Closing summary
This concludes our live coverage of the second Trump administration for the day. Here are the latest developments:
The Pentagon announced, without explanation, that “Secretary of the Navy John C Phelan is departing the administration, effective immediately”. The head of the US navy, which is now enforcing a wartime blockade of Iranian ports, was replaced by a former Maga political candidate, Hung Cao, now acting secretary of the navy.
The surprise announcement brought renewed attention to Cao’s 2023 comments that that “witchcraft” had “taken over” Monterey, California.
Virginia’s attorney general, Jay Jones, promised to appeal an injunction issued by a circuit court judge that temporarily blocks the state from certifying the results of the Tuesday’s redistricting referendum.
As jet fuel prices spike amid the ongoing energy crisis sparked by Donald Trump’s war on Iran, two Republican senators, Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton, denounced a proposed US government bailout of budget carrier Spirit Airlines.
Representative David Scott, a Democrat from Georgia, has died at the age of 80. He is the fifth member of Congress to die in office within the last year.
New acting secretary of US navy embraced Maga culture war issues as a political candidate
When he was a political candidate, Hung Cao, the naval special operations veteran who was named acting secretary of the US Navy on Wednesday, embraced the same culture war issues as Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth.
For instance, when he was the Republican candidate for a Senate seat in Virginia in 2024, Cao was asked why he was opposed to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
He replied: “When you’re using a drag queen to recruit for the Navy, that’s not the people we need. What we need is alpha males and alpha females who are going to rip out their own guts, eat ‘em and ask for seconds.”
Colorado governor mocks 'socialist Donald Trump' for planning to nationalize Spirit Airlines
After criticism from two Republican senators, Colorado’s Democratic governor, Jared Polis, has joined in to deride the reported White House plan for a massive bailout of the budget carrie Spirit Arlines.
“Now socialist Donald Trump is nationalizing the airlines,” Polis joked on social media. “What industry will the government take over next under his socialist regime?”
The trolling from Polis is based on the fact that a deal to acquire up to a 90% stake in Spirit for the US government would be just the latest in a series of private-sector investments Donald Trump has orchestrated in his second term.
As the Wall Street Journal reports:
Last year, the federal government became Intel’s largest shareholder, acquiring nearly 10% of the semiconductor manufacturer’s shares by converting $8.9 billion of 2022 Chips Act grants into equity. It also invested in a semiconductor manufacturing startup founded by a former Intel chief executive.
The Commerce Department struck an agreement earlier this year to acquire a stake in a rare-earth metals producer, while the Pentagon reached a separate deal last year for a stake in another rare-earth mining company.
Last year, the Trump administration also demanded, and got, a so-called “golden share” in U.S. Steel in exchange for waving national security concerns to allow Japan’s Nippon Steel to acquire the US steelmaker.
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US navy secretary John Phelan was fired – report
Amid a blockade of Iranian ports, the unexplained ouster on Wednesday of US navy secretary John Phelan, the service’s top civilian leader, came just weeks after Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, fired the US Army’s top uniformed officer, Gen Randy George.
Two sources confirmed to Reuters that Phelan was fired, in part, they said, because he had fallen out with key Pentagon leadership.
Our colleague Hugo Lowell reports that Phelan had “an increasingly rocky relationship” with Hegseth and senior members of his Pentagon team, “who openly appeared to prefer Hung Cao”, the former navy special forces officer who was named acting secretary on Wednesday.
Hegseth also “blamed Phelan for not going aggressively enough against” Arizona senator Mark Kelly, a retired navy pilot, who recorded a social media video in which he reminded active-duty service members: “You can refuse illegal orders.”
The Wall Street Journal reports that Pentagon leaders were annoyed that Phelan bypassed Hegseth last year when he pitched his idea for the navy to build a new “Trump-class” battleship directly to Trump.
As the Associated Press reports, the removal of Phelan, a major donor to Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign, was so sudden that it came less than 24 hours after Phelan hosted the chairman and ranking member of the House armed services committee, congressmen Mike Rogers and Adam Smith to discuss the navy’s budget request, and his office posted video of him addressing sailors and industry professionals at the navy’s annual conference in Washington on Tuesday about the future of the force.
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Republican senator Tom Cotton also denounces White House plans to bail out Spirit Airlines
Tom Cotton, a Republican senator from Arkansas, has joined his colleague Ted Cruz in denouncing the reported Trump White House plan to bail out Spirit Airlines, the troubled budget carrier that could be pushed into liquidation by the spike in jet fuel prices during the Iran war.
“If Spirit’s creditors or other potential investors don’t think they can run it profitably coming out of its second bankruptcy in under two years, I doubt the US Government can either,” Cotton wrote. “Not the best use of taxpayer dollars.”
Virginia attorney general to appeal 'activist judge' who blocked redistricting approved by voters
Virginia’s attorney general, Jay Jones, promised on Wednesday to appeal an injunction issued by a circuit court judge that temporarily blocks the state from certifying the results of the Tuesday’s redistricting referendum.
The injunction from the Tazewell county circuit court granted a request by the Republican National Committee to pause the certification of the referendum, in which voters approved redrawing Virginia’s congressional maps to cancel out the partisan advantage Republicans in Texas sought by redrawing their maps.
The measure was approved by about three percentage points, 51.5%-48.5% according to the Virginia Department of Elections.
“My office will immediately file an appeal in the court of appeals,” Jones said in a statement. “As I said last night, Virginia voters have spoken, and an activist judge should not have veto power over the people’s vote. We look forward to defending the outcome of last night’s election in court.”
Jones, a Democrat, was elected attorney general last year, despite a furore over comments he made in a text message that were cast as an endorsement of political violence, but were actually a version of an old joke popularized by the US version of The Office.
On social media, Aaron Fritschner, an aide to Virginia Democratic congressman Don Beyer, dismissed the Republican lawsuit as frivolous.
“Republicans have repeatedly taken challenges to the Virginia referendum to a local judge in the most conservative part of the state to get silly rulings that are immediately overturned on appeal, mainly so they can add the word ‘illegal’ to their talking points about it,” he wrote. “The Virginia supreme court will have the last say on the referendum but this rando judge in Tazewell is just giving them free in-kind messaging contributions, which is the whole point.”
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New acting US navy secretary Hung Cao once expressed fears that witches could take over Virginia
The surprise announcement on Wednesday that the US navy is now being led, during wartime, by a failed Republican Senate candidate from Virginia, Hung Cao, brought renewed attention to Cao’s 2023 comments that that “witchcraft” had “taken over” Monterey, California, and should not be allowed to spread to Virginia.
Speaking to Sean Feucht, a far-right pastor, in 2023, Cao said, on camera: “There’s a place in Monterey, California, called ‘Lover’s Point’. The original name was ‘Lovers of Christ Point’, but now it’s become, they took out the Christ, it’s ‘Lover’s Point’, and it’s really – Monterey’s a very dark place now, a lot of witchcraft, and the Wiccan community has really taken over there. We can’t let that happen in Virginia.”
Cao’s comments were widely circulated by opposition researchers in 2024, when he ran as the Republican candidate against Democratic senator Tim Kaine, and was ultimately defeated by nine percentage points.
During the same interview, Cao, a Vietnamese refugee and a retired navy special operations officer, also said “I’m African American because I grew up in Africa, too,” referring to a few years spent in Niger as a child.
Cao, who spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, was also endorsed on the campaign trail that year by Donald Trump. “This is a great gentleman,” Trump said during a campaign event at a Vietnamese restaurant in Virginia.
“This is a great gentleman, I love his name: Hung Cao. I love that name. And that name alone should get you elected,” Trump said to uneasy laughter in the room.
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Senate Republicans defeat war powers resolution to end US war on Iran
Senate Republicans defeated another war powers resolution, which called for an end to US hostilities against Iran, on Wednesday by a vote of 51-46.
The vote was mostly along party lines, with only Democratic senator John Fetterman joining the Republican majority to vote against the resolution. One Republican senator, Rand Paul, voted with the Democrats in favor of the measure.
Three senators, Chuck Grassley, Dave McCormick, and John Warner did not vote.
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Amid Iran blockade, Pentagon replaces US navy secretary 'effective immediately' with deputy
The Pentagon just announced that “Secretary of the Navy John C Phelan is departing the administration, effective immediately”.
The head of the US navy, which is now enforcing a wartime blockade of Iranian ports, was replaced by the undersecretary, Hung Cao, now acting secretary of the navy, according to a statement posted on social media by chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, who offered no explanation for the change.
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Ted Cruz calls government bailout of Spirit Airlines 'an absolutely terrible idea'
As jet fuel prices spike amid the ongoing energy crisis sparked by Donald Trump’s war on Iran, Ted Cruz, the Republican senator and podcaster, has denounced a proposed US government bailout of budget carrier Spirit Airlines.
