Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called Judge Susan Crawford’s victory in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race today a “decisive message” to Trump and Elon Musk.

“Anyone who counted Democrats out was dead wrong. Wisconsin voters tonight sent a decisive message to Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and DOGE by rejecting an extreme Republican for their Supreme Court: our Democracy is not for sale,” Schumer said in a statement.

Though the election was technically nonpartisan, Crawford, who was backed by Democrats, defeated Brad Schimel. Musk spent millions of dollars in support of Schimel.

The election was the most expensive state Supreme Court race in U.S. history.

The Senate confirmed Matt Whitaker as the U.S. ambassador to NATO.

He was confirmed in a 52-45 vote.

Whitaker eased some senators' concerns when he said said during his confirmation hearing that U.S. commitment to the military alliance should be "ironclad." Still, his remarks came as Trump is considering a major change to U.S. involvement in NATO.

Whitaker served in the first Trump administration as a top official at the Justice Department.

Susan Crawford has won a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, NBC News projects, allowing liberals to maintain their narrow majority on the battleground state’s highest court — and defying Elon Musk after he spent millions of dollars to oppose her.

Crawford, a Dane County circuit judge who was backed by Democrats, secured a 10-year term on the court over Brad Schimel, a Waukesha County circuit judge and a former Republican attorney general. As the first major battleground state election of President Donald Trump’s second term, the technically nonpartisan contest drew national attention and became the most expensive state Supreme Court race in U.S. history. 

The outcome is a setback for Trump and his billionaire adviser, Musk. Trump endorsed Schimel in the final stretch of the race, while Musk injected himself into the center of it, spending huge sums of money, visiting Wisconsin days out from Election Day and frequently posting about the race on his X feed. In turn, Democrats and progressive groups made Musk their primary villain, attacking his influence on the race and his efforts to slash federal jobs and the government through the Department of Government Efficiency. 

Read the full story from NBC News here

Wisconsin voters today approved a proposed amendment to enshrine an existing voter ID law in the state Constitution, NBC News projects.

The measure will add language to the state Constitution identical to a 2011 law requiring voters to provide photo ID when they vote or when they are requesting an absentee ballot.

Conservatives have said they sought to have it enshrined in the state Constitution because doing so would make it far more difficult to strike the law down if a liberal-majority state Supreme Court were to invalidate the statute with a ruling. However, strategists in the state, including Republicans, have acknowledged another motivation for adding the question to the ballot: to attempt to increase conservative turnout in today's Supreme Court race.

Now that Republicans are projected to win both House special elections today, the House Republican majority will be at 220-213 once the two new lawmakers are sworn in.

That means Republicans can afford to lose three Republicans and still pass legislation along party lines, assuming every sitting member votes.

Patronis and Fine will head to Congress when Republicans are trying to piece together a sweeping budget proposal to tackle Trump’s top priorities, including extending his 2017 tax cuts.

There are two remaining vacant seats in the House, both previously held by Democrats in districts the party is expected to hold in special elections. While the special election to replace the late Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona is in September, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, hasn't scheduled a special election to replace the late Rep. Sylvester Turner.

Sen. Adam Schiff placed a hold Tuesday on the nomination of Ed Martin, the "stop the steal" organizer and advocate for Jan. 6 defendants who President Donald Trump nominated to serve as Washington, D.C.'s chief federal prosecutor on a permanent basis.

Trump named Martin as interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia on Inauguration Day, and the Trump loyalist quickly used the power of his office in a highly political fashion: launching investigations into prominent Democrats and demoting federal prosecutors who supervised the prosecutions of Jan. 6 defendants, some of whom Martin himself represented.

“In every way he can, Ed Martin has demolished the firewalls between the White House and his own office within the Department of Justice," Schiff said in a statement. "Confirming him to serve permanently in the role he has already abused in his interim capacity would cross the prosecutorial Rubicon that every single Senator would come to regret and that would threaten the rights of Americans from all walks of life."

Placing a hold on a nominee prevents unanimous consent to proceed with votes on the Senate floor. The majority party can still schedule a roll call vote for the nominee, though that eats up more floor time.

NBC News’ Steve Kornacki looks at the numbers in the special congressional election in Florida, where Republicans are projected to win both House seats but where Democrats may be showing some gains compared with previous elections.

