Things Musk (and Trump) Did... Day 57 | Blog#42
News worth repeating
Texas AG announces multiple arrests over alleged illegal abortions
Texas AG makes multiple arrests over alleged illegal abortions
Paxton, a Republican who has been Texas’s AG for a decade, announced Monday the arrest of certified nurse midwife Maria Margarita Rojas.
Rojas is accused of running a network of clinics in the Houston area that “unlawfully employed unlicensed individuals who falsely presented themselves as licensed medical professionals to provide medical treatment,” according to Paxton’s office.
Rojas’s case is one of the first to challenge the illegal operation of abortion clinics since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Jose Manuel Cendan Ley was arrested Monday and Rubildo Labanino Matos was arrested earlier in March. Ley, an employee of Rojas, has been accused of performing abortions illegally and for practicing medicine without a license along with Rojas. Matos was arrested in connection to the investigation.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump administration ends "segregated facilities" ban in federal contracts
The Trump administration has announced the federal government will no longer unequivocally prohibit contractors from having segregated restaurants, waiting rooms and drinking fountains.
Why it matters: The change announced last month in an overlooked public memo is a symbolic move, first reported by NPR, and comes after President Trump revoked President Lyndon Johnson's decades-old order diversity and affirmative action practices in the federal government.
The big picture: The Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as many state laws, still makes segregated facilities illegal in all businesses, including federal contractors.
Yes, but: Critics say the recent change sends a message about the government's priorities and potentially eliminates a crucial enforcement tool.
The change follows the Trump administration's reinterpretation of Civil Rights-era laws to focus on "anti-white racism," rather than discrimination against people of color.
Zoom in: A public memo the General Services Administration issued said the change was needed after Trump revoked LBJ's 60-year-old executive order requiring federal contractors to refrain from employment discrimination.
Continue reading at Axios
How Trump is picking ‘battle-tested’ new judges
The White House is quietly moving to resume Trump’s transformation of the federal judiciary, but the process looks different this time.
The White House is quietly moving to resume President Donald Trump’s transformation of the federal judiciary. But the process looks different this time.
An announcement of Trump’s first round of judicial nominations since returning to office is expected within the next few weeks, according to four people aware of the plans who were granted anonymity to discuss private White House deliberations. Former White House counsel Don McGahn, who had fallen out of favor with the president, is returning as an informal outside adviser on the process, said several people briefed on the discussions. (McGahn did not respond to requests for comment.) And Stephen Kenny, the deputy White House counsel for nominations who previously worked for Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, is laying the groundwork to move judges through the confirmation process swiftly, tasked with interfacing with lawmakers and interviewing potential nominees.
Continue reading at Politico
What to know about James Boasberg, judge Trump is targeting for impeachment
Boasberg's background
Boasberg, also known as "Jeb," has been the chief judge of the Federal District Court of the District of Columbia since 2023, according to his court bio.
The native Washingtonian received his B.A. in history from Yale College, where he also played basketball, in 1985. He then received an M.St. in Modern European History from Oxford University in 1986 and a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1990.
He lived with Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during law school.
Legal career: Boasberg served as a law clerk in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, after which he was a litigation associate in San Francisco and then in Washington.
In 1996, he joined the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia as an assistant U.S. Attorney, where he served for more than five years and specialized in homicide prosecutions.
Then-President George W. Bush in 2002 gave Boasberg his first job on the bench as an associate judge of the D.C. Superior Court, where served in the civil and criminal divisions and the domestic violence branch.
Continue reading at Axios
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Yesterday’s post
Democratic News Corner
Pelosi shivs Schumer: ‘Don’t give away anything for nothing’
The former House speaker offered a sharp critique of the Senate minority leader over his decision to allow a vote on Republicans’ government funding bill.
“I myself don’t give away anything for nothing,” Pelosi told reporters during a news conference at a children’s hospital in San Francisco. “I think that’s what happened the other day.”
Pelosi — who spoke during an event to oppose House Republicans’ proposed cuts to Medicaid — said she still supports Schumer, her longtime ally who’s come under fire from within his own party in recent days over his decision to allow the GOP’s bill to avert a government shutdown through last Friday.
“We could have, in my view, perhaps, gotten them to agree to a third way,” Pelosi said. She said a potential outcome could have been a bipartisan continuing resolution to delay a shutdown for three to four weeks while negotiations continued.
She added, “They may not have agreed to it, but at least the public would have seen they’re not agreeing to it — and that then they would have been shutting (the) government down.”
Continue reading at Politico
Inside House Democrats' anti-Schumer vent sessions
Why it matters: Some House members are urging Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) behind closed doors to mount a primary bid against the New York senator in 2028.
"From the threads I am on, [people are] pissed off ... and not just the typical lefties," one House Democrat told Axios on the condition of anonymity to share details of members' private communications.
A senior House Democrat said of their colleagues' mood toward Schumer: "His popularity is hovering somewhere between Elon Musk and the Ebola virus."
A third House Democrat who represents a swing district, when asked about Schumer, responded sarcastically: "Who?"
State of play: Schumer invited the lower chamber's wrath last week by supporting a Republican stopgap spending bill that virtually all House Democrats had voted against.
Many Democrats in both chambers wanted to use the measure — and the threat of a government shutdown — to force limitations on DOGE's ability to lay off federal workers and cut whole programs and agencies.
But Schumer argued that such a plan would ultimately backfire by empowering President Trump's downsizing efforts.
Jeffries, after initially dodging questions about Schumer, spoke with his Senate counterpart on Sunday and said Tuesday he supports his fellow New Yorker continuing as Senate leader.
What we're hearing: Rank-and-file House Democrats' anger toward Schumer has continued to simmer and spill over into their internal discussions this week, according to more than half a dozen House Democrats.
Continue reading at Axios
Democrats step up town halls amid rowdy GOP forums
Democrats are using town halls to go on offense against their Republican counterparts as the party scrambles to capitalize on a weak point: GOP lawmakers taking heat for President Trump.
Democratic Party leaders argue that images of Republican lawmakers being pressed and booed at home-district town halls in response to Trump’s agenda is reminiscent of Tea Party town halls during former President Obama’s first term.
[…]
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) are also hitting the road for their “Fighting Oligarchy: Where We Go From Here” tour, which includes a stop in Rep. Gabe Evans’s (R-Colo.) district, as well as stops in Nevada and Arizona.
Meanwhile, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) has helped build crowds at a number of town halls featuring Democratic Sens. Ruben Gallego (Ariz.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.) and Michael Bennet (Colo.) this month, targeting vulnerable House Republicans in their respective states.
Continue reading at The Hill
Distrust dogs Democrats as they prepare for battles with Trump
The aftermath of last week’s bitter spending fight has forced Democrats to wonder whether trust levels between the two chambers can be rebuilt ahead of high-stakes battles with President Trump in the coming months.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) stirred a firestorm of intraparty fury on Friday when he helped Republicans advance a partisan spending bill that House Democrats had opposed almost to the person.
In doing so, Schumer surrendered the Democrats’ most potent leveraging tool, the filibuster, exasperating scores of Democrats already under fire from liberals who say they’re fighting too feebly against Trump’s early blitz of executive orders, federal firings and unilateral spending cuts.
Continue reading at The Hill
Sanders: Roberts knows ‘the danger of a president’ who doesn’t ‘respect the Constitution’
“I don’t know Roberts all that well, I’m not a great fan of his court, but I think he does understand, I suspect, the danger of a president who does not respect the Constitution of the United States and wants more and more power for himself,” Sanders told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on “The Source.”
Sanders’s comments come after Roberts pushed back in a rare public statement to Trump calling for the impeachment of a federal judge who opposed his administration in a notable deportation case.
[…]
In his “The Source” appearance on Tuesday, Sanders said Trump “[is] trying to encroach on the constitutional responsibilities and spending powers of Congress, and now he’s going after the courts.”
“Look, if somebody is a corrupt judge, that person can and should be impeached, but not because you voice an opinion,” the Vermont senator added.
Continue reading at The Hill
Democrats see lines of attack form against Trump on economy
New polls have shown signs of disappointment with Trump amid the stock market downturn, rising prices and a potential trade war with some of the U.S.’s closest allies, giving Democrats one of their clearest offensive opportunities since he took office.
The latest numbers mark a turning point for the president, who in the past has enjoyed favorable approval ratings on his handling of the economy, but come as Democrats have struggled to unify and develop a coherent message against Trump.
“Democrats right now have a perfect weapon to use, an opportunity to seize. Look at the economic outlook, look at the stock market, look at the S&P, look at Tesla stock,” Democratic strategist Jon Reinish said. “There is so much to hammer Trump on that is economic.”
The economy and concerns about inflation were among Trump’s most potent weapons against the Biden administration throughout the 2024 campaign, along with immigration.
Continue reading at The Hill
Another House Democrat piles on embattled Chuck Schumer
Rep. Glenn Ivey says “it may be time” for the Senate minority leader to step down.
Add another member of Congress to the list of angry Democrats saying it might be time Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to call it quits.
Rep. Glenn Ivey, who represents a deep-blue Maryland district just outside Washington, faced voters at a town hall Tuesday and said he shares their frustration with President Donald Trump’s cuts to the government — and with Schumer for allowing a vote on a Republican spending plan.
“I respect Chuck Schumer. I think he had a great, long-standing career,” Ivey told an audience that included many government workers. “But I’m afraid that it may be time for the Senate Democrats to get a new leader.”
His criticism reflects what appears to be growing division among Democrats over how to resist the sweeping cuts imposed by Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
Continue reading at Politico
Democrats PIP Chuck Schumer
Grassroots groups have outlined a type of performance improvement plan for embattled Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The groups can make Schumer's life very difficult, by organizing protests against him and his members or dangling potential primary challengers. And they want to see changes in how he leads his caucus.
"I should be the leader. ... I am sort of the orchestra leader, and I have a lot of talent in that orchestra," Schumer said Tuesday on ABC's "The View."
Schumer and his advisers have heard from groups across the Democratic Party spectrum, from the leftist Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) to Moveon.org and the more establishment Indivisible.
Their top three demands:
More seats at the table: The groups want to influence the discussion earlier in the process and a more proactive plan to battle Republicans.
Elevate younger voices in the party, especially Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y). Schumer brought Murphy and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), known for their media savvy, into his leadership team this year.
Go on offense. They want more fight from Schumer — and are pushing him to encourage his members to host town halls in their states' redder areas if the GOP representatives don't. "It is a source of real pain for the Republican Party when veterans and Trump voters in Republican districts have a voice," PCCC co-founder Adam Green told Axios.
Continue reading at Axios
Sanders, AOC hit the road for a ‘populist revolt’
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vt.) is set to headline town hall events in Western states with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) beginning Thursday, as progressives outline a strategy for a “populist revolt” to fight back against President Trump.
Sanders’s rallies across the Midwest have drawn huge crowds, with thousands of supporters in small towns and rural parts of the country gathering to hear his message on lifting the working class.
Those events have been among the few bright spots for Democrats, who have largely struggled to land on a consistent message or united front against Trump during his second term. Polls show the Democratic Party’s brand is at a historical low point, while Trump’s approval rating is hovering near all-time highs.
Sanders adviser Faiz Shakir said he’s received countless questions from Democrats about how the 83-year-old is able to marshal such intense enthusiasm in surprising parts of the country.
Continue reading at The Hill
Schumer faces growing House Dem calls to step down
Why it matters: No senators have called for Schumer to step down. But outside the Senate, he's enduring a pounding from Democrats who want him to adopt more combative tactics or step aside for someone who will.
Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), asked at a town hall on Tuesday whether Schumer should "retire or step down," nodded her head and said "yes." Ramirez's comments have not previously been reported.
The liberal group Indivisible has also called on Schumer to resign as leader. Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) also followed suit at a town hall on Tuesday.
One House Democrat, asked if more could follow, told Axios: "I think there are some already there but just haven't been asked directly or avoided the question."
State of play: Schumer incurred the wrath of Democrats in the lower chamber last week by supporting a Republican measure to keep the government from shutting down.
Continue reading at Axios
Filed under WTF?!?
Newsom: Bannon sounds a lot like Sanders, ‘what Democrats said 20, 30 years ago’
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said on a Tuesday podcast episode that conservative media figure Steve Bannon sounds a lot like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and “what Democrats said 20, 30 years ago.”
“When you talk to a guy like Steve Bannon, you know, he reminded me a little bit of my grandfather when he talks about working folks and he talks about how we hollowed out the industrial core of this country,” Newsom said on an episode of his “This is Gavin Newsom” podcast that featured Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), in comments highlighted by Mediaite.
Walz cut in, trying to point out that former President Biden’s election victory in 2020 has been rejected by Bannon.
