Virginia Democrats filed an emergency application to the US supreme court on Monday, asking the Republican-dominated body to set aside a state court decision and permit Virginia to use a new map of congressional districts for this years’s midterms that was approved by voters in a referendum last month.
The map was thrown out by Virginia’s supreme court last week.
Virginia’s supreme court ruled that the state cannot use new congressional maps approved by voters to help Democrats gain as many as four new seats in the US House of Representatives, handing Republicans a major win ahead of November’s midterm elections.
In a 4-3 decision, the court found that the state’s general assembly did not follow the appropriate constitutional procedure in approving the map, which voters then passed in a referendum last month.
“This constitutional violation incurably taints the resulting referendum vote and nullifies its legal efficacy,” the court wrote.
The ruling was a setback for Democrats’ efforts nationwide to counter gerrymanders approved by Republican-led states that may oust Democratic House representatives and boost the odds Donald Trump’s allies retain their majority in Congress’s lower chamber in the November midterm elections.
The Virginia Democrats, led by Don Scott, the Democratic speaker of the Virginia house of delegates, told the justices in a filing that the state court’s ruling has “deprived voters, candidates, and the Commonwealth of their right to the lawfully enacted congressional districts”.
The lawmakers cited a 2023 supreme court ruling that warned that state courts “may not transgress the ordinary bounds of judicial review such that they arrogate to themselves the power vested in state legislatures to regulate federal elections.”
In a slate of nominations sent to the Senate on Monday, Donald Trump asked senators to confirm two prominent supporters of his lie that he won the 2020 presidential election, Doug Mastriano and Kari Lake, as US ambassadors.
Mastriano, a chemtrail conspiracy theorist who was at the US Capitol on January 6 2021 and then suffered a landslide loss in the 2022 race to be governor of Pennsylvania , was nominated to be the top US diplomat in Slovakia.
Lake, a former television news anchor who claimed that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against Trump, and disputed her own 2022 loss in the race to be Arizona’s governor, was nominated to represent the United States in Jamaica.
Other nominees sent to the Senate on Monday included: Trump’s pick to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Brett Matsumoto, to replace Erika McEntarfer, the BLS commissioner the president fired last year after she reported a drop in employment; and his third pick to be Surgeon General, Dr Nicole Saphier, a Fox News contributor who replaces the withdrawn nominee Casey Means, a wellness influencer who had in turn replaced the first nominee, former Fox News contributor Janette Nesheiwat.
In a procedural vote, the Senate moved to advance the nomination of Kevin Warsh to be a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for a term of fourteen years from February 1, 2026.
The 49-44 vote, with the support of two Democrats, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Chris Coons of Delaware, moves Donald Trump’s pick to chair the Federal Reserve a step closer to a seat on the board.
A vote on his nomination as chair will follow.
Senator Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, had previously promised to block Warsh’s nomination unless a politically motivated criminal investigation into the current Fed chair, Jerome Powell, was dropped.
After the US attorney for the District of Columbia, former Fox host Jeanine Pirro, said that the investigation was over, for now, Tillis said that he would support Warsh.
“I take the Department of Justice at its word: the investigation is closed,” Tillis said in a statement.
By a 6-3 vote along partisan lines, the Republican-dominated US supreme court granted Alabama’s request to vacate a federal court order that a Congressional map drawn to eliminate a majority-Black district violated the 14th Amendment to the US constitution by discriminating against Black voters.
Alabama argued that it should be free to ignore the court order based on a supreme court ruling last month that struck down a majority-Black US House district in Louisiana as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, gutting a key achievement of the 1960s civil rights movement, the federal Voting Rights Act.
The high court agreed and overturned that order, directing a lower district court to reconsider the case in light of the Louisiana decision. That could free the state to instead use a map approved in 2023 by the Republican-led legislature that includes only one district where Black residents comprise a majority.
Anticipating a court reversal, Alabama officials recently enacted a law allowing it to void the results of a primary election scheduled for next week for some congressional districts and instead hold a new primary under the revised district boundaries.
Last week, Alabama’s Republican governor, Kay Ivey, signed two bills to authorize the her to call a special election in certain congressional and state senate districts in anticipation of a favorable supreme court ruling in the state’s ongoing redistricting litigation.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, all nominated by Democratic presidents, dissented from the ruling. In addition to holding that Alabama’s 2023 Redistricting Plan violated section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the justices noted, the District Court held “that Alabama violated the Fourteenth Amendment by intentionally diluting the votes of Black voters in Alabama.”
“That constitutional finding of intentional discrimination is independent of, and unaffected by,” they added, “any of the legal issues discussed in Callais,” the Louisiana case.
