NPR News: 04-02-2026 11PM EDT

President Trump announced the departure of Attorney General Pam Bondi from the Justice Department, praising her as a "great American patriot and loyal friend" in a social media post. She will transition to a private sector role amid criticism for mishandling law enforcement files on Jeffrey Epstein and calls for the department to target Trump's political enemies. Deputy Todd Blanche, one of Trump's former personal lawyers, steps in as acting attorney general. Separately, the Pentagon confirmed General George's retirement effective immediately but provided no reason for the move.

NASA's Artemis II mission marked a critical milestone as its crew of four astronauts successfully fired the spacecraft Integrity's thruster for five minutes and 50 seconds, executing a translunar injection maneuver. This placed the vehicle on a free return trajectory around the moon and back to Earth after about 10 days. The path will exceed Apollo 13's record for the farthest human travel from Earth at over 240,800 miles. As a test flight, Artemis II supports NASA's goal of landing astronauts on the moon by 2028.