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Trump EO Routes Immigration Enforcement Through the Bank Secrecy Act and CFPB Ability-to-Repay Rules

The May 19 executive order "Restoring Integrity to America's Financial System" gives Treasury 60 days to issue an Advisory naming ITIN-funded accounts as a Bank Secrecy Act red flag, 90 days to propose BSA rules letting banks ask about "lawful immigration status," and 180 days to consider restrictions on foreign consular ID cards. It also directs CFPB, within 60 days, to write deportation risk into the ability-to-repay framework that governs credit-card underwriting.

Active investigations

2 stories

Active investigation·Power

The Callais Cascade

On April 29, 2026, the Supreme Court struck down Louisiana's congressional map in Louisiana v. Callais, 6-3, narrowing Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The decision triggered cascading state-level responses in Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee, and Alabama within seventeen days. This story tracks the legislative, executive, and litigation moves across affected states as the 2026 midterm map is redrawn in real time.

3 dispatches · 2 events · updated 6d ago

Active investigation·Power

The Money Around Ilhan Omar

An ongoing investigation into the financial architecture around Rep. Ilhan Omar — campaign money flowing through her husband Tim Mynett's firms, contested company valuations on her disclosures, an unregistered venture capital firm with a scrubbed advisory board, and a House Ethics Committee referral.

1 dispatch · 15 events · updated 9d ago

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US National DebtMay 21

$39.071T

Fed Funds RateMay 21

3.62%

Regular GasolineMay 18

$4.49/gal

Money4d ago

FOMC Minutes Show Four-Way Split at Powell's Final Meeting, Warsh Inherits Divided Committee

Minutes released May 20 from the Federal Reserve's April 28-29 meeting — Jerome Powell's last as chair — show an 8-4 vote to hold rates at 3.5–3.75%, with four dissents pulling in opposite directions. One governor sought an immediate cut while three regional bank presidents opposed even the statement's hint of future easing, a fracture Kevin Warsh will face at his first FOMC meeting June 16-17.

Money5d ago

HHS-OIG: 79% of Medicare Part D Enrollees Are in Vertically Integrated Plans and Pay ~40% More Out of Pocket Without Financial Assistance

A May 15 HHS Office of Inspector General data snapshot finds that 11 vertically integrated organizations — sponsors that also own a pharmacy benefit manager — covered 79% of Medicare Part D's 54.6 million enrollees in 2023, and that enrollees without financial assistance paid nearly 40% more in out-of-pocket drug costs than enrollees in non-integrated plans, despite paying lower monthly premiums.

Power5d ago

Landry Signs HB 842 as Act 7, Locking In Louisiana's Fall Open Primary Calendar; Map Bill Still in House Committee

Governor Jeff Landry signed HB 842 as Act 7 of the 2026 Regular Session on May 14, formally canceling the suspended U.S. House primaries and establishing a November 3 open primary and December 12 runoff for congressional races. The companion redistricting bill, SB 121, passed the Senate 27-10 on May 14 but as of May 19 remained in the House and Governmental Affairs Committee, leaving the district map unsettled with August qualifying just eleven weeks away.

Science5d ago

WHO Declares Bundibugyo Ebola Outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, the First Since 2024 Mpox

On May 17, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus determined that the Bundibugyo virus outbreak across the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda meets the criteria for a Public Health Emergency of International Concern — the 9th PHEIC ever declared. As of May 16, DRC reports 246 suspected cases and 80 suspected deaths in Ituri Province; Uganda has confirmed two imported cases in Kampala, with one death. No licensed vaccine or therapeutic exists for the Bundibugyo strain.

Energy6d ago

Seven Days After an Industry Petition, Interior Opens NEPA Scoping for an NPR-A "Development Permit Program"

A Federal Register notice published May 19 confirms the Bureau of Land Management is initiating an Environmental Impact Statement to support a rulemaking that would pre-authorize "qualifying production sites" across the 23-million-acre National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska — moving from project-by-project NEPA review to a criteria-based permit-by-rule framework. BLM cites a petition filed by the Alaska Oil and Gas Association exactly one week earlier as the trigger.

Power6d ago

Louisiana Legislature Moves on Two Bills the Callais Cascade Required: a New Five-to-One Map and a Reverted Open Primary

Five days after the Callais cascade article ran, the bills it anticipated have taken shape on the legis.la.gov docket. The Louisiana Senate passed SB 121 on May 14 along party lines, 27 to 10 — a congressional map that reduces the state's majority-Black districts from two to one and absorbs Representative Cleo Fields' Sixth District into surrounding Republican-leaning territory. The same week, both chambers adopted the conference report on HB 842, which voids the May 16 and June 27 U.S. House ballots, returns the 2026 congressional races to a jungle primary, and sets a November 3 open primary with a December 12 runoff. As of Tuesday morning SB 121 sits with the House awaiting committee assignment; HB 842 has been signed by both chamber presidents but not yet by Governor Jeff Landry. Neither bill is law. Litigation has not yet been filed.

