• The self-inflicted Signal snafu: The Watergate-era adage is tired but true: It’s not the crime; it’s the cover-up. Similarly, regarding the Trump national security team’s Signal snafu, It’s not the screwup; it’s the sidestepping. As soon as the story by Atlantic fabulist Jeffrey Goldberg broke, the administration should’ve figured out how it happened, taken the “L,” and moved on to friendlier turf. Yep, one of our staffers screwed up, but how about all those Houthis we greased? Instead, by denying the own goal and claiming that specific details of a planned military strike aren’t classified, some very serious and capable patriots have turned a 24-hour story into an enduring one. Adding insult to injury, a new lawsuit from a leftist watchdog group alleging that the administration’s use of Signal violates the preservation of government records has been assigned to … Judge James Boasberg.

• Appeals court blocks deportations: If this keeps up, it’s gonna be a frustrating four years. In a 2-1 decision yesterday, a federal appeals court sided with Trump-deranged U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s order blocking the administration’s ability to swiftly oust illegal aliens under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. So much for the president’s Article II authority to protect our nation’s borders and enforce its immigration laws. For those keeping score, Judge Karen Henderson, a George H.W. Bush appointee, joined Judge Patricia “Nazis Got Better Treatment” Millett, an Obama appointee, in ruling against Trump. Writing in dissent, Judge Justin Walker, an appointee from Trump’s first term, argued that the illegals missed their chance to challenge their detention back in Texas, as the law prescribes.

• 25% auto tariffs: Last night, Donald Trump announced another wave of targeted tariffs to take effect April 2. “What we’re going to be doing is a 25% tariff on all cars that are not made in the United States,” Trump explained. His rationale is to get auto manufacturing back into the U.S. He highlighted several foreign carmakers, such as Honda, that have announced their intent to expand their manufacturing facilities in America. Trump asserted that these foreign automakers would not be moving their manufacturing stateside if not for these tariffs. “Others will come into our country and build, and they’re already looking for sites,” he further noted. Trump clearly sees tariffs as a tool for dealmaking. “I may give a lot of countries breaks,” he said on Monday. “It’s reciprocal, but we might be even nicer than that.”

• RFK Jr. to cut 10,000 HHS jobs: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been bitten by the DOGE bug, announcing today that he’ll make significant cuts within HHS, including the closure of numerous regional offices. Kennedy said 10,000 full-time employees across departments would be cut as part of his “Administration for a Healthy America” initiative. As Kennedy put it in a statement, “We are realigning the organization with its core mission and our new priorities in reversing the chronic disease epidemic.” Including another 10,000 who have already opted to leave, the overall headcount will go from 82,000 to 62,000 full-time employees, and the agency’s 28 existing divisions will be cut to 15 or otherwise merged with those of the newly created AHA. In addition, the existing regional offices will be halved from 10 to five. That still leaves a massive organization in place.

• Feds nab top MS-13 gang leader: In Woodbridge, Virginia, a top MS-13 gang leader was arrested by a joint team of both federal and state officers. “They executed a clean, safe operation, and the bad guy is in custody,” Attorney General Pam Bondi explained. “And thanks to the FBI, we got one of the worst of the worst of the MS-13 [gang] off the streets this morning. Virginia and the country [are] a lot safer today.” FBI Director Kash Patel also praised the operation, stating, “This is what can happen when you put good cops in good places to take on bad guys.” According to the FBI, this criminal is the top MS-13 leader for the gang’s East Coast operations.

• Fate of four American soldiers remains unclear: Early yesterday, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte erroneously announced the deaths of four U.S. soldiers who’d gone missing during a training exercise in Lithuania. Having jumped the gun, NATO tried to clean things up later in the day with an X post: “We regret any confusion about remarks [Secretary-General Rutte] delivered on this today. He was referring to emerging news reports and was not confirming the fate of the missing, which is still unknown.” The outlook is grim, though. According to the AP, the U.S. Army says that the soldiers’ Hercules armored vehicle “had been found submerged in a body of water” and that recovery efforts by U.S. Army and Lithuanian forces and civilian agencies were underway.

• The Defining Male and Female Act: What is a woman? Well, Republican lawmakers aim to ensure that the federal government has an official answer to that question. Dubbed the Defining Male and Female Act, Representative Mary Miller (R-IL) and Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) introduced the legislation to codify Donald Trump’s executive order that recognizes only two sexes. “Now more than ever,” Miller explained, “we must unite to uphold the truth and biological reality established by God that there are only two sexes.” Marshall noted, “The Democrats’ radical transgender agenda is dangerous and wrong. We shouldn’t need legislation to tell us the basic reality that there are only two sexes, but here we are.”

• Yep, Biden got questions in advance: In a story that will come as no surprise to anyone paying attention because it only confirms what we saw with our own eyes, Jill Biden’s former press secretary, Michael LaRosa, admits that the Biden administration pre-screened reporters’ questions for Joe Biden. “There was this thing in Biden world about quote approval,” LaRosa noted. “Everything had to be on quote approval: One person [within the Biden administration] decides what the reporter can use, what quotes they can use.” He further likened these press staffers to being “dog trained” on what questions to ask. “It was really unethical to be doing that, but these kids are really taught to make that a part of their pre-screening for interviews,” LaRosa concluded. This is why nobody trusts legacy media.

• Military service academies root out remaining DEI: “We’re looking for gems out there that … have a propensity to serve their nation in the Navy or the Marine Corps.” So said Admiral Yvette Davids, superintendent of the Naval Academy, to the Senate Armed Force Committee. She also said that race and sex were not determining factors for admittance. Three cheers for that — bring on the warfighters who will protect freedom for the next generations, whatever they look like. Also at the committee meeting were the superintendents of the other service academies, who reported on their progress at eliminating “woke” classes pursuant to Donald Trump’s executive order to that effect. West Point found two classes that need to go, and a few others are still under review. The Air Force Academy is reviewing 55 of its 737 total courses.

• Kermit the Frog to give commencement speech: Sixty-five years ago, Jim Henson graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in home economics. By that time, Kermit, Henson’s creation, had already been appearing on “Sam and Friends” for five years. In 2025, the university has invited Kermit to speak to its college graduates. Apparently, politicians are too controversial. This might seem like a strange choice given that Kermit the Frog is a fictional puppet whose words are created by a team of writers at The Walt Disney Company. Indeed, rather than providing graduates with a real, experienced human with genuine advice, UM thinks that the best way to prepare students for the “real world” is with the same character who prepared them for first grade. This is a sad reflection on the state of American higher ed.

Headlines

• Kristi Noem comes face-to-face with alleged Tren de Aragua members during tour of notorious El Salvador prison (Fox News)

• Appeals court denies Trump administration’s bid to pause ruling forcing federal agencies to reinstate fired workers (NY Post)

• U.S. prosecutors probe tip about timing of Pfizer vaccine (WSJ)

• Satire: Democrats estimate they are only one more arson away from being popular again (Babylon Bee)

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