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  • Supreme Court clears way for Texas death row inmate Rodney Reed to try to use DNA to prove innocence | CNN Politics

    Supreme Court clears way for Texas death row inmate Rodney Reed to try to use DNA to prove innocence | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The Supreme Court cleared the way on Wednesday for Texas death row inmate Rodney Reed to seek post-conviction DNA evidence to try to prove his innocence.

    Reed claims an all-White jury wrongly convicted him of killing of Stacey Stites, a 19-year-old White woman, in Texas in 1998.

    Texas had argued that he had waited too long to bring his challenge to the state’s DNA procedures in federal court, but the Supreme Court disagreed. Now, he can go to a federal court to make his claim.

    The ruling was 6-3. Justice Brett Kavanaugh delivered the opinion of the court and was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

    Since Reed’s conviction, Texas courts had rejected his various appeals. Celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Rihanna have expressed support, signing a petition asking the state to halt his eventual execution.

    The case puts a new focus on the testing of DNA crime-scene evidence and when an inmate can make a claim to access the technology in a plea of innocence. To date, 375 people in the United States have been exonerated by DNA testing, including 21 who served time on death row, according to the Innocence Project, a group that represents Reed and other clients seeking post-conviction DNA testing to prove their innocence.

    Kavanaugh, in his opinion Wednesday, said that the court agreed to hear the case because federal appeals courts have disagreed about when inmates can make such claims without running afoul of the statute of limitations. Kavanaugh said Reed could make the claim after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ultimately denied his request for rehearing, rejecting an earlier date set out by the appeals court.

    “Significant systemic benefits ensue from starting the statute of limitations clock when the state litigation in DNA testing cases like Reed’s has concluded,” Kavanaugh said.

    He noted that if any problems with a defendant’s right to due process “lurk in the DNA testing law” the case can proceed through the appellate process, which could ultimately render a federal lawsuit unnecessary.

    Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissented.

    Alito, joined by Gorsuch in his dissent, said Reed should have acted more quickly to bring his appeal. “Instead,” Alito wrote, “he waited until an execution date was set.”

    Alito charged Reed with making the “basic mistake of missing a statute of limitations.”

    Reed has been on death row for the murder of Stites.

    A passerby found Stites’ body near a shirt and a torn piece of belt. Investigators targeted Reed because his sperm was found inside her. Reed acknowledged the two were having an affair, but says that her fiancé, a local police officer named Jimmy Fennell, was the last to see her alive.

    Reed claims that over the last two decades he has discovered a “considerable body of evidence” demonstrating his innocence. Reed claims that the DNA testing would point to Fennell as the murder suspect. Fennell was later jailed for sexually assaulting a woman in his custody and Reed claims that numerous witnesses said he had threatened to strangle Stites with a belt if he ever caught her cheating on him. Reed seeks to test the belt found at the scene that was used to strangle Stites.

    The Texas law at issue allows a convicted person to obtain post-conviction DNA testing of biological material if the court finds that certain conditions are met. Reed was denied. He came to the Supreme Court in 2018 and was denied again. Now he is challenging the constitutionality of the Texas law arguing that the denial of the DNA testing violates his due process rights. 

    But the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals held that he waited too long to bring the claim. “An injury accrues when a plaintiff first becomes aware, or should have become aware, that his right had been violated.” The court said that he became aware of that in 2014 and that his current claim is “time barred.” 

    Reed’s lawyers argued that he could only bring the claim once the state appeals court had ruled, at the end of state court litigation. In court, Parker Rider-Longmaid said that the “clock doesn’t start ticking” until state court proceedings come to an end. He said Texas’ reading of the law would mean that other procedures in the appellate process are “irrelevant.”

    This story has been updated with additional developments.

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  • GOP blocks Democratic effort to replace Feinstein on Judiciary panel | CNN Politics

    GOP blocks Democratic effort to replace Feinstein on Judiciary panel | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Republicans on Tuesday formally blocked a request from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to temporarily replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein on the Judiciary Committee, something Democrats hoped to do in order to advance stalled judicial nominations.

    Senate Democrats are seeking to temporarily replace Feinstein on the powerful panel that processes judicial nominees as the California Democrat remains absent, recovering from shingles.

    Senate Republicans, however, have made clear that they have been prepared to block Democratic efforts to replace Feinstein on the committee, ratcheting up pressure on the 89-year-old California Democrat to resign or return quickly.

    Feinstein’s return date is still unclear and she asked just last week to be “temporarily” replaced on the committee as she recovers.

    Schumer introduced his motion on Tuesday by talking about his friendship with Feinstein, and highlighting her accomplishments.

    “Today, I am acting not just as Leader but as Dianne’s friend, in honoring her wishes, until she returns to the Senate,” Schumer said.

    GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, objected to Schumer’s request, though he also praised the California Democrat. He argued that Schumer’s move is to get more judges confirmed.

    “She’s a dear friend and we hope for her speedy recovery and return back to the Senate. With all due respect, my colleague, Senator Schumer, this is about a handful of judges that you can’t get the votes for,” Graham said.

    Democrats could still force a vote to replace the Feinstein, but that would require the support of 10 Republicans and it’s unlikely they would use a lot of valuable floor time for something with little chance of success.

    Feinstein, who has already announced she’s not seeking reelection, initially said she expected to return to Washington “by the end of the March work period,” but that her return got “delayed due to continued complications related to my diagnosis.”

    She recently said she plans to return “as soon as possible once my medical team advises that it’s safe for me to travel.”

    Cardin told CNN Tuesday he had discussed with Schumer being the temporary replacement on the committee but that he had not discussed the decision with Feinstein.

    The Maryland Democrat said he and Feinstein have not spoken since she’s been out of the Senate and that it is his understanding that this is only a temporary move until she returns.

    “I recognize the importance of the numbers on the committee, and this way we can be able to conduct business. I look at this as a way of dealing with a current situation,” Cardin said.

    Democrats would need 60 votes to replace Feinstein on the panel, but senior Republicans in leadership and on the committee made clear Monday that they would not give them the votes to do that. If Feinstein does not return soon, at least 12 nominees, or possibly even more, could be stalled.

    If Democrats are unable to replace Feinstein or if she does not return to Washington soon, they could see key agenda items thwarted – both on the committee and on the Senate floor.

    Asked if the California Democrat should consider resigning if she can’t return by May, Schumer responded that he’s “hopeful” she will return “very soon.”

    “Look, I spoke to Senator Feinstein just a few days ago and she and I are both very hopeful that she will return very soon,” Schumer said at his weekly policy press conference in the US Capitol.

    Feinstein announced in February that she would not run for reelection, and a number of Democrats have already launched campaigns for her seat in 2024 in what is shaping up to be a competitive primary.

    Many congressional Democrats have remained largely supportive of her decision to remain in office while absent from the Capitol as she recovers from shingles.

    But Feinstein has faced calls to resign from two House Democrats – and if Democrats are not able to replace her on the committee, that number could start to grow.

    Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin recently acknowledged to CNN that Feinstein’s absence had slowed down the party’s push to confirm nominees. But Durbin has stopped short of calling on Feinstein to resign, saying he hopes that Republicans will help to temporarily replace her on the committee and recognize that “the rain can fall on both sides of the road.”

    Asked if her absence has longer ramifications for the Democrats’ ability to confirm nominees, the Illinois Democrat said, “Yes, of course it does,” pointing to the long process of getting nominees scheduled for votes during precious floor time.

    Republican Sen. John Cornyn, a senior member on the Judiciary Committee and close adviser to McConnell, told CNN that he opposes the effort to replace Feinstein on the panel.

    “I don’t think Republicans can or should help President Biden’s most controversial nominees,” the Texas Republican said. “I support having Sen. Feinstein come back as soon as she can. But this effort to confirm controversial and in many instances largely unqualified nominees, I don’t think you can expect any Republican cooperation.”

    This story has been updated with additional information.

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  • McCarthy slams Biden in handling of US debt | CNN Politics

    McCarthy slams Biden in handling of US debt | CNN Politics

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    ‘What changed, Mr. President?’: McCarthy slams Biden in handling of US debt

    House Speaker Kevin McCarthy traveled to Wall Street on Monday to deliver a fresh warning that the House GOP majority will refuse to lift a cap on government borrowing unless Biden agrees to spending cuts that would effectively neutralize his domestic agenda.

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  • House fails to override Biden’s veto of resolution to overturn EPA water rule | CNN Politics

    House fails to override Biden’s veto of resolution to overturn EPA water rule | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The House of Representatives on Tuesday failed to override President Joe Biden’s veto of a resolution to overturn an Environmental Protection Agency water rule.