“I understand that … we can dismiss the notion of election denialism, we could completely dismiss what he did on Jan. 6, but I don’t think you can dismiss what he’s saying. Reminds me a lot of what Bernie Sanders was saying. Reminded me a lot of what Democrats said 20, 30 years ago.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Chicago lawmaker joins the anti-Schumer pile on by House members
Rep. Delia Ramirez says the Senate minority leader should have fought the Republican spending plan and risked a government shutdown.
Rep. Delia Ramirez said Wednesday that Schumer should have used the leverage of a potential shutdown to push back against President Donald Trump and a spending plan that would make additional cuts to programs and a government workforce already reeling from the work of Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency.
“This is a moment for Democrats to do more than just talk about fighting or obstructing Donald Trump’s agenda of destroying Social Security and Medicaid, but actually using every legislative authority to do that,” Ramirez said in an interview.
The lawmaker is one of an increasing number of House members to criticize Schumer or say he should step down, a list that may grow as they hold town halls during the recess. So far, none of the minority leader’s Senate colleagues have publicly echoed that view.
Continue reading at Politico
Michigan Democrat says she ‘can’t just be an activist’ and calls on party to act
One constituent pressed the freshman senator on how she would “step up for us now” in the way, the person said, that Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jasmine Crockett and Sen. Bernie Sanders have been “screaming, enraged, passionate” in response to the Trump administration.
“Everyone you mentioned has a lot of words, but what have they actually done to change the situation with Donald Trump and the cuts and the attacks on our judiciary and the attacks on our Constitution?” Slotkin asked, before touting her national security and intelligence background, which she noted required “prudent planning.”
Slotkin said she can’t “chain [herself] to the White House and become an activist full time,” because she has to focus on addressing issues like federal cuts.
“All of those things require me to be more than just an AOC. I can’t do what she does because we live in a purple state, and I’m a pragmatist,
Continue reading at CNN
Clyburn says prediction of ‘Jim Crow 2.0’ coming true
Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said his previous theory that the Trump administration would enact “Jim Crow 2.0” is coming true.
Clyburn joined CNN’s Brianna Keilar on Wednesday, when he was asked if he could find a line between the Democratic Party not having a proper primary in 2024 and the party’s current infighting.
“What does DEI have to do with Jackie Robinson and Medgar Evers? And what did it have to do with saying it is no longer persona non grata to have government sponsored events in segregated establishments,” Clyburn said.
“This is the establishment of Jim Crow 2.0,” he continued. “I said that before we ever had the election and it’s coming true.”
Continue reading at The Hill
‘You’re not fighting!’: Dems run into angry crowds at town halls
It was only weeks ago that House Republicans were facing their own rowdy forums.
Congressional Democrats — who were hoping to blast Republicans over budget cuts — instead took incoming from their exasperated constituents when they traveled home to host town halls.
In Arizona, Sens. Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly were confronted at a joint forum Monday by an attendee demanding to know if they “would support removing” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. In Oregon, an audience member told Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Janelle Bynum on Sunday that he is “so pissed off right now at the leadership in the United States Senate that they are not willing to step up and fight.”
“Schumer has done what I think is the most destructive thing that he could possibly do as Democratic leader,” another cried on Saturday to Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont.
And those reactions were relatively mild compared to the scene that played out in the Washington suburbs Tuesday night when Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) held a town hall.
“You’re not fighting!” one woman shouted from the balcony, before being escorted out. “We are suffering!”
Continue reading at Politico
Today’s news
5 questions facing the Fed ahead of its rate decision
The Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates steady Wednesday despite growing concerns about the strength of the U.S. economy.
Measures of economic confidence spanning consumers, households and small businesses have taken a dive in recent weeks, and some performance projections are starting to follow suit.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) revised its 2025 outlook for the U.S. on Monday to 2.2-percent annual growth, down from 2.4 percent in December. Projected output for 2026 was knocked back to 1.6-percent growth from 2.1 percent.
Dips in sentiment do not guarantee that conditions will actually get worse, but they can be a sign of slower economic times ahead. The Fed will need to manage the narrative on the economy this week in addition to economic conditions themselves, especially with the bank set to release new projections on the economy.
Here are five questions facing the Fed ahead of its March policy decision.
Continue reading at The Hill
Money managers' vibes are off
The headline on Bank of America's monthly fund manager survey is "Bull crash" — the idea being that when sentiment plunges as much as this, that's normally a positive sign for the market.
Why it matters: As Warren Buffett — who's handily beating the market this year — likes to say, "Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful."
By the numbers: Sentiment among global fund managers has taken a startling turn for the worse over the past month.
The net share of managers expecting the global economy to be stronger this year than last year was a modest -2% in February. In March, it was -44%. That's the second biggest drop in global growth expectations ever.
Similarly, while a net +17% of fund managers were overweight U.S. stocks last month, this month that figure fell to -23%, showing that most managers are now underweight the U.S. market. That 40-point fall in one month is the largest ever.
Between the lines: When fund managers are this pessimistic, they sell — which helps explain why the markets have been falling.
Continue reading at Axios
Trump crackdown has student protesters retrenching, vowing to fight back
In recent weeks, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has gone after those who were involved in last year’s encampments protesting Israel’s war in Gaza, arresting one green card holder and revoking the student visa of another, while also detaining and deporting a foreign-born professor.
The headline-grabbing events have caused some students to retreat and hide any evidence they were involved in the movement out of fear of retaliation. But others have found a second wind after the Palestinian cause struggled to maintain momentum on campus this year.
“There’s two sides, right? You’ll definitely have people who are international students or those in precarious positions who are undoubtedly limiting their protests, having to change their Instagrams or going private on social media” due to the Trump administration’s actions, said Momodou Taal, a British graduate student at Cornell University who has already been suspended and reinstated on campus due to his role in pro-Palestinian protests.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump turns to deadly force in Middle East peace push
Trump has long warned the U.S. would “unleash hell” on Hamas if it refused to release the hostages it has held since its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. And his administration quickly sought to blame Hamas for the renewed hostilities.
The surprise attacks enraged critics of Israel’s war in Gaza — with Hamas officials reporting that more than 400 Palestinians were killed — and left the families of hostages urging a return to negotiations.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy called the civilian casualties from Israeli strikes overnight “appalling” and called on Hamas and Israel to “re-engage with negotiations to get hostages out, surge aid, and secure a permanent end” to the conflict.
Continue reading at The Hill
Fight brews over Trump’s million-dollar campaign war chest
President Trump’s political operation is sitting on hundreds of billions of dollars, a staggering amount for a political figure who is term-limited.
The campaign stands to make much more when Elon Musk is reportedly set to give another $100 million.
That has raised the questions about just how Trump will go about using his enormous financial firepower in the months and years to come, a debate that is already playing out among some in the president’s orbit.
“The question about the war chest and what it’s being used for is a very big conversation that’s occurring,” one source familiar with the matter told The Hill.
Continue reading at The Hill
GOP lawmakers conflicted over Trump’s clash with judiciary
Trump and his allies are directing their attacks more frequently against judges who threaten to slow or block the president’s ambitious agenda, putting GOP lawmakers in an uncomfortable spot.
Republican officeholders are leery of criticizing Trump for fear of becoming the target of his wrath or a primary challenge, yet privately they worry about the president’s efforts to expand his executive power, which could reverberate far into the future.
Continue reading at The Hill
Voters boo Nebraska Republican over Musk, Ukraine, Trump tariffs during raucous town hall
Rep. Mike Flood’s (R-Neb.) town hall turned raucous Tuesday night as he fielded questions from voters about Elon Musk, President Trump’s tariffs, the White House’s posture towards Ukraine and more, with attendees booing and yelling at the congressman throughout the event.
Flood — who represents Nebraska’s first congressional district — held the town hall in Columbus, Nebraska, despite House GOP leaders advising their members to avoid in-person town halls and instead host phone and live-streamed versions. The guidance came after several GOP lawmaker town halls went viral for protests and complaints about the Trump administration, which Republicans have blamed on Democratic activists.
Flood’s town hall — which ran for more than an hour — was tense from the start, with the crowd booing parts of the congressman’s responses, yelling back at his remarks and cheering when a voter raised a complaint. At one point, an attendee held a sign that read “LIAR.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Video starts a few minutes in
Mike Johnson’s latest headache: The hard right’s doomed push to impeach judges
The speaker has to deal with a new Trump-driven demand just as he moves to put the GOP’s policy agenda into overdrive.
Hard-right House Republicans have a new project — impeaching federal judges who have questioned President Donald Trump’s powers — and it’s quickly turning into the latest headache for Speaker Mike Johnson.
The push to remove jurists who have sought to halt Trump’s firings of federal employees, access to sensitive government systems and deportations of alleged foreign gang members has virtually no chance of succeeding, given the 67-vote requirement in the Senate for removal.
But it is nonetheless quickly turning into a major distraction for House GOP leaders after Trump himself called on social media Tuesday for the Washington-based judge who ordered the grounding of some deportation flights to be “IMPEACHED!!!” It threatens to sap political capital and antagonize key GOP blocs just as Johnson is hoping to put Trump’s sweeping domestic policy agenda into overdrive.
Continue reading at Politico
Playbook
The court-case presidency
In today’s Playbook …
▶ President Donald Trump rejects an Andrew Jackson Moment
▶ Fed publishes quarterly report at 2 p.m. with red lights flashing for the U.S. economy
▶ Pressure mounts on Chuck Schumer as first Dem congressman calls for him to quit
THIS FAR BUT NO FARTHER: Donald Trump vowed last night that he has never, and will never, defy the courts — even as his war on the judiciary hits new heights. In an interview with Fox News (by my count, the fifth of his eight-week presidency), Trump bluntly told the MAGA faithful that “you can’t” just ignore the rulings of the judicial branch. It comes with the president still locked in a ferocious battle with U.S. District Judge James Boasberg over the government’s deportation of around 250 Venezuelan migrants Saturday, despite a court order blocking their removal. Boasberg has given the administration until midday to provide details of what happened.
Filter out the noise: This was a TV moment that actually mattered. Trump gave a similar response at a brief press huddle last month — but last night was a sit-down interview on MAGA TV, and came in the context of this week’s relentless attacks on the judiciary from Trump world. The president blustered and raged plenty more through the interview — but on the substantive point, he was clear. “I never did defy a court order,” he told Laura Ingraham. Pressed if he might do so in the future, he said: “No, you can’t do that.” Watch the clip.
On the other hand: “However, we have bad judges,” Trump said. “I think at a certain point, you have to start looking at what do you do when you have a rogue judge?” Watch that clip here.
The context: Even by Trump’s standards, his assaults on the courts these past few days have been pretty extreme — drawing a rare rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts. Trump continued his diatribe on Fox News last night and was still going on Truth Social after midnight. His supporters are wading in too, with policy guru Stephen Miller tweeting 17 times about the judiciary yesterday, and MAGA podcaster Charlie Kirk and White House adviser Elon Musk adding to the noise. There should be more action today when press secretary Karoline Leavitt holds a 1 p.m. briefing.
But Trump has set his boundary … for now, at least. The Trump 2.0 project has pushed the limits of executive action like nothing before, often slowing or watering down the courts’ interventions.
Continue reading the Politico Playbook newsletter
‘Deeply concerned’: Crash victims’ families ask DOT not to water down Tesla oversight
The families of several people killed or seriously injured in crashes involving Teslas using self-driving technologies are asking Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy not to allow Elon Musk to influence crash probes or oversight rules.
The families of several people who died or were seriously injured in Tesla crashes involving self-driving technologies urged the Transportation Department on Tuesday to continue scrutinizing the electric vehicle company, saying they fear oversight of Elon Musk’s company will suffer under the Trump administration.
In a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, seven families say they are worried that the Trump administration will repeal a rule that requires companies to report vehicle crashes involving advanced driver assistance technologies or automated driving systems, such as the erroneously-named suite of Tesla features called “Autopilot“ and “full self driving.” In addition, the letter asks Duffy to ensure ongoing federal probes into Tesla continue “free from improper influence.”
Continue reading at Politico
Inside Trump's Supreme plot on immigration
Why it matters: Trump's plan revolves around two cases and obscure laws that have ignited lawsuits and sent shockwaves through the immigration system over successive weekends:
Invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport accused Venezuelan gang members without immigration hearings. Nearly 140 were flown out of the U.S. on Saturday in a controversial operation that left a federal district judge fuming that his order to turn the plane around had been ignored.
Using the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 to detain pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, who helped lead protests at Columbia University. The administration says the courts have little say over Secretary of State Marco Rubio's determination that Khalil should be deported as a national security risk for protesting against U.S. foreign policy.
Zoom in: Between the two cases, Trump administration officials and their allies see five major questions they'd like to put before the Supreme Court.
