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Jack Smith escalates Trump DOJ clash with blistering private-event rebuke

May 8, 2026 2:30pm EDT / Fox News

The former special counsel made the remarks at a private D.C. dinner in April, reported by the New York Times

By Ashley Oliver Fox News

Former special counsel Jack Smith unleashed on the Department of Justice in an unusually fiery speech to a few hundred people during a private event, accusing the department of being “corrupted” and targeting President Donald Trump’s enemies.

Smith’s remarks, given during a private dinner in D.C. in April and reported by the New York Times this week, zeroed in on the DOJ’s decisions to investigate and prosecute some of Trump’s top political rivals, such as former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. The former special counsel accused the department of weaponizing its authority, the very same accusation that Republicans have widely leveled at Smith for bringing two criminal cases against Trump during the Biden administration.

“We have a Department of Justice today that targets people for criminal prosecution simply because the president doesn’t like them,” Smith said.

CONSERVATIVES ACCUSE JACK SMITH OF IMPROPER TIES WITH JUDGES IN TRUMP CASES AFTER NEW DOCUMENT DUMP

Former special counsel Jack Smith testifies during a House Judiciary Committee hearing at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 22, 2026.(Al Drago/Getty Images)

A DOJ spokesperson told Fox News Digital the department expected “nothing less from Jack Smith whose sole mission was to politically prosecute a former president in an attempt to stop him from assuming office again.”

“This DOJ has ended the weaponization perpetrated by the Biden Administration and will continue to ensure no one is above the law,” the spokesperson said.

Smith brought indictments against Trump alleging he illegally attempted to overturn the 2020 election and that he retained classified national defense information. Smith faced significant hurdles in the election case, while the classified documents case was tossed out by Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, who said he was unlawfully appointed as special counsel. Smith’s office was appealing Cannon’s ruling when Trump won the 2024 election. Weeks later, Smith moved to dismiss both federal cases, citing the Justice Department’s longstanding policy against prosecuting a sitting president.

Trump raged at Smith repeatedly, calling him a corrupt “thug” who belonged in jail. In January, Trump said on Truth Social that Smith was a “deranged animal” who should lose his law license. Smith is a longtime attorney who prosecuted war crimes in the Hague and led the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section during the Obama administration.

JACK SMITH PUSHES FOR PUBLIC TESTIMONY TO CONFRONT ‘MISCHARACTERIZATIONS’ OF TRUMP PROBES

Former President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media outside the New York State Supreme Court in New York on Oct. 25, 2023, amid a civil trial with New York Attorney General Letitia James.(Stephanie Keith/Bloomberg)

Trump said he hoped the DOJ was investigating Smith, “including some of the crooked and corrupt witnesses that he was attempting to use in his case against me. The whole thing was a Democrat SCAM — A big price should be paid by them for what they have put our Country through!”

The president’s remarks directly clash with Smith’s rare, heated commentary at the private event, as both accuse the other of weaponization and as Smith faces threats of federal prosecution for targeting Trump, despite the DOJ and congressional investigators yet to uncover criminal wrongdoing by Smith.

HOUSE DEMOCRATS DEMAND ANSWERS ON DOJ’S MOVE TO FIRE FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL OFFICIALS

Smith said the DOJ has “been corrupted” over the past year but that he believed the department would “ultimately come through this better.”

Smith also accused the DOJ of turning a blind eye to cases that might reveal “inconvenient” facts that would contradict “narratives the president would like to press.”

Smith praised career prosecutors, saying a “central component” of the current DOJ’s strategy was to punish those like the several Minnesota attorneys who resigned in protest over internal disputes with how to handle an investigation into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent killing Renee Good, a 37-year-old anti-ICE activist.