Republican Jimmy Patronis has defeated Democrat Gay Valimont in a special election for the congressional seat in Florida's 1st District, NBC News projects.

AP, Getty Images

Florida's 1st District is in the Panhandle.

Patrionis, the state Chief Financial Officer, fills the vacancy left by GOP former Rep. Matt Gaetz. Gaetz was nominated to be President Donald Trump's attorney general before withdrawing.

Valimont, a former activist with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, ran against Gaetz in November.

In his first email to staff, obtained by NBC News, Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino told colleagues that he “didn’t take this job to be a partisan political figure,” and that he plans to set “aside any personal politics.”

He also lauded the FBI, an agency he spent the last several years excoriating as a far-right podcaster spreading and promoting conspiracy theories.

“What you do is incredibly important and has real life-and-death consequences,” he wrote in the staff email. “That can be tough and feel like a lot of pressure. In those moments, remember that you work for the FBI. Those three letters mean something. It’s an incredible privilege to be here — take it from the new guy.”

It was a striking turnabout from a few months ago when the FBI appealed to the public for information about whoever placed pipe bombs at the headquarters of the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee the night before the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol in 2021. Bongino on his podcast accused the FBI of lying about the case, calling it an “inside job” and insisting the bureau knows who placed the bombs.

The U.S. Naval Academy has removed nearly 400 books from its library after being told by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's office to review and get rid of ones that promote diversity, equity and inclusion, U.S officials said Tuesday.

Academy officials were told to review the library late last week, and an initial search had identified about 900 books for a closer look. They decided on nearly 400 to remove and began doing so Monday, finishing before Hegseth arrived for a visit Tuesday that had already been planned and was not connected to the library purge, officials said. A list of the books has not yet been made available.

Pulling the books off the shelves is another step in the Trump administration’s far-reaching effort to eliminate so-called DEI content from federal agencies, including policies, programs, online and social media postings and curriculum at schools.

Read the full story from The Associated Press here

Republican state Sen. Randy Fine has prevailed in a special congressional election in Florida on Tuesday, NBC News projects, though the race is shaping up to be closer than November’s results in the deeply Republican district. 

The 6th District race was giving some Republicans heartburn, with Democrat Josh Weil vastly outraising Fine and Fine slow to launch TV ads.

President Donald Trump carried the district, which includes Daytona Beach, by 30 points in November, but outside Republican groups hit the airwaves in the final days as the race appeared to be competitive. 

Getty Images, AP

Read the full story from NBC News here

U.S. ally Japan is pushing hard for an exemption from 25% U.S. auto tariffs set to take effect Thursday, its prime minister said.

Automobiles are Japan’s top export to the U.S., according to customs data. Companies such as Toyota, the world’s top-selling automaker and one of the top-selling brands in the U.S., could be especially vulnerable, CNBC reported, even though it has production facilities across the U.S.

“Japan is the largest investor in the U.S. In light of this, we will continue to strongly urge the U.S. to exempt our nation,” Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told reporters in Tokyo today.

Ishiba added that his government was examining the tariff’s potential impact on domestic industries and employment and would “take all necessary measures” to protect the Japanese economy.

Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Musk said during a Fox News interview this afternoon that an unnamed person whom he alleged was responsible for stealing more than 400,000 Social Security numbers would be arrested "hopefully this week."

"When I see that terrible fraud has happened, I'm like, why haven't we arrested someone already?" Musk said this afternoon, adding that an arrest was forthcoming.

The comments come after Musk said during a telerally last night in support of conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel, “I believe someone is going to be arrested tomorrow,” when asked about Attorney General Pam Bondi prosecuting fraud in the Social Security system.

The Department of Justice has not publicly announced any such investigation or arrest.

The Trump administration on Tuesday eliminated the entire staff of a federal program that helps low-income households pay for utility bills, sources said.

The staff of 10 employees comprised only a fraction of the 10,000 layoffs included in Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s purge of the Department of Health and Human Services. But those who work closely with the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, now fear for its future.

“Ultimately, I believe the program will crumble from within, without the federal office there to manage it,” said Andrew Germain, who served as director of fiscal operations and accountability for the Administration for Children and Families, the HHS division that leads dozens of programs from welfare assistance to child-abuse prevention. 

Read the full story from NBC News here

Sen. Bill Cassidy, a doctor from Louisiana, summoned Kennedy to testify about his restructure of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services before the Senate health committee next week.

