Happy Friday! We hope you enjoy a lovely Easter weekend. If you’re craving more Dispatch coverage, you’re in luck, because our team has had a busy week following the oral arguments in Trump v.
Barbara. Check out SCOTUSblog’s Zach Shemtob on Forbes and C-SPAN, and Amy Howe on Maine Public Radio.
Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories
Pam Bondi Removed as Attorney General
President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social on Thursday that Attorney General Pam Bondi will depart from her post, lauding her for a “tremendous job” in fighting crime. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump’s former personal attorney, will serve as acting attorney general until a new nominee is confirmed. The New York Times first reported on Wednesday that Trump was weighing Bondi’s replacement and that, since February, he had privately complained about her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, her public-facing communication, and her decision not to pursue more cases against Trump’s political opponents. According to Trump, Bondi will shift from heading the Justice Department to a “much needed and important new job in the private sector,” to be announced “in the near future.” The Times and other outlets indicated Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin as a leading candidate for the now-open post.
- The eventual nominee will need Senate confirmation to take on the role officially.
- Earlier in March, the House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena Bondi over how the Justice Department handled the Epstein investigation.
- Bondi is set to testify before the House committee on April 14, but a committee spokeswoman told NBC News on Thursday that, since she no longer holds the title of attorney general, Chairman James Comer and fellow Republicans will consult with colleagues and DOJ officials “on the status of the deposition subpoena and discuss next steps.”
U.S. Snubs Meeting to Discuss Opening Hormuz Strait
No American officials took part in a Thursday virtual gathering led by U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, which included participants from 40 other countries and explored options to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Cooper underscored the heavy costs the closure has imposed on global energy markets, saying that is why there is a push to pursue every diplomatic, economic, and coordinated measure to restore access. A European official told Reuters that any plan would first require Iran to remove mines laid in the channel before ensuring safe passage for commercial vessels. Cooper noted that the talks focused on diplomatic and political solutions, but added that several unnamed nations agreed to dispatch military planners for an in-person session next week in Northwest London, stating, “We need diplomatic pressure, economic pressure, and the ongoing work by military planners on how to keep shipping secure for the long term after the conflict ends.” Iranian state media claimed that Iran and Oman were drafting a new protocol to supervise transit through the Strait of Hormuz even in peacetime.
- During a Seoul meeting, French and South Korean leaders pledged cooperation to assist in reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The Dutch government also indicated willingness to deploy its military to help reopen the strait, but only after the war ends.
- CNN reported that U.S. intelligence assesses that roughly half of Iran’s missile launchers and single-use attack drones remain operational.
- Iranian state media announced the execution of an 18-year-old protester, Amir-Hossein Hatami, who had been arrested during January demonstrations. Authorities offered no supporting evidence or fair trial, accusing him of attacking a classified Iranian military facility on behalf of the U.S. and Israel.
Terrorist Threats in France
Le Parisien reported that French law enforcement intensified surveillance of Goldman Sachs’ Paris office on Wednesday night after U.S. officials warned of threats from an Iran-linked group to target the building with explosives. French prosecutors said on Thursday morning that “no suspicious elements were found at the scene.” Goldman Sachs has not publicly commented, but reports suggested staff were allowed to work remotely on Thursday due to the threat. Citigroup likewise instructed workers in Paris and Frankfurt to work remotely as a precaution. On Thursday, French authorities announced the detention of four individuals—one adult and three minors aged 16 to 17—tied to a thwarted bomb attack on a Bank of America building in Paris last week. The device did not explode but could have produced a powerful fireball capable of spreading flames. Prosecutors alleged the adult suspect recruited the others, offering payments between 500 and 1,000 euros to place the device while filming them.
- Earlier this week, French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said authorities suspect a link between the attempted Bank of America attack and the pro-Iran group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, which emerged last month amid the Iran conflict and has claimed responsibility for multiple European attacks.
- Prosecutors noted that all four suspects denied terrorist intent; the adult suspect claimed the device was mailed to his home by a stranger who he said acted through an intermediary contacted via social media.
Colorado Courts Send Voting Machine Tampering Case Back to Trial
A three-judge Colorado appellate panel unanimously overturned Tina Peters’ prison sentence for tampering with voting machines, sending the case back to the trial court for resentencing. The court found that, at the October 2024 sentencing, the trial judge improperly gave excessive weight to Peters’ personal views about 2020 election fraud, which the appellate court ruled went beyond relevant factors and violated her First Amendment rights. The judges reiterated that the offense lay in her deceitful behavior while gathering alleged fraud evidence, not in her beliefs.
- Trump later issued a presidential pardon for Peters in December, but the state appellate court rejected its authority, noting that presidential pardons apply to federal offenses, not state ones.
- The court observed that it was “unaware of—and unable to locate in history—any instance of a president pardoning someone for a state offense.”
DHS Funding Bill Moves Forward
On Thursday morning, the Senate transmitted to the House a funding package for the Homeland Security Department’s agencies, excluding those in immigration enforcement such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which had already been provided funding last summer via the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Republicans intend to advance a separate ICE/CBP funding bill through budget reconciliation, avoiding the 60-vote threshold needed to end a filibuster. House Speaker Mike Johnson and other GOP leaders initially resisted backing the package after the Senate approved it last week, but have since signaled support for moving the legislation forward. While Trump had initially withheld backing for the deal to end the partial government shutdown, he endorsed the plan in a Truth Social post on Thursday, asserting that “Republicans are UNIFIED” behind it.
