Friday 03.14.25

A cross-country storm will explode in strength as it moves over the central United States today, delivering extreme weather to millions through the weekend. Here's what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and on With Your Day.
 

By Tricia Escobedo

(Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

Federal funding

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer declared Thursday night that he would vote for Republicans’ stopgap spending bill, backing down in the Democrats' first big leverage point in President Donald Trump’s second term. That confirmed a dire political reality for his caucus: Democrats had no good options left to avert a government shutdown ahead of today's midnight deadline. Veteran Democrats privately believed Schumer’s decision was inevitable. Others were ready for him to lead them into their first big battle against Trump — and instead have been left fuming. Top Democrats in Congress struggled to find a cohesive message and strategy that would allow them room to fight without the potential risk of what it would mean if thousands of government workers were suddenly thrust into more uncertainty with a shutdown.

Birthright citizenship

In a series of emergency appeals, President Trump's administration has asked the Supreme Court to allow him to move forward with plans to end birthright citizenship, elevating a fringe legal theory that several lower courts have resoundingly rejected. For more than 150 years, US courts have understood the 14th Amendment’s text to guarantee citizenship to anyone “born or naturalized in the United States,” regardless of the immigration status of their parents. A landmark Supreme Court precedent from 1898 affirmed that reading of the law, and the modern court hasn’t signaled any desire to revisit that holding. But some conservatives have argued that those long-held views are wrong because the 14th Amendment includes a phrase that the benefit applies only to people who are “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States. Immigrants in the country illegally, the theory goes, are subject to the jurisdiction of their native homeland.

Plane fire

Dozens of passengers were forced to stand on the wing of an American Airlines plane at Denver International Airport as they evacuated the aircraft after one of its engines caught fire Thursday evening, sending thick black smoke billowing into the air. The Boeing 737-800 — en route to Dallas-Fort Worth from Colorado Springs carrying 172 passengers and six crew — diverted to Denver after the crew reported “engine vibrations,” the Federal Aviation Administration said. It caught fire while taxiing to the gate, according to the FAA. Twelve passengers were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, the Denver Fire Department told CNN. The incident comes just three weeks after a Delta Air Lines flight crashed, turned upside down and caught fire on the runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport. That incident was preceded by deadly crashes this year in Alaska, Philadelphia and Washington, DC, where an American Airlines plane collided midair with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter in January, killing 67 people.

Trade war

US stocks slid Thursday and the S&P 500 closed in correction, down more than 10% from its record high in February, as President Trump threatened new tariffs on the European Union. The Dow ended the day down by 537 points, or 1.3%. The S&P 500 fell 1.39%, and the Nasdaq Composite was 1.96% lower. Earlier in the day, Trump threatened to impose a 200% tariff on European alcohol in response to the European Union’s retaliation against his steel and aluminum tariffs — a tit-for-tat escalation of a trade war that could easily get out of hand. After Trump’s 25% tariffs on aluminum and steel went into effect on Wednesday, the EU immediately retaliated with tariffs on $28 billion worth of American goods, including boats, bourbon and motorbikes. The measures, which are set to go into effect in April, are “swift and proportionate,” the EU said in a statement.

IRS

The Trump administration and Department of Government Efficiency are proposing a dramatic downsizing of the IRS that would result in a nearly 20% reduction of its workforce by May 15 — one month after Tax Day in the United States. The details of the IRS proposal were laid out in an email from DOGE and to be discussed at a meeting among agency leadership on Thursday, according to a source familiar with the matter who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. The proposal has not been made public. Echoing concerns sounded by experts and other employees, the source said these cuts could impact the amount of revenue the IRS brings in and that could ripple through the federal government as the IRS funds nearly all government operations. It's part of Trump's effort to reduce the federal workforce, which hit a roadblock Thursday when a second federal judge ruled that thousands of probationary employees laid off en masse must be temporarily reinstated to their jobs. 

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