Cassidy backed Kennedy for the health secretary job after obtaining “serious commitments” from the administration, including that the health secretary would regularly appear before Senate lawmakers.

Cassidy’s request comes on the same day thousands of staffers were laid off from the health department.

Another major international law firm has reached a deal with the White House to dedicate at least $100 million in free legal services to causes including veterans support and combating antisemitism.

The agreement announced Tuesday makes Willkie Farr & Gallagher the third law firm in the last two weeks to cut a deal with the White House. As part of the arrangement, Willkie agreed to disavow the use of diversity, equity and inclusion considerations in their hiring decisions.

The firm is home to Doug Emhoff, the husband of 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, and Tim Heaphy, who was chief investigative counsel to the House of Representatives committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The firm had been bracing for an executive order like the one leveled at nearly a half-dozen other major firms over the last month. Those orders have generally targeted firms over their association with attorneys Trump regards as adversaries.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says he had a call with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to discuss the “importance of building upon the strong trading and investment relationship between the two countries.”

The discussion came in the lead up to Trump’s anticipated tariffs on Wednesday. If enacted, the tariffs would deal a hefty economic blow to both nations, which are both in a free trade agreement with the U.S.

In the call, the two leaders spoke about the “challenging times ahead,” safeguarding economic competitiveness in the region and calls by both nations for the U.S. to respect their sovereignty, according to the Canadian government.

The leaders said they would remain in “close contact,” and that top government officials would work together to boost trade between the two countries.

Fast-moving changes at the Social Security Administration by the Trump administration’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency have prompted concerns that it may be more difficult for beneficiaries to access the agency’s services.

Some experts are raising concerns that efforts to update the agency’s systems could impact the continuity of benefits.

“Now I’m concerned that benefits could get disrupted,” said Jason Fichtner, a former deputy commissioner at the Social Security Administration who was appointed by President George W. Bush.

Recent changes that have been announced by the agency are cause for concern, experts including Fichtner say.

Senate HELP Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy, R-La., and ranking member Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., have invited Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to testify before the committee on the “reorganization of HHS."

The hearing, scheduled for April 10, comes as the administration has started to carry out mass layoffs across the department. 

Cassidy, who publicly struggled with RFK’s nomination, said that in order to get his support, RFK committed to appear before the HELP committee on a quarterly basis if requested. RFK made several other commitments to Cassidy to secure his vote, including committing to “an unprecedentedly close collaborative working relationship” between them.

This afternoon, a small group of federal workers staked out the Senate basement to talk to senators about federal workforce cuts. In a striking interaction, one fired HHS worker, Mack Schroeder, approached Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., who told him he “deserved” to be fired because he seemed like a “clown.” The interaction was captured in a video Schroeder posted on Instagram.

In the video, Schroeder can be heard saying, "Hi, I was a worker at HHS. I was fired illegally on February 14th. There are many people who are not getting social service programs, especially people with disabilities. Are you going to do anything to stop what’s happening?"

"Uh, you probably deserved it," said Banks. Schroeder asked Banks why the senators thought he deserved to be fired. Banks replied, "Because you seem like a clown."

Schroeder told NBC News Banks’s reaction was “really alarming and off-putting."

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday exercised his power of the gavel — and tried to bring it down with an unusually aggressive effort to squash a proposal for new parents in Congress to able to vote by proxy, rather than in person, as they care for newborns.

His plan failed, 206-222.

In an unprecedented move, the House Republican leadership had engineered a way to quietly kill the bipartisan plan from two new moms — Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida and Democratic Rep. Brittany Pettersen of Colorado. Their plan has widespread support from a majority of House colleagues. Some 218 lawmakers backed the new moms, signing on to a so-called “discharge petition” to force their proposal onto the House floor for consideration.

But Johnson, like GOP leaders before him, rails against proxy voting, as President Trump pushes people back to work in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic work from home trend.

First lady Melania Trump spoke this afternoon at the secretary of state's 2025 International Women of Courage Award ceremony, highlighting a theme this year of building strength through love.

"Today, we celebrate courage, a strength that is based in love," Trump said. "This truth is illustrated to our honorees who prove that love can inspire extraordinary valor, even with the face of vulnerability."

Their remarkable stories are "a testament to the power of love in practice for family, community and our world,” she said.

