Policy changes, but facts endure. AP delivers accurate, fact-based journalism to keep the world informed in every administration. Support independent reporting today. Donate. |
|
|
In the news today: As the Trump administration faces more than 130 lawsuits over his executive orders, the president increasingly asks the Supreme Court to overrule judges blocking his agenda; Elon Musk gave out $1 million checks on Sunday to two Wisconsin voters; and recovery efforts continue in Myanmar after Friday's 7.7 magnitude earthquake. Also, Abraham Lincoln's tiny Illinois town is due for a makeover. |
President Donald Trump greets justices of the Supreme Court at the Capitol in Washington, March 4. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
|
Trump increasingly asks the Supreme Court to overrule judges blocking key parts of his agenda
|
As losses mount in lower federal courts, President Donald Trump has returned to a tactic that he employed at the Supreme Court with remarkable success in his first term. Three times in the past week, and six since Trump took office a little more than two months ago, the Justice Department has asked the conservative-majority high court to step into cases much earlier than usual. Read more. |
|
|
- The administration's use of the emergency appeals, or shadow docket, comes as it faces more than 130 lawsuits over the Republican president's flurry of executive orders. Many of the lawsuits have been filed in liberal-leaning parts of the country as the court system becomes ground zero for pushback to his policies.
- Federal judges have ruled against the administration more than 40 times, issuing temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions, the Justice Department said Friday in a Supreme Court filing. The issues include birthright citizenship changes, federal spending, transgender rights and deportations under a rarely used 18th-century law.
|
|
|
Elon Musk hands out $1 million payments after Wisconsin Supreme Court declines request to stop him
|
Elon Musk gave out $1 million checks on Sunday to two Wisconsin voters, declaring them spokespeople for his political group, ahead of a Wisconsin Supreme Court election that the tech billionaire cast as critical to President Donald Trump's agenda and "the future of civilization." Read more. |
|
|
A unanimous state Supreme Court on Sunday refused to hear a last-minute attempt by the state's Democratic attorney general to stop Musk from handing over the checks to two voters. Musk's attorneys argued in filings with the court that Musk was exercising his free speech rights with the giveaways.
Two lower courts had already rejected the legal challenge by Democrat Josh Kaul, who argues that Musk's offer violates a state law. "Wisconsin law prohibits offering anything of value to induce anyone to vote," Kaul argued in his filing. "Yet, Elon Musk did just that."
- Musk and groups he supports have spent more than $20 million to help conservative favorite Brad Schimel in Tuesday's race, which will determine the ideological makeup of a court likely to decide key issues in a perennial battleground state. Musk has increasingly become the center of the contest, with liberal favorite Susan Crawford and her allies protesting Musk and what they say is the influence he wants to have on the court. The contest has shattered national records for a judicial election, with more than $81 million in spending.
|
|
|
Deaths from devastating earthquake in Myanmar climb past 1,700
|
The death toll from the earthquake that hit Myanmar has risen to more than 1,700 as more bodies have been pulled from the rubble, the country's military-led government said Monday. Government spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun told state-run MRTV that another 3,400 have been injured and more than 300 were missing. Read more. |
|
|
The 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit at midday Friday, causing widespread damage, including in the capital Naypitaw and the second largest city, Mandalay. The true number of people killed and injured across the regions hit is thought to be possibly many times the official figures.
|
|
|
Illinois state Rep. Wayne Rosenthal discusses the collapse of a portion of a barn that is part of the reconstructed village of New Salem. (AP Photo/John O'Connor)
|
Young Abraham Lincoln's tiny Illinois town is due for a makeover
Before his famous debates, before the Civil War rent the nation, before he helped end slavery and before his tragic assassination, Abraham Lincoln had New Salem. The tiny central Illinois village, where Lincoln accidentally spent half-a-dozen years in the 1830s, perhaps did as much to prepare him to be the Union-saving 16th president as any other aspect of his humble yet remarkable life. The site was re-created by a federal public works program in the 1930s during the Great Depression, but long-neglected maintenance has taken a toll on the setting. It took a dedicated volunteer and state lawmakers' advocacy to secure state money to begin rehabbing the site. |
|
|
Please let us know what you think of this newsletter. You can sign up for more and invite a friend here. For news in real time visit APNews.com. - Sarah |
| |
|
Please let us know what you think of this newsletter. You can sign up for more and invite a friend here. For news in real time visit APNews.com. - Sarah |
| |
|
*Advertisers have no control over editorial decisions or content. If you're interested in advertising, contact us here. |
|
|
|