The justices also noted that just three years ago, the supreme court had “affirmed the District Court’s order instructing Alabama to remedy this identified racial discrimination by drawing a new map containing two districts in which Black voters would have an opportunity to elect a representative of their choice”.
They went on to note that the district court’s “finding of discriminatory intent,” was based on “a comprehensive examination of Alabama’s transparent, intentional attempt to limit Black voting power”.
As our colleague Maya Yang reports, Donald Trump has once again nominated Cameron Hamilton to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) just over a year after Hamilton was fired for publicly opposing plans to abolish the agency.
During a House oversight hearing on 7 May 2025, Hamilton, then the acting administrator of the disaster relief agency was asked by representative Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat, whether he agreed with plans floated by the president and his homeland secretary at the time, Kristi Noem, to eliminate Fema.
Hamilton asked the appropriations committee’s chair, the Republican Tom Cole, if he had to answer the question.
“I’m not going to let you off that easy,” Cole replied.
“As the senior adviser to the president on disasters and emergency management,” Hamilton answered, measuring his words carefully, “I do not believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency.”
Twenty-four hours later, Hamilton was no longer leading the agency and was replaced by David Richardson, a former Marine Corps officer who was serving as an assistant secretary for countering weapons of mass destruction. Richardson, who had no experience in managing responses to natural disasters, resigned six months ago after intense criticism of his handling of deadly floods in Texas.
Cameron, a former Navy SEAL who worked for a defense contractor and ran unsuccessfully for Congress, also has limited disaster management experience.
Faced with rising anger over inflation, as his war on Iran sends fuel and fertilizer costs sky-rocketing and beef prices reach record-highs in the US, Donald Trump plans to temporarily reduce tariffs on imported steaks and ground beef, at least until after the midterm elections in November, according to reports from the Wall Street Journal and Politico.
The Journal reports that the cuts to tariffs on beef imports could come as soon as Monday, by suspending “the annual tariff-rate quota—which applies a higher tariff rate after a certain level of beef imports are reached—on all beef-exporting nations,” enabling Americans to buy more imported beef at lower tariff rates.
According to Politico, the planned reduction in tariffs on beef imports is for 200 days, which could lower prices for American consumers until a few weeks after they vote in the midterm elections Trump’s Republican allies in Congress are in danger of losing.
The cut in tariffs on imported beef is likely to anger US cattle ranchers.
The administration reportedly plans to placate domestic cattle ranchers by removing a number of regulations intended to protect endangered species, including gray and Mexican wolves, and a new USDA rule that requires electronic ear tags on livestock intended to help limit disease outbreak impact.
One Congressional Republican told Politico reporter Meredith Lee Hill the measure to cut tariffs on imported beef was “a shit sandwich,” and called the other policies mere “window dressing”.
Virginia Democrats filed an emergency application to the US supreme court on Monday, asking the Republican-dominated body to set aside a state court decision and permit Virginia to use a new map of congressional districts for this years’s midterms that was approved by voters in a referendum last month.
The map was thrown out by Virginia’s supreme court last week.
Virginia’s supreme court ruled that the state cannot use new congressional maps approved by voters to help Democrats gain as many as four new seats in the US House of Representatives, handing Republicans a major win ahead of November’s midterm elections.
In a 4-3 decision, the court found that the state’s general assembly did not follow the appropriate constitutional procedure in approving the map, which voters then passed in a referendum last month.
“This constitutional violation incurably taints the resulting referendum vote and nullifies its legal efficacy,” the court wrote.
The ruling was a setback for Democrats’ efforts nationwide to counter gerrymanders approved by Republican-led states that may oust Democratic House representatives and boost the odds Donald Trump’s allies retain their majority in Congress’s lower chamber in the November midterm elections.
The Virginia Democrats, led by Don Scott, the Democratic speaker of the Virginia house of delegates, told the justices in a filing that the state court’s ruling has “deprived voters, candidates, and the Commonwealth of their right to the lawfully enacted congressional districts”.
The lawmakers cited a 2023 supreme court ruling that warned that state courts “may not transgress the ordinary bounds of judicial review such that they arrogate to themselves the power vested in state legislatures to regulate federal elections.”
The US supreme court extended a short-term order to continue allowing nationwide access to mail-order mifepristone, an abortion medication, in a shadow-docket decision on Monday.
The US court of appeals for the fifth circuit in Louisiana ordered a ban on shipping mifepristone through the mail on 1 May, but Justice Samuel Alito, who responds to emergency requests from the fifth circuit, granted a temporary stay on 4 May to last until at least Monday’s decision. The emergency appeal to the court came from two mifepristone manufacturers.
Alito extended his 4 May order to continue allowing the pill’s distribution by telehealth and mail until at least 14 May while the court considers its next steps.
Louisiana sued the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last fall in an attempt to end the agency’s rules on prescribing mifepristone remotely, arguing the rules interfered with the state’s ban on abortion. Louisiana has no standing to challenge mail-order abortion, the US supreme court ruled.
The court sent the case on access back to the fifth circuit. It is expected to return to the court on an official appeal, instead of emergency requests from drug manufacturers.
Former FDA leaders, researchers, and lobbyists submitted amicus briefs in the case – but notably absent was the US government.
In 2023, the FDA ended a requirement to prescribe mifepristone in person, opening up remote dispensation via telehealth.
-
Ahead of travelling to China on Tuesday, Trump said that he hoped to get “a lot” out of his meeting with Xi Jinping. The president noted that he had a “great relationship” with Xi, and noted that there had been no ships from Iran to China, despite the country’s reliance on Iranian oil.
-
Seventeen tech and finance executives will join the president this week in Beijing, a White House official confirmed to the Guardian. Notably, the president’s on-off again ally Elon Musk will be in attendance, as well as outgoing CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Dina Powell McCormick of Meta and Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg.
-
Trump also pledged to suspend the US federal gas tax in a bid to reduce pressure on Americans after the US-Israel war on Iran sparked a sharp rise in fuel prices. The president told reporters on Monday that his administration would look to pause the tax “till it’s appropriate”, as the price at the pump continues to spike. Trump did not note that it would require congressional approval to scrap the tax, which raises about $500m each week for the federal government.
-
The suspect accused of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump last month at a gala in Washington has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Cole Tomas Allen did not speak in court on Monday as his attorney entered the plea on his behalf. The charges against him include attempted assassination of the president, assault on a federal officer and firearms offenses.
-
Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, has vowed that Democrats will limit GOP leaders in Congress from passing a budget bill that confers $72bn for federal immigration enforcement, which includes $1bn for security measures for Donald Trump’s ballroom project. “Democrats will fight the Republicans’ reconciliation bill with every tool we have,” Schumer wrote in a Dear Colleague letter, and noted that lawmakers plan to challenge the legislation by claiming that some of its provisions violate the Byrd rule, and are extraneous and not actually budgetary.
A group of 40 House Democrats have described “grave concerns” over the Trump administration’s secretive program of deportation flights and demanded the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) address allegations of mistreatment and inhumane conditions on ICE charter jets.
In a letter shared with the Guardian and addressed to the FAA administrator, Bryan Bedford, the lawmakers describe the “urgent need for transparency” over ICE’s expanded use of commercial airliners to transfer detained immigrants and its “inappropriate and dangerous” efforts to shield these flights from public scrutiny.
“Credible reports indicate that individuals have been placed on flights without notice to counsel or family members, effectively disappearing from public view when flights are inappropriately shielded from tracking systems,” the letter states. “Families are left searching for their loved ones, and attorneys are denied meaningful opportunities to intervene, raising serious due process concerns.”
The letter references an investigation by the Guardian, based on leaked flight data, which revealed the Trump administration transported detained immigrants in ways that routinely violated their constitutional rights. The reporting also identified allegations of abuse and rights violations at a private detention center in Alexandria, Louisiana, a central node in the administration’s deportation program.
Following Donald Trump’s rejection of Iran’s latest peace deal, and noting that the ceasfire was on “life support” the price of oil spiked again, with Brent Crude – the international benchmark – eventually settling at $104.2 a barrel.
Despite the president saying that the price of fuel in the US will drop as soon as the conflict ends, the average price for a gallon of gas continues to stay above $4.50, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).
Pete Hegseth said he has referred Senator Mark Kelly to Pentagon lawyers for allegedly disclosing classified information about depleted US weapons stockpiles – information Kelly says he heard from the defense secretary, in public, under oath.
Speaking on CBS News’s Face the Nation on Sunday, Kelly said American inventories of Tomahawk cruise missiles, Army Tactical Missile Systems, SM-3 interceptors, Thaad rounds and Patriot missiles had been severely drawn down during the Iran conflict, warning that replenishment could take years and leave the US exposed in any future confrontation with China.
Hegseth responded on X, accusing Kelly of disclosing details from a classified Pentagon briefing and saying the department’s legal counsel would review whether the senator had violated his oath.
“Now he’s blabbing on TV (falsely & dumbly) about a *CLASSIFIED* Pentagon briefing he received,” Hegseth wrote on social media. “Did he violate his oath…again?”
Kelly then countered that the information didn’t come from a classified press briefing, but rather from Hegseth’s own mouth while at a late April Senate briefing on the Pentagon’s future budget and war with Iran.
“That’s not classified, it’s a quote from you,” Kelly wrote. “This war is coming at a serious cost and you and the president still haven’t explained to the American people what the goal is.”