“To erode the rule of law in this country you need to attack these people, and that is what we have seen since January 2025,” Smith said.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche criticized reporters for asking questions about a viral story from The Atlantic alleging FBI Director Kash Patel has exhibited ‘erratic behavior’ tied to frequent intoxication, during a press conference on April 21, 2026.(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

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Smith’s comments were not all negative, however, according to the New York Times. He praised the DOJ for being more vocal than it was under Biden, a comment that comes as Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who replaced Pam Bondi a month ago, has taken on an aggressive, proactive media strategy. Blanche has held a series of press conferences where he has taken rounds of off-topic questions while also doing numerous wide-ranging interviews with friendly and tough media outlets.

A Smith representative had no comment. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

Ashley Oliver is a reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business, covering the Justice Department and legal affairs. Email story tips to ashley.oliver@fox.com.

Alabama passes plan for new US House primary if courts allow state to redraw its maps

2026-05-08 15:30 PM ET / Associated Press

Demonstrators protest redistricting bills during a special session of the Alabama Legislature, in the Senate hallway of the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery, on May 6, 2026.

Mike Stewart/AP

Montgomery, AL AP—

Alabama lawmakers approved a plan Friday for new US House primaries if courts allow the state to use different congressional districts in this year’s elections, sending the legislation to Republican Gov. Kay Ivey.

The move came the same day that the Virginia Supreme Court dealt a major setback to Democrats by overturning a redistricting plan that could have helped them win as many as four additional House seats. Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers in Louisiana and South Carolina also presented congressional redistricting plans that faced staunch opposition from civil rights activists and Democrats.

Republicans in Southern states have been moving quickly to try to capitalize on a recent US Supreme Court ruling in a Louisiana case that significantly weakened Voting Rights Act protections for minorities. Tennessee enacted new congressional districts Thursday that carve up a Democratic-held, Black-majority district in Memphis. The state Democratic Party sued on Friday, seeking to prevent the districts from being used until after this year’s elections because of the tight time frame.

Even before the high court ruling, Republicans and Democrats already were engaged in a fierce redistricting battle, each seeking an edge in the midterm elections that will determine control of the closely divided House. That battle tilted further toward Republicans when the Virginia Supreme Court ruled Friday that Democratic lawmakers had violated constitutional requirements when placing a redistricting amendment on the ballot.

Since President Donald Trump prodded Texas to redraw its congressional districts last summer, Republicans think they could gain as many as 14 seats from new districts in several states while Democrats think they could gain up to six seats. But the parties may not get everything they sought, because the gerrymandering could backfire in some highly competitive districts.

Demonstrators outside the Alabama Statehouse on Friday shouted “fight for democracy” and “down with White supremacy.”

“I was out there in 1965 marching for the right to vote, and now we are back here in 2026 doing the same thing,” Betty White Boynton said.

During debate inside the statehouse, Black lawmakers sharply criticized Republican legislation that would ignore the May 19 primary for some congressional seats and direct the governor to schedule a new primary under revised districts, if a court allows it.

Republican state Sen. Greg Albritton said the special primary would happen only if the courts agree to lift an injunction that put a court-selected map in place until after the 2030 Census.

“Should there be no court order issued, then this bill would have no effect,” Albritton said.

The court order required a second district where Black voters are the majority or close to it, resulting in the 2024 election of Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures, who is Black. If a court lifts the injunction, Republican officials want to put in place a map lawmakers drew in 2023 — which was rejected by a federal court — that could allow them to reclaim Figures’ district.

Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, a Black Democrat, said Republicans are aiming to strip representation from Black voters in an effort to get another Republican to Congress.

“We have just only been voting since 1965, and you are now trying to take that voice away from us,” Singleton said.

U.S. plans evacuation flight for Americans on cruise ship in hantavirus outbreak

May 8, 2026 / 3:13 PM EDT / CBS News

By Mark Osborne

The United States government is sending a repatriation plane for the painstaking process of safely evacuating 17 Americans from the cruise ship dealing with a deadly hantavirus outbreak.

The plane is being sent by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Department of Health and Human Services, and will be used to transport Americans back to the U.S. in conjunction with Spanish officials, according to the U.S. State Department.

