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September 3, 2026

7 entries on this date.

Treasury and IRS proposed stripping tax-exempt status from 18,000 private schools over race-conscious policies

On September 3, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service issued proposed regulations (IR-2026-103) that would end Section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status for private schools, colleges, and universities that adopt, maintain, or enforce race-conscious policies in admissions, scholarships, athletics, or other programs, including policies framed as diversity, equity, or inclusion. Treasury estimated the rule could affect as many as 18,000 institutions and cited Bob Jones University v. United States and Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard as legal basis; the rule would take effect for taxable years beginning May 31, 2027 or later.

Interior Secretary Burgum announced arch groundbreaking without final D.C. planning approval or congressional authorization

On September 3, 2026, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced that the National Park Service would begin excavation work within two weeks at Memorial Circle, near Arlington National Cemetery, for President Trump's proposed 250-foot "triumphal arch," even though the project has only preliminary approval from the National Capital Planning Commission, an incomplete FAA review, and no congressional authorization, which opponents say federal law requires for a commemorative work. Three Vietnam War veterans and an architectural historian, represented by Public Citizen, sued to block the project and sought an emergency restraining order. Government lawyers then told the court the imminent work was limited archaeological survey testing rather than construction, and a federal judge ordered the administration to give 48 hours' notice before any further work at the site.

DOJ issued seven FBI subpoenas for Nevada voter data amid its separate court fight for the same records

On September 3, 2026, the Nevada Secretary of State's office confirmed it had received seven U.S. Department of Justice subpoenas, issued through the FBI, seeking voter-related information over the preceding three months. The disclosure came about three weeks after a federal judge dismissed a separate DOJ lawsuit that had sought Nevada's complete, unredacted voter registration list -- the department's 22nd consecutive district-court loss in a nationwide campaign for state voter rolls -- which DOJ has since appealed to the Ninth Circuit. Nevada's office did not disclose what specific information the subpoenas sought.

Politico revealed Kennedy and Hegseth had installed vaccine-skeptic Army doctor at HHS to probe vaccine deaths, a theory Pentagon data contradicted

Politico reported on September 3, 2026 that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had installed Army physician Col. Theresa Long inside HHS in Washington, D.C. as Kennedy's previously undisclosed "senior medical military adviser," tasked with investigating whether COVID-19 vaccines caused the deaths of 2,544 service members. Long, a long-standing vaccine skeptic, testified in an August 14, 2026 deposition that she is pursuing the claim even though a 2026 Pentagon report found no vaccine-linked deaths and only a short-term, non-sustained rise in heart-inflammation cases after vaccination. Kennedy has repeatedly called the vaccines "the most deadly vaccines in history," a characterization public health experts say is false.

U.S. Department of Justice fired career prosecutor who sought a stronger civil-rights charge against ICE officer in Minneapolis shooting

The U.S. Department of Justice fired career Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Evans on September 3, 2026, a day after ProPublica published an email in which he objected "in the strongest possible terms" to DOJ leadership's decision to charge ICE officer Christian Castro only with false statements, rather than a civil-rights offense, over the January 14, 2026 shooting of Venezuelan immigrant Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in Minneapolis. Evans had told Sosa-Celis's attorneys the lesser charge was being "directed by the Main Justice and the US Attorney" despite his objections. The Justice Department disputed Evans's characterization of the investigation as concluded and said the civil-rights probe into Castro remains ongoing, while multiple news organizations separately reported that Evans is under investigation over the email's disclosure.

New York Times investigation revealed DHS interrogated and sidelined an ICE whistleblower who exposed hiring-vetting failures, he alleges

Reporting by The New York Times, published September 3, 2026, revealed that a 17-year ICE unit chief in the agency's Office of Professional Responsibility filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general in August 2025 warning that ICE's hiring surge was making job offers before fingerprint, identity, and credit checks were complete. According to the whistleblower and his attorney, roughly ten days after he filed it, a DHS lawyer questioned him for four hours, confiscated his laptop, and placed him on leave for ten months over unspecified misconduct allegations; he was reinstated with no finding of wrongdoing and retired immediately after, in July 2026. ICE said the whistleblower was no longer with the agency and that it "diligently applies the proper personnel vetting regulations."

New Bedford, Mass. Sgt. James Marinelli used Flock cameras to track a woman he was dating, department finds

New Bedford, Massachusetts police announced on September 3, 2026 that an internal-affairs investigation, opened August 5, 2026, found Sgt. James Marinelli misused the department's Flock automated license-plate-reader system to track a woman he was dating and her ex-partner, entering pretextual justifications such as trespass, hit-and-run, disorderly conduct, and welfare-check codes to run the searches. Police Chief Jason Thody recommended Marinelli's termination; Marinelli invoked his Fifth Amendment right and declined to give a statement during the investigation. The finding was disclosed alongside a separate, unrelated internal-affairs finding against another New Bedford officer, Emily Pacheco, recorded as its own entry.