Appeals court lifts blocks on Trump's orders restricting diversity, equity and inclusion programs
WASHINGTON (AP) — An appeals court on Friday lifted a block on executive orders seeking to end government support for diversity, equity and inclusion programs, handing the Trump administration a win after a string of setbacks defending President Donald Trump’s agenda from dozens of lawsuits.
The decision from a three-judge panel allows the orders to be enforced as a lawsuit challenging them plays out. The appeals court judges halted a nationwide injunction from U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson in Baltimore.
Two of the judges on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote that Trump’s anti-DEI push could eventually raise concerns about First Amendment rights but said the judge’s sweeping block went too far.
“My vote should not be understood as agreement with the orders’ attack on efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion,” Judge Pamela Harris wrote. Two of the panel's members were appointed by President Barack Obama, while the third was appointed by Trump.
Abelson had found the orders likely violated free-speech rights and are unconstitutionally vague since they don’t have a specific definition of DEI.
___
Senate approves funding bill hours before shutdown deadline, sending to Trump for signature
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate passed a Republican-led spending bill Friday hours before a government shutdown, overcoming sharp Democratic opposition to the measure and sending it to President Donald Trump to be signed into law.
The essentially party-line vote, 54-46, didn't give the full picture of gnawing Democratic angst over how to confront the Trump administration as its Department of Government Efficiency fires federal workers and dismantles operations. Democrats argued over whether to fight even risking a shutdown and fumed that Republicans drafted a measure that included little of their input, shortchanging health care, housing and other priorities.
But in the end, enough of the Democratic senators decided a government shutdown would be even worse, and backed Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer's strategy to allow the bill to come forward.
“A shutdown will allow DOGE to shift into overdrive,” Schumer said. “Donald Trump and Elon Musk would be free to destroy vital government services at a much faster rate.”
Democrats were confronted with two painful options: allowing passage of a bill they believe gives President Donald Trump vast discretion on spending decisions or voting no and letting funding lapse. All told, 10 Democrats voted to break the party’s filibuster to advance the bill to a final vote. On final passage, two Democrats supported the bill, and one Republican, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, opposed it. It funds the government for another six months.
___
More than 50 universities face federal investigations as part of Trump's anti-DEI campaign
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 50 universities are being investigated for alleged racial discrimination as part of President Donald Trump’s campaign to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs that his officials say exclude white and Asian American students.
The Education Department announced the new investigations Friday, one month after issuing a memo warning America’s schools and colleges that they could lose federal money over “race-based preferences” in admissions, scholarships or any aspect of student life.
“Students must be assessed according to merit and accomplishment, not prejudged by the color of their skin,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “We will not yield on this commitment.”
Most of the new inquiries are focused on colleges’ partnerships with the PhD Project, a nonprofit that helps students from underrepresented groups get degrees in business with the goal of diversifying the business world.
Department officials said that the group limits eligibility based on race and that colleges that partner with it are “engaging in race-exclusionary practices in their graduate programs.”
___
Federal judge considers blocking DOGE from accessing Social Security data of millions of Americans
BALTIMORE (AP) — A federal judge is considering whether to temporarily block Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing Social Security Administration systems that hold sensitive data on millions of Americans.
A group of labor unions and retirees sued the Trump administration and asked the court to issue an emergency order limiting DOGE’s access to the agency and its data.
DOGE’s “nearly unlimited” access violates privacy laws and presents massive information security risks, they said. A recently departed Social Security official who saw the DOGE team sweep into the agency said she is deeply worried about sensitive information being exposed.
The administration has said DOGE is targeting waste and fraud in the federal government.
During a Friday hearing on the issue in federal court in Baltimore, U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander repeatedly questioned attorneys for the government about why the DOGE team needed such a large quantity of sensitive personal information about Social Security recipients, including health records for disability applicants. She questioned whether a more targeted approach would allow DOGE to uncover improper payments without accessing so much data.
___
Trump pledges to 'expose' his enemies in political speech at Justice Department
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump pledged to “expose” his enemies during a norm-breaking political speech Friday at the Justice Department in which he aired a litany of grievances about the criminal cases he faced and vowed retribution for what he described as the “lies and abuses that have occurred within these walls.”
The speech was meant to rally support for Trump administration policies on violent crime, drugs and illegal immigration. But it also functioned as a triumphant forum for the president to boast about having emerged legally and politically unscathed from two federal prosecutions that one year ago had threatened to torpedo his presidential prospects but were dismissed after his election win last fall.
Though other presidents have spoken from the Justice Department's ceremonial Great Hall, Trump’s address amounted to an extraordinary display of partisan politics and personal grievance inside an institution that is meant to be blind to both. Casting himself as the country's “chief law enforcement officer,” a title ordinarily reserved for the attorney general, he promised to target his perceived enemies even as he claimed to be ending what he called the weaponization of the department.
The speech marked the latest manifestation of Trump’s unparalleled takeover of the department and came amid a brazen campaign of retribution already undertaken under his watch, including the firing of prosecutors who investigated him during the Biden administration and the scrutiny of thousands of FBI agents who investigated the president's supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“Our predecessors turned this Department of Justice into the Department of Injustice. But I stand before you today to declare that those days are over, and they are never going to come back and never coming back," Trump said to cheers from a crowd that included local law enforcement officials, political allies and FBI Director Kash Patel. “So now, as the chief law enforcement officer in our country, I will insist upon and demand full and complete accountability for the wrongs and abuses that have occurred.”
