The current attorney general, Ken Paxton, is leaving the office at the end of the year and is running for U.S. Senate. 

The Republican candidates, State Senator Mayes Middleton and Central Texas Congressman Chip Roy, are in a very contentious fight. 

They emerged from the March 3 primary, finishing in the top two. Middleton received more than 39% of the vote, while Roy finished with nearly 32%. 

Middleton also received the endorsement from another Republican candidate, Aaron Reitz. 

No word yet from the fourth candidate in the GOP primary, State Senator Joan Huffman, if she will make an endorsement in the runoff. 

Last week, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick predicted that Middleton would win. 

Mayes Middleton on his campaign

In an interview with CBS News Texas, Middleton said there is a reason he came in first place in the March 3 election. 

"We did very well here in Dallas County, a double-digit win here. The DFW region, a double-digit win," Middleton said. "The reason why is Texas is Trump country. They want a conservative fighter that will back up the president and make sure that we use every resource and tool to advance his conservative agenda in Texas." 

Middleton said he wasn't surprised Roy finished behind him in the first round. "The reason why he did so badly on Election Day is because his record of fighting President Trump caught up to him," he said. "It's funny when politicians like Chip and Liz Cheney are surprised all of a sudden when that record catches up to them and haunts them." 

Middleton continued his criticism of Roy. 

"He said President Trump needed to be impeached. He said that Liz Cheney needed to be commended and not condemned. He spent a career fighting against the MAGA agenda," he said. 

Chip Roy on his campaign

Roy rejected Middleton's claims about his record in an interview with CBS News Texas. 

"Each one of those claims is either an outright lie or intentionally misleading," he said. 

"Let's go through them. If you look at the issue with respect to impeachment, I fought both impeachments of President Trump vigorously. I voted against both impeachments of President Trump. On the issue of Liz Cheney, we were working through at the time the votes of what was necessary with respect to the conference chair. We didn't have the votes to remove Liz Cheney. I worked with the speaker. We figured out what the best path was. How do we unite? So, we basically made an arrangement." 

Roy went on to say, "Let's all unite. We'll support Liz right now in order to try to move the conference forward. But if she looks backward and attacks the president, then we'll unite to call for her to step down. Two weeks later, she was criticizing the president. I was the first to step out, go to the steps of the House, and say Liz had to go. The speaker followed, and then it took about a month and a half to still build the coalition to change the conference chair. That's what you have to do when you're actually in the arena."

Roy said his message to Republican voters has been clear. 

"You can choose someone who has been in a courtroom, who's been a prosecutor, who's practiced law, who's been the first assistant attorney general," he said, referencing himself. 

"Or you can try to hire somebody for on-the-job training who's never actually practiced law and has never done the job. For the most part, he's managed his family business, which means really administering royalties that he inherited from his family. That's not somebody that is prepared to be the attorney general of the state of Texas."

In response to Roy's comments, Middleton shot back, "I am a practicing attorney in oil and gas law." 

"This is Texas, so I think it's ridiculous for someone to say that practicing oil and gas law in Texas is not practicing law. Going back to how Paxton can get elected. In 2013, the reason why we supported him for attorney general was not because he was a civil attorney like me. It was because he was a proven conservative in the Texas Senate, top one or two most conservative members. That's why we supported him. That's what this is about, a proven conservative record. Like our president, this is calling for me. This is not a job."

Next week, Eye On Politics will feature interviews with the two Democrats in the primary runoff for attorney general: State Senator Nathan Johnson of Dallas and former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski.

If voters approve, they will agree to raise their property tax rate by one cent. It's estimated it will cost homeowners an extra $2.79 each month and an extra $33 annually with a home value of $500,000 after the $140,000 homestead exemption. 

The bond would build 26 brand new schools, renovate and modernize all campuses, remove the 700 remaining portable classrooms and upgrade security. 

It will also provide various updates, including technology for students, debt service refinancing and repairs for swimming pools. 

The bond election is comprised of four propositions, A through D. Early voting for this and other municipal elections runs from Monday, April 20, through Tuesday, April 28. 

CBS News Texas political reporter Jack Fink spoke with the Dallas ISD Bond Campaign co-chair and former school board trustee Miguel Solis, who explained more about why the bond is needed.

"Kids getting a high-quality education in high-quality facilities will inevitably lead to a better economic outlook," Solis told Fink. "Because more kids will then be getting better grades that lead to better jobs and maximizes their earning potential... this is a workforce play as much as anything else."

Solis said that the tax rate in Dallas ISD has been consistently decreasing since 2019. 

"When you look at the ten largest districts in North Texas, it's actually got the lowest tax rate," he said. "That only gets the district so far to be able to ensure, once and for all, that every student and every school across Dallas ISD can have physical infrastructure improvements." 

According to Solis, there are 135,000 students in Dallas ISD. 

"That number alone is larger than most Texas cities outside of Dallas," Solis said. "The district is just big."

The Texas Public Policy Foundation said that if the Dallas ISD bond is approved, it could double the district's debt.

"Anytime you issue a bond, that's you're essentially issuing debt," Solis said. "And that debt can extend out over the course of, you know, multiple years. The 2015 bonds over the course of, I'd like to think maybe the next 5 or 10 years, we will probably see that debt ultimately paid off." 

Solis said that the district feels "pretty confident" that it can manage any existing and new debt.

He warned Republicans that if they don't unite behind their winning nominee for U.S. Senate this November, either Senator John Cornyn or Attorney General Ken Paxton, they risk handing the seat over to Democrat James Talarico. 

Patrick voiced his concerns last week before the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank in Austin. 

"Folks, this is real," he said. 

Patrick called out Cornyn and Paxton, who are battling each other to win the Republican primary runoff on May 26. 

"We have one nasty race, and I'm just going to call it for what is for the U.S. Senate, and it troubles me," Patrick said. "I'm not blaming Cornyn, and I'm not blaming Paxton. I can blame both of them. But I wish they'd spend the next five weeks or six weeks, quite frankly, running positive ads on why they should be elected because it's not helping our party by tearing each other apart."

The lieutenant governor then challenged the Republican heavyweights to unite the party immediately after the election. 

"John Cornyn, if you lose, you need to endorse Ken Paxton and get your voters to support Ken Paxton," he said. 

"And Ken Paxton, if you lose, you need to endorse John Cornyn and get your voters to support John Cornyn. Because if 10 to 15 percent of either of their sides don't turn out and vote, James Talarico is going to win." 

Regardless of whether Cornyn or Paxton wins, the Cook Political Report shows Republicans are still favored to hold on to the Senate seat over the well-funded Democrat James Talarico. Democrats, though, have rallied around Talarico. 

Patrick said, "So, he can't get to over 50% unless Cornyn's people or Paxton's people decide to skip the race because they're mad their guy lost. Get over it. Get over it and come together as one."

He cited the results of the special runoff election in late January for an open state senate seat in Fort Worth, where Democrat Taylor Rehmet defeated Republican Leigh Wambsganss in a GOP-majority district. 

"74,000 Republicans didn't vote for her, and she lost by 14,000 because they stayed home," said Patrick. 

He blamed Republicans for not coming together after the first round earlier in January. 

Patrick also predicted Wambsganss would beat Rehmet this November for the same seat, and he made one other prediction that made headlines if Talarico wins the Senate seat. 

"We're going to have a tough time holding the Texas House," Patrick said. "I think our Senate is in good shape. I don't take anything for granted, but I think our Senate is in good shape. But you're going to have to help House members."

House Speaker Dustin Burrows disagreed when he addressed the Texas Public Policy Foundation the next day. 

"Just to be real clear, I've seen the numbers. We're not going to lose the Texas House," said Burrows. 

But he agreed with Patrick's main point.

"We have to be united this November. We've got to be working and rowing in the same direction. We have to be turning out voters," said Burrows. 

CBS News Texas reached out to both the Cornyn and Paxton campaigns for reaction and has yet to hear back from Paxton's campaign. Cornyn's campaign said, "We have a plan to win the runoff, and we are executing it." 

In a statement Friday night, House Democratic leaders called for a "swift investigation" into the allegations and for Swalwell to immediately end his campaign. They called for accountability, but stopped short of urging him to resign from Congress. 

"This is unacceptable of anyone — certainly not an elected official — and must be taken seriously," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar of California said. "All perpetrators of sexual assault and harassment must be held accountable."

"These allegations are false and come on the eve of an election against the frontrunner for governor," Swalwell said in a statement. "For nearly 20 years, I have served the public — as a prosecutor and a congressman and have always protected women."  

Added Swalwell: "My focus in the coming days is to be with my wife and children and defend our decades of service against these lies."

Swalwell also threatened to take legal action against the woman, who detailed the alleged encounters to the San Francisco Chronicle, which published a story Friday. 

The woman, who was not named, said Swalwell started pursuing her shortly after she was hired to work in his district office in Castro Valley in 2019. She alleged he sent her inappropriate photos of himself via Snapchat, requested nude photos of her and asked her to perform oral sex on him in a parking lot. She also alleged that after going out for drinks with Swalwell in September 2019, she woke up naked in his hotel bed with little recollection of the night.  

