Georgia Republicans abruptly changed course on redistricting on Wednesday, backing down on their plans to redraw the boundaries between Congress and state districts ahead of the 2028 elections less than an hour before lawmakers bowed out of the special session.

At a joint news conference Wednesday, House Speaker Jon Burns, a Republican from Newington, and Senate President Pro Tem Larry Walker III, a Republican from Perry, told a raucous crowd that they plan to focus on securing property tax relief and ratifying last month’s gas tax suspension, not on changing borders. Lawmakers must also address the July 1 deadline QR codes to be removed from Georgia ballots.

“As we gather today, Georgia House Republicans are focused on Georgia’s future and the issues that truly matter to our neighbors across the state, not partisan gains,” Burns said.

Both lawmakers added that they are waiting for developments in ongoing court cases.

“We believe it would be prudent to allow the litigation process to continue to develop in other states and evaluate how courts rule on newly adopted district maps in other states,” Walker said. “With this guidance, we have confidence that Georgia’s new districts will ultimately withstand legal scrutiny.”

Legal dispute over current political maps of Georgia is still in progress. A federal judge ordered lawmakers to draw novel maps in 2023 to create an additional majority-Black congressional district in western metro Atlanta and seven additional majority-Black legislative districts.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who added redistricting to the agenda when he called the special session, said he believed a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that weakened a key provision of the Voting Rights Act made Georgia’s current maps unconstitutional. But Kemp, who is term-limited and who is in his final year in office, acknowledged he does not have the authority to force lawmakers to draw novel maps.

“I don’t think there is any reason to delay the repartition process, especially since the Legislature has already convened,” Kemp said in a statement. “However, legislative districts are the responsibility of the General Assembly and may, at its discretion, defer this matter to a later date.”

Earlier this year, Kemp broke with many other Republican-led Southern states by declaring this state wouldn’t strive redistricting before the 2026 general election. States like Alabama and Tennessee have this willing to break up black-majority districts since the Supreme Court ruling. In neighboring South Carolina, lawmakers considered redistricting, but he finally chose don’t strive for it.

Some Republicans, including Sen. Greg Dolezal of Cumming, who is the GOP candidate for lieutenant governor, expressed disapproval of legislative leaders’ decision to halt the redistricting process.

“I’ve always been of the opinion that we should do it as soon as possible,” Dolezal said. “So, if the legal mechanisms put us in a position where we couldn’t do it, I understand that. But in my opinion, it’s as fast as possible.”

Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones, an Augusta Democrat, argued that widespread opposition from Georgia residents ultimately led Republican lawmakers to abandon redistricting plans.

“Make no mistake, it was the citizens of Georgia who put pressure on the General Assembly and let them know they did not appreciate the attempt to steal this election,” Jones said.

“Throughout this process, people have really been galvanized and galvanized into action, so those who actually wanted to limit the voting power of African Americans saw that and today decided that it was not in their best interest to take any further action.”

State Rep. Jasmine Clark, a Democrat from Lilburn and the Democratic candidate for the 13th Congressional District, echoed Jones’ sentiments. The district, which includes Rockdale County and parts of Clayton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Henry and Newton counties, is majority-black and was among those where supporters feared they could be targeted by Republicans during the redistricting process.

“This was a huge victory for the people who organized and protested the maps because they knew what was at stake,” Clark said in a statement. “This fight is not over, but I am glad that the people of Georgia’s 13th Congressional District will continue to have the right to elect their representatives.”

While Democrats celebrated the move, they also urged Georgians to remain vigilant against future border change efforts. Former Democratic state Sen. Jason Esteves said unforeseen events could still happen and that Georgians need to keep showing up at the Capitol to “make sure lawmakers see that we hold them accountable.”

Rep. Michelle Au, a Democrat from Johns Creek, urged voters to show up for the redistricting conference town hall Thursday despite news warning that GOP leaders may return after the November election for another special session on redistricting.

“Don’t get comfortable,” she said he said.

Activists put pressure on legislators

Before Georgia Republicans publicly backed away from their redistricting plans, demonstrators filled the Capitol to express opposition to the plan to redraw district lines. About 200 people took part in a Wednesday morning march through downtown Atlanta, with protesters calling on lawmakers to preserve the voting power of Black voters rather than limit it.

At a pre-march meeting at Big Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Atlanta, voting rights advocates and religious leaders hailed the redistricting push as a revival of decades-long efforts to suppress black voting power in the South.

“These maneuvers to make it more difficult for ordinary people to participate in the democratic process are not original, they are not innovative and they are not creative,” said Michael L. Mitchell, who is bishop of the 6th District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. “They are tired rehashes of an outdated and desperate playbook written in the 1950s and 1960s.”

The timing of the event may also have favored voting rights activists: Atlanta did hosting eight FIFA World Cup matches in June and July, allowing protesters to attract international attention.

During the event, activists urged attendees to stay engaged and support turn out as many voters as possible in the midterms.

“Democracy was never supposed to be something that happened to us,” said Jackie Killings, president of the League of Women Voters of Georgia. “Democracy is what we do. It works on ordinary people, like each of you here today, who decide that we will not sit down, we will not be silent, and we will not wait to be seen and we will not wait to be heard.”

A holiday headache for legislators

Lawmakers are gathering for a special session ahead of the weekend when Black Georgians will observe Juneteenth, a federal holiday commemorating the emancipation of the last enslaved Black Americans.

