A political newsletter for normal people
WTF Just Happened Today? is a sane, once-a-day newsletter helping normal people make sense of the news. Curated daily by Matt Kiser and delivered to 200,000+ people every afternoon around 3 pm Pacific.
Day 1136: "Posed a threat."
Today in one sentence: A state judge in Illinois ruled that Trump had engaged in insurrection and disqualified him from the state's primary ballot; a federal judge temporarily blocked a new Texas law that would allow state police to arrest, jail, and prosecute migrants suspected of illegally crossing the U.S. border; the House passed a temporary funding bill to avert a partial government shutdown and extend funding for one week; and Israeli troops opened fired on a large crowd of Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid, killing more than 112 people and injuring at least 750 others.
1/ A state judge in Illinois ruled that Trump had engaged in insurrection and disqualified him from the state’s primary ballot. Trump appealed Judge Tracie Porter’s decision to ban him for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Illinois is the third state where Trump has been disqualified under the 14th Amendment, which bars insurrectionists from running for office. Rulings in all three states have been stayed pending appeals, which means Trump will still be on the Republican ballot when Illinois holds its primary March 19. (Bloomberg / Axios / CNN / New York Times / NBC News)
2/ A federal judge temporarily blocked a new Texas law that would allow state police to arrest, jail, and prosecute migrants suspected of illegally crossing the U.S. border. The law, Senate Bill 4, was set to take effect March 5, but U.S. District Judge David Ezra issued a preliminary injunction after the Justice Department and the American Civil Liberties Union sued to stop the law from being enforced, arguing that it’s unconstitutional and could lead to racial profiling. Ezra wrote in his opinion that the federal government “will suffer grave irreparable harm” if the law took effect because it could inspire other states to pass their own immigration laws, creating an inconsistent patchwork of immigration regulations. Texas appealed the ruling to the conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. (Texas Tribune / Axios / Associated Press / New York Times / Washington Post / ABC News)
3/ The House passed a temporary funding bill to avert a partial government shutdown and extend funding for one week, sending the measure to the Senate, where it is expected to pass. It’s the fourth time that Congress has been forced to pass a stop-gap funding measure to avoid a shutdown despite Biden and then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy agreeing on a 2024 fiscal year budget last May. Far-right Republicans in the House, however, revolted against a bipartisan spending deal and ousted McCarthy instead. (Washington Post / CNN / Bloomberg / Axios / Politico / NPR / New York Times / Wall Street Journal)
4/ Israeli troops opened fired on a large crowd of Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid, killing more than 112 people and injuring at least 750 others. The convoy was bringing food to shelters for Palestinian civilians. Israeli troops reportedly opened fire as people pulled boxes of flour and canned goods off the trucks, causing the Palestinians to hide. After the shooting stopped, people went back to the trucks, and the soldiers opened fire again. Israel claimed that troops “didn’t open fire on a humanitarian aid convoy,” but also said the crowd “posed a threat” to soldiers “who responded to the threat with live fire.” Israel didn’t clarify what the threat was. The incident comes after the U.N. warned that a quarter of Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians face starvation. Biden, meanwhile, acknowledged that the shooting complicates negotiations in the hostage-for-ceasefire deal, saying “Probably not by Monday, but I’m hopeful.” Since the war began, at least 30,035 people have been killed in Gaza and 70,457 others have been injured. One U.S. official privately said the Biden administration is growing concerned that “Gaza is turning into Mogadishu.” (Associated Press / New York Times / NBC News / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / ABC News / CNN)
A political newsletter for normal people
WTF Just Happened Today? is a sane, once-a-day newsletter helping normal people make sense of the news. Curated daily by Matt Kiser and delivered to 200,000+ people every afternoon around 3 pm Pacific.
Become a supporting member.
It's not enough to be a consumer of media. You must be a stakeholder in it. Invest in the continued production of WTF Just Happened Today? by becoming a supporting member. Choose from three recurring membership options below: