U.S. Vice President JD Vances team posted and then deleted a message on social media about the Republicans visit to a memorial paying tribute to early 20th century Armenians killed by the Ottoman Empire.

The issue was the post using the term 'Armenian genocide,' a designation the U.S. government historically has not used for what happened, with a notable exception by the Biden administration. The White House blamed a staff mistake.

Here are some questions and answers about what that means, what Vance himself did and didnt say, and why it matters.

What did Vance go see in Armenia?

Vance visited a site called the Armenian Genocide Memorial, Armenias official national monument, remembering its citizens who died under the Ottoman Empires brutal control during World War I.

The initial post on Vances official X account stated that he was visiting the memorial 'to honor the victims of the Armenian genocide.' It was replaced with a second post that showed what he wrote in the guest book as well as a clip of the vice president and Usha Vance laying flowers at the memorial.

Vance, the first U.S. vice president to visit Armenia, was in the country as part of the Trump administrations follow-up to a U.S.-brokered deal aimed at ending a decades-long conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, where Vance traveled later Tuesday.

Why does the word choice matter?

'Genocide' is a fraught and legally distinct term that national governments, international bodies and media organizations use carefully.

The United Nations in 1948 defined genocide 'to mean certain acts, enumerated in Article II, committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such,' according to the U.S. State Departments long-held understanding.

It is not questioned that many thousands of Armenian citizens, most of them Christians, died at the direction of the Committee of Union and Progress that led the Muslim government in Constantinople, now the Turkish capital of Istanbul.

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum estimates that 'at least 664,000 and possibly as many as 1.2 million' died.

But the U.S. government has historically not recognized what happened as a 'genocide' out of fear of alienating Turkey, a key U.S. ally in the region. In 2021, then-President Joe Biden formally recognized that the systematic killings and deportations of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces were a part of a 'genocide.'

Turkey reacted with fury at the time. The foreign minister said his country 'will not be given lessons on our history from anyone.'

People of Armenian descent recall the victims with memorials and an annual day of remembrance observed around the world, including in the U.S.

What did Vance himself say?

Vance was asked specifically on Tuesday about his visit to the memorial and whether he was 'recognizing' genocide.

He avoided using the word and said he went to 'pay my respects' at the invitation of his host, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and his government.

'They said this is a very important site for us, and obviously Im the first (U.S.) vice president to ever visit Armenia,' Vance said. 'They asked us to visit the site. Obviously, its a very terrible thing that happened a little over a hundred years ago and something thats very, very important to them culturally.'

Vance added that it was 'a sign of respect, both for the victims but also for the Armenian government thats been a very important partner for us in the region.'

What did the White House say?

The White House blamed the original post on a staff member. Its the second time in less than a week that the West Wing has blamed an unnamed aide for a controversy over a social media post. Last Friday, it was a racist video that Trump had shared on his Truth Social account that depicted former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama as jungle primates.

The White House defended that post initially before deleting it after a cascade of criticism.

What happens next?

Its not yet clear whether there will be any diplomatic consequences. Vance, for his part, seemed determined to keep the focus on the original mission of his trip.

'I think the president struck a great peace deal. I think the administration is really making it stick,' Vance said.

Still, there is the political question of whether Armenian Americans react, with the rhetorical boomerang offering one more reminder of how reluctant the U.S. has been to use the word 'genocide' to describe what Armenians remember that way.

White House reporter Michelle Price contributed reporting from Baku, Azerbaijan.

In the fall of 2023, the California Legislature tasked the states fire safety regulators with writing a report that some housing affordability advocates say could make it easier to build bigger, airier and better lit apartment buildings in Californias housing-strapped cities.

The Office of the State Fire Marshal was given until Jan. 1, 2026, to come up with a report on single-stair apartment buildings ' a type of mid-sized multifamily development legal in much of the world, but effectively banned across most of North America.

More than a month later, single-stair advocates are still waiting on that report ' though a draft version obtained by CalMatters hints that the office may be considering a modest change to the state building code.