Continue reading at Axios
The drama isn't over for federal workers
All over the country, fired federal workers got a bit of good news this week — they're getting their jobs back. For now, anyway.
Why it matters: The recently rehired could soon become the newly re-fired, and the productivity of the entire federal workforce is taking another hit.
Where it stands: Two federal judges have ordered agencies to reinstate the tens of thousands of probationary workers they've terminated over the past month, but the White House is appealing those orders.
Meanwhile, the administration has also told agencies to do even more layoffs — this time through the more formal process of reductions in force, or RIFs.
The big picture: In other words, people were fired, now they're being rehired and it's quite possible they'll lose their jobs again — either via a court ruling or another round of layoffs.
Continue reading at Axios
1. Fallout from Trump research cuts expands across academia
Why it matters: Experts predict the face of university research could be permanently changed, affecting work on treatments for cancer, Alzheimer's, and diabetes, among other conditions, along with studies on the underpinnings of disease.
"There are no other revenue sources that could cover those costs," said Jonathan Teyan, CEO of the Associated Medical Schools of New York. The National Institutes of Health "is the single-largest funder of science in the nation and you can't just sort of shift costs from other areas to cover this."
State of play: The University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School rescinded provisional offers to dozens of biomedical Ph.D. students this month, "to ensure that our current students' progress is not disrupted" amid funding uncertainties, a spokesperson told Axios.
Johns Hopkins University last week moved to eliminate more than 2,200 staff positions, including 247 in the U.S., following the termination of more than $800 million in USAID funding, primarily to its school of public health and a global health affiliate.
The termination of more than 400 NIH grants to Columbia University over its handling of Gaza protests will directly impact Alzheimer's and cancer research, Notus reported. It also likely tanked a landmark 30-year-diabetes prevention study, Stat reported.
Elsewhere, Stanford announced a hiring freeze tied to NIH cuts, Baylor's College of Medicine said it will scale back expansion plans and trim its incoming graduate school class while Emory's public health school warned of "potentially radical adjustments."
Continue reading at Axios
2. Contract research jobs hit hard, too
The fallout of federal cuts led by DOGE appears to be extending to contract research organizations as well, with layoffs announced at the likes of Urban Institute and RTI International.
Driving the news: Urban Institute, which studies economic and social policy, announced it's cutting 52 people, or 9% of its workforce, due to "recent and anticipated cuts in federal research funding." It declined to specify how many of those cut were working in the health policy space.
Continue reading at Axios
Homes for sale could become harder to find
This tough housing market could soon get even trickier to navigate.
Why it matters: Some real estate companies want to list homes on private networks, fueling fears that buyers might struggle to access them.
How it works: Right now, most homes for sale are widely viewable online and on multiple listing services (MLS), the databases brokers use.
A few brokerages are pushing for more leeway to privately share listings with their agents and clients before advertising them publicly on the MLS.
The National Association of Realtors is considering a rule change this month that could allow it, per HousingWire.
What they're saying: Sellers should have "a choice of where, when, and how to advertise their home for sale," Robert Reffkin, CEO of Compass, one of the largest U.S. brokerages, tells Axios.
Private listing advocates like Reffkin say the status quo hurts home values by making sellers reveal details such as price drops and time on the market.
Continue reading at Axios
Nestle recalling some Lean Cuisine, Stouffer’s meals over possible ‘wood-like material’
Nestle says it is recalling a limited quantity of Lean Cuisine and Stouffers meals because they could contain “wood-like material,” according to a news release.
The recall is for batches of Lean Cuisine Butternut Squash Ravioli, Lean Cuisine Spinach Artichoke Ravioli, Lean Cuisine Lemon Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry, and Stouffer’s Party Size Chicken Lasagna that were produced between August 2024 and March 2025.
The products were distributed at major retailers throughout the U.S. between September 2024 and March 2025.
Continue reading at The Hill
Crawford airs new ad tying Schimel to Musk in Wisconsin Supreme Court race
Liberal candidate Susan Crawford’s campaign is up with a new ad tying conservative candidate Brad Schimel to Elon Musk in the high-stakes Wisconsin Supreme Court race.
“How corrupt is Brad Schimel? Let’s count the ways,” says a narrator in the 30-second ad, news of which was first shared with The Hill. “One, Schimel gave a plea deal to a man caught with child porn. After the man’s lawyer gave his campaign thousands of dollars.”
“Two, Schimel let 6,000 rape kits sit untested for years, then lied about it,” it continues. “Three, now Elon Musk is trying to buy Schimel a seat on the Supreme Court because he knows Schimel always helps his big campaign donors.”
The narrator concludes: “That’s Brad Schimel and he’s way too corrupt for the Supreme Court.”
Continue reading at The Hill
‘It’s a Heist’: Real Federal Auditors Are Horrified by DOGE
WIRED talked to actual federal auditors about how government auditing works—and how DOGE is doing the opposite.
Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has spent the first six weeks of the new Trump administration turning the federal government upside down. It has moved from agency to agency, accessing sensitive data and payment systems, all on a supposed crusade to audit the government and stop fraud, waste, and abuse. DOGE has posted some of its “findings” on its website, many of which have been revealed to be errors.
But two federal auditors with years of experience, who have both worked on financial and technical audits for the government, say that DOGE’s actions are the furthest thing from what an actual audit looks like. Both asked to speak on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t permitted to speak to the press.
“Honestly, comparing real auditing to what DOGE is doing, there’s no comparison,” says one of the auditors who spoke to WIRED. “None of them are auditors.”
Continue reading at Wired
FTC Removes Posts Critical of Amazon, Microsoft, and AI Companies
Business-guidance content published during the Biden administration has been removed from the Federal Trade Commission website.
On the FTC’s website, the page hosting all of the agency’s business-related blogs and guidance no longer includes any information published during former president Joe Biden’s administration, current and former FTC employees, who spoke under anonymity for fear of retaliation, tell WIRED. These blogs contained advice from the FTC on how big tech companies could avoid violating consumer protection laws.
One now deleted blog, titled “Hey, Alexa! What are you doing with my data?” explains how, according to two FTC complaints, Amazon and its Ring security camera products allegedly leveraged sensitive consumer data to train the ecommerce giant’s algorithms. (Amazon disagreed with the FTC’s claims.) It also provided guidance for companies operating similar products and services. Another post titled “$20 million FTC settlement addresses Microsoft Xbox illegal collection of kids’ data: A game changer for COPPA compliance” instructs tech companies on how to abide by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act by using the 2023 Microsoft settlement as an example. The settlement followed allegations by the FTC that Microsoft obtained data from children using Xbox systems without the consent of their parents or guardians.
Continue reading at Wired
The Way Texans Elect School Board Members Plays a Key Role in What Students in Diverse Districts Learn
Reporting Highlights
Elections: The way Texas school districts elect their board members plays a key, if often overlooked, role in whether ideologically driven conservatives win majorities.
Diverse Districts: In some of Texas’ most diverse school districts, board members elected via at-large voting have worked to limit instructional materials related to race.
Divergent Paths: After abandoning its at-large voting system in 2019, the Richardson school board became more diverse and refused to ban library books, unlike its neighbor in Keller.
In 2019, the Keller Independent School District in North Texas looked a lot like its counterpart just 30 miles to the east in the Dallas suburb of Richardson. Each served about 35,000 children and had experienced sharp increases in the racial diversity of students in recent decades. Each was run by a school board that was almost entirely white.
In the five years since, the districts have followed strikingly divergent paths as culture war battles over how to teach race and gender exploded across the state.
In Keller, candidates backed by groups seeking to limit the teaching of race and gender took control of the school board and immediately passed sweeping policies that gave outsized power to any individual who wanted to prevent the purchase of books they believed to be unsuitable for children.
Though more than half of Keller’s students are from racially diverse backgrounds, the district in 2023 nixed a plan to buy copies of a biography of Black poet Amanda Gorman after a teacher at a religious private school who had no children in the district complained about this passage: “Amanda realized that all the books she had read before were written by white men. Discovering a book written by people who look like her helped Amanda find her own voice.” The passage, the woman wrote, “makes it sound like it’s okay to judge a book by the authors skin color rather than the content of the book.”
Board members at the Richardson school district went in the opposite direction, even as they contended with similar pressure from groups aiming to rid the district of any materials that they claimed pushed critical race theory, an advanced academic concept that discusses systemic racism. The school board did not ban library books but instead allowed parents to limit their own children’s access to them, keeping them available for other students.
Continue reading at ProPublica
Note from Rima: Decisions made about curriculum in textbooks in Texas affect the entire nation’s textbooks.
Canadian airline cancels flights to Tennessee as other US routes suspended
In response to tariffs enacted by President Trump, Canadians have made their opinion of the U.S. clear, booing the country’s national anthem at NHL and NBA games and removing American-made goods — including Tennessee whiskey — from their store shelves.
Recent reports show Canadians are also avoiding any trips to the U.S. According to the Canadian Press, they have been canceling travel plans. Data from travel agency Flight Centre Travel Group Canada showed leisure bookings to U.S. cities dropped 40 percent in February over last February, with one in five customers canceling U.S. trips over the previous three months.
Canadian airlines have taken note. One in particular, Flair Airlines, recently announced it would end flights to Nashville.
“I can confirm that Flair won’t be flying to Nashville this summer,” said Kim Bowie, director of communications for Flair Airlines. According to Flair’s website, the airline’s flights to Nashville are its only route to Tennessee.
Continue reading at The Hill
‘You see?’ Russia broke Trump’s hyped partial Ukraine ceasefire after 1 hour
Moscow struck civilian infrastructure Tuesday night, prompting Ukraine to respond with counterattacks.
A highly touted partial ceasefire in Ukraine, brokered by Donald Trump, disintegrated shortly after the end of a phone call between the U.S. president and Russian leader Vladimir Putin during which it was agreed.
An hour after the confab, where the two leaders settled on a very partial 30-day ceasefire halting attacks on “energy and infrastructure,” 40 Russian drones flew into Ukrainian airspace, striking civilian buildings including a hospital in Sumy, in northeastern Ukraine, and an energy substation in Sloviansk, Donetsk region.
“You see? [There is] already an air alert, so this [ceasefire] is already not working,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday night while speaking to reporters.
Zelenskyy also noted that if Russia does not adhere to the fragile ceasefire, Ukraine will fight back: “There won’t be a situation where Russia will continue to shell our energy infrastructure and we won’t respond. We will respond.”
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Zelenskyy says he has call with Trump after White House’s failed bid to halt Putin
Ukrainian president says the Russian leader’s “words are at odds with reality,” as ceasefire talks go nowhere helpful for Kyiv.
HELSINKI — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that he would be speaking to U.S. President Donald Trump today, following a call between the White House and Kremlin that failed to agree on a full ceasefire in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy was speaking in Helsinki, during a press conference alongside Finnish President Alexander Stubb, during which he noted that Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s “words are at odds with reality.”
“I will be contacting President Trump today, we will be discussing the details” of his call with Moscow, Zelenskyy added.
Following the eagerly anticipated Trump-Putin call on Tuesday, a much-hyped ceasefire of energy infrastructure strikes lasted barely an hour, as Russia bombarded Ukraine with drones and Kyiv struck back at an oil depot in the Krasnodar region.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
‘Punching allies in the face’: Trump sparks US weapons conundrum for Europe
The U.S. president’s repeated attacks have raised worries about Washington’s reliability, but decades of dependence on American equipment has no quick fix.
Europe’s dependence on American weapons is facing a reckoning thanks to Donald Trump.
His administration’s unpredictability and repeated attacks on NATO partners are forcing a rethink of arms purchases by some key allies. For the U.S. industry, the sales pitch they’ve relied on for decades — American weapons like fighter jets and air defenses that come with a key bonus of U.S. protection — is falling flat.
While no radical decisions have been made, warning lights are flashing in allied capitals. Portugal and Canada are both getting cold feet about ordering the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter, while France is again ramping up its traditional push for European governments to buy more arms at home.
On Wednesday, the European Commission presented a €150 billion weapons-buying plan. It mostly excludes the U.S.
“Selling the F-35, or American systems for that matter, will certainly become more complicated for American companies,” said Gesine Weber, a Paris-based fellow at transatlantic think tank German Marshall Fund.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
German defense minister slams Trump-Putin partial ceasefire deal
“Putin is playing a game, and I am certain that the American president will not be able to watch for long without reacting,” said Boris Pistorius.
BERLIN — German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius lambasted United States President Donald Trump’s highly touted partial ceasefire in Ukraine.
“After this supposedly groundbreaking, great phone call, the Russian attacks have not decreased,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told German broadcaster ZDF on Wednesday, taking a jab at Trump and dismissing the deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “zero.”
Trump had lauded his conversation with Putin as “very good and productive,” and a White House readout of the discussion declared it the beginning of an "energy and infrastructure ceasefire.”
However, within hours of the call, Russian forces launched a new round of airstrikes on Kyiv and other regions.
Pistorius argued that Putin's aim was to further weaken Ukraine and allow Russian troops to rearm and amass along the front lines. “Putin is playing a game, and I am certain that the American president will not be able to watch for long without reacting,” he said.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
EU risks more Trump tariffs in looming Big Tech crackdown
A series of decisions against Apple, Meta and Google could open up a new front in the EU-U.S. trade war.
Starting Wednesday, the European Commission is staring down a series of deadlines to decide whether Apple, Meta and Google are in breach of the EU's digital competition laws; decisions which, at least on paper, could see the companies hit with fines of up to 10 percent of their worldwide revenues.
The timing’s awkward. In recent weeks, the bloc’s Digital Markets Act has come under sustained fire from United States President Donald Trump, who said it amounts to “overseas extortion” of American companies. As Trump turns up the heat in a global trade war, the White House has gone so far as to threaten additional tariffs in response to the EU’s tech regulation.
But the Commission’s hands are tied. An immovable deadline for the Commission to tell Apple exactly how it should open its products and services up to rivals runs out on March 19.
Normally, this would be uncontroversial; a procedural step in getting a company to comply with a new law. But any decision to censure Big Tech under the DMA risks angering Trump, who last week called Apple “a great company.”
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Chips and cookies have gotten too expensive. Shoppers are buying less
Americans are cutting back on Doritos, Goldfish and Hostess cakes. It’s not for their health, however – it’s a sign that even small indulgences have gotten too expensive for many to afford.
“Consumers are cutting back on non-essentials and stretching the value they get out of every dollar. That’s hitting snacking,” said Chris Costalgi, a vice president at market research firm NIQ, in an interview with CNN. Forty-two percent of consumers say they are buying fewer snacks because of higher prices, according to NIQ’s February survey of 1,000 consumers.
Continue reading at CNN
Trump doubles down on attack against judge after Roberts rebuke
“If a President doesn’t have the right to throw murderers, and other criminals, out of our Country because a Radical Left Lunatic Judge wants to assume the role of President, then our Country is in very big trouble, and destined to fail!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
The post was referring to U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg, who over the weekend ordered flights carrying Venezuelan migrants who were allegedly linked to the Tren de Aragua gang to El Salvador to be turned around. The administration has said the flights were already out of U.S. territory at the time, while also suggesting Boasberg did not have the authority to intervene in the matter.
Continue reading at The Hill
Musk: ‘They basically wanna kill me because I’m stopping their fraud’
Tech billionaire Elon Musk, a close adviser to President Trump, said his life was in danger over his heavy involvement in the administration and some may want him dead because he is “stopping their fraud.”
Musk, who was originally tapped by Trump late last year to head up the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), told Fox News’s Sean Hannity Tuesday night that “when you take away people’s … fraud, the money they’re receiving fraudulently, they get very upset, and they basically want to kill me because I’m stopping their fraud.”
He added, “And they want to hurt Tesla because we’re stopping this terrible waste and corruption in the government. And, well, I guess they’re bad people. Bad people do bad things.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Minnesota lawmaker behind ‘Trump derangement syndrome’ bill accused of soliciting teen
Minnesota state Sen. Justin Eichorn (R) was arrested for soliciting a teen on Monday, authorities said, hours after he introduced a bill proposing “Trump derangement syndrome” (TDS) as a form of mental illness.
Bloomington Police Department detectives had communicated with Eichorn, who was under the assumption he was talking to a 17-year-old female, police said. He arrived Monday to meet the teen in person but was instead met by local officers.
He was later booked at the Bloomington Police Department jail and was expected to be transported to the Hennepin County Adult Detention Center. A felony charge of soliciting a minor to practice prostitution was pending, authorities said in a statement Tuesday.
Continue reading at The Hill
Ty Cobb dismisses Trump saying he would not defy court order: ‘This is nuts’
Former Trump White House attorney Ty Cobb dismissed President Trump’s recent assertion that he would not defy a court order even if the president does not agree with it.
“Oh no, they’ve made it plain. [Border czar] Tom Homan said ‘we don’t care what the judge has said. [Attorney General] Pam Bondi made it plain when she introduced Trump last Friday at the Justice Department that she and her people were there to support of him,” Cobb said Tuesday during an appearance on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront.”
“That’s actually not the oath they take, they take an oath to serve and protect the Constitution,” he added.
Continue reading at The Hill
Judge temporarily bars EPA from clawing back $14B in green bank grants
A federal judge in Washington, D.C. has temporarily barred the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from clawing back billions of dollars given out under the Biden administration to help finance climate friendly projects.
The Trump administration sought to end the grants, which are part of a $20 billion climate program, claiming “waste, fraud and abuse.”
But Judge Tanya Chutkan, an Obama appointee, found that the agency was unable to provide evidence of wrongdoing.
Specifically, she said officials offered “no specific information about such investigations, factual support for the decision, or an individualized explanation for each Plaintiff.”
“This is insufficient.”
Continue reading at The Hill
US Institute for Peace sues to block ‘literal trespass and takeover’ by DOGE
The U.S. Institute for Peace (USIP) is asking a court to block the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from dismantling the agency, saying it experienced a “literal trespass and takeover by force” by its personnel.
“On March 17, 2025, the attacks culminated in the literal trespass and takeover by force by Defendants, including representatives of DOGE, of the Institute’s headquarters building on Constitution Avenue. Once physically inside the Institute’s headquarters, DOGE personnel and other representatives of Defendants have plundered the offices in an effort to access and gain control of the Institute’s infrastructure, including sensitive computer systems,” the institute wrote in its court filing.
The institute has asked for a temporary restraining order to “stop Defendants from completing the unlawful dismantling of the Institute and irreparably impairing Plaintiffs’ ability to perform their vital peace promotion and conflict resolution work as tasked by Congress.”
California Democrat takes on ‘ultra-processed food’ — and RFK Jr.
A state lawmaker says his push to revamp school lunches “predates” the national health secretary.
SACRAMENTO, California — In many ways, state lawmaker Jesse Gabriel was trying to make California healthy again before Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Gabriel, a Democratic assemblymember from the Los Angeles area, has been on a tear in recent years getting synthetic dyes and artificial preservatives out of snacks and school lunches. His newest proposal in Sacramento, reported first by POLITICO’s California Playbook, would define “ultra-processed food,” and phase it out of the billion school meals California serves every year.
It could be the first time a definition of ultra-processed food has ever been set down in law, anywhere in the world, according to Gabriel’s office.
But he isn’t thinking about RFK Jr. In an interview with POLITICO, Gabriel didn’t mention the secretary of Health and Human Services by name even once.
“I’ve never spoken to him, we haven’t worked with him on any of this,” Gabriel said. “This has been an effort that predates him and has been successful. We have developed a formula here in California that is working for us, this common sense, science-based, bipartisan approach, and that’s the formula that we’re gonna keep working with.”
Gabriel gained a reputation in the past few years as the “Skittles” lawmaker. His 2023 law banned four chemicals (like brominated vegetable oil and red dye 3) from any food sold in the state and his 2024 law exorcised synthetic dyes (like red 40) from school meals.
Continue reading at Politico California
Mahmoud Khalil's case should be heard in New Jersey, judge says
A federal judge on Wednesday denied the Trump administration's request to dismiss Columbia University alumnus Mahmoud Khalil's challenge to his arrest by immigration authorities and agreed his case should be moved to New Jersey.
The big picture: The arrest of Khalil, a key leader in Columbia's pro-Palestinian protests and a green card holder, sparked mass concern among immigration and free speech advocates, as the administration promises more arrests to come.
Driving the news: District Judge Jesse Furman agreed with the government in part of his order, saying that Khalil's case should not be heard in the Southern District of New York.
Continue reading at Axios
A new nuke wave washes over the world
There's an uneasy nuclear weapons future ahead.
The big picture: Decades of order now feel disordered. Proliferation is again a kitchen-table topic; your parents are probably sending you headlines right now.
An ascendant China, a trigger-happy Russia and rollercoaster politics in the U.S., among other factors, are prompting conversations of the deadliest stakes. Nukes are no joke.
Driving the news: The Federation of American Scientists warned in its latest accounting that Beijing has "significantly expanded" its program by "fielding more types and greater numbers of nuclear weapons than ever before."
The effort includes continued development of missile silo fields and bases for road-mobile launchers as well as reassignment of bombers with an air-launched ballistic missile that "might have nuclear capability."
Meanwhile, weapon whispers are heard in:
France, where President Emmanuel Macron is mulling the reach of his nuclear umbrella.
Germany, where Friedrich Merz, the soon-to-be chancellor, welcomed discussions about shared arsenals while also acknowledging the heft of U.S. arms.
Poland, where President Andrzej Duda called on Washington to send some of its weapons into his country — a move that would abbreviate flight times and anger Russia.
Continue reading at Axios
‘I knew that threats would increase’: Clashes over abortion clinic safety intensify after Trump’s pardons
Democratic state lawmakers are trying to bolster protections, but those efforts are imperiled by legal fights.
Abortion rights supporters across the country are scrambling to strengthen protections for clinics in response to moves by the Trump administration that they believe will put providers and patients in danger.
Democratic lawmakers have introduced bills in Illinois, Michigan, New York and elsewhere to restrict demonstrations outside of clinics, increase criminal penalties for people who harass doctors and patients, or allocate more funds for abortion providers to buy security cameras, bulletproof glass and other protections.
In recent weeks, a handful of Democratic governors have held phone calls to debate whether to push for new laws or ramp up enforcement of existing ones. And some Democratic attorneys general are visiting abortion clinics to hear their workers’ fears and requests, and training law enforcement on how to respond when demonstrators break the law.
The moves come in response to President Donald Trump pardoning abortion protesters convicted of federal crimes and reducing enforcement of a decades-old law that prohibits interference with anyone seeking reproductive health services.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump administration considers plan to eliminate CDC's HIV prevention division
If the administration does move forward with the plan, the CDC’s HIV prevention work could move over to another department under HHS.
The Trump administration is considering a plan to eliminate the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s division focused on HIV prevention and potentially move its responsibilities over to another department within the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a source familiar with the plan.
The plan to eliminate the CDC's Division on HIV Prevention is still in the "very, very preliminary stages," the source said, and no final call has been made yet.
A memo circling among HIV prevention advocates — who began hearing rumors of the possible move earlier Tuesday — claimed that the plan could be implemented within "48 hours," but the source said it would likely "be a little longer than that."
HIV prevention advocates warned the drastic change could force states to bear the burden on prevention programs and could cost U.S. taxpayers millions of dollars if the virus resurges.
There are approximately 1.1 to 1.2 million people who are highly vulnerable to acquiring HIV in the U.S., according to Jesse Milan, president and CEO of AIDS United, a nonprofit group.
Continue reading at NBC News
News Alert: DOJ seeks to delay releasing deportation flight information, saying judge is "continuing to beat a dead horse"
The Justice Department is mounting a last-minute bid to avoid providing a federal judge with more information about deportations the Trump administration carried out last weekend under the Alien Enemies Act, saying the request could impact national security.
The pending questions are grave encroachments on core aspects of absolute and unreviewable Executive Branch authority relating to national security, foreign relations, and foreign policy,†the DOJ told Judge James Boasberg in a filing Wednesday morning.
The emergency filing from Attorney General Pam Bondi and other top DOJ officials to Boasberg comes just hours before a noon deadline for the government to provide the judge, under seal, with answers to a slew of questions about the deportations — including the exact timing of when two planes carrying migrants took off from US soil and left US airspace on Saturday, as well as the specific times individuals deported pursuant to President Donald Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act were transferred out of US custody that day.
Continue reading at CNN
Trump administration chastises judge for making deportation flight case ‘a picayune dispute’
The Justice Department chastised a federal judge’s demand for information about deportation flights that left the country over the weekend, accusing him of “digressive micromanagement” in a new court filing Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered the Trump administration to provide him the details under seal by midday Wednesday as the judge investigates whether officials violated his Saturday court order to turn around airborne planes, which has been met with a firestorm from Trump and many of his allies.
“What began as a dispute between litigants over the President’s authority to protect the national security and manage the foreign relations of the United States pursuant to both a longstanding Congressional authorization and the President’s core constitutional authorities has devolved into a picayune dispute over the micromanagement of immaterial factfinding,” the Justice Department wrote.
Continue reading at The Hill
AFT sues Education Department over removal of IDR student loan applications
At the end of February, the Education Department removed access to IDR plans after the 8th Circuit Court of Appeal ruled the Biden administration’s Saving on Valuable Education IDR plan was illegal.
Though the department says the move is temporary, this means borrowers cannot apply for IDR plans such as the Public Service Forgiveness Loan program, which is a popular option for teachers.
“The AFT has fought tirelessly to make college more affordable by limiting student debt for public service workers and countless others — progress that’s now in jeopardy because of this illegal and immoral decision to deny borrowers their rights under the law,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten.
“Today, we’re suing to restore access to the statutory programs that are an anchor for so many, and that cannot be simply stripped away by executive fiat,” Weingarten added.
Continue reading at The Hill
Social Security requiring in-office visits for millions of recipients, applicants
The Social Security Administration (SSA) said Monday it will no longer allow individuals to verify their identity over the phone but instead require online authentication or in-person visits for those seeking benefit claims and direct deposit changes.
“SSA will permit individuals who do not or cannot use the agency’s online my Social Security services to start their claim for benefits on the telephone. However, the claim cannot be completed until the individual’s identity is verified in person,” a blog post on the SSA website reads.
“The agency therefore recommends calling to request an in-person appointment to begin and complete the claim in one interaction,” it continued.
Changes are set to go into full effect March 31, impacting more than 72 million Americans who rely on the platform amid a slew of planned office closures across the country.
Continue reading at The Hill
How major law firms are responding to Trump’s attacks
Law firms are torn on how to handle the new Trump administration as the president targets some of their own.
Now, as he returns triumphant from the political wilderness, Trump finds a Washington legal community facing a dilemma — keep their heads down and avoid cases that may pit them against the administration, or continue representing clients that might anger a president increasingly willing to use his power to seek vengeance.
“Back then nobody believed that there would be retaliation against the institution or them personally for taking these actions,” said a former partner at a major firm granted anonymity to speak candidly. “Nobody was thinking, I’ve got to worry whether it could really hurt my law firm if I took this on. And that’s the huge change we’re in now.”
POLITICO talked to more than five lawyers for this story and most were granted anonymity in order to speak candidly without fear of Trump’s retribution. Much of the trepidation inside big firms comes from Trump’s new strategy of signing executive orders seemingly aimed at destroying firms in retaliation for perceived wrongs dating back a decade.
On Friday, Trump signed an order sanctioning the firm Paul Weiss for the work of their former employee Mark Pomerantz, who later investigated Trump’s finances and payments to porn star Stormy Daniels for the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. Pomerantz resigned from the DA’s office in 2022 before Trump was indicted. The order cuts the firm off from government contracts and even restricts their lawyers from entering certain government buildings.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump’s order to cut main street lending program earns GOP rebuke
An executive order from the president would slash funding for a program relied on by community entrepreneurs and strongly supported by lawmakers from both parties.
Republican lawmakers are expressing apprehension over a plan by the Trump administration to gut federal spending on a program some have called a “lifeline” for small businesses in districts and states they represent.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order late Friday directing agencies to eliminate “to the maximum extent” the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund — a longtime, bipartisan program that provides millions of dollars annually to lenders operating in poorer rural and urban areas underserved by big banks.
“The CDFI Fund is a lifeline for underserved populations to access capital & directly supports multiple Orange County credit unions that serve our community,” Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif.), a House Financial Services member, said on X. “This partnership represents the best of public-private sector collaboration & deserves our continued bipartisan support.”
Trump’s proposal to cut the fund crosses into an area lawmakers are loath to touch — assistance for the main street business community many GOP members turned to for support during the election. The administration’s latest action, which could more heavily impact red districts, may show the limits of Republican support for the administration’s cost-cutting crusade.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump and Zelensky begin call on Russia-Ukraine ceasefire
President Trump spoke on Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an effort to reach an agreement on a partial 30-day ceasefire with Russia, the White House said.
Why it matters: The call took place one day after Trump spoke for more than two hours with Russian President Vladimir Putin and tried to convince him to agree to a full and immediate ceasefire with Ukraine that would last 30 days.
Putin didn't accept Trump's proposal and presented a list of preconditions for a full ceasefire, but the White House said the Russian president did agree to a 30-day halt of attacks on energy and civilian infrastructure.
The Kremlin confirmed Putin agreed to a partial ceasefire but described it as referring only to attacks on energy infrastructure.
Continue reading at Axios
Trump says he had ‘very good telephone call’ with Zelenskyy
President Donald Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday morning, describing the hour-long conversation as “very good” in a social media post.
The call came a day after Trump’s lengthy conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who agreed to a 30-day pause to attacks on energy infrastructure but not the broader ceasefire that Ukraine and the U.S. had agreed to a week earlier.
Trump said “much of the discussion” was based on that call with Putin “in order to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs.”
Continue reading at Politico
Defense Department strikes Jackie Robinson webpage in anti-DEI purge
The U.S. Department of Defense has removed a webpage featuring baseball and civil rights pioneer Jackie Robinson, who served in the Army during World War II and segregation.
Why it matters: The removal of Robinson's Army history comes amid a massive purge of articles about soldiers of color following President Trump's executive order ending federal diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
The big picture: An Axios review found that some military websites, with several broken URLs now labeled "DEI," have erased information about Native American Code Talkers and Mexican American Medal of Honor recipients.
The move comes after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has a tattoo of a white nationalist symbol, declared that "DEI is dead."
Zoom in: The removed article on Robinson discussed his service during World War II before he broke the modern-day Major League Baseball color barrier for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Continue reading at Axios
[updated] DOD scraps, then reinstates, Jackie Robinson tribute amid DEI purge
A tribute to the baseball legend disappeared from the DOD’s website on Wednesday but was restored later in the afternoon.
A Defense Department article honoring the military legacy of baseball legend Jackie Robinson briefly joined the ranks of disappeared tributes to historic figures lauded for shattering race and gender-based barriers Wednesday, amid a broader effort to wipe out all traces of diversity, equity and inclusion across the federal government.
A tribute to Robinson, renowned for breaking through Major League Baseball’s color barrier in 1947, disappeared from the DOD’s website Wednesday but was restored later in the afternoon.
Continue reading at Politico
Massive purge of Pentagon websites includes content on Holocaust remembrance, sexual assault and suicide prevention
Articles about the Holocaust, September 11, cancer awareness, sexual assault and suicide prevention are among the tens of thousands either removed or flagged for removal from Pentagon websites as the department has scrambled to comply with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s order to scrub “diversity” content from all its platforms.
A database obtained by CNN shows that more than 24,000 articles could be purged, with many gone already. The scrub goes well beyond just the removal of images from the Pentagon’s visual database, known as DVIDS, and includes articles from across more than 1,000 websites hosted by the department.
The Pentagon previously said in a memo last month that it would be removing news and feature articles promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) content.
Pentagon Press Secretary John Ullyot said in a statement Wednesday that the Defense Department was “pleased by the rapid compliance” across the Pentagon with the directive removing DEI content from all platforms.
“In the rare cases that content is removed – either deliberately or by mistake – that is out of the clearly outlined scope of the directive, we instruct the components and they correct the content so it recognizes our heroes for their dedicated service alongside their fellow Americans, period.”
But dozens of the articles either flagged for removal or removed already — but still accessible via the Internet Archive’s Wayback machine — and reviewed by CNN have no ostensible connection to DEI programs; race theory; gender ideology or identity-based programs.
Continue reading at CNN
What to know about the U.S. Institute of Peace targeted by DOGE
What is USIP?
USIP describes itself as a "nonpartisan, independent organization dedicated to protecting U.S. interests" by helping prevent violent conflicts and brokering peace deals abroad.
The agency was founded as a nonprofit by Congress in 1984. It regularly holds briefings on Capitol Hill for members of Congress and works closely with the Department of Defense.
"USIP is governed by a bipartisan, Senate-confirmed Board of Directors that includes the Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, and President of the National Defense University," its website states.
How has the Trump administration targeted it?
President Trump singled out USIP, alongside three other entities, in a Feb. 19 executive order as ones that ought to be "eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law."
The order called on each "unnecessary governmental entity" to reduce their functions and personnel to the "minimum presence and function required by law."
Continue reading at Axios
Al Franken talks his senator role in Netflix’s ‘The Residence’ — and if he’ll run for office again
It’s art imitating life for former Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), as he plays a prominent role in a Senate hearing — in a buzzy new Netflix murder mystery.
“There’s a whole bunch of great characters in it, and it winds and surprises you all over the place,” Franken said of “The Residence.”
He takes on the part of fictional Sen. Aaron Filkins in the humor-filled whodunit, premiering Thursday on Netflix and centered on the death of a White House chief usher.
While Filkins’s political affiliation is never mentioned in the show executive produced by Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers, and although Franken said he saw the character as a Democrat, he drew inspiration from a trio of real Republican senators.
“I thought of Chuck Grassley of Iowa and [former Tennessee Sen.] Lamar Alexander, who are both very avuncular, and to some extent, Lindsey Graham [S.C.],” the “Saturday Night Live” star-turned-lawmaker said.
Continue reading at The Hill
Poll: Federal workers are dissatisfied with Musk and Trump but won’t leave willingly
Eighty percent of current federal workers polled say they aren’t actively looking for jobs.
Majorities of federal workers are dissatisfied with President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s efforts to cut the federal government but don’t have plans to voluntarily leave their jobs, a Washington Post-Ipsos poll released Wednesday found.
Fifty-six percent of federal workers surveyed believe the Trump administration will hurt government operations, while 32 percent are optimistic. Sixty-seven percent of respondents disapprove of how Elon Musk has approached the federal government, and 33 percent said they approve of his approach.
But the poll also showed that federal staffers aren’t willing to let go of their jobs so easily. Eighty-one percent of current workers surveyed said they are less likely to voluntarily leave their federal positions in the next 12 months even if their position isn’t eliminated, while 18 percent responded that they are more likely to go. Eighty percent of current federal workers polled say they aren’t actively looking for jobs.
The poll captured worker sentiment from Feb. 28 to March 10, weeks after the federal government began mass firings. These findings come in the face of resistance among some federal employees who have pledged to stay at their jobs until the administration forces them out.
Continue reading at Politico
1 big thing: The world waits on Trump
Around the world, economic policymakers are adapting to the reality that President Trump could upend their plans at a moment's notice.
Why it matters: Some global central bankers all but admit they are at the whim of Trump, with hesitancy to adjust their policy dials until they know the degree to which they will be a tariff target.
The data officials in the U.S., Europe and Japan rely on to assess their respective economies is backward-looking and can't possibly reflect fallout from opaque trade policy.
The intrigue: Central banks are no longer able "to be either the frontmen or rhythm-keepers of macro policy," Thierry Wizman, a currency and rates strategist at Macquarie, wrote in a note today.
2. What FTC firings mean for the Fed
Trump has not attempted to fire any Fed governors, who serve 14-year terms that overlap presidential terms and can, under the law, only be fired for cause.
But with last night's news, a legal reckoning over whether he has the authority to do so is inching closer.
Driving the news: Trump fired two Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission, contrary to a law that establishes the FTC is to be led by a bipartisan panel of commissioners. The two officials say they will challenge the move in court.
It follows a similar firing of a member of the National Labor Relations Board, which a district court judge has already ruled against and which is working through the appeals process.
Between the lines: Both cases are on track to test a 90-year-old Supreme Court precedent that found Congress can create independent agencies with leadership that is not subject to presidential whims.
In Humphrey's Executor v. United States, in 1935, the court ruled 9-0 that President Franklin D. Roosevelt could not fire a Senate-confirmed FTC commissioner in the middle of his term over policy disagreements.
Trump has not sought to dismiss Fed chair Jerome Powell or other governors, but if the court were to overturn Humphrey's Executor, nothing would stop him from doing so.
Continue reading at Axios
Trump meeting with oil executives
President Trump will meet with oil executives Wednesday afternoon, a senior White House official told The Hill. Around 15 executives with oil companies and the American Petroleum Institute, a lobbying group, will join.
The official declined to name the participants as of noon Wednesday but described them as leading energy companies.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright are also expected to attend.
The meeting’s agenda includes national and economic security, unleashing U.S. energy and artificial intelligence and data centers.
American Petroleum Institute spokesperson Bethany Williams praised Trump ahead of the meeting.
Continue reading at The Hill
LIVE: Fed Chair Jerome Powell holds press conference after interest rate meeting
Why a clash between the Fed’s Powell and Trump is increasingly inevitable
The Fed chair’s attempts to lay low on the economy will get a lot harder, which raises the specter of a new conflict with the president.
The Federal Reserve board’s widely anticipated quarterly forecast for the economy — due out Wednesday afternoon — is about to run smack into President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell has steadily avoided commenting on Trump’s tariff threats and other sweeping moves, but those policies are increasingly shaping prospects for the economy this year. That means central bank policymakers will have to at least partially show their hand on what they think new tariffs will mean for inflation, the labor market and interest rates.
