MON SIX

I'm so accustomed to rejection that I brace myself for every email – even before opening. Even when good news may be waiting after that click.

Writers, and all creatives to an extent, have to get accustomed to "no."

About 81% of Americans feel that they have a book in them, according toan often cited surveyreported inThe New York Times(from the early 2000s). Many aspire to write and publish a book in their lifetime, but only a small fraction see their work formally acquired and announced each year.A little over 2,000 fiction writersannounced deals in 2025 on Publishers Marketplace.

What's it like to write a bestseller?We followed Lucy Score for a year to find out

This year, one of those deals announced is mine: My debut young adult novel, "How to Kill a Chupacabras," was acquired by independent publisherTiny Ghost Press. I almost dismissed the email confirming the offer as another rejection.

I started writing this novel in 2021. My father, who inspired it, landed in the hospital as I was drafting the outline. He developed complications from cancer. I wrote the book at home, before work shifts, on weekends, beside my dad's hospital bed.

That 2021 idea was ultimately acquired in 2024, announced in Publishers Marketplace this week, and expected to publish in the summer of 2027.

That's six years from spark to publication date. And that's not unusual. Two years from acquisition to publication is considered a "normal" timeline.

So, when people ask, "Can anyone get a book deal?" what they're often asking is something else:

• Is this still possible for people who aren't famous?

• Do I have to know somebody in the industry?

• And if I do everything "right," will it still take years?

In short: Yes, no and maybe. A book deal is attainable – to some extent. It's also not a finish line. Here's what aspiring novelists and readers should know about the behind-the-scenes of publishing a fiction book.

The part people don't see: fewer chairs, louder music

The publishing industry is consolidating, which means fewer imprints (and fewer editors). During the hearings for the proposed Penguin Random House merger with Simon & Schuster,Judge Florence Pan said in his written opinion:"It is significant that in a market already prone to collusion, where coordinated conduct already appears to be rampant, PRH's acquisition of S&S would reinforce the market's oligopsonistic structure."

Still, about300 of the deals announced last year went "to auction," which means imprints had a bidding war for them.

When editors are stretched thinner, the time it takes to nurture talent – especially debut authors – shrinks. The industry's ability to take a slow bet on a writer, to develop them the way record labels develop musicians or sports teams develop rookies, becomes increasingly rare.

I lucked out in connecting with Tiny Ghost Press Founder and Editorial Director Joshua Perry through a call for submissions on social media.

Story continues below.

"The first question I ask (authors) is, what goals do you want to achieve with this particular publication?" said Michelle Herrera Mulligan, vice president and associate publisher at Primero Sueño, an imprint of Atria Books – a division of Simon & Schuster. "Are you trying to heal a trauma, create social change or be a commercially successful author publishing book after book? All of those are legitimate goals, but they would deploy very different strategies and very different budgets."

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Independent publishers and small-to-medium imprints often stand out because of that personalized care. That's no shade to the Big Five – Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette Book Group, Macmillan Publishers and HarperCollins – but novelists in a massive house compete with celebrity memoirs and household-name writers for resources. Their books are in a busy (but quite effective) ecosystem.

It's not easy, but it's doable

One wrinkle in the process is that imprints under the same parent company can't bid against each other, thus limiting the number of deals.

The number of traditionally published books in the U.S. rose in 2025 by 6.6%, to 642,242 from the prior year, according tostatistics compiled by Bowker for Publishers Weekly. Among those, 64,449 titles were adult and juvenile fiction.

Even when the book is good, "we have less places to sell things than we have in the past," Carly Watters, senior literary agent at PS Literary, told USA TODAY. "A lot of things are more predicated on the appetites of a smaller group of people … there might be separate imprints, but they all share an editorial board meeting."

Quality aside, a novel also has to be "sellable" to stand out in those meetings. "In my experience, (books) that are easily pitchable, meaning we can sum up – hook, line, sinker – in one sentence, that's something that I can get people's attention with," Watters added. There are gorgeous books that are hard to summarize, she said. The kind you want to hand someone and say, "Just read it, then call me."

Those books can sell. But it's harder.

Eric Smith, literary agent and founder of Neighborhood Literary, agreed that for novelists, the product is what dictates the trajectory – more so than who the author is.

"I feel like you see a lot of contrasting thoughts on it regarding like, 'Oh, you need X-amount of platform, or you need to know somebody who knows somebody.' But none of that's true," Smith said. "I have plenty of clients who have no social media following or the book that they wrote is the very first book they have ever written, and they ... get book deals just as much as somebody who has a million followers on TikTok or has two MFAs or something."

Thought this year was going to be big for new books? Just wait until you see how many of your favorite titles are slated for adaptation in 2026. Here are the movies and series we're excited to see this year, in order of release date.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> "His & Hers" (Jan. 8)

"His & Hers" by Alice Feeney is now a Netflix series. In this thriller, Tessa Thompson plays TV reporter Anna Andrews, who returns to her small Georgia hometown to report on a string of homicides being investigated by her estranged husband, Detective Jack Harper (Jon Bernthal).

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> "People We Meet on Vacation" (Jan. 9)

Romance readers got the first of many upcoming Emily Henry adaptations early this year. Netflix's "People We Meet on Vacation" stars Emily Bader as Poppy and Tom Blyth as Alex, two estranged friends who reunite on one final, transformative trip.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> "Agatha Christie's Seven Dials" (Jan. 15)

This new Netflix miniseries is based on Christie's 1929 novel "The Seven Dials Mystery." It opens as a lavish country house party ends in murder and stars Helena Bonham Carter, Mia McKenna-Bruce, Iain Glen and more.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> "Finding Her Edge" (Jan. 22)

"Finding Her Edge" is a new TV-PG series on Netflix adapted from Jennifer Iacopelli's young-adult novel (which is loosely based on Jane Austen's "Persuasion"). It follows a love triangle on the competitive figure skating circuit. 

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> "Bridgerton" (Jan. 29, Part 2 Feb. 26)

Season 4 is streaming on Netflix now and is adapted from Julia Quinn's third Bridgerton novel, "An Offer From a Gentleman." It focuses on Benedict, the second-eldest Bridgerton son, who has managed to escape the marriage mart. That is, until he meets an enchanting Lady in Silver at his mother's masquerade ball. 

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> "Crime 101" (Feb. 13)

Starring Chris Hemsworth, Barry Keoghan, Halle Berry and Mark Ruffalo, "Crime 101" sees a Los Angeles detective pursuing an elusive thief and insurance broker on one final heist. The movie is based on Don Winslow's 2021 novella and will be released in theaters

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> "Wuthering Heights" (Feb. 13)

"Saltburn" director Emerald Fennell adapts Emily Brontë's beloved Gothic novel "Wuthering Heights" into a steamy film starring Margot Robbie as Cathy and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> "Vladimir" (March 5)

Rachel Weisz and Leo Woodall star in "Vladimir," an eight-episode Netflix series. The series is based on the 2022 #MeToo-era novel by Julia May Jones.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> "Reminders of Him" (March 13)

Colleen Hoover's 2022 romance novel will star Maika Monroe as Kenna Rowan, a young woman hoping to reunite with her 4-year-old daughter after serving five years in prison. Hoover is a cowriter and "Reminders of Him" hits theaters March 13.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> "Project Hail Mary" (March 20)

Andy Weir's epic sci-fi adventure "Project Hail Mary" stars Ryan Gosling stars as Ryland Grace, a middle school teacher tapped for a mission to a solar system light-years away to save humanity before a catastrophe wipes out Earth. 

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> "Jo Nesbo's Detective Hole" (March 26)

Tobias Santelmann stars in the Netflix adaptation that's the first series based on Nesbø's crime novels and his character detective Harry Hole.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> "Margo's Got Money Troubles" (April 15)

Rufi Thorpe's novel about a young woman using OnlyFans to navigate unemployment, new motherhood and a dwindling bank account will soon be a new series from A24 and Apple TV+. Elle Fanning, Nicole Kidman, Michelle Pfeiffer and Nick Offerman star.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> "Remarkably Bright Creatures" (May 8)

Shelby Van Pelt's 2022 novel charmed readers with the story of a widow who forms an unlikely bond with a giant Pacific octopus at her aquarium night job. Sally Field ("Forrest Gump") will star as Tova in this spring's Netflix adaptation. 

