• Transgender military ban upheld by Supreme Court, for now: Transgenderism was never openly allowed (or considered) in the military for all of U.S. history until the end of Barack Obama’s second term. Donald Trump banned it again, Joe Biden unbanned it, and now Trump has re-banned it. This most recent ban, like virtually all of Trump’s second-term actions, came under fire from a U.S. district judge, this time in Tacoma, Washington. Judge Benjamin Settle issued a nationwide injunction to stop the removal of transgender service members because apparently the U.S. is ruled by ~700 judges across the country. The Supreme Court lifted the injunction Tuesday, although the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will still rule on the ban itself. While the Supreme Court sided with Trump, it’s worth noting that the three female liberal judges sided with the gender-benders.

• Houthis stop fighting? The U.S. doesn’t declare war anymore, so you may not have known that America was engaged in a serious military campaign against the Yemen-based Houthi terrorist group. On Tuesday, President Trump announced a ceasefire with the Houthis, saying, “They have capitulated.” A Houthi spokesman, Deifullah al-Shami, accused Trump of lying about the ceasefire. Whether the Houthis have capitulated will be determined over the next few days based upon whether they keep bombarding ships passing through the Red Sea. The Houthis are one of Iran’s many proxy groups that it has developed to “surround” Israel. The Houthis claim that the Red Sea blockade will continue until the Gaza conflict is over, but as the U.S.-Iran nuclear talks continue, Iran may have pressured the Houthis to back down. These announcements come on the heels of a series of crippling Israeli strikes against the Houthis.

• House report on 2017 GOP shooting: There’s a fairly simple playbook for the corrupt trying to cover up a story they don’t like: deny, spin, lie, then once it’s old news and not going to make headlines, quietly release the truth. It’s not so quiet, but it is old news. The 2017 attack on a Republican practice for the congressional baseball game was not “suicide by cop,” as the FBI ruled at the time; it was domestic terrorism aimed at the GOP. The House Intelligence Committee released a 27-page report Tuesday asserting that the FBI relied on half-truths and manipulated the evidence to arrive at the “suicide by cop” narrative. House Democrats confirm the FBI’s failings in this case but disagree with Republican legislation that would lay out liability for incidents like this where intelligence analysis is politicized, which is no surprise since it usually benefits them.

• NPR CEO makes accidental case for cutting funding: In the wake of President Donald Trump’s recent executive order defunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, one of the big two recipients of that funding is crying foul. National Public Radio CEO Katherine Maher argued vehemently for keeping American taxpayer dollars flowing to her propaganda outlet, but she ended up making a really good case for shutting off the spigot. “From my perspective, part of the separation that the First Amendment offers is to keep government out,” she said. Call us crazy, but the best way to “keep government out” is to not take government (read: taxpayer) money. She wasn’t done. “Public broadcasting is meant to be independent,” she continued, “so that we can serve the public interest regardless of whatever administration is in office or whatever Congress’ whims are.” Again, the best way to do that? Don’t take federal funding.

• Trump to end the Energy Star scam: It’s a tale as old as time: Big Government creates a rule to create efficiency in some products, which inevitably become less efficient. The government doesn’t (and shouldn’t) have the tools to control the market. Energy Star is an energy efficiency program that has led to appliances across the country getting worse at their jobs. Energy Star dishwashers are less capable and take longer, but they save on water — until you have to run them again. Rather than being better engineered, Energy Star appliances usually take longer, use less electricity than they need, and skimp on necessary water. In the latest of a series of moves to cut regulation, Trump’s EPA announced that the Office of Atmospheric Protection and Energy Star will end.

• Eliminating CA’s emissions stranglehold: In a bipartisan effort, the House recently voted to repeal a waiver given to California that has effectively let the state dictate automaker emissions standards nationwide. California’s EV mandate is a boondoggle, dictating that 43% of cars sold in California be emissions-free by 2027, rising to 60% in 2030. No company other than Tesla is anywhere close to that goal. Automakers forced to meet those standards must change their entire U.S. product line. Now it’s up to the Senate to take up the repeal vote. That will be a more difficult fight due to the Senate parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, siding with a ruling that says these waivers are not subject to Senate review. Senate Democrats warn that choosing to overrule the parliamentarian will be considered a “nuclear option.”

• Thanks to Biden, Taliban bequeaths U.S. armaments: President Joe Biden’s disastrous surrender and retreat from Afghanistan will continue to have repercussions for years to come. The Taliban raked in more than $3.4 billion in revenue in the last year, boosting their economic stability as they establish a haven for terrorist groups across the Middle East. They have been selling off the billions in U.S. materiel abandoned by the Biden administration to terrorists, including multiple al-Qaida affiliates. Currently, $7.12 billion in U.S. weaponry remains in their hands. Not content with losing the lives of 13 service members, 78 aircraft, 40,000 military vehicles, and 300,000 weapons to the Taliban, the Biden administration sent more than $4 billion to Afghanistan after the Taliban took control. Some of those funds allocated through USAID have been flowing as recently as March 31. The Trump administration has ended more than 20 aid initiatives inside Afghanistan.

• Pride Month may struggle: The gender-confused “community” has a gross obsession with making sure everyone knows what they do with their genitals. That’s why they have an entire month of the cultish liturgical calendar dedicated to it. But given the growing pushback against DEI, they’re finding it harder to raise corporate cash. The Washington Post pushed a sympathetic report about how pride parade organizers are finding companies less willing to sponsor their events, or to at least insist that their names be kept off the sponsorship lists. Citing Target and Bud Light, the Post quoted one person saying, “Companies are looking at a couple brands that have really suffered online activism and saying, ‘Hey, this could happen to us.’” Said another person, “It’s a totally different atmosphere now.” Here’s hoping that’s a good thing and Pride Month fades into the background.

Headlines

• Conclave to elect new pope underway (Newsweek)

• The “final wish” of Pope Francis was to send his Popemobile to the Palestinians (Not the Bee)

• Biden tears into Trump in first interview since leaving White House (Fox News)

• Trump officials set date for direct trade talks with China (Daily Wire)

• U.S. rescues five hostages held by Maduro in Venezuela (Daily Wire)

• Navy loses second $60M fighter jet in less than 10 days (NY Post)

• Pakistan calls India’s airstrikes an “act of war” (Fox News)

• California gas could hit $8.44 per gallon in 2026 due to refinery closures, regulations (Center Square)

• Army announces massive 250th anniversary parade to be held on Trump’s birthday (Daily Wire)

• Humor: Trump to expand Alcatraz by putting up fence around San Francisco (Babylon Bee)

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