Some of the withheld money funds after-school and summer programming at Boys & Girls Clubs, the YMCA or public schools, attended by 1.4 million children and teenagers nationwide.

New York

New York Attorney General Letitia James, joined by almost two dozen other state attorneys general, has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for freezing nearly $7 billion in federal education funding. The withheld funds were designated for programs such as bullying and suicide prevention, teacher training, support for English learners, and summer school initiatives, affecting millions of children and teenagers nationwide.

The Trump administration claims the funds were being used to support organizations that do not align with its priorities, including advocacy for undocumented immigrants. State officials argue that the administration did not follow the required legal process for withholding the funds. The freeze has created significant uncertainty for schools and service providers, with states struggling to replace the lost funding and facing challenges as the new school year approaches.

NY sues over Trump's education funding freeze

New York Attorney General Letitia James suing the Trump administration over freezing nearly seven billion dollars in education funding. She's joined by almost two dozen other attorney generals across the country. That money earmarked for initiatives that included bullying and suicide prevention programs. Joining us now with the very latest is Chalkbeat National Editor Erica Meltzer. Thanks so much for joining us. Thank you for having me. Let's talk about how this is going to specifically impact New Yorkers here. Yeah, absolutely. These were a big set of federal funds that covered everything from teacher training, to support for English learners, to summer school programming, to adult education. We're talking tens of thousands of people who could potentially not get services because these funds were withheld. Right, you know the Trump administration is accusing states of using the federal funds to subsidize a radical left-wing agenda, including in New York, to promote illegal immigrant advocacy organizations. Even if you take that to be true, they can't just shut off this money, can they? Not legally, at least as this group of attorneys general understands the law, and I think as most people have understood the law historically, there's supposed to be a process if the federal government feels like funds are being misspent, and that has not happened here. Let's talk about the fact that they're going to be missing this whole of money. Can the states find other ways to fund this and fill that gap rather than having to rely on the federal government? So everyone's looking for additional money, whether it's private fundraising or state funds, but I think a lot of states find themselves really pressed right now. There's a lot of needs out there, there's a lot of economic uncertainty, and it's pretty hard to make up this amount of money. So for example, in New York it's 463 million dollars that's currently being withheld, and that doesn't count other grants that have been already canceled or withheld. Right, that's the thing. I mean, there's no way for the states to make up such a massive pool of money coming from the federal government. Let's talk about the timing. Obviously the new school year is just around the corner. That's leading to all sorts of uncertainty about how this eventually plays out in the courts and elsewhere. That was a really big shock for school systems. This money was supposed to be released on July 1. Everyone was planning on it, people had contracts in place, they'd hired staff, and then they learned on June 30th that they would not be receiving this money. It's allegedly under review, but there hasn't been any information about what's involved in that review. You talked about this being under review. What do you think, in terms of your findings, what do you think is gonna play out when it comes September? That's really hard to say, but for context, the Office of Management and Budget is saying that the funds are not being spent in ways that align with the president's priorities, and these same sets of funding streams are ones that, in President Trump's budget proposal, he's proposed not funding at all in fiscal year 26. So I think we could see this as a push by the executive branch to exert authority over this money, even though Congress has already authorized it. All of which is to say, I would not necessarily be expecting it to show up in September. Yeah, all right. To be continued, it's a fight we've seen time and time again in different parts of the government as well. Erica Mels, we appreciate it from Chalkbeat. Thanks so much. Thank you.

The Department of Justice has fired Maurene Comey, a federal prosecutor and the daughter of ex-FBI director James Comey. This comes as the White House tries to mitigate demands for the Jeffrey Epstein files to be released.

Washington

DOJ fires Maurene Comey, who helped prosecute Jeffrey Epstein

The Senate approved a $9.4 billion rescissions request, sending it back to the House of Representatives for approval.

Senate approves spending cuts to foreign aid, public broadcasting

Israel has faced international condemnation over its three days of airstrikes in Syria. The European Union and the United Nations have called for a return to calm, while Iran has urged countries in the region to respond against Israel.

Damascus

Middle East Conflict

World reacts to Israeli attacks on Syria’s Damascus

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz makes his first state visit to the United Kingdom to sign a historic defence cooperation treaty—the first of its kind between Germany and Britain since the Second World War. The agreement includes plans for joint defence efforts, boosting economic collaboration, and tackling illegal migration.

London

Germany and UK seal historic defence pact

Donald Trump says American-made weapons bought by NATO are being shipped to Ukraine. Trump's also threatening sanctions, saying his aim is to force Putin to negotiate an end to the war. But with Ukraine under nightly attack, there’s scepticism over whether he'll achieve anything.

Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

U.S. ships NATO purchased Patriot missiles to Ukraine

Syria condemns Israel for fatal strikes on several government buildings in Damascus. The escalation threatens to disrupt new U.S.-brokered security talks between Israel and Syria, with both sides expressing concerns over stability in the region.

Israeli airstrikes on Syria threaten security talks

U.S. President Donald Trump is still dealing with fallout from his own supporters over his administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. CBS News Department of Justice reporter Jake Rosen has more.

Trump says Epstein conspiracy theory is hoax started by Democrats

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that she spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and that the two had agreed to strengthen trade collaboration, particularly in light of the tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump set to go in effect on August 1.

