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DNC and top Democratic leaders sue Trump over mail-in voting executive order

April 1, 2026 / 11:02 PM EDT / CBS News

By
Jacob Rosen
Jake Rosen is a reporter covering the Department of Justice. He was previously a campaign digital reporter covering President Trump’s 2024 campaign and also served as an associate producer for “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”

Read Full Bio

A coalition of major Democratic groups sued the Trump administration on Wednesday, seeking to strike down an executive order that would exert more federal influence over mail-in voting — including by creating lists of U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote in each state.

The suit — filed in D.C. federal court by the Democratic National Committee, Democratic Governors Association and two major Democratic campaign groups — is the first major legal challenge to the executive order, which President Trump signed on Tuesday. The top two Democrats in Congress, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, are also listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

Mr. Trump’s order requires Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin to put together a list of U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote in every state, using data from the Social Security Administration. It also directs the U.S. Postal Service to only send absentee ballots to people on each state’s federally approved mail-in ballot list.

States that don’t go along with the executive order are at risk of losing federal funding, a White House official told CBS News earlier this week. It’s not clear what would happen if an eligible U.S. citizen is left off the list.

The plaintiffs in Wednesday’s lawsuit argued the order unconstitutionally intrudes on Congress and the states’ power to regulate elections, since the Constitution doesn’t give the president any direct authority over how federal elections are conducted. Their suit cast the order as part of a gambit by Mr. Trump to “rewrite election rules for his own perceived partisan advantage.”

“Our Constitution’s Framers anticipated this kind of desire for absolute power. They recognized the menace it would pose to ordered liberty and the ways in which it would corrode self-government like an acid,” the Democratic groups wrote in a 64-page complaint. “That careful division of authority has held fast against President Trump’s attacks.”

The suit called the executive order “convoluted and confusing,” and said it “dramatically restricts the ability of Americans to vote by mail, impinging on traditional state authority.” It also alleged the order “runs headlong into myriad other guarantees provided by the Constitution, the States, and Congress — authorities that do regulate elections.”

The groups are being represented by attorney Marc Elias, and are asking for the executive order to be struck down on First, Fifth and Tenth Amendment grounds. The complaint also alleges a violation of the separation of powers, plus violations of the Administrative Procedure Act, the Voting Rights Act and other federal laws.

CBS News has reached out to the White House for comment on the lawsuit.

The executive order comes as Mr. Trump has publicly pressed Congress to pass restrictions on mail-in voting, which he has alleged — without evidence — is rife with fraud. He has called on lawmakers to pass the SAVE Act, which would include proof-of-citizenship requirements aimed at preventing non-citizens from registering to vote, something that is already extremely rare.

Last year, Mr. Trump signed an executive order that sought to impose proof-of-citizenship requirements on federal mail voter registration forms. It also would have allowed the federal government to withhold congressionally directed federal funds for elections from states that did not enter into election-related information-sharing agreements.

That order was struck down in multiple courts. One judge who ruled on it, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, wrote in her opinion that the president does not have authority to direct changes to the federal election procedures.

“The first question presented in these consolidated cases is whether the President, acting unilaterally, may direct changes to federal election procedures,” Kollar-Kotelly wrote. “Because our Constitution assigns responsibility for election regulation to the States and to Congress, this Court holds that the President lacks the authority to direct such changes.”

Kathryn Watson and Aaron Navarro contributed to this report.

Trump signs order to limit mail-in voting

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/trump-signs-executive-order-to-limit-mail-in-voting/

Trump signs executive order to limit mail-in voting

(01:48)