The Americans will be taken to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, which has a special biocontainment unit, upon their return to the U.S., the university and a CDC official said.

The MV Hondius, the cruise ship at the center of worldwide concern over spread of the rare virus, is currently traveling from Cape Verde to the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago off the west coast of Africa. It is expected to reach the coast of Tenerife, the largest of the seven Canary Islands, early Sunday local time.

Sometime between Sunday and Monday, the Hondius will undergo the process of slowly removing passengers in order to avoid spread of the virus.

Since officials in the Canary Islands refused to allow Hondius to dock in Tenerife, the boat will instead anchor offshore.

The disembarkation will happen country by country, Spanish officials said at a press conference Friday. Once passengers are confirmed asymptomatic, they will disembark the Hondius in groups of five in small boats to take them to shore. They will then get on buses and go straight to the airport runway, where their nation’s plane will already be ready for takeoff, the Spanish officials said.

“I repeat one more day: All the areas they are going to travel through are going to be isolated,” Virginia Balcones, the secretary general of civil protection, said. “There will be no contact with civilian personnel.”

Health personnel returning from the cruise ship MV Hondius are seen at the port of Praia, Cape Verde, on May 6, 2026, as several people with suspected cases of hantavirus infection were evacuated for treatment. AFP via Getty Images

The World Health Organization is working to provide health checks for everyone on board and “assess what level of exposure” each person may have had to confirmed hantavirus cases, Anais Legand, a WHO technical officer, said Friday. This will help the WHO give guidance to the passengers on next steps, she said.

None of the 147 people on board was experiencing any symptoms of the disease on Friday, the WHO and Spanish officials said.

Medicalized planes will be on standby in case anyone develops symptoms but the working assumption is standard aircraft will be used, Balcones said.

The Honidus, a Dutch-flagged ship, will then depart the Canary Islands and head home to the Netherlands with a skeleton crew, according to Spanish health officials.

There are nine confirmed or suspected cases of hantavirus stemming from the cruise, including three deaths — a Dutch couple and another woman who died on the ship. The Dutch couple had spent months traveling around Argentina, Uruguay and Chile and spent time bird-watching in locations known to carry the Andes strain of the virus, the only strain that is transmissible from human to human.

More than a dozen countries, including the U.S., are already monitoring people who disembarked from the ship prior to hantavirus being confirmed among passengers on the cruise.

As health officials have been doing all along, Spain’s Secretary of State for Health Javier Padilla echoed that hantavirus — even the Andes strain — does not spread easily like COVID-19 and the risk for most people is low.

“We have already been saying this, the existing situation is of very low risk for the general population,” Padilla said.

Angel Canales contributed to this report.

Gorsuch says ideological divides on Supreme Court come down to ‘how you read law,’ not politics

May 8, 2026 12:51pm EDT / Fox News

Gorsuch drew a line between textualism and other legal views shaping Supreme Court splits

By Breanne Deppisch, Fox News

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6394802088112
Gorsuch cites judicial independence as cornerstone of US democracy

Justice Neil Gorsuch told Fox News Digital why America’s framers rejected political influence over the courts.

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Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch said differences among his colleagues on the high court are often less about politics than they are about diverging approaches to constitutional interpretation — a dynamic, he said, that influences both the court’s rulings and its internal relations.

“That has nothing to do with politics,” Gorsuch told Fox News Digital in a recent interview. “That has to do [with] how you read law. Interpretive methodologies.”

Gorsuch, who was nominated by President Donald Trump in 2017, has described himself as a “textualist,” noting his approach focuses on interpreting legal texts based on the ordinary meaning of the words as written. The philosophy is linked to originalism — or the view that the Constitution should be interpreted based on its original public meaning when it was adopted.

Other justices have different interpretations, including ones that allow for evolving interpretations over time. Gorsuch stressed that differences, while significant, are not inherently personal.

