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Joe Frazier statue could move to base of Art Museum steps, taking Rocky’s place

History may not repeat itself, but at least in Philadelphia, it sure does rhyme.

Twenty years ago, our famed Rocky statue made the move from its former perch at the stadium complex in South Philly to the base of the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where it has stood since.

Now, the city’s statue of former world heavyweight champion “Smokin’” Joe Frazier could soon do the same.

Creative Philadelphia, the city’s office for the creative sector, is slated to present a proposal at a Wednesday Art Commission meeting that would have the Frazier statue take over the Rocky statue’s current home at the base of the Art Museum’s steps. Last month, the commission approved the Rocky statue’s coming move back to the top of the steps, where it supposedly will permanently stay starting in the fall and following its first-time display inside the museum.

“Relocating the Joe Frazier statue to this prominent civic and cultural space would … create a respectful dialogue between two complementary representations of Philadelphia’s spirit,” chief cultural officer Valerie V. Gay and public art director Marguerite Anglin wrote in a letter to the Art Commission. “Rocky Balboa as a symbol of hard work and aspiration, and Joe Frazier as the embodiment of those values lived out in real life.”

Created by sculptor Stephen Layne in 2014, the Frazier statue has stood in the sports complex outside what is now Stateside Live! for about a decade, and has been a part of the city’s public art collection since its inception. In an effort led by Joe Hand, the owner of Feasterville’s Joe Hand Boxing Gym and a longtime friend of Frazier’s, the statue’s commission was funded by the boxer’s family and supporters before its donation to the city.

The statue, standing at about 12 feet tall, depicts Frazier just moments after besting Muhammad Ali in the so-called “Fight of the Century” — the March 1971 bout in which Ali suffered his first professional loss after 15 grueling rounds.

Frazier, who died in 2011, was a well-accomplished boxer before that matchup, having won an Olympic gold medal in 1964 in Tokyo. He held the heavyweight championship title from 1970 to 1973, when he lost the belt to fellow legend George Foreman following a bout in Kingston, Jamaica, in a matchup referred to as “The Sunshine Showdown.” He retired in 1976, the year following a vicious loss to Ali in the famed “Thrilla in Manila” fight. After returning for a 1981 match against “Jumbo” Floyd Cummings that resulted in a draw, Frazier left the sport for good.

Relocating the Frazier statue to the Art Museum is expected to cost roughly $150,000 in city funds, and has support from leaders including Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, City Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson, State Sen. Sharif Street, and State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams, according to Creative Philadelphia’s Art Commission proposal.

“Placing the Joe Frazier statue at the Art Museum affirms Philadelphia’s commitment to honoring real-life achievement alongside cultural mythology,” Parker wrote in a letter supporting the move. “Together, these figures reflect the city’s spirit, where determination, resilience, and opportunity meet.”

Friends of Frazier also expressed support in letters included as part of Creative Philadelphia’s proposal — in part, at least, because the Art Museum has higher foot traffic than where the statue currently stands.

The move “will give the Frazier statue many more eyes on it than at the Xfinity area,” wrote Nicholas L. Depace, the boxer’s friend and former physician.

Frazier served as a major inspiration for the Rocky Balboa character, with the man and the character sharing several key elements, according to Creative Philadelphia. Like Rocky, Frazier trained for boxing matches by hitting frozen raw meat, ran the Art Museum steps, and faced opponents that closely mirrored those actor Sylvester Stallone’s character faced in the franchise.

“Stallone made 5 Rocky movies mostly based on the real life humble champion Smokin’ Joe Frazier from Philadelphia,” wrote Smokin’ Frazier Championship Foundation Inc. CEO Pete Lyde in a letter of support for the move. “Joe Frazier’s statue at the Philadelphia Art Museum Steps symbolizes and celebrates the real life human heart and potential within us all worldwide.”

The Rocky statue, meanwhile, is cleared for installation atop the Art Museum steps following its exhibition in “Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments,” an Art Museum program slated to run from April to August. After that, the statue now displayed at the top of steps — which Stallone lent to the city for the inaugural RockyFest in December 2024 — will head back to the actor’s collection, and the original, screen-used statue will take its place.

It was not immediately clear when the Frazier statue could head to the Art Museum. Creative Philadelphia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Placing the Smokin’ Joe Frazier statue at the Art Museum steps would not only correct a historical imbalance but also serve as an inspirational symbol for residents and visitors alike,” wrote Councilmember at-large Jim Harrity in a letter of support. “It would elevate a true Philadelphia champion whose impact reached far beyond the boxing ring and whose contributions to sports, labor history, and community service continue to resonate today.”

February 9, 2026
Trump leaves Republicans guessing on midterms plans as outlook darkens

Republicans looking to the White House to lead in the face of the party’s dimming prospects for November’s midterms are facing a crucial hang-up: the president.

The party’s flagship campaign committee and super PACs have no indication of how President Donald Trump will deploy his $300 million-plus war chest because he has not approved a spending plan. Republican donors are funding expensive Senate primaries in Texas and Georgia because Trump has not cleared the field with his endorsement, or, in the case of Louisiana, endorsed a challenger to the incumbent Republican.

People who have spoken with Trump about these obstacles said he at times can sound detached and noncommittal about his plans for spending and endorsements. One person close to the White House said some days the president seems not to care. Having already been impeached twice and indicted four times, Trump is less afraid of being impeached again than he is determined not to let a Democratic-controlled House halt his policy agenda, a White House official said. The official and others spoke to the Washington Post on the condition of anonymity to detail private conversations.

But a White House official said Trump is excited to get more engaged in midterm strategy and looking forward to increasing his travel this month, including a campaign-style event outside of Washington this week. An Oval Office meeting to go over a handful of House endorsements Wednesday night turned into a five-hour gabfest on the midterms, according to two people present. Trump said he wants to defy the tendency of the president’s party losing seats in Congress in the midterms, one of the people said.

“We’ll spend whatever it takes,” the person recalled Trump saying. “Go get it done.”

The president’s political team, led by White House adviser James Blair, campaign strategist Chris LaCivita, and pollster Tony Fabrizio, met in Palm Beach, Fla., on Friday to review research from every competitive race in both chambers and develop estimates for what Republicans will have to spend to win. The team also briefed a retreat of the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm on Saturday.

