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The National Capital Planning Commission had previously delayed the vote after thousands of negative public commentsHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.The National Capital Planning Commission will meet this afternoon to decide on Donald Trump’s White House $400m ballroom project, after a federal judge halted construction earlier this week.House Republicans announced that they will pass a bill, advanced by the Senate last week, to end the record-breaking partial Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown after previously rejecting the measure.Democrats quickly celebrated the win with Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer saying “House Republicans caved” after previously “[derailing] a bipartisan agreement, making American families pay the price for their dysfunction”.Nasa’s lunar rocket successfully launched and the astronauts on the first crewed lunar rocket in more than 50 years received praise from across the US.Attorney general Pam Bondi’s job with the Trump administration is reportedly at risk. The president is said to be unhappy with Bondi’s performance as the head of the justice department and the controversy surrounding the Epstein files, according to a New York Times report.Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida signed legislation on Wednesday to require documented proof of citizenship to register to vote and to begin a process that will eventually unenroll voters who have not provided citizenship documentation.Supreme court justices appeared skeptical of the Trump administration’s argument to restrict birthright citizenship for hundreds of thousands of children born to undocumented immigrants of temporary foreign nationals. Trump himself attended the hearing, widely considered to be the first time a sitting president has attended arguments at the supreme court. Continue reading...

• Veteran MLB umpire C.B. Bucknor, 63, left Wednesday's game early after a foul tip struck his facemask while umpiring behind the plate. • The incident came one day after Bucknor's viral erroneous call on Tuesday, ruling Jake Bauers did not touch first base despite his cleat hitting the bag center. • Bucknor faced intense scrutiny in the ABS era, where plate umpires are under the biggest microscope amid increased video review.

• Bluestem Health in Lincoln, Nebraska, serving 21,000 low-income and uninsured patients, has operated at a loss for two years and anticipates worsening conditions due to new Medicaid work rules under President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act. • Nebraska becomes the first state to enforce work requirements for certain Medicaid enrollees, risking coverage loss and threatening clinic viability, as stated by CEO Brad Meyer. • The policy darkens the outlook for government-backed clinics nationwide by reducing patient access to care amid rising operational costs.

Joani Reid MP reportedly swapped flirtatious messages with senior officer in charge of nuclear-armed submarineA Royal Navy captain in charge of one of Britain’s nuclear-armed submarines stepped back from his duties over his relationship with the MP Joani Reid, whose husband faces allegations of spying for China.The married senior officer was investigated by the navy last year over his contact with Reid after the messages, described as inappropriate, prompted an assessment of a potential blackmail risk, the Financial Times first reported. Continue reading...

• President Trump's mixed signals on the Iran war complicate predictions for its resolution, creating uncertainty for Republican strategists. • The messaging discord may lead to electoral consequences for the GOP in the 2026 midterms, as voters question the party's foreign policy coherence. • With primaries underway, internal party divisions over Trump's approach could erode his influence in battleground districts.

Family pushing for greater controls after inquest finds Oliver Robinson’s prescription was ‘obstacle’ to proper careOliver Robinson felt he had exhausted conventional therapies when he left the Priory, a private mental health facility where he was treated for depression and addiction between 2019 and 2022. Initially he found relief from a new kind of prescription elsewhere. But by the time he took his own life in November 2023, aged 34, his medicine was making him worse.In January, an inquest concluded that Robinson’s prescription for medicinal cannabis had “probably contributed to his death”. Catherine McKenna, the coroner for Manchester North, also ruled that his continued use of the prescription, first issued to him in May 2022 by Curaleaf Clinic, a private cannabis provider, “acted as an obstacle” to him receiving appropriate psychiatric and addiction care. His family understand this to be the first ruling of its kind. Continue reading...

• The United States national soccer team faces Portugal in an international friendly match scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET on March 31. • The match is being broadcast on FS1 as part of the men's international soccer friendlies schedule. • This fixture provides both teams with preparation opportunities ahead of upcoming competitive tournaments and qualifiers.