January 14

Biden revokes Trump-era NSPM-5 and directs agencies to unwind Cuba restrictions

President Joe Biden issued National Security Memorandum 29 on January 14, 2025, revoking National Security Presidential Memorandum 5, the Trump-era Cuba policy memorandum. Biden said U.S. policy still sought more freedom, democracy, human rights, and free enterprise in Cuba, but that practical engagement with Cuba and the Cuban people required moving beyond NSPM-5. The memorandum directed the secretary of state to rescind the list created under NSPM-5 and directed Treasury to begin adjusting regulations tied to that revocation. The action mattered because NSPM-5 had shaped U.S. Cuba sanctions and travel/commercial restrictions, and revoking it was part of Biden's final effort to loosen Cuba policy alongside the proposed rescission of Cuba's state sponsor of terrorism designation.

Biden removes Cuba from US State Sponsors of Terrorism list

President Biden notified Congress on January 14, 2025, six days before leaving office, of his decision to remove Cuba from the US State Sponsors of Terrorism list, reversing Trump's 2021 re-designation. The decision was tied to a Vatican-mediated deal under which Cuba agreed to release 553 political prisoners, including participants in the July 11, 2021 protests. The move also rescinded Trump's 2017 Cuba policy memorandum and issued a six-month Helms-Burton Title III waiver. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) called the action a reward for the Cuban government without meaningful human rights progress. President-elect Trump announced he would reverse the decision after taking office.

Biden certifies Cuba for proposed removal from the state sponsors of terrorism list

President Joe Biden issued a January 14, 2025 certification supporting the proposed rescission of Cuba’s state sponsor of terrorism designation. The certification said Cuba had not provided support for international terrorism during the preceding six months and had provided assurances that it would not support acts of international terrorism in the future. Biden cited several statutes governing rescission of terrorism-related designations, including the Foreign Assistance Act and Arms Export Control Act. The action mattered because removing a country from the terrorism list can change sanctions, export controls, financial restrictions, and travel-related consequences, but it also requires formal notice and a waiting period that gives Congress a chance to respond.

Biden notifies Congress that the West Bank national emergency will continue

President Joe Biden sent Congress a January 14, 2025 message saying the national emergency concerning the situation in the West Bank would continue beyond February 1, 2025. The message explained that the National Emergencies Act requires the president to publish and transmit a continuation notice before an emergency’s anniversary or the emergency terminates automatically. Biden cited extremist settler violence, forced displacement, and property destruction as continuing threats to peace, security, and U.S. foreign-policy objectives. The action mattered because it documented the formal congressional notice behind continued sanctions authority under Executive Order 14115.

Biden establishes Chuckwalla National Monument in California desert

President Joe Biden established Chuckwalla National Monument on January 14, 2025, protecting federal lands in southeastern California’s desert region. The proclamation described the area as culturally significant to the Iviatim, Nüwü, Pipa Aha Macav, Kwatsáan, Serrano, and other Indigenous peoples, and noted its ecological, geologic, scientific, and historic resources. The monument was created under the Antiquities Act and is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The action mattered because monument designations can protect landscapes from development, mining, and other uses while also recognizing tribal cultural ties and shaping how public lands are managed.

Biden orders federal site and clean-power planning for AI infrastructure

President Joe Biden signed a January 14, 2025 executive order directing federal agencies to accelerate domestic artificial-intelligence infrastructure. The order focused on leasing federal sites, including Department of Defense and Department of Energy sites, for frontier AI data centers and clean-power facilities; improving permitting and grid interconnection; and requiring developers using federal land to meet labor, security, domestic-supply-chain, and clean-energy expectations. The order framed AI infrastructure as a national-security and economic-competitiveness issue because advanced AI systems require large computing clusters and major electricity supply. The action mattered because it tied AI policy to land use, energy demand, grid planning, national security, and who gets to build and profit from the next generation of computing infrastructure.

Biden transmits Palau and Marshall Islands federal programs agreements to Congress

President Joe Biden sent Congress the 2024 Federal Programs and Services Agreements with Palau and the Marshall Islands on January 14, 2025. The agreements sit inside the broader Compacts of Free Association framework, which governs U.S. relations with Palau, the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia. The transmittal mattered because federal programs and services agreements determine how U.S. agencies deliver services and support to freely associated states while Congress retains oversight of compact implementation. These agreements affect public services, economic assistance, strategic access, and the U.S. relationship with Pacific Island nations central to Indo-Pacific policy.

Jack Smith's Jan. 6 report says Trump would have been convicted without winning reelection

Special Counsel Jack Smith released the second volume of his final report, focused specifically on the January 6 Capitol attack and Trump's role in inciting it. Smith concluded that the government's evidence showed Trump deliberately used the violence of January 6 to create additional pressure on Congress to reject certified electoral votes. The report detailed how Trump ignored pleas from advisors, watched the attack unfold for hours, and deployed tweets that inflamed rather than calmed the crowd.

