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Wednesday's Mini-Report, 3.4.15

Today's edition of quick hits.
Today's edition of quick hits:
 
* Ferguson: "The Department of Justice on Wednesday cleared former Ferguson, Missouri, police officer Darren Wilson of committing any civil rights violations in the shooting death of black teen Michael Brown Jr."
 
* Related news: "The Department of Justice released a scathing, 102-page report in full on Wednesday, condemning the Ferguson Police Department of routinely violating the constitutional rights of African-Americans living in the St. Louis suburb. The months-long investigation unearthed instances of when money and racial bias factored into the police department's unlawful activities."
 
* I wasn't in the room for the Supreme Court's oral arguments this morning, but I'd recommend checking out reports from some folks who were, including Suzy Khimm, Jonathan Cohn, Brian Beutler, Sarah Kliff, Sahil Kapur, and Ian Millhiser.
 
* On a related note, predictions at this stage are inherently tricky and routinely wrong.
 
* Keystone: "The Senate's attempt to override President Barack Obama's veto of the bill to approve the Keystone XL pipeline failed on Wednesday afternoon, effectively ending the measure, NBC News confirmed. The final vote was 62-37, but the measure needed a two-thirds majority of the Senate to pass."
 
* Keep an eye on this story: "Underscoring the Iraqi government's determination to control the timetable and tactics in the battle against the Islamic State, the country's defense minister declared on Wednesday that the most challenging operation, driving the militants from Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, would be 'planned, timed and executed by Iraqis.'"
 
* Predictable: "A House investigative committee is preparing to send out subpoenas later Wednesday to gather a deeper look into former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton's nearly exclusive use of personal e-mails to do her official business as the government's top diplomat, according to people familiar with the probe."
 
* You don't say: "The top Democrat on the House panel investigating the Benghazi attacks accused Republicans of prolonging the investigation to politically damage Hillary Clinton."
 
* Close: "Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the U.S. and Iran have nearly reached a nuclear arms deal, though there are still details left to be negotiated."
 
* New attempts at union-busting: "The Senate voted Wednesday to reverse a controversial Obama administration labor policy that speeds up union elections.... The measure passed by a tally of 53-46."
 
* The next debt-ceiling increase is now due in the fall. It's a welcome reprieve -- original projections pointed towards a showdown in the spring.
 
* Graham's apology: "Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina has apologized for remarks he made about House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's reaction to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress, saying the comments were 'a poor attempt at humor.'"
 
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.