The Patriot Post® · Friday Executive News Summary
May Day: It’s May 1, known as May Day, with roots in an ancient Celtic celebration that heralds the coming of summer. In past centuries, the holiday was celebrated with flowers, bonfires, and dancing around maypoles, but that changed in the 20th century. As socialists rose to power in Germany and the Soviet Union, they co-opted the date to promote socialist ideology and the politics of resentment. Unfortunately, the politics of resentment are alive and well in the U.S., with well-funded and organized “May Day Strong” protests expected around the country. Americans can look for the same grey-haired retirees, blue-haired harpies, and manchildren out holding signs decrying Donald Trump and billionaires that they’ve seen at recent “No Kings” protests.
Shutdown (mostly) over: On Thursday, the 75th day of the Democrat-induced shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, the House voted in favor of a Senate-passed funding measure. President Trump quickly signed the bill, which restores funding to most DHS agencies, including the Secret Service, Coast Guard, FEMA, and TSA. The bill does not fund DHS immigration agencies, such as CBP and ICE. Speaker Mike Johnson changed his position on the issue: He originally wanted legislation to fully fund all of DHS, but given the need to fund the rest of DHS, he got on board. Furthermore, House Republicans recently voted to kick-start funding for ICE and CBP via reconciliation. Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries continued to demonize immigration enforcement, boasting that Democrats helped pass the DHS funding bill “with the exception of ICE and the violent Republican mass deportation machine.”
New surgeon general nominee: President Trump has pulled surgeon general nominee Casey Means, whose confirmation got derailed after Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy objected. Yesterday, Trump also announced his new nominee, Dr. Nicole B. Saphier, posting on social media, “She is also an INCREDIBLE COMMUNICATOR, who makes complicated health issues more easily understood by all Americans. Dr. Nicole Saphier will do great things for our Country, and help, ‘MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN.’ Congratulations Nicole, our Country has long been waiting for you!” Trump blasted Cassidy for stymying Means and called on Louisianans to vote him out in the upcoming GOP primary. During Means’s confirmation hearing, Cassidy expressed misgivings over her views on vaccinations.
Open the redistricting floodgates: The groundbreaking Supreme Court decision this week on race-based districting has thrown a wrench into the normal midterm election process. Louisiana is the first state to suspend its primary elections because the Supreme Court case directly concerns them. Gov. Jeff Landry “has no choice but to suspend it,” says Louisianan and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. The Pelican State will need to rush through a new redistricting process to eliminate its unconstitutional majority-minority district. The primaries will likely effectively be held in November and open to all parties, with any election without a clear winner advancing to a December runoff. Meanwhile, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has confirmed with President Trump the state’s intent to eliminate its race-based districts as well, likely removing the only Democrat congressional representative in Tennessee.
Dems attack Supreme Court again: Despite protestations about principle, an observer would be forgiven for thinking that all Democrats care about is winning by any means necessary. The Supreme Court ruled this week that racial gerrymandering is unconstitutional, which has Democrat leadership throwing a fit. Barack Obama said the court “seems intent on abandoning its vital role,” which, according to him, is “protecting the rights of minority groups.” Kamala Harris says the decision is a conservative agenda to “steal power from everyday people.” It’s worth noting that both the former president and vice president won statewide and national elections without the assistance of racial gerrymandering. Rep. Rashida Tlaib was less circumspect with her call to action: “Impeach these corrupt justices. Expand the Court.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called the Court “illegitimate.” Perhaps Democrats believe SCOTUS is only legitimate when it agrees with them.
Proposed amendment to end birthright citizenship: Despite all the talk of Supreme Court decisions and presidential executive orders, birthright citizenship in the U.S. is based on the 14th Amendment, and if our nation functioned as the Founders intended, the way to correct abuses of birthright citizenship would be to pass a clarifying amendment. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is one of the few members of Congress who still tries to legislate as the Founders intended, and he has proposed a constitutional amendment that would limit birthright citizenship to children of citizens, children of lawfully admitted legal residents, or children of lawfully admitted aliens serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. Passing a constitutional amendment is intended to be difficult, and it is. The 27th Amendment, the last to be ratified, took 202 years to pass from its proposal in 1789 to its ratification in 1992.
Oregon forced to clean voter rolls: Conservative watchdog Judicial Watch sued Oregon in 2024 for mailing ballots to “eligible voters” without verifying their eligibility. The state sought dismissal of the lawsuit, but a federal court denied the motion in August 2025, allowing it to proceed. Oregon decided it would rather not risk exposure of its cheating practices and agreed to clean up its rolls by removing 800,000 ineligible voters — the most in the nation. Since 2017, the state has failed to maintain the routine purge of ineligible voters from its rolls, as required by law. Earlier this year, Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read claimed that the 800,000 inactive voters are kept separate from the active voter rolls and that 160,000 of them have met the requirements for removal. The remaining 640,000 will continue to be processed for removal.
Commercial flights to Venezuela resume: Yesterday morning, an American Airlines flight departed from Miami for Caracas, Venezuela, reestablishing commercial flights to the country. “For nearly 7 years there have been no direct commercial flights between the U.S. and Venezuela,” the State Department noted. “Under President Trump we’re changing that today. Flights between Miami and Caracas restored.” The flight demonstrates the reestablishment of friendly relations between the U.S. and Venezuela, months after U.S. forces arrested and extradited dictator Nicolás Maduro to face trial over drug-trafficking charges. American Airlines will soon offer flights to Caracas from several U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, and New York City.
Doctors seeing GLP-1 patients losing appetite for life: With the rising popularity of weight loss drugs known as GLP-1s, primarily prescribed to help people combat obesity-related diabetes, doctors are observing a number of side effects. A condition dubbed “Ozempic personality” causes a mild form of anhedonia in which individuals experience a loss of pleasure as their brain’s dopamine receptors are dampened. As psychologist Avigail Lev describes, “You don’t get too anxious, you’re just numbed out.” Symptoms also include a loss of sex drive and desire to socialize. Lev also observed, “There isn’t much anxiety or motivation to get things done, and there isn’t much reward once you do get things done.” However, Stanford University psychologist and addiction researcher Keith Humphreys warns against getting “ahead of the data” because “we don’t know how rarely this happens and whether it goes away if you simply stop taking the medication.”
Headlines
DOJ publishes details of Biden admin’s lengthy and purposeful discrimination against Christians (Not the Bee)
Congress punts FISA reauthorization another six weeks (Daily Caller)
U.S. senators ban themselves from prediction markets trading (CNBC)
The Executive News Summary is compiled daily by Jordan Candler, Thomas Gallatin, Sterling Henry, and Sophie Starkova. For the archive, click here.