- In the same post, Trump said he would sign an executive order to compensate DHS employees, though neither he nor the White House specified the funding source.
- Last week, Trump issued a similar executive order to compensate Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers using previously appropriated funds with a clear connection to TSA operations.
For residents across the Western United States, this March was the hottest on record—and in many places, hotter than any April or May as well.
It was “undeniably the most extreme March heat event we’ve ever seen in the Western U.S., period,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, told TMD. “In many locations, it was the single most anomalous heat event we’ve observed in any month in the Western U.S.,” he added.
Across 8,200 locations spanning more than a dozen states and numerous towns, weather stations logged record-high daily temperatures for those dates. Lawrence, Kansas reached a 157‑year high of 93 degrees Fahrenheit this March. Cheyenne, Wyoming, posted March temperatures in the 80s for the first time ever. And in Las Vegas, the March average of 73 degrees was roughly 12 degrees above normal, breaking the record for the overall April average.
The heat wave disrupted typical seasonal progression in a way that is nearly impossible to forecast or quantify, Swain noted. “It is an astonishing feat, both statistically and physically.”
Even places that weren’t scorched still felt temperatures higher than usual. Fog-bound San Francisco saw beachgoing crowds, Colorado’s ski resorts recorded the smallest snowpack on record prompting an early season wrap, and Southern California is bracing for a year with heightened fire danger.
March’s heat surge was a once-in-a-century event. Yet the United States continues to warm, and a hot summer appears likely. But what factors are driving the rising temperatures—and why are so many communities still ill-prepared to cope?
Today’s Must-Read
In Other News
Today in America
- The Defense Department announced the retirement of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, effective immediately, a move reportedly requested by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
- Federal agents raided the homes of Democratic New York City Councilmember Farah Louis and her sister late last month, probing possible involvement in a bribery and fraud scheme.
- Federal authorities arrested and charged Zhan “Johnny” Petrosyants, a close associate of former New York City Mayor Eric Adams, for allegedly orchestrating an insurance fraud scheme.
- The Islamic Society of Milwaukee’s president, 53-year-old Salah Sarsour—an LPR in the U.S.—was detained by ICE over his past criminal record in Israel, including a conviction for throwing Molotov cocktails at Israeli soldiers’ homes.
- Nancy Metayer Bowen, Coral Springs’ vice mayor, was found dead in what police are examining as a domestic-violence incident involving her husband, who is in custody.
Around the World
- Taiwan’s coast guard said it would strengthen defenses of Pratas Island in the northern reaches of the South China Sea.
- Cuba released 2,010 prisoners in a Holy Week pardon framed as a humanitarian gesture by Havana, though officials did not say whether any political detainees were among those freed.
- The Russian Defense Ministry said its strategic missile forces conducted a drill in Siberia, incorporating camouflage to conceal the movement of ground-based missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
- Azerbaijan’s Supreme Court upheld the conviction of jailed opposition figure Tofig Yagublu, who is serving a nine-year sentence after being arrested in 2023 on fraud and forgery charges rights groups describe as politically motivated.
- Satellite imagery indicates that Khalifa Haftar, the eastern Libyan strongman, reportedly acquired at least three drones from Chinese and Turkish suppliers, contrary to a United Nations embargo.
On the Money
- The Trump administration imposed a 100 percent tariff on patented medicines and their active ingredients produced by firms that have not agreed to lower prices.
- The Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims for the week ending March 28 totaled 202,000, down 4.3 percent from the prior week.
- Brazil now requires financial institutions to verify a property against a government database detailing illegal deforestation before issuing a credit line.
- The British energy company Shell is reportedly negotiating a potential deal with Venezuela’s ruling government to develop new gas fields near Trinidad and Tobago.
- Google plans to let U.S. users change their Gmail addresses.
Worth Your Time
- “He Helped Stop Iran From Getting the Bomb” (The New Yorker)
- A contemporary account with Frannie Block of TMD on witnessing Artemis II launch live from a beach near Cape Canaveral, Florida. (The Free Press)
- Rick Rubin discusses his acting and film-producing career with Jonah Hill. (Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin)
- Scott Sumner reviews several new releases this year, along with older films worth revisiting. (Pursuit of Happiness)
- New releases: The Drama in theaters, Your Friends & Neighbors Season 2 on Apple TV+, Love on the Spectrum Season 4 on Netflix, Morkull Ascend to the Gods on console and PC, plus new music from Thundercat, Arlo Parks, Dermot Kennedy, Peach PRC, Charley Crockett, MONSTA X, sunn O))), and Stacey Kent—everywhere quality music is found.
Presented Without Comment
Astronomy Magazine: Artemis II Crew Fixes Toilet, Can Now Pee in It
Also Presented Without Comment
Associated Press: World’s Oldest Known Tortoise Still Very Much Alive Despite Rumor to the Contrary
Also Also Presented Without Comment
The Californian: Man Drives Stolen Car to Salinas Courthouse for Auto Theft Hearing
