By TARA COPP and LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A long sliver of federal land along the U.S.-Mexico border that President Donald Trump is turning over to the Department of Defense would be controlled by the Army as part of a base, which could allow troops to detain any trespassers, including migrants, U.S. officials told The Associated Press.

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The transfer of that border zone to military control — and making it part of an Army installation — is an attempt by the Trump administration to get around a federal law that prohibits U.S. troops from being used in domestic law enforcement on American soil.

But if the troops are providing security for land that is part of an Army base, they can perform that function. However, at least one presidential powers expert said the move is likely to be challenged in the courts.

The officials said the issue is still under review in the Pentagon, but even as any legal review goes on, the administration’s intent is to have troops detain migrants at the border.

The corridor, known as the Roosevelt Reservation, is a 60-foot-wide federal buffer zone that ribbons along the border from New Mexico to California, except where it encounters tribal or privately owned land. It had been run by the Interior Department until Trump directed control be transferred to the Defense Department in a presidential memo released Friday night.

For the next 45 days, the Defense Department will test taking control of a section of the Roosevelt Reservation in New Mexico, east of Fort Huachuca, which is an Army installation in Arizona, one of the U.S. officials said. During that period, the Army will put up additional fencing and signs warning people not to trespass.

People not authorized to be in that area could be arrested by the Army’s security forces, the officials said, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details not yet made public.

Any migrants in the country illegally who are detained by military personnel on those lands would be turned over to local civilian law enforcement agencies, the officials said.

It was not clear if the added land would require the military to deploy additional forces to the border. There are about 7,100 active duty troops under federal control currently assigned to the border and about 4,600 National Guard troops under state control.

Troops are prohibited from conducting civilian law enforcement on U.S. soil under the Posse Comitatus Act. An exception known as the military purpose doctrine allows it in some cases — but would not apply here and would likely be challenged in the courts, said Elizabeth Goitein, an expert on presidential emergency powers at the Brennan Center for Justice.

That’s because even though troops would be on land designated as an Army installation, they would have to prove that their primary mission there was not to conduct border security and law enforcement — and the whole point of Trump’s order transferring the Roosevelt Reservation to the military’s control is to secure the border, she said.

The military purpose doctrine “only applies if the law enforcement aspect is incidental,” Goitein said. “Does this (area) have a military purpose that has nothing to do with enforcing customs and security at the border?”

Rebecca Santana contributed from Washington.

By FATIMA HUSSEIN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Taxpayers calling the IRS for help processing their taxes this filing season may find it harder than normal to get someone on the phone, experts say, a problem that is only expected to get worse next year with staffing cuts that could slash the workforce considerably.

For this year, data of tax return processing times shows numbers largely in line with those from last year. IRS employees involved in the 2025 tax season were not allowed to accept a buyout offer from the Trump administration until after the taxpayer filing deadline of April 15, though thousands of probationary workers were laid off earlier this year.

Legal experts in tax compliance say the long wait times are going to increase as more buyouts and layoffs take effect.

Eric Santos, the executive director of the Georgia Tax Clinic, which provides free tax law services to low-income taxpayers, says wait times for the IRS’ phone line are markedly longer than usual and IRS staff are overwhelmed with the increase in work.

The IRS staff “basically tell us they don’t have time to look at certain cases,” Santos said. “The work is getting spread across fewer and fewer people.”

The reduction in workers — which may end up being nearly half the entire IRS workforce — is part of the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce through billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency by closing agencies, laying off nearly all probationary employees who have not yet gained civil service protection and offering buyouts to almost all federal employees through a “deferred resignation program.”

Earlier this month, the IRS began layoffs that could end up cutting as many as 20,000 staffers — up to 25% of the total workforce. The roughly 7,000 probationary IRS workers who were laid off beginning in February were recently ordered to be reinstated by a federal judge, though it’s unclear whether those workers have been called back into work.

Comparing figures through the first week of April from 2024 and 2025, 101.4 million returns were processed this year compared to 101.8 million tax returns last year. Refunds are up, with 67.7 million issued this year compared with 66.7 million in 2024.

But Santos and others worry that the 2026 filing season could be negatively impacted by the loss of thousands of additional tax collection workers who are expected to exit the agency through planned layoffs and buyouts.

“I don’t see how they’re going to keep up with tax filing season next year,” Santos said. “I think its a fair question to ask now.”

A Treasury spokesperson who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity said in a statement that IRS staffing reductions were part of other improvements the agency is taking to be more efficient and improve service.

Sakinah Tillman, director of the University of the District of Columbia Tax Clinic, has not seen a delay in processing refunds this year but has seen delays in reaching the IRS by phone.

