Friday, Feb. 28, 2025
⏰ Tick Tock
7 days to the final day of the 2025 Utah Legislature. (3/7/2025)
166 days to the 2025 municipal primary elections (8/12/2025)
250 days until Election Day (11/4/2025)
614 days until the 2026 midterm elections (11/3/2026)
👀 Here's what you need to know for Friday morning:
Utah Headlines
Senate halts Utah bill allowing 18-year-olds to openly carry loaded firearms. [KSL]
Utah student cellphone ban heads to the governor for approval. [Tribune]
Utah bills for new Fairpark stadiums, Olympic upgrade funding clear first hurdles. [KSL]
Bill to have UDOT approve future transit projects passes committee. [Fox 13]
This Utah lawmaker wants required college courses to focus on "Western civilization" and "the rise of Christianity." [Tribune]
How can Utah facilitate DOGE efforts? No soda for SNAP recipients, lawmaker says. [Utah News Dispatch]
Drinking water from La Verkin Hot Springs? This county wants to find out if that's feasible. [Tribune]
National/International
President Donald Trump says tariffs on Canada and Mexico would go into effect on March 4 because they were not doing enough to stop the flow of drugs into the United States.. Trump also says China would face an additional 10% tariff next week. [New York Times]
Congressional Republicans are eyeing a change to how budgets are calculated to hide the deficit impact of extending Trump's tax cuts. [NBC News]
The Social Security Administration could slash its workforce by up to 50%. [Associated Press]
Democratic lawmakers say DOGE access to U.S. intelligence information poses a grave national security threat. [Associated Press]
A federal judge says the mass firings of probationary federal employees was likely unlawful. [CNN]
The Trump administration fired hundreds of workers at the National Weather Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. [Washington Post]
The Pentagon has given military services 30 days to decide how to identify transgender service members so they can be removed from the force. [Associated Press]
The number of transgender troops is far lower than previous estimates according to the Pentagon. [New York Times]
The U.S. is terminating funding for refugee camps, polio. H.I.V., malaria and global nutrition programs. [New York Times]
