Tip News
Posts
Trump Move Signals GOP Concerns

Trump Move Signals GOP Concerns

Your unbiased daily news brief

James Kratch
March 28, 2025

Good Friday morning. Here is an interesting case for getting rid of your noise-canceling headphones. Have a great weekend!

In Today’s Brief

Los Angeles: DNA debacle
Vance: Greenland visit
Georgia: Election laws
Starliner: Return date
NBA: European idea

... and more

First time reading? Sign up here

Top Tips

1) Playing defense

Elise Stefanik took one for the team.

The news: President Donald Trump withdrew the New York Congresswoman's nomination to be United Nations Ambassador, citing a need to keep her in the House and part of the narrow Republican majority in the chamber.
The surprise: Stefanik won re-election last fall by 21 points. But Trump indicated he was worried the GOP might lose her seat in a special election when announcing his decision. The national party refuted the possibility, but the president's comments were seen as a potential bellwether that GOP leaders have apprehensions about an upcoming special election in Florida and their general standing heading into next year's midterms.
The numbers: The GOP currently holds a 218-213 majority with four vacancies. The party should pick up two seats in the Sunshine State next week, but the Republican candidate seeking embattled National Security Advisor Mike Waltz's old seat is underperforming against a Democratic underdog.
Big picture: Speaker Mike Johnson vowed to add Stefanik to party leadership. The reversal comes after Trump was reportedly warned about appointing too many House Republicans to cabinet positions during the transition process.

2) No clemency

The woman who infamously killed a star singer was denied parole.

Look back: Selena Quintanilla, one of the most celebrated Latin artists of the late 20th century, was murdered in Texas in 1995. Yolanda Saldivar shot Quintanilla in a Corpus Christi hotel room after Quintanilla accused her of embezzlement in her former roles leading the singer's fan club and boutique businesses. Selena, a film about Quintanilla's life and death, was released in 1997.
The news: Saldivar, serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole, was denied yesterday by Texas' state parole board. She denied trying to kill Quintanilla during a standoff with police after the incident and has maintained the gun went off accidentally. Saldivar also claims she only had the weapon because she planned to commit suicide.
Big picture: Saldivar will be eligible to seek parole again in 2030. Quintanilla's family said they were grateful the request was denied. "This decision reaffirms that justice continues to stand," they said in a statement.

3) Underwater disaster

Six people died when a tourist submarine sank off the coast of Egypt.

The news: A viewing sub crashed while making an observation trip to coral reefs near a Red Sea resort. There were 45 tourists inside it; officials said 39 were rescued. The cause of the incident was unknown.
More details: All six people killed were Russian; two children died. About two dozen people were injured with four reportedly in intensive care. The five-person Egyptian crew also survived.
Big picture: Egyptian officials said the submarine has been operating for years and held a valid license and all certifications. But Russian officials said they had launched a criminal probe.

Quick Tips

U.S. News

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department used a faulty DNA testing kit for at least eight months. Officials said they will be forced to re-test over 4K samples and conceded they were told the kits were defective months before usage stopped (More)
A Connecticut man is accused of stealing $28M from Mars. Paul Steed was an executive at a subsidiary of the candymaker; the dual U.S.-Argentine citizen pleaded not guilty (More)
Georgia lawmakers abandoned a proposed database tracking students who may commit violence. The program was proposed after a fatal school shooting at a high school in the state last year; a larger school safety bill remains in play (More)

World News

Vice President J.D. Vance will visit Greenland today. The trip has generated significant ire given President Trump's continued talks about U.S. annexation of the Danish territory (More)
Taiwan conducted its first "whole of society" civil defense drill amid rising tensions with China. Japan has developed a plan to evacuate Okinawa if war breaks out between Beijing and Taipei (More | More)
Myanmar strongman Min Aung Hlaing pledged to hold elections by the end of the year. A 2021 military coup in the Asian nation ousted a democratically-elected government; the ruling junta has repeatedly pushed back promised votes (More)

Political News

Georgia Republicans backed off controversial election law proposals. The potential legislative moves included forcing poll officials to count ballots by hand and giving a state board the power to strike thousands of voters from rolls (More)
Florida Rep. Cory Mills faces House Ethics Committee scrutiny. The Republican is accused of holding prohibited federal contracts through his businesses and campaign finance violations (More)
President Trump issued an executive order calling for reviews of all Smithsonian content. He directed Vice President Vance to eliminate "divisive race-centered ideology" at museums and other locations (More)

Business & Markets

Major indexes closed lower yesterday. February's personal consumption expenditures price index will be released today (Dow -0.37%, Nasdaq -0.53%, S&P 500 -0.33%).
Boeing and NASA are aiming for Starliner flights to resume in 2026. The maligned spacecraft's technical issues led to two astronauts being stuck at the International Space Station for nine months (More)
Nippon Steel would invest as much as $7B into U.S. Steel factory upgrades to preserve its $15B takeover deal. A Semafor report said the Japanese steelmaker recently made the pitch to the White House (More)

Entertainment & Sports

The NBA may launch a new European professional league. The circuit would have 16 teams and likely mesh existing EuroLeague clubs with new franchises (More)
The Sundance Film Festival will move to Boulder, Colorado, in 2027. The city secured a 10-year deal to pull the event away from Park City, Utah, which has hosted for almost four decades (More)
Peyton Manning sold a 10% stake in Omaha Productions. The private equity deal with former Endeavor official Patrick Whitesell values the Pro Football Hall of Famer's media house at $750M (More)

Quick Hitters

Fun Stuff: Airports can be very stressful. Having a cute dog play with a balloon inside them certainly helps make them less so.
True Crime: A British man was banned from entering the county of Cambridgeshire for three months. The reason? He stole over 300 Cadbury eggs from a gas station.
Go Deep: The next medical breakthrough may be found in the wild. Experts say animals have a lot of medicinal wisdom to offer humans.
New Idea: A new golf ball was constructed with a "water-loving" coating that slows it on fast greens and speeds it up on wet ones. The creator said it will be compliant with the sport's rules, too.
Life Hack: Don't talk to strangers and definitely do not give them your email. It is becoming very easy to get decoy emails that safely route all messages to you.

Watch This

Listen to the first shark sounds ever recorded.