What happened

Engaging in the arts, whether directly or by going to museums or concerts, helps people age more slowly, British researchers reported Monday in the journal Innovation in Aging. The benefits were found to be comparable to physical exercise and quitting smoking. They were most pronounced for people over 40 and those who engage in a wider range of artistic endeavors.

Who said what

The University College London researchers looked at how often 3,556 adults in the U.K. engaged in some artistic pursuit — singing, painting, dancing, crafting, photography — or visited an exhibition or heritage site. Those who did so weekly aged 4% slower in blood tests of their “epigenetic clock,” or biological aging. “People were around a year younger biologically if they’re regularly engaged in the arts,” researcher Daisy Fancourt, the study’s lead author, told NPR. Monthly arts engagement slowed aging by 3%.

Slower biological aging “does not necessarily mean someone will live longer,” The Guardian said, but “previous studies have suggested a link between arts engagement and longer lifespan.”

What next?

The research “builds on a growing body of evidence” that arts activities “reduce stress, lower inflammation and improve cardiovascular disease risk,” study senior author Feifei Bu told The Guardian. Regular creative engagement should be treated not “as a luxury” but “an essential,” Fancourt told The Art Newspaper, “just like we promote 10,000 steps a day or five-a-day of fruits and vegetables.”

What happened

Consumer prices last month shot up 3.8% from a year earlier, the biggest year-over-year uptick since May 2023, the U.S. Labor Department reported Tuesday. The heated inflation was driven largely by a 28% year-over-year jump in gasoline prices tied to President Donald Trump’s war with Iran.

Who said what

The latest consumer price index underscored how “daily life in America is getting more expensive,” The New York Times said. Airfares were up 21% from a year ago and food prices rose 3.2%, with coffee prices jumping 19% and tomatoes up 40%. Trump’s tariffs are “still slowly filtering through to some goods,” The Wall Street Journal said, but the war “has presented a much quicker and more obvious shock that could be hard to reverse.”

Asked Tuesday if cost-of-living concerns were motivating his dealmaking with Iran, Trump said “not even a little bit.” His only concern is Iran’s nuclear program, he said. “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody.”

What next?

In a separate report Tuesday, the Labor Department said real average hourly wages fell 0.5% from March to April, meaning “most workers are effectively taking a pay cut even as the White House touts its economic record,” The Washington Post said.

What happened

Food and Drug Administration chief Dr. Marty Makary resigned Tuesday after a tumultuous 13 months leading the agency charged with regulating drugs, medical devices, vaccines and much of the U.S. food supply. The White House and Health and Human Services Department “agreed in recent days on the need to replace” him, The Washington Post said. “Marty is a great guy,” President Donald Trump, who posted Makary’s resignation message on social media, told reporters. But “he was having some difficulty.”

Who said what

“In the end,” Makary “had just about run out of allies,” having upset “rare-disease patients, antiabortion groups and some drug-industry leaders,” The Wall Street Journal said. Makary also “drew criticism from public health leaders who viewed him as pandering to anti-vaccine activists,” The New York Times said. But according to his confidantes, he “ultimately left over concerns about the administration’s decision to authorize fruit-flavored e-cigarettes,” a move Trump insisted on but Makary opposed “over concerns that fruity and candy flavors would lure young people to addictive vapes.”

Makary had some “strong ideas” about streamlining the drug review process, Matthew Herper said at Stat News, but he was the FDA’s “worst commissioner” in at least 25 years. He “offended almost everyone involved in FDA issues, which is not easy to do,” National Center for Health Research president Diana Zuckerman told the Times. “But it would still be a disaster if he is replaced by someone who appeals primarily to tobacco companies, anti-abortion activists” and pharmaceutical lobbyists.

What next?

Trump appointed Kyle Diamantas, the FDA’s top food regulator, as acting commissioner.

What happened

European Union foreign ministers Monday agreed to impose sanctions on Israeli settlers over increasing violence against West Bank Palestinians. The sanctions will hit unidentified “Israeli extremist settlers and entities” and “leading Hamas figures,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.

The proposal, which required unanimous support from the 27 EU nations, was finally adopted after Hungary’s new government lifted former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s veto.

Who said what

“It was high ​time we move from deadlock to delivery,” Kallas said on social media. “Extremisms and ​violence carry consequences.” Israel and Hamas both criticized the sanctions, which were drafted last year amid “rising violence and expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank,” The Washington Post said.

The financial penalties “could have massive implications” for the targeted Israeli organizations — reportedly Regavim, HaShomer Yosh, Amana and Nachala — and their work expanding “settlements and illegal outposts,” The Times of Israel said. But the penalties are “focused more against individuals and groups pushing for the de facto Israeli annexation of the West Bank” than “those involved in violent assaults on Palestinians.”

What next?

The sanctions will take effect “once legal and technical work is complete,” the Post said.

What happened

A Washington, D.C., nonprofit Monday asked a federal court to pause President Donald Trump’s push to paint the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool “American flag blue,” arguing the makeover violates federal historical preservation laws.

Trump last month said he’d chosen a “pool guy” who worked on his golf club swimming pools to coat and paint the leaking landmark, predicting it would cost $1.8 million. The Interior Department last week raised the price of the contractor’s no-bid contract to $13.1 million, The New York Times reported Monday.

Who said what

Monday’s filing by the Cultural Landscape Foundation said the project was “part of a pattern” in which Trump rushes to transform historic public sites without seeking required approval. The Reflecting Pool’s neutral colors are a “fundamental” part of the “design intent” to “create a reflective surface” between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, the foundation president Charles Birnbaum said in a statement. “A blue-tinted basin is more appropriate to a resort or theme park.”

What next?

Workers Monday “began preliminary surveys and testing” of the proposed site of Trump’s massive Triumphal Arch, The Associated Press said. Like many of Trump’s “contentious” projects to “leave his lasting imprint on Washington,” the arch is being challenged in court.

What happened

President Donald Trump Monday said Iran’s response to the latest U.S. proposal for ending the war was a “piece of garbage” and the “ceasefire is on massive life support.” As the breakdown in negotiations sent oil prices higher, Trump proposed suspending the 18.4-cents-per-gallon federal gas tax to ameliorate the $1.50-a-gallon jump in gas prices since the war began.

Who said what

“We’re going to take off the gas tax for a period of time,” until “gas goes down,” Trump told CBS News. Pausing the tax would require approval from Congress, where there is some bipartisan support. But key lawmakers oppose the idea because it would increase the deficit by billions of dollars — or deplete the Highway Trust Fund — and others “mocked the idea as too little, too late,” The New York Times said.

Tehran’s rejected counterproposal sought U.S. recognition of its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, war reparations and the lifting of international sanctions, according to Iranian state TV. With the two sides so far apart, “world leaders are confronting the prospect of a long-term energy crisis, with potentially grave economic consequences,” the Times said.

What next?

During his trip to China this week, Trump is “expected to push Beijing to help find an offramp to the stalled diplomatic talks,” The Wall Street Journal said. China “has leverage over Tehran but there could be costs attached to any help from Beijing.”

