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Trump backs Hegseth, Harvard sues and Noem is robbed

 
Today's NATIONAL SECURITY story

Trump stands by Hegseth amid ouster reports

What happened
President Donald Trump yesterday said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was "doing a great job" and dismissed reports he was on the verge of firing him over a second instance in which Hegseth allegedly shared secret war plans on an unsecured Signal group chat. The White House and Pentagon criticized but did not deny reports that Hegseth, using his private phone, posted the Yemen strike details to a group that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer.

Who said what
NPR reported yesterday that the White House had "begun the process of looking for a new leader at the Pentagon." That's "fake news," and Trump is "strongly behind" Hegseth, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X. Trump and Hegseth blamed "disgruntled" former employees for leaking the story. Leavitt told Fox News the "entire Pentagon" was "working against" Hegseth.

Trump views Hegseth as victim of a "smear campaign" and likes his "performance and 'look'" in front of the camera, The Wall Street Journal said. But "Central Casting can become problematic if all they're doing is generating questions of instability," a person close to the White House told Politico. 

Trump is reluctant to fire Hegseth because that "would effectively validate the news reports detailing the mess at the Pentagon," Politico said. But "he's not out of the woods, because the turmoil inside the Defense Department is real." Trump "always expresses support for his team — right until he doesn't and you read about it in the tweet the next day," a person familiar with Trump's thinking told The Washington Post.

What next?
Hegseth should take responsibility for his security lapses, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) said, but the "ultimate responsibility here" lies with Trump for selecting an inexperienced "former weekend TV host" to run the Pentagon. If a Democrat did what Hegseth reportedly did, "we would be demanding a scalp," Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), a former Air Force general, told reporters. "He's acting like he's above the law — and that shows an amateur person."

 
 
Today's HIGHER ED story

Harvard sues Trump over frozen grant money

What happened
Harvard yesterday sued the Trump administration in federal court over its withholding of $2.2 billion in federal grants and contracts, arguing it violates the university's First Amendment rights and federal civil rights law. The administration froze the funding and threatened other punitive measures last week after Harvard rejected its sweeping demands for internal changes and government oversight.

Who said what
Harvard presents the "first major hurdle" in President Donald Trump's "attempt to force change at universities that Republicans say have become hotbeds of liberalism and antisemitism," The Associated Press said. "Targeting research funding which has fueled scientific breakthroughs" has "become an easy source of leverage." 

The Trump administration "has not — and cannot — identify any rational connection between antisemitism concerns and the medical, scientific, technological, and other research it has frozen" for "arbitrary and capricious" reasons, Harvard said in its lawsuit. The "consequences of the government's overreach will be severe and long-lasting." Harvard President Alan Garber said. "Taxpayer funds are a privilege," White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said, and the "gravy train of federal assistance to institutions like Harvard" is "coming to an end."

What next?
Harvard appears to have a solid case, as it "looks as though the administration is just sort of doing what it wants to without real concern for what the law is," University of Pennsylvania law professor Kermit Roosevelt told The Washington Post. If Harvard wins, other targeted universities will likely fight back against Trump administration demands, but a loss in court could spell the "end of the resistance."

 
 
Today's Trump Administration Story

DHS chief Kristi Noem's purse stolen from eatery

What happened
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's purse was stolen while she was dining with her family at an upscale burger restaurant in downtown Washington, D.C., Sunday night, she and her office said yesterday. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed a CNN report that Noem's purse contained her driver's license, passport, DHS access badge, apartment keys, medication, blank checks and about $3,000 in cash.

Who said what
Noem's "entire family was in town," and "she was using the cash withdrawal to treat her family to dinner, activities and Easter gifts," DHS said in a statement. Noem's around-the-clock Secret Service detail was at the restaurant, Capital Burger, but did not notice the purse being taken from underneath her seat, according to CBS News. Security footage subsequently showed an unknown white male in a medical mask taking her handbag and walking out of the restaurant, CNN said. 

"This is a security breach that actually has high consequences," CNN law enforcement analyst Jonathan Wackrow said, "and it needs immediate and further review." Secret Service details "tend to give" protectees "a lot more room" at private events, former agent Dan Mihalek told The Washington Post. "They're not going to stand over her while she's having Easter dinner with the family."

What next?
The Secret Service is leading an investigation into the handbag theft. The D.C. police department said local police were not involved in the probe.

 
 

It's not all bad

Time is precious in emergency trauma situations, and a new injectable treatment could stop internal bleeding quickly to stabilize patients. Maithili Joshi, a Harvard bioengineering Ph.D. candidate, has developed a peptide that binds to platelets and accelerates clotting. The treatment does not affect normal blood function, and in preclinical models it was found to reduce blood loss by up to 90%. This could change "uncontrollable hemorrhage from a fatal emergency to a survivable injury," said Joshi.

 
 
Under the radar

Invasive strep A infections more than doubled in the U.S. between 2013 and 2022, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. This jump comes after 17 years of stability in case numbers. Group A streptococcus (GAS) bacteria can cause a range of diseases that range from mild to deadly, and they are now diversifying and growing harder to treat.

The study identified more than 21,000 total cases of GAS in 10 states over the nine years, including almost 2,000 deaths. Strep infections are usually associated with strep throat, a relatively mild infection. But strep A can also have much worse outcomes, including sepsis, toxic shock syndrome and necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh-eating bacterial infection. 

While researchers are still studying whether the bacteria are evolving to become more severe, the likely cause of increased infections is preexisting conditions. Adults over 65 — especially those in long-term care facilities, part of the homeless population or IV drug users — were most at risk. "All of these people might have weaker immune systems or are more prone to skin sores or lesions — a main risk factor for invasive strep," said Time.

The rise in GAS is cause for concern because the bacteria appear to increasingly evade treatment. Penicillin is most commonly used to treat strep, and other antibiotics, including macrolides and clindamycin, can be used for more severe cases. But the study found that GAS is becoming more resistant to these supplemental antibiotics. And there's no vaccine against GAS.

 
 
On this day

April 22, 1915

German forces deployed chlorine gas at the Second Battle of Ypres in Belgium, marking the first time that poisonous gas was used in war on a widespread scale. Chemical warfare became more sophisticated throughout the years. Today, there's a global ban on the use of chemical weapons, but many countries still have large stockpiles.

 
 
TODAY'S newspaperS

"Pope Francis dies at 88," The Washington Post says on Tuesday's front page. "Pope of firsts reshaped church," The Wall Street Journal says. "Groundbreaking pope" pushed "inclusion and advocacy, not dogma," The New York Times says. "To those on life's margins, a champion," The Boston Globe says. "A man of peace," USA Today says. "Advocate for the poor," the Houston Chronicle says. "Humble Jesuit from Latin America shook up the scandal-ridden church" and his "empathy captured the world," the Los Angeles Times says.

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

Slow-bots

Humans and robots competed against one another during the Humanoid Robot Half-Marathon in Beijing on Saturday. Organizers said the race was the first of its kind, with the rules slightly changed for robot participants, like letting them stop for battery swaps. On the robot side, Tien Kung Ultra crossed the finish line first, in 2 hours, 40 minutes and 42 seconds. The fastest human completed the half-marathon in 1 hour and 2 minutes.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images; Joseph Prezioso / AFP via Getty Images; Alex Brandon-Pool / Getty Images; Cavallini James / BSIP / Universal Images Group via Getty Images