Day 1581: "This isn’t 'The Hunger Games.'"

1/ House Republicans advanced Trump’s tax and immigration bill in a 17–16 committee vote after four Republican holdouts dropped their opposition but refused to endorse it – instead they voted “present.” The move came after closed-door talks over Medicaid work rules and energy cuts, though Rep. Chip Roy warned, “The bill does not yet meet the moment.” The bill, dubbed “The One Big Beautiful Bill,” would extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, end taxes on tips and overtime, and direct billions toward defense and immigration. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimated it would add $3.3 trillion to the debt. The Congressional Budget Office hasn’t released a score and House Republicans acknowledged the bill is still being negotiated. Senate Republicans, meanwhile, have already raised objections. Speaker Mike Johnson, nevertheless, called the outcome a “big win” but admitted “there’s a lot more work to do.” (NBC News / NPR / New York Times / Washington Post)

2/ Moody’s stripped the U.S. of its last triple-A credit rating, citing unchecked debt growth and rising interest costs. The downgrade to Aa1 follows failed efforts by Congress and multiple administrations to contain deficits that are now running near $2 trillion a year. Moody’s warned that if current policies continue, debt could reach 134% of GDP by 2035. (Axios / CNBC / Washington Post / New York Times / Reuters / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal)

3/ Consumer sentiment fell to 50.8 in May – the second-lowest level ever recorded since tracking began in the late 1970s. Expectations for inflation jumped to 7.3% over the next year – the highest since 1981. And, nearly 75% of Americans cited tariffs as a key concern, up from 60% in April. Long-term inflation expectations also rose to 4.6%, the highest since 1991. (Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / Axios / CNBC)

4/ Trump told Walmart to “EAT THE TARIFFS” after the company said it would be forced to raise prices in response to Trump’s tariffs. “Walmart made BILLIONS […] Between Walmart and China they should […] ‘EAT THE TARIFFS,’” Trump posted. Walmart responded, saying it couldn’t absorb the cost from the import taxes he imposed, and warned that prices on food, toys, and baby gear will rise by June. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed Walmart “will […] eat some of the tariffs,” but admitted that consumers will still pay more. (New York Times / Politico / Reuters / CNN / Axios / The Guardian / Associated Press / CBS News / The Hill)

5/ The Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to revoke deportation protections from nearly 350,000 Venezuelans, allowing removals to begin while legal challenges continue. The justices issued an unsigned, two-paragraph order with no explanation. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the only one to note her dissent. The decision overturned a lower court ruling that had blocked Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem from canceling Temporary Protected Status, which was extended by the Biden administration in 2023. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen found the termination likely illegal, calling it “arbitrary and capricious” and based on “negative stereotypes.” A lawyer for the plaintiffs called it “the largest single action stripping any group of noncitizens of immigration status in modern U.S. history.” (Associated Press / New York Times / CBS News / Washington Post / Axios / NBC News / USA Today / Reuters / Bloomberg)

6/ The Department of Homeland Security is reportedly considering a reality TV show where immigrants compete in challenges for a chance at U.S. citizenship. The pitch came from Rob Worsoff, a Canadian-born producer known for Duck Dynasty, who said the show would “celebrate being an American.” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin confirmed the idea is under review, but stressed it is “in the very beginning stages” and not yet approved. The proposal includes contests like gold mining in San Francisco and car assembly in Detroit. Contestants would lose train seats as episodes progress, with one winner sworn in at the U.S. Capitol. Worsoff said, “This isn’t ‘The Hunger Games’ for immigrants,” and claimed “no one would be deported for losing.” Secretary Kristi Noem has not seen the proposal, but her department has spent over $200 million on immigration-themed publicity. (Wall Street Journal / Washington Post / New York Times)

7/ U.S. taxpayers will pay nearly $5 million to settle a lawsuit from the family of a Jan. 6 rioter who was shot by Capitol Police while trying to climb through a barricaded door near the House chamber as lawmakers were being evacuated during the disrupted certification of the 2020 election. The Trump administration reversed the Justice Department’s earlier finding that the shooting was justified and that the officer acted to protect members of Congress. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger called the settlement “extremely disappointing” and warned it “sends a chilling message to law enforcement.” The lawsuit claimed that Ashli Babbitt was unarmed and had her hands in the air. Video, however, shows her attempting to enter through a shattered window as police ordered rioters to back away. Trump, who pardoned most Jan. 6 defendants, called Babbitt “a really good person” and has cast her death as a political injustice. (Washington Post / ABC News / CBS News)

The midterm elections are in 533 days.

✏️ Notables.

• Newly released audio of Biden’s 2023 interview with special counsel Robert Hur shows the former president struggling to recall key dates and facts, including when his son Beau died and why he had classified documents. At one point, Biden asked, “What month did Beau die? Oh God, May 30th,” before aides reminded him it was 2015. He misstated the year Trump was elected and later said he “wanted to hang onto” a classified Afghanistan memo “just for posterity’s sake,” prompting his lawyers to intervene. Hur cited Biden’s “poor memory” in his decision not to pursue charges, saying a jury would likely see him as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man.” The Biden White House blocked release of the audio last year, arguing Republicans would “distort” it. (Axios / New York Times / Politico / ABC News)

