Politics

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick is resigning from Congress rather than be formally disciplined by the House as part of an ethics investigation into her use of campaign funds.

Explaining her decision in an extended social media statement on Tuesday, the Florida Democrat decried the internal investigation process as unfair. She said the House Committee denied her and her new attorney adequate time to prepare a defense.

“Rather than play these political games, I choose to step away,” she wrote.

Members of the House Ethics Committee on Tuesday had been set to weigh what punishment to recommend after they found she committed 25 violations of House rules and ethical standards, including breaking campaign finance laws.

Republicans had already called for the expulsion of Cherfilus-McCormick, who was in her third term and was running for reelection in a southeastern Florida district. She is also facing federal criminal charges accusing her of stealing $5 million in coronavirus disaster relief funds and using the money to buy items such as a 3-carat yellow diamond ring.

Cherfilus-McCormick has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges and says she is not guilty of ethics violations, either.

The allegations against the congresswoman center on how she received millions of dollars from her family’s health care business after Florida mistakenly overpaid the business by roughly $5 million with COVID-19 disaster relief funds. She is accused of using that money to fund her 2022 congressional campaign through a network of businesses and family members.

Cherfilus-McCormick declined to testify during a previous Ethics Committee hearing, citing her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Her attorney, William Barzee, sparred with some of the lawmakers and argued that they should have allowed a thorough ethics trial, at which he could present witnesses and evidence to counter the conclusions of House investigators.

A group of supporters in Cherfilus-McCormick’s congressional district had weighed in on her behalf with the lawmakers who lead the Ethics Committee, urging committee leaders to proceed with caution.

“Our communities deserve stability. Our voices deserve to be heard. And our right to representation must be protected,” said one of the letters sent to the committee signed by about a dozen local faith leaders, union officials and others.

In all, the panel’s two-year investigation led to the issuance of 59 subpoenas, 28 witness interviews and a review of more than 33,000 pages of documents.

Rep. Greg Steube, a Florida Republican, had said he would move to expel Cherfilus-McCormick once the Ethics Committee made a determination on what punishment it would recommend.

That move could in turn prompt Democrats to seek the expulsion of Rep. Cory Mills, a Florida Republican who is the subject of a wide-ranging investigation by the Ethics Committee that includes whether he violated campaign finance laws, misused congressional resources and engaged in sexual misconduct or dating violence. That investigation is ongoing. Mills has denied any wrongdoing.

The focus on lawmaker wrongdoing comes just one week after two lawmakers resigned during ethics investigations into alleged sexual misconduct. Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California and Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas headed off possible expulsion votes with their resignations.

House Democratic leaders had declined to condemn Cherfilus-McCormick, saying they wanted to see the ethics process play out. Potential punishments included a reprimand or a censure, which serve as forms of public rebuke. The committee could also have recommended a fine. The most severe form of punishment was expulsion, but the House has historically been reluctant to serve as the final arbiter of a lawmaker’s career, preferring to give that final say to the voters.

Only six members of the House have been expelled. The first three fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War and were expelled for disloyalty. The next two had been convicted of crimes. The final one was George Santos, the scandal-plagued freshman who was the subject of a blistering ethics report on his conduct as well as federal indictment. Santos, a New York Republican, served time in prison for ripping off his campaign donors before President Donald Trump granted him clemency, and he has apologized to his former constituents.

Under the Constitution, at least two-thirds of the House has to vote for expulsion for it to occur, a high threshold that requires enormous bipartisan support.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters last week he believes the House will move to expel Cherfilus-McCormick.

“The facts are indisputable at this point, and so I believe it’ll be the consensus of this body that she should be expelled,” Johnson said.

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By Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON, April 21 (Reuters) – U.S. Senate Republicans will move forward this week on a budget blueprint that would boost funding for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agencies for the next three years, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on Tuesday.

Thune’s comments come as the Republican-controlled Congress aims to end a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. 

“The budget resolution before us this week will unlock funding for law enforcement border security at DHS for the next three years,” Thune said in a speech to the Senate.

An additional $70 billion sketched out in the budget plan for DHS would be available at least through the end of President Donald Trump’s term in office on January 20, 2029.

It was unclear whether the legislation, as it moved through various committees, ultimately would contain cost-savings in other programs or the $70 billion would add to federal budget deficits.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer attacked the legislation, saying it would “pour” money into “ICE and Border Patrol without putting any restraints on these rogue agencies’ rampant violence in our streets.”

