Five Republicans joined Democrats on the House Budget Committee to reject a sweeping policy bill to enact President Donald Trump’s agenda. Here are four reasons the bill failed, and what’s next. 
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| “The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.” |
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The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to block the Trump administration from deporting some alleged Venezuelan gang members under the Alien Enemies Act.
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Five Republicans joined Democrats on the House Budget Committee to reject a sweeping policy bill to enact President Donald Trump’s agenda. Here are four reasons the bill failed, and what’s next.
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FBI Director Kash Patel said that the bureau is leaving its Washington headquarters. About 1,500 FBI employees will be relocated to offices around the United States.
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Authorities in Louisiana are scrambling to track down nine inmates who remain at large after a brazen overnight escape from the Orleans Justice Center in New Orleans, where 10 men broke out by crawling through a hole behind a toilet and scaling a wall.
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🍵 Health: Teeth grinding may lead to headaches and jaw pain. Here’s how to find relief.
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| Ivan Pentchoukov
National Editor |
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Venezuelans deported from the United States arrive at Simon Bolivar International Airport in La Guaira, Venezuela, on Feb. 24, 2025. (Jesus Vargas/Getty Images) |
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to block the Trump administration from deporting some alleged Venezuelan gang members under the Alien Enemies Act. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented. President Trump signed a proclamation on March 14 in which he officially declared that Tren de Aragua, a designated foreign terrorist organization associated with Venezuela, “is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States.”
The president invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to authorize the “immediate apprehension, detention, and removal” of members of the group who are Venezuelan citizens 14 years of age or older and who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents of the United States.
The Supreme Court had on April 19 issued a temporary block preventing the Trump administration from deporting an unspecified number of Venezuelan men currently in immigration custody in Texas who are alleged to be members of a criminal gang.
In the new order, the Supreme Court sent the case back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, instructing it to address the detainees’ claims.
Although the Supreme Court directed the government not to remove the detainees under the authority of the Alien Enemies Act, the order states that the government “may remove the named plaintiffs or putative class members under other lawful authorities.”
The Court said in its order that the government did not give detainees enough time to challenge their proposed removal. (More) More Politics |
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President Donald Trump concluded his Middle East tour on Friday with a final stop in the United Arab Emirates, where he participated in a business forum promoting U.S. companies before his departure.
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The Department of Homeland Security confirmed it received a pitch for a reality TV show in which immigrants compete for a chance to fast-track their American citizenship.
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Homeland security officials have requested 20,000 National Guard personnel to help with their large-scale deportation operation.
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A federal judge has granted a preliminary injunction halting the Trump administration’s plan to cut more than $11 billion in public health grants, siding with a coalition of 23 states and the District of Columbia that sued to keep the money flowing.
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Authorities in Louisiana are scrambling to track down nine inmates who remain at large after a brazen overnight escape from the Orleans Justice Center in New Orleans, where 10 men broke out by crawling through a hole behind a toilet and scaling a wall. The breakout was discovered during a routine headcount at 8:30 a.m. on May 16—more than seven hours after the men had fled the jail. Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson initially said at a morning briefing that 11 inmates were missing, but later clarified that one of the men was mistakenly counted among the escapees and had been in a different cell.
“We do acknowledge there is no way people can get out of this facility without there being some type of lapse in security,” Hutson said of the jail, where she says 1,400 people are being held. “It’s almost impossible, not completely, but almost impossible for anybody to get out of this facility without help.”
Hutson said surveillance footage shows the escapees breaching a wall behind a toilet around 1 a.m., exiting through a loading dock door, scaling a perimeter wall, and running across an interstate highway. She added that her office had repeatedly raised concerns about faulty infrastructure—particularly the locks—and had recently requested additional funding to address the issue.
One of the fugitives, Kendell Myles—who had been charged with attempted second-degree murder—was captured after a brief foot chase through the French Quarter. (More) More U.S. News |
- Even with President Trump’s executive actions backing the coal industry, the future of Pennsylvania’s coal miners remains uncertain.
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Verizon Communications has announced the end of its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, aligning itself with a growing federal and corporate movement toward merit-based practices in hiring, training, and advancement.
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Consumer sentiment deteriorated further in May as Americans anticipate that tariffs will trigger inflation pressures, according to data released by the University of Michigan on Friday.
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Moody’s Ratings has downgraded the United States’ long-term credit rating from Aaa to Aa1, stripping the nation of its last perfect rating among the three major agencies, citing sustained rising debt, ballooning interest payments, and a lack of political will to rein in chronic budget deficits.
