![President Donald Trump holds up the \"One, Big Beautiful Bill\" Act that he signed into law on the South Lawn of the White House on July 4, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Alex Brandon - Pool\/Getty Images)](\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/gettyimages-2222867900-1024x683.jpg\")
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President Donald Trump holds up the “One, Big Beautiful Bill” Act that he signed into law on the South Lawn of the White House on July 4, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Alex Brandon – Pool\/Getty Images).<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON \u2014 This year produced a seemingly endless array of history-making events and nearly constant change to immigration policy, tariffs, the Education Department and federal health care programs.<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump came back into office emboldened by a decisive 2024 election victory and empowered by Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress. The unified GOP government enacted a major tax cuts and domestic spending law in July, but hit a roadblock in late September when the federal government shut down for a record-breaking six weeks.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a look back at some of the biggest news stories from Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n
The U.S. House began the year\u00a0reelecting<\/a> Louisiana Republican Mike Johnson as speaker and pushing through a series of GOP-favored bills focused on\u00a0immigration<\/a> and\u00a0transgender student athletes<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., officially took over the role from Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.,\u00a0pledging to protect<\/a> the legislative filibuster, the 60-vote procedural hurdle that requires at least some bipartisanship for major legislation to advance. Meanwhile, several committees began\u00a0the confirmation process<\/a> for Trump\u2019s nominees.<\/p>\n Just days ahead of his second inauguration,\u00a0a judge sentenced<\/a> Trump in the New York hush money case for paying off an adult film star in the leadup to the 2016 election.\u00a0<\/p>\n Trump, who moved\u00a0his inauguration<\/a> indoors\u00a0amid arctic weather<\/a>, marked the first day of his second term by signing a series of executive orders addressing\u00a0immigration and birthright citizenship<\/a>,\u00a0as well as\u00a0climate change and LGBTQ rights<\/a>. He also\u00a0pardoned<\/a> 1,500 people who were convicted of various crimes related to the Jan. 6. 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.\u00a0<\/p>\n Just before the end of the month,\u00a0Trump signed<\/a> the first bill approved by the Republican-controlled Congress, the Laken Riley Act. And he announced plans\u00a0to implement tariffs<\/a> on Canada, Mexico and China, the start of one of his signature economic policies.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lawsuits against Trump\u2019s actions\u00a0began piling up<\/a> within weeks as Democratic attorneys general, immigrant rights organizations and civil liberties groups accused the administration of overstepping its authority.\u00a0<\/p>\n Trump and other administration officials sought to reduce the size and scope of the federal government by\u00a0firing thousands of probationary workers<\/a> and called on the heads of all federal agencies\u00a0to submit reorganization plans<\/a> by mid-March. He also\u00a0fired 20 immigration<\/a> judges.<\/p>\n Republicans in Congress\u00a0started working through<\/a> the several complicated steps of\u00a0the budget reconciliation process<\/a> that would eventually lead to the \u201cbig, beautiful bill.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s efforts to dismantle the Department of Education began advancing shortly after\u00a0the Senate voted to confirm<\/a> Linda McMahon as secretary. In one of her first acts leading the department, she\u00a0wrote in a memo<\/a> its \u201cfinal mission\u201d would be to \u201cto send education back to the states and empower all parents to choose an excellent education for their children.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump\u00a0signed an executive order<\/a> later in the month directing McMahon to \u201ctake all necessary steps to facilitate the closure\u201d of the Education Department, though much of\u00a0that authority rests with Congress<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts\u00a0issued a rare public statement<\/a> defending the judicial branch against criticism from Trump.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee\u00a0asked the Defense Department inspector general<\/a> to look into the use of the Signal messaging app by high-ranking officials to discuss an imminent bombing in Yemen. A journalist at The Atlantic was inadvertently added to the chat and later\u00a0published a series of articles<\/a> about the experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Trump administration admitted in court filings that\u00a0officials mistakenly deported<\/a> Kilmar Abrego Garcia of Maryland to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Supreme Court became more involved in the national debate about Trump\u2019s policies toward immigrants,\u00a0first ruling<\/a> that the administration didn\u2019t need to bring Abrego Garcia back before\u00a0reversing course and ruling<\/a> officials must \u201cfacilitate\u201d his return to the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, sitting alongside Trump in the Oval Office, later said\u00a0he wouldn\u2019t send<\/a> Abrego Garcia back.<\/p>\n Separately, Trump\u2019s tariff policies were\u00a0the focus of a Senate hearing<\/a>. Republicans in Congress\u00a0settled on an outline<\/a> for their \u201cbig, beautiful bill\u201d and later\u00a0began advancing<\/a> different parts of that package\u00a0out of House committees<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he would\u00a0refocus autism research funding<\/a> on environmental factors. And Trump\u00a0signed a series of executive orders<\/a> addressing education policy.