The Small Business Administration is relocating its regional Chicago office, as well as those in five other metropolitan cities. Local SBAs are tasked with providing funding, education and resources to small business owners, operating as a lifeline to both aspiring business owners and longtime entrepreneurs.

The S&P 500 was down 2.1% in midday trading, coming off its worst week since September. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 405 points, or 0.9%, as of 11:20 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 3.6% lower.

For decades, the Presidential Management Fellows program was seen as a building block for the civil service with the expectation that the few who earned the position would one day become leaders in the federal workforce. Now the road ahead is uncertain.

In the last five years, voters in 33 Illinois counties have been asked if they want to consider separating from Chicago’s Cook County to form a new state. Each time, a majority said yes. Some politicians in neighboring Indiana seem up for the idea.

The funding freeze has sparked panic among grant recipients who are stranded outside their home countries without clarity on the future of their programs or the money needed to support themselves.

Across-the-board cuts at the Social Security Administration are prompting questions about how the benefits of millions of recipients may be affected. Here’s a look at cuts to the agency, which serves more than 70 million Americans, and potential effects for recipients.

Kwame Raoul’s office joined a coalition of 20 attorneys general who are seeking a temporary restraining order against numerous federal agencies to stop what he’s called the “illegal mass layoffs.”

The country’s bitterly tribal politics are spilling into text chains, social media posts and heated conversations as Americans absorb the reality of the government’s cost-cutting measures. Expecting sympathy, some axed workers are finding family and friends who instead are steadfast in their support of what they see as a bloated government’s waste.

In a statement Thursday, SBA administrator Kelly Loeffler said offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York City and Seattle will be relocated to “less costly, more accessible locations that better serve the small business community and comply with federal immigration law.”

President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs threats have roiled financial markets, lowered consumer confidence, and enveloped many businesses in an uncertain atmosphere that could delay hiring and investment.

U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island granted the preliminary injunction in the lawsuit filed by nearly two dozen Democratic states after a Trump administration plan for a sweeping pause on federal spending stirred up a wave of confusion and anxiety across the United States.

The pause comes after Trump spoke with leaders of the “big 3” automakers, Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, on Wednesday, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Veterans have already been speaking out against the cuts at the VA that so far had included a few thousand employees and hundreds of contracts. More than 25% of the VA’s workforce is comprised of veterans.

By a 5-4 vote, the court told U.S. District Judge Amir Ali to clarify his earlier order that required the Republican administration to release nearly $2 billion in aid for work that had already been done.

Trump’s prime-time speech Tuesday was the latest marker in his takeover of the nation’s capital, where the Republican-led House and Senate have done little to restrain the president as he and his allies work to slash the size of the federal government and remake America’s place in the world.

In the six weeks since President Donald Trump has returned to the White House, nearly 100 legal challenges have been filed against the administration’s executive orders. Illinois has joined in on the conversations that range from the federal funding freeze to diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace.