America in Brief

NASA Sends First Crewed Mission to the Moon in Over 50 Years

NASA launched on April 1 the first U.S. crewed mission to the moon since 1972.

The Artemis II plan is to orbit the moon after a four-day journey, and return, having traveled the farthest from Earth in human history on the 10-day mission.

The four-person crew—three Americans, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and one Canadian, Jeremy Hansen—successfully launched from Florida at 6:35 p.m. ET on April 1, on the Orion spacecraft, and will land in the Pacific Ocean on the evening of April 10.

Atermis III has a projected launch date in mid-2027, with an eventual mission to build a surface base on the moon, which will serve as a gateway to Mars and beyond.

The last time humanity flew into the moon’s orbit was Apollo 12 in 1972.

Pam Bondi Departs as Attorney General

Attorney General Pam Bondi is leaving her position, President Donald Trump said in a social media post on April 2.

Bondi led the Department of Justice throughout the first year of Trump’s second term.

Bondi wrote on her X account that she would be moving to a private-sector role she is “thrilled” about.

“Since February 2025, we have secured the lowest murder rate in 125 years, secured first-ever terrorism convictions against members of Antifa, shattered domestic and transnational gangs across the country, taken custody of more than 90 key cartel figures, and won 24 favorable rulings at the Supreme Court,” she wrote.

She is temporarily being replaced by Assistant Attorney General Todd Blanche.

“Over the next month I will be working tirelessly to transition the office of Attorney General to the amazing Todd Blanche,” she said.

Trump’s Birthright Citizen Case Goes to the Supreme Court

The nation’s highest court heard Trump’s case on his birthright citizenship executive order on April 1.

Trump signed the order on Jan. 20, 2025, seeking to end birthright citizenship. That right has been guaranteed by the 14th Amendment since 1868, granting citizenship to anyone born in the United States regardless of their parents’ citizenship status.

The controversy surrounds a sentence in the amendment regarding citizenship:

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”

Trump argues that this was originally written in order to grant citizenship to freed black slaves and shouldn’t apply to the children of illegal immigrants.

The Supreme Court seemed skeptical of Trump’s stance, suggesting it would be difficult to enforce and could strip some current citizens of their citizenship.

The US Announces Investigation into Microplastics

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., alongside Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, announced on April 2 that the United States will be launching a $144 million investigation into microplastics and their growing presence in the human body, and their removal.

Systematic Targeting of Microplastics (STOMP), the new program, aims to create a system for measuring, researching, and removing microplastics and nanoplastics from the human body.

“For too long, Americans have been ignored as they sound the alarm of plastics in their drinking water. That ends today,” Zeldin said.

Longest Government Shutdown Enters 8th week

A partial government shutdown is set to move into its 8th week, the longest in history, as Congress remains divided over Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding, leaving the nation’s airports in chaos for nearly two months due to staffing shortages with tens of thousands of federal workers left without pay.

Trump signed a memorandum on April 3, directing the DHS to back-pay all workers, while Congress tries to reach an agreement.

The DHS was shut down on Feb. 14 due to disagreements over funding for its agencies responsible for immigration enforcement operations, as Democrats were demanding reforms to how federal agents conduct the operations.