Today’s edition of quick hits.
* An important ruling: “A federal judge in Rhode Island on Monday said that the Trump administration had violated his order halting a sweeping federal funding freeze and ordered the government to ‘immediately restore frozen funding.’ … It’s the first time since President Donald Trump’s second inauguration that a federal judge has accused his administration of defying a court order.”
* Speaking of notable court decisions: “A federal judge in Boston on Monday continued his pause of the Trump administration’s unprecedented plan to get millions of federal workers to resign until he responds ‘to the issues presented.’”
* In the Middle East: “Hamas said Monday it was suspending the upcoming hostage release in the Gaza Strip, blaming Israel for not following the terms of a ceasefire agreement that paused the 15-month war in the Palestinian enclave. Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades, cited alleged Israeli violations of the deal over the past three weeks, including delaying the return of displaced people to northern Gaza, not allowing aid to enter the enclave, and shelling and gunfire in various areas of the strip.”
* Tariff news: “President Donald Trump said Sunday that he will announce reciprocal tariffs this week, as well as a 25% blanket tariff on steel and aluminum imports.”
* Some news can be shocking, without being surprising: “Users who search for abortion information on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) website are now directed to try searching for the word ‘adoption.’ The change comes less than a week after more than a dozen federal agency websites — including the CDC’s — went offline.”
* Twisting the knife: “Customs and Border Protection has taken over the lease of the space previously housing USAID in the Reagan Building in downtown Washington, according to a White House official.” * I wish he’d been a bit more categorical in his response: President Donald Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz told NBC News’ ‘Meet the Press’ on Sunday he doesn’t think the president has ‘any plans to invade Canada.’” * This report, from the weekend, served as a timely reminder of the endlessly silly timeline we live in: “President Trump just issued a proclamation declaring today ‘Gulf of America Day,’ ceremoniously cementing an executive order he issued last month to rename the Gulf of Mexico. The move coincides with his first visit to a Gulf state since that order, to attend the Super Bowl in New Orleans.” See you tomorrow.
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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