President Donald Trump announced Thursday that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will no longer be in charge of the department as of March 31.

Noem faced lawmakers on Tuesday and Wednesday who grilled her over the department's handling of immigration enforcement. While it was expected she'd face pointed questioning from Democrats, several Republicans provided criticism during congressional hearings.

Lawmakers expressed concern over her handling of two shootings in Minnesota in January that resulted in the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

Among the lawmakers critical of Noem, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis called for her resignation.

"I want to submit this letter from the Office of Inspector General that cites ten different instances under Ms. Noem's leadership where they've been misled and not allowed to pursue investigations that they think are critically important," Tillis said. "Does anybody have any idea how bad it has to be for the OIG in this agency to come out and do this publicly? That is stonewalling. That's a failure of leadership, and that is why I've called for your resignation."

RELATED STORY | Kristi Noem defends ICE's deadly conduct during second day of hearings

Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, criticized Noem for spending $220 million on an ad campaign featuring herself.

"They were effective in your name recognition, I mean, I personally just, I mean, to me it puts the president in a terribly awkward spot," Kennedy said.

Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin will be nominated to replace her, Trump said.

"The current Secretary, Kristi Noem, who has served us well, and has had numerous and spectacular results (especially on the Border!), will be moving to be Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas, our new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere we are announcing on Saturday in Doral, Florida. I thank Kristi for her service at 'Homeland,'" Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Oil from a massive 2019 spill along Brazil's coastline traveled more than 5,200 miles across the Atlantic Ocean before washing up on the shores of Palm Beach, Florida, according to a newly published study.

Researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts used advanced chemical fingerprinting and ocean current modeling to trace black, sticky residue found on Palm Beach debris back to the Brazilian spill. The study describes oil hitchhiking on plastic debris as an emerging form of pollution.

WATCH COVERAGE BELOW:

Oil-covered litter washing up on Palm Beach linked to 2019 Brazil oil spill

The discovery began with Diane Buhler, founder of Friends of Palm Beach, who has walked the same stretch of Palm Beach shoreline for more than 10 years, documenting what the tides leave behind.

In 2019, something unusual began appearing.

"It was like wait, photographs just started getting full of items covered in oil," Buhler said.

Black, sticky residue coated plastic bottles, glass containers and rubber fragments. With no local spill reported, Buhler began posting what she was finding to social media and those posts caught the attention of chemical oceanographer Chris Reddy.

"I study oil spills from around the world and I often work on mysteries," Reddy said. "I reached out to 'Friends of Palm Beach,' and that's how it started."

RELATED STORY |Trump admin plans for new oil drilling off coasts of California and Florida

Buhler sent Reddy the debris she had collected. His team's analysis traced the oil to the 2019 Brazil spill, which affected an enormous stretch of coastline.

"The Brazilian coastline from about the same distance as Jacksonville, Florida, to Portland, Maine, was mysteriously oiled. The whole coastline, and the source has yet to be identified," Reddy said.

Reddy said oil typically breaks down within a few hundred miles of a spill source due to sunlight and microbes. In this case, however, the oil clung to plastic debris, allowing it to drift for an estimated 240 days across more than 5,200 miles.

"Some of that oil was on plastic debris that came ashore in Palm Beach eight months later," Reddy said.

Reddy said Palm Beach is uniquely positioned to receive debris carried by ocean currents from around the world.

"Floating debris from western Africa could come ashore in Palm Beach, Florida. The way the ocean currents move along on this kind of conveyor belt on the surface, you know, south east Florida happens to be a place where the currents bring it by and the wind is always blowing onshore, as you know and so it catches right there," Reddy said.

For Buhler, years of beach cleanups have now contributed to a scientific discovery.

RELATED STORY | Cargo ship carrying 3,000 vehicles sinks off the coast of Alaska

"We at least now know where it stemmed from. And the amazing part is that it traveled 5,000 miles to come to little old me," Buhler said.

Buhler said the finding adds deeper meaning to each beach sweep in what she describes as an otherwise never-ending mission.

"We really live in one ocean, that the oceans are connected, and our activities in one area can certainly be felt in another," Buhler said.

The full study is available here.

This story was originally published by Meghan McRoberts for the Scripps News Group station in West Palm Beach.

A new report from Vanguard indicates more Americans are taking hardship withdrawals from their employer-provided 401(k) accounts.

The report shows that 6% of people with Vanguard accounts took hardship withdrawals in 2025, up from 5% the year before. Vanguard said it is not surprising that these types of withdrawals increased in 2025 because it is now easier for people to request them.

Hardship withdrawals are subject to a 10% penalty from the IRS if an exception is not granted. That is in addition to paying taxes on the withdrawal.

