News briefs

Tribune News Service on Aug 5, 2025

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Whitmer visits White House again to plead case on tariffs, Medicaid and more

WASHINGTON — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer met privately with President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday to discuss the impact of tariffs on Michigan's automotive-heavy economy, recovery efforts from a devastating March ice storm, holes in the state's Medicaid budget caused by federal changes and more.

"I’ve always said that I’ll work with anyone to get things done for Michigan," Whitmer said in a statement. "That’s why I’ve continued to go to Washington, D.C. to make sure that Michiganders are front and center when critical decisions are being made."

Whitmer has made a habit of meeting in person with Trump, emphasizing that she disagrees with the president on many matters but wants to work with him in promoting the best interests of her state.

After the Republican leader returned to office in January, Whitmer made White House visits in February, March and April. She also greeted Trump upon his arrival in Michigan for a celebration marking the 100th day of his term.

—The Detroit News

Texas House Democrats say their redistricting fight is a fight for America

AURORA, Ill. — Leading Illinois Democrats and the head of the national Democratic Party joined Texas House Democrats Tuesday in a call for a political redistricting fight to expand to a national battle on Tuesday.

Texas House Democrats have been trying to widen the message of their decision to break quorum at the Legislature and halt efforts to pass a partisan gerrymander that would flip as many as five Democratic seats in Congress to Republican control.

The fight would not only reshape Texas’ congressional delegation but also has the potential to allow Republicans to hold onto control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm. Democrats could be favored in the election should voters seek backlash to President Donald Trump’s agenda.

“America, this is not a Texas fight,” said state Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, D-San Antonio. “This is an American fight, and we need each and every one of you involved and engaged.”

—The Dallas Morning News

Faith and nonprofit leaders fear IRS change could inject politics into churches, charities

MINNEAPOLIS — For nearly 70 years, a little-known tax code provision has served as a firewall between U.S. politics and its nonprofit sector. Now, Minnesota nonprofit leaders say that wall is showing cracks — and if it falls, public trust could collapse with it.

At issue is the Johnson Amendment, a 1954 law named for then-Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson that bars tax-exempt charities, including churches, from endorsing or opposing political candidates.

The law has long been a source of tension for some religious conservatives, but a proposed legal settlement between the IRS and two Texas churches is pushing it into new territory — potentially rendering the provision effectively moot.

The settlement, which is awaiting court approval, would resolve a yearslong standoff in which the churches openly endorsed candidates from the pulpit and dared the IRS to intervene. If approved, it could signal that the agency will no longer enforce the Johnson Amendment — even though it technically remains law.

—Star Tribune

South Korea dismantles its propaganda loudspeakers on the border with North Korea

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea has begun dismantling loudspeakers that blare anti-North Korean propaganda across the border, as President Lee Jae Myung's liberal administration seeks to mend fractured relations with Pyongyang.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the defense ministry said the removal was "a practical measure to ease inter-Korean tensions without impacting the military's readiness posture."

The move follows the suspension of propaganda broadcasts in June on orders from Lee, an advocate of reconciliation who has framed warmer relations with North Korea as a matter of economic benefit — a way to minimize a geopolitical liability long blamed for South Korea's stock market being undervalued.

"Strengthening peace in the border regions will help ease tensions across all of South Korea, and increasing dialogue and exchange will improve the economic situation," Lee said at a news conference last month. First used by North Korea in 1962, with South Korea following suit a year later, propaganda loudspeakers have long been a defining feature of the hot-and-cold relationship between Seoul and Pyongyang, switched on and off with the waxing and waning of goodwill.

—Los Angeles Times