In the memo, Vought instructed agencies to send "Reduction in Force (RIF) notices for all employees" in programs that are "not consistent with the president's priorities." The OMB director also announced Wednesday that $18 billion in federal funds for New York City's infrastructure projects will be frozen, and $8 billion in "Green New Scam funding" will be frozen in a dozen blue states.
Following more than a year of scrutiny from Republicans over how Northwestern University handled pro-Palestinian campus protests last year as well as a months-long federal funding freeze, President Michael Schill plans to step down. Schill, who has been president since 2022, announced his departure Thursday. "Over the past three years, it has been my profound honor to serve as president of Northwestern University," Schill wrote in a message to the campus community.
When Dominique Thornhill tried to get a loan to launch a child-care center in 2020, every conventional bank she approached glanced at her thick business plan and slim finances, then turned her away. "I thought that's what small-business loans were supposed to support, but I didn't receive that support at all," the former Pittsburgh-public-school teacher told me. "Instead, it was Come back to us when you're already established."
