CHICAGO ( WGN) — Pope Leo XIV, elected on Thursday to replace the late Pope Francis, is an Augustinian priest. He is also a Chicago-area native and has many connections to St. Rita, an Augustinian High School.

There was a sense of excitement on Thursday that a son of the Windy City's South Side is now the leader of the worldwide Catholic faith. And not only that, but Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost is the first American pope in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church.

Father Thomas McCarthy has known Prevost for nearly four decades. They met in 1983.

“Us Augustinians, we know Bob," McCarthy said. "We know who he is. We know the world is going to find out who he is. He’s just an unbelievably good, normal guy."

In fact, the two were emailing each other just one day before the start of the conclave.

“The last couple of weeks, every two or three days, just saying, ‘Bob, praying for you and the cardinals,’” he said. “And he’d always respond back, ‘Thank you, keep praying.”

McCarthy is now the director of community outreach at St. Rita High School.

On Thursday, the classrooms of the Augustinian high school were as joyous as the faithful in St. Peter’s Square in Rome to see an Augustinian priest become the pope. Prevost had also been a substitute teacher at St. Rita years ago.

“When the announcement came, you heard an eruption through this school,” Deacon John Donahue said.

And for McCarthy, and all those with a connection to the man they once called “Bob,” there is a sense of pride that the Second City gave the church its first American pope.

“He truly is a son of Chicago,” he said.

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Immigration advocates are suing on behalf of Afghans and Cameroonians set to lose protections from deportation after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it plans to let their temporary protected status (TPS) expire.

“Each designation was first made in 2022, in response to the prolonged armed conflicts, hunger, and human rights abuses afflicting both countries. Each designation was extended fewer than 18 months ago for similar reasons,” Citizens Assisting and Sheltering the Abused, also known as CASA Inc., wrote in the lawsuit.

DHS announced the plans last month, but it has yet to formally announce the move in the Federal Register as required.

“A TPS designation cannot be terminated in this manner," the lawsuit says. "Instead, Congress established a strict process for terminating TPS designations, one that required [Homeland Security] Secretary [Kristi] Noem to publish notice of her decision in the Federal Register at least 60 days before the current designation period ends.”

The advocates added the formal process helps “provide certainty to TPS beneficiaries and an orderly transition in the event of a termination.”

“The statute further prescribes what happens when the Secretary fails to follow that process: the TPS designation is automatically extended for at least another six months,” they wrote.

DHS did not respond to request for comment.

The group also said the decision was made in part based on “racial animus,” pointing to a string of comments from President Trump and Noem as well as plans to lift protections for immigrants from non-white nations, while opening the refugee program to Afrikaners in South Africa.

The suit argues that both Afghanistan and Cameroon retain the dangerous conditions that sparked the Biden administration to designate TPS for citizens already in the U.S.

Afghanistan remains under Taliban rule and deteriorating conditions in the country have accelerated since the U.S. withdrawal in 2021, including widespread food insecurity.

Many of the roughly 80,000 Afghans who came to the U.S. after the fall of Kabul have adjusted their status, either securing asylum or a special immigrant visa given to those who assisted U.S. military efforts there.

But many are still protected under TPS, and DHS previously estimated that approximately 14,600 Afghans would be eligible under the latest redesignation.

They estimated less than 8,000 Cameroonians would be protected under the last redesignation, citing armed conflict in maintaining the protections.

“Since 2014, ongoing armed conflict between the Government of Cameroon and nonstate armed groups in the Far North Region, specifically Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), has resulted in killings, kidnappings, displacement, and destruction of civilian infrastructure,” the Biden administration wrote in the 2023 redesignation.

While awarding TPS requires considerable review of conditions in the designated country, rescinding the protections also requires a determination that it “no longer continues to meet the conditions of designation.”

“In stark contrast to the lengthy process described above, Secretary Noem decided to terminate the TPS designations for Afghanistan and Cameroon within less than three months of taking office,” CASA wrote.

“Secretary Noem could not have engaged in the typical review process within the shortened timeframe of at most three months, and any consultation with the State Department or other government agencies was at best cursory.”

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Vice President Vance acknowledged Thursday that a full-scale war between India and Pakistan would be "disastrous" but said the United States shouldn’t get involved in the escalating conflict.

“Look, we're concerned about any time nuclear powers collide and have a major conflict,” Vance told Fox News’s Martha MacCallum. "What we can do is try to encourage these folks to de-escalate a little bit, but we're not going to get involved in the middle of war that's fundamentally none of our business and has nothing to do with America's ability to control it."

Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan have been teetering on the brink of military conflict, after alleged Pakistani terrorists launched a deadly attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir last month. India responded this week with missile strikes New Dheli leaders said targeted terrorist training sites in Pakistan.

Vance, who was in India on a diplomatic trip at the time of the Kashmir attack, said in the interview this week that it's up to the two countries to resolve their issues before waging war.

"Our hope and our expectation is that this is not going to spiral into a broader regional war or, God forbid, a nuclear conflict," Vance told MacCallum. "Sure, we're worried about these things, but I think the job of diplomacy — but also the job of cooler heads in India and Pakistan — is to make sure this doesn't become a nuclear war."

President Trump previously called the Kashmir resort attack that killed more than two dozen tourists "deeply disturbing."

"[Indian] Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi, and the incredible people of India, have our full support and deepest sympathies," Trump wrote April 22 in a post on Truth Social, just hours after the strike. "Our hearts are with you all!"

The president said this week that the continuing ordeal "is a shame," upon hearing news about India's retaliatory attacks, but said that it wasn't a surprise.

"I guess people knew something was going to happen based on a little bit of the past," he told reporters at the White House on Tuesday. "They’ve been fighting for a long time — many, many decades and centuries, actually."

"I just hope it ends very quickly," Trump added.

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President Trump spoke late Thursday with French President Emmanuel Macron after Trump called for Russia and Ukraine to agree to a 30-day ceasefire or face potential sanctions.

Macron posted on the social platform X that he spoke "several times" with Trump and praised his "strong call for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire, as did our British and Nordic partners earlier this morning."

"We must all work towards this goal without delay, false pretenses, or dilatory tactics. Ukraine has already expressed its support for such a ceasefire nearly two months ago," The French leader wrote. "I now expect Russia to do the same. Failing to do so, we are ready to respond firmly, together with all Europeans and in close coordination with the United States."

Trump spoke Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He later posted on Truth Social that the U.S. was calling for "ideally, a 30-day unconditional ceasefire."

If the ceasefire was not respected, Trump posted, the U.S. and its partners would impose "further sanctions."

Ukraine had previously said it supported a temporary ceasefire, but Russia has not agreed to those terms.

Vice President Vance said Wednesday that the Trump administration believes Russia is "asking for too much" in peace talks to bring an end to the war in Ukraine.

Trump has expressed frustration with Moscow in recent weeks, suggesting Russian President Vladimir Putin may be stringing him along in peace talks.

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President Trump on Friday signaled he's willing to dramatically lower U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports, underscoring how the Trump administration wants to find progress in a trade war sparked by the new president's "Liberation Day" announcement.

The tariffs have bit into Wall Street and raised fears the U.S. could enter a recession. They have also hit Trump hard when it comes to his approval ratings.

Trump on Friday said an 80 percent tariff on China seemed like the right number, which would dramatically drop the import tax on Beijing's goods from 145 percent.

“80% Tariff on China seems right! Up to Scott B,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, giving a nod to Treasury Department Secretary Scott Bessent.

The U.S. and China are set to hold trade talks with Chinese officials in Switzerland this weekend, with Bessent leading the charge.

Trump announced "reciprocal" tariffs on goods from around the world in April, only to pause most of them as stock markets went into a free fall. He did impose a 10 percent tariff on most countries.

But Trump imposed much greater duties on China, which has been the target of his trade ire. Beijing has imposed higher tariffs in response on U.S. goods and has seemed to be in no hurry to negotiate a deal with the U.S., despite the harm the tariffs could cause its own economy.

Trump's approval rating for handling the economy has fallen well below 50 percent in most polls, aggravating Republicans even though there is more than a year to go before the midterm elections.

The administration has sought to turn the narrative around, and announced a trade framework with the United Kingdom on Thursday. But Trump has also pleaded for patience, while saying American children may only get two dolls rather than 20 for Christmas this year if goods are too expensive.

The looming talks between the U.S. and China have been welcomed by markets.

Germany's DAX gained 0.7 percent, Paris's CAC 40 went up by 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added about 0.4 percent, according to The Associated Press. The futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average also rose, the AP reported.

“CHINA SHOULD OPEN UP ITS MARKET TO USA — WOULD BE SO GOOD FOR THEM!!! CLOSED MARKETS DON’T WORK ANYMORE!!!” the president wrote in a separate Truth Social post Friday.

Trump has in recent days suggested duties on Chinese goods would be lowered.

