Today’s edition of quick hits.
* A closely watched case: “A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Friday to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to the United States after he was accidentally sent to a notorious megajail in El Salvador. U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, Judge Paula Xinis ruled that the government must return Garcia by April 7 at 11:59 pm.”
* In related news: “A federal judge ordered the detained Tufts University student’s petition for her release to be transferred from Massachusetts to Vermont. U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper for Massachusetts denied the government’s motion to dismiss the petition and its alternative request to transfer it to the Western District of Louisiana, where the student, Rumeysa Öztürk, is currently detained.”
* In Seoul: “A South Korean court upheld the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday, officially throwing him out of office over his botched imposition of martial law and setting the stage for a new presidential election.”
* Stories about the administration possibly sidestepping court orders are always important: “The Trump administration has failed to disburse congressionally approved funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the news network originally set up to counter Soviet propaganda during the Cold War, despite a judge’s order to keep it operating, according to court filings and officials at the news organization.”
* The offensive against higher education is intensifying: “The Trump administration intends to block $510 million in federal contracts and grants for Brown University, expanding its campaign to hold universities accountable for what it says is relentless antisemitism on campus, according to two White House officials familiar with the plans. Brown became the fifth university known to face a potentially dire loss of federal funding, leaving other universities that the administration has targeted wondering when their turn might come.”
* No good can come of this: “The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency is poised to eliminate most websites tied to its research division under plans for the cancellation of a cloud web services contract, a move that could snarl operations at several labs.” * Unfortunately for Rubio, his reassurances are at odds with his boss’ record: “U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Trump administration’s new envoy to NATO are seeking to reassure wary NATO allies of the U.S. commitment to the alliance. Rubio on Thursday decried ‘hysteria and hyperbole’ in the media about President Donald Trump’s intentions despite persistent signals from Washington that NATO as it has existed for 75 years may no longer be relevant.” * Trump’s sympathies for politically aligned criminals is a sight to behold: “U.S. President Donald Trump offered support to French far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Thursday after a Paris court earlier this week convicted her and two dozen figures from her National Rally (RN) party of embezzling European Union funds. A judge handed Le Pen an immediate five-year ban on running for office that will bar her from the 2027 presidential election unless she can get the ruling overturned on appeal beforehand.” Have a safe weekend.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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