News From Around the Web
#1 RFK Jr. Grilled Over Vaccines, Raw Milk, MAHA in Back-To-Back Hearings - Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi for The Hill, Mike Lee/Libs of TikTok, The Beacon, Overton/
TheSawdustKid, The Morning Call, and The Inquisitron X
House members got their first opportunity Thursday to grill Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as he kicked off a marathon series of seven congressional hearings in seven days with back-to-back hearings in the Ways and Means and Appropriations Committees. In the two appearances, his first before Congress in 2026, Kennedy defended his record in leading the nation’s health agency as Democrats sought to push back against proposed budget cuts and changes to vaccine policy...
#2 Trump Announces He’s Nominating Dr. Erica Schwartz for CDC Director - Kathryn Watson for CBS News, Toby Rogers/Rapid Response 47, Aaron Siri, CNN Breaking News, Secretary Kennedy, and Dr Ahmad Rehan Khan
President Trump announced Thursday that he's nominating Dr. Erica Schwartz to run the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Schwartz, who served as Mr. Trump's deputy surgeon general during his first term, is a Coast Guard rear admiral. She received her medical degree from Brown University and also holds a law degree from the University of Maryland. "She is a STAR!" the president wrote on Truth Social, also calling her "incredibly talented." CBS News reported Wednesday that Schwartz was emerging as the president's top pick for the role...
#3 Hot Data: What the AI Boom Is Doing to the Land Around Us - Tracy Beanz and Michelle Edwards for The HighWire, Abdulkadir | Cybersecurity/⚡︎, Monica S, 24 കാതം വടക്ക്, and Ramez Naam on X
Global warming? A new study tracked 20 years of satellite temperature data around more than 6,000 AI data centers worldwide. The results are something… Land around these facilities gets measurably hotter after they open, sometimes dramatically so, and that warming spreads outward for miles, affecting hundreds of millions of people who never had any say in the matter. The heat disrupts soil, wildlife, and ecosystems. The noise does the same. And the facilities themselves can consume hundreds of acres of farmland or forest that does not come back. Capital investment in AI infrastructure is projected to hit $760 billion this year alone. There are no standards governing what these buildings are allowed to do to the land and communities around them...#4 Johnson Tries Again on Spy Powers Vote Amid GOP Rebellion - Meredith Lee Hill for POLITICO, Thomas Massie/Nick Sortor, Bobby Sauce, Justin Amash, NEWSMAX, and ABC News on X
Speaker Mike Johnson will try again Thursday to push the House to extend an imperiled spy powers law after GOP resistance forced him to punt a vote Wednesday. Johnson is scheduling a procedural vote for 3:15 p.m. and final passage around 5 p.m. He told POLITICO late Wednesday that he believed negotiators needed “a few more hours” to wrap up discussions on a potential compromise with conservatives concerned about U.S. citizens being caught up in government surveillance...
#5 Ex-Virginia LT. Gov. Justin Fairfax Kills Wife and Himself Amid Divorce Proceedings, Police Say - NBC News, Gruntpa/Fox News, Mrgunsngear, Frankie Stockes, Nick Sortor, and Eric Daugherty on X
Justin Fairfax, a former lieutenant governor of Virginia, fatally shot his wife before he died by suicide in their home overnight, police said. Justin and Cerina Fairfax’s teenage children were at the house at the time of the shootings, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis told reporters at a news conference Thursday morning. “Former Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax shot and killed his wife inside of their home and then shot and killed himself,” Davis said, adding that their older son called 911 just after midnight. Fairfax, once considered a political up-and-comer, killed his wife in the basement of the home and then went upstairs to the primary bedroom and shot and killed himself, Davis said...#6 Democrat Analilia Mejia Wins Special House Election - Sophie Nieto-Munoz for New Jersey Monitor, TalkRadio 77 WABC, Just Reps, OGM News, NewYorkistanian, and Philadelphia Inquirer Politics on X
Progressive activist Analilia Mejia soundly defeated Republican Joe Hathaway in a special election Thursday in the 11th Congressional District, delivering a victory for Democrats in the runup to this fall’s midterm elections. “In November, when I jumped into this race, the odds were stacked against us. But you know — we did the impossible, and we won,” Mejia said in a crowded hall at the Montclair Art Museum Thursday evening. Mejia will fill the seat, vacated by Gov. Mikie Sherrill after Sherrill won the governorship in November, until Jan. 3, 2027...
#7 ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons Will Resign at End of May, DHS Says - NPR/Associated Press, ItsallRT, Fox6 News, Patrick Phillips, and MENDES INVESTMENTS/Fox News on X
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director Todd Lyons, a key executor of President Donald Trump's mass deportations agenda, will resign at the end of May, federal officials announced Thursday. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced Lyons' departure, calling him a great leader of ICE who helped to make American communities safer. Mullin said Lyons' last day will be May 31. "We wish him luck on his next opportunity in the private sector," Mullin said in a statement. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press asking why he is resigning...
#8 Iran Declares Strait of Hormuz ‘Completely Open’ After Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire Takes Effect - NBC News, Imrek, Metro, Unfiltered America, Economic Times, and iavian on X
The crucial Strait of Hormuz trade route "is declared completely open" for commercial vessels, Iran's foreign minister has said. Abbas Araghchi said the move was made "in line with the ceasefire in Lebanon," and "for the remaining period of ceasefire." Ships would have to use the "coordinated route" laid out by Iranian authorities, he said. Stocks surged higher, and the price of oil dropped on the news, though it was not immediately clear how Iran's announcement would interact with the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, or what it would mean for concerns about mines. President Donald Trump hailed the news, thanking Iran in a social media post...#9 Barack Obama Calls for Virginians to Vote ‘Yes’ in New Video Just Days Before Crucial Redistricting Election - Oren Oppenheim for ABC News, Stefstuff, Virginia News Vanguard, Oren Oppenheim, Wayne, and Elizabeth Jetty on X
Former President Barack Obama, in a video shared exclusively with ABC News, called on Virginians to vote in favor of a redistricting measure that could give Democrats a boost in the 2026 midterms if it passes. "By voting yes, you can push back against the Republicans trying to give themselves an unfair advantage in the midterms," Obama said in the video shared with ABC News. "By voting yes, you can take a temporary step to level the playing field. And we're counting on you." Over a million Virginians have voted early already, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, in an April 21 statewide referendum that will decide if the Democratic-controlled legislature should be allowed to redraw the state's congressional map...
#10 British PM Starmer Under New Pressure to Resign Over U.S. Ambassador Appointment - The Associated Press/NBC News, Basil the Great, Politics UK/Thoughtcrime Survivalist, Stevie j, Matthew, and TODY MACCALLISTER on X
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday resisted demands he resign over revelations that his scandal-tainted pick for U.K. ambassador to Washington was appointed despite failing security checks.Starmer says he was unaware that the Foreign Office had overruled the recommendation of security officials in early 2025 not to give Peter Mandelson the job. Many considered Mandelson a risky appointment because of his past friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein...
