By Stacy M. Brown Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent
Target Corporation is projecting a decline in annual sales and profits for 2025 as the retail giant struggles with fallout from its decision to end its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, pressure from new tariffs, and organized boycotts by Black consumers and media. The company reported first-quarter net sales of $23.8 billion, a 2.8% drop from the same period last year, and revised its full-year outlook downward, now forecasting a low single-digit decline in sales and adjusted earnings per share of $7.00 to $9.00.
Adjusted earnings for the quarter fell nearly 36% year-over-year to $1.30 per share, down from $2.03, when excluding a one-time $593 million pre-tax gain from a credit card interchange fee settlement. “Our team navigated a highly challenging environment and focused on delivering the outstanding assortment, experience, and value guests expect from Target,” Chairman and CEO Brian Cornell said during an investor call. “While our sales fell short of our expectations, we saw several bright spots in the quarter, including healthy digital growth, led by a 36 percent increase in same-day delivery through Target Circle 360, and our strongest designer collaboration in over a decade, Kate Spade for Target.” Cornell also acknowledged the backlash, saying, “We’re not satisfied with current performance and know we have opportunities to deliver faster progress on our roadmap for growth. This morning, we announced the establishment of a multi-year acceleration office led by Michael Fiddelke and several leadership changes. These steps forward are intended to build more speed and agility into how we operate and position key capabilities to drive long-term profitable growth.” Yet those changes are landing amid heightened scrutiny and organized resistance. In addition to financial pressures from tariffs, Target is now the focus of a national selective buying campaign launched by the Black Press of America after the company announced in January that it would phase out its DEI commitments. In a joint op-ed made available to millions of readers, Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), and Bobby R. Henry Sr., NNPA Chair and publisher of the Westside Gazette, issued a searing indictment of the company’s direction. “As far back as October 2024, we sent a formal letter to Target CEO Brian Cornell detailing the company’s persistent refusal to invest in Black-owned newspapers and media outlets. That letter was met with silence. Silence, in the face of truth, is complicity. By ignoring our appeal, Mr. Cornell and Target have made clear that they do not value the voices, institutions, or the economic power of Black America,” they wrote. “Let us be clear: we will not shop where we are disrespected. Our dollars will not finance our own marginalization.”
Tanya Milton, Vice President and Advertising Director at The Savannah Tribune said the boycott is making an impact and that Target’s disengagement speaks volumes. “Their continued silence could mean them hoping not to draw attention to their losses,” Milton said. Asked how Black consumers should interpret the company’s decision to end its DEI programs, she added, “If they just got on board three years ago, then it’s not a big deal to them. Black consumers shopped there before they were onboard.”
She also addressed the broader consequences of Target’s failure to invest in Black-owned media. “Being visible helps to make your brand a household name,” she said. Target’s troubles continue to ripple through Wall Street. Shares fell nearly 7% after the earnings announcement and are down 33% year-to-date. Despite its digital gains and successful designer collaborations, Target reported a comparable store sales decline of 5.7%, even as digital sales grew 4.7%. Cornell told investors the company has “many levers” to mitigate the effects of tariffs, and that raising prices would only come as a “very last resort.” Still, for many, the damage is already done. “We therefore announce the continuation and intensification of the target-TARGET national selective buying campaign,” Chavis and Henry stated. “We call upon all freedom-loving people from across all segments of society who believe in economic justice, media equity, and corporate accountability to join us.”
(TriceEdneyWire.com) – In the first 100 days of the current Trump Administration term, over 250,000 federal employees have had their jobs cut, planned to be cut, or have taken a buyout, according to a recent New York Times tally. With a 46 percent staff reduction – 1,380 employees – the Department of Education is among the hardest hit agencies.
The recently released FY 2026 budget plan underscores the administration’s determination to shutter the agency and eliminate programs that support the nation’s strides to remain educationally competitive and economically viable in a global economy.
“The President’s Skinny Budget reflects funding levels for an agency that is responsibly winding down, shifting some responsibilities to the states, and thoughtfully preparing a plan to delegate other critical functions to more appropriate entities,” said Education Secretary Linda McMahon in a related statement. “The federal government has invested trillions of taxpayer dollars into an education system that is not driving improved student outcomes – we must change course and reorient taxpayer dollars toward proven programs that generate results for American students.”
For the fiscal year that begins October 01, an additional 15.3 percent agency cut would drop education funding another $12 billion from FY 2025’ $78.7 billion. Among these proposed cuts are programs that speak to 21st Century dynamics affecting higher education:
$980 million – an 80 percent reduction to the Federal Work-Study (FWS) program;
$75 million for Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) for campus-based childcare services to parents of low-income parents enrolled in postsecondary education;
$64 million cut to Howard University, only federally chartered Historically Black College and University; and
$49 million from its Office of Civil Rights, a 35 percent reduction to the office that investigates claims of race, sex and other discrimination in schools.
