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Today's top stories
President Trump became the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl last night, and fans had mixed reactions. The game capped a whirlwind last few days for the president, and he informed reporters to expect another busy week. During an interview that aired during the pregame show, Trump said he would send his adviser, Elon Musk, to look at the Education Department this week.
- 🎧 More cuts similar to USAID are expected, NPR's Franco Ordoñez tells Up First. Trump promised new 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, which will happen today. He plans to announce reciprocal tariffs tomorrow or Wednesday, but he has not said for which countries. Trump is also expected to meet with the king of Jordan tomorrow. He is calling for Jordan and other regional leaders to allow Palestinians from Gaza to live there, which Jordanians have rejected so far.
- ➡️ The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs last night, denying their three-peat bid.
- ➡️ Here are the stars Kendrick Lamar brought out during his halftime performance.
- ➡️ Watch this year's best and worst Super Bowl commercials.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the country's consumer protection watchdog, ground to a halt over the weekend. Under Biden's administration, the agency issued and enforced regulations to cap overdraft fees and remove medical bills from credit reports. This week, employees have been told to stay home.
- 🎧 In recent days, several current and former CFPB staff members informed NPR's Laurel Wamsley of a few major concerns. One is that the Trump administration's stop-work order halts the agency's supervision work, which includes making sure companies follow consumer protections and student loan companies process payments. The second concern is that Musk has talked about wanting his X company to be a commerce and payments platform, and his access to CFPB's records would provide him a competitive advantage. Wamsley says CFPB isn't where you would typically start if you want to address government efficiency, as it has a relatively small budget.
The Israel-Hamas ceasefire in Gaza has allowed more food and medicines to enter into territory that has been devastated by over a year of war, but aid officials say it still isn't enough. Jordan has begun flying helicopters into Gaza to deliver medical supplies. NPR's Jane Arraf took one of the recent flights.
- 🎧 Sixteen flights have landed in Gaza day over eight days. The efforts are much more targeted than when aid was dropped by parachutes that sometimes ended up in the sea. Each helicopter is loaded with cardboard boxes with anesthesia, antibiotics, other essential medicines, disposable diapers and infant formula, Arraf says. Jordanian aid officials say airlifts can get medicine into Gaza more reliably and faster than trucks. When crossing into Gaza during the flight, Arraf said she could see a stark difference between built-up communities in Israel and the skeletons of buildings hit by Israeli air strikes.
Deep dive
The U.S. Department of Education was developed by Congress in 1979. It employs over 4,000 people and has an annual budget of $79 billion. Lawmakers gave the department many of its responsibilities. Trump and his colleagues have pointed to the department as a poster child for government overreach. Here's a closer look at what the department does and doesn't do:
- 🎓 The federal government contributes a small fraction of schools' overall funding. Two key federal funding streams to public schools are Title I and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
- 🎓Trump said he would close the department to give power over what is taught in schools back to states. However, states already have to determine what is taught in classrooms.
- 🎓 The department oversees the federal student loan portfolio, which totals around $1.6 trillion in student loan debt. It is also responsible for the mechanism that gives students to access college financial aid: the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
Life advice
Taxes can be complicated, yet they are legally required. This year's filing deadline is April 15. Starting as soon as possible will help tackle them. Here are some expert tax filling tips you should know about:
- 📁 You can file your taxes for free. Download your tax form from the IRS website, fill it out and submit it online or by mail.
- 📁 Tax credits and deductions help you save money on taxes. If you are using software to file, it will prompt you with questions to help you figure out if you're eligible.
- 📁 If you don't think you will make the deadline, you can file for an extension on the IRS website. You will have until mid-October to file the forms.
Check out the complete list of guidance here.
3 things to know before you go
- NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory will launch a new telescope called SPHEREx into orbit around the Earth at the end of this month. The telescope aims to examine the essential ingredients of life in the galaxy and the universe's origin.
- The Denver International Airport has added a new colorful sculpture made of 183 pieces of upcycled luggage donated by Colorado residents. It's called It's Not What You Take, It's What You Bring Back. (via KUNC)
- Bestselling novelist Tom Robbins, known for books such as Jitterbug Perfume and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, died at his Washington home at 92.
This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.
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