Five years later, in 2024, when she no longer worked for Swalwell, she said she met him for drinks after a charity gala in New York. She said she became intoxicated and only remembers parts of the night, including allegedly pushing him away and telling him "no" while he forced himself on her. She said she woke up the next morning with vaginal bleeding and bruises. 

The Chronicle said it reviewed texts the woman sent to a friend three days after the alleged incident, in which she wrote she was "sexually assaulted" by Swalwell. 

"This happened one other time when I was working with him, but I convinced myself I was an equal party in it even though same pattern: I blacked out and he had sex with me," she wrote, according to the Chronicle, referring to the alleged 2019 incident. 

The Chronicle also spoke with the man who was the woman's boyfriend at the time of the 2024 incident. The then-boyfriend said he encouraged the woman to report Swalwell to the police, but the woman said she did not do so because she was afraid they would not believe her because she had already showered and thought it would be unlikely that an examination would find evidence. 

In a follow-up video posted to social media Friday evening, Swalwell said he plans to fight the allegations "with everything that I have."

"I do not suggest to you in any way that I'm perfect or that I'm a saint," Swalwell said in the video. "I have certainly made mistakes in judgment in my past, but those mistakes are between my wife and me, and to her, I apologize deeply for putting her in this position. I also apologize to you if, in any way, you have doubted your support for me, but I think you know who I am."

Democratic Rep. Jimmy Gomez of California, a campaign chair for Swalwell's gubernatorial bid, also called on him to drop out of the race, calling the information "shocking" and said the story contains "the ugliest and most serious accusations imaginable." 

"The congressman should leave the race now so there can be full accountability without doubt, distraction, or delay," Gomez said, adding that he was cutting ties with Swalwell's campaign "effective immediately." 

Democratic Sens. Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Adam Schiff of California, as well as Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu of California, also said they were withdrawing their endorsements. 

"What is described is indefensible," Gallego said. "Women who come forward with accounts like this deserve to be heard with respect, not questioned or dismissed. I regret having come to his defense on social media prior to knowing all the information. I am equally as shocked and upset about what has transpired." 

Schiff said he was "deeply distressed" by the accusations and called on Swalwell to withdraw from the race. 

Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of California said Swalwell "must leave the Governor's race immediately." 

Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California said, "Given the gravity of these claims, Rep. Eric Swalwell should step aside to ensure a full, transparent investigation free from undue influence." 

House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi said the matter "must be appropriately investigated with full transparency and accountability. As I discussed with Congressman Swalwell, it is clear that is best done outside of a gubernatorial campaign."

Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona said Saturday she was also withdrawing her endorsement of Swalwell, calling the allegations against him "deeply disturbing and disqualifying."

"I am retracting my endorsement of his candidacy for Governor," Grijalva wrote in a social media post. "I stand with all survivors of sexual assault."

Swalwell also lost the support of the California Teachers Association, which called the allegations "incredibly disturbing and unacceptable."

The former vice president appeared on Thursday and participated in a conversation with NAN founder and president, the Rev. Al Sharpton. Her appearance received some of the loudest applause of the convention thus far. At one point during her remarks, one attendee shouted "run again!" which led to the greater audience repeatedly chanting the same. 

When asked by Sharpton if she plans to run again, Harris said, "Listen, I might. I'm thinking about it." 

"I served for four years, being a heartbeat away from the presidency of the United States. I spent countless hours in my West Wing office, footsteps away from the Oval Office. I spent countless hours in the Oval Office, in the Situation Room. I know what the job is. And I know what it requires," Harris said. 

Many attendees told CBS News they would support her if she chooses to do so, including Adolphus Lacey, the pastor of Bethany Baptist Church, where Sharpton worships. 

"I would support her because I still think that we could use her voice. Her voice is needed for such a time as this, and it shouldn't be a one-and-done," Lacey said. "I mean, some of these people have been running for president all their life. I mean, Donald Trump ran for president three times. I think she did a good job for, what, 101 days running, but if you give her a full time to be able to articulate and earn people's votes, I think she'll do well." 

Patricia Felder, an attendee from Philadelphia, told CBS News, "I supported her before and I will support her again. I think those who haven't supported her initially regret it." 

Should Harris run again, Felder said she hopes Harris is "bolder" this time around.

"I would hope that she comes with a lot more audacity – staying intentional and bold in her messaging, especially, should be easier because a lot of naysayers are now feeling the effects of the Trump presidency," she said. 

President Trump was, in a way, the focal point of this year's conference, as the speakers and attendees alike repeatedly expressed their concern about the current administration's actions and policies.

"There has been a breach in every area you could think of: breaching laws, breaching human rights, breaching voting rights. Everything has been broken. Everything's been smashed," Dr. Elaine Duvall, an attendee from New York, said about the current state of the country. "I think that we need a time of reparation. A time of repair. A time of rebuilding." 

Mr. Trump's handling of the conflict in Iran was a particularly prominent subject. "Trump's war of choice" was the phrase frequently used to describe the war with Iran by these Democratic leaders, from Shapiro to Harris. 

"I think we have to acknowledge this was a war of choice by the president of the United States, a war I did not support, and a war where the president never came to the American people and said, 'this is our objective,'" Shapiro said on Wednesday. 

In her remarks, Harris touted her foreign policy experience and the insight she gained while serving as vice president.

"I met with over 150 world leaders, presidents, prime ministers, chancellors and kings, many of them multiple times, and formed relationships. I have traveled the globe many times over," Harris said. "One thing that I realized is that the relationship that we have with allied nations, yes, can be forged and reinforced by the leaders, but I will tell you, the true strength of those relationships is the people of those nations. feeling some level of identity and connection with the people of our country and that includes the people in this room." 

Duvall told CBS News that of all the potential '28 contenders that spoke at this year's convention, she thinks Harris has the most experience to be president. 

"I think more than any other presidential candidate, she was prepared," Duvall reasoned. "She was a senator, she was an attorney general of a very large state, she was vice president and as she said here today, she knows the job, she knows what to do. It wouldn't be on-the-job training." 

Other attendees said that while they believed the former vice president deserved consideration, they wanted to meet and hear from other potential presidential contenders.

"It is still early," a gentleman from Ohio said in the hallway of the Sheraton Hotel when asked about a possible third Harris presidential bid. 

A former senior Harris campaign official who spoke to CBS News on Friday said that while many Democrats were grateful for her historic run in 2024 under a contracted timeframe, many in the party were now ready to move on. 

"People don't like looking in the rearview mirror," the former Harris official said. "She has a steep uphill climb." 

When asked by Politico if she thinks the nominee in 2028 should be a Democrat who didn't serve in the Biden administration, mentioning Buttigieg and Harris, Sen. Elissa Slotkin, of Michigan, said, "I think there's a lot of baggage there." 

Slotkin, who has also raised speculation that she is considering running in 2028 after a recent trip to Iowa, added, "I don't know if it's insurmountable, but I know that the strongest feeling I get from a room like this, from being in Columbus, being in Iowa, being in Wisconsin, Idaho, Kansas, is that people want something new."

Harris is set to hold events in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia this coming week, bolstering support from the Democratic Party's base of Black voters in the South and fueling further speculation that she's committed to running in 2028.

The proposal calls for the arch to be roughly 250 feet tall, more than twice as high as the 99-foot tall Lincoln Memorial. It would be the tallest triumphal arch in the world, like the president said he wanted, roughly 30 feet taller than the Plaza de la República in Mexico City. 

The proposed building site sits in a traffic circle on the Virginia side of the Potomac, in between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, on land that technically falls within the boundaries of the District of Columbia. The plans show inscriptions reading "One Nation Under God" and "Liberty and Justice For All" would be on either side of the arch. Gold-colored statues of Lady Liberty, flanked by two eagles, would top the structure, with four statues of lions around the base. 

The designs were prepared by Harrison Design, an architecture firm in Washington.

The president has championed this project, sharing design concepts over the last several months and saying the arch is for "me." Mr. Trump has said the arch, which resembles Paris' Arc de Triomphe, will commemorate the country's 250th anniversary. 

In a post to Truth Social Friday evening, Mr. Trump said that his administration had "officially filed the presentation and plans to the highly respected Commission of Fine Arts for what will be the GREATEST and MOST BEAUTIFUL Triumphal Arch, anywhere in the World."  

American taxpayers will help fund the construction of the arch, according to the spending plan for the National Endowment for the Humanities released by the administration earlier this week. 

According to the endowment's spending plan, which was approved by the Office of Management and Budget in September, $2 million in special initiative funds and $13 million in matching funds "are reserved for the arch." 

The president said he wants the arch to be the "biggest one of all" in the world. The proposed site is situated along a flight path for nearby Reagan National Airport, raising questions about how it might affect planes' approach.

The Commission of Fine Arts, a panel composed entirely of Trump appointees, will hear a presentation about the arch on April 16.

In a six-minute livestreamed statement from the White House, the first lady for the first time following the Justice Department's release of troves of Epstein records publicly and directly addressed the Epstein matter. The first lady said "now is the time for Congress to act."