These specific and modest programs respond to the needs of today’s college students that are quite different from those of yesteryear. The historical 4-year completion rate for an undergraduate degree at a young age has been shrinking for several years. Instead, the growing percentage of college students trend older in age, take longer to graduate, and in the case of Black students, often have children to care for as well. Even after graduation, today’s marketplace demands an ongoing challenge to update skills and education to remain competitive.
According to a recent policy brief by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Development:
“Black college students are more likely to be parents than other racial groups at both community colleges and four-year institutions. Over one in three (36 percent) of Black students enrolled in community colleges in 2020 were parents. Forty percent of Black women in college are raising children. Black single mothers comprise 30 percent of undergraduate students who are single mothers, and nearly 70 percent of Black single-mother students are first-generation college students. Black fathers make up 19 percent of student parents and are less likely to have access to childcare assistance than fathers of other races.”
CCAMPIS is designed to address this growing need. Competitive federal grant administered by the U.S. Department of Education, help colleges fund on-campus childcare for Pell-eligible students. Unfortunately, the program’s funding has never been enough to meet student parents’ needs. Fewer than 4,000 parent students have benefitted from the program when there are approximately 1.5 million student parents who have children under the age of six, according to the D.C.-based New America.
For now, the popular Pell Grant program continues to serve more than 6 million students from low-income households. But its maximum award per student is $7,395 for the 2025-2026 school year – not enough to cover the anticipated family contribution many schools expect for tuition and other expenses.
With this kind of demonstrated need for college assistance, it’s hard to understand why the Federal Work Study program would face the budget ax. Through its part-time jobs for undergraduate and graduate students with financial need, the monies earned lessen the need to borrow loans, while also encouraging work related to the student’s course of study or community service – with a very modest government investment.
When 78 percent of Black student parents have no family financial support for college, as the Joint Center report found, funding college financial support is not only good for Black America – it’s in the nation’s long-term interest.
The budget bottom line should recognize the huge difference between a handout and a hand up.
Charlene Crowell is a senior fellow with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached at Charlene.crowell@responsiblelending.org”
Experts warn that Republicans’ plan to slash food assistance could devastate Alabama’s economy, increase hunger, and strain state resources.
By Alex Jobin, Alabama Political Reporters
Last week, Republican lawmakers in the U.S. House Agriculture Committee passed legislation that would cut as much as $300 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, which provides benefits to low-income families to subsidize their food and grocery costs.
More than 42 million Americans rely on SNAP to afford food, but Republicans are looking to gut the program in order to finance President Trump’s “big beautiful bill,” which, among other things, would expand tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.
APR spoke with Alabama Arise’s senior policy analyst, Carol Gundlach, to better understand what the Republican overhaul of SNAP entails and how cutting food stamps could affect Alabamians across the state. Gundlach began our conversation by detailing how the Republican proposal would shift the cost of administering SNAP from the federal government to the states, a move that would heavily impact Alabama’s General Fund. “Assuming that it passes in the form that came out of the House Agriculture Committee, the real simple bottom line is it would cost Alabama at least $115 million to $120 million in General Fund money if you wanted to maintain the SNAP program,”
Gundlach told APR. “Now, I say ‘at least’ because what the bill that came out of the Ag Committee does is it increases Alabama’s share of the cost of administering the SNAP program. It basically moves that from 50 percent to 75 percent. We think that would cost us $35 million more or less a year.” Gundlach explained that states could face even higher cost burdens under the proposal depending on their “error rate” when distributing SNAP benefits. “It would require that states pay for at least 5 percent of the actual cost of the food benefits that are distributed, but it will increase that amount based on the state ‘error rate.’ The error rate is a really complicated formula that looks at how much states overpaid or underpaid in benefits, and it looks at the timeliness of getting benefits out,” she explained. “It is not a measure of fraud and, you know, [U.S. Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala.] during the committee discussion kept talking about the error rate representing fraud — that is simply a misunderstanding of what the error rate is. Alabama’s got one of the lowest error rates in the nation, but we’re at 7 percent, and we’ve always been real proud that we have such a good error rate. We are worried about how this formula is gonna work itself out. If we even just had to pay for 5 percent of benefits that would be a hit of about $90 million to the general fund.” According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Alabama could be hit with additional costs ranging from $86 million to $431 million depending on the state’s future error rates if the Republican legislation passes into law. Between 2003 and 2023, Alabama’s highest recorded error rate was 8.02 percent — under the Republicans’ proposal, that error rate would carry an estimated $344 million price tag for the state today. However, it is important to note that these cost estimates are based on the size of the population currently receiving SNAP benefits in Alabama. In reality, those costs would likely be lower than estimated if the legislation were to pass due to other provisions of the bill which would directly cut food benefits and terminate eligibility for many SNAP participants, thereby reducing Alabama’s financial obligation by kicking Alabamians off of SNAP. Gundlach said she does not know how the state will be able to afford the increased cost of administering SNAP without letting many Alabamians go hungry. “I simply can’t imagine how we could do this. I spend my life watching the budgets and I have no idea, in a time of slightly declining revenues but also all kinds of other increased costs, how on Earth the general fund could come up with that amount of money every year, year in and year out. And if they push us to more than 5 percent, which is possible, I really don’t see how we could do it,” Gundlach said. “And so that leaves the state in a really difficult position. They could try to push people off of SNAP — and there are some procedural ways that could be done under existing law — because if you get the population down, the benefits go down… but it’ll leave people out there hungry.” “And so there are implications for the state budget that I’m really worried about, but there are also implications for people who get SNAP benefits, because if they can’t get the SNAP benefits because the state can’t pay their match, then they’re left hungry and they’ve already cut food banks back,” she continued. “I have no idea how Congress thinks people can feed their families if this bill passes.” Gundlach also expressed that she views the legislation as a way to shift the blame for cutting social services away from federal lawmakers and instead pinning it on the states. “I think it’s really upsetting that what they’re basically doing is they want to cut access to SNAP, and to Medicaid, and to a number of other programs, but they don’t want Congress to have to take the heat. And so they’re just pushing it to the states, and they’re pushing the cost to the states, and then they’re going to let the Alabama legislature or the governor have to decide who gets hurt and who doesn’t, and that’s pretty awful,” Gundlach said. Gundlach also lambasted the Republicans’ explicit desire to slash programs like SNAP and Medicaid as a vehicle for financing further tax cuts for the ultra-rich. “Of course, that’s the the biggest factor here is [Republicans] have got this bill that extends the tax cuts that were passed eight years ago, which are cuts that disproportionately benefit the richest people in the country: millionaires and billionaires. I mean it really is a billionaire tax cut,” Gundlach said. “It would extend those tax cuts, but they’ve gotta pay for it under Congress’ rules, so how do you pay for it? Well, you could pay for it by increasing taxes on other people, increasing taxes on the rich and not giving them these tax cuts, or you can cut benefit programs for the poor. They’re choosing to cut food assistance for hungry families and hungry children and health care for the sick and the disabled in order to give tax cuts to billionaires, and it’s pretty awful. It’s pretty deplorable.” In 2024, over 750,000 Alabamians — 15 percent of the state’s total population — received SNAP benefits. SNAP also brought an average of 115,000 Alabamians, including 51,000 children, above the poverty line each year between 2015 and 2019. “The people who are on SNAP are disproportionately families with children in the household. They are disproportionately the elderly and the disabled and are just very low-income people. And a lot of them are, you know, the working poor — people who are working 20 hours a week as a cashier and are working hard to support their families. Those are the people who are going to pay the cost for this,” Gundlach noted. Beyond the immediate impact which reducing SNAP benefits would have on poorer Alabamians, Gundlach also highlighted the downstream consequences which these cuts could have on local businesses and the state economy. Currently, around 5,000 retail locations are authorized to sell food to SNAP beneficiaries in Alabama.
“Between [SNAP and Medicaid], we’ve got a really big population of Alabama that gets U.S. benefits, and they spend those SNAP benefits at grocery stores. The National Grocers Association and the Alabama Grocers Association are very concerned because they represent the little independent grocery stores, and it’s those independents that are most dependent on SNAP expenditures,” Gundlach noted. “So, the less SNAP money that gets spent at those grocery stores, that means little bitty towns are going to lose their Piggly Wiggly, they’re going to lose their independents — even Walmarts are going to get hurt,” she continued. “Those are jobs, those are locally owned businesses that employ local people, and they’re going to run the risk of having to lay people off or closing for good, leaving the whole community without a grocery store. Same thing would be true with Medicaid, they spend those benefits at doctor’s offices and hospitals and pharmacies. If we cut people off of Medicaid, we’re losing rural hospitals.” With Republican in-fighting over Trump’s budget package casting uncertainty on which domestic policy proposals will ultimately become law, Gundlach said she simply cannot predict whether or not the proposed SNAP cuts will actually take effect. Regardless, she said that Alabama Arise will continue to push back against such policies. “Alabama Arise and all of our partners all over the state are really working to engage our congressional delegation to understand how serious this would be for Alabama. And that’s true all over the country,” Gundlach said. Now that it has passed out of the House Agriculture committee, the legislation to cut SNAP is now being considered by the House Budget Committee where it must first pass before it can see a full floor vote in the chamber.
