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Judge who apologized to WHCA shooting suspect was appointed by court full of anti-Trump judges

2026-05-05 14:10 EDT / Fox News

Faruqui said he was disturbed Allen was put in five-point restraints, comparing treatment to Jan. 6 defendants

By Ashley J. DiMella Fox News

Published May 5, 2026 2:10pm EDT

A federal judge’s apology to the accused White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner shooter ignites controversy, with critics citing his past anti-Trump rhetoric. Judge Zia Faruqui previously slammed the Justice Department’s handling of Trump-related cases, once describing their efforts to prosecute a threat against the former president as ’embarrassing for the government’ during a September 2025 hearing.

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A federal magistrate judge who apologized to the suspect accused of plotting an assassination attempt against President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner has a history as a sharp critic of Trump-era federal prosecutions, a Fox News Digital review of his background found.

“To me, it’s extremely disturbing that he was put in five-point restraints, a person with no criminal history. It’s troubling,” said Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui, referring to suspect Cole Allen’s jail treatment on Monday. “I never heard of one Jan. 6 defendant who was put in five-point restraints or in a safe cell. If the only way to keep him safe is the most punitive thing, that’s a problem.”

“At a minimum, I should be apologizing to him. We are obligated to make sure he’s taken care of. Mr. Allen, I’m sorry that things have not been the way they are supposed to,” said Faruqui.

Faruqui, appointed as a U.S. magistrate judge in 2020, has previously clashed with federal prosecutors in Washington over Trump administration law-enforcement surge cases, accusing U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office of overreaching by bringing some matters in federal court that he said belonged in local court.

COLE ALLEN CHARGED IN TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT IN FIRST COURT APPEARANCE AFTER WHCA DINNER SHOOTING

“To me, it’s extremely disturbing that he was put in five-point restraints, a person with no criminal history. It’s troubling,” said Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui speaking about alleged shooter Cole Allen on Monday.(Dana Verkouteren)

Faruqui was selected by judges of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to serve an eight-year term as a magistrate judge in 2020. At the time of his September 2020, appointment, the court’s active Article III bench was composed of 15 judges — 11 appointed by Democratic presidents and four appointed by Republican presidents.

He was sworn in by then-Chief Judge Beryl Howell, an Obama appointee who has faced ethics complaints and criticism from Trump allies over her handling of Trump-related matters.

Trump and his allies have repeatedly cast the D.C. federal bench as hostile terrain for the administration, accusing judges in the district — including Chief Judge James Boasberg, who has drawn Trump’s ire in high-profile immigration litigation — of anti-Trump bias in politically charged cases.

The Allen hearing was not the first time Faruqui’s handling of a Trump-related threat case drew backlash from federal prosecutors. Last year, he clashed with Pirro’s office amid the case against Edward Alexander Dana — who was accused of threatening to kill Trump while in police custody on vandalism charges — before it was dismissed.

Pirro issued a statement at the time accusing Faruqui of having an “allegiance to those who violate the law.”

FEDERAL JUDGE RIPS DOJ PROSECUTORS, DISMISSES TRUMP THREAT CASE: ‘THERE’S NO CREDIBILITY LEFT’

“This judge took an oath to follow the law, yet he has allowed his politics to consistently cloud his judgment and his requirement to follow the law,” Pirro wrote last year. “America voted for safe communities, law and order, and this judge is the antithesis of that.”

“At a minimum, I should be apologizing to him. We are obligated to make sure he’s taken care of. Mr. Allen, I’m sorry that things have not been the way they are supposed to,” said Faruqui.(Craig Hudson/The Washington Post)

At the time, Faruqui said the government owed Dana an apology, arguing the department’s rush to charge and its repeated dismissal of cases showed “too many misfires.” Faruqui used the moment to preach about equality, adding the message that “people who look like Mr. Dana” is to “be very afraid” saying the country is “past the point of constitutional crisis.”

Faruqui also played a role in Jan. 6, 2021, cases, when protesters breached the U.S. Capitol. Lawmakers and political figures called out Faruqui, saying that he did not show the same level of concern for the Jan. 6 protesters as he did for Allen.

NEW VIDEO SHOWS WHCD SUSPECT INSIDE HOTEL BEFORE RUSHING SECURITY CHECKPOINT WITH WEAPON

“Strange that not a single judge in DC had a thought anywhere close to this for any of the Jan 6 people they maliciously prosecuted,” wrote Donald Trump Jr. on X.

“As a former judge for over a decade, I am appalled by this judge’s condemnation of law enforcement and prosecutors who were simply doing their jobs to address the safety of this would be Trump assassin,” wrote Republican Florida Sen. Ashley Moody on X.

Allen faces federal charges including attempted assassination, firearms offenses, and could face life in prison if convicted.(Donald J Trump via Truth Social/Handout via Reuters)

“Apologizing and coddling the man who attempted to kill the President of the United States and his cabinet is embarrassing to the entire judiciary,” she added. “This judge has no business being on the bench let alone on this case.”