RELATED STORY | Many US workers have under $1,000 saved for retirement, new report finds

Vanguard also reports that 13% of customers took a loan from their 401(k) in 2025, roughly the same as in 2024. Taking a loan from a 401(k) is less punitive because loans are not taxed; borrowers essentially pay the interest back to themselves.

The report notes a steady increase in the percentage of workers having at least 6% of their income automatically deducted into a 401(k). In 2025, 31% of those with automatic deductions had at least 6% of their income go toward retirement savings, up from 26% in 2020.

Many workers are also seeing gains in their 401(k) accounts. The average account balance increased 13% to $167,970 in 2025. The median account balance rose 16% to $44,115 since the end of 2024.

The report suggests employers should do more to help workers beyond matching 401(k) contributions.

RELATED STORY | Generation X faces retirement reality check as savings fall short

Alongside saving for retirement, many workers must also manage student debt, health care expenses, credit card payments and emergency funds, the report says. Plan sponsors can support employees by providing cost-effective advice and resources that promote overall financial well-being, including guidance on emergency savings and integrated financial wellness strategies.

The family of a Marine veteran is thanking supporters after he was involved in a confrontation at the U.S. Capitol tied to his opposition to U.S. involvement in the conflict with Iran.

Videos posted online show Brian McGinnis, 44, shouting No one wants to fight for Israel as officers attempted to remove him from a Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing Wednesday.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Iran war threatens further alienating MAHA from MAGA

At one point, Republican Sen. Tim Sheehy can be seen assisting officers as McGinnis arm appears to become stuck in a door hinge.

United States Capitol Police said McGinnis and three officers were injured during the incident.

McGinnis, who is the Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate in North Carolina, has been charged with assault on a police officer and resisting arrest.

RELATED STORY | Senate rejects effort to limit Trump's military operations on Iran

"At this time, our priority is Brians wellbeing," McGinnis' campaign said. "We are taking a necessary step back from the public eye to allow him to focus fully on his recovery in private. While he looks forward to engaging with you all again very soon, his health and his family remain the current priorities."

Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL, also responded to criticism that he injured a Marine during the confrontation.

"This gentleman came to the Capitol looking for a confrontation, and he got one," Sheehy said. "I hope he gets the help he needs without causing further violence."

Protests are not permitted inside congressional buildings.

Our Grant Me Hope child this week is 7-year-old Jerry, a very active boy who loves playing all of the time.

Watch our report below

7-year-old Jerry has a smile that comes easily, spreads joy quickly

According to the Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange (MARE), Jerry also loves to cook, and will make sausage, toast and bacon, and play cook with anything he can get his hands on.

His favorite animals, according to MARE, are mice, hamsters, dogs, cats and even giraffes.

MARE also said that Jerry's smile "comes easily," and that "his joy is quick to spread to the people around him."

At school, Jerry wants to be there and enjoys the adults he knows, but busy or demanding moments can feel overwhelming. When that happens, he may try to avoid tasks by running, hiding, or refusing to participate. He is interested in playing with other children, though navigating social play can be difficult without support. At home, his behavior is more settled, especially when he has clear access to activities that meet his needs. Without that structure, he may explore or get into things out of curiosity rather than defiance.

Jerry thrives on movement, creativity, and sensory-rich experiences. He enjoys being outdoorsriding bikes, playing at the park, walking through the neighborhood or the woods, and spending time at the beach. Water is a favorite, whether hes swimming, splashing at a water table, or playing in the sink or bath. Inside, he likes building with blocks, drawing, playing with playdough, and engaging in imaginative play with action figures, cars, and play food. He also enjoys dancing, swinging, bouncing, and spinning, and he regularly uses an aerial swing and foam mat at home. Trips to the trampoline park are a highlight of his week and help him burn energy in positive ways.

Jerry would do best with experienced parents who have patience, time, and a strong understanding of how to support a child with sensory and emotional regulation needs. He benefits from calm redirection, thoughtful de-escalation, and adults who can read his cues and advocate for him at school and in therapeutic settings. A two-parent home would be ideal, and he could do well with or without other children. A family with shared cultural similarities may help him feel grounded and understood. Jerry has a strong capacity for affection, creativity, and connection, and with the right support, he continues to grow in confidence and engagement with the world around him.

To learn more about Jerry, visit the MARE website, and see more stories on our Grant Me Hope page.

The largest immigration detention center in the country is facing renewed scrutiny.

According to U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, Camp East Montana, located at Fort Bliss in Texas, is dealing with a measles outbreak.

The facility currently has 14 active measles cases, while more than 110 people are being isolated, Escobar said.

In a series of posts on X, Escobar criticized conditions at the facility.