Even though Republicans chose not to be in session on Friday, the official June 16 holiday, Democratic state Rep. David Wilkerson of Powder Springs noted that many people in Cobb County celebrate June 11 on Saturday.

Republicans scheduled session days only through Monday, although lawmakers could meet later. That prompted Democratic state Rep. Doreen Carter to press House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration on “the importance of not coming on Tuesday versus coming on Saturday.”

“It is extremely disrespectful to the Black community and Father’s Day weekend that you all have us here,” Carter said.

Efstration said it was “very difficult to strike a balance” where lawmakers had to take into account prior commitments such as funerals and vacations, holidays and “the desire of many members to try to get the work done as quickly as possible.”

Georgia Recorder intern Ellie Fivas contributed to this report.

A novel nationwide study of child care policy gave Ohio positive marks for its efforts to boost payments and assistance, but still needed more work from states and federal agencies.

Child care is in what state and national advocates have described as a crisis as facilities struggle with high demand, high turnover, low wages and uneven levels of state support.

Child care advocates in the state are hoping for changes that will prevent budget shortfalls at both the federal and state levels, even looking to the priorities of gubernatorial candidates in November as a guide to the future. Earlier this year, CEO of the children’s advocacy group Groundwork Ohio, Lynanne Gutierrez, said the difference was $600 millionwith a timeline for reaching the 2028 budget cliff.

The Ohio Legislature has been trying to deal with this problem for years by passing laws that split child care costs between the state, workers and employers; through various assistance programs for low-income families; and through bills to include child care workers on the list of Ohioans eligible for financial assistance.

Recently a lots of overdue bills through the Ohio House of Representatives Committee on Children and Human Services, also including bills to reduce regulatory burdens on child care facilities used by military families and a bill to guarantee eligibility for a publicly funded child care program for foster families and family members, such as grandparents and siblings, who care for children.

Before the General Assembly decided to recess for the summer, the committee introduced another child care-related bill, this time a bill to expand enforcement options for potential child care fraud investigations, which supporters and Republican co-sponsors of the bill say will aid the state be diligent and ensure funding for centers goes where it’s needed.

Ohio State for Child Care

A study by the National Women’s Law Center found that in 2024-2025, most states in the country “improved one or more key child care assistance policies.” Ohio was one of seven states to set its income limits for eligibility at or below 150% of the federal poverty level.

State lawmakers reaffirmed the 145% cap on publicly funded child care in the state’s latest operating budget, although supporters had hoped the cap would be increased. A separate state program, the Child Care Choice Voucher program, allows people above the eligibility limit to apply for subsidies through the state up to 200% of the federal poverty line.

According to a study by the Women’s Law Center, Ohio was one of five states that reduced payment rates for providers. The payment rating system changed during the study period, moving from a star rating system for the Step Up to Quality program to a gold, silver and bronze rating system starting in July 2024.

According to the National Women’s Law Center, fee rates determine whether child care centers “have the resources to maintain salaries and benefits sufficient to attract, retain, and provide financial security for child care teachers.”

The study used Franklin County as an example of the base rates paid by the state. In this county, the monthly base rate for a four-year-old child attending child care in 2025 was $1,005, an boost of $95 from the previous year’s monthly rate. The base monthly rate paid by a provider for the care of a one-year-old child in 2025 was $1,277, an boost of $130 from the previous year.

Having a sufficient tuition rate helps lower the child-to-staff ratio, keep facilities unthreatening, and provide materials and supplies to children. Fee rates that do not meet the needs of child care centers may cause facilities to turn away families receiving assistance in favor of private payers, according to a Women’s Law Center study.

“Providers who accommodate such families may be deprived of the resources needed to provide high-quality care for children and fair compensation for child care teachers, and sometimes cannot even keep their doors open,” researchers said.

Under the latest system, if a childcare provider is in the gold tier, they receive a rate from the state that is 25% above the basic rate. A Silver level supplier receives 15% above base and a Bronze level supplier receives 10% more.

In addition to the base fee and any tiered bonuses a childcare provider may receive, most parents are required to pay a “surcharge” to the provider. The Women’s Law Center study found that in both 2024 and 2025, Ohio’s co-pay level was 7% of household income if it was 100% of the federal poverty line. If the income was 150% of the poverty line, the subsidy was 9% of household income.

“Co-financing levels matter because if they are high, they can place a significant financial burden on families or discourage families from participating in a child care assistance program,” researchers said in a recent study.

While Ohio has made progress in funding and access to child care, researchers say there is still much work to be done in the state and across the country. Time will tell what cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will ultimately impact the child care sector as well, although the National Women’s Law Center is not positive.

“Many states have made their own investments in child care in recent years, but it is unclear whether states will be able to sustain these investments given budget pressures,” the center’s researchers said. “A significant commitment of federal resources is essential to creating a strong child care system that enables all children, families and early educators across the country – and our nation’s economy – to thrive.”

During a news conference commemorating June 11, lawmakers from the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus complained about a potential voter photo ID constitutional amendment and defended an Ohio voting rights group whose offices were raided by the FBI.

Juneteenth recognizes the final emancipation of enslaved African Americans on June 19, 1865, at the end of the Civil War. Former President Joe Biden made June 11 a federal holiday in 2021.

Ohio Legislative Black Caucus President and state Rep. Terrence Upchurch, R-Cleveland, said June 11 is a reminder that progress won’t happen on its own.

“The law on paper means little if people can’t achieve it in real life,” he said.

Club members tied the holiday to current trends in Ohio regarding voter access. A constitutional amendment that would require photo ID to vote will be on the ballot in November, after Republican state legislators passed a resolution on the ballot last week.

