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Pivotal US-Iran war deadline approaches with no end in sight for conflict

2026-04-30T16:25:38.423Z / Reuters

By Patricia Zengerle

April 30, 2026 4:25 PM UTC Updated 3 hours ago

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[1/2]People attend a rally in Tehran, Iran, April 29, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

• Summary

• Trump likely to extend conflict or argue ceasefire ended hostilities
• Democrats continue to push for war powers, but Republicans back Trump
• Public opposition grows but Trump retains strong party support

WASHINGTON, April 30 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump faces a deadline on Friday to end the Iran war or make the case to Congress for extending it, but the date is most likely to pass without altering the course ​of a conflict that has lapsed into a standoff over shipping routes.

Ending the war appears highly unlikely.

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Instead, analysts and congressional aides said they expect Trump to either ‌notify Congress that he plans a 30-day extension or disregard the deadline, with his administration arguing that a current ceasefire with Tehran marked an end to the conflict.

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Like most policies in a bitterly divided Congress, war powers have become deeply partisan, with opposition Democrats calling for Congress to reassert its constitutional right to declare war and Republicans accusing Democrats of trying to use War Powers law to weaken Trump.

Democrats have tried repeatedly since the war began on February 28 ​to pass resolutions seeking to force Trump to withdraw U.S. forces or obtain congressional authorization. But Trump’s Republicans, who hold slim majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives, have voted ​them down almost unanimously.

Under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, the U.S. president can wage military action for only 60 days before ending it, coming to ⁠Congress for authorization or seeking a 30-day extension due to “unavoidable military necessity regarding the safety of United States Armed Forces.”

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The Iran conflict began on February 28, when Israel and the United States began ​airstrikes on Iran. Trump formally notified Congress of the conflict 48 hours later, as the law requires, starting the 60-day deadline clock that ends May 1.

FRAIL CEASEFIRE

Trump is scheduled to receive a briefing on ​Thursday on plans for fresh military strikes on Iran to compel it to negotiate an end to the conflict, a U.S. official told Reuters.

If fighting resumes, Trump can tell lawmakers that he has started another 60-day clock, something that presidents from both parties have done repeatedly since Congress passed the War Powers law, over then-President Richard Nixon’s veto, in response to the Vietnam War.

That conflict also was not authorized by Congress.

Iran said on Thursday that if Washington renewed ​attacks it would respond with “long and painful strikes” on U.S. positions, complicating Washington’s hopes for an international coalition to open the Strait of Hormuz.

Opinion polls show that the Iran war is unpopular among ​Americans, six months before November elections that will determine who controls Congress next year.

Trump’s approval rating sank to the lowest level of his current term this month, as Americans increasingly soured on the cost of living and blamed ‌the war for ⁠higher prices.

But Trump remains strongly in control of his party and few Republicans have objected to his policies. Additionally, Republicans strongly back Israel, which is also striking Iran, and welcome weakening of Iran, a bitter enemy of the United States.

“It’s partisanship, plain and simple,” said Christopher Preble, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center think tank in Washington. “Republicans refuse to defy the president, simple as that.”

‘ACTIVE CONVERSATIONS’

The White House has not said how it plans to proceed, or if it will ask Congress to approve an Authorization for the Use of Military Force against Iran.

“The administration is in active conversations with the Hill ​on this topic. Members of Congress who try ​to score political points by usurping the ⁠Commander-in-Chief’s authority would only undermine the United States Military abroad, which no elected official should want to do,” a White House official said on condition of anonymity.

The U.S. Constitution says only Congress, not the president, can declare war, but that restriction does not apply for short-term operations or to counter an ​immediate threat.

A few Republicans who have voted against war powers resolutions to date said they may reconsider after May 1.

Republican Senator John Curtis of ​Utah published an essay, opens new tab saying he ⁠supported Trump’s actions but would not support ongoing military action beyond the deadline without congressional approval.

But others said they wanted to wait to act.

Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the Senate’s Republican majority leader, said it would be “ideal” if Washington and Tehran could reach a peace agreement, although he told reporters he has not ruled out a potential vote on authorizing the war.

“We’re listening, obviously trying to stay dialed in to ⁠what’s there and ​getting regular updates from the administration about forward progress,” Thune told reporters.

Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer of New York has ​co-sponsored resolutions seeking to end the war.

“Republicans know Trump’s handling of this war has been a disaster. They see how much the American people are hurting right now,” he said in a Senate speech, referring to sharp increases in gasoline and other ​prices.

“How many War Powers Resolutions do Democrats need to put forward before Senate Republicans do what’s right?” Schumer asked.

Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; additional reporting by Steve Holland; editing by Don Durfee and Alistair Bell

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US consumer finance watchdog narrows Biden-era anti-discrimination rule on small business lending

2026-04-30 4:20 PM UTC / Reuters

By Douglas Gillison

April 30, 2026 4:20 PM UTC Updated 5 mins ago

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Signage is seen at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 14, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo

• New regulation replaces Biden-era version that industry had sued to stop
• Narrows data collection even further than major bank groups asked
• Trump admin says regulation will still cover nearly all small business lending

NEW YORK, April 30 (Reuters) – The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday substantially narrowed Biden-era regulations intended to combat discrimination in lending to small businesses, reducing the number of banks that will be required banks to collect data on race and gender data from borrowers, according to a Federal Register notice.

The changes to the rule, which was mandated by Congress following the 2008 financial crisis, mark the Trump administration’s latest rollback of regulations intended to help prevent bias against racial and social minorities.

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Under the new version finalized Thursday, only banks that originate 1,000 or more small business loans in each of the prior two years will be required to comply with the anti-discrimination rule, an increase from the prior level of 100 loans. The new rule also removes references to gender identity or the business ownership’s LGBTQI+ status.

Industry groups welcomed the change, even though it appeared to reject industry concerns that narrowing the regulation’s scope in this way could exclude all but large lenders, harming fair lending enforcement and resulting in less meaningful data.

Acting CFPB Director Russell Vought, who is also President Donald Trump’s budget director, said in a statement that the change would make small business credit more affordable while minimizing the regulatory burden for small businesses with “invasive DEI questions.”

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“This is a long-awaited win for both borrowers and small businesses,” he said.

Americans for Financial Reform, a pro-consumer organization that pushes for stricter oversight of the financial sector, said the change further weakened a critical civil rights tool, which it said was “unnecessary and immoral.”

‘SIGNIFICANTLY’ REDUCE DATA

Following years of delays, the CFPB in 2023 under former President Joe Biden finalized the rule, requiring banks to collect demographic data similar to that collected for mortgage borrowers. The administration at the time said this would help combat discrimination and promote investment.

The rule sparked pushback from the industry and conservative critics, who said it far exceeded what Congress had envisaged and was an invasive burden that could ultimately reduce the volume of small business loans offered. Banks sued to kill the rule, which had yet to take effect.

In a joint public comment in December, the Bank Policy Institute and the Consumer Bankers Association, two of Washington’s largest bank lobby groups, had said that raising the threshold this high would “significantly reduce the availability of comprehensive data” and could hinder fair lending enforcement as a result.

However, the CFPB rejected this, saying that the change would still cover between 92-93% of small business lending, which it says was largely confined to bigger banks.

CBA and BPI did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday but in a statement CBA President Lindsey Johnson said the new version represented “meaningful progress.”

The rule is due to take effect in January 2028.

Reporting by Douglas Gillison in Washington; Editing by Michelle Price, Elaine Hardcastle and Aurora Ellis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Trump says he will lift tariffs and restrictions on Scotland-Kentucky whiskey ties

2026-04-30 6:47 PM UTC / Reuters

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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the signing ceremony for an executive order on mail ballots, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., March 31, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

April 30 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would be removing tariffs and restrictions related to Scotland’s ability to work with the state of Kentucky on whiskey and bourbon.

“People have wanted to do this for a long time, in that there had been great Inter-Country Trade, especially having to do with the Wooden Barrels used,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

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The U.S. and UK signed a deal in 2025 allowing Washington to impose a 10% baseline tariff on imports of most British goods.

Reporting by Ismail Shakil, Writing by Christian Martinez

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Fire aboard Navy destroyer USS Higgins, officials say

2026-04-30 12:19:00 -0400 / CBS News

By James LaPorta, Jennifer Jacobs
Updated on: April 30, 2026 / 12:21 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — A major fire broke out earlier this week on the USS Higgins, a guided-missile destroyer and a mainstay of the Navy’s forward presence in Asia, according to U.S. officials.

The fire knocked out electricity and propulsion on the destroyer, one of the officials told CBS News, speaking under condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

No injuries to U.S. service members had been reported as of Wednesday.

Details of how the fire started and the exact location of the Higgins in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) were not readily available.

Details regarding what sections of the ship were damaged and how long it will take to repair were also not available.

The Higgins was ported in Singapore as of February, according to AIS Marine vessel data.

Pentagon spokespeople referred questions about damage to INDOPACOM. The destroyer’s public affairs didn’t immediately comment.

Earlier this month, a small fire broke out on the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, injuring eight U.S. Navy sailors, the U.S. Naval Institute reported. Separately, a fire broke out in the laundry spaces aboard the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, injuring two sailors.

The Ford and its accompanying strike group are expected to leave the Middle East in the coming days, a U.S. official confirmed to CBS News on Wednesday. The Ford was one of three carriers operating in the region.

The Higgins, homeported in Yokosuka, Japan, is part of the Navy’s forward deployed forces assigned to the 7th Fleet — a key component of the United States Indo-Pacific Command, which oversees American military operations across more than half the globe.

The ship is named after Marine Col. William Higgins, a veteran of the Vietnam war, who was part of a United Nations peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon when he was kidnapped in Feb. 1988 by Hezbollah-linked militants. Higgins was tortured, interrogated and then was murdered. He was promoted to his current rank while in captivity. Higgins’ remains were found on a Beirut street in Dec. 1991.

Trump calls Sen Bill Cassidy ‘very disloyal’ and urges Louisiana voters to replace him over nominee fight

April 30, 2026 3:32pm EDT / Fox News

Trump nominated Dr Nicole Saphier to replace Dr Casey Means and called her ‘a STAR physician’

By Louis Casiano Fox News

President Donald Trump announced his nomination of Dr. Nicole Saphier to be the next surgeon general after his former nominee, Dr. Casey Means, faced pushback from the Senate.

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President Trump accused Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., on Thursday of being “very disloyal” and playing “political games” over his opposition to the confirmation of the commander-in-chief’s second Surgeon General nominee.

The President concluded his remarks by urging voters to replace the Louisiana Republican. In a Truth Social post, Trump assailed Cassidy over the failure to secure D. Casey Means’ confirmation.

“For months, Senator Bill Cassidy (of the GREAT State of Louisiana!), a very disloyal person whose ‘TRUMP’ Endorsement got him elected, but later voted to impeach ‘President Trump’ on what has now proven to be a total Hoax and Scam, has stood in the way of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Nominee, Casey Means, for the important position of U.S. Surgeon General,” Trump wrote.

He described Means as a “strong MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) Warrior” who “will continue to fight for MAHA on the many important health issues facing our Country.”

TRUMP BLASTS GOP WAR POWERS DEFECTORS, SAYS THEY ‘SHOULD NEVER BE ELECTED TO OFFICE AGAIN’

Dr. Casey Means appears at a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 25, 2026. She is the nominee for medical director in the Regular Corps of the Public Health Service and U.S. surgeon general.(Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Means’ brother, Calley Means, who serves as a White House advisor, also blamed Cassidy for the failed nomination.

“Bill Cassidy is a mindless avatar for his donors and a blind defender of the status quo system that is profiting from American sickness,” he wrote on X. “At every turn during Casey’s confirmation, Bill Cassidy worked to delay her and smear her. For several months last year, Bill Cassidy knew Casey’s due date. He demanded to schedule her hearing on her due date, and at the last minute scheduled it two days later.”

“He could have scheduled it weeks before,” he added. “Casey ended up having her baby the hour her first hearing was scheduled.”

TRUMP PRESSURES 4 GOP SENATORS AHEAD OF ANTI-CANADIAN TARIFF VOTE, ACCUSING THEM OF ‘TDS’

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., holds his head as Dr. Casey Means testifies during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee confirmation hearing for U.S. Surgeon General on Capitol Hill in Washington on Feb. 25, 2026. Trump heavily criticized Cassidy over the failure of Means to secure Senate confirmation.(Tom Brenner/AP)

In a subsequent post, Trump announced the nomination of Dr. Nicole Saphier, a former Fox News Channel contributor. He called her “a STAR physician” who has spent her career guiding women through breast cancer diagnoses while “tirelessly advocating to increase early cancer detection and prevention for both men and women.”

Trump further urged voters to replace Cassidy, who faces primary challenges from Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming and Rep. Julia Letlow, R-La.

President Donald Trump announced Dr. Casey Means as his nominee for surgeon general.(Getty Images/AP Newsroom)

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Means had previously appeared before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, which Cassidy chairs. During the proceeding, Cassidy raised concerns regarding her views on vaccinations.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Cassidy’s office for comment.

Louis Casiano is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to louis.casiano@fox.com.

Congress votes to reopen key parts of DHS, after House GOP caves on ICE funding

2026-04-30T18:08:03.824Z / CNN

Congress votes to reopen key parts of DHS, after House GOP caves on ICE funding

By Margaret Given, CNN

Published 2:08 PM EDT, Thu April 30, 2026

CNN’s Manu Raju joins Boris Sanchez and Brianna Keilar live from Capitol Hill on Congress voting to reopen key parts of the Department of Homeland Security – including the Transportation Security Administration – after weeks of GOP infighting that prolonged a record shutdown of the critical agency.

5:28 • Source: CNN

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Trump pulls Casey Means’ nomination as surgeon general, naming Nicole Saphier as replacement

April 30, 2026 / 1:40 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — President Trump on Thursday said he is nominating Dr. Nicole B. Saphier to be the next U.S. surgeon general, replacing his nomination of Casey Means, whose bid has stalled in the Senate for months.

The president announced the shuffle in a pair of posts on Truth Social. In the first, he blamed Sen. Bill Cassidy for Means’ nomination stalling in the wake of her confirmation hearing in February, saying the Louisiana Republican “has stood in the way” of his pick.

“I nominated Casey, a strong MAHA Warrior, at the recommendation of Secretary Kennedy, who understands the MAHA Movement better than anyone, with perhaps the possible exception of ME!” he wrote. “Nevertheless, despite Senator Cassidy’s intransigence and political games, Casey will continue to fight for MAHA on the many important Health issues facing our Country.”

Minutes later, Mr. Trump said he’s nominating Saphier, a radiologist and director of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Monmouth. She was a Fox News Channel medical contributor until her nomination. In 2020, she wrote the book, “Make America Healthy Again: How Bad Behavior and Big Government Caused a Trillion-Dollar Crisis.” She hosts a health and wellness podcast called “Wellness Unmasked.”

“Nicole is a STAR physician who has spent her career guiding women facing breast cancer through their diagnosis and treatment while tirelessly advocating to increase early cancer detection and prevention, while at the same time working with men and women on all other forms of cancer diagnoses and treatments,”the president wrote. “She is also an INCREDIBLE COMMUNICATOR, who makes complicated health issues more easily understood by all Americans.”

Means’ confirmation hearing was Feb. 25, but since then, the process stalled as she struggled to receive sufficient support in the Senate.

Among a handful of notable moments during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health Committee, Means in her testimony wouldn’t directly say if she would encourage mothers to vaccinate their children. Cassidy, who is a doctor, and others on the committee have stressed the value of many vaccines in saving lives. When asked about vaccines and any potential link to autism, Means told the committee the “science is never settled.”