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Supreme Court ruled that a ban on transgender people serving in the military\u00a0could remain in place<\/a> while the case continued at a lower level, that the Trump administration\u00a0violated due process rights<\/a> when it tried to deport some Venezuelans under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, that the administration could\u00a0end temporary protected status<\/a> for 350,000 Venezuelans, and that the Trump administration could\u00a0proceed with deportations<\/a> for 500,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela who had been granted temporary protected status.\u00a0<\/p>\n Republicans in\u00a0the House voted to approve<\/a> a 1,116-page package that combined 11 bills into what would eventually become the \u201cbig, beautiful bill,\u201d sending the measure to the Senate.\u00a0<\/p>\n Former President Joe Biden\u00a0was diagnosed with<\/a> \u201ca more aggressive form\u201d of prostate cancer.<\/p>\n Trump\u00a0doubled tariffs on steel and aluminum<\/a>, from 25% to 50%, saying during a trip to a U.S. Steel plant in Pennsylvania that he would increase them even further if he thought it would be necessary to \u201csecure the steel industry in the United States.\u201d The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office\u00a0reported<\/a> later in the month that his tariff policies would reduce the country\u2019s deficit but likely slow the economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n Immigration continued to be a central part of the news cycle with Abrego Garcia\u00a0returning<\/a> to the U.S., California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla\u00a0being forcibly removed and handcuffed<\/a> while attempting to ask Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem a question during a press conference in Los Angeles and the Supreme Court\u00a0weighing in<\/a> on lower courts issuing nationwide injunctions.\u00a0<\/p>\n Trump said the U.S. military had\u00a0bombed \u201cthree key nuclear facilities\u201d in Iran<\/a> before calling for peace.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The Senate\u00a0approved the final<\/a>, much reworked version of the \u201cbig, beautiful bill,\u201d sending it back to the House, which\u00a0voted along party lines<\/a> to clear the sweeping tax and health care package for Trump, who\u00a0signed it<\/a> on the Fourth of July.\u00a0<\/p>\n The legislation included several policy goals for the GOP, including on Medicaid,\u00a0immigration and deportations<\/a> and\u00a0a national private school voucher program<\/a>. The Congressional Budget Office\u00a0expects<\/a> the law will increase the federal deficit by $3.394 trillion during the next decade and lead 10 million people to lose access to health insurance.<\/p>\n The Supreme Court\u00a0ruled<\/a> the Trump administration could continue with its plans for mass layoffs and downsizing at the Education Department.<\/p>\n Trump was\u00a0diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency<\/a>, a \u201cbenign and common\u201d condition for people over the age of 70, according to U.S. Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, the president\u2019s physician.<\/p>\n Senators from\u00a0both parties expressed frustration<\/a> that Department of Agriculture officials didn\u2019t consult with Congress before proposing to move thousands of jobs out of the Washington, D.C., area.\u00a0<\/p>\n Trump announced a deal with European Union leaders that would result in\u00a0a 15% tariff<\/a> on most goods coming into the U.S. from those 27 countries.<\/p>\n Trump started off the month\u00a0instituting a 15% tariff<\/a> on goods brought into the U.S. from about three dozen countries, though he raised that amount for several nations, including 18% on products from Nicaragua, 30% on imports from South Africa and 50% on goods from Brazil.<\/p>\n A New York State appeals court\u00a0ruled<\/a> the $465 million civil penalty against Trump in the case where he was found liable for financial fraud for inflating the worth of some of his real estate holdings was excessive.<\/p>\n Republican and Democratic state legislatures, urged on by the president and members of Congress, sought to begin the November 2026 midterm elections early by\u00a0redrawing maps for U.S. House seats<\/a> to give their party a baked-in advantage.\u00a0<\/p>\n Federal Reserve governor\u00a0Lisa Cook sued Trump<\/a> after he attempted to fire her, arguing in court documents his actions were an \u201cunprecedented and illegal attempt\u201d that would erode the board\u2019s independence.\u00a0<\/p>\n A federal appeals court ruled that\u00a0Trump did need to pay an $83 million penalty<\/a> for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll.\u00a0<\/p>\n The\u00a0Supreme Court ruled that federal immigration agents could racially profile Latinos<\/a> in Southern California as a lawsuit over the issue continued through the federal courts.\u00a0<\/p>\n Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez\u00a0testified before a Senate committee<\/a> that she was fired from that role after less than a month because she refused to pre-approve vaccine recommendations.\u00a0<\/p>\n Trump and several other high-ranking Republicans\u00a0spoke at the memorial service<\/a> for conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, who was\u00a0assassinated<\/a> during an event at Utah Valley University.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kirk\u2019s death was one of several instances of political violence this year that also included the\u00a0killing<\/a> of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, the\u00a0arson at the official home<\/a> of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and the\u00a0shooting at the CDC\u2019s headquarters<\/a> in Atlanta.