Voters in Florida and Wisconsin went to the polls on Tuesday in a series of high-stakes special elections that offered the first significant electoral gauge of President Donald Trump’s second term, just over two months after his inauguration. The outcomes—a pair of Republican victories in Florida’s deep-red congressional districts and a Democratic win in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race—provided a mixed bag of results, reflecting both the enduring strength of GOP strongholds and the challenges facing Republicans in battleground states. In Florida, two special elections to replace former Republican Representatives Matt Gaetz and Michael Waltz concluded with GOP wins, bolstering the party’s razor-thin majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Benny Friedman with Freilach Band keeping the rhythm pumping at a Chasunah on Tuesday night.

The New York State Attorney General has intervened to stop a discriminatory pricing practice at a car wash in Rockland County, where Jewish customers were being unfairly charged higher rates under the pretense that their cars required more cleaning.
An official inquiry determined that Super 4 Seasons Car Wash had, for years, taken advantage of Jewish clientele in the weeks before Pesach. The business imposed exorbitant fees—up to three times the regular cost—for the same cleaning services that were offered to others for much less.

From France to Iceland to the United States, April Fools’ Day was celebrated on Tuesday with practical jokes and elaborate hoaxes. The jokesters’ custom has been around for hundreds of years, although its exact birth is difficult to pinpoint. These days, depending on your location, it could be marked with a fish secretly pinned to someone’s back or a whoopee cushion or even news reports of flying penguins (yes, that actually happened). In the U.S., the pranks are typically followed by screams of “April Fools!” to make sure all are aware that they were the unsuspecting recipient of a practical joke. Here are some thing to know about April Fools’ Day and its history: Where did April Fools’ Day come from? There are plenty of theories about where this day of pranks and hoaxes came from.

Decision Desk HQ projects Susan Crawford (D) wins election to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

The Trump administration has halted several dozen federal research grants at Princeton University, the Ivy League school said Tuesday. The university received notifications this week that grants were being suspended by agencies including the Department of Energy, NASA and the Defense Department, according to a campus message from Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber. The rationale was not fully clear but Princeton will comply with the law, Eisgruber said. “We are committed to fighting antisemitism and all forms of discrimination, and we will cooperate with the government in combating antisemitism,” he wrote. “Princeton will also vigorously defend academic freedom and the due process rights of this University.

Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer revealed that the Department of Labor will be sending more than $1 billion in unused pandemic-related funds back to taxpayers. The move aligns with the Trump administration’s broader efforts through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to curb excess spending and improve accountability across federal agencies.
According to a press release from the department, $1.4 billion in leftover COVID-19 relief funds will be “returned to taxpayers through the U.S. Department of Treasury’s General Fund,” while steps are underway to retrieve the additional $2.9 billion that remains.

New Jersey Senator Cory Booker wrapped up a marathon speech criticizing the Trump administration, bringing it to a close 25 hours and five minutes after he first took the floor Monday evening.
“I believe that there is an urgent crisis in our country that we are not talking about. It’s not a left-right crisis, it’s a right-wrong crisis,” he declared, shortly after announcing his intention to end his lengthy remarks.
In his closing moments, Booker returned to the testimonies he had shared throughout the previous day—accounts from Americans who have depended on programs like veterans’ services and Medicaid, which now face reductions under President Trump’s proposed budget cuts.