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The House passed a Senate-backed funding bill by voice vote, ending the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Speaker Johnson brought the bill to the floor after the White House warned that hundreds of thousands of DHS employees faced missed paychecks. The legislation restores funding to the Secret Service, Coast Guard, FEMA, and TSA — but notably excludes ICE and Border Patrol, which Republicans plan to fund through reconciliation.
Spirit Airlines abruptly ceased all operations at 2 a.m. on May 2, canceling 277 flights and leaving 17,000 employees out of work. The low-cost carrier had sought a $500 million federal bailout that fell through, and years of post-COVID losses compounded by soaring fuel costs from the Iran conflict proved fatal. Former Biden aide Neera Tanden publicly questioned whether the Biden DOJ's 2023 decision to block the JetBlue-Spirit merger was the right call.
In Louisiana v. Callais, the Supreme Court struck down a majority-Black congressional district and significantly narrowed Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, making it harder to challenge maps as diluting minority representation. The ruling forced Louisiana to halt its May 16 House primaries and has given Republican officials in several states new grounds to redraw voting districts ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Oil prices reached their highest level since the Iran conflict began, with average gas prices jumping to $4.30 per gallon according to AAA. The spike came just nine days after the Energy Secretary said prices had "likely peaked." Rising energy costs are becoming a major political headache for Republicans heading into the midterms, as fuel prices remain one of the most visible economic indicators for voters.
President Trump said Friday he is "not satisfied" with Tehran's latest offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, describing Iran's leadership as "very disjointed" and confirming he has been briefed on military options. Iran is pushing for the U.S. to lift its naval blockade while tabling nuclear negotiations for later — a nonstarter for the administration. Trump has maintained that any agreement must prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth ordered the pullout of approximately 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany, including a Brigade Combat Team, as Trump escalates his feud with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over Germany's criticism of the Iran war. The withdrawal is expected to take six to twelve months. Trump has also signaled potential reductions in Spain and Italy, both of which restricted base or airspace access during the Iran campaign.
May Day demonstrations on multiple continents escalated beyond traditional labor themes into vehicles for anti-war and anti-Israel political movements. In Paris, police deployed tear gas after projectiles were thrown during clashes. Domestically, nearly 600 groups with $2 billion in combined revenue mobilized roughly 3,000 events under a "Workers Over Billionaires" motto, with a probe finding communist organizations and Democratic Party committees among the organizers.
Paradromics received FDA approval to begin human trials of its Connexus BCI, the first fully implantable device designed to restore speech for paralyzed patients. The titanium-bodied implant features over 400 platinum-iridium electrodes placed below the brain's surface to record neural firing patterns in the motor cortex, converting them into text or synthesized voice. The Connect-One Early Feasibility Study marks a significant milestone in the race alongside Neuralink.
Janta Power secured $5.5 million in seed funding for its vertical solar tower technology, which stacks panels in a compact three-dimensional structure with smart sun-tracking software. The towers generate roughly 50% more energy than traditional flat panels while using only one-third the land. Built to withstand 170 mph winds, the modular towers are already deployed at airports in Munich, Dallas-Fort Worth, and across Aena's global network.
With Stephen Colbert's final episode set for May 21, CBS has announced Byron Allen's "Comics Unleashed" will take over the 11:35 p.m. slot. Colbert, whose show was costing the network $40 million a year in losses, used his remaining episodes to fire back at Trump, who taunted the host over the cancellation and predicted Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon would be next. Colbert has said he will "consider" running for office and is co-writing a Lord of the Rings film.
