Kate Scanlon

President Donald Trump touted the "swift and unrelenting action" taken by his second administration in its first six weeks, telling lawmakers March 4 in an address to a joint session of Congress he was "just getting started."

Some Catholic policy analysts expressed concern about potential cuts to key safety net programs, such as Medicaid, a health care program for low-income Americans, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which is run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Supreme Court on Feb. 25 threw out the murder conviction and death penalty for Richard Glossip, an Oklahoma man who has been on death row for a quarter century. At issue in the case was whether Glossip received a fair trial, and the high court found he did not.

Ongoing uncertainty about funding from the National Institutes of Health could imperil medical research at academic institutions all over the country, including Catholic institutions, multiple sources told OSV News.

The U.S. bishops' migration chair called recent comments by Vice President JD Vance about the church's work with migrants "a tremendous mischaracterization" while speaking at an event in the nation's capital Feb. 12. But he also invited Vance to sit down and talk with him to set the record straight.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued layoff notices to about a third of the staff in its Migration and Refugee Services Office on Feb. 7 after it stopped receiving reimbursements from the federal government for its work with refugees who qualify for federal assistance, per an internal memo.

President Donald Trump Jan. 28 signed an executive order stating his administration would seek to prohibit certain types of medical or surgical gender reassignment procedures for minors who identify as transgender.

President Joe Biden used his farewell address to the nation on Jan. 15 to warn against the concentration of power not only in government but also in other elements of society, such as in corporations and the technology industry.

 In comments to New York's PIX11 Morning News on Christmas Eve, Dolan said he will join the opening prayer during the ceremony as he did for Trump's previous inauguration.

Mourners including all five living U.S. presidents attended the late President Jimmy Carter's funeral Jan. 9 at the Washington National Cathedral, the first time they have all been in public together since 2018, and an increasingly rare occurrence in an era of bitter partisanship.

Several Catholic policy experts who spoke with OSV News expressed concern about how the second Trump administration may approach environmental policy.

The United States saw an increase of about 18% in homelessness this year, a new record high, according to a federal report.

"His lifelong work on behalf of peace among nations will continue to serve as an inspiration for a world in need of peacemakers," Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement. 

Indiana Rep. Bob Morris, R-Fort Wayne, recently filed legislation to repeal the death penalty in Indiana and had asked Gov. Eric Holcomb in a letter to delay the execution of Joseph Corcoran at least until the state General Assembly could consider his bill.

Police in Madison, Wisconsin, said they are investigating a mass shooting at that city's Abundant Life Christian School Dec. 16 that left at least two killed and six injured, authorities said. The gunman is also dead, they said.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 13 agreed to hear a case from the Catholic Charities Bureau of the Diocese of Superior, Wisconsin, in which the agency argued a decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court denying its religious exemption from paying into the state's unemployment insurance system.

The incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump plans to rescind a long-standing policy preventing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from making arrests at what are seen as sensitive locations, including houses of worship, schools and hospitals, according to a report by NBC News.

President-elect Donald Trump's plans to launch a mass deportation program could crash the economy by increasing inflation and unemployment and undermine trust in the U.S. military, some witnesses said at a Senate hearing Dec. 10.

As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House in January, activists on both sides of the abortion debate have been left to grapple with some lack of clarity from him on the issue.

The U.S. bishops' conference was among the groups that urged President Joe Biden on Dec. 9 to commute existing federal death sentences before President-elect Donald Trump, who has sought to expand the use of capital punishment, returns to the White House.