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“I thought perhaps the article with its headline about the judge apologizing to the assassin was from The Babylon Bee,” wrote former Clinton pollster Mark Penn on X.

“What planet could this judge possibly be on? Does he not remember what happened to Lee Harvey Oswald? Does he not realize that mixing him at this point would be a danger to him? And not realize that putting him on suicide watch was a perfectly realistic action given Allen never expected to survive the attack? Sometimes it just seems like an upside down world,” Penn added.

Allen faces federal charges, including attempted assassination and firearms offenses, and could face life in prison if convicted.

Fox News Digital reached out to Faruqui’s chambers on Tuesday.

Ashley J. DiMella reports on politics for Fox News Digital.

Are military dolphins working in the Strait of Hormuz? Probably not, but they have been part of the US Navy for decades

2026-05-05T19:11:49.691Z / CNN

By Haley Britzky

19 min ago

PUBLISHED May 5, 2026, 3:11 PM ET

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Sadie Steinheimer, right, and and Tristan Smith, interns at the Navy Marine Mammal Program (MMP), care for Navy dolphins at Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific on May 5, 2025.

Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Michael T. Eckelbecker/US Navy

With concerns about Iran laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was asked Tuesday whether Iran might turn to dolphins to help confront the US Navy.

He said that he could “confirm” that Iran didn’t have dolphins to deploy as part of operations but said he would neither “confirm or deny whether we have kamikaze dolphins.”

One source familiar with US operations in the Strait of Hormuz told CNN that the US military isn’t using dolphins as part of its efforts in the Strait. But the US Navy does, in fact, have a decades-old program to train dolphins to help detect mines.

The Marine Mammal Program is a part of the Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) Department within Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific. The department’s dolphins are not kamikaze dolphins in that they do not sacrifice their lives to detonate mines. Instead, they’re focused on detection.

“We use marine mammals to help detect objects under water and to protect ports by detecting intruders,” Scott Savitz, a senior engineer at RAND who previously worked with the now-decommissioned US Navy mine warfare command, told CNN. “So it’s not ‘The Day of the Dolphin.’”

The US isn’t alone in using dolphins for military purposes — Russia has used them to guard ports, and Iran purchased dolphins in 2000, according to the BBC. Those dolphins would likely be too old to be used today, and there is no indication that Iran has an active dolphin program, though the Wall Street Journal reported last month that Iran was considering mine-carrying dolphins as a novel way to combat the US efforts to open the Strait.

The question to Hegseth on Tuesday comes amid questions about the ceasefire between the US and Iran, after shots were fired by both sides as tensions escalated in the Strait of Hormuz. CNN reported in March that Iran had started laying mines in the Strait; Hegseth said in April that laying mines would violate the tentative ceasefire agreement and that the US military would “deal with that.”

US Navy teams work with specially trained dolphins during an exercise to detect underwater explosives left over from war near Montenegro.

US Embassy in Montenegro

The US Navy’s dolphin program has been around since 1959, focused on training bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions to detect and recover objects underwater. According to the Marine Mammal Program’s webpage, dolphins “possess the most sophisticated sonar known to science,” and underwater drones are “no match for the animals.”

“Both dolphins and sea lions have excellent low light vision and underwater directional hearing that allow them to detect and track undersea targets, even in dark or murky waters,” the website says. “Dolphins are trained to search for and mark the location of undersea mines that could threaten the safety of those on board military or civilian ships.”

During a detection mission, the dolphin would typically travel with 2-3 handlers in a small boat. To indicate if they’ve found something, the animal will tap a paddle at the front of the boat, and tap a back paddle to indicate they haven’t, according to the Naval Undersea Museum. The dolphins drop “marker buoys” near mines they’ve located to help human divers find and disable them.

But dolphins are not typically used in an active combat environment like what exists in the Strait of Hormuz currently. Instead, dolphins have been used to detect mines after fighting has finished, Savitz said.

Savitz pointed specifically to when dolphins were deployed in 2003 to detect any mines leading to the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr after the US and coalition partners had captured southern Iraq.

“Hostilities had basically ceased,” he said. “You’re not trying to fight your way in with dolphins.”

A key aspect of the program, Savitz explained, is that the dolphins and sealions have the opportunity to leave every time they go out into the open waters for training or operations.

“They choose to come back because they like the free fish; they like the game of can you find this on the sea floor, can you find the person trying to swim close to the piers; they like the protection from predators,” Savitz said. “There are always questions about animal welfare, but these animals actively choose to stay in the program when they could just join the wild.”

CNN’s Zachary Cohen contributed to this report.

In Lynette Hooker probe, Coast Guard seeks information about mystery sailboat

2026-05-05 15:25 EDT / CBS News

Washington — Federal investigators are now seeking the public’s help in identifying the owners of a sailboat that may have been moored next to Lynette Hooker’s vessel the night she disappeared in the Bahamas, marking a new development in the search for the missing Michigan woman.