Cruz, who called Trump “a pathological liar” during the 2016 Republican primary before becoming a staunch supporter, reacted on social media to news of the bailout, which our colleague Lauren Aratani reports is being finalized by the White House.
“This is an absolutely TERRIBLE idea,” the Texas senator wrote on social media, comparing it to the US government’s 2008 Troubled Asset Relief Program, known as Tarp. “The TARP corporate bailouts were a huge mistake”.
Cruz also pointed to reporting that the deal could leave the US federal government owning up to 90% of the airline, adding: “The government doesn’t know a damn thing about running a failed budget airline.”
The senator also blamed Joe Biden, the former president, for “killing” Spirit Airlines because a proposed merger with Jet Blue was blocked during his presidency, in 2024, when a federal judge appointed by Ronald Reagan agreed with the Department of Justice that the merger of the two airlines would have violated antitrust law.
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FBI investigated New York Times reporter for potential 'stalking' over reporting on Kash Patel's partner
The FBI opened an investigation of a New York Times reporter last month after she wrote about the bureau’s director, Kash Patel, using government resources to provide his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, with security and transportation, the Times reports.
“Agents interviewed the girlfriend, queried databases for information on the reporter, Elizabeth Williamson, and recommended moving forward to determine whether Ms Williamson broke federal stalking laws,” an unnamed source told the newspaper.
The FBI told the Times that “investigators were concerned about how the aggressive reporting techniques crossed lines of stalking”, but are not pursuing criminal charges.
“The FBI’s attempt to criminalize routine reporting is a blatant violation of Elizabeth’s first amendment rights and another attempt by this administration to prevent journalists from scrutinizing its actions,” Joseph Kahn, the executive editor of the Times, said in a statement. “It’s alarming. It’s unconstitutional. And it’s wrong.”
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Republican Bill Cassidy, a doctor, uses ChapGPT to factcheck RFK Jr's false claims about vaccines during hearing
The US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy, has concluded his testimony to the health, education, labor and pensions (Help) committee, but before the hearing ended viewers were treated to an unusual spectacle: the health secretary’s anti-vaccine claims were factchecked in real time by the panel’s Republican chair, Dr Bill Cassidy, who is the first physician to lead the committee.
Cassidy intervened after Kennedy refused to agree with Bernie Sanders, who noted that vaccines had been responsible for sharply decreased mortality from infectious diseases in the US during the 20th century.
In response to Sanders, Kennedy cited a 2000 study led by Dr Bernard Guyer, which he said indicated that “almost none” of the drop in mortality “was attributable to vaccination, but was, instead, “was attributable to hygiene, to sewer plants, better water supplies … ”
A short time later, Cassidy told Kennedy that he was looking for the paper on ChatGPT and was unable to find it. Kennedy then spelled the name of the lead author, although his raspy voice made it difficult to be sure of what all the letters were. The health secretary then pointed Cassidy to a second study, from 1977, McKinlay and McKinlay, which he said supported his view that vaccines had had little impact on mortality from infectious diseases.
After Kennedy was then questioned by another Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski, Cassidy provided an update on his real-time research. “Just speaking as a doctor,” Cassidy said, “I’ve looked up the article.” He then read aloud a section of the Guyer paper which explained that while other factors were important in lowering mortality in the first half of the 20th century, the study noted that decreases in the second half were attributable to vaccination.
Cassidy explained to Kennedy that the paper noted that there were large numbers of annual cases of measles before the introduction of the measles vaccine and since the introduction of the measles vaccine “deaths have been virtually eliminated”.
An hour later, Cassidy returned with another update from his research. “Again, speaking as a physician, I looked up the McKinlay articles,” he said. Those studies indicated, Cassidy said, that there were about 3.5m cases of measles per year before the vaccine, and about 550 deaths, and then the vaccine took the case numbers to about 100 a year in the US, and “like zero deaths”.
“So, a tremendous impact of the vaccination,” Cassidy noted.
A more recent paper, published in late 2020, also available on the National Institutes of Health website, also notes that the authors of the 1977 paper Kennedy cites, John and Sonja McKinlay, had flatly rejected the use of their work by anti-vaccine activists, like Kennedy.
