Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order to close the Education Department. Ukraine agrees to move forward with a partial ceasefire with Russia. And Steve Kornacki on the teams he’s watching for in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.
Here’s what to know today.
Trump to sign order shuttering the Education Department
President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order to close the Education Department today, fulfilling a yearslong pledge to dismantle the federal agency, the White House confirmed. The order will direct Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States, while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”
Trump’s executive order will also direct McMahon to ensure the agency’s funds do not go toward programs that advance DEI goals or gender ideology.
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McMahon earlier this month cut the department’s workforce in half, calling the job terminations the first step in shutting down the department. She vowed in her Senate confirmation hearing to work with Congress to advance Trump’s plan to dismantle the department.
Formally closing the department requires an act of Congress. Trump has suggested that he could garner enough congressional support to do so. But even without formally shutting down the department, the administration could make it nearly impossible for employees to carry out their work, as it has done with USAID.
The Education Department’s $268 billion appropriations last year represented just 4% of the federal budget. The department does not dictate curricula used in classrooms; it is largely a funding and civil rights enforcement organization, distributing money for schools with high rates of impoverished students and assisting children with disabilities. It also runs the public student loan program.
More politics news:
- Those who know James Boasberg, the federal judge who is now the target of impeachment calls, insist he’s not the “radical left lunatic” that Trump claims he is.
- When it comes to JD Vance’s online presence, “I tend to err on the side of openness,” he recently told NBC News. His approach has earned him a distinction that no other vice president has had.
- As Democrats scramble to find an authentic and effective messenger, there is a growing desire to elevate Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. But some in the party still have reservations.
- Columbia University signaled that it would comply with the Trump administration’s demands in return for restoring $400 million in federal funding. Meanwhile, the administration is pausing $175 million in federal funding to the University of Pennsylvania over its transgender athlete policies.
- The military story of baseball legend Jackie Robinson no longer exists on the Department of Defense’s website as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to wipe out DEI.
Ukraine agrees to move forward with partial ceasefire with Russia
Ukraine has agreed to move forward with a partial ceasefire with Russia, the Trump administration and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said yesterday after a phone call between the two leaders.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said that after Trump spoke to Zelenskyy by phone, the two leaders agreed “on a partial ceasefire against energy,” according to a joint statement released by the White House. Rubio and Waltz’s statement did not mention that the ceasefire would apply to civilian infrastructure as Zelenskyy suggested, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt refused to answer questions at an afternoon news briefing asking for clarification about the discrepancy in details. The White House also rejected Kremlin demands that the U.S. stop sending intelligence and weapons to Ukraine. Read the full story here.
Website maps Tesla owners and their personal information
Some Tesla owners said they are worried that they could be targeted for vandalism after a map containing their personal information was published this week. The online map went live Monday, displaying the names, addresses and contact information of some Tesla owners and dealerships and members of the Trump administration in an attempt to whip up further backlash against Elon Musk. The website encourages visitors to commit vandalism and pushes Tesla owners to sell their vehicles.
NBC News spoke to six Tesla owners or their representatives who confirmed that at least some of the information on the website was accurate, though some said that in some cases, phone numbers or addresses were out of date. Read the full story here.
Steve Kornacki’s guide to the NCAA tournament
The opening round of the 2025 NCAA tournament begins today. And for NBC News and MSNBC’s statistics guru Steve Korancki, it’s the start of “the absolute best two days on the annual sports calendar.” Here are the teams he’s keeping an eye on, from the sleeper team that might surprise us all to the team that he hopes will take home the title:
🏀 Sleeper team that might make a run — BYU: “It’s a risky pick, since the No. 6-seeded Cougars face a trendy upset pick VCU, in the first round,” Kornacki writes. But if BYU can make it through the first round, they might just get on a roll.
🏀 Potential for a first-round upset — No. 12 Liberty over No. 5 Oregon: “It’s true that 12-seed vs. 5-seed matchups have historically been upset-prone, but that’s not the reason this one is on my radar,” Kornacki writes. What does get his attention is Liberty’s 3-point shooting percentage.
🏀 Team he hopes wins it all — St. John’s: “And maybe they will! The fact that Rick Pitino, essentially blacklisted from college coaching at the age of 65, is now at 72 years old taking a 30-4 team ranked No. 5 in the country to the NCAA is improbable enough,” Koranacki writes. Even so, “my heart wants to them to win it all, but my head can’t quite get there.”
Read more for the Kornacki’s full guide to the NCAA tournament.
Read All About It
- After a Georgia fertility clinic implanted another couple’s embryo, a woman had to give up the baby. An NBC News analysis found hundreds of lawsuits over five years alleging errors and few legal protections for IVF patients like her when things go wrong.
- Federal immigration authorities have detained a Georgetown University graduate student from India and told him the government had revoked his student visa, his attorney said.
- Ben & Jerry’s claimed its CEO was fired this month over his political statements, the latest development in an ongoing legal dispute between the ice cream brand and its parent company.
- A 6-year-old child’s death from measles in Texas is being used by the anti-vaccine movement to argue that vaccines are more dangerous than the illnesses they prevent.
Staff Pick: As retailers drop DEI, some Black customers drop them
Leila Register / NBC News; Getty Images
Over the last couple of months, I have seen more and more calls on social media for people to boycott retailers that have made changes to or cut their diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Those calls seemed to be loudest among Black people, whose dedication to the cause was the inspiration for this article. Reporter Claretta Bellamy and I spoke to nearly two dozen Black people of various ages from across the country who are boycotting retailers like Target, Walmart and Amazon about why they are abstaining from shopping at these stores. “Where you spend your money, it’s an indication of where your values lie,” one of those people said. — Janelle Griffith, national reporter
NBCU Academy: How Keith Morrison perfects his ‘Dateline’ voice
Sometimes considered the “granddaddy of true crime,” Keith Morrison has one of the most famous voices on television. The “Dateline” correspondent, who has been narrating murder cases and mysteries for 30 years, even had the honor of being parodied by Bill Hader on “Saturday Night Live.”
“To see yourself parodied on national television is a bracing experience, but it’s a tremendous compliment,” Morrison said.
Morrison sat down with NBCU Academy to discuss how he uses his voice as a storytelling instrument.
NBCU Academy is a free, award-winning education program for developing new skills and advancing careers in journalism, media and tech.
NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified
One NBC Select reporter tested the Oura Ring 4 for a few months to get a sense of how well its sleep and health tracking features work. Plus, here’s everything you need to know about the Amazon Spring Prime Day sale, which starts next week and will have discounts on apparel, tech, home and more.
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