Author

Shauneen Miranda

Shauneen Miranda

Shauneen Miranda is a reporter for States Newsroom’s Washington bureau. An alumna of the University of Maryland, she previously covered breaking news for Axios.

Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

Graduating students participate in commencement exercises at City College where First lady Michelle Obama delivered the commencement speech after being presented with an honorary doctorate of humane letters at City College on June 3, 2016 in New York City.

Biden’s newest student loan repayment plan temporarily blocked by Supreme Court

By: - August 29, 2024

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday slashed the Biden administration’s latest efforts to provide student debt relief to millions of borrowers to go forward while the appeals process unfolds. The Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan provided lower monthly loan payments for borrowers and lessened the time it takes to pay off […]

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks at Department of Education headquarters on July 22, 2024.

U.S. education secretary to launch back-to-school bus tour that includes swing states

By: - August 22, 2024

WASHINGTON — U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Thursday he is launching a “2024 Back to School Bus Tour” in early September that will include stops in multiple battleground states across the United States as he and other Biden administration officials highlight their work in investing in public education. While not a campaign event, the […]

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris visits a campaign office in Glendale, Arizona.

With Harris on the ballot, Democrats work to build momentum for bigger youth vote

By: - August 15, 2024

WASHINGTON —  Democratic and left-leaning youth organizing groups have seized on a new opportunity to rally younger voters now that Vice President Kamala Harris is their party’s presidential nominee. Young adult voters — including millions of Gen Zers — could be pivotal in determining the outcome of the race in which the 59-year-old Democrat vies […]

Former U.S. President Donald Trump attends a pre-trial hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court on Feb. 15, 2024, in New York City.

Added delays in store for Trump in 2020 election interference case

By: - August 9, 2024

WASHINGTON — Special counsel Jack Smith was granted more time on Friday before having to give an outline on the next steps his office is taking in the 2020 election interference case against former President Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nominee. The delay pushes the case proceedings further into the thick of the presidential race, […]

Close up of federal financial aid application with $100 bills and an ink pen placed on it

Feds to gradually roll out new student aid application by Dec. 1

By: - August 7, 2024

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Education said Wednesday it will use a phased rollout to launch the 2025-26 form to apply for federal financial student aid, which will make the application fully available two months later than usual. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid — better known as FAFSA — will be available […]

students circulate in a school corridor next to lockers

Much-attacked final Title IX rule goes into effect while still blocked in 26 states

By: - August 1, 2024

WASHINGTON — Though the Biden administration’s final rule for Title IX extending federal protections for LGBTQ students went into effect nationwide Thursday, a slew of legal challenges has temporarily blocked over half of all states from enforcing the updated regulations. After the Department of Education released the final rule in April, 26 states — all […]

Exterior view of a typical American school building seen on a spring day

Appeals court blocks Title IX rule protecting LGBTQ kids, reversing Alabama federal judge

By: - July 31, 2024

Just a day after a federal judge struck down an attempt by Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina to halt enforcement of the Biden administration’s final rule for Title IX, a federal appeals court granted the states’ request for an administrative injunction Wednesday — temporarily blocking the updated regulations from taking effect in those Southern […]

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is rushed offstage during a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Trump shooting ‘a failure on multiple levels,’ acting U.S. Secret Service chief says

By: - July 30, 2024

WASHINGTON — When acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. visited the site of the campaign rally where a gunman attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump, he went up to the roof, lying flat on his stomach, to evaluate the shooter’s line of sight that mid-July day. “What I saw made me ashamed,” Rowe […]

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the American Federation of Teachers’ 88th National Convention on July 25, 2024 in Houston, Texas.

VP Harris tells teachers union she’s ‘fighting for the future,’ blasts Project 2025

By: - July 25, 2024

Vice President Kamala Harris — the likely 2024 Democratic presidential nominee — outlined on Thursday some of her “vision of the future” while touting the administration’s education record in her keynote address to the American Federation of Teachers national convention in Houston. Harris has quickly drawn the support of major unions like the AFT in […]

U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee on July 22, 2024.

Secret Service director faces mounting calls to resign over Trump assassination attempt

By: - July 22, 2024

WASHINGTON — Congressional lawmakers on both sides of the aisle berated U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on Monday over the agency’s failures to prevent the attempted assassination against former President Donald Trump, urging her to resign amid dissatisfaction with her testimony. Nine days since a 20-year-old shooter killed one rallygoer and injured two others […]

What to know about Vice President Kamala Harris, endorsed by Biden as his successor

By: - July 21, 2024

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Sunday endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the new Democratic presidential nominee, passing the torch to the California native who has helmed administration initiatives on reproductive rights and gun control. A former U.S. senator from California who vied for her party’s presidential nomination in the 2020 primaries, Harris, […]

U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff listens during the third hearing by the Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol in the Cannon House Office Building on June 16, 2022, in Washington, D.C.

California Rep. Schiff latest Democrat to call on Biden to drop out

By: and - July 17, 2024

WASHINGTON — The intraparty effort to convince President Joe Biden to end his reelection bid resurfaced Wednesday, when prominent U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff of California became the latest Democratic member of Congress to go public with his concerns. Leading Democrats also set an early August window for a virtual roll call to officially name Biden […]