Greene County School System gets Clean Report from State Examiners Office
The Greene County Board of Education held its monthly session, Monday, May 19, 2025 with all board members present, with the exception of Mr. Brandon Merriweather. The first presentation to the board was the FY 2024 State Audit Report given by Ms. Shelly Patrenos of the State Examiners Office. The audit review focused on Title I Federal Program and the Child Nutrition Program. Ms. Patrenos applauded the board and staff for having a ‘clean report.’ She commended CSFO Ms. Marquita Lennon for the excellence and transparency of her work. The full State Audit report will be available to the board by the end of June. The board acted on the personnel and administrative items, presented by Superintendent Dr. Corey Jones, which signal the usual procedures for ending the regular school term and initiating programs and project for the summer session. The board approved the following administrative service items recommended by the superintendent. * Quote from Glenwood to teach a 2-day MCS class for up to 10 staff members in the Greene County School System in the amount of $3,300. * Agreement between Greene County Board of Education and Stericycle for biohazards pick up services for a pickup fee of $53.33 a month. * Quote from Allianz Solutions for ACT Bootcamp June 9 -12 for up to 25 students per session in the amount of $8,100 * Quote from C & J Resources for ACT Bootcamp July 7 – 10 in the amount of $4,060. * Permission for Black Scholars Committee to use 2 buses to transport students from Greene County to Stillman College June 23 – July 18. * Code Explorers Partnership agreement with the Alabama State Department of Education’s Computer Science for Alabama Initiative and Southeastern Center of Robotics Education (SCORE) at Auburn University for the following teachers: (Teachers will receive compensation via the program): Carolyn Beck – Kindergarten; Danielle Sanders-Williams – 1st grade; Montoya Binion – 2nd grade; Walter Taylor – 2nd grade. * 4-day work week for all extended employees beginning June 2, 2025, and ending July 26, 2025. * Payment of all bills, claims, and payroll. * Bank reconciliations as submitted by Mrs. Marquita Lennon, CSFO. * Certified bid from Game Day Athletic Surfaces, Inc., the only bidder, in the amount of $1,683,748.00 for athletic improvements (Phase I Track). Superintendent to hire legal representation for personnel matter. The personnel service items approved by the board included the following: * Retirement of Trudi Finley, Kindergarten teacher at Eutaw Primary School, effective June 1, 2025. * Resignations of Lorrisa Holder, Science TEAMS teacher, effective June 3, 2025. Employment of Lorrisa Holder, Career Counselor at Greene County Career Center (10-month). * Letters of termination for “Additional Services” contracts to the following employees: (Separate Contract): Greene County High School – Janice Jeames-Askew – Athletic Director; Corey Cockrell – Head Football Coach; Zaddrick Smith – Assistant Football; Tracey Hunter – Head Girls track; Torethia Mitchell – Head Girls Basketball & Volleyball; Patricia Maiden – Assistant Volleyball; Rodney Wesley – Assistant Boys Basketball (JV), Head Baseball; Howard Crawford – Head Boys Basketball/Head Boys Track; Lorrisa Holder – Assistant Girls Basketball;Kirin Greene – Band Director; Paula Calligan – Dance-line Coach; Drenda Morton – Cheerleader Sponsor. Personnel for Summer Learning program at a rate of $50 an hour for Educators and $25.00 an hour for Aides, June 2-30, 2025, Monday – Thursday, 8:00 am -1:00 pm. Eutaw Primary School: Pamela Pasteur; Pamela McGee; Keisha Williams; LaShaun Henley; Gwendolyn Webb – Aide; Mary Hobson, Special Services Aide; Carla Durrett. Robert Brown Middle School:Vanessa Bryant; Demetria Lyles; Talicia Williams; Raven Bryant; Felecia Smith. Greene County High School-Credit Recovery: Janice Jeames Askew; Drenda Morton – Aide; Angela Harkness; Jacqueline Edwards, Custodian. * Non-renewal of the following employees: Eutaw Primary School– Shana Lucy, Third grade Teacher; .Katina Mickens, Special Ed. Teacher. Robert Brown Middle School – Dena Jordan, 7th/8th grade Math TEAMS teacher; Cedric Murry, 7th/8th grade Business teacher; Dawn Cook, 6th grade teacher. * Personnel for CTE Camp to be paid at a rate of $40.00 per hour – June 23 – 27, 2025: LaMonica Little; Shamyra Jones. Personnel to participate in AMSTI training sessions on July 29 and 30, 2025 from 8:30 am-3:30 pm with a stipend to be paid to educators at $37.50 per hour: Robert Brown Middle School – Annie Howard; Demetria Lyles; Vanessa Bryant; Akia Williams; Henry Miles; Tavaris Lacy; Breshayla Hoskins.