State law already requires citizens to provide photo ID before voting. But placing the requirement in the state constitution would make it tough for future legislatures to change the requirements without passing another constitutional amendment, said state Rep. Meredith Lawson Rowe, D-Reynoldsburg.

Some scientific research indicates that voter ID laws disproportionately prevent eligible minority communities from voting, but other research concluded that the data were inconclusive. The club supports expanding early voting and access to absentee ballots, as well as increased voter education to protect “every lawful ballot,” she said.

“The Ohio Legislative Black Caucus believes that elections can be both secure and accessible,” Rowe added. “In Ohio we can walk and chew bubble gum at the same time.”

Club members also took the opportunity to express support for the Ohio Organizing Commission following reports that FBI agents searched the organization’s offices in Cleveland on Thursday.

Upchurch called the reports “disturbing” and added that they came at a time when voting rights, civic engagement and community organizations are “under attack.”

State Rep. Dontavius ​​Jarrells, R-Columbus, said the reports reminded him of Fannie Lou Hamer, a black voting rights activist in the Civil Rights Movement who faced retaliation from white Southerners for trying to vote in Mississippi. Despite the attacks, Jarrells said Hamer continued to organize to enhance Black voter turnout.

“We must protect the right to vote,” he said. “We must not let fear determine who belongs to democracy and who does not.”

State Rep. Darnell Brewer, D-Cleveland, said Juneteenth also celebrates Black people’s freedom from the economic system of slavery. Brewer advocated pursuing “economic freedom” to make everyday costs such as health care, child care and education more affordable.

State Rep. Latyna M. Humphrey, R-Columbus, criticized leadership in the state Legislature for making changes to laws, such as a constitutional amendment requiring photo ID to vote, instead of cutting costs.

“Ohioans have every right to question why the Legislature is quicker to restrict participation than to address the challenges that everyday families face,” Humphrey said.

The federal anti-poverty program, focused on reducing unintended pregnancies, will soon undergo a major overhaul.

Reproductive health clinics operate federal Title X grant money to provide birth control, cancer screening, and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections to people with little or no health insurance. Title X money cannot be used for abortions.

Guttmacher Institute estimates that Title X, signed by Republican President Richard Nixon in 1970, prevented nearly 20 million unintended pregnancies and 9 million abortions. It also helped reduce child poverty, according to the abortion rights group.

But President Donald Trump took aim at a program that has long been a target of abortion opponents. Since taking back the White House, Trump has been on a transient lockdown, and then restored provides grants to some reproductive health clinics and has proposed the creation of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services budget without financial resources for the program.

Recently released section financing guidelines in the case of a Title X grant, it represents a significant change in mission.

Under the fresh guidelines, instead of increasing access to contraception, Title X will focus on “enhancing family formation and helping clients achieve healthy pregnancies.” This will align the program with the administration’s efforts to raise the U.S. birth rate.

The fresh rules say Title Some conservative groups tout a little-known alternative infertility treatment called “reproductive regenerative medicine,” which is based on the idea that the underlying causes of infertility can be treated through lifestyle changes and improving a person’s overall health.

The guidelines direct Title X clinics to promote “fertility awareness-based methods” such as period tracking apps that American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists claims it may be helpful in getting pregnant, but less effective in preventing pregnancy. It also calls on clinics to offer advice on male fertility issues and to address environmental causes of infertility, including pornography operate. It also includes a ban on DEI efforts and warns recipients that federal money cannot be used to “facilitate or encourage illegal immigration.”

Anti-abortion groups support these changes, but many health policy researchers say they will disproportionately harm low-income and minority women, who are more dependent on Title X services and more likely to have unintended pregnancies. Scientists also say the fresh guidelines are unlikely to achieve the administration’s “pro-natalist” goal of reversing falling birth rates.

Corinne Rocca, a professor of epidemiology at the University of California, San Francisco, said a way to do this would be to raise spending on child care subsidies and other social programs that facilitate juvenile parents.

“Policies that help people and families feel supported in meeting their childbearing preferences… would actually help people who are open to the prospect of having children to do so,” Rocca said.

Rocca is co-author of a study published in JAMA network open last fall, suggesting that Black and Latina women are less likely than other racial groups to be able to choose whether, when and how to start a family.

Clinics must reapply for funding under the fresh guidelines by January 9, 2027. HHS did not respond to a request for comment.

During his first term, Trump banned Title X clinics from referring patients to other providers for abortions or even mentioning it as an option. It also banned grantees from offering family planning and abortion services in the same building. As a result, many grantees, including more than a dozen state health departments and all participating Planned Parenthood affiliates, left the program.

In 2019, the program served approximately 844,000 more people. fewer patients than in 2018, when 3.9 million patients were covered, according to HHS. About 225,000 fewer patients received oral contraceptives; about 50,000 fewer received hormonal implants; and about 86,000 fewer people received IUDs.

The Title X reformulation reflected in the fresh guidelines was a recommendation included in a controversial plan known as Project 2025, created by the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation as a guide for the second Trump administration.

According to Project 2025 RecommendationsHHS says Title X grantees will no longer be required to provide abortion counseling or referrals, and informs applicants that relationship counseling should encourage marriage as a precursor to having children.

“At a time when we face a rapidly declining birth rate that is well below the replacement fertility rate, we should do everything we can to encourage and support family formation and fertility,” Dr. Christina Francis, CEO of Pro-Life American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, he told MedPage Today in April.