Trump has surged ICE and Border Patrol agents into big cities, amid protests and violent encounters with residents.

Two U.S. citizens were shot dead early this year in Minneapolis by agents.

Democrats have been pushing for a series of new constraints on ICE and Border Patrol, which operate under the direction of DHS, before signing off on any additional funds for them. They have argued that ICE and Border Patrol should be subject to the same operational rules as police forces across the United States, including a requirement that judicial warrants be obtained before agents can enter private homes.

Negotiations over several weeks between Republicans and Democrats on such changes did not bear fruit, causing partial shutdowns of some DHS agencies.

Now, Republicans have opted to end the deadlock and ram the new funding through the Senate using a rarely used procedure that allows some budget-related legislation to bypass Democratic opposition.

Most bills need a supermajority of at least 60 votes in the 100-member Senate to advance to passage. Republicans currently control the Senate with a 53-47 majority.

If this non-binding budget blueprint passes the Senate and House of Representatives, committees will fill in the details on how the $70 billion would be spent in separate legislation that Trump would have to sign into law before it becomes effective.

 Most of DHS shut down in mid-February with negotiations over Democratic demands for ICE reforms deadlocked. The Senate has since passed legislation to fund DHS operations other than ICE and CBP. But the measure has stalled in the House, where hardline Republicans have demanded funding for ICE and Border Patrol as well.

Since then, Trump signed an emergency order to temporarily pay ICE and Border Patrol salaries. Last year Republicans passed legislation providing around $130 billion in funding for these two agencies, separate from their annual appropriations and the $70 billion now being advanced in Congress.

(Reporting by Katharine Jackson, Richard Cowan and David Morgan; Editing by Doina Chiacu, William Maclean and Andrea Ricci )

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By Nate Raymond

BOSTON, April 21 (Reuters) – A federal judge on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from enforcing a series of permitting policies that wind and solar energy industry groups say have stymied the development of new energy generation projects.

Chief U.S. District Judge Denise Casper in Boston issued a preliminary injunction sought by nine advocacy groups and industry trade associations that argued the administration had imposed unlawful roadblocks that have halted the development of wind and solar energy projects nationwide.

The judge said the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in showing the U.S. Department of Interior and other agencies adopted a series of unlawful policies that had led to renewable energy developers canceling or delaying numerous wind and solar projects nationwide.

Her ruling applies to members of the plaintiff organizations, which include RENEW Northeast and Alliance for Clean Energy New York.

“This is an undeniable victory for members of our coalition and the broader clean energy industry, as well as American households and businesses,” the groups said in a joint statement.

The Interior Department in a statement said that while it does not comment on litigation, “America sets the global standard for energy production.”

The ruling was the latest in a series of judicial rebukes to the Trump administration’s efforts to block federal approvals for wind energy projects or stop work on multibillion-dollar offshore wind farms under construction on the East Coast.

The Republican president has sought to boost government support for fossil fuels and maximize their output in the United States, the world’s top oil and gas producer, after campaigning for the presidency on the refrain of “drill, baby, drill.”

Trump on Monday invoked the Defense ​Production Act as he signed ‌a series of energy-related presidential memorandums aimed at further boosting production of oil, coal and natural gas, citing the need for “defense readiness.”

Groups supporting wind and solar power sued in December, seeking to block government actions they said placed wind and solar technologies into what one of their lawyers described as a “regulatory second-class status.”

Those actions included a policy the Interior Department adopted in a July memorandum that requires nearly every step in the wind and solar permitting process to receive approval from three senior political appointees, including Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

The memorandum cited directives and orders Trump had signed aimed at blocking offshore wind development and directing the Interior Department to eliminate “preferences” for “expensive and unreliable energy sources like wind and solar.”

The plaintiffs argued the policy created a bottleneck that ground permitting to a halt and was adopted without any explanation for why it was needed, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.

Casper, who was appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama, agreed, saying none of the directives the department cited explained or justified the three-tiered review process.

She also blocked policies the plaintiffs said disfavor energy projects that are “capacity dense,” as wind and solar ones would be deemed, and the Interior Department’s adoption of an interpretation of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act that imposes stricter standards for offshore wind projects. 

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi, David Gaffen, Bill Berkrot and Deepa Babington)

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By Nolan D. McCaskill

WASHINGTON, April 21 (Reuters) – Democratic U.S. Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigned on Tuesday, minutes before a congressional committee was set to hold a hearing on her punishment for ethics violations.