In that 2020 paper, David Kindig wrote:
It should be noted that some anti‐vaccine advocates have used the McKinlays’ paper as scientific support for their views. To this, the McKinlays reply that ‘we consider this an egregious misinterpretation of our research. Effective vaccines clearly have an important role in the ongoing containment of a disease after its prevalence has been reduced. Measles provides an excellent current example of the resurgence of a previously contained infectious disease following reduction in measles vaccination interventions.’
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Here's a recap of the day so far
Donald Trump is, once again, pushing baseless claims that an election was “RIGGED”. This time, he’s questioning the results of Tuesday’s referendum that saw Virginia voters approve new congressional maps for the state. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that on Tuesday “Republicans were winning, the Spirit was unbelievable, until the very end when, of course, there was a massive ‘Mail In Ballot Drop!’”
Meanwhile, top House Democrats were in a triumphant mood at a press conference held after their victory in Virginia. The new maps could help Democrats win all but one of the state’s seats in the House of Representatives. However, there’s still the question of what Democrats’ recent embrace of retaliatory gerrymandering, to offset Republican efforts elsewhere, means for the party’s previous support for legislation to abolish the practice.
Several cabinet officials were on Capitol Hill for hearings to defend the Trump administration’s budget blueprint for the next fiscal year. The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, insisted that gas would drop to pre-Iran war prices as soon as the conflict ends; Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, avoided questions about his ties to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein; and health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr appeared twice before Senate committees where he fielded questions about his attempts to overhaul the US vaccine agenda.
Representative David Scott, a Democrat from Georgia, has died at the age of 80. He is the fifth member of Congress to die in office within the last year. Scott was first elected in 2002, and served 12 terms in the US House. He was seeking re-election for his 13th, despite significant primary challenges. Speaking to reporters today, Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, called Scott a “trailblazer” who became the first African American member of Congress to chair the House agriculture committee.
As debate begins on Senate Republicans’ budget bill to fund federal immigration enforcement, lawmakers are preparing for a marathon series of votes on any amendments to the legislation – known as a “vote-a-rama”. Democrats are likely to propose several changes, which are likely to go nowhere, but will show that this “will be a reconciliation of contrasts” according to Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader. “We are relishing that fight,” he told reporters. The legislation, which only requires a simple majority, asks for $70bn for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the border patrol for the remainder of Donald Trump’s second term in office.
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As Robert F Kennedy Jr’s second hearing of the day continues, the health committee chair, Republican Bill Cassidy, grilled the health secretary about Donald Trump’s new pick to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The president has nominated Erica Schwartz to lead the embattled agency, after months without a permanent leader. Schwartz, who served as the former deputy surgeon general during Trump’s first administration, has been a vocal proponent of vaccines.
Cassidy asked Kennedy whether Schwartz would “have the right to make decisions” independent of the health secretary’s “political appointees” who have worked to “undermine trust in immunizations”. A reminder that the CDC’s last Senate‑confirmed director, Susan Monarez, took over in July but was fired less than a month later after clashing with Kennedy over his vaccine agenda. Since then, the agency has seen an exodus of senior public health officials.
“Your characterization of the political appointees is wrong,” the health secretary told Cassidy in today’s hearing, before saying that the new CDC director would have the power to make decisions and replace or reassign political appointees. However, on Tuesday, at a separate hearing, Kennedy refused to commit to implement whatever vaccine guidance that Schwartz issues, if she is confirmed.
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The White House is finalizing a financing package to help the ailing US budget carrier Spirit Airlines, which could receive as much as $500m in loans as rising costs continue to plague the company.
News of the potential deal comes as Spirit and others struggle with soaring fuel costs due to the war with Iran.
Donald Trump said he’s aware that the company is struggling and hinted that federal aid could come. “Spirit’s in trouble, and I’d love somebody to buy Spirit. It’s 14,000 jobs, and maybe the federal government should help that one out,” Trump told CNBC on Tuesday.
Spirit has spent the last few years dealing with financial troubles, filing for bankruptcy twice in the last two years as the company struggled to bring in revenue amid higher costs. Reports from earlier this month suggested Spirit was close to liquidation and was holding talks with its creditors.
In return for the cash buffer, the federal government would receive warrants for a potential stake in the airline, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter.
A $3.8bn merger between Spirit and JetBlue was blocked by a federal judge on antitrust grounds in 2024. The deal would have saved the company, but the judge who stopped it said that the merger would harm consumers by reducing competition.
In a statement, White House spokesperson Kush Desai didn’t comment on the ongoing financing deal but said that the Biden administration had harmed the company.