What happened

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday presided over the “most ‌scaled-back Victory Day parade in years,” Reuters said. Afterward, he told reporters he thought the Ukraine war was “coming to an end.” President Donald Trump last week said Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had agreed to exchange 1,000 war prisoners and pause the fighting through Monday to mark the annual celebration of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.

Who said what

Russia’s “markedly pared down” Victory Day parade “went forward amid veiled threats from Ukraine,” Radio Free Europe said. Zelenskyy “issued a mocking statement” beforehand “saying he was authorizing the Kremlin parade to be held” free from attacks. If Putin’s parade was “subdued” because he “feared a long-range Ukrainian drone strike” in Red Square. This is “one more sign that the tide may be turning against Russia after four long years of death,” The Wall Street Journal said in an editorial.

What next?

Russia’s Ukraine offensive “has slowed to a crawl” and its “challenges on the battlefield complicate the narrative of imminent victory” Putin is “selling” Trump to convince him Kyiv needs to cede land in U.S. peace talks, The New York Times said. At its current rate, Moscow would need “more than three decades to seize full control of the Donbas.”

What happened

The Dutch cruise ship at the center of the hantavirus outbreak docked off Spain’s Canary Islands on Sunday so passengers could be evacuated to their home countries. They included all 17 American passengers from the MV Hondius, one of whom tested positive for the virus Sunday while another developed mild symptoms, the U.S. Health and Human Services Department said. One of five French passengers also tested positive after showing symptoms on the flight home, the French government said. Three passengers have died since April 11 and at least five others have fallen ill with hantavirus symptoms.

Who said what

Hantavirus is a rare and deadly virus usually spread by inhaling rodent droppings, but the Andes strain found in the infected passengers can spread through close human contact, the World Health Organization said. “This is not another Covid,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “And the risk to the public is low.”

What next?

The U.S. passengers are arriving in Omaha on Monday morning, where most will be monitored at the specialized National Quarantine Unit while the one who tested positive will be transferred to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit, HHS said.

What happened

Democrats scrambled over the weekend to respond to setbacks in the national redistricting fight, most recently the Virginia Supreme Court’s 4-3 decision last week to nullify the state’s voter-approved congressional map. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and other House Democrats “vented anger at their defeat” in Virginia during a private discussion on Saturday, The New York Times said, with “some party leaders discussing an audacious and possibly far-fetched idea” to restore the map, designed to flip four Republican seats.

Who said what

“Just two weeks ago, Democrats had fought to a draw” in the mid-decade gerrymander race started by President Donald Trump and Texas Republicans, The Washington Post said. Now, between the Virginia decision and the expected loss of several additional seats in the South following the U.S. Supreme Court’s neutering of the Voting Rights Act, Democrats are “confronting the reality that Trump succeeded in tilting the playing field to the GOP’s advantage.”

What next?

If the Republicans maintain their current net gain of about a dozen seats, Democrats “could need to win the House combined national popular vote by around 4 percentage points,” Nate Cohn said at the Times. That “structural advantage wouldn’t be enough to make the Republicans favorites,” but it “gives them a real shot” at winning. And if the court rulings help Republicans keep the House despite “badly losing the national vote, it would be yet another blow to the credibility of American institutions during a time of bitter division.”

What happened

The FBI is investigating the reporter for The Atlantic who wrote an unflattering profile of Director Kash Patel and “more than two dozen former and current members” of Patel’s security detail to “find leakers among his team,” MS NOW reported Thursday. Patel “ordered the polygraphing” of the FBI staff and “has been described as being in panic mode to save his job,” MS NOW said, citing people briefed on the developments.

Patel sued The Atlantic and journalist Sarah Fitzpatrick for reporting last month that FBI personnel were concerned about his erratic behavior and excessive drinking. Fitzpatrick reported Wednesday that Patel travels with and hands out bourbon bottles engraved with “KASH PATEL FBI DIRECTOR” and the FBI shield.

Who said what

FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson declined to comment on the polygraph report but told MS NOW there was no such criminal leak investigation and Fitzpatrick “is not being investigated at all.” The personalized bourbon bottles “are part of a common practice in the FBI” of exchanging “commemorative items in formal gift settings,” he said. A former longtime senior FBI official “burst out laughing” when asked if previous FBI directors had distributed “personally branded liquor bottles,” Fitzpatrick reported.

What next?

If the FBI criminal leak investigation is “confirmed to be true,” Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg said in a statement, “we will defend The Atlantic and its staff vigorously.”

What happened

The federal Court of International Trade on Thursday ruled against the 10% global tariffs President Donald Trump imposed in February after the Supreme Court struck down steep import taxes he had enacted under a different legal authority. Trump’s tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 are “invalid” and “unauthorized by law,” the trade court said in its 2-1 decision.

Who said what

Thursday’s ruling dealt “yet another legal setback” to Trump’s “efforts to wage a trade war without the express permission of Congress,” The New York Times said. But the court “only explicitly blocked” collecting the tariff from two small businesses and Washington state, finding that the other 23 states in the lawsuit hadn’t paid any relevant tariffs. Another reason the ruling’s “immediate impact might be limited,” The Wall Street Journal said, is that the tariff expires July 24, at “which point the administration plans to pivot to different tariffs” that are “more routinely used and seen as legally durable.”

What next?

The ruling “weakens” Trump on his “core economic initiative” a week before he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss bilateral trade, The Washington Post said. It also “sets the stage for another protracted legal battle” over refunding the billions collected under another illegal tariff regime, Reuters said.

What happened

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) on Thursday signed into law a new congressional map that slices up Memphis to disperse its Black voters into Republican-leaning districts, seeking to eliminate the state’s last Democratic-held and majority-Black district. The General Assembly’s Republican supermajority approved the gerrymander earlier in the day amid raucous protests.

Who said what

Tennessee is the first state to draw a new map since the Supreme Court last week neutered the last remaining pillar of the Voting Rights Act. That ruling “opened a new front, particularly in the South, in a bitter, coast-to-coast redistricting battle” launched by President Donald Trump to protect the GOP’s slim House majority, The New York Times said.

Tennessee Republicans “defended the new map,” saying their “partisan” goal was sending “an all-Republican delegation” to Congress, NPR said. “You cannot take a majority Black city, fracture its voting power and then tell us race has nothing to do with it,” said state Sen. London Lamar (D). The new map is “Jim Crow on steroids,” political scientist Norm Ornstein said on social media. The new map likely “would never have withstood scrutiny under the Voting Rights Act under the last several decades,” said David Becker at the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research. “Now, the Supreme Court almost seems to invite” these gerrymanders.

What next?

The NAACP on Thursday evening challenged Tennessee’s map in state court. Alabama, Louisiana and South Carolina are taking steps to eliminate majority-Black districts in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling.

What happened

Ted Turner, the billionaire media tycoon who pioneered around-the-clock news coverage by founding CNN, died Wednesday at the age of 87. No cause of death was announced, but Turner revealed eight years ago that he had Lewy body dementia, a progressive neurological disorder.

