Trump is set to announce ‘reciprocal’ tariffs in a risky move that could reshape the economy. Follow live updates.
This Mass. native once celebrated Trump’s defeat. Now he’s helping him — and Elon Musk — upend the federal government. — 5:45 a.m.
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By Emma Platoff and Sam Brodey, Globe Staff
Over the last 10 years, Jeremy Lewin has looked like a man in search of a political identity.
As he ascended through Ivy League institutions and elite law firms, Lewin, now 28, veered from one end of the political spectrum to the other, seesawing rapidly without obvious explanation. In college, law school, and his early career, Lewin took a number of stances that would seem to be irreconcilable. He joined the Dartmouth College Republicans and Harvard Law School’s chapter of the conservative Federalist Society, only to proudly label himself “Team Joe” in the 2020 presidential election, and even help his mentor, the well-known liberal law professor Laurence Tribe, advise the congressional Democrats impeaching Donald Trump.
And then, just days after Trump was inaugurated this year, Lewin took on the most consequential identity yet: He joined the Department of Government Efficiency, the Elon Musk-led and Trump-blessed project to remake — and shrink — the federal government. In March, Lewin was elevated to deputy administrator of the US Agency for International Development — a neophyte appointed to effectively turn out the lights at an agency that distributed billions of dollars of aid around the world.
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Democrats’ win in Wisconsin court race also is a big loss for Elon Musk — 2:33 a.m.
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By the Associated Press
Judge Susan Crawford preserved liberals’ narrow majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court Tuesday by defeating conservative Brad Schimel, but in a way the real loser of the election was billionaire Elon Musk.
Musk and his affiliated groups sunk at least $21 million into the normally low-profile race and paid three individual voters $1 million each for signing a petition in an effort to goose turnout in the pivotal battleground state contest. That made the race the first major test of the political impact of Musk, whose prominence in President Trump’s administration has skyrocketed with his chaotic cost-cutting initiative that has slashed federal agencies.
Crawford and the Democrats who backed her made Musk the focus of their arguments for holding the seat, contending he was “buying” the election, which set records for the costliest judicial race in history.
Wisconsin and Florida elections provide early warning signs to Trump and Republicans — 1:57 a.m.
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By the Associated Press
A trio of elections Tuesday provided early warning signs to Republicans and President Trump at the beginning of an ambitious term, as Democrats rallied against his efforts to slash the federal government and the outsized role being played by billionaire Elon Musk.
In the marquee race for a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat, the conservative judge endorsed by Trump and backed by Musk and his groups to the tune of $21 million lost by a significant margin in a state the president won in November. And while Florida Republicans held two of the most pro-Trump House districts in the country, both candidates also significantly underperformed Trump’s November margins.
The elections — the first major contests since Trump’s return to power — were seen as an early measure of voter sentiment as Trump works with unprecedented speed to dramatically upend the federal government, clashing with the courts and seeking revenge as he tests the bounds of presidential power.
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A wary Europe awaits Rubio with NATO’s future on the line — 12:45 a.m.
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By the Associated Press
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio travels this week to a gathering of top diplomats from NATO countries and is sure to find allies that are alarmed, angered and confused by the Trump administration’s desire to reestablish ties with Russia and its escalating rhetorical attacks on longtime transatlantic partners.
Allies are deeply concerned by President Trump’s readiness to draw closer to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who sees NATO as a threat, amid a US effort to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine. Recent White House comments and insults directed at NATO allies Canada and Denmark — as well as the military alliance itself — have only increased the angst, especially as new US tariffs are taking effect against friends and foes alike.
Rubio arrives in Brussels on Thursday for two days of meetings with his NATO counterparts and European officials, and he can expect to be confronted with questions about the future US role in the alliance.
US judge orders Trump administration to restore legal aid to unaccompanied migrant children — 12:36 a.m.
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By the Associated Press
A federal judge in California on Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to temporarily restore legal aid to tens of thousands of migrant children who are in the United States without a parent or guardian.
The Republican administration on March 21 terminated a contract with the Acacia Center for Justice, which provides legal services for unaccompanied migrant children under 18 through a network of legal aid groups that subcontract with the center. Eleven subcontractor groups sued, saying that 26,000 children were at risk of losing their attorneys; Acacia is not a plaintiff.
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Those groups argued that the government has an obligation under a 2008 anti-trafficking law to provide vulnerable children with legal counsel.
GOP senators push ahead on Trump’s tax cuts package, punting big decisions for later — 12:20 a.m.
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By the Associated Press
Senate Republicans said they are pushing ahead on President Trump’s big bill of tax breaks and spending cuts this week, even though they’re punting some of the most difficult decisions — including the costs and how to pay for the multitrillion-dollar package — until later.
The Senate GOP’s budget framework would be the companion to the House Republicans’ $4.5 trillion tax cuts package that also calls for slashing some $2 trillion from health care and other programs. If the Senate can move the blueprint forward, it edges Trump’s allies on Capitol Hill closer to a compromise setting the stage for a final product in the weeks ahead.
Trump is set to announce ‘reciprocal’ tariffs in a risky move that could reshape the economy — 12:13 a.m.
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By the Associated Press
After weeks of White House hype and public anxiety, President Trump is set Wednesday to announce a barrage of self-described “reciprocal” tariffs on friend and foe alike.
The new tariffs — coming on what Trump has called “Liberation Day” — is a bid to boost US manufacturing and punish other countries for what he has said are years of unfair trade practices. But by most economists’ assessments, the risky move threatens to plunge the economy into a downturn and mangle decades-old alliances.
The White House is exuding confidence despite the political and financial gamble being undertaken.
Democrats show a pulse: Six takeaways from Tuesday’s elections — 12:09 a.m.
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By The New York Times
Elon Musk’s money can buy him love from Republicans, but not, it turns out, a Wisconsin Supreme Court election.
A campaign awash in more than $25 million in spending by the world’s richest man and groups tied to him ended up much like the other elections of the first months of President Trump’s second term: with a surge of energy from Democratic Wisconsin voters that overwhelmed whatever turnout Republicans could manage in response.
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On the same night that Judge Susan Crawford, the liberal candidate, was delivering a thumping to Judge Brad Schimel, the Trump-backed conservative, Democrats saw a silver lining in losses in two special congressional elections in Florida. In both races, they were able to cut sharply into the much wider Republican victory margins from November.
In all, the night’s results demonstrated what Democratic officials have been saying in recent weeks: that their voters are fired up to fight back against a Trump administration set on tearing down large chunks of the federal government.