What's next for Waltz and Hegseth  —  With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine  —  Good Thursday morning.  This is Jack Blanchard, already excited for my first cup of tea with Marjorie Taylor Greene.  —  More importantly ... This is my first Opening Day and the forecast looks great.

RFK Jr. Plans 10,000 Job Cuts in Major Restructuring of Health Department  —  Changes would reshape the nation's health agencies and close regional offices  —  WASHINGTON—Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is set to significantly cut the size of the department he leads …

Bondi Indicates Signal Chat Episode Will Not Be Criminally Investigated  —  The attorney general said the focus should be on the success of the U.S. military strike in Yemen, not that military information was shared in advance in a group text among top officials.

UA student reportedly detained by ICE  —  Senior send-off: Sarah Ashlee Barker's storied college career coming to an end  —  Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn ejected in 9-2 loss over Tennessee  —  City Council approves business alcohol license despite concerns

Airline Demand Between Canada & United States Collapses, Down 70%+  —  Recently, I wrote about how we're seeing a general softening of demand for travel to the United States, for a variety of reasons.  There's no denying that the most contentious situation is between Canada and the United States …

Elon Musk pressured Reddit's CEO on content moderation  —  Reddit took action after Musk messaged CEO Steve Huffman about users blocking X links and threatening DOGE staffers. … Nearly two months ago, Elon Musk went on a public crusade against Reddit.  —  On X, he said it was “insane” …

Trump's hopeless tariffs confusion, explained by a historian  —  “The president seems to believe he can impose prohibitively high tariffs *and* collect revenue, which you can't do.”  —  ∙ Paid … 📸  —  At the White House yesterday, Donald Trump announced he's imposing a 25 percent tariff on all imported cars.

Exclusive: Trump's “pro-Hamas” purge could block foreign students from colleges  —  The Trump administration is discussing plans to try to block certain colleges from having any foreign students if it decides too many are “pro-Hamas,” senior Justice and State Department officials tell Axios.

Elise Stefanik's nomination to be U.N. ambassador in jeopardy, sources say  —  Washington — Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik's nomination for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations is in jeopardy as GOP pressure mounts for her to back away from the position.  —  Multiple sources told CBS News …

Andrew Tate accused of violently attacking girlfriend during sex  —  Andrew Tate, the right-wing influencer who's accused of rape and sex trafficking in Romania, allegedly attacked one of his girlfriends while they were having sex in Los Angeles earlier this month.

Over 2000 protest in wake of student detainment  —  The gathering was organized less than 24 hours after a graduate student was detained Tuesday night.  —  Students and local activists gathered on Wednesday evening at Powder House Park to protest the detainment of Tufts graduate student …

75% of US scientists who answered Nature poll consider leaving … - Alexandra Witze  —  You can also search for this author in  —  PubMed Google Scholar  —  The massive changes in US research brought about by the new administration of President Donald Trump are causing many scientists …

Kari Lake withdraws cancellation of Radio Free Europe funding  —  U.S. Agency for Global Media senior adviser Kari Lake withdrew the Trump administration's cancellation of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's funding on Wednesday after a court granted the news organization a temporary restraining order.

Vance rips ‘hit piece’ in Jewish Insider  —  Vice President Vance publicly bashed the news outlet Jewish Insider (JI) and its top editor in a scathing social media post Thursday over an article about Republican lawmakers' responses to comments Vance made in a high-level national security text chain made public this week.

New York Democrats target Elon Musk with anti-Tesla bill  —  Billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk has drawn the ire of Democrats due to his role in the Trump administration's efforts to cut waste in the federal government, with some New York lawmakers targeting his company with a new piece of legislation.

Exclusive: US Justice Department considers merging DEA, ATF in major shakeup, memo shows  —  The U.S. Justice Department is considering merging the lead agencies enforcing drug and gun laws in a major shakeup as it follows President Donald Trump's instructions to sharply streamline the government, according to a memo seen by Reuters.

Consumer Bureau Seeks to Undo Settlement and Repay Mortgage Lender  —  The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants to return a $105,000 penalty it collected last fall when it resolved a discrimination lawsuit.  —  Under President Trump, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau …

New York County Clerk Blocks Texas Court Filing Against Doctor Over Abortion Pills  —  The showdown catapults the interstate abortion wars to a new level.  —  A New York county clerk on Thursday blocked Texas from filing a legal action against a New York doctor for prescribing and sending abortion pills to a Texas woman.

BBC statement on detention and deportation of Mark Lowen  —  This morning (27 March) the Turkish authorities deported BBC News correspondent Mark Lowen from Istanbul, having taken him from his hotel the previous day and detained him for 17 hours.  Mark Lowen was in Turkey to report on the recent protests.

Transcript: Trump “Frustrated” at Text Fiasco as Hegseth Spin Implodes  —  The following is a lightly edited transcript of the March 27 episode of the Daily Blast podcast.  Listen to it here.  —  Greg Sargent: This is The Daily Blast from The New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR network.

The White House Protests on Signal  —  Steve Witkoff explains his security protocols while in Russia.  —  The White House won't let bad enough alone when it comes to the Signal app fiasco.  This includes blaming the press and trying to suggest that nothing sensitive was on the chat …

Top MS-13 leader arrested in Virginia  —  Authorities made the arrest just south of Washington, DC  —  U.S. authorities have captured the MS-13 top leader for the U.S. East Coast, the FBI announced on Thursday.  —  Officials captured the 24-year-old suspect in Woodbridge, Virginia …

The Worst Thing a MAGA Warrior Can Do  —  The response to Signalgate reveals a disjuncture between the seriousness with which MAGA treats foreign enemies and perceived domestic ones.  —  One might think the Trump administration and its supporters would be dismayed to learn …

Trump administration sets up portal for polluters to request exemptions to clean air rules  —  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set up a portal allowing polluters to request exemptions to nine Clean Air Act rules.  —  The Clean Air Act allows the president to exempt polluters …

Exclusive: White House installs Trump loyalists at federal HR agency after ‘five things’ email  —  The White House has installed two Trump loyalists at the federal HR agency after allies of billionaire Elon Musk blindsided top Trump officials with a surprise government-wide email …

Trump's Attacks on Press Freedom Are Paving the Way for Authoritarianism  —  A leading global democracy research institute says democratic “backsliding” must be turned around quickly—warning that after 10 years, recovery is “close to impossible.”  —  In 2024, the Democrats ran on the catchphrase “We are not going back.”

Hundreds of advocacy groups call on Thune to reject House Republicans' budget blueprint  —  Hundreds of advocacy organizations have called on Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to reject a budget blueprint from House Republicans.  —  A letter sent to Thune, led by the liberal health …

Private Data and Passwords of Senior U.S. Security Officials Found Online  —  Donald Trump's most important security advisers used Signal to discuss an imminent military strike.  Now, reporting by DER SPIEGEL has found that the contact data of some of those officials, including mobile phone numbers …