©  AP

Five Senate Democrats are asking Attorney General Merrick Garland to launch a Justice Department investigation into the expulsion of two representatives from the Tennessee House.

Sens. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), Raphael Warnock (Ga.), Chris Murphy (Conn.), Alex Padilla (Calif.) and Brian Schatz (Hawaii) said in a letter that the recent shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville “shattered hearts across our country and galvanized Americans—particularly young Americans in Tennessee—to peacefully demand their legislators act.”

State Reps. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), Justin Jones (D-Nashville) and Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) participated in a gun violence protest on the Tennessee House floor on March 30. Last week, the conference voted to expel Pearson and Jones, but not Johnson, for disorderly behavior.

Pearson and Jones are Black, while Johnson is white. Senate Democrats argued race was part of the decision to expel the two Black lawmakers, while state House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R) said their levels of involvement in the demonstration were different.

The senators’ letter to Garland ripped the move, stating, “We cannot allow states to cite minor procedural violations as pretextual excuses to remove democratically-elected representatives, especially when these expulsions may have been at least partially on the basis of race. Allowing such behavior sets a dangerous—and undemocratic—precedent.”

Jones has since been appointed to the seat he was expelled from by the Nashville Metropolitan Council, while Pearson was sent back to his seat by the Shelby County Commission on Wednesday. They’re serving on an interim basis until a special election is held, and they both plan to run.

Welcome to Evening Report! I’m Amee LaTour, catching you up from the afternoon and what’s coming tomorrow. Not on the list? Subscribe here.

• Fox News will host the first Republican presidential primary debate in Milwaukee, Wis. Meanwhile, a shareholder is suing leaders at Fox Corp. over the company’s 2020 election coverage.
  
  

• NPR is quitting Twitter after the platform’s CEO, Elon Musk, recently labeled the outlet “state-affiliated media.”
  
  

• An Economic Innovation Group report says 2 million people left America’s largest cities between July 2020 and July 2022. 

©  AP

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who endorsed former President Trump in the 2024 primary, had words of praise for his fellow senator from South Carolina after Tim Scott announced his 2024 exploratory committee. 

Graham tweeted that Scott “has one of the most compelling stories in American politics and the country as a whole” and that he’ll “be a powerful force in the 2024 election cycle if he chooses to run.” 

The senior South Carolina senator also spoke highly of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who’s officially in the primary, saying she and Scott show “what our state has become.”

Read more here

Former President Trump‘s attorneys asked a judge to delay a sexual battery and defamation trial until late May, saying Trump’s “right to a fair trial depends upon a brief ‘cooling off’ period between the trial of this matter and the recent deluge of prejudicial media coverage concerning his unprecedented criminal indictment and arraignment in Manhattan.” 

Author E. Jean Carroll brought the lawsuit. She has accused Trump of raping her in the 1990s, which Trump has denied, and of defamation for comments Trump made about her. The trial is scheduled to begin April 25.

Read more here

“Inflation is cooling as corporate profit margins fall from record levels,” The Hill’s Karl Evers-Hillstrom wrote in a report on the latest Labor Department data, which showed an annual inflation rate of 5 percent in March.

Find answers to questions like why companies are dialing back price hikes and where prices are rising the most in the full report here.

©  The Hill

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) will seek reelection in 2024, meaning Republicans, who are targeting the seat after a close 2022 Senate race, will have to face an incumbent.

Egg prices fell 10.9 percent in March, the largest month-to-month decline in 36 years.

Prince Harry is set to attend King Charles III’s coronation in London, while wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, is not planning to be there.

Several current and potential GOP presidential candidates have been invited to address the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition later this month, including former President Trump, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.).

“Data deficiencies can impede America’s plans for ‘climate-smart’ agriculture” — David J. Hayes, lecturer in law at Stanford Law School and former special assistant to President Biden for climate policy, and Andy Jarvis, director of the Future of Food at the Bezos Earth Fund. Both had leadership roles in producing the “Data Progress Needed for Climate-Smart Agriculture” report. (Read here)

“American credibility is on the line in Ukraine” — Russell A. Berman, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, where he directs the Working Group on the Middle East. He previously served as senior advisor on the policy planning staff in the Department of State. (Read here)

573 days until the presidential election.

There a story you think should be getting more attention? Something people should be talking about? Drop me a line: alatour@digital-staging.thehill.com

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