'They were given a deadline,' said Stephen Smith, founder of the Center for Building in North America, which advocates for cost-reducing changes to building regulations.

That safety-minded code is meant to provide residents with multiple escape routes in the event of a fire. But it has also become a focal point of criticism among a growing number of housing advocates, architects and urbanists, who say it raises the costs of multifamily construction, limits where apartments can be built, pushes developers toward darkened studios and away from family-sized apartments and provides limited health and safety benefits.

'I know theres been a real desire among politicians in California to change the states image as a slow moving state, but in this case I dont see it,' said Smith, who was also a member of the working group of fire service professionals, building code experts and housing advocates tasked with writing the first draft of the report for the state Fire Marshal. The groups last meeting was on November 4.

'This report is still under review and we will publish the report as soon as it is approved for publication,' said Wes Maxey, CAL FIREs assistant deputy director of legislation, in an email. He would not say when the report is expected to be released or what the hold up is all about.

The state legislature regularly assigns research reports of this kind to various corners of the state bureaucracy ' and, as CalMatters has reported before, the state bureaucracy regularly blows past its assigned deadlines.

But the single-stair analysis has garnered considerable interest outside of Sacramento.

Current rules in California (with the one, recent exception of Culver City) require apartment buildings higher than three stories to have at least two staircases connected by a hallway.

The Legislature was clearly interested in raising that height limit when it ordered the report in the first place.

'Many European countries allow buildings with single staircases and have better records on fire safety than the United States,' said Assemblymember Alex Lee, a Milpitas Democrat, urging a 'yes' vote on his bill in the summer of 2023. 'I believe having the Fire Marshal conduct the study will start the conversation about leveraging existing fire and emergency response technologies and strategies to maximize housing projects.'

Local fire marshals, fire chiefs and fire fighting unions have, by and large, opposed easing staircase requirements in the building code wherever theyve been proposed.

The final report is likely to disappoint either those organized fire services, a politically powerful constituency, or 'Yes In My Backyard' advocates that have found an ally in Gov. Gavin Newsom.

A draft version of the report circulated among stakeholders in late October included a half-hearted endorsement of a change to the state building code. If the State Fire Marshal recommends new policy, the draft reads, the change should only be from a three-story maximum up to four. Any new four story single-stair structures should also be restricted in size and abide by a number of other added safety-oriented restrictions, the report added.

Culver City, west of downtown Los Angeles, passed a single-stair ordinance last year to nix the second-stair requirement in certain apartment buildings up to six stories. Six stories is also the cut-off in the four other jurisdictions that go above three: New York City, Seattle, Honolulu and Portland, Oregon.

The draft report, which is not final, also went out of its way to emphasize 'the near unanimous feedback from California Fire Departments who are opposed to permitting single-exit stairway construction … greater than 3 stories.'

Whenever it is finalized and published, the report wont have the force of law. But should state legislators opt to take up the issue in the future, its final recommendations are likely to carry weight with undecided lawmakers.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) ' The nations largest public utility says it now would prefer to keep operating two coal-fired power plants it had planned to shutter, changing course before a meeting of its board, which has a majority of members picked by the coal-friendly Trump administration.

In new filings, the Tennessee Valley Authoritys signaled that it wants to ditch closure dates for the Kingston Fossil Plant and Cumberland Fossil Plant in Tennessee, which would require further action from its board. The new plan would still include introducing natural gas-fired plants at both locations.

TVA had intended to shutter its remaining, aging coal plants by 2035 in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that spur climate change. But the utility, which partners with local power companies to serve roughly 10 million people in seven states, said it is rethinking the coal plant closures because of regulatory changes and increasing demand for electricity.

'As power demand grows, TVA is looking at every option to bolster our generating fleet to continue providing affordable, reliable electricity to our 10 million customers, create jobs and help communities thrive,' TVA spokesperson Scott Brooks said in a statement Tuesday.

But several clean energy groups said extending the coal plants would raise serious questions about TVAs decision-making process, since the utility has said more natural gas plants were needed to retire polluting coal plants.

'Without even a public meeting, TVA is telling the people who live near these coal plants that they will breathe in toxic pollution from not one, but two major power plants for the foreseeable future,' Gabi Lichtenstein, Tennessee Program Coordinator for Appalachian Voices, said in a news release. 'This decision is salt in the wound after ignoring widespread calls for cleaner, cheaper replacements for the Kingston and Cumberland coal plants.'

President Donald Trump fired enough TVA board members picked by his predecessor to leave the utility without a quorum. Without one, the board could only take actions needed for ongoing operations, not to jump into new areas of activity, start new programs or change the utilitys existing direction.

Trump then signed executive orders aimed at helping the coal industry. Last May, TVAs president and CEO, Don Moul, told investors that the utility would reevaluate the lifespan of its coal plants, saying officials were evaluating Trumps executive orders.

The U.S. Senate confirmed four Trump board nominees in December. With the quorum restored, TVAs board is scheduled to meet Wednesday in Kentucky.

TVA had already faced advocates criticisms for planning to open more natural gas plants as the utility was winding down its fleet of coal plants, instead of more quickly moving away from fossil fuels and into solar and other renewables.

TVAs goal for years has been an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2035 over 2005 levels, and net-zero emissions by 2050, with a heavy emphasis on nuclear power and hopes for next-generation reactors. Biden had gone further, calling for a carbon-pollution-free energy sector by 2035.

Clean energy groups have noted that the rapid building of data centers that support artificial intelligence is partly to blame for growing power demand. In an investors call last week, TVA President and CEO Don Moul said data center demand grew to 18% of its industrial load in 2025, and by 2030, the utility expects it to double across the service region. Moul said the fairness of new data center pay rates is a priority for TVA.

Under a 2024 final decision, TVA planned for a 1,500-megawatt natural gas facility with 4 megawatts of solar and 100 megawatts of battery storage at the Kingston Fossil Plant, a 2,470-megawatt coal plant finished in 1955, and the site of a massive 2008 coal ash spill. The coal plant was slated to close and the gas plant to come online by the end of 2027.

The new proposal would keep the coal, gas and battery, but drop the solar.

In a 2023 decision, TVA planned to mothball its two-unit Cumberland coal plant in two stages ' one, by the end of 2026, to be replaced this year by the 1,450-megawatt natural gas plant; and the second, shuttered by the end of 2028, with options open on its replacement. The 2,470-megawatt Cumberland coal plant, completed in 1973, is the largest generating asset in TVAs fleet.

Trump tussled with TVA during his first term, including when he opposed a coal plant closure. Ultimately, in 2019 the board still voted to close the Paradise Fossil Plant in Kentucky. Its last towers were demolished in 2024.

In 2020, Trump fired the former TVA board chairman and another board member and drove TVA to reverse course on hiring foreign labor for information technology jobs. He also criticized the pay scale for the CEO at the time, which was $7.3 million for the 2020 budget year and topped $10.5 million for 2024. TVA stressed that it doesnt receive federal taxpayer money and instead is funded by electricity customers, and that the CEO pay fell in the bottom quartile of the power industry.

WASHINGTON (AP) ' Republican lawmakers decried Tuesday what they said were invasive tactics in the investigation of President Donald Trumps efforts to overturn the 2020 election, pressing representatives from leading telecommunications companies about their role in providing prosecutors with phone records of certain sitting members of Congress.

'I think what youve done here is outrageous. And I think the implications for the privacy of the American people are absolutely appalling,' said Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, who was among the Republicans in Congress whose records were accessed by prosecutors as they examined contacts between the president and allies on Capitol Hill.

Lawyers for the companies defended their actions at a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing, stressing they had followed the law by turning over records under a subpoena even as they also acknowledged that more could be done to respect lawmakers expectations of privacy.

'We were compelled to provide this information under the law, and we complied. No matter who is the target of a subpoena Verizon cannot ignore a valid legal demand or a court order,' said Chris Miller, the senior vice president and general counsel of Verizons consumer group. 'But our processes could have been better suited to meet what was a new and unique set of circumstances for us, and for other companies.'