She worries that the phone delays could hurt clients going through collections who are trying to settle their debts.

“What happens when clients try to become compliant?” she asked. “Or when people who are willing and able to pay but they just can’t get someone on the phone?

Former IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told the AP that even in a normal year the IRS’ responsiveness slows the further into tax season it gets.

“Next year, if they cut 10,000 or 20,000 employees, they’re headed back to really bad taxpayer service on the phone,” he said. “And the taxpayer priority line will become an oxymoron.”

Folk rock band and popular local concert draw the Avett Brothers will return to the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand on Aug. 29.

Tickets are $121.75 to $54 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through Etix or by phone at 800-514-3849. The Milk Carton Kids will open.

Founded by North Carolina siblings Scott and Seth Avett, the Avett Brothers spent the 2000s recording for an indie label and building a following through heavy touring. They eventually attracted the attention of mega producer Rick Rubin, who signed them to his American Recordings label in 2008. The Avetts have since recorded six acclaimed albums with Rubin, including last year’s self-titled effort, the band’s 11th overall.

The group previously played the Basilica Block Party in 2010 and 2012 as well at the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand in 2015 and Target Center the following year. Their most recent local concert was with Trampled by Turtles at St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center in October.

The Minnesota State Fair runs from Aug. 21 through Sept. 1.

The Avett Brothers join the previously announced headliners Old Dominion on Aug. 21, Atmosphere on Aug. 23, the joint bill of Melissa Etheridge and Indigo Girls on Aug. 24, the Happy Together Tour on Aug. 25, Def Leppard on Aug. 26 and the Steve Miller Band on Aug. 28.

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Harvard University is standing up to the Trump administration, as the feds pressure the Cambridge school to end DEI programs and “audit” the viewpoints of its student body, faculty, and staff.

Harvard on Monday announced that it’s rejecting a list of demands from the Trump admin. This comes as the feds threaten to cut more $8.7 billion in multi-year grant commitments to Harvard and its affiliates amid an antisemitism investigation.

“The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights,” Harvard’s lawyers wrote to the Trump admin in a letter. “Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government. Accordingly, Harvard will not accept the government’s terms as an agreement in principle.

“Harvard remains open to dialogue about what the university has done, and is planning to do, to improve the experience of every member of its community,” the attorneys added. “But Harvard is not prepared to agree to demands that go beyond the lawful authority of this or any administration.”

Amid the antisemitism investigation, the feds have been calling on Harvard to eliminate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs.

The feds have said Harvard must implement merit-based admissions policies, and end all preferences based on race, color, or national origin in admissions. Harvard must implement merit-based hiring policies, the feds added.

Then late Friday night, the Trump administration issued an updated and expanded list of demands.

“They include requirements to ‘audit’ the viewpoints of our student body, faculty, staff, and to ‘reduce the power’ of certain students, faculty, and administrators targeted because of their ideological views,” Harvard President Alan Garber wrote.

“It makes clear that the intention is not to work with us to address antisemitism in a cooperative and constructive manner,” the university president wrote about the feds’ letter. “Although some of the demands outlined by the government are aimed at combating antisemitism, the majority represent direct governmental regulation of the ‘intellectual conditions’ at Harvard.”

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Garber claimed that the Trump administration’s demands violate Harvard’s First Amendment rights, and exceed the statutory limits of the government’s authority under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

“And it threatens our values as a private institution devoted to the pursuit, production, and dissemination of knowledge,” he wrote. “No government—regardless of which party is in power—should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.”

When it comes to antisemitism, Garber said the campus over the past 15 months has taken many steps to address antisemitism.

The university has adopted new accountability procedures, imposed discipline for those who violate university policies, enhanced programs to address bias, dedicated resources to combat hate and bias, enhanced safety and security measures, and more.

“As a result, Harvard is in a very different place today from where it was a year ago,” its lawyers wrote. “These efforts, and additional measures the university will be taking against antisemitism, not only are the right thing to do but also are critical to strengthening Harvard’s community as a place in which everyone can thrive.”

The Trump administration in its demand letter argued that Harvard in recent years has failed to live up to “intellectual and civil rights conditions that justify federal investment.”

“We therefore present the below provisions as the basis for an agreement in principle that will maintain Harvard’s financial relationship with the federal government,” the feds wrote. “If acceptable to Harvard, this document will constitute an agreement in principle, which the parties will work in good faith to translate into a more thorough, binding settlement agreement… We expect your immediate cooperation in implementing these critical reforms that will enable Harvard to return to its original mission of innovative research and academic excellence.”