Today’s edition of quick hits.
* SCOTUS news: “The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered that for now President Donald Trump is not required to reinstate two members of independent federal agencies he wants to fire. The provisional decision affects Gwynne Wilcox, a member of the National Labor Relations Board, and Cathy Harris, a member of the Merit Systems Protection Board. Chief Justice John Roberts issued an order that temporarily blocked lower court rulings that said the two officials should be reinstated.”
* Alien Enemies Act cases: “A federal judge in Texas issued an order Wednesday temporarily blocking the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport people held in a south Texas immigration detention center without due process. A second federal judge in New York said in a hearing that he planned a similar order applying to migrants held in the Southern District of New York.”
* On Wall Street: “President Donald Trump’s tariff policy continued having a dizzying effect on global markets Wednesday, causing U.S. government borrowing costs to surge while stocks saw choppy trading as China ratcheted up retaliatory tariffs.”
* On Capitol Hill: “House Republican leaders are barreling forward with plans to vote on a new budget blueprint Wednesday to begin work on President Donald Trump’s sweeping legislative agenda even as a key bloc of hard-line conservatives remain opposed to the plan. It’s far from clear whether Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., will be able to corral enough votes for the Senate-approved budget resolution in the narrowly divided House, even as Trump has dialed up the pressure on GOP lawmakers.”
* The latest mass shooting in Virginia: “Three people were killed and three others were wounded in a shooting on a residential street just outside Fredericksburg, Va., on Tuesday, the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office said. … ‘All suspects’ were in custody and there was ‘no threat to public safety,’ the sheriff’s office said on social media.”
* The intensifying offensive against higher education: “The Trump administration has frozen more than $1 billion in funding for Cornell and $790 million for Northwestern amid civil rights investigations into both schools, two U.S. officials said.” * The fact that Mitch McConnell voted against him was notable: “The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Elbridge Colby, President Donald Trump’s controversial pick for Pentagon policy chief, a win for the increasingly vocal wing of the GOP that wants the U.S. to focus on China rather than Europe and the Middle East.” * Speaking of confirmations: “Mike Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, Republican presidential contender and Baptist minister, was confirmed as ambassador to Israel by a vote of 53 to 46 on Wednesday, with senators largely divided along party lines.” 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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