The U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, the criminal investigative arm of the service branch, is searching for additional information about Hooker’s disappearance near Aunt Pat’s Bay, near Elbow Cay and Hope Town, on the night of April 4, 2026.

File: Combo photo of Lynette Hooker and sailboat that may have been moored next to Hooker’s vessel the night she disappeared in the Bahamas. Hooker via Facebook; vessel photo provided by U.S. Coast Guard

According to sources close to the investigation, CGIS has launched a search to locate the owner of a sailboat that was moored near the sailing vessel Soulmate in Aunt Pat’s Bay that day in early April. Lynette Hooker and her husband, Brian Hooker, had been traveling aboard Soulmate before she vanished.

“The owners/occupants of the sailing vessel may have information relevant to the CGIS investigation,” a Coast Guard memo obtained by CBS News states.

File: Sailboat that may have been moored next to Hooker’s vessel the night she disappeared in the Bahamas. U.S. Coast Guard

Screenshot taken by Brian Hooker of Navionics and obtained by CBS News, purportedly shows route his dinghy took the night his wife Lynette disappeared.

Federal investigators have been looking beyond the dinghy route described in earlier accounts and are now seeking potential witnesses who may have been near Soulmate before or around the time Lynette was reported missing.

Hooker, 55, disappeared after what her husband has described as a drop from an 8-foot dinghy during a nighttime ride in the Abacos. Brian Hooker told authorities Lynette fell overboard with the boat keys, causing the engine to shut off and leaving him to paddle for hours before reaching shore. He was later detained by Bahamian authorities and released without charges. Hooker has denied any wrongdoing.

The new Coast Guard investigative appeal centers on Aunt Pat’s Bay, where the couple’s sailboat had been anchored earlier in the day, on April 4. Investigators are now asking anyone who knows the identity of the pictured sailboat’s owner or occupants — or anyone with information about Lynette Hooker’s disappearance — to submit tips through the CGIS Tips app, available in the Apple App Store and Google Play. According to the Coast Guard, tips may be submitted anonymously.

CGIS agents are sworn federal law enforcement officers who investigate violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and U.S. law, working closely with the Department of Justice. The service’s stated mission is to support and protect Coast Guard personnel, operations, integrity and assets worldwide through independent investigations.

A month after her disappearance, Lynette Hooker remains missing, with no charges filed in connection to her disappearance.

US industries, trade groups split over Trump’s tariff probe on excess factory capacity

2026-05-05 17:16 UTC / Reuters

By David Lawder

May 5, 2026 5:16 PM UTC Updated 1 hour ago

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A steel billet is seen on a medium plate production line at a Baowu Group steel mill in Ezhou, Hubei province, China June 21, 2023. REUTERS/Amy Lv/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) – Domestic U.S. industries are urging the Trump administration ​this week to impose higher tariffs to curb the rising tide of exports from China and other countries with excess factory capacity, while import-dependent and agriculture groups want a more ‌cautious approach to new trade curbs.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s office on Tuesday launched a marathon, four-day hearing on its “Section 301” trade investigation into excess industrial capacity in 16 major trading partners, including China, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Mexico and Vietnam.

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Trade watchers widely expect the probe to lead to new import duties as the Trump administration seeks to rebuild tariff leverage lost when the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s global tariffs invoked under a national emergencies law.

USTR and other agencies will hear ​testimony from nearly 150 representatives of companies, trade groups, foreign governments and think tanks through Friday, according to a USTR schedule. Last week, the Trump administration heard two days of testimony on a ​separate but parallel tariff probe into lax enforcement of anti-forced labor laws by some 60 countries.

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U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has said he wants to complete both investigations ⁠by July, when a temporary global 10% tariff is due to expire. That puts the probes, launched in mid-March, on an accelerated time schedule.

He told reporters at the time that the probe would analyze capacity utilization and profitability ​in countries with large and persistent trade surpluses with the United States. USTR’s official notice, opens new tab cited the automotive sector in China and Japan, saying that a growing number of companies in these countries were unprofitable or unable to meet interest ​payments.

CHINA CHALLENGE DIFFERENT

The Center for a New American Security said in prepared testimony that U.S. actions should be focused on China, whose large and growing structural excess capacity, and plans to dominate key sectors such as legacy semiconductors, represent a “strategic problem” for the U.S.

Excess capacity in other economies does not threaten U.S. economic and national security interests in the same way that China’s does, said Emily Kilcrease, a senior fellow at CNAS. Trump’s past tariffs on Chinese goods primarily succeeded in shifting those exports ​to other markets.

“If one accepts that China’s excess capacity is categorically different and strategically consequential, and that unilateral responses are inadequate, it is clear that a coordinated approach with U.S. allies is the path forward,” Kilcrease ​said, arguing that allied countries should band together to build sufficient scale in strategic materials.