以色列启动防空系统 拦截伊朗导弹袭击

2026年4月2日 11:58 / 联合早报

以色列启动防空系统 拦截伊朗导弹袭击

路透社截取自社交媒体视频的照片显示，4月2日，在以色列布内布拉克，伊朗空袭导致供水设施受损，水流淹没街道。 （路透社）

在美国总统特朗普就伊朗战争发表全国讲话后不久，以色列军方说，境内防空系统正在对伊朗导弹袭击做出反应。

法新社引述以色列军方星期四（4月2日）发表的声明说，在短短三个多小时内，他们“第三次发现伊朗向以色列领土发射导弹”，并补充说“防御系统正在运行以拦截这一威胁”。

据以色列国防军后方司令部称，以色列北部地区响起了空袭警报，目前尚无人员伤亡或财产损失的报告。

以色列启动防空系统 拦截伊朗导弹袭击

2026年4月2日 11:58 / 联合早报

路透社截取自社交媒体视频的照片显示，4月2日，在以色列布内布拉克，伊朗空袭导致供水设施受损，水流淹没街道。 （路透社）

在美国总统特朗普就伊朗战争发表全国讲话后不久，以色列军方说，境内防空系统正在对伊朗导弹袭击做出反应。

法新社引述以色列军方星期四（4月2日）发表的声明说，在短短三个多小时内，他们“第三次发现伊朗向以色列领土发射导弹”，并补充说“防御系统正在运行以拦截这一威胁”。

据以色列国防军后方司令部称，以色列北部地区响起了空袭警报，目前尚无人员伤亡或财产损失的报告。

Live: NASA’s Artemis II blasts off from Florida as crew begins historic mission toward the moon

2026-04-01T21:01:45.554Z / Reuters

Summary

1. NASA’s Artemis II launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida
2. It’s the first crewed mission around the moon in more than 50 years
3. Mission poised to be the furthest human flight into space ever
4. Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen aboard
5. Rocket blasted off at 6:35 p.m. ET (2235 GMT)
6. If you can’t see the content of video posts, please adjust your cookie settings

This video is live; comments made by participants have not been verified by Reuters. Stay with us for fact-checking and analysis.

FILE PHOTO: Hansen at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, March 27, 2026. REUTERS/Steve Nesius节点运行失败

One of the astronauts is Canadian Jeremy Hansen, who will become the first non-American to go beyond low Earth orbit. It’ll also be his first time in space.

His participation reflects a long-standing U.S.-Canadian partnership in human spaceflight, including Canada’s contributions to robotics used aboard the International Space Station.

Hansen’s participation in the Artemis mission was part of a 2020 agreement between NASA and the Canadian Space Agency.

“It was the result ‌of decades of ⁠contribution and strategic investment on our part that led to this participation,” said Mathieu Caron, head of CSA’s astronaut office, citing the robotics contributions.

A child at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, in Titusville, Florida, U.S., April 1, 2026. REUTERS/Marco Bello节点运行失败

Crowds at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, REUTERS/Marco Bello节点运行失败

People watch the launch at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. REUTERS/Marco Bello节点运行失败

Watch party at the Gerstein Science Information Centre in Toronto, Canada. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio节点运行失败

A monitor in the White House briefing room shows the launch, in Washington, D.C. REUTERS/Evan Vucci节点运行失败

FILE PHOTO: Bolden in Cape Canaveral, Florida, February 20, 2011. REUTERS/Scott Audette节点运行失败

Retired astronaut and former NASA administrator Charlie Bolden had tears of joy watching the launch from a few miles away.

“It was bittersweet to see. I wish I was on it,” Bolden told me.

“It was incredible to see. I’m an emotional person, just tears of joy, thinking about all the people that have been working to this day for more than a decade just to get here. Very proud. I hope that in the morning when I wake up and I watch all the news coverage, no matter what country it’s coming from, people will be saying ‘We are on our way back to the moon.’ We are on our way back to the moon.”

His last trip to space was in 1994 on the STS-60 shuttle mission.

While this Artemis mission will not stop on the moon, here’s a look back at the first time humans landed on it.

Aldrin walks on the moon July 20, 1969, photographed by fellow astronaut Armstrong. NASA via REUTERS节点运行失败

This iconic photograph of Astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin’s moon walk on July 20, 1969, was taken by fellow astronaut Neil Armstrong.

Armstrong famously said of the landing by Apollo 11 crew: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Footprints on the lunar dust are visible on the lower left of the picture.

Aldrin poses beside the deployed U.S. flag during the Apollo 11 moon landing, July 20, 1969. NASA via REUTERS节点运行失败

Aldrin, the mission’s lunar module pilot, posed for a picture beside the flag of the United States. The lunar module is at left and the footprints of the astronauts are visible in the foreground.

Astronaut’s footprint in the lunar soil in July 1969 file photo. Kennedy Space Center via REUTERS节点运行失败

Another archive photograph shows a close-up view of an Apollo 11 astronaut’s footprint in the lunar soil photographed with a 70mm lunar surface camera.

