The Gov Hub Newsletter: May 5, 2026

Trump’s ballroom continues to look more and more like a money heist, with Congressional Republicans asking for $1 billion in taxpayer money to pay for what was originally branded as a privately financed piece of horrendous architecture. The eyebrows are even more raised given that the funding ask not even a month ago from warmonger Senator Lindsey Graham [R-SC] was $400M. The funding ask is attached to the even larger pot o’ gold request for DHS.

Despite being fired and given a made-up, do-nothing position, former DHS Sec. Kristi Noem is allegedly still living at the taxpayer-funded Coast Guard mansion that’s most typically occupied by Coast Guard leadership. Also allegedly spending time on the property is her alleged side-piece, Cory Lewandowski.

The Trump Admin played the “this is because of DEI” card, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture rejecting all four women farmers that were chosen by their peers to represent them on the United Soybean Board. Per Reuters, typically soy farmers pick their reps and the USDA signs off on the choices.

As Trump’s war in the Middle East continues–something he’s trying to downplay with new branding, calling it a “skirmish”–gas prices have risen to $4.46 per gallon on average across the country.

Corporate employers are now rolling back their benefits packages, taking advantage of a weak economy and fear from employees to make sudden career moves. Leading the pack are Zoom and Deloitte, which are both reducing their paid leave policies starting in 2027, and other benefits like IVF coverage allegedly on the possible chopping block.

Hitting a new record straight from hell, the U.S.’s national debt [$31.27T] is now larger than the entire economy [GDP: $31.22T].

A new poll from Generation Lab on the economy has revealed that 55% of the survey’s respondents aged 18-24 view the economy as bad, followed by 29% viewing the economy as terrible.

Claiming “Biden did it,” Agriculture Sec. Brooke Rollins tried to blame former President Biden for high beef prices, despite distinct evidence that Trump’s tariff war has caused the astronomical hike in price.

Washington State AG Nick Brown took legal action against the private company that owns and operates the Northwest ICE Processing Center, The GEO Group. The motion requests that the court require The GEO Group to allow inspectors from the Washington State Department of Health into the facility to investigate the 3,500+ complaints received from detainees on conditions in the facility–a facility that has seen two people die onsite since 2024 and at least six attempted suicides.

The already on life support Voting Rights Act heard its final rights last week following a reprehensible decision out of SCOTUS on Louisiana v. Callais. The decision takes out to pasture the law’s crowning achievement–preventing legislators from drawing maps that dilute the political power of minority voters. The immediate f*ckery of the decision has already been felt, with the Republican Governors of Alabama and Tennessee calling special legislative sessions to try and push through revised congressional maps before November’s midterm elections. Meanwhile in GOP-led Louisiana, Gov. Jeff Landry canceled the May 16th primary on the premise of not wanting voters to vote on “inaccurate” maps i.e. he wants to pack and crack the districts to MAGA’s delight–something SCOTUS just gave him the greenlight to do, allowing the ruling’s provisions to go into effect early.

Also filed under reasons that many people will never forgive those that voted for Trump in 2016, a federal court temporarily blocked the FDA rule that allows mifepristone [abortion pill] to be prescribed without an IRL visit [abortion pills by mail]. The block comes at the pleasure of Louisiana’s AG Liz Murrill who per Jessica Valenti’s reporting, has argued that tele-health access to abortion pills “harms her Republican state by allowing women to sidestep its ban.” ATM, SCOTUS has hit pause on the federal ruling until May 11, 2026 – TBD on where this lands, but the goal of Conservatives is to use a mifi ban as the premise for nationwide abortion ban.

In Rhode Island, the Office of Child Advocate has come out swinging at an attempt by Trump’s DOJ to access sensitive, private medical info for minors treated for gender dysphoria in the state. The Office has filed an emergency motion in federal court, following a court order from a federal judge in Texas ordered that the children’s private medical data be turned over by Rhode Island Hospital.

Closed for business per DHS is now the Office Of Immigration Detention Ombudsman [OIDO], an office that’s central role is acting as a watchdog for those in immigration detention. DHS appeared to assign blame to the DHS shutdown, yet reporting from The Hill noted that the latest bill out of Congress to end the DHS shutdown didn’t address OIDO’s future or require it to shutter its doors. 

ICE has hired a private security company known as MVM Inc, that’s faced numerous accusations of torture and enforced disappearance. The company was awarded the contract under the guise of tracking down immigrant children for “safety and wellness checks.” But as highlighted by reporting from The Guardian, the reality is much more sinister, with the alleged goal of the contract to either deport the children it tracks down or go after criminal cases against the children.

A new investigation from The Intercept has unveiled that former AG Pam Bondi, and at the moment still employer FBI Director Kash Patel, redirected 9,000 FBI agents to work on Trump’s deportation initiative. Context to think of: before Trump 2.0, only 279 people working at the FBI handled any immigration-related matters.

Nebraska has decided to be the early bird to the f*cked up worm, and impose Medicaid work requirements as laid out in Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, ahead of the schedule – like eight months ahead of schedule. Anyways, the estimates for how many people are expected to lose health insurance in the state is in the double digit thousands.

Trump’s FDA, led by Dr. Makary of Fox News notoriety, blocked the publishing of research that found that both the COVID and Shingles vaccines are safe.

Health insurance giant UnitedHealth announced that it plans to get rid of prior approval requirements that often delay necessary care for 30% of healthcare services by the end of the year.

Spotted behind the DJ booth during Trump’s war: Secretary of State Marco Rubio. In the video taken at a wedding, it does appear that his musical taste inspired a bro-dance huddle. 

RFK Jr. posted a pic with a bird in hand–appearing to be alive with all genitalia attached–that he claims to have ‘rescued’ at Dulles International Airport in DC.

A part of Trump’s America 250 “celebrations,” a majority Christian-led event called the May 17 National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise, and Thanksgiving is set to take place on the National Mall in DC. The prayer and scripture-focused “for love of God and Country” event, includes 15 faith leaders, with 14 of them being Christian, and the 15th being an Orthodox Jewish Rabbi.

Trump’s overall disapproval rating hit a new high, with the latest Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll sharing it at 62%, while the same poll also found that 72% of respondents disapprove of Trump’s handling of inflation.

Ultra-MAGA influencer Craig Long was arrested for human trafficking and prostitution. Anyways, here’s a pic of him with Donnie Senior and Donnie Junior.

Trump’s Department of Edu has opened an investigation into Seven Sisters College, Smith on the premise that the school’s admission of trans women violated Title IX. The investigation into the all-women’s college stems from an activist complaint via the ultra-conservative group, Defending Education.

Billionaire bestie of JD Vance, Peter Thiel is putting his dollars into a scary new project called Objection AI according to Perfect Union. The apparent goal of the company is a hair-raiser – it allegedly aims to discredit journalists that are critical of tech oligarchs and plans to do so by using an “AI jury” to award journalists a credibility score. Aside from the additional detail of WTF that people can pay for investigations into stories and reporters led by former CIA and FBI agents.

PA state House Republicans voted unanimously AGAINST a bill that would ban whites-only housing communities in the state, as well as ban private clubs [think country clubs] and members-only orgs from discriminating against protected groups.

The Hill: How the weaker dollar quietly makes life more expensive

Politico: Investigate them or shame them? Inside the debate over how to deal with creeps in Congress

USA Today: Trump admin wants to push bison from public lands in Montana. What to know