Welcome back to the Week in Review! This will cover March 24 – March 30.

Government and Politics:

• The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was accidentally added by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to a Signal group chat that discussed the then-upcoming attack on Houthi rebels.
  • Federal Judge James Boasberg ordered key Trump administration agencies to preserve all messages sent on Signal between March 11 and 15 in order to review what exactly happened.
• The National Education Association and other advocacy organizations have sued the Trump administration over President Donald Trump’s executive order that they claim would essentially dismantle the US Department of Education.
• Federal Judge Jamal Whitehead has ordered the Trump administration to reinstate their agreements with refugee resettlement agencies after they were canceled previously, despite another ruling that should have halted all government efforts to suspend refugee admissions and resettlement funding.
  • However, an appeals court on Tuesday ruled that President Trump could halt refugee admissions for refugees admitted after January 20. 
• Labor unions representing educators sued the Trump administration over its cancellation of $400 million over the “congressionally authorized federal research funding” to Columbia University following students’ protests over the Israel-Hamas war.
• President Trump has signed an executive order aimed at “election security” that would include a question about citizenship on the federal voting form and would cut funding for states that “don’t take reasonable steps to secure their election.”
• President Trump has pardoned Devon Archer, Hunter Biden’s former business associate.
• President Trump also signed an executive order that encourages the Treasury Department to use electronic payment methods when possible.
• US District Judge Royce C. Lamberth has granted Radio Free Europe (also known as Radio Liberty) a temporary restraining order that will help the broadcaster stay on the air and online for the time being. Radio Free Europe is a broadcasting organization that aims to broadcast news to countries where “free press is threatened.”
• Dr. Jay Bhattacharya was confirmed by the Senate to lead the National Institutes of Health. The vote was 53-46, with one abstention.
• Dr. Marty Makary was also confirmed by the Senate as the commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration with a 56-44 vote.
• The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have pulled back about $11 billion in state and community health department grants that were first allocated during the Covid-19 pandemic. These grants cover Covid-19 vaccines, testing for respiratory disease prevention, and training industries to set up procedures so they can handle infectious disease prevention.
• President Trump signed an executive order that puts Vice President JD Vance in charge of overseeing efforts to “remove improper ideology” from all areas of the Smithsonian, including its museums, education and research centers, and the National Zoo.
• President Trump also signed an executive order that ended collective bargaining rights for many federal workers.
• President Trump has pardoned Trevor Milton, the CEO of the now-defunct hydrogen and electric truck firm Nikola, who was originally convicted on federal charges of securities fraud and wire fraud.
• The DC US Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed the Trump administration to remove Merit Systems Protection Board chairwoman Cathy Harris and NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox from their posts while their legal cases remain pending.
• Federal Judge Amy Berman Jackson has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from dismantling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
• President Trump has commuted the sentence of Ozy Media founder Carlos Watson, who was convicted of defrauding investors and lying about his company’s finances.
• Judge John Bates has frozen parts of President Trump’s executive order targeting the law firm Jenner & Block. Judge Richard Leon has blocked parts of an executive order targeting the law firm WilmerHale.
• Dr. Peter Marks, director of the US Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, has resigned.
• Thousands of people protested President Trump’s immigration policies in a rally in Dallas this Sunday.

Arts and Entertainment:

• The Billboard Women in Music event was this past Saturday and hosted by Laverne Cox. Among those honored were Doechii with the Woman of the Year award, aespa as Group of the Year award, Angela Aguilar with the Breakthrough award, Gracie Abrams with the songwriter of the Year award, JENNIE with the Global Force award, Meghan Trainor with the Hitmaker award, and Tina Knowles with the Mother of the Year award.

Sports:

• The Auburn Tigers beat the Michigan Wolverines in the NCAA, 78-65.

Local News:

• This past Sunday, a tornado watch was placed on most of Ohio.

This Week in History:

• Monday, March 24 marks the day Tokugawa Ieyasu was granted the title of shogun, officially establishing the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1603.
• Tuesday, March 25 was the day Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, was discovered in 1655.
• Wednesday, March 26 was the day Egypt’s President Anwar al-Sadat and Israel’s Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty in 1979.
• Thursday, March 27 was the day American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress Mariah Carey was born in 1970.
• Friday, March 28 marks the day Jesse Owens posthumously received the Congressional Gold Medal in 1990.
• Saturday, March 29 was the day “The Carol Burnett Show” ended its 11 season run in 1978.
• Sunday, March 30 was the day Jeopardy! aired for the first time in 1964.