The Trump administration plans to rescind a nearly quarter-century-old rule that blocked logging on national forest lands, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced Monday.

The so-called roadless rule adopted in the last days of Bill Clinton’s presidency in 2001 long has chafed Republican lawmakers, especially in the West where national forests sprawl across vast, mountainous terrain and the logging industry has waned.

The roadless rule impeded road construction and “responsible timber production” that would have helped reduce the risk of major wildfires, Rollins said at the annual meeting of the Western Governors Association.

“This move opens a new era of consistency and sustainability for our nation’s forests,” Rollins said.

The rule has affected 30% of national forest lands nationwide, or about 59 million acres, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agency over the Forest Service.

State roadless-area rules in Idaho and Colorado supersede the boundaries of the 2001 roadless rule, according to the USDA, meaning not all national forest land would be affected by a rescission.

The announcement comes amid recent talk of selling off federal lands in part to improve housing affordability, an idea criticized by Democrats as a public land grab. Selling public lands drew a mixed reception from governors at the same meeting.

Several hundred protesters gathered outside the summit in Santa Fe, chanting “Not For Sale’” and drumming.

Widow awarded $500K in Jan. 6 case

A federal jury on Monday awarded $500,000 to the widow and estate of a police officer who killed himself nine days after he helped defend the U.S. Capitol from a mob of rioters, including a man who scuffled with the officer during the attack.

The eight-member jury ordered that man, 69-year-old chiropractor David Walls-Kaufman, to pay $380,000 in punitive damages and $60,000 in compensatory damages to Erin Smith for assaulting her husband, Metropolitan Police Officer Jeffrey Smith, inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. They awarded an additional $60,000 to compensate Jeffrey Smith’s estate for his pain and suffering.

The judge presiding over the civil trial dismissed Erin Smith’s wrongful-death claim against Walls-Kaufman before jurors began deliberating last week. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said no reasonable juror could conclude that Walls-Kaufman’s actions were capable of causing a traumatic brain injury leading to Smith’s death.

On Friday, the jury sided with Erin Smith and held Walls-Kaufman liable for assaulting her 35-year-old husband — an encounter captured on the officer’s body camera.

Judge wants answers on Voice of America

The federal judge who blocked the Trump administration from dismantling Voice of America is seeking more information from the government about whether it is complying with his order preserving the 83-year-old international news service.

During a hearing on Monday, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth asked a Justice Department attorney why the government hadn’t informed him of layoff notices that were sent Friday to over 600 employees of Voice of America and the federal agency that oversees it.

The government lawyer, Brenda Gonzalez Horowitz, told Lamberth that the agency has been complying with his April 22 order “in good faith.” She said the administration is serious about its responsibility to keep him informed.

“I don’t think so,” the judge replied.

Plaintiffs’ attorney William Schultz argued that the administration isn’t following Lamberth’s order and failed to restore VOA programming in line with its mandate from Congress, which appropriated $262 million for VOA in the 2025 fiscal year. Schultz, who represents VOA journalists, said virtually its entire staff has been on paid administrative leave for more than three months.

Judge again blocks Trump Harvard move

A federal judge on Monday blocked another effort by the Trump administration to keep international students from attending Harvard University, granting a second preliminary injunction in the case.

The order from U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston preserves the ability of foreign students to travel to the U.S. for study at Harvard while the case is decided.

President Donald Trump has sought to cut off Harvard’s enrollment of foreign students as part of a pressure campaign seeking changes to governance and policies at the Ivy League school.

Harvard sued the Department of Homeland Security in May after the agency withdrew the school’s certification to host foreign students and issue paperwork for their visas. The action would have forced Harvard’s roughly 7,000 foreign students to transfer or risk being in the U.S. illegally.

The second injunction came in response to another move from Trump, who cited a different legal justification when he issued a June 4 proclamation blocking foreign students from entering the U.S. to attend Harvard. Harvard challenged the move, and Burroughs again had issued a temporary restraining order.

On Friday, he said in a post on Truth Social that the administration has been working with Harvard to address “their largescale improprieties” and that a deal with Harvard could be announced within the next week. “They have acted extremely appropriately during these negotiations,” Trump’s post said.

Trump seeks to unseat GOP foe in Congress

President Donald Trump and his political operation are working to unseat their first Republican incumbent: Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, who has drawn Trump’s wrath by saying the president lacked the authority to attack Iran’s nuclear sites without congressional approval and voted against his massive tax and spending cuts bill.

Trump aides have launched a new super PAC devoted to defeating Massie in his 2026 primary, Axios first reported. It is the first concerted effort by his team to unseat a sitting member of Congress and sends a clear signal to other Republicans that they cross Trump at their peril.

For the libertarian-leaning Kentucky congressman, the threats and social media barrage from Trump are nothing new. Massie has a history of angering the White House. He was one of two House Republicans to vote against the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Trump wants on his desk by July 4. In 2020, he tried to stall a massive coronavirus aid package during Trump’s first term.

Massie also backed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over Trump in the 2024 GOP primary.

— From news services