Who said what

Turner was a generous philanthropist, avid conservationist and accomplished yachtsman. He also previously owned three Atlanta sports teams: the Braves, Hawks and Thrashers. But it “was his audacious vision to deliver news from around the world in real time, at all hours, that really made him famous,” CNN said, “once his idea finally took off.”

Turner started CNN in 1980, but its “breakthrough came during the Gulf War with Iraq in 1991,” when it broadcast live from Baghdad after “most television journalists fled,” The Associated Press said. CNN “revolutionized television news,” The New York Times said. But Turner’s other cable channels — TNT, the Cartoon Network, Turner Classic Movies and Superstation WTBS — have also had “considerable” impact on American culture.

What next?

Turner’s “legacy as a businessman and outspoken environmentalist will continue” through his family, USA Today said. His “five talented, complex kids who I had the privilege of becoming stepmother to” are “all doing fine,” Jane Fonda, the most famous of Turner’s three ex-wives, said on Instagram.

What happened

A federal judge in New York on Wednesday released a jail suicide note purportedly written by Jeffrey Epstein. The handwritten note had been sealed for years in an unrelated case involving Epstein’s one-time cellmate Nicholas Tartaglione.

Who said what

“They investigated me for month — Found nothing!!!” the note said. “It is a treat to be able to choose one’s time to say goodbye. Watcha want me to do — Bust out cryin!! NO FUN — NOT WORTH IT!!” Tartaglione said he found the note in a graphic novel after Epstein was moved from their cell after a first suicide attempt. Epstein’s death weeks later was ruled a suicide but spawned murder conspiracy theories. Federal prosecutors approved the note’s release, citing “a strong public interest in the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death.”

What next?

Tartaglione’s lawyers “said they authenticated the note,” The Washington Post said, but “no court or investigative agency has vouched for” its authenticity. The note does use phrases Epstein “used in emails, as well as in a separate note found in his jail cell at the time of his death,” The New York Times said. That final note “appeared to be a list of grievances about conditions at the jail,” The Associated Press said.

What happened

Tehran is considering a U.S. proposal to formally end the Iran war and start a 30-day clock to negotiate a full agreement, Axios and other news organizations reported Wednesday. Iranian and Trump administration officials “offered contradictory and rapidly changing assessments of the state of the war and peace talks,” The New York Times said, all “while providing few details about those negotiations.”

Who said what

If Iran doesn’t agree to “give what has been agreed to,” President Donald Trump said on social media Wednesday morning, the “bombing starts,” and “at a much higher level and intensity.” Hours later, he told reporters the two sides “had very good talks over the last 24 hours” and a deal was “very possible.” An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tehran would relay its response through Pakistan, while another Iranian official dismissed the proposal as an “American wish-list.”

The one-page U.S. memorandum of understanding involved “Iran committing to a moratorium on nuclear enrichment, the U.S. agreeing to lift its sanctions and release billions in frozen Iranian funds, and both sides lifting restrictions around transit through the Strait of Hormuz,” according to Axios. But the proposal would “not initially require concessions from either ​side,” sources told Reuters, and it leaves “unresolved key U.S. demands” on Iran’s nuclear program and reopening the strait.

What next?

The “biggest obstacle to an Iran deal may be Trump’s ego,” Politico said, citing U.S. and Arab officials. Trump’s “history of nursing grudges, ridiculing opponents and insisting he wins everything doesn’t bode well” for striking a deal with Iran’s respect-conscious leaders.

What happened

Senate Republicans faced an uproar Tuesday for including $1 billion for President Donald Trump’s “East Wing Modernization Project” in their $72 billion party-line bill to fund immigration enforcement through September 2029. The East Wing project is what the White House calls Trump’s $400 million ballroom, which he has repeatedly claimed will be built only with private funds.

Who said what

Democrats “pounced” on the “surprise addition” to the GOP’s reconciliation package, The New York Times said. “Republicans looked at families drowning in bills and decided what they really needed was more raids and a Trump ballroom,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on X.

The bill, released late Monday, allocates $1 billion for Secret Service “enhancements” related to the East Wing project, including “above-ground and below-ground security features.” A spokesperson for Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said the bill “does not fund ballroom construction.” But “security costs would seem to be a significant portion” of the ballroom project, said CNN, and “no other project is mentioned in that section of the bill.”

What next?

Republicans hope to pass the filibuster-proof $72 billion package by the end of the month.

What happened

Pope Leo XIV’s public opposition to the Iran war is “endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people,” President Donald Trump said in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt broadcast Tuesday. Trump’s renewed criticism of Leo could complicate Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s “fence-mending visit” to the Vatican on Thursday, The Associated Press said.

Who said what

“The pope would rather talk about the fact that it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said in the interview. Leo has spoken out against the Iran war and “taken aim at invocations of God” to justify the violence, The Washington Post said, but “he has never suggested that it is acceptable for Iran to have a nuclear bomb.” In fact, the pope has “repeatedly called for a world free of all nuclear weapons,” The Wall Street Journal said.

“The mission of the church is to preach the Gospel, to preach peace,” Leo told reporters Tuesday. “If someone wants to criticize me for announcing the Gospel, let him do it with the truth.”

What next?

After his audience with the pope, Rubio is expected to meet Friday with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a “long-time Trump ally” who has split with the president over his criticism of Leo, the AP said.

What happened

A slate of Midwestern elections on Tuesday set up a key U.S. Senate race in Ohio, assured Michigan Democrats control of the state senate and ousted at least five Indiana Republicans targeted by President Donald Trump for voting against a mid-decade gerrymander. In Ohio, Trump-backed entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy won the GOP gubernatorial primary and will face Democratic former state public health director Amy Acton in what’s expected to be a competitive race.

Who said what

Former Sen. Sherrod Brown won Ohio’s Democratic Senate primary and will face Sen. Jon Husted (R), appointed last year to fill the seat vacated by Vice President JD Vance. Democrats face an “uphill climb” to flip the Senate in November’s midterms, Reuters said. But “they think they have momentum nationally,” and Brown’s race is one of four they “plan to pour resources into.”

In Michigan, firefighter Chedrick Greene (D) handily won a vacant state Senate seat in a closely divided district, giving Democrats a 20-18 majority. In Indiana, Trump’s “loyal and energized supporters turned out to punish” five of the seven state Senate incumbents he sought to oust, Politico said. One incumbent won and the other race was too close to call. The “stunning” results showed Trump’s “continuing ability to exact political revenge,” The New York Times said, even as his “poll numbers sag.”

What next?

Tuesday’s elections “reinforced a picture that’s becoming increasingly clear,” The Associated Press said: Trump “still dominates the Republican Party,” but “Democrats seem to have the momentum” heading into the midterms.

What happened

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is in critical condition in a Florida hospital as he recovers from pneumonia, but he “is now breathing on his own” after requiring a ventilator, spokesperson Ted Goodman said in a statement Monday. Giuliani, 81, is the “ultimate fighter” and “he is winning this battle.”

Who said what

Giuliani, once hailed as “America’s Mayor” for his response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York City, has “struggled with legal and financial problems in recent years,” The New York Times said. Last year, he “suffered a fractured vertebra” from a car crash in New Hampshire, and he “made at least one public appearance in a wheelchair.” On his podcast last week, Giuliani said his voice was “a little under the weather.” Goodman said Giuliani had been diagnosed with restrictive airway disease stemming from his proximity to Ground Zero on 9/11, and “this condition adds complications to any respiratory illness.”