CSFO Marquita Lennon presented the following financial snapshot for the period ending April 30, 2025. General fund balance totaled $8,116,154.66 (reconciles to the summary cash report.) Accounts payable check register totaled $322,328.95. Payroll register totaled $931,658.39 (total gross pay to include employer match items). The combined ending fund balance totaled $8,243,402.36. In operating reserves, the school system has 7.79 months in combined general fund research; 7.79 months in cash reserve. All bank accounts have been reconciled. Then local revenue report showed $124,171.05 in property taxes; $86,572.81 in sales taxes and $5,040.96 in other taxes, all totaling $215,784.82. Superintendent Jones’ report to the board gave overviews of the various closing of school activities. He also noted that the Eutaw Primary ACAP test scores were complete, but the results are still in embargo, not officially released. Jones proudly stated that the scholars demonstrated 100% growth improvement.
Afrikaner refugees from South Africa, at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Va., on May 12.Julia Demaree Nikhinson / AP
By Curtis Bunn, NBC News A day after 59 white South Africans were welcomed to America as refugees, more than 86,000 South African farmers — who are mostly white — are gathering this week at the NAMPO Harvest Day trade fair, an annual agricultural exhibition considered the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. Over four days, the attendees will discuss innovations in technology, collaborations and various other elements of an industry that last year generated nearly $14 billion in revenue. Notably, according to one participant, there is no planned discussion of violence against white farmers or “Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored, race-based discrimination, including racially discriminatory property confiscation” without compensation, as President Donald Trump wrote in a Feb. 7 executive order that opened the way for the 59 South Africans to come to U.S., despite a ban on refugees from other nations. That ban includes refugees from Afghanistan and Iraqi, who served as interpreters and aides to U. S. armed forces. The executive order referenced South Africa’s Expropriation Act enacted last year, which in some cases allows the government to seize unused land without compensation, something Cyril Ramaphosa, the country’s president, said has not happened. The act awakened a profoundly troubling argument over land rights. South Africa’s dark history of racism includes the confiscation of land from Black residents, both before and during the apartheid. Afrikaners, the minority white descendants of Dutch and French settlers who arrived in South Africa in the 1600s, were leaders of the apartheid regime that ended in 1994. The purported goal of the Expropriation Act is to shrink the vast land ownership disparity that came with the oppressive rule. According to the organization Action for Southern Africa, 72% of farms and agricultural holdings are owned by whites, who make up 7.3% of the population. Black Africans, representing 81.4%, own only 4% of the land. Trump asserted on Monday, ahead of the refugees’ arrival in the U.S., that “white farmers are being brutally killed and the land is being confiscated in South Africa.” Yet Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa, said that the spirit of NAMPO this week reaffirms that “genocide” of white South African farmers “was imaginary and not happening in our country.” “We’re all disturbed that the U.S. side is alleging that there’s genocide and mistreatment of white farmers in South Africa. It is incorrect,” said Sihlobo, who is also co-author of the book “The Uncomfortable Truth About South Africa’s Agriculture.” “If anything, the sector continues to flourish. [Trump’s] comments are misinformed and not mirroring the reality on the ground in the country,” he said.
Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., with Rep. Rob Menendez and Rep. Bonnie Watson Colemen holds a press conference on May 9, 2025 after Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested while protesting at Delancey Hall ICE detention prison, in Newark, N.J.Angelina Katsanis / AP file
By Raquel Coronell Uribe and Ryan J. Reilly, NBC News
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has filed charges against a Democratic member of Congress, alleging that she assaulted law enforcement officers during a protest outside an immigration detention facility in New Jersey earlier this month. Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., faces two counts of assaulting, resisting, and impeding law enforcement officials in connection with an incident at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Newark, according to court documents made public on Tuesday. Interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba, who served as Trump’s personal attorney and previously worked as counselor to the president, announced the charges against McIver on X on Monday night, before they were made public. On Tuesday, McIver told NBC News that she had learned of the charges on social media after Habba posted about them. “It’s political intimidation, and I’m looking forward to my day in court,” she said Tuesday. McIver had called the charges “purely political” in a statement on Monday night and said she looked forward “to the truth being laid out clearly in court.” “Earlier this month, I joined my colleagues to inspect the treatment of ICE detainees at Delaney Hall in my district. We were fulfilling our lawful oversight responsibilities, as members of Congress have done many times before, and our visit should have been peaceful and short. Instead, ICE agents created an unnecessary and unsafe confrontation when they chose to arrest Mayor Baraka,” she said. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche backed Habba’s statement, writing on X that “assaults on federal law enforcement will not be tolerated.” Habba also said her office had dropped trespassing charges against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a candidate for New Jersey governor who was arrested on May 9, the day McIver and two other House Democrats were at the facility. “After extensive consideration, we have agreed to dismiss Mayor Baraka’s misdemeanor charge of trespass for the sake of moving forward,” Habba said. An affidavit by Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Robert Tansey said that McIver made physical contact with another Homeland Security Investigations special agent as well as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation officer when they protested Baraka’s removal. An affidavit by Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Robert Tansey said that McIver made physical contact with another Homeland Security Investigations special agent as well as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation officer when they protested Baraka’s removal. Baraka was arrested during a chaotic scene that involved a protest outside the ICE detention center in Newark known as Delaney Hall. McIver was one of three Democratic members of the New Jersey congressional delegation present who have repeatedly said they were on site to inspect the facility in their capacity as lawmakers conducting federal oversight. Trump administration officials have accused the lawmakers of “storming into” the facility. “Members of Congress are not above the law and cannot illegally break into detention facilities,” Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said May 9. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem argued Monday night in a statement on X that “a thorough review of the video footage of Delaney Hall and a full investigation” by her department supported the charge against McIver. House Democratic leaders condemned the charges against McIver in a joint statement Monday night, calling them “morally bankrupt” and saying they lacked “any basis in law or in fact.” “By visiting the detention center in Newark, Rep. McIver and two other Members of Congress were upholding their oath of office. They didn’t assault anyone, but were themselves aggressively mistreated by illegally masked individuals,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and Reps. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, Pete Aguilar and Ted Lieu of California and Joe Neguse of Colorado. “The proceeding initiated by the so-called U.S. Attorney in New Jersey is a blatant attempt by the Trump administration to intimidate Congress and interfere with our ability to serve as a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch,” they said, adding that House Democrats will “respond vigorously in the days to come at a time, place and manner of our choosing.”
The bill would extend tax cuts from 2017 and would include Trump’s 2024 campaign promises not to tax tips, Social Security, and car interest loans. There would also be a larger deduction, $32,000 for couples, a boost to the Child Tax Credit, and a $30,000 cap on state and local tax deductions.
“That’s offset by $1.9 trillion in savings largely from the rollback of green energy tax credits, for a net tally of $3.7 trillion in costs over the decade, according to the most recent estimates — along with billions more in savings from the safety net cuts,” AP reports.
Oh, and there would be some $350 billion to fund Trump’s mass deportation plans and the Pentagon.
And to be able to do this, Republicans are looking to cut some $800 billion over the next 10 years to the Medicaid health care program, “which is used by 70 million Americans. These Medicaid cuts would result in more than 13 million people losing their health insurance. $290 billion to food aid in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP; and others,” AP reports.
Speaker Mike Johnson has already claimed that he wants this bill pushed through by Memorial Day, sending it to the Senate, where Republicans are working on their own version. Johnson has been given the reins to create a bill that can get the 218 votes needed to pass the House, but good luck with that.
The bill was blacked in the House Budget Committee last week, when four conservative Republican House members voted against the bill, because it did not cut the social safety net fast enough and soon enough to suit them. In a special Sunday night session, these representatives were promised additional unspecified concessions and voted the bill out of committee.
Senators of rural states, many of them are Republicans are concerned that the bill, as it stands, would leave many of their constituents without healthcare, or forced to pay more.
“Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said he’s fine with the new work requirements and antifraud provisions that House Republicans have proposed for Medicaid, but he raised concerns about their “cost-sharing” proposal, which he said would make ‘beneficiaries pay more.’”
“These are working people in particular who are going to have to pay more,” Hawley told the Hill. “The provider tax in particular, that could have a big impact in my state and lead to reduced coverage, so I’ve got some concerns. I think we need to look really, really carefully at that. I continue to maintain my position that we should not be cutting Medicaid benefits,” he said.
The court ruled Alabama’s map violates the Voting Rights Act, ensuring continued use of a court-ordered map enabling two Black Congressional representatives.
