• Trump rejects Iran’s peace proposal: “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!” That’s how President Donald Trump described the Iranians’ most recent peace proposal. Ongoing negotiations with Iran have thus far proven fruitless, as Tehran has stubbornly refused to give up its nuclear weapon ambitions. On Sunday, UN Ambassador Mike Waltz reiterated, “The world should not tolerate an Iranian regime that is trying to choke off the entire world’s economy.” He noted that Iranian state TV is talking of attacking undersea cables in an effort to mess up financial data-sharing within the Gulf region. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed that the regime “will never bow our heads before the enemy, and if talk of dialogue or negotiation arises, it does not mean surrender or retreat.” Energy Secretary Christ Wright stated that if negotiations fail, the U.S. may use military force to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

• Netanyahu wants zero U.S. dollars: In a “60 Minutes” interview aired on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was asked by CBS News’s Major Garrett if U.S. funding for Israel should be “reexamined.” Netanyahu answered, “Absolutely.” He then explained, “I want to draw down to $0 the American financial support, the financial component of the military cooperation that we have, because we receive $3.8 billion a year, and I think that it’s time that we weaned ourselves from the remaining military support.” When asked when this should happen, Netanyahu said, “Let’s start now.”

• Utah justice resigns: Justice Diana Hagen of the Utah Supreme Court has resigned effective immediately. Hagen was facing increasing public and legal scrutiny over an alleged affair with an attorney who successfully challenged a GOP-favored district map before the Utah Supreme Court. Hagen’s husband broke the news of the affair between the justice and attorney David Reymann. Hagen argues that she recused herself from any cases involving Reymann in May 2025, months before he received a favorable ruling from the court in September. Hagen wished to continue serving on the bench but says her friends and family do not deserve the public scrutiny that comes with the position and her divorce.

• Trump to fire Makary? Groups from various sides are calling for the removal of FDA Commissioner Marty Makary. His leadership at the agency has been tumultuous, with sparring over vaping regulations, complaints from the pharmaceutical industry, criticism from biotech companies, and disapproval from pro-life organizations for his rapid approval of the abortion drug. The reported plan to remove Makary isn’t final, with President Trump asserting he knows nothing about it. Some administration officials regard Makary as a “rogue agent” on several issues. Others are coming to his defense, citing his criticisms of the medical establishment during COVID and that those in Washington hate him because “he brings actual scientific scrutiny.” Makary publicly aligned himself with the MAHA movement when he joined Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other health influencers to sit for a Senate panel on nutrition.

• IRS pays out millions in erroneous tax breaks to noncitizens: Over $100 million a year in tax breaks funded by American taxpayers was paid out to foreign citizens in 2023 and 2024. Roughly 67,000 tax returns were filed by foreigners with “nonwork” Social Security Numbers issued to migrants who need access to services or benefits (Americans may wonder why foreigners can receive benefits at all), and almost all of those claims were paid out by the IRS. The IRS has a reputation for penny-pinching and hard-nosed enforcement of the law, but $213 million of the $219 million claimed by migrants during these two Biden-era years was paid out. IRS investigators say they don’t have the information necessary to weed out the fraudulent claims. The Social Security Administration may have the necessary data, but the IRS says it is not being shared.

• Falling public school enrollment: Teachers unions and the public school system are coming face-to-face with the stark reality that falling birth rates and declining trust in public schooling mean the supply of public schools is starting to outweigh demand. The New York Times correctly points out that there simply aren’t as many school-age kids as there used to be, but the rise in homeschooling is another factor. In 2019, 2.5 million students were homeschooled, but by 2024, that number had risen to 4.2 million. As enrollment declines, school districts are facing increasingly empty schools, and districts such as San Francisco are planning to shutter schools by 2030. Joe Biden’s southern border invasion boosted enrollment in many districts for a short time, but now that the migrant surge has ended, those enrollment gains are disappearing.

• Clyburn promises to run irrespective of redistricting: South Carolina Democrat Rep. James Clyburn has been representing the Palmetto State’s 6th District since 1993. But that may soon change if the Republican-controlled legislature approves a new congressional map that would eliminate Clyburn’s district. Clyburn responded to the possible redistricting by vowing to “run irrespective of what the makeup of the district might be because I believe that I have a record that is very acceptable to the South Carolina voter, and I have a good understanding of America’s promise, and we’ll run on that.” Though he’s the lone Democrat representative from the state, Clyburn warned Republicans, “Be very careful what you pray for because what I do believe is that when they finish with the redistricting, there will be the possibilities of at least three Democrats getting elected here in South Carolina to the United States Congress.”

• U.S. needs more space launch facilities: With the success of the private space industry modeled by Blue Origin and SpaceX, plus NASA’s increasingly ambitious plans for the moon and beyond, space is once again a growth industry. NASA Administrator Jason Isaacman says launch capacity has become a bottleneck for both national security and civilian launches. Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX companies provide most of the launch sites and infrastructure in use today, so their projects are given launch priority. As China and other geopolitical powers expand their presence in space, however, the need for dedicated national security launch sites is becoming apparent. The problem is only going to get worse, as the U.S. conducted 194 launches in 2025 and aims to reach 1,000 in 2030, while China conducted nearly 100 launches in 2025. No sources confirm any plans to develop new launchpads in the U.S.

• Moscow marks Victory Day parade without any heavy weaponry: Conspicuously absent from Russia’s most significant annual secular holiday, its Victory Day parade commemorating the nation’s fight against Nazi Germany in World War II, was any heavy weaponry like tanks and missiles. It was the first such absence in almost two decades. Ukraine had agreed to a U.S.-brokered temporary ceasefire over the holiday weekend, but Moscow feared exposing any of its weaponry to drone attacks. Meanwhile, the parade featured columns of marching troops, including, for the first time ever, soldiers from North Korea, who have been fighting alongside Russian forces in the Ukraine war, now in its fifth year. The Russian rate of attrition in this war is the worst since World War II, with more than 350,000 soldiers killed since the 2022 invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted, “Victory has always been and will be ours.”

Headlines

• Trump admin open to pausing gas tax (NY Post)

• Judge allows cameras in courtroom for Tyler Robinson murder trial (Washington Examiner)

• Trump DOJ escalates citizenship crackdown on group accused of hiding terror ties, violent crimes (Fox News)

• State Department initiates review of all 53 Mexican consulates in U.S. (Washington Examiner)

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