National News at a Glance

Chief of Staff Advised a Resistant Trump to Fire EPA Chief

John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, told President Donald Trump last week that Scott Pruitt, the embattled administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, needed to go in the wake of damaging allegations about ethical infractions and spending irregularities, according to two officials briefed about the conversation. But Trump has resisted firing him and White House officials said Friday that Trump continues to believe Pruitt has been effective. Pruitt has been dogged by a series of scandals, including that he rented a condo co-owned by the wife of an energy lobbyist and spent more than $100,000 on taxpayer-funded first-class travel.

Tainted Synthetic Cannabis Sickens More Than 90 in Midwest, Killing 2

Health officials say a rash of patients showing up at hospitals across Illinois with mysterious symptoms are believed to have inhaled synthetic cannabis, otherwise known as Spice or K2, which is laced with a pesticide, called brodifacoum that is used as rat poison and causes severe bleeding. The outbreak has sickened 95 people in Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana; two of them have died. Synthetic cannabis, dried plant matter sprayed with chemicals and then smoked, is illegally sold in shiny foil packages with names like Insane, Crazy Monkey and Blue Giant from the counters of gas stations, minimarts and head shops.

Trump Signs Memo Ordering End to ‘Catch and Release’ Immigration Policy

President Donald Trump issued a memorandum directing his administration to move quickly to bring an end to “catch and release,” the practice by which immigrants presenting themselves at the border without authorization are released from detention while waiting for their cases to be processed. The directive does not, on its own, toughen immigration policy but directs officials to report about steps they are taking to quickly end the practices. It also caps a week when he ordered the National Guard to patrol the southwestern border, a move formalized Friday night when Defense Secretary Jim Mattis signed orders to deploy up to 4,000 troops.

Thousands of Indian Women Find Their American Dreams in Jeopardy

Texas Congressman Who Settled Harassment Case With Taxpayer Funds Resigns

Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, who used $84,000 in taxpayer funds to settle a sexual harassment case with his former communications director, abruptly resigned from Congress Friday afternoon. In December, Farenthold said he would not run for re-election amid scrutiny over the payment and accusations from other aides that he set the tone for a hostile work environment in his office. A spokeswoman for Farenthold did not respond to questions about whether he had fulfilled his promise to repay the settlement but fellow Republicans suggested that he had not.

Virginia Is Close to Expanding Medicaid After Years of Republican Opposition

Elections have consequences, goes the old saw, and in Virginia a Democratic wave in November may remake the political landscape of one of the state’s most contentious issues: whether to expand Medicaid to 400,000 low-income residents. As Gov. Ralph Northam orders the House and Senate back to the capital Wednesday for a special session, what remains of Republican opposition to expansion appears to be cracking. Two Republican state senators said they would accept some form of broader Medicaid benefits, as provided under the Affordable Care Act — enough votes to carry the day on an issue that is widely popular in state polls.

For McMaster, Pomp Under Bittersweet Circumstances

President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, handed off his duties to John R. Bolton on Friday, a bittersweet departure from the White House in which he played down personal animosities with Trump but left little doubt that he and the president had differences on issues like Syria and Russia. McMaster met with Bolton, who introduced himself to staff members still reeling from Trump’s second major shake-up of the National Security Council in 13 months. Trump treated McMaster better than others of his ousted officials, meeting with the general and his family in the Oval Office to say goodbye.