By Adam Cancryn, CNN

(CNN) — The Trump administration is withholding more than $250 million in Medicaid funds from Minnesota, claiming widespread fraud as it escalates a pressure campaign on the state’s Democratic leadership.

Vice President JD Vance announced the extraordinary move on Wednesday, blaming Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for failing to adequately police the safety-net program and warning the pause would continue until the state submitted an acceptable plan for targeting its misuse.

“We are stopping the federal payments that will go to the state government until the state government takes its obligations seriously to stop the fraud that’s being perpetrated against the American taxpayer,” Vance said.

The administration’s crackdown comes a day after President Donald Trump vowed during his State of the Union address to take a hard line on fraud, claiming without offering specifics that it has grown rampant across several states.

Vance, who Trump put in charge of a new anti-fraud task force, said Wednesday that Minnesota was the first of several anticipated states that would be targeted as part of the effort. The administration is also putting a nationwide freeze on new companies’ abilities to seek Medicare payments for durable medical equipment, such as canes and walkers, while it investigates suspected fraud in the program.

“Across the board, these crimes are becoming a major source of fraudulent activity,” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz said.

The halt to Medicaid payments for Minnesota represents just the latest effort to pressure the state over the last several months, after conservatives surfaced a widespread social services fraud scheme that caught the attention of Trump and his aides.

The scandal prompted the administration to surge immigration forces into the state, a weekslong offensive that led to the fatal shootings of two US citizens.

Trump officials had previously warned that they were considering deferring payments over fraud concerns, but Wednesday’s announcement marks their first effort to unilaterally halt federal funding that is due to the state’s Medicaid program.

Vance dismissed questions about the administration’s legal authority, saying he was “quite confident” about their ability to withhold the money, but declined to offer details.

The vice president was also vague about the criteria that Walz would need to meet to secure the release of the funding, or how quickly the administration was prepared to resume its payments. Oz indicated that in order to restore funds, Minnesota needs to verify that service providers are indeed tending to people with a genuine need for the programs.

“We need to know that the providers actually are the real providers. Oftentimes, there’s no person that you can associate with the treatment itself,” Oz said, adding states also need to ensure the providers aren’t “already in trouble for doing bad stuff.”

“There’s a whole slew of tools that we can use, including checking before you pay the bill, that the bill is legitimate,” he added. “That prepayment review is incredibly important.”

Oz said they’ve imposed a 60-day deadline on the Walz administration to respond.

Kit Maher contributed to this report.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

The post Trump admin halts Medicaid payments to Minnesota over fraud claims appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

The post Louis XIV, Mussolini, a Bottle of Castor Oil, and Trump appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

Por Uriel Blanco, CNN en Español

Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias el Mencho, fue por mucho tiempo uno de los capos del narcotráfico más buscados por México y Estados Unidos, y el líder del poderoso Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). Sin embargo, un operativo militar del Gobierno de mexicano para capturarlo terminó en su muerte el domingo. Tras mantenerse en las sombras durante años para eludir a la justicia, el Mencho fue ubicado al seguir la pista de una “pareja sentimental”, según las autoridades.

Si bien el encuentro del Mencho con esta persona terminó por delatar su ubicación, las mujeres en su círculo cercano revelan no solo poder dentro del CJNG, sino también la evolución de su rol en las estructuras del narcotráfico, según expertas en seguridad y género.

Tras la caída del Mencho, aún no queda claro quién será la persona que lo sucederá en el liderazgo del CJNG.

David Saucedo, analista mexicano que es experto en seguridad pública, considera que el liderazgo del cartel entrará en un periodo de “guerra sucesoria”, un escenario parecido al que vivió el Cartel de Sinaloa tras el vacío de poder por la captura de Ismael “Mayo” Zambada en 2024 ante la falta de un sucesor claro.

“En el caso del CJNG, se prevé un escenario similar, es decir, que los comandantes entren en una guerra sucesoria para definir quién se va a quedar con el control de esta organización”, dijo Saucedo a CNN, y agregó que también es posible que los cabecillas del cartel lleguen a un acuerdo para nombrar a un nuevo líder.

El sitio web especializado Insight Crime coincide con el primer escenario expuesto por Saucedo y dice que es “altamente probable” que ocurra una fragmentación dentro del CJNG en la batalla por el liderazgo.

Pese a este pronóstico, Insight Crime señala que hay varios posibles candidatos para ser el nuevo líder del grupo criminal, todos ellos hombres, entre los que se encuentran:

• Juan Carlos Valencia González, alias el 03, hijastro del Mencho e hijo de Rosalinda González Valencia, esposa de Oseguera Cervantes.
• Audias Flores Silva, alias el Jardinero, presunto mediador en la alianza entre el CJNG y Los Chapitos para hacerle frente a Los Mayos, la facción rival del Cartel de Sinaloa.
• Ricardo Ruíz Velasco, alias Doble R, señalado como un alto líder de uno de los brazos armados de élite del CJNG en Jalisco.
• Heraclio Guerrero Martínez, alias Tío Lako, quien supuestamente administra gran parte de las actividades de robo de combustible del cartel.

Históricamente en México, las mujeres en el narcotráfico han tenido un rol de “parejas de los hombres como principales actores”, invisibilizando su participación en las estructuras criminales, explican Daira Arana Aguilar, doctora en Política Pública e investigadora del Instituto de Investigaciones de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), y Luz Celina Camarena Romero, maestra en Relaciones Internacionales, Seguridad y Defensa y docente del Colegio de Defensa Nacional, en un artículo de investigación publicado en 2024.

Sin embargo, ambas expertas documentaron que en los últimos años el papel de las mujeres ha evolucionado al punto de que ya participan activamente en diversas tareas del narcotráfico.

Aunque los principales perfiles para suceder al fallecido líder del CJNG son hombres, en su círculo cercano hay mujeres que ostentan gran poder, entre ellas Rosalinda González Valencia

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. - Warm weather continues Thursday in the high 70s and low 80s.

Friday we could tie or break daily records as it will be the warmest day of this week.

Winds turn onshore Saturday bringing some cooling to coastal areas but it will be a warm weekend for all areas.

A low pressure system will move south through California on Sunday, March 1st and bring further cooling and more clouds to the region.

Some areas dip into the high 60s on Monday which is closer to normal.

We will rewarm into the 70s on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.

The post Toasty Thursday, record heat possible Friday appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

By Jeanne Sahadi, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump in his State of the Union address Tuesday briefly mentioned his intention to help private-sector workers save for retirement if they don’t have access to an employer-sponsored plan.

“Half of all of working Americans still do not have access to a retirement plan with matching contributions from an employer. To remedy this gross disparity, I’m announcing that next year, my administration will give these oft-forgotten American workers … access to the same type of retirement plan offered to every federal worker. We will match your contribution with up to $1,000 each year,” Trump said.

A White House official said in an email to CNN Wednesday that new details on that proposal will be offered “soon.”

Until then, here is what to know:

A welcome, if not new, idea

The good news is that the Trump administration wants to help close the so-called “retirement coverage gap,” which has left behind tens of millions of low- and moderate-income earners who have neither a defined-benefit employer pension nor an easy, subsidized way to save for retirement at work.

There have been efforts for years to close that gap among lawmakers and retirement policy experts. But exactly how has been a sticking point. Many an idea has come and gone – only to later get resurrected. And, in instances when an idea actually gets implemented – such as the state-based auto IRAs now offered by 17 states – it has been limited in its reach because of various political objections.

The White House official said that Trump’s proposal “can largely be implemented with existing administrative authorities.” Translation: without Congress. That said, the official added that “future legislation can bolster this game-changing plan.”

The matching contribution Trump offers already exists

Before getting to the complexities of any new savings structure that may be created, the White House confirmed that the match Trump mentioned is the Saver’s Match, which was passed in 2022 and goes into effect next year.

Low- and moderate-income workers who make less than $35,500 (or $71,000 as a married couple) are eligible if they save up to $2,000 a year ($4,000 for couples) in a qualified retirement plan – like a 401(k), IRA or auto IRA. The federal match is worth up to $1,000 ($2,000 for couples).

What a new plan might look like

The president said private sector workers will have “access to the same type of retirement plan offered to every federal worker.”

The White House official added that the administration’s new plan would be a “universal, portable” account that would offer “diversified, index‑based, investment options and portfolio choices” with low fees.

Federal workers currently have a 401(k)-style plan known as the Thrift Savings Plan, with a diverse mix of very low-cost funds.

When he was a senator, Secretary of State Marco Rubio proposed a plan to grant non-federal workers access to the TSP. “But it didn’t go anywhere. And it was unclear how it would work,” said Kim Olson, senior officer for retirement planning at the Pew Charitable Trusts. Plus, there was private sector pushback.

Meanwhile, Kevin Hassett, prior to becoming Trump’s National Economic Council director, supported a bill called the Read more