JUSTICE THOMAS WARNS PROGRESSIVISM IS A THREAT TO AMERICA IN RARE PUBLIC REMARKS

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch speaks at the Reagan Library on May 5, 2026, in Simi Valley, Calif.(Getty Images)

“At the end of the day, you’re trying to get to the right answer under the law,” he said, adding that disagreement is an expected, and healthy, part of the process.

His remarks come as the federal judiciary and members of the Supreme Court have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, including by Trump and his allies, who have criticized the courts for impinging on what they see as the duties of the executive branch.

Trump took to Truth Social last month to criticize the Supreme Court’s conservative majority for showing him “very little loyalty” in blocking his so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs in February.

He also suggested they might block his executive order seeking to end so-called “birthright citizenship” in the U.S.

“Certain ‘Republican’ Justices have just gone weak, stupid, and bad, completely violating what they ‘supposedly’ stood for,” Trump said.

JUSTICE GORSUCH HIGHLIGHTS HUMANITY, HISTORY IN CHILDREN’S BOOK CELEBRATING AMERICA’S 250TH ANNIVERSARY

President Donald Trump greets Chief Supreme Court Justice John Roberts as he arrives to deliver an address to a joint session of Congress in 2025.(Win McNamee/Getty Images)

He contrasted this with liberal justices on the court, whom Trump said “stick together like glue, totally loyal to the people and ideology that got them there.”

Gorsuch, for his part, stressed that the justices often share plenty of common ground, even if their interpretation of the Constitution prompts them to reach different conclusions.

That approach, he suggested, carries over into how the justices work together behind closed doors — where collaboration and debate are central to the high court to perform its constitutional duties.

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP’S BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP BAN FOR ALL INFANTS, TESTING LOWER COURT POWERS

The U.S. Supreme Court building is shown in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 13, 2023, as the court unveiled a new ethics code following scandals involving gifts and vacations received by some justices.(Mandel Ngan/AFP)

“The framers understood that people would come to the table with different views,” Gorsuch told Fox News Digital. “The goal is to reason together.”

While ideological divides can be sharp, Gorsuch emphasized that culture at the high court is built on mutual respect.

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“If you sit and listen to someone long enough, you’re going to find something you can agree on,” he added. “Maybe you start there.”

Breanne Deppisch is a national politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI and other national news. She previously covered national politics at the Washington Examiner and The Washington Post, with additional bylines in Politico Magazine, the Colorado Gazette and others. You can send tips to Breanne at Breanne.Deppisch@fox.com, or follow her on X at @breanne_dep.

US Postal Service reports $2 billion quarterly loss as cash crunch continues

May 8, 2026 7:42 PM UTC Updated 25 mins ago / Reuters

A man carries letters into a United States Postal Service (USPS) post office in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, U.S., August 21, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

May 8 (Reuters) – The U.S. Postal Service on ​Friday reported a net ‌quarterly loss of $1.95 billion as it ​faces a growing ​financial crisis and has ⁠warned it could ​run out of ​cash as soon as February.

USPS said mail volumes ​continue to decline. ​USPS last month said it ‌would ⁠temporarily suspend employer payments for a federal pension program ​to ​conserve ⁠cash and plans to raise ​the price ​of ⁠first-class mail stamps to 82 cents from ⁠78 ​cents effective ​July 12.

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Sarah Longwell: Susan Collins may sit ‘on a throne of skulls of her enemies,’ but she’s facing an opponent unlike any before | CNN Politics

2026-05-08T17:26:10.369Z / CNN

Sarah Longwell: Susan Collins may sit ‘on a throne of skulls of her enemies,’ but she’s facing an opponent unlike any before

By Dana Bash, CNN

Published 1:26 PM EDT, Fri May 8, 2026

Sarah Longwell: Susan Collins may sit ‘on a throne of skulls of her enemies,’ but she’s facing an opponent unlike any before

Inside Politics

Dana Bash talks to focus group expert Sarah Longwell about the Maine Senate race and what Democratic voters are telling her about candidate Graham Platner. “Voters have kind of decided that your vices or some of the negative things in your background… almost confer a sense of authenticity,” Longwell tells her.