"I call on Congress to provide the women who have been victimized by Epstein with a public hearing specifically centered around the survivors," the first lady told a group of gathered reporters at the White House. "Give these victims their opportunity to testify under oath in front of Congress with the power of sworn testimony. Each and every woman should have her day to tell her story in public, if she wishes, and then her testimony should be permanently entered into the congressional record. Then and only then, we will have the truth. Thank you."

The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Robert Garcia of California, called the first lady's remarks "pretty stunning," and said her call for a hearing with the testimony of Epstein survivors is something "that we have been asking for for months and have been told every time that it wasn't possible."

"We certainly welcome and agree with her call to hear directly from the survivors," he told MS NOW shortly after the first lady's remarks. He added, "I think what is important about what the first lady said is that she is being clear that there are still powerful men out there. There are still stories to be told."

President Trump told MS NOW he didn't "know anything about" the first lady's statement before she made it. The first lady's spokesperson told CBS News that the West Wing was aware she was going to be making a statement, but would not confirm whether anyone was aware of what the topic or contents of the statement would be. 

It's unclear why the first lady delivered her statement on Thursday, instead of immediately following the release of specific records. Old photos of the Trumps with Epstein and Maxwell have been publicly available, and the Justice Department emails revealed the first lady and Maxwell corresponded at least once over email. 

Asked why Melania Trump decided to make this statement now and whether she was referring to any particular report or allegations, or whether there was some forthcoming story, her spokesperson pointed CBS News to a statement that the first lady's senior adviser, Marc Beckman, gave directly to the New York Post. 

"First Lady Melania Trump spoke out now because enough is enough," Beckman said. "The lies must stop. It is time for the public and media to focus on her incredible achievements as First Lady, the lives she has positively impacted, and her commitment to our nation."

Melania Trump said Epstein did not introduce her to Donald Trump, and the brief email exchange released in the DOJ records between her and Maxwell was merely a "polite," "casual" reply. 

"I am not Epstein's victim," the first lady said. "Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump. I met my husband by chance at a New York City party in 1998. This initial encounter with my husband is documented in detail in my book Melania. The first time I crossed paths with Epstein was in the year 2000 at an event Donald and I attended together. At the time, I had never met Epstein and had no knowledge of his criminal undertakings. Numerous fake images and statements about Epstein and me have been circulating on social media for years now. Be cautious about what you believe. These images and stories are completely false."

"I have never had any knowledge of Epstein's abuse of his victims," she added. "I was never involved in any capacity. I was not a participant. Was never on Epstein's plane. And never visited his private island."

More than a dozen Epstein survivors released a statement Thursday following the first lady's remarks, saying they "have already shown extraordinary courage by coming forward, filing reports, and giving testimony." 

"Asking more of them now is a deflection of responsibility, not justice," the statement said, which also accused the first lady of "shifting the burden onto survivors under politicized conditions that protect those with power." 

Jane Chick and Sara Cook contributed to this report.

"Listen, I might. I'm thinking about it," Harris said in response to a question from Rev. Al Sharpton at the National Action Network's conference in Manhattan. "Let me also say this. I served for four years being a heartbeat away from the presidency of the United States. I spent countless hours in my West Wing office, footsteps away from the Oval Office. I spent countless hours in the Oval Office, in the Situation Room. I know what the job is. And I know what it requires."

She added: "I've been traveling in the country the last year, I've been spending a lot of time in the South and many other places. And the one thing I'm really clear about also is, the status quo is not working, and hasn't been working for a lot of people for a long time." 

Harris lost to President Trump in the 2024 election after replacing then-President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket. She unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic nomination in 2020 before Biden selected her as his running mate.

The former vice president has kept a relatively low profile since her 2024 defeat. Last year she passed on running for governor of California, fueling speculation that she might be eyeing another bid for the White House in 2028.

"Today, you've made history and made all America really proud," he said. "Humans have never really seen anything quite like what you're doing in a manned spacecraft. It's really special."

The four astronauts — three Americans and one Canadian — traveled farther from Earth than any human beings in history earlier Monday, reaching a maximum distance from Earth of 252,756 miles, passing the Apollo 13 distance record set in 1970 by over 4,000 miles. They also became the first humans to see parts of the far side of the moon with the naked eye.

In a roughly 12-minute call, Mr. Trump praised the astronauts for their "courage" and "genius" — and noted that their trip is a precursor to NASA's bid to return humans to the surface of the moon for the first time in over half a century.

"America is a frontier nation, and the four brave astronauts of Artemis II … really are modern-day pioneers," the president said, adding that the U.S. plans to "push on to Mars" next.

Speaking to the crew when they were just over 250,000 miles from Earth, Mr. Trump is the latest president to make a very-very-very-very-long-distance phone call to astronauts, a tradition most famous for when President Richard Nixon called up Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin while they were on the moon. 

Monday's call appeared to have a delay of several seconds between when the astronauts and the president spoke. The conversation paused at one point, with Mr. Trump remarking, "I think we might've gotten cut off."

The president quizzed the four astronauts on the most unforgettable parts of their journey around the far side of the moon.

The mission's commander, Reid Wiseman, remarked on the opportunity to lay eyes on "sights that no human has ever seen before." But he said the day's biggest surprise came when they watched a solar eclipse and spotted Mars in the distance.

"All of us commented how excited we are to watch this nation and this planet become a two-planet species," he said.

Mission specialist Christina Koch said her biggest highlight was catching her first glimpses of Earth after passing around the moon, a moment that came after a communications blackout.

"It really just reminds you what a special place we have, and how important it is for our nation ... to lead and not follow in exploring deep space," she said.

Pilot Victor Glover told the president their time on the other side of the moon was "quite nice," but the crew was busy making detailed scientific observations: "I said a little prayer, but then I had to keep rolling."

Mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, an astronaut from the Canadian Space Agency, told the U.S. president that "Canadians are so proud to be a part of this program."

Mr. Trump has had a complicated relationship with Canada, but he was complimentary on Monday, praising both the U.S.'s northern neighbor and Hansen as the astronaut high-fived his American commander. The president said he had spoken with two important Canadians: Prime Minister Mark Carney and retired hockey great Wayne Gretzky.

"They are so proud of you, and you have a lot of courage. I'm not sure if they'd want to do that. I'm not even sure if The Great One would want to do that, to be honest with you," Mr. Trump told Hansen, using Gretzky's nickname.

The Orion spacecraft is now headed back toward Earth, with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean planned for Friday.

After their return, Mr. Trump said he hopes to invite them to the Oval Office, where he plans to give them "a big salute" and ask for their autographs.

"I don't really ask for autographs much, but you deserve that," the president said.

As the U.S. deals with a dangerous shortage of air traffic controllers, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Friday the department would be targeting gamers to join the ranks of employees sitting in airport control towers.

"To reach the next generation of air traffic controllers, we need to adapt," Duffy said in a statement. "This campaign's innovative communication style and focus on gaming taps into a growing demographic of young adults who have many of the hard skills it takes to be a successful controller."

The agency has been dealing with ATC shortages at many airports across the country over the past decade. Increasing numbers is a top priority for Duffy. The Federal Aviation Administration employed 6% fewer air traffic controllers in fiscal year 2025 versus 2015, despite a 10% increase in total flights between fiscal years 2015 and 2024, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office released in December.

Newark Liberty International Airport was particularly hard-hit last year due to staffing shortages at the Philadelphia air traffic control facility that manages flights into the New Jersey airport. The government shutdown last November also exacerbated many issues with air traffic controller shortages as employees were forced to work without pay for more than a month. Others decided to leave the industry entirely.

"The failure to pay air traffic controllers for 44 days created uncertainty, drove many experienced controllers out of the profession and harmed the recruitment pipeline," a spokesperson from the Department of Transportation told CBS News in November.

The government points out that more than 200 million people in the U.S. regularly play video games.

"With only about 25 percent of controllers holding a traditional college degree, this effort is focused on reaching talented young people pursuing alternative career paths, many of whom are active in gaming," the department said in its press release. "Feedback from controller exit interviews reinforces this, with several controllers pointing to gaming as an influence on their ability to think quickly, stay focused, and manage complexity."

Even though it doesn't require a traditional college degree, prospective air traffic controllers must pass an aptitude test and get medical and security clearance before they can begin training, according to GAO. They then progress to a four- to six-month training course at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City, and extensive on-the-job training, according to GAO. In total, it could take two to six years to become a certified air traffic controller.

The agency touted that it met its fiscal year 2025 goals with more than 2,000 air traffic controllers being hired, and said it is already halfway to its 2026 goal. 

In 2024 — the last year for which federal data is available — the median annual wage for air traffic controllers was $144,580, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

But pay varies widely based on experience and location. Annual income for less experienced controllers at smaller airports is closer to $60,000, according to aviation experts.

A government official familiar with the matter said the probe is about affordability for consumers and creating an "even playing field for providers." The Wall Street Journal first reported that the DOJ opened an investigation into the NFL. 

The NFL said in a statement that its media distribution model is the "most fan and broadcaster-friendly in the entire sports and entertainment industry," and noted that 87% of its games are available on broadcast television, "including 100% of games in the markets of the competing teams." 

