National News

As congressional Democrats push back against second-term Republican President Donald Trump’s policies, from border security and his mass deportation efforts to tariffs and energy policies, nearly 3 in 4 Democratic voters say their elected representatives in Congress aren’t doing enough.
Only Democrats were asked: “Should Democrats in Congress fight Trump more often, compromise with him more or continue doing what they’re doing?”
Seventy four percent said they should fight more, 12% said compromise more, and 8% said continue what they’re doing. An additional 6% said they were unsure.
The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll conducted by Noble Predictive Insights surveyed registered voters nationally via an opt-in online panel and text-to-web cell phone messages. The sample included 2,527 respondents, comprised of 1,089 Republicans, 1,187 Democrats, and 251 True Independents. It is one of six national tracking polls in the U.S.
Democrats also were asked: “Would you say that the Democratic Party is too liberal, too moderate or are they about right on the issues?”
A plurality, 46%, said their party is about right on the issues; 21% said the party is too moderate; and 20% said too liberal. Another 13% said they were unsure.
David Byler, head of research at Noble Predictive Insights, said he doesn’t see Democrats’ responses to the two questions being in conflict.
“I don’t think the desire for centrism and the desire to fight are in conflict,” Byler told The Center Square. “Democrats are scared to death of losing elections to Trump, so they don’t want to go too extreme. Also Biden, for all of his political shortcomings, was fundamentally a coalition-builder in his instincts. His basic strategy was to give every piece of his party something to be happy about, without steering the ship too hard in his personally preferred direction. So a lot of Democrats feel OK about the party as he exits.”
In a separate question from the same poll, Democrats did not have a consensus on who the new leader of their party is. A plurality – 38% – said there isn’t one or they don’t know who it is. The individual selected by the most Democrats was former Vice President Kamala Harris at 10%. Harris replaced then-President Joe Biden on the ballot last year after Biden exited the race. She went on to lose the presidential election to Donald Trump, who won the national popular vote and all of the swing states.
“That fear of losing elections – combined with general contentment with the party’s platform – can coexist with the party’s very negative feelings about Trump,” Byler said. “Voters don’t feel like they need to reimagine what being a Democrat means. But they really want to fight Trump.”
The poll was conducted from April 15-18 and has a margin of error of +/- 2.0%.

A nonprofit group wants veterans to weigh in on proposed legislation that could affect medical care choices.
Mission Roll Call, a nonpartisan veteran advocacy group, wants veterans to take a survey about the proposal.
The Veterans ACCESS Act of 2025 is a bipartisan bill designed to expand and improve access to mental health and substance abuse care for veterans.
The legislation proposes a new pilot program allowing eligible veterans to get outpatient mental health or substance use treatment from non-VA providers – without prior authorization or referral from VA.
The Act requires the VA to clearly explain how community care eligibility decisions are made and to provide transparency around any denials. It mandates improvements in communication about appeals and creates an online portal for veterans to self-schedule appointments and track care across the VA and community networks.
Additionally, the ACCESS Act limits the use of telehealth as a replacement for in-person care in cases where access standards (such as wait times and travel distance) are not being met.
Supporters say the bill empowers veterans to take control of their mental health and expands options, especially in underserved areas.
Critics caution that it could divert resources away from VA infrastructure and lead to fragmented care.

Still needing change from the Department of Defense in classifying clinical treatment, the proposal of a North Carolina congressman is advancing that would establish a pilot program furnishing hyperbaric oxygen therapy at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Veterans National Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment Act, known also as House Resolution 1336, has been the project of Rep. Dr. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., since arriving in Washington. HBOT, as the therapy is commonly known, is not in active-duty protocol for post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury.
PTSD and TBI each are treated as mental illness rather than injury. Critics of that choice say it is the pharmaceutical industry that benefits; both major parties each have critics and fans of Big Pharma within Congress.
The quest to get HBOT treatment spans more than 20 years, long before Murphy got to Washington.
In sharing the bill passed the full Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Murphy said, “Sadly, this nation loses more than 17 veterans a day from suicide. One of the greatest reasons for this is TBI/PTSD. Our veterans need new therapies to help combat the suicide epidemic. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a well-proven intervention that helps veterans suffering from TBI/PTSD and our veterans should have access to this at their VA.”
Murphy has authored his proposal in each of the last four Congresses. The Biden administration was strongly opposed. Republicans have the White House, and majorities of 53 in the Senate and 220 in the House of Representatives where there are two vacancies.
The treatment involves about 40 sessions. More than two dozen veterans in North Carolina have participated.
In a broader study, HBOT produced “one of the greatest reductions in PTSD symptoms in a four-week period with any reported treatment.” Prevention of suicide is the most compelling advocacy for the treatment.

Seeking to alleviate long-term debt, the PELL Act has been introduced in the U.S. Senate by North Carolina Republican Sen. Ted Budd.
The proposal would expand Pell Grant eligibility for high-quality, short-term workforce programs.
“We cannot build tomorrow’s workforce based on the blueprint for yesterday’s economy,” Budd said in bringing forth the legislation with Republican Sens. Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Pete Ricketts of Nebraska and Jim Justice of West Virginia. “By modernizing Pell Grant eligibility, we can open the door for millions of Americans to gain in-demand skills, while creating more family-sustaining careers.”
Promoting Employment and Lifelong Learning Act, known also as Senate Resolution 1639, was immediately routed to the Finance Committee chaired by Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho. Grassley is among the membership, as is Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.
Budd and his colleagues say the proposal provides American businesses with “a broader, better-prepared talent pool ready to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving economy.”
“In as little as eight weeks,” Budd said, “students can earn industry-recognized credentials and practical knowledge – the real currency of today’s labor market. It’s time to build a workforce strategy as modern and dynamic as the economy we’re preparing it for.”
McCormick pointed to the emphasis on four-year college educations and said “the same respect and support” directed there should also be directed to vocational opportunities. Ricketts said there’s a worker shortage in America, and the bill is a win for workers, employers and consumers.
“Too many students are pushed into debt seeking a four-year degree that doesn’t suit job market demands,” Grassley said. “That needs to change.”

A feisty battle is happening in states between app stores like Google and Apple and app developers like Meta. Both are spending and lobbying fiercely.
Currently, there are bills around the country working in favor of both interests. While each lobby and legislator agrees that social media is threatening child safety and that something must be done, none can agree on who ought to bear the responsibility.
In Louisiana, for instance, a bill passed committee which would require Google and Apple to verify the age of users and confirm parental consent for anyone under age 18, which would alleviate app developers — such as Meta — of some responsibility.
Last year, Louisiana Rep. Kim Carver, R-Mandeville, introduced similar legislation. His current bill functions to do what a provision of his 2024 bill would have done, but was snuffed out by Apple, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. Now, that provision has earned its own legislation — and this time Google is working against his measure.
Meta, on the other hand, has been working to secure legislation themselves and have indicate previous support of legislation similar to Carver’s. The social media conglomerate owned by Mark Zuckerberg is spending millions to push legislation in states and in Washington, D.C.
According to OpenSecrets, Meta currently has 63 federal lobbyists and has spent $7,990,000 at the federal level. It has spent more in the first quarter of 2025 than in any previous first quarter.
In Louisiana, Meta employs 12 lobbyists who have been paid at least $324,992 in total, according to Louisiana’s Ethics Administration — a very conservative estimate.
Meta has 13 lobbyists in Texas, 14 lobbyists in Ohio and four lobbyists in Alabama, all according to their state ethics administrations.
All of these states have had bills related to platform accountability, mostly incorporating Meta’s framework.
“There’s not enough attention on the real risks that these proposals create,” Kareem Ghanem, Google’s director of public policy, said in an interview with The Center Square. “These bills would do nothing to address people’s concerns. And in the process, they’re letting Zuckerberg and Meta off the hook by providing this false sense of security that no amount of age verification at an app store level can really solve.”
Google is urging legislators to reject the one-size-fits-all mandates like Utah’s App Store Accountability Act, warning such bills could actually increase risks to children and violate user privacy.
“Under these laws, they’d be required to collect age data from every user,” Ghanem said. “That’s unnecessary, it’s an invasion of privacy, and it creates all kinds of problems for small and medium-sized businesses. They don’t want to collect that data because it’s not relevant or necessary to providing a good experience—like, say, a weather app.”
Meta, X (formerly Twitter), and Snapchat disagree, and applauded the Utah bill.
“Parents want a one-stop shop to oversee and approve the many apps their teens want to download, and Utah has led the way in centralizing it within a device’s app store,” the companies said in a letter obtained by Fox.
The Utah bill would require app stores to share whether a user is a child or teen with all app developers.
“This level of data sharing isn’t necessary—a weather app doesn’t need to know if a user is a kid,” Google wrote in a blog post. “By contrast, a social media app does need to make significant decisions about age-appropriate content and features.”
In response, Google has responded with its own lobbying and a legislative framework focused on what it calls a more balanced, privacy-first approach. Federally, Google has spent $3,805,000 this year, according to OpenSecrets. According to Google, a bill that incorporates their framework has been introduced in Ohio, where the company is represented by 14 lobbyists.
Google’s framework would allow app stores to provide age signals only to developers who require them for safety reasons—and only with user or parental consent. The company says developers, not platforms, should be responsible for applying appropriate safety features when minors use their apps.
Meanwhile, in Louisiana, the bill under consideration would require app stores to enforce age restrictions and bar minors from accessing certain apps altogether. Whether that bill survives the full legislative process may depend on which tech titan gains the upper hand.

Three naturally-derived food coloring additives are set to replace some petroleum-based dyes in the American food and medicine supply, per an announcement from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Friday.
Butterfly pea flower extract, Galdieria extract blue, and calcium phosphate have now received approval or expanded approval for use in a variety of snacks and beverages, the latest step forward in Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s plan to substitute synthetic dyes.
“For too long, our food system has relied on synthetic, petroleum-based dyes that offer no nutritional value and pose unnecessary health risks,” Kennedy said in a statement. “We’re removing these dyes and approving safe, natural alternatives – to protect families and support healthier choices.”
In April, the FDA and HHS announced a phaseout timeline for petroleum-based food additives – which are correlated with several health problems in children – and promised to accelerate the approval process of natural alternatives to assist the transition.
The American food industry has until the end of 2025 to remove Green No. 3, Red No. 40, Yellow No. 5, Yellow No. 6, Blue No. 1 and Blue No. 2 from their products, as The Center Square reported.
Butterfly pea flower extract is an antioxidant-rich coloring derived from flower petals that can produce blues, purples, and greens. Already approved for use in candies, beverages, dairy products and gum, the FDA’s decision expands allowable use for cereals, snack mixes, and chips.
Galdieria extract blue, which produces a color similar to petroleum-based Blue 1 but is derived from red microalgae Galdieria sulphuraria, has been approved for candies and multiple fruit and dairy related foods, including juices, smoothies, frozen desserts, puddings, whipped toppings, and frostings.
Food ingredient companies Givaudan Sense Colour and Fermentalg, celebrated the FDA’s decision as it allows for expanded use of their product Everzure™ Galdieria, a natural color additive made from Galdieria sulphuraria.
“Natural ingredients developed with the help of biotechnology hold the promise of delivering better, cleaner and more enticing food experiences for consumers,” Raja Chouket from Sense Colour said. “This approval will allow us to advance into production and commercialization, making this long-awaited solution available to the market.”
Calcium phosphate, a natural compound found in bones and teeth, is now approved for use of white colorant in ready-to-eat chicken products, white candy melts, doughnut sugar, and sugar for coated candies.
“On April 22, I said the FDA would soon approve several new color additives and would accelerate our review of others,” FDA Commissioner Martin Makary said Friday. “FDA staff have been moving quickly to expedite the publication of these decisions, underscoring our serious intent to transition away from petroleum-based dyes in the food supply and provide new colors from natural sources.”

President Donald Trump’s framework for a trade deal with the United Kingdom includes lower tariffs on vehicles from that nation, a move that U.S. automakers oppose.
American Automotive Policy Council President Matt Blunt said the import duties on UK vehicles could end up being lower than those on American-made vehicles.
“The U.S. automotive industry is highly integrated with Canada and Mexico; the same is not true for the U.S. and UK,” he said. “We are disappointed that the administration prioritized the UK ahead of our North American partners.”
Ford, GM and Stellantis could be at a disadvantage under terms of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a trade pact Trump signed during his first term.
“Under this deal, it will now be cheaper to import a UK vehicle with very little U.S. content than a USMCA compliant vehicle from Mexico or Canada that is half American parts,” Blunt said. “This hurts American automakers, suppliers, and auto workers. We hope this preferential access for UK vehicles over North American ones does not set a precedent for future negotiations with Asian and European competitors.”
The American Automotive Policy Council represents Ford Motor Company, General Motors Company and Stellantis.
Under the framework of the UK deal, the first 100,000 vehicles imported from UK manufacturers each year will be subject to a 10% tariff. Any additional vehicles each year would be subject to the higher 25% rate. The U.S. will also negotiate an alternative arrangement with the UK on steel and aluminum, according to the White House.

Western Carolina University is under investigation for Title IX violations by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
The Cullowhee school, a member of the University of North Carolina System, faces accusations of failing to “ensure sex-separated intimate spaces in federally funded institutions of higher education,” a release from the Education Department says. It further says “credible reports” indicate Western let a male room with a female in a girls’ dormitory, and in another instance, the school investigated a female for asking a male to leave a female locker room.
Craig Trainer, acting assistant secretary for the Office of Civil Rights, said in the release, “WCU’s reported contempt for federal antidiscrimination laws and indifference to, and retaliation against, girls who have spoken up about males invading their intimate spaces is simply unacceptable. After fighting for years to secure Title IX protections, women must again fight hostile institutions to ensure their right to equal protection and opportunity in sports, living spaces, and intimate facilities is respected.
“The Trump-McMahon Department of Education will continue to deploy every lawful means to eradicate this wholly unnecessary and egregious violation of women and girls’ civil rights.”
In an email to The Center Square, the university through its communications office said, “Western Carolina University acknowledges that we have received a notice of investigation from the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. We believe that our campus policies and procedures are compliant with Title IX and all other federal and state laws. We will work with OCR to fully resolve this complaint.”
The Education Department’s link for “credible reporting” is to the outlet National Review, the 1955 creation of William F. Buckley Jr. and arguably among the most prominent of conservative national media organizations. It published a story Tuesday saying the school hasn’t updated Title IX policy since President Donald Trump took office and issued several executive orders; and it cited public records given to it by Speech First.
The story cites a Jan. 22 email from a compliance officer.
The incident involving the school initiating a probe against a female student for a locker room, or bathroom, incident is from 2024 and involves Payton McNabb. The Education Department says the investigation was dropped “but WCU continues to assert that it will not change its policies to comply with Title IX.”
The Center Square is seeking comment from the UNC System leadership through its media relations office.

President Donald Trump signaled Friday that he was open to lowering his 145% tariff on imports from China ahead of weekend talks between the two economic superpowers.
Trump’s trade team has been in talks with 17 or the 18 top trade partners as the president looks to reorder global trade through tariffs on imports to the world’s largest economy: America.
“China should open up its market to USA – would be so good for them!!! Closed markets don’t work anymore!!!,” Trump wrote in all caps on Truth Social.
He also said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent could make the call.
“80% Tariff on China seems right! Up to Scott B.,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday morning.
Trump hit China with 145% tariffs after his “Liberation Day” tariff announcement on April 2. China retaliated with 125% tariffs on U.S. goods. Those remain in place, although the two nations are set to begin talks this weekend.
Economists, businesses and many publicly traded companies have warned that tariffs could raise prices on a wide range of consumer products.
Trump has said he wants to use tariffs to restore manufacturing jobs lost to lower-wage countries in decades past, shift the tax burden away from U.S. families, and pay down the national debt.
A tariff is a tax on imported goods. The importer pays the tax and can either absorb the loss or pass the cost on to consumers through higher prices.

The Pentagon moved ahead with plans Thursday to begin the voluntary separation process for about 1,000 service members diagnosed with gender dysphoria after a Supreme Court ruling earlier this week.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed President Donald Trump’s administration to ban transgender military service while a legal challenge moves forward in the lower courts.
“The Secretary is encouraged by the Supreme Court’s order staying the lower court’s injunction, allowing the Department of Defense to carry out its policies associated with ‘Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,'” Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said Thursday.
The U.S. Department of Defense will issue guidance to the Military Departments and Services “ending the accession of individuals with a current diagnosis or history of, or symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria and all non-medically necessary treatment.”
About 1,000 service members self-identified as being diagnosed with gender dysphoria, according to the Pentagon.
The department will extend the voluntary separation period for 30 days for Active Component Service members, and 60 days for Reserve Component Service members, and proceed with processing for involuntary separations after those periods, according to a memo.
Shortly after taking over at the Pentagon, U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said service members diagnosed with gender dysphoria would be processed for separation by their respective military branches, according to a memo.
Hegseth spoke about the issue at Special Operations Forces Week on Tuesday.
“Everything starts and ends with warriors, from training to the battlefield,” Hegseth said. “We are leaving wokeness and weakness behind. No more pronouns. No more climate change obsession. No more emergency vaccine mandates. No more dudes in dresses, we’re done with that [expletive].”