Iran sanctions lifted
President Donald Trump’s memorandum of understanding with Iran took effect on Monday, and a number of economically crippling and long-running sanctions against the Iranian regime were lifted. This includes sanctions against Iran’s use of the U.S. dollar for oil trade. Iran has roughly 67 million barrels of crude currently stranded in the Persian Gulf that will be released to market, likely generating $8 to $9 billion in revenue for Tehran. Meanwhile, China, which purchases upwards of 90% of Iran’s oil, can do so on the open market rather than through a network of cutouts to circumvent previous sanctions. Trump claims this deal is an economic win for the U.S. and for Iran.

Judge blocks Trump database
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan ruled that the Trump administration violated Americans’ privacy rights when the Department of Homeland Security created a database to verify individuals’ immigration and citizenship status. Siding with a voting rights group that filed the lawsuit, Sooknanan wrote, “All in all, the federal government has knowingly trampled on the privacy rights of American citizens in a manner that threatens the sacred right to vote.” Sooknanan ordered DHS’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, which the Trump administration had overhauled to help states update their voter rolls, to be set aside. The Trump administration will likely appeal this ruling.

Judge rejects Walz subpoena
Patrick J. Schiltz, chief federal judge of Minnesota, has thrown out Department of Justice subpoenas against Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. Schiltz determined that the purpose of the subpoenas was to coerce the obstreperous Minnesota leaders into cooperating with federal immigration enforcement. The subpoenas were issued in January during a massive immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota. Schiltz says the DOJ failed to identify “a single plausible investigatory justification for the subpoenas.” The DOJ has not yet confirmed that this ruling will be appealed. Cooperating with the federal government to enforce federal immigration law seems to be a basic duty of state and local leadership, but evidently, Judge Schiltz does not agree.

Judge nixes SNAP soda ban
District Judge Amy Berman Jackson has exercised what she seems to consider her supreme power to overturn mere executive branch guidance regarding SNAP. Jackson at least appealed to the legislative branch’s definition of “food” to overturn controversial pilot programs that disallowed the purchase of soft drinks and sugary products with food stamps. The Department of Agriculture, Jackson explained, is bound by the definition of “food” in the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, which allows purchases of junk food. The USDA is not backing down on the issue; a spokesman said in response to the decision, “The idea that taxpayer funds should not be used to purchase junk food should not be controversial.”

House Republicans threaten to hold ActBlue in contempt of Congress
The Republican chairs of the House Oversight and Government Reform, Judiciary, and Administration Committees have sent a letter to the Democrat fundraising outfit ActBlue, demanding that its CEO, Regina Wallace-Jones, turn over hundreds of documents related to its donations. “These documents reportedly contain evidence that ActBlue accepted foreign donations, misled Congress, and then retaliated against an employee who spoke up about it,” the letter reads. “ActBlue appears to be withholding these documents from the Committees in an attempt to cover up the scope and duration of its misconduct.” The lawmakers are threatening to hold ActBlue in contempt of Congress. During the 2024 election cycle, ActBlue raised $3.5 billion in donations. ActBlue claims that fewer than 1% of its donations were foreign, and that those came from Americans living abroad.

NEA being investigated for antisemitism
The largest teachers union in America, the National Education Association, continues to come in the crosshairs of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for its failure to address antisemitism in its midst. The most recent probe comes after charges filed last month accused the NEA of perpetuating its established hostile environments for Jewish members. The most recent offenses involve issuing guidance on the Holocaust that utterly failed to mention the slaughter of the Jews and a map that labeled Israel as Palestine. The NEA was previously under fire for its meeting last summer in Portland, Oregon, where there was an organized effort by pro-Palestinian radicals to speak against any pro-Jewish issue.

MLB backs off Pride Night threats
Major League Baseball will not discipline three San Francisco Giants players who wrote Bible verses on their rainbow-emblazoned “Pride Night” caps. Commissioner Robert Manfred explained in a letter sent to Sen. Josh Hawley that warning players not to write Bible verses on their caps “was not discriminating or chastising those players based on their religious beliefs; rather, MLB was enforcing (with only an oral warning) a long-standing, collectively bargained rule that keeps uniforms clean and avoids controversy.” Furthermore, Manfred claimed that there was a misunderstanding between the Giants and players, that it should have been communicated to them that they had the freedom to wear their normal jerseys instead. He added, “After the game had concluded, my office issued a routine oral warning about the uniform policy violation — unfortunately, it was issued before we became aware of the Giants’ lapse in communication.”

Tucker Carlson leaves the Republican Party
The horseshoe Right continues on its path of merging with the horseshoe Left as Tucker Carlson now claims he can no longer support the Republican Party. Speaking on a podcast called “Can’t Be Censored,” Carlson added that he’s “not gonna support the Democratic Party” and that he doesn’t know what to do. He argued that he has been a “consistent defender” of the GOP for 35 years, but no longer. Tucker has repeatedly criticized the war in Iran, saying that it isn’t in America’s interest. He supported Trump in 2024 but has since apologized for that and for “misleading people.” Carlson believes Trump is making decisions based on other criteria, like what is best for his companies, donors, or Israel, which he labels immoral and treasonous. Carlson concluded that if he’s out, then a lot of other people are out.

Alligator Alcatraz closes
The Left is excellent at bogging down the gears of justice until the fight is simply not worth it and the point is surrendered. That appears to be the situation with Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz, which looks to be shutting down as vendors were notified on Monday to begin “full demobilization.” Demobilization is expected to add tens of millions of dollars to the total price tag for the facility, which has already exceeded $1.2 billion. The Sunshine State has submitted a $600 million reimbursement request to the federal government, which has been bogged down in leftist legal cases. Demobilization is expected to take one week, after which the facility will reopen as a small airfield. Over 22,000 illegal immigrants were cycled through the facility, with the last few detainees leaving just last week.

Headlines

• Fauci backs out of voluntary testimony — Rand Paul slaps him with a new subpoena (RedState)

• House committee leaders strike bipartisan deal on kids’ online safety legislation (Washington Times)

• LA superintendent resigns months after FBI raid on his home (Washington Examiner)

• Supreme Court reinstates conviction in 1979 Etan Patz murder (Fox News)

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