Fallout from the subpoenas

The hearing afforded Republican lawmakers their first opportunity to confront phone company representatives over the revelation that special counsel Jack Smiths team obtained the records of Republican lawmakers whom Trump was imploring on Jan. 6, 2021 to halt the congressional certification of his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. The records showed when the calls were placed and how long they lasted but did not capture the content of the conversations.

All told, subpoenas were issued for phone records of 20 current or former Republican members of Congress, said Sen. Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Democrats called the Republican outrage misplaced in light of the violence of Jan. 6, when pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol, and noted that the tactic used by Smith was standard in criminal investigations and was understandable in this instance given Trumps efforts to reach lawmakers.

'Let me start by rejecting the notion that the Department of Justices investigation into the attack on the Capitol was worse than the attack on the Capitol,' said Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.

That point was echoed by Mike Romano, a former Justice Department prosecutor who helped oversee prosecutions of Capitol rioters.

'When I first first learned of this hearing, I was surprised. I was surprised because from my perspective as a long-serving federal prosecutor, there is nothing remotely scandalous or controversial about the collection of toll records,' Romano said.

He added: 'I understand that some of you had your records collected and are unhappy about that, and thats understandable. Nobody enjoys having the government collect their information. But apart from that, Im happy to say you were not harmed.'

Companies defend their actions

Lawyers for the telecommunications companies stressed that the Smith subpoenas were treated like the hundreds of thousands of similar demands they receive from law enforcement each year. They also noted that the subpoenas from Smiths team offered limited information and context.

Miller, the Verizon representative, testified that the subpoenas his company received 'did not include any names or any other information identifying these numbers as belonging' to members of Congress and that a non-disclosure order from a judge barred the company from alerting the targeted lawmakers.

A representative for T-Mobile similarly said none of the subpoenas the company fielded sought records from Senate business lines.

Two subpoenas in January 2023 to AT&T sought records about a personal account, listed only a phone number and gave no indication that the requested information involved members of Congress, said David McAtee, a senior executive vice president and general counsel. The records were provided.

In a separate instance, the companys legal team responded to a subpoena from prosecutors by demanding information from Smiths team about how a legal protection afformed to lawmakers, known as the Constitutions 'speech or debate' clause, might apply, McAtee said.

'The special counsels office never responded to that email ' at least not substantively ' and ultimately the office abandoned the subpoena and no records were produced,' he said.

He said the company was working on a process that it would allow it to identify all phone numbers associated with a given member of Congress and not just the official numbers.

And Miller said Verizon was instituting a series of changes, including ensuring that senior company of leadership is notified before information on members of Congress is disclosed. The company will also notify a lawmaker, when possible, that their information is being sought ' and will challenge any non-disclosure order that prevents them doing so, Miller said.

One of Californias larger public employee unions is pushing legislation to make remote work a permanent option for state workers as the clock ticks down on Gov. Gavin Newsoms July 1 mandate for most employees to be in the office four days a week.

The measure, authored by Assemblymember Alex Lee, a Milpitas Democrat, would require state agencies to offer work-from-home options 'to the fullest extent possible' and provide written justifications when they require employees to work in person, according to a press release from the Professional Engineers in California Government. The union represents more than 15,000 state engineers who mostly work for Caltrans and in environmental agencies.

The bill would also require the state to establish a dashboard to document the annual savings as a result of remote work. The Department of General Services, which manages contracts and real estate for the state government, published that information until ending the practice in 2024.

'The intent is absolutely to establish a state policy that flexible telework can and should be provided to state employees, because it serves state government, it serves taxpayers, and it certainly serves state employees,' said Ted Toppin, executive director of the union.

State agencies widely adopted remote work policies that allowed state employees to save on transportation costs and live where they preferred during the COVID-19 pandemic. As of 2024, half of the state workers were eligible for remote work, and 74% of those workers preferred telework, according to the Department of General Services estimate at the time.

But that year, Newsom angered thousands of state employees by calling them back to office at least two days a week. He signed a more extensive mandate last year requiring most state workers in office at least four days a week, but delayed the implementation for most until this July ' the result of bargaining with several unions including the engineers union.

