National News at a Glance

Protests Across U.S. Call for End to Migrant Family Separations

Protesters marched into Lafayette Square opposite the White House on Saturday and chanted “families belong together” to counter President Donald Trump’s zero-tolerance immigration policy, and were joined in declaring that message by dozens of other rallies from New York to California. While the occupant of the White House was away for the weekend at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club, images of the rallies were broadcast by cable news networks throughout the day. The crowds were animated by what they view as the cruel treatment of migrants seeking refuge in the United States from violence in their home countries.

New Jersey Is on the Brink of a Shutdown

Last year, a standoff between a Republican governor and a Democratic-controlled Legislature led to a shutdown of the New Jersey state government. This year, the Democrats have full control in Trenton, yet the government is on the brink of another shutdown, as Gov. Philip D. Murphy and the Legislature have been unable to broker a budget deal and faced a deadline of midnight Saturday. Murphy and legislative leaders, including Stephen M. Sweeney, the Senate president, and Craig Coughlin, the Assembly speaker, remained far apart on a host of potential tax hikes to pay for an expansive progressive agenda.

Kennedy’s Exit Could Cripple Efforts to Abolish Gerrymandering

Experts said Justice Anthony M. Kennedy’s retirement this past week presented a potentially crippling threat to efforts by voting rights advocates and Democrats to halt gerrymanders by legal and political means. Kennedy was seen as the swing vote on gerrymandering in a court divided between liberals, who see the practice as unconstitutional, and conservatives, who regard it as a political problem, not a legal one. He single-handedly preserved it as a judicial question, in a 2004 case involving Pennsylvania’s Legislature, when he declined to join four other justices who declared that it is impossible to determine when a political map becomes unacceptably partisan.

The Philadelphia History Museum Is Closing Its Doors

A museum dedicated to the history of Philadelphia is closing its doors to the public, and it is unclear when — or whether — it will open them again. The Philadelphia History Museum has been struggling to increase revenue for years. City officials were in talks with Temple University to form a partnership that might keep the institution afloat. But this week, they learned that the university had abruptly pulled out of the partnership discussions. As of next week, normal public visiting hours will no longer be in effect. That closing is expected to last for at least six months.

San Francisco Is So Expensive, You Can Make Six Figures and Still Be ‘Low Income’

In the latest sign of the astronomical cost of living in parts of California, the federal government now classifies a family of four earning up to $117,400 as low-income in three counties around the Bay Area. That threshold, the highest of its kind in the nation, applies to San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties. It’s used to determine eligibility for federal and local housing assistance programs. To generate the number, officials at the Department of Housing and Urban Development factor in the median income and average housing costs in an area. The second-highest threshold is in Honolulu, the agency said.

The EPA’s Ethics Officer Once Defended Pruitt. Then He Urged Investigations.

The chief ethics officer of the Environmental Protection Agency has been working behind the scenes to push for a series of independent investigations into possible improprieties by Scott Pruitt, the agency’s administrator, a letter sent this past week says. The letter is the first public acknowledgment that Kevin S. Minoli, who has frequently defended Pruitt’s actions since he took over the agency in February 2017, is now openly questioning whether Pruitt violated federal ethics rules. The investigations recommended by Minoli include an examination of how Pruitt rented a condominium while he was being lobbied by the spouse of the condo’s owner, according to a federal official.