Today’s edition of quick hits.
* A big ruling: “A federal judge in California on Thursday ordered that the departments of Veterans Affairs, Defense, Energy, Interior, Agriculture and Treasury reinstate thousands of probationary employees who were fired last month. The departments must ‘offer reinstatement to any and all probationary employees terminated on or about February 13,’ U.S. District Judge William Alsup wrote, referring to the date when the Office of Personnel Management held a call with department and agency heads and directed them to fire probationary employees.”
* SCOTUS news: “President Donald Trump’s attempt to restrict birthright citizenship is now at the Supreme Court. The overall legality of his policy isn’t at issue in this new appeal — rather, his administration is asking the justices to narrow the nationwide scope of lower court rulings blocking the policy from taking effect while litigation about its legality moves forward.”
* Another day to avoid looking at your retirement account: “The economic chaos unleashed by President Donald Trump has pushed the S&P 500 into a correction. The broad index of U.S. stocks fell 1.4% Thursday, making its decline since its February all-time high greater than 10%. It has now fully erased all its post-November election gains and is back to levels last seen in September.”
* Ceasefire process: “Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he didn’t support an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine, calling for more discussion on a permanent end to the war as Moscow’s army made rapid gains toward expelling Kyiv’s forces from its Kursk region. Putin said any pause in fighting at this point would be in Ukraine’s interest because Russia is gaining on the battlefield, and a host of issues would need to be resolved before a cease-fire could be reached.”
* Yet another legal setback: “A federal judge in Washington reinstated Susan Tsui Grundmann, a Biden appointee, to the Federal Labor Relations Authority, the agency that adjudicates labor disputes between federal employees and management, after President Trump moved to fire her last month.”
* The latest megachurch scandal: “The founder of a Texas megachurch who resigned as senior pastor last year after he admitted ‘inappropriate sexual behavior’ in the 1980s has been indicted on five criminal counts involving a child, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office said Wednesday. Robert Morris, 63, who founded Gateway Church in Southlake, is charged with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child, the attorney general’s office said in a statement.” * Why did Ruth Marcus resign from The Washington Post? She has a provocative piece in The New Yorker filled with striking details. * It’s hard not to wonder whether anyone even tries to prep Trump ahead of White House events: “President Trump was asked who his favorite Irish person was as he met with Micheál Martin, the prime minister of Ireland. Trump responded, ‘I do happen to like your fighter,’ referring to Conor McGregor, the former U.F.C. fighter from Ireland. McGregor is not a popular figure in Ireland, where he has been held liable for sexual assault and has regularly supported far-right fringe figures.” 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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