White House to propose 20% cut to NIH funding, sources say

WASHINGTON — The White House is expected to ask Congress to cut National Institutes of Health spending by 20% in the president’s fiscal 2027 budget request, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the planning.

The budget request, slated for release next week, reflects President Donald Trump’s policy priorities and acts as a guide to lawmakers as they draft appropriations bills for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

Cuts of that size would be a step down from the 40% reductions the Trump White House proposed last year, but would still represent a massive blow to the biomedical research agency, and one that would get major push back from lawmakers of both parties.

The NIH received $48.7 billion in fiscal 2026, a $415 million increase over the previously enacted level. The Trump administration last year proposed $29.3 billion for fiscal 2026.

—CQ-Roll Call

CPAC celebrates Donald Trump, braces for new leadership

GRAPEVINE, Texas — Like the MAGA movement and the Republican Party, President Donald Trump dominates the Conservative Political Action Conference.

This week’s CPAC convention in Grapevine is just as much a celebration of Trump as it is conservatism. Convention goers wore elaborate costumes bearing his name and image. They called him the greatest president ever and donned Trump 2028 caps, even as some of his populist policies push the bounds of traditional conservatism.

“We absolutely love Donald Trump,” said Sonja Harper, a conservative from Orange who spent the convention dressed as the Statue of Liberty. “We’re here to support conservatives across the world.”

Trump, who has raised the group’s profile while bringing energy and fun, was not expected to attend this year’s convention. With almost three years left in his final term, Trump’s absence from CPAC foreshadows his eventual departure as leader of the GOP and the conservative movement, a role typically served by the president or the party’s leading contender for the White House.

—Dallas Morning News

NYPD, FBI thwart plot to assassinate NYC Palestinian activist Nerdeen Kiswani

NEW YORK— The NYPD and federal authorities have arrested a man who planned to firebomb the home of activist Nerdeen Kiswani, who heads of one of the city’s more extreme pro-Palestinian protest groups, the Daily News has learned.

Alexander Heifler, 25, was arrested late Thursday after an NYPD undercover cop who learned of the plot, befriended him and helped him build eight Molotov cocktails that he planned to hurl at Kiswani’s home, according to police and court documents.

Heifler was charged with ferdeal counts of unlawful possession of a destructive devices and unlawful making of destructive devices, officials said. Each charge carries a penalty of 10 years in prison. He was arraigned in Newark Federal court on Friday.

Kiswani, 31, is the co-founder of the pro-Palestinian group Within Our Lifetime, an explicitly anti-Zionist group that’s led many of the city’s highest-profile demonstrations against Israel’s war in Gaza. She’s of Palestinian descent, born in Jordan, and immigrated to Brooklyn as a child with her parents, who are Palestinian refugees. As an organizer, she frequently takes hardline positions and has championed the right to resist by any and all means.

Kiswani has been a lightning rod for political controversy, even against Mayor Zhoran Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim mayor. She and then- Assemblyman Mamdani were pictured together at a 2021 pro-Palestinian rally, which was re-surfaced during last year’s mayoral election in an anti-Mamdani campaign ad, Since then, though, Kiswani has become a frequent critic of Mamdani.

—New York Daily News

Florida judge told attorneys to shut up, asked if Black person had 'chopped cotton,' report says

ORLANDO, Fla. — An Orange County circuit court judge faces discipline after an investigation found he told public defenders to “shut up” and asked if a Black person had ever “chopped cotton,” according to court records filed with the Florida Supreme Court this week.

Judge John E. Jordan violated the Code of Judicial Conduct for his “intemperate behavior and inappropriate commentary,” according to the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission, an independent body that investigates misconduct by state judges.

Jordan, who has served as a circuit judge since 2011, could face a public reprimand for his actions. He has admitted to his misconduct and expressed “deep regret,” according to the commission’s findings. Jordan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The investigation into Jordan began in October and centers around two incidents that took place last year. In one of those incidents, Jordan “unprofessionally scolded” two public defenders during an aggravated battery case in April.

—Orlando Sentinel

Artemis II astronauts arrive at Kennedy Space Center ahead of next week’s launch

ORLANDO, Fla. — Before the four astronauts of the Artemis II mission travel farther from Earth than any human ever has, they first had to get to the launch site.

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen arrived from Houston at 2:15 p.m. to Kennedy Space Center as they target a launch as early as Wednesday evening.

The quartet along with their backups, NASA astronaut Andre Douglas and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jenni Gibbons, have been in quarantine since March 18. All six arrived to the former Space Shuttle Landing Facility flying in on NASA T-38 jets where they were joined on the tarmac by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and other officials.

“Hey, let’s go to the moon!” Wiseman said to hoots from the crowd of media gathered at the site.

—Orlando Sentinel