What next?

Giuliani’s health had “concerned those around him” recently, People said, citing a source close to the Trump administration. He “isn’t in good shape,” the source said.

What happened

The four-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran faltered Monday as President Donald Trump’s attempts to reopen traffic through the Strait of Hormuz prompted Iranian attacks on U.S. warships and commercial ships. The United Arab Emirates and Oman also reported the first strikes on their territories since the ceasefire began, and the UAE blamed Iran. U.S. Central Command said that two U.S.-flagged merchant ships passed through the strait and that U.S. military helicopters sank six Iranian military speedboats; Iran said none of its boats were destroyed.

Who said what

Tehran “did not outright confirm or deny” its attacks, The Associated Press said. CENTCOM said it had shot down all Iranian missiles and drones fired at U.S. Navy ships and the commercial vessels they were guiding through a passage it had “successfully opened” through the strait. Trump appeared “willing to look past” Iran’s attacks, The Wall Street Journal said. But Monday’s violence put his “desire to end the Iran war” to the test.

What next?

Shipping companies said that Trump’s “offer to provide them safe passage” through the strait “fell short of the sort of arrangements that would persuade them to make the trip,” The New York Times said.

What happened

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to put last week’s ruling overturning Louisiana’s congressional map into immediate effect, waiving its customary 32-day waiting period. The unsigned order removed a legal obstacle to Louisiana Republicans redrawing districts for the 2026 midterms to eliminate one or both of the state’s majority Black districts. Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued a pointed dissent, prompting pushback from conservative Justice Samuel Alito and exposing “tension” that was “more notable” than the “technical decision itself,” CNN said.

Who said what

Gov. Jeff Landry (R) moved to pause Louisiana’s May 16 U.S. House primaries right after the court’s Louisiana v. Callais ruling at the end of April, but early voting began May 2 and thousands of voters have already cast ballots. Under the Supreme Court’s “Purcell principle,” federal courts aren’t supposed to interfere with voting rules too close to an election. But this court has shown an “inconsistency” in applying that rule that “has the remarkably coincidental effect of benefitting Republicans,” Georgetown Law Professor Steve Vladeck said on his Substack page One First.

By helping Louisiana “​​rush to pause the ongoing election” to pass a new map, the court’s conservative wing discarded “principles” for “power,” Jackson wrote. “Not content to have decided the law, it now takes steps to influence its implementation.” Jackson’s quibbles are “trivial at best,” Alito said in a concurrence joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, and her charge of “an unprincipled use of power” is “ground­less and utterly irresponsible.”

What next?

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Monday signed a GOP-boosting gerrymander and Alabama’s GOP legislature began a special session to redraw its 2026 maps; Tennessee is following suit.

What happened

Pioneering no-frills budget carrier Spirit Airlines ceased operations on Saturday, citing sharply higher fuel prices and the collapse of a $500 million Trump administration bailout. “This is tremendously disappointing and not the outcome any of us wanted.” Spirit CEO Dave Davis said in a statement.

Who said what

The “proudly penny-pinching” airline had capped its “final, mad-dash scramble to save money” with tentative deals to emerge from bankruptcy, unveiled four days before the Iran war started, The Associated Press said. In the end, the “spike in jet fuel prices from the war was the last straw,” said Axios.

Spirit was “often skewered for its bare-bones service,” but its “corresponding dirt-cheap fares opened up air travel” to thousands and “helped shape how other airlines competed,” The Washington Post said. Even if “you never flew Spirit, you benefited” from its low prices, said The Wall Street Journal. “Competing airlines vigorously matched its fares,” and “one big reason major airlines” were “rooting against a government bailout” is that “one less pesky discounter gives them more pricing power.”

What next?

Spirit said customers who booked flights with credit or debit cards would automatically get refunded. Most other U.S. airlines offered discounted or “rescue fares” to Spirit passengers facing canceled flights.

What happened

Two drugmakers on Saturday asked the Supreme Court to pause a federal appellate court’s decision to ban mail-order access to the abortion medication mifepristone nationwide. A panel of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled the day before that women seeking mifepristone had to get the drug in person from a doctor.

Who said what

The Fifth Circuit agreed that Louisiana was “irreparably harmed without a stay,” because out-of-state mifepristone shipments circumvent the state’s near-total ban on abortions. Mifepristone makers Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro asked the Supreme Court to step in, arguing that overriding an FDA decision on a drug long proved safe and effective was unprecedented and upended the established U.S. drug-approval framework.

The ruling “puts the Trump administration in a politically difficult spot, especially ahead of the midterms,” The New York Times said. The White House “does not want to take a high-profile anti-abortion action” that “might antagonize some voters who support abortion rights.” But antiabortion groups are already furious with President Donald Trump over the continued “ubiquity of abortion pills,” The Wall Street Journal said, and they plan to campaign heavily for national abortion bans.

What next?

Mifepristone and its less-regulated partner drug misoprostol are used in about two-thirds of all U.S. abortions. If the mifepristone ruling stands, the Times said, many “abortion providers are prepared to prescribe only misoprostol, which can be used on its own for abortions.”

What happened

President Donald Trump said the U.S. was launching a new effort Monday to “guide” blockaded commercial ships “safely” through the Strait of Hormuz, which has effectively been closed to maritime traffic since Trump and Israel launched the Iran war Feb. 28. Trump offered few details in his social media announcement, but described “Project Freedom” as a “humanitarian gesture” on behalf of the U.S., Middle Eastern countries and “in particular” Iran. Iranian state-run media said the announcement was part of “Trump’s delirium.”

Who said what

U.S. Central Command said guided-missile destroyers, drones and more than 100 aircraft would support Trump’s new initiative. But the plan “doesn’t currently involve U.S. Navy warships escorting vessels through the strait,” The Wall Street Journal said, citing senior U.S. officials. Traders and shipowners “expressed skepticism” that the “arm’s-length effort to unblock the vital supply route” would be effective.

Trump’s announcement was “essentially a challenge to Iran, and a bet that it would not want to take the risk of firing the first shots — or laying mines” — to challenge the U.S., The New York Times said. Ebrahim Azizi, the head of Iran’s parliamentary National Security Committee, said on X that “any U.S. interference” in the strait “will be considered a violation of the ceasefire.”

What next?

Two months into the war, Trump’s “predictions of a relatively short-term conflict with minimal economic consequences appear to be crumbling around him,” the Times said. “Voter backlash is building” as average U.S. gas prices hit a “wartime high of $4.39,” The Washington Post said, and “inside the White House, the options to lower prices at the pump are dwindling.”

What happened

President Donald Trump on Thursday tapped radiologist Dr. Nicole Saphier to be U.S. surgeon general, withdrawing the stalled nomination of nutrition influencer Dr. Casey Means, an ally of Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. and the Make America Healthy Again movement. Saphier is Trump’s third nominee, after Means and Dr. Janette Nesheiwat.