<\/p>\n A group of\u00a0U.S. investors reached an agreement to take over TikTok<\/a>, the immensely popular social media app, avoiding the need for it to go offline in the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n Congress failed to approve the dozen full-year government funding bills before the start of the new fiscal year, leaving an opening for\u00a0a government shutdown<\/a>. Democrats tried to bring attention to health care costs and other issues throughout the weeks-long debacle.\u00a0<\/p>\n The funding stalemate impacted nearly every corner of the federal government, including\u00a0pay for federal employees<\/a> like air traffic controllers,\u00a0food aid<\/a> for lower-income families,\u00a0Head Start<\/a> and\u00a0public lands<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The\u00a0No Kings day protests<\/a> highlighted some Americans\u2019 discontent with Trump and Republican policies a little more than a year before the 2026 midterm elections will measure that frustration at the ballot box.\u00a0<\/p>\n Trump\u00a0demolished the East Wing of the White House<\/a> to make way for construction of a ballroom that will be nearly double the size of the 55,000-square-foot residence and workplace.\u00a0<\/p>\n The\u00a0shutdown stalemate ended<\/a> after Senate Majority Leader Thune\u00a0promised Democrats<\/a> a vote on a health care bill of their choosing before the end of the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n The funding bill\u00a0approved by Congress and signed by Trump<\/a> included three full-year funding bills but a stopgap for the rest of government, setting up the possibility of a partial government shutdown beginning in February if lawmakers don\u2019t broker a deal before then.\u00a0<\/p>\n The final days of the shutdown included\u00a0a tug-of-war between the judicial branch and the Trump administration<\/a> over whether they needed to pay full benefits for the 42 million people enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Supreme Court heard oral arguments<\/a> in the case that will determine whether Trump overstepped when he instituted tariffs using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.\u00a0<\/p>\n Separately,\u00a0the justices allowed the Trump administration<\/a> to continue issuing male or female passports based on a person\u2019s assigned sex at birth.\u00a0<\/p>\n Congress\u00a0approved a bill forcing the Trump administration<\/a> to release the Epstein files.\u00a0<\/p>\n A\u00a0gunman opened fired on two National Guard members<\/a> from West Virginia who were just blocks from the White House. U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20,\u00a0died the next day<\/a> as a result of her injuries.\u00a0<\/p>\n The man charged with shooting the two National Guard members\u00a0pleaded not guilty during an arraignment hearing<\/a> and was denied bond in the case, which was later\u00a0moved to federal court<\/a> as prosecutors contemplated whether to seek the death penalty.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The Trump administration\u00a0moved to limit legal immigration and pressed for mass deportations<\/a>, raising concerns about the shooter, an Afghan national who worked alongside allied troops and was granted asylum in the United States.<\/p>\n Separately, the FBI charged a 30-year-old Virginia man\u00a0with placing pipe bombs<\/a> outside the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee offices ahead of the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.\u00a0<\/p>\n A federal judge ordered immigration officials\u00a0to release Abrego Garcia<\/a>.<\/p>\n The House and Senate were unable to come up with a bipartisan agreement to avoid\u00a0a spike in health insurance premiums<\/a> for the 22 million Americans enrolled in the Affordable Care Act marketplace who have benefited from an enhanced tax credit created during the coronavirus pandemic to make coverage less expensive. But\u00a0a discharge petition in the House will force a floor vote<\/a> early in the new year to extend the subsidies for three more years.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Department of Justice\u00a0released tens of thousands of documents<\/a> linked to\u00a0the investigation into<\/a> deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein before announcing officials had\u00a0received a million more pages<\/a> that will be published in the coming weeks.\u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" President Donald Trump holds up the “One, Big Beautiful Bill” Act that he signed into law on the South Lawn of the White House on July 4, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Alex Brandon – Pool\/Getty Images). WASHINGTON \u2014 This year produced a seemingly endless array of history-making events and nearly constant change to immigration policy,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n ![\"Politics,](\"https:\/\/cdn.newsfromthestates.com\/inline-images\/feeds-state-47643\/wyofile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251119-a-hughes-inauguration-state-47643-1763637316.jpg\" "\\"Politics,")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>February<\/h4>\n
March<\/h4>\n
April<\/h4>\n
\n\n ![\"Homeland](\"https:\/\/cdn.newsfromthestates.com\/2025-12\/gettyimages-2206717371.jpg\" "\\"Homeland")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>May<\/h4>\n
June<\/h4>\n
\n\n ![\"U.S.](\"https:\/\/cdn.newsfromthestates.com\/2025-12\/gettyimages-2223453209.jpg\" "\\"U.S.")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>July<\/h4>\n
August<\/h4>\n
\n\n ![\"President](\"https:\/\/cdn.newsfromthestates.com\/inline-images\/feeds-state-47634\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/trumptariffs-scaled-state-47634-1762804605.jpg\" "\\"Trump")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>September<\/h4>\n
October<\/h4>\n
November\u00a0<\/h4>\n
\n\n ![\"A](\"https:\/\/cdn.newsfromthestates.com\/2025-12\/gettyimages-2248137581-2.jpg\" "\\"A")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>December\u00a0<\/h4>\n