• $4 gas arrives: Americans hate paying more at the fuel pump. President Donald Trump is usually very sensitive to issues that concern American voters, but he is showing few signs of backing down from Operation Epic Fury. As the war in Iran rages on, the goal of the Islamic regime seems clear: wait out the U.S. as oil prices continue to climb. On Tuesday, average gas prices across the country rose to $4.02, the highest since 2022. That’s an increase of over a dollar in just a month. One expert at the Brookings Institution worries that the worst is yet to come, as the Strait of Hormuz has not reopened at scale and further escalation in the region could further harm oil production.

• TSA gets paid: On Monday, TSA employees received paychecks retroactive to the start of the Senate Democrats’ DHS shutdown. “TSA officers are grateful to President Trump and Secretary Mullin for their leadership to put money back into the pockets of TSA employees who worked without pay during the ongoing Democrat DHS shutdown,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson stated. “Working without pay forced more than 500 officers to leave TSA, and thousands were forced to call out.” As of today, the shutdown has lasted 46 days, with no immediate end in sight, as Democrats continue to dig in on their opposition to ICE. And with TSA employees now receiving pay, the pressure is effectively off of vacationing lawmakers to get a funding deal done.

• AOC is horsing around: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is under investigation for spending $18,725 of campaign funds allegedly on “leadership training and consulting.” The payments were made to psychiatrist Dr. Brian W. Boyle, who does not advertise “leadership training” or “consulting” courses but does specialize in personal therapies that include the use of the psychoactive drug ketamine. The National Legal and Policy Center alleges that this was the actual service purchased by AOC’s campaign. Ocasio-Cortez is a proponent of the medical use of psychedelics for PTSD and depression and has dramatically recounted the extraordinary trauma she felt during the events of January 6 — even though she wasn’t in the Capitol building at the time.

• English statement wrecks Air Canada CEO: Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau announced on Monday that he’s stepping down from the position he’s held since 2021. Following the Air Canada crash earlier this month at LaGuardia Airport that resulted in the death of both pilots and the hospitalization of 41 others, Rouseau released a four-minute video in which he expressed his “deepest sorrow for everyone affected.” While he began and ended the message with the French words “bonjour” and “merci,” respectively, the rest of the message was in English; that’s because Rousseau doesn’t speak French. Canada has two official languages, English and French, and Rousseau’s failure to also deliver a condolence message in French created quite the controversy, leading to his resignation.

• Trump shows plans for ballroom, library: President Trump shared updates on the progress of his White House ballroom. For one thing, Trump noted that “the military is building a massive complex under the ballroom.” On Thursday, a federal commission will vote on final approval for the project. Meanwhile, Eric Trump revealed the design for Trump’s presidential library and museum to be located in downtown Miami, on land that Gov. Ron DeSantis granted to Trump in September. Eric posted a video on Truth Social about the planned presidential museum and library, featuring a computer-generated image of a skyscraper towering over Miami. The post included the message: “This landmark on the water in Miami, Florida will stand as a lasting testament to an amazing man, an amazing developer, and the greatest President our Nation has ever known.”

• DOJ sues MN for allowing males in female sports: Attorney General Pam Bondi announced a new lawsuit against Minnesota on Monday over its violation of Title IX. The Gopher State is allowing “trans”-identifying boys to invade female-only spaces. Current Minnesota policy allows these gender-confused (or opportunistic) boys to share girls’ locker rooms, compete in their sports, and stay in hotel rooms with the girls during sports travel. The DOJ noted that a male student in a girls’ softball league pitched in 14 games last season, posting a 12-1 record and leading the team to a championship. In the final game, he pitched a shutout game, leading to a 6-0 victory. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison cast this lawsuit as an attempt to distract from other issues in the administration, though perhaps he’s the one trying to distract from his state’s harmful policies.

• Kid Rock Apache flyby: The U.S. Army is investigating some odd behavior from two AH-64 Apache helicopters over the weekend. The Apaches were engaged in a training flight out of Fort Campbell when they appeared to deliberately hover off the balcony of Kid Rock’s Tennessee home in a viral video. The musician stood on his deck and saluted the soldiers on board before posting images and videos of the event online. Army spokesman Maj. Montrell Russell says the incident is under investigation to evaluate whether safety and professionalism standards were violated. This does not appear to have been a planned event. Around the same time, some Apaches were seen flying over “No Kings” protests in a way one protester described as “deliberate.”

• Judge steps aside from Elon Musk cases: Court of Chancery Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick is stepping aside from multiple cases against Elon Musk, over which she had been presiding. His legal team accused her of bias against the billionaire, a claim that appears credible given her decisions and actions against him. Furthermore, her decision to step aside appeared to lend credence to the bias allegations, despite her claim to the contrary. “The motion for recusal rests on a false premise — that I support a LinkedIn post about Mr. Musk, which I do not in fact support,” she said. “I am not biased against the defendants in these actions.” Musk’s legal team supported their accusation by citing McCormick’s social media history, in which she “liked” posts that mocked Musk for being found liable for tweets he posted about his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter.

• FBI to release Fang Fang files? FBI Director Kash Patel has reportedly instructed agents to review and redact files relating to California Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell and the Chinese honeypot named Fang Fang, preparing them for possible public release. The FBI may be considering giving Christine Fang a U.S. visa in exchange for testifying against Swalwell. The FBI denies the report, and a spokesman says the bureau “prepares documents for numerous different reasons, including for release to different agencies and departments to further review investigations that may have been opened under previous administrations.” On Monday, Swalwell’s attorneys sent the FBI a cease-and-desist letter, stating that he was not found guilty of wrongdoing in the decade-old investigation and that any release of the files would trigger legal action. Transparency in federal law enforcement is always anathema to corrupt government officials, especially those running for governor.

Headlines

• Brandon Johnson blasts “assaults against immigrants” as slain Sheridan Gorman is laid to rest (Fox News)

• Harvard’s prayer-free Pritzker economics building is called “unconstitutional” (Washington Free Beacon)

• Gov. DeSantis signs bill to rename Palm Beach airport after Trump (The Hill)

• Louisville to pay $800k after photographer beats law forcing her to shoot same-sex weddings (Fox News)

The Executive News Summary is compiled daily by Jordan Candler, Thomas Gallatin, Sterling Henry, and Sophie Starkova. For the archive, click here.