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Barclays no longer expects the United States economy to fall into a recession later this year and has revised up its growth forecasts following a temporary truce in the trade war between China and the United States.
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The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled this week to uphold the state’s fetal heartbeat law, allowing the state to continue the ban on abortions starting at around six weeks of gestation.
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New Jersey Transit train engineers went on strike on Friday, halting service to 350,000 riders in the New Jersey and New York area.
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The Chinese communist regime has said that fentanyl is a domestic problem for the United States, not China’s responsibility.
The statement came as the two countries reached a truce in the tariff war after talks in Geneva, Switzerland, on May 12. The 20 percent U.S. tariff imposed on China linked to illicit fentanyl, however, hasn’t been lifted.
At the regular press conference of the Chinese Foreign Ministry on May 13, when asked about the fentanyl-related tariffs, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said that “fentanyl is the U.S.’s problem, not China’s.”
He also accused the United States of imposing unreasonable tariffs on China over the fentanyl issue and demanded that the United States stop blaming China for the fentanyl crisis.
When asked about the fentanyl-linked tariffs again the next day, Lin said that after the United States levied two rounds of tariffs on Chinese goods based on the fentanyl issue, China responded with tariff and non-tariff countermeasures, which “remain in force.”
The United States and China reached a deal, reducing most of the tariffs put in place since April. The two countries, however, did not reach an agreement on tariffs related to the fentanyl issue during the talks in Geneva. (More) More World News: |
- U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are concerned that President Trump’s semiconductor deals with the United Arab Emirates may lead to restricted AI chips getting into the hands of the Chinese regime.
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The chairmen of two House committees are calling on Duke University to end its partnership with China’s Wuhan University, saying that the relationship is advancing the Chinese Communist Party’s military ambitions at the expense of U.S. taxpayer dollars.
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President Trump said India has offered a zero-tariff trade deal with the United States, although an Indian official later responded that no decision has been made yet.
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European leaders discussed levying new sanctions against Russia, as a peace settlement between Moscow and Kyiv remains elusive.
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📷 Photo of the Day: Peasants navigate the Indio River during a protest against the construction of a reservoir in the river basin in Rio Indio, Colon province, Panama, on May 16, 2025. (Martin Bernetti/AFP via Getty Images) |
🎙️ Podcast: This week on Constitution Avenue, Sam Dorman breaks down the intricacies of the recent Supreme Court hearing, Jacob Burg looks at a growing national concern over air travel, and Nathan Worcester explains why the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” stalled on Capitol Hill. (Listen) ✍️ Opinion: On Dialogue, Disagreement, and the Urgent Need for Humility by Patrick Keeney
🎵 Music: J.S. Bach - Toccata and Fugue (Listen) |
Paisley Sheridan (Hedy Nasser) finds help in unexpected places with Josh Lake (Jonathan Stoddard), in “Finding Love in Big Sky, Montana.” (GJW+) |
Faith-based romances are low-stress, high-heart movies that leave viewers feeling like they’re riding a gentle horse over a winding trail.
Based on the 2016 novel by Angela Ruth Strong, a popular author of inspirational romance, “Finding Love in Big Sky, Montana” tells a story that’s gentle, grounded, and refreshingly scandal-free. And yes, there’s a big sky, with love underneath it.
At the heart of the story is Paisley Sheridan (Hedy Nasser). Sheridan traded her small-town past for big-city ambition, only to find herself unexpectedly returning to the land her grandfather left her, the Brightstar Ranch.
The ranch is filled with childhood memories and unspoken promises. Now, it becomes her newest mission: transforming it into a therapeutic haven for children who have suffered emotional wounds.
Paisley’s vision is rooted in both compassion and personal experience. She wants the ranch to become a space where kids can bond with horses, learn to trust again, and just be kids laughing, learning, and healing under the wide Montana sky.
But good intentions alone can’t pay for repairs. When the bank turns her down for funding, Paisley’s plans seem on the brink of slipping away. It’s a difficult moment, one of several in the film, but it’s not framed with despair. Instead, it’s the kind of challenge that calls for a different kind of strength: faith, resilience, and the willingness to lean on others when the weight gets heavy. (More)
“Finding Love in Big Sky, Montana” is now available on Gan Jing World. As an exclusive to our subscribers, the film will be available to watch for free until Sun, May 18. |
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