5 things to know for April 18: Abrego Garcia, FSU shooting, CFPB, Powell, Mortgage rates

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President Donald Trump announced on social media this week that grocery prices are “going down.” But that doesn’t seem to be the case in my neck of the woods (nearly $11 for a bag of Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate chips? Seriously?). CNN did a fact-check and it turns out Trump’s claim was incorrect. According to the Consumer Price Index, average grocery prices were about 2.41% higher last month than they were in March 2024. That was the highest year-over-year grocery inflation rate since August 2023. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. Kilmar Abrego Garcia is still being detained in a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador without due process — even though the US government conceded his deportation was a mistake and despite the rulings of several courts. Sen. Chris Van Hollen managed to meet with Abrego Garcia on Thursday and posted several pictures on social media of their encounter. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele responded on X and declared that Abrego Garcia will remain incarcerated in El Salvador. Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, celebrated when she heard about the senator’s meeting with her husband. “My children and my prayers have been answered. The efforts of my family and community in fighting for justice are being heard, because I now know that my husband is alive,” she said in a statement. Van Hollen plans to release more details about their meeting today. At least two people were killed and another five wounded in a mass shooting on the Florida State University campus in Tallahassee on Thursday. Police have one suspect in custody, a 20-year-old FSU student who’s also the son of a local sheriff’s deputy. Authorities say he had his mother’s service weapon when they took him into custody. The suspect also has been hospitalized “with serious but non-life-threatening injuries,” police said. As the university went into lockdown, students and staff who’ve done shooting drills for years knew what to do: they hid in classrooms behind locked doors. One class stacked desks against the door in an attempt to barricade themselves from the gunman. Some fled to a church located across the street from the university, where the priest provided shelter and comfort. Others screamed and ran away from the area, frantically dodging bullets. It was the sixth mass shooting in Florida this year. The Trump administration is gutting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — despite a court order not to do so. The independent agency, created after the 2008 financial meltdown, protects Americans from financial abuses and has regulatory authority over many types of products and services, including bank accounts, consumer debt collection, credit cards, credit reporting and loan servicing. But on Thursday, the Trump administration laid off about 1,500 out of 1,700 employees, the National Treasury Employees Union said. Last week, a federal appeals court told the administration that it can shrink the agency but not dismantle it, nor can it trim the CFPB so much that the staff can’t carry out its statutory functions. Federal employee unions and other organizations have asked a judge to hold an emergency hearing on the layoffs, claiming the administration violated the previous court order by “cutting the Bureau’s staff by 90 percent in just 24 hours.” President Trump didn’t hold back his feelings about Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Thursday, even though he was the one who originally appointed him. In a social media post, Trump lashed out at Powell’s decision not to cut interest rates and said his “termination cannot come fast enough!” Later, while speaking with reporters, Trump reiterated his disdain for the Fed chair. “I don’t think he’s doing the job. He’s too late. Always too late. A little slow and I’m not happy with him. I let him know it,” Trump said. “And if I want him out, he’ll be out of there real fast, believe me.” Although the president has been unhappy with Powell for years, his most recent comments came after the Fed chair spoke at an event in Chicago and said the administration’s sweeping tariffs were larger than expected and that the lingering uncertainty could inflict lasting economic damage. As to whether Trump can fire Powell, that may depend on an upcoming decision from the Supreme Court.