Good morning. In this edition:

• 📝 Trump admin seeks to shut down the Education Department
• 🚨 Retailers are sounding the consumer alarm
• ⭐ The largest known star in the universe (besides Taylor Swift)

… and more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.49-minute read (1,195 words).

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“Goodness is the only investment that never fails.”

–Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

The Education Department cut its workforce roughly in half this week, in a move Education Secretary Linda McMahon said represents the first step toward shuttering the department entirely.

Catch up quick: The Education Department (ED), with ~4,500 employees as of last year, is the smallest cabinet-level federal agency. It carries a wide range of responsibilities, including managing the US government’s $1.6+ trillion student loan portfolio, providing tens of billions of dollars in annual funding for schools and colleges (or ~10% of K-12 public schools’ funding), and enforcing non-discrimination policies in schools.

The arguments

Trump and other Republicans have criticized the ED for a range of issues, chief among them being little progress – or outright declines – in US students’ learning outcomes since it was created in 1979.

Other criticisms stem from wanting states to have full control over their education systems, from claims that the ED is indoctrinating students on “woke” cultural issues, and from a belief that many ED functions could be handled by other US agencies.

• Many Democrats who support the ED argue it plays a vital oversight role in America’s public education system, while still allowing states to set their own educational agendas.
• They also say any large cuts to the department’s operations would disproportionately impact lower-income families and people who experience discrimination.

The cuts are already facing legal pushback. Democratic attorneys general from 20 states filed a lawsuit yesterday claiming the Trump administration’s mass firing of ED staff amounts to “an effective dismantling of the Department” – which, by law, must be approved by Congress, since it first established the agency.

Looking ahead…Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate. But in the event of a future vote, GOP lawmakers would be hard-pressed to win enough Democratic support to overcome the 60-vote Senate filibuster and completely unwind the Education Department.

📊 Flash poll: Do you agree with the Trump administration’s goal of shuttering the Education Department entirely?

• Yes
• No
• Unsure/other

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Dollar General yesterday reported Q4 earnings that narrowly beat Wall Street estimates. But the chain issued weak forward guidance and warned that consumers “only have enough money for basic essentials,” joining a slew of other retailers who in recent weeks have also run over the telegraph to tap out “S-O-S.”

• In an interview at the Economic Club of Chicago in late February, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said “budget-pressured” customers are showing stressed behaviors.
• Kohl’s CEO Ashley Buchanan on Tuesday said consumers making less than $50,000/year are “pretty constrained,” adding that “it’s also pretty challenging” for those making less than $100,000.
• Target, Foot Locker, and Lowe’s all reported seeing weak demand in February.
• Costco, whose membership-fee-paying customer base skews higher-income, said last week that demand has shifted toward lower-cost proteins such as ground beef and poultry.

Big picture: Consumer spending, which accounts for over two-thirds of US economic activity, has been resilient over the past few years. But cracks are starting to show. Consumer spending fell in January for the first time in nearly two years. And consumer confidence has dropped for the last three months, with surveys indicating concerns around tariffs, inflation, and potential personal unemployment.

Looking ahead…We’ll get more of a window into how consumers are feeling this morning, when the initial reading of the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index for March is unveiled.

Steph Curry just got a new side hustle. The four-time NBA champion and current Golden State Warriors superstar has accepted an assistant general manager position at his alma mater Davidson College, the school announced this week, making him the first active pro player in a major sport to also take on a collegiate administrative role.

• His duties involve creating a $10+ million fund to support Davidson’s men’s and women’s teams, joining other NBA stars like James Harden who are helping to fuel the NIL arms race.

Speaking of other athletes…Retired players and sports figures are increasingly taking on NCAA administrative roles. Former NFL QB great Andrew Luck in November joined his alma mater Stanford in a “hands-on” general manager position, while former NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski in September retired from ESPN to become the general manager of the basketball program at his alma mater, St. Bonaventure.

It’s the college pro-ification era

Over the past couple of years, dozens of college football programs, including Alabama and Clemson, have also hired a general manager to build their team’s rosters, a task previously reserved for the head coach. In many cases, it was the first time the title had ever been used by the school.

GM tasks include: Scouting and evaluating players, searching the open market to attract the best free agents transfers, and managing an increasingly complicated payroll – basically everything Draft Day-Kevin Costner does except fleece opposing teams in trades.

P.S. Want more stories like this? Sign up for our sister Press Sports newsletter, which delivers smart, witty sports news with no opinions or hot takes. Subscribe free.

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American outies employees are taking more time to enjoy their nights after work, according to a new analysis of ~200,000 employees by productivity software and workforce analytics company ActivTrak.

• The average US workday this quarter ends at 4:39 PM, nearly an hour earlier than three years ago, when the typical log-off time stood at 5:28 PM.
• In terms of duration, the average employee workday stood at 8 hours, 41 minutes last quarter (not including breaks) – down from 9 hours, 32 minutes in Q1 2022.

