Photos capture some of the early effects after the federal government went into a partial shutdown at midnight on Oct. 1.

WASHINGTON – With each passing day on Capitol Hill, a government shutdown is looking more likely. Time is running out for Democrats and Republicans in Congress to strike a compromise, and neither side appears to be budging. Read more in USA TODAY: www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...

Chatted about our back-to-school guide on "Connecting America" this morning. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-og...

From anti-DEI mandates to vaccine skepticism, back-to-school looks quite different this year. I talk through some of the issues on today's episode of USA TODAY's podcast The Excerpt. art19.com/shows/5-thin...

The Department of Education wants to end the requirement that states collect & report data on racial disparities in special education. This a week after they announced that they are going to ask almost 2,000 colleges to vastly expand their data collection around race, admissions, & financial aid.

Many 79-year-old men aren't exactly eager to show off what they're working with below the knee. Donald Trump, per usual, is an exception. www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...

I like better IPEDS data, but ED is already behind schedule on reporting data and has laid off most relevant employees and contractors. So I'm not sure how this will work.

Not a heck of a lot of new info in today's joint status report in the SAVE litigation (which a lot of borrowers seemed to be anxious about)

NEW: Penny Schwinn, the former TN commissioner of education & Trump's pick to serve as deputy education secretary, just withdrew her nomination (she did not give a specific reason). She will instead serve as a senior advisor/chief strategist at the Education Department.

I'm on today's episode of @usatoday.com's podcast The Excerpt breaking down the Brown-Trump admin agreement announced yesterday, why it's important and what comes next. Listen here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/u...

NEW -> Brown just reached an agreement with the Trump admin to restore its federal funding. Unlike at Columbia, though, Brown won't pay a fine to the feds. Instead, it will donate $50 million over 10 years to workforce development groups in Rhode Island. More here: www.brown.edu/sites/defaul...

The Trump administration sent a letter to Duke University this week notifying the school of $109 million in frozen funding, a White House official tells me (confirming NYT reporting).

I joined @usatoday.com's podcast The Excerpt for a special episode this weekend. Check it out here! www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARpT...

I'm thinking about this story a lot this evening: Colleges report widespread problems with financial aid since Education Department layoffs www.usatoday.com/story/news/e...

McMahon statement on SCOTUS decision:

Seconding this...

My latest story explains how a series of developments at NOAA this year, such as loss of microwave satellite info, staff & funding could affect the nation & events like the Texas floods, according to NOAA veterans and others. @usatoday.com www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

My coworker @angelelatham.bsky.social dug into the fascinating history of Scopes, hailed the trial of the century: www.tennessean.com/story/news/e... I also unpacked the education debates still raging now with @zachschermele.bsky.social and Krista Johnson: www.tennessean.com/story/news/e... (2/2)

I teamed up with some of my great colleagues across the USA TODAY Network for this story on the 100th anniversary of the Scopes Monkey Trial. Give it a read! www.usatoday.com/story/news/e...

Harmeet Dhillon, assistant AG for civil rights, tells me in response to reports of UVA's president stepping down to resolve a DOJ probe: "We welcome leadership changes in higher education that signal institutional commitment to our nation’s venerable federal civil rights laws."