    Republicans have called the rule federal overreach and argue it places a burden on the agriculture community by being too restrictive in defining what is a navigable waterway. Democrats counter, saying the rule is critical for protecting the nation’s waterways and safeguarding clean water.

    A two-thirds majority vote would have been needed in both chambers of Congress to override the veto – a high threshold that was not expected to be met. The final vote was 227-196 with 10 Democrats crossing over to vote with Republicans to override the veto, and one Republican voting with the Democrats against the resolution.

    Biden vetoed the GOP-led resolution earlier this month. “I just vetoed a bill that attempted to block our Administration from protecting our nation’s waterways – a resource millions of Americans depend on – from destruction and pollution,” the president said at the time. “Let me be clear: Every American has a right to clean water. This veto protects that right.”

    Biden’s announcement marked both the second veto of his presidency and the second veto he had issued in recent weeks, illustrating how power dynamics in Washington have shifted since Republicans became the majority party in the House of Representatives at the beginning of this year.

    The House and Senate had previously passed the resolution to rescind the waterway rule.

    In the Senate, Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Jon Tester of Montana, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Arizona independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema joined Republicans in support of the resolution to overturn the rule.

    Proponents of the resolution have argued the rule amounts to burdensome, executive branch overreach.

    “President Biden is ignoring the will of a bipartisan majority in Congress, leaving millions of Americans in limbo, and crippling future energy and infrastructure projects with red tape,” West Virginia Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, who led the joint resolution in the Senate, said in response to Biden’s veto.

    Last month, the House failed to override the president’s veto of a measure to overturn a retirement investment rule that allows managers of retirement funds to consider the impact of climate change and other environmental, social and governance factors when picking investments.

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  • The US economy could depend on McCarthy corralling his extremist Republican troops | CNN Politics

    The US economy could depend on McCarthy corralling his extremist Republican troops | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Millions of Americans could face massive consequences unless Speaker Kevin McCarthy can navigate out of a debt trap he has set for President Joe Biden that is instead threatening to capture his House Republicans.

    The California Republican traveled to Wall Street on Monday to deliver a fresh warning that the House GOP majority will refuse to lift a cap on government borrowing unless Biden agrees to spending cuts that would effectively neutralize his domestic agenda and neuter his White House legacy.

    McCarthy also assured traders, however, that he would never let the US government default on its obligations – a potential disaster that could halt Social Security payments, trigger a recession and unleash job cuts by the fall in the event that the debt ceiling is not raised.

    This is where the risk to Americans comes in. It’s hard to see how a rookie speaker, with a tiny majority and a conference containing plenty of extremists, can engineer either of these outcomes.

    Most countries don’t require the legislature to raise the government’s borrowing threshold. But the quirky situation in the US has made a once routine duty an opportunity for political mischief in a polarized age. Since the government spends more than it makes in revenue, it must borrow money to service its debt and pay for spending that Congress has already authorized. It has no problem getting more credit since the US pays its bills and has always had a stellar credit rating, despite one previous downgrade from the threat of default.

    At least, that’s the way it has worked until now.

    McCarthy beseeched his conference in a closed-door meeting on Tuesday to line up behind a bill that would raise the debt limit for a year but require a flurry of spending concessions from Biden. He styled the measure as an initial way of forcing the president to the negotiating table. But the bill is purely tactical since it’s got no chance of passing the Democratic-led Senate.

    But in a sign of how difficult it will be for the speaker to even pull this gambit off, there were signs of internal disagreement on what should be in the package among GOP members.

    Rep. Scott Perry, the chairman of the hardline House Freedom Caucus, was frustrated about a lack of specificity in the plan and wanted steeper cuts.

    “I don’t know what’s in the package completely. That’s the issue,” Perry told reporters. Some members seem reluctant to commit so far. Conservative Rep. Tim Burchett told CNN’s Manu Raju, “I’m open to it but I’m still a ‘no’ vote.”

    It is not unusual for various factions in a congressional majority to haggle over details before a final package is agreed. And House Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry, a McCarthy ally, was confident the plan would pass the House. “The question is, what does the White House then do once we pass this package? We’ve clearly stated there is no clean debt ceiling that will pass the House,” he added. “So we’ll have the first opening offer here. And we’ll see if the president’s willing to come to the table and negotiate like previous presidents have.”

    McHenry’s comment, however, reflected a big flaw in the GOP strategy since it relies on McCarthy’s belief that Biden will have no choice but to come to the table. The White House has insisted the House should do its job and pass a simple bill that only raises the borrowing limit

    In effect, McCarthy has already set up a severe test of his leadership since there’s no guarantee that he can pass the measure in a House where he can only lose four votes and in which there are few signs the fractious GOP can agree on what programs to cut and by how much. And even if the measure does squeeze through the House in the coming weeks, it will likely be an idealized Republican product on which Biden and the Democratic Senate will never bite. Any subsequent package that emerged would almost certainly feature concessions that could splinter its GOP support.

    Still, the speaker was typically bullish when he predicted Monday he’d have the votes to pass his initial bill.

    “I think we got 218 to raise the debt ceiling,” McCarthy told CNN. “We’ve got a lot of consensus within the conference. We’ll get together and work through it.”

    His assurances may not be very reassuring, however, because his similarly blithe predictions that he had the votes to win the speakership in January degenerated into a farcical process that saw him make huge concessions to his party’s most radical members and required 15 ballots before he finally won the job of his dreams.

    But with the debt ceiling, it will be Americans’ livelihoods and the global economy, rather than McCarthy’s immediate political ambitions, that are on the line.

    So far, Republicans seem to be having trouble negotiating with themselves, let alone Biden. Republican Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota, who is helping to fashion the GOP’s position, said that while the party hopes to pass the initial bill next week, challenges remain.

    “I think the hardest part is just that there are an unlimited number of conservative policy victories that, of course, we all want to see worked in,” Johnson told CNN’s Manu Raju. “The reality is that in a negotiation, you never get everything you want. And so I think our biggest issue right now is how do we squeeze these thousands of desires down to a manageable and credible number of asks?”

    Another complication is that some members of the Republican conference have said they will never vote to raise the debt ceiling on principle – no matter what. In a powerful Republican majority such holdouts could be ignored. In McCarthy’s narrow majority – secured after a 2022 midterm election that fell short of GOP expectations – they have real leverage. And Democrats have little incentive to help McCarthy out in the event of GOP defections since they’d presumably have to vote for huge cuts that Biden has opposed in any final GOP bill. And the speaker probably couldn’t risk using Democratic votes anyway after agreeing to a rule, as he battled to win his job, that lets any single member call a vote on his ouster.

    The coming showdown over the debt ceiling is potentially the defining moment in the two-year period of uneasy cohabitation between the Democratic president and Republican speaker. Neither Biden nor McCarthy can afford to lose, and the outcome will shape both their legacies.

    There is nothing wrong with Republicans seeking to use the leverage they won in a democratic election to try to further their political goals of cutting public spending. There are some GOP lawmakers who sincerely worry about debt and deficits – even when their party runs government. Plenty of economists worry about the always ballooning national debt, which has crashed through $31 trillion. And Biden’s big spending on Covid relief packages, infrastructure, climate mitigation measures and health care programs triggered a debate on whether he worsened the inflation crisis.

    But are Republicans choosing the right hill for this battle when jobs, market-linked pension plans and the economic well-being of millions are at risk? The absolutist nature of McCarthy’s position pays little heed to a delicate balance of power. Democrats control the White House and the Senate, so in handing Republicans the House, albeit barely, voters might have been seeking compromise rather than confrontation.

    Republicans are also facing claims of hypocrisy, since they had little problem raising the debt limit when Donald Trump, who rarely worried about making a big spending splash, was president. The 45th commander in chief is also on videotape dating to his White House days saying he couldn’t believe anyone would use the debt ceiling as a “negotiating wedge.” Republicans notoriously turn into fiscal hawks when Democrats are in office but often look the other way when there is one of their own in the Oval Office.

    In order to prevail in this fight, McCarthy has to somehow change the political dynamic by saddling Biden with the blame for any default and the economic tensions that could begin to unfold even before the country plunges over a fiscal cliff.

    He tried to do so on Monday by insisting that the biggest threat to the US economy wasn’t a default but rising national debt.

    “Without exaggeration American debt is a ticking time bomb that will detonate unless we take serious responsible action. Yet, how has President Biden reacted to this issue? He has done nothing. So in my view, and I think the rest of America, it’s irresponsible,” he said.

    Previous fiscal showdowns between GOP-controlled Congresses and Democratic presidents have often rebounded poorly on Republicans. Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, for example, branded their foes in the House as economic arsonists and thereby gained political traction.

    McCarthy needs to reverse the equation, which is why he’s trying to portray Biden as stubborn in refusing to negotiate concessions for raising the debt ceiling. The two men haven’t met for the last 75 days and the White House is sticking to its position that the place for talks is over a budget – which House Republicans are yet to produce – and not with the full faith and credit of the US government on the line and with America’s reputation as a financial haven at stake.

