Anti-weaponization fund blocked
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema has issued a temporary block on the Justice Department’s new $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization fund.” Brinkema is giving herself time to assess the plaintiff’s challenge to the fund and determine whether long-term relief is warranted. Former federal prosecutor Andrew Floyd, who targeted January 6 rioters, and California professor Jonathan Caravello filed the suit last week in conjunction with nonprofits, arguing that the fund is a “collusive agreement” with no basis in law. The DOJ, which has been ordered to cease actions relating to the creation or operation of the fund, as well as to ensure no funds are “irreversibly disbursed,” says it is “extremely confident” in the legality of the fund based on ample precedent, including Obama-era settlements.

Iran updates
U.S.-Iran peace deal negotiations continue, with President Donald Trump wanting a Memorandum of Understanding signed as soon as possible. According to a Trump administration official, Trump wants several points regarding Iran’s uranium enrichment strengthened before anything is signed. The official explained, “There will be a deal. The imminence of it, we’ll see. We’re willing to wait so the president gets what he asks for.” Meanwhile, U.S. forces retaliated after Iran shot down a U.S. drone. U.S. forces “swiftly responded by eliminating Iranian air defenses, a ground control station, and two one-way attack drones that posed clear threats to ships transiting regional waters,” U.S. Central Command stated. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth warned that American forces are fully ready and capable of resuming attacks against Iran, adding, “Our stockpiles are more than suited for that, both there and around the globe, so we’re in a very good place.”

Kennedy Center updates
Federal Judge Christopher Cooper on Friday, in response to a lawsuit raised by Democrat Rep. Joyce Beatty, ordered the Kennedy Center, which had been renamed the “Trump Kennedy Center” by the current board of trustees 10 months ago, to remove Trump’s name. Cooper ruled that “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.” Cooper also ruled that the trustees had failed to properly balance the obligations of the performance venue when deciding to shut down the facility for two years for renovations. However, Cooper acknowledged that “after independently balancing its multiple obligations to the Center in a prudent fashion,” the board could move forward with renovations, adding that his preliminary injunction “will not prevent the Center from moving forward with the capital repair work it has planned.” Trump blasted Cooper’s decision and promised to take the issue to Congress.

Louisiana redistricting approved
On Friday, the Bayou State’s Republican-controlled legislature approved a new redistricting map that eliminates one of the state’s minority-majority districts. The new map changes a prior Democrat-leaning district, now swinging it toward the Republicans and leaving the likely election results in Louisiana favoring the congressional GOP five-to-one. The legislature was required to redraw the map following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callais ruling, which found race-based district maps to be unconstitutional. Republican state Sen. Jay Morris declared, “We have a map here that meets all the traditional redistricting criteria; it’s not racially gerrymandered.” He added, “I feel like it’s going to be very defensible.”

OMB increases vetting of federal grants
The White House’s Office of Management and Budget has tightened rules surrounding the payment of grants. The new rules will affect up to $1 trillion in grants, with the $85 billion in grant spending from the Department of Health and Human Services and the $45 billion from the Department of Transportation expected to see the largest changes. The adjustments will center on reducing fraud by adding English-only and E-Verify requirements and focusing on performance, with poorly performing grants being cut. Political appointees will also have the ability to cut grants that run counter to or do not align with the Trump administration’s priorities. Over 190,000 grants added during the last year of the Biden administration are expected to be heavily targeted. Taxpayer funds will also be prohibited from going to voter registration campaigns and political activities.

Five killed by non-English-speaking immigrant with a CDL
Around 2:30 AM on Friday, Jing Dong, a naturalized Chinese immigrant who was operating a tour bus with his commercial driver’s license despite not meeting English-language proficiency standards, plowed into a slow-work zone, killing five people. Twenty-five-year-old Priscilla Mafalda of Massachusetts died at the scene of the accident in Stafford County, Virginia, as well as Dmitri and Ecaterina Doncev and their two children, Emily, 14, and Mark, 7. Forty-four people were injured in total, and three remain in critical condition. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy expressed his rage over the incident, highlighting that New York granted Dong his CDL in 2024 before adding, “If you can’t be properly trained, read our road signs, or communicate with law enforcement, you have no business driving a bus.” Dong faces two charges of involuntary manslaughter and up to 20 years in prison.

Texas gets a deportation enforcement win
Passed by the Texas legislature and signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott back in 2017, Senate Bill 4 banned illegal immigration sanctuary regions in the state, required state law enforcement to work with federal immigration enforcement, and, most controversially, gave Texas the authority to deport illegal aliens within the state. That law was immediately challenged and prevented from going into effect as it worked its way through the courts. On Friday, though, Texas got a big win after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted an injunction against the law, allowing it to take effect while the legal proceedings continue. Abbott celebrated the decision, promising, “We will keep fighting in the courts, working with President Trump, and doing everything necessary to secure our border and protect Texans.”

Teen dies from Colorado Planned Parenthood abortion
Far from being “safe, legal, and rare,” abortion is a 100% lethal operation. The child in the womb is always killed, and, tragically, the mother is sometimes killed too. Exhibit A: 18-year-old Alexis Arguello died after an attempted abortion at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado in 2025, a state with no limits on abortion. Alexis was likely killed by an amniotic fluid embolism. Colorado Democrats attempted to hide this tragic tale, with the coroner, Stephen Hanks, arguing that telling the truth could harm the state’s “strong public policy in favor of protecting reproductive healthcare.” The pro-life groups that forced the release of the report on Alexis accuse Planned Parenthood of waiting too long to call 911 and instructing the ambulance not to use sirens on the way to the hospital.

IDF drives deeper into Lebanon
In the fight to liberate Lebanon from Hezbollah’s grip, Israel has moved farther into Lebanon than it has in 26 years and recaptured the 900-year-old Beaufort Castle, a strategic ridge in the south of the country. Since March 2, Israel has been heavily targeting Hezbollah in response to their firing rockets and drones into Israel. The Israeli military already controlled territory up to the Litani River but is working to gain more ground. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained that the goal is to “deepen and expand our grip on the places that were under Hezbollah’s control.” The seizure of Beaufort Castle, which Israel last held in May of 2000, will grant the Israelis a vantage point over southern Lebanon and northern Israel from which attacks were being launched. Israel is still working on a deal with Lebanon to disarm the Iran-backed terrorist group.

Headlines

• ICE ordered to leave after almost being overwhelmed by protesters outside NJ detention facility (Daily Mail)

• Illegal alien charged with rape released back into public, then sexually assaults another woman (Not the Bee)

• Mamdani skips Israel Day Parade to instead talk about running for reelection (NY Post)

• Pro-Trump candidate pulls ahead in Colombia presidential vote (NY Post)

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