By COLLIN BINKLEY, AP Education Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is dropping its appeal of a federal court ruling that blocked a campaign against diversity, equity, and inclusion threatening federal funding to the nation’s schools and colleges.

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The Education Department, in a court filing Wednesday, moved to dismiss its appeal. It leaves in place a federal judge’s August decision finding that the anti-DEI effort violated the First Amendment and federal procedural rules.

The dispute centered on federal guidance telling schools and colleges they would lose federal money if they kept a wide range of practices that the Republican administration labeled as diversity, equity and inclusion.

The department did not immediately comment.

Democracy Forward, a legal advocacy firm representing the plaintiffs, said the dismissal was “a welcome relief and a meaningful win for public education.”

“Today’s dismissal confirms what the data shows: government attorneys are having an increasingly difficult time defending the lawlessness of the president and his cabinet,” said Skye Perryman, the group’s president and CEO.

The department sent the anti-DEI warning in a “Dear Colleague Letter” to schools last February.

The memo said race could not be considered in decisions involving college admissions, hiring, scholarships and “all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life.” It said efforts to increase diversity had led to discrimination against white and Asian American students.

The department later asked K-12 schools to certify they did not practice DEI, again threatening to cut federal funding.

Both documents were struck down by U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher in Maryland. In her ruling, she said the guidance stifled teachers’ free speech, “causing millions of educators to reasonably fear that their lawful, and even beneficial, speech might cause them or their schools to be punished.”

The challenge was filed by the American Federation of Teachers.

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

By MARK SHERMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed inclined to keep Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook in her job, casting doubt on President Donald Trump’s bid to wrest control of the nation’s central bank.

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The justices heard arguments over Trump’s effort to fire Cook based on allegations she committed mortgage fraud, which she denies. No president has fired a sitting governor in the 112-year history of the Fed, which was structured to be independent of day-to-day politics.

Allowing Cook’s firing to go forward “would weaken, if not shatter, the independence of the Federal Reserve,” said Justice Brett Kavanaugh, one of three Trump appointees on the nation’s highest court.

At least five other justices on the nine-member court also sounded skeptical about the effort to remove her from office.

Both Cook and Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell sat through nearly two hours of arguments in the packed courtroom.

The true motivation for trying to fire Cook, Trump’s critics say, is the Republican president’s desire to exert control over U.S. interest rate policy. If Trump succeeds in removing Cook, the first Black woman Federal Reserve governor, he could replace her with his own appointee and gain a majority on the Fed’s board. The case is being closely watched by Wall Street investors and could have broad impacts on the financial markets and U.S. economy.

Trump has been dismissive of worries that cutting rates to quickly could trigger higher inflation. He wants dramatic reductions so the government can borrow more cheaply and Americans can pay lower borrowing costs for new homes, cars or other large purchases, as worries about high costs have soured some voters on his economic management.

The board cut a key interest rate three times in a row in the last four months of 2025, but that’s more slowly than Trump wants. The Fed also suggested it may leave rates unchanged in coming months over inflation worries.

The issue before the court is whether Cook can stay on the job while her challenge to the firing plays out in court. Judges on lower courts have allowed her to remain in her post as one of seven central bank governors. The justices could simply deny the emergency appeal Trump is seeking and allow the case to continue playing out in lower courts.

Chief Justice John Roberts, who also seemed skeptical of Trump’s actions, suggested it may be pointless to return the case to lower courts rather than issue a more enduring ruling. With Cook’s case under review at the high court, Trump dramatically escalated his confrontation with the Fed. The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation of Powell and has served the central bank with subpoenas.

Powell himself took the rare step of responding to Trump, calling the threat of criminal charges “pretexts” that mask the real reason, Trump’s frustration over interest rates. The Justice Department has said the dispute is ostensibly about Powell’s testimony to Congress in June over the cost of a massive renovation of Fed buildings.

In Trump’s first year in office, the justices generally, but not always, went along with Trump’s pleas for emergency action to counteract lower-court rulings against him, including allowing the firings of the heads of other governmental agencies at the president’s discretion, with no claim that they did anything wrong.

But the court has sent signals that it is approaching the independence of the nation’s central bank more cautiously, calling the Fed “a uniquely structured, quasi-private entity.”

In Cook’s case, Trump is not asserting that he can fire Fed governors at will, Solicitor General D. John Sauer said. Cook is one of several people, along with Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James and Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California, who have been accused of mortgage fraud by federal housing official Bill Pulte. They have denied the allegations against them.