Her departure immediately expands Republicans’ narrow majority to 217-213 with an independent who caucuses with Republicans and four vacancies.

In a social media post announcing her resignation, Cherfilus-McCormick slammed the chamber’s ethics review as a “witch hunt,” calling it an unfair process that gave her insufficient time to defend herself.

“I simply cannot stand by and allow my due process rights to be trampled on, and my good name to be tarnished,” Cherfilus-McCormick said. “Rather than play these political games, I choose to step away so that I can devote my time to fighting for my neighbors in Florida’s 20th district.”

In her resignation letter, Cherfilus-McCormick said it was in the best interest of her and her constituents to step down but that she remained committed to a smooth transition to ensure continuity of service for those in her district.

The Ethics Committee was poised to take up sanctions against Cherfilus-McCormick, who was charged by the Department of Justice with allegedly stealing federal disaster funds. Cherfilus-McCormick has denied wrongdoing.

The hearing lasted less than five minutes.

Two seats for Cherfilus-McCormick and her attorney remained empty as Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest, a Mississippi Republican, announced the panel no longer had jurisdiction over the case given Cherfilus-McCormick’s resignation. But he defended the committee’s work, saying the panel investigated “extremely serious” and “complicated” allegations without a rush to judgment.

A congressional subcommittee found “clear and convincing evidence” that Cherfilus-McCormick was guilty of 25 violations related to campaign finance laws and regulations, ethics laws and regulations and House of Representatives rules.

The Department of Justice indicted Cherfilus-McCormick in November, charging her with stealing $5 million in federal disaster funds and using the money to support her congressional campaign. 

The DOJ said Cherfilus-McCormick’s family healthcare company was overpaid $5 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency funds in July 2021. Prosecutors alleged Cherfilus-McCormick and others funneled the money through multiple accounts and used them as campaign contributions for her congressional run. 

Cherfilus-McCormick, whose federal trial is set to begin in February, faces up to 53 years in prison, if convicted.

Her resignation comes the week after two lawmakers – Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat, and Tony Gonzales, a Texas Republican – resigned in disgrace following accusations of sexual misconduct. Another member, Republican Representative Cory Mills of Florida, is also under an ethics investigation for alleged sexual misconduct.

  Asked whether to expect Mills to soon resign, a House Republican leadership aide replied: “These are individual cases and every member will get due process.” 

Guest told reporters after the brief hearing that the investigation into Mills is ongoing. But he said he hopes the rising number of resignations in recent days signal to Americans that Congress will hold its members accountable.

“Members that conduct bad conduct – whatever that conduct may be … those members are going to be held accountable,” Guest said. “This body is willing to expel members who violate the rules and who bring distrust upon this institution.”

(Reporting by Nolan D. McCaskill ; Additional reporting by David Morgan and Jasper Ward in Washington; Editing by Chris, Michael Learmonth and Alistair Bell)

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By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, April 21 (Reuters) – A group of 37 Democratic U.S. senators on Tuesday urged the U.S. Postal Service not to comply with a March 31 executive order issued by President Donald Trump tightening rules ‌on mail-in voting.

The senators, including Gary Peters, Alex Padilla, Chuck Schumer, Dick Durbin and Maria Cantwell, said in a letter first reported by Reuters the order illegally seeks to transform USPS “into an election administration agency with the power to determine who can vote by mail and to establish ballot specifications.”

USPS did not immediately comment.

Trump’s executive order requires USPS to only deliver ballots to voters on each state’s approved mail-in ballot list. States must also preserve election-related records for five years.

“This directive will have a chilling effect on the eligibility of American voters to exercise their constitutional right to vote by imposing unnecessary barriers and would corrupt the independent mission of the Postal Service to determine who can vote by mail,” the senators said, adding USPS would have final say about whether to transmit a voter’s absentee ballots to election officials.

Earlier this month, a coalition of Democratic state attorneys general filed suit challenging Trump’s order, joining suits also being pursued by arms of the Democratic Party and voting rights advocates.

Trump, a Republican, has for years pushed the false claim that his 2020 election defeat was the result of widespread voter fraud and has called for tighter rules on voting by mail ahead of the November midterm elections.

Trump in March 2025 forced out Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. The current postmaster general, David Steiner, has warned USPS could run out of money by early next year.