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Marathon votes on Republican budget bill expected following hours of debate
As debate begins on Senate Republicans’ budget bill to fund federal immigration enforcement, lawmakers are preparing for a marathon series of votes on any amendments to the legislation – known as a “vote-a-rama”.
Democrats are likely to propose several changes, which are likely to go nowhere, but will show that this “will be a reconciliation of contrasts” according to Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader. “We are relishing that fight,” he told reporters.
On social media, the president called on GOP lawmakers to “stick together and UNIFY” in order to pass the legislation – that only requires a simple majority – to ensure about $70bn for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the border patrol for the remainder of Donald Trump’s second term in office.
However, some Republicans are urging the party’s leadership to broaden the reconciliation bill to include other priorities, like Trump’s sweeping voter ID bill.
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Trump pushes baseless claims that Virginia redistricting vote was 'RIGGED'
Donald Trump is, once again, pushing baseless claims that an election was “RIGGED”.
This time, he’s questioning the results of Tuesday’s referendum that saw Virginia voters approve new congressional maps for the state.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that on Tuesday “Republicans were winning, the Spirit was unbelievable, until the very end when, of course, there was a massive ‘Mail In Ballot Drop!’”
He added that the “Democrats eked out another Crooked Victory!”
The president also claimed that the language for the redistricting referendum was “purposefully unintelligible and deceptive”.
“As everyone knows, I am an extraordinarily brilliant person, and even I had no idea what the hell they were talking about,” Trump said, before telegraphing likely legal challenges.
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Democratic congressman David Scott dies
Representative David Scott, a Democrat from Georgia, has died at the age of 80.
Scott was first elected in 2002, and served 12 terms in the US House. He was seeking re-election for his 13th, despite significant primary challenges. Speaking to reporters today, Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, called Scott a “trailblazer” who rose up from “humble beginnings” to become the first African American member of Congress to chair the House agriculture committee.
In a statement, Jon Ossoff, a Democratic senator from Georgia, said the state is a “better place thanks to the service of Congressman Scott”.
Georgia’s governor, Brian Kemp, now has 10 days to announce a special election, which then must take place within 30 days.
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In a short while, we’ll hear from Robert F Kennedy Jr for the second time today. The health secretary will testify before the Senate health, education, labor and pensions committee about his agency’s budget request for the 2027 fiscal year.
A reminder that blueprint seeks to cut the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) budget by more than $15bn, including a $5bn slash to National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding.
The committee’s chair, Republican Bill Cassidy, cast the deciding vote to confirm Kennedy last year. However, Cassidy – a former physician – has clashed with the health secretary over his vaccine agenda, his decision to overhaul the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (Acip) and replace the panel with several vaccine skeptics, and their subsequent attempts to do away with the childhood inoculation schedule.
We’ll be watching to see how Cassidy grills Kennedy today, particularly as he faces a primary challenge from GOP congresswoman Julia Letlow, who has received Donald Trump’s backing and $1m from a Pac aligned with Kennedy’s Make America Health Agains (Maha) agenda.
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House judiciary Democrats have launched a formal inquiry into the alleged drinking habits of the FBI director, Kash Patel, demanding he complete a standardized alcohol abuse assessment and submit the results to Congress.
In a letter sent on Tuesday, led by Jamie Raskin, a Maryland representative, Democrats on the committee called on Patel to take the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (Audit) – a 10-question World Health Organization screening tool used to identify harmful patterns of drinking – along with a sworn statement attesting to his answers. Lawmakers also requested all security clearance questionnaires Patel has completed since taking the role.
The letter cited a pattern of alleged conduct that Democrats argued had directly compromised national security, claiming Patel’s alleged unavailability had led to delays in terror-related decisions – including the issuance of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa) warrants – and that his behavior had undermined two high-profile criminal investigations: the manhunt after a mass shooting at Brown University and the search for the assassin of Charlie Kirk. In both cases, the letter alleged, Patel had publicly broadcast inaccurate information.
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In a post on Truth Social, Donald Trump said that “certain” Republican justices on the supreme court have “gone weak, stupid, and bad” amid their skepticism over the president’s effort to overturn birthright citizenship.
“The Republican Justices don’t stick together, they give the Democrats win after win,” Trump said. “Certain ‘Republican’ Justices have just gone weak, stupid, and bad, completely violating what they ‘supposedly’ stood for.”
He also blasted the court’s February ruling against his emergency tariff plan.
