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RNC legal victory clears North Carolina voter roll purge of noncitizens through jury responses

May 21, 2026 1:35pm EDT / Fox News

GOP groups filed suit in 2024 accusing the state board of failing to comply with existing North Carolina law

By Eric Mack Fox News

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The state of North Carolina now must remove noncitizens excused from jury duty from voter rolls, Fox News Digital has learned Thursday.

The Republican National Committee and North Carolina Republican Party say they secured a consent judgment requiring the North Carolina State Board of Elections to use jury-duty records to identify registered voters who have acknowledged they are not U.S. citizens.

Those noncitizens will have to be removed from voter rolls, a significant legal victory in forcing a state to purge its voter rolls amid strong Democrat opposition.

“This agreement is a major win for election integrity in North Carolina,” RNC Chairman Joe Gruters told Fox News Digital in a statement. “It’s straightforward: if someone admits they’re not a U.S. citizen during jury duty, that information should be used to check the voter rolls and remove anyone who doesn’t belong.”

OBAMA-APPOINTED JUDGE REVERSES COURSE, RULES VOTER ID LAW ISN’T DISCRIMINATORY IN GOP WIN

Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters is claiming victory over Democratic efforts to block efforts to kick noncitizens skipping out of North Carolina jury duty from the state’s voter rolls.(Patrick T. Fallon/AFP)

The agreement was accepted by Superior Court Judge Jennifer Bedford after an 19-minute online hearing Wednesday.

“This type of information, I think the General Assembly has made somewhat clear, should not fall on deaf ears,” Bedford said, The Carolina Journal reported, adding that information submitted to the court system should also be recognized by other agencies.

The agreement sets a schedule through 2028 for clerks to send the information to the elections board. Within 30 days of receiving it, the board must review voter-registration and citizenship status, send county elections boards reports on any registered voters identified, and refer cases to the State Bureau of Investigation and district attorneys if a person appears to have voted before becoming a U.S. citizen.

DEMOCRATS CELEBRATE AS 73,000 NORTH CAROLINA VOTERS WITHOUT PROPER ID STAY ON ROLLS

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6387869613112

Two groups represented by the Elias Law Group, North Carolina Asian Americans Together and El Pueblo, objected to part of the deal requiring the list of people who claimed noncitizenship for jury-duty purposes to be posted on the state elections board’s FTP website.

Their attorney argued that publishing the information online could raise privacy concerns and have a chilling effect, even if the records are public under state law.

The agreement stems from a lawsuit the GOP groups filed in 2024, accusing the state board of failing to comply with a North Carolina law requiring clerks of court to report people who seek to be excused from jury service by saying they are not citizens.

TRUMP ELECTION INTEGRITY PUSH EXPOSES MASSIVE AMOUNT OF DEAD PEOPLE ON NORTH CAROLINA VOTER ROLLS

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6377243225112

Under state law, noncitizens are barred from voting in state elections and from serving on juries, but that did not stop then-Gov. Roy Cooper from vetoing a bill in 2019 that would remove illegal immigrants from voter rolls.

The consent judgment, if approved by the court, would require the state’s elections board to review information received from county clerks, determine whether those individuals appear on the voter rolls and begin removal procedures for anyone found to be ineligible.

The RNC said it filed a public-records request in 2024 seeking to determine whether the board was complying with the law but did not receive a response.

‘ESSENTIAL TO OUR NATION’S SOVEREIGNTY’: NONCITIZEN VOTER CRACKDOWN LED BY GOP AHEAD OF 2026 MIDTERMS

The RNC and the state GOP later sued, and the board agreed to use the jury-duty information as part of voter-roll maintenance, according to the RNC.

A majority of North Carolina — 83% of Republicans, 59% of Independents and 52% of Democrats – support states removing noncitizens from voter registration rolls, according to Heritage Action polling.

The case is part of a broader Republican legal push focused on voter eligibility and citizenship requirements.

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The RNC is involved in litigation defending President Donald Trump’s executive order requiring documentary proof of citizenship, and has also asked the Supreme Court to take up a case involving Arizona’s proof-of-citizenship law.

