MONITOR CONGRESS

“Pope Leo says he's not afraid of the president and notes that he's not a political figure, but rather a religious leader concerned with the gospel. Cardinal Joseph Tubin, the archbishop of Newark, has issued a statement saying Popolio will continue to speak clearly against the war and other offenses against human dignity and to call for dialogue. The Council on American Islamic Relations also put out a statement saying it stands in solidarity with the Catholic community.”

“US district court judge Darren Gales wrote that Trump had failed to allege sufficiently that the journal had acted with what's called actual malice, even knowledge a story is false or failure to seek the truth. Gales found the journal had made numerous efforts to verify its reporting and included Trump's denial. The judge left the door open to Trump refiling the suit, however, and a spokesperson for his legal team tells NPR it will do just that.”

“According to an FBI affidavit filed in federal court Monday, Daniel Marino Gama was captured on surveillance video throwing an incendiary device at the gate of Altman's home last week. He was arrested a short time later outside the headquarters of OpenAI. Police say he threatened to burn down the business.”

“Democratic California congressman Eric Swalwell and Texas Republican Tony Gonzalez are stepping down from their house seats. Both are bowing to pressure to leave congress or face expulsion following sexual misconduct allegations. Gonzalez expected to file to retire later today when the house returns from its two week Easter recess.”

“So far, the average refund is about 11% higher than this time last year, about $350 more according to data from the IRS. Michael Pierce with Oxford Economics expects that average will go up. That's because higher income filers typically procrastinate on filing and seem to be benefiting more from the new tax changes.”

“It's possible if fighting could start again if Iran starts hitting US warships or commercial ships trying to transit through the Strait Of Hormuz or attacking the energy sector of Gulf allies. The Iranians have said they have major untouched levers to pull in response to the blockade, but we don't know what that means. At this point, it's an economic war trying to get Iran back to negotiating cable.”

“Jenna Lewis says she drove nearly a half hour to the Tulalip Reservation north of Seattle to save 55¢ a gallon. It's one of hundreds of reservation gas stations across The US with many offering some of the cheapest fuel prices because they're not subject to state taxes. Those range from 9¢ a gallon in Alaska to as high as 71¢ in California across the 35 states with federally recognized Native American tribes.”

“Gonzalez's resignation announcement came hours after California Democratic representative Eric Swalwell also announced his own plan to resign. Swalwell is facing allegations of sexual assault and misconduct from at least four women. Gonzales had already dropped his bid for reelection after being forced into a primary runoff and the launch of a congressional ethics investigation into his behavior.”

“The two districts in Toronto were considered safe Liberal strongholds, and they won handily, providing Carney with at least 173 seats and a majority government. The majority assures prime minister Carney's government a stronger position in parliament and provides support on major nation building projects as well as his government's dealings on trade and tariff issues.”

“The judge issued an order Monday saying that Trump had failed to make the argument that the article describing a birthday card to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was published with malicious intent. Trump denies writing it and said he will be refiling the complaint. Shares in Asia higher in Tuesday trading. The markets in Japan, South Korea, and China all gaining ground.”

“The post was deleted after many, including Trump supporters, criticized the imagery. Trump also said he won't apologize to to pope Leo after lashing out at the pontiff for his comments criticizing the war in Iran. Pope Leo called the president's threats last week to destroy Iranian civilization unacceptable.”

“The US Navy now restricting the movement of ships in and out of the Strait Of Hormuz, part of a blockade of Iranian ports announced by president Trump Sunday after peace talks with Iran produced no agreement. Iran has remained defiant, saying it will not surrender to threats from The US.”

“Democratic California congressman Eric Swalwell and Texas Republican Tony Gonzalez are stepping down from their house seats, both bowing to pressure to leave congress or face expulsion following sexual misconduct allegations.”

“The defendant is alleged to having traveled across state lines with the intent to both target an individual and a major technology company. This was not spontaneous. This was planned, targeted, and extremely serious.”