Who said what

The “MAHA movement had pushed hard for Means’ nomination,” The Washington Post said, and it blamed its failure on Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and two other Republican senators skeptical of her qualifications and stance on vaccines. Trump called Saphier, a former Fox News contributor, an “INCREDIBLE COMMUNICATOR” on “complicated health issues” in a social media post. Kennedy called her a “longtime warrior for the MAHA movement.” But unlike Means, Saphier “does not appear to be a heroine” of MAHA, The New York Times said. Its “leaders view her as too conventional” due to her tempered praise of vaccines and criticism of Kennedy, though she has “also embraced” some of his agenda.

What next?

Even as MAHA lost its “favored influencer for surgeon general,” it “notched a big win on pesticide regulation” in a House farm bill, Axios said. Thursday’s events highlighted how MAHA retains “clout on matters related to the food supply” but “can be a political liability” on “vaccines and other public health matters.”

What happened

The White House is arguing that the War Powers Act deadline to either wind down the Iran war or get congressional authorization is not Friday, as Congress assumed, because the 60-day clock stopped when President Donald Trump ordered a ceasefire on April 7. “For War Powers Resolution purposes,” an official told reporters, the hostilities “have terminated.”

Who said what

“We are in a ceasefire right now, which our understanding means the 60-day clock pauses or stops,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a Senate hearing Thursday. His assertion was “met with outrage from Democrats and skepticism from Republicans,” The Wall Street Journal said. The U.S. military “continues to enforce a military blockade,” which is “considered an act of war under international law.”

“Nothing in the text or design of the War Powers Resolution suggests that the 60-day clock can be paused or terminated,” Katherine Yon Ebright, a war powers expert at the Brennan Center, told The Associated Press, and Congress needs to push back against this “sizeable extension of previous legal gamesmanship” over the law.

What next?

In the hearing, ostensibly about the Pentagon’s $1.45 trillion budget request, Hegseth “did not say how long the war with Iran could continue,” The New York Times said.

What happened

The House on Thursday passed a Senate bill funding all of the Department of Homeland Security except for its immigration enforcement arms, and President Donald Trump signed it, ending the longest-ever partial government shutdown after 76 days. DHS agencies, including the Coast Guard, Secret Service, FEMA and TSA are now funded through September. ICE and Customs and Border Protection never lost funding thanks to the GOP’s 2025 megabill.

Who said what

After weeks of delay and GOP infighting, the House “unanimously” approved the DHS bill “through voice vote with little fanfare,” suggesting Republicans were “finally ready to put the impasse behind them,” CBS News said. After Democrats refused to fund ICE and CBP without new guardrails, GOP leaders agreed to finance the rest of DHS and separately give Trump $70 billion for deportation operations through a filibuster-proof GOP-only reconciliation bill.

If the House had “waited for the Senate to pass a reconciliation bill, as some GOP lawmakers insisted, it would have left DHS closed until mid-May,” Axios said. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) had been facing a “growing revolt from centrists in his party,” CNN said, and his “major retreat” on holding out for ICE funding was a “major win for Democrats.”

What next?

After lawmakers “return in mid-May,” The New York Times said, Republicans will “try to meet the president’s June 1 deadline” to get their $70 billion ICE-CBP bill to his desk.

What happened

LIV Golf, the PGA Tour rival launched in 2021 with financial backing from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, will lose that funding at the end of this season, The Wall Street Journal and other news organizations reported Wednesday. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Saudi PIF, is stepping down as LIV chair, according to the Sports Business Journal.

Who said what

LIV Golf “will announce details of its strategic path forward” on Thursday, including new leadership and “a push to secure new, long-term financial partners,” CNBC said. LIV chief executive Scott O’Neil told TNT two weeks ago that if PIF funding ended, he would “work like crazy to create a business plan to keep us going.” But most likely, the Saudi withdrawal “sounds the death knell for the upstart that sowed chaos in professional golf,” the Journal said. It will be “nearly impossible” for LIV to carry on in “any resemblance to its current form after the Saudis lost billions on the endeavor.”

What next?

Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and other pro golfers who “abandoned the PGA Tour for nine-figure guaranteed contracts are now facing an uncertain future,” USA Today said. The “mainstream golf world” has already made clear it “isn’t ready to simply welcome them back,” the Journal said.

What happened

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday he will remain on the Fed Board of Governors “for a period of time to be determined” after his term as chair expires May 15. His announcement came at the end of a two-day policy meeting in which the Fed voted to keep rates unchanged, and shortly after the Senate Banking Committee voted along party lines to advance Kevin Warsh’s nomination to succeed Powell.

Who said what

Powell’s “decision to stay, which he can do until January 2028, breaks with tradition” and denies President Donald Trump the chance to “appoint another governor” until he leaves, The New York Times said. Powell underscored that he was still concerned about the Fed’s independence and “made clear his decision hinged on the outcome of a criminal investigation” of him that the Justice Department has halted, with caveats.

His continuing presence could “make it a bit harder for Warsh to engineer the rate cuts that Trump has demanded,” The Associated Press said. But Powell downplayed concerns about a “‘two Popes’ scenario.” There’s “only ever one chair,” he told reporters. “I’m not looking to be a high-profile dissident.”

What next?

The Fed’s next policy meeting is June 16-17. “I won’t see you next time,” Powell deadpanned at his last post-meeting press conference.

What happened

The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a Louisiana congressional map drawn to include a second majority-Black district. The decision in Louisiana v. Callais significantly weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, one of the remaining pillars of the landmark 1965 civil rights law. Justice Samuel Alito, joined by his five fellow conservative justices, ruled that the district was an “unconstitutional gerrymander” because it relied on race, not partisanship. Justice Elena Kagan said in her dissent that the decision “renders Section 2 all but a dead letter.”

Who said what

The court’s conservatives “hollowed out” a law that “increased minority representation in Congress,” state legislatures and local councils, The Associated Press said. Alito “left the landmark civil rights law on the books,” Politico said, but “gutting” it was a “long-held goal of the conservative legal movement,” and “they’re taking a victory lap.”

“This is a complete and total victory for American voters,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement. It’s a “mind-boggling piece of judicial overreach,” The New York Times said in an editorial. The court’s six Republican appointees “acted more like partisan legislators” than judges, “substituting their own judgment for that of Congress.”

What next?

The ruling will likely “touch off a scramble by Republicans” in the South to redraw congressional maps, The Washington Post said, thereby “imperiling the reelection prospects of some Black Democrats, possibly as soon as November’s midterms.” Hours after the ruling, Florida lawmakers approved a new map giving Republicans up to four new seats.

What happened

The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday announced it was withdrawing from OPEC and Russian-led OPEC+ on Friday, weakening the oil cartel’s leverage to set and stabilize oil prices. The UAE, which joined OPEC in 1967, is the cartel’s third-biggest oil producer, behind Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Who said what

The UAE’s exit “had been rumored as a possibility for some time, as it pushed back in recent years” against production limits enforced by OPEC to influence oil prices, The Associated Press said. In the short term, the decision “doesn’t really matter,” Semafor said, because with the “Strait of Hormuz closed, Gulf oil producers can’t hit their production targets anyway.” But “in the long term,” The New York Times said, the UAE’s move “could contribute to greater volatility” in the oil markets.

