US Economy Adds 178,000 Jobs in March – The unemployment rate ticked down 0.1 points to 4.3% from February, the Labor Department reports, when the economy lost 133,000 jobs. Gains came in health care, construction, transportation and warehousing, with further declines in federal government jobs. [CHART: Bureau of Labor Statistics]
PASSOVER/EASTER 2026
•The Supreme Court appears likely to strike down President Trump’s Executive Order banning birthright citizenship. Scroll down for the story and see comments in left and right columns.
•Read right column Contributing Pundit Rich Corbett’s commentary on No Kings III in The Gray Area.
US Bombs Iranian Bridge – President Trump says he’s responsible for the US Military destroying a newly constructed $400 million B1 suspension bridge between Tehran and Karaj, killing eight and wounding 95, The Guardian reports. Missiles hit two spots in the middle of the bridge.
“The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again,” Trump Truth Socialed, adding there would be “much more to follow” if Iran fails to reach a deal with the US.
But that might not come very quickly. After five weeks of US and Israeli military strikes, Iran’s arsenal retains about half its missile launchers and thousands of one-way drones, according to US intelligent assessments shared by three sources with CNN in an exclusive report.
“They are still very much poised to wreak havoc throughout the entire region,” one of those sources told CNN.
As Israel wars elsewhere … Meanwhile, Israel, which has been driving the war effort, is concentrating on taking over southern Lebanon across the Zahrani River, where Israel has ordered residents to evacuate, The New York Times reports.
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AAA National Average Unleaded Regular, Friday: $4.091 per gallon, up one unobtainable penny per gallon over Thursday’s price and up $1.109 over February 27. Diesel: $5.533 per gallon, up 2.6 cents over Thursday and $1.759 costlier than on February 27. –TL
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THURSDAY 4/2/26
Bondi Fired – President Trump fired his loyal attorney general, Pam Bondi Thursday and Truth Socialed that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche would replace her on an interim basis, The New York Times reports.
“We love Pam, and she will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future,” Trump wrote. Shades of Kristi Noem’s firing as Department of Homeland Security secretary.
Five Republicans on the House Oversight Committee last month joined Democrats to vote to subpoena to testify in private under oath about the Epstein case.
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Strait, No Chaser Redux – In his address to the American people Wednesday night President Trump (above) said that while the US is “on track to complete all of America’s military objectives shortly – very shortly,” two to three weeks of the US war on Iran remain.
“We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks,” Trump said. “We are going to bring them back to the stone ages where they belong.”
Trump’s address otherwise was very familiar. He excoriated President Obama’s diplomatic deal to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump has opposed the JCPoA since 2015, a point he made Wednesday night.
“And then, very importantly, I terminated Barack Hussein Obama’s Iran nuclear deal … Essentially, I did what no other president was willing to do. They made mistakes and I am correcting them.”
The president suggested it’s up to the countries suffering oil shortages from Iran’s Strait of Hormuz blockade to “Go to the Strait and just take it.” Trump suggest such countries purchase oil from the US instead.
As for the spike in motor fuel prices Americans are paying, “This short-term increase has been entirely the result of the Iranian regime launching deranged terror attacks against commercial oil tankers and neighboring countries that have nothing to do with the conflict. This is yet more proof that Iran can never be trusted with nuclear weapons.”
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AAA National Average Unleaded Regular, Thursday: $4.081 per gallon, up 6.3 cents from Wednesday’s price and up $1.099 over February 27. Diesel: $5.49 per gallon, up 1.7 cents over Wednesday and $1.733 costlier than on February 27.
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Birthright Citizenship Saved? – General consensus is the majority of Supreme Court justices will uphold birthright citizenship as guaranteed by the 14th Amendment when it hands down its opinion on Trump v. Barbara, expected in late June, NPR’s Nina Totenberg said on All Things Considered Wednesday.
In her analysis of Wednesday’s oral arguments, Totenberg said she expects justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Brett Cavenaugh to go with President Trump’s executive order, issued the first day of his second term last year, eliminating birthright citizenship for babies of illegal immigrants and legal immigrants with temporary or long-term visas, with conservative justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch and Chief Justice John Roberts siding with the three liberal justices.
Gorsuch has long been an advocate of Native American rights and questioned whether Trump’s EO would affect those who choose to live on Native land.
The standout exchange was between Roberts and Trump administration Solicitor General John Sauer.
“We’re in a new world now where 8 billion people are one plane ride away from having a child who is a citizen,” Sauer argued.
“It’s a new world,” Roberts replied. “It’s the same Constitution.”
Cecillia Wang, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney for the challengers, said, “We can’t take the current administration’s policy considerations into account to try and radically reinterpret the original meaning of the 14th Amendment.”
Other takes…
•“Supreme Court appears likely to side against Trump on his birthright citizenship.” – Amy Howe analysis, SCOTUSblog
•“With Trump Looking On, Justices Tread Cautiously on Birthright Citizenship,” headline in James Romoser’s coverage in The Wall Street Journal. Trump attended the court live, and left after his solicitor general’s arguments, according to NPR’s Totenberg. WSJ’s sub-headline: “Supreme Court projects evenhandedness on controversial initiative amid tense standoff with the president.”
•“Key Justices Appear Skeptical of Limiting Birthright Citizenship.” – Headline in The New York Times.
•“A clear majority of the Supreme Court on Wednesday was unimpressed by the president’s attempt to reinterpret the Constitution.” – The New Republic, Matt Ford. –Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa