During his first week in office, President Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris climate agreement, declared an energy emergency, renewed his vow to “drill, baby, drill,” and began dismantling American climate policy. That has left environmental advocates looking to states to lead the nation’s efforts to burn fewer fossil fuels — and a report released Wednesday shows there is much more they can do.

One of the most powerful tools at each state’s disposal is the ability to work with utilities to encourage energy efficiency. But, the report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, or ACEEE, details how only 26 states, along with the District of Columbia, have established a so-called “energy-efficiency resource standard,” or EERS. These targets, set by legislators or utility regulators, require utilities to implement programs — such as weatherization or rebates on appliances — that cut energy consumption by a certain amount each year.

“There is more work that needs to be done,” said Jasmine Mah, a senior research analyst at the Council and an author of the report. Since 2012, just three states have added such a standard, while New Hampshire, Ohio, and Iowa repealed theirs in favor of less ambitious or scaled-back programming. Arizona is also pursuing a rollback. Mah says the report is aimed at state policymakers and regulators, who could shift that tide. 

“We hope that highlighting the positive impacts of having an EERS in place would encourage states to pass a policy,” she said. An earlier ACEEE report found that, as of 2017, states with an energy-efficiency resource standard saw four times the electricity savings as states without one. In 2023, states with such a plan accounted for about 59 percent of the U.S. population but 82 percent of the savings.

“States aren’t doing this just because of climate change,” said Barry Rabe, a political scientist at the University of Michigan who studies energy and climate politics. “There is an economic advantage.”

Fossil-fuel friendly Texas, Rabe noted, was the first to adopt an EERS in 1999. But efficiency can become less of a priority when energy supplies are abundant and costs are stable. “The decline in interest,” Rabe said, “has in some degree coincided with the massive increase in natural gas use in the U.S.” 

Still, the Council also found that many states have gone beyond baseline policies and implemented what the report dubs “next-generation” initiatives that aim to lower greenhouse gas emissions, spur electrification, serve lower-income populations, and reduce consumers’ financial energy burdens. All but four of the 27 states (including D.C.) with an energy-efficiency resource standard have implemented at least one such effort, but only nine have adopted all of them, leaving plenty of room for growth. 

“We found that low-income targets are the most common complementary goal related to efficiency standards,” said Mah. “[But] not many states had provisions for energy affordability.”

The report spotlights five states that have been particularly effective at employing these programs. Illinois has targeted using only clean energy by 2050. Massachusetts aims to install half a million heat pumps by 2030. Michigan mandates that utilities dedicate at least 25 to 35% of their energy-efficiency funding to programs serving low-income customers. Utilities in New York and Minnesota have capped the portion of a customer’s income that can go toward utility costs at 6 and 4%, respectively.

President Trump’s push to repeal the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, likely won’t impact state EERSs because they are generally funded through fees added to utility bills. “We see that as probably the best way to bring significant funds,” said Justin Brant, the utility program director at the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project. 

Critics of Arizona’s EERS, which was adopted in 2010, point to the $3 billion cost to customers. “Utilities should select the most cost-effective energy mix to provide reliable and affordable service, without being constrained by government-imposed mandates that make it more expensive for their customers,” said Arizona Corporation Commissioner Nick Myers in a statement last year. But the state’s largest electric utility found that, in 2023, EERS investments reaped about twice as much in returns as was spent. 

“We’re saving money for all customers, even those who aren’t participating,” said Brant. 

The IRA does provide nearly $9 billion for energy-efficiency and electrification programs, almost all of which is distributed via states and could be used on next-generation programs, like those serving low-income households. That money has already been awarded. But the Republican-controlled Congress could roll back federal tax credits for energy efficiency and electrification, which indirectly make it easier for states to achieve their energy-efficiency resource standard and next-generation goals. 

Brant says he would add another policy to the Council’s “next-generation” wishlist for states: programs that encourage customers to spread out the timing of their daily energy use. Lower peak demand means power plants don’t need to be as large and that, he said, will be especially critical as renewable energy becomes an increasing part of the country’s electricity mix. 

“​​Time shift is not something that this report looked at,” he said. “I think that’s another piece that needs to be prioritized.”

This article originally appeared in Grist at https://grist.org/energy/almost-half-of-us-states-havent-done-the-bare-minimum-to-cut-utility-bills/. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.

Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at Grist.org

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WASHINGTON — Although they’ve been paused for 30 days, President Donald Trump’s tariff threats showed how dependent Minnesota is on trade with Canada and Mexico.

According to the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, about half of Minnesota’s exports went to those two countries and China in 2021, up from about one-third in 2002. And the chamber said trade between Minnesota and Canada grew about 39% from 2019 to 2021.

Those Minnesota exports would suffer if the nations Trump has threatened with tariffs follow through with their own threats to impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods.

And the huge list of U.S. imports from the countries subject to the new tariffs — which range from cars and wine to pharmaceuticals — would be subject to substantial price hikes, fueling inflation, as U.S. importers pass the cost of the new tax along to consumers.

A trade war with the United States’ closest neighbors and allies was forestalled when Trump reached deals with Mexico and Canada, which would have been subject to 25% tariffs on Tuesday.

But on Tuesday, 10% tariffs will be placed on Chinese goods, which already bear tariffs.

Under the terms of Trump’s agreement with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico would send an additional 10,000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border and the United States would aim to stop U.S. trafficking of high-powered weapons to Mexican drug cartels.

An agreement with Canada took two phone calls between Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who had said he would lodge a protest at the World Trade Organization against the new U.S. tariffs, seek redress under the USMCA and impose more than $155 billion worth of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports.

In a posting on X, Trudeau said he “had a good call with President Trump” on Monday afternoon and suggested the pause on tariffs on Canadian goods was in response to Canada’s agreement to target the flow of fentanyl across the border into the United States.

But while a trade war has been postponed, the threat of an economic upheaval still remains.  

Canada’s retaliatory tariffs would be applied to more than 1,000 American products — from agriculture commodities to clothing and shoes to high-tech products. The list also includes paper products and other goods exported to Canada by Maplewood-based 3M.

