Today’s edition of quick hits.
* A big ruling out of Madison: “The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s liberal majority backed abortion rights in the state, with a ruling that highlights the importance of state courts after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. … This new ruling stems from an 1849 state law that criminalized the intentional destruction of an unborn child.”
* This doesn’t sound like much of a deal: “President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States has struck a trade deal with Vietnam that includes a 20% tariff on the Southeast Asian country’s imports to the U.S. Trump’s announcement on Truth Social said that the deal will give the U.S. tariff-free access to Vietnam’s markets. Vietnam also agreed that goods would be hit with a 40% tariff rate if they originated in another country and were transferred to Vietnam for final shipment to the United States.”
* A judge blocked Trump’s asylum ban: “A federal judge on Wednesday blocked President Donald Trump’s asylum ban at the U.S.-Mexico border, saying Trump exceeded his authority when he issued a proclamation declaring illegal immigration an emergency and setting aside existing legal processes.”
* This requires some additional explanation: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered a pause in sending a shipment of missiles and ammunition to Ukraine amid concern about the U.S. military’s stockpiles, according to two defense officials, two congressional officials and two sources with knowledge of the decision.”
* This requires some additional explanation, too: “The Trump administration has declined to release nearly $7 billion in federal funding that helps pay for after-school and summer programs, support for students learning English, teacher training and other services. The money was expected to be released by Tuesday. But in an email on Monday, the Education Department notified state education agencies that the money would not be available.”
* Before Trump abandoned the JCPOA, developments like these weren’t a concern: “Iran’s president on Wednesday reportedly ordered the country to suspend its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency after American airstrikes hit its most-important nuclear facilities.”
* Caving to the administration never seems to work out well, but institutions keep doing it: “The University of Pennsylvania said on Tuesday that it had struck a deal with the federal government that will limit how transgender people may participate in its athletic programs, bowing to the Trump administration’s new interpretation of the law that bans sex discrimination in education.”
* A gut-wrenching report: “Before states banned abortion, one of the gravest outcomes of early miscarriage could easily be avoided: Doctors could offer a dilation and curettage procedure, which quickly empties the uterus and allows it to close, protecting against a life-threatening hemorrhage. But because the procedures, known as D&Cs, are also used to end pregnancies, they have gotten tangled up in state legislation that restricts abortion. Reports now abound of doctors hesitating to provide them and women who are bleeding heavily being discharged from emergency rooms without care, only to return in such dire condition that they need blood transfusions to survive.”
* The least surprising news of the day: “President Trump on Tuesday nominated Alina Habba, his former campaign spokeswoman and personal lawyer, to be New Jersey’s U.S. attorney for the next four years, a move that would remove her interim status.”
See you tomorrow.