Biden sends U.S.-Thailand peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement to Congress

President Joe Biden transmitted the proposed U.S.-Thailand peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement to Congress on January 14, 2025, under section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act. The message sent Congress the agreement text, Biden's written approval, authorization, determination, and the unclassified Nuclear Proliferation Assessment Statement, with classified material to be submitted separately. Biden said the agreement met statutory requirements, advanced U.S. nonproliferation and foreign-policy interests, and would allow peaceful nuclear cooperation without transferring Restricted Data or sensitive nuclear technology. The action mattered because Congress receives a formal review period before a 123 agreement can proceed, making the message part of the checks on civil nuclear cooperation.

Biden sends U.S.-UAE mutual legal assistance treaty to the Senate

President Joe Biden transmitted a mutual legal assistance treaty between the United States and the United Arab Emirates to the Senate on January 14, 2025. The treaty concerns cooperation in criminal matters and, if ratified, would create a formal legal framework for evidence-sharing and assistance between U.S. and UAE authorities. The message mattered because treaties require Senate advice and consent before ratification, and mutual legal assistance treaties can affect cross-border investigations, financial-crime cases, extradition-adjacent cooperation, and due-process protections. The event is best understood as a treaty transmittal, not a completed treaty approval.

Enhanced ACA Subsidies Expire as Congress Fails to Renew Them

Enhanced premium tax credits created by the Inflation Reduction Act expired at the end of 2025 open enrollment after Congress did not pass legislation to extend them. The enhanced subsidies had reduced marketplace premiums by an average of 44% for eligible enrollees since 2021. Without renewal, an estimated 4 million marketplace enrollees faced significant premium increases when their 2026 coverage took effect.

Jack Smith Report: Evidence Sufficient to Convict Trump on Election Case

Special Counsel Jack Smith released the first volume of his final report, concluding that the government had accumulated sufficient evidence to obtain a conviction against Donald Trump for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Smith detailed how Trump had spread lies about electoral fraud, pressured Vice President Pence to reject certified electors, and exploited the January 6 Capitol attack. The report found that only Trump's election victory in November 2024 prevented prosecution from proceeding.

Biden transmits report to Congress proposing rescission of Cuba’s terrorism designation

President Joe Biden sent Congress a January 14, 2025 report on the proposed rescission of Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. The message was short, but it was part of the legal process for removing Cuba from the terrorism list after Biden separately certified that Cuba had not supported international terrorism in the previous six months and had provided assurances for the future. The move came alongside reports of a Vatican-linked prisoner-release arrangement. The action mattered because Congress must receive formal notice before a state sponsor of terrorism designation is rescinded, making the message part of the checks-and-balances process around sanctions and foreign policy.

Biden continues West Bank national emergency over extremist settler violence and destabilization

President Joe Biden continued the national emergency concerning the situation in the West Bank on January 14, 2025. The notice said high levels of extremist settler violence, forced displacement, and property destruction continued to threaten the peace, security, and stability of the West Bank and Gaza, Israel, and the broader Middle East. It extended the emergency declared in Executive Order 14115 beyond February 1, 2025, under the National Emergencies Act. The action mattered because keeping the emergency in place preserved sanctions authority against people undermining peace, security, and stability in the West Bank.

Ohio Supreme Court Strikes Congressional Map in Adams v. DeWine

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled 4-3 in Adams v. DeWine that the General Assembly congressional map unduly favored the Republican Party in violation of Article XIX of the Ohio Constitution. Chief Justice Maureen O Connor, a Republican, joined the three Democratic justices in the majority. The legislature was ordered to redraw the map but the 2022 elections used a successor map later also struck down.

Federal authorities arrest Robert Sanford in a Pennsylvania Jan. 6 case

Federal authorities arrested Robert Sanford, then 55, of Boothwyn, in a Pennsylvania Jan. 6 Capitol breach case. The case involved civil disorder, assaulting or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon, restricted-building entry with a dangerous weapon, disorderly conduct, and physical violence on Capitol grounds. NPR records that Sanford later pleaded guilty to assaulting or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon. The other charges were dismissed. He was sentenced on April 11, 2023 to 52 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release, $5,798 in restitution, and a $100 assessment. NPR records a full pardon on January 20, 2025. The NPR archive was checked against the linked CourtListener federal record before insertion.

D.C. Circuit strikes down 2010 net neutrality rules in Verizon v. FCC

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rules in Verizon v. FCC that the Federal Communications Commission lacked authority to impose net neutrality rules on broadband providers. Two judges conclude the FCC has authority to regulate broadband but failed to establish a mandate to impose anti-discrimination rules, citing the FCC's prior classification of broadband as an "information service" rather than "telecommunications service." The decision strikes down the FCC's 2010 Open Internet Order, allowing broadband providers to potentially charge content companies for faster access and block competing services. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler vows to pursue "all available options" including potential reclassification.