“3M is reviewing the recently announced tariffs,” the company said. “We are continuing to monitor the situation.”

A USMCA fact sheet says that in 2019 Canada was Minnesota’s largest export destination and Mexico was the state’s second destination of the state-produced goods, accounting for a combined $7.2 billion in export sales that year.

Trump said he plans to extend tariffs to other nations — including European Union countries — and that they are needed to raise money for the U.S. Treasury. But most economists say U.S. consumers will pay for the cost of the tariffs, not foreign exporters.

“Families are already struggling with high prices and across-the-board tariffs will make it worse,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who supported tariffs on foreign steel she said was dumped at lower prices to hurt domestic producers.

“Tariffs should be applied with scalpel-like precision with specific goals,” Klobuchar said. “Instead, the president is using a sledgehammer and it’s going to clobber our economy.”

Well-traveled pigs

Minnesota’s farmers would be hard hit if there’s a trade war with Canada.

When Trump instituted smaller tariffs on certain imported goods and imported steel and aluminum, Minnesota farmers were hurt by plunging commodity prices and a drop in exports.

Trump was forced to tap a Great Depression-era program, the Commodity Credit Corporation, to pay farmers $28 billion as recompense for their losses.

The USDA estimated that those payments constituted more than one-third of total farm income in 2019 and 2020.

Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation President Dan Glessing said he hoped Trump’s more recent tariffs threats are merely a “bargaining chip” the president is using to seek concessions from allies.

Glessing said the state’s farm economy could survive a new trade war “as long as it does not drag on too long.” But he said the disruptions in the market come at a bad time — on the heels of a two-year slump in U.S. farm exports.

Klobuchar called Canada “a key economic partner for the northern states” and that tariffs on potash from that nation would sharply increase fertilizer costs for Minnesota farmers.

Trump’s tariff policy also raises other questions because of the close relationship of Minnesota’s farmers with their counterparts to the north.

Canada has an agreement with Minnesota pork producers that send piglets to grow into hogs in Canada. These hogs are shipped back to Minnesota and processed into meat products. Some of those pork products are exported back to Canada.

“When you think of how much back-and-forth there is (in the operation), those tariffs could be considerable,” Glessing said.

Ana Radelat

Ana Radelat is MinnPost’s Washington, D.C. correspondent. You can reach her at aradelat@minnpost.com or follow her on Twitter at @radelat.

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WASHINGTON — This week in Washington was marked by the horrific and tragic midair collision between an Army Blackhawk and an American Airlines plane over the Potomac and the rollout and retraction by the Trump administration of a temporary freeze on government funding to states, local governments and non-profit organizations.

The freeze on $3 trillion worth of government programs provoked chaos and panic and was reversed after a group of non-profits procured a court-mandated stay. But the effort to cut off federal funds continues.

Trump’s Office of Management and Budget said it is conducting a review of 2,600 federal programs with an eye to singling out those that promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, facilitate abortions or run afoul of any policy or activity Trump doesn’t like.

So, it’s highly likely the Trump administration will try to freeze government funding again, this time in a more surgical but still impactful manner.  And that attempt is likely to have to be defended in a federal court as it will be challenged as an illegal and unconstitutional impoundment by the executive branch of monies appropriated by Congress.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison joined 22 other Democratic attorneys general this week to sue to stop Trump’s initial attempt to freeze funding and is likely to continue to battle the issue in court.

Democratic members of Congress who are waging a public relations campaign against Trump’s attempt to eliminate programs, are also weighing a court challenge.

As far as the plane crash, President Trump blamed his Democratic predecessors – former Presidents Obama and Biden – and DEI policies for the disaster. But he provided no evidence to back up his allegations.

Meanwhile, fireworks broke out at several confirmation hearings this week, including one for Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

In a heated exchange, Sen. Tina Smith, D-MN, brought up Kennedy’s comments against the use of antidepressants, particularly among younger Americans, and his stated link of these anti-depressants to school shooters.

“In fact, most school shooters were not treated for anti-depressants,” she said.

Kennedy said he was talking about many factors that contributed to the shootings and that anti-depressant medications such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), have serious side effects and need more research.

“I just want to have good science,” he said.

Smith told Kennedy that when she was younger, she was treated with an SSRI medication, therapy and other options to live a happier life. She said RFK Jr.’s comments stigmatized those suffering from depression.

“And I’m very concerned that this is another example of your record of sharing false and misleading information that actually really hurts people,” Smith said.

From DFL to DNC?

Minnesota DFL Chairman Ken Martin has helped many candidates during his career in politics, but now he’s on the ballot on Saturday as the Democratic National Committee elects a new chairman.

While there are a number of Democrats vying for the job, including failed presidential candidate Marianne Williamson and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, the race is considered a two-person battle between Martin and Ben Wikler, the chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party.

Candidates have differed a little on nuts-and-bolts issues.

There’s been unanimity among the candidates that, after November’s devastating defeat at the ballot box, there is  an urgent need to improve the Democratic party’s brand, especially among working-class voters and the nation’s labor unions.

However,  Wikler, 43,  is known for his fundraising prowess, which likely played a part in his ability to win endorsements from big names in the Democratic Party, including Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Martin, meanwhile, has been promoting his winning strategy in Minnesota, where the DFL has won every statewide election since he was elected chairman of the state party in 2011.

Martin, 51, has spent his whole life in Democratic politics, and was a senior at Eden Prairie High School when he joined Paul Wellstone’s campaign for U.S. Senate.

He says he has secured commitments from about 200 of the 448 party officials who will cast a vote Saturday at the Gaylord National Resort in Oxon Hill, Md., a suburb of Washington, D.C.

Whoever wins that election will replace outgoing DNC chairman Jaime Harrison and take over a party that’s in crisis and has no obvious leader. The party has also failed to coalesce around a strategy to address the problems that cost them electoral losses in November and has no unified strategy to stop President Trump’s agenda.

In case you missed it:

Reporter Peter Callaghan explained why gridlock continues in the state House – and now in the state Senate and when a resolution to the problems brought by GOP electoral wins in November and other unexpected occurrences could be resolved.

