In southern Utah, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments were created by Democratic presidents, reduced by Trump, and later restored by Biden. Trump-appointed Supreme Court justices have shown interest in reviewing monument designations, while a conservative plan aims to repeal the Antiquities Act and open up federal lands for oil drilling and mining. The debate over public lands ownership and environmental protection is a key issue in Western states, where most of the federal land is located, with conservatives pushing for state control and environmentalists advocating for federal oversight.
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Judge temporarily blocks Trump administration from making changes to passport gender markers
A federal judge, Julia Kobick, partially blocked a Trump administration policy banning "X" markers on passports for nonbinary individuals, siding with the ACLU's lawsuit. The ruling allows six transgender and nonbinary plaintiffs to obtain passports reflecting their gender identity, citing the policy's irrational prejudice and failure to meet legal scrutiny. The ACLU plans to extend this victory to all transgender Americans, asserting that the policy creates harmful barriers and undermines equal protection under the law....
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