"The 2025 season was our most viewed since 1989 and reflects the strength of the NFL distribution model and its wide availability to all fans," the NFL said. 

The investigation comes as the NFL has reopened negotiations with Paramount Skydance, the parent company of CBS News, which owns the rights to broadcast NFL games on Sunday afternoons during the season. Exercising a clause in the existing TV rights contracts that allows the league to reopen a media rights deal if a partner broadcaster is purchased by a new owner, CNBC reports the NFL is seeking as much as $1 billion more per season from Paramount Skydance  so the network can continue broadcasting games through the 2033-34 season.

NFL broadcasters, most notably Fox, have voiced concerns the NFL is spreading its games across too many streaming services and could make watching games prohibitively expensive — and confusing — for football fans. A recent editorial by The Wall Street Journal, also owned by Fox's owner Rupert Murdoch, argued the league might be violating its antitrust exemptions by spreading out its content across so many platforms. 

Republican Sen. Mike Lee, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights, said he's "glad they're tackling this." 

"In 1961, Congress enacted the Sports Broadcasting Act, granting limited antitrust immunity to allow professional football teams to collectively license the 'sponsored telecasts' of their games to national broadcast networks," Lee said. "... To the extent collectively licensed game packages are placed behind subscription paywalls, these arrangements may no longer align with the statutory concept of sponsored telecasting or the consumer-access rationale underlying the antitrust exemption."

"The United States Postal Service is heading toward a cash crisis," USPS spokesman David Walton said in a statement to CBS News. "The step we are now taking to suspend FERS payments helps conserve cash for our operations and other necessary payments."

The USPS contributes about $400 million a month to its employee pension plan, the agency said in a statement on Thursday. The postal service said it will continue to send worker contributions to the retirement plan and will also transmit employer automatic and matching contributions, as well as employee contributions to the Thrift Savings Plan, another retirement program for federal workers.

Out of cash in a year

The temporary halt in contributions to the USPS program comes after Postmaster General David Steiner warned Congress last month that the postal agency is heading for a financial crisis without a course correction. Those changes could include raising the cost of a first-class stamp to 95 cents or reducing delivery from its current six days per week schedule to five or fewer, he said. 

Without such changes, Steiner said, the USPS could run out of cash within 12 months, which could result in a stoppage of mail delivery. 

The USPS has for years struggled with high costs and dwindling mail volume, culminating in a $9 billion loss in 2025. Although the Postal Service has a 10-year plan to reduce expenses and restore profitability, the agency still faces major financial challenges as mail volume continues to decline and delivery costs rise.

On Thursday, USPS Chief Financial Officer Luke Grossmann said in a statement that the risk of "insufficient liquidity for postal operations dramatically outweighs any longer-term risk to the pension funds from not making the currently due payments."

Suspending payments to FERS will free up about $2.5 billion in the current fiscal year, the postal agency said. 

The USPS said in March that it plans to temporarily hike postage prices to cover mounting fuel costs due to the Iran war. The agency said it will add an 8% surcharge on some postage prices beginning April 26, with those added costs remaining in place through Jan. 17, 2027.

Federal prosecutors allege in a criminal complaint that Courtney Williams of Wagram, North Carolina, divulged classified information to an unnamed reporter between 2022 and 2024 about her time in Delta Force, a U.S. Army Special Military Unit, or SMU.

According to the complaint, Williams worked for the Army between 2010 and 2016 after serving as a contractor and previously enlisting, and held a top secret security clearance. Williams left in 2016, after investigators said she had her access to classified information suspended, "based on an internal investigation" conducted in 2015 and 2016.

She is charged with one count of illegally communicating or transmitting national defense information, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison if convicted. Court records show she was arrested Tuesday and was ordered to be temporarily detained in jail ahead of a preliminary hearing on April 13. 

According to an FBI affidavit included in the complaint, Williams and the reporter "discussed William's employment at the SMU and associated information" in texts and "consistent and extensive phone conversations." The affidavit also alleges that Williams "provided documents, photographs, notes, and/or other materials to the Journalist, some of which likely contained classified NDI that was subsequently published in the Article and the Book," through a removable hard drive and emails in ten document batches.

Williams was featured prominently in a Politico article as an on-the-record voice in a story profiling alleged misconduct in Delta Force, a covert military unit where Delta Force is headquartered. That article, by Seth Harp, was adapted from his book, which was to be published shortly after the article. Investigators also said the article includes on-the-record statements from Williams about her time with the unit. Photos of Williams also appear in the report.

In a statement posted to social media late Wednesday, Harp described Williams as a "courageous whistleblower who exposed rampant gender discrimination and sexual harassment" in Delta Force.

"I am confident that the DOJ's slapdash indictment, full of misleading juxtaposed quotations taken out of context, will fall apart upon careful scrutiny," Harp said. "In the meantime, Courtney is presumed innocent and is entitled to the due process of the law." 

The FBI affidavit alleges Williams spoke to a reporter on the day the Politico article featuring her was published and says officials overseeing classification of the Special Military Unit "reviewed the information within the Article and determined that it contained information that is properly classified as SECRET."

After the book was published last August, the prosecutors said Williams texted the reporter that she was "concerned with the amount of classified information being disclosed" in the book," and that she wrote in a text message to her mother that she feared being arrested "for disclosing classified information."

In another text message to someone else, prosecutors allege that Williams said she was "probably going to jail for life" for her alleged disclosures.

Williams was appointed a federal defender, but no attorney information was publicly listed in court filings as of Wednesday evening.

In a social media post on X, FBI Director Kash Patel said that William's arrest should "serve as a message to any would-be leakers: we're working these cases, and we're making arrests. This FBI will not tolerate those who seek to betray our country and put Americans in harm's way."

"The Department of Justice has stated Pam Bondi will not appear on April 14 for a deposition since she is no longer Attorney General and was subpoenaed in her capacity as Attorney General," a spokeswoman for the Oversight Committee said. "The Committee will contact Pam Bondi's personal counsel to discuss next steps regarding scheduling her deposition."

In a letter to Comer that was obtained by CBS News, Assistant Attorney General Patrick Davis wrote that the subpoena was issued to Bondi in her official capacity as attorney general, not in her personal capacity. Because she doesn't hold that office anymore, she can no longer testify in her role as attorney general, he said. Davis, who leads the Justice Department's Office of Legislative Affairs, asked Comer to confirm that the subpoena is withdrawn.

"The Department remains committed to working cooperatively with the Committee and continues to believe that additional compulsory process is unnecessary in light of our demonstrated willingness to voluntarily assist your oversight efforts," he wrote.

The subpoena, issued by Oversight Committee chairman James Comer last month, required Bondi to appear for a closed-door deposition on Tuesday. The full Oversight panel had approved a motion on March 4 to subpoena Bondi, who was then serving as attorney general. Five Republicans voted with all Democrats in support of the move.

Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the Committee, said the subpoena issued by the committee is binding and demanded she appear.

"Now that Pam Bondi has been fired, she's trying to get out of her legal obligation to testify before the Oversight Committee about the Epstein files and the White House cover-up," he said in a statement. "Our bipartisan subpoena is to Pam Bondi, whether she is the Attorney General or not. She must come in to testify immediately, and if she defies the subpoena, we will begin contempt charges in the Congress. The survivors deserve justice."

Two Epstein survivors, Maria and Annie Farmer, in a statement urged the House Oversight Committee to make sure that Bondi's deposition "happens immediately."

"Until Bondi's deposition happens and her testimony is given under oath, we will continue asking Congress to use every lever possible to ensure justice is served," the Farmers said, adding that further delay "weakens our confidence in the government's willingness to hold accountable those who enabled and perpetrated Epstein's heinous crimes." 

As attorney general, Bondi oversaw the Justice Department's review and release of files related to the federal investigation into Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his longtime associate who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex-trafficking crimes. The material was made public after Congress approved a measure, called the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

The Justice Department ultimately released roughly 3 million pages of documents related to Epstein out of more than 6 million pages. Top department officials said roughly half of the material was withheld for various reasons, including because some of the records contained survivors' personal information or risked jeopardizing an active federal investigation.

Bondi was ousted from her post as attorney general last week. 

After Mr. Trump announced Bondi's deputy, Todd Blanche, would serve as acting attorney general, Bondi initially said she would stay on the job for a month to help him with the transition. But Blanche held a press conference on Tuesday as the acting head of the Justice Department, and the department has referred to him as such, an indication that he has officially taken over.

Earlier Wednesday, GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California sent Comer a letter urging him to reaffirm Bondi's obligation to testify before the panel. Mace offered the motion to subpoena Bondi, and Khanna introduced the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

"The removal of Pam Bondi as Attorney General does not diminish the Committee's legitimate oversight interests in seeking her sworn testimony or the need for accountability and information about files withheld from the public by the DOJ," they wrote in their letter. "On the contrary, it makes her sworn testimony even more important, especially with respect to actions she took as Attorney General, matters already under investigation, and decisions made under her leadership."

Khanna and Mace said "serious questions remain" about what they said is the Justice Department's failure to comply with the Epstein files law and its handling of the investigation into the disgraced late financier and his associates while Bondi was serving as attorney general.