“Women deserve accurate information about their fertility and health, and that includes highlighting the many benefits of pregnancy and motherhood.”

Some abortion opponents have criticized Title X for promoting certain forms of contraception, such as IUDs, which they consider abortifacients. A spokesman for the National Right to Life Committee said the organization does not take a position on contraception that prevents fertilization, “however, the National Right to Life Committee opposes any device or drug that could destroy life created at the moment of fertilization.”

“If there is any concern, we recommend that a woman talk to her doctor to determine whether a particular medication will cause an abortion,” a spokeswoman said in an email.

But Leonard Lopoo, a professor at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs who has studied fertility and family policy for the past three decades, said the federal government can facilitate families achieve their family planning goals by expanding pregnancy prevention and infertility treatment at all income levels.

“When you try to take away funds from someone who doesn’t want to have a child, that’s not the same as providing funds to support someone who does want to have a child,” Lopoo said.

As a Black woman and Black maternal health researcher at Ibis Reproductive Health, Terri-Ann Thompson is better informed than most that having children can be disproportionately more perilous and less accessible for women who look like her.

However, she says what she did not expect to discover – while collecting materials for a study she co-authored in a journal Borders in public health this spring – so fear of the negative effects of medicine and the criminal justice system has many black women in Georgia and North Carolina fearing pregnancy.

“I was very surprised to see that people were actually thinking about the context in which a black child is born and raised long before they even considered starting a family,” Thompson said. “We’ve had a lot of just stories of people saying, ‘Why would I want to bring a baby into this context; how do I prepare black women to bring a baby into this context?'”

Thompson said her team’s findings show how much Black women depend on inexpensive access to long-acting, reversible contraceptives like IUDs.

“We have people who have gone very, very far to get a sliding scale to get an IUD inserted, an IUD removed, or even take birth control pills,” Thompson said.

“If the administration continues to implement these restrictions, we will be taking away contraceptive access from at-risk populations.”

Stateline reporter Sofia Resnick can be reached at: sresnick@stateline.org.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency testified before a U.S. Senate committee Wednesday that, if confirmed, he would ensure disaster relief efforts are “objective” and “fair.”

Cameron Hamilton, who served as acting head of the agency before being fired and nominated for presidential confirmation in the Senate, has faced criticism from members of both political parties about the agency’s response time.

But it was Democrats who repeatedly pressed Hamilton on whether Republican-controlled states should receive a disproportionately higher number of disaster declarations than blue states.

“I certainly appreciate your concern,” Hamilton said. “I can say that if confirmed, I will focus on ensuring that FEMA is objective, fair and reasonable, follows the law, and has a consistent approach to how we adjudicate and process disaster claims and claims.”

Hamilton was previously the acting head of FEMA in the Trump administration, but he was ejected after he testified before Congress that he did not believe the agency should be eliminated.

Almost exactly a year after Trump was forced out formally nominated Hamilton to become FEMA administrator, sending his paperwork to the Senate without any fanfare.

Trump has repeatedly expressed complaints about the way the federal government prepares for and responds to natural disasters during his second term, saying he believes much of the responsibility should shift to states.

“We want to wean ourselves off FEMA and we want to bring it down to the state level,” Trump said in June 2025. “We’re taking it back to the states so the governors can deal with it. That’s why they’re governors. Now, if they can’t deal with it, they shouldn’t be governor.”

Review board established by Trump to recommend overhauls to FEMA issued its recommendations in May, calling on state governments to take more responsibility. Lawmakers have not yet taken any significant action to implement any of the proposals.

Favoring the red state?

Senators on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee did not ask Hamilton about his removal during the election confirmation hearingalthough he was questioned about staff reductions at FEMA and why the Trump administration appears to favor Republican states.

Michigan Democratic Senator Gary Peters, ranking member of the committee, commented: news article In March, Politico magazine published a finding that 23% of disaster funding applications were approved in Democratic states, compared with 89% in Republican-controlled states.

“No other president has created such disparities in states receiving federal disaster aid,” Peters said. “Rejecting more than 75% of applications from states led by representatives of another party is unwise.”

New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan also questioned Hamilton on the discrepancies, saying it was “unacceptable” for federal disaster aid to be approved based on vote.

“The idea that Americans who need help in the wake of a tornado, flood or hurricane should be treated differently because of politics is shameful,” she said.

Hassan then asked Hamilton if he agreed “that political and partisan considerations should play no role in the approval of disaster aid.”

Hamilton said yes, later adding that he didn’t believe Trump would hold back on disaster declarations or aid for political reasons.

Hawley believes FEMA is ‘snail-paced’ and ‘often misinformed’

Democrats weren’t the only committee members to express frustration with FEMA during the confirmation hearing.

Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley showed an enlarged photo of St. Louis after the tornadoes, arguing that FEMA took far too long to provide assistance to residents.

“As you can see, the damage is absolutely unbelievable,” Hawley said. “I walked these streets myself. Buildings were completely destroyed, houses were completely razed to the ground, churches whose roofs were torn off, whose sanctuaries were completely destroyed, streets were razed to the ground. The problem is that many of these neighborhoods don’t look much different now because in some cases they are still waiting for help.”

Hawley said this was not an isolated incident and that he believes FEMA’s response to natural disasters is “slow” and “often based on incorrect information.”

Hamilton said he believed the agency’s “disaster declaration process, as well as the federal mentoring associated with it, needed to be improved.”