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> "Verity" (Oct. 2)

The second of Colleen Hoover's 2026 adaptations is "Verity," expected to release Oct. 2. Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson will star in this psychological thriller.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> "Sunrise on the Reaping" (Nov. 20)

In theaters this fall, this "Hunger Games" prequel is set during Haymitch Abernathy's time in the arena. The star-studded cast includes Joseph Zada ("We Were Liars"), Glenn Close, Ralph Fiennes, Kieran Culkin, Maya Hawke, Jesse Plemons, Mckenna Grace, Elle Fanning and more. 

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />

Biggest book-to-screen adaptations coming in 2026

Thought this year was going to bebig for new books? Just wait until you see how many of your favorite titles are slated for adaptation in 2026. Here are the movies and series we're excited to see this year, in order of release date.

Plenty of his clients come from cold querying (sending an email or form pitch) with no connections in the industry. But also, his inbox – when he's open to submissions – can reach thousands in a few months. Smith estimated he received around 3,000 submissions over roughly 90 days and signed a handful last year.

That number can seem terrifying until you remember something important: Most of those submissions weren't "bad writers." They just weren't the right fit. Or the timing was wrong. Or the market was saturated. Or an editor had just acquired something similar. Or an imprint closed. Or an editor got laid off. Or the editorial board said, "We already have a slot like this."

You can do everything right and still lose to the invisible calendar of the industry.

Consolidation makes that sharper. Smith described it plainly: Agents can't send five projects in a row to the same editor without burning that bridge.

So yes, it can be more challenging now; not because the "gatekeepers" hate writers, but because the gate is servicing fewer lanes.

"I do think that anybody can (get a book deal), but I will say that they really have to want it, and (authors) have to know why they want it," Herrera Mulligan said. "There's a huge chunk of your time in your life that's going to be taken up to build this book more than you could ever imagine … Nobody's going to know your platform better than you are. Nobody's going to know your reader, and more importantly, no one's going to know your work itself and how special it is to you."

Is it easy? No, but it's possible. The industry's slow gears made it so my father died before I could show him the book he inspired, and those are the kind of trade-offs every aspiring traditionally published novelist should know.

As Watters said, people who aren't optimistic don't last long in this industry.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Can anyone get a book deal? What it takes to be a novelist in 2026.

Most recently, the Trump administration asked for, and then said it didn't need, outside help securing a key shipping lane threatened by Iran — and then called NATO allies "cowards" for not helping clean up the mess. Israel said it killed more top Iranian leaders, and both Israel and the US started attacking Iran's oil infrastructure. A top US intelligence official resigned in protest over the war, thousands more US sailors and Marines areheaded to the Middle East, but, despite the destruction of most of its military, Iran's regime remains intact.

Get up to speed on the war as it enters its fourth week:

Trump wants to wrap things up in Iran; the Israelis have other ideas

There are the beginnings of some disagreement between the allies. President Donald Trump has suggested he wants to wrap up the war soon, although he has been noncommittal on a timeline.

"It will soon be over," Trump told reporters Thursday at the White House.

The Israelis have previously said they want to keep striking thousands of targets in Iran over the course ofanother three weeksor more, and on Saturday vowed to"increase significantly"the number of strikes in the coming week. Separately, Israel is trying to expel Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters from its northern border with Lebanon. The US has not been dragged into that conflict, but more than a million people in Lebanon have been displaced.

CNN spoke this week with former US Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro for his analysis of what the US wants versus what Israel wants from the war.Read that here.

The Middle East's energy infrastructure is a new front in the war

The US and Israel began striking at Iranian oil and natural gas production facilities in the third week of the air campaign, including Israel's strike on South Pars, the world's largest liquefied natural gas field, which Iran shares with Qatar. Iran responded by striking at energy production in other countries in the Middle East, including Qatar.Read more.

On Thursday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that "unsanctioning" some Iranian oil is one of the many ways the US could go about addressing the oil pinch in the coming days.

Things are getting $200 billion more expensive for US taxpayers

While the Pentagon and the White House controversially did not inform Congress before the war, the administration needs Congress to pay for it. The administration is set to request an additional $200 billion in taxpayer money to fund the war, although it did not offer specifics on how the money would be spent. The request came as the US national debt exceeded $39 trillion.

"It takes money to kill bad guys," Hegseth said at a Pentagon press briefing Thursday.

Related: Why doesn't Congress declare war any more?

The US and Israel say they have already largely destroyed Iran's missile capabilities, its air force and its navy

The US and Israel launched the war to destroy Iran's military capabilities and, for the second time in a year, destroy its nuclear program.

Iran is a massive country — about the size of Alaska — and has more than 90 million residents.

The US claims to have struck more than 7,800 targets, flown more than 6,500 combat flights and damaged or sunk more than 100 ships, including the first sinking of a ship by US torpedo since World War II.

US Central Command has deployed a large portion of the entire alphabet of the American arsenal, including B-1, B-2 and B-52 bombers, and F-15, F-16, F-18, F-22 and F-35 fighter jets. It has not one, but two US Navy carrier strike groups in the region. It has employed a "bunker-buster"5,000-pound bomband also relied heavily on lower cost drones.

Israel continues to assassinate Iranian leaders

In the opening moments of the war, Israeli strikes killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei. Multiple other ranking officials were killed.

Since then, Israel has continued to target and kill remaining senior Iranian regime leaders, including key defense and intelligence figures such asAli Larijani, the longtime public face of the regime, and Esmaeil Khatib, the intelligence minister.

And yet Iran's government continues to survive

A multi-layered matrix rather than a top-down organization, Iran continues to show organization and a willingness to fight, a fact that suggests there will ultimately need to be a political rather than a military solution to this war.

The US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Wednesday that the regime "appears to be intact but largely degraded."

The Ayatollah's son, Mojtaba Khamenei, is said to have beenappointed by Iran's 88-member Assembly of Expertsto take over the country after the killing of much of his family in airstrikes, though hemay have sustained injuries, including a fractured foot, and has not been seen in public since the war began. He still has not appeared in person or on video since the war began, butissued a new statement Friday.

Iran's war strategy is to threaten the world oil supply

The country sits on a strategic choke point between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Some 20% of the world's oil travels through this waterway, the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has attacked some oil tankers and threatened those that would pass without its position. The US either misunderstood or miscalculated Iran's willingness to threaten the worldwide market.

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It's a larger shock to the world energy system than the 1973 oil embargo, when oil producing countries stopped selling to the United States over US military support for Israel after the Arab-Israeli war.

Today the US has become the world's largest oil producer and its economy is less dependent on foreign sources, but the oil market is a worldwide thing.

The US began targeting Iranian oil production facilities with military strikes in the third week of the war.

The price of oil has skyrocketed

Oil has shot past $100 per barrel and is frequently above $115 per barrel. Skyrocketing gas prices, which Trump used to brag about lowering, have made Americans feel the pinch. Somewhat surprisingly given the shock oil prices have placed on the economy, Trump said Thursday he was surprised oil prices haven't gone up more.

Iran has also attacked most of its neighbors

Rather than simply strike at US assets and Israel, Iran has responded by attacking more than a dozen of its neighbors with drones and missiles, threatening the perception of relative safety in Gulf neighbors like Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other countries that have relationships with the US and Israel.

A few US ground troops are on the way, but…

While the US has consistently said it plans this to be an air war, it has not ruled out the use of ground forces. A Marine Expeditionary Unit is en route to the region, according to CNN's reporting. It could be used to facilitate special operations commandos, secure oil fields, or do other tasks in Iran. A second MEU has had a planned deployment rerouted to the Middle East region, but it's not clear where or when it could move. It is unlikely such a small force to be the tip of the spear of a ground invasion. The US has not mustered its Army for deployment, for instance.

On Thursday, Trump said he has no intention of putting troops on the ground in Iran, but he added he wouldn't say if he did have such plans.

US service members have died in an attack and an accident

Multiple Americans have died so far in the war, primarily in two incidents. A makeshift operations center was struck by a suspected Iraniandone strike in Kuwait, killing six. A refuelingaircraft crashed over Iraq, killing another six American service members.

The economic impacts are far-reaching

The price of diesel and energy costs in general could drive up costs for consumer goods, airline tickets and food, which would be unwelcome news for Americans who still aren't used to prices following pandemic-era price hikes.

Trump has tried to bully the Federal Reserve into lowering interest rates to unlock capital and potentially lower home and car borrowing costs. But with prices rising,Fed cuts are less likely.

And the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 are all down, to varying degrees, since the war started.