“Right now, you can’t get any higher. It’s at 145 percent, so we know it’s coming down. I think we’re going to have a very good relationship,” Trump told reporters Thursday during a gaggle at the White House.

"I think we're going to have a good weekend with China. I think they have a lot to gain," he added. "I do think they have far more to gain than we do, in a sense."

On Wednesday, the president said a drop in tariffs will come with conditions.

In remarks from the Oval Office, Trump reiterated that Chinese officials would need to help “stop fentanyl from coming in.” China is the primary source of chemicals used to produce the drug, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Updated at 9:30 a.m. EDT

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Pope Leo XIV celebrated his first Mass in the Sistine Chapel on Friday morning, just a day after being elected to replace Pope Francis as the leader of the Catholic Church.

The new pope, born Robert Francis Prevost in Dolton, Ill., spoke in Spanish, Italian and English during the homily.

“You have called me to carry that cross and to be blessed with that mission, and I know I can rely on each and every one of you to walk with me as we continue as a church, as a community, as friends of Jesus, as believers, to announce the good news to announce the Gospel,” Leo told cardinals in English, as reported by the The Associated Press.

The pontiff is a Chicago-area native and is the first American pope in history. He’s fluent in English, Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese, and can read Latin and German, according to the National Catholic Reporter.

He served as a missionary in Peru for most of his career before Francis appointed him to serve as a cardinal.

Much of his first Mass was focused on outreach, a measure he said was “desperately needed” during modern times.

“A lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society,” Leo said, according to a transcript from The Catholic Leader.

“And these are not few," he added.

Leaders across the globe shared their congratulations on his selection and prayed for his ability to achieve world peace, including President Trump and former President Obama.

“This is a historic day for the United States, and we will pray for him as he begins the sacred work of leading the Catholic Church and setting an example for so many, regardless of faith,” Obama said in a statement.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also wished Leo “success in fostering hope and reconciliation among all faiths,” in a post on the social platform X.

Shortly after the pontiff's election Thursday, his brother said he would likely follow in his predecessor's footsteps to serve and look out for “those who don’t have a voice.” It also came to light that he has reposted messages in the past that were critical of the Trump administration.

Francis died April 21 at the age of 88, making him the first sitting pontiff to die since Pope John Paul II in 2005 at age 84. Pope Benedict stepped down in 2013 and died in 2022 at the age of 95.

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Millions of Americans fighting obesity faced a setback last month when the Trump administration declined to allow Medicare and Medicaid to cover popular weight loss drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) last month rejected a proposal from the Biden administration that would have required Medicare and Medicaid to cover the drugs. According to The New York Times, the most popular of the drugs are Wegovy, made by Novo Nordisk, and Zepbound, made by Eli Lilly.

The drugs for diabetes are manufactured under the names Ozempic and Mounjaro. Medicare covers the medications for diabetic patients, as well as a small subset who are obese and have a heart condition or sleep apnea.

State Medicaid programs have the choice of whether or not to cover GLP-1 drugs for the treatment of obesity. As of August 2024, Medicaid programs in 13 states do so.

The Biden-era proposal would have made the drugs much more affordable for those Medicare and Medicaid patients with obesity who do not have those illnesses, the Times reported. Medicare officials estimated that about 3.4 million of its recipients would have benefited from the policy change.

More than 20 percent of Medicare recipients are obese, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Reuters reported that the medications, which fall into the GLP-1 agonist class of drugs, have been shown to help reduce a person’s weight by up to 20 percent. It can also help prevent the development of Type 2 diabetes.

Wellcare, which offers Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Plans, broke down the Medicare coverage of the individual drugs in question, as well as the out-of-pocket costs.

According to the Times, these costs were recently slashed, with both Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly offering self-pay patients their products for between $350 and $500 per month.

Ozempic

Ozempic is a brand name for a drug known as semaglutide, which helps control blood glucose levels. Medicare Part D covers Ozempic, but the drug is not prescribed solely for weight loss.

Patients using the drug for that purpose would have to pay for the injections out of pocket. Novo Nordisk’s list price for the drug is $998 per month.

Wegovy

Wegovy is the company’s version of Ozempic for weight loss. Like Ozempic, it is an injectable form of semiglutide, according to Wellcare.

Wegovy, which is dosed differently than Ozempic, is FDA-approved to treat obesity, and patients must meet a certain body mass index, or BMI, to qualify for its use.

It is not covered for weight loss by Medicare, but the FDA in early 2024 approved its use for obese patients who also have cardiovascular disease.

The list cost for Wegovy is about $1,349 per month.

