Welcome (back) to the '60s

The Supreme Court gutted a 60-year-old voting rights law. The Iran war has hit Vietnam-tier unpopularity. Four days after a man stormed the White House Correspondents' Dinner with a shotgun, the administration announced it wants to roll back federal gun rules. This week felt like zero steps forward and a bunch of steps backward.

Here are the top news stories for the week:

#1 LOUISIANA V. CALLAIS

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The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued one of its most consequential decisions since overturning Roe v. Wade and ending affirmative action.

Yeah. It's that big.

The Court's conservative justices ruled 6–3 that Louisiana violated the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause when it redrew its congressional map to include a second majority-Black district to comply with the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA).

The court didn't strike the underlying statute of the VRA – known as Section 2 – but after 60 years, rendered it useless.

The court ruled that going forward, plaintiffs challenging maps as racially gerrymandered must prove the state intended to discriminate, not just that the map produced discriminatory effects. That's a requirement Congress explicitly removed in 1982 when President Ronald Reagan signed the Voting Rights Act extension.

The decision will change how courts evaluate voting maps, especially around race and discrimination claims. It raises the bar — to the point of making it impossible — to prove violations of the VRA. It opens the door for more challenges to maps drawn to comply with prior VRA protections. It makes it possible to dilute the voting power of minorities everywhere.

There was a cascade of events following the ruling:

• Wednesday night: Florida's legislature passed Gov. Ron DeSantis's new congressional map, which could net Republicans up to four additional U.S. House seats in November. Florida's constitution explicitly bans political gerrymandering. The state Supreme Court is the next stop.
• Thursday morning: Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed an executive order suspending the state's House primary scheduled for May 16. The House races — including the seat held by Rep. Cleo Fields, a Black Democrat elected after the map was redrawn under the Voting Rights Act — are on hold while the legislature redraws. The Senate primary still goes forward May 16.
  • In Alabama, the state asked the Supreme Court to nullify a previous ruling that required it to redraw its maps, effectively creating two majority-Black districts, Democracy Docket reports. Under the new map, voters elected Black congressman Shomari Figures in the state's 2nd congressional district.
  • Trump posted on Truth Social that Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee told him he'd "work hard" to redraw Tennessee's map. Tennessee has one Democratic district — Memphis.
• Friday: Speaker Mike Johnson called for redistricting Southern states before November.
  • In Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp (R) praised the Supreme Court’s decision but said that because voting is already underway in their state, they'll wait a few months and redraw the map for 2028.
• By Saturday: Alabama called a special session to move primaries for new maps. Alabama is also considering postponing its May 19 primary election — but absentee ballots have been mailed and some have already been cast.
• Big picture: David Nir and Stephen Wolf at The Downballot counted the exposure: Republicans in eight states could gerrymander more than a dozen congressional districts that were drawn under the VRA to prevent racial discrimination — all currently held by Democrats.
  • And, the downstream effect is broader than Congress. State legislatures, county boards, city councils — every map drawn since 1965 has had to comply with Section 2. That guardrail is gone.

The handful of states mentioned above will try to change their maps – making it possible for Republicans to win more House seats – before November's midterms. The bigger changes will manifest in 2028 and 2030. And by changes, I mean: gerrymandering maps to make it impossible – mostly in the south – for minorities to have a shot at electing people to Congress who represent their values, care about their concerns and understand their frustrations.

#2 WAR ON IRAN

The Trump administration lied to launch a war on Iran — and this week they were A/B testing lies to get out of it.

Let's backtrack:

