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April 3, 2026

6 entries on this date.

HHS conditioned FY2027 Title X family-planning grants on anti-DEI, anti-contraception, and anti-trans compliance, risking total funding loss

On April 3, 2026, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Population Affairs issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity for fiscal year 2027 Title X family-planning grants requiring applicants to align with department priorities -- including ending diversity and inclusion practices, excluding transgender-specific care, and discouraging contraception -- with noncompliance risking total loss of funding. Family-planning provider organizations sued over the notice in June 2026, and HHS issued a revised version of the notice on July 9, 2026. On August 27, 2026, a 23-state coalition led by New York Attorney General Letitia James sued in federal court in Maryland, arguing the conditions were imposed arbitrarily and capriciously in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.

State Dept revokes Iranian asylees' green cards on debunked Soleimani-relation claim

On April 3, 2026, ICE arrested Iranian asylees Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her adult daughter Sarina Hosseiny outside Los Angeles after Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked their green cards in a public statement identifying them as the niece and grandniece of slain Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. A subsequent Drop Site News investigation reviewing Iranian birth records, identification papers, and family wills found no familial connection to the late general — a finding corroborated by Soleimani's own surviving daughters in Iran. The women remain held at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in San Antonio pending removal to Iran, where Hamideh, who has autoimmune hemolytic anemia, is reportedly being denied the transfusion treatment her condition requires.

National Park Service gave Trump donor's firm a second no-bid contract months after its Tijuana River pilot failed

On April 3, 2026, the National Park Service awarded Greenwater Services — a water-treatment company owned through a trust led by Trump donor John J. Cafaro — a $1.7 million no-bid contract to install an ozone "nanobubble" filtration system at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, citing the same urgency exemption it used the same day to award a separate no-bid contract to Atlantic Industrial Coatings. It was Greenwater's second no-bid federal contract: about a year earlier, the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission had hired the company to pilot the same technology in the sewage-contaminated Tijuana River, a project independent scientists and a longtime river-restoration official say failed and worsened conditions, despite the company's and government's public claims of success.

National Park Service awards $6.9M no-bid Reflecting Pool contract to a Trump-chosen firm

On April 3, 2026, the National Park Service awarded a $6.9 million no-bid contract to Atlantic Industrial Coatings — a Virginia firm that had never previously held a federal contract — to resurface the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and paint its basin blue. President Donald Trump said he personally selected the firm, citing its work on his private swimming pools, and the administration invoked a competitive-bidding exemption reserved for urgent situations without claiming the injury that exemption requires, citing instead Trump's wish to finish before the July 4 celebration of the nation's 250th anniversary. Government documents reported by The New York Times indicate the cost has already more than tripled the roughly $2 million Trump publicly promised and could exceed $12 million.

Labor Secretary Chavez-DeRemer accused of retaliating against staffers who reported her husband's alleged sexual misconduct at DoL headquarters

On April 3, 2026, three female Department of Labor staffers filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer retaliated against them for reporting misconduct. Two complainants alleged Chavez-DeRemer's husband, Dr. Shawn DeRemer, had sexually abused them inside DoL headquarters in December 2025 — allegations the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office declined to prosecute — and that Chavez-DeRemer retaliated against them for reporting it. A third complaint alleged Chavez-DeRemer required staffers to perform personal chores, including cleaning out her closets. All three women were also interviewed by the DoL Inspector General as part of a broader fraud-and-misconduct investigation into Chavez-DeRemer and her senior aides.

New Hampshire Gov. Ayotte signed HB323, barring student IDs from voter registration and the polls

On April 3, 2026, New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed House Bill 323, eliminating high school and college identification cards — including out-of-state student IDs — as acceptable proof of identity to register to vote or cast a ballot, effective June 2, 2026. The law limits qualifying identification to a driver's license from any state, a non-driver state ID card, a U.S. armed-services ID, or a U.S. passport or passport card. Republican sponsors said the change closed a security gap; Democrats and voting-rights advocates said it burdens young voters who lack ready access to the remaining forms of ID.