Trump has nominated four candidates to serve on the U.S. Postal Board of Governors that are awaiting confirmation hearings.

The state attorneys general argue Trump’s order unlawfully interferes with mail-in voting by directing USPS to block the delivery of ballots based on criteria outside the states’ control.

Trump has also been pressing Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, a bill that would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote and a photo ID to cast a ballot. The bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives in February but faces long odds in the Senate.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

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By Michael S. Derby

NEW YORK, April 20 (Reuters) – Democratic members of a Senate panel set to hold a confirmation hearing for Federal Reserve chair nominee Kevin Warsh on Tuesday are worried about the potential central bank leader’s pledge to unload assets not allowed by current ethics rules.

In a report on Monday, the group pointed to Warsh’s recent plan to unload millions of dollars in assets if made Fed leader and asked who might buy this large volume of holdings, some of which may be hard to sell.

Warsh “has not provided key details regarding his plans to divest his assets,” which means it is unclear to Congress and the general public who or what will be buying these assets, minority members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs wrote in their report.

“Without transparent information on his holdings and divestitures, there is no way for the public to have confidence that Mr. Warsh is making decisions based on what is in the best interest of our economy, instead of his own bottom line or the interests of his Wall Street billionaire associates,” the report said. 

The Democratic report also pointed to Warsh’s very close ties to financier Stanley Druckenmiller and wondered if he would be an avenue to help Warsh unload his holdings.  

“The vast majority of Mr. Warsh’s assets are tied to Mr. Druckenmiller, raising concerns that if Mr. Warsh divests his assets as he has committed to, Mr. Druckenmiller could be one of the people cutting a check to Mr. Warsh,” the report said. “It is not unreasonable for the public to question an arrangement in which a billionaire investor cashes out the future Fed Chair to the tune of millions, as he takes office,” the legislators wrote.

Warsh did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his divestiture plans. On Monday he updated his plan to divest holdings after interactions with the central bank’s ethics office.

Last week, ahead of his confirmation hearing, Warsh released financial disclosures detailing wealth of over $100 million. Among his extensive holdings of assets, Warsh did not provide details for a number of investments and pledged to divest any holdings that are forbidden by Fed ethics rules.

Central bank rules put in place in 2022 sharply limit what top Fed officials and their families can invest in. That which can’t be held has a window in which it can be sold, with rules governing how those assets are unloaded.

If he is confirmed, Warsh, chosen for the job by President Donald Trump after extolling the need for interest-rate cuts after a long period of being hawkish, would be the wealthiest Fed leader in the central bank’s history.

Over recent years, Fed officials have faced a range of challenges managing their assets and some have been formally rapped for creating conflicts of interest with their investing activities.

Warsh faces a challenging path to becoming Fed leader. A key Republican said he would oppose any vote to confirm Warsh until legal investigations into the Fed by the Trump administration are ended. Current Fed chair Jerome Powell will see his leadership term end next month.

Most Fed watchers put low odds on Warsh being confirmed in time to take over for Powell and given the issues at play, it could be some time before the one-time Fed governor gets his vote.

(Reporting by Michael S. Derby; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

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By Michael S. Derby

April 20 (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chair nominee Kevin Warsh has pledged to divest from a foreign-oriented investment fund if confirmed to lead the U.S. central bank, according to an updated financial disclosure filing.

In a filing dated April 17 that amended an original filing on April 10, Warsh told the Fed’s ethics officer, “I will divest my interests in iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index (XIU)” if confirmed to succeed Fed Chair Jerome Powell in the central bank’s top job. Warsh, a financier and former Fed governor, said he would make this move because “agency ethics officials have since advised me that the duties of my position will involve particular matters affecting the financial interests of the underlying holding” in the fund.

The fund that Warsh says he will divest from targets Canadian equities. Current Fed rules governing what investments policymakers and their immediate family members can hold limit exposure to foreign investments, among a broad range of other rules banning certain types of investments and how affected central bankers can manage their holdings.

Warsh’s overall disclosures released last week showed that the Fed nominee, who faces a confirmation hearing on Tuesday before the Senate Banking Committee, is extremely wealthy and holds a wide range of investments, many of which are not fully disclosed, that he said he will have to sell if he’s confirmed for the top Fed job.

His confirmation, however, has been clouded by a legal investigation into the Fed and its current leadership. A number of legislators have vowed that Warsh will not be confirmed until it is resolved, which makes it highly unlikely he will be in place to take over when Powell’s tenure as Fed chief ends on May 15.