For much of last year, the White House was an island of optimism. Trump’s team would argue that Republicans were better positioned than at the same point in his first term, based on data such as the president’s approval rating, the generic ballot, and voter registration.

Democrats, however, don’t need a 2018-size blue wave to win the House, where Republicans hold the narrowest possible majority and are defending 14 seats rated as toss-ups by the Cook Political Report. Democrats are defending four toss-up seats, and Cook shifted 18 seats in their favor in January.

Republicans are anxiously awaiting a clear picture of the Trump team’s plans as the president’s sagging approval ratings and Democratic overperformances in special elections have darkened the GOP’s outlook for the midterms. Most Republicans are not ready to criticize Trump in public. But privately, there is rising frustration with an apparent lack of urgency from Trump and his staff, according to people who spoke to the Post.

“Every time I talk to him on the phone, he says, ‘How’s the race going?’ and then he cites polls back to me so I know he’s following it closely,” Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas) said, noting that Fabrizio is also his pollster and that LaCivita is a consultant to the super PAC supporting his reelection.

Still, Trump’s endorsement has eluded Cornyn. “There’s only one person in the world who’s going to make that decision, and we can’t wait,” the senator said.

Cornyn’s primary in Texas next month is dominating Republican anxieties on the Senate side since national strategists see his toughest challenger, state Attorney General Ken Paxton, as weaker in the general election, according to a memo from the National Republican Campaign Committee obtained by the Post. Holding the Senate seat for the GOP with Paxton as the nominee would cost an additional $100 million in a state where effective advertising costs $8 million a week, according to people involved in the race.

“Texas cannot be taken for granted,” the memo said, presenting internal polling that puts Cornyn ahead of the Democratic candidates and Paxton behind them. Either Republican would face a competitive general election, the survey showed, with Texas state Rep. James Talarico running stronger than U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett on the Democratic side.

An online survey released Monday that was conducted between Jan. 20 and 31 by the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston found Paxton leading Cornyn 38% to 31%, with Rep. Wesley Hunt at 17%. On the Democratic side, Crockett led Talarico 47% to 39%.

In a presentation to the Republican Senate caucus on Tuesday, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Tim Scott of South Carolina said a recent Fox News poll giving Democrats a six-point advantage in House races would put all nine Senate battlegrounds up for grabs, according to two people present. He also noted that Democratic candidates are raising more money for competitive races such as those in Georgia, North Carolina, and Ohio.

Senate Republicans were heartened Feb. 1 when Trump endorsed John E. Sununu in the Republican primary for Senate in New Hampshire, after extensive lobbying by Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.). Sununu has criticized Trump in the past but was leading in polls, and national Republicans saw him as the strongest candidate to flip the seat being vacated by a retiring Democrat, Jeanne Shaheen.

But lobbying for Trump to endorse Cornyn has stalled as the incumbent has not established a clear polling lead — even after allies have poured $50 million into ads supporting Cornyn. Trump treasures his endorsement as definitive in primaries — and it often is, in part because he resists backing underdogs.

Early voting opens Feb. 17 for the March 3 primary. If no one wins a majority, the top two candidates will compete in a runoff on May 26.

Trump renewed hopes that he would wade into the race by telling reporters Feb. 1, “I’m giving it a very serious look.” The day before, a Democrat won a special election in a state Senate district that Trump won by 17 points in 2024.

“I’ve had many conversations about why I think that makes the most sense to get behind John Cornyn,” Thune told reporters last week. “I don’t have any inside knowledge of when or what that might look like or when it might happen.”

Trump might clear the field with an endorsement in Georgia to challenge Democrat Jon Ossoff, the person close to the White House said. The Republican primary includes Reps. Buddy Carter and Mike Collins, as well as former football coach Derek Dooley, who is backed by Gov, Brian Kemp. That race, though, is not considered as much a priority for Senate leaders as Texas is.

Senate Republicans, including Thune, have been frustrated by Trump’s treatment of Senate incumbents, according to two people familiar with the tensions. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina declined to run for reelection in the battleground state after feuding with Trump over Medicaid cuts in the president’s 2025 tax cuts and spending package. Last month, Trump recruited and endorsed a challenger to Sen. Bill Cassidy in Louisiana — which the White House official said was the result of Cassidy’s vote five years ago to convict Trump in the Senate impeachment trial of inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.

“I do think it’s a real problem when Senate Leadership Fund is on record supporting Cornyn and Cassidy, and President Trump is either silent or in opposition,” Tillis said, referring to the main super PAC supporting Senate Republicans. “We’re literally going to have Republican-on-Republican money being spent, and that makes no sense leading up to a general [election] where we’re going to have headwinds.”

On the House side, the White House’s push to protect the House majority using redrawn congressional maps in Texas, North Carolina, and Missouri appears poised to net zero seats because of Democratic counteractions in California, Maryland, and Virginia. The latter two still face legislative or judicial hurdles.

The White House still expects to pick up Republican seats from a new map in Florida, after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) last month announced a state legislative special session in April. DeSantis said he wanted to wait until then in the hopes of a new Supreme Court ruling that could reshape as many as 19 House districts across the South by further weakening the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Trump has noted that the stakes of the midterms include, for him personally, the likelihood of being investigated or even impeached by a Democratic-controlled House. His first administration uniformly disregarded oversight requests and litigated subpoenas until after his term. Now some advisers expect that the administration can stonewall congressional oversight and that Democratic focus on investigating Trump could backfire on them leading up to the 2028 presidential election.

Republicans still hold an overall advantage in fundraising. The House GOP campaign arm, which historically struggles to attract donors in uphill midterms, outraised its Democratic counterpart in 2025. The Democratic National Committee has more debt than cash, while the Republican National Committee has $95 million in the bank.

Trump’s main super PAC, MAGA Inc., finished 2025 with a $304 million stockpile. But the PAC, led by LaCivita and Fabrizio, has been mum with allies about its spending plans. The person close to the White House said the president is likely to approve spending in multiple waves, and may reserve funds to maintain his political kingmaker role in future elections and for legal fees.

“Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, MAGA Inc. will have the resources to help candidates who support President Trump’s America First agenda of securing our border, keeping our streets safe, supercharging our economy, and making life more affordable for all Americans,” PAC spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer said.

While lawmakers await details on what assistance they can expect from the super PAC, Trump’s team noted it was the largest outside spender in the Dec. 2 special election to retain a House seat in Tennessee.

“President Trump and his team were all in for me. I wouldn’t have won without them,” said Rep. Matt Van Epps, who won by 8.8 points in a district Trump carried by 22 points in 2024. “I know they’ll do the same for the entire America First team in this year’s midterm.”

The White House said it is actively scheduling multiple trips for the president in battleground states and districts in the coming weeks and months that will include local lawmakers. The White House has also encouraged cabinet secretaries to minimize foreign trips and focus solely on domestic travel this year, encouraging officials to seek guidance on prioritizing battleground districts. White House officials are also helping to book cabinet members on local media in target areas.

Since Thanksgiving, Trump has visited the battleground districts of Reps. Rob Bresnahan (R., Pa.) and Don Davis (R., N.C.), as well as Detroit (home to a Senate and governor’s race) and Iowa (home to a Senate race and two target House races). Vice President JD Vance visited battleground House districts held by Ryan Mackenzie (R., Pa.) and Marcy Kaptur (D., Ohio). Medicare administrator Mehmet Oz visited the districts of Rep. Michael Lawler (R., N.Y.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.).

The White House provided statements from Lawler, North Carolina U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley, Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio, Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska, and RNC adviser Danielle Alvarez praising Trump and his staff for their support.

“It is only February, and there is time for more, but I’m glad to have very strong support from the President and his administration,” Husted said.

February 9, 2026
Pirates are signing former Braves DH Marcell Ozuna, source says

Veteran slugger Marcell Ozuna is heading to Pittsburgh.

The 35-year-old free agent has reached an agreement with the Pirates on a one-year deal worth $12 million, a person familiar with the agreement told the Associated Press on Monday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal is pending Ozuna passing a physical.

Ozuna would give the Pirates another experienced bat to potentially boost a lineup that was among the worst in the majors in 2025. The right-handed Ozuna hit .232 with 21 home runs and 68 RBIs last season for Atlanta.

Ozuna would make $10.5 million in 2026 and has a mutual club option for $16 million in 2027 with a $1.5 million buyout.

Pittsburgh previously acquired All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe and signed All-Star first baseman/outfielder Ryan O’Hearn during an unusually busy offseason for the club as it tries to give a young pitching staff anchored by reigning National League Cy Young winner Paul Skenes some help.

Ozuna’s arrival could mean Pittsburgh is moving on from longtime franchise cornerstone Andrew McCutchen. The 39-year-old, five-time All-Star and 2013 NL MVP, who has spent 12 of his 17 seasons in the majors with the Pirates, remains unsigned after hitting .239 with 13 homers while serving primarily as the club’s designated hitter. McCutchen played for the Phillies from 2019 to 2021.

Ozuna is a three-time All-Star himself and a career .269 hitter in 13 seasons with Miami, St. Louis, and Atlanta. The native of the Dominican Republic has batted over .300 three times, most recently in 2024.

One of the few places where Ozuna has struggled is PNC Park, his potential new home. Ozuna is a career .225 hitter with just one home run in 36 games at the ballpark that has been historically difficult for right-handed hitters.

The Pirates are banking on Ozuna figuring it out to give a left-handed dominant lineup a little balance. Lowe, O’Hearn, and outfielder Oneil Cruz are lefties. Outfielder Bryan Reynolds is a switch-hitter.

The Pirates begin spring training when pitchers and catchers report to their complex in Bradenton, Fla, later this week.

February 9, 2026
Democratic ward leaders endorse Sharif Street for Congress, solidifying him as Philly’s establishment favorite

Philadelphia’s Democratic Party has endorsed State Sen. Sharif Street for the city’s open congressional seat.

The endorsement Monday came as no surprise, given Street’s insider connections. He previously chaired the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and is close to party leaders in the city. And Bob Brady, who chairs the Democratic City Committee, said last fall that he expected his fellow ward leaders to vote to endorse Street.

The building trades unions have endorsed State Sen. Sharif Street in the crowded race for Pa.’s 3rd Congressional District

But it nonetheless strengthens Street’s status as the favorite in the race among the local Democratic establishment. Street, the son of former Mayor John F. Street, was endorsed by the politically powerful unions in the Philadelphia Building & Construction Trades Council last year.

“I am deeply honored to have received the overwhelming support of the grassroots leaders who power our party,” Street, who represents a North Philadelphia district in the state Senate, said in a statement. “This endorsement is more than just a vote of confidence — it is a demonstration that we are building a broad-based coalition.”

Street is one of about a dozen Democrats vying to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans in Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District. Other contenders include State Reps. Morgan Cephas and Chris Rabb and physicians Ala Stanford and Dave Oxman.

Street has also emerged as the front-runner in the financial race. Recently disclosed campaign reports showed he raised $348,000 from donors in the last quarter of 2025, the largest haul among the candidates.

The 3rd Congressional District is, by some measures, the most heavily Democratic district in the U.S. House, and includes West and Northwest Philadelphia and parts of Center City, Southwest, South, and North Philadelphia.

The winner of the Democratic primary in May is all but guaranteed victory in November. Democrats hold a 7-to-1 voter registration edge over Republicans in Philadelphia.

Self-funding physicians, candidates trying to keep up, and a frontrunner: Inside the money race for a Philly congressional seat

Map of Pennsylvania’s Third Congressional District.

Earning the party nod may help Street stand out in a crowded field and will bolster his ground game for campaigning, activating the party’s hundreds of committeepeople to get out the vote for him.

But it doesn’t guarantee victory. Insurgent candidates have defied the party’s dominance several times in recent city elections, and the district includes several progressive pockets that could open the door for a candidate who can coalesce the left against Street.

The endorsement followed a vote by the Democratic ward leaders in the district. A candidate must receive at least 50% of the vote to win the party endorsement.

