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More gasoline price shocks might hit US drivers this summer travel season

(Reuters) As millions of travelers hit the road for the U.S. Memorial Day holiday weekend, high gasoline prices fueled by ongoing supply disruptions from the war with Iran are set to add financial strain for motorists, kicking ‌off what is set to become a pricier summer travel season. U.S. retail gasoline prices have jumped more than $1.50 per gallon, or about 45%, since late February, when the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran. Prices for crude oil used to make gasoline have also surged, along with prices for many goods.

BumRushDaShow

Pro-MAGA Outlet OAN 'Seriously Considering' Filing a Claim for a Payout from Trump's $1.7B 'Anti-Weaponization' Fund

(Mediaite) President Donald Trump’s allies in the media are eyeing potential payouts from the massive weaponization fund created this week in a settlement between the president and his own Justice Department. Trump’s DOJ stirred widespread controversy this week by settling the president’s lawsuit against the IRS and creating a nearly $1.8 billion fund to pay out anyone the admin finds had the government weaponized against them.

BumRushDaShow

Sen. Dick Durbin warns DOJ against 'doling out compensation to rioters' in new Trump fund

(NBC News) The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee urged the Justice Department Wednesday to reconsider its openness to providing money from the Trump administration’s new $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund to Jan. 6 rioters who attacked police defending the Capitol. “The notion of the federal government doling out compensation to rioters who sought to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power and violently assaulted members of the United States Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police Department on January 6, 2021 is absurd and offensive.”

BumRushDaShow

Republican Threatens to 'Kill' Trump DOJ's Anti-Weaponization Fund

(Newsweek) Representative Brian Fitzpatrick threatened to "kill" the $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund announced by President Donald Trump's Department of Justice (DOJ) this week. Fitzpatrick, who represents a Pennsylvania swing district, is among the Republicans expressing discomfort with the anti-weaponization fund. The DOJ announced the fund as part of a deal to end the Trump administration’s lawsuit against the IRS. The plan has drawn bipartisan criticism on Capitol Hill, as both Democrats and Republicans have denounced it. Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email.

KS Toronado

Thursday's Condensed News Cartoons

mahatmakanejeeves

Fetterman's chief of staff resigns

(Axios) Sen. John Fetterman's chief of staff resigned Wednesday, a source familiar with the move told Axios. The Pennsylvania Democrat has had a serious staff retention problem as he's faced scrutiny over his health struggles and changing political brand. Cabelle St. John has served on Fetterman's team since he first came to Washington about three-and-a-half years ago. She became his chief of staff in 2025. Fetterman, who was once a darling of the progressive movement, has seen major turnover as ex-aides have grown frustrated with his steadfast support for Israel and warmer approach toward President Trump ... Former staff have also complained about working with him on an interpersonal level.

Takket

Colorado Democratic Party has censured Polis

(Kyle Clark, 9News Denver) The Colorado Democratic Party has formally condemned and censured Governor Jared Polis for granting clemency to Tina Peters. Polis is hereby banned from speaking or being honored at party events. 90% of CDP central committee members voted to reprimand Polis.

Eugene

Ballroom won't be funded after Senate GOP drops $1 billion Trump security request

(Politico) In a blow to the White House, Senate Republicans will remove a $1 billion Secret Service funding request that would help President Donald Trump’s ballroom project from their immigration enforcement funding bill amid internal objections. “We were told that the ballroom money is out,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told reporters after a GOP lunch meeting Wednesday, adding he’d “like to read the text.”

sop

Here Are The 42 Aircraft The Pentagon Has Lost In Iran, According To Congress, Since The Pentagon Won't Say

(Jalopnik) Pulling from a variety of sources, since the Pentagon wouldn't just tell it, the CRS determined that a grand total of 42 U.S. military planes have been either damaged or destroyed during the conflict with Iran. That includes fixed wing, helicopters, and high-end drones. Several dozen aircraft downed in only a few weeks, particularly against a non-peer adversary, is a pretty steep price. Several of these were strike aircraft, including one F-35A Lightning II and four F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets, plus one A-10 Thunderbolt II attacker. Others were support aircraft, including a whopping seven KC-135 Stratotankers (the military's flying gas stations), plus one E-3 Sentry AWACS, a vitally important radar plane that doesn't have a clear replacement after its imminent retirement.

In It to Win It

Iran rebuilding military industrial base faster than expected, already producing drones, according to US intel

(CNN) Iran has already restarted some of its drone production during the six-week ceasefire that began in early April, one sign it is rapidly rebuilding certain military capabilities degraded by US-Israeli strikes, according to two sources familiar with US intelligence assessments. Four sources told CNN that US intelligence indicates Iran’s military is reconstituting much faster than initially estimated.

