Dems finally oppose spending money … on White House ballroom
The Trump administration will spend at least $900 million constructing the White House ballroom, about three times the original estimate. The president has repeatedly promised that private donations would pay for the East Wing modernization project, although taxpayers could still cover the cost of security components. However, because the administration bypassed Congress, Senate Democrats are demanding an audit, citing concerns about how Donald Trump is handling transparency and accountability. Previous administrations have worked with Congress for renovation and changes to the White House grounds. A court in DC ruled that Trump needs congressional approval to proceed. That case will likely move to the Supreme Court.

Lots of words said, no actions taken by the WNBA
A WNBA task force met this week to discuss recent developments concerning transgender athletes. In an extraordinary display of inaction, they said in a statement: “Today’s meeting covered a wide range of topics, including ongoing discussions on transgender athletes and the continued hate and vitriol directed at players online. … There are no immediate eligibility matters affecting the WNBA and we strongly denounce the bad-faith efforts to use these topics to demean or marginalize others.” Essentially, all that means is that while they have criticized Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White, they haven’t kicked them out of the draft either. The WNBA has effectively kicked the can down the road, even though it must eventually make a definitive decision. Taking the middle road will lead to some very messy consequences.

Suppressors now available without registration
For the first time in over 90 years, two gun owners legally purchased suppressors for their firearms without National Firearms Act registration and approval. The landmark moment came at midnight on Thursday after Gun Owners of America and Silencer Shop won a landmark legal victory over the federal government. Before the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in 2025, purchasing suppressors, sometimes called silencers, without NFA registration was punishable by 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The OBBBA reduced the taxes on suppressors and certain firearms to $0, which GOA and Silencer Shop successfully argued invalidates the NFA’s registration and approval requirements because there is no underlying tax. Texas congressional candidate Brandon Herrera and Texas State Representative Wes Virdell purchased the suppressors.

Seven-year-old Ohio boy tortured to death by trans group
Last Thursday, Cincinnati police were horrified to discover seven-year-old William Evans dead in the closet of his “family” home. William had been killed by blunt trauma to the head, but there were also signs of trauma to his face, torso, back, and upper and lower extremities. He showed signs of water and burn torture, and sexual abuse has not been ruled out. It was “one of the most disturbing examples of child abuse that I’ve witnessed,” said veteran homicide detective Kyle Smith in court. William’s mother, Kaitlin Evans, and her trans-identifying male partners, Nessa Keaney and Kirby Rankin, have been charged with the heinous crimes. William’s father, “Tara Jane” Evans-Ellis, who also identifies as trans, was apparently not involved in his son’s torturous death. Evidence suggests William was being groomed to identify as trans himself.

Judge tosses DOJ’s antisemitism suit against Harvard
U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns on Thursday dismissed the Justice Department’s antisemitism lawsuit against Harvard University. The DOJ alleged that Harvard had violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act when it failed to address antisemitic hostility on campus following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel. “Without diminishing any concern arising from these occurrences, the court finds them, singly and collectively, to be too isolated and episodic to support a plausible inference that any institutionalized noncompliance with Title VI persists at Harvard to this day,” Stearns reasoned. The DOJ charged that Harvard had been “deliberately indifferent” to antisemitic harassment of Jewish students. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon disagreed with Stearns’s decision, saying that the DOJ is exploring next steps to hold Harvard to account.

State Dept. ends all DEI training
DEI became “embedded in the institutional culture of the Foreign Service,” especially during the four years of the Biden administration, and the State Department just announced it has ended practices that had become demoralizing and distracting to the department’s core mission. DEI materials, trainings, and readings that were forced upon the instructors and foreign service officers were ideologically extreme and “shamefully denigrated” the U.S. Trainings on “systemic racism”; Black Lives Matter terminology, including DEI and “allyship” in discussions with foreign governments; and how to be antiracist in humanitarian aid are just a few of the examples of the ideological inculcation the State Department is wiping away. These changes stem from the department’s full review of its training materials and personnel practices with the goal of eradicating DEI from the federal bureaucracy and “restoring merit, rigor, and accountability to the Foreign Service.”

Illegal transshipment costs U.S. billions of dollars
The White House reported that China has collaborated with more than 40 separate countries to illegally ship goods to the U.S. under the flag of a third-party nation. Referred to as the “Great Transshipment Scam,” the crime was done to bypass the large tariffs levied on China over the past decade. The practice specifically takes goods from China and repackages them to appear to be from a nation with lower tariffs. As a result, it is estimated that the U.S. lost $19 billion to $26 billion in tariff revenue. In response, AI detection software is being created to trace shipments to their source and aid U.S. Customs and Border Protection in catching illegal shipments. It’s another wrinkle in the economic war between the U.S. and China, and another step toward loosening the ChiComs’ grip on the American market.

Trump turns to the private sector to take down cybercriminals
On Wednesday, Trump signed a memo encouraging private companies to play a pivotal role in cybersecurity, launching offensive attacks against foreign criminal organizations. The president has previously promised to move such power from the government to the private sector. The policy shift comes after growing concern over cyberattacks from artificial intelligence. The memo creates a framework for companies to work with federal, state, and local agencies to gather information about and address enemies. Companies will still work under the supervision of the federal government. The memo states that the partnership “will enhance our ability to counter TCO threats and combat transnational cybercrime, fraud, and other predatory schemes against American citizens.”

USS Abraham Lincoln
The USS George Washington departed Vietnam last week, heading toward the Middle East to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln after more than eight months at sea with limited port calls. This scheduled rotation comes amid reports of poor mental health among the sailors aboard the USS Lincoln, with at least two attempting to jump overboard. Other reports of food shortages, water contamination, and mail service interruptions have circulated and have been highlighted by Democrats opposed to the Iran war. War Secretary Pete Hegeseth responded that the conditions on the USS Lincoln had been “completely misrepresented,” and the commander of Naval Surface Forces has met with the families to address their concerns. The USS Lincoln has been at sea for 241 consecutive days, breaking the previous record of 206 days set by the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower during the COVID pandemic. The deployment, set to end in May, was extended due to the war with Iran.

Transportation Dept. now requires English language for railway engineers, conductors
Proficiency in English will now be required for all railway conductors and engineers following a new regulation from the Transportation Department. “Whether you’re operating an 80,000-pound big rig or a massive freight train, you need to be proficient in our national language — English,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy explained. “If you aren’t, you create an unacceptable safety risk.” This rule will ban Mexican-crewed trains from traveling beyond a 10-mile border zone. Duffy noted that these new rules were “commonsense steps” to ensure greater operational safety across the nation’s transportation industry. The Federal Railroad Administration noted that an average of 31 trains travel daily between the U.S. and Mexico. The FRA expressed concerns over Mexico’s training and certification requirements, stating, “This disparity in qualification requirements and level of government oversight represents a safety risk.”

Headlines

• Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax unpaused after surprise ruling — but legal showdown isn’t over yet (NY Post)

• Defense lawyers for Tyler Robinson argue he doesn’t deserve the death penalty because “he hit his intended target” (Not the Bee)

• Flock Safety instituting new privacy measures in response to backlash (Fox Business)

• Daylight saving time battle pits Senate GOP against Trump (The Hill)

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