"Despite what I was initially told about the level of medical care inside the facility, it became very clear to me early on that serious medical issues were being overlooked and, in some cases, medical attention was non-existent for urgent health issues," she stated.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Photos and 911 calls deepen mystery of immigrant's sudden death in ICE custody

A November investigation by Scripps News discovered reports of poor conditions and mistreatment at the facility. In January, an inmate died at the facility. Initially, the Department of Homeland Security said the man died after "experiencing medical distress." However, the El Paso medical examiner determined his death was a homicide, a result of "asphyxia due to neck and torso compression."

"There has been nothing but crisis after crisis inside the walls of this tent city," Escobar said. "I again renew my call for DHS to shut down Camp East Montana and for the Department of Justice to investigate the contractor for fraud."

Acquisition Logistics LLC, a private company run out of a single-family home in Virginia, built the soft-sided detention center last year under a $1.3 billion contract awarded by Immigration and Customs and Enforcement.

Iran launched a new wave of attacks on Israel and American bases Thursday while also striking near the Azerbaijan border, marking a significant expansion of the conflict beyond the Middle East.

An Iranian drone struck an airport terminal and another came down near a school in a region along the Azerbaijan-Iran border, injuring four civilians. Azerbaijan's president convened his Security Council in response and is demanding an apology from Iran and criminal accountability for those responsible. The country's military has been put on full combat readiness.

Iran denied firing drones at Azerbaijan, but Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said its own technical systems tracked four of the drones from Iranian territory.

RELATED STORY | Iran war threatens further alienating MAHA from MAGA

Iran has long accused Azerbaijan of serving as an Israeli spy base on its northern border and warned Baku it would be punished if it did not stop. Azerbaijan supplies Israel with more than 40% of its crude oil.

The strikes on Azerbaijan came on the same day Iran launched a new wave of attacks on Israel and American bases. Those strikes followed the U.S. Navy sinking an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, killing at least 87 sailors.

A top Iranian cleric called for violence against Israelis and President Donald Trump on state television Thursday. The message represents a rare call for violence by an Ayatollah, one of the highest ranks in Shiite Islam.

Israel also carried out new airstrikes in Beirut, targeting Hezbollah command centers. The Israel Defense Forces posted video on social media claiming to show those attacks. The IDF said the strikes hit several command centers, including one used by the group's aerial unit. Israel described the attacks as intelligence-based strikes against what it calls the Hezbollah terrorist organization.

The Israeli Air Force has destroyed or disabled around 300 Iranian mobile missile launchers since the war began. Thermal satellites and drones are monitoring the battlefield around the clock to locate and eliminate launchers as they are deployed.

There has been a reduction in the volleys of missiles being fired at Israel, though attacks are ongoing, with approximately four ballistic missiles coming in over a 15-to-16-hour period.

RELATED STORY | House to deliver key test of support for Trumps Iran offensive

Analysts believe Iran may be holding back some of its most sophisticated missiles those most capable of penetrating air defenses as a show of strength to its own population. Iran has also released video of what it calls its underground missile cities, where it stores its missiles. U.S. and Israeli intelligence say they know the location of many of these sites, but not all of them.

The regime is believed to view offensive capability as essential to its legitimacy, needing to demonstrate to its own people that it retains the power to strike its enemies.

A suspect was taken into custody after three women were found dead at multiple scenes across Wayne County, Utah.

Two women were originally found dead Wednesday afternoon on an unidentified hiking trail near Capitol Reef National Park, and a third victim was later found dead inside a Wayne County home.

The suspect's vehicle was tracked through southern Utah and into northern Arizona before it was found abandoned in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Following a brief search, the suspect was apprehended without incident, the Utah Department of Public Safety announced early Thursday.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Protester killed at Utah 'No Kings' rally was fashion designer from 'Project Runway'

The first two victims were a woman in their 30s and a woman in their 60s, while the woman found in the home was in her 80s.

None of the victims has been identified as next of kin; notifications are underway.

Authorities have not said how the women died or whether they had any connection to the suspect.

A Detroit mother has been charged with unsafe storage of a weapon after her six-year-old daughter was accidentally shot and killed in a car in Detroit earlier this week.

Watch our previous coverage

6-year-old girl accidentally shot and killed inside car with unsecured gun

According to police, the child's mother came to a plaza in the area of Gratiot and Harper avenues around noon on Monday, March 2, to get food.

We're told the mother went inside and left five children in the car unattended. While they were in the car, the child was shot with the unsecured gun by her 11-year-old brother. Detroit police say the children are all 12 years old and younger.

Tonya Charisse-Annie Johnson, 41, has been charged with:

Firearms Safe Storage Violations Premises Under Individual's Control Minor Present and Inflicted Death upon Self or Another Three counts of Second-Degree Child Abuse Four counts of Felony Firearm

She is expected to appear in court again later this afternoon.