The US is feeling more alone

Trump called on European and some Asian countries to help the US patrol the Strait of Hormuz. But those countries, who feel burned by Trump on tariffs and who weren't warned that the US would attack Iran in the first place, and who are worried that the war violated international law, have so far declined. Trump now says he doesn't need the help, but he's clearly angry he hasn't gotten any.

NATO chief Mark Rutte, who often speaks highly of Trump, said Thursday the allies are all talking about ways to secure the route.

"I'm confident that allies as always will do everything in support of our shared interest as we always do — so we will find a way forward," hesaid in Brussels, according to Politico.

Russia is emboldened and Trump's meeting with China is delayed

To get oil into the world market, the Trump administration has eased sanctions against Russian oil in place due to its invasion of Ukraine. Russia is also reported to be giving Iran intelligence for drone strikes.

Trump perhaps wanted to enter his planned April meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping from a position of strength on the world stage, but now he is more isolated on the world stage and has had to delay the meeting to focus on Iran.

The US intelligence on Iran discussed publicly is unclear

Trump has said Iran was close to restarting a nuclear program he previously said the US destroyed last June. He has said he had a feeling Iran would soon attack the US, but has not pointed to evidence. Other administration officials have said the war was necessary to destroy Iran's conventional weapons capabilities.

But the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, a former Special Forces commando, resigned in protest last week, declaring that the intelligence did not support the idea that Iran posed an imminent threat, and questioning the US alliance with Israel. Gabbard said the president gets to decide when a threat is imminent.

Civilian sites, including a school, have also been destroyed

A military investigation continues, but a CNN analysis found at least one strike missed the mark when, apparently using old intelligence, it took out a girls' school near an Iranian military base. Iran says more than 150 girls were killed. Trump has tried to point the finger at Iran for the strike, but the evidence suggests it was a US-made Tomahawk that took out the school.

The US has been hit by four attacks that are being investigated as terrorism

Federal authorities are investigatingfour incidents— shootings in Virginia and Austin, a car attack on a Michigan synagogue and an attempted bombing in New York City — as acts of domestic terrorism.

Misinformation is rampant online

Americans increasingly get information from their social media feeds, but those are plagued withfalse and misleading information.

Related:Fact check: Trump's barrage of false and unproven claims about the Iran war

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account atCNN.com

The Trump administration has not clarified what shape ICE agents' roles would take at airports since they're not trained to perform security screenings, and TSA screeners are required to undergo months of training. CNN has reached out to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security, which includes TSA, for comment.

"The president can have (ICE agents) come there but I don't see how that helps us in getting through this time period," Atlanta TSA officer and union steward George Borek told CNN, reiterating the need for proper training.

As leaders in both parties try towork out a dealto fund DHS, which includes 61,000 TSA employees who have been workingwithout paychecks, there are few signs the impasse will break soon on Capitol Hill before a scheduled recess.

Trump's threat comes as hundreds of TSA agentshave quitamid the funding lapse, frustrated travelers are facingdizzying security checkpoint linesat some major airports, andofficials are warningit could get worse if the standoff between Republicans and Democrats over federal immigration enforcement continues.

Here's what lies ahead as chaos and uncertainty continue to cast a shadow over airports across the country.

What's ahead for travelers

It's not clear what — if any — relief ICE agents could provide for lengthy security wait times, should the president deploy them. The agents could potentially help in limited roles, like managing lines, directing passengers or helping move people through the checkpoint process, to free up trained TSA officers for critical security functions.

Trump's announcement also did not specify to which airports ICE agents might be headed.

Bringing in untrained personnel could pose its own problems, Borek said.

"If you bring people in there, they are not trained, they don't know what they're looking for, then certainly it could be a problem," he said. Even trained TSA officers must be recertified after taking medical leave from work for 30 days, Borek said.

And as financial strain and low morale push TSA agents off the job, travelers may expect to see continuing lines weaving through some airports.

For six straight days last week, TSA callout rates hovered above 9% — with arecord 10.22% absentee rateset on Monday — as employees continue working without pay.

Impacts for travelers due to the callouts have varied wildly by airport, and unpredictability could continue. More than athird of screenersat Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport were absent last week, forcing passengers to wait in security lines for up to two hours. On Friday,more than halfof TSA workers called out at Houston's William P. Hobby International Airport.

The Department of Transportation secretary says without a funding bill to end the shutdown, the upcoming week of travel will be worse than ever before.