Eric Mack is a writer for Fox News Digital covering breaking news.

Summer air travel could be rough. Here’s how travelers can prepare.

2026-05-21T12:07:00-0400 / CBS News

By

Megan Cerullo Reporter, MoneyWatch
Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News 24/7 to discuss her reporting.

Read Full Bio

Updated on: May 21, 2026 / 2:20 PM EDT / CBS News

Rising airfares, airport delays and flight cancellations could make travelers wish they had opted for a staycation this summer.

On-time flight arrivals in 2025 were at their worst level since 2014, according to a new report from the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, a consumer public interest group. Last year, one in 12 flights arrived at least an hour late, while airlines canceled more than 100,000 flights.

The worst-performing airlines for cancellations were American, Frontier and JetBlue, according to the report, which analyzed data from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Allegiant, Hawaiian and Southwest canceled the fewest flights.

Airlines that did the best job of staying on schedule included Hawaiian, Delta and Southwest, while Frontier, JetBlue and American were the worst at keeping flights on time.

What’s making air travel so stressful?

A shortage of air traffic controllers, exacerbated by two recent U.S. government shutdowns, has made air travel more of a headache for passengers. But that isn’t the biggest driver of flight delays and cancellations.

Schedule mishaps most commonly occur when bad weather disrupts flights or when airlines plan more flights than an airport can accommodate, according to Teresa Murray, consumer watchdog director at U.S. PIRG Education Fund.

She noted that while passenger volumes were down 1% in 2025, 5% fewer bags were checked compared to 2024. If more people try to cram luggage into overhead bins to avoid baggage check fees, it could lead to delays at takeoff, she said.

Some airports, including Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, have mandated flight cuts to reduce operational delays, Murray noted.

“We don’t think this summer is going to be any better, but there is a strong possibility that it could be worse,” Murray said, noting that high passenger volumes combined with federally mandated flight cuts at some airports and potential extreme weather events, like thunderstorms and hurricanes, could snarl passengers’ plans.

Major airlines say they’re anticipating higher-than-usual passenger volumes. United Airlines this week said that signature events like the World Cup are driving spikes in demand. It expects 53 million people to fly United this June through August, up by about 3 million from last year.

A new factor this summer could make it harder for airlines to handle the crush of passengers. The Iran war is driving up jet fuel prices, leading airlines to not only raise fares but also cut back on less fuel-efficient and less profitable routes.

Yuvraj Datta, chief supply and revenue officer at Fareportal, a travel tech company that owns sites including CheapOair, an online travel agency, characterized the airline system as “unusually fragile” due to higher jet fuel costs.

“Fuel can account for 30% of a flight’s operating costs, which means they’re raising fares and cutting routes that cost them more money to put planes in the air than they’re making,” Datta told CBS News.

What should passengers know?

Katy Nastro, a travel expert at the flight deals site Going.com, told CBS News that while cancellations can leave passengers stranded or force them to shell out more for a last-minute plane ticket, federal laws offer some protections.

“We need to remind people that they do have the right to a refund if their flight is canceled and they choose not to fly or be rebooked,” she said.

She added that Spirit Airlines’ shutdown should improve carriers’ overall on-time performance averages.

“Overall on-time performance should tick up slightly, because Spirit was on the decline in terms of operations and everything else and dragging the average down,” she told CBS News.

This summer, fliers looking for cheap flights might find themselves in a bind. The lowest fares typically require passengers to make stops on the way to their destinations, and such itineraries are more prone to being disrupted.

Nastro encouraged consumers to decide what’s more important — a good deal or peace of mind that they’ll make it to their destination as planned.

She also advised booking flights that leave between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m., citing government data showing that those flights are 18% more likely to arrive on time.

“Typically, planes are already at the airports for that early flight, and later in the day you run the risk of seeing worse weather accumulate,” Nastro said. “If something happens, there is a domino effect, because everything is connected in the aviation industry.”

Edited by Aimee Picchi

US Senate abandons Trump immigration enforcement funding deadline, Republican senators say

May 21, 2026 5:40 PM UTC / Reuters

U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy looks on as U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies before a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on U.S. President Donald Trump’s budget request for the Department of Health and Human Services on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 22,… Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tabRead more

WASHINGTON, May 21 (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate is abandoning President Donald Trump’s June 1 deadline for passing immigration enforcement funding, Republican senators said on Thursday.