The alleged facts of this case are among the worst child safe storage cases that we have seen. This will affect these children forever. The loss of the life of one of their siblings in a closed compartment of the defendants car cannot be unseen, said Prosecutor Kym Worthy.

Savannah Guthrie, co-anchor of NBCs Today, was back at Rockefeller Center on Thursday as the network announced she will eventually return to the program following the apparent kidnapping of her 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie.

Guthrie has spent most of the past month in Arizona with family during the search for her mother, who is believed to have been abducted from her home in the middle of the night.

Her whereabouts remain unknown. Despite thousands of tips, investigators have yet to identify a suspect.

NBC said Guthrie visited colleagues Thursday to thank them for their support.

RELATED STORY | Family of Nancy Guthrie offers $1M reward for her recovery

While she plans to return to the show on air, she remains focused right now on supporting her family and working to help bring Nancy home, the network said in a statement.

Today co-hosts Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones acknowledged Guthries visit on the program.

Savannah has come back to her home here at 30 Rock and Studio 1A, and we got to see her, Bush Hager said. In her perfect way, she talked to all of us, hugged every single person in this room the crew. She said she intends to return to the show even though it is the hardest thing to do. It is also her home, where she feels so loved, and she is beyond loved here. We are happy she was here.

Bush Hager noted that a date has not been set for Guthries return.

RELATED STORY | Search for Nancy Guthrie approaches one month

I am proud of Savannah and rooting for her, Jones said. I know the strength it takes to even come here and be amongst all of us. I see it as we are in this storm, but we are not out of it and there is a light somewhere in the midst of this storm.

Even before President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. military to join Israel in a bombing campaign against the Iranian regime, many within the so-called Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement were already souring on the Trump administration.

But the decision to engage U.S. forces in another foreign conflict in the Middle East is, for some, an outright breaking point and, they say, Republicans should be on notice that MAHA voters are unlikely to support the GOP in the upcoming 2026 midterms.

No nation that does horrible things abroad, wages war, unjust wars, and besets violence on the world can actually be healthy, Charles Eisenstein, an author and environmentalist who served as the chief speechwriter for Kennedys 2024 presidential bid, told Scripps News in an interview Wednesday. What we do to the world, in some sense, we do to ourselves.

Eisenstein is among a group of Kennedy campaign alumni involved in a new Health Not War effort organizing voters against Trumps Iran action and calling on lawmakers to back congressional War Powers Resolutions that would limit the presidents ability to continue the conflict without congressional approval.

RELATED STORY | Senate rejects effort to limit Trump's military operations on Iran

We, the undersigned, are American citizens who care deeply about the health of our nation: both its physical health of its people, and the moral health of its conduct in the world, the petition begins. We understand that these are related. Neither can stand without the other.

Organizers acknowledged the campaign has room to grow. Eisenstein said the number of signers as of Wednesday evening was in the thousands, though that did little to stop Republicans from blocking Democrats War Powers vote on Wednesday evening (a similar vote is scheduled for later Thursday in the House, where its likewise expected to fail).

It was kind of a short runway to really launch any kind of campaign, Eisenstein said, noting activists first announced the effort just a few days ago.

But he promised this was not the end of MAHAs anti-war push.

We're going to continue to advocate for peace, he said.

Kennedy allies push anti-war effort

Beyond Eisenstein, other Kennedy allies involved in the Heath Not War campaign include David Murphy, a food and farming activist who served as finance director for Kennedys presidential bid, and Meryll Nass, M.D., a longtime Kennedy ally who works with the anti-vaccine group Children's Health Defense.

This is a war of choice, Nass told Scripps News. This was a war that really went against what the president himself had said.

For Nass, the goal of the campaign is not only to convince lawmakers to support measures curbing Trumps power to further the conflict, but also to highlight what she describes as a series of broken promises by the Trump administration when it comes to MAHA topics.

RELATED STORY | Officials identify the 6 US service members killed in Iran conflict

[Trump] needs some pressure on him to do what he said his presidency was going to be about, which was both Make America Great Again, put America First and Make America Healthy Again, Nass said. He's done a number of things that fly in the face of all of that.

Murphy a self-described former Republican who runs United We Eat, a MAHA-aligned group advocating against the commercialization of food and agriculture said the Trump administrations moves in Iran reminded him of actions by neocons like former President George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney, going so far as to suggest the president may be trying to distract from other administration failings.

Is this really the Trump administration, President Trump's Wag the Dog moment? Murphy posed. Are they trying to get away from the Epstein story? Are they trying to change, you know, the negative stories that are going on in the press with glyphosate and Bayer and pesticides, overwhelming it with a fake, urgent need to launch a war on some imaginary nuclear threat that Iran does not pose?