"These are going to be good days compared to what's going to happen a week from now as America tries to travel," Secretary Sean Duffy told CNN's Jake Tapper Friday. The travel woes amid hourslong security wait times will look like "child's play," he said.

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If the shutdown doesn't end by Friday, which marks the next payday for TSA workers, the situation "is going to be a lot worse in the weeks to come" as even fewer officers come to work, Borek said.

"I am actually apologizing to passengers as they come through," he said.

What's ahead for airports

If the shortage of TSA workers gets worse, it is possible some airports mightclose completely.

"It's not hyperbole to suggest that we may have to quite literally shut down airports, particularly smaller ones, if callout rates go up," TSA acting Deputy Administrator Adam Stahl said Tuesday.

TSA doesn't have the power to unilaterally close an airport. But passengers and crews must get screened before they fly, and if there's no one to do it, travelers will stay grounded.

TSA has not stopped all screening at any airport so far during the shutdown, and experts said the agency will exhaust every other possible option before it does.

Meanwhile, some airports have been largely untouched by the effects of the latest shutdown. At20 airportsin the US, security screening is handled not by TSA but by private companies, and their checkpoints are not seeing long lines.

Airports like San Francisco International, Kansas City International, Orlando Sanford, and 17 smaller facilities participate in TSA'sScreening PartnershipProgram, which uses contractors at the checkpoints.

What's ahead for TSA agents

The partial government shutdown is among three lapses in funding resulting in missed pay for TSA staff over the past six months, shortly following the historic 43-day shutdown late last year and a brief lapse in January.

TSA agents working without pay during the busy spring break travel season are poised to continue facing a domino effect of financial hardship behind the scenes, including eviction, empty fridges and overdrawn bank accounts.

They remain caught in the middle as Congress is locked in a stalemate over funding. Tens of thousands of TSA employees are making the choice each day to either stay home or show up to work without pay and usher frustrated travelers through their airports.

DHS said more than 400 officers have chosen a third option since the start of the shutdown: quitting altogether.

Union leaders said some TSA workers chose to quit and many others have taken unscheduled time off since they cannot afford gas or child care needed to go to work.

CNN's Aaron Cooper, Alexandra Skores, Holly Yan, Alaa Elassar, Rebekah Riess and Taylor Romine contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account atCNN.com

As the transformations at the DOJ mounted, she concluded the nation's top law enforcement official wasn't fit to serve.

"This is an administration that is out of control and that is completely lawless," Rep. Summer Lee, D–Pennsylvania, told USA TODAY March 18, as she explained her decision to introduce articles of impeachment the day before againstAttorney General Pam Bondi.

Lee's impeachment measure, drafted with the help of anti-corruption nonprofit groupFree Speech for People, points to investigations and prosecutions that she says demonstrate the Justice Department is being politicized. Those include charges broughtat the president's urgingagainst some of his longtime critics,former FBI Director James ComeyandNew York Attorney General Letitia James.

A judgedismissed the chargesin November.

"When we think about the authoritarianism that the Trump administration is actively pursuing, this is what we will look at in the end. These are the actions that we will, in history, look back on and say that that was a glaring red flag," she said.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) (R) talks with Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) as they arrive for a hearing with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Feb. 11, 2026 in Washington, DC.

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Pam Bondi faces Congress amid concerns over DOJ Epstein files release

Lee introducedthe articles, which were co-sponsored by several other Democrats, includingMichigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib.

She faces an uphill battle. A majority of the House of Representatives – currently controlled by Republicans – would need to vote for impeachment. An actual conviction in the Senate to oust Bondi from office would require a two-thirds majority in the upper chamber.

This might make observers wonder why Lee even bothered to introduce the measure. But she says there is a growing appetite for accountability, and building more pressure matters.

The articles essentially accuse Bondi of allowing her department to become a personal law firm to servePresident Donald Trump's political interests and carry out his vendettas.

"The real overarching message is that the train is flying off the rails right now," she said.

The articles also accuse Bondi of breaking the law by failing to turn overfiles related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Lee sees those parts of the articles as a potential avenue for helping bring in Republican support.

The Republican-led House Oversight Committeevoted March 4 to subpoena Bondifor testimony on the Justice Department's handling of the Epstein files.