Mounjaro

Mounjaro, Eli Lilly’s drug for diabetes, was approved by the FDA in 2017 to help treat Type 2 diabetes. The medication, which is a tirzepitide instead of a semiglutide, similarly helps control a person’s blood glucose level.

It is not approved solely for obesity, however, and Medicare does not cover it for that purpose.

Without insurance, the cost is typically about $1,079, according to the manufacturer.

Zepbound

Zepbound, a second form of tirzepitide produced by Eli Lilly, is FDA approved for chronic weight management. In December, it became the first FDA-approved drug for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea.

Because it is approved to treat sleep apnea, Medicare covers Zepbound for that purpose. It does not cover it solely for weight loss.

Patients paying the list price for the medication would pay about $1,086.

Despite last month’s decision by the Trump administration, there is a chance that the drugs could be covered in the future by Medicare. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office determined that the expansion of coverage would cost about $35 billion over 10 years, according to the Times.

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Billionaire entrepreneur Bill Gates criticized Elon Musk for advising the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to slash the budget of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), accusing the world’s richest man of “killing the world’s poorest children.”

In an interview with the Financial Times, Gates suggested DOGE's cuts were too abrupt and left lifesaving food and medicines to expire in warehouses. He said the Trump administration's moves to eliminate USAID came at the cost of a resurgence of diseases like measles, HIV and polio.

“The picture of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one,” he told the Times.

The Trump administration effectively shuttered the agency earlier this year, with any remaining responsibilities getting absorbed into the State Department’s portfolio.

Gates told the outlet that under Musk's direction, DOGE carried out mass layoffs at USAID without having an understanding of the agency or how it operated. The Microsoft co-founder worked closely with the foreign aid agency for years through joint efforts with the Gates Foundation.

The interview comes the same day the billionaire philanthropist announced plans to spend almost all of his money over the next 20 years in an effort to have maximum impact on global health issues like finding cures for diseases such as HIV and eradicating polio. He estimated his foundation would spend more than $200 billion on global health, development and education in the next 20 years, at which point the foundation will close.

“It gives us clarity,” Gates said. “We’ll have a lot more money because we’re spending down over the 20 years, as opposed to making an effort to be a perpetual foundation.”

He previously held the top spot on the list of the world’s wealthiest people and now comfortably sits near the very top. The former tech executive said he would pass on less than 1 percent of his wealth to his children.

“People will say a lot of things about me when I die, but I am determined that ‘he died rich’ will not be one of them,” Gates said in a letter outlining his decision. “There are too many urgent problems to solve.”

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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called for a massive investment of billions of dollars in the country’s air traffic control system following a series of issues that have plagued it, most recently communication issues at the Newark, N.J., airport that stranded hundreds of flights.

Duffy said at a press conference Thursday that he will ask Congress to grant “upfront appropriations” for all the money needed to update technology and equipment, which he said will be an effort that could take three to four years.

He said the department will rebuild some air traffic control towers and other centers, but “everything else that controls the airspace is going to be brand new.”

He said this includes new telecommunications, radios for air traffic controllers to communicate with each other and airplanes, radar on the ground, and sensors for tarmacs. He said a new flight management system will also be created to improve efficiency in the airspace.

“In essence, all the front-facing equipment for controllers, all the back-end systems for controllers, all brand new,” Duffy said. “All new hardware, all new software, is going to be built into this brand-new air traffic control system.”

He said he can’t accomplish these goals on his own and will need help from Congress. He said he needs funding “up front” because politics and priorities can change over time when funding is only given in smaller, incremental amounts. A cost figure was not mentioned.

A release from the department states that the plan is made up of four infrastructure components: communications, surveillance, automation and facilities. The release also notes that some of the most critical actions that the plans call for include replacing "antiquated" telecommunications technology with new fiber, wireless and satellite technologies at more than 4,600 sites and replacing 618 radars that are past their life cycle.

Other actions include building six new air traffic control centers for the first time since the 1960s and installing new hardware and software at all air traffic facilities to ensure they have a common platform system.

Duffy said he would appear before Congress every quarter to give an update on the plan’s progress and how much money has been spent.

“They can pressure test what’s been done to do the oversight to make sure we’re doing this correctly,” he said.

But Duffy added that permitting reform is necessary to “clear the deck” and make sure regulations don’t block the proposal from going through. If regulations slow the project down to require 10 to 15 years for completion, then the technology installed will already be old by the time it’s finished, he said.

Duffy compared the current air traffic control system to a “flip phone” that can’t be built on and needs to be overhauled.