Senators Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy, both of Louisiana, told reporters the Senate was beginning its Memorial Day recess without passing the bill that was intended to contain $1 billion for Trump ballroom and related security and $72 billion for migrant deportations.

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Reporting by Richard Cowan, Katharine Jackson; Editing by Caitlin Webber

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Senate GOP erupts over Trump DOJ ‘anti-weaponization’ fund, punts ICE, Border Patrol funding

2026-05-21T15:17:53-04:00 / Fox News

Senators Chuck Grassley and Tom Cotton erupted at acting AG as Trump’s $1.8B settlement fund stalls $72B package

By Alex Miller, Chad Pergram Fox News

Published May 21, 2026 3:17pm EDT

Senate GOP on course to miss Trump deadline to fund ICE and CBP

Chief congressional correspondent Chad Pergram breaks down trouble on Capitol Hill as GOP senators dismiss until after an imposed deadline by President Donald Trump to fund ICE and CBP.

Senate Republicans are pressing pause on their push to fund immigration enforcement after a tense, closed-door meeting.

But it’s not over internal divisions. This time, the fury is directed toward the Trump administration and the surprise “anti-weaponization” fund created by the Department of Justice (DOJ). It comes as Republicans were near the finish line for their $72 billion package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol.

For now, Republicans are calling it a day and leaving Washington, D.C.

“We will pick up where we left off,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said.

REPUBLICANS RECOIL AS TRUMP’S BILLION-DOLLAR DOJ ‘SLUSH FUND’ FOR ALLIES THREATENS ICE, BORDER PATROL PLAN

Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate GOP leaders are pushing forward with budget reconciliation to fund the final piece of government that had been shut down by Senate Democrats’ opposition to President Donald Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions.(Nathan Posner/Anadolu)

That makes President Donald Trump’s June 1 deadline effectively impossible to meet, but Republicans contend that it’s the administration’s actions that have further complicated an already rocky process.

“The message to the administration is this: we were on a glide path to passing this bill until these announcements,” a top Republican aide told Fox News Digital.

The timing of the settlement between Trump and his family and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the subsequent creation of the fund derailed Republicans’ sprint to the finish line.

“We don’t know where the votes are on reconciliation right now,” Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said.

SENATE REPUBLICAN THREATENS TO DERAIL ICE, BORDER PATROL PACKAGE OVER TRUMP’S BILLION-DOLLAR REQUEST

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6393717126112

The White House referred Fox News Digital to Trump’s comments Thursday when asked if he would be amenable to no ballroom security funding and restrictions on the DOJ’s nearly $1.8 billion fund, or veto the package outright.

“I don’t need money from the ballroom,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, and touted that the actual construction was being done through private funding.

“But this is being made as a gift from me and other people that are great patriots that spent a lot of money,” he continued. “We’re building what will be the finest ballroom anywhere in the world. If they want to spend money on securing the White House, I think it would be very — very much a good expenditure. But the ballroom is being built.”

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was dispatched to the Hill Thursday morning to tamp down lawmakers’ concerns over the “anti-weaponization” fund, which several lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have dubbed a “slush fund.” But instead, he was berated behind closed doors.

A spokesperson for the Justice Department told Fox News Digital that Blanche had a “healthy discussion on the settlement.”

“He made clear that the Anti-Weaponization Fund announced Monday has nothing to do with reconciliation. Indeed, not a single dime from the money the president is seeking in reconciliation would go toward anything having to do with the fund,” the spokesperson said. “We will continue to work with the Senate to get critical reconciliation funds approved.”

TRUMP DEMANDS SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN’S OUSTER FOR AXING BALLROOM SECURITY FUNDING

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was dispatched to the Hill Thursday morning to tamp down lawmakers’ concerns over the “anti-weaponization” fund.(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Sources told Fox News Digital that over two dozen Republicans demanded answers from Blanche on what kind of guardrails could be put into the fund, and specifically if those convicted for assaulting police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, riots could be excluded.

Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., erupted at Blanche, and Thune was uncharacteristically frustrated by the situation.

Several Republicans leaving the meeting had little to say about what happened inside, while others reiterated that they were focused on funding ICE and Border Patrol and nothing else.

Those concerns were validated with several people who were pardoned by Trump earlier this year, including former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who declared that he would make a claim this week.

There have been discussions of including those guardrails into the reconciliation package, given that the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees the DOJ, is a major part of the process.

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“I did raise that issue, and that seemed to be what [Blanche] was saying, but you know, we haven’t seen language,” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said.

Further complicating matters are plans Senate Democrats had for the package with their flurry of amendment votes.

Sources told Fox News Digital that one of the first amendments in the pipeline would have prevented any of the DOJ’s funds from going to convicted rapists and forced the package to be sent back to committee, sending the GOP back to square one on a politically perilous vote.

“This was all 100% avoidable,” a senior Republican aide told Fox News Digital.

Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.

Design plan for 250-foot “Arc de Trump” is approved, but 4 lions on the base are now gone

2026-05-21T14:57:35-0400 / CBS/AP

The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts on Thursday approved the design for the triumphal arch that President Donald Trump wants built at an entrance to the nation’s capital, a key step in the project’s process.

Commissioners, all appointed by Mr. Trump, acted despite overwhelming public opposition to the 250-foot arch, one of several projects that Trump is pursuing alongside a White House ballroom to leave his imprint on Washington.

“The building is beautiful,” the commission’s chairman, Rodney Mims Cook Jr., said shortly before the vote on a design revised slightly from what was presented to the federal agency in April.

The arch would stand 250 feet tall from its base to a torch held aloft by a Lady Liberty-like figure on top of the structure. The statue would be flanked on top by two gilded eagles, but the four lions envisioned as guarding the base are now gone. The phrases “One Nation Under God” and “Liberty and Justice for All” would be inscribed in gold lettering atop either side of the monument.

Rendering of Trump triumphal arch that would sit between Lincoln Memorial and Arlington Cemetery submitted by Interior Dept. to Commission on Fine Arts, April 16, 2026.

A public observation deck on top would provide 360-degree views of the surroundings.

The commission’s vice chairman, architect James McCrery II, said in April that he preferred the arch without the figures on top, which would have reduced the arch’s height by about 80 feet. Critics of the project argue the arch would dominate the skyline and disrupt views from the Lincoln Memorial to Arlington National Cemetery.

At 250 feet, the arch would be significantly taller than the 99-foot Lincoln Memorial, which sits across Memorial Bridge. The Washington Monument is 555 feet.

Commissioners were told at Thursday’s meeting that Mr. Trump considered the suggestion to remove the statue on top “but elected not to pursue such an option.”

A rendering of President Trump’s proposed Independence Arch.

McCrery recommended doing away with the lions on the base and objected to plans for an underground tunnel for pedestrians to get to the arch, which would be built on a traffic circle. Both design elements have been removed.

Preliminary surveys and testing of the site began last week.

A group of veterans and a historian have sued the Trump administration in federal court to block construction on grounds that the arch would disrupt the sightline between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House at Arlington National Cemetery, among other reasons. So far, the judge has yet to intervene.

The commission received about 1,000 public comments. CFA secretary Thomas Luebke said that “100% of the comments were against the project,” reading one that criticized the arch’s scale. It said the arch would “assert itself as a dominant vertical element in a skyline that has resisted such intrusions.”

The Republican president and his interior secretary, Doug Burgum, have argued Washington is the only major Western world capital without such an arch. Burgum’s department includes the National Park Service, which manages the plot where Mr. Trump wants to put the arch.

In a post to Truth Social last month, the president said it “will be the GREATEST and MOST BEAUTIFUL Triumphal Arch, anywhere in the World.”

The president has said some of his other projects, such as adding a blue coating to the interior of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, will beautify the city in time for July 4 celebrations of America’s 250th birthday.

Trump’s rehab of the Reflecting Pool is also the subject of a court challenge brought by The Cultural Landscape Foundation, which said the administration’s moves to repaint the bottom of the Reflecting Pool blue without first undergoing relevant reviews ran afoul of federal preservation laws governing historic sites.

