Trump administration launches new attack on free speech
The Trump administration’s Federal Communications Commission is challenging the right of ABC to own and operate eight TV stations in the U.S. following ABC’s late night host Jimmy Kimmel making a joke about Melania and Donald Trump. The FCC, headed by Trump supporter Brendan Carr, has ordered the Disney company, which owns ABC, to immediately begin the process of license renewal for the TV stations, which is several years early. Disney responded by saying that it has been operating “in full compliance with FCC rules” and will “show that through the appropriate legal channels.” The company’s statement invoked the First Amendment, signaling it is willing to fight. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz told Punchbowl News, “It’s not the government’s job to censor speech, and I do not believe the FCC should operate as the speech police.” Sen. Ed Markey, called the FCC move’s “authoritarian censorship.”
Supreme Court hears arguments on Haitian case
The U.S. Supreme Court is today hearing oral arguments in a case brought to try to stop the Trump administration from throwing out Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for about 350,000 Haitian immigrants in the U.S. so it can deport them. The case is expected to have repercussions for other immigrant groups as well. Lawyers for a group of Haitians previously granted TPS contend in arguments to the Supreme Court that such racial animus prompted the administration’s 2025 order to end their TPS designation. That challenge is based on constitutional equal protection, but the Haitian TPS holders have also raised procedural arguments that could affect the fate of recipients from a swath of countries. The Haitian controversy is being heard with a companion case brought by Syrian TPS holders. Since returning to office, Trump has accelerated his anti-immigrant agenda and his administration has sought to terminate TPS coverage in more than a dozen countries, including Venezuela, Honduras, and Somalia, spurring numerous court challenges.
Trump reported to cave on DHS funding
CNN reports that Donald Trump’s budget office sent a memo to Capitol Hill on Tuesday evening urging House Republicans to agree to partly reopen the Department of Homeland Security – even without new cash for immigration enforcement, a change from Trump’s previous position. The existence of the memo, which was confirmed by a person familiar with its contents, could amount to a major development in the impasse surrounding DHS funding. According to the memo, Trump officials are now telling House Republicans to accept a compromise measure from the Senate, which does not include money for ICE or border patrol, to ensure that workers do not go unpaid. Many House Republicans have so far done what Trump previously said he wanted and refused to pass any DHS funding without simultaneously approving another funding bill for ICE.
Russia to scale back Victory Day parade
Russia is scaling back what used to be the lavish May 9 Victory Day military parade centered on Moscow’s Red Square. Sources indicate that the struggling Russian economy and losses suffered on the Ukraine battlefield are the reasons. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced the parade would feature people from military academies and the armed forces marching on foot but no military hardware would roll past Lenin’s tomb this year. Asked Wednesday about the parade plans, and whether the equipment was needed for the front lines, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov put a slightly different spin on the situation, saying Moscow was facing a “terrorist threat” from Ukraine and the cutback is to minimize the danger from terrorism.
James Comey indicted again
Former FBI Director James Comey has been indicted again by Donald Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ). A court threw out his previous indictment. This time, he was indicted over a photo of seashells Trump’s DOJ said threatened Donald Trump. The indictment was handed up by a grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina where Comey allegedly took the photo. Comey is charged with making a threat against the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce, according to court documents. “I’m still innocent. I’m still not afraid,” Comey said, “And I still believe in the independent federal judiciary, so let’s go.” The new case represents a heightened effort by the DOJ to go after people Trump views as his enemies.
Israel reportedly using stolen Ukrainian grain
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has accused Israel of knowingly allowing grain stolen by Russia to be unloaded at Israeli ports, threatening to impose sanctions on anyone involved in the shipments, which Kyiv says have continued despite multiple appeals to Israeli officials. Zelenskyy’s warning reflects a deepening rift between the two countries, brought to a head by the arrival in Israeli waters of a vessel named Panormitis, which entered Haifa Bay last week and currently is anchored offshore, apparently awaiting a berth. Ukraine says the ship is carrying wheat stolen from occupied Ukrainian territories and would be the second such shipment to dock and unload in Haifa this month. Ukraine says Israel has received about 30 shipments of its grain stolen by Russia.
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