Today’s edition of quick hits.
* An intensifying crisis: “Explosions were heard early Wednesday in the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, residents said, two weeks after India vowed to retaliate against Pakistan over a terrorist attack that killed more than two dozen civilians.”
* I’ll be eager to learn more details about this: “President Donald Trump says the U.S. will end airstrikes on Houthi militants in Yemen effective immediately. ‘We will stop the bombings,’ Trump announced from the Oval Office. Trump ordered Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who he tapped as his acting national security adviser last week, to pass on the message to the Iran-backed militant group.”
* Carney in the Oval Office: “President Donald Trump’s first meeting with Canada’s new prime minister was far less confrontational than his interactions with the country’s previous leader, Justin Trudeau, even as Mark Carney reiterated on Tuesday that there is no way the country will become part of the United States.”
* Why do this? “The Federal Aviation Administration halted the work of an outside panel of experts scrutinizing its management of air traffic control, a previously unreported move made just weeks after a fatal airliner crash near Washington raised questions about the agency’s abilities to keep the skies safe.”
* The three Democratic-appointed justices dissented in this case: “The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed President Donald Trump to implement his ban on transgender people serving in the military. The justices granted an emergency request from the Trump administration to lift a nationwide injunction blocking the policy while litigation continues.”
* For all of Trump’s emphasis on the trade deficit, it’s getting bigger, not smaller: “The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services soared to a record $140.5 billion in March. Year-to-date, the deficit has increased 92.6%, as companies and consumers rush to import goods before President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs increase take hold on July 6.”
* Ed Martin’s nomination is in big trouble: “Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said he wouldn’t support Ed Martin, President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, likely blocking the path to confirmation for the ‘Stop the Steal’ organizer who had closely aligned himself with Jan. 6 defendants.”
* Will the White House soon argue that clean air at national parks is overrated? “The Trump administration has temporarily suspended an air-quality monitoring program at national parks across the country, according to an internal email obtained by The Washington Post and two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the decision is not public.” * Judge Hannah Dugan’s case: “More than 150 former state and federal judges have signed a letter to Pam Bondi, the attorney general, condemning the Trump administration’s escalating battles with the judiciary and calling the recent arrest of a sitting state court judge in Milwaukee an attempt to intimidate.” * Trump knows nothing about the image he chose to amplify and promoted by way of the White House’s official social media account: “President Donald Trump says he knew nothing about an artificially generated image of him dressed as the pope that was posted to his Truth Social account over the weekend.” 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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