Courts in Maryland, Richmond and the capital continue to struggle with the outlandish stances of Trump and his minions -- on immigration/deportation and ICE's increasingly gestapo-ish role;on funding cutoffs used for bullying behavior modification, on slashing the federal workforce and erecting tariff-barriers that will never in our lifetimes bring offshored factories back to US soil, on deliberate efforts to add ever more carbon to the planet's air. And more. And Pope Francis, an anchor of decency regardless of faith or its absence, made it to Easter but not beyond. Feeling left behind? Solidarity is required, more than ever, as we look at a worse-than-usual week of News You Can Use.

HERE IN MARYLAND

  D.C. May Not Become A State. But it May Become Maryland: To protect the District of Columbia, it might be necessary to eliminate the District of Columbia — and merge it into the neighboring state of Maryland. It’s an idea [retrocession] that many people think makes eminent practical sense in the name of running the city. Yet it’s only in the air right now because of dramatic political reversals in the age of Donald Trump. POLITICO's columnist even gives a sentence or two to how Marylanders might feel about it...

Maryland High School Graduation Rate Reaches Seven-Year High Maryland’s high school graduation rate climbed to 88% in 2024, reaching its highest point since 2017, according to the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE). The increase of nearly 2 percentage points over the previous year marks a significant recovery following pandemic-era declines. The 2024 data from MSDE shows significant gains among student groups that have historically faced barriers to graduation. Hispanic students saw their graduation rate rise over seven percentage points from 2023-2024, while multilingual learners experienced a dramatic increase of over 10%. Capital News Service

Study: Electricity Customers Could Save A Bundle With Grid Reform: Maryland ratepayers could save hundreds of dollars a year on their electric bills if the regional power grid operator could speed up approval of energy projects, some of which have languished for five years in the current system. That is main finding of a new report on PJM Interconnection, the grid operator that distributes power in Maryland, the District of Columbia and 12 other states, stretching from the mid-Atlantic to parts of Illinois. Maryland Matters.

Legal status revoked for some international students at University of Maryland, school confirms: As of Friday, seven individuals affiliated with the University of Maryland have unexpectedly lost their lawful status in the U.S. Baltimore Sun

Maryland Judge Hears U.S. Ed Dept Case Over Dei Letter to Schools: Attorneys for the U.S. Department of Education argued Friday that its letter criticizing some diversity, equity and inclusion practices was merely a reminder to schools that civil rights law protects white children from discrimination too. To opponents, the letter compels teachers to restrain their speech about diversity for fear of losing critical federal funding. The arguments were part of hearing in U.S. District Court for Maryland over a lawsuit by the American Federation of Teachers, its Maryland chapter and the American Sociological Association seeking to block enforcement of the letter, which says schools that do not comply with civil rights law “face potential loss of federal funding.” Maryland Matters

 Van Hollen Continues To Push For Abrego Garcia's Return: Handcuffed, shackled and unable to see out the plane windows or know where they were headed, Kilmar Abrego García and others were flown to El Salvador. Authorities placed [the Beltsville resident] in a cell with around 25 others at CECOT, the country’s most notorious prison.  Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter.

>>Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s diplomatic mission to El Salvador culminated in a face-to-face meeting with Abrego Garcia, the mistakenly deported man whose case has inflamed national immigration debates in recent weeks. Here are a few takeaways from their meeting, including that Van Hollen appealed to human rights. Van Hollen’s trip has already made him the target of Republicans like GA Rep. Mike Collins, who posted an image showing the plaque outside Van Hollen’s Senate office reading “El Salvador.” Baltimore Sun.

