbnum1hsHRM=433">U.S. passport card</a></li><li>DHS trusted traveler cards (Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST)</li><li>U.S. Department of Defense ID, including IDs issued to dependents</li><li>Permanent resident card</li><li>Border crossing card</li><li>An acceptable photo ID issued by a&nbsp;<a href="https://links-2.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fwww.federalregister.gov%2Fdocuments%2F2021%2F01%2F29%2F2021-01606%2Findian-entities-recognized-by-and-eligible-to-receive-services-from-the-united-states-bureau-of/1/0101019adaed595c-96865191-bcc2-43a1-965f-d5ac642ae099-000000/_tboMwFfofecM3DEMNqmD_nDIMATmi8_XCjI1NPoteo=433">federally recognized</a>&nbsp;Tribal Nation/Indian Tribe, including Enhanced Tribal Cards (ETCs)</li><li>HSPD-12 PIV card</li><li>Foreign government-issued passport</li><li>Canadian provincial driver's license or Indian and Northern Affairs Canada card</li><li>Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC)</li><li>U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment Authorization Card (I-766)</li><li>U.S. Merchant Mariner Credential</li><li>Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC)</li>
                    </ul><p>All travelers without an acceptable ID, including those who present a non-REAL ID-compliant state driver’s license or ID, will be referred to the optional TSA Confirm.ID process for identity verification upon TSA check-in and prior to entering the security line. This process will differ airport to airport, and TSA is working with private industry to proactively offer online payment options prior to arrival at the airport.</p><p>The REAL ID law was signed more than 20 years ago, but previous presidential administrations failed to properly implement it. Under President Trump’s leadership, the law was finally implemented and enforced by Secretary Kristi Noem as of May 7, 2025.</p><p>Currently, more than 94% of passengers already use their REAL ID or other acceptable forms of identification.&nbsp;TSA expects increased wait times for passengers who do not provide an acceptable ID.</p><p>“Identity verification is essential to traveler safety, because it keeps terrorists, criminals, and illegal aliens out of the skies and other domestic transportation systems such as rail,” said Senior Official Performing the Duties of Deputy Administrator for TSA Adam Stahl. “The vast majority of travelers present acceptable identification like REAL IDs and passports, but we must ensure everyone who flies is who they say they are. Beginning February 1, travelers who do not present an acceptable form of ID at our security checkpoints and still want to fly can pay a $45 fee and undergo the TSA Confirm.ID process. This fee ensures the cost to cover verification of an insufficient ID will come from the traveler, not the taxpayer. The security of the traveling public is our top priority, so we urge all travelers to get a REAL ID or other acceptable form of ID as soon as possible to avoid delays and potentially miss flights.”</p><p>TSA urges all travelers who do not have a REAL ID to pay the fee online before traveling. For passengers who arrive at the airport without paying the fee, information about how to pay for the TSA Confirm.ID option will be available at marked locations at or near the checkpoint in most airports. Travelers who undergo TSA Confirm.ID processing at an airport should expect delays. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>TSA’s list of acceptable forms of ID can be found at&nbsp;<a href="https://links-2.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fwww.tsa.gov%2Ftravel%2Fsecurity-screening%2Fidentification/1/0101019adaed595c-96865191-bcc2-43a1-965f-d5ac642ae099-000000/OolXH2EJrqwNHp8pKwLnzpPoLnVSLa90uiGmDJ_m-Hs=433" target="_blank">TSA.gov/travel/security-screening/identification</a>.</p><p>For more information on REAL ID, please visit&nbsp;<a href="https://links-2.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fwww.tsa.gov%2Freal-id/2/0101019adaed595c-96865191-bcc2-43a1-965f-d5ac642ae099-000000/rlIgRwnDC3uSOyUcWNwGNdpedz0TxGUsS1KTWjAvEcY=433" target="_blank">TSA.gov/real-id</a>&nbsp;or text 275-872 (“AskTSA”) or&nbsp;<a href="https://links-2.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fx.com%2FAskTSA/1/0101019adaed595c-96865191-bcc2-43a1-965f-d5ac642ae099-000000/XvKffNzS8IXJ4xe-y1peIboZCAJl7_cg6SQCb5jM5n8=433">@AskTSA</a>&nbsp;with questions.</p>

US air travelers without REAL IDs will soon be charged a hefty fee

Foley questions state handling of publicly funded program aiding people with disabilities

By Cindy Gonzalez | Nebraska Examiner<br>

LINCOLN — Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley has called out a state agency for allowing “outrageous” dysfunction in a publicly funded program that provides personal assistance to people with disabilities.

In an&nbsp;<a href="https://auditors.nebraska.gov/APA_Reports/2025/SA25-12012025-July_1_2024_through_June_30_2025_Medicaid_Single_Early_Management_Letter.pdf" target="_blank">11-page letter</a>&nbsp;Monday to Steve Corsi, chief executive of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Foley’s team alleged “ongoing financial abuse” in the personal assistance services (PAS) program that helps Medicaid-eligible Nebraskans with mobility, hygiene and housekeeping.