“Their Tariff decision was an unnecessary and expensive slap in the face to the U.S.A., and a giant victory for its opponents,” he wrote.
In the post, Trump falsely claimed that “virtually NO OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD IS STUPID ENOUGH TO ALLOW” birthright citizenship. In fact, multiple countries have birthright citizenship laws that are similar to those in the US.
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Lutnick avoids questions over relationship with Epstein in Senate hearing
During a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing today, Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, avoided questions from lawmakers about his relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
A reminder that Lutnick was a longtime next-door neighbor of Epstein in New York. He has previously claimed that he distanced himself from Epstein in 2005. However, the justice department’s release of case files showed that Lutnick had two engagements with Epstein years past that. He attended a 2011 event at Epstein’s home. And Lutnick’s family had lunch with Epstein on his private island in 2012 – four years after Epstein was sentenced to 13 months in jail for procuring a minor for prostitution.
Lutnick, a longtime ally of Donald Trump, admitted to the 2012 lunch during his 10 February testimony before the Senate appropriations committee.
“I did have lunch with him, as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation,” Lutnick said. Inclusion in the files does not imply wrongdoing.
On Wednesday, the Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen asked Lutnick why he had not replied to his letter asking the commerce secretary to produce all records of meetings, phone calls, and correspondence with Epstein or his associates, as well as a complete timeline of every interaction he has had with Epstein, including after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting an underage girl for prostitution.
“I have voluntarily agreed, in less than two weeks, to sit and answer questions on this topic fully … in less than two weeks with your House colleagues,” Lutnick said. “But I am here today to testify about the budget, and I look forward to discussing the president’s budget with you today.”
Van Hollen said that while he was aware of the upcoming hearing, he will continue to pursue his requests. “The reason I’m asking this question at this hearing is because we didn’t get a response to the letter,” the Maryland Democrat said.
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Triumphant though they may be, there’s still the question of what House Democrats’ recent embrace of retaliatory gerrymandering to offset Republican efforts elsewhere means for the party’s previous support for legislation to abolish partisan gerrymandering.
“We’ve continued to stand behind our prior efforts to establish one national standard that would prohibit mid-decade partisan gerrymandering all across the country,” the House Democratic majority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, replied when a reporter asked him about the party’s inconsistency on the issue. “But what we’re not going to do is unilaterally disarm.”
In recent congressional sessions, Democrats have introduced the For the People Act, a comprehensive reform legislation addressing democracy issues that would require states to create independent commissions to draw maps.
Democrats passed the legislation through the House in 2021, during Joe Biden’s presidency, but it lacked the votes to advance through the Senate.
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Jeffries: 'We will not let Trump rig the midterm elections'
Top House Democrats were in a triumphant mood at a press conference held after Virginia voters last night approved new maps that could help Democrats win all but one of the state’s seats in the House of Representatives.
“We will not let Donald Trump rig the midterm elections by gerrymandering maps all across the country without a forceful Democratic response. That is what you saw in Virginia,” the Democratic House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, said.
The chair of the House Democrats’ campaign arm, Suzan DelBene, said: “We have held back a Republican power grab and leveled the playing field in the fight for the majority in the people’s house. Last night’s results are what happens when voters decide, and it’s as simple as that.”
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Bessent says that gas prices could be 'lower' than prior to Iran war after conflict ends
At a Senate appropriation subcommittee hearing today, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, told lawmakers that he anticipates gas prices to plummet as soon as the war in Iran ends.
Bessent added that fuel costs could be “perhaps lower” than before the conflict began. Currently, the average price for a gallon of gasoline in the US is more than $4, up from $2.98 in late February, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).
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Per my earlier post, the supreme court did not issue any opinions in the key cases we were watching. It’s not immediately clear when the court will next hand down decisions.
A trio of political polls indicate public approval of Donald Trump’s management of the US economy, immigration and the Iran conflict is slipping, flashing warning lights for Trump-aligned Republican candidates with six months to go until the US midterm elections.
Polls by Reuters-Ipsos poll, Strength in Numbers-Verasight and AP-NORC had the president’s approval rating hovering in the mid-30s, at 36%, 35% and 33% respectively, which are near his lowest numbers.
The AP-NORC center for public affairs research poll published on Monday found that 7 in 10 Americans described the economy as poor and think the country is headed in the wrong direction.