• A president can engage in military operations without seeking authorization from Congress only if there's an "imminent" threat. Under the War Powers Resolution of 1973, the president then has 60 days to get Congress's authorization — which requires making a case for military action — or end the conflict.
  • Trump launched a war on Iran on February 28 without congressional approval, claiming Iran was days away from having a nuclear weapon that would threaten the U.S. and allies in the Middle East. The Trump administration notified Congress on March 2. The deadline to make a case for continued military engagement or to end hostilities was Friday, May 1.
• Lie #1. In a letter to Congress on Friday first reported by Politico, Trump claimed that "hostilities" with Iran have been "terminated." To justify that claim, Trump said there's been "no exchange of fire between the United States and Iran since April 7, 2026." He's wrong.
  • The U.S. is still enforcing a blockade on vessels going into or out of Iranian ports. That alone is an act of war.
  • On April 19, the U.S. attacked an Iranian vessel in the Strait of Hormuz and seized it — which Iran called an act of piracy and a violation of the ceasefire.
• Lie #2. Earlier this week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed the 60-day clock had been paused because the two countries agreed to a "ceasefire." Experts on the War Powers Resolution say yeah — no, that's not how it works.
  • Katherine Yon Ebright of the Brennan Center's Liberty and National Security Program told the AP the administration's argument has no statutory basis: "Nothing in the text or design of the War Powers Resolution suggests that the 60-day clock can be paused or terminated."
  • Sen. Dick Blumenthal (D-CT): "There's no pause button in the Constitution, or the War Powers Act. We're at war. We've been at war for 60 days. The blockade alone is a continuing act of war."
  • Politico: "Advocates of reining in Trump through the 1973 law contend he is misreading the statute. And they note that despite the ceasefire, the U.S. military is still engaged in a blockade meant to force Tehran's hand as Trump seeks to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, not to mention roughly 50,000 American troops still stationed in the Middle East."
• Trump and his minions don't care about the rule of law so why are they lying? With six months until the midterms, there's a lot more at stake than they're willing to lose.
  • There's not a lot of public support for the war. Sixty-one percent of Americans now say it was a mistake to use military force against Iran, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll released Friday. For comparison: 61% said the same about Vietnam in 1971 — six years into that war and after 50,000 Americans had died. After 2,401 US troop deaths, 59% said the same about Iraq in 2006 — three years in. Trump's Iran war is two months old.
  • The national average for gas hit $4.30 a gallon Thursday — the highest since July 2022. That's up from $2.98 before Trump authorized the first strikes February 28. More than 40% of Americans say they're driving less and cutting household expenses. It probably didn't help that Defense Hegseth said this week he doesn't care about the economic impact the war is having on Americans.
  • Republican support is fracturing. GOP lawmakers are growing uncomfortable with how long the war is taking and how much it's costing.
    • Resolutions to rein in Trump's war powers have failed repeatedly over the last 60 days. But this week, a key shift among some Republicans: Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), facing a tough re-election fight, voted with Democrats on a war powers resolution for the first time. The vote failed 50–47. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) announced she'll introduce her own AUMF when the Senate returns from recess the week of May 11 if the administration doesn't produce a "credible plan."
  • Allies are under pressure. NBC News reports that U.S. military bases in seven Middle East countries took far more damage from Iranian retaliatory strikes than publicly acknowledged, and repair costs are expected to reach billions. Stars and Stripes: "The damage may cause the U.S. to rethink its positioning in the Middle East and its ability to defend against future attacks, said Vali Nasr, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies... 'The U.S. ultimately, not only wasn't able or willing to defend the Gulf countries, it couldn't actually really defend itself,' said Nasr. 'These bases were damaged beyond what was the expectation that Iranians would do there. So, this whole model that you could put these bases around Iran and be able to defend them at will, is also an issue for the U.S. to sort out.'"

Related:

• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called the war a "humiliation." Trump responded by threatening to pull 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany — and "probably" Spain and Italy too.
• Trump said Saturday he's reviewing a new proposal from Iran to end the war , but told reporters Friday he's not satisfied with the offer.
  • No official details of the offer have been released, but multiple news outlets including Reuters and Axios report that Iran says it would open the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for the U.S. ending its naval blockade of vessels going to and from Iranian ports and delaying negotiations on its nuclear program until later.
• UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei told CNBC Tuesday that the timing of his country's exit from OPEC was deliberate. The cartel has been fracturing for years — but the UAE says the war gave them the opportunity to get out. More on Substack about UAE leaving OPEC.

3) WHCD Shooting

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This week, we learned more about what happened at Saturday night's White House Correspondents' Dinner at the Washington Hilton, where a gunman stormed past security as thousands of journalists and Trump administration officials gathered for a dinner honoring press freedom. (Ironic, right?) We also learned a lot more about Republicans — and none of it was good.

