Plus: Why Some Nursing Degrees Are No Longer Classified As ‘Professional’

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🚨 ONE IMPORTANT THING

Judge Tosses Indictments Against NY AG Letitia James, Ex-FBI Director James Comey

A federal judge dismissed the indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James Monday, ruling that interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan in Virginia — who prosecuted the cases — was unlawfully appointed to the role.

The Justice Department is expected to appeal the ruling, but it’s a major blow to President Trump’s efforts to prosecute two of his critics.

INSIDE THE RULING
U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie — a President Bill Clinton appointee — ruled that the appointment was illegal because the Attorney General’s power to appoint an interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia had already been exhausted.

Backstory: The AG legally appointed Erik Siebert as interim U.S. Attorney in January 2025 — but that 120-day appointment expired in May. Siebert was then reportedly pushed out early after refusing to pursue the prosecution of Comey. Under the statute, once his term ended, the AG no longer had authority to name another interim replacement.
The AG still installed Halligan in September, a move the judge found violated the Constitution’s Appointments Clause. Currie wrote, “All actions flowing from Ms. Halligan’s defective appointment…constitute unlawful exercises of executive power and must be set aside.”
- Halligan has no prosecutorial experience and previously worked as an insurance attorney in Florida.

The charges: Comey pleaded not guilty to charges that he lied to Congress during a 2020 hearing and obstructed proceedings; while James pleaded not guilty to criminal charges related to alleged mortgage fraud.

WHAT’S NEXT
Comey and James argued that the cases were politically motivated. Comey’s legal team also pushed to have his case thrown out on grounds related to Halligan’s handling of the indictment. A ruling on those arguments is still pending.

The cases were dismissed “without prejudice,” which means they could be re-filed.

Comey responded Monday, saying he expects Trump to “come after me again,” but added that he is innocent, unafraid, and trusts the independence of the federal judiciary.

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🚨 ONE THING YOU’RE ASKING ABOUT

Some Nursing Degrees No Longer Classified In ‘Professional’ Category, As New Loan Caps Introduced

The Department of Education (DOE) is no longer considering several master’s degrees related to nursing as “professional” degrees.

The change is part of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which revamped how much certain students are able to borrow from the federal government to pay for advanced education. The changes cap federal tuition loans for some graduate degrees specifically.

It is expected to take effect July 1, 2026 — causing alarm among some health professionals and associations concerned that the changes will exacerbate the ongoing nursing shortage.

BREAKING DOWN THE HEADLINE
To clarify which graduate students can access larger federal loans, the DOE officially designated certain fields as “professional,” including pharmacy, dentistry, law, veterinary medicine, and theology. Prior, a 1965 federal law simply defined a professional degree as one that requires “skill beyond that normally required for a bachelor’s degree.”

Notably, the DOE’s list excludes graduate programs in nursing and related fields, though medical doctors qualify.

Students in graduate programs that are designated as “professional” are able to borrow up to $50,000 a year or a total of $200,000 under the new guidelines.
Those that are not designated as “professional” can borrow up to $20,500 a year or a total of $100,000.

The change will not impact loans for bachelors degree. Rather, people who pursue graduate degrees related to nursing — which include Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) — will have less access to loans to pay their high tuition. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), about 20% of registered nurses in the U.S. hold a master’s or doctoral degree — which have become higher in demand, in part, because they often result in higher pay.

BIGGER PICTURE
The Trump administration has defended the changes to standardizing loan caps as a way to fight the exponential rise in tuition.

Health groups say the new loan caps could choke off the pipeline of advanced-practice nurses and other essential professions, especially given the ongoing nursing shortage. According to the AACN, access to graduate programs is necessary to help fight the shortage: “Approximately 29,200 new Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRNs), which are prepared in master’s and doctoral programs, will be needed each year through 2032 to meet the rising demand for primary and specialty care.”

⏳ THE SPEED READ

🚨NATION

Trump says he’ll visit Beijing in April and later host Chinese president Xi Jinping (USA TODAY)
Pentagon launches review of ‘serious allegations of misconduct’ against Sen. Mark Kelly (THE HILL)
Wisconsin woman in 2014 Slender Man stabbing is found a day after walking away from group home (AP)
One-third of those arrested by Border Patrol in Charlotte, NC, were classified as criminals, internal document says (CBS)
AP’s First Amendment battle with Trump’s White House continues as ‘Gulf of America’ dispute heads back to court (FOX)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

Trump administration formally designates Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as member of a foreign terrorist organization (CNN)
Zelensky says Russia ‘must pay fully’ for war in Ukraine as U.S. agrees to modify peace Plan (TIME)
50 children escape captors after 300+ Catholic students kidnapped from Nigerian school (MO NEWS)
Australian Senate erupts in anger after far-right lawmaker arrives wearing burqa (NBC)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

Amazon to spend up to $50 billion on AI infrastructure for U.S. government (CNBC)
Semaglutide fails to slow progression of Alzheimer’s in highly anticipated trials, Novo Nordisk says (CNN)
Stores keep prices down in a tough year for turkeys, while other Thanksgiving foods may cost more (AP)
Anthropic unveils new Claude Opus 4.5, its ‘most intelligent’ model (BUSINESS INSIDER)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Wicked: For Good beats box office records previously held by Wicked (THE GUARDIAN)
Jimmy Cliff, reggae legend who sang ‘The Harder They Come,’ dead at 81 (CNN)
Bengals QB Joe Burrow expected to play on Thanksgiving against Ravens (ESPN)
Trump pushes Larry Ellison to revive ‘Rush Hour’ series as Paramount bids for Warner Bros. Discovery (NY POST)

ICYMI FROM THE 📲

In case you missed it… Tatiana Schlossberg, the 35-year-old daughter of Caroline Kennedy and granddaughter of President John F. Kennedy, revealed in a deeply emotional New Yorker essay that she has a rare and aggressive form of acute myeloid leukemia.

She learned of the diagnosis in May 2024 while in the hospital giving birth to her second child.
- “I did not—could not—believe that they were talking about me. I had swum a mile in the pool the day before, nine months pregnant. I wasn’t sick. I didn’t feel sick. I was actually one of the healthiest people I knew,” she writes.
Schlossberg writes about the grief of fighting cancer while caring for her two very young children. She also writes about the weight her illness places on a family that has endured generations of tragedy: her mother, Caroline Kennedy, was five when her father and the president was assassinated; Schlossberg’s great-uncle Robert F. Kennedy was killed five years later; and her uncle John F. Kennedy Jr. died in a 1999 plane crash at age 38.
- “For my whole life, I have tried to be good, to be a good student and a good sister and a good daughter, and to protect my mother and never make her upset or angry. Now I have added a new tragedy to her life, to our family’s life, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it,” Schlossberg writes.
Schlossberg also sharply criticized her second cousin, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who she calls an “embarrassment,” saying cuts to research grants and his attacks on vaccines threaten patients like her.

The entire article is worth a read. The Mo News team is sending our prayers to Schlossberg and her entire family.