“Numerous PAS caregivers continue to milk the program with false, inflated and duplicate billings,” Foley said, adding that the alarm to DHHS was his office’s third since February 2024.

He said DHHS “oversight failures may, in fact, be feeding the problem — effectively setting the stage for some truly mind boggling improprieties, financial and otherwise.”

Information uncovered by the audit team was forwarded to law enforcement for review of possible legal violations.

In one case, the auditors said, a caregiver had been authorized to deliver 66 hours of personal assistance services a week despite holding down a full-time job as a school bus driver. Auditors identified 28 days during which the caregiver billed DHHS for performing client services at the exact times she was documented to have been driving students.

<i>(DHHS) oversight failures may, in fact, be feeding the problem — effectively setting the stage for some truly mind boggling improprieties, financial and otherwise.</i>

<b>– Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley</b>

In another example, Foley described a personal caregiver who billed DHHS for 70 days of client services while working full-time for a family counseling business. He said that created an “impossible scenario” of the caregiver working more than 24 hours in each of 45 days during a three-month period reviewed.&nbsp;

“Some of these caregivers claim to be performing work schedules that would make the Energizer Bunny look like a slacker,” said Foley.&nbsp;

That caregiver had tapped into other public programs as well, including the larger personal care services (PCS) budget and foster care. Particularly troubling to the auditor was that the caregiver in that case provided help to two adult clients who lived in her home. And one, a relative, was on the sex offender registry for having been convicted of felony sex trafficking of children in 2014.&nbsp;Living in the home as well, said Foley, was a 14-year-old girl in the state foster care system.

He said the caregiver appeared to have been purposefully deceitful in failing to disclose to foster care agencies that the past offender lived in the house. In seeking personal care aid, the provider reportedly claimed the relative lived in a backyard “cabin,” for which cleaning was authorized.

“When the audit team reported this bizarre and unsafe domestic arrangement, DHHS removed the foster child from the home,” Foley said.

The findings surfaced during the ongoing statewide annual audit and were reported to Corsi early due to “urgent need for corrective action,” the letter said.

For fiscal year 2025, PAS expenses totaled $10.5 million, of which the federal government covers 60% of costs and the state pays 40%. The PCS program has the same federal-state split for a much larger budget. Foley said the Monday letter aimed mostly at the PAS program.

Revelations outlined in the Monday letter were based on a review of four care providers and one 10-client agency that deals with high dollar amounts. Of the fraction reviewed, the auditing team found about $19,300 in questionable spending.

Another of the examples cited by Foley was a caregiver authorized by DHHS to be paid for 118 hours of service per week, split across three separate clients. Two were her parents, who did not live with her.

“This would require the provider to perform services for more than 16 hours every day of the week,” the team noted in the report, calling that authorization unreasonable.

Foley said he is convinced that a more thorough combing would lead to “a whole lot more” problems. His concern was heightened by an ongoing pattern, he said. Monday’s letter is the latest in a series of communications to DHHS over the past decade alleging potential fraud and other issues that, according to Foley, “appear to have grown increasingly egregious.”

DHHS leadership saw the findings before the public release, and included a response in the letter.

In it, agency managers said they agree with the auditor team’s recommendations to implement procedures that ensure proper payments. They also said DHHS already has taken “significant” steps to implement controls that should mitigate most of the conditions observed by auditors.

In February, for example, the Medicaid and Long-Term Care team started requiring GPS/IVR visit verification and recipient signatures to support a claim payment.