    McCarthy is, therefore, in a bind. Congress, not the president, has the power to raise the government’s borrowing limit. Yet the speaker is demanding Biden give away his store over a duty that only McCarthy and his lawmakers can fulfill. No one would benefit from a default – especially not a president likely heading into a reelection race. But it’s hard to see how McCarthy can emerge from this conundrum as the winner if he triggers an economic meltdown.

    The White House twisted that particular knife on Monday.

    “There is one responsible solution to the debt limit: addressing it promptly, without brinksmanship or hostage taking – as Republicans did three times in the last administration and as Presidents Trump and Reagan argued for in office,” spokesman Andrew Bates said.

    Republicans in the Senate have so far tried to avoid the mess. But Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell did at least give his colleague in the House some moral support on Monday when he returned to the Capitol after convalescing after a fall.

    “President Biden does not get to stick his fingers in his ears and refuse to listen, talk or negotiate. And the American people know that. The White House needs to stop wasting time and start negotiating with the Speaker of the House,” McConnell said, though notably didn’t volunteer to get involved.

    McCarthy’s speech on Monday only furthered the impression that a damaging political crisis over the debt ceiling is, after months of simmering, moving toward a boil.

    As Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York put it on Monday: “He went all the way to Wall Street and gave us no more details, no more facts, no new information, and I’ll be blunt: If Speaker McCarthy continues in this direction we are headed to default.”

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  • Democrats bash Justice Clarence Thomas but their plan to investigate ethics allegations is unclear | CNN Politics

    Democrats bash Justice Clarence Thomas but their plan to investigate ethics allegations is unclear | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Senate Democrats railed against Justice Clarence Thomas on Tuesday amid reports that the Supreme Court conservative failed to disclose luxury travel, gifts and a real estate transaction involving a GOP megadonor, but their plan to investigate the conservative jurist remains unclear.

    Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin has promised that his committee will hold a hearing on the alleged ethics violations in the coming weeks, but shared no details when pressed by CNN on whether lawmakers will seek testimony from Thomas or others who might have knowledge about his relationship with the donor, Texas-based billionaire Harlan Crow.

    Asked if subpoenas were on the table, Durbin said that no decision has been made on that yet. He said that it was “too soon” to share more information about what his committee’s hearing on Supreme Court ethics might look like. He and other Judiciary Democrats sent a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts last week calling for him to open an investigation into the Thomas allegations.

    Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat who sits on the Judiciary Committee, told reporters Tuesday that “the American people deserve all of the facts surrounding Justice Thomas’s blatant violation of law.”

    “I hope that [Thomas] will voluntarily appear, and if not, we should consider subpoenas for him and others, like Harlan Crow, who have information,” Blumenthal said.

    Other Democrats on the committee said Tuesday that they were deferring to Durbin, who huddled with Democrats on Monday evening to discuss their strategy towards Thomas.

    Meanwhile, Republicans appear mostly united in defending the Thomas, suggesting the court can handle its own affairs.

    Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell attacked Democrats for criticizing the court, and said he has confidence in Roberts “to deal with these court internal issues.”

    “The Democrats, it seems to me, spent a lot of time criticizing individual members of the court and going after the court as an institution,” McConnell told reporters Tuesday.

    Bringing more transparency to the high court has had some bipartisan support in the past, but the court’s jerk to the right – particularly with the three justices that former President Donald Trump put on the bench – has raised the partisan stakes around the issue. In recent years, the conservative majority has handled pivotal rulings undoing abortions rights, dismantling gun regulations and reining in the powers of executive branch agencies – all prompting outcry from Democrats.

    Even as Senate Democrats have yet to settle on a plan for their own response to the Thomas allegations, they sought to highlight the issue and framed it within their broader push for a code-of-ethics for the Supreme Court, which is excluded from many of the ethics rules that apply to lower rungs of the federal judiciary.

    “I’m disturbed by the recent reports detailing potentially unethical – even potentially illegal conduct – at the highest levels of our judiciary,” Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat, said at a Judiciary Committee hearing for three lower court nominees on Tuesday. “It should go without saying that judges at all levels should be held to strict and enforceable ethical standards.”

    Durbin said in a speech that Congress shouldn’t have to wait for the court to act.

    “The Supreme Court doesn’t need to wait on Congress to clean up its act; the justices could take action today if they wanted to, and if the court fails to act, Congress must,” Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, said on the Senate floor Tuesday.

    Back-to back-reports in ProPublica this month detailed how luxury travel and gifts to Thomas from Crow – and even a real estate transaction – went unreported in Thomas’ annual financial disclosures.

    Thomas has said that the travel and gifts to him and his family that were financed by the Crows went unreported because he had been advised that he was not required to do so, under an exemption in the court’s disclosure rules for so-called “personal hospitality.” After scrutiny of those rules by lawmakers, the Judicial Conference – which operates as the policy-making body for the federal judiciary – recently closed a loophole in those rules that appears to have covered some of the hospitality Thomas received. Thomas said that he intended to follow that updated guidance in the future, and a source close to the justice also told CNN in recent days that he planned to amend his disclosure form to report the real estate transaction, the sale of his mother’s home to Crow.

    “If the reports are accurate, it stinks,” Sen. Mitt Romney said Monday evening, in rare comments from a Republican criticizing Thomas’ lack of transparency.

    Other Republicans lined up in defense of the justice – who was named to the Supreme Court by President George H.W. Bush in 1991 – and said it wasn’t Congress’ place to push an ethics code on the high court.

    Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican member of the Judiciary Committee, suggested that the accusations against Thomas were part of a “multi-decade effort now to target Clarence Thomas by these liberal activist groups.”

    This is not the first time Thomas has been at the center of an ethics controversy. Last year, CNN reported that his wife Ginni Thomas, a conservative activist, was texting with Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows about the former president’s efforts overturn his 2020 election defeat, and her political lobbying has long raised questions about when justices are obligated to recuse themselves from cases.

    Yet Republicans have shown little interest in joining Democrats in using legislation to impose an ethics code on the justices.

    “The Court, kind of historically I think, has sort of policed itself,” said South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the GOP’s Senate Whip, who said Thomas had been a “solid justice on the court through the years and has acquitted himself well there.”

    “Let’s see what the court does,” South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, told CNN Tuesday. “I prefer them to do it internally.”

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  • Top US Navy admiral defends non-binary sailor amid some Republican criticism | CNN Politics

    Top US Navy admiral defends non-binary sailor amid some Republican criticism | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The top US Navy admiral ardently defended a non-binary sailor on Tuesday amid some criticism from Republican lawmakers, saying he is “particularly proud of this sailor.”

    The sailor, LTJG Audrey Knutson, had their story shared on the Navy’s Instagram page last week. In a short video, Knutson said they are proud to serve as non-binary, especially because their grandfather served in the Navy as a gay man in World War II. During a deployment last fall aboard the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, Knutson said their highlight was reading a poem to the whole ship at an LGBTQ spoken word night. The Instagram video garnered nearly 17,000 likes.

    Subsequently, Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, tweeted a portion of the clip with the caption, “While China prepares for war, this is what they have our US Navy focused on.” On Tuesday, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a Republican from Alabama, continued attacking the video, telling the Senate Armed Services Committee he had “a lot of problems with the video.”

    But Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday defended the sailor, emphasizing that it’s the job of a commanding officer to build a warfighting team.

    “I’ll tell you why I’m particularly proud of this sailor,” Gilday told the hearing. “So, her grandfather served during World War II, and he was gay and he was ostracized in the very institution that she not only joined and is proud to be a part of, but she volunteered to deploy on Ford and she’ll likely deploy again next month when Ford goes back to sea.”

    Gilday used female pronouns to refer to Knutson but the Navy told CNN Knutson’s pronouns of choice are non-binary.

    “We ask people from all over the country, from all walks of life, from all different backgrounds to join us,” Gilday said, “and then it’s the job of a commanding officer to build a cohesive warfighting team that’s going to follow the law, and the law requires that we be able to conduct prompt, sustained operations at sea. That level of trust that a commanding officer develops across that unit has to be able to be grounded on dignity and respect, and so … if that officer can lawfully join the United States Navy, is willing to serve and willing to take the same oath that you and I took to put their life on the line, then I’m proud to serve beside them.”

    Some Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill have attacked the military for being too “woke,” claiming it has been one of the causes of the military’s poor recruiting numbers, despite a recent Army survey showing only 5% of potential recruits were concerned about “wokeness.”