After U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has dropped its policy against entering schools and churches to detain immigrants, reporter Winter Keefer looked at policies the St. Paul and Minnesota school districts are adopting to protect their students.

A new, expanded travel ban is in the works thanks to one of the many executive orders President Trump signed this past week. Similar to the “Muslim ban” that he established in his first term in office, this new travel ban will impact Minnesota’s Somali population and many foreign students who want to attend college in the state – and even some who are already attending classes.

Your questions and comments

A reader reacted to a story about migrants, both undocumented and with permission to work and live temporarily in the United States, who work on Minnesota farms and ranches, and their fates under the new Trump administration.

One reader wrote: “I’ve been wondering about the ag (agricultural) industry, and how you’d think it would have been OBVIOUS to it/them that Trump’s deportation plans would kneecap their businesses, yet there was no huge swell of (Kamala) Harris support from them. Nary a peep, as far as I could tell!”

Please keep your comments, and any questions, coming. I’ll try my best to respond. Please contact me at aradelat@minnpost.com.

Ana Radelat

Ana Radelat is MinnPost’s Washington, D.C. correspondent. You can reach her at aradelat@minnpost.com or follow her on Twitter at @radelat.

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WASHINGTON — Of all the executive orders President Trump has signed concerning immigration, there’s one that is causing the most confusion – and could severely limit the ability of people from many countries to enter the United States, even for a short visit.

That executive order has roiled immigrant communities and their advocates and refugee resettlement agencies in the state and is believed to put in peril the visas of foreign students who are attending or want to attend Minnesota colleges.

Trump has ordered the Department of Homeland Security, State Department and Director of National Intelligence to submit, in 60 days, a list of all nations that the agencies determine do not properly vet people who want to visit, live or study in the United States.

The executive order, called “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats” has been compared to the “Muslim ban” Trump implemented in his first term in office.

That ban blocked nationals from six Muslim-majority nations – including Somalia and Iran – and North Korea from entry into the United States. More than 700 travelers were detained, and up to 60,000 visas were “provisionally revoked.”

The new initiative is expected to go much farther, affecting at least 20 nations and including Gaza, Somalia, Syria and other Muslim-majority nations.

Trump’s executive order also directs the State Department and other agencies to investigate nationals from those countries who have migrated to the United States since 2021, when Trump’s last term of office ended.

“The United States must ensure that admitted aliens and aliens otherwise already present in the United States do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles …,” the executive order says.

Foreign students could lose their visas if they are arrested or expelled. But they could soon also be vulnerable to losing their right to study in the United States if they were found to participate – or have participated in – pro-Palestinian protests or support other policies or ideologies that run afoul of the new administration.

Adam Abu, vice president of Students for Justice in Palestine, a pro-Palestinian group at the University of Minnesota, said new protests have been planned at the campus since October.

“But now it’s hard for us to recommend foreign students to come to protests when they might be deported just for protesting,” he said. “(The executive order) has set a dangerous precedent for future protests.”

Among those whom Abu does not want to invite to demonstrations on campus are three students from Gaza that have recently been invited to attend the university.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-5th District, who was born in Somalia and lived in a refugee camp before coming to the United States, said Trump’s first term Muslim Ban “tore families  apart in our district, leaving many of my constituents unable to reunite with their loved ones.”

“As someone who came here as a refugee from one of the Trump administration’s banned countries, I know how destructive this hateful policy was to people around the world seeking a better life in the United States,” Omar said. “ Somali Americans in our district, in particular, felt the brunt of this cruel policy, as parents, spouses, and children were trapped in limbo — facing indefinite separation simply because of where they were born.”

Omar said even after the first ban was lifted, many many refugee families in Minnesota were still waiting to be reunited. 

“A future ban would only deepen these wounds and reinforce xenophobia, racism and Islamophobia,” Omar said. 

‘A unified American identity’

Ana Pottratz-Acosta, a professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law who specializes in immigration law, said she “would not be shocked” if there weren’t at least 20 nations on Trump’s new ban.

But she, and others interviewed for this story, said there is no clarity on what the Trump administration will do to implement a new travel ban.

“At this point in time, it’s kind of speculative,” Pottratz-Acosta said.

Lindsey Greising, an attorney for Advocates for Human Rights, a Minneapolis-based non-profit, said the specter of a new Muslim ban has created “a rumor mill” that may discourage efforts to apply for visas to the United States.

“People still have the ability to apply for visas they are eligible for and continue to live their lives without fear,” she said.

She also said the new investigation into how foreign nations screen applicants for visas is unnecessary, since U.S. consulates in those nations “have had a strong vetting process in place for years.”

Still, the executive order is concerning, Greising said, especially since it orders federal agencies to evaluate programs “designed to ensure the proper assimilation of lawful immigrants into the United States, and recommend any additional measures to be taken that promote a unified American identity and attachment to the Constitution, laws, and founding principles of the United States.”

Greising said the terms “assimilation,” and “unified American identity” are counter to the pluralistic nature of today’s American society.

“We’re very concerned about any effort to use national security pretexts to push racists or nationalistic agendas,” she said.

Door already shut on refugees

On his first day in office, Trump also signed an executive order halting refugee admissions into the United States for at least 90 days to give the State Department time to investigate how well they are vetted.

That order also ended all federal grants to refugee resettlement organizations, which are dominated by religious organizations, like Lutheran Social Services, which has offices in St. Cloud and Minneapolis.

Since October, Lutheran Social Services has helped resettle 387 refugees from several nations, including Somalia, Afghanistan and Ukraine.

Alexis Oberdorfer of Lutheran Social Services said these refugees “have arrived with little more than the clothes they are wearing and will need financial help to pay for rent, food, medical expenses and other basic needs.”

While the organization receives private donations, most of its funding came from the federal government before Trump ended those payments. The federal government, for instance, paid for three months of each refugee’s basic living expenses.

“With federal funds frozen for these vital expenses, we are cobbling together private funds to help newly arrived refugees with their immediate needs.” Oberdorfer said.

And the door has now been shut on many refugees who have lived in camps for years and had been recently given permission to be reunited with family members in Minnesota, Oberdorfer said.