The Apollo 11 Lunar Module photographed from the Command and Service Modules in lunar orbit in this July, 1969 file photo. Kennedy Space Center via REUTERS节点运行失败

This photograph shows the Apollo 11 Lunar Module – which had the mission name The Eagle -in its ascent stage, with astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin aboard.

It was taken from the Command and Service Module by fellow astronaut Michael Collins, command module pilot, who remained in lunar orbit while Armstrong and Aldrin explored the Moon.

Armstrong uttered the famed phrase “The Eagle has landed” after touchdown on the lunar surface.

Cape Canaveral, Florida, April 1, 2026. REUTERS/Steve Nesius节点运行失败

NASA’s Artemis program is the U.S. effort to return astronauts to the moon for the first time since the Apollo era and eventually establish a sustained human presence there. Washington has framed the goal as central to maintaining space leadership amid growing competition from China.

NASA astronaut Christina Koch, Artemis II mission specialist, on Sunday said the moon is a “witness plate” to the solar system’s formation, and a stepping stone to Mars.

Through a series of increasingly advanced Artemis missions extending into the next decade, the U.S. aims to set precedent for how others will operate and coexist on the moon’s surface, where someday countries and companies can exploit rocky lunar resources and practice for much more difficult missions to Mars.

FILE PHOTO: NASA’s Orion Capsule on December 11, 2022 in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California, Mexico. Mario Tama/Pool via REUTERS节点运行失败

The Artemis program is the U.S. effort to return astronauts to the moon and eventually establish a sustained human presence there.

Here are key milestones in the program:

2017-2018: Program revived

During the first administration of President Donald Trump, NASA was directed to refocus human spaceflight on the moon ‌after years of prioritizing Mars.

2019: Accelerated timeline set

In 2019, the White House set a target of landing astronauts on the moon by 2024.

2020–2021: Delays mount

Technical challenges, cost overruns and COVID pandemic-related disruptions pushed back schedules.

2022: Artemis I flies

In November 2022, NASA launched Artemis I, sending an uncrewed Orion spacecraft around the moon and back during a 25-day mission.

2023–2024: Program recalibrated

Under the administration of President Joe Biden, NASA reset Artemis timelines, pushing the first crewed lunar landing to 2027.

2024: Artemis II crew named

NASA announced the four astronauts for Artemis II: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

2026: Artemis program overhauled under new leadership

After taking office, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced a sweeping overhaul of the Artemis program.

April 2026: Artemis II mission around the moon

Later this decade: moon landing ⁠planned

Artemis is intended to return astronauts to the lunar surface using a commercially developed lander, a step NASA says is essential before future missions to Mars.

Read more here.

Cape Canaveral, Florida, April 1, 2026. REUTERS/Joe Skipper节点运行失败

The mission is expected to last about 10 days. Here is a day-by-day outline:

DAYS 1-2

The crew will spend the first one to two days in high Earth orbit conducting extensive systems checks. Once checks are complete, Orion’s propulsion system will perform a critical maneuver known as translunar injection, sending the spacecraft out of Earth orbit and onto a trajectory ‌toward ⁠the moon.

DAYS 3-4

During the several-day transit to the moon, astronauts will continue monitoring spacecraft systems. Orion will pass behind the moon on a “free-return” trajectory — a path that ⁠naturally swings the spacecraft back toward Earth without requiring additional propulsion.

DAYS 5-8

After the lunar flyby, the crew will spend several days heading home ⁠while conducting additional deep-space tests. The spacecraft is expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean, where recovery teams will retrieve the crew.

Read more here.

NASA’s Artemis II mission lifts off at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, April 1, 2026. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid节点运行失败

The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion crew capsule. REUTERS/Joe Skipper节点运行失败

The rocket ascends after liftoff, with its solid rocket boosters already detached. REUTERS/Steve Nesius节点运行失败

Countdown clock before the launch at the Kennedy Space Center. REUTERS/Joe Skipper节点运行失败

People gather to watch the Artemis II launch. REUTERS/Steve Nesius节点运行失败

NASA says the main engine cutoff of the launch system’s core stage is complete, and the core stage has successfully separated from the interim cryogenic propulsion stage and the Orion spacecraft.

This marks the transition to upper‑stage operations of the Artemis II mission.

The rocket is now at supersonic speed, traveling at more than 5,000 mph (8,500 kph).

