Wisconsin seeks to be first to drug test Medicaid applicants

Gov. Scott Walker wants to make Wisconsin the first state in the country to require childless adults applying for Medicaid to undergo drug screening, a move that could serve as a national model. Walker's plan, which needs federal approval, comes as he prepares to run for a third term next year.

South Carolina editorial roundup

Proponents of legislative reforms to improve South Carolina's Freedom of Information Act didn't get everything they had hoped for in the bill that passed on the last day of the session. But the bill came close, and it should be regarded as a victory for open government and citizens' ability to gain access to public information.

Budget office to gauge health bill effect on coverage, cost

Congressional Republicans are about to learn more about whether their drive to dismantle President Barack Obama's health care law has been worth the political pain they've been experiencing. The Congressional Budget Office planned to release its estimate Wednesday of what impact the GOP's House-passed health care overhaul would have on coverage and premiums.

Texas House overhauls voter ID bill, setting up showdown with Senate

The Texas House on Tuesday made major changes to a bill aimed at revamping the state's controversial voter identification law, setting up a showdown with the Senate in the final week of the legislative session. Senate Bill 5 is a high priority for some state leaders - including Gov. Greg Abbott, who declared it an emergency item Sunday night.

U.S. SEC suspends some in-house court cases over hiring of judges

May 23 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has suspended some of its pending in-house court cases, after a Denver-based federal appeals court found the agency had violated the Constitution in how it hired its administrative law judges. In an order dated May 22, the SEC said it would suspend any cases in which a defendant will have an option to appeal a case before the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers the states of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming.

With big spending cuts, Trump’s budget highlights clash of values

To the Trump team, the president's budget proposal is rooted in unassailable values: respect for the people "who are actually paying the taxes," as White House budget director Mick Mulvaney puts it. In President Trump's $4.1 trillion fiscal 2018 budget plan, released Tuesday, that approach translates into deep cuts in social safety-net programs that Mr. Mulvaney suggests discourage work and hinder economic growth.

Trump’s $4T budget arrives on Capitol Hill

President Donald Trump on Tuesday sent Congress a $4.1 trillion spending plan that relies on faster economic growth and steep cuts to programs for the poor in a bid to balance the government's books over the next decade. The proposed 2018 budget immediately came under attack by Democrats and even some of GOP allies declared it dead on arrival.

EPA science chair ‘surprised’ by dismissal of advisers

The chairwoman of an Environmental Protection Agency science panel told lawmakers Tuesday that she was "surprised" by the agency's dismissal of several scientific advisers earlier this month. The EPA did not renew the terms for nine members of the 18-member Board of Scientific Counselors earlier in May. Agency officials have said they hoped to add to the board more representatives from industries regulated by the EPA.

Trump’s $4.1T budget relies on deep domestic cuts

President Donald Trump's proposed $4.1 trillion budget slashes safety net programs for the poor, targeting food stamps and Medicaid, while relying on rosy projections about the nation's economic growth to balance the budget within 10 years. The cuts are part of a budget blueprint for the upcoming fiscal year that amount to a dramatic restructuring of the government, with protection for retirement programs for the elderly, billions of dollars more for the military and the rest of the government bearing the bulk of the reductions.

Nation-Now 18 mins ago 9:46 p.m.Trump budget promises balance in decade, relies on deep cuts

President Donald Trump is proposing to balance the federal budget within a decade by making sharp cuts to social safety-net programs like food stamps and Medicaid and offering optimistic estimates of economic growth and tax revenues to fulfill the promise of a government back in the black. Tuesday's budget blueprint faces a skeptical reception from Congress, where Republicans and Democrats oppose Trump proposals to cut domestic agencies and foreign aid by 10 percent and are recoiling from a $1.7 trillion cut over the coming decade from mandatory government benefit programs.

Authorities: Stabbing being probed as a possible hate crime

The FBI is investigating the stabbing of a visiting black student by a white University of Maryland student as a possible hate crime, authorities say. Sean Christopher Urbanski has been charged with first- and second-degree murder as well as first-degree assault in the weekend attack that killed Richard Collins III, police said.

Cuts to food stamps, farm subsidies part of president’s budget proposal

President Donald Trump's budget would drive millions of people off of food stamps, part of a new wave of spending cut proposals that already are getting panned by lawmakers in both parties on Capitol Hill. Trump's blueprint for the 2018 budget year comes out Tuesday.