The poll showed that Trump’s handling of the economy has fallen to 30% approval, down from 38% in March, while 72% said the country is headed in the wrong direction, a figure unchanged since February. Just 23% approve of how he is handling the cost of living, while 76% disapprove.
Virginia redistricting win portends 'devastating consequences' for Republicans ahead of midterms, says Marjorie Taylor Greene
Former GOP congresswoman and ex-Trump loyalist Marjorie Taylor Greene warned that Virginia’s redistricting victory –where voters approved new congressional maps intended to boost Democrats’ chances of retaking the US House – is an example of the “devastating consequences” to come for Republicans in the upcoming midterms.
The former representative said a “revolt on the right” and a “mass exodus of America First Trump voters” will be down to president launching the war with Iran, the hike in gas prices as a result of the conflict, and Trump’s reticence to release the complete Epstein files.
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Also today, we can expect the Senate to vote on another war powers resolution, to curb the Trump administration’s war in Iran.
Led by Senator Tammy Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat, this will be upper chamber Democrats’ fifth attempt to pass a resolution.
Democrats have vowed to keep bringing the motions to the floor each week the war in Iran continues to put “Republicans on record”.
Supreme court poised to issue opinions
The supreme court will hand down opinions at 10am ET today. Here’s a reminder of the major cases we’re tracking closely.
Louisiana v Callais: A high-stakes voting rights case in which the court’s conservative majority appears poised to gut one of the most powerful provisions of the Voting Rights Act.
Trump v Cook: Donald Trump’s case for firing Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, as he continues to exert greater control over the US central bank.
Trump v Slaughter: A case which examines the legality of Trump’s firing of a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) member, Rebecca Slaughter.
A reminder that my colleagues are covering the latest developments out of the Middle East at our dedicated live blog. Following Trump’s announcement that he will extend the ceasefire with Iran as negotiations on a peace deal remain elusive, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it seized two ships in the strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian media. Despite the ceasefire, the US blockade of all Iranian ports in the vital waterway continues.
Donald Trump is in Washington today. He’ll spend most of the day in meetings, but he’ll welcome the Social Security Administration commissioner, Frank Bisignano to the White House at 10am ET. Currently that’s closed to the press but we’ll let you know if anything changes.
Treasury secretary Scott Bessent among those due to testify at hearings today
There are a number of congressional hearings coming up later, with treasury secretary Scott Bessent testifying before Senate Appropriations at 10am ET.
Energy secretary Chris Wright will follow at 2.30pm ET, with both men expected to be questioned by Democratic lawmakers on how Donald Trump’s war in Iran has sent gas prices soaring.
Other appearances today include commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, health and human services secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, interior secretary Doug Burgum and agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins.
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California’s race for governor will get its first marquee moment since one-time frontrunner Eric Swalwell abruptly exited the contest, with six candidates set to debate on Wednesday.
Four Democrats and two Republicans will take the stage together starting at 7pm PDT. The top two will advance on 2 June to the runoff in November, even if they are from the same party.
Nexstar Media Group will broadcast the debate in six of the state’s largest markets, giving this debate a wider audience than the first televised debate, which aired on two Fox stations in February.
In the poll that determined debate eligibility, Republican and former Fox News host Steve Hilton led the entire field with 17%. Fellow Republican and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco tied for second with 14%. Meanwhile, 23% of those polled were undecided.
He can’t live with him and can’t live without him. But, finally, the conservative podcaster Tucker Carlson seems to have made up his mind about Donald Trump. Their up-and-down marriage of political convenience is heading for the divorce court.
On Tuesday Carlson admitted that he will be “tormented” for a long time by his support for Trump in the 2024 US presidential election “and I want to say I’m sorry for misleading people”. What he did not say is whether this presages his own run for president in 2028.
The breaking point was the war in Iran, a betrayal of Trump’s promise to end US foreign entanglements, and the perceived influence of Israel, which has become a Carlson obsession.
It was the latest – and perhaps final – twist in a long and tortured relationship. Back in 1999, when Trump was potentially running for president on a Reform party ticket, Carlson said he was “the single most repulsive person on the planet”. In 2016, he reportedly told an acquaintance that the Republican frontrunner was “not evil” but “mentally ill”.
Nearly half of children in the United States are breathing dangerous levels of air pollution, according to a new report, as experts warned Donald Trump’s expansive rollback of protections will make the situation worse.
