Vice President JD Vance continues his Asia tour amid uncertainty over tariffs. The International Monetary Fund sharply downgraded its outlook for U.S. economic growth and raised its risk of recession. And some 5.3 million student loan borrowers whose loans are in default could soon see their wages garnished by the Education Department.
Here's the Latest:
Supreme Court hears religious rights dispute over LGBTQ books in schools
The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments over the religious rights of parents in Maryland to remove their children from elementary school classes that use storybooks with LGBTQ characters.
Tuesday's case is the latest dispute involving religion to come before justices who have repeatedly endorsed claims of religious discrimination in recent years.
The Montgomery County public schools introduced the storybooks to better reflect the district’s diverse population. Some parents sued after the district stopped allowing them to pull their kids from the book lessons.
▶ Read more about the Supreme Court arguments in Mahmoud v. Taylor
Some GOP states are targeting driver’s licenses issued to immigrants illegally in the US
As Trump cracks down on illegal immigration, Republican legislators lawmakers are pushing new state laws targeting people lacking legal status to live in the U.S. Nineteen other states and Washington, D.C., issue driver's licenses regardless of whether residents can prove their legal presence.
In Florida, motorists with special out-of-state driver’s licenses issued to those in the U.S. illegally are not welcome to drive. Wyoming’s governor enacted a comparable ban this year. And Tennessee’s governor said he will sign similar legislation sent to his desk.
On May 7, the U.S. will start enforcing national standards for state driver's licenses. Licenses compliant with the REAL ID Act are marked with a star and require applicants to provide a Social Security number and proof of U.S. citizenship or legal residency.
▶ Read more on how states are targeting driver's licenses differently
Mahmoud Khalil’s wife gave birth without him after ICE denied his plea for temporary release
Khalil, a Columbia University activist held in a detention center in Jena, Louisiana, requested a two-week furlough on Sunday morning, noting that his wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, had gone into labor eight days earlier than expected. Their child was born Monday in New York, according to emails shared with The Associated Press.
His lawyers had said he would be “open to any combination of conditions” to allow the temporary release, but an ICE official promptly wrote back denying the request.
“My son and I should not be navigating his first days on earth without Mahmoud,” she added. “ICE and the Trump administration have stolen these precious moments from our family in an attempt to silence Mahmoud’s support for Palestinian freedom.”
A message seeking comment was left with ICE officials.
Vance calls for greater ties with India, hails progress on trade talks
The U.S. vice president talked up an expected bilateral trade deal with India by calling Tuesday for enhanced engagement. He said India should buy more U.S. defense equipment and energy and allow Washington greater access to its market.
Vance said he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had finalized the terms of reference for the trade negotiation, a vital step towards setting the road map for a final agreement aimed at more than doubling bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.
"I believe there is much that India and America can accomplish together," Vance said in the western city of Jaipur, where and his wife Usha and their three children were sightseeing during their four-day visit to India.
▶ Read more about Vance's India trip
US, global economic outlook worsens in response to Trump’s tariffs, IMF says
The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday that due to uncertainty over Trump's plans, the global economy will grow just 2.8% this year, down from its 3.3% forecast in January. U.S. economic growth will come in at just 1.8% this year, down sharply from its previous forecast of 2.7% and a full percentage point below its 2024 expansion.
The IMF's World Economic Outlook raised the odds of a U.S. recession this year from 25% to 37%. Economists at JPMorgan say the chances of a U.S. recession are now 60%.
“We are entering a new era,” chief IMF economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said. “This global economic system that has operated for the last eighty years is being reset.”
▶ Read more about the IMF's World Economic Outlook
Defense secretary again denies sharing classified info despite reports that operational details were pulled from secure military comms
Hegseth doubled down during a Tuesday morning Fox and Friends interview, insisting that the information on airstrike launches and bomb drop times that he shared with his wife and brother and dozens of others in two separate Signal chats was not classified.
Hegseth didn’t deny the existence of a separate chat, instead attacking the media and his former staff, which he accused of leaking information about the chats.
His repeat denial comes as NBC News reported Tuesday that the information Hegseth posted came directly from secure communications from the head of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Erik Kurilla.
The Pentagon’s inspector general is investigating the chats.
