Your Weekend Briefing

Chuck Berry, Donald Trump, Interest Rates View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Sunday, March 19, 2017 [NYTimes.com »]( [Your Weekend Briefing]( By STACY COWLEY AND ANDREW HINDERAKER Here are the week’s top stories, and a look ahead. Brett Deering for The New York Times 1. The budget outline President Trump proposed last week calls for large increases in defense and Homeland Security spending and sharp reductions for many domestic programs. Here is our breakdown of [who wins and who loses](. Mr. Trump is seeking billions for a [“physically imposing” border wall]( with Mexico and a 10 percent boost in military spending. Spending on environmental protection, medical research, job training, foreign aid and safety net programs would be cut. Many of the domestic programs targeted for cuts [have an outsize impact]( on residents of counties that voted for Mr. Trump. Joe and Paula Frye, above, relied on help from Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma to save their home after a missed tax payment. _____ Al Drago/The New York Times 2. Mr. Trump is back at Mar-a-Lago this weekend after [a rocky week]( in Washington. He provoked [a rare public dispute]( with America’s closest ally when his White House aired a claim that Britain’s spy agency had secretly eavesdropped on him at President Barack Obama’s behest. Intelligence officials and Republican leaders have strongly rebuffed Mr. Trump’s claim that Mr. Obama surveilled him. In another setback for the president, two federal judges [blocked Mr. Trump’s latest travel ban](. “This ruling makes us look weak,” Mr. Trump told a supportive crowd at a campaign-style rally. _____ Donal F. Holway/The New York Times 3. The rock ’n’ roll legend [Chuck Berry died on Saturday]( at 90. Mr. Berry was rock’s “master theorist and conceptual genius, the songwriter who understood what the kids wanted before they did themselves,” our music critic writes. With his distinctive guitar licks, duck walks and hit songs like “Johnny B. Goode” and “Maybellene,” Mr. Berry helped shape the transformative music that became the soundtrack of a generation. _____ Doug Mills/The New York Times 4. The confirmation hearing on Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court will begin Monday. Senate Democrats plan to [examine every aspect]( of his background and views. But Republicans, who hold 52 seats in the Senate, say they are committed to confirming Judge Gorsuch even if that requires changing rules that require a 60-vote majority. _____ Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The New York Times 5. The Federal Reserve’s move last week to [increase interest rates]( will raise borrowing costs for consumers, who [will soon pay slightly more]( for credit card debt, home equity loans and auto loans. Ripple effects are also [being felt globally](. In Mexican border towns, the cost of staples like food and cooking gas has risen, while wages have not. Developing countries are bracing for falling currencies and reduced foreign investment. _____ Al Drago/The New York Times 6. The House of Representatives is [preparing to vote]( possibly as soon as Thursday, on the Republicans’ health care plan. The proposed replacement for the Affordable Care Act would [increase the number of people without health insurance]( by 24 million over the next decade, while slicing $337 billion off federal budget deficits, a Congressional Budget Office analysis found. To appease conservative lawmakers, Mr. Trump and Republican leaders agreed to [add significant changes to Medicaid]( that could limit federal funds for the program and impose work requirements on some beneficiaries. _____ Maddie Meyer/Getty Images 7. Is your bracket in tatters yet? After a first round with relatively few upsets in the men’s N.C.A.A. basketball tournament, a giant went down on Saturday. The top-seeded team, Villanova, [narrowly fell to No. 8 Wisconsin](. On Sunday, another top seed, Kansas, will try to shake off its [history of losing in tournament upsets]( and advance. In the women’s tournament, Connecticut is working to [capture its fifth straight championship]( — and extend an undefeated streak that stretches back to late 2014. _____ Pat Wellenbach/Associated Press 8. Speaking of fanatical fans, those who love the Oxford comma are reveling in a court case that highlights the punctuation mark’s importance. A class-action lawsuit about overtime pay for truck drivers hinges on the precise wording of a Maine state law. An appeals court [sided with the drivers]( saying the absence of a comma in one crucial section of the law produced enough uncertainty to rule in their favor. The tale of how that decision could cost a dairy company $10 million was one of our best-read stories of the week. _____ Andrea Morales for The New York Times 9. “You kind of get used to living very basic,” said Tanya Brashers, above, about making ends meet in Bryant, Ark., on an income near the area’s median. [We sent a team of journalists]( out around the country to speak with people of average earnings about the financial trade-offs they make. Side hustles, frugal shopping, real-estate compromises and small indulgences are common. “The way you dress and look and the way you eat: Everything is based on what you can afford to do, and people judge you on that,” said Tara Thompson, a home health aide raising two daughters in Duquesne, Pa. _____ Sarah Shatz/Amazon Video 10. If you’re looking for something to watch today, we have some suggestions. Our TV critics checked out [Amazon’s new crop of pilots]( and declared “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” a 1950s period comedy from the creator of “Gilmore Girls,” the standout. Other [weekend-viewing recommendations]( include the binge-worthy series “Fargo” and “Julie’s Greenroom,” a puppet-filled kid’s show starring Julie Andrews. Or you can hit YouTube for thousands of hours of recently declassified [footage of nuclear bomb tests](. _____ Sam Hodgson for The New York Times 11. Ready to be done with winter? In Mohacs, Hungary, residents hold [a raucous six-day festival]( to scare it away. In other upbeat news: [Breakthrough prosthetic leg technology]( promises to make life easier for aquatically inclined amputees. A new drug seems to radically [lower the chances of a heart attack or stroke]( for high-risk patients. And in Chicago, a cat-loving judge has a hobby of [threading feline-themed metaphors]( into his legal rulings. Have a great week. _____ Photographs may appear out of order for some readers. Viewing [this version]( of the briefing should help. Your Weekend Briefing is published Sundays at 6 a.m. Eastern. And don’t miss Your Morning Briefing, weekdays at 6 a.m. Eastern, and Your Evening Briefing, weeknights at 6 p.m. Eastern. Want to look back? Here’s [Friday’s Evening Briefing](. What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at [briefing@nytimes.com](mailto:briefing@nytimes.com?subject=Weekend%20Briefing%20Feedback). ADVERTISEMENT FOLLOW NYTimes [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@nytimes]( Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »]( | Sign Up for the [Evening Briefing newsletter »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Morning Briefing newsletter. 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