Good morning! Welcome to MSNBC's Sunday Spotlight, where you can find a selection of the week's most interesting and important stories. President Donald Trump is making immigrants an offer that's too good to be true. Meanwhile, House Republicans might cut Medicare as well as Medicaid, it's about to get a lot harder to get a Covid booster shot, and the administration targets an Ivy League school again. Plus, a Hollywood leading man is leading the way on a less toxic masculinity. Don't forget to check out more top columns and videos from the week below. |
Bait and switch: As it struggles to meet its goal of deporting a million people a year, the Trump administration has hit on a new idea: paying people to leave on their own. But, as with any Trump deal, immigrants should read the fine print first. The benefits are paltry — just $1,000 and a plane ride — to give up on the American dream. And the promise that immigrants who voluntarily leave may be allowed to return someday is hollow, given existing law and the administration's own words, writes American Immigration Council senior fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick. |
Medicare scare: House Republicans passed their version of Trump's megabill on Wednesday, and it now awaits Senate attention. The package has drawn scrutiny for proposing $700 billion in cuts and punitive work requirements to Medicaid in the coming years. And an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office shows it might affect Medicare, as well. Though the budget says nothing explicitly about the federal health insurance program for seniors, because it adds significantly to the national debt, it would trigger across-the-board budget cuts that amount to as much as $490 billion from Medicare, writes Steve Benen. |
Covid chaos: The Food and Drug Administration's new framework for Covid vaccines suggests a focus primarily on seniors and those with particular health risks. But this will trade the clarity and effectiveness of a universal approach for one that risks leaving high-risk patients behind due to misunderstandings. To make matters worse, the FDA is also making impractical — and unnecessary — new demands for randomized trials on the effects of the vaccine on healthy adults that further reduce its availability, writes internal medicine physician Dr. Kavita Patel. |
Poisoning Ivy: The Trump administration continues to take aim at Harvard University. After proposing funding freezes and even revoking the university's nonprofit status, it tried a new route this week: denying thousands of international students the ability to attend. But this seemingly out-of-nowhere attack is already facing stiff resistance in the courts. Trump can try to ignore the Constitution all he wants, but his actions clearly violate the First Amendment, writes law professor Ray Brescia. |
Zaddy knows best: Hollywood heartthrob Pedro Pascal isn't just making waves with his work in the movies, but also for standing up for the LGBTQ community, immigrants and basic human rights. In doing so, he's offering an unexpected and refreshing example of masculinity that emphasizes caring for people, instead of the cruelty and scapegoating that's being championed by many conservative influencers right now, writes journalist Noor Noman. |
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When Louisiana's antebellum Nottoway Plantation burned, reaction divided swiftly on social media, with some posting gleeful memes about the destruction of the former home of slaveholders as others bemoaned the loss of an architectural gem. But in this thoughtful essay, historian Michael W. Twitty mourns the lost opportunity to teach about the history of enslavement. "There are bricks where our ancestors' fingerprints remain," he writes. Speaking from personal experience, he details some of the more inclusive and accurate approaches taken at other Southern historical sites. Read the column here. — Ryan Teague Beckwith, newsletter editor |
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Tonight, MSNBC Films presents the fifth episode of "David Frost Versus." The six-part documentary series explores the legacy of legendary host David Frost through his iconic interviews with guests from President Richard Nixon to The Beatles, examining key political and cultural moments of the 20th century that still resonate today. The next episode of "David Frost Versus," featuring Elton John, airs tonight at 9pm Eastern on MSNBC. |
In this week's episode of "Main Justice," MSNBC Legal Analysts Andrew Weissmann and Mary McCord focus on the latest from the Supreme Court, breaking down the arguments heard in the birthright citizenship cases and the Court's recent decisions regarding Venezuelan migrants. Listen now, and subscribe to MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts for ad-free listening and bonus content. |
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