“The NAR is revising its housing forecast down for the year. That's because the war with Iran has raised the cost of borrowing, and that sent mortgage rates up. The association went from rejecting a double digit increase in existing home sales to just 4%.”

“Gonzalez's resignation announcement came hours after California Democratic representative Eric Swalwell also announced his own plan to resign. Swalwell is facing allegations of sexual assault and misconduct from at least four women. Gonzales had already dropped his bid for reelection after being forced into a primary runoff and the launch of a congressional ethics investigation into his behavior.”

“Israel says that it will have full control of the Lebanese town of Bin Shabeel, quote, within days. The town has become the center of intense fighting. It's part of land that Israel says it's seizing from Lebanon to create what it calls a buffer zone so Hezbollah can't fire rockets into Israel. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli defense minister Israel Katz both joined invading troops inside Lebanon over the weekend.”

“The US housing market remains in a slump. According to the National Association of Realtors, sales of existing homes fell 3.6% last month. For homes that did sell in March, the average sales price was just under $409,000. Freddie Mac says mortgage rates, which briefly dipped below 6% this spring, are now averaging 6.37%.”

“Luther Vandross and Phil Collins have been eligible for the Rock Hall for twenty years and Sade for almost as long. They're all in the class of 2026 along with British post punk legends Joy Division and their spin off group New Order. Two more British acts, Iron Maiden and Billy Idol, made the cut this year after being active since the nineteen seventies.”

“Baseball's new automatic ball strike system could be making games a little longer so far this season with the time of a nine inning game creeping upward to two hours and forty two minutes through this weekend. That's up four minutes from last season, and that's all after the league successfully brought down the length of length of games in 2023 by introducing a pitch timer and other rules.”

“The legislation fell short of the votes needed to move forward in the Senate today.”

“The central bank indicated that it needs more evidence before cutting interest rates.”

“Energy markets are reacting to the increased risk of supply disruptions worldwide.”

“These new standards represent a significant step in reducing toxic industrial emissions.”

“The championship game drew the largest audience in the history of college athletics.”

“And now the Straits of Hormuz have been closed for a couple of days, and that's putting pressure on China.”

“Up six bucks today.”

“30 percent AI is sentient like it's a living mechanism, like it has a certain things for itself. And that's concerning.”

“House kills effort to release all congressional sexual misconduct and harassment reports.”

“This week, Spain categorically denies White House claim it will cooperate on Iran war.”

“And now the Straits of Hormuz have been closed for a couple of days, and that's putting pressure on China.”

“Up six bucks today.”

“30 percent AI is sentient like it's a living mechanism, like it has a certain things for itself. And that's concerning.”

“House kills effort to release all congressional sexual misconduct and harassment reports.”

“This week, Spain categorically denies White House claim it will cooperate on Iran war.”

“They're recovering from the trauma that they experienced living in captivity. And for them to open up and trust you while you are there with them, helping them work through it, it's indescribable. They feel all the vibration and energy that comes into their area, which is one of the reasons we're not open to the public.”

“The dominant political story of the year has been the 270-day-long speakership of Representative Kevin McCarthy, whose slim majority in the House of Representatives has enabled a far-right rebellion to exert more weight over the lower chamber. The battle between the rebellious Freedom Caucus and McCarthy has been at the heart of an averted debt ceiling crisis.”

“The rise of artificial intelligence and large language models dominated not only the economy but has also been at the root of a Hollywood double strike conducted by Writers Guild of America and a SAG APTRA strike, these were part of a larger phenomenon of labor strikes across the country.”

“Additionally, the latter half of the year saw many large mergers and acquisitions, some of the largest announcements being in oil and gas with ExxonMobil's purchase of Pioneer Natural Resources for nearly $60 billion and Chevron's acquisition of Hess Corporation for $50 billion, both in October and pending regulatory approval.”

“2023 also saw the roots of a global banking crisis arise out of four American regional banks, the two largest being Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank. 2021's inflation surge moderated in 2023, while the Federal Reserve continued to raise its interest rates in the first half of the year.”