The Education Department, Elections In Greenland, The EPA, & Even More Moons

March 13, 2025

Hello, readers – happy Thursday! Today, we’ll be talking about the ongoing trade war, the Department of Education, Greenland’s elections, the ceasefire, the EPA, hiring freezes, and the king of the moons.

Here’s some good news: Spotify updated its annual Loud and Clear report, and for the second year in a row, the platform paid out half of its royalties to independent artists. Also, podcast app Pocket Casts is making its web player free to everyone.

“Remember: Always walk in the light. And if you feel like you’re not walking in it, go find it. Love the light.” – Roberta Flack

Trading Blows

(Trump by Nathan Posner via Getty Images)

Trump’s trade war has escalated yet again. Yesterday, U.S. tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports rose to 25%, inciting responses from Canada and the E.U. America’s northern neighbors implemented retaliatory tariffs on $20.7 billion worth of U.S. exports, while the European bloc implemented similar taxes on $28 billion of American goods.

Meanwhile, other countries are still weighing their responses. Brazil is reportedly cooking up some form of economic retort and U.K. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has promised to “keep all options on the table.” Other countries seem to be taking the tariffs lying down, though. South Korea, Japan, and Australia – close allies of Washington that trade large amounts of steel with the U.S. – all took the tariffs without complaint, which might make you question their autonomy as sovereign nations.

But maybe those countries are on to something. After Canada announced its retaliatory tariffs, the U.S. fired off a response to their response, implementing a new policy that would require Canadians staying in the U.S. for more than 30 days to register with the American government. Washington also paused negotiations on a water-sharing agreement with Canada yesterday, leaving water rights over the Columbia River in limbo.

Saying B-Y-E To The D.O.E?

The Trump administration made some massive cuts to the Department of Education yesterday, slashing the agency’s workforce in half. The changes were led by Education Secretary Linda McMahon, wife of Vince McMahon, who built the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) promotion into a cultural icon. McMahon is a major proponent of charter schools – publicly-funded but privately-operated schools – and sat on the board of trustees of a private college up until very recently. She’s also been named in an ongoing case against the McMahons for having “knowingly fostered and allowed a culture of sexual misconduct to permeate the WWE.” You can see why people might be concerned about this person controlling education in America.

Yesterday’s firings cut 1,300 employees – combined with previous cuts, the agency will have about 2,100 employees keeping the lights on. McMahon has claimed that the mass firings reflect her agency’s “commitment to efficiency” and promised that student loans, Pell grants, and special education funding would still be supported, but most analysts don’t believe that the department can keep things running as usual with half the manpower.

During his presidential campaign, Trump promised to abolish the department entirely. Last week, fears that he would make good on that promise grew when McMahon published a memo discussing the agency’s “Final Mission,” which, when combined with the massive firings and her commitment to pushing charter schools, don’t paint a rosy picture for the future of the department.

Put an End to Those Pesky Spam Calls

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No Red, White, And Blue In Greenland

(Greenland elections by Odd Andersen via Getty Images)

Donald Trump wants Greenland to secure more U.S. control over Arctic shipping lanes and also because it sits on vast reserves of rare earth metals which are normally found in places where the U.S. lacks “close allies” (China, Russia, and Africa). And while the leader of the free world really wants to take over Greenland, its citizens really, really, don’t want to be taken over by America.
Because of that, voters in the Danish territory’s most recent parliamentary election have shifted towards the right, bringing the center-right Democrats party into power while booting the two left-wing governing coalition parties into third and fourth place. The territory’s pro-America Qulleq party didn’t even secure a single seat in parliament.
What does the election result mean? According to one political analyst, “The focus [for the new government] will remain on developing the economy toward independence [from Denmark], but with a stronger emphasis on market-based solutions.” Jens-Frederik Nielsen, the leader of the Democrats, has called Trump “a threat to our political independence,” and has also signalled that the new government might begin mining Greenland’s uranium reserves, a political sticking point for past regimes.

Back To The Table, Back To Bombardments

As Israel continues to block humanitarian aid from entering what remains of Gaza, White House envoy Steve Witkoff attended indirect peace talks between Israel and Hamas in Qatar yesterday. The meetings mark the first negotiations held since the Trump inauguration, and both sides are coming to the table from very different positions.
Hamas wants the U.S. and Israel to stick to the ceasefire deal that all three parties agreed upon at the end of the Biden administration, which would see Hamas turn over its remaining living hostages in exchange for a permanent peace in Gaza. Israel, however, is looking to leverage its strong backing from the Trump administration to alter the deal. Instead of a permanent peace, Israeli negotiators want Hamas to hand over half of its living hostages in exchange for a two-month peace deal. Which, if you do the math, is a lot shorter than a permanent ceasefire.
Despite the media’s attention being shifted in recent weeks to the Trump administration’s various antics, things are still not going well in Gaza. Israel’s blockade has cut the enclave off from food and fuel, and the Israelis have also cut off electricity to the only desalination plant in the area. The IDF has also resumed bombing the enclave regularly.

More Mixed Nuts

Justice? In This Environment?

According to a new memo obtained by CBS, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin is “eliminating all diversity, equity and inclusion and environmental justice offices and positions immediately.” The EPA had already closed its Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights in D.C. and placed 168 employees on administrative leave.
The EPA established the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights in 1992 to address “disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects on minority and low-income populations.” While the number of people affected by the layoffs isn’t entirely clear, sources say there were roughly 200 people employed at environmental justice offices in DC and the 10 regional locations.

No More Hiring For Higher Education

Multiple colleges and universities have announced hiring freezes as the uncertainty surrounding President Trump’s federal funding approach leads to some anxiety. Among the schools to announce freezes are Harvard, the University of Washington, and the University of Pittsburgh.
The pauses are – allegedly – temporary as they await more information from the administration. Still, it could affect the economy in college towns across the country and make the U.S. less competitive internationally, not to mention the negative impacts on students and other faculty.

More Nuts In America

There’s A New Moon King In Town

What determines the “best” planet in our solar system? Well, if your answer to that question is “the number of moons in its orbit,” then there’s a new king of the planets in town. This week, the International Astronomical Union formally recognized an army of new moons for Saturn – 128, to be exact – bringing the ringed giant to the front of the moon-owning competition. Which totally exists. Previously, Jupiter was thought to have the most moons in the solar system at a grand total of 95. Now, Saturn has a total of 274 moons.
These new moons aren’t really capital-M “Moons” like Earth’s – instead, they’re all “irregular moons,” meaning they’re large pieces of space rock a few kilometers in diameter that orbit the gas giant. “[They] are likely all fragments of a smaller number of originally captured moons that were broken apart by violent collisions, either with other Saturnian moons or with passing comets,” said one astronomer.

More Loose Nuts