Cape Canaveral, Florida, April 1, 2026. REUTERS/Joe Skipper节点运行失败

The Artemis II’s 322-foot (98-m) Space Launch System rocket topped with the astronauts’ Orion crew capsule launched at 6:35 p.m. ET (2235 GMT).

Launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson gave her final go remarks: “Artemis II crew is go for launch. Full send,” she said.

FILE PHOTO: Glover speaks to the media next to Hansen, Koch, and Wiseman, at Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida, March 27, 2026. REUTERS/Joe Skipper节点运行失败

The crew has spent more than two years training for the mission since being named in 2023.

Reid Wiseman, 50, logged 165 days aboard the International Space Station during a 2014 mission launched aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

A former U.S. Navy test pilot, he later ⁠served as NASA’s chief astronaut before being selected to command Artemis II.

“The nation and the world has been waiting a long time to do this again,” Wiseman told reporters last week, adding that he and his crewmates “are really pumped to go do this.”

Victor Glover, 49, spent 168 days in space beginning in 2020 as pilot of NASA’s Crew-1 mission, the first operational ISS mission using SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule. Before joining NASA, he flew more than 40 aircraft during a U.S. Navy career that included combat deployments ⁠and test-pilot duties.

Christina Koch, 47, set a record in 2019 for the longest continuous spaceflight by a woman, spending 328 days aboard the ISS. Trained as an electrical engineer and physicist, she previously worked as a NASA engineer and carried out extended research expeditions in Antarctica.

Jeremy Hansen, 50, was selected as a Canadian astronaut in 2009. His seat reflects a long-standing U.S.–Canadian partnership in human spaceflight.

This will mark his first time in space.

The launch had been planned for as early as February 6, and then March 6, until a hydrogen leak prompted NASA to ‌roll the ⁠rocket back to its vehicle assembly building for scrutiny.

But there were major delays before then too.

In January 2024, NASA pushed back the Artemis II launch nearly a year, from late 2024 to September 2025.

The Orion spacecraft caused some of the delay. Its heat shield, the shell that protects astronauts from the heat of re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, and its electrical system, including its batteries, had issues.

In December 2024, NASA examined the capsule and heat shield and further postponed the launch to April 2026.

I’m a Reuters space reporter, and right now I’m in Florida covering the launch.

Here’s what we know about why the U.S. is returning to the moon:

Trump administration readies new tariffs on select drugmakers, Bloomberg News reports

April 1, 2026 11:31 PM UTC / Reuters

节点运行失败

Item 1 of 2 U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an event to unveil the TrumpRx drug discount site, in the South Court Auditorium on the White House campus, in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 5, 2026. REUTERS/Al Drago

[1/2]U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an event to unveil the TrumpRx drug discount site, in the South Court Auditorium on the White House campus, in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 5, 2026. REUTERS/Al Drago Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

April 1 (Reuters) – The Trump administration is set to ​announce tariffs as soon as Thursday ‌on drugmakers that have not struck deals guaranteeing low prices in the U.S., Bloomberg News ​reported on Wednesday, citing people ​familiar with the plan.

The White House ⁠did not immediately respond to Reuters’ ​request for comment.

Keep up with the latest medical breakthroughs and healthcare trends with the Reuters Health Rounds newsletter. Sign up here.

The Trump administration has been ​considering a 100% tariff on imported branded and patented medicines, prompting global drugmakers to ramp up ​U.S. manufacturing and stockpile inventory.

Advertisement · Scroll to continue

Pfizer (PFE.N), opens new tab and AstraZeneca (AZN.L), opens new tab have ​secured multi-year tariff exemptions through pricing deals and commitments ‌to ⁠the new TrumpRx.gov platform. Eli Lilly (LLY.N), opens new tab, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N), opens new tab and Merck (MRK.N), opens new tab have pledged billions to expand U.S. operations to avoid penalties.

Companies that ​do not ​have ⁠agreements and are not in negotiations with the administration will ​be subject to 100% tariffs, ​the ⁠report said.

The plans are not final and could still change, and there could ⁠also ​be exemptions for some ​medicines and disease categories, it said.

Reporting by Fabiola Arámburo ​in Mexico City; Editing by Chris Reese

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

How high could oil and gas prices go if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed?

2026-04-01 4:20 PM EDT / CBS News

By Megan Cerullo Reporter, MoneyWatch
Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News 24/7 to discuss her reporting.