MAHA and the midterms

Its not just the Iran war that has MAHA mad.

MAHA activists who spoke to Scripps News pointed to a host of moves by the Trump administration in recent months they said directly contradicted promises Trump and Kennedy made on the campaign trail.

Among their grievances: the decision to back biotech giants Bayer and Monsanto in their Supreme Court bid to kill lawsuits against them for illnesses allegedly caused by their pesticide products; the EPAs reapproval of three dicamba-based herbicides opposed by MAHA groups; and Trumps recent executive order aiming to boost domestic production of glyphosate, a prominent weedkiller more commonly known as Roundup thats long been alleged to be carcinogenic.

It's not even mixed anymore, I would say that it has been an anti-MAHA agenda since December 1, Nass argued.

Such moves risk turning off MAHA-aligned voters said to be central to Trumps win in 2024.

There's no question that [Kennedys] involvement in the Trump campaign was pivotal in the election of President Trump, former Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), who served as Kennedys campaign manager during his Democratic presidential bid and remains a close ally, told Scripps News.

I think [Republicans] should have increasingly growing concern, Murphy echoed.

A polling memo late last year from Tony Fabrizio and Bob Ward, Trumps pollsters in his 2024 run, found 44% of Americans self-identified as MAHA supporters, and most priorities within the movement with the notable exception of eliminating vaccine recommendations were broadly popular.

And a more recent analysis by Tony Lyons, president of MAHA Action and a leading voice within MAHA, was more blunt:

[T]he Republican party is renting MAHA voters, Lyons wrote, drawing on Fabrizios public opinion research. They havent decided to purchase them yet.

Asked about such concerns, the officials working with Kennedy in the Department of Health and Human Services declined to comment.

The White House, for its part, brushed aside any suggestion of a MAHA-MAGA schism, on Iran or otherwise.

President Trump can walk and chew gum at the same time, White House spokesman Kush Desai told Scripps News in a statement. While the U.S. military wrecks the Iranian terrorist regime, the Trump administration remains laser-focused here at home to deliver on the Presidents MAHA agenda: from cracking down on artificial ingredients in our food supply to revising federal Dietary Guidelines to finally lowering prescription drug prices.

Kennedys power proves limited

While many within the movement still view Kennedy positively, particularly his handling of issues of health and wellness, they acknowledged that his power is limited.

I know Secretary Kennedy, and I stay in touch with him on medical issues. He has no authority over this war, Nass said. What's the point of talking to him about it?

Secretary Kennedy is, and has been, the captain of his own ship, echoed Kucinich. His service in the cabinet is circumscribed within questions relating to health, and that's what he does.

But while MAHA voters may have been willing to swallow other concerns about the Trump administrations policies in exchange for Kennedys ascendance to the cabinet, for some, the Iran conflict is a bridge too far.

The warmongering, I mean, for me that trumps all the rest, Eisenstein told Scripps News. There is no way I will ever support a candidate who is embroiling the country in new regime change wars.

Six Flags announced it is selling Michigan's Adventure in West Michigan as part of a plan to streamline its portfolio.

Michigan's Adventure also includes WildWater Adventure, and features over 60 rides, slides and attractions, including seven roller coasters.

In all, Six Flags is selling seven parks to EPR Properties, totaling $331 million. Other parks are in Minnesota, Texas, New York, Missouri and Quebec.

In 2024, Six Flags and Cedar Fair announced an $8 billion merger, which brought Michigan's Adventure, Cedar Point and other amusement parks under the Six Flags portfolio.

According to Six Flags, the company plans to operate the rest of the 34 parks across 23 locations in North America for the 2026 season.

Pop superstar Britney Spears was arrested Wednesday night in Ventura County, California.

According to multiple media reports, Spears was taken into custody on suspicion of driving under the influence. Online court records reviewed Thursday do not specify the charges she may face.

Records show her vehicle was towed, and she was released from custody around 6 a.m.

The arrest follows a series of social media posts that have drawn concern from some fans. Earlier Wednesday evening, Spears posted a video of herself dancing provocatively, with edits that obscured nudity.

RELATED STORY | Britney Spears Says She Lost Her Baby Due To Miscarriage

Spears has been free from a court-ordered conservatorship since 2021. The legal arrangement, imposed in 2008 after highly publicized mental health struggles, controlled her personal and financial affairs for nearly 14 years.

The case sparked the Free Britney movement, as supporters argued the conservatorship was overly restrictive. Spears later told a judge the arrangement was abusive and gave others too much control over her life.

Since it ended, Spears married actor Sam Asghari in 2022. The couple divorced in 2023. She also released a memoir, The Woman in Me, detailing her experiences navigating fame and the conservatorship.

