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GOP bolsters House majority by retaining two seats in Florida

(NYTimes) — Two Trump-backed Republicans won special congressional elections in Florida on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, shoring up their party’s slim majority in the House at a crucial moment for President Donald Trump’s domestic agenda. Jimmy Patronis, the state’s chief financial officer, won the race to replace Matt Gaetz in the 1st Congressional District, on the western end of the Panhandle. And state Sen. Randy Fine captured the 6th District seat that had been held by Michael Waltz, now Trump’s national security adviser. That district is rooted in Daytona Beach and parts of the northeast coast. Both seats had been expected to remain in Republican hands.

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Immigration officials detain former Taliban ambassador to Spain

(NYTimes) — The Taliban’s former ambassador to Spain, Mohammad Rahim Wahidi, was detained by U.S. immigration officials while entering the United States on Saturday and remained in custody after a federal judge declined to order his release Monday. Wahidi was detained at Washington Dulles International Airport under what his lawyer described as a weaponization of part of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Under the law, the secretary of state can deport a noncitizen determined to be a national security risk. Wahidi is a lawful permanent resident, and his wife, Mary Shakeri-Wahidi, is a U.S. citizen, according to a court filing from his lawyer, Hassan Ahmad.

Auto sales surged in anticipation of Trump’s tariffs

(NYTimes) — The auto industry witnessed a different kind of March madness last month as buyers flocked to dealerships to lock in deals before President Donald Trump’s auto tariffs lift prices by thousands of dollars, several carmakers said. Trump said last week that he would impose 25% tariffs on imported vehicles, effective Thursday. The tariffs will be extended to imported auto parts on May 3. Many cars made in U.S. factories contain parts made abroad, frequently exceeding 50% of the vehicle’s value. Analysts estimate that carmakers will have to increase prices of some models by more than $10,000 to compensate for the new levies.

Trump’s dismantling of minority business agency could hinder job growth

(NYTimes) — The Trump administration’s move to gut an agency that aims to support minority-owned businesses has alarmed Democratic lawmakers and nonprofits, who say the action could harm job growth and businesses that rely on the agency’s services. President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month that would effectively dismantle the Minority Business Development Agency. The agency funds more than three dozen centers across the country that provide technical assistance to minority-owned businesses with the goal of helping them secure loans and contracts. In the past fiscal year, the agency helped businesses gain access to more than $1.5 billion in capital and create or retain about 23,000 jobs, according to an annual report.

Hooters files for bankruptcy, but its restaurants will stay open

(NYTimes) — Hooters, the restaurant chain known for its chicken wings, its all-female serving staff in revealing outfits and its slogan — “delightfully tacky, yet unrefined” — has filed for bankruptcy in a Texas court, the company announced Monday. Under the bankruptcy agreement, a group that includes the company’s founders — who independently run about a third of the franchised locations in the United States — will buy the company-owned restaurants in the United States from the private equity firm that owns the chain. After the process is completed, all of the chain’s locations will be franchises. During the bankruptcy proceedings, Hooters restaurants will continue operating.

China holds military exercises around Taiwan in fresh warning

(NYTimes) — China launched military exercises pressing in on Taiwan on Tuesday, sending warships and fighter planes in what Beijing said was a warning to the island-democracy’s president, Lai Ching-te, after he called China a “foreign hostile force” in a speech last month. Chinese land, navy, air and missile forces would “approach close” to Taiwan and practice “strikes on sea and land targets, and the blockade and control of key areas and lanes” at sea, a spokesperson for the People’s Liberation Army regional command that oversees Taiwan, said on Chinese state-run media. Officials and state media reports were clear that the exercises were punishment.

Millions of women will lose access to contraception as a result of Trump aid cuts

(NYTimes) — The United States is ending its financial support for family planning programs in developing countries, cutting nearly 50 million women off from access to contraception. This policy change stands to have enormous implications, including more maternal deaths and an overall increase in poverty. It derails an effort that had brought long-acting contraceptives to women in some of the poorest and most isolated parts of the world in recent years. In 2023, U.S. funding provided contraceptive devices and the medical services to deliver them to more than 47 million women and couples, according to an analysis by the Guttmacher Institute, a sexual health research organization.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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