Mexico City

Global Tariffs

Mexico plans to strengthen trade with Canada

Former President Barack Obama joined his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, on her latest podcast episode with her brother Craig Robinson to address divorce rumors.

Obamas address divorce rumors on Michelle’s podcast

Israel struck Syrian military targets as well as central Damascus on Wednesday (July 16) as it continued its campaign to protect Druze minority communities in southern Syria.

Israel strikes Damascus as fighting rages in southern Syria

U.S. ambassador Mike Huckabee's appearance at Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial follows President Trump's call for Israel to throw out the case or pardon the Israeli prime minister.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

U.S. ambassador attends Netanyahu trial to show support from Trump

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the U.S. would impose a 19% tariff on goods from Indonesia under a new agreement with the Southeast Asian country and more deals were in the works as he continued to press for what he views as better terms with trading partners.

Trump eyes more trade deals soon as EU readies retaliation

At least 20 Palestinians were killed on Wednesday (July 16) at an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in what the U.S.-backed group said was a crowd surge instigated by armed agitators. This video contains graphic images.

Jerusalem

Crush at Gaza aid site kills at least 20, GHF blames agitators

Police in Los Angeles have arrested a 22-year-old suspect in the double homicide of American Idol executive Robin Kaye and her husband, Thomas Deluca. The couple, both 70 years old, was found shot to death in their home earlier this week.

Encino

Police make arrest in murders of American Idol executive, husband

Streaming shows dominated nominations for the 2025 Emmy Awards. "Severance" earned the most series nominations with 27. Meanwhile, "The Studio" earned the most-ever nominations for a debut comedy series with 23.

Hollywood

'Severance' and 'The Studio' earn top Emmy nominations

The United Torah Judaism party has decided to quit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition over its failure to secure military service exemptions. Members of the ultra-orthodox community have been exempted from enlisting in the army since 1948.

Major cracks in Netanyahu coalition as ultra-Orthodox party quits

New information about the Jeffrey Epstein case may soon be made public after a reversal from U.S. President Donald Trump and weeks of criticism — the loudest of which has come from within the MAGA movement.

Epstein files may be released after Trump reversal

Russia's Vladimir Putin has rejected President Trump's ultimatum for Moscow to sign a ceasefire deal with Ukraine in the next 50 days. Trump has threatened to issue a 100% tariff on any country that does business with Russia if no ceasefire deal is reached.

Moscow

Russia rejects Trump's ultimatum for ceasefire in Ukraine

Fighting has erupted in the southern Syrian city of As Suwayda just six hours after a ceasefire was announced. Earlier on Tuesday, Syrian government forces withdrew heavy vehicles from the city, hoping to ease tensions.

As Suwayda

Fighting erupts in Syria’s As Suwayda hours after ceasefire deal

Two laptops and hard drives containing watermarked and unreleased music by Beyoncé were stolen from her choreographer’s rental car in Atlanta, according to police.

Atlanta

Unreleased Beyoncé music stolen from choreographer’s rental car

The House Committee on Education and Workforce is holding its ninth hearing in 18 months on antisemitism on college campuses. CBS News' Shanelle Kaul has more details.

Anger at House committee hearing on antisemitism in college campuses

An Air India Boeing airplane crashed in northwestern India in June, killing all people on board but one passenger. India's aviation regulator has now ordered airlines to examine fuel control switches on several Boeing models.

New Delhi

India orders airlines to inspect Boeing airplane models after crash

Controversy on Capitol Hill over the so-called Epstein Files is seemingly not going away anytime soon.

House Republicans block Democratic push to release Epstein documents

An Israeli scheme to move hundreds of thousands of already uprooted Palestinians to a so-called "humanitarian city" in Gaza has led politicians to spar with the defense establishment. Critics inside and outside Israel have denounced the proposal.

Critics slam Israeli scheme to move Gazans to 'humanitarian city'

At least two people were killed in a New Jersey flash flooding event, Gov. Phil Murphy said Tuesday morning as heavy rains are expected to continue battering the Northeast. CBS News' Rob Marciano has more details.

New Jersey

Two killed in New Jersey flash flooding

After over a week of negotiations in Doha, a truce in Gaza remains elusive, despite intensified efforts by mediators. The stalemate continues as both Hamas and Israel trade blame over ongoing strikes.

Doha

Gaza truce still out of reach after Doha talks

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for President Donald Trump's administration to resume dismantling the Department of Education, part of his bid to shrink the federal government's role in education in favor of more control by the states.

U.S. Supreme Court clears way for Trump to gut Education Department

Syria's government troops entered the Sweida region following deadly clashes on Tuesday, while Israel carried out strikes against them, saying it was acting to protect the Druze minority.

Syrian forces enter Sweida city following deadly clashes

Heavy rains slammed the Northeast and caused flash floods in the New York City subway system. CBS News' Rob Marciano has the latest.

Flash flooding pummels NYC and slams subway lines

US President Donald Trump told Russia to end its war in Ukraine within 50 days or face massive new economic sanctions, as he laid out plans for infusions of weaponry for Kyiv via NATO. "We're going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days, tariffs at about 100 percent," Trump said.

Breakdown