5:48 • Source: CNN

https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/08/politics/video/inside-politics-sarah-longwell-maine-senate-race

In Trump’s crosshairs, Massie rakes in more than $1M this week while fighting for political life

May 8, 2026 3:18pm EDT / Fox News

Rep. Thomas Massie faces Trump-backed former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein in a heated U.S. House GOP primary showdown

By Alex Nitzberg Fox News

Rep. Thomas Massie’s campaign has raked in more than $1 million so far since launching a “Moneybomb” fundraiser on Monday morning, according to a running tally displayed on the fundraising website.

The embattled Republican, who represents Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, is competing in a GOP primary showdown against former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, the candidate backed by vociferous Massie critic President Donald Trump.

“This race has become a national referendum on whether our country is better served by Congressmen like me who keep their promises, or whether Congress needs yet another ‘warm body from central casting’ like Gallrein who pledges to be a rubber stamp for the uniparty,” Massie wrote in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.

“He’s like central casting,” Trump said of Gallrein while speaking in Kentucky in March, adding moments later, ” … give me somebody with a warm body to beat Massie. And I got somebody with a warm body, but a big, beautiful brain, and a great patriot. He’s unbelievable.”

Massie added in his statement to Fox News Digital on Friday, “We are ahead in the polls, ahead in Kentucky fundraising, and way ahead in national support as shown by our million dollar moneybomb… as long as you don’t count the three liberal out-of-state billionaires propping up my opponent.”

ACTOR ZACHARY LEVI BACKS THOMAS MASSIE AS TRUMP TARGETS THE REPUBLICAN FOR OUSTER: ‘GOOD FOR THIS COUNTRY’

U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., leaves to speak with the media after the House voted 427-1 to approve the Epstein Files Transparency Act and the release of documents and files at the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 18, 2025 in Washington, D.C.(Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images)

Gallrein’s campaign fired back, providing Fox News Digital with the following statement from senior advisor Tim Murtaugh: “These are the last gasps of a member of Congress who promised to term limit himself to three terms, but is now seeking his 8th. He’s turned his back on Kentucky, he’s pointlessly antagonized President Trump, and has tried to obstruct the entire America First agenda. Thomas Massie serves only one person — Thomas Massie — and the voters of Kentucky’s 4th District are about to show him the door. Ed Gallrein is a heavily decorated, retired Navy SEAL a solid conservative who will support President Trump and the America First agenda. Massie’s ego and his act are worn out.”

Massie fired in another statement to Fox News Digital, declaring, “In typical fashion, Ed has a surrogate repeating his lies. Ed is scared to debate me and even afraid to speak to the press.”

Before taking office in 2012, Massie signed a pledge declaring that he would support a term limits amendment to the Constitution. “I, Thomas Massie, pledge that as a member of Congress I will cosponsor and vote for the U.S. Term Limits Amendment of three (3) House terms and two (2) Senate terms and no longer limit,” the pledge read.

MASSIE ALLY SPARKS BACKLASH AFTER ACCUSING TRUMP-BACKED CHALLENGER OF ABUSING VA BENEFITS

Republican congressional candidate for Kentucky, Ed Gallrein speaks as U.S. President Donald Trump looks during an event at Verst Logistics on March 11, 2026 in Hebron, Ky.(Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

During an appearance on KET’s “Kentucky Tonight,” Massie, who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since late 2012, was asked about the issue.

“After 14 years, are you not wading into career politician territory? And for those curious about you re-upping your Washington service, how is that better than honoring the spirit of that pledge you signed back in 2012?” host Renee Shaw asked.