According to the State Department, there were 1,018 refugee arrivals in Minnesota from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31 of last year. More than half, or 525 came from Somalia. The next largest group came from Afghanistan (97), and Ethiopia (90).

Trump’s new version of his Muslim ban is likely to make immigration from Somalia and many troubled countries very difficult, if not impossible.

According to the State Department, in 2016, 9,000 Somalis settled in the United States. That number dropped to 980 in 2017, when Trump first entered the White House and to 149 in 2020, the last year of Trump’s first term.

Ana Radelat

Ana Radelat is MinnPost’s Washington, D.C. correspondent. You can reach her at aradelat@minnpost.com or follow her on Twitter at @radelat.

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Moments before 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow opened fire inside her Madison, Wisc., school, killing two people and herself last month, a social media account believed to be hers posted a photograph on X showing someone sitting in a bathroom stall and flashing a hand gesture that has become a symbol for white supremacy. 

As news about the shooting broke, another X user responded: “Livestream it.” 

Extremism researchers now believe that second account belonged to 17-year-old Solomon Henderson, who police say walked into his high school cafeteria in Nashville, on Wednesday and fired 10 shots, killing one classmate and then himself. Archives of another X account linked to him show that he posted a similar photo to Rupnow’s in his final moments. 

While there isn’t any evidence that Rupnow and Henderson plotted their attacks together, extremism researchers who have tracked their social media activity told Wisconsin Watch and ProPublica that the two teenagers were active in the same online networks that glorify mass shooters, even crossing paths. Across various social media platforms, the networks trade hateful memes alongside terrorist literature, exchange tips on how to effectively commit attacks and encourage one another to carry out their own.

The researchers had been tracking these networks for months as part of work looking into growing online extremist networks that have proliferated across gaming, chatting and social media platforms and that they believe are radicalizing young people to commit mass shootings and other violence.

The researchers’ analysis found only a few instances in which Rupnow and Henderson appeared to interact directly. But in the hours, days and weeks that followed the Madison shooting, Henderson appears to have become fixated on Rupnow. He boasted on X that Rupnow and him were “mutuals,” a common internet term for following each other, and shared another post that said, “i used to be mutuals with someone who is now a real school shooter ;-).”  

The researchers, who have collaborated with counterterrorism organizations, academics and law enforcement to prevent violence by tracking how extremist networks radicalize youth online, agreed to share information as long as they weren’t named out of concerns for their physical safety. The news outlets vetted their credentials with several experts in the field.

It’s impossible to know with complete certainty that online accounts belong to particular people without specialized access to devices and accounts from law enforcement. The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department has acknowledged the existence of two documents they believe Henderson created, both of which contain details about his social media accounts. Other researchers and groups — including The Anti-Defamation League, Canadian extremism expert Marc-André Argentino and SITE Intelligence Group — have also determined these likely belong to Henderson. 

The extremism researchers linked accounts to Rupnow, who went by Samantha, by tracing her activity across multiple social media profiles that revealed common biographical details, including personal acquaintances and that she lived in Wisconsin. On the bathroom post, one person the account regularly interacted with referred to Rupnow by her nickname, “Sam.” Wisconsin Watch and ProPublica were able to verify the social media posts and the connections between the accounts by retracing the researchers’ steps through archived social media accounts and screenshots.

On Thursday, ABC News cited law enforcement sources in reporting that a social media account connected to Henderson may have been in contact with Rupnow’s social media account. The information reviewed by Wisconsin Watch and ProPublica details their suspected connections and interactions. Nearly all of the accounts that researchers have linked to Rupnow and Henderson have now been suspended.

A Madison Police Department spokesperson said the agency knows Rupnow “was very active on social media” and it is “just starting” to receive and review documents from tech companies.  The Nashville police said they had nothing further to add beyond their previous statements. Rubi Patricia Vergara, 14, and Erin West, 42, were killed at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison. Josselin Corea Escalante, 16, died at Antioch High School in Nashville. Both attackers also killed themselves. 

Rupnow and Henderson both had multiple X accounts, the extremism researchers told Wisconsin Watch and ProPublica. At the time of her attack, Rupnow followed just 13 other users. Two of those accounts have been linked to Henderson.

In November, Rupnow shared a post from Henderson, which appeared to wish a happy Veterans Day to the man who killed more than a dozen people at University of Texas at Austin in 1966. 

After the Madison attack, someone wrote to Henderson and others on X, saying that one of their “buddies” may have “shot up a school.” Henderson told another user, “I barely know her,”  and said he had never exchanged private messages with her. Later, in a 51-page screed that Nashville police are examining, he emulated and praised several past attackers including Rupnow and said, “I have connections with some of them only loosely via online messaging platforms.”

After Rupnow’s shooting, Henderson called her a “Saintress,” using a term common in the networks, and posted or reshared posts about her dozens of times, celebrating her racist, genocidal online persona and the fact that she had taken action. On one platform, he used a photograph of her as his profile picture. In his writings, he said he scrawled Rupnow’s name and those of other perpetrators on his weapon and gear.

The online networks the two teenagers inhabited have an array of influences, ideologies and aesthetics. To varying degrees of commitment and sincerity, they ascribe to white supremacist, anti-Semitic, racist, neo-Nazi, occult or satanic beliefs.

In this online world, the currency that buys clout is violence. This violence often involves children and teenagers harming other children and teenagers, some through doxing or encouraging self-harm, others, like Rupnow and Henderson, by committing mass attacks in the nonvirtual world. 

“This network is best described as an online subculture that celebrates violent attacks and radicalizes young people into committing violence,” said one of the violence prevention researchers. “Many of the individuals involved in this network are minors, and we’d like to see intervention to give them the help and support they need, for their own safety as well as those around them.”

Members of some of these communities, including Terrorgram, 764 and Com, have engaged in activities online and offline that have led to convictions for possessing child sexual abuse materials and sexually exploiting a child and indictments for soliciting hate crimes and soliciting the murder of federal officials. The cases are pending, and the defendants have not filed responses in court. This month, the U.S. State Department designated the Terrorgram Collective as a terrorist organization, saying “the group promotes violent white supremacism, solicits attacks on perceived adversaries, and provides guidance and instructional materials on tactics, methods, and targets for attacks, including on critical infrastructure and government officials.”