If no candidate reaches that mark, each ward prints its own sample ballots with its preferred candidates, which often happens in open contests like this year’s primary.

The party’s endorsement of Street means all ward leaders are now encouraged to include him in the literature distributed to voters before and on election day. Some wards, however, choose to print their own slates anyway.

The party did not immediately disclose the final vote tally at the endorsement meeting.

Northwest Philadelphia’s 50th Ward, which is led by Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, has not yet made an endorsement in the race, said Aren Platt, executive director of the mayor’s campaign, People for Parker.

Top candidates in the race, including Street, were scheduled to face off at a candidates forum hosted by the Center City Residents Association on Monday night.

February 9, 2026
Moore College will consider opening undergraduate programs to men

Moore College of Art and Design will consider opening its undergraduate programs to men for the first time in its 177-year history.

The Philadelphia school, which touts its role as “the first and only historically visual arts college for women in the nation,” cited the need to make arts programs more accessible in the region and the expected national decline in the available pool of high school graduates.

The college, which enrolls about 500 students, will study and discuss with its community the prospect of admitting men over the next four months and make a decision by June, the school announced in emails to alumni, faculty, and students Monday. If the school decides to admit all genders, the first class admitted would be for 2027.

How the UArts closure transformed Moore College of Art & Design, the last art-centered college in Philly

“We will explore all of this together in an inclusive way for students, faculty, staff, and alumni,” wrote Moore president Cathy Young and Frances Graham and Art Block, chairs of the school’s board of trustees and board of managers, respectively. “Your voices are essential. No decision has been made at this time. The boards want your feedback.”

Moore College of Art and Design president Cathy Young.

If Moore goes coed, Bryn Mawr College would be the only remaining women’s school in the Philadelphia region. (In Allentown, Cedar Crest College remains primarily a women’s college.)

Several other colleges in the region that were formerly for women have gone coed over the last decades, including Rosemont on Philadelphia’s Main Line in 2008, Immaculata University in Chester County in 2005, and Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia in 2003.

Nationally, the number of women’s colleges has been declining from a high of over 200 to just 31 as of 2022, according to a 2025 report by the Pew Research Center.

It wouldn’t be the first change in Moore’s admissions policy in recent years.

This women’s college declared its doors open to nonbinary students. And more enrolled.

In 2015, Moore began admitting “all qualified students who live as women and who consistently identify as women at the time of application.”

Then in 2020, Moore also began accepting nonbinary and gender-nonconforming students. Since then, the number of those students has been growing. They made up 6% of the first freshman class under the new policy in 2021. By fall 2022, they accounted for 21%, and by fall 2023, 26%. Last fall, that grew to one-third of the freshman class.

Moore’s graduate programs and most of its continuing education programs already include men.

Moore officials said they are making the decision from a position of financial and academic “strength.” The school has had operating surpluses for the last 24 consecutive years, a school spokesperson said. Many small schools have faced financial strain in recent years, but Moore fared among the top small private colleges in the Philadelphia region for financial health in a 2024 Inquirer review.

Moore’s net tuition climbed from $10.8 million to $12.7 million in fiscal 2024 and to $16.5 million in fiscal 2025, financial records show. The school also saw a big gain in private gifts and grants last year to $2.2 million, up from $885,383 the year before.

This year’s enrollment is the school’s second highest behind fall 2024, when the college accepted 112 students from the University of the Arts, which abruptly closed in June 2024. The school also took 12 students that year from the Delaware College of Art and Design, which closed that year, too.

Here’s a look at new buildings and programs coming to Philly-area colleges this school year

Moore opened a new residence hall in Rittenhouse Square last fall, which is just a seven-minute walk from campus and will allow the school to guarantee students housing for all four years.

In announcing the possibility of accepting all genders, Moore officials noted UArts’ closure and the end of degree-granting programs at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

“There is a void in Philadelphia’s higher ed creative landscape, and that begs the question: Shouldn’t all creatives, regardless of gender, have access to Moore …” they wrote. “The answer doesn’t have to be “yes,” but it is our responsibility to explore it.”

College surveys of applicants have shown that the school’s status as a women’s college isn’t a big draw. Only 6% cited it as important to their decision out of 885 survey respondents over the last dozen years, the school said. Meanwhile, a quarter said it was one of the important reasons they didn’t choose Moore.

Moore officials also cited the expected drop in the high school graduate population beginning this year because of declining birth rates. A decline of 10% is expected by 2037, they noted.

“There are simply fewer students,” they wrote. “No responsible institution can ignore factors like these. And we won’t.”

They said they will discuss ways “to preserve and activate in new ways” Moore’s history and legacy as part of the exploration.

Between February and April, Moore plans to host about 20 sessions for faculty, staff, and alumni to share their thoughts, as well as providing an opportunity for online comments.

Staff writer Harold Brubaker contributed to this article.

February 9, 2026
Trump set off a surge of AI in the federal government. Here’s what happened.

As the Trump administration seeks to sweep away obstacles to developing artificial intelligence, the president’s team has brought its zeal for the new technology to the federal government itself.

Orders came down from the White House budget office in April urging every corner of the government to deploy AI. “The Federal Government will no longer impose unnecessary bureaucratic restrictions on the use of innovative American AI in the Executive Branch,” the White House said in a statement announcing the push.

Officials across the government answered the call, according to a Washington Post analysis of more than two dozen recent agency disclosures on AI use. On top of automating rote tasks, government agencies have launched hundreds of artificial intelligence projects in the past year, many of them taking on central and sensitive roles in law enforcement, immigration, and healthcare.

The Department of Homeland Security has adopted new, more sophisticated facial recognition tools. The FBI has purchased novel systems to sift through reams of images and text to generate leads for investigators. And the Department of Veterans Affairs is developing an AI program to predict whether a veteran is likely to attempt suicide.

Revoking — even scorning — the Biden administration’s caution, the White House has directed government departments to cut through any red tape that might slow the adoption of AI. “Simply put, we need to ‘Build, Baby, Build!’” the Trump administration’s AI action plan says.