“I believe states need to provide better customer service. I have full faith and confidence in the FEMA people, but we can do better,” Hamilton said. “There are a significant number of areas where this process needs to be simplified, better understood, and I think we owe it to ourselves to respond much more quickly.”

The items are restored

Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal pressed Hamilton on whether staff reductions would “jeopardize FEMA’s response.”

“I think certainly FEMA is operating in a unique environment where there are challenges and setbacks that impact our ability to respond,” Hamilton said.

Blumenthal then asked whether Hamilton believed there were enough employees at FEMA and whether fewer employees could result in the agency losing more people.

“I would agree that FEMA’s workforce must be scalable to best meet the agency’s needs and program and mission accomplishment,” Hamilton said.

Blumenthal pressed again, asking whether the agency’s leadership needed to “reinstate staffing at the levels necessary for morale and responsiveness.”

Hamilton said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has approved the reinstatement of nearly 350 positions “to fill key vacancies in key program offices and key responsibilities.”

Western countries need a different approach

Arizona Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego urged Hamilton, if confirmed, to approach aid to western states that own vast swathes of federal land in a different way than states on the East Coast.

“I just want to emphasize that a one-size-fits-all approach to disaster response simply doesn’t work in the West,” he said. “And it’s not red state versus blue state or anything like that.”

Gallego urged Hamilton to make sure the agency takes into account states’ special characteristics, arguing that when a wildfire breaks out in his state, he needs FEMA to replant trees to prevent major flooding.

“Sometimes FEMA doesn’t pay to replant and reseed our forests, which results in even greater disasters the next year,” he said.

Hamilton said he understands the “unique paradigm” some states face since he grew up on the West Coast and has “family that has lost homes to wildfires and other significant natural disasters in the West.”

Hamilton said he believes FEMA disaster relief grants, which are designed to reduce risk and prepare states for future natural disasters, “should be uniquely tailored to address the challenges and threats each state faces on a variety of issues.”

WASHINGTON – The White House read to reporters on Wednesday a 14-point memorandum of understanding with Iran aimed at halting the ongoing war and allowing further negotiations, but did not release the exact text.

The 60-day memorandum of understanding outlines the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, funds for sanctions relief and reconstruction of Iran, and a promise to negotiate Iran ending its nuclear program. Senior administration officials say the easing of economic sanctions and sanctions will only come if Iran “behaves well.”

“If we find that they are just reeling us in and in some way intimidating us, we will close the case very quickly and go back to very, very aggressively tightening the screws on them,” a senior administration official, who did not want to be identified, said during a Wednesday afternoon call with reporters.

President Donald Trump told reporters in France that he “may” remain in Europe until the ceremonial signing of the memo, but he doubts it.

“It’s a memorandum of understanding. It’s very important, but maybe it’s not the kind of document I should be signing,” Trump told reporters at the recent news conference of the G7 summit, a meeting of the world’s richest capitalist economies.

Earlier on Wednesday, he told reporters at the G7 summit: “If I don’t like it, we’ll go back to shooting them and dropping bombs on their heads.”

Trump announced He reached a ceasefire agreement with Iranian officials on Monday to temporarily end a war that had lasted more than 100 days, but the administration did not reveal any part of the agreement until Wednesday. Members of the US Senate he complained they didn’t see the details, and some said they wanted to vote on the final agreement.

Prime Minister of Iran Shehbaz Sharif confirmed in a social media post Monday that an agreement had been reached.

The Iranians asked the United States not to publish the text until the text was finalized, according to a second senior administration official, who added, “it was obviously unfortunate that we were not able to publish it immediately.”

“We’ve tried to align with their internal messaging and internal policies. We’re trying to build trust with them and that’s what they asked us to do, so we agreed to do it.”

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran Seyed Abbas Araghchi warned on social media on June 12, he pushed back against speculation about a deal that has “never been closer” and said details would be made available to the public “in due course.”

Nuclear weapons

The 14-point “Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran,” which a second senior administration official read during the call, declares “an immediate and permanent cessation of military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon.”

The White House declined to provide reporters with a written copy of the memorandum of understanding.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did just that not agreed publicly withdraw forces from Lebanon, which has emerged as the second front in the war launched by the United States together with Israel in February.

The United States and Iran have 60 days, “extendable by consent,” to reach a final agreement.

Under the deal, Iran “confirms that it will not acquire or develop nuclear weapons.”

The document requires the US and Iran to agree on how to deal with Iran’s buried stockpiles of enriched uranium, with the minimum solution being to “fluff mix” the material on site under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“The two sides also agreed to discuss the issue of enrichment and other mutually agreed issues related to the nuclear needs of the Islamic Republic of Iran based on the satisfactory framework agreed in the final agreement,” the memorandum of understanding said.

In 2018, Trump pulled The US from the previous nuclear agreement negotiated by the administration of former President Barack Obama.

On Saturday, Obama appeared skeptical of Trump’s nuclear negotiations with Iran.

“It is questionable whether any agreement that emerges will be significantly different or a significant improvement over the agreement we reached and worked on for a long time before we, the United States, withdrew from it,” he said. ABC News“Robin Roberts.

Reopening of the Strait of Hormuz

The agreement also commits the United States to “immediately” begin removing the naval blockade of Iranian ports, with a full and final halt expected to occur within 30 days.

According to an administration official, the United States will also have to withdraw military forces from the vicinity of Iran, which means that American forces will “restore the state of our forces in the region to the state they were in before the conflict began.”

Before the war, there were approximately 40,000 soldiers in the region. This number increased to approximately 50,000 after February 28.