By Bill Britt, Editor-in-Chief, Alabama Political Reporters
In a sweeping rebuke of racial gerrymandering, a federal court has struck down Alabama’s 2023 congressional map, ruling that it was enacted with “intentional racial discrimination” and violates both the Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution. The decision clears the way for continued use of a court-ordered map that, for the first time in state history, enabled two Black lawmakers to win seats in Congress, in November 2024. The ruling follows a full trial in Milligan v. Allen, where judges concluded that Alabama lawmakers not only failed to correct the unlawful dilution of Black voting strength, but deliberately defied court orders to do so. The court found that the Legislature’s actions amounted to “a strategic attempt to checkmate the injunction that ordered it.”
Historic Breakthrough in Representation The remedial map adopted for the 2024 cycle — drawn by a special master appointed by the court — culminated in a historic breakthrough: Alabama voters elected two Black representatives to Congress for the first time ever. U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-AL-7, was re-elected, and U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-AL-2, won his seat in a newly redrawn district designed to comply with the Voting Rights Act. “This win is a testament to the dedication and persistence of many generations of Black Alabamians who pursued political equality at great cost,” the plaintiffs said in a joint statement, emphasizing that “we know that all Alabamians will benefit from today’s victory, just as we have benefited from the work of others.” The case was first filed in 2021, on behalf of Evan Milligan, Khadidah Stone, Shalela Dowdy, Letetia Jackson, Greater Birmingham Ministries and the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP. The plaintiffs were represented by the Legal Defense Fund, ACLU, ACLU of Alabama, and the Birmingham-based firm Wiggins, Childs, Pantazis, Fisher and Goldfarb. U.S Rep. Terri Sewell offered her own insight on the federal district court’s ruling, saying, “In yet another victory for fair representation, a federal court has once again ruled unequivocally that the State of Alabama’s 2023 congressional map illegally dilutes the power of African American voters. Despite the state’s years-long legal battle to undo our progress, this ruling ensures that Black voters in Alabama will continue to have not one but two congressional districts where we can elect a candidate of our choice. Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is indeed alive and enforceable!”
Rep. Shomari C. Figures, D-AL-02, said the ruling reinforces the importance of equitable representation for Black voters. “The court ruled that the congressional districts in the state of Alabama were drawn in a way that did not allow Black people to have fair representation. The U.S. Supreme Court has already agreed once with the earlier ruling in this case, and it is my hope that this ruling puts the issue to rest because fair representation is central to the foundation of our democracy.” Court Unmoved by Alabama’s “Defiance” In its 600-page opinion, the three-judge panel concluded that the 2023 map, like its 2021 predecessor, unlawfully diluted Black voting strength by confining Black voters to a single majority-Black district despite clear evidence that two opportunity districts were both necessary and achievable. “We cannot understand the 2023 Plan as anything other than an intentional effort to dilute Black Alabamians’ voting strength and evade the unambiguous requirements of court orders standing in the way,” the judges wrote. They found that Alabama’s Black population is “sufficiently numerous and geographically compact” to form two such districts, and that voting in the state remains “intensely racially polarized.” The court cited trial testimony in which the state’s own legal team admitted that the Legislature “may have been hoping” to force another Supreme Court review by refusing to comply. The judges rejected this maneuver, writing that “if this record is insufficient to rebut the strong presumption of legislative good faith, then we doubt that the presumption is ever rebuttable.” A Legacy of Resistance — and a New Chapter Deuel Ross, deputy director of litigation at LDF, stated that Alabama’s “unprecedented defiance of the Supreme Court and the lower court orders harkens back to the darkest days of American history.” He called the ruling “a reaffirmation of the rule of law and the importance of protecting the fundamental right to vote.” Laurel Hattix, senior attorney at the ACLU of Alabama, said the decision was “an overdue acknowledgment of Alabama lawmakers’ persistent attempts to shut out Black voters from the electoral process,” and added, “for decades, Black Alabamians have organized and fought for not just their voting rights, but the voting rights of all Americans.” Davin Rosborough, deputy director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, underscored the broader implications: “The court has once again recognized that in order to comply with the Voting Rights Act, it is essential that Alabama’s congressional map have two opportunity districts for Black voters.” Preclearance Request and What Comes Next The court permanently enjoined Secretary of State Wes Allen from using the invalidated 2023 map in future elections and ordered continued use of the remedial map through the remainder of the decade. A status conference is scheduled for May 28, 2025, to determine next steps. The plaintiffs have also requested that Alabama be placed back under federal “preclearance,” a provision of the Voting Rights Act that would require the state to obtain federal approval before implementing any new congressional map — a safeguard typically reserved for jurisdictions with a history of repeated violations. In its concluding remarks, the court warned that Alabama’s actions “fly in the face” of its own claim that it no longer needs federal oversight, writing: “We are troubled by the State’s view that even if we enter judgment for the Plaintiffs after a full trial, the State remains free to make the same checkmate move yet again — and again, and again, and again.” As the case now enters a new phase, the ruling stands as one of the most forceful judicial rebukes of racial discrimination in redistricting in recent memory — and a landmark moment for the future of representation in Alabama.
