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U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen said Thursday that soldiers blocked him from entering a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador where the erroneously deported Maryland resident Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia has been held for more than a month.

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With one major exception, Arkansas lawmakers gave Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders almost everything she asked for in the 95th General Assembly, and even then it wasn’t a total loss. #arpx #arleg

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The U.S. Supreme Court announced Thursday it will hear oral arguments next month over President Donald Trump’s efforts to restructure birthright citizenship, though the justices won’t decide on the merits of the case just yet.

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Arkansas PBS CEO and Executive Director Courtney Pledger, whose eight-year tenure included multiple conflicts with the state Legislature, will step down in May, the agency announced Thursday in a news release.

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Arkansas became the first state in the nation to prevent healthcare conglomerates from operating drugstores here when Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed House Bill 1150 on Wednesday. #arpx #arleg

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The legal battle over a Biden-era climate program ramped up late Wednesday when an appeals court halted a federal judge’s ruling requiring the disbursement of those funds.

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The U.S. Department of Education this month issued an ultimatum to K-12 public schools and state education agencies: Certify that you are not engaging in discrimination under the banner of DEI, or risk losing federal funding — including billions in support for low-income students.

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HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Wednesday the department will shift its research into autism research toward potential environmental causes, though he declined to say what the Trump administration would do if certain industries or pollutants were found responsible.

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The Arkansas General Assembly on Wednesday approved legislation to increase the state’s general revenue budget to $6.49 billion for fiscal year 2026, a nearly 3% increase from the previous year. #arpx #arleg

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Arkansas Republicans celebrated the end of the legislative session Wednesday, touting policy victories on issues such as education, maternal health, youth technology use and cutting taxes. #arpx #arleg

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U.S. Sen Chris Van Hollen said Wednesday he was denied a meeting with Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, an El Salvador-born Maryland resident who was mistakenly deported to a mega-prison in his home country notorious for human rights abuses.

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Three proposed constitutional amendments are expected to appear on Arkansas voters’ 2026 ballots after receiving legislative approval this week. #arpx #arleg

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A federal judge in Washington found probable cause the Trump administration is in contempt of court Wednesday for defying his order to stop flights of Venezuelan immigrants headed to a prison in El Salvador.

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Crop-related flood damage in Arkansas from early April rains totals a “conservative” $78.9 million, according to estimates from the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

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Immigrant rights groups are cautioning migrants without legal status about the dangers of obeying the Department of Homeland Security’s directive to register with authorities, group leaders told reporters during a virtual press conference Tuesday.

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Former President Joe Biden on Tuesday used his first public address since leaving office to criticize the current administration for cutting thousands of employees at the Social Security Administration and to rebut those who have questioned the program’s relevance.

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The Arkansas House will consider a bill denounced by advocates for transgender Arkansans on Wednesday, the final day of the 2025 legislative session. #arpx #arleg

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Arkansas’ attorney general on Tuesday rejected for a second time a proposed ballot measure to amend the state’s initiative and referendum process. #arpx buff.ly/uFtmi8m

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The Arkansas House passed a bill Tuesday that would maintain a permit moratorium for hog farms in the Buffalo River watershed, while setting out a process for future watershed-based bans to be considered by lawmakers. #arpx #arleg

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The Arkansas Senate on Tuesday approved legislation that would remove race and gender quotas and qualifications for a variety of state boards and commissions. The bill now awaits the governor’s signature. #arpx #arleg buff.ly/e8cpbht

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A federal judge in Maryland on Tuesday ordered a defiant Trump administration to provide evidence about how it has tried to secure the release of an immigrant mistakenly deported to a brutal mega-prison in El Salvador, saying that to date, the record shows “nothing has been done.”

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The state of Arkansas submitted a waiver Tuesday to the U.S. Department of Agriculture seeking to ban food stamp recipients from using the benefit to purchase soda and candy. #arpx #arleg

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Legislation banning diversity, equity and inclusion policies and practices at the local level passed the Arkansas House of Representatives Monday, sending the bill to the governor’s desk. #arpx #arleg

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A legislative budget committee on Monday pulled down a bill that would have added $250 million to a fund dedicated to prison construction in Arkansas. #arpx #arleg

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#OPINION: Seven years of expensive legal wrangling over displaying the Ten Commandments outside of the State Capitol should have taught Arkansas legislators the folly of trying to sanction religious messages in a secular republic, columnist Rich Shumate writes in his new commentary.