• The suspect, Cole Tomas Allen of California, was arraigned on Monday and charged with two counts: attempting to assassinate Trump and carrying firearms and ammunition across state lines to commit a crime. Allen allegedly was armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and knives.
• The gunman appeared to fire his weapon and hit a Secret Service agent before the officer returned fire, according to video analysis by The New York Times🎁. The agent was wearing a ballistic vest and was not seriously injured. The officer fired multiple times at Allen, who fell but was not hit and suffered minor injuries.
• None of the attendees were hurt. Allen was tackled on the floor above where the event was taking place.
• Almost immediately, Republicans focused not on self-reflection or unity but on their own agenda. Specifically:
  • Building Trump's $400 million ballroom — which they claim is essential to keeping the president alive — and arguing that taxpayers should pay for it. And, accusing Democrats of using heated rhetoric that's contributing to political violence. You can read more in Monday's Substack.
• The White House Correspondents' Association, which hosts the annual dinner, is considering rescheduling it, CNN reports.

• The Israeli military attacked the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters off Crete on Wednesday, abducting roughly 175 people before dumping all but two of them in Greece. The group was trying to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. Three were journalists, including Alex Colston of the American outlet Zeteo. One Turkish and one French journalist were also taken.
  • The flotilla says the Israeli military destroyed communication and navigation systems on remaining ships, "severing their ability to coordinate or signal for help."
  • Israel has intercepted previous flotillas — including one carrying climate activist Greta Thunberg — and has consistently claimed the missions are PR stunts or affiliated with Hamas. It has never provided verifiable proof. What they have offered is flimsy, at best.
  • Israel, which blocks all land exits from Gaza, has also imposed a naval blockade on the enclave since 2009. It has blocked previous flotillas trying to deliver aid. The flotilla includes participants from countries including Spain, Italy, Turkey, France, and Australia.
  • All but two — a Spanish and a Brazilian national — were released. Some of the released participants say they were abused by Israeli forces.
• The DOJ indicted former FBI Director James Comey — again. He's now being prosecuted for sharing an Instagram post showing seashells arranged to spell "86 47." The case had been on the back burner since spring 2025 but moved when Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche — Trump's former personal attorney — pushed his team to bring charges. MSNOW reports that Blanche, who "sought to win Trump's appointment to the job permanently," pushed his team to get an indictment. Trump told Blanche, according to Fox News, to consider his time as acting AG an "audition" for the permanent job.
  • Comey surrendered to law enforcement Wednesday. His lawyer Patrick Fitzgerald told the court he'll move to dismiss on grounds of "vindictive and selective prosecution."
  • Bloomberg reported Thursday that the DOJ is preparing a separate case against Comey for allegedly leaking classified information — in case the seashells charge falls apart.
  • Asked Wednesday by CNN's Kaitlan Collins whether he believed his life was in danger because of the post, Trump said: "Probably. I don't know."
• Speaking of the DOJ, it announced Wednesday that it's working toward loosening gun regulations — just days after the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting. In a press release, the DOJ and ATF framed the changes as reducing "burdens on law-abiding gun owners and businesses." Tell that to terrified school children who don't have a $400 million ballroom to hide in.

• Reporters Without Borders says the U.S. is facing a "press freedom crisis" in a new report released this week. The U.S. dropped to 64th place from 57th last year in the group's annual rankings. "The report pointed to both Trump administration policies and the wider consolidation of media companies in the US, which critics say opens the door to stifling certain points of view," writes Al Jazeera.
• Trump fired all 22 board members of the National Science Foundation. The group advises the government on science and engineering policy. Keivan Stassun — a physics and astronomy professor and researcher at Vanderbilt — told the AP the decision could "eviscerate investments in fundamental research and in the training of the next generation of scientists and engineers for our nation."
• The longest DHS shutdown in history (76 days) ended this week after Congress approved a budget bill funding the department until the fiscal year ends on September 30 — but without additional funds for ICE and border patrol, as Democrats had wanted all along.

COMING UP:

• May 27: A court will hear arguments on whether a president can sue a government he oversees. The case stems from Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS claiming they leaked his tax records.
• May 29: Former AG Pam Bondi's transcribed interview before House Oversight on the Epstein investigation.

Have suggestions, feedback, questions? Email me at huma@fromthefifth.com

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