When details of the Nashville shooting began to emerge, researchers realized they had seen some of Henderson’s accounts and posts within the network of about 100 users they are tracking. They had previously reported one username of an account belonging to Henderson, as well as others within the network to law enforcement and filed several reports with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. 

They had not been aware of Rupnow’s accounts before her attack, but were able to locate her within the network after the fact, discovering she had regularly interacted with other accounts they had been following.

Alex Newhouse, an extremism researcher at the University of Colorado, Boulder, said these subcultures have a long history of lionizing and mimicking past attackers while goading each other to enact as much violence as possible — even by assigning “scores” to past attacks, something Henderson engaged with online. “The Antioch one is very obviously copycat,” Newhouse said.

Although Henderson’s diary indicates he had been contemplating an attack for months prior to Rupnow’s, her shooting drew his attention. Hours after, he retweeted another post that said: “There should be a betting market for which rw twitter figure will radicalize the next shooter.” (RW stands for right wing.)

However the two teens entered this online subculture, their writings reveal despair about their personal lives and the world around them and expressed violent, hateful views.

After the Madison shooting, a separate social media user noted their association and tweeted at the FBI, accusing Henderson and others of having prior warning. They “need to be locked up,” the poster said, “no questions asked.”

The FBI declined to comment. But after Henderson’s attack, social media users returned to the tweet: “hey so this guy literally just ended up calling a future school shooter a month ahead of time and the FBI did nothing about it.”

If you or someone you know needs help:

• Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988
• Text the Crisis Text Line from anywhere in the U.S. to reach a crisis counselor: 741741

If you or someone you know has been harmed online, you can contact the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST or https://report.cybertip.org/.

This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with Wisconsin Watch. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published.

This article first appeared on Wisconsin Watch and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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WASHINGTON – The Trump administration’s freeze on federal grants and aid to states, local governments and nonprofits will likely touch the lives of many Minnesotans as money for hundreds of programs – from road construction to  Meals on Wheels – has stopped or been rescinded.

It also threatens to upend attempts by state and local governments to implement planned budgets, as money they had counted on receiving from Washington, D.C., has suddenly disappeared.

“Minnesota will do what we can to keep the lights on, but we cannot fill the nearly $2 billion hole this will put in the state’s budget each month,” Gov. Tim Walz said. “This isn’t conservatism. This is amateur-hour cruelty.”

Minnesota on Tuesday joined 22 other Democratic states in immediately filing a lawsuit to stop the federal freeze, saying it was an unconstitutional violation of the Administrative Procedures Act, a federal law that governs how federal agencies create and enforce rules. And later Tuesday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the funding pause.

The freeze started in a two-page memo from the Office of Management and Budget saying a review of $3 trillion in federal spending was needed to bring a vast number of programs in line with President Trump’s priorities, citing a number of executive orders on immigration, diversity, equity and inclusion policies (DEI) and foreign aid.

The memo did not say how long this review would take or how long the freeze would last. It stops work on many state and local transportation projects and puts a halt to a slew of government programs, including food stamps, heating assistance, Head Start, policing grants and funding to the state’s tribal governments.

Medicaid funding, which represents the largest pot of money the state receives from the federal government, is also considered vulnerable. 

At a Tuesday afternoon press conference at the St. Paul Eastside YMCA’s child care center, Minnesota Commissioner of Management and Budget Erin Campbell said her office tried to draw down more than $400 million from the state’s federal Medicaid account and was unable to do so Tuesday morning. But Campbell said her agency was able to access the funds later in the day. Other states also reported trouble drawing down Medicaid funding on Tuesday. The larges portion of Walz’s $2 billion monthly figure is Medicaid, but also included is about $850 million for other federal programs.

The lawsuit Minnesota joined against the Trump administration also alleges the OMB has violated the separation of powers doctrine and Congress’ authority over the federal budget. Filed in federal court in California, the lawsuit seeks an immediate temporary court injunction on the funding freeze.

“And it’s putting vulnerable people at risk,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said at the press conference at the YMCA. “Messing around with federal funding is a very big deal.”

“I do not sit around looking for ways to sue Donald Trump,” Ellison added. “But in the eight days he’s been in office he’s forced me to figure out ways to sue him almost every day.”

Walz said he had not received any kind of guidance from OMB on how the freeze would impact the state and called it an “illegal power grab.” He also said it would be difficult to “backfill” with state funding all of the programs that will lose federal funds. 

The governor said if Medicaid was included in the freeze, the state would lose $1.9 billion a month, and more than $800 million a month if Medicaid funding was continued.

Democratic Sen. Tina Smith said reports of the freeze had an immediate effect.

“I’ve heard from community health centers in Minnesota who are already looking at layoffs by the end of the day.  May not be able to make payroll at the end of the week,” Smith posted on Bluesky. “Republicans need to grow a spine here. This isn’t a game, it’s people’s lives.”

Smith added in an emailed statement that “the impact of this funding freeze is so massive it’s impossible to comprehend.”

“We are talking about programs that really, really matter to people. Programs that are life or death for Minnesotans. Anyone who relies on LIHEAP to heat their homes in the winter, or anyone who gets dialysis through Medicaid — this puts their lives and well-being at risk. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” Smith said.

In a post on X, Rep. Angie Craig said she had heard from two cities in  her district that  they had been notified their Justice Department grants to local law enforcement agencies had been put on hold.

“Withholding critical funding approved by Congress to hire police officers makes #MN2 communities less safe,” Craig said. 

Republicans on Tuesday defended Trump’s actions and said “worthy” projects would be spared cuts or elimination.

“We are 36 trillion dollars in debt, largely because of wasteful spending in Washington on things we don’t want and can’t afford,” said Rep. Pete Stauber, R- 8^th District, in a post on X. “Rest assured, this pause on federal funding will be lifted on worthy projects, many of which I fought for in the Northland. This is good governance and what the American people voted for!”

