Ukraine Aid Passes, Johnson Still Under Fire

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In Today’s Brief

• Columbia U: Campus firestorm

• ISS: Mysterious bacteria detected

• Biden: Is RFK Jr. actually helping?

• UAW: Historic vote in Tennessee

• Taylor Swift: Streaming records

... and more

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Top Tips

1) Spoken into existence

The House finally approved new military aid for Ukraine after Speaker Mike Johnson defied fellow Republicans gunning for his job.

• The bills: Johnson ended months of resistance and pushed a $95B foreign aid package through on Saturday by a 311-112 vote powered by 210 Democratic votes. About $61B will go to Ukraine, which is struggling in its war against Russia. The package also included funds for Israel, Taiwan and humanitarian aid in Gaza, as well as revised legislation mandating the divestiture of Chinese-owned TikTok.

• Next steps: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the upper chamber could vote to approve the package as soon as tomorrow. President Joe Biden has indicated he will sign the bill. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the vote and said it will give his country a chance to defeat the Kremlin.

• Under pressure: Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene demanded Johnson's resignation after the vote. She said she still plans to file for a motion to vacate the Speakership; Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar and Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie also want Johnson out. But it appears enough House Democrats are inclined to protect Johnson's role now that he shepherded Ukrainian aid through.

2) Mind the gap

Panama's leading presidential candidate has vowed a drastic measure that would likely impact migration into the U.S.

• The news: Former government minister Jose Raul Mulino said he will close the Darien Gap if he is elected president. The Gap is a dangerous jungle across parts of Columbia and Panama that connects the North America and South America continents.

• Why that is significant: The region has become a major route for migration despite the lack of roads, treacherous mountains and rivers, significant gang and sexual violence and a lack of cell phone service. Over 500K people are believed to have moved through the region last year while trying to move north toward the U.S.-Mexico border. Mulino claimed Panama has effectively replaced Texas as the American border to the south and he wants to work with Colombia and the U.S.

• Big picture: Mulino provided no details for his plan, and experts say it would be virtually impossible to close the region. Even if Panama succeeded, it would likely spur migrants to seek even more dangerous paths. Panama has already stopped Doctors Without Borders from treating people who enter the country through the region.

3) Pleading the Eighth?

The Supreme Court will hear arguments today in a case that could have massive implications for homeless people and local governments in the U.S.

• The case: Grants Pass v. Johnson centers on whether Grants Pass, a city in Oregon, is violating Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment by fining, arresting and jailing homeless people who sleep in public areas. Grants Pass began heavily enforcing penalties for unhoused people over a decade ago; the original plaintiff in the case had over $5K in fines before she died.

• Go deeper: Grants Pass is appealing a lower court ruling that found it violated the Eighth Amendment since it does not have any shelters for unhoused people. The city argues the penalties are not cruel and unusual and the Eighth Amendment cannot be applied to what is defined a crime, but only the penalty for a crime.

• Big picture: There are about 650K unhoused people in the U.S. and the homeless rate jumped over 10% from 2022 to '23. Many government leaders, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, have indicated a ruling against Grants Pass would tie the hands of local government as they work to balance community safety and caring for the unhoused, specifically an inability to police encampments due to a lack of shelter resources.

Quick Tips

U.S. News

• President Biden decried "an alarming surge of antisemitism" as Columbia University struggles to contain anti-Israel demonstrations on its campus. A rabbi associated with the school called on all Jewish students to go home indefinitely for safety reasons (More)

• A man who self-immolated outside the courthouse hosting former President Donald Trump's hush money trial has died. Maxwell Azzarello, 37, posted an online manifesto containing conspiracy theories before setting himself on fire (More)

• Former Associated Press journalist Terry Anderson died at 76. He was held hostage by militants for close to seven years while reporting on Lebanon's civil war (More)

World News

• Mutated strains of an unknown drug-resistant bacteria were found on the International Space Station. A study suggests bacteria in space may become more resistant to drugs or treatment and can survive in microgravity; the origin of the superbug is unknown (More)

• The U.S. will reportedly sanction an Israeli military unit for alleged human rights abuses in the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Benajmin Netanyahu said he would fight and protest any measures against the Netzah Yehuda battalion (More)

• Over 1K U.S. military personnel will pull out of Niger after talks to salvage a cooperation pact failed. The West African country's ruling military junta is seeking close ties with Russia (More)

Campaign News

• Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s independent presidential run is taking more voters from former President Trump than President Biden, according to an NBC poll. Trump leads Biden in a head-to-head race, but trails him when Kennedy and other candidates are surveyed (More)

• Opening arguments in former Trump's hush money trial begin today. Former National Enquirer published David Pecker will reportedly be the prosecution's first witness (More)

• New York Attorney General Leticia James asked a judge to reject Trump's $175M bond as he appeals his civil business fraud judgment. If rejected, Trump's assets could again be at risk of seizure (More)

Business & Markets

• Major indexes closed mixed on Friday. The Nasdaq dropped over 2% for its sixth straight losing session (Dow +0.56%, Nasdaq -2.05%, S&P 500 -0.88%).

• Volkswagen workers in Tennessee voted to join the United Auto Workers after failed elections in 2014 and 2019. It is the first Southern plant to organize in decades; the labor union has emphasized organizing all car manufacturers in the U.S. (More)

• The FAA announced scheduling changes for air traffic controllers in response to a string of near-misses on runways. Controllers must have a minimum of 10 hours off between shifts and a 12-hour break before starting a midnight shift (More)

Entertainment & Sports

• Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department is the first album to hit 300M first-day streams on Spotify. Her Fortnight broke the service record for the most-streamed single in a day (More)

• The World Anti-Doping Agency allowed 23 Chinese swimmers to compete at the Tokyo Olympics despite failed drug tests. The governing body said it agreed that pre-Games samples were contaminated; Chinese swimmers won three gold medals and six medals in total (More)

• Meg Bennett died at 75 on April 11 after a battle with cancer. The actress was part of the original Broadway cast of Grease and was known for her work on General Hospital and The Young and the Restless (More)

Quick Hitters

• Take Note: Side hustles can be financially and personally rewarding. But you need to be smart about them. Here are some things you should know before you start.

• Spot On: AT&T made a series of forward-looking commercials in 1993. They nailed a lot of their technology predictions.

• Go Deep: New York City's souvenir shops have rich history. Learn more about some of the most iconic ones.

• Pet Hack: It can be very hard to get your dog to take medicine. Tiny ice cream cones can make things much easier on you while making good health a bit sweeter for your best friend.

• Life Hack: You have likely read about retirees who say living on luxury cruises is cheaper than having a home. An even more cost-effective approach: Being a young tech worker living on European trains.

• OPTIMIZE ME: Researchers “found convincing evidence that higher intake of ultra-processed foods was associated with 50% increased risk of cardiovascular disease-related death, a 48% to 53% higher risk of anxiety and common mental disorders, and a 12% greater risk of type 2 diabetes”

Want more health and wellness news? Subscribe to our brand new newsletter, Optimize Me, and start living a healthier life through diet, exercise, sleep, and mindfulness:

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An oil-on-canvas study for the Winston Churchill portrait made infamous by The Crown will be auctioned in New York later this year. Sotheby's believes the winning bid could approach $1M.

Question of the Day

Last week’s results:

Trivia: Which historical figure did not serve as West Point Superintendent?

About a third of readers got this one right — Former President Dwight Eisenhower graduated from West Point and has a statue on campus, as well as a building named in his honor, but he was never the superintendent.