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Louisiana sued for suspending active election, nullifying votes to draft GOP gerrymander

(Democracy Docket) A new lawsuit is challenging Louisiana’s extraordinary decision to suspend congressional primaries already underway — arguing the state is illegally nullifying votes and plunging an active election into chaos following the Supreme Court’s gutting of the Voting Rights Act. Just one day after the Court struck down the state’s congressional map, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) declared an “emergency” and halted U.S. House primaries — even though absentee ballots had already been cast and early voting was set to begin within days.

bigtree

Leader Jeffries: After VRA decision, Dems are prepared to redraw congressional maps in NY, Ill., Md., and CO.

(Politico) “All options are on the table as we get through the 2026 election and look to the future,” Jeffries told POLITICO by phone Thursday. “As many governors have already indicated, we will be prepared to respond in states like New York, Illinois and Maryland, as well as in Colorado, in advance of the 2028 election. Republicans have concluded that they need to cheat to win, and the Supreme Court conservatives have decided to aid and abet their scheme. Democrats are going to fight back with every tool available,” Jeffries said.

bigtree

The nation is back to accomodating the white majority, enabling the disadvantaging of all other race groups

Wendell Phillips, an 1800's abolitionist, observed that, “Governments exist to protect the rights of minorities. The loved and the rich need no protection: they have many friends and few enemies.” With the backdrop of tyranny expressed in this decision by Justice Roberts - the conservative justice effectively establishing a "colorblind" principle prohibiting any solutions that include any legislative advantaging of black Americans even when addressing proven racial discrimination in voting - we're, once again, left with a system of government and elections which only accommodates white Americans.

BumRushDaShow

Congressional Progressive Caucus unveils midterm agenda

(The Hill) The Congressional Progressive Caucus on Wednesday unveiled their new agenda ahead of the midterm elections to demonstrate a path for how the Democratic Party can tackle cost of living issues facing millions of Americans. The caucus dubbed their plan the “New Affordability Agenda,” a legislative package that would focus on making costs behind common kitchen table issues more affordable. The bills “would also ban companies from using personal data and AI to set prices, guarantee every full time worker paid vacation time, increase overtime pay, and abolish Super PACs,” the lawmaking bloc said in a statement.

BumRushDaShow

RFK Jr threatens to withhold millions in funding for hospitals that serve Jell-O

(The Independent) Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is leading a charge to stop hospitals from serving sugary drinks and foods, including Jell-O. The Department of Health and Human Services sent a memo to hospitals on March 30 urging them to align with the Department of Agriculture’s new 2025-2030 dietary guidelines, which emphasize limiting sugary, ultra-processed foods.

KS Toronado

Friday's Condensed News Cartoons

nitpicked

Trump threatens to withdraw troops from Italy and Spain

(The Guardian) Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw US troops from Italy and Spain a day after saying he was looking at reducing the number deployed in Germany. Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has spoken out against the US-Israeli war on Iran from the start, and Rome had played a balancing act until late March, when it refused the use of an airbase in Sicily to US planes carrying weapons for Iran.

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Cigna to exit Affordable Care Act market, adding to tumult

(Wall Street Journal) Cigna Group will exit the Affordable Care Act market next year, the latest sign of turmoil in a business that has been hit hard by the loss of federal subsidies. Cigna will be the second major health insurer to leave the rapidly shrinking ACA market, after CVS Health’s Aetna stopped offering plans at the start of this year.

BumRushDaShow

US debt exceeds 100 percent of GDP

(The Hill) The U.S. national debt crossed 100 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of March, with signs that it might cross the record of 106 percent of GDP reached immediately after World War II. The Bureau of Economic Analysis released data on the national debt reaching 100.2 percent of GDP on Thursday, noting that debt held by the public on March 31 was $31.27 trillion.

Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

CNN Legal Analyst Thinks Trump Just Handed Comey An Acquittal

(Huff Post) CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig believes President Donald Trump might have just tanked his Department of Justice’s criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey after the president vacillated on Wednesday about whether Comey had really threatened his life in a seashell message. Comey was indicted earlier this week after sharing a now-deleted image on social media of seashells arranged on a beach to read “86 47.” (Trump is the 47th U.S. president.)

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US May Day protesters rally against immigration crackdowns, inequality

34 sec ago - Posted 10 minutes ago Activists worldwide gathered for May Day rallies and street protests Friday, calling for peace, higher wages and better working conditions as many workers grapple with rising energy costs and shrinking purchasing power tied to t ... (Scripps News)

Trump Heads to Florida Stronghold in First Public Event Since Foiled Attack

1 hr ago - May 1, 2026, at 6:07 a.m. THE VILLAGES, Florida, May 1 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will venture ⁠outside ⁠the White House for the first time since ⁠a foiled assassination attempt, traveling on Friday to a Florida stronghold ... (US News & World Report/Reuters)

A person of interest is in custody after 2 U.S. Bank employees were killed in a Kentucky robbery

1 hr ago - Updated 7:43 AM CDT, May 1, 2026 BEREA, Ky. (AP) — A person of interest has been taken into custody in connection with the fatal shootings of two bank employees during a robbery, a Kentucky state trooper said Friday. The person is “believed ... (AP)