“If we build a new state-of-the-art system, which is what we want to do, then like your iPhone, you can actually get updates,” he said. “You can build on top of what we have in place. So as new technology becomes available, we can actually deploy it. And we’re going to build upon the safety, build on the technology, build on innovation that’s going to happen in this country to continue to make airspace safer and more efficient.”

The announcement comes after chaos disrupted normal operations at Newark Liberty International Airport. Air traffic controllers lost communication with planes at the airport for about 90 seconds last week, which led to hundreds of flights being delayed or canceled.

Air traffic controllers at a Philadelphia control center lost radar and communications with the flights, leaving the controllers unable to see, hear or speak to them. The situation escalated, and air traffic controllers took absences through the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act.

The law allows federal workers to take time off if they are injured or experience trauma while working. Some air traffic controllers said they took time off to recover from the stress they experienced from the outages.

Duffy’s proposal also comes after a series of crashes or close calls that have taken place at airports, including the deadly crash at Reagan Washington National Airport in January that claimed 67 lives. The crash happened when a plane collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on a training flight.

Duffy was joined at the press conference by the CEOs of the five largest airlines and family members of the victims of the crash.

More recently, two commercial passenger jets landing at National Airport last week needed to shift course because of an Army helicopter taking a “scenic route” near the airport.

“This is bold. This is going to be challenging, but we absolutely can do it,” he said.

The proposal could face an uphill battle as it comes as the Trump administration and congressional Republicans have been pushing for massive cuts to nondefense spending, outlined in the budget request the White House released last week. But President Trump called into Duffy's conference and expressed support for the plan.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, was also present at the event Thursday and said he would work to give the department the resources it needs to accomplish the plan.

Updated at 3:28 p.m. EDT

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Toyota released a report Thursday projecting that President Trump's sweeping tariffs, including automobile import taxes, would result in a $1.3 billion drop in profits for April and May.

Trump earlier this year proposed a 25 percent tariff on foreign vehicles and car parts. Toyota, a Japanese-owned company, would be subject to any vehicle taxes — likely resulting in a trim to the manufacturer's earnings, per a financial summary.

At the end of April, the U.S. said it would spare foreign auto parts from facing a double hit from the president’s car tariffs and duties levied on foreign metals — such as steel and aluminum — by instead charging the highest available rate per product.

Automakers, per the White House, will be permitted to apply for a 15 percent price offset during the first year under the tariffs and a 10 percent offset in the second year. Trump's goal has been to draw companies to produce domestically.

Toyota's expected loss would result in a 20.8 percent decrease in operating income after expenses are deducted, the company predicted. This comes after a year of record profit for the manufacturer, which touted the highest annual profit ever recorded by a Japanese auto firm in 2024.

Toyota raked in more than $32.4 billion last year — a 96.4 percent surge from the previous period. The unprecedented growth is now bogged by Trump’s tariffs, which the president has signaled could be tweaked through trade negotiations. The Trump administration has already paused retaliatory import taxes on most foreign trading partners — with the exception of China — leaving the door open for talks.

The president’s decision to offer reprieve from some auto tariffs was made just a day before Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief trade negotiator, met with officials in Washington.

Akazawa told reporters that top auto executives said they were “losing $1 million an hour” due to the new tariffs.

“While national interests are nonnegotiable, we must act cautiously yet urgently, as our companies are suffering losses every day,” Akazawa said in late April, according to The Japan Times.

Japanese automakers Nissan and Honda are set to release fiscal year earnings next week.

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Senate Democrats boycotted a committee vote on Thursday to advance several of President Trump’s ambassador nominees, an act of rebellion against Republican efforts to quickly confirm Trump's picks.

The boycott required Republicans to gather all 12 of their members to reach a quorum, and the GOP members of the committee proceeded with the business meeting without any Democratic support.

The boycott on Thursday slow-walked one of Trump’s most controversial nominees, Charles Kushner for ambassador to France. Kushner is the father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and he received a pardon from the president clearing his convictions of tax evasion, witness tampering and other federal charges.

Four other nominees were also held up: Trump's would-be ambassadors to the Netherlands, Ireland, the Dominican Republic and Chile.

Democrats say they are protesting Republicans, and particularly Foreign Relations Chair Jim Risch (R-Idaho), caving to pressure from the White House to speed ambassador nominees through the confirmation process.

In an April post on Truth Social, Trump criticized Senate Democrats as slow-walking the confirmation process, a signal for the Republican-controlled Senate to move forward on votes, quickly.