And many other forecasters see trouble ahead.
Even as the underlying economy remains strong, researchers at megabanks like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase have slashed their estimates for how much GDP will grow this year.
What’s more, Trump’s trade wars have heightened the possibility that inflation could accelerate even while growth slows, a worst-case scenario that the Fed is not suited to addressing with its blunt tool of interest rate adjustments. Investors still expect rate reductions this year, but many expect those cuts to come because of a weakening economy, not progress on fighting inflation.
Continue reading at Politico
More law enforcement agencies stop reselling guns to prevent use in crimes
More than a dozen law enforcement agencies have stopped reselling their used guns or pledged to reconsider the practice after an investigation by The Trace, CBS News, and Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting.
The investigation, published last year, revealed that more than 52,000 former police guns had resurfaced in robberies, domestic violence incidents, homicides, and other crimes between 2006 and 2022. Many of those guns found their way into civilian hands after agencies traded them to retailers for discounts on new equipment or resold them to their own officers.
In a January report about gun trafficking, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives warned law enforcement against reselling guns because of the frequency with which former police weapons are used in violent crimes
Continue reading at CBS News
Discount Chain To Close Dozens Of Stores: What To Know In CA
The chain is the latest to announce plans to close dozens of underperforming stores nationwide, including in California.
CALIFORNIA — Dollar General plans to close nearly 100 stores nationwide during the first quarter of 2025, potentially including underperforming stores in California, the company said in an earnings report released this month.
The company said it also plans to close 45 Popshelf stores. Dollar General announced the new retail concept in 2020 featuring on-trend and seasonal home decor, health and beauty items, home cleaning supplies, and party and entertaining goods, with 95 percent of items priced at $5 or less.
The list of stores to be closed wasn’t immediately available. The company operates more than 20,000 Dollar General, DG Market, DGX and Popshelf stores in 48 states, according to its website. The stores planned for closure were identified during a “store portfolio optimization review” late last year.
Continue reading at Patch.com
Trump drastically cutting back annual human rights report
Sections on women’s rights and the security of LGBTQ+ people are among those being axed.
The Trump administration is slashing the State Department’s annual human rights report — cutting sections about the rights of women, the disabled, the LGBTQ+ community and more.
The goal appears to be a far thinner report that meets the minimum standards required by the law, according to documents obtained by POLITICO, as well as a current and a former State Department official who were familiar with the plan.
The move underscores President Donald Trump’s resistance to emphasizing human rights both domestically and in foreign policy. He and many of his aides view the issue as one that impedes America’s ability to engage with other governments on other topics, such as trade. Some Trump backers also have ideological concerns about what is included in the human rights report, such as references to abortion access . During Trump’s first term, the report was scaled back in part to devote less space to women’s reproductive rights.
The annual report is widely anticipated and read in capitals around the world, and it is relied upon heavily by advocacy organizations, lawyers and others who consider it a reliable, fact-based document.
Spokespersons for the State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Continue reading at Politico
Murkowski: Republicans quiet out of fear ‘they’re going to be taken down’
Murkowski, one of the foremost centrists in the GOP conference, told reporters Tuesday that many of her colleagues are scared of the attacks she and others who have been willing to buck Trump and the party have faced. That is why they are unwilling to take steps that put them out of line and in the crosshairs of Trump supporters and conservatives.
“I get criticized for what I say, and everybody else is like, ‘How come nobody else is saying anything?’ Well, figure it out, because they’re looking at how many things are being thrown at me, and it’s like, ‘Maybe I should just duck and cover,’” Murkowski said during an appearance at the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau.
“That’s why you’ve got everybody just zip-lipped, not saying a word because they’re afraid they’re going to be taken down — they’re going to be primaried, they’re going to be given names in the media,” she continued. “We cannot be cowed into not speaking up.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Hillary Clinton: Trump administration ‘has thrown in its lot with the autocrats’
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told an audience in Berlin, Germany, on Tuesday the Trump administration “has thrown in its lot with the autocrats.”
“Autocracy is on the march,” Clinton said, apparently at the World Forum on the Future of Democracy, Tech and Humankind.
“And we now have a government in the United States that has thrown in its lot with the autocrats, which has made a choice to support those who wage war, not peace, who have given enormous power to the men who control the information flow in our world, who have all pledged allegiance to the continuation of algorithms that not only addict us, but poison us with hatred and fear.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Powell: Trump tariffs will ‘delay’ progress against inflation
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned Wednesday that President Trump’s new tariffs will likely make it harder for the central bank to bring prices down.
While Powell did not mention the president by name, he told reporters Tuesday that the Fed is bracing for import taxes to impede its fight against inflation.
“I do think with the arrival of the tariff inflation, further progress may be delayed,” Powell said.
He pointed out that a new Fed economic forecast released Wednesday “doesn’t really show further downward progress on inflation this year, and that’s really due to the tariffs coming in.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Which Social Security offices are expected to close this year?
Dozens of Social Security Administration offices across the country are expected to close this year as part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) cuts to the federal government.
DOGE published a list of nearly 800 real estate leases for federal offices the organization is looking to not renew.
According to General Services Administration data obtained by The Associated Press, there are 47 Social Security Administration offices listed to close, but only some had a proposed closure date. Twenty-six are expected to close this year.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump tells Zelensky he’ll address issue of abducted Ukrainian children
President Trump promised to address the issue of Ukraine’s missing and abducted children by Russia during a call with President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday, despite the halting of U.S. funding for an investigation into identifying them.
The issue is at the center of an international war crimes arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin and one of his top officials.
“President Trump promised to work closely with both parties to help make sure those children were returned home,” national security adviser Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a joint statement.
Zelensky, in a statement following the call, said he raised with Trump “the return of Ukrainian children who were taken by Russian forces.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump proposes US ownership of Ukraine’s nuclear plants
President Trump proposed a takeover of Ukrainian power plants as a form of protection, suggesting the U.S. could deter Russian attacks, amid a push for a partial ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow covering energy facilities and infrastructure.
Trump made the offer during a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday.
“American ownership of those plants would be the best protection for that infrastructure and support for Ukrainian energy infrastructure,” national security adviser Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a joint statement following the call.
“He said that the United States could be very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise,” they added.
Continue reading at The Hill
CDC issues dengue fever warning for spring, summer travelers
Dengue fever cases have been rising among U.S. travelers and are expected to climb this year, according to a warning from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A “record number” of dengue fever cases were identified among U.S. travelers last year — a total of 3,484, an 84 percent increase compared to the year before.
“This trend is expected to continue with increased dengue activity in endemic areas in 2025,” the warning from the CDC reads.
Dengue activity remains high in some parts of the United States and around the world, and transmission of the disease remains high in the Americas and the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Continue reading at The Hill
Mark Zandi: ‘Recession risks are uncomfortably high and they’re rising’
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s, said he thinks the risk for a recession is “uncomfortably high” as the markets react to President Trump’s tariff agenda.
“The recession risks are uncomfortably high and they’re rising,” Zandi said Wednesday on CNN. “I think they’re less than 50/50, but it really does depend on the president, what he does here.”
Trump has faced serious questioning over the effects of his tariff plan, which went into effect, in part, earlier this month.
The stock market has been in flux after the 25 percent tariff was applied to neighboring countries Canada and Mexico. China also received another 10 percent tariff.
Continue reading at The Hill
These states’ economies could be hit hardest by EU tariffs
The alcohol industry is already concerned about the tariffs on the table, but there’s no guarantee the retaliatory fees would stop there. Broader tariffs on all goods imported from the European Union – like those against Canada and Mexico, which were announced and then suspended earlier this month – would have a widespread impact on the U.S. economy.
States that do a lot of business with the 27 member nations that make up the European Union would be particularly vulnerable.
Two states – Indiana and North Carolina – get almost half their imports from the EU, a Lending Tree analysis of Census Bureau data found. Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Maryland get more than a third of their imports from Europe. These would be hit hardest by import tariffs.
States that import the most from Europe
Continue reading at The Hill
EU orders Apple to open operating systems to competitors
The first set of measures seek to improve the interoperability of connected devices, such as smartwatches, headphones and televisions, with iPhones, while the second attempts to improve the process through which developers obtain interoperability with iPhones and iPads.
The measures mark the first time the commission has attempted to compel a major tech firm to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act. The law, which went into effect in 2023, seeks to regulate the biggest digital platforms in Europe.
“Companies operating in the EU, irrespective of their place of incorporation, must comply with EU rules, including the Digital Markets Act,” Teresa Ribera, the EU’s executive vice-president for a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, said in a statement.
“Today moves us closer to ensuring a level playing field in Europe, thanks to the rule of law,” she added.
Continue reading at The Hill
Amtrak CEO steps down amid Musk calls to privatize
Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner said Wednesday he would resign from his post in an effort to resolve concerns from the Trump administration.
“I am stepping down as CEO to ensure that Amtrak continues to enjoy the full faith and confidence of this administration,” Garden said, reflecting on his start with the company as an intern.
“I am so proud of what the Amtrak team has accomplished to bring passenger rail service to more people and places across the country over these past 16 years, and I thank the Board for their trust and support. We did a lot together to make Amtrak safer, more modern, and a better travel experience for all our customers.”
His decision to relinquish control over the national passenger railroad service of the United States comes as Elon Musk has suggested privatizing the service.
Continue reading at The Hill
Sanders, AOC hit the road for a ‘populist revolt’
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vt.) is set to headline town hall events in Western states with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) beginning Thursday, as progressives outline a strategy for a “populist revolt” to fight back against President Trump.
Sanders’s rallies across the Midwest have drawn huge crowds, with thousands of supporters in small towns and rural parts of the country gathering to hear his message on lifting the working class.
Those events have been among the few bright spots for Democrats, who have largely struggled to land on a consistent message or united front against Trump during his second term. Polls show the Democratic Party’s brand is at a historical low point, while Trump’s approval rating is hovering near all-time highs.
Sanders adviser Faiz Shakir said he’s received countless questions from Democrats about how the 83-year-old is able to marshal such intense enthusiasm in surprising parts of the country.
Continue reading at The Hill
House Democrats ask GAO to review DOGE impact at DHS
“Since hijacking the U.S. Digital Service to establish DOGE, Elon Musk’s unqualified staff have fanned out across the Federal government. They have embedded themselves within departments and agencies, including DHS, to seize sensitive data, purge civil servants, and gut programs with no regard to the critical services they provide everyday Americans,” Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) wrote in the lawmakers’ letter, which was also signed by Democratic Reps Eric Swalwell (Calif.), Seth Magaziner (R.I.), Shri Thanedar (Mich.), LaMonica McIver (N.J.), Lou Correa (Calif.) and Tim Kennedy (N.Y.).
The lawmakers seek to ascertain the total number of DHS employees who departed as a result of DOGE, whether through a buyout ignited by DOGE leader Musk or a separate demand from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to fire probationary employees hired within the last year or two.
The letter asks GAO to “assess the legality of any guidance provided to DHS by DOGE” on which probationary employees to fire.
Continue reading at The Hill
Judge declines to temporarily block DOGE takeover of US Institute of Peace
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell expressed alarm about the manner in which DOGE accessed the building but said the now-fired board members likely don’t have authority to sue in their official capacity, calling some aspects of the lawsuit “a stretch.”
Howell declined to bar DOGE from accessing USIP’s facilities and systems, acting in USIP’s name or declare void the apparent removal of its board.
She also declined to forbid further trespass against the independent institute, after it said in court filings DOGE conducted a “literal trespass and takeover by force.”
Continue reading at The Hill
FBI warns of possible Outlook, Gmail cyberattacks
The FBI is warning users of popular email services such as Outlook and Gmail that they could be subject to cyberattacks by ransomware called Medusa, which has impacted more than 300 victims from a number of sectors, including technology, legal, medical and manufacturing.
Medusa, a ransomware-as-a-service that was first identified in June, was spotted as recently last month, according to an advisory released last week by the FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC).
“Both Medusa developers and affiliates—referred to as ‘Medusa actors’ in this advisory—employ a double extortion model, where they encrypt victim data and threaten to publicly release exfiltrated data if a ransom is not paid,” the agencies said in the March 12 advisory.
Continue reading at The Hill
Purdue Pharma asks bankruptcy judge to accept new settlement plan
“Following the 2024 Supreme Court ruling, we doubled down on our commitment to work with our creditors to design a new Plan that delivers unprecedented value to those affected by the opioid crisis. Today’s filing is a major milestone in that effort,” Purdue Board Chair Steve Miller said in a statement.