Congressional Progressive Caucus unveils midterm agenda

2 hrs ago - 04/30/26 11:03 PM ET The Congressional Progressive Caucus on Wednesday unveiled their new agenda ahead of the midterm elections to demonstrate a path for how the Democratic Party can tackle cost of living issues facing millions of Americans. The cauc ... (The Hill)

FEMA Reinstates More Than A Dozen Employees It Placed On Leave Last Year

2 hrs ago - Apr 30, 2026, 08:15 PM EDT WASHINGTON, April 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency has reinstated more than a dozen employees whom it placed on leave in August last year after they signed a public letter of dissent against the a ... (Huff Post/Reuters)

Labor Watch: Loyola, UC Workers to Strike While Harvard Fights Continue

3 hrs ago - May 01, 2026 Plus, the Maryland Legislature voted to expand bargaining rights to non-tenure-track faculty. By Emma Whitford It’s May Day and faculty, staff and graduate student workers across the sector are turning out in support of their union ... (Inside Higher Ed)

Fire aboard Navy destroyer USS Higgins, officials say

3 hrs ago - Updated on: April 30, 2026 / 8:59 PM EDT / CBS News Washington — A fire broke out Tuesday on the USS Higgins, a guided-missile destroyer and a mainstay of the Navy's forward presence in Asia, according to U.S. officials. The fire knocked out e ... (CBS News)

RFK Jr threatens to withhold millions in funding for hospitals that serve Jell-O and other sugary treats

3 hrs ago - Thursday 30 April 2026 19:57 EDT Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is leading a charge to stop hospitals from serving sugary drinks and foods, including Jell-O. The Department of Health and Human Services sent a memo to hospit ... (The Independent)

Oil rises as White House says Iran ceasefire halts 60-day war deadline

4 hrs ago - Published Thu, Apr 30 2026 10:35 PM EDT Updated 5 Min Ago Oil prices climbed Friday, a day after a volatile session that saw the Brent crude contract for June hit a four-year high before retreating. The June contract, which expired on Thursday, clim ... (CNBC)

Nationwide May Day protests expected to pick up mantle of 'No Kings

4 hrs ago - May 1, 2026 5:00 AM ET By Scott Neuman May Day demonstrations are expected to draw crowds across the country on Friday, with organizers calling for a boycott of work, school and shopping to protest the Trump administration's policies — and what ... (NPR)

House Ethics Committee investigating allegations of sexual harassment against GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards

5 hrs ago - PUBLISHED Apr 30, 2026, 6:04 PM ET The House Ethics Committee is investigating allegations of sexual harassment against GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The committee was recently contacted by a witness, who ... (CNN Politics)

The pastor of the nation's largest Methodist church is running for the US Senate in Kansas

5 hrs ago - Updated 5:44 PM EDT, April 30, 2026 LENEXA, Kan. (AP) — The pastor of the largest United Methodist Church in the U.S. launched a campaign Thursday for the Democratic nomination for a U.S. Senate seat in Kansas, upending the race in a normally Re ... (AP)

Trump's border wall expansion just bulldozed an ancient tribal site

6 hrs ago - April 30, 2026 at 5:04 p.m. EDT President Donald Trump's expansion of the wall along the southern border with Mexico has damaged a rare Native American archaeological site in the Arizona desert, area residents said Thursday, as the administration mov ... (Washington Post)

US debt exceeds 100 percent of GDP

6 hrs ago - 12h The U.S. national debt crossed 100 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of March, with signs that it might cross the record of 106 percent of GDP reached immediately after World War II. The Bureau of Economic Analysis released data ... (msn/The Hill)

Senate rejects 6th Iran war powers resolution ahead of 60-day deadline

7 hrs ago - 12h Washington — The Senate rejected Democrats' sixth attempt to limit President Trump's authority to wage war on Iran, with Republicans continuing to stand behind the administration as the conflict approaches a key 60-day deadline. A procedura ... (msn/CBS News)

Trump says he's lifting certain tariffs on Scotch whisky after royal visit

7 hrs ago - Apr 30, 2026 5:13 PM EDT WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday he is removing certain tariffs on Scotch whisky after this week's White House visit by King Charles III and Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom. "The King and Queen ... (PBS News/AP)

Six transgender residents sue Idaho over strict new bathroom ban

8 hrs ago - April 30, 2026, 3:15 PM BOISE, Idaho -- Six transgender Idaho residents are suing the state in federal court, asking a federal judge to declare a strict new bathroom ban unconstitutional. The law, which goes into effect in July, is the strictest bath ... (ABC News/AP)

Cigna to exit Affordable Care Act market, adding to tumult

12 hrs ago - Cigna Group will exit the Affordable Care Act market next year, the latest sign of turmoil in a business that has been hit hard by the loss of federal subsidies. Cigna will be the second major health insurer to leave the rapidly shrinking ACA market, ... (Wall Street Journal (no paywall))

The first direct US-Venezuela commercial flight in 7 years lands in Caracas

13 hrs ago - CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The first direct commercial flight between the United States and Venezuela arrived Thursday in the capital of the South American country, seven years after the U.S. Homeland Security Department ordered an indefinite sus ... (AP)

Trump sons to take stake in Kazakh miner that won $1.6bn US backing

14 hrs ago - Trump sons to take stake in Kazakh miner that won $1.6bn US backing Donald Jr and Eric have sought to capitalise on sectors supported by father's presidential administration There is no suggestion that Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump knew that Cove wa ... (Financial Times)