Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. Tens of thousands of business owners are now

applying for tariff refunds. Two months ago, the Supreme Court ruled that most of President

Trump's tariffs from last year were unconstitutional. In Paris Alina Selyuk reports the government

at first argued refunds would be unwieldy, but today it launched a portal for

claims. Virginia business owner Sarah Wells logged on to the portal before it was even supposed to be open.

I sort of took the early bird catches the worm approach. She makes backbacks and accessories for new moms,

and she applied for a refund of $20,000 for tariffs she paid on two shipments

from China and Cambodia. There were a lot of hours leading up to today and a lot of cumbersome

parts of this, but today was actually pretty quick. That prep process is still difficult for many

businesses, especially smaller ones. U.S. Customs is not saying how many companies did submit claims so far,

but this initial phase is meant to cover refunds of some $127 billion, which is the majority.

Alina Seleuk and Pierre News.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walts is launching a new political action committee to recruit Democratic candidates in rural communities.

Minnesota Public Radio's Dana Ferguson has more.

The second term governor says he's starting the federal campaign effort to get more Democratic candidates to run in rural districts around the country.

He pointed to his time serving southern Minnesota in Congress after flipping the

district from red to blue. And he says other teachers, nurses, laborers, and veterans could pick up

the mantle for Democrats if they opted to run where they live. Walls is not seeking a third term as

governor. Some of his remaining campaign funds could help boost prospective candidates.

The governor says Republican policies have hurt small towns and Democrats can help bring jobs

and keep rural hospitals open. Minnesota Republicans say walls and Democrats have lost touch with

rural voters. For NPR News, I'm Dana Ferguson in St. Paul. Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, is

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