Melania Trump struck a personal note at the start of her speech, saying she has relied on the “power of love” to “exhibit bravery in the face of unforeseen circumstances” in her own life, but did not go into details.

The speech marked a rare public appearance for the first lady, who has not been in the national spotlight much since her husband's return to the Oval Office in January. Her remarks this afternoon follow her tradition during the president's first term of speaking at the annual award ceremony.

A staff member for Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., was arrested yesterday after carrying a pistol on Capitol grounds without a license, U.S. Capitol Police said in a statement. 

The employee, Kevin Batts, is listed on the website LegiStorm as a special assistant for Booker in his Newark office.

The Capitol Police said in the statement that a member of Congress led Batts around security in the Hart Senate Office Building yesterday afternoon, so he was not screened. The police agency and Booker's office didn't immediately respond to requests for comment about who that member of Congress was.

After entering the Capitol, Batts, a retired law enforcement officer, later told police officers outside the Senate gallery that he was armed, and he was arrested for carrying a pistol without a license, the Capitol Police statement said.

At least six federal agencies are offering workers a new "deferred resignation" opportunity in the latest attempt by the Trump administration to slash the size of the U.S. government.

Employees at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Agriculture Department on Monday night received emails, which were obtained by NBC News, presenting them with the option to resign while staying on paid leave for several months. Department of Transportation employees received a similar notice on Tuesday morning about the program, according to an email obtained by NBC News.

Spokespersons for the General Services Administration and the Department of Energy told NBC News that the deferred resignation program was opening up to its eligible employees as well, and the Defense Department said its civilian workforce received a similar offer Friday.

Read the full story here on NBCNews.com.

China, Japan and South Korea will jointly respond to U.S. tariffs, Chinese state media said, though Tokyo and Seoul pushed back against the assertion.

Japan and South Korea are looking to import semiconductor raw materials from China, while China may purchase chip products from the two U.S. allies, Yuyuan Tantian, a social media account tied to state-run broadcaster CCTV, said yesterday in a post on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.

The three countries also agreed to strengthen supply chain cooperation and discuss export controls, it said.

The South Korean trade ministry said the report was “somewhat exaggerated,” while the Japanese trade minister said there was no such discussion, Reuters reported.

Trump still plans to impose auto-related tariffs this week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at today's daily briefing.

Leavitt made the comment after she was asked if those tariffs would still take effect April 3. "Yes, they will," she said. She added that April 2 would "go down as one of the most important days in modern American history" as the White House is set to impose reciprocal tariffs.

"Those days of America, beginning tomorrow, being ripped off are over," she said. "The president’s historic action tomorrow will improve American competitiveness in every area of industry, reduce our massive trade deficits and ultimately protect our economic and national security."

Leavitt added, "If you make your product in America, you will pay no tariffs.”

The Trump administration is planning to slap sweeping tariffs on a wide range of goods tomorrow, and the U.S. will begin collecting them Thursday.

Democratic officials in 23 states and Washington, D.C., sued the Trump administration over its decision to “abruptly and arbitrarily” terminate $11 billion in federal funds for Covid and other public health projects.

“This funding provides essential support for a wide range of urgent public health needs such as identifying, tracking, and addressing infectious diseases; ensuring access to immunizations; fortifying emergency preparedness; providing mental health and substance abuse services; and modernizing critical public health infrastructure,” the suit read. 

The states claimed that it was illegal to cut the funding, and “without these federal funds, the modernized systems face risks including delays in care and in reporting and identifying outbreaks, which could exacerbate the spread of disease and puts at risk California’s preparedness for future pandemics.”

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Tuesday she has directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione, the man accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel on Dec. 4.

Mangione, 26, faces separate federal and state murder charges for the killing. The federal charges include a charge of murder through use of a firearm, which carries the possibility of the death penalty.

“Luigi Mangione’s murder of Brian Thompson — an innocent man and father of two young children — was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America,” Bondi said in a statement. “After careful consideration, I have directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in this case as we carry out President Trump’s agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again.”

A message seeking comment on Bondi’s announcement was left for a spokesperson for Mangione’s lawyers.

Read the full story here.

Trump urged his supporters in a series of Truth Social posts to vote for his preferred candidates in today's elections in Wisconsin and Florida.

In the Wisconsin state Supreme Court race, Trump boosted conservative candidate Brad Schimel, the former state attorney general, writing that Schimel is an "America First Patriot." Trump also encouraged Wisconsin voters to support a ballot measure that would enshrine the state's voter ID law into the state Constitution.

