INTRO GOOD (DAY) EVENING MADISON! YOU’RE LISTENING TO THE 5/6 O’CLOCK NEWS UPDATE ON WSUM 91.7 FM MADISON STUDENT RADIO. I’M TALULA HAYES.

IN THE NEWS TODAY, 

IN CAMPUS NEWS,
Students must now share their vaccination status with University Health Services. The policy coincides with a February 2nd measles case on campus. UHS hopes this will help quickly prevent the spread of infectious diseases. If a status is not shared by March 12th, registration holds will occur. Students who are not vaccinated may have to take additional precautions during an outbreak. For WSUM News, I’m Madison Moris. 

IN NATIONAL NEWS,
Federal government announces end to Immigration crackdown in Minnesota on Thursday. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said that he expects Operation Metro Surge to end in days based on his conversations with federal officials. Federal authorities say the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps focused on the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area have led to the arrest of more than 4,000 people. The Trump Administration says those people are all dangerous criminals although many without criminal records have been detained. ICE leader Tom Homan said that the surge is leaving Minnesota as less of a sanctuary state for criminals. Homan took over the operation after the second fatal shooting by federal officers. Last week Homan announced that they would be withdrawing 700 troops and Walz said he had no reason not to believe that but it still left 2300 officers in Minnesota. Walz said now he is in a trust but verify mode on the recent news.
For WSUM News, I’m Nathan Jahn

ALSO IN NATIONAL NEWS,
The House GOP approved proof-of-citizenship voters requirement on Wednesday. House Republicans pushed for the passing of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility or SAVE America Act ahead of midterm elections. It will require people registering to vote to provide a valid U.S. passport or birth certificate and a valid photo identification before voting. The Act was approved on a majority party-line vote, 218-213. Republicans are in support of the Act to prevent voter fraud however Democrats believe it will ban millions of Americans by making it more difficult for them to participate actively. Federal law already requires that voters in national elections are U.S. citizens, however documentary proof is not yet required. Fewer than one in 10 Americans lack paperwork providing they are citizens. Previously, President Trump expressed his favor in nationalizing U.S. electrons, which, under the Constitution, are designed to be run by their individual states. The push from this Act is furthered by the recent seizing of ballots in Georgia following the 2020 election which are being reviewed as Trump believes he won the election over Joe Biden.

IN INTERNATIONAL NEWS,
Syria has overtaken the al-Tanf base after gaining it from the U.S., the Defense Ministry said in a statement Thursday. This stems from the war against the Islamic State group. The al-Tanf base is in eastern Syria and has been run under the U.S. military for years. U.S. troops fully pulled out of the area Thursday. It sits near the borders with Jordan and Iraq with Syrian troops deployed in the surrounding desert area currently and border guards being deployed soon. In January, a deal between the government and the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces were established. This was done in an effort to merge into the military. Previously, Al-Tanf garrison has been repeatedly attacked by Iran-backed groups via drones. However, efforts have slowed following the collapse of Bashar Assad’s government in Syria in December of 2024 when groups marched the capital of Damascus. A ceasefire was reached between the two sides following Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa has been expanding his control through government force. There was a deadly struggle in January after forces captured much of northern Syria.
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IN ECONOMIC NEWS, 
The U.S. federal budget deficit is set to widen by several trillion dollars over the next decade, according to a new forecast from the Congressional Budget Office. The CBO estimates that the federal government will run a $1.85 trillion deficit this year, spending $1.33 for every $1 in revenue. By 2036, the deficit is expected to balloon to over $3 trillion and nearly 7 percent of GDP, a level only exceeded twice since World War II. The head of the nonpartisan watchdog, Phillip Swagel, warned that the continued growth of deficits is unsustainable. U.S. deficits are mainly driven by the federal government’s mounting spending obligations on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, but skyrocketing costs from paying interest on past borrowing are responsible for an increasingly large share of spending. The report says interest will consume over a quarter of federal revenue within 10 years. Historically unprecedented levels of spending by Congress have also contributed: the tax cut law passed by Congressional Republicans and signed into law by President Trump last year will add $4.7 trillion to deficits alone over the next decade. Those tax cuts are expected to lead to faster growth, but also push up inflation and interest rates. Because the federal government is indebted to the order of nearly $40 trillion, even a small jump in rates dramatically increases the cost of servicing that debt, pushing deficits even higher. Large budget deficits reduce private investment because government borrowing takes up a larger share of total savings and leaves less capital available for other uses, a mechanism known as crowding out. Concerns about the tenability of the government’s fiscal position could lead to a sudden spike in expected inflation and push investors to demand higher yields to hold U.S. Treasuries, potentially jeopardizing the “safe haven” status of U.S. government assets. For WSUM News, I’m Daniel Stein.

IN ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS,
President Trump announces he is erasing the scientific finding that climate change endangers human health and the environment, on Thursday. The move ends the federal government’s legal authority to control pollution that is dangerously heating the planet. The action is a key step in removing limits on carbon dioxide, methane and four other greenhouse gases that scientists say are supercharging heat waves, droughts, wildfires and other extreme weather. Although President Trump says this is an Obama-era policy, it has been accepted by all presidents since Richard Nixon. The administration claimed it would save auto manufacturers and other businesses an estimated $1 trillion, although it has declined to explain how it arrived at that estimate. By repealing the endangerment finding, the United States is likely to emit up to 18 billion metric tons of additional emissions into the atmosphere between now and 2055. The added pollution could lead to as many as 58,000 premature deaths over that time period.
For WSUM News, I’m Nathan Jahn

OUTRO: THANK YOU FOR TUNING IN! FROM THE WSUM NEWS BOOTH, I’M TALULA HAYES. HAVE A GREAT EVENING MADISON!