<h2>Foley questions state handling of publicly funded program aiding people with disabilities</h2><p>By Cindy Gonzalez | Nebraska Examiner<br></p><figure>
                        <img src="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/IMG_6470-scaled-e1685984799495-1536x1021.jpg" alt="&nbsp;The Nebraska State Auditor’s Office in the State Capitol. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner)" />
                        <figcaption>&nbsp;The Nebraska State Auditor’s Office in the State Capitol. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>LINCOLN — Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley has called out a state agency for allowing “outrageous” dysfunction in a publicly funded program that provides personal assistance to people with disabilities.</p><p>In an&nbsp;<a href="https://auditors.nebraska.gov/APA_Reports/2025/SA25-12012025-July_1_2024_through_June_30_2025_Medicaid_Single_Early_Management_Letter.pdf" target="_blank">11-page letter</a>&nbsp;Monday to Steve Corsi, chief executive of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Foley’s team alleged “ongoing financial abuse” in the personal assistance services (PAS) program that helps Medicaid-eligible Nebraskans with mobility, hygiene and housekeeping.</p><p>“Numerous PAS caregivers continue to milk the program with false, inflated and duplicate billings,” Foley said, adding that the alarm to DHHS was his office’s third since February 2024.</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/image-300x162.png" alt="Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley. (Courtesy of State Auditor’s Office)" />
                        <figcaption>Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley. (Courtesy of State Auditor’s Office)</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>He said DHHS “oversight failures may, in fact, be feeding the problem — effectively setting the stage for some truly mind boggling improprieties, financial and otherwise.”</p><p>Information uncovered by the audit team was forwarded to law enforcement for review of possible legal violations.</p><h2>Energizer bunny?</h2><p>In one case, the auditors said, a caregiver had been authorized to deliver 66 hours of personal assistance services a week despite holding down a full-time job as a school bus driver. Auditors identified 28 days during which the caregiver billed DHHS for performing client services at the exact times she was documented to have been driving students.</p><p><i>(DHHS) oversight failures may, in fact, be feeding the problem — effectively setting the stage for some truly mind boggling improprieties, financial and otherwise.</i></p><p><b>– Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley</b></p><p>In another example, Foley described a personal caregiver who billed DHHS for 70 days of client services while working full-time for a family counseling business. He said that created an “impossible scenario” of the caregiver working more than 24 hours in each of 45 days during a three-month period reviewed.&nbsp;</p><p>“Some of these caregivers claim to be performing work schedules that would make the Energizer Bunny look like a slacker,” said Foley.&nbsp;</p><p>That caregiver had tapped into other public programs as well, including the larger personal care services (PCS) budget and foster care. Particularly troubling to the auditor was that the caregiver in that case provided help to two adult clients who lived in her home. And one, a relative, was on the sex offender registry for having been convicted of felony sex trafficking of children in 2014.&nbsp;Living in the home as well, said Foley, was a 14-year-old girl in the state foster care system.</p><p>He said the caregiver appeared to have been purposefully deceitful in failing to disclose to foster care agencies that the past offender lived in the house. In seeking personal care aid, the provider reportedly claimed the relative lived in a backyard “cabin,” for which cleaning was authorized.</p><p>“When the audit team reported this bizarre and unsafe domestic arrangement, DHHS removed the foster child from the home,” Foley said.</p><p>The findings surfaced during the ongoing statewide annual audit and were reported to Corsi early due to “urgent need for corrective action,” the letter said.</p><p>For fiscal year 2025, PAS expenses totaled $10.5 million, of which the federal government covers 60% of costs and the state pays 40%. The PCS program has the same federal-state split for a much larger budget. Foley said the Monday letter aimed mostly at the PAS program.</p><p>Revelations outlined in the Monday letter were based on a review of four care providers and one 10-client agency that deals with high dollar amounts. Of the fraction reviewed, the auditing team found about $19,300 in questionable spending.</p><h2>‘Increasingly egregious’</h2><p>Another of the examples cited by Foley was a caregiver authorized by DHHS to be paid for 118 hours of service per week, split across three separate clients. Two were her parents, who did not live with her.</p><p>“This would require the provider to perform services for more than 16 hours every day of the week,” the team noted in the report, calling that authorization unreasonable.</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Leadership-Corsi-Large-276x300.jpg" alt="Steve Corsi, CEO of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. (Courtesy of Nebraska DHHS)" />
                        <figcaption>Steve Corsi, CEO of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. (Courtesy of Nebraska DHHS)</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>Foley said he is convinced that a more thorough combing would lead to “a whole lot more” problems. His concern was heightened by an ongoing pattern, he said. Monday’s letter is the latest in a series of communications to DHHS over the past decade alleging potential fraud and other issues that, according to Foley, “appear to have grown increasingly egregious.”</p><p>DHHS leadership saw the findings before the public release, and included a response in the letter.</p><p>In it, agency managers said they agree with the auditor team’s recommendations to implement procedures that ensure proper payments. They also said DHHS already has taken “significant” steps to implement controls that should mitigate most of the conditions observed by auditors.</p><p>In February, for example, the Medicaid and Long-Term Care team started requiring GPS/IVR visit verification and recipient signatures to support a claim payment.</p><p>Among other actions, the Child and Family Services will work with the Nebraska State Patrol to develop an automated process that compares addresses of foster parents with the Sex Offender Registry on a quarterly basis. The system is to help ensure no offender resides at the same address as a ward of the state.&nbsp;</p><p>DHHS contacts were listed as Jeremy Brussen of Medicaid and Long-Term Care and Kathleen Stolz of Child Family Services.</p><h2>No pushback</h2><p>Contacted Monday, a DHHS spokesman referred to the agency’s response in the auditor’s report, reiterating that the department agreed with recommendations and was actively implementing procedures and controls to ensure proper payment for services.&nbsp;</p><p>Foley said that with “all the attention” the personal assistance program has gotten, he would have expected more progress. However, he said, he is optimistic in the ability of Corsi’s DHHS, adding that his predecessor “used to fight us on everything.”</p><p>“We’re not getting any pushback,” Foley said of the agency.</p>