The exchange did indeed happen between the two men on 30 April at the Senate armed services committee hearing conducted in an open session, where Kelly asked Hegseth directly: “How many years will it take to replenish our munitions from Trump’s war in Iran?”
“Months and years,” Hegseth responded. “Fast.”
Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, has vowed that Democrats will limit GOP leaders in Congress from passing a budget bill that confers $72bn for federal immigration enforcement, which includes $1bn for security measures for Donald Trump’s ballroom project.
“Democrats will fight the Republicans’ reconciliation bill with every tool we have,” Schumer wrote in a Dear Colleague letter, and noted that lawmakers plan to challenge the legislation by claiming that some of its provisions violate the Byrd rule, and are extraneous and not actually budgetary.
“We will force vote after vote to make the choice unmistakable: will Republicans vote to help American families – to lower costs, to restore savage health care cuts, to roll back cost-spiking tariffs – or will they vote to fund Trump’s gaudy ballroom?” the Senate minority leader added.
A White House official tells the Guardian that 17 tech and finance CEOs will join Trump on his visit to China.
Notably, the president’s on-off again ally Elon Musk will be in attendance for the visit to Beijing.
Other business leaders include outgoing CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, as well as Blackrock’s Larry Fink, Dina Powell McCormick of Meta and Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg.
Despite earlier saying the ceasefire was “on life support”, Donald Trump said he thought a diplomatic solution with Iran was still achievable and claims he has had a deal with Tehran “four or five times”.
He told reporters:
I think it’s very possible.
Look, I’ve had a deal with them [the Iranians] four or five times. They change their mind.
In line with his usual demeaning of Iran’s leadership, Trump called them “very dishonourable people” and went on to claim he was dealing with the “third level” of Iranian leadership. The “unreasonable” first level is gone, he claimed, and the second level “is more reasonable”.
“The third level,” he continued, “nobody wants to be president, you know? They say ‘who wants to be president?’ Nobody raises their hand.”
It’s unclear who Trump is referring to when he makes these comments because, as you will know, Iran has a president, Masoud Pezeshkian.
Back to the prospect of a deal, Trump added:
You know, the mind changes … these people, you make a deal, then the next day they send you a document that takes five days to get there, when it should have been there in 20 minutes. You know, it’s a pretty simple document.
Donald Trump was then asked if he would suspend the federal gas tax.
He earlier told CBS News that he planned to suspend the tax “for a period of time”.
I think it’s a great idea. Yup, we’re going to take off the gas tax for a period of time, and when gas goes down, we’ll let it phase back in.
Back to the Oval Office, the president started to answer “yes” before diverging:
As soon as this is over with Iran, you’re going to see gasoline and oil drop like a rock.
The rejection has raised the stakes for Trump’s trip this week to China, as we’ve noted, where he could urge Xi Jinping to pressure Iran into making concessions. China is the biggest buyer of Iran’s sanctioned crude oil.
Asked how long he would suspend the federal gas tax for, Trump replied vaguely: “Until it’s appropriate … it’s a small percentage, but it’s still money.” He did not note that such a move requires congressional approval.
Asked about the US’s handling of the hantavirus outbreak and whether he regrets withdrawing from the World Health Organization, Donald Trump said he thought the US response was “fine” and insisted he was “glad” he pulled the US out of the WHO.
I hope it’s fine … it seems like it is not easy to spread. In fact, in some ways, it’s very hard to spread, we’ve lived with it for many years. And I think we’re in good shape.
An American passenger on the cruise ship at the center of the outbreak who was flown to Nebraska along with 16 others on Sunday evening tested positive for hantavirus but had no symptoms. The US health department said one American national evacuated from the ship had tested positive for the Andes strain – the only hantavirus strain that is transmissible between humans – and another had “mild symptoms”.
Trump added that he thought Nebraska has done “a fantastic job” and that the doctors there were “unbelievable”.
Ahead of travelling to China tomorrow, Trump said that he hopes to get “a lot” out of his meeting with Xi Jinping.
The president noted that he had a “great relationship” with Xi, and noted that there had been no ships from Iran to China, despite the country’s reliance on Iranian oil.
Trump noted that the ongoing ceasefire with Iran was “on life support”, while answering questions from reporters in the Oval Office.
“It’s unbelievably weak,” he said “after reading that piece of garbage” – referring to Tehran’s latest peace proposal.
“I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support, where the doctor walks in and says, ‘sir, your loved one has approximately a 1% chance of living’,” Trump added.
The president added that Tehran’s latest peace proposal did not include a guarantee to not have a nuclear weapon.
“They just can’t get there. So they agree with us, and then they take it back,” he noted.