    Last month, Republican Rep. Cory Mills and several others went after the Defense Department on its diversity, equity and inclusion training at a House Armed Services Subcommittee hearing on military personnel. Mills said, “We absolutely 150% can out-pronoun every single one of our adversaries, and China and Russia I’m sure are quaking in their boots over this.”

    In response, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Gil Cisneros said diversity and equal opportunity training have been a part of the military for decades.

    At another hearing in early-March with the military’s top enlisted leaders, Sgt. Maj. Of the Army Michael Grinston stressed that the military’s focus remains on combat lethality, even with additional training on diversity and inclusion.

    “There is one hour of equal opportunity training in basic training, and 92 hours of rifle marksmanship training,” Grinston said at the time. “And if you go to [One Station Unit Training], there is 165 hours of rifle marksmanship training and still only one hour of equal opportunity training.”

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  • Tiny troubles: Toddler infiltrates White House grounds | CNN Politics

    Tiny troubles: Toddler infiltrates White House grounds | CNN Politics

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    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    A tiny intruder infiltrated White House grounds Tuesday, prompting a swift response from the US Secret Service.

    Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications for the Secret Service, said a toddler crawled through the fence on the north side of the White House, setting off security alerts.

    “The Secret Service Uniformed Division today encountered a curious young visitor along the White House north fence line who briefly entered White House ground,” Gugliemli said. “The White House security systems instantly triggered Secret Service officers and the toddler and parents were quickly reunited.”

    It’s not the first time a toddler has crawled through the White House fence. There was a similar incident in 2014 when a toddler squeezed through the White House fence just before then-President Barack Obama was about to address the nation on Iraq. The breach prompted a temporary lockdown and delayed the briefing.

    “We were going to wait until he learned to talk to question him, but in lieu of that, he got a timeout and was sent on way with parents,” Edwin Donovan, then a spokesman for the United States Secret Service, said.

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  • Supreme Court seems sympathetic to postal worker who didn’t work Sundays in dispute over religious accommodations | CNN Politics

    Supreme Court seems sympathetic to postal worker who didn’t work Sundays in dispute over religious accommodations | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The Supreme Court seemed to side with a former mail carrier, an evangelical Christian, who says the US Postal Service failed to accommodate his request to not work on Sundays.

    A lower court had ruled against the worker, Gerald Groff, holding that his request would cause an “undue burden” on the USPS and lead to low morale at the workplace when other employees had to pick up his shifts.

    But during oral arguments on Tuesday, there appeared to be consensus, after almost two hours of oral arguments, that the appeals court had been too quick to rule against Groff.

    There seemed to be, as Justice Elena Kagan put it, some level of “kumbaya-ing” between the justices on the bench at times.

    But as justices sought to land on a test that lower courts could use to clarify how far employers must go to accommodate their employees’ religious beliefs, differences arose when a lawyer for Groff suggested that the court overturn decades-old precedent. Conservative Justice Samuel Alito seemed open to the prospect.

    Critically, however, Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh were sympathetic to arguments made by the Postal Service that granting Groff’s request might cause morale to plummet among the other employees. Kavanaugh noted that “morale” among employers is critical to the success of any business. And several justices nodded to the financial difficulties the USPS has faced over the years.

    Groff, who lives in Pennsylvania, served in 2012 as a rural carrier associate at the United States Postal Service, a position that provides coverage for absent career employees who have earned the ability to take off weekends. Rural carrier associates are told they need flexibility.

    In 2013, Groff’s life changed when the USPS contracted with Amazon to deliver packages on Sundays. Groff’s Christian religious beliefs bar him from working on Sundays.

    The post office contemplated some accommodations to Groff such as offering to adjust his schedule so he could come to work after religious services, or telling him he should see if other workers could pick up his shifts. At some point, the postmaster himself did the deliveries because it was difficult to find employees willing to work on Sunday. Finally, the USPS suggested Groff choose a different day to observe the Sabbath.

    The atmosphere with his co-workers was tense and Groff said he faced progressive discipline. In response, he filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which is charged with enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against an employee because of religion.

    Groff ultimately left in 2019. In a resignation letter, he said he had been unable to find an “accommodating employment atmosphere with the USPS that would honor his religious beliefs.”

    Groff sued arguing that the USPS violated Title VII – a federal law that makes it unlawful to discriminate against an employee based on his religion. To make a claim under the law, an employee must show that he holds a sincere religious belief that conflicts with a job requirement, he must inform his employer and has to have been disciplined for failing to comply.

    Under the law, the burden then shifts to the employer. The employer must show that they made a good faith effort to “reasonably accommodate” the employee’s belief or demonstrate that such an accommodation would cause an “undue hardship” upon the employer.

    District Judge Jeffrey Schmehl, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, ruled against Groff, holding that that his request to not work on Sundays would cause an “undue hardship” for the USPS.

    The 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling in a 2-1 opinion.

    “Exempting Groff from working on Sundays caused more than a de minimis cost on USPS because it actually imposed on his coworkers, disrupted the workplace and workflow, and diminished employee morale,” the 3rd Circuit wrote in its opinion last year.

    “The accommodation Groff sought (exemption from Sunday work)” the court added, “would cause an undue hardship on USPS.”

    A dissenting judge, Thomas Hardiman, offered a road map for justices seeking to rule in favor of Groff. The main thrust of his dissent was that the law requires the USPS to show how the proposed accommodation would harm “business” – not Groff’s coworkers.

    “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stayed Gerald Groff from the completion of his appointed rounds,” wrote Hardiman, a George W. Bush nominee who was on a shortlist for the Supreme Court nomination that went to Justice Neil Gorsuch in 2017. “But his sincerely held religious belief precluded him from working on Sundays.”

    Groff’s lawyer, Aaron Streett, told the high court that the USPS could have done more and was wrong to claim that “respecting Groff’s belief was too onerous.” He urged the justices to cut back or invalidate precedent and allow an accommodation that would allow the worker to “serve both his employer and his God.”

    “Sunday’s a day where we get together and almost taste heaven,” Groff told The New York Times recently. “We come together as believers. We celebrate who we are, together. We worship God. And so to be asked to deliver Amazon parcels and give all that up, it’s just really kind of sad.”

    The Biden administration has urged the high court to simply clarify the law to make clear that an employer is not required to accommodate an employee’s Sabbath observance by “operating shorthanded or regularly paying overtime to secure replacement workers.”

    Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar acknowledged, however, that employer could still be required to bear other costs such as administrative expenses associated with rearranging schedules.

    This story has been updated with additional details.

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  • Hundreds of Southwest Airlines flights are delayed after FAA lifts nationwide ground stop | CNN

    Hundreds of Southwest Airlines flights are delayed after FAA lifts nationwide ground stop | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Hundreds of Southwest Airlines flights were delayed after technical issues that prompted the airline to temporarily halt its operations on Tuesday morning.

    Southwest said the flight delays were the result of “data connection issues resulting from a firewall failure,” a problem that led to a brief ground stop.

    The Federal Aviation Administration initiated the ground stop at the airline’s request, citing “equipment issues.” The ground stop was soon lifted, and in a tweet at 11:35 a.m. ET Southwest said it had resumed operations.

    “Early this morning, a vendor-supplied firewall went down and connection to some operational data was unexpectedly lost,” spokesman Dan Landson said in a statement.

    Southwest had delayed 1,820 flights or 43% of its schedule as of just after noon Tuesday, according to FlightAware. The airline has canceled only nine flights on Tuesday, according to FlightAware. Southwest says its workers “worked quickly to minimize disruptions.”

    Southwest reported technology issues Tuesday morning and said it would “hopefully be resuming our operation as soon as possible.”

    The FAA in a statement told CNN that Southwest “requested the FAA pause the airline’s departures.”

    The problems come months after the airline was forced to cancel more than 16,700 flights between December 20 and 29, roughly half its schedule during that period. The airline attributed the meltdown in part to changes to its staff scheduling computer systems. Southwest last month unveiled an “action plan” to prevent another operational meltdown.

    Southwest called the latest problem “intermittent technology issues” in a social media post to customers. Several took to social media to complain about delayed flights.

    “We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but we’re hoping to get everyone going ASAP,” the airline wrote in another social media post.

    A massive winter storm started the service problems during the holiday season, but Southwest had a much tougher time recovering because of an antiquated crew scheduling system that was quickly overwhelmed, leaving the airline unable to get the staffing it needed to locations to operate flights. Nearly half of its schedule was canceled during from December 20 to December 29. Some days, as many as 75% of its scheduled flights were grounded.

    Part of what created worse problems at Southwest than at other airlines is that crew members had to call in to the airline, rather than notify it electronically, to let them it of their availability.

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  • McCarthy makes plea for Republicans to back debt ceiling plan | CNN Politics

    McCarthy makes plea for Republicans to back debt ceiling plan | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Speaker Kevin McCarthy made a plea to House Republicans during a closed-door meeting Tuesday morning to back his debt ceiling plan, telling them that although it doesn’t have to include everything they want, it will help get him to the negotiating table with President Joe Biden.

    McCarthy also told members that once he is at the table, he can push for other policy provisions down the road, according to multiple sources in the room, underscoring the idea that leadership sees the GOP-only plan as purely a way to strengthen their hand at the negotiating table.

    Top House Republicans are projecting confidence that they will be able to unite the conference behind a plan and move quickly to pass it. But that is far from certain. Key details of the plan are still yet to be finalized and some members are expressing frustration over the proposal as it stands – and elements that have not been included.

    House Rules Chairman Tom Cole told CNN the GOP debt limit bill will be on the House floor next week, but other House Republicans have signaled skepticism over whether specifics of the proposal can be ironed out in time for a vote to happen that soon and the timeframe may slip.

    House Republicans are insisting that any increase in the debt limit must be paired with spending cuts, while the White House argues that the limit should be raised without any conditions. McCarthy wants to move a debt limit bill through the House as a way to put pressure on the White House to come to the table for negotiation, even if the bill won’t pass the Democratic-controlled Senate.

    The closed-door meeting kicks off a difficult push by GOP leaders to wrangle 218 votes for a proposal to raise the debt ceiling and reduce federal spending. McCarthy walked members through his proposal, which includes clawing back unspent Covid-19 funds, 10-year caps on spending, prohibiting Biden’s student loan forgiveness and enacting a GOP energy bill.

    Conservatives are pushing for more to be included while some have said they won’t back a debt ceiling hike under any circumstances, illustrating how challenging it is going to be for GOP leaders to unite the conference behind a proposal.

    GOP Rep. Scott Perry, the chairman of the hardline House Freedom Caucus, expressed frustration over the lack of specificity from House GOP leaders on their debt ceiling and spending cut plan.

    “I don’t know what’s in the package completely, that’s the issue,” Perry told reporters. “I know what was on the screen, but I don’t think that’s the entire package.”

    Perry also said he disagreed with GOP leadership’s approach of trying to pass something now in order to get to the negotiating table with Democrats and then demanding more later. Perry was one of several members who stood up during the closed-door conference meeting and advocated for additional cuts.

    Rep. Kevin Hern, the leader of the Republican Study Committee, told CNN that Republicans have to come together on one debt ceiling plan or face a much weaker hand in any future negotiations with the White House.

    “It’s about leadership. If we can’t lead then we have a problem,” Hern said.

    Hern said he had no problem with voting as soon as next week, arguing it’s time for Republicans to coalesce.

    GOP Rep. Don Bacon said one of the things they are still debating is how – and how long – to raise the debt ceiling, and whether they should raise it by a dollar amount or to a date. Some members are pushing for a shorter increase, but Bacon said it will likely go into next year.

    He also confirmed some members are still pushing to include more spending cuts and repeals, and some lawmakers advocated for that during the meeting, but Bacon predicted the 18 Republicans in Biden districts, like himself, will be for it.

    Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz said that conference talks on the debt ceiling were “getting closer,” but that there are still details that need to be addressed. He said he’s not sure a vote on the budget deal can come as early as next week.

    “I think a lot of that depends on how these discussions go today, tomorrow, the following day,” he said. “I think there are a number of really critical details that we’ve still got to work out before making a final decision on a vote, but it’s been a very productive discussion, a lot of good ideas” though he said he would be “very surprised” if bill text was released today.

    A source inside the room tells CNN that inside the House GOP conference, members of the House Freedom Caucus including Reps. Perry, Chip Roy and Andrew Clyde called for more cuts to be included and pushed leadership on why some provisions weren’t included.

    It goes to show how hard this is going to be for leaders even though leadership has pitched this as an opportunity to strengthen leverage with the White House.

    One of the topics discussed during the GOP conference meeting was why a few items were not included in the debt ceiling framework.

    For example, conservatives have been frustrated a measure that would claw back Internal Revenue Service enforcement funds wasn’t included. But a source in the room tells CNN that the reason it isn’t included is because it would be scored by the Congressional Budget Office as expensive and without enforcement money, the CBO would argue less tax revenue would be collected.

    Republicans are trying to raise as much revenue as they can and cut spending in this bill.

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  • FDA clears the way for additional bivalent boosters for certain vulnerable individuals | CNN

    FDA clears the way for additional bivalent boosters for certain vulnerable individuals | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration amended the terms of its emergency use authorizations for the Pfizer and Moderna bivalent vaccines on Tuesday, allowing people ages 65 and older and certain people with weakened immunity to get additional doses before this fall’s vaccination campaigns.

    The bivalent vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna carry instructions for fighting both the original strain of the Covid-19 virus as well as Omicron and its spinoffs.

    They have been available in the United States since September under emergency use authorizations, or EUAs, which tightly restrict how the vaccines may be given.

    On Tuesday, the FDA changed the terms of the authorizations for those vaccines so that certain individuals could get an additional dose ahead of most others.

    Namely, adults ages 65 and older who have received a single dose of a bivalent vaccine may receive an additional dose at least four months following their first dose.

    Most individuals with certain degrees of immunocompromise who have received a first dose of a bivalent vaccine can get a second at least 2 months later. Additional doses may be administered at the discretion of their healthcare provider.

    Dr. Peter Hotez, who co-directs the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children’s Hospital, has been calling on the FDA to increase access to the bivalent boosters for those who want them. He says for the most part, today’s guidance from the agency makes sense.

    “My only question is why the 65 year age cutoff? What was that based on? Ordinarily I would have preferred that it be brought down to 60 or even 50,” Hotez said in an email to CNN.

    “For those Americans who understand its importance, we should make second bivalent boosters available. Finally, we’ll soon need guidance about another annual fall booster. Presumably that information comes sometime this summer,” he added.

    For immunocompromised children ages 6 months through 4 years, eligibility for additional bivalent doses will depend on the vaccine previously received, the FDA said in a news release.

    Another big change is that most unvaccinated individuals may now receive a single dose of a bivalent vaccine, rather than mutiple doses of the original single-strain vaccines, the agency said. The FDA simplified its recommendation for unvaccinated individuals after recognizing that most Americans now have some immunity against Covid-19, even if its just through past infections.

    “Evidence is now available that most of the U.S. population 5 years of age and older has antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, either from vaccination or infection that can serve as a foundation for the protection provided by the bivalent vaccines. COVID-19 continues to be a very real risk for many people, and we encourage individuals to consider staying current with vaccination, including with a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine. The available data continue to demonstrate that vaccines prevent the most serious outcomes of COVID-19, which are severe illness, hospitalization, and death,” said Dr. Peter Marks, head of FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, in a news release.

    Children ages 6 months through 5 years who have not yet been vaccinated may now receive a two-dose series of the Moderna bivalent vaccine as their primary series, or a three-dose series of the Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent vaccine if they are 6 months through 4 years of age. Children who are age 5 may receive two doses of the Moderna bivalent or a single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent vaccine.

    Children ages 6 months through 5 years who got started on their monovalent vaccines, can now get a dose of a bivalent vaccine, but the number of doses they qualify for will depend on the number of doses they’ve already had and what kind of vaccine they got.

    The agency stressed that most people who have gotten one dose of a bivalent vaccine are not currently eligible for a second dose.

    And they encouraged everyone who hasn’t yet gotten their first dose of a bivalent vaccine to do so, and many Americans are still in that bucket.

    Only about 17% of those eligible, less than 1 in 5 Americans, has gotten a recommended dose.

    As time has passed, adults with reduced immune function because of their age or an underlying health problem have been asking doctors whether they need another dose of the bivalent vaccines.

    The United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention has reported early data showing that the effectiveness of the bivalent vaccines, even against emergency room visits and hospitalizations, has already started to wane.

    But the agency has not been free to make what’s known as a “permissive use” recommendation about the boosters, which would allow doctors to offer additional doses to vulnerable patients because of the terms of the EUA.

    The updated terms give the CDC and its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) greater freedom to recommend additional doses of the bivalent vaccines. The ACIP is holding a meeting on the Covid-19 vaccines Wednesday and is expected to endorse the FDA’s changes.

    For everyone not covered by today’s changes, the FDA says it intends to make decisions about future vaccinations after receiving recommendations on the fall strain composition from its advisory committee in June.

    Both Canada and the United Kingdom have offered another round of bivalent boosters to those at highest risk from Covid-19 this spring.

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  • Today is Tax Day. Here’s what you need to know if you haven’t filed your return yet — and even if you have | CNN Business

    Today is Tax Day. Here’s what you need to know if you haven’t filed your return yet — and even if you have | CNN Business

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    Editor’s Note: This is an updated version of a story that originally ran on April 14, 2023.


    New York
    CNN
     — 

    It’s April 18, the official deadline to file your federal and state income tax returns for 2022. (It is also, apparently, National Animal Crackers Day for those who celebrate.)

    Whether you have already filed your tax return or still need to, the good news is this tax filing season has gone much more smoothly than the past three, which were hurt by the pandemic.

    “This is the first tax season since 2019 where the IRS and the nation were on normal footing,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a call with reporters.

    For instance, Werfel noted that since January, thanks to an infusion of some new funding after years of budget cuts, IRS employees have been able to answer 87% of calls from filers with questions. Last year, they answered fewer than 15%. And the wait times on those phone calls dropped to just 4 minutes this filing season from 27 minutes last filing season.

    The agency also added a roster of new online tools for filers, he added.

    Those online tools may be especially helpful today if you are scrambling to get your return in before midnight. Or, if you’ve come to the realization that you need to file for an extension. Either way, here are some key things to know:

    Not everyone has to file on April 18: If you live in a federally declared disaster area, have a business there — or have relevant tax documents stored by businesses in that area — it’s likely the IRS has already extended the filing and payment deadlines for you. Here is where you can find the specific extension dates for each disaster area.

    Thanks to many rounds of extreme weather in recent months, for instance, tax filers in most of California — which accounts for 10% to 15% of all federal filers — have already been granted an extension until Oct. 16 to file and to pay, according to an IRS spokesperson.

    If you’re in the armed forces and are currently or were recently stationed in a combat zone, the filing and payment deadlines for your 2022 taxes are most likely extended by 180 days. But your specific extended filing and payment deadlines will depend on the day you leave (or left) the combat zone. This IRS publication offers more detail.

    Lastly, if you made little to no money last year (typically less than $12,950 for single filers and $25,900 for married couples), you may not be required to file a return. But you may want to anyway if you think you are eligible for a refund thanks to, for instance, refundable tax credits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit. (Use this IRS tool to gauge whether you are required to file this year.) You also are likely eligible to use IRS Free File (intended for those with adjusted gross income of $73,000 or less) so it won’t cost you to submit a return.

    Your paycheck may not be your only source of income: If you had one full-time job you may think that is the only income you made and have to report. But that’s not necessarily so.

    Other potentially taxable and reportable income sources include:

    • Interest on your savings
    • Investment income (e.g., dividends and capital gains)
    • Pay for part-time or seasonal work, or a side hustle
    • Unemployment income
    • Social Security benefits or distribution from a retirement account
    • Tips
    • Gambling winnings
    • Income from a rental property you own

    Organize your tax documents: By now you should have received every tax document that third parties are required to send you (your employer, bank, brokerage, etc.).

    If you don’t recall receiving a hard copy of a tax form in the mail, check your email and your online accounts — a document may have been sent to you electronically.

    Here are some of the tax forms you may have received:

    • W-2 from your wage or salaried jobs
    • 1099-B for capital gains and losses on your investments
    • 1099-DIV from your brokerage or company where you own stock for dividends or other distributions from their investments
    • 1099-INT for interest over $10 on your savings at a financial institution
    • 1099-NEC from your clients, if you worked as a contractor
    • 1099-K for payments for goods and services through third-party platforms like Venmo, CashApp or Etsy. The 1099-K is required if you made more than $20,000 in over 200 transactions during the year. (Next year the reporting threshold drops to $600.) But even if you didn’t get a 1099-K you still must report all the income that you made over third-party platforms in 2022.
    • 1099-Rs for distributions over $10 that you received for a pension, annuity, retirement account, profit-sharing plan or insurance contract
    • SSA-1099 or SSA-1042S for Social Security benefits received.

    “Be aware that there’s no form for some taxable income, like proceeds from renting out your vacation property, meaning you’re responsible for reporting it on your own,” according to the Illinois CPA Society.

    One very last-minute way to reduce your 2022 tax bill: If you’re eligible to make a tax-deductible contribution to an IRA and haven’t done so for last year, you have until April 18 to contribute up to $6,000 ($7,000 if you’re 50 or older). That will reduce your tax bill and augment your retirement savings.

    Proofread your return before submitting it: Do this whether you’re using tax software or working with a professional tax preparer.

    Little mistakes and oversights delay the processing of your return (and the issuance of your refund if you’re owed one). You want to avoid things like having a typo in your name, birth date, Social Security number or direct deposit number; choosing the wrong filing status (e.g., married vs single); making a simple math error; or leaving a required field blank.

    What to do if you can’t file by April 18: If you’re not able to file on time, fill out Form 4868 electronically or on paper and send it in no later than today. You will be granted an automatic six-month extension to file.

    Note, however, that an extension to file is not an extension to pay. You will be charged interest (currently running at 7%) and a penalty on any amount you still owe for 2022 but haven’t paid by April 18.

    So if you suspect you still owe tax — perhaps you had some income outside of your job for which tax wasn’t withheld or you had a big capital gain last year — approximate how much more you owe and send that money to the IRS by the end of today.

    You can choose to do so by mail, attaching a check to your extension request form. Make sure your envelope is postmarked no later than April 18.

    Or the more efficient route is pay what you owe electronically at IRS.gov, said CPA Damien Martin, a tax partner at EY. If you do that, the IRS notes you will not have to file a Form 4868. “The IRS will automatically process an extension of time to file,” the agency notes in its instructions.

    If you opt to electronically pay directly from your bank account, which is free, select “extension” and then “tax year 2022” when given the option.

    You can also pay by credit or debit card, but you will be charged a processing fee. Doing so, though, may become much more costly than just a fee if you charge your tax payment but don’t pay your credit card bill off in full every month, since you likely pay a high interest rate on outstanding balances.

    If you can’t pay what you owe in full, the IRS does have some payment plan options. But it might be smart to first consult with a certified public accountant or a tax preparer who is an enrolled agent to make sure you are making the best choice for your circumstance.

    If you still owe income taxes to your state, remember that you may need to go through a similar exercise of filing for an extension and making a payment to your state’s revenue department, Martin said.

    Use this interactive tax assistant for basic questions you may have: The IRS provides an “interactive tax assistant” that can help you answer more than 50 basic questions pertaining to your individual circumstance on income, deductions, credits and other technical questions.

    If you’ve already filed your return, you’re probably glad to have it in the rear view mirror. But you may still have a few questions about what’s ahead.

    What about my refund? If you are due a refund, the IRS typically sends it within 21 days of receiving your return. When yours does arrive, it may be smaller than last year, even if your financial life didn’t change much. That’s because a number of Covid-related tax breaks expired.

    So far, the average refund paid was $2,878 for the week ending April 7, down from $3,175 at the same point in last year’s filing season.

    Will I be audited?: The reasons and methods for auditing a taxpayer can vary — and many audits result in “no change,” meaning you don’t end up owing anything more to the IRS. But one thing is common for the vast majority of US tax filers: Audit rates are exceedingly low.

    For filers reporting incomes between $50,000 and $200,000, only 0.1% of them were audited in 2020, according to the latest data from the IRS. Even for very high income filers, audit rates were quite low: Just 0.4% for those reporting income of between $1 million and $5 million; 0.7% for those with income between $5 million and $10 million; and 2.4% for returns with income over $10 million.

    Looking ahead, the IRS commissioner noted in a press call that the agency will be using money from the Inflation Reduction Act to bolster its compliance efforts to focus more on auditing high-income individuals — defined as making $400,000 or more. As for filers with income below that level, he said he did not anticipate any change in the likelihood they would be audited.

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  • Democratic congressman has surgery to remove cancerous tumor in his tonsil | CNN Politics

    Democratic congressman has surgery to remove cancerous tumor in his tonsil | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Democratic Rep. Dan Kildee of Michigan had surgery Monday to remove a small cancerous tumor in his tonsil, his office said.

    Kildee, who announced last month that he’d been diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, will stay at George Washington University Hospital “for the next several days as part of the normal recovery process,” his chief of staff, Mitchell Rivard, said in a statement, adding that he’d continue his recovery at home later in the week.

    Kildee will miss House votes while he recovers. “During this time, the Congressman will be submitting written statements for the record to the House Clerk for any missed recorded votes, to keep his constituents updated on his positions,” Rivard said.

    In announcing his diagnosis, Kildee said he’d scheduled what he had thought would be a “preventative scan for a swollen lymph node.” Following additional testing, however, he received his diagnosis. “Thankfully, I caught it very early,” he said.

    “The prognosis after surgery and treatment is excellent,” Kildee said at the time. “I am going to get through this. I’m going to beat cancer.”

    First elected to congress in 2012, Kildee currently represents Michigan’s 8th Congressional District and is co-chair of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee.