Monday, May 12, 2025, the meeting of the Commission was called to order at 5:00 P.M. All commissioners were present. The Commissioners heard and voted on four proposals presented by Ms. Brenda Burke, County Administrator. She offered four issues on the agenda, for approval by the Commission, which were all passed unanimously.
Commissioner Corey Cockrell welcomed the attendees at the meeting, Commissioner Allen Turner led the Invocation, and Commissioner Tennyson Smith led the motion to approve the previous minutes. Commissioners Roshanda Summerville and Smith led the motion to approve the agenda.
The items considered and passed with unanimous vote included the following: (1) approval to the City of Eutaw’s use of six voting machines for an upcoming election; (2) allowing the Greene County Industrial Development Board (GCIDB) to complete the Streetscape Grant (sidewalks around the Old Court House) grant proposal to ALDOT; (3) An extension of one month for county employees with excess vacation time to utilize their benefits; (4) approval of a Beer License at a Truck Stop in Boligee that is located on the interstate.
Chairperson Garria Spencer insisted that the six voting machines borrowed by the City of Eutaw be maintained and serviced by ES&S, the same company the county contracts with to assure security by transferring the voting machines.
The Commission approved the Finance Report and Payment of Claims presented by Ms. Burke and carefully reviewed the Greene County Commission’s bank statement balances, when considering the four agenda items.
The total funds on the statement are (Unrestricted) $3,224,610.52; (Restricted) $7,821,646.63; and (Investments) $1,899,505.22.
With the votes on the agenda closed, Mr. John Cashin was recognized. He inquired about the possibility of the Commission joining with other entities, including the City of Eutaw, to resurface the airport runway. He explained his research on the possibility of matching funds and asked for clarification of the process to move forward. Chairman Spencer said he’d take it up with the Eutaw City Council and county engineers and return an answer to Mr. Cashin.
The meeting was adjourned on a motion of Commissioner Summerville.
Shown above are representatives of Greene County groups awarded BBCF community and arts grants. At far left are: Dr. Carol P. Zippert, a BBCF Founder; Ms. Darlene Robinson, BBCF Greene County Board Member and Ms. Felecia Lucky, BBCF President. BBCF presents grant award to the Society of Folk Arts & Culture which is sponsoring the 50th Celebration of the Black Belt Folk Roots Festival, August 23-24, 2025 in Eutaw, AL.
L to R: Felecia Lucky, BCF President; Darlene Robinson, BBCF Board Member, Carol P. Zippert, Festival Coordinator and Aaron Head, BBCF Arts Coordinator.
The Black Belt Community Foundation (BBCF) awarded $344,447.20 to 141 community and arts projects across its 12 county service area in the Alabama Black Belt Region, including Bullock, Choctaw, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Perry, Pickens, Sumter and Wilcox. The presentations were made at its 2025 Arts and Community Grant Ceremony held Saturday, May 3, 2025 at Wallace Community College Selma. “As we continue to celebrate BBCF’s 20th anniversary through May, the Black Belt Community Foundation is proud to award these funds in 141 different grants to community and arts organizations across the 12 counties we serve,” said BBCF President Felecia Lucky. Greene County received 13 grants for community and arts projects, in the amount of $41,263.24, awarded to the following organizations: Alabama Art Casting, Boligee Senior Center, Boss Ties LLC, Broader Horizons, Bundle of Joy Praise Team, Eutaw Elderly Village Inc., Greene County Human Rights Commission, Mount Pleasant Home Protection Society, Operations Taking Back Our Community (TBOC), Release the Earth, Society of Folk Arts and Culture (Black Belt Festival Grant,) United Purpose Inc. The 2025 arts grants, including the Black Belt Folk Roots Festival, totaled $14,125; community grants totaled $27, 138.24. Ms. Darlene Robinson, BBCF board member representing Greene County, stated that each of the 12 counties has a group of volunteers, known as Community Associates, who raise funds for the Foundation and these resources, which receive a percentage match from BBCF, are allocated in grants to the respective county. “We hold a lot of fundraising activities in Greene County, but that money can only be spent in Greene County through grants,” she said. “We continue our focus on empowering local initiatives by first listening and responding to the very needs voiced by the communities themselves — all while fostering growth and impacting the entire Black Belt region,” stated President Lucky.