The 27th annual air quality report from the American Lung Association (ALA) released on Wednesday evaluates pollution across the country by grading levels of ground-level ozone – also known as smog – as well as year-round and short-term spikes in particle pollution, commonly referred to as soot. The report analyzed quality-assured data collected between 2022 and 2024.
It found that 33.5 million children in the US – 46% of those under 18 – live in areas that received a failing grade for at least one measure of air pollution.
The report also found that 7 million children, or 10% of all children in the US, live in communities that failed all three measures.
Speaking to the Guardian, Will Barrett, assistant vice-president of the ALA’s Nationwide Clean Air Policy, said: “Children’s lungs are still developing. For their body size, they’re breathing more air. And also, kids play outdoors, they’re more active, they’re breathing in more outdoor air … So, air pollution exposure in children can contribute to long-term developmental harm to their lungs, new cases of asthma, increased risks of respiratory illness and other health considerations later in life.”
Polls showed a close race in the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s vote, with signs that right-leaning voters in Virginia’s rural areas were incensed by new maps that would see many of them represented by lawmakers who live in the state’s northern suburbs outside Washington DC.
The surveys also showed that voters were divided on Spanberger’s performance as governor, with Republicans accusing her of lying about her moderate credentials on the campaign trail then quickly pivoting left as governor, including by supporting the referendum.
The race saw heavy spending by Democratic-linked groups and others, who poured more than $64m into the main committee backing the referendum. Groups opposing redistricting brought in around $30m.
Barack Obama recorded television ads in favor of the yes vote, while those opposed aired their own ads focused on past comments he had made criticizing gerrymandering. Glenn Youngkin, the Republican who preceded Spanberger as governor, campaigned heavily for the no vote.
Obama celebrated the result on Tuesday evening.
“Congratulations, Virginia!” the former US president posted on social media. “Republicans are trying to tilt the midterm elections in their favor, but they haven’t done it yet. Thanks for showing us what it looks like to stand up for our democracy and fight back.”
Top House Democrat tells Florida's Ron DeSantis his redistricting plans could backfire on Republicans
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The vote to approve new congressional maps in Virgina puts pressure on Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who has called a special session next month to consider tit-for-tat changes to its own map. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries warned any such effort could backfire on Republicans.
Voters in Virginia on Tuesday approved new congressional maps intended to boost Democrats’ chances of retaking the House of Representatives, in the latest blow to Donald Trump’s effort to use mid-decade redistricting to preserve his control of Congress.
Florida could now consider changes to its own congressional maps with the aim of picking up as many as three more GOP seats – depending on how the legislature draws the boundaries.
But Jeffries, the House minority leader, said Tuesday’s result in Virginia should serve as a warning to DeSantis. He wrote in a statement:
If Florida Republicans proceed with this illegal scheme, they will only create more prime-pick up opportunities for Democrats.
We are prepared to take them all on, and we are prepared to win.
There is concern how a redrawn Florida map could play out, Politico reports. Democrats recently managed to flip a seat in the Florida state house in the district that is home to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago.
The tit-for-tat redistricting battle began last year after Trump pressed Texas’s Republican-controlled legislature to redraw that state’s congressional maps in a bid to oust as many as five Democratic House lawmakers in the November midterm elections.
California voters retaliated by approving new maps that could flip five Republican-held seats, and in Virginia, Abigail Spanberger, the newly elected Democratic governor, backed an effort to redraw her state’s maps following her January inauguration. Tuesday’s referendum could help Democrats win four additional House seats in November’s midterm elections.
Under the new maps, Democrats are now favored to win in 10 of Virginia’s 11 districts. In the current delegation, Democrats hold six seats and Republicans five.
Read the full story here:
In other developments:
The Southern Poverty Law Center, a prominent civil rights organization, has been indicted on federal fraud charges.
Trump unilaterally announced an extension of the two-week ceasefire with Iran amid frantic efforts to bring the two sides back to the negotiating table.
A US appeals court ruled Tuesday that Texas can require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms.
Trump’s nominee for US Federal Reserve chair, Kevin Warsh, faced a tumultuous hearing in Washington, fielding scrutiny over his wealth and his ability to operate independently of the president who appointed him.
Democratic US representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick said she is resigning effective immediately, after a House committee found she violated ethics rules.
The FBI director, Kash Patel, had a testy exchange with reporters when asked about the recent Atlantic article outlining claims that he excessively drinks and at times has been unreachable.
Donald Trump’s approval rating on the economy has decreased from March to April as prices climb due to the Iran war.
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