Democrats on the Foreign Relations Committee have exercised holds on nearly all of Trump's nominees, an act of protest against the president's shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development, severe cuts to foreign assistance, and other measures that they view as unconstitutional and overruling Congress's powers.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has employed a floor procedure, filing cloture, to get around Democratic holds.

It's left few options for Democrats to push back against Republican actions they oppose.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the ranking member of the committee, led the boycott, which served as a shot across the bow to Risch. Traditionally, the two have shared a remarkably close working relationship, one that has often focused on finding bipartisan consensus or solutions.

"I have always believed it is important that we have Senate-confirmed ambassadors and senior officials in place to represent the United States overseas and advance our national security priorities. To that end, I have worked with Chair Risch to advance nominees on a reasonable timeline,” Shaheen said in a statement.

"But I also believe strongly that this Committee should work in a bipartisan manner. Unfortunately, today the Majority did not agree to the Committee’s long-standing rules and traditions to keep the Minority properly informed. Therefore, Democrats did not participate in today’s proceedings.”

Shaheen added, "Moving forward, it is my hope this Committee can adhere to its long-standing tradition of bipartisanship."

Risch seemed to be initially caught off guard from Shaheen’s absence, saying during the meeting that the ranking member had another meeting, and that he would leave time in case she showed up and wanted to make an opening statement, a nod to the mutual respect they have for each other.

“We're going to get enough people here to vote before too long,” the Idaho Republican said. When all Republicans gathered, the senator moved forward on the vote for five nominees which passed unanimously and within less than a minute.

“Let the record reflect that every Republican member is present in the room," he continued. "Democrats have all been previously notified, have indicated they have no interest in attending this meeting. So be it."

The Republican members of the committee then moved onto a hearing for five other ambassador nominees — which led to an awkward procedure where the nominees read their opening statements but faced no questions from the sitting GOP senators. Risch said he would leave the record open until close of business on Friday, in case any members did want to submit questions.

"We will move the president's agenda here which includes your nominations as quickly as we can," he added. "I apologize for the bit of chaos this morning, but there's lots of moving parts up here... that's just the way it is."

A Democratic committee staffer said that there is a positive dynamic between Shaheen and Risch but that Democrats felt interference from the White House was harming the relationship and called it not appropriate or acceptable.

The Senate confirmation process is traditionally slow and cumbersome, owing to a variety of factors including the sheer number of positions for the Senate to review and the required vetting, hearings, committee votes and floor votes.

Trump has had 58 confirmed nominees, a higher number of confirmed appointments compared with President Biden at the same point in his term, and faster than Trump’s first term, according to the Political Appointee Tracker by the Partnership for Public Service and The Washington Post.

Updated at 1:30 p.m. EDT.

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Experts studying why those in Generation Z are drinking significantly less than previous generations have offered up several potential factors, including health concerns and the influence of social media.

A Dutch banking company offers a much simpler reason: Gen Z is broke.

Rabobank last month published an analysis that explored whether Gen Z’s lower consumption of alcohol is due to a life stage or a generational shift. The generation is described by Time magazine as anyone born between 1997 and 2012.

Time reported in January that alcohol consumption in the U.S. has risen overall, but not among younger adults. A 2023 Gallup poll determined that the share of adults under age 35 who say they drink dropped ten percentage points in two decades, from 72 percent in 2001-2003 to 62 percent in 2021-2023.

George Koob, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, suggested that Gen Zers are more health-conscious than previous generations.

“It is becoming clear that, for whatever reasons, today’s younger generations are just less interested in alcohol and are more likely than older generations to see it as risky for their health and to participate in periods of abstinence like Dry January,” Koob told Time.

The magazine’s report cites multiple other factors, like the increased legality of marijuana and changing socialization patterns. A 2023 Surgeon General’s advisory stated that the average amount of time people spent with friends in person decreased from 30 hours a month in 2003 to 10 hours a month in 2020.

Gen Z socializes more online than previous generations, and alcohol is a “social drug,” Koob said.

Experts theorize that social media, and the desire young people have to look their best online, are significant factors affecting drinking patterns. Technology, including tracking apps, also makes it much easier for underage drinkers to get caught.

Rabobank’s report suggests that while these factors are legitimate, the “narratives are greatly overblown.” According to analysts, half of Gen Z is under the legal drinking age, while those 21 and older may be struggling to make ends meet.

“(Those Gen Zers) have yet to get a college degree, are working an entry-level job or not working at all, and therefore don’t have any money to spend on alcohol,” the report said. “This was also true of millennials, Generation X and baby boomers when they were in their 20s.”

