Here are today's featured stories, posted by DU members and curated by the Administrators. More news items can be found in our Latest Breaking News forum, and for all the most up-to-the-minute stories that are being talked about by DU members, visit the Latest Discussions page.
October 25, 2025
US civil rights groups sue to block closure of race-relations office
October 24, 2025 4:54 PM EDT Updated 11 hours ago WASHINGTON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Civil rights advocacy groups on Friday asked a federal judge to block the U.S. Justice Department from shuttering a 1960s-era office that was tasked with quelling racial and ethnic tensions in communities across America. The lawsuit takes aim at Attorney General Pam Bondi's recent decision to formally shut down the Community Relations Service (CRS), an institution created under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as pa ...
Go to discussionWhite House tightens the clemency process as Trump resumes pardons
Oct. 24, 2025, 5:06 PM EDT WASHINGTON — As soon as Donald Trump took office for his second term, he began using his clemency power at a steady clip. It started with the pardons of the roughly 1,500 criminal defendants charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, and continued each month, with more pardons or commutations. At the end of May, he had issued 73 clemency actions, not including all the Jan. 6 defendants. Trump once called the power to pardon “a beautiful thing.” “You g ...
Go to discussionDHS Issues New Travel Rule for All Foreigners, Including Green Card Holders
Oct 24, 2025 at 05:40 PM EDT The United States is planning to photograph every non-citizen as they enter and leave the country, citing much-improved facial recognition technology. According to a filing in the Federal Register on Friday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will expand on the photo and data gathering already in place at land, sea, and airport borders, in an effort to crack down on fraudulent travel documents and increase national security. The new rules would apply to all ...
Go to discussionTrump calls for prosecution of more political foes including Jack Smith and Merrick Garland
October 25, 2025 / 12:15 AM EDT / CBS News President Trump late Friday pushed for several Biden-era Justice Department officials to be prosecuted over an FBI investigation into the fallout of the 2020 election. In a Truth Social post, Mr. Trump accused four high-ranking officials — former Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray, special counsel Jack Smith and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco — of signing off on an FBI probe in which investigators allegedly looked at ...
Go to discussionHouse Democrat Declares, 'Mike Johnson Has Effectively Dissolved the United States House of Representatives'
Oct 24th, 2025, 9:11 pm Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) said Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has “effectively dissolved” the House. The House remains out of session amid the ongoing shutdown that began on Oct. 1. Ahead of the shutdown, the House passed a continuing resolution to fund the government beyond that date, but the legislation stalled in the Senate, where it failed to notch the necessary 60-vote procedural threshold. Seven votes are needed from Democrats, who are demanding an extension of healt ...
Go to discussion