What next?

Free from the cartel’s “rigid quotas,” the UAE “gains the flexibility to aggressively increase its oil production on its own terms,” The Wall Street Journal said. Its departure could “spur more defections” from other members who have similarly “chafed at Saudi Arabia’s dominance.” This is the “beginning of the end of OPEC,” MST Financial energy analyst Saul Kavonic told the BBC.

What happened

The Justice Department on Tuesday indicted former FBI Director James Comey again, this time over a photo he posted last May showing seashells spelling out “86 47.” By posting 86 — a common term for ejecting unruly patrons from bars — and 47, the number of Donald Trump’s presidency, Comey “knowingly and willfully” threatened to “take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon, the president,” the two-count indictment alleged. The DOJ’s attempt to prosecute Comey last year for allegedly lying to Congress was thrown out by a judge.

Who said what

The charges are the “latest salvo” in the DOJ’s “tortured efforts to satisfy” Trump’s demands to “go after longtime targets of his wrath,” The New York Times said. Comey posted, then deleted, the beach photo “nearly a year ago,” The Associated Press said, but the indictment was secured as acting Attorney General Todd Blanche “aims to prove to the president that he is the right person to hold the job permanently.”

“Well, they’re back,” Comey said in a video statement Tuesday. “I’m still innocent, I’m still not afraid. … so let’s go.”

What next?

Prosecuting Comey for his seashell post “may be fruitless,” said CNN. “Especially given the country’s free speech protections.”

What happened

King Charles III on Tuesday spent the first full day of his state visit to the U.S. conversing privately with President Donald Trump, extolling America’s democracy and trans-Atlantic relations at a joint session of Congress and charming his host at a White House state dinner. The visit, ostensibly to mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. breakup from Great Britain, is also a “crucial diplomatic play” by the U.K. to mend strained ties with the “royal-loving U.S. president,” The Wall Street Journal said.

Who said what

The king’s address to Congress, the second ever by a British monarch, included “among the most pointed comments any allied leader has given on American soil” during Trump’s second term, Politico said. Sprinkled among well-received jokes, Charles said it was crucial to protect the environment, acclaimed the importance of NATO and urged “unyielding” defense of Ukraine.

He also highlighted England’s foundational Magna Carta, which “declared that even a king isn’t above the law,” said Politico. In the U.S., the Magna Carta is “cited in at least 160 Supreme Court cases since 1789,” Charles said, and “not least as the foundation of the principle that executive power is subject to checks and balances.” That drew a bipartisan standing ovation in Congress. Trump “didn’t seem to mind” the “low-key criticism,” The Associated Press said. The White House posted a photo of Charles and Trump, labeling it “TWO KINGS.”

What next?

Charles and Queen Camilla travel to New York and Virginia before departing the U.S. on Thursday.

What happened

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump on Monday separately demanded that ABC fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over a parody White House Correspondents’ Association dinner roast during last week’s show in which Kimmel joked that the first lady had a “glow like an expectant widow.” The outcry followed the shooting incident at the real gala two nights later. Federal prosecutors on Monday charged the alleged gunman with trying to assassinate Trump.

Who said what

Kimmel’s “rhetoric” was “completely deranged,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. “Who in their right mind says a wife would be glowing over the potential murder of her beloved husband?” It was “obviously” a “very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am,” Kimmel said on Monday night’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” The joke “was not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination, and they know that.”

What next?

The controversy over a joke about a “dinner meant to honor the First Amendment is sure to revive” the censorship battle between Trump and Kimmel that “erupted” last fall, The New York Times said. After a brief suspension following a joke involving Charlie Kirk, Kimmel signed a one-year contract extension due to keep him on air until May 2027.

What happened

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said on Monday that a Senate bill to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security contains “problematic language,” and House Republicans “have a modified version” that would be “much better for both chambers.” Any changes to the bill, which the Senate twice passed unanimously a month ago, would prolong the record 73-day DHS shutdown.

Who said what

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters that anything other than a “technical fix” in the House would be a “real problem.” A group of House Republicans is pushing to strip “language that ‘zeroes out’ funding for ICE and Border Patrol,” seeking to avoid “taking a vote seen as defunding law enforcement,” Axios said. “Frustration is running high among Senate Republicans over Johnson’s failure” to get his party in line. There’s also “growing animosity from rank-and-file Republicans that a handful of conservatives are dictating the process,” CNN said.

What next?

DHS funding is one of a “slew of contentious votes” Republicans face this week, along with spy powers legislation “that conservative privacy hawks detest and a massive farm bill that’s angered the MAHA bloc of the GOP,” CNN said.

What happened

Iran has proposed a deal to open the State of Hormuz provided the U.S. and Israel cease their attacks and the U.S. ends its naval blockade of Iranian ships and ports. Tehran’s nuclear program and enriched uranium would be discussed at a later date. The proposal, passed to the U.S. through Pakistan on Sunday, followed an Iranian offer to suspend its uranium enrichment that President Donald Trump rejected.

Who said what

Trump is “unhappy with Iran's proposal as he wants nuclear issues dealt with from the outset,” Reuters said, citing a U.S. official. The proposal was “subject to a vigorous debate inside the administration” over which side “has more leverage,” The New York Times said, “and which country is better positioned to endure the economic hardship” from the strait’s closure.

Iranian officials are “serious about getting themselves out of the mess that they’re in,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Fox News. The Americans “have achieved none of their goals, and this is why they are asking for negotiations,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Russia. “We are now considering it.” Leaders of European nations also weighed in: the U.S. “quite obviously went into this war without any strategy” and has “no truly convincing strategy in the negotiations either,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Monday. “A whole nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership.”

What next?

The “tense stalemate” has “entered a Cold War-like phase of financial sanctions, gunboat interdictions and talks about having talks,” with “no immediate end in sight,” Axios said. With the midterms six months away, a “frozen conflict is the worst thing for Trump politically and economically,” said a source close to the president.

What happened

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said Sunday he was prepared to drop his blockade of President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Reserve after the Justice Department assured him it had dropped its criminal investigation of outgoing Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Tillis’ decision cleared the last major obstacle for Kevin Warsh to replace Powell.

Who said what

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro last week said she had dropped her investigation of Powell tied to cost overruns on a Federal Reserve renovation, though she would “not hesitate to restart” it “should the facts warrant doing so.” With Democrats calling Warsh a “sock puppet” for Trump’s demanded interest rate cuts, Tillis’ opposition had “created an insurmountable deadlock” on the narrowly divided Banking Committee, The New York Times said.

What next?

The Banking Committee has scheduled a Wednesday vote on Warsh’s nomination, potentially advancing it to a full Senate vote before Powell’s chairmanship expires May 15. Powell can remain on the Fed Board of Governors through 2028, and Tillis said he suspected he would do so until the investigation is “fully settled,” which could be “a lengthy process.”

What happened

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Russia on Monday morning after a weekend of diplomatic trips to Pakistan and Oman, but no direct talks with the United States. President Donald Trump on Saturday called off an announced trip to Islamabad by his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, saying it would be a waste of time given Iran’s lack of commitment to meet with them.

Who said what

“If they want to talk, they can come to us, or they can call us,” Trump told Fox News on Sunday. With U.S.-Iran talks “derailed, at least for now,” The New York Times said, “Tehran and Washington are sinking into an awkward limbo of neither peace, nor war,” with each projecting confidence they can “outlast the other in a standoff with drastic stakes for the global economy.” Pakistani officials said “indirect talks” were ongoing even as they “scrambled to reignite” direct negotiations, The Associated Press said.

What next?

Trump was “expected to hold a Situation Room meeting” on Monday after receiving an Iranian proposal to “reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the war,” Axios said, “with nuclear negotiations postponed for a later stage.”

What happened

The gunman accused of trying to charge into the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday night appears to have “set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the president,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said over the weekend. Law enforcement officials said they are trying to determine the assailant’s motive, but he was believed to have acted alone.

The suspect, identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of California, was tackled after sprinting through a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton carrying a handgun, a shotgun and knives, police said. A Secret Service agent was shot but protected by a bulletproof vest.

Who said what

After popping sounds were heard outside the ballroom during the salad course, Secret Service agents swarmed in, ushering President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and top Cabinet officials to safety as most guests ducked for cover. The gunman “barely breached the perimeter,” Blanche told CNN, calling it a “massive security success story.”

At a White House press conference after the shooting, Trump “was unusually conciliatory,” The Associated Press said. But he “flashed a familiar anger” during a “60 Minutes” interview on Sunday, when Norah O’Donnell read from a manifesto Allen reportedly sent relatives before the attack, even though it did not mention Trump by name, Politico said. “I’m not a rapist,” and “I’m not a pedophile,” Trump said. “You shouldn’t be reading that on ‘60 Minutes,’ you’re a disgrace.”

What next?

Allen is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court Monday on preliminary charges of assaulting a federal officer and weapons charges.

What happened

Meta said Thursday it will cut about 8,000 jobs, or 10% of its workforce, as it shifts resources to artificial intelligence. In a company memo, Chief People Officer Janelle Gale said the social media behemoth would also close 6,000 open positions “as part of our continued effort to run the company more efficiently” and “offset the other investments we’re making.”

Who said what

CEO Mark Zuckerberg is “reorganizing his company around AI products in a fierce race” against OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, The New York Times said. Zuckerberg has “made no secret of his AI ambitions,” including rolling out AI-powered social media he “hopes people will incorporate into their daily lives,” and he has pushed employees to “use AI in their daily work.”

Meta’s cuts are the “latest in a string of tech industry layoffs fueled” by AI’s efficiency promises, CNN said. Amazon said it would cut 16,000 workers in January, and financial-tech firm Block’s 40% workforce cut in February “came with a stark warning that more companies would follow suit.” Microsoft on Thursday said it was offering buyouts to 7% of its workforce to invest in AI.

What next?

Meta said it will notify employees being laid off on May 20.

What happened

The Justice Department on Thursday reclassified marijuana as a less-dangerous Schedule III drug for medicinal and research uses, effective immediately. The order aligns federal policy more closely with the 48 states that allow some form of medical marijuana use.

Who said what

The reclassification “will make it easier to study medicinal applications of marijuana and could shore up support from influencers who support the research,” Axios said. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to reclassify cannabis in December and appeared impatient last weekend when signing a separate order to loosen restrictions on psychedelics. “Joe, they’re slow-walking me on rescheduling,” he told podcaster Joe Rogan.

This is “one of the biggest changes to U.S. drug policy in decades,” Reuters said. But after “shares of cannabis companies jumped between 6% and 13% following the decision,” they “reversed their gains” as investors in the $47 billion industry digested the “limited scope of the federal government’s immediate moves.”

What next?

Marijuana for recreational use, as allowed in 24 states and Washington, D.C., remains an illegal Schedule I controlled substance, alongside heroin and LSD. But the Justice Department said it scheduled a June 29 hearing to consider a broader Schedule III reclassification for all cannabis.

What happened

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan on Thursday charged a U.S. special forces soldier with insider trading for allegedly using classified information about the raid on Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro to net $409,000 on the prediction marketplace Polymarket. Army Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke placed 13 bets on the U.S. going after Maduro from Dec. 27 until hours before the Jan. 3 raid, which he helped plan and execute, the indictment alleges.

Who said what

The charges are “believed to be the first instance” of the Justice Department “prosecuting a case of insider trading on a prediction market,” ABC News said. The case, alongside other “presciently well-timed wagers around geopolitical events” like the Iran war, has “ignited broad concern” in Washington about using insider information to rig Polymarket and its chief rival, Kalshi, Politico said.

“The whole world unfortunately has become somewhat of a casino,” President Donald Trump said Thursday about government employees using prediction markets. “It is what it is. I’m not happy with any of that stuff.” But prediction markets “love the president’s unpredictability,” The Associated Press said. And Trump “seems to be a big fan, applying a light regulatory touch” and suing states “trying to ban prediction markets.” The Trump Organization is working to open its own prediction market, and Donald Trump Jr. is a Polymarket investor and a Kalshi adviser.

What next?

If convicted, Van Dyke faces many years in prison. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission also filed a parallel civil lawsuit seeking full restitution and penalties.

What happened

The FBI started investigating a journalist with The New York Times last month after she reported in January that FBI Director Kash Patel had assigned an around-the-clock SWAT team to protect and escort his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, the Times said Wednesday, citing a person briefed on the matter. FBI agents “recommended moving forward” to determine whether the reporter “broke federal stalking laws,” the Times said, but Justice Department officials shut down the inquiry, viewing it as legally baseless “retaliation” for the article.

Who said what

FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson did not dispute the SWAT detail report. Investigators were “concerned” that the Times journalist’s “aggressive reporting techniques crossed lines of stalking,” he said in a statement Wednesday, but “no further action” was “ever pursued by the FBI.”

Patel “hasn’t been reluctant to fight back against reporting that displeases him,” The Associated Press said. A federal judge in Texas on Wednesday dismissed a defamation suit filed by Patel against former FBI official Frank Figliuzzi for saying last year on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that “reportedly, he’s been visible at nightclubs far more than” at FBI headquarters.

What next?

It’s “not clear whether the Times has any recourse other than asking a federal inspector general to review” the FBI’s actions, the AP said.

What happened

Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) has died after nearly five decades in elected politics, his office announced Wednesday. The 80-year-old had recently filed to run for a 13th term and voted in the House as recently as Tuesday. Scott’s death widens the Republicans’ narrow majority in Congress ahead of November’s midterms. He was the fifth House member to die in office this Congress; four were Democrats.

Who said what

Scott, the first Black lawmaker to chair the House Agriculture Committee, was “once a leading voice for Democrats” on farm and food aid policy, The Associated Press said, but he “faced criticism and concerns in recent years because of declining health.” In his district, Scott sponsored “annual job and health fairs so popular they almost guaranteed his reelection every two years,” even as “age and physical ailments” limited his visibility, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said.