Federal agencies are doing just that: The 29 that had posted data last week listed 2,987 active uses for AI by the end of 2025, up from 1,684 the year before. The disclosures are required by the budget office and provide basic details about each use of AI. Hundreds of those uses were marked as “high impact,” meaning they are being used as the main basis for making significant decisions or have implications for people’s rights or their safety, according to federal standards.

The White House argues the technology is a way to make the government vastly more efficient, though it’s impossible to tell from the disclosures how well used any of the thousands of tools are.

The practical value of many of these tools remains uncertain. The public, meanwhile, remains deeply skeptical of the technology.

The administration’s focus on speed may come at the expense of ensuring the tools are being used safely, said Suresh Venkatasubramanian, a Brown University computer science professor. AI could spit out erroneous information, leading officials to make bad decisions, or a facial recognition tool could lead to someone being wrongfully placed on a watch list, he said. Venkatasubramanian, who worked on AI safety in the Biden administration, argued that officials previously placed a greater emphasis on oversight and managing risks.

“It’s not the use case itself that raises the question, it’s do you have the guardrails in place to use what can be very noisy and powerful tools in the right way,” he said. “Any particular use case — even the most innocuous sounding ones — could backfire.”

The White House Office of Management and Budget, which is overseeing the government’s AI rollout, did not respond to a request for comment. Its April memo directs agency leaders to ensure “that rapid AI innovation is not achieved at the expense of the American people or any violations of their trust.”

Turbocharged law enforcement

As the administration has dramatically ramped up its deportation efforts, DHS has increasingly turned to advanced technology to turbocharge its work. The department’s disclosures reveal a suite of facial recognition tools deployed in the past year and another system to help identify people to deport. In all, 151 AI use cases mention either “immigration” or “border” or were filed by immigration and customs agencies.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is part of DHS, reported adding new facial recognition functions, including the Mobile Fortify app, which is used to scan individuals’ faces in the field. It also disclosed its use of an unspecified system to identify “vulnerable populations,” which the agency defined as including “unaccompanied minors who have crossed the border.”

ICE also said it began in June using a new generative AI system from the defense contractor Palantir that trawls through handwritten records such as rap sheets and warrants, to automatically extract addresses to aid Enforcement and Removal Operations, the agency’s deportation division. The AI-powered system, called Enhanced Leads Identification and Targeting for Enforcement (ELITE), is not supposed to serve as a “primary basis for enforcement actions,” the agency said. Officers manually review the data and make decisions, it added.

Another Palantir system helps quickly review ICE’s tip line, summarizing and categorizing each tip, whatever language it is submitted in.

“Employing various forms of technology in support of investigations and law enforcement activities aids in the arrest of criminal gang members, child sex offenders, murderers, drug dealers, identity thieves and more, all while respecting civil liberties and privacy interests,” DHS previously said in a statement.

The Justice Department disclosed multiple tools designed to generate leads for investigators, including a facial recognition system at the FBI and another to prioritize tips coming into bureau offices around the country. But many of the department’s descriptions are vague: The output of one FBI tool is described merely as “text.”

Valerie Wirtschafter, a fellow at the Washington-based think tank Brookings, said a lack of detail in some agency disclosures makes it difficult to fully judge some of their more sensitive uses of AI.

The Justice Department and Palantir did not respond to requests for comment.

A Veterans Affairs boom

The Department of Veterans Affairs listed more high-impact uses of AI than any other agency, disclosing 174 such tools either in development or operation to revamp how it provides healthcare and benefits. The department said it is developing AI helpers to prepare patients for surgery, use computer vision to more precisely measure wounds, and identify potential suicide risks that human clinicians might have missed.

Another system is designed to help veterans claim their benefits. “This project harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to analyze vast amounts of data, providing personalized recommendations and streamlined access to a wide array of veteran benefits,” the department said in its disclosure.

Pete Kasperowicz, a VA spokesperson, said those four systems “are still being assessed for their viability and have not been tested or deployed.” He said the department uses AI only as a “support tool,” leaving final healthcare and benefits decisions to agency staff.

Chris Macinkowicz, an official at Veterans of Foreign Wars, a service group, said that while VA’s use of AI promises to help the agency serve millions of veterans more efficiently, it needs to be carefully overseen.

“Our experience has shown that, although AI can be a valuable tool, it is not infallible,” Macinkowicz said in an email. “Human judgment is essential to ensure accuracy, fairness, and accountability in decisions that have a direct and lasting impact on veterans and their families.”

The Department of Health and Human Services disclosed an additional 89 projects connected to medical care. They include using AI to oversee clinical trials and to track the availability of vaccines. The department did not respond to a request for comment.

Chatbots

Many government uses are similar to those available to the general public. Agencies operate at least 180 chatbots designed to not only help federal employees complete mundane tasks such as scheduling travel and IT help, but also support them in more sensitive work like understanding labyrinthine internal rule books. Several agencies are using similar tools to help with writing federal rules and deciding how to award contracts.

In a year that saw hundreds of thousands of federal employees laid off or take buyouts under cuts engineered by the Trump administration, a Defense Department official described at a conference last month how one team was able to use AI to still get a mandatory report finished despite losing the help of a team of about 20 contractors.

“There’s four people, and guess what?” said Jake Glassman, a senior Pentagon technology official. “They generated the report, and I would dare anyone to see any type of difference on that.”

National security

The Pentagon is exempt from the disclosure process, but other government records show how it is aggressively accelerating its AI experimentation. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered officials to avoid being hamstrung by undue concerns of risks in a memo issued last month. Future AI contracts with vendors must allow for “any lawful use,” he wrote, without further usage constraints.

“We must eliminate blockers to data sharing,” the memo said. “… We must approach risk tradeoffs … and other subjective questions as if we were at war.” The Pentagon told vendors in recent weeks that it is seeking to acquire cutting-edge “agentic” AI systems that exhibit “decision-making capabilities” and “humanlike agency” for its elite Special Operations forces. One potential use for such systems is to weigh various “constraints” that govern when units can initiate or continue combat and the risk of killing or injuring civilians.

“These constraints overlap and sometimes include conflicting guidance,” the department said in a request for industry input, adding that the AI agents should understand how certain constraints have priority over others.