Rep. Tom Emmer, R-6^th District, who like most House Republicans is attending a retreat at Trump’s south Florida Doral Golf Club, told reporters the president was “doing exactly what he was elected to do,” and that was to  “shake up the status quo.”

But Democrats angrily denounced Trump’s move to impound federal funds.

“This unprecedented and unconstitutional move is causing chaos and jeopardizing critical support for everything from pediatric cancer research to equipment for our first responders,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar said in a statement.

Rep. Betty McCollum, D-4^th District, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, said the phones in her Capitol Hill and St. Paul offices were “ringing off the hook” with calls from hospital administrators, community health centers, nonprofits, and “Minnesotans who are scared that they will not have the federal assistance they rely on.”

The uncertainty prompted by the unexpected federal action led Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, to say “this extreme executive order throws our existing and future budgets into jeopardy.”

“The short-term effect throws states, communities, schools, hospitals and households into uncertainty and fear,” Murphy added in her statement. “Long term, if cuts of even a fraction of this magnitude were implemented, the costs to individuals and families would be devastating.”

Meanwhile, state Senate Finance Committee co-chair Eric Pratt, R-Prior Lake, downplayed the impact of the OMB’s action.

“I expect we will get more clarity and guidance to help the state fulfill the request on today’s memo. We also need to be sure that vital programs are uninterrupted, and this should be a fairly easy task to meet within the timeline given,” Pratt said in a statement. It’s unclear what timeline he was referring to.

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WASHINGTON – Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey pushed back Thursday on Trump administration plans to review a newly negotiated police-reform agreement with the city.

“Regardless of the Trump administration’s announcement, we will be moving forward with the terms outlined in the consent decree,” the mayor said in a statement. “Our city worked hard on this agreement, we are prepared to implement the reforms and we are going to get this done.”

The consent decree between the city and the Justice Department aims to curb excessive force and racial discrimination in the Minneapolis Police Department and is a reaction to the police killing of George Floyd more than four years ago.

But Kathleen Wolfe, President Trump’s new supervisor of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, which negotiated the agreement when President Biden was still in office, issued a memo that puts the implementation of that consent decree in question.

The memo – first reported by the Washington Post— says that the civil rights division must notify the Justice Department’s chief of staff of any consent decrees the division has finalized within the last 90 days.

That would include the one regarding the Minneapolis Police Department, which was finalized and approved by the City Council earlier this month, as well as similar agreements the Justice Department has negotiated with Louisville and Memphis, which also could be in jeopardy.

Minneapolis’ consent decree is now before U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson in Minnesota for final approval. Magnuson was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan.

It’s unclear if Magnuson can or would reject the agreement, which took years in the making. The Minneapolis police department on Thursday joined Frey in their defiance of the Justice Department’s plans to review the deal.

“We’re moving forward,” said Sgt. Garrett Parten, a spokesman for the department. 

The city added in a statement that the reforms would happen “with or without the federal government.”

The consent decree would usher in new policies regarding the use of force and how Minneapolis police officers interact with members of the community. It would also expand a behavioral crisis response team that would handle emergencies in which a police officer is not necessary.

And millions of dollars would be spent on the reform efforts and on new staff and technology to carry out the agreement’s requirements.

In a separate action, the Justice Department has issued a freeze on new civil rights investigations and litigation. It’s unclear how long this freeze will last.

MinnPost reporter Winter Keefer contributed to this story. 

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Originally published by The 19th

Just a day after Trump issued a slate of executive orders aimed at restricting immigration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it was rescinding protections for “sensitive zones” where undocumented immigrants were protected from deportation. Some immigrant rights advocates are particularly worried that this could deter women experiencing domestic abuse from going to women’s shelters, which will no longer be protected from U.S. Immigration and Customs  Enforcement (ICE). 

“The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement. 

The sensitive zones policy, which was created in 2011, initially applied to places like churches, schools and hospitals. In 2021, the list of places was expanded by the Biden administration to include locations offering disaster or emergency relief and social services. The policy was put in place to allow undocumented immigrants access to essential services like health care without the threat of being deported. ICE could enter these places only if there was a threat of terrorism or imminent risk of death, among other exceptions.  

“What is really important about sensitive zones is that they allow migrant women and families to safely access these spaces without fear that ICE will arrest or deport them there,” said Zain Lakhani, director of the Migrant Rights and Justice Program at the Women’s Refugee Commission. “The impact might be, for instance, that a domestic violence survivor will stay in an abusive situation because they’re being forced to choose between their immediate safety and arrest and deportation if they go to a shelter or take their children to a shelter.” 

The administration could further hamper services for those experiencing domestic violence by expanding the definition of a “public charge,” which Trump did in his first term, though it was struck down by a federal court a year later. The public charge rule, which had previously been defined by a 1999 field guidance, means people can be turned down for visas or green cards if they are determined to be dependent on the government financially. 

This rule had typically been restricted to cash-assistance initiatives like the Temporary Assistance for Needy Family program, but Trump expanded it to include non-cash assistance programs like food stamps and Section 8 housing. Trump also changed the length of time someone could be in assistance programs before becoming ineligible, leading to a lot of uncertainty over who would be deemed a public charge. Many immigrants were less likely to enroll in programs during this time, even if they were eligible. 

That had a particular impact on victims of domestic violence. The public charge rule did not apply to people with a U or T visa, which is available to victims of human trafficking and violent crimes like domestic violence. But the change in definition caused confusion both among people dispensing legal advice and the visa recipients themselves, who were entitled to some of these benefits but scared to access them. Housing or food assistance can be the difference between someone staying or leaving an abusive situation, Lakhani said. 

“There was just a lot of confusion and a huge amount of chilling,” she said.

And now, even the U and T visa program could be dismantled by the Trump administration as called for by Project 2025, which is largely seen as the policy blueprint for Trump’s second term.

When someone applies for this visa, it creates an alert to immigration authorities that bars ICE from taking any enforcement action against a person if a tip comes in from the person committing the abuse. Ultimately, that stops abusers or human traffickers from being able to threaten people with deportation, Lakhani said. 

While these visa programs need an act of Congress to be overturned, Lakhani said, there are levers the administration can pull to make the program ineffective. For example, they could decide to pause new applications for any visa category that is heavily backlogged. U visa applicants are currently waiting around 15 years for resolution of their cases, she said. 

“The times are just astronomical, right? And so, of course, that is going to be considered a very heavily backlogged category, and so they could essentially cut off all access,” Lakhani said.

“So much of these policies, what they do is instill fear, and I think that’s really critical,” Lakhani said. “It’s extremely dangerous because the state doesn’t even need to enforce them, in order people self-select out, and it forces them into these impossible, impossible choices.”

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WASHINGTON — The new Congress and Donald Trump’s return to the White House has created new opportunities for Rep. Pete Stauber when it comes to his efforts to promote copper and nickel mining on the Iron Range.

As the chairman of the panel that has jurisdiction over mining issues in the House Natural Resources Committee, Stauber, R-8^th District, is well positioned to push mining-related legislation.

“I’m excited about the work ahead,” he said.

Stauber was also chairman of that key panel in the last Congress and was able to get several mining-related bills approved in the U.S. House. But the legislation stalled in the U.S. Senate because the chamber was controlled by Democrats who ignored Stauber’s bills.  

After November’s elections, control of the Senate shifted to the GOP, which could help Stauber’s efforts, and he has an ally in Trump, who said he supports efforts to expand mining on the Iron Range.

On Monday, one of the many executive orders Trump signed directed the Interior and Agriculture Departments to “reassess any public lands withdrawals for potential revision.” That could affect a moratorium the Biden Administration placed on sulfide ore mining on 225,504 acres of federal land and waters within the Superior National Forest.

Stauber said he plans to reintroduce his marquee bill, the Superior National Forest Restoration Act, this week. But even on a more favorable political playing field, the lawmaker still faces hurdles.

Stauber’s wide-ranging bill would reverse the Biden administration’s 20-year ban on copper and nickel mining in Superior National Forest and reissue key federal mineral leases to Twin Metals, a mining concern that has for decades tried to establish an underground copper, nickel, cobalt and platinum mine about nine miles southeast of Ely.

Stauber’s legislation would limit environmental and regulatory review of mine plans of operations within the Superior National Forest to 18 months and block judicial review of reissued leases or permits.

Environmentalists who oppose the expansion of mining also have their allies in Congress.

Rep. Betty McCollum, D-4th District, plans to introduce a bill Tuesday that would permanently establish the moratorium in Superior National Forest. Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-5th District, and Kelly Morrison, D-3rd District, are among the 17 Democratic co-sponsors of the bill. 

McCollum’s legislation, called the Boundary Waters Wilderness Protection and Pollution Prevention Act, would not restrict taconite or iron-ore mining anywhere else in Minnesota. But the legislation faces strong political headwinds in the GOP-controlled House and Senate. 

Currently, the revocation of two Twin Metals leases are under consideration by a three-judge panel of a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C.

The leases were renewed by the previous Trump administration and canceled in January 2022 under the Biden administration. A coalition of environmental groups, including Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness and the Wilderness Society, joined the Biden Interior Department in seeking to uphold the cancellation of those leases.

Some of the things Stauber’s legislation aims to accomplish can be done by Trump with a stroke of a pen. He campaigned on reversing the 20-year moratorium on mining in the Superior National Forest and there is speculation he will also try to reinstate Twin Metals’ leases.

Ingrid Lyons, executive director of Save the Boundary Waters, one of the environmental groups battling mining companies on the Iron Range, said Trump’s inauguration “kicks off the countdown to an all-but-certain and unprecedented revocation of Biden’s historic mining ban in the Boundary Waters watershed.”

“The robust record of science, law, public opinion, and economics is clear — copper mining does not belong on the doorstep of America’s most iconic landscapes,” Lyons said in a statement.

Those who oppose the introduction of copper and nickel mining in Minnesota say copper, nickel and other ores are in rock that contain sulfides, and when exposed to air and water those sulfides could generate acids that leach toxic metals into the water that feeds into the Boundary Waters.

Meanwhile, Twin Metals and other mining companies that have proposed projects in the state say they have the technology to protect the watershed.

Senate could be a challenge

Stauber said “he doesn’t want to get in front of President Trump’s executive orders” that could affect Twin Metals, but wants to move forward with his legislation anyway.

Stauber is also confident that another bill that would impact mining in Minnesota that passed the House but not the Senate last year will also be considered this year. That bill would streamline the federal permitting process and limit federal environmental review of proposed mining operations.  

Stauber said that holding a Senate vote on the legislation could put Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, both Democrats, on the spot. “Our two Minnesota senators will get a chance to vote on these mining bills,” he said.

Even with a GOP-majority Senate, Stauber would need the support of at least seven Democratic senators to reach the goal of 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.

Yet Smith opposes the legislation, a spokeswoman for the senator said. Klobuchar’s office did not have an immediate response.

“We don’t think he has the support in the Senate to withstand a filibuster,” said Becky Rom, chair of the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters.

A key Stauber ally, Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, told reporters last week that legislation that would clear the path for the Twin Metal project in Minnesota — as well as a copper mine in Arizona and another project in Alaska — could be attached to a budget reconciliation bill that, under Senate rules, is not subject to a filibuster.

Westerman said the Twin Metals project has been a “political ping pong ball” and that it’s up to Congress “to step up and say, ‘Quit the political ping pong and build the mine.’”

But Senate rules for a reconciliation bill says all items in the legislation should have budgetary impact, that is they must either cost or raise money, and it may be difficult for the proposed mining legislation to meet that requirement.  

In any case, Twin Metals says it’s grateful for its support on Capitol Hill.

“Twin Metals Minnesota appreciates the champions in Congress that recognize the significance of the domestic mineral resources that are available in northeast Minnesota, which are urgently needed to accomplish our nation’s energy transition, job creation and national security goals,” the company said in a statement.

While environmentalists are lobbying lawmakers and taking mining companies to court to stop the development of copper and nickel  production in Minnesota, there are those who want the expansion of an industry that is now largely limited to mining taconite, a sedimentary rock containing low-grade iron ore.