Hegseth says he’s never doubted his decision to become defense secretary
“Oh, not for a minute,” Hegseth said Tuesday on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends.”
“I haven’t blinked, and I won’t blink because this job is too big and too important for the American people, and I’m grateful for every opportunity the president’s given,” Hegseth said.
Hegseth had a rocky road to confirmation and is under investigation by the Defense Department's acting inspector general for allegedly sharing classified information over the Signal messaging app and with people outside of the military, like his wife. Close advisers recently were dismissed from top roles at the Pentagon, leading to questions about Hegseth's leadership and viability. Trump has dismissed the allegations.
Wall Street opens slightly higher amid skepticism about the strength and safety of US investments
President Donald Trump's trade war and his attacks on the Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell have sent markets sharply lower.
Futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq rose less than 1% before the bell, far from recovering Monday's loss of more than 2% as Trump stepped up his public criticism of Powell.
Trump has been demanding that the central bank lower its key interest rate to boost the economy. Trump called Powell "a major loser" and declared that the central bank no longer needs to keep interest rates elevated to suppress inflation. The Fed has resisted lowering rates quickly, which could reignite inflation after it soared to more than 9% during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Any attempt to unseat Powell would likely set off a crisis in global financial markets.
▶ Read more about today's developments in financial markets
As controversies pile up, Trump allies increasingly turn on one another
The infighting and backstabbing that plagued Trump’s first term have returned as a threat to his second, with deepening fissures over trade, national security and questions of personal loyalty.
The latest turmoil threatens to engulf the Pentagon, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has pushed out top advisers and faces fresh controversy over sharing sensitive information about airstrikes in Yemen outside of classified channels. A former Pentagon spokesperson who was ousted last week wrote in Politico that Trump should fire Hegseth for presiding over a "full-blown meltdown."
The interpersonal drama is not — at least yet — a dominant plot line of Trump’s return to the White House. But its reemergence after a period of relative discipline in his ranks reflects a turbulent management style that has been suppressed or papered over, not reformed.
▶ Read more about the infighting within the Trump administration
Trump says he’ll give commencement addresses at West Point and the University of Alabama
Trump called the institutions “two really GREAT places” as he announced his upcoming schedule in a social media post.
It's tradition for the commander in chief to speak at one of the military service academies and West Point's commencement is May 24.
Alabama's website says commencement ceremonies are May 2-4.
Vance and Modi meet in New Delhi to discuss trade deal and avoid US tariffs
Vance held talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday as New Delhi looks to avoid American tariffs, negotiate a bilateral trade deal with Washington and strengthen ties with the Trump administration.
Vance, who is on a largely personal four-day visit to India, met with Modi at his residence in New Delhi and the two leaders "reviewed and positively assessed the progress in various areas of bilateral cooperation," Modi's office said in a statement. They also "welcomed the significant progress" in the negotiations of an expected trade deal between the two countries, the statement said.
The White House, in a statement, said that Vance and Modi set the terms for ongoing talks, “laying down a roadmap for further discussions.” It’s a sign that talks are moving forward but remain far from finalized, though Trump administration officials also spoke with their counterparts from India in a sign of the high level of engagement.
The Trump administration has portrayed its strategy of tariffs as forcing negotiations that could limit the reach and influence of China, the world’s dominant manufacturer.
▶ Read more about Vance and Modi's meeting
Harvard sues Trump administration to stop the freeze of more than $2 billion in grants
Harvard University announced Monday that it has filed suit to halt a federal freeze on more than $2.2 billion in grants after the institution said it would defy the Trump administration's demands to limit activism on campus.
In an April 11 letter to Harvard, the Trump administration had called for broad government and leadership reforms at the university and changes to its admissions policies. It also demanded the university audit views of diversity on campus and stop recognizing some student clubs. The administration has argued that universities allowed antisemitism to go unchecked at campus protests last year against Israel's war in Gaza.
Harvard President Alan Garber said the university would not bend to the demands. Hours later, the government froze billions of dollars in federal funding.
Harvard’s suit called the funding freeze “arbitrary and capricious,” saying it violated its First Amendment rights and the statutory provisions of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
Within hours, the White House lashed back.
▶ Read more about the lawsuit
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