The Epstein Files Transparency Act required the Justice Department to release its Epstein-related material by Dec. 19. But the department instead disclosed the documents in a series of releases through the end of January. Democrats and some Republicans lambasted the Justice Department for inconsistencies in the redactions of names and information found in the millions of pages of files. In the earlier releases of documents, the identities of some powerful people were shielded from the public. The Justice Department failed to redact some of the names and personal details of survivors of Epstein's abuse, sparking outrage.

A CBS News analysis also found that the Justice Department took down tens of thousands of files, some of which contained explicit images or survivors' information. But the reasons for the removal of other files, such as a call log with redacted names, are unclear.

The case against the proposals

CBS News Texas reports that dozens of people testified before the board Tuesday, with many arguing that including Biblical texts in public school curriculums violates the separation of church and state. Others said the list is too extensive and would be difficult to fully teach within a school year, while some raised concerns that it limits teachers' ability to choose their own materials.

In a statement to CBS News Texas, one school board member, Tiffany Clark, said the proposed list lacks diversity.

Rabbi Josh Fixler, of Congregation Emanu El, a reform synagogue in Houston, told the board the list "is a tool of proselytization that has no place in our public schools. There is a difference between teaching about religion and teaching religion, and this list will force teachers to cross that line."

Megan Boyden, a mother of three from Denton, Texas, described is as a direct attack on her private faith.

"As a Christian mother, it is my right and responsibility to teach our family's religion," she said. "It is not the state's job to shed through the lens of a teacher who may not share the same beliefs I do. Will Bible passages be taught in conflict with my beliefs?

"What," she asked, "of non-Christian students?"

The list stems from a state law passed in 2023 that called for the creation of a state-approved list of high-quality materials.

Third graders would learn about the Road to Damascus, which tells the story of Paul's transformation from an early persecutor of Christians into a follower. Seniors, meanwhile, would learn about the Book of Job, a story about a man whose faith is tested when he looses everything.

The list also includes classics like Dr. Seuss' "The Cat in the Hat," stories about the national folk hero Daniel Boone. And there are also works by famous African Americans like Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King, Jr. and a book about Harriet Tubman of the Underground Railroad fame.

The GOP-leaning board previously approved a new Bible-infused curriculum that is optional for schools to incorporate in kindergarten through fifth grades. It introduces Bible-based lessons, such as the Golden Rule, and stories from books sources such as the Book of Genesis into classrooms. While adopting the curriculum is optional, schools implementing it receive additional funding.

The board also is considering social studies standards that have been criticized as too state-centric, not focused enough on world events and rife with an undercurrent of American exceptionalism. They call for students to "identify the Texas flag as a symbol of Texas pride," and recognize the state song "Texas, Our Texas."

Students also are supposed to be able to understand stories about Texas Independence.

Curriculum debates crop up occasionally. Over the years, state boards in places such as Kansas have debated whether the teaching of evolution should reflect doubt about the well-established scientific theory - and leave room for arguments that the universe's complexity points to an intelligent design.

Allison Cardwell, a mother of a fourth grader and a fifth grade social studies teacher, urged the board to rethink the standards. She said fifth grade would be the only time most Texas students would receive instruction in U.S. history until high school.

"We have to ask ourselves, How can we expect to create citizens who value liberty, responsibility, and the principles this country was founded on, if we don't ensure that they truly understand those foundations?" she said.

"I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks," the president wrote on Truth Social, arguing that the U.S. has "already met and exceeded all Military objectives."

He said the ceasefire, which he agreed to at Pakistan's request, was "subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz."

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi confirmed that Iran had agreed to halt "defensive operations," likely referring to its drone and missile strikes on U.S. allies in the region, if the U.S. stops attacking Iran. Araghchi also said Iran's armed forces will coordinate to allow for "safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz."  

Israel has also agreed to the ceasefire proposal, a White House official told CBS News. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced late Tuesday night that while Israel supports the United States' two-week ceasefire with Iran, the accord doesn't cover the fighting between Israel's military and Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based Iranian proxy.

The U.S. and Israel launched the war with Iran jointly, striking thousands of targets in the country starting on Feb. 28. Iran has retaliated with strikes on Israel and several U.S.-allied countries in the Gulf region. 

Oil futures plummeted on the news of a ceasefire, with the U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate falling more than 13% to below $92 a barrel in the hour after Mr. Trump's announcement. The price of oil has rocketed since the war began to highs not seen in years, as shipments are largely cut off through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint that normally carries one-fifth of the world's oil. Prices remained well above pre-war levels late Tuesday.

The ceasefire followed a frenzied diplomatic effort by the U.S., Iran and third-party mediators like Pakistan to avoid a major escalation in the nearly six-week-long war. Over the weekend, Mr. Trump demanded that Iran strike an "acceptable" deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. If Iran did not comply, the president vowed to destroy the country's power plants and bridges.

His threats have grown more sharp-edged in recent days. Earlier Tuesday, he wrote on Truth Social: "A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again."

The U.S. and Iran have not appeared to strike a formal long-term deal. But Mr. Trump wrote in his message announcing the ceasefire that the U.S. is "very far along" in striking a "definitive Agreement concerning Longterm PEACE with Iran."

The president said Iran sent the U.S. a 10-point peace plan that is a "workable basis on which to negotiate." A day earlier, Iran rejected a 15-point proposal offered by American negotiators.

"Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated," Mr. Trump wrote.

Iran's Supreme National Security Council said negotiations between the two sides will begin in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad on Friday and last two weeks, with "complete distrust toward the American side." It was not immediately clear if U.S. officials would be traveling to Islamabad for the discussions.

Iran said that if a deal isn't struck, "we will continue to fight side by side on the battlefield until all the demands of the Iranian people are achieved."

Major gaps between the two sides appear to linger. In its statement, Iran said the 10-point plan calls for the U.S. to withdraw forces from all bases in the region, fully compensate Iran, lift all sanctions and grant Iran's armed forces control over the Strait of Hormuz. It also calls for an end to hostilities against the "Axis of Resistance," Iran's term for regional proxy groups like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, many of which the U.S. regards as terrorist organizations.

It's not clear whether Mr. Trump would accept many of those demands, which would mark a significant change to the United States' strategy in the Middle East. The president appeared to reject the idea of allowing Iran to control the Strait of Hormuz and collect tolls from ships that sail through on Monday, telling reporters that, if anything, the U.S. should take in tolls.

Also unclear: The state of talks over Iran's nuclear program. When the U.S. launched strikes on Iran in late February, Mr. Trump said one of his primary objectives was to ensure that Iran could never build a nuclear weapon. The president has publicly called for Iran to abandon all uranium enrichment.

Iran has insisted that its nuclear program is entirely peaceful, and U.S. intelligence agencies assessed last spring that Iran was not in the process of building a nuclear weapon. But the country has said it will not stop enriching uranium, and its stockpiles of highly enriched material — just a short step away from weapons-grade uranium — remain in Iran, much of it buried underneath rubble from a prior round of U.S. strikes last June. 

Washington — President Trump said "a whole civilization will die tonight" unless a deal is reached with Iran by his Tuesday night deadline. 

"I don't want that to happen, but it probably will," the president said in a post on Truth Social Tuesday morning.  

Mr. Trump has given Iran until 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday to agree to a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, or else he says he will order attacks to destroy all of the country's power plants and bridges. He said on Monday at the White House that "the entire country could be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night."

In his post Tuesday morning, the president also suggested that something "revolutionarily wonderful can happen," arguing that "different, smarter, and less radicalized minds" are now leading Iran. 

"We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World," Mr. Trump said.

The deadline comes amid a renewed diplomatic push. Mr. Trump told reporters Monday that Iran had made a "significant" proposal, which he called "not good enough" but a "very significant step." He also said he believes the Iranians are negotiating "in good faith."

He called Iran an "active, willing participant" in ongoing negotiations.

A U.S. official on Tuesday morning confirmed that American forces had conducted new strikes on military targets on Iran's Kharg Island, a vital location for Iran's oil exports. 

The official said that, as with similar attacks launched in mid-March, oil infrastructure was not targeted in the overnight attacks. 

Democrats in Congress panned Mr. Trump's latest rhetoric, voicing concern about the possible escalation.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the president "an extremely sick person." He and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries urged Republicans in Congress to express opposition to the war.

"It's time for every single Republican to put patriotic duty over party and stop the madness,"  said Jeffries, a New York Democrat.

Rank-and-file members in both the House and Senate expressed outrage after Mr. Trump's threat. Some called for impeachment and for the 25th amendment to be invoked to remove Mr. Trump from office, while others demanded that House Speaker Mike Johnson call Congress back into session immediately and said the president's threats could constitute war crimes. 

GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin stressed on John Solomon's podcast Monday that he did not "want to see us start blowing up civilian infrastructure."

Mullin, who was traveling for his first official visit as DHS secretary, in Chimney Rock, North Carolina, said department employees who've been working without pay for the past six weeks would see the missing payments covering recent pay periods in their accounts soon. 

"We expect most of those checks to be in their banks by Friday," he told CBS News. "Some of the financial institutions may have to wait till Monday, but the majority of everybody will be paid by then." 