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  • FBI arrests two alleged Chinese agents and charges dozens with working inside US to silence dissidents | CNN Politics

    FBI arrests two alleged Chinese agents and charges dozens with working inside US to silence dissidents | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The FBI has arrested two alleged Chinese agents and federal prosecutors have charged dozens of others with working to silence and harass dissidents within the United States – with some even operating an “undeclared police station” in New York City.

    Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping allegedly operated the police station in New York City’s Chinatown. Both men are US citizens and have been charged with conspiring to act as agents of the Chinese government and obstructing justice. The police station has been shut down since a search warrant was executed at the location last fall, according to John Marzulli, a spokesman for the US Attorney in the Eastern District of New York.

    The two men appeared in court Monday, with Lu being released on a $250,000 bond and Chen on a $400,000 bond. They are not permitted to travel within half a mile of the Chinese consulate nor mission or communicate with co-conspirators. Neither has entered a plea.

    Lu retained counsel but was represented in the proceeding by a public defender, and a public defender was appointed to represent Chen. Both of the public defenders at the hearing declined to comment.

    The Justice Department also announced charges against 34 officers of the national police of the People’s Republic of China with harassing Chinese nationals in the US critical of the Chinese government.

    All 34 are believed to live in China and remain at large, according to Justice Department. The officers were part of an effort by the Chinese government called the “912 Special Project Working Group” to influence global perceptions of the People’s Republic of China, or PRC.

    The agents allegedly used social media to post favorably about the PRC and to attack their “perceived adversaries,” including the United States and Chinese pro-democracy activists around the world, the Justice Department said. The illegal police operation is the “first known overseas police station in the United States” set up on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, or MPS, the Justice Department said.

    The agents were allegedly directed by the MPS to create and maintain accounts that looked like they were run by American citizens. Topics of their propaganda machine include US foreign policy, human rights issues in Hong Kong, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Covid-19 and racial justice protests following the murder of George Floyd, according to prosecutors.

    Agents also posted videos and articles targeting Chinese pro-democracy advocates in the US, the Justice Department alleged, some of which included explicit death threats. In addition, the agents allegedly used threats to intimidate people into skipping pro-democracy protests within the United States.

    “The PRC, through its repressive security apparatus, established a secret physical presence in New York City to monitor and intimidate dissidents and those critical of its government,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said in a statement. “The PRC’s actions go far beyond the bounds of acceptable nation-state conduct. We will resolutely defend the freedoms of all those living in our country from the threat of authoritarian repression.”

    In another case, federal prosecutors allege that an executive at a videoconferencing company conspired with others to disrupt a meeting on the platform commemorating the Tiananmen Square Massacre at the direction of the Chinese government.

    Though the videoconferencing company was not named in court documents, CNN has previously reported the company is Zoom.

    The executive, Xinjiang “Julien” Jin, was previously charged by the Justice Department for the alleged plot. The new complaint adds charges against nine additional individuals, including six Ministry of Public Security officers and two officials with the Cyberspace Administration of China.

    According to the Justice Department, the executive, who is based in China, and his codefendants repeatedly sought in 2018 to interfere with video calls organized by a Chinese dissident living in New York City after a request from the Chinese government to do so. Jin also tried to identify any other account associated with that dissident and place them in a server with lagging response times, prosecutors say.

    In 2019, Jin and his codefendants allegedly worked with the Chinese government to block accounts seeking to commemorate the Tiananmen Square Massacre.

    According to court documents, the secret police station was set up in early 2022 to identify, track and intimidate Chinese dissidents within the United States.

    Prosecutors say one such victim was an unnamed person living in California who was a “PRC dissident and PRC pro-democracy advocate” who “reported to the FBI that he/she served as an adviser to a 2022 congressional candidate from New York State” who also was the target of a PRC pressure campaign.

    That victim told the FBI that they have received threatening phone calls and social media messages from people they believe are associated with the Chinese government, and that person’s car was broken into immediately after that person gave a pro-democracy speech.

    During an interview with the FBI, Lu said that he had established the office, which he called an “oversees service center,” to help Chinese nationals living in the United States “renew Chinese government documents.” Lu told investigators during the interview that Chen acted as the primary point of contact with officials back in China.

    During a separate interview, Chen initially denied having any direct contact with the Chinese government, according to court documents, though he later recanted.

    Investigators say that during that interview, Chen took a seven-minute bathroom break, during which an agent repeatedly warned him through the bathroom door not to delete anything on his phone. When agents later searched the phone, they found that chat logs with MPS officials had been cleared.

    Both Lu and Chen later acknowledged deleting messages between themselves and their liaison in the MPS, according to court documents.

    This story has been updated with additional details.

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  • Fetterman returns to the Senate following treatment for clinical depression | CNN Politics

    Fetterman returns to the Senate following treatment for clinical depression | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Sen. John Fetterman has returned to the Senate after receiving treatment for clinical depression at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The Pennsylvania Democrat began inpatient treatment in February and was discharged at the end of March.

    “It’s great to be back,” he told reporters as he arrived at the Capitol Monday afternoon. He did not answer questions.

    “I want everyone to know that depression is treatable, and treatment works,” Fetterman said in a statement after his release. “This isn’t about politics — right now there are people who are suffering with depression in red counties and blue counties. If you need help, please get help.” His office had said he would return to Washington, DC, when the Senate came back into session on April 17 following a two-week recess.

    While Fetterman had dealt with “depression off and on throughout his life, it only became severe in recent weeks,” his chief of staff said in February, announcing that the senator had decided to seek treatment.

    Fetterman, a 53-year-old freshman senator who was elected in November of last year, suffered a stroke ahead of the the May 2022 Democratic Senate primary in Pennsylvania, which he went on to win.

    Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressed support for the Pennsylvania Democrat as he underwent treatment for clinical depression – and Fetterman’s decision to seek treatment opened up a broader conversation on Capitol Hill about mental health.

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, CNN’s Lauren Fox that Fetterman “saved lives” by being public about getting help for his depression.

    “I think John Fetterman saved lives by being a prominent person who stepped up and said he had a problem with mental health issues and he would seek treatment in a very visible and public way,” Warren said.

    Editor’s Note: If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health matters, please call the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or visit the hotline’s website.

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  • McConnell back after fall as Senate resumes | CNN Politics

    McConnell back after fall as Senate resumes | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has returned to the Senate following a period of recovery in the wake of a fall.

    McConnell arrived on Capitol Hill Monday morning and did not answer questions from CNN about how he is feeling after spending the last several weeks recovering after a fall where he suffered a concussion and fractured rib. CNN spotted McConnell in the Capitol exclusively.

    McConnell was at the Capitol on Friday, but Monday marks the GOP Senate leader’s first day back in session. The House and Senate are both returning to session today following a two-week recess period.

    McConnell also did not answer a question about how he will handle the issue of how Democrats want to temporarily replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein on the Judiciary committee. Feinstein’s absence as she recovers from shingles is making it more difficult for Democrats to process judicial nominees on the panel, setting up a potential clash with Republicans as they seek to replace her.

    McConnell was hospitalized last month after he tripped and fell at a dinner event in Washington, DC. He was treated for a concussion and a rib fracture before being released to an inpatient rehabilitation facility for physical therapy.

    At the time, a McConnell aide told CNN, “it is very common to undergo physical therapy to regain strength after a hospital stay.”

    McConnell, who is 81 years old, left the physical therapy facility on March 25. In a statement, the Senate GOP leader said that, following advice from his physical therapists, he would, “spend the next few days working for Kentuckians and the Republican Conference from home.”

    McConnell added that he remained “in frequent touch with my Senate colleagues and my staff. I look forward to returning in person to the Senate soon.”

    Earlier this year, McConnell became the longest-serving party leader in Senate history.

    During his absence, Senate Republicans who spoke with the McConnell said he was itching to get back to the chamber. The No. 2 Senate Republican, Minority Whip John Thune, noted that he was “anxious” to return, and Texas Senator John Cornyn told reporters that McConnell was “chomping at the bit” to come back to the Capitol.

    This was not McConnell’s first fall. Several years ago, he fractured his shoulder in a fall at his home in Kentucky.

    The top Republican is not the only senator returning from an extended absence.

    Across the aisle, Democrat Senator John Fetterman will return to the Senate after receiving inpatient treatment for clinical depression at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Fetterman was discharged from the hospital at the end of last month.

    Feinstein has been absent from the Senate after being treated in the hospital, and then at home, for shingles. It is not yet clear exactly when she may return.

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  • Opinion: Why isn’t the House Judiciary Committee looking into red flags about Clarence Thomas? | CNN

    Opinion: Why isn’t the House Judiciary Committee looking into red flags about Clarence Thomas? | CNN

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    Editor’s Note: Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is the host of SiriusXM radio’s daily program “The Dean Obeidallah Show.” Follow him @DeanObeidallah@masto.ai. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion on CNN.