Means also publicly acknowledged experimenting with psychedelic drugs in her 30s.

Means, who was educated as a physician, does not have a currently active medical license, something that was pointed out in her confirmation hearing. The president nominated Means in May 2025, but her confirmation hearing was delayed when she gave birth to her first child.

FCC chair says White House did not pressure him to open Disney review

2026-04-30T16:27:00.47Z / Reuters

By David Shepardson

April 30, 2026 4:27 PM UTC Updated 31 mins ago

WASHINGTON, April 30 (Reuters) – The head of the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday denied that the White House pressured him to open ​an early license review of Disney’s eight ABC television stations.

The highly unusual ‌reviews were announced a day after President Donald Trump urged ABC to fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.

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“This is a decision that we made inside this building,” FCC Chair Brendan Carr said, adding that, “there ​was no pressure from the outside…. There was no call for agency action ​from the outside.”

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Carr said the review was prompted by Disney and ABC’s ⁠diversity practices, not content that has aired. “The FCC should not operate as the speech ​police,” Carr said.

Carr opened an investigation in March 2025 into Disney’s diversity practices and he ​said Disney submitted documents last week in the probe that he felt were insufficient. He also said he is planning to open another early review and he declined to say if a similar review ​of diversity practices at Comcast and NBC could lead to an early review there.

Brendan Carr, FCC Chairman, attends the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) USA 2026 at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center, in Grapevine, Texas, U.S., March 27, 2026. REUTERS/Daniel Cole/File Photo

Democratic ​FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said the Disney license fight could take years of litigation to resolve. She ‌said ⁠the diversity issue was clearly a pretext.

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“This should be a lesson to every media company watching — capitulation does not mean protection. This administration will keep coming back, demanding more. The only answer is to stand up, fight back and defend the First Amendment,” Gomez ​said.

On April 23, Kimmel, ​whose late-night TV ⁠program airs on Disney’s ABC, did a send-up of the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, joking that First Lady Melania Trump ​had “a glow like an expectant widow.”

The joke was made three days ​before the ⁠actual black-tie dinner, celebrating press freedom and free speech, in Washington. The president and first lady were rushed from the dinner following an assassination attempt.

Kimmel said Monday the “expectant widow” comment “obviously ⁠was a ​joke about their age difference,” that had been misconstrued. Trump ​will be 80 in June, and his wife turned 56 this month.

“It was not by any stretch of ​the definition a call for assassination,” Kimmel said.

Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Hugh Lawson

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Obama ripped for SCOTUS hot take after support for Virginia ‘gerrymander’

2026-04-30T15:36:45-04:00 / Fox News

The 6-3 decision declared Louisiana’s congressional map an illegal racial gerrymander favoring a majority-Black district

By Charles Creitz
Fox News

Published April 30, 2026 3:36pm EDT

Democrats decry Supreme Court ruling that rolls back key provision of voting rights act

Fox News chief legal correspondent Shannon Bream reports on the Supreme Court decision that limits the use of race in congressional redistricting on ‘Special Report.’

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Former President Barack Obama was lambasted for rebuking a new Supreme Court ruling against race-based redistricting in Louisiana, just days after cutting ads for a Virginia effort to transform that state’s map into a 10-1 Democratic-advantaged landscape.

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 against Louisiana’s 2024 mid-decade redistricting that produced a serpentine district represented by Rep. Cleo Fields of Baton Rouge, calling it an “illegal” racial gerrymander, while Obama argued the decision weakened a Voting Rights Act provision prohibiting race-based discrimination.

“Today’s Supreme Court decision effectively guts a key pillar of the Voting Rights Act, freeing state legislatures to gerrymander legislative districts to systematically dilute and weaken the voting power of racial minorities — so long as they do it under the guise of ‘partisanship’ rather than explicit ‘racial bias’,” Obama said.

“Unless it’s Virginia. In that case, it’s great to have a 10-1 gerrymander,” retorted Bush White House press secretary Ari Fleischer in a post on X.

SPANBERGER FACES ‘BAIT-AND-SWITCH’ BACKLASH IN FINAL HOURS BEFORE REDISTRICTING REFERENDUM

Former President Barack Obama campaigns for Rep. Mikie Sherrill, Democratic candidate for New Jersey governor, in Newark on Nov. 1, 2025.(Adam Gray/Bloomberg)

Fleischer was joined by former North Carolina Congressman and ex-Trump aide Mark Meadows, who addressed Obama to say his rebuke was “beneath you.”

Former DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin also weighed in, remarking that to the former president, “disenfranchising millions of voters and forcing 45% of Virginians to be represented by one congressional district and 55% represented by 10 is now ‘standing up for Democracy.’”

“Is that ‘equity’? What a farce.”

Obama went on to slam the current makeup of the Supreme Court and its conservative majority, saying their decision in the case is another example of “abandoning its vital role in ensuring equal participation in our democracy and protecting the rights of minority groups against majority overreach.”

Other critics noted Obama has been mum on his own home state’s gerrymandered map, which features several zigzagging districts connecting disparate neighborhoods and suburbs of Chicago, while other Democratic strongholds form serpentine districts around the interior of the state to connect cities like Champaign, Springfield and Moline with other Democratic areas.

The Virginia redistricting map was approved narrowly by voters late week in a special election that the Virginia Supreme Court allowed to be held amid a legal fight over the ‘ramming’ through of mid-decade redistricting.(Virginia Legislative Information System)

Other critics noted how Democrats control every congressional district in New England plus Hawaii — citing reported figures that all of those states have Republican populations between 32% and 48% but none of those voters have like-minded representation in Washington.

The 44th president added that setbacks like that can be overcome, calling on Americans who respect “democratic ideals” to vote in record numbers to outweigh any electoral changes brought on by the court’s decision.

In his own reading of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, Justice Sam Alito said that when “correctly understood, [it] does not impose liability at odds with the Constitution, and it should not have imposed liability on Louisiana for its 2022 map.”

Just days earlier, Obama was front and center in the largely Democratic-led “Vote Yes” campaign in Virginia, where the commonwealth’s Democratic legislative majority and Gov. Abigail Spanberger backed a voter referendum to implement their own mid-decade redistricting that would favor their party for at least the next four years.

DEMOCRATS WIN VIRGINIA REDISTRICTING FIGHT, THREATING REPUBLICAN HOUSE MAJORITY

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6394218802112

Sen Ted Cruz: Democrats will do anything to stay in power

The approved map would transform Virginia’s 6-5 Democratic congressional majority into a likely 10-1 split by redrawing rural districts to include Washington, D.C., suburbs or the Richmond-Petersburg metro area, which proponents like Obama said is needed to restore fairness on a national level.

“By voting yes, you have a chance to do something important, not just for the commonwealth but for our entire country. By voting yes, you can push back on the Republicans trying to give themselves an unfair advantage in the midterms.”

Obama claimed in a pro-Yes ad that supporters could “level the playing field.”

CARVILLE AND CO-HOST LAMENT THAT TRUMP SPARKED A REDISTRICTING WAR, MAKING BOTH PARTIES LOOK CYNICAL

Then-Louisiana State Sen. Cleo Fields speaks during the swearing in of the state Legislature in Baton Rouge, La., on Jan. 8, 2024.(Gerald Herbert/Associated Press)

While largely a Democratic concern, and as newly drawn districts in Louisiana and Alabama favored Democrats, Virginia’s “yes” campaign did have support from a handful of non-Democrats such as anti-Trump former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill.

Like Louisiana’s map, Virginia’s plan has been subject to dueling litigation, including a recent move by a circuit judge in Tazewell County in the western mountains to place a hold on certification of the “Yes” vote, while the state Supreme Court considers a case over the referendum’s legislative process and legitimacy.

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In a statement, Fields said Wednesday’s high court decision “dismantled” decades of settled law and was not a “neutral reading” of the Voting Rights Act.

“Today’s majority has resurrected exactly that standard — and the practical effect is to make it far harder for minority communities to challenge redistricting maps that dilute their political voice,” Fields said.