Child Welfare Advocates Cautiously Optimistic About New Legislation: Maryland foster children placed in hotels or left to linger in hospitals for days or weeks when no other options are available may soon see some relief. Legislation passed by the Maryland General Assembly has child welfare advocates cautiously optimistic about efforts to increase options for children housed in hotels, office buildings, hospitals and other temporary settings when home isn’t safe.  Baltimore Sun via MD Reporter

The Bay Journal’s Take on 2025 Assembly’s Green Record: Maryland Lawmakers Trim Environmental Funds, Revise Energy Policy : It could have been worse — and it almost was. Maryland environmental advocates saw most of their legislative priorities get short shrift in the 2025 session of the state General Assembly, as lawmakers focused almost exclusively on closing a massive state budget gap and overhauling energy policies. A handful of green bills made it to the desk of Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, for signing into law, most notably a measure aimed at resolving chronic disputes over the siting of solar energy projects. Others promised to make incremental progress in cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay, address dozens of potentially polluting coal ash piles around the state and eliminate state subsidies for waste-to-energy incineration. But environmental advocates spent at least as much energy fending off budget cuts and working to kill or soften legislation they feared would stall efforts to reduce pollution and address climate change. Bay Journal

IN THE OTHER 49

EMPIRE STATE OF MIND: The Transportation Department’s deadline for New York to end its congestion pricing program came and went [Sunday], per NBC. Gov. Kathy Hochul remained defiant and kept the program going, having already notched an early court win on the matter. POLITICO

DEMOCRATS: Democratic attorneys general are kicking off a series of town hall events to rally opposition to the Trump administration and highlight stories that may form the basis of future litigation. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser (D) on Wednesday hosted counterparts from Hawaii, Nevada and Washington in Denver, while earlier events have taken place in Phoenix, St. Paul and Portland, Ore. (Pluribus News)

32.3%: The share of Kentucky’s gross domestic product made up of imports into the state, making it the most trade-dependent state in the nation. Exports make up 16.3% of Kentucky’s GDP, third in the nation behind Louisiana and Texas. (Kentucky Lantern)

PUBLIC SAFETY[?]: The Iowa House has given final approval to legislation banning local citizen police review boards that provide oversight of local law enforcement. The measure would apply to existing boards in Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, Ames, Coralville and Dubuque. (Des Moines Register) via Pluribus

SCHOOL VOUCHERS: A year after Utah’s largest teachers union sued the state over its school choice program, a 3rd District Court judge ruled that the program violates the state constitution, the Utah News Dispatch reports. The union had argued that the program violated the constitution because it “is not free and is not ‘open to all the children of Utah.’” Stateline Daily

CENSORSHIP PUSHBACK next door… A bipartisan pair of Delaware senators has introduced legislation barring the removal of books from public and school libraries for identity-based, ideological or religious reasons. The bill would require school districts to develop policies and procedures to review objections to library material. (Delaware Public Media)

Trump touts manufacturing while undercutting state efforts to help factories

A slide in U.S. manufacturing jobs has continued on and off since 1979, and many experts say tariffs will not bring them back. Despite a modest bounce back under the Biden administration, the number of manufacturing jobs has declined from nearly 20 million in 1979 to less than 13 million today, even as the total U.S. workforce has grown from 89 million to 159 million during that period. Stateline Daily

GLOBAL, NATIONAL AND THE FEDS

How are we (the US) doing? How would we know? Trump’s War on Measurement Means Losing Data on Drug Use, Maternal Mortality, Climate Change and More  -- By slashing teams that gather critical data, the administration has left the federal government with no way of understanding if policies are working — and created a black hole of information whose consequences could ripple out for decades. Looking away from unpleasant truths was also typical of Reagan and both Bushes, but quietly. Not till now in the center ring of the circus, as ProPublica reports.

DEM STRATEGY DEBATE: POLITICO summarizes: “House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to ABC [Sunday]: “This week, we'll be having a ‘cost of living’ week of action, and we have to continue to talk to the American people about our plans.” …. “[but] most Dems feel they have no choice but to fight hard and vocally against Trump’s deportation plans, given they fear the president’s radical approach is regularly breaching constitutional norms, fundamental rights — and basic law. This row about strategy has played out across liberal social media throughout the past week, with some Dems rejecting what they see as a false choice between fighting on immigration and fighting on the economy. “My goodness a competent movement can make two points at once. Let’s try!” wrote Hawaii Senator and Chief Deputy Whip Brian Schatz.

“Pump and Dump” inquiry about off-on tariffs being pursued: Donald Trump is under fire for pausing his global tariffs just hours after posting “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!” on social media—sending stocks soaring. Lawmakers, watchdogs, and traders have accused him of orchestrating a pump-and-dump scheme that benefited insiders. [especially tech billionaires, whom Bloomberg reports today dumped busloads of stock just hours before the pause]. Democrats demand an investigation into possible market manipulation and insider trading. Financial Times April 15

Meanwhile, Trump continued to tank stocks by attacking Fed chair Jay Powell again on Monday. [WaPo]. Which insiders are “buying the dip” today?

Weekly National/Fed Bulletin from  Megan E at People’s Action:

Hello People's Action, we are in a constitutional crisis. The Supreme Court ordered the U.S. government to “facilitate” Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s return from the prison in El Salvador and the White House is defying the order. Abrego Garcia had been deported and incarcerated in the notoriously awful prison in violation of a previous order from a judge stating that he was not removable to El Salvador for fear for his life (not to mention, he had not been convicted of a crime or had any sort of due process). Trump says he can’t get him back, it’s up to El Salvadorian President Bukele and Bukele says he can’t send him back. The U.S. has promised to pay El Salvador $15 million to imprison people that the U.S. sends there. It’s unclear where the money is coming from - it’s certainly not been appropriated by Congress. Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland flew to El Salvador last week to meet with Abrego Garcia, who is a resident of Maryland, and advocate for his release. 

In the meeting with Bukele, Trump said that he may send U.S. citizens to Bukele’s prison. 

Early Saturday morning, “the Supreme Court blocked the Trump administration from deporting a second wave of Venezuelan immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act after [ACLU and other] lawyers rushed to the court and alleged that the administration was about to send dozens or hundreds of detainees to El Salvador in defiance of an earlier ruling by the justices.”

Last week, Harvard University stood up to Trump’s list of demands, including threatening to take away $9 billion in funding for science research. Harvard stands in stark contrast to Columbia, which capitulated to the White House’s demands. “The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights,” Harvard interim president Alan Garber said. Trump responded on Truth Social suggesting that maybe the University should lose its tax-exempt status. 

POLITICO: “The Trump administration is mounting a sweeping offensive on America’s nonprofit sector, deploying a blend of funding cuts, the elimination of tax benefits, bureaucratic paralysis and even installing a small DOGE team to target organizations that challenge the president’s agenda… The Trump White House is considering a budget proposal [to Congress] that would completely eliminate funding for Head Start, a federal program providing early childhood education administered by 1,700 nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Meanwhile, White House officials are finalizing a set of executive orders that would revoke the tax-exempt status of environmental nonprofits, particularly those opposing oil, gas and coal development, Bloomberg reported. The move could be unveiled as early as Earth Day on Tuesday, symbolically reinforcing the administration’s fossil-fuel priorities.”

“On Friday the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) proposed a rule reclassifying tens of thousands of career civil servants as "at-will" employees, the White House announced in a statement. Removing civil service protections would make workers easier to fire.”

Congress is on recess for another week. Republican Congressional and committee leaders have been trying to work out the details of the budget reconciliation bill. A group of House Republicans sent this letter to House leadership saying they don't want people to lose Medicaid. They do leave a lot of doors open for cuts but it shows they are feeling defensive (our advocacy is working). There has also been reporting about potentially raising taxes on the top income earners (allowing the cuts to expire) from the populist wing of the party and push back from the establishment wing as pressure grows to narrow the deficit spending in the bill. The House Energy & Commerce Committee tentatively plans to mark up their portion of the bill that includes health care, the week of May 5th. This is when we’ll get to see the actual details of cuts to Medicaid and Medicare. 

As the GOP House looks for ways to chip away at Medicaid, tools  in this email today...

Responding To Republicans Claims Of “Fraud” In Medicaid -- Here is a factsheet from Community Catalyst. Georgetown has an explainer on Medicaid fraud. Draft letter in response to Republican claims with key questions to pin them down. 

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In solidarity, Megan E