Read Full Bio

President Trump’s comments to reporters on Tuesday that he expects the U.S. to end its war with Iran in two or three weeks is buoying investors by easing global oil prices and boosting stocks. Yet such optimism is certain to fade quickly unless Iran agrees to reopen the Strait of Hormuz soon, according to economists, who warn that crude prices could continue to soar even if the Trump administration moves to wind down military operations in the region.

“The scary scenarios are, unfortunately, extremely plausible. It’s not at all hard to tell a $150 [per barrel] story, and it’s not crazy to go to $200,” Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman told CBS News.

U.S. gasoline prices, which are tied to the global price of oil, would likely keep climbing above $4 if the strait remains closed, according to Bernard Yaros, lead U.S. economist at Oxford Economics. The average cost of gas rose on Wednesday to $4.06 a gallon, its highest level since August 2022.

President Trump is scheduled to address Americans on the Iran war on Wednesday night. Energy experts said oil and gas prices will likely move in response to his remarks.

“If the president just foregoes providing clarity or resolution on the Strait of Hormuz, we’re going to continue to see oil prices reacting to the reality,” said Patrick De Haan, a petroleum expert at GasBuddy.

In the near term, the average U.S. price of gas could also edge up to between $4.12 and $4.15 per gallon, he predicted.

But “if the president says good things tonight, then that $4.12 to to $4.15 would likely represent a short-term price peak. And then the national average could start falling,” De Haan said.

Mr. Trump said earlier Wednesday that Iran wants a ceasefire, but he’s made it clear he could end U.S. operations in the region without reopening the strait, leaving other countries to deal with Tehran’s control of the critical shipping lane.

Slowdown in the strait

Since the beginning of the Iran war in late February, more than 70% of all ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz have either been owned by or linked to Iran, or sailing between Iranian ports, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence, a maritime insights provider.

Normally, 20 million barrels of oil flow through the strait daily. That volume has been reduced by as many as 16 million barrels since the war began.

The Strait of Hormuz is a crucial passageway for oil shipments from Gulf states. Bedirhan Demirel/Anadolu via Getty Images

Because there are no direct substitutes for oil and demand for crude is “inelastic,” as economists say, a prolonged closure of the narrow waterway would drive oil prices well beyond their recent highs of around $120 a barrel, Krugman said.

The economist also points to two key factors that he said would influence the price of crude if the strait remains shut: the volume of oil that could traverse the Persian Gulf, and how purchasers of crude would respond to potentially much higher oil prices.

Risks for consumers

Bridget Payne, head of oil and gas forecasting at investment advisory firm Oxford Economics, expects oil prices to rise above $150 a barrel within weeks if the strait remains too dangerous to navigate. That would mean higher energy prices for consumers.

“At the speed we’re seeing prices grow, the pass-through impact on consumer prices becomes a lot worse the longer oil supply stays offline,” Payne told CBS News.

Although moves by the Trump administration to boost oil supplies during war have shielded the U.S. from even sharper hikes in fuel prices, such efforts will become less effective over time, she added. “It’s no match for the scale that goes through the strait. It doesn’t come anywhere near touching how much has been lost.”

Roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz daily.

Matt Bernstein, oil and gas analyst at Rystad Energy, thinks oil prices are likely to remain elevated even if the U.S. moves quickly to start pulling its forces out of the region.

“Even if the conflict did wind down in the next couple of weeks and that strait gradually reopened, what’s starting to become clear is there is no going back to pre-war normal,” Bernstein told CBS News, pointing to the higher geopolitical and financial risks around trade in the Gulf.

If the Strait of Hormuz “remains de facto closed and [oil] supply is still constrained, we’d be in a situation where there is no downward pressure on oil prices,” he added.

Ted Bundy’s DNA linked to unsolved death of Utah teen in 1974, sheriff’s office says

April 1, 2026 / 5:26 PM EDT / CBS/AP

New DNA testing has definitively linked the unsolved death of a Utah teenager in 1974 to the infamous serial killer Ted Bundy, the local sheriff’s office said Wednesday.

Laura Ann Aime, 17, went missing on Halloween night 51 years ago after she left a party alone to go to a convenience store. About a month later, her body was found by hikers on the side of a highway in American Fork Canyon. Aime was bound, beaten and without clothing. Authorities said the evidence indicated that she had likely been kept alive for several days after her abduction.

