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Kristi Noem is being removed from her job leading the Department of Homeland Security. That's where we're starting the seven. From the Washington Post, I'm Hannah Jewell. It's Friday, March 6th. Let's get you caught up with today's seven stories. President Donald Trump announced his decision on social media yesterday. He is replacing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at the end of the Noem has faced mounting criticism from both Democrats and Republicans. Her handling of the administration's mass deportation agenda has come under fire, especially after the killing of two US Citizens in Minnesota. Trump was also apparently rankled by Noem's testimony at a Senate committee hearing this week. Here she is on Tuesday being questioned by Republican Senator John Neely Kennedy of Louisiana about an expensive ad campaign featuring herself.
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Sorry to interrupt, but the president approved ahead of time. You spending $220 million running TV ads across the country in which you are featured prominently?
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Yes, sir. We went through the legal processes. Did it. Correct.
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Did the president know you?
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Yes, he did.
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Yes.
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Okay.
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Senator Kennedy said yesterday that he talked to Trump after that hearing. Sand said Trump's recollection about the ads had been distinctly different than what Noem had recounted. Noem won't be totally out of a job, though. Trump said she will move into a new role as special envoy for the Shield of the Americas. He described that as part of a security initiative covering the Western Hemisphere that will be unveiled tomorrow. Noem's replacement to lead DHS will be Senator Mark Wayne Mullen of Oklahoma. Number two is a Post exclusive. Officials say Russia is providing intelligence to Iran to target US Forces. Since the war began on Saturday, Russia has passed Iran the locations of US Military assets, including warships and aircraft. That is according to three officials familiar with the intelligence. The extent of Russia's targeting assistance to Iran is not entirely clear. The official said. The Iranian military's own ability to locate US Forces has been degraded less than a week into the fighting. But this is the first indication that another major U.S. adversary is participating in the war. Russia is a nuclear armed competitor which has highly advanced intelligence capabilities, including satellites. The Russian Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment, but Moscow has called the joint U. S Israeli attack on Iran an unprovoked act of armed aggression. Trump yesterday continued to sound bullish on the war effort.
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The United States military, together with the wonderful Israeli partners, continues to totally demolish the enemy far ahead of schedule and at levels that people have never seen before.
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Actually, Trump was speaking at a White House celebration of Miami's soccer championship. Three. President Trump is preparing to defy parts of his MAGA base in Texas. This week we learned that a bitter Republican primary between Senator John Cornyn and MAGA favorite Ken Paxton will go to a runoff. They are seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. senate in November's midterms. Trump is getting ready to make an endorsement. To the dismay of some supporters, he is looking to pick Cornyn over Paxton. That's according to people familiar with his thinking. Paxton is the Texas attorney general and a longtime ally of Trump. But his legal troubles and impeachment have made some strategists wary. Trump's looming decision reflects a calculation by the president that Cornyn would be the stronger general election candidate. But some in Trump's die hard base say they are confused that he is heeding the calls of party insiders over his loyal backers. The Republican primary runoff is set for May 26th. Number 4A Kansas law is forcing trans people to hand over their driver's license licenses Last month, the Republican led Kansas state legislature passed a strict new law that took effect immediately. It invalidated licenses and birth certificates for anyone who has changed the gender markers on their IDs from their sex recorded at birth. The law came with no grace period and its enforcement has been chaotic. According to the state, only 300 of the estimated 1,700 affected residents have received a notification letter ordering them to surrender their old licenses. Two transgender residents sued the state on the day the law took effect, saying it violates their constitutional rights. Today, a judge is expected to decide whether to temporarily block the restrictive law. Housing is so expensive that people earning $200,000 can qualify for help. That's our fifth story. Buying a home isn't cheap. It's become so expensive, in fact, that even people you might think could afford one can now get assistance from city, state and non profit programs. Since 2023, more than 115 of these programs have raised their income threshold requirements. That's according to data from Downpayment Resource, which was shared with the Washington Post. The help can come in the form of an interest free loan. To help would be homebuyers. In a lot of cases, these programs now offer aid to people who earn above the local median. In San Francisco, that means a single person earning up to $218,200 can apply. Some experts say down payment assistance can't fix the widespread problem of housing affordability. It doesn't make monthly payments more manageable, and it means more people are competing for the few homes that are available. Number six A new study suggests that pregnant women's Tylenol use decreased after President Trump linked it to autism. Acetaminophen is the generic term for the drug. In Tylenol, orders of acetaminophen decreased by 10% among pregnant emergency room patients in the almost three months after Trump's comments in September. That's according to a new study in the journal Lancet. The study was limited to a hospital setting and did not indicate whether the shift was because doctors were prescribing it less or women were declining to take it. Nevertheless, one of the study's authors says it shows the president and his administration could have significant influence over people's personal medical medical decisions. And medical experts say the science does not clearly tie Tylenol use in pregnancy to autism. And avoiding Tylenol can cause its own harms. Not treating fevers in pregnancy can put stress on fetuses. And at number seven, the National Zoo is feeding poop to its baby elephants. Lynn Mai is the first elephant to be born at the D.C. zoo in almost 25 years. She's now four weeks old, but she's had a bit of a rough start to life. Her mother and grandmother are not taking to her that well, so she's not been able to nurse. And for the past two weeks she's had a touch of diarrhea that can be dangerous for a baby elephant. So zookeepers reached out to a zoo in Columbus asking them to share a precious commodity from their own healthy baby ele. It's poop. The idea is that feces from a donor with a healthy gut biome can infuse healthy bacteria into a disrupted biome. The treatment has been used successfully on other animals, including humans. Lin Mai might be the first elephant patient. Luckily, she doesn't seem to mind the new poop mixture formula. Feel better soon, Lin Mai. That's the show for this week. Don't forget to set your clocks forward this weekend. The time has come. Unless you're a renegade Hawaiian or Arizonan, of course. Personally, I'm looking forward to my car clock finally being correct again. The staff writers of the Seven are Jamie Ross, Izanakabau and me. Special thanks to Rena Flores and Ted Muldoon. John Taylor is our editor. Copyediting by Kendra Nichols, Rebecca Branford and Victoria Crawford. Mixing and sound design is by Jim Briggs and Justin Gerish. Our theme music is by Edith Mudge. I'm Hannah Jewell. Thanks for listening and have a great weekend. I'll meet you back here on.
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When it Comes to the Big questions who you ask matters, from breaking news to politics that impact your life to advice you can trust. Get answers you don't have to question with Ask the Post AI Trained exclusively on Post journalism with clear sourcing. And if we don't know the answer, we'll tell you. Ask the post AI. Find it on washingtonpost.com or in the app.
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