State agencies, however, were ill-equipped to accommodate the order. Many lacked thousands of workstations ahead of Newsoms mandate, according to a recent report in The Sacramento Bee. And remote work is a money saver: Allowing state workers to work from home at least three days a week could save the state $225 million a year, according to a state auditors report released last year.

'These cost savings and environmental benefits directly benefit the public,' Lee said in a statement to CalMatters, arguing that the measure would also ensure transparency on state agencies telework policies.

The goal of the bill is not to nullify Newsoms order, Toppin said. Rather, its to remind policymakers of the benefits telework can bring, he said.

'Saving money, protecting the environment, cutting traffic, recruiting and training staff. Those are shared goals of all Californians,' Toppin said.

The engineers union has a reputation for wins at the bargaining table, including gaining seniority perks that boosted pay for longtime employees. Records maintained by CalMatters Digital Democracy database show it gave $3.5 million to state lawmakers between 2015 and 2024. The highest spending came in 2016 when the union gave $422,000 to lawmakers as they debated what became a gas tax increase that locked in funding for transportation projects, and in 2024 when the union contributed $497,000 to legislators.

The give-and-take over bringing state workers into the office is playing out as public agencies take different approaches to remote work since the pandemic. Some state agencies already require employees to work in the office at least three days a week and the Legislature for the most part mandates that staff be in the Capitol.

Separately,  Newsom last year signed a law that extended telework options for local officials, researchers and members of neighborhood councils and advisory groups.

ATLANTA (AP) ' The FBI obtained a search warrant to seize hundreds of boxes of ballots from election offices in Fulton County, Georgia, as part of a criminal investigation into possible 'deficiencies or defects' in the vote count in the 2020 contest lost by President Donald Trump, according to an affidavit unsealed Tuesday.

The affidavit provides the first public justification for an FBI search last month that targeted a county that Trump and allies have long seen as central to their false claim that the 2020 election was stolen.

But the allegations outlined in the affidavit are largely based on claims that have long been made by people who assert that there was fraud in the 2020 election. Audits, state officials, courts and Trumps own former attorney general have rejected the idea that there was widespread fraud in the 2020 election that could have altered the outcome.

Among the 'deficiencies or defects' investigators are looking at is Fulton Countys admission that it does not have scanned images of all the ballots counted during the original count or the recount, according to the affidavit. Fulton County has also confirmed that some ballots were scanned multiple times during the recount, the affidavit says.

'If these deficiencies were the result of intentional action, it would be a violation of federal law regardless of whether the failure to retain records or the deprivation of a fair tabulation of a vote was outcome determinative for any particular election or race,' the document says.

The affidavit says seizures of the election records was necessary to determine whether election records were destroyed and or the tabulation of votes included materially false votes.' It cites potential violations of a law regarding the preservation and retention of election records, a misdemeanor. It also cites a law that makes it a crime to 'knowingly and willfully' deprive residents of a 'fair and impartially conducted election process,' which is a felony.

This time of year they are painted with flowers and Mr. Rex, the recognizable T-Rex’s message reads “Let Love Bloom,” as Valentines Day, Feb. 14, draws near.

“I think it’s really neat that they paint them,” said Phoenix resident Caryn Smith on Friday, Feb. 6. She and her husband Billy Smith were visiting the site for the first time.

The iconic roadside attraction, known by all who travel the 10 Freeway corridor through Riverside County, has been featured in movies including 'Pee-wees Big Adventure' and “The Wizard.”

Mr. Rex and Dinny, two of the most recognized, along with more than 100 others are around the property, according to the Cabazon Dinosaurs Park website.

Erin and Jason Pagano, and their three daughters, Presley, 8, Navy, 5, and Delaney, 2, on Friday, were making their annual trek to Rancho Mirage for a Super Bowl weekend golf tournament, where Jason would play.

“We have stopped here every year on this trip,” Erin Pagano said. “This is a favorite spot.”

As Erin shared details about their trip to the desert from their Huntington Beach home, their young daughters could be heard talking about a hat that flew off.