• Biden was diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, according to a statement released by his personal office. The cancer received a Gleason score of 9, among the most aggressive, and is considered incurable once it reaches the bone. His office, however, said it is “hormone-sensitive,” which could allow for treatment. Biden, 82, disclosed the diagnosis, posting online: “Cancer touches us all.” J.D. Vance, meanwhile, questioned whether Biden had been “capable of doing the job,” while Trump Jr. wrote: “How did Dr. Jill Biden miss stage five metastatic cancer or is this yet another coverup???” Right-wing figures called for hearings into when the White House knew and whether the diagnosis was hidden during the 2024 campaign. (Associated Press / NPR / New York Times / Washington Post / NBC News / Rolling Stone / Wall Street Journal)

• The Trump administration plans to strip the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section of its authority to oversee prosecutions of members of Congress, removing a key safeguard against politically motivated cases. Under the proposal, federal prosecutors could bring charges against lawmakers without approval or input from the unit, which was created after Watergate to enforce corruption laws with neutrality. (Washington Post / New York Times)

• A federal judge blocked Trump’s attempt to seize control of the U.S. Institute of Peace. Judge Beryl Howell ruled that Trump lacked authority to fire the board or install DOGE officials, writing that his administration used “brute force and threats of criminal process” to take over the institute’s headquarters. Howell said the agency was never part of the executive branch and that the board removals, staff firings, and asset transfers were “null and void.” (CNN / NBC News / Washington Post / Reuters)

• Over 60,000 metric tons of U.S. food aid is rotting in warehouses after Trump cut USAID funding. The food – worth $98 million and enough to feed 3.5 million people for a month – remains locked in facilities in Houston, Djibouti, Durban, and Dubai. USAID canceled contracts and froze funds in January. (Reuters)

• CBS News chief Wendy McMahon resigned after opposing efforts by parent company Paramount to settle a $20 billion lawsuit that Trump filed over a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris. Her departure follows “60 Minutes” producer Bill Owens, who quit last month after Paramount began reviewing stories before air. Trump accused CBS of editing the Harris interview to favor her, a charge the network denies. Paramount’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, has pushed for a settlement, while also seeking Trump administration approval for a multibillion-dollar merger with Skydance. (The Hill / Associated Press / New York Times)

• Trump threatened ABC News over its reporting on a $400 million Boeing 747 jet from Qatar, calling the coverage “Fake News” and warning network executives to stop describing the plane as a personal gift. “Everyone, including their lawyers, has been told that ABC must not say that Qatar is giving ME a FREE Boeing 747,” Trump posted on his social network. While Trump claims the jet is being donated to the U.S. military, the plane will serve as his personal aircraft before transferring to his presidential library. (The Hill / New Republic)

• Trump called for a criminal investigation into Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey, and Bono, alleging – without evidence – that Harris’s 2024 campaign paid them for endorsements. Trump’s all-caps claims on Truth Social followed Springsteen’s remarks at a UK concert where he called Trump “corrupt, incompetent and treasonous.” Trump responded by calling Springsteen a “dried out ‘prune’” and asking: “HOW MUCH DID KAMALA HARRIS PAY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN FOR HIS POOR PERFORMANCE?” Federal records show Harris’s campaign paid production companies linked to Oprah and Beyoncé for event costs, not endorsements. (Variety / Politico / Axios / Mediaite / The Hill / Rolling Stone / Wall Street Journal)

📍 The Pinboard.

• "We are no longer the United States if we keep turning more and more legislation such as this back to the states. People are going to start moving to where the laws appeal to them, creating a few different pockets around the nation, solidifying the actual divide of our nation."

• If one person loses that right, we all do. It’s unfair.

• What concerns me, in addition to their attempt to end nationwide injunctions, is counsel's apparent assertion that the executive branch is allowed to just ignore circuit court orders at its discretion. The whole mess is an obvious play to neuter the judiciary and further transform our federal government into an autocracy.

• I'm in the process of getting my German citizenship through my grandmother (holocaust refugee). I wish I could stay and help people here, but we've gotta keep ourselves safe first. If you're in a position of power, please stay and help those who can't get out. But if you have the means to get out of the country, and you're someone likely to be targeted? Get the hell outta dodge.

• "The Supreme Court says Trump is clearly shredding the Constitution but lets him keep doing it on a technicality" feels like a very natural place for this all to end up.

• Executive orders are NOT laws, and to put the burden on individuals, states, or groups to have to sue to protect themselves every time one of these gets signed is completely wrong, inefficient, and stupid. The onus should be on the executive branch to have to defend why something like birthright citizenship, or ANYTHING that is protected under the basic rights of the constitution, should NOT have to go through proper legislative channels. 

• I was born in a country without birthright citizenship, and it was a mess. I was lucky to get U.S. American citizenship, but if no one is obligated to offer you citizenship, you are in a very precarious position. Every country should have birthright citizenship. Any other system is unfair.

• Narrowing the power of lower courts to issue nationwide relief will be an affront to the concept of judicial economy, resulting in potentially dozens of duplicate cases all occupying the court dockets and, presumably, all needing to be decided on a fast track. Plus, it raises the cost of obtaining justice since all the separate cases will greatly increase the expense of litigating people's fundamental rights. 

• As a person of color whose particular ethnic group struggles with the “perpetual foreigner” stereotype, I’ve been worried about birthright citizenship for a solid decade now. I’ve always had legal citizenship. I was born with it [...] But culturally, I’ve always been made to feel like a stranger in America. Politics flow downstream from culture, and so what’s happening now feels like a natural progression from the situation I grew up in [...] So your question, how do I process this? I’ve always been processing it. To me, it’s not a surprise.