PowerMay 18

BLM Closes Tikaboo Peak — Area 51's Last Legal Public Vantage Point — Citing Safety Hazards

The Bureau of Land Management authorized a temporary closure of approximately 22,987 acres surrounding Tikaboo Peak in Lincoln County, Nevada on March 25, 2026, removing public access to the only remaining spot from which Area 51 can legally be observed. The closure, documented under BLM NEPA project DOI-BLM-NV-L030-2026-0005-CE, cites safety hazards and is listed as lasting a minimum of one year, subject to reevaluation pending hazard assessment.

MoneyMay 18

Senate Confirms Warsh as Federal Reserve Chair, 54-45, in Closest Vote of Modern Era

The Senate voted 54-45 on May 13 to confirm Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chairman, with Sen. John Fetterman the only Democrat to cross party lines. The confirmation triggers a 90-day divestiture clock on Warsh's private fund holdings, with the deadline falling around August 11, and sets up the first FOMC meeting of his tenure for June 16-17.

PowerMay 18

One Supreme Court Ruling, Three State Scrambles: How Callais Reshaped the 2026 Midterm Map in Seventeen Days

[Updated May 20, 2026 with correction: HB 842 was in fact signed by Governor Landry on May 14 as Act 7 of the 2026 Regular Session, before this article ran. See the follow-on dispatch linked in the article.] Five days after the Callais cascade article ran, the bills it anticipated have taken shape on the legis.la.gov docket. The Louisiana Senate passed SB 121 on May 14 along party lines, 27 to 10 — a congressional map that reduces the state's majority-Black districts from two to one and absorbs Representative Cleo Fields' Sixth District into surrounding Republican-leaning territory. The same week, both chambers adopted the conference report on HB 842, which voids the May 16 and June 27 U.S. House ballots, returns the 2026 congressional races to a jungle primary, and sets a November 3 open primary with a December 12 runoff. As of Tuesday morning SB 121 sits with the House and Governmental Affairs Committee awaiting hearing. Litigation has not yet been filed.

PowerMay 16

FAA Closes ATC Hiring Window After 8,000 Applications; Agency at 50 Percent of FY2026 Goal With 1,200 New Controllers Already Onboarded

The FAA's April 17 air traffic controller hiring window — limited to 8,000 applications — drew 6,000 submissions in its first 12 hours, according to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. The agency has hired roughly 1,200 new controllers since October 2025, placing it more than halfway toward its fiscal-year 2,200 target, while a new national recruitment campaign explicitly courts video gamers as a candidate pool.

WorldMay 16

Coalition of 49 States Meets in Brussels, Announces €50M EU Fund and Canada's Claims Commission Signature; 2,100 Ukrainian Children Have Been Returned

The International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children held its first high-level ministerial meeting in Brussels on May 11, co-chaired by EU High Representative Kaja Kallas, Commissioner Marta Kos, Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha. The EU announced nearly €50 million for Ukraine's child protection system, Canada signed the International Claims Commission convention and imposed new sanctions on 23 individuals and 5 entities, and a follow-on ministerial was confirmed for Toronto on September 28–29.

WorldMay 16

Woodland Hills Woman Pleads Not Guilty to Grand Jury Indictment Charging Iran-to-Sudan Weapons Brokering Through Oman Shell Company

Shamim Mafi, an Iranian-born U.S. permanent resident, was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 1 and pleaded not guilty on May 8 to IEEPA conspiracy charges alleging she used an Oman-registered company to broker a €61.6 million drone sale, 55,000 bomb fuses, and 240 million rounds of ammunition from Iran's defense establishment to Sudan's military — while allegedly admitting to FBI agents at LAX that she knew the activity violated U.S. sanctions.

ScienceMay 11

162 Declassified UAP Files Released at war.gov — None Confirm Extraterrestrial Origin

The Department of War opened the PURSUE portal on May 8, publishing 162 files from five federal agencies spanning 1945 to 2026. Every case is labeled unresolved. The release is the largest single public disclosure of UAP records in U.S. history — and contains no determination that any observed phenomenon was extraterrestrial.

WorldMay 11

El Salvador Life Sentences for Minors Age 12 and Up Take Effect — IACHR Says Law Is Incompatible With International Standards

El Salvador's constitutional reforms enabling life imprisonment for minors as young as 12 convicted of homicide, feminicide, rape, or gang membership entered into force on April 26, 2026. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights called the measure incompatible with inter-American jurisprudence five days before implementation.