“One time it was very, very windy and my hat flew off in the air,” Erin said, recounting a past stop at the Cabazon Dinosaurs Park. “I don’t think they will ever forget that.”

The site is nostalgic for Jason Pagano.

“I remember stopping here every year as a kid,” he said. Coming “now and bringing our own kids,” is a full circle moment for the family.

“The girls love to see it,” Jason said, “and we love to see it painted with all the flowers.”

In the past, theyve been transformed into pumpkins, Santa Claus, superheroes and have 'dressed up' for Valentines Day. They have even been painted in a tribute to the late Paul Reubens, for his Pee-wee Herman character.

The Cabazon Dinosaurs Park, 50770 Seminole Drive, is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends. Cost is $15 for ages 13-55, $13 for ages 13-12 and $11 for older adults and military.

For information: 909-272-8164 or cabazondinosaurs.com

WASHINGTON (AP) ' The White House says President Donald Trump has the right to amend a permit for a new bridge between Canada and Michigan, prolonging the latest dispute between the U.S. and its northern neighbor hours after its prime minister signaled there could be a detente.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge, which would connect Ontario and Michigan, would be a vital economic artery between the two countries and is scheduled to open in early 2026. But Trump has now threatened to block the bridge from being opened, calling for Canada to agree to a litany of unspecified demands as the two nations prepare to renegotiate a sprawling trade pact later this year.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said earlier Tuesday that he spoke with Trump and expressed confidence that the spat would be resolved. But a White House official later Tuesday said the ownership structure of the bridge remains unacceptable for the U.S. president.

Canada paid for the bridge, named after a Canadian-born Detroit Red Wings hockey star. Construction has been underway since 2018.

The official said that all international infrastructure projects require a presidential permit, and that Trump would be within his right to amend that permit. The person was granted anonymity because they did not have permission to speak publicly.

'The fact that Canada will control what crosses the Gordie Howe Bridge and owns the land on both sides is unacceptable to the president,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday. 'Its also unacceptable that more of this bridge isnt being built with more American-made materials.'

The new fight over the bridge is the latest volley in an increasingly sour relationship between the United States and Canada, particularly over trade policy. Trump has also mused publicly about acquiring Canada as the 51st U.S. state, much to the dismay of Canadians.

Following his conversation with Trump, Carney said 'this is going to be resolved' and noted that he told the U.S. president that the Canadian and Michigan governments shared ownership of the bridge. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmers office has also emphasized that the bridge will be operated under a joint ownership agreement between the state and Canada, even though the Canadian government paid for it.

Carney also added that U.S. steel was used in the project, which also employed U.S. workers. According to Carney, Trump told him hell ask the U.S. ambassador to Canada, former Michigan Rep. Pete Hoekstra, to 'play a role in smoothing the conversation in and around the bridge.'

Hoekstra did not return an immediate request for comment.

'I look forward to it opening and what is particularly important is the commerce and the tourism of Canadians and Americans that go across that bridge,' Carney said.

The project was negotiated by former Michigan Republican Gov. Rick Snyder and paid for by the Canadian government to help ease congestion over the existing Ambassador Bridge and Detroit-Windsor tunnel.

Snyder wrote in an op-ed in The Detroit News on Tuesday that Trump was wrong in asserting that Canada owns both the U.S.- and Canadian sides of the Gordie Howe bridge.

'Canada and the state of Michigan are 50/50 owners of the new bridge,' Snyder wrote. 'Canada was wonderful and financed the entire bridge. They will get repaid with interest from the tolls. Michigan and the United States got their half-ownership with no investment.'

The former governor also emphasized that parts of the bridge construction were exempt from 'Buy America' requirements for its steel because half of the project was outside the U.S. and subsequently, U.S. law should not apply to them.

'President Trump, I would encourage you to challenge your advisers and the sources for your post to correct the information they have provided,' Snyder wrote in the op-ed. He acknowledged some trade issues with Canada, but 'picking this bridge as the leverage point doesnt seem to make the most sense given your other tools.'

Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti in Washington and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON (AP) ' Parents who owe a significant amount of child support soon could lose their ability to travel internationally as the Trump administration expands and steps up enforcement of a 30-year-old law that allows the federal government to revoke American passports until payments are made, three U.S. officials told The Associated Press.

While passport revocations for unpaid child support of more than $2,500 have been permitted under 1996 federal legislation, the State Department had in the past acted only when someone applied to renew their travel document or sought other consular services. In other words, enforcement depended on the person approaching the department for assistance.

Starting soon, however, the department will begin to revoke passports on its own initiative based on data shared with it by the Health and Human Services Department, according to the U.S. officials familiar with the plan. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the change has not yet been publicly announced.

The number of people who could be affected was not immediately clear, but it is believed to be in the thousands. Because of the potentially large universe of those owing child support who currently hold passports, the State Department will make the change in tiers, the officials said.

The first group to be affected will be passport holders who owe more than $100,000 in past-due child support, the officials said. One of the officials said fewer than 500 people meet that threshold and could avoid having their passport revoked if they enter into a payment plan with HHS after being notified of the pending revocation.

The official acknowledged, though, that if and when the threshold is lowered to a smaller past-due amount, the number of those affected will rise significantly. The official could not say when any further changes would take effect or estimate how many people might then lose their passports.

The State Department said in a statement that it “is reviewing options to enforce long-standing law to prevent those owing substantial amounts of child support from neglecting their legal and moral obligations to their children.' It added: 'It is simple: deadbeat parents need to pay their child support arrears.'

Since the Passport Denial Program began with the 1996 passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, the initiative has taken in nearly $621 million in past-due child support payments, with nine collections of more than $300,000, according to the Office of Child Support Enforcement at the Department of Health and Human Services.

HHS did not respond to questions about how many people are in arrears.

Associated Press writer Ali Swenson contributed to this report.

NEW YORK (AP) ' The Trump administration has stopped flying a rainbow flag at the Stonewall National Monument, angering activists who see the change as a symbolic swipe at the countrys first national monument to LGBTQ+ history.

The multicolored flag, one of the worlds most well known emblems of LGBTQ+ rights, was quietly removed in recent days from a flagpole on the National Park Service-run site, which centers on a tiny park in Manhattans Greenwich Village. Its across the street from the Stonewall Inn, the gay bar where patrons rebellion against a police raid helped catalyze the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.

The park service said its simply complying with recent guidance that clarifies longstanding flag policies and applies them consistently. A Jan. 21 park service memo largely restricts the agency to flying the flags of the United States, the Department of the Interior and the POW/MIA flag.

LGBTQ+ rights activists including Ann Northrop dont buy the explanation.

'Its just a disgusting slap in the face,' she said by phone as word of the change spread and advocates planned a rally Tuesday. 'Its mind-blowing that they think they can excuse this and rationalize this.'

Smaller rainbow flags still wave along a fence. But advocates fought for years to see the banner fly high every day on federal property, and they saw it as an important gesture of recognition when the flag first went up in 2019.

'Thats why we have those flag-raisings ' because we wanted the national sanction to make it a national park,' said Northrop, who co-hosts a weekly cable news program called 'GAY USA.' She spoke at a flag-related ceremony at the monument in 2017.

The flag is the latest point of contention between LGBTQ+ activists and Trumps administrations over the Stonewall monument, which Democratic former President Barack Obama created in 2016. Activists were irritated when, during the Republican Trumps first administration, the park service kept a bureaucratic distance from the raising of the rainbow flag on the citys pole.

Then, soon after Trump returned to office last year, the park service website for the Stonewall monument was among a number of sites taken down for a time after he ordered an end to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and declared that his administration would recognize only two genders. The government later scrubbed verbal references to transgender people from the park service website for the Stonewall monument.

The park service didnt answer specific questions Tuesday about the Stonewall site and the flag policy, including whether any flags had been removed from other parks.

'Stonewall National Monument continues to preserve and interpret the sites historic significance through exhibits and programs,' the agency said in a statement.

Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed from Washington.