Spending freeze chaos, state level misinformation, and DOGE Oklahoma
VNN Weekly Digest Month February 3 - February 9
Here’s a look at the week’s top stories:
Confusion among tribal nations and Native organizations after a federal spending freeze is ordered then rescinded
(NATIONAL) On Monday February 3, a Federal Judge issued a restraining order against a memorandum from the White House Office of Management and Budget that ordered a freeze on grants and loans.
The restraining order came after another federal judge put a pause on the memo on January 28th. The OMB rescinded the memo on January 29th, but that didn’t stop concerns and confusion about impacts.
Governor’s office receives backlash for misinforming “meme”
(OKLAHOMA) “It's happening again in Tulsa,” Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt posted on Facebook Friday morning. “The Muscogee Creek Nation is undermining the State and city's authority to enforce our laws. We cannot have two separate justice systems based on race. It won't work.”
It’s a concern Stitt has voiced many times following the McGirt decision in 2020, which affirmed most of Eastern Oklahoma was reservation land, effectively disallowing state prosecution of Native American citizens.
But this time the governor’s concern was accompanied by a digitally altered photo depicting different speed limits for tribal land.
Stitt asks for ‘half and a path’ to eliminate income tax, unveils DOGE
(OKLAHOMA) Gov. Kevin Stitt delivered his State of the State address to lawmakers Monday, vowing to continue a politically conservative agenda that focuses on protecting taxpayers, cutting taxes and bureaucracy, making the state “the best in the nation” for business.
In his address to Oklahoma’s 60th Legislature, Stitt asserted the state recently built the largest savings account in history, passed the largest tax cut in state history and he added “our economy is the strongest it’s ever been.”
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WEATHER ACROSS AMERICA
(NATIONAL) Lake-effect snow downwind from the eastern Great Lakes, temperatures 10 to 25 degrees below average across the North and Northwest, another fast-moving storm with developing wintry mix stretching from the Ozarks through the Southern Mid-Atlantic, and heavy rainfall and localized flash flooding may be possible across the Lower Mississippi and northern Deep South.
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