The secretary said the payments are being made possible through executive action and existing funding flexibility, but he warned that future payroll for DHS employees — outside of law enforcement officials — would depend entirely on Congress. 

"Going forward, we got to wait on Congress. This was kind of a rifle shot," he said, noting the high cost of DHS payroll every two weeks.

Mullin pulled no punches in dressing down Democrats for the delay. 

"They're willing to defund and shut down 22 agencies that are tasked to keep the homeland safe," he said, likening DHS, the third largest department in the federal government, to the biggest, the Pentagon. Despite the funding lapse, Mullin said DHS operations remain active, crediting employees who have continued to report to work without the certainty of pay. "People are still showing up to work … that's a tremendous amount of dedication from employees that I get to be over right now," he said.

When pressed by CBS News on the source of the appropriations, Mullin said the Trump administration is relying on a provision that gives the president limited ability to move funds in emergencies. He described it as allowing DHS "a little bit of flexibility … with the dollars that were set up to allow us to do stuff just like this," but he emphasized the move required executive action and is not a long-term solution.

The Microsoft co-founder is scheduled for questioning on June 10, the source said. 

A spokesperson for Gates said he "welcomes the opportunity to appear before the Committee." 

"While he never witnessed or participated in any of Epstein's illegal conduct, he is looking forward to answering all the committee's questions to support their important work," the spokesperson said.

Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the panel's Republican chairman, wrote to Gates on March 3 requesting he appear for the interview. 

"Due to public reporting, documents released by the Department of Justice, and documents obtained by the Committee, the Committee believes you have information that will assist in its investigation," Comer wrote at the time.

Gates, who is one of the world's wealthiest people, apologized in February to the staff of his philanthropic Gates Foundation for his ties to Epstein. He said their relationship lasted from 2011 through 2014. 

In July 2013, Epstein sent himself a pair of emails containing unverified allegations that Gates had extramarital "sex with Russian girls" that resulted in a sexually transmitted infection requiring antibiotic treatment. In one email, Epstein claimed Gates also sought to "surreptitiously give" antibiotics to his then-wife, Melinda Gates.

A spokesperson for Gates told CBS News in January that the "claims are absolutely absurd and completely false. The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epstein's frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame."

The Wall Street Journal reported in February that at the same employee town hall where Gates apologized to staff, he admitted that he "did have affairs, one with a Russian bridge player who met me at bridge events, and one with a Russian nuclear physicist who I met through business activities." 

Later emails and text messages show Epstein sought to rekindle his friendship with Gates, and secure an investment.

Epstein wanted to pitch Gates on a donor-advised fund, a tax-deductible charitable vehicle that Epstein wanted to operate, but it never materialized. 

Text messages from 2017 released by congressional investigators in November show Epstein communicating with an apparent adviser to Gates about the proposal.

The adviser said Gates was interested in the idea, but said Melinda Gates didn't want him to communicate with Epstein. The two divorced in 2021.

"He wants to talk to you but his wife won't let him," the adviser said. In a series of texts a minute later, the adviser said of Gates, "he loves you," "he says hi," and "he feels bad about the [donor advised fund] btw He thought great idea but wife wouldn't allow."

Gates is the latest in a procession of famous and powerful figures to sit for depositions before the Oversight Committee's Epstein investigators. 

Others who have appeared include former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, billionaire Les Wexner and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. 

The committee has also requested interviews with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, former White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler and Doug Band, Bill Clinton's longtime aide. Lutnick is scheduled to appear on May 6.

Speaking at a news conference at the White House, Mr. Trump also said that he believes the Iranians are negotiating "in good faith" amid a renewed diplomatic push to strike a deal that would stop the fighting and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The president has given the Iranians until 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday to reach an agreement on opening the strait before targeting power plants and infrastructure.

Mr. Trump said the effort to locate the downed airmen was "one of the largest, most complex, most harrowing combat searches — I guess you would call it a search and rescue mission — ever attempted by the military."

The American F-15E fighter jet was shot down by Iranian fire on Friday. The plane's pilot was located and rescued that same day, but the second crew member, a weapon systems officer, remained missing in Iran's mountainous terrain. The president announced early Sunday morning that the weapon systems officer had also been rescued.

The operation involved more than 150 planes and more than 200 munitions, CBS News reported earlier Monday. The stranded officer had only a handgun to defend himself.

Joined at the White House by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Mr. Trump said he "ordered the U.S. armed forces to do whatever was necessary to bring our brave warriors back home" soon after the jet was shot down. He revealed that the F-15 was brought down by a "handheld shoulder missile, [a] heat-seeking missile."

The president said it was a "risky decision" to attempt to recover the airmen, since the U.S. could have ended up with "100 dead as opposed to one or two." He later said hundreds of Americans were involved in the operation.

"It's a hard decision to make, but in the United States military, we leave no American behind. We don't do it," he said. 

The president said the pilot of the fighter jet was located in the first wave of search-and-rescue operations and picked up by a U.S. helicopter crew that "faced gunfire at very close range." 

Mr. Trump said the second crew member was injured "quite badly" and stranded in an area "teaming with terrorists," far from the pilot's location. He said the airman followed his training and began climbing toward a higher altitude to evade capture, scaling cliff faces, treating his own wounds and contacting U.S. forces to transmit his location. 

Hegseth said when the airman was able to access his emergency transponder, "his first message was simple and it was powerful — he sent a message, 'God is good.'"

The president said, "In a breathtaking show of skill and precision, lethality and force, America's military descended on the area … engaged the enemy, rescued the stranded officer, destroyed all threats and exited Iranian territory while taking no casualties of any kind."

Mr. Trump said the officer "had evaded capture on the ground in Iran for almost 48 hours. That's a long time when you're in tough shape and when you're bleeding."

The president said the large number of forces involved in the operation was meant, in part, to throw the Iranians off the trail of the officer's trail.

"We wanted to have them think he was in a different location, because they had a vast military force out there. Thousands, thousands of people were looking," he said. "So we wanted them to look in different areas. So we were scattered all over, like we were right on top of them. We had seven different locations where they thought — and they were very confused — they said, 'Well, wait a minute, they've got groups here.'"

Ratcliffe, the CIA chief, called the challenge of the search-and-rescue operation "comparable to hunting for a single grain of sand in the middle of a desert." He said it was also a "race against the clock," making it critical to locate the American aviator as soon as possible. He said for that reason, the CIA launched a "deception campaign to confuse the Iranians who were desperately hunting for our airman."

"On Saturday morning, we achieved our primary objective by finding and providing confirmation that one of America's best and bravest was alive and concealed in a mountain crevice, still invisible to the enemy, but not to the CIA," Ratcliffe said. "That confirmation was relayed by Secretary Hegseth to the president, and the operation quickly moved to the execution phase."

Hegseth said "the United States military will go anywhere at any time to protect our own and complete the mission." He added that "we flew for seven hours in daylight over Iran to get the first pilot, and we flew seven hours in the middle of the night to get the second."

"And Iran did nothing about it," Hegseth said. 

Caine, the Joint Chiefs chairman, said the mission was "incredibly dangerous" and detailed a firefight that preceded the rescue of the downed pilot. He said drones, A-10 jets and other aircraft were "violently suppressing and engaging the enemy in a close-in gunfight to keep them away from the front-seater and allow the pickup force to get into the objective area."

A pilot of one of the A-10s took fire and "continued to fight, continued the mission, and then upon exit, flew his aircraft into another country and determined that the airplane was not landable," Caine said. The A-10 pilot "made the decision to eject over friendly territory, and was quickly and safely recovered," the chairman said.

Caine said the rescue operations showed that "the United States of America will recover our war fighters anywhere in the world, under any conditions, when we want to. We will always bring overwhelming skill and firepower."

What comes next in Iran

On Sunday, the president threatened to destroy Iranian power plants and other civilian infrastructure if a deal isn't reached to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Mr. Trump extended the deadline until Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET, after vowing that "Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran."

The president said Monday at the White House that "the entire country could be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night."

When asked about Tuesday's deadline by CBS News' Weijia Jiang, Mr. Trump said that "we have to have a deal that's acceptable to me, and part of that deal is going to be, we want free traffic of oil and everything else."

"We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o'clock tomorrow night. Where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding and never to be used again — I mean complete demolition — by 12 o'clock, and it will happen over a period of four hours, if we want it to," Mr. Trump said. "We don't want that to happen."

A diplomatic effort is underway to avoid the possible major escalation. The president is considering, among other ideas, a Pakistani proposal for a 45-day ceasefire that would involve the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Asked about the negotiations and a possible pause in the fighting, Mr. Trump said he couldn't comment on the possibility of a ceasefire, but he said "we have an active, willing participant on the other side."

"They would like to be able to make a deal," he said. 

When asked to clarify his mixed messages on how long the war with Iran will continue, Mr. Trump said, "I can't tell you, I don't know."

"It depends what they do. This is a critical period," Mr. Trump said. "They have til tomorrow. Now we'll see what happens. I can tell you, they're negotiating, we think, in good faith."

In addition to wiping away the ruling that left Bannon's conviction in place, the Supreme Court sent his case back to the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., for further proceedings. The court addressed Bannon's appeal in a brief order with no noted dissents.