The request said the tools are expected to adapt and learn in real time, though they will be prohibited from “online” learning in contexts such as “kinetic fires” — the use of live ammunition — “since it may lead to undesired behavior.”

The Defense Department did not respond to a request for comment.

Science and research

Government scientists are experimenting with using AI to solve problems in hundreds of niche areas, including eight related to whales and dolphins. Some at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are working on “Automated whale blow detections” — part of a population-tracking effort. (Some of these biologists are having fun, titling one project “Artificial Fintelligence: Automating photo-ID of dolphins in the Pacific Islands.”) Some 49 other projects use AI to evaluate satellite and aerial imagery to detect ice seals, track invasive species, estimate soybean yields, and locate cooling towers that might be vectors for the spread of Legionnaires’ disease.

NOAA did not respond to a request for comment.

Federal archivists have also turned to AI to help make the nation’s history more accessible.

Jim Byron, a senior adviser at the National Archives and Records Administration, said the agency launched an AI-powered tool last month to let the public search through newly digitized records. They include documents related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., as well as the disappearance of pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart.

Byron said in a statement that the agency plans to build on its work, calling the tool a “giant leap into the present.”

February 9, 2026
Palace says King Charles III will support police assessing former Prince Andrew’s Epstein links

LONDON — King Charles III is ready to “support’’ U.K. police examining claims that the former Prince Andrew gave confidential information to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Buckingham Palace said on Monday.

The statement came after Thames Valley Police said Monday that they were ”assessing” reports that the former prince, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, sent trade reports to Epstein in 2010. The department, which serves an area west of London that includes Mountbatten-Windsor’s former home, previously said it was evaluating allegations that Epstein flew a young woman to Britain to have sex with Andrew, also in 2010.

“The King has made clear, in words and through unprecedented actions, his profound concern at allegations which continue to come to light in respect of Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor’s conduct,’’ the palace said in a statement. “While the specific claims in question are for Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor to address, if we are approached by Thames Valley Police we stand ready to support them as you would expect.’’

The statement is just the latest effort by the palace to distance the royal family from Mountbatten-Windsor as the U.S. Justice Department’s release of more than 3 million pages of documents from its investigation into Epstein reveal more embarrassing details about the relationship between the two men. Earlier in the day, Prince William and Princess Catherine released their own statement saying they have been “deeply concerned” by recent revelations.

The palace also reiterated Charles and Queen Camilla’s concern for the victims of Epstein’s abuse.

“As was previously stated, Their Majesties’ thoughts and sympathies have been, and remain with, the victims of any and all forms of abuse,’’ the palace said.

The jeopardy faced by the royal family could be seen Monday when Charles visited Lancashire, in northwest England. While most of the crowd clapped, cheered, and waved flags, one person shouted, “How long have you known about Andrew?”

Concerns about Mountbatten-Windsor’s links to Epstein have dogged the royal family for more than a decade.

The late Queen Elizabeth II forced her second son to give up royal duties and end his charitable work in 2019 after he tried to explain away his friendship with Epstein during a catastrophic interview with the BBC. After more details about the relationship emerged in a book published last year, Charles stripped him of the right to be called a prince and ordered him to move out of a royal residence close to Windsor Castle.

But the Justice Department documents have brought new attention to Mountbatten-Windsor as reporters home in on dozens of email exchanges between Epstein and the former prince, many of which took place after the financier was convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008.

Correspondence unearthed in recent days appears to show that Mountbatten-Windsor sent Epstein copies of his reports from a 2010 tour of Southeast Asia, which he undertook as Britain’s envoy for international trade. An earlier email appears to show Andrew sharing his itinerary for the two-week trip to Hanoi, Saigon, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Hong Kong with Epstein.

“We can confirm receipt of this report and are assessing the information in line with our established procedures,” Thames Valley police said in a statement released on Monday.

Adding to the storm, a U.S.-based attorney said on Feb. 1 that he represented a woman who alleges Epstein flew her to Britain to have sex with Mountbatten-Windsor. The encounter took place at Royal Lodge, the former prince’s longtime home in Windsor, the attorney said in an interview with the BBC.

Police previously said they were assessing this report.

The king last week forced Mountbatten-Windsor to move out of Royal Lodge months ahead of schedule. Anger over Mountbatten-Windsor’s living arrangements had grown amid concern that he was still reaping rewards from his status as a royal even though he is no longer a working member of the royal family.

Mountbatten-Windsor is now living on the king’s Sandringham estate in eastern England. He will live temporarily at Wood Farm Cottage while his permanent home on the estate undergoes repairs. Unlike Royal Lodge, which is owned by the crown and managed for the benefit of taxpayers, Sandringham is owned privately by the king.

Thames Valley Police began its latest inquiry after Graham Smith, chief executive of the antimonarchy group Republic, reported Mountbatten-Windsor for suspected abuse of public office and violations of Britain’s Official Secrets Act.

Smith, whose group seeks to replace the king with an elected head of state, compared Mountbatten-Windsor’s correspondence with Epstein to earlier revelations about Peter Mandelson, Britain’s former ambassador to the U.S., who is already the subject of a police investigation into whether he shared sensitive information with Epstein. Those communications were also revealed in the Justice Department documents.

“I cannot see any significant difference between these allegations and those against Peter Mandelson,” Smith said on social media.

February 9, 2026
Vatican again approves Archbishop Fulton Sheen beatification after 2019 ceremony derailed at last minute

ROME — The Vatican has given the green light, again, to beatify Archbishop Fulton Sheen, the popular U.S. radio and TV preacher whose path to sainthood was derailed first by a lengthy court battle over his remains and then by concerns about how he handled clergy sexual misconduct cases.

After a rare six-year delay to investigate the concerns, Sheen’s beatification can now take place in Peoria, Ill., as originally planned, the Peoria diocese announced Monday.

No new date for the ceremony, the last major step before possible sainthood, was immediately announced. But the Vatican’s approval now sets the stage for the Illinois-born Sheen to be beatified during the pontificate of the Illinois-born Pope Leo XIV.