“I continue to believe that Mr. Warsh is in compliance with applicable laws and regulations governing conflicts of interest,” the Fed’s internal ethics officer wrote in the latest filing.

(Reporting by Michael S. Derby; Editing by Paul Simao)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is out of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, the White House said Monday, after multiple allegations of abusing her position’s power, including having an affair with a subordinate and drinking alcohol on the job.

Chavez-DeRemer is the third Trump Cabinet member to leave her post after Trump fired his embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in March and ousted Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier this month.

Unlike other recent Cabinet departures, Chavez-DeRemer’s exit was announced by a White House aide, not by the president on his social media account.

“Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer will be leaving the Administration to take a position in the private sector,” White House communications director Steven Cheung said on the social media site X. “She has done a phenomenal job in her role by protecting American workers, enacting fair labor practices, and helping Americans gain additional skills to improve their lives.”

He said Keith Sonderling, the current deputy labor secretary, would become acting labor secretary in her place. The news outlet NOTUS was the first to report Chavez-DeRemer’s resignation.

Chavez-DeRamer’s departure follows reports that began surfacing in January that she was under a series of investigations.

A New York Times report last Wednesday revealed that the Labor Department’s inspector general was reviewing material showing Chavez-DeRemer and her top aides and family members routinely sent personal messages and requests to young staff members.

Chavez-DeRemer’s husband and father exchanged text messages with young female staff members, according to the newspaper. Some of the staffers were instructed by the secretary and her former deputy chief of staff to “pay attention” to her family, people familiar with the investigation told the Times.

Those messages were uncovered as part of a broader investigation of Chavez-DeRamer’s leadership that began after the New York Post reported in January that a complaint filed with the Labor Department’s inspector general accused Chavez-DeRemer of a relationship with the subordinate.

She also faced allegations that she drank alcohol on the job, and that she tasked aides to plan official trips for primarily personal reasons.

Both the White House and the Labor Department initially said the reports of wrongdoing were baseless. But the official denials got less full-throated as more allegations emerged — and when Chavez-DeRemer might be out of a job became something of an open question in Washington.

At least four Labor Department officials have already been forced from their jobs as the investigation progressed, including Chavez-DeRemer’s former chief of staff and deputy chief of staff, as well as a member of her security detail, with whom she was accused of having the affair, the New York Times reported.

“I think the secretary demonstrated a lot of wisdom in resigning,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said Monday after her departure was made public.

Confirmed to Trump’s Cabinet on a 67-32 vote in March 2025, Chavez-DeRemer is a former House GOP lawmaker who had represented a swing district in Oregon. She enjoyed unusual support from unions as a Republican but lost reelection in November 2024.

In her single term in Congress, Chavez-DeRemer backed legislation that would make it easier to unionize on a federal level, as well as a separate bill aimed at protecting Social Security benefits for public-sector employees.

Some prominent labor unions, including the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, backed Chavez-DeRemer, who is a daughter of a Teamster, for Labor Secretary. Trump’s decision to pick her was viewed by some political observers as a way to appeal to voters who are members of or affiliated with labor organizations.

But other powerful labor leaders were skeptical when she was tapped for the job, unconvinced that Chavez-DeRemer would pursue a union-friendly agenda as a part of the incoming GOP administration. In her Senate confirmation hearing, some senators questioned whether she would be able to uphold that reputation in an administration that fired thousands of federal employees.

Aside from reports of wrongdoing in recent months, Chavez-DeRemer had been one of Trump’s more lower-profile Cabinet picks, but took key steps to advance the administration’s deregulatory agenda during her tenure.

For instance, the Labor Department last year moved to rewrite or repeal more than 60 workplace regulations it saw as obsolete. The rollbacks included minimum wage requirements for home health care workers and people with disabilities, and rules governing exposure to harmful substances and safety procedures at mines. The effort drew condemnation from union leaders and workplace safety experts.

The proposed changes also included eliminating a requirement that employers provide adequate lighting for construction sites and seat belts for agriculture workers in most employer-provided transportation.

During Chavez-DeRemer’s tenure, the Trump administration canceled millions of dollars in international grants that a Labor Department division administered to combat child labor and slave labor around the world, ending their work that had helped reduce the number of child laborers worldwide by 78 million over the last two decades.