For its part, Iran must “make every effort to ensure the safe passage of commercial vessels free of charge for 60 days from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of ​​Oman and vice versa,” according to the agreement.

However, the MoU continues: “The movement of merchant ships will begin immediately after considering the need to remove technical and military obstacles, and demining by the Islamic Republic of Iran will begin within 30 days.”

From there, Iranian officials agreed to negotiate with the Sultan of Oman and the Gulf states on a plan for “future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz.”

The war’s de facto closure of the strait shook economies around the world because, before the conflict, 20% of global oil exports flowed uninterrupted through the narrow waterway. At the height of the conflict, oil prices reached $120 a barrel, but fell to about $79 this week.

Article 38 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea declares passage through the straits is a right that should not be hindered, although neither US or Iran are party to an international agreement.

Reconstruction funds amount to $300 billion

In perhaps one of the most “controversial” parts of the memorandum of understanding, Iran could receive up to $300 billion in reconstruction funds, according to a senior official.

A White House official was quick to downplay the prospect of Iran making billions of US dollars.

“Please remember that this does not require us to take any action to ever pay a cent of money to the Iranians (and) to ever contribute money to the reconstruction fund,” the official said.

“All it says is that if we reach a final agreement and if the Iranians behave, we will allow sanctions relief that would allow, for example, the Emiratis to build a power plant in Iran. That’s all it says there. If they do what they have to do, we will allow investment and reconstruction in their country,” the official said.

Additionally, according to the document, once the MoU is signed, the U.S. Treasury Department will immediately issue permits for the export of Iranian crude oil and other petroleum products, as well as related activities, including banking and insurance transactions.

The future of Haitians living in Ohio with temporary protected status hangs in the balance from a U.S. Supreme Court decision that could come as soon as this week or next.

About 330,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians live in the United States with Temporary protected status (TPS) – A program that gives residents of certain countries affected by conflict or natural disasters the opportunity to live and work in the United States for a specified period of time.

About 30,000 Haitians with temporary status live in central Ohio and the British Isles an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 Haitians call Springfield home while having Temporary Protected Status, citizenship, and other legal status.

Springfield has become a flashpoint in the 2024 elections when Donald Trump and JD Vance spread racist lies there about Haitian immigrants.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide by tardy June or early July whether the Trump administration can end the war Temporary protected status program for citizens of Haiti and Syria.

Oral arguments in this case were filed in April.

“If (TPS is) terminated, they will essentially immediately lose their work authorization in most states, their access to their driver’s license, and then also their protection from deportation, and they may be subject to removal proceedings and deportation,” said Emily Brown, director of the law school at The Ohio State University Immigration Clinic.

Attorneys for Haitian TPS holders filed a complaint movement this week asked the U.S. Supreme Court to dismiss the case, stating that modern evidence has come to delicate showing that the Trump administration unlawfully tried to invalidate TPS, claims Springfield News – Sunday.

“This new evidence raises deep concerns about the integrity of a process that has put our Haitian neighbors at risk,” he said. Carl Ruby, pastor of Central Christian Church in Springfield.

Haitians were initially granted temporary protected status after the 2010 Haiti earthquake that killed 222,570 people.

The Biden administration extended Temporary Protected Status to Haitians in 2021 following the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.

Syria was first granted TPS in 2012 and the country continues to experience ongoing armed conflict, terrorist violence, kidnappings, hostage-taking and crime.

Haiti is currently plagued by gang violence and instability, and many are fleeing the petite Caribbean nation for the United States for their lives. Just last week. top security official and chief of staff to the Minister of National Defense he was kidnapped.

Many Haitian refugees in America have no homes in Haiti to return to and fear for the safety of their families if they are forced to return.

“If TPS leaves, I don’t think most of them will want to just get back on a plane and go to Haiti because the violence there is so severe that they think anything will be better than going back there,” Brown said.

The U.S. Department of State currently has a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” advisory. Haiti AND Syria.

“They’re definitely scared,” Ruby said.

Haitians can apply for asylum, but the Trump administration has indefinitely frozen processing of all asylum applications until the end of 2025.

“It’s not an option for most people,” Brown said.

Viles Dorsainvil, executive director of the Haitian Support Center in Springfield, came to the United States from Haiti in 2020.

“No matter what happens, I will be the last person to go because so many people in this community rely on me from both sides – the Haitian American community,” said Dorsainvil, who is also a master’s student at Wright State University.

In his opinion, the US Supreme Court’s ruling will go in one of three directions.

Judges could rule in favor of TPS holders, but he said that could still have consequences.

“The Trump administration could develop new policies that would continue to make life miserable for immigrants so that they can leave or self-deport,” Dorsainvil said.

A decision may be made that will give the Trump administration a certain number of months to end TPS, he added.

“There will be some disruption in the community during this period and people will still be in limbo,” Dorsainvil said.

If the Supreme Court rules against TPS holders, “there will be some type of humanitarian crisis in the community,” he said.

“Schools will be disrupted, manufacturers will be disrupted and it will impact the entire economy of Springfield,” Dorsainvil said.

Springfield Mayor Rob Rue “is not making any statements or interviews regarding this matter at this time,” a mayoral spokesman said in an email response to the Capital Journal.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Springfield native, has spoken several times about how Haitians facilitate Springfield’s economy.

“I’ve been pretty clear on policy regarding what I think is best for Ohio and best for Springfield and those people who work and help the Springfield economy grow and do the things that we like people to do, which is their job,” DeWine said this week.

