U.S. Stocks Set To Close Out Blockbuster Quarter

A federal judge permanently blocked the Trump administration from withholding funds for a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River, U.S. stocks are heading into the end of a blockbuster quarter, and Ukraine is inflicting real pain on Russian civilians with drone attacks. Those are the dominant threads in this Tuesday morning edition of the WSJ’s What’s News podcast, which also covers a sliding Japanese yen, stubborn European saving habits, and an airline industry headache involving luxury seats that can’t actually be sat in.

Hudson River Tunnel Funding Restored

In a significant legal ruling, Judge Jeanette Vargas permanently blocked the Trump administration from freezing funds for the Gateway Program, a long-planned rail tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey under the Hudson River. New York and New Jersey had sued after the administration said it would withhold the funding while reviewing whether the project included DEI policies. However, the judge cited public comments from President Trump suggesting the freeze was his personal decision and politically motivated. The White House referred requests for comment to the Department of Transportation, where a spokesman said it remained committed to responsible spending of taxpayer dollars. The stakes are high: the existing Amtrak tunnels are over a century old and suffered major damage during Superstorm Sandy in 2012, maki