Marjorie Taylor Greene: Far-right Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene told CNN in an interview that her threat to begin the process of removing House Speaker Mike Johnson is real and she’s prepared to force a vote to remove him if he goes ahead and allows new aid to Ukraine to come up for a vote. She said that the most extreme Republican members of the House are furious with Johnson for having struck a deal with Democrats to approve funding to keep the government open. Greene said that support for her positions is spreading among Republicans in the House.
Attack on aid workers: President Biden was scheduled to speak by telephone today with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The call was set up so that Biden could express his concerns about the Israeli attack that killed seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen. Chef Jose Andres charged that the Israelis deliberately targeted his workers. He called for an international investigation of the attack. The Israeli military said the attack was a result of a misidentification and apologized.
KISS: The musical group KISS has sold its music catalog, name and other intellectual property to the Swedish entertainment company Pophouse Entertainment Group. The deal was valued at more than $300 million. The arrangement is being characterized as a collaboration and KISS and Pophouse indicate that they will be working together on various projects in the future. KISS first performed in 1973 and late that year began recording its first album for Casablanca Records.
Trump’s request rejected: Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding in the criminal hush money case against Donald Trump has rejected an attempt by Trump’s attorneys to delay the start of the trial, which has been scheduled for April 15. They had asked that the start of the trial be delayed until the Supreme Court rules on whether Trump has absolute immunity for anything he did while he was president. Merchan noted that the alleged hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels was made before Trump became president as did the alleged falsification of business records to hide the payment.
China talks: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is in China today for talks with Chinese officials that are expected to cover a wide range of subjects from the manufacturing of solar panels to the future of the Chinese-owned internet company TikTok. Yellen is expected to spend five days in China. She has said that the new talks are a continuation of the trade dialogue that began when Chinese President Xi met with President Biden in 2022.