But…this doesn’t mean workers are acting like Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future (you’re a slacker, McFly!). Though weekday hours worked declined, overall productivity during the same time period increased by ~2%. ActivTrak attributes this to more workers prioritizing flexibility and clocking in on the weekends.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📉 US markets closed down (S&P: -1.4%; Dow: -1.3%; Nasdaq: -2.0%); the S&P is in correction territory (down 10% from a recent high).
• ✈️ Spirit Airlines emerged from bankruptcy protection following a restructuring; the budget airline filed Chapter 11 in November.
• 🥚 White large shell eggs cost $6.85/dozen, on average, last week, per data from the US Department of Agriculture; that’s down 15% from the USDA’s prior update on February 28.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with Dyce Games

• 🤝🏅 Comcast agreed to a new $3 billion deal with the International Olympic Committee that extends its media rights for the Olympic Games through 2036. | ⚾🏟️ The Tampa Bay Rays are formally backing out of plans for a new stadium and surrounding mixed-use development in St. Petersburg, FL.
• 🏌️🍿 A Tiger Woods biopic is in the works at Amazon MGM Studios, with Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground in talks to produce.
• 🎮 Niantic, the video game developer behind Pokémon Go and other titles, sold its game division to Saudi-owned mobile gaming giant Scopely; the reported $3.5 billion sale marks one of the 10 largest deals in industry history.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• ⚛️⚡ Amazon, Google, and Meta signed a pledge to at least triple their nuclear energy capacity by 2050.
• 🏥🐷 A Chinese hospital successfully transplanted a genetically modified pig’s kidney into a human patient; it marks Asia’s first cross-species kidney transplant.
• 🦑☀️ How squids’ amazing color shifting could be key to hyper-efficient solar technology.

MISCELLANEOUS

in partnership with 120/Life

• 🇷🇺🇺🇦🇺🇸 Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected an immediate 30-day ceasefire with Ukraine proposed this week by the US, but said he’s open to a peace deal in principle.
• 🙏 Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) died due to complications from cancer treatment; he was 77 years old.
• 🏛️✅ Senate Democrats say they will vote to advance a GOP-proposed stopgap funding bill and avoid a government shutdown deadline of midnight tonight. | 🏛️ The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration laid off 1,000+ people (~10% of its workforce), as part of the Trump administration's workforce reduction plan. | 🏛️🧑‍⚖️ A federal judge ordered six US agencies to reinstate thousands of probationary employees who were fired last month. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

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👆 Egyptian wrestler Ashraf Mahrous, known as Kabonga, pulled a train for ~33 feet using a rope held by his teeth to set a new Guinness World Record yesterday.

🤔 Did You Know? The largest known star in the universe is Stephenson 2-18, with a volume ~10 billion times larger than our Sun. For context: If Stephenson 2-18 were to replace the Sun at the center of our Solar System, its body would extend past the orbit of Saturn.

📰 Worth a Read: Huh? The valuable role of interjections

🖱️ Clickbait: Buffalo Wild Wings to offer multi-vision goggles in advance of March Madness

👕 Primark released an all-new 49-piece collection tailored specifically for people with disabilities. Notable features include magnetic zippers for easy fastening, hidden access points for stomas, insulin pumps, or other medical equipment, and cropped-cut jumpers that fit better on seated and wheelchair wearers.

🎵 When 24-year-old Jula’s father died, she made a pact that she would one day listen to all of the 10,000+ vinyl records in his collection. She hosts daily listening parties online, attracting hundreds of thousands of viewers who tune in for good music – and find a community through their grief.

😳 A pair of German daredevils recently claimed the world record for highest slackline walk, balancing across the line suspended between two hot air balloons 8,202 feet in the air.

+Note: These stories first appeard in a January edition of The DONUT. They were so sweet we had to share it again.

Our weekly news quiz is live. How well did you pay attention this week? Let’s find out.

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*A message from our partners.

Below are three lists of ingredients. Your job is give us the completed dish they make.

☝️ Recipe #1:

• Cultured butter
• Yukon Gold potatoes
• Salt
• Garlic
• Onions
• Whole milk
• Nutmeg
• Cayenne pepper
• Black pepper
• Irish cheddar cheese

✌️ Recipe #2:

• Water
• Sea salt
• Dry bucatini
• Butter
• Black pepper
• Pecorina Romana cheese

3️⃣ Recipe #3:

• Cooking spray
• Sugar
• Eggs
• Stout beer
• Vegetable oil
• Vanilla extract
• Instant coffee granules
• Flour
• Cocoa powder
• Baking soda & powder
• Salt

☝️ Recipe #1: Irish potato casserole

✌️ Recipe #2: Brown butter cacio e pepe

3️⃣ Recipe #3: Chocolate stout loaf cake