Tuesday 04.01.25

White House aide Peter Navarro said he expects President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imported goods to bring in $6 trillion in revenue over the next decade. But most economists say the tariffs will be paid for by American businesses and consumers in the form of higher prices. That would amount to the largest tax hike in US history. Here's what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and on With Your Day.
 

By Jade Walker

A resident participates in early in-person voting in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Election day

In the first major elections since President Trump returned to office, all eyes are on races in Wisconsin and Florida. Voters in Wisconsin will head to the polls today to decide the ideological balance of the state's Supreme Court. Democrats are backing liberal judge Susan Crawford, while Trump, billionaire Elon Musk and Republicans are supporting conservative judge Brad Schimel. The battle for the court seat has become the most expensive judicial contest in US history. In Florida, elections are being held to replace former GOP Reps. Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz. If Republicans win in the Sunshine State, it would increase the GOP’s slim majority in the House. 

Cory Booker 

Sen. Cory Booker took to the Senate floor at 7 p.m. last night to protest actions taken by President Trump and his administration. “In just 71 days, the president of the United States has inflicted so much harm on Americans’ safety; financial stability; the core foundations of our democracy,” the New Jersey Democrat said. "These are not normal times in America.” During his many hours on the floor, Booker read letters from Americans who were worried about the country and wanted lawmakers to act. Booker also discussed possible cuts to Medicaid and Social Security, the elimination of funding for research and science, the far-right's campaign to demonize and deport immigrants, the removal of US history lessons about women and people of color, and attacks on free speech at universities. At publication time this morning, Booker was still speaking.

China

China launched military exercises around Taiwan today as “a stern warning and forceful deterrence against ‘Taiwan Independence’ separatist forces,” the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command said in a statement. The drills, which involve its army, navy, air force and rocket force, come just days after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s visit to Asia, where he vowed to counter “China’s aggression” in the Indo-Pacific region. Officials in Taiwan  condemned the exercises, calling them “reckless,” “irresponsible” and “totally unacceptable.” 

Yemen group chat

The White House has closed its investigation into top national security officials who discussed a US military attack on Houthis in Yemen in a group chat on Signal — a conversation that inadvertently included a journalist. On Monday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to say what steps had been taken, but it appears none of the officials — including national security adviser Mike Waltz and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — will be removed from their positions. Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, who was the journalist on the chat, described the situation as a massive breach of national security. “If this happened six months ago, and it was Tony Blinken, the former secretary of state, and [former national security adviser] Jake Sullivan, and [former Vice President] Kamala Harris talking about an imminent strike on some location in the Middle East, I don’t think that Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump would be dismissing it out of hand."

Trump deportations

The Trump administration has admitted that it mistakenly deported a Maryland man and flew him to El Salvador, where he is currently housed in a notorious mega-prison. An immigration judge granted Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia protected status in 2019 after he fled gang violence in El Salvador. In a court filing that was first reported Monday in The Atlantic, the administration said Abrego Garcia was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in mid-March due to his prominent role in MS-13. His attorneys say he has never been a member nor has any ties to the gang. The court filing also noted that ICE “was aware of his protection from removal to El Salvador” and that his deportation was due to “an administrative error.” Now that Abrego Garcia is in Salvadoran custody, the administration says it can’t get him back. 

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17,000

That’s how many tons of uncollected garbage were left on the streets of Birmingham, Britain’s second-largest city, amidst a sanitation worker strike.

“Some of the most significant chapters of our collective history were shaped by women, which is why it’s egregious that a woman has never been featured on US paper currency.”

— Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, on why she’s urging the US Treasury to redesign the $20 bill and replace President Andrew Jackson with abolitionist Harriet Tubman.

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