As Gen Z gets older, their alcohol purchases are likely to grow, though the industry will need to adjust its products and its advertising to connect with the diversity of the generation and with their changing drinking patterns.

“This is an ideal outcome for the alcohol industry, which can celebrate the declines in underage drinking and binge drinking while still benefiting when Gen Zers reach their more mature and responsible prime spending years,” the report stated.

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Laura Loomer, a right-wing provocateur and prominent supporter of President Trump, has set her sights on Dr. Casey Means, the physician-turned-wellness influencer who Trump tapped as his new nominee to be U.S. surgeon general on Wednesday.

In a series of posts on social platform X that began shortly after Trump's announcement, Loomer accused the president's advisers of poor vetting and attacked Means's background.

"This is honestly insane," she wrote in one post Thursday morning. "I do not believe for one second that Donald Trump made this decision. I refuse to believe it."

Loomer went on to label chronic-disease entrepreneur Means, a close ally of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the "Make American Healthy Again" — or MAHA — movement, a "Marxist tree hugger."

"PRESIDENT TRUMP’S PICK FOR US SURGEON GENERAL CASEY MEANS SAID SHE PRAYS TO INANIMATE OBJECTS, COMMUNICATES WITH SPIRIT MEDIUMS, USES SHROOMS AS 'PLANT MEDICINE' AND TALKS TO TREES! SHE ALSO DOESN’T EVEN HAVE AN ACTIVE MEDICAL LICENSE," Loomer wrote between two red alert emojis.

Trump announced Wednesday that he had pulled his nomination of Dr. Janette Nesheiwat to become surgeon general, amid questions over her credentials, and replaced his initial pick with Means.

"[Means's] academic achievements, together with her life's work, are absolutely outstanding," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social about the swap. "Dr. Casey Means has the potential to be one of the finest Surgeon Generals in United States History."

Loomer, who was widely credited with Nesheiwat's downfall as well as the firings of multiple national security aides last month, quickly shifted her attacks to the new surgeon general nominee.

"This is so embarrassing for the Trump administration. They chose a social media influencer who sells supplements who didn’t even support Donald Trump to be the US Surgeon General," she wrote in another post. "Who is doing the vetting?????"

"There is something rotten in the Trump vetting operation," she added in the thread.

Loomer has tagged the social media accounts of Trump, Vice President Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and multiple conservative influencers in various posts against the new surgeon general nominee.

Kennedy, in a post Thursday morning on X, championed Trump's nomination of Means, saying she "was born to hold this job."

"She will provide our country with ethical guidance, wisdom, and gold-standard medical advice even when it challenges popular orthodoxies. She will be a juggernaut against the ossified medical conventions that have helped make our people the sickest in the world at the highest cost per capita," he wrote. "Casey is a breath of fresh air, and we can’t wait for her to get started."

HHS spokesperson Kush Desai, in a statement shared with The Hill, echoed the Health chief's defense.

“Over 77 million Americans resoundingly re-elected President Trump to smash our country’s broken status quo and restore American Greatness – and that includes Making America Healthy Again," Desai said. "Dr. Casey Means has the ideal balance of elite credentials without the baggage of being beholden to a corrupt healthcare system that has profited from America’s chronic disease epidemic."

The White House didn't immediately respond to The Hill's request for comment.

Calley Means, the nominee's brother who works for HHS, defended his sister in an online post directed at Loomer, highlighting her background as a "Stanford educated physician" and her efforts "to inspire others to leave the medical system and reform it."

"She is the single best person in the world on connecting the dots behind our chronic diseases crisis — and her reason for existence is to help President reverse these trends," he wrote. "She worked to encourage [Kennedy] to support Trump and we went on Joe Rogan with the specific intention to convince undecided MAHA voters to support Trump."

Loomer has demonstrated her ability to influence top level White House staffing decisions in the past. She met with the president in the Oval Office a day before the administration fired multiple White House National Security Council staff members in early April.

The right-wing advocate has also faced backlash for entertaining 9/11 conspiracy theories and spreading anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric. She traveled with Trump aboard his campaign jet last fall on trips to New York and Pennsylvania to mark the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Asked about her role in his political sphere last fall, Trump said, "Laura is a supporter. I don’t control Laura; she’s a free spirit.”

Updated at 11:23 a.m. EDT.

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The editorial board of the Wall Street Journal is criticizing President Trump over an executive order expanding drug price controls.