“We and our creditors have worked tirelessly in mediation to build consensus and negotiate a settlement that will increase the total value provided to victims and communities, put billions of dollars to work on day one, and serve the public good,” Miller added. “I sincerely thank our stakeholders for their dedication and collaboration, and I look forward to having the plan confirmed and consummated as quickly as possible.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Advocates to rally in DC for Trans Day of Visibility amid Trump administration rollbacks
Transgender rights advocates from across the nation will gather on the National Mall this month in celebration of Transgender Day of Visibility, an annual commemoration of trans people worldwide. Organizers hope this year’s rally, set to take place about a mile from the White House, will show a united front against the federal government’s recent attempts to roll back their rights.
“The goal of this event is to, first and foremost, be in community with one another. We need to recognize that trans joy is resistance, and we are going to be there with that in mind,” said Tyler Hack, executive director of the Christopher Street Project, a hybrid PAC and nonprofit named for the New York City street on which the historic Stonewall Inn sits.
Continue reading at The Hill
Jeffries gives House Dems a peek at his talk with Schumer
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday offered his colleagues a glimpse into his private Sunday discussion with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Jeffries said on a virtual caucus call that he stressed to his Senate counterpart the need for improved coordination moving forward, five sources familiar with his comments told Axios.
The discussion came after Schumer announced his support for a Republican spending bill that nearly all House Democrats had already voted against earlier in the week.
According to a senior House Democrat, Jeffries described his and Schumer's chat as an "honest conversation."
State of play: House Democrats have been fuming at Schumer, with a couple even publicly calling for him to step down as Senate minority leader.
Continue reading at Axios
Fed leaves rates unchanged, notes higher uncertainty
Why it matters: With the economy showing pockets of weakness, the Fed is opting for a cautious approach, even as its leaders see risks ahead from a volatile policy environment.
Driving the news: The policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee left its federal funds rate target range at 4.25% to 4.5%, where it has been since December.
"Uncertainty around the economic outlook has increased," the committee said in language newly added to its policy statement.
The median Fed official now anticipates 1.7% GDP growth this year, compared with 2.1% in December projections.
The median Fed official anticipates two interest rate cuts this year, the same as in December.
Between the lines: Fed officials have acknowledged the Trump administration's broad set of policy changes — including tariffs, federal government cutbacks, deregulation, and restrictive immigration policy — will likely affect the economy.
But given deep uncertainty on how all those forces will net out in affecting the job market and inflation, the central bank's leaders have opted for a wait-and-see stance.
Continue reading at Axios
DOGE official takes a leadership role at USAID, an agency Musk’s team has helped dismantle
A senior official at Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is taking a leadership role at the U.S. Agency for International Development, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press, giving DOGE a top job at an agency that it has helped to dismantle.
Jeremy Lewin, who has played a central role in DOGE’s government-cutting efforts at USAID and other federal agencies, becomes at least the second DOGE lieutenant to be appointed to a top job at an agency during the Trump administration, further formalizing the work of Musk’s associates in the federal government.
The integral role that DOGE teams have played in the administration’s push to dramatically reduce the size of the government has been divisive among the public and lawmakers. Musk has faced heavy blowback from some and support from others for his chainsaw-wielding approach to laying off workers and slashing programs.
Continue reading at The Hill
The Fed’s forecast on Trump’s economy: Slower growth, higher inflation
The Fed chief said “a good part” of a projection for higher prices is coming from tariffs.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell had previously avoided commenting on Trump’s tariff threats and other sweeping moves, but those policies are increasingly shaping prospects for the economy this year. That means central bank policymakers had to at least partially show their hand on what they think new tariffs will mean for inflation, the labor market and interest rates.
The early verdict they delivered on Wednesday: slightly slower growth and slightly higher inflation, a worrying scenario that the central bank may not be suited to addressing with its blunt tool of interest rate adjustments.
Asked at a press conference what drove the projection for a more rapid increase in prices, Powell acknowledged, “A good part of it is coming from tariffs.”
Even as the underlying economy remains strong, Fed officials projected that GDP would grow 1.7 percent in 2025, a drop from their 2.1 percent estimate in December. And they expect their preferred measure of inflation to rise 2.7 percent, up from their previous guess of 2.5 percent.
“Uncertainty around the economic outlook has increased,” the central bank’s rate-setting committee said in its post-meeting statement.
Continue reading at Politico
USDA halts millions of dollars worth of deliveries to food banks
The halt in deliveries comes after the Trump administration separately slashed $1 billion for schools and food banks to buy food from farms.
The Agriculture Department has halted millions of dollars worth of deliveries to food banks without explanation, according to food bank leaders in six states.
USDA had previously allocated $500 million in deliveries to food banks for fiscal year 2025 through The Emergency Food Assistance Program. Now, the food bank leaders say many of those orders have been canceled.
The halting of these deliveries, first reported by POLITICO, comes after the Agriculture Department separately axed two other food programs, ending more than $1 billion in planned federal spending for schools and food banks to purchase from local farmers.
USDA did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Continue reading at Politico
Europe looks to poach US researchers as Trump cuts funding
Twelve EU capitals want programs to bring over American scholars.
A group of European countries is devising a strategy to poach researchers in the United States in response to American government cuts in education and research.
Twelve governments said the European Union needs an "attractivity boom" to bring over talent from abroad "who might suffer from research interference and ill-motivated and brutal funding cuts," in a letter to the European Commission seen by POLITICO.
The undated letter was addressed to EU Innovation Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva and signed by France, the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Spain, Slovenia, Germany, Greece, Bulgaria and Romania.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Trump aides circulate plan for complete revamp of foreign aid programs
The proposal provides new details on how the administration plans to overhaul USAID — and what programs it expects to eliminate.
The plan, laid out in a document obtained by POLITICO, would include:
— Changing the name of the U.S. Agency for International Development to the U.S. Agency for International Humanitarian Assistance; severely curbing its focus to issues such as global health, food security and disaster response; and embedding it within the State Department.
— Placing the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency under the auspices of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. The combined entity would focus on promoting private sector investment, especially in areas such as infrastructure, energy and technology. The document says the new approach would be a powerful counterweight to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which Beijing has used to gain economic and diplomatic footholds in many countries.
— Moving all, or virtually all, “politically oriented” programs that the Trump administration may wish to pursue under the State Department. This includes promoting democracy and religious freedom, empowering women and fighting human trafficking. Many of these efforts already exist under the State Department, but it’s possible that similar efforts at USAID or other agencies and departments could be moved to State.
Continue reading at Politico
EU slams the door on US in colossal defense plan
Bloc aims to build up military-industrial complex to deter Russia and brace for the U.S. shift away from Europe.
United States arms-makers are being frozen out of the European Union’s massive new defense spending plan, which aims to splash the cash for EU and allied countries, according to defense spending plans released Wednesday.
Also left out — for now — is the United Kingdom.
“We must buy more European. Because that means strengthening the European defense technological and industrial base,” said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in announcing the Readiness 2030 program.
In a bid to strengthen ties with allies, Brussels involved countries like South Korea and Japan and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in its program that could see as much as €800 billion spent on defense.
“We need to see not only Russia as a threat, but also ... more global geopolitical developments and where Americans will put their strategic attention,” European Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius told reporters.
In recent years, about two-thirds of EU procurement orders have gone to U.S. defense companies.
Continue reading at Politico
Schumer faces growing House Dem calls to step down
Why it matters: No senators have called for Schumer to step down. But outside the Senate, he's enduring a pounding from Democrats who want him to adopt more combative tactics or step aside for someone who will.
Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), asked at a town hall on Tuesday whether Schumer should "retire or step down," nodded her head and said "yes." Ramirez's comments have not previously been reported.
The liberal group Indivisible has also called on Schumer to resign as leader. Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) also followed suit at a town hall on Tuesday.
One House Democrat, asked if more could follow, told Axios: "I think there are some already there but just haven't been asked directly or avoided the question."
State of play: Schumer incurred the wrath of Democrats in the lower chamber last week by supporting a Republican measure to keep the government from shutting down.
Continue reading at Axios
Trump's letter to Iran included 2-month deadline for new nuclear deal
President Trump's letter to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei included a two-month deadline for reaching a new nuclear deal, one U.S. official and two sources briefed on the letter told Axios.
Why it matters: It isn't clear whether the two-month clock begins from the time the letter was delivered or from when negotiations start. But if Iran rejects Trump's outreach and doesn't negotiate, the chances of U.S. or Israeli military action against Iran's nuclear facilities would dramatically increase.
The big picture: Iran's nuclear program has advanced over the past four years and it is closer than ever to producing a nuclear weapon.
Its stockpile of 60% enriched uranium is enough for six nuclear bombs if enriched to 90%, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran has denied it is pursuing nuclear weapons.
Catch up quick: Two weeks ago in an interview with Fox News' Maria Bartiromo, Trump revealed that he sent a letter to the Iranian leader proposing direct negotiations.
Continue reading at Axios
West Wing Playbook: Remaking Government
From X attacks to total dissolution
LATEST: In the most aggressive known attempt by the Department of Government Efficiency to take control of a government organization thus far, a security official at the U.S. Institute of Peace said the DOGE team on Monday surreptitiously gained entry to the institute’s building, Ben reports. A scuffle between DOGE and USIP staff prompted nearly a dozen police officers to respond to the scene.
Four members of the security contracting firm Inter-Con on Monday used a master key to try to allow DOGE officials into the building, according to COLIN O’BRIEN, head of USIP security. Inter-Con had a contract with the organization through Friday and had not returned the key, he said.
NOT READY TO VOTE WITH THEIR FEET: A majority of federal workers are dissatisfied with DONALD TRUMP and ELON MUSK’s government-slashing efforts, but don’t have plans to voluntarily leave their jobs, Danny reports.
A Washington Post-Ipsos poll released today found that 56 percent of federal workers believe the Trump administration will hurt government operations, while 32 percent are optimistic. About two-thirds of respondents disapprove of how Musk has approached the federal government, and another third approve.
TECH TEAM TAKEDOWN: To truly understand the politics behind Musk’s dismantling of the federal workforce, look at a tiny, little-known tech unit that was disbanded earlier this month.
That department, known as 18F, was responsible for modernizing and building the government’s critical tech services like Login.gov, the central login system for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
But conservatives had attacked the department as a “far-left agency.” Most recently, a writer for the right-leaning Daily Wire in January accused 18F and parts of its umbrella agency, the General Services Administration, of being “hijacked by left-wing extremism” and of spying on workers’ Slack messages “to chide them for using ‘racist’ terms.”
Enter Musk.
In early February, a month before the tech unit was formally dissolved, Musk said on his social media site X that 18F was “deleted,” partly because of a years-past controversy over a false claim that an IRS system 18F helped develop put “the government in charge of preparing peoples tax returns for them.” (The IRS service allows people to e-file claims for free.) Musk posted twice more that month stating that 18F had been deleted.
Staffers confronted their boss THOMAS SHEDD, the director of GSA’s tech department and a former Tesla software engineer, about the tech billionaire’s social media posts days later.
“Do we still exist?” one former worker who, like others in this story, was granted anonymity to avoid retribution, recounted asking Shedd. “That’s all we wanted to know.”
Days later, GSA leaders told staff in an email that they were looking to slash the agency in half. In the process, agency heads deployed “loyalty tests,” including last-minute interviews with DOGE agents charged with analyzing staff productivity, two former staffers told POLITICO. A GSA spokesperson did not comment on this.
The mood within 18F was so fraught that some staffers feared their devices were bugged with surveillance software that they suspected of recording and feeding conversations to AI. In response, employees closed their laptops, switched their phones to airplane mode and took work meetings offline.
“It felt like psychological warfare,” said a former 18F staffer.
Continue reading the Politico West Wing Playbook newsletter
National Security Daily
A tale of two Witkoff ceasefires
An energy infrastructure ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine appears in reach just as a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas appears to have unraveled.
At the center of both is special envoy STEVE WITKOFF, who helped negotiate the Gaza ceasefire and is also President DONALD TRUMP’s interlocutor with the Kremlin.
Witkoff has subsumed his fellow special envoy KEITH KELLOGG’s role as the main Russia-Ukraine mediator while retaining the broad portfolio of Middle East envoy, which includes Lebanon, Gaza and Iran.
He has jetted to Saudi Arabia for peace talks with the Ukrainians, traveled Moscow to meet with Putin, and led U.S. delegations for talks in Doha between Israeli officials and Hamas leaders. He also visited both Israel and the Gaza Strip since the Trump administration took office and has met regularly with top Israeli officials and leaders in the Palestinian Authority.
Witkoff has made some progress in reopening channels of communication between Moscow and Washington and in inching Ukraine and Russia closer to a limited pause in fighting. Trump spoke on the phone with Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN yesterday and dialed Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY today (scroll down to Inbox for more on that).
But his ceasefire balancing act has hit a snag.