Virginia, Minn.-based Iron Range Engineering — a joint project of the Minnesota State system, Minnesota State University, Mankato, and Minnesota North College — teaches engineering to students who are employed by the mining industry. Its director, Ron Ulseth, said he’s “cautiously optimistic” about the political change wrought by November’s election.

“From my point of view, I’m excited for the opportunity for mining expansion,” he said. “We have something to offer the mining companies and look forward to serving them.”

But Ulseth is also skeptical that the new Trump administration can remove all obstacles, which include the requirement the state sign off on the new proposed operations, too.

“Why didn’t it happen between 2016 and 2020?” he asked, referring to the first time Trump was in the White House.

Ana Radelat

Ana Radelat is MinnPost’s Washington, D.C. correspondent. You can reach her at aradelat@minnpost.com or follow her on Twitter at @radelat.

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WASHINGTON — In his second inaugural address, President Donald Trump painted a dark picture of an America in decline and vowed to be the nation’s savior, starting with a torrent of executive orders he will sign on his first day to jumpstart an ambitious agenda.

“The golden age of America begins right now,” Trump said shortly after he and Vice President JD Vance took their oaths in the Capitol Rotunda.

With the stroke of a pen, Trump said he will pause all offshore wind leases, abolish the electric vehicle mandate, withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Accord and end all Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs across the federal government.

But the most sweeping and immediate actions will focus on the U.S.-Mexico border. An incoming White House official said at least 10 executive actions regarding immigration would be signed today, with more following.

Trump said he would declare a national emergency on the southern border, which will allow him to send resources and the military to the U.S.-Mexico border. 

Trump also said he would  end what he derisively calls a “catch and release policy,” under which immigrants seeking asylum or other ways to remain legally in the United States would not be allowed to stay in this country while their claims were adjudicated.

The president also said he will  designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, raising the question of whether U.S. troops would be deployed in Mexico. A White House official said that has not been determined but could be at the discretion of the new defense secretary, which would be Pete Hegseth if he is confirmed to that position. 

Although he did not mention these proposals in his speech, the White House official said Trump also plans to pause refugee resettlement programs for at least four months and end asylum claims and birthright citizenship, which grants all who were born in the United States, including the children of undocumented immigrants, U.S. citizenship.

Ending birthright citizenship and other proposals, including the establishment of new federal security task forces to work with state and local law enforcement officials to carry out deportations, are expected to be challenged in court as violations of the U.S. Constitution.

In his inaugural speech, with Biden only a few yards away, Trump cast himself as a savior that would “reverse a horrible betrayal and all these many betrayals that have taken place and give people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy and indeed their freedom.”

“From this moment on, America’s decline is over,” Trump said.

He also invoked a phrase used historically to justify the expansion of the United States, saying he planned to plant an American flag on Mars and “take back” the Panama Canal, incorrectly saying China controlled the passageway and that U.S. ships were subject to unfair fees to cross it.

But he left his more incendiary comments for a speech to supporters in the U.S. Capitol who could not enter the rotunda because of space limitation.

Trump told those supporters he would sign an executive order on his first day back at the White House that would pardon those serving sentences for their roles in the January 6 rioting at the Capitol.

He repeated false claims that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged” and said there were Democratic attempts to steal last year’s election too, but his margin of victory was “just too big” for them to be able to do so. 

Activities moved indoors

Trump’s swearing in and other inauguration ceremonies were  moved indoors because of concerns over chilly weather. Trump was sworn in in the Capitol Rotunda and his supporters gathered in the Capital One Arena that usually hosts professional hockey and basketball games to watch inauguration ceremonies on big screens.

The inaugural parade that usually winds down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House was also moved to the sports arena.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who as a senior member of the Senate Rules Committee is now the highest-ranking member of the panel and the chair of the Joint Inaugural Committee, had a high-profile role on Monday.

After Friday’s decision to move the inaugural activities indoors, Klobuchar scrambled to help move the swearing in to the Capitol Rotunda and the parade to the Capitol Center. She rode with now-former President Joe Biden and Trump to the Capitol Monday morning and addressed the crowd of lawmakers, former presidents and celebrities in the rotunda before the  swearing in.

“Our great American experiment, grounded in the rule of law, has endured. So as we inaugurate a new president, let us remember that the power of those in this room comes from the people,” Klobuchar said.

She also said the peaceful transfer of power on Monday is “a further reminder that we should uphold our values as enshrined in the Constitution.” 

In another nod to Klobuchar, and to her Republican counterpart, Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska, the congressional lunch that traditionally follows the  swearing in ceremony featured Omaha Angus Ribeye steak and Minnesota Apple Ice Box Terrine for dessert.

Klobuchar was also seated next to Trump at the table of honor during the congressional lunch, with Vance sitting on her other side. 

After the inaugural activities were moved indoors, Minnesota’s lawmakers advised constituents they could still drop by the lawmakers’ Capitol Hill offices to pick up their tickets to the inauguration, but they were now merely “commemorative.”

“While I am sure Minnesotans would have braved the cold to watch President Trump’s inauguration, unfortunately the Inaugural Committee will no longer hold the inauguration outdoors and constituents who had secured tickets will no longer be granted access to the ceremony,” Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer, R-6^th District, posted on X. 

Emmer and fellow Minnesota Republican Reps. Brad Finstad, Pete Stauber and Michelle Fischbach all attended the inauguration, as did Democratic Sen. Tina Smith and Democratic Reps. Kelly Morrison and Angie Craig. But two Democrats – Reps. Ilhan Omar and Betty McCollum — preferred to instead attend events honoring Martin Luther King Jr. in Minnesota. 

In a video posted on X, Fischbach cheered Trump’s vow to end “wokeness” in society, politics and the workplace. “For too long, Democrats have been pushing a woke agenda that frankly benefits criminals more than American citizens,” Fischbach said.

Ana Radelat

Ana Radelat is MinnPost’s Washington, D.C. correspondent. You can reach her at aradelat@minnpost.com or follow her on Twitter at @radelat.

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