"There is a growing appetite here for some sort of accountability, particularly where it comes to the part of this that is the handling of the Epstein files and the Epstein investigation," Lee said. "We're going to have to build on that momentum."

Trump indicated earlier this month that he plans to stick by his attorney general.

Bondi is a "terrific person," Trumpsaid at a March 5 White House eventcelebrating the 2025 Major League Soccer Champions. "And she's proving how tough she is and I think the next three years she's going to really prove it."

The Justice Department didn't respond to USA TODAY's request for comment.

"Attorney GeneralPam Bondihas worked tirelessly to successfully implement the President's law and order agenda. Attorney General Bondi is doing a great job." White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told USA TODAY in a statement.

Earlier in March, Rep. Shri Thanedar, D–Michigan,introduced his own impeachment articlesagainst Bondi, without any co-sponsors. Those articles separately accuse Bondi of weaponizing the Justice Department against political opponents and obstructing Congress' investigation into Epstein's circle.

Politicizing the DOJ?

The impeachment articles lay out a host of ways that Lee says Bondi has abused her powers by targeting Trump's critics for investigations and prosecutions.

That includes through complying withTrump's request to appoint Lindsey Halligan, a lawyer with no prosecutorial experience, to a top prosecuting role in Virginia. Halligan then heededTrump's callto seek charges from grand juries against Comey and James. A judgelater dismissed the charges.

The impeachment articles note other investigations of people disfavored by Trump, such asSen. Adam Schiff, D–California, Federal Reserve ChairJerome Powell, Federal Reserve Board MemberLisa Cook, andsix members of Congresswho urged military service members not to obey illegal orders.

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"This is something that we cannot accept in our political system," Lee said. "It sets a precedent that our systems, our agencies, our departments are all political footballs."

In aMarch 11 court opinion, afederal judge blocked subpoenasthat are part of a DOJ investigation into Powell's handling of building renovations, writing that the government "produced essentially zero evidence to suspect Chair Powell of a crime; indeed, its justifications are so thin and unsubstantiated that the Court can only conclude that they are pretextual."

The articles also hold Bondi responsible for her department's moves to close investigations and dismiss prosecutions and lawsuits into Trump allies or potential allies, includingborder czar Tom Homan, formerNew York City Mayor Eric Adams, and major Trumpcampaign donor Elon Musk.

"It is not the job of the DOJ to protect or to in any other way run cover for the president of the United States, or run cover for any of (the Trump administration's) friends," Lee said.

The White House has sometimes suggested the Justice Department was weaponized for political purposes underPresident Joe Biden, and that the current administrationis reversing that course.

However, those prosecutions against Trump were brought by a special counsel,Jack Smith, in a role designed to establish greater-than-normal independence from DOJ leadership, and special counsels were also appointed to handle sensitive investigations into then-Democratic President Joe Bidenas well ashis son, Hunter.

The cases against Comey and James were brought by Halligan after the previous official responsible for deciding whether to prosecutereportedly expressed skepticismabout both cases.

Bondi accused of shielding Epstein associates

The impeachment articles also target Bondi's handling of the Epstein files, whichhave earned her criticsonboth sides of the aisle in Congress.

In March 2025, Bondistoked expectations that her Justice Department would be releasing incriminating informationagainst associates of Epstein, who died in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

But just four months later, Bondi's DOJ releaseda memosaying a systematic internal review of the files failed to turn up any incriminating list of clients of Epstein and "(n)o further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted."

Since then, both Republican and Democratic members of Congress have accused the DOJ of illegally withholding documents in the face of, first, a congressional subpoena, and later, a bipartisan transparency law.

Bondi has defended the department's actions, saying it missed a legal deadline for releasing documents because reviewing and redacting the files was a monumental task.

"We had 30 days to redact and release, under the law that was passed, three million documents," Bonditold reporters March 18. "If you stack those up, that's the height of the Eiffel Tower."

Bondi's deputy, Todd Blanche, has said many documents have been withheld in order to protect victim privacy, which is permitted under the transparency law. However, hehas also saidthe DOJ withheld documents for some reasons the law didn't permit, such asto shield internal DOJ deliberationsrelated to Epstein.

Lee criticized the failure of Bondi's DOJ to take new action against Epstein associates, even as theUnited Kingdom has made arrestsbased oninformation in the latest releases of files. She said it shows elites in the U.S. enjoy protections that working class Americans don't get.

