Republicans consider cuts and work requirements for Medicaid

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are weighing billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid, jeopardizing health care coverage for some of the 80 million U.S. adults and children enrolled in the safety net program. The increasing number of Americans who signed up for taxpayer-funded health care coverage was lauded by Democrats during the Biden administration. But Republicans during the Trump administration are looking to slash federal spending. The $880 billion Medicaid program is financed mostly by federal taxpayers. The GOP-controlled Congress is eyeing work requirements for Medicaid and considering paying a shrunken, fixed rate to states. Over the next decade, Republican lawmakers could try to siphon billions of dollars from the nearly-free health care coverage offered to the poorest Americans.

Adams will face judge who will decide whether to dismiss his criminal case

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams will face the federal judge on Wednesday who will decide whether to dismiss corruption charges against him after lawyers explain the abrupt change in position just weeks before an April trial. Judge Dale E. Ho in Manhattan set the hearing as his first response to the government’s Friday request to dismiss the charges. His order followed a weeklong clash among government lawyers that led to resignations by several top prosecutors in Washington and New York who refused the plan to seek dismissal. Adams has pleaded not guilty. The hearing will occur as a growing number of former prosecutors call on Ho to conduct an inquiry that could put Washington’s Justice Department leadership under a spotlight.

Prosecutors say there’s no evidence so far that torture and killing of man was a hate crime

CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. (AP) — Investigators say they’ve not yet found evidence that the torture and killing of a transgender man whose body was discarded in an upstate New York field was a hate crime. Five people were charged Friday in the death of Sam Nordquist. Nordquist was a 24-year-old transgender man who was reported missing on Feb. 9. The brutal killing led to questions about whether it was a hate crime. The Ontario County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement that Nordquist’s assailants knew each other and identified as LGBTQ+. And at least one lived with Nordquist before the crime.

Judge declines to immediately block Elon Musk or DOGE from federal data or layoffs

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge declined Tuesday to immediately block Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing government data systems or participating in worker layoffs. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan found that there are legitimate questions about Musk’s authority, but said there isn’t evidence of the kind of grave legal harm that would justify a temporary restraining order. The decision comes in a lawsuit filed by 14 states challenging DOGE’s authority to access sensitive government data. The attorneys general argued that actions taken by Musk at the helm of DOGE can only be taken by a nominated and Senate-confirmed official under the Constitution.