In the News

Governor Maura Healey criticized the Trump administration’s proposal to scale back regulations for the federally funded Head Start child-care program, calling it “reckless and wrongheaded” on Wednesday.

The rollback would result in more children being turned away from free child care, she said, as well as less well-trained teachers and a reduction in medical screenings, mental health services, and other support for low-income families.

In reaction to a proposal for a major overhaul to the federal Head Start program by the Trump administration, Gov. Maura Healey and three members of the Massachusetts federal delegation are calling on the president to reverse the newly proposed standards they say will “dismantle” the program in the Bay State.

The Congressional Equality Caucus said Monday that 179 members of Congress, including 13 senators, had signed a brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to preserve Colorado’s power to prevent publicly funded preschools from denying admission to children because they or their parents are LGBTQ+.

BIDDEFORD, Maine — Massachusetts Rep. Katherine Clark and other high-ranking Democrats held a hearing in Maine on Monday about the killing of a man by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement
officer last month, raising questions about the agency's actions and the information it used during the operation.

Federal investigators said ICE officers opened fire when Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero, a Colombian husband and father, drove his car toward an officer.

U.S. House Democrats will be holding their second field hearing next week to address fatal shootings committed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-ME, has organized the hearing, “Seeking Justice in Biddeford” to conduct oversight of ICE’s use of force after the July 13 ICE fatal shooting of Colombian national Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, in Biddeford, Maine.

The hearing will be held at 11 a.m. Aug. 17 at Biddeford High School’s Little Theater.

As Americans continue to struggle with the cost of gasoline, groceries, healthcare, housing, and more under President Donald Trump, congressional Democrats and economists on Wednesday used his own government’s latest inflation figures to call out the Republican’s handling of the US economy.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the consumer price index—a measure of goods and services bought by households—increased 0.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis in July after falling 0.4% in June. The annual inflation rate was 3.4% before seasonal adjustment.

House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) says progressive Abdul Ed-Sayed's win in Michigan is a signal that voters are looking for "fighters" who will stand up for them in Congress. She says she believes Democrats will have the majority in the House come November, while signaling openness to a stopgap bill to avert a shutdown, noting that the Senate's proposal is a "big improvement." She speaks with Kailey Leinz and Joe Mathieu on the late edition of Bloomberg’s "Balance of Power."

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Gov. Maura Healey is urging the U.S. Senate to pass legislation extending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians, warning that a failure to act will severely disrupt the state’s economy and healthcare sectors.

TPS for Haitians ended Monday following a U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld President Donald Trump’s plan to end the protections, which have been in place since 2010. Legislation to extend the status for Haitians has already passed the U.S. House of Representatives.