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Trump's Tax Immunity Could Save Him More Than $600 Million

5 min ago - Daily Cover Trump’s Tax Immunity Could Save Him More Than $600 Million The president secures a get-out-of-jail-free card for tax improprieties, just as he’s hauling in record amounts of cash. By Dan Alexander, Senior Editor. Dan Alexander c ... (Forbes)

Lawmakers warn data protection rules don't protect key sites, including White House and CIA

12 min ago - Updated 12:22 PM EDT, May 21, 2026 WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration spent almost a year crafting regulations to block U.S. adversaries from buying commercial data gathered from cell phones at the federal government’s most sensitiv ... (AP)

'Sh*tshow': Todd Blanche's Meeting With Senate Republicans Did Not Go Well

40 min ago - May 21st, 2026, 1:46 pm Capitol Hill reporters all agree: Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s meeting with Senate Republicans on Thursday did not go well. Blanche sat down with the GOP caucus in the upper chamber to discuss the nearly $1.8 ... (MEDIAite)

Trump administration onboards largest-ever class of new immigration judges in bid to speed up deportation cases

1 hr ago - Updated on: May 21, 2026 / 9:41 AM EDT The Trump administration this week onboarded more than 80 new federal immigration judges, in its latest push to expedite deportation cases and further its government-wide crackdown on illegal immigration, Justic ... (CBS News)

Appropriators approve Legislative Branch spending bill with GAO cuts

1 hr ago - Posted May 21, 2026 at 6:36am The House Appropriations Committee advanced a draft fiscal 2027 Legislative Branch spending bill on Wednesday that would slash the budget for the Government Accountability Office by nearly one-quarter and give a boost to ... (Roll Call)

Trump ups Reflecting Pool renovation projections to 'less than $20 million' amid court fight

1 hr ago - President Donald Trump said Thursday the price tag for his Reflecting Pool renovations in Washington, DC, will be “less than $20 million” after he decided the exterior needed more work. “I originally thought I’d do it for $2 or $3 ... (CNN)

Legendary NASCAR driver Kyle Busch dies at 41

1 hr ago - Legendary NASCAR driver Kyle Busch dies at 41 Busch was 41. He won two NASCAR Cup Series titles and 63 races in the series. Credit: AP Kyle Busch ahead of a NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying at Daytona International Speedway, Feb. 12, 2026, in Daytona Be ... (WCNC, Charlotte)

Former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan ends independent bid for Michigan governor

1 hr ago - May 21, 2026, 11:18 AM EDT / Updated May 21, 2026, 11:49 AM EDT Former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan on Thursday ended his independent campaign for governor in Michigan, citing national headwinds that are boosting Democrats. “If we were even in the ... (NBC News)

'Get ready for the handcuffs': No nonsense district attorney puts Trump allies on notice

2 hrs ago - May 21, 2026 2:16PM ET Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner made it crystal clear on Thursday that any Donald Trump ally — or any federal government agent — who attempts to interfere at polling locations in November will quickly be ... (Raw Story)

'Broadview Six' case dropped after closed-door hearing, just days before trial

2 hrs ago - 'Broadview Six' case dropped after closed-door hearing, just days before trial Chicago Sun-Times By Jon Seidel Published May 21, 2026 at 2:35 PM CDT Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times The remaining four members of the so-called "Broadview Six": Brian Straw (fro ... (NPR)

Former Jeffrey Epstein assistant tells House Oversight Committee he abused her for years

2 hrs ago - May 21, 2026, 12:20 PM Sarah Kellen, a longtime personal assistant to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, told the House Oversight Committee on Thursday that she was "sexually and psychologically abused" by the late financier for over a decade, a ... (ABC News)

Trump AG Says 'Americans Want Their Tax Dollars Spent' On President's Slush Fund

3 hrs ago - May 21, 2026, 12:42 PM EDT | Updated 3 hours ago Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is going to great lengths to defend the Trump administration’s “Anti-Weaponization” fund, saying he believes Americans “want their tax dollars s ... (Huff Post)

The Education Department is hiring -- while it's being dismantled

3 hrs ago - May 21, 2026 5:00 AM ET President Donald Trump's plans to close the U.S. Department of Education have run headlong into an awkward reality: The agency does important work that still needs doing. After losing roughly half its staff in last year's big ... (NPR)

Iran tightens grip on Strait of Hormuz with new transit regime

3 hrs ago - Iran is tightening its grip on the Strait of Hormuz by asserting unprecedented control over one of the world's most strategically important shipping lanes through a new transit regime. Just days after launching the so-called Persian Gulf Strait Autho ... (ABC.au)

United Nations' top court says right to strike is protected by a key labor treaty

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Homeland Security's Plan to Squeeze International Flights

3 hrs ago - Homeland Security's Plan to Squeeze International Flights DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin told travel executives he may target airports in cities that don't help ICE. By Nick Miroff https://cdn.theatlantic.com/thumbor/kNM2ZhD3SLfoPWEsdFc0WWB8iRw/0x0:5 ... (The Atlantic)

Scoop: Palantir fights Pentagon over key intelligence contract

3 hrs ago - 11h Palantir is battling the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency for the ability to bid for a contract to modernize its data analytics system, according to a filing obtained by Axios. Why it matters: Palantir's already massive foothold at the Pent ... (msn/Axios)

U.S. to Award Quantum-Computing Firms $2 Billion and Take Equity Stakes

3 hrs ago - The Trump administration is awarding $2 billion in grants to nine quantum-computing companies in deals that include U.S. government equity stakes, the Commerce Department said. The move accelerates the administration's plans to boost the nascent indu ... (Wall Street Journal)

Mortgage rates climb to highest level in 9 months

4 hrs ago - Updated May 21, 2026, 12:32 PM ET PUBLISHED May 21, 2026, 12:00 PM ET Turmoil in the bond market, fueled by the war with Iran, is sending US mortgage rates higher and threatening to make buying a home even more expensive. The average 30-year fixed-ra ... (CNN Business)

Key federal agency approves the design plan for Trump's Washington arch

4 hrs ago - Key federal agency approves the design plan for Trump's Washington arch The Associated Press May 21, 2026, 2:52 PM WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts on Thursday approved the design for the triumphal arch that President Donald Trump ... (Associated Press, via WTOP)