President Donald Trump used a McDonald's delivery to the Oval Office to promote a tax policy meant to benefit tip earners. On Monday, a DoorDash driver from Arkansas delivered cheeseburgers and fries to the White House, and Trump tipped her $100. The event, staged for cameras, was meant to highlight a tax deduction allowing workers to deduct up to $25,000 from income earned on tips. Officials are intensifying efforts to promote the policy ahead of Tax Day. The White House says Trump personally delivered the food to West Wing staff.
A tangled political fight over whether Chicago’s public schools will hold classes on May Day has unraveled in the nation’s third-largest city. The influential teachers union, an ally of Mayor Brandon Johnson, wants educators to participate in protests on May 1. That would coincide with workers’ rights rallies worldwide. But the newly named leader of Chicago Public Schools has rejected the idea to cancel classes. The ongoing scuffle has created uncertainty for the families of more than 315,000 students.
Pam Bondi is out of her job after failing to deliver criminal cases against President Donald Trump’s political enemies. But there’s no guarantee her successor will have any better success at placating the president. Over the last year, Bondi’s Justice Department has encountered resistance from judges, grand jurors and its own workforce in trying to establish criminal conduct by one Trump foe after another. A new attorney general will confront not only Trump’s demand for political prosecutions — a constant dating back to his first term in the White House — but also the same skeptical court system, and factual and legal hurdles, that have impeded efforts to deliver the sought-after results.
American employers added a surprisingly strong 178,000 new jobs last month, rebounding from a dismal February. And the unemployment rate dipped to 4.3%. The Labor Department reported Friday that hiring marked a rebound from the loss of 133,000 jobs in February. The job gains were about three times what economists had forecast. The unemployment rate was down from 4.4% in February. But uncertainty surrounding the war with Iran — and its impact on energy prices — is clouding the outlook for the labor market.
U.S. futures were trading modestly lower following surprisingly strong jobs data from the federal government. Equities markets are closed for Good Friday, but futures markets were trading into Friday morning, albeit quietly. Futures for S&P 500 dipped 0.3% early Friday, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2% and Nasdaq futures were down 0.4%. American employers added a surprisingly strong 178,000 new jobs last month, rebounding from a dismal February that saw 133,000 job losses. Markets in Asia mostly rose, while European markets were also closed for Good Friday.
From California to Minnesota, elected leaders and civil rights groups are scrambling to distance themselves from César Chavez’s name in the wake of sexual abuse allegations. Efforts have been swift and widespread to rebrand events ahead of what typically was a day to celebrate the Latino rights advocate on his birthday, March 31. In Tucson, Arizona, a celebration was instead billed as a community and labor fair. In Grand Junction, Colorado, it’s now the Sí, Se Puede Celebration. The conversations behind the decisions have been anything but easy as supporters deal with conflicted feelings while sorting how best to honor the legacy of the farmworker movement.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill to rename César Chavez Day to Farmworkers Day following sexual abuse allegations against the Latino labor icon. State lawmakers approved the legislation earlier in the day. The state has honored Chavez with a state holiday on his birthday, March 31, for years. The swift change comes after allegations Chavez abused girls and women, including fellow labor icon Dolores Huerta. The two led a landmark farmworker labor movement in California’s agricultural heartland in the 1960s and 1970s. Chavez’s name is on scores of monuments, schools and streets around California and the country.
CROWLEY, La. (AP) — Spring is peak crawfish season in Louisiana, an industry worth about $300 million.
Louisiana officials warn that the state's $300 million crawfish industry faces dire economic consequences because of a shortage of temporary seasonal workers via the H-2B visa program. Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain said that at least 15 of the state's 20 processors received none of the H-2B workers they applied for. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released the visas later this year than they have in the past. It was so late that Louisiana's crawfish season had already begun. Many producers say their applications were denied. Louisiana Congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle have pressed DHS and the Department of Labor for a solution.
Today is Wednesday, March 25, the 84th day of 2026. There are 281 days left in the year.