Spears reportedly sold rights to her music catalog this year for about $200 million.

In a defeat for the Trump administration, a federal judge in New York ruled Wednesday that companies that paid tariffs struck down last month by Supreme Court are due refunds.

Judge Richard Eaton of the U.S. Court of International Trade wrote that all importers of record were entitled to benefit from the Supreme Court ruling that struck down sweeping double-digit import taxes President Donald Trump imposed last year under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

The Supreme Court found those tariffs to be unconstitutional under the emergency powers law, including the sweeping reciprocal tariffs he levied on nearly every other country. The majority ruled that the president could not unilaterally set and change tariffs because taxation power clearly belongs to Congress.

In his ruling, Eaton wrote that he alone will hear cases pertaining to the refund of IEEPA duties. The ruling offers some clarity about the tariff refund process, something the Supreme Court did not even mention in its Feb. 20 decision. Trade lawyer Ryan Majerus, a partner at King & Spalding and a former U.S. trade official, said he expects the government to appeal or seek a stay to buy more time for U.S. Customs to comply.

The federal government collected more than $130 billion in the now-defunct tariffs through mid-December and could ultimately be on the hook for refunds worth $175 billion, according to calculations by the Penn Wharton Budget Model.

RELATED STORY | These are the new tariffs Trump started after Supreme Court limited his authority

Eaton was ruling specifically on a case brought by Atmus Filtration, a Nashville, Tennessee, company that makes filters and other filtration products, claiming a right to a tariff refund.

All goods that go through U.S. Customs and Border Protections enter a process called liquidation, when the agency issues its final accounting of what is owed. Once liquidated, importers have 180 days to formally contest the duties. After that window closes, the liquidation is legally final.

The judge ordered customs to stop collecting the IEEPA tariffs the Supreme Court struck down last month on goods going through the liquidation process. And if the goods were past that part of the process, the agency would have to recalculate them without the tariffs.

This is a great decision for importers and consumers who paid, said Barry Appleton, a law professor and co-director New York Law Schools Center for International Law. It will make customs brokers busy. It should make things easier for the courts and get a process underway for those importers who paid within the last 180 days.

On Monday, another federal court rejected the Trump administrations attempt to slow the refund process. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit started the next phase in the refund process by sending it to New York trade court to sort out.

RELATED STORY | With Trump's tariffs struck down, what happens to the billions collected?

Now the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency must come up with a way to process the refunds. Customs routinely refunds tariffs when theres been some kind of error, but its system was not designed for a mass refund, said trade lawyer Alexis Early, a partner at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner. The devil will be in the details of the administrative process.

Republicans are invoking the war in Iran and the prospect of retaliatory terrorist attacks as they tee up votes Thursday on a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security.

The House already approved a DHS spending bill in January, but it faltered in the Senate as Democrats insisted on changes to immigration enforcement operations following the shooting death of ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. As a result, funding for the department lapsed on Feb. 14.

Republicans are calling on Democrats to reconsider their vote in the wake of the conflict in Iran. Both the House and the Senate are expected to hold votes on the matter.

The military action in Iran makes it all more urgent and crucial to have a fully funded, fully staffed DHS across all its departments, House Speaker Mike Johnson said.

It did not appear the GOP's strategy had changed the position of Democratic lawmakers, though. They said they are prepared to fund most of the agencies at the department, just not Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection.

It's the same lousy, rotten bill that does not put any guardrails or constraints on ICE or CBP after federal agents shot American citizens in the street, said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.

Workers are beginning to miss part of their paychecks

Following the longest federal shutdown in the countrys history last year, Congress has completed work on 11 of this years 12 appropriations bills. Only the bill for Homeland Security remains outstanding.

Republicans said the timing couldn't be worse for a Homeland Security shutdown. While a large majority of the department's employees are considered essential and continue to work, many will not receive a full paycheck this week.

Republicans said the prospect of an increase in unscheduled absences by the Transportation Security Administration's agents and screeners could lead to longer wait times at the nation's airports. Meanwhile, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has canceled various assessments to determine vulnerabilities to critical infrastructure. And training for first responders conducted through the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been canceled.

RELATED STORY | DHS top spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin to step down

Can we not understand America is under siege, now likely to be attacked because radical Islam is under siege, and theyre going to hit back and were sitting here looking at each other and not funding DHS," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said during a hearing Tuesday featuring DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

Democrats are seeking several changes at the department include prohibiting ICE enforcement operations at sensitive locations like schools and churches, allowing independent investigations into alleged wrongdoing, requiring warrants to be signed by judges before federal agents can forcibly enter private homes or other nonpublic spaces without consent, and requiring agents to wear identification and remove their masks.