“Well I’ve honored both the spirit and the letter of that pledge. I have cosponsored the bill that I said I would cosponsor and I voted for it. In fact, now I serve on the Judiciary Committee where that bill starts. All Constitutional amendments begin in the Judiciary Committee,” Massie replied. “So I’ve had the opportunity … and taken it, to vote for that … amendment to the Constitution several times.”

MASSIE SAYS MUSK NEVER DONATED TO HIS RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN DESPITE PRIOR PLEDGE

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., leaves a meeting of the House Republican Conference in the U.S. Capitol on June 4, 2025.(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

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The upcoming May 19 primary in Kentucky is less than two weeks away.

Alex Nitzberg is a writer for Fox News Digital.

Before meeting with Vance, Qatari prime minister says there’s a “high probability” U.S., Iran will reach deal

May 8, 2026 / 12:00 PM EDT / CBS News

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani arrived Friday morning in Washington, D.C., where he is meeting with Vice President JD Vance to discuss topics including the Iran war. A day earlier, the prime minister told news outlet al-Araby al-Jadeed there is a “high probability” that the U.S. and Iran will reach a deal.

Speaking Friday morning in Italy, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. expects to receive Iran’s response to the draft agreement for ending the war “today at some point.”

“We’re expecting a response from (Iran) — we’ll see what the response entails,” Rubio told reporters. He added that the hope is that it’s something that “can put us into a serious process of negotiation.”

The prime minister, who also serves as the minister of foreign affairs, is the emirate’s top diplomat. He has been a conduit for the U.S. on some of the thornier issues involving Gaza, Afghanistan and Iran. Qatar is also the base for U.S. Central Command.

Al-Thani’s optimistic remarks came hours before the U.S. “self-defense strikes” and Mr. Trump’s comment that a deal “might not happen, but it could happen any day.”

Overnight the UAE said it shot down two ballistic missiles and three drones from Iran. Earlier Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi posted on social media that “every time a diplomatic solution is on the table, the U.S. opts for a reckless military adventure.”

Pakistan has served as the convening country for the diplomatic talks to date, but many countries are involved in efforts to end the war. Yesterday in Beijing, GOP Sen. Steve Daines of Montana thanked Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi for meeting with Iran’s top diplomat and the PRC’s work to “de-escalate tensions” and bring peace to the Middle East. Daines did not mention that China remains a top trading partner and purchaser of Iranian oil.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/iran-response-on-us-peace-proposal-expected-today-rubio-says/

Trump plans to fire FDA chief Makary, sources say

2026-05-08T17:20:36.266Z / Reuters

By Yasmeen Abutaleb and Jarrett Renshaw

May 8, 2026 5:20 PM UTC Updated 1 hour ago

U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary speaks during a press conference at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 10, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

May 8 (Reuters) – The White House signed off on a plan ​to fire U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary, according ‌to sources familiar with the matter, in what could be the next leadership change within the federal health department.

The Wall Street Journal earlier on Friday first reported that President Donald ​Trump planned to fire Makary.

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Two of the sources, who are advisers ​to the White House, said a decision was not final. A ⁠third source close to the White House said they were told the ​FDA commissioner “is done” and that Trump signed off.

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“President Trump has assembled the most ​experienced and talented administration in history, an administration that continues to focus on delivering more historic victories for the American people,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said.

The U.S. Department of ​Health and Human Services, which oversees the FDA, was not immediately available for ​comment.

REPORTS OF MAKARY’S EXIT CIRCULATING

Over the past week, reports of Makary’s potential exit have intensified ‌over ⁠concerns tied to controversial decisions on drug approvals, vaccines and the FDA’s handling of the abortion pill mifepristone.

Under Makary and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., thousands of employees have left the agency through firings and voluntary departures, including ​at the large ​divisions overseeing reviews ⁠of new drugs.

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Leading officials have left the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and others.

Makary, ​a surgical oncologist at the Johns Hopkins University School ​of Medicine, ⁠was confirmed as FDA commissioner last March. He wrote bestselling books on healthcare costs and what he described as modern medicine’s failures, and has been one of ⁠the ​key advocates of the Make America Healthy Again ​movement backed by Kennedy.

Reporting by Padmanabhan Ananthan in Bengaluru and Ahmed Aboulenein, Yasmeen Abutaleb, Bo Erickson and Jarrett ​Renshaw in Washington D.C.; Editing by Caroline Humer, Deepa Babington and Bill Berkrot

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Top House Democrat vows to go ‘all in’ on 2028 gerrymandering push after Virginia setback

May 8, 2026, 3:02 PM ET / CNN

By Sarah Ferris

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries at the Democratic National Committee on April 22, after Virginia voters approved a redistricting plan for the state’s congressional map.

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc./Getty Images

Hours after House Democrats suffered a major political setback in Virginia, Hakeem Jeffries was defiant.

In an interview with CNN, the New York Democrat predicted his party would still win the US House of Representatives in November despite the GOP’s now-clear advantage in the nationwide redistricting fight — and then use its momentum to redraw more state maps in their favor in 2028.

“The unprecedented decision by the Virginia Supreme Court reinforces the need to go all in in advance of the 2028 election,” Jeffries said Friday afternoon, calling out roughly a half-dozen blue states that are under intense pressure to redraw congressional maps in favor of Democrats next cycle.

“It’s going to be incredibly important that states like New York, New Jersey, Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Maryland and Illinois are aggressive in moving forward to ensure that there’s a fair national map, particularly in light of what the Supreme Court’s attack on the Voting Rights Act has unleashed,” Jeffries said.

Related article “Vote Here” signage is posted outside a polling location in Arlington, Virginia, on April 21, during a special election in which Virginia voters approved a referendum to redistrict the state’s congressional map. Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg/Getty Images How the Republicans pulling ahead in the redistricting war affects the midterms 5 min read

On Friday, the Virginia Supreme Court voided Democrats’ attempt to redraw the state’s US House map in an April referendum, a devastating blow to the party’s efforts in the national redistricting battle launched by President Donald Trump ahead of this fall’s midterms.

The House Democratic leader defended his decision to push for a new map in Virginia this cycle, where state leaders created an aggressive map that could have left just one Republican seat statewide.

“We continue to proceed with an all-hands-on deck effort. The fight is not over in Virginia. We’re just getting started,” Jeffries said when asked if he stood by the Democrats’ push there.

Jeffries, who needs to flip less than a dozen seats to become House speaker next year, said his party could still flip “at least two” GOP seats in Virginia under the current map. He and the party’s campaign arm are eying a competitive seat in Virginia Beach, held by GOP Rep. Jen Kiggans, and a Richmond-area seat held by GOP Rep. Rob Wittman. Some Democrats believe another seat in the Charlottesville-area, held by GOP Rep. John McGuire, is also winnable this year.

Democrats had stood to gain as many as four seats in the new map, which voters approved last month.

“If the current map holds in Virginia, we will at minimum flip two seats. And we’re exploring other options given how unpopular the policies of the Republican party have been,” Jeffries said.

It’s not yet clear whether Democrats have a path to challenging the court’s decision. But Jeffries said the party is currently evaluating its next steps: “We’re exploring all options, legislative, in the state Supreme Court, and as it relates to federal court.”

In the last 10 months, Jeffries and House Democrats have successfully convinced two states – California and Virginia – to redraw their lines to favor their party in response to Trump’s gerrymandering push in red states.

Republicans, meanwhile, have successfully redrawn maps in Texas, Ohio, North Carolina, Missouri, Florida and Tennessee. Party officials hope those new maps will net them a total of eight seats in November.

But Jeffries predicted his party would still win in an environment that — right now — favors Democrats.

“We remain in an incredibly strong position to take back the House based on the reality that the MAGA Republican majority has been a complete and total failure,” he said. “We’ve been winning elections for the last 16 conservative months and Donald Trump has an extinction-level approval rating as it relates to the American people.”