"For that trade we could have elected Democrats," the right-leaning Journal board wrote. "Trying to wring more money out of drug makers might cause some companies to stop participating in Medicaid."

"Patients would then suffer from less access to novel treatments, as they do in countries with socialized health systems that impose price controls," the board added.

Trump last month signed an executive order directing Congress to change a key provision of the law allowing Medicare drug price negotiations, primarily affecting small molecule medications — mostly pills. The move would fix one of the drug industry’s biggest complaints, deemed the Biden administration's "pill penalty."

"Drug price controls are a Democratic perennial," the Journal wrote. "If Republicans go along with Mr. Trump’s most-favored-nation plan, Democrats will invariably extend it to Medicare and the commercial market next time they control Congress."

The Journal has been consistently critical of Trump on and his agenda during his first 100 days in office, particularly on trade and the economy.

Trump has responded by calling the newspaper "rotten" and over the weekend refused to take a question from one of the outlet's reporters during a gaggle on Air Force One.

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A pilot project from a team of oil industry veterans could save one of California's key clean energy resources from terminal decline.

On Thursday, the Oklahoma City-based GreenFire Energy announced it had restored new life to a defunct well in the Geysers, the world's largest geothermal power station — and one that has been in a state of slow, decades-long collapse.

By means of technology that taps the heat from underground — rather than the rapidly depleting water — the GreenFire team turned a well whose electric production had flatlined into a power producer.

That offers a potential lifeline to the Geysers, which currently generates about 630 megawatts of on-demand, carbon free electricity to Northern California — down from 2,000 megawatts in 1987.

"You can see these gray wells — they've been abandoned," said Rob Klenner, a former oil and gas engineer who is now GreenFire's chief executive, pointing to a diagram of the site where boreholes once funneled steam — heated by plate tectonics beneath California — up to spin turbines.

"There's still heat in this area, but it's kind of like a dry well," Klenner said, comparing it to petroleum. "Like, 'Hey, we got a little bit of oil, but not enough to make this economics, and then they shut everything in,'" Klenner said.

The reason for the decline: the ferocious pace at which conventional forms of geothermal energy can use up water.

Today, the Geysers plants use an average of 15 million gallons — 22 Olympic pools — per day. The complex's 18 power plants, spread across 45 miles, tap into the source in the form of the steam that spins their turbines.

While this largely comes from treated municipal wastewater, it nonetheless represents a significant loss of water in a famously water-stressed region — and a significant brake on the ability of so-called hydrothermal fields to produce power.

GreenFire's next-gen system, which sits atop a well that had also been largely abandoned for lack of pressure, takes an approach that produces power without losing water.

Rather than spinning a turbine with the physical force of superheated water — which is then lost to the atmosphere — GreenFire's team circulates water in a closed loop to restore production.

Now, as the steam rises from the hot rock below, it hits the heat exchanger of a different kind of power plant called an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), a closed-loop system full of a 'working fluid' that boils at a much lower temperature than water.

As the working fluid moves through the pipes of the ORC, it spins a turbine and generates power — before releasing its heat into a condenser and falling, exhausted, back into the pump to start again.

Inside the well, something similar is happening, Klenner said. The rising steam dumps its heat into the ORC and then gets reinjected into the new underground closed loop.

"It cools back down, and then we would reinject it," he added. "So now there's no water coming to the surface anymore."

He compared this system to injection wells that coax new oil out of failing oil wells — with the difference that ideally nothing leaves the ground.

As the buzz in geothermal energy increasingly focuses on "enhanced" forms of the technology that use techniques like fracking to create artificial underground cavern networks, Klenner hopes that techniques like this one offer a low-hanging fruit to revitalize existing resources.

Proponents of enhanced geothermal (EGS) hope for geothermal drilling on a scale that rivals the oil and gas boom of the 2010s. But while GreenFire has its own EGS projects, Klenner noted that side of the business, almost by definition, means creating electricity at new sites which planners will then have to figure out how to connect to the grid.

At the Geysers, he said, "The infrastructure is already there. They already have the wells. They already have the power lines. Rather than going to an area where, you know, we want to go do this for the first time, we're working in an area that has everything already put together — which helps lower the cost hurdles."

Bringing the Geysers back to its late 20th Century peak, he noted, would be the equivalent of adding a gigawatt to the grid — the equivalent of building, say, hundreds of new wind turbines, with none of the challenges that such new builds entail.

"If we can do this in existing wells, and we could simply just double production, there's large opportunity," he said.

Updated at 9:50 a.m. EDT

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