The DeWines helped support the Becky DeWine School in Haiti, named after their tardy daughter, but the school had to close due to gang activity in 2024.

Springfield’s population has been failing for decades as manufacturing jobs have disappeared, but Haitian immigrants have added more than 10,000 workers to Clark County’s workforce.

Deportation of Haitians in Springfield would eliminate approximately $300 million in Clark County annual expenses, with estimated economic losses exceeding $400 million.

Brown said the Haitians have made arrangements for power of attorney and custody of their children in the event that TPS expires.

“If TPS does end, everyone expects ICE to do huge raids in Columbus, Springfield and other parts of the country where there are large groups of Haitians, so you could really see this kind of mass policing… People are really afraid of this and know it could happen at any time,” she said.

Ruby said he expected targeted raids from the site U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities in Springfield and other cities with vast Haitian populations if the Supreme Court rules against TPS holders.

“I think (the Trump administration) will rely more on unemployment and trying to get people to self-deport,” Ruby said.

“We believe the more likely scenario is a humanitarian crisis in which people are simply left unemployed and unable to pay rent or buy food.”

To prepare for that possibility, nonprofit agencies in Springfield try to anticipate the need for rent and food, Ruby said.

“We are trying to equip churches to be ready to respond, we are asking churches to provide shelter,” he said.
He said they discourage people from going to immigration on their own.

The TPS program for Haitians was scheduled to expire on February 3, but U.S. District Court Judge Ana C. Reyes blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to end Temporary Protected Status for Haitians living in the United States.

The Trump administration quickly appealed the decision, and lower courts blocked its efforts to end TPS in Haiti.

“People were very afraid before February 3, and I think it’s the same now, but it’s even worse because we can’t immediately rely on the Supreme Court to do the right thing,” Brown said.

At the federal level, the U.S. House of Representatives voted for an extension in April TPS for Haitians until 2029. The bill is currently in the US Senate, but The White House, announced President Donald Trump he would veto the bill.

The Trump administration has revoked TPS status from 13 countries – Afghanistan, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen.

Follow Ohio Capital Journal reporter Megan Henry on X Or on Bluesky.

Last week, FBI agents conducted a statewide operation targeting the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, a group that promotes voting rights – especially those who have been historically disenfranchised.

Condemnations of searches and seizures continue to come from other right-wing groups. They accuse the Trump administration of trying to suppress voter registration efforts.

Federal law enforcement agencies have provided no official explanation for their actions or provided any legal documents to justify them.

The Ohio Organizing Collaborative is also mostly mom. Federal search warrants often remain sealed while an investigation is ongoing, which means that court documents explaining the suspicions underlying the searches are not currently publicly available.

Last Thursday, agents searched a Cleveland office used by the collaboration and spread out to question people associated with the group. In some cases, laptops and cell phones were seized, multiple news organizations reported.

The actions have raised suspicions among voting rights advocates as it is election season and the raided group helps people register to vote. The organizing cooperative focuses its efforts on communities of color and low-income people.

The organizing collaborator also joined the Brennan Center for Justice in 2021 lawsuit against the Republican-controlled Ohio Redistricting Commission in an attempt to end the state extreme partisan gerrymandering.

Although voting rights groups maintain that the searches were politically motivated, law enforcement officials have made no public statements justifying the searches and seizures.

The FBI’s Cleveland field office and headquarters in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio responded but didn’t say much.

“Thank you for contacting us, but USAO is unable to provide more information,” spokeswoman Jessica Salas Novak said in an email Tuesday.

Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine was asked about the FBI’s search of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative during Tuesday’s news conference.

“I don’t know enough about it,” DeWine said, dwindling to comment further.

Rob Weiner, director of voting rights at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, said the second Trump administration repeatedly used the Justice Department to prosecute perceived enemies of Trump.

“The FBI and the Department of Justice unfortunately have established a history of using law enforcement powers against political opponents,” Weiner said.

“They did this through indictments,” including those brought by former FBI Director James Comey, who led the investigation Trump’s connections with Russiaand New York Attorney General Letitia James, who successfully prosecuted the Trump Organization for civil fraud.

Weiner said other actions by Trump’s Justice Department also raise suspicions about searches and seizures in Ohio.

caught “voting records in Fulton County, Georgia, based on absurd theories about the 2020 election,” he said.

“So when the FBI contacts a voting rights organization that is registering people of color or low-income people to vote, it looks like an attempt to suppress the activities of that organization. It lets people know that they are at risk of retaliation for actions that all of us consider good citizenship.”

Founded in 2007, the Ohio Organizing Collaborative and its affiliated policy group Ohio Organizing Campaign raised more than $50 million between 2020 and 2024, the most recent year for which tax data was available.

It handles voter registration and ballot initiatives, and also makes donations to other social service organizations.

Analysis Signal Statewide discovered that it had received gigantic donations from the Gund Foundation, the Ford Foundation and two groups associated with progressive philanthropist George Soros.

While the Trump administration has remained hushed on why it targeted the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, other groups have offered their own explanations.

After years of Republican rule, Ohio appears to be facing close U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections this year. Trump is afraid, said Katie Paris, executive director of Red Wine & Blue, a national women’s organization opposing extremism.

“Ohio will play a key role in the 2026 midterm elections.” Paris said in a written statement. “These races are so close together, it’s no surprise that the administration is now choosing to use political intimidation out of fear of what Ohioans might do at the ballot box.”

