Now, beneficiaries across the country are receiving their latest payments as scheduled. Yet for others, the system has become a source of uncertainty, with administrative delays and customer service problems leaving some disabled Americans waiting months for benefits they say they were entitled to receive all along.

A Gallup survey released this year found that 71% of Americans oppose building artificial intelligence data centers in their own communities, including nearly half who strongly oppose them. Those surveyed most often pointed to concerns about electricity demand, water consumption, environmental impacts, and higher utility bills. Supporters cited economic growth, tax revenue, and employment opportunities.

Once, not so long ago, the United States promised to place Harriet Tubman’s face on the $20 bill. It was more than a design change; it was to be an act of national recognition, an admission that greatness in America has never belonged solely to those who wrote its laws or commanded its armies, but to those who broke its chains.

Nationally, the Urban Institute projects that the legislation will reduce federal SNAP spending by $186 billion over the next decade and affect all 22.3 million families receiving SNAP benefits. Of those, 5.3 million families are expected to lose at least $25 a month, with an average monthly reduction of $146.

In a 5-4 decision, the Court upheld Mississippi’s absentee ballot law, allowing election officials to count ballots postmarked by Election Day that arrive up to five business days later. The ruling leaves intact similar laws in 18 states and territories, as well as separate grace periods many states provide for military and overseas voters.

While Americans broadly view the anniversary as a time for unity, Black respondents were significantly more likely to say the country has yet to fulfill its promise of equality and justice.

AI is not neutral. It is shaped by the priorities, blind spots, and cultural defaults of its creators. ChatGPT recommended the death penalty more often when defendants sounded Black.

As borrowers weigh their options ahead of the changes, a new analysis from Credible points to growing interest in student loan refinancing, particularly among consumers with strong credit profiles who may qualify for lower interest rates than those attached to their current loans.

Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence’s assertion that “all men are created equal” while enslaving hundreds of people at Monticello. The Constitution established democratic principles while permitting slavery. After the Civil War, formerly enslaved Americans were promised 40 acres and a mule as part of an effort to build economic independence, only to see those commitments abandoned.

I thought about that recently while listening to speeches celebrating the nation's 250th anniversary, watching politicians wrap themselves in flags and founders, and hearing Michelle Obama stand before thousands at the opening of the Obama Presidential Center and describe it as "a living testament to the power of choice" and "an urgent call to go out there and do it again."

The losses have alarmed anti-hunger advocates because SNAP is often the doorway to other nutrition programs. When children lose food assistance, many families face additional obstacles obtaining free school meals, WIC benefits, and other support designed to keep hunger from disrupting a child’s health and education.

But for many Black Americans, the anniversary has become something else entirely. Rather than celebrating 250 years of freedom, they are asking whether the nation has fully delivered on promises made in 1776 while millions of Africans remained enslaved and generations of their descendants continued to fight for rights guaranteed to others.

The estimated cost of President Donald Trump’s planned White House ballroom has surged to $600 million, with internal records showing taxpayers could be responsible for roughly half the price

A coalition led by the Society of Professional Journalists is urging the Trump administration to abandon a proposal that would allow federal agencies to require employees to sign nondisclosure agreements, warning that the measure could discourage whistleblowers, limit communication with journalists, and reduce public access to information about the workings of government.

A coalition of Democratic senators are asking a federal appeals court to overturn a decision they say threatens the foundation of the modern federal workforce, warning that millions of government employees could lose long-standing protections against politically motivated firings.

“What I hate about situations like this is people will tell Black folks, 'Don't overreact.' "That's not what he meant,” Charlamagne said. “But how come the mistakes always got to do with something that removes our rights?” He added, “Nobody ever accidentally says, you know what? I hope everybody gets free health care. I hope everybody gets free reparations.”

The Labor Department reported that the Consumer Price Index rose 0.6% in April and 3.8% over the previous 12 months, marking one of the strongest inflation readings in more than a year.

A country that once made it illegal to teach enslaved Black people to read is now arguing over whether Black history itself belongs in classrooms.

Sounding the alarm in 1998, Camille Cosby warned that the Voting Rights Act, which President Lyndon B. Johnson signed in 1965, was set to expire in 2007. Now, the high court has completed gutted the law.