Fox News Digital reached out to Obama for comment on criticisms.

Fox News’ David Spunt contributed to this report.

Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.

He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.

Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.

Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.

Illinois commission recommends local prosecutors investigate federal agents in immigration blitz

2026-04-30 16:18:42 UTC / Reuters

By Emily Schmall

April 30, 2026 4:18 PM UTC Updated 1 hour ago

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Illinois Governor JB Pritzker speaks during the National Action Network (NAN) National Convention in New York City, U.S., April 9, 2026. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

• Summary

• Commission cites excessive force, urges local prosecutors to investigate federal agents
• White House criticizes Illinois sanctuary laws, linking them to recent violent crime
• Judge Castillo and Governor Pritzker call for accountability over Operation Midway Blitz actions

CHICAGO, April 30 (Reuters) – An independent commission created by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker in the wake of an aggressive immigration crackdown in the Chicago ‌area last year has recommended that local prosecutors investigate federal agents for misconduct.

The Illinois Accountability Commission, led by retired U.S. District Judge Rubén Castillo, issued a report on Thursday documenting what it described as a pattern of “unjustified and excessive force,” and the “indiscriminate use of chemical agents” by federal officers.

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The commission, which took witness testimony and reviewed a trove of ​court evidence and media reports, recommended further investigation by Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke, other local prosecutors and police as well as ​federal law enforcement agencies with the authority to obtain additional evidence.

The report and video footage contained “plenty of stuff that ⁠can be prosecuted,” Judge Castillo told a news conference.

The Trump administration’s crackdown, which it dubbed Operation Midway Blitz, led to thousands of arrests and violent ​confrontations between federal immigration agents and protesters from September until December. Agents shot two people, including one person fatally, and threatened to shoot others, body-cam footage ​shows.

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Agents deployed tear gas, pepper balls and rubber bullets at protesters outside an immigration holding center in suburban Broadview, Illinois, repeatedly during near-daily demonstrations and across many Chicago neighborhoods.

“If JB Pritzker spent this much time and energy addressing crime and supporting the arrest of criminal illegal aliens instead of providing them with sanctuary, Illinois residents would be much safer,” said Abigail ​Jackson, a spokesperson for the White House, in response to the report.

She referred to the case of a Chicago student who authorities say was fatally ​shot in March by a Venezuelan migrant, who has pleaded not guilty to the shooting. After the commission’s report was published Thursday, Judge Castillo described the October 4 shooting of Marimar Martinez, a ‌U.S. citizen ⁠and Montessori school teacher in suburban Oak Park, by Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum.

“You would think that she was shot by some gang member on the South Side of Chicago. And she was. But guess what? That gang was Customs and Border Patrol. And the person who sent that gang to Illinois and to Chicago? Someone living on Pennsylvania Avenue in the White House,” Castillo said.

Martinez survived the shooting and faced criminal charges by the U.S. Attorney’s ​Office in one of dozens of cases ​that were later dropped.

The federal government ⁠initially said that Martinez had tried to ram the agents with her car, but later withdrew its case against her. Martinez’s lawyer said that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in South Bend, Indiana, was investigating Exum for misconduct, but ​a spokesperson on Thursday said that she could not confirm the existence of an open investigation.

Pritzker, a Democrat ​and the billionaire ⁠heir of the Hyatt fortune, has become an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump and accused him of authoritarianism. During the immigration blitz last fall, Trump called on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Pritzker, a possible contender for the presidential election in 2028.

“Our hope is that law enforcement agencies will review this evidence and take ⁠any steps ​in their power to deliver justice to Illinoisans impacted by Operation Midway Blitz, including Marimar ​Martinez and Silverio Villegas Gonzales,” Pritzker said Thursday, referring to a Mexican immigrant who was fatally shot by a Border Patrol agent during the operation. “We can’t let people forget the atrocities that ​happened here in our cities and the erosion of our democracy happening in the United States.”

Reporting by Emily Schmall; Editing by Mark Porter and Deepa Babington

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