Trump urged his supporters in Florida to head the polls in the 1st and 6th Congressional Districts, which are hosting special elections to replace former GOP Reps. Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz, who is now Trump's national security adviser. Trump easily won both districts in November, but the races are expected to be decided by closer margins given lower turnout and Democratic energy.

"Jimmy has been a wonderful friend to me, and to MAGA," Trump wrote of Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, the GOP candidate in the 1st District.

Trump also boosted GOP state Sen. Randy Fine in the 6th District, writing that Fine "has been a tremendous Voice for MAGA." 

The United States government accidentally deported a man to El Salvador because of an “administrative error,” landing him in a notorious mega-jail and leaving him stuck there in legal limbo, according to legal papers filed yesterday.

Kilmar Arbrego Garcia came to the U.S. in 2011 from El Salvador and is a legal resident protected by a 2019 court order that prevented him from being sent back to his home country.

Read the full NBC News story.

The Food and Drug Administration’s chief tobacco regulator has been removed from his post amid sweeping cuts at the agency and across the federal health workforce handed down Tuesday, according to people familiar with the matter.

In an email to staff, FDA tobacco director Brian King said: “It is with a heavy heart and profound disappointment that I share I have been placed on administrative leave.”

King was removed from his position and offered reassignment to the Indian Health Service, according to a person familiar with the matter who did not have permission to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Dozens of staffers in FDA’s tobacco center also received notices of dismissal Tuesday morning, including the entire office responsible for enforcing tobacco regulations.

Employees across the massive U.S. Department of Health and Human Services began receiving notices of dismissal on Tuesday in a major overhaul expected to ultimately lay off up to 10,000 people. The notices come just days after President Donald Trump moved to strip workers of their collective bargaining rights at HHS and other agencies throughout the government.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s announced a plan last week to remake HHS, which, through its agencies, is responsible for tracking health trends and disease outbreaks, conducting and funding medical research, monitoring the safety of food and medicine, and administering health insurance programs for nearly half of the country.

The plan would consolidate agencies that oversee billions of dollars for addiction services and community health centers across the country under a new office called the Administration for a Healthy America.

The layoffs are expected to shrink HHS to 62,000 positions, lopping off nearly a quarter of its staff — 10,000 jobs through layoffs and another 10,000 workers who took early retirement and voluntary separation offers.

Read the full story here.

New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker carried an all-night speaking filibuster in protest of President Donald Trump's agenda into Tuesday morning.

Booker took to the Senate floor on Monday evening, saying he would remain there as long as he was “physically able.” He was still on the floor more than 12 hours later, according to his staff.

“These are not normal times in our nation," Booker said at the start of his speech. “And they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate. The threats to the American people and American democracy are grave and urgent, and we all must do more to stand against them.”

On Tuesday morning, Booker got some help from Democratic colleagues, who gave him a break from speaking to ask him a question. Booker said he would yield for questions but would not give up the Senate floor.

Read the full story here.

A federal judge on Monday paused plans by the Trump administration to end temporary legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, a week before they were scheduled to expire.

The order by U.S. District Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco is a relief for 350,000 Venezuelans whose Temporary Protected Status was set to expire April 7 after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem reversed protections granted by the Biden administration.

Chen said in his ruling that the action by Noem “threatens to: inflict irreparable harm on hundreds of thousands of persons whose lives, families, and livelihoods will be severely disrupted, cost the United States billions in economic activity, and injure public health and safety in communities throughout the United States.”

He said the government had failed to identify any “real countervailing harm in continuing TPS for Venezuelan beneficiaries” and said plaintiffs will likely succeed in showing that Noem’s actions “are unauthorized by law, arbitrary and capricious, and motivated by unconstitutional animus.”

Read the full story here.

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

President Donald Trump invited Kid Rock into the Oval Office on Monday and signed an executive order that he says will help curb ticket scalping and bring “commonsense” changes to the way live events are priced.

“Anyone who’s bought a concert ticket in the last decade, maybe 20 years — no matter what your politics are — knows that it’s a conundrum,” said Kid Rock, who wore a red bedazzled suit featuring an American flag motif and a straw fedora.

Designed to stop “price-gouging by middlemen,” the order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to ensure that scalpers offering tickets at higher prices than their face value comply with all Internal Revenue Service rules.