    CNN
     — 

    On Monday, the GOP-controlled House Judiciary Committee — chaired by Donald Trump ally Rep. Jim Jordan — is set to hold a field hearing in New York City called “Victims of Violent Crime in Manhattan.” A statement bills the hearing as an examination of how, the Judiciary Committee says, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s policies have “led to an increase in violent crime and a dangerous community for New York City residents.”

    In response, Bragg’s office slammed Jordan’s hearing as “a political stunt” while noting that data released by the New York Police Department shows crime is down in Manhattan with respect to murders, burglaries, robberies and more through April 2, compared with the same period last year.

    In reality, this Jordan-led hearing isn’t about stopping crime but about defending Trump — who was recently charged by a Manhattan grand jury with 34 felonies. Trump pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges stemming from an investigation into a hush-money payment to an adult film actress. The former president also is facing criminal probes in other jurisdictions over efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.

    Bragg sued Jordan and his committee last week in federal court, accusing the Judiciary Committee chairman of a “transparent campaign to intimidate and attack” his office for its investigation and prosecution of Trump by making demands for confidential documents and testimony.

    While Jordan and his committee appear focused on discrediting the investigation into Trump, why aren’t they looking into two recent bombshell reports by ProPublica that raised red flags about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ financial relationship with GOP megadonor Harlan Crow? After all, the House Judiciary Committee’s website explains that it has jurisdiction over “matters relating to the administration of justice in federal courts” – for which the revelations concerning Thomas fit perfectly.

    First, we learned in early April that Crow had provided Thomas and his wife, Ginni, for decades with luxurious vacations including on the donor’s yacht and private jet to faraway places such as Indonesia and New Zealand. That information was never revealed to the public. (In a rare public statement, Thomas responded he was advised at the time that he did not have to report the trips. The justice said the guidelines for reporting personal hospitality have changed recently. “And, it is, of course, my intent to follow this guidance in the future,” he said.)

    Then on Thursday, ProPublica reported that Thomas failed to disclose a 2014 real estate deal involving the sale of three properties he and his family owned in Savannah, Georgia, to that same GOP megadonor, Crow. One of Crow’s companies made the purchases for $133,363, according to ProPublica. A federal disclosure law passed after Watergate requires Supreme Court justices and other officials to make public the details of most real estate sales over $1,000.

    As ProPublica detailed, the federal disclosure form Thomas filed for that year included a space to report the identity of the buyer in any private transaction, but Thomas left that space blank. Four ethics law experts told ProPublica that Thomas’ failure to report it appears to be a violation of the law. (Thomas did not respond to questions from ProPublica on its report; CNN reached out to the Supreme Court and Thomas for comment.)

    The House Judiciary Committee has long addressed issues such as those surrounding Thomas. In fact, the committee is where investigations and the impeachment of federal judges often commence.

    One recent example came in 2010 with Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr., whom the committee investigated and recommended for impeachment.

    The committee’s Task Force on Judicial Impeachment said evidence showed Porteous “intentionally made material false statements and representations under penalty of perjury, engaged in a corrupt kickback scheme, solicited and accepted unlawful gifts, and intentionally misled the Senate during his confirmation proceedings.” The Senate later found Porteous guilty of four articles of impeachment and removed him from the bench.

    Yet the Judiciary Committee has neither released statements nor tweets raising alarm bells about Thomas. Instead, its Twitter feed is filled with repeated tweets whining that C-SPAN won’t cover Monday’s New York field hearing. Worse, the committee retweeted GOP Rep. Mary Miller’s tweet defending Thomas as being attacked “because he is a man of deep faith, who loves our country and believes in our Constitution.”

    Jordan’s use of his committee to assist Trump should surprise no one. The House January 6 committee’s report called the Ohio Republican “a significant player in President Trump’s efforts” to overturn the election. The report detailed the lawmaker’s efforts to assist Trump including on “January 2, 2021, Representative Jordan led a conference call in which he, President Trump, and other Members of Congress discussed strategies for delaying the January 6th joint session.” As a result, the January 6 committee subpoenaed Jordan to testify — but he refused to cooperate.

    In contrast with the House panel, the Senate Judiciary Committee — headed by Democrats — announced in the wake of the reporting on Thomas that it plans to hold a hearing “on the need to restore confidence in the Supreme Court’s ethical standards.” Beyond that, Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia sent a letter Friday calling for a referral of Thomas to the US attorney general over “potential violations of the Ethics in Government Act 1978.”

    The House Judiciary Committee’s website notes, “The Committee on the Judiciary has been called the lawyer for the House of Representatives.” Under Jordan that description needs to be updated to state that the Committee on the Judiciary is now “the lawyer for Donald J. Trump.” And the worst part is that the taxpayers are the ones paying for Jordan’s work on Trump’s behalf.

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  • Tennessee Air National Guardsman applied to be a hitman online, the FBI says. It was a spoof website and now he’s facing charges | CNN

    Tennessee Air National Guardsman applied to be a hitman online, the FBI says. It was a spoof website and now he’s facing charges | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A Tennessee Air National Guardsman is facing charges after applying to be a hitman on a spoof “rent-a-hitman” website, according to the Department of Justice.

    Josiah Ernesto Garcia, 21, was charged Thursday after submitting an employment inquiry to the website rentahitman.com, which is a parody site that includes “testimonials” from purportedly satisfied hit-man customers.

    The website was originally created in 2005 to “advertise a cyber security startup company,” the Justice Department said in a news release. “The company failed and over the next decade it received many inquiries about murder-for-hire services.”

    Garcia indicated in February that he had “military experience, and rifle expertise” and requested an “in depth job description,” according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday.

    “Garcia followed up on this initial request and submitted other identification documents and a resume, indicating he was an expert marksman and employed in the Air National Guard since July 2021. The resume also indicated that Garcia was nicknamed “Reaper,” which was earned from his military experience and marksmanship, the Department of Justice said in the news release.

    Garcia sent another follow-up email days later, saying he didn’t hear back after submitting a resume, according to the complaint.

    According to investigators, Garcia wrote in the email, “Why I want this Job* Im looking for a job, that pays well, related to my military experience (Shooting and Killing the marked target) so I can support my kid on the way. What can I say, I enjoy doing what I do, so if I can find a job that is similar to it, (such as this one) put me in coach!”

    After Garcia sent more follow-up emails, the website owner – at the direction of the FBI – responded with an email saying, “Josiah, a Field Coordinator will be in touch in the near future. You will receive a message when they are ready. Timing is based on client needs,” according to the complaint.

    On April 5, an FBI undercover agent contacted Garcia for a phone interview, during which he asked, “How soon can I start?” and “What do the payments look like?” according to the complaint.

    The undercover agent asked Garcia if he was comfortable with taking fingers or ears as trophies or performing torture at a client’s request.

    “If it’s possible and in my means to do so, I’m more than capable,” Garcia said, according to the complaint.

    In an in-person meeting with the undercover agent on Wednesday, Garcia “was presented with a ‘target package’ consisting of photographs and a description of a fictional target’s name, weight, age, height, address, and employment information,” the complaint said.

    Garcia was told the target was the client’s husband, who was abusive to her, and that the client was paying $5,000 for the job with a down payment of $2,500, the complaint said.

    “After agreeing to the terms of the murder arrangement, Garcia asked the agent if he needed to provide a photograph of the dead body,” according to the Justice Department release. “Garcia was then arrested by FBI agents, who in a subsequent search of his home, recovered an AR style rifle.”

    Garcia is charged with the use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted, the Justice Department said.

    CNN has been unable to reach Garcia’s attorney for comment. Garcia is set to appear in court on Tuesday afternoon.

    CNN has reached out to the Air National Guard for comment.

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  • Noxious odor at Nashville airport leads FAA to issue a temporary ground stop | CNN

    Noxious odor at Nashville airport leads FAA to issue a temporary ground stop | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A ground stop was temporarily issued at Nashville International Airport after a noxious odor was detected on one of the airport’s concourses Sunday afternoon, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

    The FAA said the stop was ordered “to facilitate the safe resumption of operations.”

    The airport evacuated Concourse C due to the presence of the odor around 2:42 p.m. Sunday, and the Metropolitan Nashville Fire Department conducted air quality testing and determined there were no air contaminants, the airport said.

    “Test results indicate that the sample was a solvent, Butoxyethyl Acetate, commonly used in lacquers, varnishes, enamels and resins,” the airport said in a tweet. “Additional air quality testing was also completed and no contaminants were discovered.”

    The FAA later lifted their ground stop, allowing flights to resume. Concourse C was “deemed safe” by the incident commander and restored to full operational status at 4:16 p.m.

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