Tracy Mumford

Top Trump administration officials said the shutdown happened after Mexican cartel drones suddenly crossed the U.S.

border and

The Secretary of Transportation claimed on social media that, quote, the threat has been neutralized.

But that explanation was undercut by multiple people the Times talked to who'd been briefed on the situation.

They said the FAA issued the shutdown order after Border Patrol used an anti-drone laser on loan from the Pentagon.

And aviation officials felt they didn't have enough time or information to make sure commercial flights wouldn't be affected.

Border Patrol agents who used the laser thought they were targeting a cartel drone.

It turned out to be a party balloon.

Even before this incident, the ramped-up use of anti-drone technology, like the Pentagon's laser, has raised safety concerns.

In recent years, the military has developed a range of defensive systems, including microwave zappers and rocket-launched counter drones.

But most of those are intended for war zones.

One drone expert told The Times that using those kinds of deterrents domestically, where there are thousands of passenger planes flying around, raises the risk of collateral damage.

Now, three quick updates from Washington.

On Capitol Hill yesterday, Attorney General Pam Bondi faced off with lawmakers in a bitter back and forth as they grilled her about the Department of Justice's handling of the Epstein investigation.

Answer my question.

The hearing with the House Judiciary Committee quickly turned combative as Democrats and at least one Republican on the panel questioned why the department didn't redact the names of some of Epstein's victims from the files it released.

In one particularly tense exchange, Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington tried to get Bondi to apologize to a group of victims who were in the hearing room.

Bondi refused to apologize and defended her record, saying that as a prosecutor, she spent her, quote, entire career fighting for victims.

Also in the House yesterday, lawmakers voted to rescind the tariffs President Trump imposed on Canada last year.

It's a largely symbolic move because Trump can just veto it.