It also orders the Federal Trade Commission to ensure “price transparency at all stages of the ticket-purchase process” and to “take enforcement action to prevent unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct in the secondary ticketing market,” which the Trump administration argues can restore sensibility and order to the ticket market.

Tuesday’s special elections for two Florida congressional seats in heavily pro-Trump districts have become an unexpected source of concern for national Republicans as Democrats have poured millions in fundraising into the races.

Both seats opened when President Donald Trump chose their representatives for jobs in his second administration. Matt Gaetz was briefly nominated to be Trump’s attorney general before withdrawing, while Mike Waltz became national security adviser.

Florida state Sen. Randy Fine, running for Waltz’s seat, and state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, running to replace Gaetz, are widely expected to hold the seats in their reliably conservative districts, which would give Republicans a 220 to 213 advantage over Democrats in the U.S. House. But both have been outraised by their Democratic counterparts, and Republicans in Florida and Washington have begun trying to distance themselves from any potential underperformance.

Fine has attached himself closely to Trump. He texted The Associated Press on Monday a post on the social platform X from Trump, who encouraged voters to turn out for Fine on Election Day and said Fine was an “incredible fighter.”

Read the full story here.

The first major elections of President Doanld Trump’s second term will take place on Tuesday, as voters head to the polls in Wisconsin, a perennial battleground, and in Trump-friendly territory in Florida. 

Tens of millions of dollars have poured into Wisconsin ahead of Tuesday’s state Supreme Court race in a contest that could have huge national implications. It’s the first major statewide contest in a battleground since the 2024 election — and it’s happening in the state where Trump saw his narrowest margin-of-victory in November.

Elon Musk has emerged as a major player in the Wisconsin race as he expands his political portfolio, providing Democrats with an early test for whether the billionaire Trump adviser can be an effective boogeyman.

Read the full NBC News story here.

A steady stream of money, advertisements and activity from national political figures has flowed into Wisconsin and Florida ahead of elections Tuesday.

The biggest race is for a seat on Wisconsin's Supreme Court, but a pair of congressional special elections in Florida have drawn attention, too. Voters in Wisconsin will also consider a race for state superintendent and a constitutional amendment on voter ID.

Read the full NBC News story here.

A number of congressional Republicans are publicly voicing concern over the potential for a prolonged trade war and its effect on American farmers as President Donald Trump prepares to announce a new wave of tariffs.

Trump is expected to impose duties as early as Wednesday on imports from all countries in a move that could hit the agriculture community particularly hard. Several GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill are seeking last-minute carveouts to blunt the impact of those tariffs.

House Agriculture Committee chair Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., told NBC News that he has asked the White House to exempt certain goods that are important to the U.S. agricultural industry, such as fertilizer and peat moss.

“I’ve kind of pointed out the things that I’m hoping" will be excluded, he said. “I talk with anybody who will listen to me. ... They’ve been really good about input.”

Thompson also said he hopes Congress won’t need to bail out farmers with an emergency aid package, as it did during the first Trump administration. But, he said, “we’ll be prepared to do that” again if needed.

Newly announced U.S. tariffs on auto imports have rattled Asian automakers, pressuring companies ahead of the implementation of the duties later in the week.

President Donald Trump last Wednesday announced sweeping 25% tariffs on cars “not made in the U.S.,” sending shockwaves through global automakers.

Shares of Toyota fell 9.4% in the three sessions following the announcement, while Nissan dropped 9.3%. South Korea’s Hyundai lost 11.2%.

Japanese carmakers are particularly in dire straits, with Toyota likely to be the worst hit due to its huge U.S. sales, according to Vivek Vaidya, global client leader for mobility at research firm Frost & Sullivan.

Trump today criticized Susan Crawford, a state judge campaigning in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, and urged support for her opponent, conservative judge Brad Schimel.

"I hope you get out and vote for the Republican," Trump told reporters at the White House, referring to the technically nonpartisan race. "Let’s see who wins, but the woman will be very bad."

Tomorrow's election will decide the ideological tilt on the seven-judge court. It also could play a role in cases tied to abortion rights, unions and congressional maps.

Trump also repeated false claims that he won Wisconsin three times in his campaigns for president.

"I won it three times. We had a rigged election the second time," Trump said, referring to his election loss in 2020.