“The Holy See has informed me that the cause for the Venerable Servant of God Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen can proceed to beatification,” Peoria Bishop Louis Tylka said in a written and video statement on the websites of the diocese and the Sheen foundation. “We are working with the Dicastery of the Causes of Saints at the Vatican to determine the details for the upcoming beatification.”

Sheen was an enormously effective evangelizer in the 20th century U.S. church, who in some ways pioneered televangelism with his 1950s television series, Life Is Worth Living. According to Catholic University of America, where he studied and taught before he was made a bishop, Sheen won an Emmy Award, was featured on the cover of Time Magazine, “and became one of the most influential Catholics of the 20th century.”

Pope Francis had confirmed a miracle attributed to Sheen’s intercession on July 6, 2019, and had set his beatification for Dec. 21 that year in Peoria. But with less than three weeks’ notice, the Vatican postponed the ceremony indefinitely.

It acted after the diocese of Rochester, N.Y., where Sheen served as bishop from 1966-1969, asked for further investigation into Sheen’s tenure and “his role in priests’ assignments.”

The concerns focused on Sheen’s handling of two cases of priests accused of sexual misconduct. Sheen was never accused of abuse himself. A top canonical affairs official from Peoria, Monsignor James Kruse, said in 2019 that an investigation had cleared Sheen of any wrongdoing. Kruse later complained that the Rochester diocese was “sabotaging” the cause, writing a lengthy essay that had been posted on the official Sheen beatification site but later taken down.

Peoria Bishop Tylka’s statement made no reference to the concerns that prompted the delay in 2019.

The 2019 investigation was the latest obstacle to hinder Sheen’s cause, coming after an expensive, yearslong legal battle between Sheen’s relatives in Peoria and the New York City archdiocese over his final resting place.

Sheen, who died in 1979, was interred under the altar of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. His remains were returned to Peoria in 2019 after a court ruled Sheen’s niece could bury him there.

Among those celebrating the Vatican’s new green light to beatify Sheen was the Pontifical Missions Societies in the U.S., the Vatican’s main missionary fundraising office in the U.S., which Sheen headed from 1950-1966. Sheen left most of his patrimony, including writings and audio recordings, to the organization, which raises money for the Catholic Church in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and other mission areas.

“It is profoundly moving that, in God’s providence, the first U. S. — born pope is able to advance the cause of his fellow Illinois native, the most iconic evangelizer ever produced by the American Church,” Monsignor Roger Landry, national director of the office, said in a statement.

February 9, 2026
There is no Black Philadelphia history without Patti LaBelle

On a bitterly cold afternoon last month, Patti LaBelle walks gingerly down Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church’s center aisle, her left hand grazing the top of each pew, steadying her balance.

Half a dozen content creators, directors, and Visit Philadelphia staff coax the Grammy award-winning songstress toward the 18th century church’s magnificent altar, their voices overflowing with encouragement, reverence, and love.

LaBelle’s stockinged footsteps are deliberate, her unblinking eyes affixed on the organ pipes in front of her.

She’s as contemplative as she is careful.

“Come on, Miss Patti,” cooed Kyra Knox, the Emmy award-winning filmmaker who is directing Visit Philadelphia’s Black History Month promotional video, “We Are the Fabric. We are the Thread,” starring the Philadelphia legend. “You are doing great.”

“We Are the Fabric” is part of the nonprofit tourism agency’s “Indivisible” campaign, a yearlong initiative highlighting Philly’s diverse tourist destinations during America’s 250th birthday and Black History Month, which, coincidentally, is celebrating its 100th birthday this year. (Carter G. Woodson introduced Negro History Week in 1926. It was extended to Black History Month in 1976.)

The videos are streaming on several online platforms including Hulu and HBO Max in seven markets, including Philadelphia, New York, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. During the month of February, Visit Philly will conduct a series of neighborhood walks through the city’s historic districts with a special focus on Black history courtesy of the historical arts organizations 1838 Black Metropolis and the Black Journey.

“You cannot tell the story of American culture, innovation, music, art, and food without Black Americans because they are woven into every thread of the national narrative,” said Angela Val, president and CEO of Visit Philly.

The filmmakers squeezed in a lot of places on the cold Thursday afternoon. Mother Bethel — the home of America’s first Black Christian church founded by formally enslaved Richard Allen — is the first stop on the hours-long shoot. After recording takes of LaBelle’s coffin-shaped ivory nails in prayer and the centuries-old church’s sunlit stained glass windows, LaBelle and the crew drive 14 blocks west to South Philadelphia’s Union Baptist Church.

Patti LaBelle duets with Jordan Mailata on ‘This Christmas’. She’s about to play her first Philly show in years.

Film rolls and cameras flash as LaBelle, wrapped in an ankle-length vintage chocolate brown fur, is reflective in front of Union Baptist’s 111-year-old stately exterior. Inside, barrier-breaking early 20th century contralto Marian Anderson once sang in the choir. Like Anderson, LaBelle got her start singing gospel at Southwest Philly’s Beulah Baptist Church.

Singer Patti LaBelle at Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church in Philadelphia during a shoot for Visit Philadelphia’s “Indivisible” initiative, part of an effort to celebrate the city’s communities of color during the city’s 250th anniversary. LaBelle is starring in the campaign’s Black History Month promotion.

After a few windy takes, the crew made its way to the southwest corner of City Hall in front of the statue of martyred 19th century civil rights leader Octavius Catto. The day ended at the Arden Theatre, a nod to Philadelphia’s vibrant Black performing arts community.

LaBelle stars in and narrates the video. She’s accompanied by 9-year-old Riley Mills and visits historical sites and modern locations, like Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books in Germantown, reminding us that Black history is to be passed through the generations.

“When the Constitution couldn’t hold us, we held each other,” LaBelle says, her voice clear, sharp, and determined.

“We made the music you move to,” she continues as images of Teddy Pendergrass, Kenny Gamble, and Leon Huff fill the screen. And then, in an “if you blink, you will miss it moment,” there LaBelle is, in an old photograph flanked by her Labelle group members Sarah Dash and Nona Hendryx, followed by her powerful words: “When they wouldn’t give us a stage, we built one.”

Living Black history

Patti LaBelle is 81. She knows she’s Black history. She’s proud of it and doesn’t take it lightly.