China has long denied that it has excess industrial capacity, and the China Chamber of International Commerce said in written comments that the U.S. narrative is “fundamentally ‌flawed” and lacks ⁠a legal and factual basis because overcapacity is mentioned by the World Trade Organization only in terms of fisheries resources.

STEEL GLUT FROM EU, SOUTH KOREA

Brandon Farris, executive vice president of the Steel Manufacturers Association, said in prepared testimony for delivery on Thursday that more Section 301 curbs are needed “to confront the scourge of excess capacity, which threatens American jobs, undermines fair competition and erodes our manufacturing base.”

Trump has already imposed 50% tariffs on global steel imports under a separate, national security statute. But the industry will still face import surges from China and other countries “unwilling to right-size” their steel sectors, Farris said.

While China is the main source of excess steel capacity, producing more ​than India, the U.S., Japan and Russia combined, ​other countries were propping up their steelmakers and contributing ⁠to a global steel glut, Farris said.

He singled out the European Union for having 85 million metric tons of excess steelmaking capacity, nearly matching the 89 million tons of U.S. production last year, adding that unused capacity in South Korea is about 18 million tons and in Taiwan, 10.2 million tons.

UPSETTING CHINA TRUCE

The American Soybean ​Association, which represents over 500,000 farmers slammed for years by Chinese retaliatory tariffs on U.S. soybeans, urged caution on any new duties as Washington and Beijing ​negotiate on a delicate trade ⁠truce.

The Section 301 probes will be among topics to be discussed by Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a planned summit next week in Beijing.

“We are concerned that these additional Section 301 investigations could lead to remedies that will set back negotiations and lead to a reimposition of even higher tariffs against U.S. soybeans by the Chinese government,” said Dave Walton, an Iowa farmer and ASA vice president.

Walton also urged USTR to exempt farm inputs such as fertilizers from ⁠any new ​tariffs and to not raise duties on countries such as Indonesia and Mexico, which are growing buyers of U.S. soybeans.

The Footwear Distributors ​and Retailers of America said in written comments to USTR that footwear imports, which already face average 12% tariffs, were driven by demand and that growing sourcing from Cambodia, Vietnam, Bangladesh and India was not hampering the Trump administration’s efforts to rebuild the U.S. industrial base.

“Increasing ​this tariff burden, through new added 301 tariffs, will result in higher costs for hardworking American families at a time when they already face tremendous economic uncertainty,” the group said.

Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Andrea Ricci

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Blockbuster Supreme Court voting rights ruling ignites redistricting war across Southern states

2026-05-05 12:04pm EDT / Fox News

Louisiana, Alabama and Tennessee lead the charge in wake of Supreme Court ruling as GOP aims to pad its fragile House majority before midterms

By Paul Steinhauser Fox News

Published May 5, 2026 12:04pm EDT

Former federal prosecutor Katie Cherkasky analyzes the Supreme Court’s pivotal ruling that outlaws race-based gerrymandering on ‘Fox Report.’

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A congressional redistricting frenzy is sweeping across the South this week, after the Supreme Court’s conservative majority last week slashed a key Voting Rights Act protection, triggering new efforts by Republicans to quickly rewrite U.S. House district maps ahead of this year’s midterm elections.

Louisiana, Alabama and Tennessee are the latest battlegrounds in a nearly year-long redistricting war pitting President Donald Trump and Republicans against Democrats. And as many as a dozen seats may be in play in the latest skirmishes.

With the GOP defending its razor-thin House majority in the midterms, at stake in this redistricting showdown is which party will control the House during the final two years of Trump’s second term in the White House.

All eyes are on Louisiana, which was the state whose congressional district map was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. The justices reshaped the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act by ruling that race should not dictate the redrawing of legislative district maps.

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President Donald Trump and Republican Gov. Jeff Landry of Louisiana, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on March 24, 2025, in Washington, D.C.(Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that its decision declaring Louisiana’s map unconstitutional should go into effect immediately, breaking with its usual procedure of waiting roughly a month before its opinions become official.

That clears the way for the GOP-controlled state legislature to begin the process of redrawing the map as early as this week. Last week, Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, in the immediate aftermath of the high court’s ruling, delayed this month’s U.S. House primary elections.

Landry argued his executive order “ensures we uphold the rule of law while giving the Legislature the time it needs to pass a fair and lawful congressional map.”

Louisiana Republicans are aiming to erase one or both of the two Black-majority House seats, which are represented by Democrats.

But lawsuits filed by Democrats aim to block the push by Louisiana Republicans to redraw the maps.

Lawmakers in the Alabama legislature, where the GOP holds a supermajority in both chambers, began meeting on Monday to work on redistricting that may result in eliminating one or both of the state’s two blue-leaning U.S. House districts.

The special session was called by Republican Gov. Kay Ivey.