The Justice Department has asked the district court to dismiss Bannon's criminal case, and the Supreme Court's order clears the way for the government to pursue that dismissal.

Bannon served a four-month prison sentence in 2024 after the Supreme Court denied his bid to remain out of prison while he pursued his appeal of his conviction.

The saga over Bannon's conviction dates back to 2021, after Mr. Trump's first term, when the House Jan. 6 committee issued a subpoena seeking documents and testimony related to Bannon's communications with Mr. Trump about efforts to reverse the outcome of the 2020 election.

Bannon declined to comply with the demand, arguing that a lawyer for the president had indicated that Mr. Trump had invoked executive privilege over the material sought by lawmakers, which prevented Bannon from turning it over.

Bannon served as Mr. Trump's chief strategist in the first months of his first term, but was fired in 2017 and was a private citizen at the time of the 2020 election.

The House voted to find Bannon in contempt of Congress after he rebuffed the subpoena, and he was then indicted on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress. Bannon pleaded not guilty.

During his 2022 trial, Bannon reversed course about his willingness to testify before House investigators in a public hearing and claimed that Mr. Trump waived executive privilege. But he was still convicted on both counts by a jury and sentenced to four months in prison.

Bannon appealed, and in May 2024, a panel of three judges on the U.S. appeals court in Washington, D.C., upheld his criminal conviction.

In filings with the Supreme Court, lawyers for the conservative podcast host called his prosecution "ill-conceived" and "unjust."

Solicitor General D. John Sauer, who represents the government before the high court, separately said in a filing with the justices that dismissal of Bannon's criminal case was in the "interests of justice."

It's been more than two months since Liam was taken into ICE custody in Minnesota, alongside his father, while wearing a blue bunny hat and his school backpack — a moment captured by photos and videos that reignited America's polarizing debate over immigration enforcement. But his parents, in their first in-person interview, said their son remains deeply scarred by his experiences in ICE detention.

Adrián Conejo Arias, Liam's father, said his son now regularly sees a psychologist. 

"As parents, it worries us a lot that he's no longer as he was before and we're worried this could last a long time," Conejo Arias said during an interview in Spanish on Sunday in Minneapolis. "It does worry us that this will not heal quickly."

Liam's mother, Erika Ramos, said he's been exhibiting signs of psychological trauma, including hypervigilance and isolation. 

"My boy is very different," she added.

He's more prone to acting up and behaving badly, she said. In school, Ramos added, Liam, once a playful and happy kid, no longer wants to go to certain classes or play with other children. 

"He sees police officers, and he says, 'It's ICE, Mommy,'" Erika Ramos said.

After spending two weeks at an ICE holding facility in Texas earlier this year, Liam and his father were released after a scathing ruling from a federal judge who said their detention had its "genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children."

But the family remains in legal peril, and is at risk of potentially being detained a second time and ultimately deported.

The federal government has continued to pursue the family's deportation, recently terminating their asylum case and appealing the federal court order that allowed Liam and his father to be released from ICE custody.

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said Liam's family was ordered deported by an immigration judge after receiving "full due process." The department urged parents like Liam's to self-deport alongside their children.

Asked what scares him the most, Liam said, "la inmigración," a term used by Spanish speakers to describe federal immigration agents.

"An injustice"

Images of the Jan. 20 ICE operation that led to Liam and his father being taken into custody made international headlines at a time when the Trump administration was facing intensifying scrutiny over a massive deployment of federal immigration agents in the Minneapolis area.

The administration later scaled back that campaign, called Operation Metro Surge, after the killings of U.S. citizens and Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of ICE and Border Patrol agents triggered bipartisan backlash. 

At the time, ICE said the intended target of the operation that led to Liam's detention was his father, who the agency accused of being in the U.S. illegally. The family said they entered the U.S. in 2024, with the government's permission, under a Biden administration program for asylum-seekers, known as CBP One, that President Trump's administration shut down immediately after he returned to the White House. 

ICE also said Conejo Arias tried to evade arrest and abandoned Liam in the process. During Sunday's interview, Conejo Arias categorically rejected the accusation.

"It's not true what people are saying," he said. Asked directly if he would abandon Liam, Conejo Arias said, "I never did and never would."

ICE also said it tried to get Liam's mother to take him, and that she refused.

Ramos said she did not open the door out of concerns she too would be detained. She said she thought about who would care for her other son, 13-year-old Tadeo, who was still in school at the time. Ramos added she believed ICE was using Liam as "bait" to arrest her.

Liam and his father were ultimately transferred to the Dilley family detention center in Texas, where they were held alongside other families with children. Conejo Arias called the time there "horrible," saying the medical care was inadequate and that the food made Liam and other detainees sick.

"The most difficult thing was I couldn't do anything," Ramos said of the time her husband and son were in ICE custody.

"My desperation was to go and get them out, because I really did not understand why," she said, crying. 

While she's happy her family is back together again in Minnesota, Ramos, who is pregnant with another boy, said their lives have not been the same since her husband and son's detention. She said she longs for some "peace" and the chance for the family to live and work in the U.S. without the specter of deportation.

But Danielle Molliver, the family's lawyer, said they could very well face deportation if the appeal of the asylum case's termination fails. And if the Justice Department's move to suspend the lower court order that led to Liam's release succeeds, the family could be detained by ICE again.

That is Conejo Arias' biggest concern, along with his son's mental health. He said he's still trying to understand why his family was targeted for deportation.

"I think it was an injustice that they did that to us, when in reality we were doing everything right," he said.

The Artemis II mission launched last week, marking the first piloted moonshot since the end of the Apollo program more than five decades ago. On Monday, the operation's four crew members are set to surpass the Apollo 13 record for the farthest distance from Earth that humans have traveled. 

"The primary objective right now for this phase of the mission is continuing to gather data from the ECLS system, the life support system on the Orion spacecraft," Isaacman said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."

The mission is intended as a test flight to lay the groundwork for future efforts to land astronauts on the moon, traveling in a crew capsule known as the Orion. Isaacman noted that "this is the first time we've ever had humans onboard the Orion spacecraft."

"We want to gather as much data as we possibly can for that," he said. "Of course, there's various science experiments, there's lunar observations, but learning as much as we can about Orion is critically important, because Artemis III is a year away."

Isaacman outlined that Artemis III, slated to launch in mid-2027, will test the same spacecraft with lunar landers, followed by Artemis IV in 2028, "where we're going to use this spacecraft, transfer crew to the landers, and put American astronauts back on the surface of the moon."

Humans have not visited the moon since NASA's Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

The Artemis II astronauts are set to make history Monday as the first humans to see some parts of the far side of the moon. Isaacman said, "after a 250,000-mile journey away from Earth to the far side of the moon, it would be pretty hard to keep them away from those windows."

Asked by CBS News' Ed O'Keefe what the astronauts will be looking for, Isaacman said they will have "observational responsibilities," with a series of different cameras and data collection duties. 

"But all of this comes together to inform subsequent missions like Artemis III, but most importantly now Artemis IV, which is where we're going to actually get those astronauts back on the surface," Isaacman said. 

Isaacman is a billionaire entrepreneur and a veteran private astronaut who has strong ties to SpaceX founder Elon Musk. He was the first private citizen to carry out a spacewalk. 

The spacecraft carrying the Artemis II crew is expected to temporarily lose communications with Earth for an estimated period of about 40 minutes Monday as it travels around the far side of the moon. But Isaacman said it's "something we're very used to in space flight mission control." 

"Astronauts are used to that as they go through training," he said. 

For Isaacman, he said he'll be thinking about the life support systems on the vehicle as they travel around the moon. But most importantly, he said, "I'm thinking about the thermal protection systems and when these astronauts are under parachute, safely in the water, so we can get them back to their families."

Early Monday, NASA said Artemis II officially entered the lunar sphere of influence at 12:38 a.m. EDT. The moon, rather than Earth, was the main gravitational force acting on the Orion spacecraft.

"We have rescued the seriously wounded, and really brave, F-15 Crew Member/Officer, from deep inside the mountains of Iran," President Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Sunday, calling him "a highly respected Colonel." 

Mr. Trump said the pilot was rescued "in broad daylight" after U.S. forces spent "seven hours over Iran." He plans to share more about the operation at a news conference on Monday, according to the post.

The president originally confirmed the crew member's rescue in a Truth Social post overnight.

"WE GOT HIM!" he wrote in the post. "My fellow Americans, over the past several hours, the United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History, for one of our incredible Crew Member Officers, who also happens to be a highly respected Colonel, and who I am thrilled to let you know is now SAFE and SOUND!"

Mr. Trump said that the rescued officer had "sustained injuries, but he will be just fine."

Of the rescue operation, the president said that "at my direction, the U.S. Military sent dozens of aircraft, armed with the most lethal weapons in the World, to retrieve him."

U.S. officials had previously told CBS News the jet was carrying a two-person crew when it was downed by Iranian forces Friday. 

Iranian Revolutionary Guards took credit for the strike, alleging the jet was brought down in southwestern Iran Friday morning. Photos of debris that Iranian media said showed the wreckage of the downed U.S. fighter jet appeared consistent with an American F-15, two weapons experts told CBS News.

