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Good morning, I'm Jayakumar Madala, filling in for Sarah Naffa.
In the news today: The Kilmar Abergo Garcia case pulls Democrats into the immigration debate Trump wants to have; a deep staff cut at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is the latest step in an extraordinary reshaping of the federal government; and survivors talk about the lessons of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Also, scientists find possible chemical signs of life on a faraway planet. |
Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, right, speaks with Kilmar Abrego Garcia in a hotel restaurant in San Salvador, El Salvador, on Thursday. (Press Office Senator Van Hollen, via AP) |
The Abrego Garcia case pulls Democrats into the immigration debate Trump wants to have |
For Democrats, the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case is about fundamental American ideals — due process, following court orders, preventing government overreach. For the Trump administration and Republicans, it’s about foreigners and gang threats and danger in American towns and cities. Read more.
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This dichotomy is playing out as Democrats double down on their defense of Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man mistakenly deported and imprisoned without communication. On Thursday evening, Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen posted photos of himself meeting in El Salvador with Abrego Garcia. The lawmaker did not provide an update on the status of Abrego Garcia, whose attorneys are fighting to force the Trump administration to facilitate his return to the U.S.
In defending his administration’s position, Trump says he is doing what he was elected to do and justifying the need to deport millions. “I was elected to get rid of those criminals — get them out of our country or to put them away, but to get them out of our country. And I don’t see how judges can take that authority away from the president,” Trump said Thursday.
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Nearly 90% of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau cut as Trump’s government downsizing continues |
President Donald Trump is drastically shrinking the workforce and mission of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, eviscerating an agency created after the Great Recession with the goal of protecting Americans from fraud, abuse and deceptive practices. Read more. |
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The plan, which is being challenged by an employee union, is the latest step in an extraordinary reshaping of the federal government. Conservatives and businesses have often chafed at the agency’s oversight and investigations, and Elon Musk made it a top target of his Department of Government Efficiency.
Mark Paoletta, the chief legal officer for the agency, sent a message to employees describing the CFPB’s reduced mission. Problems with mortgages will be the top priority, while issues involving medical debt, student loans and digital payments will receive less attention, according to Paoletta. The change in focus could benefit Musk’s efforts to offer financial services through X, his social media company. Musk has long wanted to allow users to make peer-to-peer payments using his platform, and he announced in January that X would be working with Visa.
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The Oklahoma City bombing was 30 years ago. Some survivors worry America didn’t learn the lesson |
From a mother who lost her first-born baby, a son who never got to know his father, and a young man so badly injured that he still struggles to breathe, three decades have not healed the wounds from the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995. Read more. |
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The bombers were two former U.S. Army buddies, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, who shared a deep-seated hatred of the federal government fueled by the bloody raid on the Branch Davidian religious sect near Waco, Texas, and a standoff in the mountains of Ruby Ridge, Idaho, that killed a 14-year-old boy, his mother and a federal agent.
While the bombing awakened the nation to the dangers of extremist ideologies, many who suffered directly in the attack still fear anti-government rhetoric in modern-day politics could also lead to violence. "One thing I say to tell people is 'conspiracy theories can kill,' and we saw it here," said Dennis Purifoy, who was an assistant manager in the Social Security office on the ground floor of the building.
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Visitors view the frescoes at the South Solon Meeting House, in Solon, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) |
Maine’s hidden ‘Sistine Chapel’ inspires artists with 70-year-old frescoes
From the outside, it looks like any other New England church building: a boxy, white structure with a single steeple surrounded by an old stone wall, set against rolling hills and a pine forest. Inside, though, the South Solon Meeting House has a secret unknown even to some who drive through the tiny Maine town every day. The interior of the building is covered in 70-year-old fresco murals that encourage some in the state’s art community to describe it as “Maine’s Sistine Chapel.”
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Please let us know what you think of this newsletter. You can sign up for more and invite a friend here. For news in real time visit APNews.com. - Jayakumar
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