WorldMay 11

First U.S.-Venezuela Flights Land in Caracas After Seven-Year Ban, Following Maduro Capture

American Airlines resumed direct Miami-Caracas service on April 30, 2026, ending a flight suspension that began in May 2019. The resumption followed the January 2026 U.S. military capture of Nicolás Maduro, a TSA security assessment at Simón Bolívar Airport, and a State Department travel alert downgrade.

PowerMay 11

Supreme Court Hears Arguments on TPS Terminations for Haiti and Syria — Ruling Threatens 335,000 Holders

The Supreme Court heard 105 minutes of argument on April 29 in consolidated cases challenging the Trump administration's termination of Temporary Protected Status for Haitian and Syrian nationals. The government argued that federal law bars courts from reviewing any TPS termination decision. A ruling is expected by late June or early July 2026.

PowerMay 11

Three Agencies Miss House Oversight's April 27 Deadline on Missing Scientists Inquiry

The FBI, NASA, and the Department of Energy failed to provide the staff-level briefings the House Oversight Committee demanded by April 27 on at least 13 scientists with classified-access ties who have died or disappeared. NASA's spokesperson said the agency sees no national security threat; the FBI director said a report is coming "in short order."

MoneyMay 11

Senate Banking Committee Advances Warsh for Fed Chair in First Fully Partisan Vote

Kevin Warsh cleared the Senate Banking Committee 13-11 on April 29 after a contentious hearing where he pledged a regime change in monetary policy and declined to disclose the underlying holdings of more than $100 million in investments, some of which include stakes in regulated banks.

PowerMay 11

Senate Bill Extends Section 702 to June 12 in Single Day; House Approves 261-111 With 85 Democrats Opposed

S. 4465 — three operative lines, no privacy reforms — was introduced, passed both chambers, and signed by President Trump on April 30, 2026, hours before Section 702 was set to expire. It is the second short bridge in two weeks and pushes the new sunset to June 12. House Democrats split 94-85 in opposition; 26 Republicans joined them; Rep. Andy Biggs, the warrant-amendment author at the center of the prior fight, did not vote.

WorldApr 24

Tanzania Commission Says 518 Were Killed in October 2025 Post-Election Violence, Far Below Opposition Estimates

A presidential commission of inquiry, chaired by former Chief Justice Mohamed Chande Othman, delivered its 153-day investigation to President Samia Suluhu Hassan on April 24, 2026, finding 518 deaths and 2,390 injuries during the violence that followed Tanzania's disputed October 29, 2025 general election. The main opposition party CHADEMA rejected the findings; Western diplomats had previously estimated 1,000 to 2,000 deaths.

WorldApr 24

Netanyahu Reveals He Was Treated for Early-Stage Prostate Cancer, Delayed Announcement Two Months to Deny Iran 'Propaganda'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disclosed Friday in his annual medical report that he underwent radiation therapy for an early-stage prostate cancer discovered during follow-up care after a 2024 benign-prostate surgery. He said he asked the Prime Minister's Office to delay the report's release for two months so it would not appear during the war with Iran.

PowerApr 24

Lutnick Tells Congress Trump's 'Gold Card' Visa Has Approved One Applicant — Thirteen Months After Claiming He Sold 1,000 in a Day

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told a House appropriations subcommittee on Thursday that the administration's $1 million Gold Card visa has been approved for one person since applications opened in December. In March 2025, he told the All-In podcast he had 'sold 1,000' of the cards at $5 million each — a claim valued at the time at $5 billion in a single day.

MoneyApr 24

DOJ Moves FDA-Approved and State-Licensed Medical Marijuana to Schedule III, Sets June 29 Hearing on Broader Reclassification

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed an order on April 23 placing FDA-approved cannabinoid drugs and state-licensed medical marijuana in Schedule III — the same tier as ketamine and anabolic steroids — while leaving recreational marijuana in Schedule I pending a June 29 DEA hearing on broader rescheduling.

ScienceApr 24

Georgia Issues First Mandatory Burn Ban in State Forestry History as Wildfires Tear Through 91 Counties

Gov. Brian Kemp declared a 30-day state of emergency and State Forester Johnny Sabo signed the first-ever mandatory burn ban in the 100-year history of the Georgia Forestry Commission. 98% of Georgia is now in drought; the Highway 82 Fire in Brantley County alone has destroyed 53 homes and threatens roughly 1,000 more. Florida is simultaneously battling 130+ wildfires in what its agriculture commissioner calls the worst fire season in 40 years.