By Erin Bamer | Reporter
Nebraska was the first state to implement new federally mandated work requirements for Medicaid recipients in May. This week, the federal government shared a first look at the rules all states must follow by Jan. 1.
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen in December announced that Nebraska would be the first state in the country to start implementing new federal work requirements for Medicaid health insurance recipients. The launch is Friday, May 1. Pillen appeared with a virtual Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Juan Salinas II/Nebraska Examiner)
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
By Zach Wendling
LINCOLN — Nebraska became the first state to implement new federally mandated work requirements for Medicaid recipients in May, and the federal government this week released a first look at what all states would need to follow by Jan. 1.
Denise Powell is interviewed by a reporter in Omaha on April 11, 2026. (Juan Salinas II/Nebraska Examiner)
ICYMI
Denise Powell’s NE-02 race against Brinker Harding joins DCCC’s ‘Red-to-Blue’ program for House Dems
By Juan Salinas II
OMAHA — Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District Democratic nominee Denise Powell is, like many of the swing district’s candidates before her, part of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s “Red to Blue” program.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., joined by President Donald Trump, delivers an announcement on “significant medical and scientific findings for America’s children” in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Sept. 22, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Federal health officials suggested a link between the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy as a risk for autism, although many health agencies have noted inconclusive results in the research. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
By Amanda Seitz, KFF Health News and Darius Tahir, KFF Health News
U.S. health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is pursuing federal government access to most Americans’ medical records, in a quest to research a link between vaccines and autism — a connection the medical establishment studied for decades and flatly rejects.
The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., amid fog on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
D.C. BUREAU
By Jennifer Shutt and Ariana Figueroa
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans fended off an attempt Thursday to block the Department of Justice from using an “anti-weaponization” fund to pay people who feel they were wrongly prosecuted, as well as another proposal that sought to require congressional authorization for a new White House ballroom.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the department on a permanent basis, walks by reporters at the U.S. Capitol on May 21, 2026. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
D.C. BUREAU
By Ashley Murray
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will nominate acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, his former personal lawyer, to fill the top role at the Department of Justice on a permanent basis, he said Wednesday night.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
GOP-leaning petitions seek to change Lincoln elections | Zach Wendling
Passengers facing hantavirus risk head home | By Aaron Sanderford
Why did GOP voters pick Petersen over Evnen? | By Juan Salinas II
COMMENTARY
OPINION: Good on those calling bad ideas bad | By George Ayoub
EDITOR'S CHOICE
Nebraska Dems ask DOJ to investigate Brinker Harding | By Juan Salinas II
Pancreatic cancer director sues NU, UNMC | By Erin Bamer
U.S. Rep. Mike Flood is still doing town halls. Why? | By Juan Salinas II
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