National News at a Glance

Police Kill Another Unarmed Black Man, and Another City Seethes

Two police officers, 10 minutes, 20 bullets. In the 10 days since Stephon Clark, 22, was fatally shot by officers investigating a vandalism complaint in his south Sacramento neighborhood, protesters have stormed City Hall and taken to the streets in anger. In a city that is mostly white and Latino, the killing, they say, is a sign of a police force that treats black residents with disdain and unfairly targets their neighborhoods. Adding to the scrutiny is the fact that the police muted their body cameras in the minutes after the shooting.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Is Latest to Go as Trump Shakes Up Cabinet

After weeks of uncertainty atop the Department of Veterans Affairs, President Donald Trump said Wednesday he plans to replace its secretary, David J. Shulkin, with Dr. Ronny L. Jackson, the White House physician. The announcement punctuated what has been a sharp fall from favor for Shulkin, a politically moderate former hospital executive, who delivered Trump a string of bipartisan legislative victories at a time when he was struggling to find them. And it adds to a significant shake-up of Trump’s senior staff, which has already included the secretary of state, director of the CIA and the president’s national security adviser.

Trump’s Lawyer Raised Prospect of Pardons for Flynn and Manafort as Special Counsel Closed In

A lawyer for President Donald Trump broached the idea of Trump pardoning two of his former top advisers, Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort, with their lawyers last year, according to three people. The discussions came as the special counsel was building cases against both men, and raise questions about whether the lawyer, John Dowd, who resigned last week, was offering pardons to influence their decisions about whether to cooperate in the investigation. The talks suggest that Trump’s lawyers were concerned about what Flynn and Manafort might reveal to the special counsel, Robert Mueller, in exchange for leniency.

Critics See Echoes of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ in Military Transgender Ban

The Trump administration’s latest effort at banning transgender individuals from serving in the military amounts to what legal experts said is essentially a reprise of an all-too-familiar directive at the Pentagon: the 1994 “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. A slew of medical and legal professionals have already lined up against the newest White House order, issued late Friday night, which experts said may survive only if it is backed by the Supreme Court. That order is based on recommendations outlined by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in a Feb. 22 memo.

Justice Department Will Be Investigated Over Surveillance of Trump Campaign Official

The Justice Department’s inspector general, facing increasing political pressure from Republicans in Congress and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, said Wednesday that his office would investigate the surveillance of Carter Page, a former Trump campaign official. The announcement came amid a stream of attacks in recent months from the White House and Republican lawmakers seeking to undermine the special counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election. The inspector general said he would examine whether law enforcement officials complied with the law and departmental policies in seeking a FISA warrant to wiretap Page.

Lawsuit Over Trump’s Ties to His Businesses Is Allowed to Advance

A lawsuit accusing President Donald Trump of violating the Constitution by refusing to divorce himself from his businesses cleared a critical hurdle Wednesday when a federal judge in Maryland refused the Justice Department’s plea to dismiss it. In a 47-page order, Judge Peter J. Messitte rejected the federal government’s claims that the plaintiffs had not shown that they had suffered injuries that a court could address. The suit, filed by Washington, D.C., and the state of Maryland, accuses Trump of violating constitutional anti-corruption clauses intended to limit his receipt of government-bestowed benefits, or emoluments.

4,000 Eggs and Embryos Are Lost in Tank Failure, Ohio Fertility Clinic Says

The “catastrophic” failure of a storage tank this month at an Ohio fertility clinic caused the apparent loss of more than 4,000 frozen embryos and eggs, the clinic said this week. About 950 patients were affected by the failure, in which the tank’s temperature rose and an alarm did not go off, the University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, which oversees the clinic, said in a letter that was sent to patients Monday. “We are heartbroken to tell you that it’s unlikely any are viable,” the letter said. The failure at the clinic has disrupted couples’ plans to have children.

New York City Has 7 Billion Reasons to Worry About a Census Question

Repairs on the Staten Island Expressway. Vegetables for nutritional programs in the Bronx. Programs for seniors in Manhattan and Queens. New schools in Brooklyn. The $7 billion from the federal government that funds all these aspects of New York life could be affected by one question on the 2020 census: Are you a United States citizen? That question is provoking fear among the city’s elected officials, who worry that some immigrants may decline to participate in the head count. Immigrants or children of immigrants make up nearly 60 percent of the city’s population, and the ripple effect could be powerful.