Today’s edition of quick hits.
* The latest American fatality in the war: “U.S. Central Command says two more U.S. service members have died in the war in Iran — one from injuries sustained during an Iranian attack on American troops in Saudi Arabia last week and another from a ‘health-related incident in Kuwait’ on March 6. A total of eight U.S. service members have now died during the conflict.”
* The latest deadly boat strike: “The U.S. military said it killed six men Sunday in a strike on an alleged drug-smuggling vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean as part of the Trump administration’s campaign against alleged traffickers.”
* In Ukraine: “Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles at Ukraine overnight on Saturday, damaging infrastructure and killing at least 10 people, including two children, in the northeast city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials said.”
* In a consequential court ruling: “Press freedom organizations are celebrating the court decision invalidating Kari Lake’s tenure at Voice of America and nullifying the mass layoffs she ordered last year.”
* Trump’s favorite list is a sham: “Trump has repeatedly counted decades of fighting between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo as one of eight wars he settled as he openly sought a Nobel Peace Prize. … But on Monday the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on the Rwandan military and four senior officers, saying they are supporting militants in eastern Congo who resumed fighting within days of the December pact.”
* A case worth watching: “The Trump administration’s retribution campaign has landed in court again, this time with a lawsuit from Anthropic, the artificial intelligence company behind the AI tool Claude.”
* At the FDA: “The Food and Drug Administration’s controversial vaccines chief is leaving the agency. Dr. Vinay Prasad, who has led the FDA’s vaccines and biotech drugs division, will depart at the end of April, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said Friday. Federal health officials are searching for his replacement, Makary said.” * USPS trouble: “Recently appointed Postmaster General David Steiner said he expects the United States Postal Service (USPS) to run out of cash by 2027 without Congress’s help. In recent interviews with Reuters and the Associated Press, Steiner said that unless Congress lifts the agency’s statutory debt limit of $15 billion, which was enacted in 1990, USPS may not be able to pay its vendors or employees by February 2027. The agency would need to borrow more money from the U.S. Treasury to continue operations.” * Remember him? “Jeffrey B. Clark, an architect of many of the Trump administration’s most consequential climate rollbacks, has left his position as the White House regulatory czar, according to three people familiar with the decision.” 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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