"People in America are tired of seeing that two-tiered system of justice," Lee said.

"If we had information ... about men who abused women, we would prosecute them," Blanchesaid Jan. 30.

'The attacks are coming from every angle'

Bondi isn't the only Trump official accused of defying the law and weakening ethical norms within government. Democrats in Congress have alsosought to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, accusing her of directing Immigration and Customs Enforcement to violate the public's constitutional rights in its enforcement actions.

Judges have sometimes backed claims that administration officials are defying the law, and even defying direct court orders.

Minnesota federal Judge Patrick J. Schiltz, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote in aFeb. 26 court order, for instance, that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had violated 210 orders in 143 separate cases, describing the "continued violation" of orders as "beyond the pale."

Lee believes the administration is demonstrating a pattern of dismissing the checks and balances that are imposed by Congress and the court system under the Constitution.

"The attacks are coming from every angle," Lee said. "And that is a fundamental and inherent existential threat to our democracy and to our democratic institutions."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:'Completely lawless': Why this lawmaker wants AG Pam Bondi impeached

After a series of low-scoring matches, New Zealand leads the series 2-1. South Africa won thefirst match by seven wicketswhile New Zealand wonthe second by 68 runsandthe third by eight wickets.

Tom Latham, who made 63 to lead New Zealand to victory in the third match on Friday, is out of action with a thumb injury.

Latham's opening partner Devon Conway, captain Mitchell Santner and pacer Lockie Ferguson are all unavailable for the last two matches of the series.

Wicketkeeper batter Dane Cleaver has been recalled to the New Zealand lineup for the first time since 2023 and batter Katene Clarke will make his debut while Josh Clarkson returns. Jimmy Neesham will captain New Zealand.

South Africa made two changes, naming offspinner Prenelan Subrayen to make his debut and recalling Ottneil Bartman. Seamers Nqobani Mokoena and Lutho Sipamla are rested.

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New Zealand: Tim Robinson, Katene Clarke, Dane Cleaver, Nick Kelly, Bevon Jacobs, Jimmy Neesham (captain), Josh Clarkson, Cole McConchie, Zak Foulkes, Kyle Jamieson, Ben Sears.

South Africa: Wiaan Mulder, Tony de Zorzi, Connor Esterhuizen, Rubin Hermann, Jason Smith, Dian Forrester, George Linde, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj (captain), Prenelan Subrayen, Ottneil Baartman.

AP cricket:https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

France Municipal Elections

The vote is a test of the balance of power onFrance'slocal political map before the 2027 presidential race begins to take shape. It is also a measure of whether the far right can convert national momentum into control of major cities, where it has often struggled to break through.

The most closely watched contests are concentrated in major cities after a first round that left France's traditional left and right competitive, the far right strongly placed in several urban races, and PresidentEmmanuel Macron's Renaissance movement keeping a low profile in many of the most closely watched races.

After days of mergers, withdrawals and tactical deals between lists, three-way races remain common in the runoff.

Paris is one of the biggest prizes. Emmanuel Grégoire, heading a united left and green list, finished first in the opening round with 37.98% of the vote, ahead of conservative Rachida Dati on 25.46%, while La France Insoumise candidate Sophia Chikirou stayed in the race, setting up a volatile three-way contest.

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Marseille is another marquee battle, where incumbent left-wing Mayor Benoît Payan led with 36.70%, only narrowly ahead of far-right candidate Franck Allisio on 35.02%, with Martine Vassal of the right also still in play.

In Lyon, the runoff is shaping up as a direct duel after ecologist incumbent Grégory Doucet took 37.36% in the first round, just ahead of centrist challenger Jean-Michel Aulas on 36.78%.

Toulouse will test the appeal of LFI in a large city after François Piquemal joined forces with the broader left to try to unseat conservative Mayor Jean-Luc Moudenc, who led the first round with 37.23%.

Other large-city contests will also be watched closely.

In Nice, Eric Ciotti led the first round with 43.43%, ahead of Christian Estrosi on 30.92%, highlighting a split on the right between Estrosi's more mainstream conservative camp and Ciotti, who is aligned with the far right.

In Nantes, Socialist Mayor Johanna Rolland starts the runoff ahead of her right-wing challenger, while Bordeaux remains open after incumbent Pierre Hurmic topped a fragmented field.