Republicans note that the bill does include a bipartisan provision directing more resources for deescalation training and $20 million to outfit immigration enforcement agents with body-worn cameras.

Little to show from negotiations

The White House and congressional Democrats don't appear to have made significant progress in recent weeks resolving their differences after trading several offers.

Look, we're still far apart but we're negotiating and exchanging paper back and forth, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said.

Alabama Sen. Katie Britt, the Republican chairwoman of a panel that oversees homeland security funding, said shes been talking to Democrats about a possible pathway forward, but prospects are unclear.

She and other Republicans are citing last weekend's mass shooting in Austin as an example of the dangerous threat environment that's facing Americans following the attack on Iran.

I think that it is incredibly irresponsible to not fund the agency that is supposed to keep us safe here at home, Britt said.

RELATED STORY | DHS accused of using surveillance technology to track legal observers

Democrats said they are ready to fully fund all the agencies within the department except for ICE and CBP.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, authored a proposal to do that, but it was blocked from consideration. She said Republican leadership was using Trump's aimless, costly and illegal war with Iran to force through more funding for ICE and Customs and Border Protection without any of the substantial changes that the vast majority of Americans believe those agencies need."

It is a cynical effort and it is one that will fail," DeLauro said.

A driver has died after getting into a car crash on southbound I-275 at 8 Mile in Livonia, the police department tells us.

The Michigan Department of Transportation closed the freeway at this location, with the crash happening just after 3:30 a.m.

Footage from the crash

Freeway closed at southbound I-275 at 8 Mile due to crash involving semi

Authorities tell us that the driver of a Chevrolet Camaro was traveling too fast for the slippery road conditions when he spun out and lost control in front of a semi-truck.

We're told that the Camaro driver, a 21-year-old Plymouth man, was pronounced dead at the scene. The semi-truck driver is cooperating with police, who tell us that there were no signs of alcohol or drug use.

The freeway has been closed in this area since just before 4:30 a.m. this morning; it's expected to completely reopen later this morning, with 2 lanes recently reopened.

Rock & Brews, the restaurant and concert bar started by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of KISS, will open this month in Downtown Royal Oak.

We're told the restaurant, located at 208 West Fifth Ave., will officially open to the public on Thursday, March 19.

The 12,000-square-foot restaurant features a main dining area on the first floor, a live concert stage and bar on the second floor, and an open-air rooftop sky lounge on the third level.

It will also feature dozens of TVs and a 16-foot state-of-the-art LED screen for sports and entertainment.

"Were excited to bring a Rock & Brews Restaurant and Concert Bar to Detroit Rock City, Stanley and Simmons said in a statement. Weve all worked hard collaborating as a team to create Rock & Brews destinations we could be proud to share with the community, and that is without a doubt what we will do for our newest location in Royal Oak.

On the menu, people will find a variety of appetizers, wings, salads, bowls, classic entrees, plus burgers and tacos.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently changed how it analyzes raw data in its monthly jobs report, updating a formula known as the "birth-death model" starting in January.

The birth-death model is designed to estimate jobs created by new businesses and jobs lost when companies close before those changes show up in official records.

"In order to get the data out quickly, they make assumptions about the pace at which new businesses are being formed, births, and new businesses that are actually failing, deaths," Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG U.S., said.

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Because new job gains and losses aren't immediately measured, the monthly report relies on estimates and that's why the government makes revisions months after the numbers are originally reported.

The new formula for the birth-death model is designed to limit that.

"What it's doing is assuming a much lower rate of new firm births and a higher rate of new firm deaths because that's what actually happened," Swonk said.

That should lead to more accurate figures and less drastic revisions, according to John Stewart, a supervisory economist at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"It should lower the error in our monthly estimates of the over the month change, such that our annual revisions will become smaller," Stewart said.

But data experts like Eric Pachman, a data analyst and founder of Data 4 the People, say the monthly report is still far from perfect.

"This is a model. Non-farm payroll is a model. All models have error," Pachman said.

"It's good, but it's not perfect," Pachman added.

RELATED STORY | BLS revises job numbers after overcounting 911,000 positions

Ultimately, economists say the monthly data should be looked at as a likely baseline but not as the definitive bottom line.

"The goal is to get, as you know, accurate as possible, as timely as possible. But in some cases, we find when the world shifts dramatically and we're standing on fault lines a lot these days, that ends up sort of wreaking havoc on some of the data and some of revisions," Swonk said.

The February jobs report comes out Friday morning. In January, it showed the U.S. added 130,000 jobs. Economists are expecting about 60,000 jobs were added in February, according to a Bloomberg survey.

