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By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Federal officials are circulating a draft budget proposal that would make dramatic additional cuts to federal health programs and serve as a roadmap for more mass firings. Though it’s preliminary, the document gives an indication of the Trump administration’s priorities as it prepares its 2026 fiscal year budget proposal to Congress. The document indicates plans to deepen job and funding reductions across much of the federal government. The budget of the Food and Drug Administration would be cut by nearly half a billion dollars, to $6.5 billion, in part by…

So it looks like UCLA got its Iamaleava, after all. And with him, college football’s attention. Quarterback Nico Iamaleava, a rising redshirt sophomore, is expected to transfer to UCLA after leaving Tennessee over a contract dispute, per multiple reports Wednesday. He’ll slot in where his younger brother, Madden, was supposed to before abruptly changing his commitment last year to sign with Arkansas. Fast forward and it’s Nico Iamaleava changing course, charting a path to Westwood, and arriving as the protagonist in college football’s movie of the week: Unthinkable until only recently, he was the college quarterback effectively holding out, no-showing…

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal should dispel all doubts as to why Prop. 13 is so important to California homeowners. The article, entitled, “Americans have amassed $35 trillion of wealth in their homes, yet many feel less well off because of it,” presents a sobering view of what is happening in most other states. The extensive piece, written by Veronica Dagher and Anne Tergesen, addresses how home ownership can be a two-edged sword. First, the good news. Home equity, nationally, has increased 80% since 2020 due to rapid increases in home values. This approximately $19 trillion in…

By TOM MURPHY, Associated Press Health Writer UnitedHealth chopped its 2025 forecast after being surprised by rising care use from its Medicare Advantage customers in a worse-than-expected first quarter. Shares of the health care giant tumbled early Thursday, and the report rattled insurance stocks across the sector. UnitedHealth said a jump in care use came in far above what the company planned for 2025 and became apparent as the quarter ended. The jump was particularly notable in doctor and outpatient services, which don’t involve overnight hospital stays. The company’s UnitedHealthcare insurance business is the nation’s largest provider of Medicare Advantage…

By HANNAH FINGERHUT, Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A 30-year-old community service program that sends young adults to work on projects across the U.S. was the latest target of the Trump administration ‘s campaign to slash government spending. AmeriCorps’ National Civilian Community Corps informed volunteers Tuesday that they would exit the program early “due to programmatic circumstances beyond your control,” according to an email obtained by The Associated Press. The unsigned memo to corps members said NCCC’s “ability to sustain program operations” was impacted by the Trump administration’s priorities and President Donald Trump’s executive order creating the Department…

Last week, local Congressman Ted W. Lieu, D-Torrance, along with fellow Democratic Reps.  Eleanor Holmes Norton of Washington, D.C.,  Donald Beyer of Virginia and Adriano Espaillat of New York reintroduced the Protecting Data at the Border Act. We applaud their efforts. The legislation, which has been repeatedly brought forward in recent years, would reiterate Fourth Amendment protections for American citizens at ports of entry. Specifically, the legislation would require Customs and Border Patrol agents to get a warrant if they want to search through the electronic devices, including phones, of American citizens. One might think constitutional rights apply at the…

By REBECCA BOONE, Associated Press A federal judge says he won’t dismiss a lawsuit from labor unions seeking to block Elon Musk’s team from accessing systems at the Labor Department. The labor unions say that allowing Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to access the systems violates the federal Privacy Act because they contain medical and financial records of millions of Americans. They also contend DOGE doesn’t have the legal authority to direct the actions of congressionally created agencies like the Department of Labor. In a ruling Wednesday, U.S. District Judge John Bates said those claims could move forward in court.…

With 187,000 residents homeless, California leads the nation—not in solutions, but in expensive failures. This year, major cities like Oakland saw a 9% increase in homelessness. If the state’s goal was to increase homelessness, its policies are a resounding success. The state isn’t short on resources. California has some of the nation’s highest taxpayers and receives $322 billion in annual revenue. But it burned through $24 billionof that on homelessness over the past five years—and it’s still failed to halt the bleeding. In large part, this failure is due to incompetence. The crisis keeps spiraling because no one has bothered…

By AAMER MADHANI and JOSH BOAK, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump slammed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday, reiterating his frustration that the Fed has not aggressively cut interest rates and saying that the central bank leader’s “termination cannot come fast enough.” Trump hinted at moving to fire Powell, whose term does not expire until next year. The Republican president’s broadside comes a day after Powell said in a speech that Trump’s broad-based tariffs have left the Federal Reserve seeking “greater clarity” on the impact of policy changes in areas such as immigration, taxation, regulation and…

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI and KRISTIN M. HALL, Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Damian Felipe Jimenez has many dreams about his future — he could be a restaurant owner, a scientist or maybe something else. As he works through sixth grade, he knows education will be critical in making his dreams a reality, but he’s increasingly worried that option could soon disappear for some of his classmates. Felipe Jimenez is one of hundreds of children who have packed the Tennessee Capitol this year to oppose legislation designed to upend the long-standing U.S. constitutional right to free public education for children,…