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Justice Department files lawsuit to block JetBlue's $3.8 billion deal for Spirit
CBSN
The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday sued to block JetBlue's proposed $3.8 billion acquisition of Spirit Airlines.
The deal, announced in July 2022, would create the fifth-largest carrier in the U.S. and represent the largest airline industry merger since Alaska Air bought Virgin America in 2016 for $2.6 billion.
JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes told "CBS Mornings" on Tuesday that the airline was disappointed, but not surprised, by the government's determination to challenge the transaction iin court.
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More employees of the Environmental Protection Agency were informed Wednesday that their jobs appear in doubt. Senior leadership at the EPA held an all-staff meeting to tell individuals that President Trump's executive order, "Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing," which was responsible for the closure of the agency's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office, will likely lead to the shuttering of the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights as well.
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In her first hours as attorney general, Pam Bondi issued a broad slate of directives that included a Justice Department review of the prosecutions of President Trump, a reorientation of department work to focus on harsher punishments, actions punishing so-called "sanctuary" cities and an end to diversity initiatives at the department.
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The quick-fire volley of tariffs between the U.S. and China in recent days has heightened global fears of a new trade war between the world's two largest economies. Yet while experts think the battle is likely to escalate, they also say the early skirmishes offer hope for an agreement on trade and other key issues that could head off a larger conflict.