National News at a Glance

Trump Officials Reverse Obama’s Policy on Affirmative Action in Schools

The Trump administration said Tuesday that it was abandoning an Obama administration policy that called on universities to consider race as a factor in diversifying their campuses. In a joint letter, the Education and Justice departments announced that they had rescinded seven Obama-era policy directives on affirmative action. The Trump administration’s moves come with affirmative action at a crossroads. Hard-liners in the Justice and Education departments are moving against any use of race as a measurement of diversity in education.

Two Judges Exemplify the Choice Trump Faces in a Supreme Court Pick

The fight over who should replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court is far from over, and there are still a half-dozen candidates in the mix. But the stark contrast between two of the leading contenders — Judge Brett Kavanaugh and Judge Amy Coney Barrett — reflects the division on the right between the conservative legal establishment, which is hostile to government regulation and the administrative state, and social conservatives, who are focused on issues like abortion and religious freedom. Kavanaugh and Barrett have come to exemplify the clashing priorities of the Trump administration and its supporters.

Judge Orders Extension of FEMA Aid for Puerto Rican Storm Evacuees

The Federal Emergency Management Agency must continue to pay for temporary housing for Puerto Ricans displaced by Hurricane Maria for another 20 days, a federal judge ordered Tuesday, another short reprieve for hundreds of families who have been unable to return to their homes. The decision by Judge Timothy Hillman of U.S. District Court in Massachusetts will allow Puerto Rican evacuees benefiting from FEMA’s temporary sheltering assistance program to remain in their government-paid hotel and motel rooms until checkout time July 24 as the court holds further hearings to determine whether an additional extension is warranted.

Sexual Abuse Accusations at Ohio State Could Tar Powerful Republican

A news report Tuesday accusing Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, of ignoring accusations of sexual abuse as a wrestling coach at Ohio State University has left a cloud over the powerful congressman. The university announced in April that it had started an investigation into accusations of sexual misconduct against a former team physician, Dr. Richard Strauss, who killed himself in 2005. The report, by NBC News, said that three former wrestlers said it was commonly known that Strauss showered with students and touched them inappropriately, and that Jordan, an assistant wrestling coach from 1986 to 1994, must have known.

Trump Orders Flags to Half-Staff for Capital Gazette Victims

President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered the American flag to be lowered to half-staff to honor the victims of last week’s mass shooting at the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland. The city’s mayor, Gavin Buckley, said his initial request, submitted last week through Maryland’s congressional delegation, was denied. But he received a call from the White House press secretary around 7:15 a.m. Tuesday informing him that the president had decided to lower the flags for the five people killed Thursday.

When Health Insurance Prices Rose Last Year, Around 1 Million Americans Dropped Coverage

Last year, as insurance prices rose by an average of just over 20 percent around the country, people who qualified for subsidies through the health care law hung onto their insurance. But the increases appear to have been too much to bear for many customers who earned too much to qualify for financial help. According to a new government report, about 1 million people appear to have been priced out of the market for health insurance last year. The report is the first comprehensive look by the Department of Health and Human Services at people who buy their own insurance but don’t qualify for federal subsidies.

A Frosty Summer for Dershowitz on Liberal Martha’s Vineyard

For years, Alan Dershowitz, the lawyer and professor emeritus at Harvard Law School, has been a fixture in Martha’s Vineyard. But this summer, Dershowitz says that because he has expressed views that back President Donald Trump, he no longer feels so welcome on the Vineyard, a summertime epicenter of progressive values. Acquaintances of Dershowitz on the island confirmed that his increasingly vocal defenses of Trump on cable news have not been well received, particularly in Chilmark, one of the most liberal enclaves of this liberal island — and where Dershowitz has owned a home for a quarter-century.