WTF Just Happened Today

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

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1/ An Alabama Democrat won a special election in the state Legislature after making in vitro fertilization and abortion rights central to her campaign. Marilyn Lands – who had criticized the state’s near-total abortion ban and the recent state Supreme Court ruling that temporarily banned in vitro fertilization – said her win sends “a clear message” to Montgomery and called for the legislature to “repeal Alabama’s no-exceptions abortion ban, fully restore access to IVF, and protect the right to contraception.” The Biden campaign said the victory was a “warning sign” for Trump and “extreme MAGA Republicans,” adding that Alabama voters “know exactly who’s to blame for restricting their ability to decide how and when to build their families and they’re ready to fight back.” In 2020, Trump narrowly carried the district. (CNN / NBC News / Associated Press / Politico / The Hill / New York Times)

2/ The Biden administration pledged to rebuild Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge after a 984-foot cargo ship hit a pillar, causing it to collapse. Six people are presumed dead. “It’s my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstruction in that bridge,” Biden said. “I expect the Congress to support my effort.” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg warned of a “long and difficult path” to full recovery, but added that “Infrastructure is, or at least ought to be, a bipartisan priority.” Buttigieg said he expects the White House will need Congress to authorize additional funds beyond the approximately $1 billion allocated by the 2021 infrastructure law for emergency relief, noting that some Republicans “crossed the aisle” to support the bipartisan infrastructure bill. (Politico / ABC News / Washington Post / New York Times / CNN / NBC News)

3/ A federal appeals court blocked Texas’ plan to arrest migrants suspected of illegally entering the U.S. The 2-1 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit follows a lower-court ruling in February that said the state law, which would criminalize unauthorized immigration at the state level, is probably unconstitutional. The same court temporarily froze the law March 19 – hours after the Supreme Court said it could go into effect. The Biden administration initially challenged the law in January, arguing that the state law conflicts with the federal government’s immigration policy and violates the Constitution’s supremacy clause, which says that federal laws preempt conflicting state laws. Texas can now ask the Supreme Court to allow the law to go into effect again. In the m...

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