The House is preparing to vote Thursday on a war powers resolution to halt President Donald Trump's attack on Iran, a sign of unease in Congress over the rapidly widening conflict that is reordering U.S. priorities at home and abroad.

It's the second vote in as many days, after the Senate defeated a similar measure along party lines. Lawmakers are confronting the sudden reality of representing the American people in wartime and all that entails with lives lost, dollars spent and alliances tested by a president's unilateral decision to go to war with Iran.

The tally in the House is expected to be tight, but the outcome will provide an early snapshot of the political support, or opposition, to the U.S.-Israel military operation and Trump's rationale for bypassing Congress, which alone has the power to declare war.

RELATED STORY | Senate rejects effort to limit Trump's military operations on Iran

Donald Trump is not a king, and if he believes the war with Iran is in our national interest, then he must come to Congress and make the case," said Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Meeks said in his nearly three decades in Congress, the hardest votes he has taken have been deciding whether to send U.S. troops to war.

The roll calls are a clarifying moment for the president and the parties just days into the overseas conflict that has quickly carried echoes of the long U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Many veterans of those wars have since run for office and now serve in Congress.

Republicans largely back Trump, and most Democrats oppose the war

Trumps Republican Party, which narrowly controls the House and Senate, largely sees the conflict with Iran not as the start of a new war, but the end of a regime that for decades has long menaced the West. The operation has killed Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which some view as an opportunity for regime change, though others warn of a chaotic power vacuum.

Rep. Brian Mast of Florida, the GOP chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, publicly thanked Trump for taking action against Iran, saying the president is using his own constitutional authority to defend the U.S. against the imminent threat the country posed.

Mast, an Army veteran who worked as a bomb disposal expert in Afghanistan, said the war powers resolution was effectively asking that the president do nothing.

For Democrats, Trump's war with Iran, influenced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is a war of choice that is testing the balance of powers in the U.S. Constitution.

The framers werent fooling around, said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., arguing that the Constitution is clear that only Congress can decide matters of war.

He said whether lawmakers support or oppose the Trump administration's military action, they should have the debate. Its up to us, weve got to vote on it.

While views in Congress are largely falling along party lines, there are crossover coalitions. Both the House and Senate resolutions were bipartisan, and are drawing bipartisan support and opposition. The House is also voting on a separate resolution affirming that Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism.

RELATED STORY | Officials identify two more US service members killed in Iran conflict

The war powers resolution, if signed into law, would immediately halt Trump's ability to conduct the war unless Congress approved the military action. The president would likely veto the measure.

As an alternative, a small group of Democrats has proposed a separate war powers resolution that would allow the president to continue the war for 30 days before he must seek congressional approval. It is not expected to come yet for a vote.

Trump officials provide shifting rationale for war

After launching a surprise attack against Iran on Saturday, Trump has scrambled to win support for a conflict that Americans of all political persuasions were already wary of entering. Trump administration officials spent hours behind closed doors on Capitol Hill this week trying to reassure lawmakers that they have the situation under control.

Six U.S. military members were killed over the weekend in a drone strike in Kuwait, and Trump has said more Americans could die. Thousands of Americans abroad have scrambled for flights, many lighting up the phone lines at congressional offices as they sought help trying to flee the Middle East.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the war could extend eight weeks, twice as long as the president himself first estimated. Trump has left open the possibility of sending U.S. troops into what, so far, has largely been bombing campaign by air. Hundreds of people in the region have died.

The administration said the goal is to destroy Iran's ballistic missiles that it believes are shielding its nuclear program. It has also said Israel was ready to act against Iran, and American bases would face retaliation if the U.S. did not strike first. On Wednesday, the U.S. said it torpedoed an Iranian warship near Sri Lanka.

"This administration can't even give us a straight answer of as to why we launched this preemptive war," said Rep. Thomas Massie, the Republican from Kentucky who is often an outlier in his party.

Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who had teamed up to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, also forced the war powers resolution to the floor, pushing past objections from House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Johnson has warned that it would be dangerous to limit the president's authority while the U.S. military is already in conflict.

Senators sit in their desks for solemn vote

In the Senate, Republican leaders have successfully, though narrowly, defeated a series of war powers resolutions pertaining to several other conflicts during Trump's second term. This one, however, was different.

Underscoring the gravity of the moment Wednesday, Democratic senators filled the chamber and sat at their desks as the voting got underway.

Today every senator every single one will pick a side," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said before the vote. Do you stand with the American people who are exhausted with forever wars in the Middle East or stand with Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth as they bumble us headfirst into another war?

Sen. John Barrasso, second in Senate Republican leadership, said Democrats would rather obstruct Donald Trump than obliterate Irans national nuclear program."

The legislation failed on a 47-53 tally mostly along party lines, with Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky in favor and Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania against.