February 6, 2025 - PBS News Hour full episode

Multiple judges have temporarily blocked efforts by President Trump to dramatically gut the federal government, and more lawsuits are yet to come. Laura Barrón-López reports on the latest.

The first two weeks of the Trump administration have brought dramatic proposals and unprecedented changes to the government. Our new series, On Democracy, is taking a step back to look at big questions about the changing laws, institutions and norms. For our first interview, Amna Nawaz spoke with Barton Gellman, a longtime journalist and senior adviser at the Brennan Center for Justice.

A broad federal funding freeze announced by the Trump administration last week, and blocked by a pair of judges, is destabilizing a wide range of programs despite the court interventions. Some Community Health and Head Start programs have sporadically been blocked from funding, forcing some to shut down. Political correspondent Lisa Desjardins has been investigating what’s happening and reports.

While many Trump nominees have been confirmed at a break-neck speed, FBI director nominee Kash Patel will have to wait. Democrats on the Judiciary Committee forced a delay over objections to Patel’s plans to further purge agents from the FBI who investigated Jan. 6 and President Trump’s handling of classified documents. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri.

Among the many big moves taken by the Trump administration, boosting fossil fuel development has been a priority. In a series of actions, President Trump is following through on his promise not just to ramp up oil and gas production, but to sharply curtail any effort to deal with climate change. William Brangham reports.

As Cuba stands to become even more isolated, many Cubans continue to leave and those who stay remain cut off from family in the United States. Carlos Varela, a singer known as “The Poet of Havana,” has been addressing the pain politics causes. Jeffrey Brown reports from Havana for our series, Art in Action, exploring the intersection of art and democracy and our arts and culture series, CANVAS.