LOUISIANA SUSPENDS CONGRESSIONAL PRIMARIES IN WAKE OF SUPREME COURT GERRYMANDERING RULING

Republican Gov. Kay Ivey of Alabama called a special session of the state legislature to handle congressional redistricting.(Vasha Hunt/AP)

But any new map passed by Alabama lawmakers will need to be greenlit by the Supreme Court. That’s because Alabama is currently prohibited by the high court from redistricting until 2030. It’s unclear if the court will lift its injunction.

Tennessee lawmakers begin meeting in a special session starting Tuesday to put together a new congressional district map that may erase the state’s only Democratic-controlled seat.

Republican Gov. Bill Lee spoke with Trump last week in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling. Hours after the president said in a social media post that Lee “would work hard” to redraw Tennessee’s map, the governor called the special session.

“We owe it to Tennesseans to ensure our congressional districts accurately reflect the will of Tennessee voters,” the governor wrote in a statement.

TENNESSEE MOVES TO REDRAW ITS CONGRESSIONAL MAP AHEAD OF MIDTERMS

GOP Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee called for a special session of his state’s legislature to redraw the Tennessee congressional districts map.(Mark Zaleski/AP)

It appears unlikely South Carolina will join Louisiana, Alabama and Tennessee in implementing redistricting in time for the midterms.

A top aide to Republican Gov. Henry McMaster of South Carolina confirmed to Fox News Digital that it’s very unlikely the GOP-controlled state will enact congressional redistricting. “We do not anticipate the Governor calling a special session,” McMaster spokeswoman Michelle LeClair said.

Longtime Rep. Jim Clyburn is the only Democrat in South Carolina’s seven-person House delegation.

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia said late last week that the Supreme Court’s ruling won’t impact elections this year in Georgia, but that redistricting changes would come before the 2028 elections. Georgia holds its primary in two weeks.

But Trump is urging GOP states to take action regardless of whether they face time crunches due to upcoming primaries.

“We should demand that State Legislatures do what the Supreme Court says must be done,” the president wrote this past weekend in a social media post. “This is going to help us win elections!”

Meanwhile, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a bill passed last week by the GOP-dominated state legislature that redraws the red-leaning state’s congressional districts, adding four more right-leaning seats by eliminating districts currently controlled by Democrats.

Republicans currently control Florida’s U.S. House delegation by a 20-8 margin.

DESANTIS SIGNS INTO LAW NEW CONGRESSIONAL MAP CREATING MORE RIGHT-LEANING SEATS IN FLORIDA

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, seen delivering his State of the State address during the first day of the legislative session at the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee on Jan. 13, 2026, on Monday signed into law a bill redrawing the state’s congressional districts.(Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service)

The DeSantis bill signing came two weeks after voters in Virginia narrowly passed a referendum that, if it clears legal hurdles, will give the state’s Democratic-controlled legislature — rather than the current nonpartisan commission — temporary redistricting power through the 2030 election. It could result in a 10-1 advantage for Democrats in Virginia’s congressional delegation, up from their current 6-5 edge.

But Virginia’s Supreme Court has yet to rule on a trio of cases contesting the new map.

Aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House when Democrats reclaimed the House majority in the 2018 midterms, Trump last spring first floated the idea of rare, but not unheard of, mid-decade congressional redistricting.

The mission was simple: redraw congressional district maps in red states to pad the GOP’s fragile House majority to keep control of the chamber in the midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.

When asked by reporters last summer about his plan to add Republican-leaning House seats across the country, the president said, “Texas will be the biggest one. And that’ll be five.”

President Donald Trump has urged Republican-controlled states to redraw their congressional districts to create more right-leaning seats ahead of this year’s midterm elections.(Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images)

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas called a special session of the GOP-dominated state legislature to pass the new map.

But Democratic state lawmakers, who broke quorum for two weeks as they fled Texas in a bid to delay the passage of the redistricting bill, energized Democrats across the country.

Among those leading the fight against Trump’s redistricting was Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California.

California voters in November overwhelmingly passed Proposition 50, a ballot initiative that temporarily sidetracked the left-leaning state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission and returned the power to draw the congressional maps to the Democratic-dominated legislature.

That is expected to result in five more Democratic-leaning congressional districts in California, which aimed to counter the move by Texas to redraw their maps.

The fight quickly spread beyond Texas and California.

Republican-controlled Missouri and Ohio and swing state North Carolina, where the GOP dominates the legislature, have drawn new maps as part of the president’s push.

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But in blows to Republicans, a Utah district judge late last year rejected a congressional district map drawn by the state’s GOP-dominated legislature and instead approved an alternate that will create a Democratic-leaning district ahead of the midterms.

And Republicans in Indiana’s Senate in December defied Trump, shooting down a redistricting bill that had passed the state House.

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in the swing state of New Hampshire. He covers the campaign trail from coast to coast.