The pilot of the F-15E had safely ejected and was rescued by two military helicopters, U.S. officials earlier said, but the second crew member, a weapons system officer, had remained missing.

During Friday's recovery efforts, a U.S. chopper carrying the rescued pilot was struck by small arms fire, wounding crew members on board, U.S. officials said, but the helicopter landed safely.

An A-10 Thunderbolt that was part of Friday's search mission took fire and was damaged. The Warthog's pilot ejected over the Persian Gulf and was successfully recovered, U.S. officials said.

Mr. Trump on Friday put some other operations on pause in Iran to prioritize the search and rescue, directing hundreds of special operations forces to the effort, zeroing in on the stranded crew member's beacon.   

A U.S. official and a White House official confirmed to CBS News that U.S. commandos recovered the missing crew member in a complex operation that involved dozens of special forces personnel, and several dozen warplanes and helicopters. The news was first reported by the New York Times.

The rescued officer was flown to Kuwait to receive treatment for his injuries, the two officials said.

The harrowing military operation utilized bombs and weapons fire to keep Iranian troops away from where the missing officer was believed to be hiding, the two officials said. While stranded, he had only a handgun to defend himself, the two officials disclosed. 

Two transport planes tasked with flying out rescue crews were unable to take off from a remote base in Iran. Those planes were demolished to keep them from being captured by the enemy, the officials said, and the commandos flew out on three extra aircraft that were sent in to fetch them. 

The three rescue planes flew out of Iran to Kuwait, each just a short distance behind each other, the officials disclosed. The mission was completed just before midnight, with all U.S. forces out of enemy airspace.   

The CIA was deeply involved in the rescue mission, a senior Trump administration official told CBS News on Sunday.

Before locating the airman, the CIA launched a deception campaign, spreading word inside Iran that U.S. forces had already found him and were moving him on the ground for exfiltration out of the country.

While the deception operation was ongoing, the agency used its capabilities to track the crew member in a mountain crevice, the official said. 

The CIA shared the crew member's exact location with the Pentagon and the White House, the official said. The president ordered an immediate rescue mission, with the CIA continuing to provide real-time information.

The downing of the F-15E fighter jet marks the first time a U.S. fighter jet has been shot down in combat in over 20 years, retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Houston Cantwell, a former F-16 fighter pilot, told The Associated Press. 

At least four U.S. fighter jets have been shot down since the Iran war began on Feb. 28, but three of those were in a friendly-fire incident, the Pentagon said. On March 1, three American F-15s were "mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses," U.S. Central Command said at the time, and there were no casualties from that incident. 

Until Sunday's announcement, Mr. Trump had been mostly silent on the subject of the search, telling The Independent in a phone interview Friday that he couldn't comment on what he might do if the crew member were captured by Iran. 

"Well, I can't comment on it because — we hope that's not going to happen," Mr. Trump said.

In his social media post Sunday, Mr. Trump said the White House's silence was to protect the missing officer, saying the U.S. military "did not confirm" Friday's rescue of the F-15E's pilot "because we did not want to jeopardize our second rescue operation."  

Mr. Trump on Saturday also issued another warning to Iran regarding its control over the Strait of Hormuz, telling the Iranian regime it had 48 hours to reopen the crucial waterway or "all Hell will reign [sic] down on them."

Since the war began, the virtual closure of the strait — which sees about 20% of all global oil traffic — has caused fuel prices to skyrocket worldwide. 

27-year-old Junior Ezeonu is the Democratic State Representative-Elect for the 101st District after defeating veteran Texas House member Chris Turner by a 53% to 47% margin in the Democratic primary on March 3. 

Eye on Politics reporter Jack Fink asked him what the key was to earning more votes than Turner.

 "We worked really hard, ran on issues that were very important to my constituents, issues that really matter to Texas voters, regardless of party, but especially on the Democratic side," said Ezeonu. 

"When we talk about affordability and trying to lower costs for people and just make their lives a little bit better, that's what we focused on. And the voters really resonated with that." 

Jack asked Ezeonu how Jasmine Crockett and James Talario's campaigns in the race for U.S. Senate affected his own.

"It helped and it hurt," said Ezeonu. "Jasmine and James both ran great campaigns, brought out a lot of new people. I was significantly outraised... Mr. Turner was able to, you know, run a lot of ads on television and connect with a lot more people just by visibility... I didn't have the money to really get my name across the board everywhere for people to see me, because for a lot of those new voters, they were focused on voting for Jasmine or James." 

Ezeonu said that his focus on issues that impact Gen Z, millennials and younger Gen Xers are what helped him win. At the top of the list is housing.

"I think for one of them in particular, we can find a lot of bipartisan support. And that's in banning private equity and institutional investors from buying single-family homes," said Ezeonu.

"So a lot of people, regardless of party, Democrat or Republican, are supporting that because young people and just people that are middle-aged are unable to buy single-family homes." 

Ezeonu also said his focus is on public education funding. He doesn't believe that there were enough increases to public education funding in the last legislative session, and doesn't agree with the new school voucher program.

"They called it 'school choice'; I call it 'private school voucher handouts,'" said Ezeonu. "But definitely increasing the public school funding. When we look at the per-pupil allotment, trying to get it up to that $10,000 average. And that's what it is on the national level. The national average for a per-pupil allotment of $10,000 on the state level here in Texas is just under $7,000. So we have to increase that. We also have to find other ways to increase teacher pay." 

Ezeonu faces no Republican in the November election, and he will be sworn in January 2027. 

This week's full episode can be found below:

CBS News exclusively reported earlier this week on the general's ousting, with one source saying Hegseth wants someone in the role who will implement his and President Trump's vision for the Army.

An outgoing email, attributed to George and confirmed as authentic by CBS News on Saturday, circulated online after his ousting. A U.S. official told CBS News that George sent the email to Driscoll, the undersecretary and assistant secretary of the Army, as well as to the three- and four-star generals and officers on his staff.

"It has been the greatest privilege to serve beside you and lead Soldiers in support of our country," he wrote. "I know you'll all continue to stay laser-focused on the mission, continue innovating, and relentlessly cut through the bureaucracy to get our warfighters what they need to win on the modern battlefield."

He added: "Our soldiers are truly the best in the world – they deserve tough training and courageous leaders of character. I have no doubt you will all continue to lead with courage, character, and grit."

George previously served as the senior military assistant to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin from 2021 to 2022, during the Biden administration. He became Army chief of staff, typically a four-year post, in 2023.

Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement that George "will be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately. The Department of War is grateful for General George's decades of service to our nation. We wish him well in his retirement."

The current vice chief of staff of the Army, Gen. Christopher LaNeve, who was formerly Hegseth's military aide, will be acting Army chief of staff. 

Hegseth has fired more than a dozen senior military officers, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. C.Q. Brown, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Slife and the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse. 

The ruling from U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV in Boston granting the preliminary injunction follows a lawsuit filed earlier this month by a coalition of 17 Democratic state attorneys general. It will only apply to public universities in plaintiffs' states. 

The federal judge said the federal government likely has the authority to collect the data, but the demand was rolled out to universities in a "rushed and chaotic" manner.

"The 120-day deadline imposed by the President led directly to the failure of NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) to engage meaningfully with the institutions during the notice-and-comment process to address the multitude of problems presented by the new requirements," Saylor wrote.

President Donald Trump ordered the data collection in August after he raised concerns that colleges and universities were using personal statements and other proxies to consider race, which he views as illegal discrimination.

In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled against the use of affirmative action in admissions but said colleges could still consider how race has shaped students' lives if applicants share that information in their admissions essays.

The states argue the data collection risks invading student privacy, and leads to baseless investigations of colleges and universities. They also argued that universities have not been given enough time to collect the data.

"The data has been sought in such a hasty and irresponsible way that it will create problems for universities," a lawyer for the plaintiffs, Michelle Pascucci, told the court, adding that the effort seem was aimed at uncovering unlawful practices.

The Education Department has defended the effort, arguing taxpayers deserve transparency on how money is spent at institutions that receive federal funding.

The administration's policy echoes settlement agreements the government negotiated with Brown University and Columbia University, restoring their federal research money. The universities agreed to give the government data on the race, grade-point average and standardized test scores of applicants, admitted students and enrolled students. The schools also agreed to be audited by the government and to release admissions statistics to the public.

The National Center for Education Statistics is to collect the new data, including the race and sex of colleges' applicants, admitted students and enrolled students. Education Secretary Linda McMahon has said the data, which was originally due by March 18, must be disaggregated by race and sex and retroactively reported for the past seven years.

If colleges fail to submit timely, complete and accurate data, the administration has said McMahon can take action under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which outlines requirements for colleges receiving federal financial aid for students.

The Trump administration separately has sued Harvard University over similar data, saying it refused to provide admissions records the Justice Department demanded to ensure the school stopped using affirmative action. Harvard has said the university has been responding to the government's requests and is in compliance with the high court ruling against affirmative action. On Monday, the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights directed Harvard to comply with the data requests within 20 days for face referral to the U.S. Justice Department.