Investigators long suspected that Bundy was responsible — police said he verbally acknowledged his culpability leading up to his execution in Florida in 1989 — but the case remained open until they could be certain.

Bundy was one of the nation’s most prolific serial killers, with at least 30 women and girls’ deaths linked to him in several states in the 1970s. In 2011, a vial of Bundy’s blood — drawn in 1978 when Bundy was arrested in the death of a 12-year-old girl — was found in Florida. The full DNA profile was entered into the FBI’s national database, giving investigators a shot at solving potential cases linked to Bundy.

His murders — which occurred in sorority houses, parks and elsewhere — set the nation on edge. Bundy’s arrest drew widespread fascination, in part because many considered him to be charming and handsome.

Aime’s family described her as a free spirit who loved the outdoors and found joy in everything she did.

“Laura Aime is the quintessential daughter of Utah County,” Utah County Sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Reynolds said in a news conference earlier Wednesday. “We felt the pain the family feels when she was taken. We felt the pain that you felt this whole entire time, and we’ve had the desire to deliver to you some type of healing, we can’t really say closure.”

It’s not known when Bundy first began his attacks, but by 1974, young women — many of them college students — began disappearing in Washington state. Authorities were still investigating those cases when Bundy moved to Salt Lake City in September, and began killing people in Utah, Idaho and Colorado.

At the time of Aime’s killing, Bundy was studying law at the University of Utah.

Nancy Wilcox, a 16-year-old cheerleader in Salt Lake County, was believed to be one of Bundy’s first victims in Utah, according to historian Linda Sillitoe. Wilcox disappeared on Oct. 2. High school senior Melissa Smith disappeared near the end of the same month. Deer hunters found her bludgeoned body, Sillitoe said.

Bundy was arrested for the first time in August 1975, when police pulled him over and found incriminating items in his vehicle, including rope, handcuffs and a ski mask.

He was found guilty the following year of kidnapping and assaulting Carol DaRonch.

DaRonch, a teen in Utah, testified she was window shopping when Bundy approached her, pretending to be an undercover police officer and telling her a man broke into her car. Bundy offered DaRonch a ride and attempted to kidnap her but she struggled and managed to get away.

Bundy was sentenced to 15 years in prison for that crime, and while imprisoned he was charged in connection with the earlier death of a nursing student.

He was brought to Aspen, Colorado for a hearing in that case in 1977, and he escaped custody by climbing out a second-story courthouse window when he was left alone for a time. He was caught about a week later, but escaped again six months later by breaking through the ceiling of a jail.

That time Bundy fled across the country, eventually making his way to Tallahassee, Florida. On Jan. 15, 1977, he entered the Chi Omega sorority house at Florida State University, bludgeoning two women to death with a large branch and leaving two more badly injured. He then went to another house nearby, badly injuring another woman.

Less than a month later, he abducted, sexually assaulted and killed a 12-year-old girl in Lake City, Florida. Kimberly Leach was believed to be his final victim: Bundy was pulled over in Pensacola while driving a stolen vehicle, and arrested.

Why Trump might regret his historic visit to the Supreme Court

2026-04-01T21:05:12.544Z / CNN

Analysis by Aaron Blake

Updated 5 min ago
Updated Apr 1, 2026, 8:05 PM ET
PUBLISHED Apr 1, 2026, 5:05 PM ET

This courtroom sketch shows President Donald Trump during oral arguments at the US Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Dana Verkouteren

President Donald Trump bulldozed yet another longstanding norm of American government on Wednesday by becoming the first modern president to attend an oral argument of the Supreme Court.

It’s no real secret what this was about.

Presidents have avoided attending oral arguments to negate even the appearance of trying to unduly influence a coequal branch of government. But Trump is happy to browbeat whomever it takes to get what he wants. And he’s reserved some of his most pointed recent criticisms for Supreme Court justices he appointed who have occasionally ruled against him.

So after spending two years floating breaking this norm — and after suffering his biggest Supreme Court defeat in the chamber’s February tariffs decision — Trump finally did it.

But his decision to go was curious. And it’s arguably even more so after the hearing.

Trump seemed to want to send a signal to judges, who have increasingly proven his biggest obstacles in his second term. The fact that he chose to attend even amid the war with Iran — and hours ahead of a primetime address to the nation on the conflict — would seem to reinforce that. It’s not like he doesn’t have other things to do.

