Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Heartbreaking murders in D.C.: “Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim had spent the evening at an event dedicated to bringing together war-torn and politically divided regions of the world when a man with a gun killed the soon-to-be engaged Israeli Embassy staffers Wednesday.”
* The wall of separation of church and state hasn’t been completely torn down just yet: “With Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused, an eight-justice Supreme Court split 4-4 on an appeal seeking to approve the country’s first public religious charter school. The tie keeps an Oklahoma state court ruling against the school in place, resulting in a rare non-win for such a religious claim at the high court, but perhaps only a temporary one given the Trump appointee’s absence.”
* This SCOTUS news, was far more unsettling: "The Supreme Court on Thursday granted a Trump administration request that allows the president to fire members of independent federal agencies. The move to pause a lower court ruling formalizes a temporary decision along similar lines on April 9 that allowed President Donald Trump to fire Gwynne Wilcox, a member of the National Labor Relations Board, and Cathy Harris, a member of the Merit Systems Protection Board."
* A more encouraging outcome in court: “A federal judge in Massachusetts blocked the Trump administration from dismantling the Education Department, calling out the government’s ‘efficiency’ efforts in the process as anything but. U.S. District Judge Myong Joun wrote that there’s ‘no evidence’ that a massive reduction in force ‘has actually made the Department more efficient.’”
* Another encouraging outcome in court: “A federal judge in California has blocked the Trump administration from terminating the legal statuses of international students at universities across the U.S. In the injunction, District Judge Jeffrey S. White in Oakland also prohibited the administration from arresting or detaining any foreign-born students on the basis of their immigration status while a case challenging previous terminations moves through the courts.”
* Finance ministers and central bankers at the latest G7 gathering: “Top economic policymakers from the United States and other advanced economies agreed on Thursday to continue to support Ukraine and warned Russia of additional sanctions if there was no progress on peace, demonstrating a rare show of unity despite festering tension over tariffs and trade.”
* A deeply disappointing setback: “Moderna said on Wednesday it has withdrawn an application seeking approval for its flu and COVID combination vaccine candidate to wait for efficacy data from a late-stage trial of its influenza shot, which is due later this year.”
* They’re right to be concerned: “States and cities along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts are heading into hurricane season with an extraordinary level of uncertainty, unable to gauge how significant cuts at vital federal agencies will affect weather forecasts, emergency response and long-term recovery.”
See you tomorrow.