She added: “Regardless of political affiliation, an attack like this – attempting to create fear over the simple act of voting – matters to ALL of us because it affects ALL of us. Black, white, brown, urban, suburban, rural, we stand together and that’s what scares them. They’re trying state by state, we’re going to stand up to them.”

WASHINGTON – U.S. senators from both political parties said Tuesday that they had not yet seen the text of the agreement that Trump administration officials reached over the weekend to end the war in Iran, although several indicated that any final agreement would require their approval.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said administration officials have indicated they expect to share the text of the memorandum of understanding with lawmakers, although he did not know when.

“I hope it happens sooner rather than later,” he said. “But, you know, apparently it doesn’t look like they’re going to make it public until the end of the week. So we’ll see.”

Thune said he had heard that the agreement establishes a 60-day framework for negotiators to reach an agreement on more details, including on Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

“I think ultimately the goal is to make sure Iran ends its nuclear program, and any financial incentives available to it should depend on that,” he said. “But we’ll see when we know more.”

President Donald Trump, speaking at the G7 convention in Europe, said he might hold a news conference in “a few days” to release the text of the memorandum of understanding and appeared ready for a congressional vote.

“I would like to send this to Congress saying you should not approve this. And I will make sure it is approved. Whatever I say, they want to do the opposite,” he said. – They’re not doing very well, by the way.

North Dakota Republican Sen. John Hoeven said he thinks the plan is to vote to approve the Iran deal at some point.

“I think any time Congress ratifies something, it ensures longevity,” Hoeven said. “You can’t have the next president come in and change it with an executive order. So I think that’s a benefit. I think it helps strengthen it.”

Hoeven said he had not heard from administration officials why they did not share the text of the memorandum of understanding with senators, even in secret. But he said he was more focused on U.S. enforcement of the agreements on Iran’s nuclear program in the longer term.

“The real problem is that we have something that we can enforce, and that is difficult with Iran because they do not honor any agreement,” Hoeven said.

Is the agreement a treaty?

Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy said he believed the Iran deal would constitute a treaty and would be subject to Senate confirmation.

“It sounds like a treaty,” he said. “And if it’s a treaty, it certainly looks like it.”

This would require forceful bipartisanship because the Constitution establishes a two-thirds threshold for the Senate to approve a treaty.

Cassidy added that it appears the administration will need the Israeli government – which initiated the attack on Iran along with the United States – to end the war in Lebanon in order to reach a final agreement with Iran in the next two months.

“To make an agreement, you need two parties. In this case, maybe three, maybe four, because you have Hezbollah and Israel,” Cassidy said, referring to the powerful Lebanese political party and militant group opposed to Israel. “Hezbollah can just stir up trouble with impunity if it wants, under certain conditions. So tell me it takes two to dance, and now it takes four to dance. Can you do it in 60 days? I don’t know.”

North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis said the administration must be as lucid as possible about the content of the memorandum of understanding with Iran.

“There must be at least maximum transparency,” he said.

Tillis said Senate approval of the final deal “makes sense,” arguing that President Barack Obama made a mistake by not requiring lawmakers to ratify the deal his administration struck with Iran in 2015. The agreement was called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“I have said many times that Obama made a mistake by not making every effort to bring it to the level of a treaty, and I believe we should do so in this case,” he said. “Otherwise it will only last two and a half years.”

Tillis said he was not concerned that Congress had not yet received the text of the memorandum of understanding, but it was imperative that the administration release the documents.

“Trust, but verify,” he said.

“Basically a surrender”

Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy said he “doubts” the memorandum of understanding is actually real, but if it is, lawmakers should expect “side agreements” that the administration may not share.

“If what we report is true, these are Iran’s terms. I mean, it’s basically a surrender. But I think that’s the only game we can play at this point,” he said. “We have to end this war and stop wasting money, stop killing Americans and civilians and stop raising prices. It’s a bad deal, but he won’t get a better deal. So we just have to accept the humiliation. But I don’t even know if it’s true.”

West Virginia Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said lawmakers need to read the memorandum of understanding so she and others can “express our opinions.”

“But right now we can’t because it’s not fully available yet,” she said.

Senate Intelligence Committee ranking member Mark Warner, R-Va., said he had not seen the text of the memorandum or been briefed on it by administration officials. But he believes the administration must present it to lawmakers within five days, as required by the 2015 law.

“I’m afraid the details won’t be as good as the president is making it out to be,” Warner said.

Legal requirements

Congress approved legislation in 2015, which requires each presidential administration to present the text of an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program within five days. These documents do not have to be sent to every lawmaker, but should go to congressional leaders and the eight relevant committees.

This delegation establishes a 30-day review period for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee to conduct hearings and briefings.

The act allowed Congress to approve a joint resolution expressing disapproval of any nuclear deal with Iran. The House and Senate would likely need the support of at least two-thirds of members to override Trump’s likely veto.

Congress overriding the president’s veto of the disapproval resolution would prevent the Trump administration from lifting sanctions on Iran, although this seems an unlikely scenario given that both chambers are controlled by Republicans.

AND report of the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service says a joint resolution of disapproval that goes into effect “would not invalidate the agreement itself but would only affect the ability to ease presidential sanctions against Iran; nevertheless, preventing the President from granting such relief would almost certainly result in Iran terminating the agreement.”

The bill, officially titled the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, also clears the way for Congress to approve a joint resolution of approval.

The CRS report concluded that “once enacted, this would allow the President to waive sanctions, apparently even if the review period has not yet expired.”

Congress taking no action during the 30-day review period would allow the administration to begin easing sanctions immediately after that deadline.