What next?

Scott had been facing “strong challenges from well-funded Democrats” in his May primary, the Journal-Constitution said. Under Georgia law, the governor “has 10 days to call a special election to fill Scott’s seat,” with the election held “at least 30 days after that,” The Washington Post said.

What happened

The Pentagon on Wednesday said Navy Secretary John Phelan, a billionaire financier and donor close to President Donald Trump, was leaving “effective immediately,” in what was widely reported to be a firing engineered by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after months of infighting. Phelan’s abrupt departure came amid an escalating naval standoff between the U.S. and Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Who said what

After Trump unilaterally extended a tenuous ceasefire, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Wednesday attacked three cargo ships in the strait, seizing two. “These were not U.S. ships” or “Israeli ships,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News. The news media is “blowing this out of proportion.”

As the Navy’s top civilian leader, Phelan had “no role overseeing deployed forces,” The New York Times said, so his firing “is not likely to have significant implications” for the war. But it’s the latest in Hegseth’s “near-continuous purge of the military’s most senior ranks,” often “with little public explanation,” The Washington Post said.

Hegseth believed Phelan was “moving too slowly” on ramping up shipbuilding and “was also irked by Phelan’s direct communication with Trump,” CNN said. Hegeth was “particularly annoyed” when Phelan “pitched the idea” for a modern “Trump Class” battleship directly to the president, The Wall Street Journal said.

What next?

Navy Undersecretary Hung Cao, a Navy veteran and former GOP congressional candidate in Virginia, is now acting secretary.

What happened

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday lifted the Pentagon’s longstanding policy requiring flu vaccinations for service members. The vaccines will still be available to military personnel who choose to immunize themselves against the seasonal flu. The new policy poses “no threat to our military readiness,” Hegseth suggested in a video posted on social media.

Who said what

U.S. military vaccination programs “date back to the American Revolution,” said The Associated Press, but they became a “contentious political issue during the coronavirus pandemic.” The Pentagon’s annual flu shot requirement, dating back to the 1950s, has been a “major factor in lower rates of hospitalizations among service members” than the U.S. average, said the Military Times. Hegseth’s announcement “seemed to catch some Republicans in Congress off guard,” The New York Times said. “The reason it was mandatory was to enhance readiness,” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) told reporters. “You do give up certain rights when you take the oath.”

What next?

U.S. military personnel are “still required to get vaccinations for diseases including measles, mumps and polio,” said the Times. Other immunizations “may be required depending on risk and military occupation.”

What happened

The Justice Department on Tuesday charged the Southern Poverty Law Center with financial crimes, accusing the civil rights organization of secretly paying informants in the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups without telling its donors. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the SPLC paid at least eight unidentified insiders a total of $3 million between 2014 and 2023.

Who said what

Nonprofits like the SPLC are legally required to “have certain transparency and honesty” with donors, Blanche said at a press conference, and by paying KKK, neo-Nazi and Unite the Right leaders for intelligence, the group was “not dismantling extremism, but funding it.” The indictment “offers little to support the notion” the SPLC’s payments were “meant to aid the extremist groups they had infiltrated,” The New York Times said.

The SPLC began working with informants in the 1980s and kept the since-disbanded program secret to ensure their safety, interim CEO Bryan Fair said in a video statement. The group “frequently” shared “what we learned from informants” with law enforcement, including the FBI, and “there is no question” the program “saved lives.”

What next?

Fair said he was “outraged by the false allegations” and his organization “will vigorously defend ourselves, our staff and our work.” No individuals were charged in the indictment, but Blanche said the investigation was ongoing.

What happened

Voters in Virginia on Tuesday backed a new congressional map that could flip as many as four Republican-held seats, giving Democrats a boost in November’s midterm elections. Democrats currently hold six of Virginia’s 11 House seats. The redistricting referendum, approved 51.5% to 48.5%, endorses a 10-1 map passed by the Democratic-led General Assembly that would remain in effect until 2030.

Who said what

The new Virginia map put Democrats “slightly ahead in the national mid-decade gerrymandering wars,” Politico said, an outcome “few thought possible when President Donald Trump picked the fight by pushing Texas Republicans to redraw their map last summer.” Virginia voters told pollsters “they generally opposed partisan gerrymandering,” The Washington Post said, but “many said they were willing to approve it for a limited time to send an extraordinary message to the White House.”

Trump sat out of the campaign until the end. “This is really a country election,” he told a tele-rally on Monday. Democrats did not “roll over and play dead” in the gerrymander fight, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said in a statement. “When they go low, we hit back hard.”

What next?

The Virginia Supreme Court is still considering GOP challenges that would “make the referendum results meaningless,” The Associated Press said. And Florida’s GOP-led Legislature is meeting next week to consider a new map “targeting as many as five” Democratic seats, CNN said, though that effort “faces several obstacles of its own.”

What happened

The satirical news outlet The Onion on Monday said it had reached an agreement to temporarily take over right-wing conspiracist Alex Jones’ Infowars platform and turn it into a parody site. Jones filed for bankruptcy protection in 2022 after a court ordered him to pay $1.4 billion in damages to the families of children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The Onion’s plan requires approval from Texas District Court Judge Maya Guerra Gamble in Austin.

Who said what

Under the proposed deal, The Onion would pay $81,000 a month to license Infowars’ site and intellectual property for six months or a year, covering rent and utilities “until an appeal filed by Jones is decided and the path is cleared for a sale,” NPR said. It’s a “Hail Mary bid” by The Onion, Politico said, after a federal judge “blocked its initial plan to acquire Infowars in 2024 during a bankruptcy auction,” calling the process flawed. “We are excited to lie constantly for cold, hard cash, but this time in a cool way,” Onion CEO Ben Collins said Monday, and “we’ll make sure some of it gets back” to the Sandy Hook families.

What next?

Jones “vowed to fight the licensing proposal in court” on his show Monday, but “acknowledged he and his crew could be kicked out” of their Austin studio by the end of the month, The Associated Press said.

What happened

FBI Director Kash Patel filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit on Monday accusing The Atlantic and reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick of publishing a “sweeping, malicious, and defamatory hit piece” designed to destroy his “reputation and drive him from office.” Fitzpatrick, citing more than two dozen unidentified sources, reported last week that Patel was “deeply concerned that his job is in jeopardy” and “has good reasons to think so,” as his “conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences” have alarmed FBI and Justice Department officials.

Who said what

“We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel” and “will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit,” the publication said in a statement. As a public figure, Patel will have to prove “actual malice,” a “higher standard than an ordinary citizen” claiming defamation, The New York Times said.

Patel said on social media that meeting that standard would be “a legal layup.” But his complaint doesn’t “even hit the backboard,” First Amendment lawyer Adam Steinbaugh said on X. But it “has all the markings” of the Trump administration “playbook” of filing lawsuits “meant to silence dissent by driving up the cost of speaking,” Steinbaugh said in a separate statement.

What next?

If Patel’s suit isn’t “tossed out” before trial, CNN said, he “could be required to answer questions under oath about the alleged behavior” in the discovery process.