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Daily Briefing: A SpaceX rocket explodes in the sky

Nicole Fallert   Paste BN

SpaceX's flight test of its Starship spacecraft ended with a "rapid unscheduled disassembly." By law, only Congress can fully close federal agencies, but President Donald Trump is threatening the Department of Education. American's butterfly population is in peril.

🙋🏼‍♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. Congrats to Gabby and Robby 💘

SpaceX Starship rocket lost during 8th test flight

Another SpaceX Starship rocket disintegrated in a fiery high-altitude spectacle Thursday evening. The rocket broke up during its eighth uncrewed flight test, sending debris shooting through the sky and temporarily affecting flights at Miami-area airports. SpaceX on Thursday lost communication with the rocket just over nine minutes after the launch. It was SpaceX's second such setback since January.

Read more space news from the Paste BN Network:

Is the Department of Education going away?

A preliminary executive order prepared for President Donald Trump seeks to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education to "the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law," according to a draft reviewed by Paste BN.

What this means for Americans: From funding to K-12 schools to colleges oversight and federal student aid, the department reaches across all facets of U.S. education.

  • What happens next: While it’s unclear when the president will sign the executive order, it will direct newly installed education secretary, Linda McMahon, to dismantle the agency.
  • Can Trump do this? The Constitution doesn’t give Trump the power to close the department because it was created through legislation, and the president can't unilaterally overturn laws.
  • What this means for your federal student loans: Trump hopes to shift Federal Student Aid to the Small Business Administration — but this poses big technical challenges.

More news to know now

Long commute? Check out today's crossword. Sally's hint: Broken Bats 🏏

Meet American's cryptocurrency Fort Knox

President Donald Trump is set to host a Crypto Summit on Friday at the White House with industry leaders. The assembly comes one day after the president signed an executive order Thursday establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile, continuing his administration's embrace of the cryptocurrency industry. The bitcoin in the reserve will come from assets held by the U.S. Department of Treasury that were seized in court proceedings or paid in civil penalties to executive agencies. Read more

US job cuts surge 245% in February

Layoffs announced by U.S. employers jumped to levels not seen since the last two recessions amid mass federal government job cuts, canceled contracts and fears of trade wars, offering the clearest sign yet of the toll taken on the labor market by the policies of President Donald Trump's administration. Rates of job cuts were the highest February total since the Great Recession 16 years ago.

Today's talkers

America's butterflies are in trouble

Over the past 20 years the U.S. butterfly population has declined 22%, a dramatic loss that has scientists concerned. Researchers across the United States collected data on more than 35 butterfly monitoring programs. It included data from 12.6 million individual butterflies comprising 554 species taken in 756,957 surveys. The results were worse than researchers expected.

Celebrating Paste BN's 2025 Women of the Year

Ahead of International Women's Day on Saturday, we are proud to introduce Paste BN’s 2025 Women of the Year, a cohort of 61 women across the country inspiring the next generation. They are breaking barriers and pushing for change. They are making communities across the country better. Their stories inspire. Meet the women.

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at Paste BN, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com.

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