Trump’s ballroom is becoming a political boondoggle

2026-05-05 1:40 PM ET / CNN Politics

Analysis by Aaron Blake

A crane being used to construct the new White House ballroom is seen next to the White House, on April 5, 2026.

Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

For months, President Donald Trump has suggested that outgoing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell might have committed a crime because the cost of renovating the Fed’s headquarters increased by about 30% on his watch.

But the cost of Trump’s own prized renovation — the White House ballroom — has increased even more, as a percentage of his original estimate.

And it’s looking more and more like Trump wasn’t telling the truth when he said the project would involve “no charge to the taxpayer whatsoever.”

The big news Monday was that the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee has requested $1 billion in funding that could go to security related to the $400 million ballroom.

The money, which is tucked into an expected party-line bill that is otherwise focused on immigration enforcement, is designated for “security adjustments and upgrades.” The security uses “include” work on the White House grounds “to support enhancements by the United States Secret Service relating to the East Wing Modernization Project.”

(The East Wing Modernization Project is the name for the replacement of the East Wing with Trump’s ballroom.)

That doesn’t mean all $1 billion would necessarily be used for ballroom-related purposes. But no other project is mentioned in that section of the bill.

And that’s really difficult to square with Trump’s previous rhetoric about the costs.

From the beginning of this now-nine-month process, Trump has emphasized it would involve no taxpayer money — only funds from donors and himself.

“I’m paying for it; the country’s not,” Trump said in September.

He added in October that it would be paid for “100% by me and some friends of mine.”

In December he said it would be “free of charge.”

In February he cited “no charge to the taxpayer whatsoever.”

And in March he said it would involve “zero taxpayer dollars.”

But the proposed security costs are now the second time in just a week that Trump’s allies in Congress have floated taxpayer funding for the massive project. After the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last month, Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Katie Britt of Alabama and Eric Schmitt of Missouri pushed for taxpayers to foot the $400 million bill for building the ballroom itself, instead of donors and Trump. They suggested security concerns demanded it.

The White House hasn’t answered a question from CNN about whether it supports that proposal. But it signaled Tuesday that it supports the $1 billion security request.

“The White House applauds Congress’s latest proposal in its reconciliation package, which includes additional funding for security infrastructure upgrades in relation to the long overdue East Wing Modernization Project,” spokesman Davis Ingle said. “Congress has rightly recognized the need for these funds.”

Ingle said the events at the dinner demonstrated the need to “fully and completely harden the White House complex.”

Architect Shalom Baranes shows elevation drawings for a proposed White House ballroom to members of the National Capital Planning Commission on January 8, 2026.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Meanwhile, the office of Sen. Chuck Grassley, who leads the Judiciary Committee, suggested the money for ballroom security wasn’t technically for the ballroom.

The bill does say the money can’t be used for “non-security elements” of the project. But security costs would seem to be a significant portion of the project itself. The $1 billion in security is greater than the $400 million price tag that the White House has pegged for the ballroom’s construction.

The former East Wing sat on top of an underground bunker. There’s a lot of secrecy surrounding the rebuilding of that bunker, though Trump has said it would be a “massive complex” underneath the ballroom, including a bomb shelter and other military-grade security.

And that $400 million price tag has also demonstrated how much the goalposts have moved on this project. In fact, that figure is already double what the White House initially pitched.

When the project was announced, it was estimated to cost $200 million.

Then, in September, Trump said it would be a little bigger and cost $250 million.

In October, it increased to $300 million.

Then Trump in December upped the price tag to $400 million.

The White House has also made other promises about the project that failed to pan out, including that the construction of the ballroom wouldn’t require demolishing the existing East Wing. Then the East Wing was suddenly and shockingly demolished in October.

“The scope and size was always subject to vary as the project developed,” a top White House aide explained to Reuters at the time.

It appears that wasn’t the only promise that was subject to change.

And the changing terms of the construction and its costs seem to be a growing problem for the White House and the GOP.

This was never a popular project, ever since the sudden demolition of the East Wing last fall.

And even after the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and amid GOP arguments that the ballroom was needed for security reasons, Americans didn’t seem to change their minds; a Washington Post-ABC News poll showed the project remained unpopular by a 2-to-1 ratio, with the most passionate people opposing it 3-to-1.

That poll was also launched before the concept of taxpayer money crept in. That could depress support even further. And remember, Trump’s second term began with a heavy emphasis on supposedly saving taxpayers money, via the Department of Government Efficiency.

All of it reinforces how little political care has gone into something Trump obviously cares about a great deal. But as this congressional GOP has repeatedly demonstrated, it will push politically unpopular ideas if Trump demands it — apparently even if it means taxpayers foot the bill.