But combined with a series of adverse recent court rulings, his presence at the Supreme Court risked reinforcing how little he can control the judicial branch.

The policy at issue on Wednesday was Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship. On the president’s first day back in office last year, he sought to effectively overturn the more-than-century-old interpretation that the 14th Amendment grants citizenship to the children born to noncitizens on US soil.

The conventional wisdom has long been that this order stood little chance of surviving the courts — it’s been ruled against at every turn in the lower courts — and Wednesday’s hearing did little to disabuse anyone of that notion.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer faced a barrage of skeptical questions even from the court’s conservative and Trump-appointed justices.

In perhaps the most difficult exchange for the administration, Chief Justice John Roberts pressed Sauer on its claims about so-called “birth tourism,” or traveling to US soil to deliver a child so they can be a citizen. When Roberts noted that wasn’t a problem when the 14th Amendment was ratified after the Civil War, Sauer responded that “we’re in a new world now.”

To which Roberts shot back: “Well, it’s a new world. It’s the same Constitution.”

Trump left the hearing shortly after Sauer wrapped up and as the justices began questioning ACLU national legal director Cecillia Wang.

We’ll likely have to wait until June or July to hear what the court rules. But based on the arguments, it seems possible the decision could be even more lopsided than Trump’s 6-3 defeat in the tariffs case.

It would even seem possible, judging by Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s questions, that all three Trump appointees could rule against him.

An outcome like that from the first case in which Trump decided to show up in person could prove that he doesn’t have the influence he seemed to want to show.

And to be clear, Trump has made no secret that he wants these justices to feel the pressure.

He savaged Kavanaugh in 2021 for occasionally ruling against him despite Trump having stood by his nominee during an arduous confirmation process in 2018.

Trump has also frequently attacked Justice Amy Coney Barrett as she has emerged as a tough vote for him. And after the tariffs decision in February, Trump said both Barrett and Justice Neil Gorsuch were an “embarrassment to their families.”

But it’s not just Wednesday’s tough hearing that painted an increasingly unfriendly picture for Trump’s efforts to bend judges to his will. He chose to do this at a particularly inauspicious time.

Over the last few weeks, a series of rulings have gone against him on some high-profile issues:

• A judge overturned his administration’s efforts to effectively shutter the Voice of America.
• Another overturned his Defense Department’s restrictive press policy that wound up excluding virtually every mainstream outlet.
• Then a judge halted his administration’s sanctioning of Anthropic after Anthropic refused to let the Pentagon do what it wanted with its AI technology. The judge called the Pentagon’s move “Orwellian.”
• And on Tuesday alone, judges both overturned Trump’s order ending NPR and PBS funding and halted Trump’s efforts to build a new ballroom on the White House grounds — which might be one of Trump’s most prized initiatives right now.

None of these cases are over. But they add to an increasingly ugly picture of how Trump’s policies have fared in court. (Because the courts take a while to act, that picture has come into focus slowly.)

Trump seems to think he can manipulate judges much like he does Republicans in Congress. Most GOP lawmakers, after all, strain to avoid alienating Trump’s base for fear of hurting their chances in a primary.

But judges are different animals. They not only have lifetime appointments, but they actually value the appearance of independence. It’s an asset, even something to be cultivated and emphasized.

Trump lamented that independence in remarks at an Easter lunch after returning to the White House from the Supreme Court.

“Republican judges and justices, they always want to show they’re independent,” he said in a video posted by a Business Insider reporter who said the White House had uploaded it to its YouTube page. (The video was no longer visible on the page as of early Wednesday evening.)

Trump went on to describe how he thinks those judges behave. “‘I don’t care if Trump appointed me. I don’t care if … he doesn’t make any difference to me. I’m voting against him,’ because they want to show their independence.”

But it’s quite possible that Trump’s show of force could have the opposite effect. It could make the justices — and other judges — feel more like they have to stand up for their branch of government, lest it look like Trump is controlling them to some extent.

That doesn’t mean judges aren’t susceptible to pressure. But the calculus is different. And Trump doesn’t seem to have an answer for the fast-accumulating list of cases in which judges — and even many GOP- and Trump-appointed ones — have ruled against his brazen power grabs.

So he tried something different on Wednesday. He might wish he hadn’t.

This story has been updated with comments from President Donald Trump.

Trump admin makes major move to relieve ‘unfair burden’ on DHS workers as shutdown drags on

April 1, 2026 7:32pm EDT / Fox News

Tax filing extensions of this kind are rarely granted and are typically reserved for extraordinary situations such as natural disasters or major disruptions

By Amanda Macias, Fox News

FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration will extend tax filing deadlines for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel as the ongoing shutdown intensifies financial pressure on thousands of federal workers.

The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service are set to announce a 30-day automatic tax filing extension for affected employees, shielding them from penalties and interest. The partial government shutdown has now entered its 46th day, intensifying pressure on federal workers.

HOUSE GOP RAMS THROUGH NEW DHS FUNDING PLAN WITH SHUTDOWN FAR FROM OVER

TSA Agents scan luggage at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia.(Valerie Plesch/Getty Images)

Such broad tax relief is highly unusual and typically reserved for major disasters and other extraordinary circumstances, underscoring the severity of the current shutdown.

“The continued shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security has created unnecessary disruptions, placing an unfair burden on DHS personnel and their families,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

“We are committed to supporting our hard-working DHS officers and employees so they can stay focused on their mission and keep the American people safe without being penalized for missing a tax filing deadline,” he added.

AVERAGE TAX REFUND TOPS $3,700 MIDWAY THROUGH FILING SEASON, TREASURY SAYS

Scott Bessent, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, speaks to members of the media outside the White House in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.(Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Under the measure, affected workers will now have until May 15, 2026, to file their taxes and pay what they owe without facing additional financial penalties.

DHS personnel include Border Patrol agents, TSA officers, Secret Service agents and FEMA responders—frontline workers responsible for border security, aviation safety, disaster response and counterterrorism.

Many have reported struggling to cover basic expenses such as rent, mortgages and childcare as missed paychecks pile up.

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A Transportation Security Administration agent looks on passengers queue to go through security at New York’s LaGuardia airport on March 22, 2026.(CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP via Getty Images)

The decision comes as pressure mounts over the real-world consequences of the shutdown, with DHS employees caught between their national security responsibilities and growing financial strain.

While the administration says the relief is intended to ease the burden, for many workers it remains only a temporary lifeline as the broader standoff continues.

Amanda covers the intersection of business and politics for Fox News Digital.

Americans say this is their savings “magic number” to retire comfortably

April 1, 2026 / 5:55 PM EDT / CBS News

Americans’ “magic number” for the savings they need to retire with a measure of financial comfort is $1.46 million, according to new research from Northwestern Mutual.

That figure, based on a survey of 4,375 people who were asked how much money they think they need in retirement, is up from $1.26 million in 2025. John Roberts, chief field officer at the financial planning firm, said the increase reflects ongoing consumer concerns about inflation, with elevated prices in recent years straining household budgets and making it harder for people to save.

The poll was fielded before the Iran war, which has only heightened such concerns as fuel prices rise.

Respondents also worried that artificial intelligence could impact their careers, with 33% saying they fear how the rapidly emerging technology will affect their jobs. Such concerns about job security could be leading some Americans to think they need a bigger nest egg, Roberts noted.

The reality of retirement savings

In general, Americans’ perception of how much money they need to retire is starkly at odds with their actual savings. Of people in the U.S. with retirement accounts, only 5% have at least $1 million socked away, while roughly 9% have $500,000, according to NerdWallet.

Older age brackets tend to have larger nest eggs, but even workers who are nearing retirement often fall short. The median retirement savings for Americans aged 55 to 64 is $185,000, NerdWallet found.

Americans also aren’t saving as robustly. Payroll firm Dayforce found that Americans last year trimmed their annual contributions to their 401(k) accounts to 8.9%, down from 9.2% to in 2024.

“We’re acknowledging there’s a need… but we’re not taking enough action,” Roberts told CBS News.

Savings of $1.46 million would provide roughly $4,800 in retirement income per month, according to Northwestern. But Americans often undershoot how much they think they need to retire.

Unexpected expenses can crop up, depleting funds more quickly than expected. In some cases, people have to tap their savings before hitting retirement age. Recent research from financial services firm Vanguard shows a record share of Americans are taking hardship withdrawals to cover an immediate need, like a medical expense.

“They’re kind of saying, future me is going to live lean,” Rorberts said. “But it’s not actually how it plays out in reality.”

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/record-number-of-americans-making-emergency-401k-withdrawals/