The nonprofit group argued in a lawsuit filed last week that the changes at the Reflecting Pool are part of Trump’s broader effort to push through dramatic renovations in Washington without proper reviews and undermine the tone of the area.

“No consulting parties have been notified, engaged, or given an opportunity to participate,” attorneys representing TCLF wrote in a 26-page complaint. “This latest desecration of the reflecting pool is part of a pattern — epitomized most notably by the rush to destroy the East Wing of the White House — in which this Administration willfully disregards legal limits established by Congress.”

A hearing in the case was scheduled for later Thursday in federal court in Washington.

Trump said Thursday he did not need approval from Congress for the arch.

“No, we’re doing it,” Trump said of building the arch. “The land is owned by … the Interior Department, we don’t need anything from Congress.”

Florida GOP Rep. Byron Donalds shares thoughts with CNN on the Castro indictment and Trump’s ‘anti-weaponization’ fund

2026-05-21T19:04:17.815Z / CNN

Florida GOP Rep. Byron Donalds shares thoughts with CNN on the Castro indictment and Trump’s ‘anti-weaponization’ fund

By Pamela Brown, CNN

Published 3:04 PM EDT, Thu May 21, 2026

https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/21/politics/video/cnn-sitroom-brown-byron-donalds-florida-gop-candidate-castro-indictment-weaponization-fund

Florida GOP Rep. Byron Donalds, who is also a gubernatorial candidate in his home state, joins CNN’s Pamela Brown to discuss the latest actions taken domestically and internationally by the administration.

10:57 • Source: CNN

Consumers are still spending, but cracks are starting to show

May 21, 2026 / 3:48 PM EDT / CBS News

By

Consumer polls about the state of the U.S. economy suggest the mood is grim: Two-thirds of respondents to a recent CBS News poll reported feeling financially stressed, while a majority said soaring gasoline prices are causing hardship.

For now, however, such sentiments have yet to quash consumer spending, the critical flow of dollars that keeps the economy humming. What gives?

Walmart’s latest financial results illustrate the pattern, with the world’s largest retailer on Thursday reporting another quarter of strong sales growth. The company’s low prices are drawing shoppers across the income spectrum who are spending more on essentials, particularly gas. Other retailers have also recently reported strong results, including Home Depot, Target and TJ Maxx owner TJX.

Retail sales nationwide slowed in April from the previous month but remained healthy, showing resilience despite the surge in prices at the pump driven by theIran war.

But higher gas prices are adding up: The typical U.S. household is paying an additional $188 in fuel costs since the start of the war in late February, according to an estimate by Brown University researchers. Inflation, meanwhile, reached 3.8% in April, its highest level in almost three years.

The disconnect between gloomy consumers and resilient spending matters because consumer spending drives about two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. For now, spending is holding up mostly because wealthier households are continuing to open their pocketbooks and because of temporary supports, such as larger tax refunds.

Economists warn that the picture could change quickly if gas prices stay elevated.

“At present, there are a lot of negative vibes about the economy and its trajectory that are making people feel gloomy. However, the reality is that most consumers do have some firepower to keep on spending,” Neil Saunders, an analyst and managing director of retail at GlobalData, told CBS News.

And while gauges of consumer confidence have weakened, these measures reflect people’s willingness to spend more than their ability to spend, he noted.

Many households are also holding up, and continuing to spend, thanks in part to larger tax refunds this spring. IRS data shows the average refund is about 12% higher than last year, with the typical refund for the 2026 tax season at $3,276.

“This is a temporary effect, but it has been helpful,” Saunders said.

Why high-income shoppers matter

Although Americans continue to shop, the distribution of spending could point to trouble ahead. Data shows that consumer spending these days is increasingly driven by higher-income earners.

Economists have termed this trend the “K-shaped economy,” which refers to the divergent fortunes of wealthier consumers compared with lower-income households. The upward arm of the “K” represents the strong spending and income growth among upper-income Americans.

On the downside of the K, many households of modest means face difficult tradeoffs amid rising gas prices and stubborn inflation, according to economists. In April, higher-income consumers “continued to power forward,” while lower- and middle-income consumers pulled back on discretionary spending, Bank of America Institute said in a recentanalysis of spending data.

“The largest divergences in discretionary spending growth appeared to be on ‘bigger ticket’ services like travel, perhaps reflecting lower-income households’ hesitancy around vacation plans, given uncertainty over wage growth and gas prices,” Bank of America Institute analysts wrote.

Many higher-income consumers are also shopping at discount retailers. Walmart Chief Financial Officer, John David Rainey, said in an earnings call on Thursday that “the high-income customer is spending with confidence into many categories, while the lower-income consumer is more budget conscious and perhaps navigating financial distress.”

Can consumers keep up?

The question is whether consumers can keep opening their wallets if gas prices remain elevated, and what happens if higher energy prices trickle through to other goods and services, such as groceries. Heightening the challenge for Americans is that wages failed to keep pace with inflation in April, a trend that could weaken their purchasing power if it persists.

“We will start to see some cracks appear if gas prices remain too high for too long,” Saunders said. “Over recent months, the impact has been offset by a windfall from higher tax refunds, but this will eventually fade.”

But he added that consumers have complex coping mechanisms, meaning some might opt to cut back on travel to save on gas rather than curtail spending on other goods and services.

Higher gas prices can also lift retail sales because fuel purchases are included in the data, meaning rising gas costs can inflate topline sales figures, Saunders noted.

“Lower sentiment shows up in many ways, including changing where people shop and how they shop, even if they are still spending,” Saunders said.

Edited by Alain Sherter

White House urges lawmakers to pass rail safety legislation

2026-05-21 18:56:56 UTC / Reuters

By David Shepardson

May 21, 2026 6:56 PM UTC Updated 33 mins ago

General view of the site of the derailment of a train carrying hazardous waste, in East Palestine, Ohio, U.S., March 2, 2023. REUTERS/Alan Freed/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

WASHINGTON, May 21 (Reuters) – The White House on Thursday urged lawmakers to pass long-stalled rail safety legislation ​after the 2023 derailment of a Norfolk Southern-operated NSC.N, opens new tab train in Ohio that caught fire ‌and released over a million gallons of hazardous materials and pollutants.

Despite support from President Donald Trump and many Democrats, the bill’s fate is in doubt and faces significant opposition from railroads and many ​Republicans in Congress.

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The U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is debating a ​five-year $580 billion highway bill on Thursday and is considering adding a rail safety ⁠bill that would boost safety procedures for trains carrying hazardous materials and toughen rules ​on railcar wheel bearings.

Representative Troy Nehls, a Texas Republican, said the bill was necessary because ​the derailment “exposed serious weaknesses in the freight rail industry safety practices, particularly when it comes to transporting hazardous materials.”

Representative Sam Graves, the Republican chair of the committee, said the bill would add billions over ​10 years to the cost of shipping by rail. “It’s going to ripple across the ​entire supply chain,” Graves said.

The 2023 derailment was triggered by a catastrophic mechanical failure of an ‌overheated railcar ⁠wheel bearing. Norfolk Southern in 2024 agreed to a Justice Department settlement worth $310 million, including agreeing to install additional devices to detect overheated wheel bearings early enough to prevent derailments.

National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy said many safety recommendations made after the ​2023 derailment in East ​Palestine, Ohio, remain ⁠unaddressed over three years later.

“People living in the community of East Palestine and all Americans deserve no less than a comprehensive approach ​that addresses critical rail safety issues,” Homendy said.

The legislation would require ​enhanced safety ⁠procedures for trains carrying hazardous materials, as well as require wayside defect detectors, a minimum of two-person crews and increased fines for wrongdoing.

The Association of American Railroads, which represents major ⁠rail ​companies, criticized the bill saying it has “increasingly become a ​vehicle for longstanding labor and operational mandates that would raise costs throughout the supply chain while doing little ​to measurably improve safety outcomes.”

Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Nick Zieminski

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Former Detroit Mayor Duggan suspends his independent run for Michigan governor

May 21, 2026 12:19 PM ET / Associated Press

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is interviewed in December 2024 in Detroit.

Carlos Osorio/AP

Former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said Thursday he is suspending his campaign for Michigan governor, citing an increasingly “toxic” political climate due to President Donald Trump’s war with Iran and skyrocketing gas prices.

Duggan, a longtime Democrat, was running as an independent to replace Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer who can’t run again due to term limits. He told The Associated Press that it was going to be “very hard to win” as the Democrats who would have supported him are galvanizing against what’s going on in Washington.

“Democrat anger against Trump and Republicans is extremely high,” Duggan said. “In 60 days, there’s been a huge change in the attitudes of this country. People are feeling the pain at the pump and are angry about it.”

An independent has never served as Michigan governor and third-party candidates typically don’t fare well in elections for the state’s top seat. To Duggan, who shunned partisan fighting while choosing to run as an independent, it was clear the odds were stacking against his campaign.

“As long as I knew there was a path for victory, I was going to fight,” he said. “I don’t see a likely path to win.”

Duggan believed he was trailing Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Republican US Rep. John James in the governor’s race. Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson also is running as a Democrat, while millionaire businessman Perry Johnson is running as a Republican.

Michigan’s primary election will be held August 4.

Tennessee stops execution after failing to find inmate’s vein for lethal drugs, attorney says

May 21, 2026 / 2:43 PM EDT / CBS News

Tennessee halted the execution of death row inmate Tony Carruthers on Thursday, his attorney said, after the officers tasked with establishing an intravenous line through which to administer lethal drugs failed to do so for more than an hour.

“They tortured him,” said the attorney Maria DeLiberato, in a text message that CBS News obtained through the American Civil Liberties Union. “When they tried to do the central line, they put a shot of lidocaine in his chest and he told them he could still feel the puncture and they did the puncture anyway.”

In the text, DeLiberato said Carruthers, 57, was groaning and bleeding from his attempted injection sites. She said officers tried three times to establish the line in the inmate’s arms and feet, and also attempted to access a vein in his neck.

Carruthers’ defense team had asked a Tennessee district court judge to stop his execution in an emergency order, which alleged that the repeated attempts “constituted cruel and unusual punishment” and violated his constitutional rights. The judge denied that request on the grounds that his team had not met their burden of proof to demonstrate the state’s actions were “cruel and unusual.”

While Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee issued a reprieve, pausing the execution proceedings, whether it would be temporary or permanent was unclear, according to an ACLU spokesperson.

Lee upheld the state’s death sentence for Carruthers in a statement responding to his clemency request on Thursday.

“After deliberate consideration of Tony Von Carruthers’ request for clemency, and after a thorough review of the case, I am upholding the sentence of the State of Tennessee,” the governor said.

Carruthers was sentenced to death after being found guilty of the 1994 kidnappings and murders of Marcellos Anderson; his mother, Delois Anderson; and Frederick Tucker.

But advocates have long called on Lee to halt Carruthers’ execution so that his legal team could more deeply evaluate DNA evidence that they believed might exonerate him. Throughout his 30 years on Tennessee’s death row, Carruthers has maintained his innocence.

In statements released alongside the emergency motion on Thursday, Carruthers’ attorneys described the state’s decision to move ahead with the execution despite blocking his efforts to run forensic analyses as “a grave injustice.” His defense team’s motion for a “post-conviction” DNA test on evidence taken from the victims was denied by the state, court filings show.

“This injustice turned barbaric when Tennessee’s efforts to set an IV line for the lethal drugs failed and the executioners continued to press forward anyway with the botched execution,” said attorney and Capital Punishment Project director Cassy Stubbs.

The ACLU, in a petition, accused Tennessee leadership for neglecting to address issues with Carruthers’ case. It said his conviction rested on the testimonies of “paid jailhouse informants,” and no physical evidence connects him to the crime.

The post-conviction forensic testing had sought to evaluate “unmatched fingerprints and DNA from the crime scene,” which “have never been compared” to an alternative suspect that Carruthers’ co-defendant identified more than a decade ago, according to the ACLU.

The Associated Press and Melissa Quinn contributed to this report.