“Black people stand for everything,” LaBelle told The Inquirer in between takes at Mother Bethel, her voice barely a whisper, worn out from her performances in the “Queens: 4 Legends Tour” starring LaBelle, Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight. and Stephanie Mills. They all came of age before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed.

“And we continue to. We continue to fight while things are being taken away from us.”

As Visit Philly filmed “We Are the Thread,” the National Park Service was in the midst of dismantling an exhibit honoring nine enslaved people who worked at George Washington’s house when Philadelphia was America’s capital city.

The removal was part of President Donald Trump’s executive order “restoring truth and sanity to American history.” Recently, Trump shared a video that depicted former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama as cartoon primates.

“If we don’t fight to keep what is ours,” LaBelle said, her scratchy voice taking on urgency. “It will be lost.”

Visit Philly’s choice of LaBelle as its Black history spokesperson this year is thoughtful and necessary.

Her generation of civil rights warriors bridges the gap between Black Americans who lived through Jim Crow and those of us who only heard horror stories of how difficult it was for our ancestors to go to school, work, and vote.

As this administration claims that the Civil Rights Act resulted in “white people being very badly treated,” it’s important that stories like LaBelle’s aren’t just repeated but remembered and celebrated — especially as they get up there in age.

We need to give them their flowers now.

Without Patti LaBelle, Philadelphia — and its music — would be a different place.

Patti LaBelle (right) and the Blue Belles, the group with which she had her first hit, in 1962: “I Sold My Heart to the Junkman.”

A Philadelphia girl

LaBelle was born Patricia Louise Holte in Southwest Philadelphia in 1944. Her dad, Henry, came to Philadelphia from Georgia in the early part of the 20th century during the Great Migration. He worked on the railroad, was a singer, and an occasional gambler. Her mom, Bertha, was a homemaker. LaBelle was the youngest of five.

She went to Bartram High and sang at Beulah Baptist before becoming the lead singer of Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles.

The group’s 1962 hit, “I Sold My Heart to the Junkman,” sold millions of copies, cementing LaBelle’s stardom, getting her a spot on the Chitlin’ Circuit for performances at Uptown Theater. She appeared on American Bandstand and Jerry Blavat’s radio show.

By 1975, the group was simply known as Labelle and was a visual smorgasbord of Afrofuturistic sequins and space suits. It released the iconic “Lady Marmalade” that catapulted Labelle to the cover of Rolling Stone, becoming the first Black music group to be featured.

Patti LaBelle holds up a sign during a celebration on July 2, 2019, as the block of Broad Street between Spruce and Locust Streets is renamed Patti LaBelle Way.

“I’ve had a lot of wonderful moments in my career,” LaBelle said. “It’s nice to remember, to be proud. We made a lot of history.”

(Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya, and Pink covered “Lady Marmalade” in 2001 for the Moulin Rouge soundtrack. And in 2003 Labelle’s “Lady Marmalade” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.)

In 2016, LaBelle received the Marian Anderson Award. Three years later, the city named a block of Broad Street between Spruce and Locust Patti LaBelle Way.

LaBelle, who lives in Villanova now, never left the Philadelphia area.

Patti LaBelle and Frankie Beverly are two of the celebrities featured on reimagined Shaheed Rucker’s ‘(re)Covering the Iconic” in in Jefferson Einstein’s community corridor. Monday, Sept. 8, 2025.

“I’m a Philadelphia girl,” she said with pride. “It’s laid back, comfortable. … How I like it.”

Over the decades, she has had a few entrepreneurial endeavors including two short-lived Philadelphia boutiques and a clothing collection on HSN. However, she’s best known for her indisputably yummy line of desserts — sweet potato pies and cobblers. Late last year, she introduced pancake mix and syrup that, she says for the record, is nothing like Aunt Jemima.

“For one,” she said, mustering up a bit of her trademark LaBelle sass, “I’m a real person.”

Real to her core.

“She’s given a lot to Philadelphia,” Val said. “She’s given so much to the country … to the Black community.”

February 9, 2026
Man who stole nearly $250,000 from Pa. Occupational Therapy Association charged with theft

A Western Pennsylvania man stole nearly $250,000 from the Montgomery County-based Pennsylvania Occupational Therapy Association, prosecutors said Monday, and spent the money on a trip to Disney World, country club membership fees, an Outer Banks vacation rental, and other personal expenses.

Michael Fantuzzo, 40, was charged with several counts of theft for the crimes, which prosecutors said took place between 2021 and 2024 while Fantuzzo, of Westmoreland County, served as treasurer for the nonprofit trade organization.

In all, prosecutors said, Fantuzzo spent $246,708 of the association’s funds, effectively reducing its savings account to zero.

Fantuzzo admitted to investigators that he used the association’s funds for personal expenses, though he initially told them he had spent $90,000 of the group’s funds and did so by accident.

A further investigation into Fantuzzo’s spending found that the sum was much larger.

Prosecutors say Fantuzzo spent more than $100,000 from the association’s bank account to pay off debt on a handful of credit cards opened in his name.

And Fantuzzo charged more than $128,000 to the association’s credit card, including $10,513 to install a hot tub at his home; $7,247 for a vacation home rental in Duck, N.C.; $5,460 for his local and county taxes; $4,124 for membership to the Hillcrest Country Club; $2,040 for a limousine service; and $2,019 for the trip to Disney World.

Members of the Pennsylvania Occupational Therapy Association, based in Plymouth Meeting at the time of the theft, realized something was wrong when newly elected board members learned the organization they inherited was experiencing “severe financial distress,” police said. They reported the suspicious payments to authorities in November.

The association advocates for occupational therapists and provides career development and networking opportunities, among other services, according to its website.

Investigators say they linked the spending back to Fantuzzo in a variety of ways.

Some payments, such as the Disney World tickets, included Fantuzzo and his family members’ names on the charges. Meanwhile, the PayPal payments went to an account bearing the name of Fantuzzo’s wife. And investigators tracked Fantuzzo’s name back to invoices and rental agreements for other purchases.

Fantuzzo turned himself in to Montgomery County authorities on Feb. 6. He was released from custody and is expected to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 17.

February 9, 2026