___
Big March storm fans wildfires and kills 3 as forecasters fear weekend tornado outbreak
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A sprawling storm system crossing the U.S. on Friday caused deadly crashes, overturned semitrucks and fanned dozens of wildfires in several central states, prompting evacuation orders in some communities. At least nine tornadoes touched down in Missouri, and threats of more loomed for the Mississippi Valley into the night and the Deep South on Saturday.
The National Weather Service warned of extreme weather across a vast swath of the country that is home to more than 100 million people. Powerful winds gusting up to 80 mph (130 kph) were forecast from the Canadian border to Texas.
Three people were killed Friday in car crashes caused by a dust storm in the Texas Panhandle, according to Sgt. Cindy Barkley of the state’s department of public safety.
“It’s been a nightmare out here,” Barkley said, adding that it was difficult to assess many of the crashes due to the near-zero visibility.
Nearly 150 fires were reported in Oklahoma, Andy James, Oklahoma Forestry Services fire management chief, told KOCO-TV. The State Patrol said on the social platform X that winds toppled several tractor-trailers.
___
Hamas says it will release a US-Israeli hostage and 4 bodies, but Israel expresses immediate doubt
JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinian militant group Hamas said Friday that it has accepted a proposal from mediators to release one living American-Israeli hostage and the bodies of four dual nationals who had died in captivity. The Israeli prime minister's office cast doubt on the offer, accusing Hamas of trying to manipulate talks underway in Qatar on the next stage of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.
Hamas, which rules over what remains of the Gaza Strip, didn't immediately specify when the release of soldier Edan Alexander and the four bodies would take place — or what it expected to get in return.
Alexander was 19 when he was abducted from his base on the border with Gaza in southern Israel during Hamas' attack on Oct. 7, 2023 that sparked the war, which has been the deadliest and most destructive fighting ever between Israel and Hamas.
It wasn't clear which mediators proposed what Hamas was discussing. Egypt, Qatar and the U.S. have been guiding negotiations, and none had confirmed making the suggestion as of Friday night.
U.S. officials, including envoy Steve Witkoff, said Friday that they had presented a proposal Wednesday to extend the ceasefire a few more weeks as the sides negotiate a permanent truce. The officials said in a statement that Hamas was claiming flexibility in public while privately making “entirely impractical" demands.
___
SpaceX launches a new crew to the space station to replace NASA's stuck astronauts
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The replacements for NASA’s two stuck astronauts launched to the International Space Station on Friday night, paving the way for the pair’s return after nine long months.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams need SpaceX to get this relief team to the space station before they can check out. Arrival is set for late Saturday night.
NASA wants overlap between the two crews so Wilmore and Williams can fill in the newcomers on happenings aboard the orbiting lab. That would put them on course for an undocking next week and a splashdown off the Florida coast, weather permitting.
The duo will be escorted back by astronauts who flew up on a rescue mission on SpaceX last September alongside two empty seats reserved for Wilmore and Williams on the return leg.
Reaching orbit from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the newest crew includes NASA’s Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, both military pilots; and Japan’s Takuya Onishi and Russia’s Kirill Peskov, both former airline pilots. They will spend the next six months at the space station, considered the normal stint, after springing Wilmore and Williams free.
___
Wall Street rallies to its best day in months, but that’s not enough to salvage its losing week
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rallied to their best day in months on Friday as Wall Street’s roller coaster suddenly shot back upward. That still wasn’t enough to keep the U.S. market from a fourth straight losing week, its longest such streak since August.
The S&P 500 jumped 2.1% a day after closing more than 10% below its record for its first “ correction ” since 2023. The last time the index shot up that much was the day after President Donald Trump’s election, when Wall Street was focusing on the upsides of Trump's return to the White House.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 674 points, or 1.7%, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 2.6%.
A multi-day “relief rally could be coming” after so much negativity built among investors, said Yung-Yu Ma, chief investment officer at BMO Wealth Management. Swings in sentiment don’t go full-tilt in just one direction forever, and the U.S. stock market has been tumbling quickly since setting a record less than a month ago.
One piece of uncertainty hanging over Wall Street may be clearing after the Senate made moves to prevent a possible partial shutdown of the U.S. government.
___
Thousands converging on Serbia's capital for a major rally that tests Vucic's populist government
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Tens of thousands of people swarmed the streets in Serbia's capital Belgrade on Friday, staging a joyful prelude to a major anti-government rally on the weekend and dealing a blow to populist President Aleksandar Vucic.
The citizens of Belgrade came out to welcome thousands of university students who converged on Belgrade from across the country for the rally planned for Saturday that is expected to draw even more people.
Saturday’s protest is seen as a culmination of months of anti-graft demonstrations in the Balkan country that have posed the biggest challenge so far for Vucic’s decade-long firm grip on power in Serbia.
Flares, fireworks and flag-waving crowds filled the downtown streets in stark contrast to weeks of fear-mongering spread by Vucic's populists with an aim to dissuade people from attending the rally Saturday.
The autocratic leader has repeatedly warned that violence is planned at the rally and threatened arrests over any incidents. Vucic's supporters have been camping in the city center, fueling fears of clashes with the protesters.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
