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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rom.

The Trump administration continues its efforts to cut the size and the scope of the federal

workforce.

The Department of Homeland Security announced more cutbacks yesterday. NPR's Ron Elving

reports, these include jobs at its office for civil rights and civil liberties, the offices of

the Ombudsman for Immigration Detention, and the Ombudsman for Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The DHS spokesman told NPR Friday that these offices, quote, obstructed immigration

enforcement by adding bureaucratic hurdles and undermining DHS's mission, unquote. Well, their job was to

provide in-house oversight and restraint on this powerful agency and make sure it stays within the law

and follows its own mandates.

That's what watchdogs do. That's what ombudsmen offices are for.

NPR's Ron Elving. A federal judge in San Antonio has struck down mail ballot ID requirements in Texas,

that they violated the rights of people with disabilities. Since they were

enacted in 2021, many elderly and voters with disabilities reported having their ballots rejected.

Texas Public Radio's Dan Katz reports. Victor Jenison, an attorney with the NAACP's legal

defense fund, says there was no way to know which ID number the state had on file until the ballots were rejected.

Even if they do know which number is in the election system and they put it incorrectly, the election system may not have the number right.

Jenison cited testimony at trial where the Texas Secretary of State conceded that more than 650,000 registration records in their system were

...