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An Arkansas House committee approved a proposal Monday to remove all seven members of the State Library Board and allow Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to replace them later this year. #arpx #arleg

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A nonprofit organization filed suit against the Trump administration on Monday, alleging its decision to stop posting budget documents in late March violates federal law.

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El Salvador President Nayib Bukele won’t return a Maryland man the United States erroneously deported to a mega-prison in his Central American country, he said Monday during a visit to the Oval Office.

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Those who wrote what’s known as the Leahy Law and enforced it for years are questioning the legality of the $6 million payment made to El Salvador by the U.S. State Department to house hundreds of immigrants deported from the United States. buff.ly/V6kPS7K

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A balanced state budget, more money for correctional facilities and proposed constitutional amendments form just part of the lengthy agenda awaiting Arkansas lawmakers on Monday for a planned three-day work week. #arpx #arleg buff.ly/kvQdu2H

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Arkansas lawmakers are considering removing all seven members of the State Library Board and allowing Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to replace them later this year. #arpx #arleg

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After five failed votes, a $750 million prison appropriation bill appears dead for the legislative session, and state lawmakers are considering other methods for securing the needed funding to build the 3,000-bed facility in Franklin County. #arpx #arleg

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New amendments to a bill that environmental advocates feared would endanger a moratorium on large animal farms in the Buffalo River watershed helped the legislation advance from a House committee on Thursday. #arpx #arleg

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The Arkansas House approved a bill Wednesday night establishing harsher penalties for undocumented migrants who commit violent felonies in the state. #arpx #arleg

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An Arkansas House committee Wednesday rejected a bill that would abolish the State Library and its board, making it difficult for the proposal to make it to the governor’s desk by the end of the legislative session April 16. #arpx #arleg

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Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee was sworn in as the United States’ new ambassador during a ceremony at the state Capitol Wednesday afternoon. The U.S. Senate confirmed his nomination to the post by a vote of 53-46 earlier in the day. #arpx

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An Arkansas Senate committee voted down a bill that would have extended Medicaid coverage for women 12 months after giving birth if they do not already qualify for the state’s Medicaid expansion program. #arpx #arleg

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Arkansas senators on Tuesday approved a proposed ban on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) “offices, officers, policies or practices” in local government entities. #arpx #arleg

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An Arkansas House committee approved a bill Tuesday that would allow households receiving food stamps to save more of their income or own more assets. #arpx #arleg

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The governor signed into law a bill that clarifies aspects of Arkansas’ public meetings law after the legislation again passed the Senate by a wide margin on Monday. #arpx #arleg

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The Arkansas House will consider a proposed amendment to the state’s enjoined social media age verification law after the legislation received Senate approval Monday. #arpx #arleg

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A $1 billion cut to the U.S. Department of Agriculture is expected to remove dependable protein sources for food banks in Arkansas, where one in five people lacked access to adequate food in 2023 — the nation’s highest rate.

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President Donald Trump late Friday signed a memorandum directing several agencies to start militarizing a stretch of the southern border, an escalation of the administration’s use of the U.S. military amid its immigration crackdown. buff.ly/AnFcEZn

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FINALLY! This is a great start and long overdue. Remember that @ashtonpittman.bsky.social and @liampittman.bsky.social have reported on last-minute precinct changes + faulty precinct lists every state election since 2020 for @mississippifreepress.org to raise this awareness. THIS IS AMAZING IMPACT.

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Thanks to @pulitzercenter.bsky.social, @ampress.bsky.social, @blackvotersmatterfund.org and Rural News Network for supporting our #TrustedElectionsMS precinct work since 2020.

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A federal judge Friday demanded daily reports on how the Trump administration's working to return an erroneously deported man from an El Salvador prison, despite objections from a Department of Justice lawyer who insisted they couldn't immediately obey a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

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Long days and nights at the Capitol were the norm during the 12th week of the legislative session as Arkansas lawmakers rushed to get their bills considered ahead of their April 16 deadline. #arpx #arleg

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Millions of immigrants in the country without legal authorization are required as of Friday to register with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security after a federal judge rejected advocacy groups’ request to pause the requirement.

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Hundreds demonstrated outside the U.S. Capitol Thursday, urging congressional Republicans to rethink cutting programs vital to millions of Americans as a way to help extend President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts.

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