The case against Cook stems from allegations she claimed two properties, in Michigan and Georgia, as “primary residences” in June and July 2021, before she joined the Fed board. Such claims can lead to a lower mortgage rate and smaller down payment than if one of them was declared as a rental property or second home.

Those applications, Sauer said, are evidence of “gross negligence at best”and give Trump reason to fire her. In any event, he argued, courts shouldn’t be reviewing his decision and Cook has no right to a hearing.

Cook has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime. “There is no fraud, no intent to deceive, nothing whatsoever criminal or remotely a basis to allege mortgage fraud,” a Cook lawyer, Abbe Lowell, wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi in November.

Cook specified that her Atlanta condo would be a “vacation home,” according to a loan estimate she obtained in May 2021. In a form seeking a security clearance, she described it as a “2nd home.” Lowell wrote that the case against her largely rests on “one stray reference” in a 2021 mortgage document that was “plainly innocuous in light of the several other truthful and more specific disclosures” about the homes she has purchased.

By MATT BROWN

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats had planned to campaign in the midterm elections on affordability and health care, two issues where Americans are particularly unhappy with President Donald Trump.

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But the aggressive immigration crackdown in Minnesota, including the killing of Renee Good during a confrontation with federal agents, has scrambled the party’s playbook.

Now Democrats are trying to translate visceral outrage into political strategy, even though there’s little consensus on how to press forward on issues where the party has recently struggled to earn voters’ trust.

Some Democrats want to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a proposal that echoes “defund the police” rhetoric from Trump’s first term, and impeach administration officials such as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Others have taken a different approach, introducing legislation intended to curb alleged abuses by federal agents. But those ideas have been criticized by activists as insufficient, and there is mounting pressure to obstruct funding for deportations.

“We’re Democrats. I’m sure we’re going to have 50 different ideas and 50 different ways to say it,” said Chuck Rocha, a party strategist who is advising several House and Senate candidates on immigration this year.

If Democrats fail to strike the right balance, they could imperil their efforts to retake control of Congress and statehouses around the country. They could also hamper a chance to rebuild credibility with voters whose dissatisfaction with border enforcement under Democratic President Joe Biden helped return Trump, a Republican, to the White House.

Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress and Biden’s former domestic policy adviser, believes the party can thread the needle.

“It’s not too much to ask that we have a government that can produce a secure border, that can deport people who are not legally here, and that can also respect people’s civil and human rights,” she told The Associated Press. “This country has done that before, and it can do it again.”

Federal officers stand outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building during a protest on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Violent scenes force a strong Democratic response

Immigration crackdowns have spread from city to city since Trump took office, but the latest operation in Minnesota has generated some of the most intense controversy.

Good, 37, was fatally shot by a federal agent earlier this month, prompting protests and angry responses from local Democratic leaders. Administration officials accused Good of trying to hit an agent with her car, an explanation that has been widely disputed based on videos circulating online.

“I think the party is very unified in our disdain and concern of the actions certainly of DHS and ICE,” said Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. “We should campaign on fairness and due process for all people,” Garcia added, “which is being violated every single day by ICE and DHS. We should be aggressive in that posture.”

But pushing back on the administration requires Democrats to step onto difficult political terrain.

About 4 in 10 U.S. adults trusted Republicans more to handle immigration, according to a Washington Post/Ipsos poll from September, higher than about 3 in 10 who said the same about Democrats.

On the issue of crime, Republicans also held the advantage. About 44% thought Republicans were better, compared with 22% for the Democrats.

Republicans feel confident that their intertwined messages on crime and immigration will resonate with voters in the midterms. They frequently highlight violent criminals detained or deported, downplaying examples of nonviolent migrants who have been swept up.

“If Democrats want to make 2026 a referendum on which party stands for strong immigration policies and protecting public safety, we will take that fight any day of the week,” said Republican National Committee spokeswoman Delanie Bomar.

Some Democrats are more interested in using the issue as a way to pivot back to core messages about health care and the cost of living.

“I want everybody to understand, the cuts to your health care are what’s paying for ICE to be doing this,” New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said last week. “The cuts to your health care are what’s paying for this.”

Democratic strategists have circulated the clip as an example of a potentially effective pitch, particularly after Trump slashed funding for some safety net programs during his first year in office.

A person holds an upside-down American flag as law enforcement stand during a protest outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Trump faces his own public opinion challenges

The president’s approval may be slipping on the issue of immigration.

His approval rating on the issue has fallen since the start of his term, according to Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research polling, from 49% in March to 38% in January.

Juan Proaño, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, the oldest Hispanic civil rights group in the U.S., said crackdowns have hurt Trump politically.

“Republican members of Congress are really uncomfortable with these agencies and their existing tactics, because they know it’s going to hurt them back at home come election cycle,” he said.

Proaño said he had been disappointed with how Democrats had accommodated the Trump administration on immigration in the last year, but he praised changes in the party’s strategy since Good’s death was captured on video.

“I think everyone just gasped at that, and I think there has been a marked shift since then,” he said.

Some people who have vocally supported Trump in the past, like podcast host Joe Rogan, have expressed reservations.

“Are we really going to be the Gestapo?” he asked recently.

But Trump has not shown any sign of backing down. The administration has ramped up the number of federal agents deployed to Minnesota and the Justice Department issued subpoenas to the state’s Democrats, including Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, as part of an investigation into whether they obstructed or impeded enforcement operations.

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, who used to lead the party in his home state of Minnesota, said “there’s a lot of pain and anguish.”

“It’s heartbreaking,” he said in a recent interview. “It’s chilling to think that this is the United States of America, what is supposed to be a beacon for democracy and freedom.”

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By GHAITH ALSAYED

AL-HOL, Syria (AP) — The U.S. military said Wednesday it began transferring detainees from the Islamic State group who were held in northeastern Syria to Iraq to ensure they remain in secure facilities.

The move came after Syrian government forces took control of a sprawling camp housing thousands of IS detainees following the withdrawal of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces as part of a ceasefire with the Kurdish fighters. The SDF still controls more than a dozen detention facilities with some 9,000 IS members.

U.S. Central Command said the transfer began on Wednesday and so far 150 IS members have been taken from Syria’s northeastern province of Hassakeh to “secure locations” in Iraq.

“Ultimately, up to 7,000 ISIS detainees could be transferred from Syria to Iraqi-controlled facilities,” the statement said, using a term to refer to the IS.

A convoy of armored vehicles with government forces moved into the al-Hol camp Wednesday following two weeks of clashes with the SDF, which appeared closer to merging into the Syrian military, in accordance with government demands.

At its peak in 2019, some 73,000 people were living at al-Hol camp. Their number has since declined with some countries repatriating their citizens.

The camp is still home to some 24,000, most of them women and children linked to the IS. They include about 14,500 Syrians and nearly 3,000 Iraqis. Some 6,500 others, many of them loyal IS supporters who came from around the world to join the extremist group, are separately held in a highly secured section of the camp.

There have been reports that some families fled during the chaos but there has been no official confirmation.

Families of IS militants plead to return home

An Associated Press journalist visited the camp Wednesday as scores of soldiers guarded the main entrance.

“Go inside and see the chaos that is happening. There are no clinics, no running water, no bread and no vegetables,” an Iraqi woman living in the camp said, after SDF fighters left the area. The woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns, called on the Iraqi government to repatriate her.

Another Iraqi woman, who also refused to give her full name out of fear of reprisal, told The Associated Press that her brother and uncle were held in jails in northeast Syria and called on authorities to release them so that she can all return home.

The Syrian government and the SDF announced a new four-day truce on late Tuesday, after a previous ceasefire broke down.

Northeast Syria was relatively calm on Wednesday. A drone attack killed seven soldiers and wounded 20 while they were inspecting a weapons depot abandoned by SDF fighters in the northeastern town of Yaaroubiyeh, the Defense Ministry said, blaming the Kurdish forces. The SDF in a statement denied it, saying the blast was triggered by soldiers moving the ammunition.

Kurdish fighters still in control of prisons with IS detainees

The SDF and the government traded blame over the escape Monday of IS members from a prison in the northeastern town of Shaddadeh. Many of the detainees were recaptured by government troops who took control of the jail, state media reported.

Under a deal announced Sunday, government forces were to take over the control of the prisons but the transfer did not go smoothly.

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The largest detention facility, Gweiran Prison, now called Panorama, has held about 4,500 IS-linked detainees and still was in the SDF hands.

Defense Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Hassan Abdul-Ghani said in televised comments Tuesday night that the government “was and still is in direct confrontation” with the IS. He added that authorities are ready to take over prisons with IS members.

The IS was defeated in Iraq in 2017, and in Syria two years later, but the group’s sleeper cells still carry out deadly attacks in both countries. The SDF played a major role in defeating the IS.

Tom Barrack, the U.S. envoy to Syria, said in a statement Tuesday that the SDF’s role as the primary anti-IS force “has largely expired, as Damascus is now both willing and positioned to take over security responsibilities.”

He added that the “recent developments show the U.S. actively facilitating this transition, rather than prolonging a separate SDF role.”