Guardian: Democratic senators call on education department to stop ICE raids by schools

Cory Booker, Ed Markey and others urge Linda McMahon to step in amid violent crackdowns near Chicago schools

A group of Democratic senators have demanded that the Department of Education stop immigration enforcement activities from taking place close to schools, following several violent crackdowns near school grounds in Chicago.

Although the raids are conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which is under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the senators are making an appeal directly to the education secretary, Linda McMahon.

They said aggressive actions were affecting the safety of students.

“Federal agents continue to use unwarranted, excessive levels of force around Chicago, demonstrating an alarming lack of care or regard for the health and wellbeing of children, particularly by conducting unfocused, inflammatory operations within close proximity of school grounds,” the senators wrote, according to NBC News.

“We demand you pressure your colleague, secretary of homeland security Kristi Noem, to reinstate restrictions on federal immigration enforcement operations in and around places of education.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/24/democratic-senators-ice-raids-schools

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/democratic-senators-call-on-education-department-to-stop-ice-raids-by-schools/ar-AA1P7vQK

The Hill: Democrats hammer Hegseth over restoring Confederate names of military bases

Democratic senators on Wednesday repeatedly slammed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over his decision to restore the names of nine military bases originally named after Confederate leaders, with Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) criticizing the Pentagon chief for not calling the families whose relatives’ names will now be stripped from the installations. 

The former titles, which the Pentagon earlier this month said would be restored albeit with new namesakes, means seven bases named for notable individuals will soon revert back roughly two years after conversion. Hegseth earlier this year ordered the names of two other bases, Fort Liberty and Fort Moore, changed back to Fort Bragg and Fort Benning, respectively. 

Kaine, whose state holds three of the nine military bases that were originally named for Confederate generals, said Hegseth’s decision strips away “the names of four amazing people that the Pentagon and local communities had chosen to honor.”

The Virginia bases are currently known as Fort Barfoot, named after Col. Van Barfoot who earned a Medal of Honor for his actions during World War II; Fort Walker, honoring American abolitionist and Civil War surgeon Mary Edwards Walker, the only woman to ever receive a Medal of Honor; and Fort Gregg-Adams, named after Lt. Gen. Arthur Gregg, the first Black man in the Army to reach the rank of lieutenant general, and Lt. Col. Charity Adams Earley, the first Black woman to become an officer in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps in WWII.

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5357795-democrats-hammer-hegseth-over-restoring-confederate-names-of-military-bases

Defense One: Space Force may use SpaceX satellites instead of developing its own, senator says

The satellites in question are part of the data transport layer of the Space Development Agency’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture.

More shameless corruption benefitting Musk:

The Air Force may cancel the development of hundreds of Space Development Agency satellites and give the work to SpaceX, one senator said Thursday—a move that would shut out other companies hoping to bid. 

The satellites in question are part of the data transport layer of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, a planned network of hundreds of satellites in low Earth orbit.

Cutting these bids “means maybe eight, or more, small-, mid-sized companies would not be allowed to bid,” Cramer said.

Space Force may use SpaceX satellites instead of developing its own, senator says – Defense One