Today’s edition of quick hits.
* The latest from the FSU shooting: “Two people are dead and one is in custody after an active shooter was reported at Florida State University’s campus in Tallahassee. At least six people are receiving treatment at Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare, a hospital spokesperson confirmed to NBC News.”
* Fourth Circuit: “A U.S. appeals court urged the Trump administration on Thursday to back off from its escalating confrontation with the judiciary, warning that both the executive and judicial branches risk losing public confidence. In a strongly worded unanimous opinion, a three-judge panel rejected President Donald Trump’s administration’s request to stop a judge from probing what the government had done to secure the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a migrant it acknowledged having wrongly deported to El Salvador.”
* SCOTUS news: “The Supreme Court on Thursday said it will hear oral arguments next month on whether the Trump administration can take steps to enforce its contentious proposal to end automatic birthright citizenship while litigation continues. The court in a brief order deferred action on an emergency request made by the Trump administration to narrow the scope of nationwide injunctions imposed by judges. The policy for now remains blocked nationwide.”
* Team Trump’s definition of “harm” seems indefensible: “In what could be one of the most significant actions the Trump administration has taken on the environment, officials have proposed redefining what it means to ‘harm’ a plant or animal under the Endangered Species Act, excluding habitat destruction from activities deemed a threat to protected species.”
* The power grabs continue: “The White House has fired two Democratic board members of the National Credit Union Administration, the officials said on Wednesday, as President Donald Trump expanded efforts to influence independent regulatory agencies.”
* Krebs’ next move: “Chris Krebs, the former senior cybersecurity official whom President Donald Trump fired for affirming the 2020 presidential election was secure, is leaving his private sector cybersecurity job after he and the company were targeted by Trump last week.” * Fascinating: “The search for life beyond Earth has led scientists to explore many suggestive mysteries, from plumes of methane on Mars to clouds of phosphine gas on Venus. But as far as we can tell, Earth’s inhabitants remain alone in the cosmos. Now a team of researchers is offering what it contends is the strongest indication yet of extraterrestrial life, not in our solar system but on a massive planet, known as K2-18b, that orbits a star 120 light-years from Earth.” * We’re stuck in such a silly timeline: “Southern Republicans are pushing their states to formally embrace the name Gulf of America — the name President Donald Trump has bestowed on the Gulf of Mexico — and require its use on maps, textbooks and signs.” 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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