The Israeli military resumed ground operations in Gaza on Wednesday and has spent the past two days targeting the territory with airstrikes. The military operations, which are occuring during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, have killed hundreds of Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. Arab countries, including peace negotiators Egypt and Qatar, have condemned the attacks and Hamas has said the Israeli operations amount to a “unilateral” annulation of the agreement.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the decision to resume strikes stemmed from Hamas’ refusal to release hostages. Israel has vowed it “will act against Hamas with increasingly intensifying military force.”
So far, the Trump administration isn’t racing to salvage that ceasefire. Trump has said he wants the war to end and Gaza rebuilt under U.S. control (with the Palestinians in it pushed out).
Continue reading the Politico National Security Daily newsletter
Trump is bombarding the Ivy League. This college just hired a staunch ally as its top lawyer.
Matt Raymer, the former chief counsel for the Republican National Committee who has backed ending birthright citizenship, will serve as Dartmouth’s general counsel.
As the Trump administration intensifies its battle with elite universities, one Ivy League school is lawyering up with a Trump ally.
Dartmouth College announced this week that it has tapped Matt Raymer, the former chief counsel at the Republican National Committee, to serve as the college’s top lawyer and senior vice president. Raymer will not only run the general counsel’s office, but also serve on Dartmouth President Sian Leah Beilock’s leadership team and advise the college on “legal and strategic matters.” Raymer, who in January publicly backed President Donald Trump’s push to end birthright citizenship, will also oversee the school’s Office of Visa and Immigration Services.
Raymer’s selection comes as Republicans dramatically escalate their attacks on higher education — training their ire on Ivy League institutions they’ve long accused of fostering liberalism and censoring conservatives. It’s left university leaders balancing a series of competing demands: preserving their relationships with an administration on which most rely for funding, defending free speech on campus and protecting non-citizen student activists Trump campaigned on deporting.
Continue reading at Politico
Senate GOP not planning to rubber-stamp DOGE cuts in 2026 funding
Conservatives in both chambers have been ramping up calls for Congress to codify cuts pursued by Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), particularly as the administration’s efforts encounter roadblocks in court.
But Senate Republicans aren’t pushing for a blanket adoption of the administration’s measures in the chamber’s government funding bills for fiscal 2026.
When asked about the idea last week, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) told The Hill at the time that “it could be possible that, after careful consideration, we would decide to codify some of them.”
However, she added that the efforts shouldn’t be applied “across the board.”
With passage of government funding legislation for fiscal 2025 behind them, lawmakers are beginning to set their sights on the Sept. 30 deadline to prevent a shutdown and fund the government for fiscal 2026.
Continue reading at The Hill
Jack Schlossberg calls out Trump, RFK Jr., says family got no ‘heads up’ on JFK files release
Jack Schlossberg, former President John F. Kennedy’s grandson, called out President Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over the release of close to 2,200 files on his grandfather’s assassination.
“No — THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION DID NOT GIVE ANYONE IN PRESIDENT KENNEDY’S FAMILY ‘A HEADS UP’ABOUT THE RELEASE a total surprise, and not shocker !! But @RobertKennedyJr definitely knew,” Schlossberg said in a Tuesday evening post on social platform X.
Early Wednesday morning, Schlossberg also said on X that the president “is obsessed with my grandfather — but not in his life or what he achieved in it.”
“No, just like @robertfkennedyjr @realdonaldtrump is only interested in JFK’s carcass,” he added. “These men are stealing history from present and future generations — by appropriating the past for their criminal agenda, they normalize themselves in the minds of those without living memory.”
Continue reading at The Hill
GOP chairs ‘very concerned’ over report of Trump changing military commands
The Republican chairs of the House and Senate Armed Services committees issued a joint statement on Wednesday criticizing the idea of the U.S. drastically changing its military combatant command structure, saying they “will not accept” those changes without coordination with Congress and other agencies.
The statement marks one of the first major instances of Republican lawmakers pushing back on President Trump in his second term.
House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) responded to an NBC News article published Tuesday that said the Pentagon is considering giving up its role as NATO’s supreme allied commander Europe, or SAUCER, as part of restructuring of commands and headquarters.
“U.S. combatant commands are the tip of the American warfighting spear. Therefore, we are very concerned about reports that claim [the Defense Department] is considering unilateral changes on major strategic issues, including significant reductions to U.S. forces stationed abroad, absent coordination with the White House and Congress,” the two chairs said.
Continue reading at The Hill
GOP committee chairs fire warning shot at Trump on NATO
The GOP chairs of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees fired a warning shot at President Trump on Wednesday, telling him not to tinker with the military structure behind the top NATO command position.
Why it matters: The joint statement from Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) is one of the strongest GOP warnings to date about Trump's plans to potentially reorganize parts of the government.
"We will not accept significant changes to our warfighting structure that are made without a rigorous interagency process, coordination with combatant commanders and the Joint Staff, and collaboration with Congress," the two chairs said in a joint statement.
Driving the news: The lawmakers were responding to a report in NBC News that the Trump administration is considering giving up the role of NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, citing anonymous officials.
That position, which is traditionally held by a 4-star general or admiral, is in command over NATO's military operations.
The 4-star also leads the U.S. European Command, one of six geographical combatant commands.
Continue reading at Axios
Court finds Greenpeace liable in case over Dakota Access Pipeline
The environmental organization will be liable for about $660 million per the verdict readout in court, Greenpeace USA interim Executive Director Sushma Raman said in a statement shared through a spokesperson.
That amount could put Greenpeace at risk of bankruptcy. The group vowed to fight the verdict.
“This is the end of a chapter, but not the end of our fight,” Raman said. “Energy Transfer knows we don’t have $660 million. They want our silence, not our money.”
Energy Transfer, the company behind the pipeline that had accused Greenpeace of defamation and trespass, among other activities, celebrated the decision.
Continue reading at The Hill
Former Houston councilmember launches House bid to succeed late Sylvester Turner
Former Houston Councilmember Amanda Edwards announced her bid for Congress on Wednesday to fill the seat vacated after the death of Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Houston), saying the Democratic Party needs a different approach that is “responsive to the moment.”
“We need the next generation of new leaders in Washington to combat Trump’s attacks on jobs, healthcare, and education,” Edwards, who will run for Texas’s 18th congressional district, said in her campaign announcement.
The party should “assess where to apply pressure,” she said. “We must collaborate effectively with partner organizations to achieve our goals.”
Continue reading at The Hill
US State Department confirms program tracking abducted Ukrainian children halted • FRANCE 24
UPDATED: Trump to sign order dismantling Education Department Thursday
President Donald Trump is expected to sign a long-awaited directive Thursday to officially wind down the Education Department, following weeks of steadily winnowing the agency’s staff and spending.
Trump’s pending executive order directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate” her department’s closure “and return education authority to the States,” according to a summary obtained by POLITICO. The upcoming order will also tell McMahon to ensure the department continues to deliver its services, programs, and benefits.
The Trump administration is already making steep workforce cuts at the agency — including hundreds of attorneys, student aid workers and civil rights office staff. The precise language of the order, which Trump is expected to sign during an event in the East Room, was not immediately available.
The order will also direct that programs or activities receiving any remaining Education Department funds will not advance diversity, equity and inclusion, or gender ideology, according to the White House.
Several Republican governors — including Greg Abbott of Texas, Mike Braun of Indiana, Ron DeSantis of Florida, Bill Lee of Tennessee, Brad Little of Idaho, Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, Kim Reynolds of Iowa and Mike DeWine of Ohio — are expected to be in attendance, according to a White House official.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump is seeking to deport another graduate student who is legally in the country, lawsuit says
Badar Khan Suri, a fellow at Georgetown, says he is being punished because of the suspected views of his wife, a U.S. citizen with Palestinian heritage.
A Georgetown University graduate student, studying and teaching on a student visa, has been detained by federal immigration authorities amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on student activists whom the government accuses of opposing American foreign policy, according to court papers.
Masked agents arrested Badar Khan Suri, an Indian national and postdoctoral fellow, outside his home in Rosslyn, Virginia, on Monday night, his lawyer said in a lawsuit fighting for his immediate release. The agents identified themselves as being with the Department of Homeland Security and told him the government had revoked his visa, the lawsuit says.
According to Suri’s petition for release, he was put in deportation proceedings under the same rarely used provision of immigration law that the government has invoked to try to deport Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate student and green card holder who led pro-Palestinian protests on campus. That provision gives the secretary of State the power to deport noncitizens if the secretary determines that their continued presence in the U.S. would threaten foreign policy.
Suri has no criminal record and has not been charged with a crime, his petition says. His detention and petition have not been previously reported.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump wants House to ‘get on board’ with Washington budget fix
The president is confident Speaker Mike Johnson will put legislation on the floor to help the District of Columbia, according to a White House official.
President Donald Trump is ready to press House Republicans to vote for fixing the District of Columbia’s budget, after GOP leaders unexpectedly slashed the capital city’s spending powers.
If needed, he’s prepared to work the phones — or fire off a social media post — to get Speaker Mike Johnson to put the bill on the floor, according to two White House officials.
It comes after the Senate last Friday passed a Trump-endorsed bill that would restore as much as $1.1 billion in local funding, according to District officials. The language had — inadvertently, by some accounts — been omitted in the government spending measure signed into law the next day.
The president has confidence the speaker will bring the bipartisan measure up for a vote, said a White House official granted anonymity to discuss Trump’s thinking.
How the bill gets through the House, however, is “sausage-making in the background,” said the official. “I don’t think he’ll publicly call for Johnson to bring [the fix] to the floor — that’s going to be a behind-the-scenes thing. If [Trump] must, though, a pressure campaign from Truth Social is always a possibility.”
Continue reading at Politico
Germany updates US travel advice after three citizens are detained
Germany has updated its travel advisory for the United States to emphasize that a visa or waiver allowing entry does not guarantee Germans to enter the U.S. after several of its citizens were detained at the border.
According to an advisory on Germany’s Foreign Office website, the country warned that entry through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) system or a U.S. visa is not entitled every time and that the U.S. border control has final decision.
“It is recommended that you bring proof of your return journey upon entry,” the office said.
The office noted that a criminal conviction in the U.S., false information about an individual’s purpose of stay, or “even a slight overstay of the visa” can lead to arrest, detention and deportation.
The new advisory comes as Germany is investigating the case of three of its citizens being denied entry and placed in detention when they tried to enter the U.S.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump's anti-DEI purge is erasing these military legends
There has been a massive purge of articles about soldiers of color on government websites following President Trump's executive order ending federal diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
The big picture: The Trump administration has targeted DEI initiatives in both its rhetoric and through its actions dismantling federal DEI programs — halting efforts to bolster diversity and inclusion across several agencies.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has declared that "DEI is dead."
Between the lines: What some see as an effort to erase "wokeness" and DEI initiatives, is a battle over how America accepts, acknowledges or edits its pasts, Axios' Delano Massey writes.
Jackie Robinson
The U.S. Department of Defense removed — then restored — a webpage featuring baseball and civil rights pioneer Jackie Robinson, who served in the Army during World War II and segregation, Axios' Russell Contreras reports.
The previously removed article discussed his service during the war, before he broke the modern-day Major League Baseball color barrier for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Continue reading at Axios
Navajo Code Talkers materials to be restored on military websites following backlash
The Department of Defense will restore materials related to the Navajo Code Talkers on its website after their removal was met with criticism, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren posted on X on Wednesday.
What they're saying: "White House officials reached out to my office and confirmed that removal of 'Navajo' from the agency websites was a result of an error caused by Artificial Intelligence (AI) automated review process associated with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives," Nygren wrote.
The latest: By Wednesday, the Defense Department in a statement said it planned to restore the material that had been taken down during the "auto-removal process," KSL.com reported.
U.S. Army spokesman Christopher Surridge said in a statement, per KSL.com, that the information would be republished on its websites.
"The heroic actions of the Navajo Code Talkers will live in the annals of our nation's history forever, and we are proud to restore articles highlighting these soldiers who bravely served in both world wars," Surridge said.
Catch up quick: Axios reported Monday that at least 10 articles mentioning the Code Talkers had disappeared from the U.S. Army and Department of Defense websites.
Continue reading at Axios
Hawley expresses skepticism of Oz over abortion, trans rights
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) expressed skepticism about Dr. Mehmet Oz’s, President Trump’s pick to oversee Medicare and Medicaid, views on abortion and transgender rights.
“I’ve been reading up on Dr. Oz – I see he’s praised trans surgeries for minors and supported hormone treatments & puberty blockers for kids in the past,” Hawley wrote on X. “And has also criticized state laws protecting life. I hope he’s changed his views to match President Trump!”
“We need the Trump agenda at CMS,” Hawley said.
Continue reading at The Hill
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