- Important state and national stories, market and business news, sports and entertainment, delivered in quick-hit fashion to start your day informed.
In Mississippi
It’s Tax Day
Today is April 15 – Tax Day in the U.S. and Mississippi.
The IRS reminds filers that for those needing last-minute help to file, filing information for individuals as well as businesses and self-employed people is available on IRS.gov.
Filers in Mississippi needing assistance can contact the Department of Revenue or see information here.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. White House seeks to claw back over $9 billion
According to The Hill, the White House is preparing a rescission package “that will seek to have Congress claw back more than $9 billion in approved funding through cuts to public broadcasting, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and agencies President Trump has sought to eliminate.”
“That includes money for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which oversees PBS and NPR, money for USAID and agencies like the U.S. Institute of Peace, which Trump aimed to dismantle via an executive order signed in February,” The Hill reported. “The New York Post, which first reported on the planned request, noted the request covered roughly $1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and more than $8 billion for USAID and other State Department efforts.”
The Hill noted, “Simple majorities in both the House and Senate would need to vote to approve the rescission package in order to eliminate the congressionally approved funding.”
2. Harvard in standoff with Trump Administration
The New York Times reports that “Harvard University officials on Monday rejected Trump administration demands that the school yield to extensive government oversight and make sweeping changes to governance, admissions and hiring practices, calling the directives unlawful and unconstitutional.”
“The administration responded Monday night by saying it would freeze more than $2 billion in federal funding to the Ivy League school,” NYT reported. “The government’s demands, received by Harvard on Friday after the administration had previously announced a review of nearly $9 billion in federal funding to Harvard, are part of the administration’s crackdown on what it calls rampant antisemitism and leftist ideology on college campuses.”
According to the NYT, the university’s president, Alan Garber, wrote Monday in a letter to the campus community that the demands “violate Harvard’s First Amendment rights, exceed the statutory limits of the government’s authority under federal civil rights law and threaten the private institution’s values.”
Sports
Ole Miss standout Scott drafted by Dallas Wings
Ole Miss Athletics is celebrating after the Dallas Wings selected Ole Miss women’s basketball standout Madison Scott with the 14th overall pick in the second round of the WNBA Draft at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Monday night.
Scott is the eighth Rebel to hear her name called in program history and the third in the Yolett McPhee-McCuin era.
Ole Miss Athletics said Scott will immediately jump into training camp with the Wings, as the 2025 WNBA Season is set to officially tip off on May 16.
Markets & Business
1. Investors move away from government debt
CNBC reports that treasury yields rose on Tuesday “after a brief pullback on Monday, resuming a sell-off streak as investors continue to move away from U.S. government debt.”
“At 7:25 a.m. ET, the benchmark 10-year Treasury rose almost 3 basis points to trade at 4.395%. The 2-year Treasury yield added nearly 4 basis points to 3.87%. One basis point is equal to 0.01% and yields move inversely to prices,” CNBC reported.
CNBC added, “The development follows a week of volatility in the bond market, which saw an over 50 basis point surge in the 10-year Treasury yield.”
2. Markets stabilizing?
The Wall Street Journal reports that markets showed signs of stabilizing early Tuesday.
“Stock futures were muted and international markets gained, with global carmakers like Toyota and Hyundai tracking a U.S. auto rally. The dollar and the Treasury market were both subdued,” WSJ reported, adding, “Major indexes had risen more than 0.5% Monday, helped by President Trump’s comments that he could pause some tariffs to help automakers, and by weekend news that smartphones, memory chips and some other tech products would be exempt from tariffs.”
Magnolia Tribune
