The Good
A federal appeals court rejected a request by the Trump administration to revoke the legal status of hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans living in the US (Reuters)
The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to put on hold a judge’s order halting the Department of Homeland Security’s move to cut short a two-year “parole” granted to the migrants under Trump’s Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden.
The Ugly
A US Navy aircraft carrier in the Red Sea fight just lost a third Super Hornet. The US$60 million jet went overboard on landing (Business Insider)
Another F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet fell off the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman and into the Red Sea on Tuesday, a US defense official confirmed to Business Insider.
It’s the second fighter jet lost from the Truman in a little over a week, and the third of the carrier’s deployment. Super Hornets are estimated to cost roughly $60 million apiece.
A second F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet from the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier has been lost in the Red Sea (CNN)
It is not entirely clear what happened yet, as the investigation is ongoing, but two of the people said there was some kind of arrestment failure as the jet was trying to land on the carrier and the pilot and weapons systems officer had to eject. They were recovered by a rescue helicopter and are both alive, but they suffered minor injuries, one of the people said.
The jet crashed into the sea and has not been recovered, two of the people familiar with the incident said.
Separately, the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group “took a shot” at the Truman on Tuesday, the four sources said, despite President Donald Trump announcing an apparent ceasefire with the group hours earlier. It is not clear whether the two incidents are related.
FAA suspends work of independent panel reviewing US air traffic control (WaPo)
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.
US Orders intelligence agencies to step up spying on Greenland (WSJ)
Several high-ranking officials under Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard issued a “collection emphasis message” to intelligence-agency heads last week. They were directed to learn more about Greenland’s independence movement and attitudes on American resource extraction on the island.
The classified message asked agencies, whose tools include surveillance satellites, communications intercepts and spies on the ground, to identify people in Greenland and Denmark who support U.S. objectives for the island.
From prosperity to austerity: Trump’s tone shifts ahead of tariff impacts (WaPo)
Trump has long promised to unleash a “golden age.” Now he is warning that Americans may have to cut back.
Pete Hegseth to slash senior-most ranks of US military (Reuters)
Hegseth on Monday ordered a 20% reduction in the number of four-star officers, deepening cuts at the Pentagon that have shaken the Department of Defense at the start of Trump’s second term in office.
Hegseth has long been vocal about how he views the senior-most ranks of the military as too big.
Trump administration plans to cut up to 1,200 of employees at the CIA (NBC)
US House Republicans are likely to kill US$7,500 electric vehicle tax credit (Bloomberg)
Eliminating the popular tax credit of as much as $7,500 for consumers who purchase an EV has been a prime target for Republicans looking for ways to help pay for President Donald Trump’s massive tax-cut package.
Trump administration has suspended all air quality monitoring across 63 US national parks (WaPo)
The program collects data on levels of harmful air pollutants, including ozone and particulate matter, at the 63 national parks in the United States. Federal officials consult this data when deciding whether to grant permits to nearby industrial facilities, such as power plants or oil refineries.
Breathing in these pollutants is linked to a range of adverse health effects. For instance, long- and short-term exposure to particulate matter is associated with heart attacks, strokes, asthma attacks and premature death, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Trump administration bars Harvard from new federal research funding (Politico)
Columbia University terminating 180 staff after Trump orders funding cut (Axios)