Which candidates need a breakout moment in tonight’s CNN California governor debate

2026-05-05T17:41:24.774Z / CNN Politics

Which candidates need a breakout moment in tonight’s CNN California governor debate

By Dana Bash, CNN
Published 1:41 PM EDT, Tue May 5, 2026

Which candidates need a breakout moment in tonight’s CNN California governor debate

Inside Politics

Dana Bash and the “Inside Politics” panel discuss the stakes for the seven California governor candidates facing off in tonight’s primetime debate on CNN.

5:11 • Source: CNN

Rubio’s Trump admin juggling act grows as meme-worthy role list becomes reality

May 5, 2026 1:27pm EDT / Fox News

Rotating Trump officials including JD Vance and even Trump himself are planned to take the podium during Leavitt’s leave

By Ashley J. DiMella Fox News

Published May 5, 2026 1:27pm EDT

Marco Rubio spotted DJing at wedding in viral video

Secretary of State seen behind the DJ booth wearing headphones and hyping up the crowd as music plays in clip shared by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino. (Credit: Dan Scavino via X)

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio has become one of the Trump administration’s most visible multitaskers, racking up a string of additional titles that have fueled viral memes, and on Tuesday, he is set to add another spotlight role when he takes the podium of the White House press briefing.

“As an invaluable member of President Trump’s national security team, Secretary Rubio will provide an update on the humanitarian successes of Project Freedom and other foreign policy priorities,” White House Principal deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital.

Tuesday’s press briefing will mark the first since press secretary Karoline Leavitt took maternity leave at the end of April ahead of the birth of her second child.

MARCO RUBIO SPOTTED BEHIND DJ BOOTH AT FAMILY WEDDING AS SOCIAL MEDIA REACTS TO VIRAL CLIP

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead the first White House press briefing since Karoline Leavitt left for maternity leave.(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

While Leavitt is on maternity leave, the White House is planning to have a rotation of Trump admin officials take the podium, such as Vice President JD Vance and even Trump himself.

The Secretary has been a robust figure in the Trump administration, holding multiple public-facing official and unofficial titles that have led to a parade of memes on social media.

For example, Rubio was named U.S. Administration for International Development (USAID) acting administrator shortly after being sworn in at the State Department. He was also tapped to serve as the acting archivist of the United States for roughly a year, recently handing off the post in February.

SECRETARY OF STATE RUBIO CONFIRMS BECOMING ACTING USAID CHIEF

Rubio does still serve as the interim national security advisor, a role he has held since May after the departure of Michael Waltz.

Rubio served as USAID director and archivist of the United States.(Alain JOCARD / AFP via Getty Images)

Rubio has taken social media by storm, as critics and allies of the administration share viral memes showing doctored photos of Rubio sitting in the Oval Office wearing various outfits to fit a new job role he could pick up, such as a Spirit Airlines pilot, a White House beekeeper or a Kentucky Derby jockey.

DAN GAINOR: FROM SECRETARY OF STATE TO SECRETARY OF MEMES, RUBIO WINS OVER MAGA

Rubio went viral for a video of him stepping behind a DJ booth at a family wedding and hyping up the crowd.(Rubio DJing: Dan Scavino X ; Marco Rubio thumbs up: Getty Images)

Over the weekend, Rubio went viral for a video of him stepping behind a DJ booth at a family wedding and hyping up the crowd.

The video, posted by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino on X, shows Rubio wearing headphones and standing behind a DJ setup, leaning over the controls as music plays and guests dance nearby.

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At several points, he pumped his fist, nodded along to the beat and appeared to cue up the next track, drawing cheers from people gathered around the booth.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton, Alex Schemmel, and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.

Ashley J. DiMella reports on politics for Fox News Digital.

Arlington political activist who protested outside Stephen Miller’s home won’t face state charges

2026-05-05T13:08:00-0400 / CBS News

An activist who protested outside the home of White House adviser Stephen Miller and distributed fliers containing his Virginia address will not face state charges, after a local prosecutor determined she did not commit a crime.

In a 166-page court filing, the Arlington and Falls Church Commonwealth Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti said that she had reviewed evidence against Barbara Wien and found there was “nothing in the proceeds of the search warrant supports criminal prosecution” for violations of a state law that criminalizes using someone’s identity or address as a means to coerce, intimidate or harass. Violations of that law constitute a misdemeanor.

“It would neither accomplish the ends of justice nor discharge the Commonwealth’s ethical obligations of fair prosecution to initiate any charges,” she wrote, adding that charging her for protesting against the Trump administration’s policies also would likely violate her constitutionally protected free speech rights.

Wien, a former college professor and longtime political activist in Arlington, Virginia who specializes in peace-building, has been under a state investigation since last year, after she distributed fliers last August and September depicting Miller on a “Wanted” poster for “crimes against humanity.”

The flyers contained his Arlington address, and they also provided a QR code that urged people to demand a congressional investigation.

A second flyer distributed in his neighborhood, meanwhile, referred to Miller as the “alt-right extremist behind Trump’s most abhorrent policies, Project 2025 and your new neighbor in Arlington, Va.”

In making her determination not to bring charges, Dehghani-Tafti noted that the wanted flyer “called neither for any action at or near his residence, nor for any action by the viewer against Mr. Miller.”

“The sole call to action was to a traditionally and clearly protected political activity, encouraging residents to petition Congress to investigate Mr. Miller’s actions based on the wanted flyer’s allegations,” she wrote.

A White House spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment on the decision.

Bradley Haywood, an attorney for Wien, said he admired Dehghani-Taft’s careful effort to analyze the facts and the law in her filing. He said that such a move is important at a time when the federal government has been increasingly targeting political activists whose views do not align with the Trump administration.

“We have a… federal government that is trying to bring conspiracy and even RICO cases against activist groups,” he told CBS.

“If you are looking to investigate someone for alleged threats of violence, maybe don’t pick a literal professor of peace studies,” he added. “Barbara’s whole career has been in peace studies.”

Wien has separately been under a federal investigation in connection with the same incident, according to congressional documentation cited in the court filing, sources familiar with the matter and a witness who was approached by the FBI for an interview. To date, no federal charges have been filed.

Shortly after those incidents, the Miller family moved out of their home and into military housing, CBS previously reported.

Stephen Miller’s wife, Katie Miller, reported the flyers to Arlington County Police Department on August 4, and said she believed the flyer listing their home address violated state law.

About a month later, protesters appeared at the public intersection closest to the Millers’ home and used sidewalk chalk to depict non-threatening political messages about issues such as immigration and transgender rights.

Katie Miller also told police she saw Wien walk by once while she was on her porch, and that Wien made a gesture which seemed to convey “I’m watching you.”

As part of the state investigation, Virginia State Police reviewed evidence, including a message sent in April 2025 from a phone associated with Wien to a group that stated that Stephen Miller had moved to the neighborhood and accused him of being “the evil fascist behind family separation and deportation policies.”

“My Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) chapter in N. Virginia intends to make his life hell. We have set up a carefully vetted Signal group. Let me know if you are interested in being a part of our campaign,” the message said.

In other Signal chat messages, Wien also communicated about sidewalk chalk events, sending one image that read: “Got a message for Stephen Miller? Come (peacefully) CHALK IT OUT on the sidewalks of his neighborhood.”

“The conduct initially investigated cannot support a charge,” Tuesday’s court filing said. “In short, Ms. Wien is not likely to be found guilty and her speech is likely to be found to be constitutionally protected.”

The decision not to charge Wien is likely to spark fresh tensions with House Republicans, who since last year have demanded investigative documents from Dehghani-Tafti and accused her of “stymying the investigation” into the alleged threats against the Miller family.

Miller has repeatedly pressed the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia to bring federal charges in the case, a source familiar with the matter told CBS News.

But those efforts faltered after a federal magistrate judge twice rejected the FBI’s attempt to obtain a search warrant for Wien’s phone, according to a letter sent to Dehghani-Tafti from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and a source familiar with the matter.

Dehghani-Tafti said the efforts by federal investigators to accompany state police on the execution of the search warrant “raised specific concerns regarding how federal authorities may have been involved (and appearing, potentially, to be attempting to use the Commonwealth, this Court, and the VSP to further a federal investigation—that had to date failed to demonstrate wrongdoing by even the lowest of legal standards of proof.)”

After the FBI and Secret Service sought to accompany the state police when officers tried to seize Wien’s cell phone, a state judge also separately prohibited local investigators from sharing any data collected from the phone with anyone, apart from the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office.

Since then, FBI agents have tried to interview several witnesses in the case, telling at least two of them they were visiting, “based on Barbara Wien’s phone logs or, on review of their personal phone logs,” the court filing says.

Dehghani-Tafti wrote in her filing that she was not sure how the FBI could have obtained phone logs, since the court had restricted data sharing with the bureau and the state’s narrow search warrant did not include data pertaining to those phone logs or contacts.

She added that since she learned about the FBI’s interviews, she has tried to obtain more information about how they may have accessed phone logs, but said neither the FBI nor the Virginia State Police have been willing to share their communications with one another.

Dehghani-Tafti asked the court to issue an order telling the state police to destroy the records it obtained from its search of Wien’s phone. She also asked for a court order requiring the custodians of the records to attest that they were not shared with any other outside agency.

GOP offers $1B for White House security, sparking dispute over ballroom

May 5, 2026 at 12:33 p.m. EDT / The Washington Post

Senate Republicans maintain their proposal would authorize security construction, but not Trump’s ballroom. The White House disagrees.

President Donald Trump has said that an attempted shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner justifies his planned ballroom. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

By Dan Diamond, Jonathan Edwards and Riley Beggin

Senate Republicans late Monday proposed $1 billion to pay for new White House security measures, with lawmakers and White House officials disagreeing over whether the legislation would cover President Donald Trump’s planned ballroom.