The Labor Department has a broad mandate as it relates to the U.S. workforce, including reporting the U.S. unemployment rate, regulating workplace health and safety standards, investigating minimum wage, child labor and overtime pay disputes, and applying laws on union organizing and unlawful terminations.

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Associated Press writers Steven Sloan and Will Weissert in Washington, and Cathy Bussewitz in New York, contributed to this report.

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By Kamal Choudhury

April 20 (Reuters) – Shares of psychedelic drug developers rose on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing health regulators to speed up reviews of psychedelic treatments and increased federal funding for their research.

Shares of AtaiBeckley jumped 28% in morning trading, while Compass Pathways climbed 37%, Enveric BioSciences surged 140% and GH Research rose 24%. Definium Therapeutics gained 4% while U.S.‑listed shares of Cybin were up about 5%.

The executive order, issued on Saturday, requires the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to fast-track reviews of psychedelic compounds such as ibogaine, which is being studied to treat mental health conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and addiction.

The order directs the agency to give Commissioner’s National Priority Vouchers to psychedelic drugs that have the “breakthrough therapy” tag, potentially cutting the review time to one to two months from the usual six to 10 months.

Trump also said the government would allocate $50 million for federal research into ibogaine.

Executives across the psychedelics industry welcomed the decision, saying clearer federal support could help accelerate research and responsible clinical use.

Oppenheimer analysts called the development “a structural inflection for the U.S. psychedelics sector,” while Jefferies analyst Andrew Tsai called it the administration’s “official stamp of validation to the class (of drugs).”

FDA Commissioner Marty Makary on Saturday said decisions on the drugs could come as soon as this summer.

Ibogaine is derived from a shrub native to Africa and is classified as a Schedule I substance in the U.S., meaning it is considered to have no accepted medical use.

According to RBC analyst Brian Abrahams, the signing of the executive order is “a substantial step towards diminishing regulatory risk in this emerging class of therapies, enabling investor comfort.”

Tom Feegel, CEO of Beond, an ibogaine-focused treatment provider, said the Trump administration’s move marks “a historic inflection point” that puts the psychedelic on the national agenda and “not as a fringe concept.”

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has championed using ibogaine as an alternative treatment for mental health conditions such as depression.

Lawmakers from both Republican and Democratic parties have also said they would pursue legislation to expand access to psychedelic therapies.

(Reporting by Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed and Diti Pujara)

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By John Kruzel

WASHINGTON, April 20 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear a bid by the Archdiocese of Denver and other Catholic entities to be exempted from a Colorado preschool funding program’s nondiscrimination requirement in the latest clash between religious rights and LGBT protections at the nation’s top judicial body.

The justices took up an appeal of a lower court’s decision that found that Colorado’s program did not violate the religious rights of the Catholic plaintiffs under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.

The program provides state funds for preschools. The Catholic plaintiffs objected to the state’s requirement that schools receiving funding under the program give all children “equal opportunity” to enroll in preschool regardless of certain characteristics, including the sexual orientation or gender identity of students or their family members.

The Archdiocese of Denver oversees 34 Catholic preschools.

The Supreme Court is expected to hear the case in its next term, which begins in October. President Donald Trump’s administration backed the request by the Catholic plaintiffs for the justices to hear the case.

The Catholic plaintiffs claimed that Colorado’s program pushes families toward preschools that “share the government’s views on these issues,” thereby penalizing religious schools and families who disagree.

Referring to the Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling legalizing gay marriage nationwide, the lawyers for the plaintiffs told the justices in a filing that the court had promised “that religious groups would be protected when they dissent from secular orthodoxies about marriage and sexuality.”

The lawyers for the plaintiffs cited the First Amendment provision protecting freedom of religious exercise.

“The Free Exercise Clause simply cannot do that important

work – which this court has described as ‘at the heart of our pluralistic society’ – if it can be so easily evaded,” they wrote.

Colorado has argued that its equal-opportunity requirements do not intrude on the Free Exercise Clause because they are neutral and apply generally to participating groups.

The parties disagree over whether the state’s preschool program creates a carveout for certain secular purposes, such as to prioritize children from low-income families or those with disabilities, while refusing exemptions for religious reasons. 

A Colorado-based federal judge in 2024 sided with Colorado officials’ defense of the program. The Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling last year, prompting the current appeal to the Supreme Court.

(Reporting by John Kruzel; Editing by Will Dunham)

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