May 1 (Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court on Friday temporarily blocked a federal rule allowing the abortion drug mifepristone to be dispensed through the mail, significantly curtailing access to the drug nationwide and particularly in states that have banned abortion. A panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans said the state of Louisiana was likely to prevail in its challenge to the 2023 rule adopted by Democratic former President Joe Biden’s administration. While the ruling is temporary, it is the first to significantly curtail access to mifepristone in a series of lawsuits challenging the drug’s initial approval in 2000 and subsequent rules making it easier to obtain. The 2023 regulation removed a requirement that mifepristone be dispensed in person. (Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York; Editing by Mark Porter) This story is developing and may be updated.

The Justice Department has opened an investigation into three dozen Illinois school districts to determine whether pre-K–12 students were taught sexual orientation and gender identity content in classes without the schools notifying parents. The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division is leading the investigation. “This Department of Justice is determined to put an end to local school authorities keeping parents in the dark about how sexuality and gender ideology are being pushed in classrooms,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in a statement. Illinois, under Gov. J.B. Pritzker and state Attorney General Kwame Raoul, has clashed with the Trump administration on several legal fronts, such as immigration enforcement, federal funding, and other matters. Pritzker is the co-leader, along with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, of Governors Safeguarding Democracy, a coalition of Democrat governors that promotes state litigation against the Trump administration. If schools are teaching sexual orientation and gender identity-related content, the investigations will examine whether the schools have notified parents of their right to opt their children out of such instruction. The investigation will, in part, focus on whether the Illinois school districts limit access to single-sex bathrooms and locker rooms and girls sports teams based on biological sex. The DOJ is citing Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and Supreme Court precedent on parental rights as recently reiterated in Mirabelli v. Bonta in March. In that ruling, the high court upheld a temporary injunction preventing schools from withholding information from parents about gender transitions. In another 2025 ruling in Mahmoud v. Taylor, the court allowed Maryland parents to opt their children out of exposure to LGBTQ+ school books. “Supreme Court precedent leaves no doubt: parents have the fundamental right and primary authority to direct the care, upbringing, and education of their children,” Dhillon said. “This includes exempting their children from ideological instruction that contradicts their values or decisions about their children’s health and best interests.” The Daily Signal contacted the Illinois State Board of Education and Raoul’s office. Neither responded by publication time. The DOJ previously opened investigations into three Michigan school districts, as well as a joint investigation with the Department of Education into school sports in Washington state.

Seattle’s new socialist mayor is in the process of being mugged by reality and her response is to say that it’s, like, no big deal. Tee hee! In a recently surfaced video from an event at Seattle University, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson—the West Coast Zohran Mamdani—was asked if Washington State’s new taxes are a good thing for the tax climate in her city. The state recently passed a “millionaire tax” along with several other significant tax increases. This means that Seattle now has the highest state and local tax burden for high income earners in the country. Wilson’s response was the equivalent of that meme of a dog in a burning building saying, “this is fine.” “I think the claims that millionaires are going to leave our state are, like, super overblown. And if—the ones that leave, like, bye,” Wilson said. INSANE. Seattle's Socialist Mayor responds to exodus of wealth from Washington state by saying "BYE" … then laughing. We're doomed. pic.twitter.com/gP8CbPkqEl— Brandi Kruse (@BrandiKruse) April 29, 2026 This genius reasoning was met with thunderous applause, of course. And by genius, I mean completely moronic. Socialists like Wilson and New York Mayor Mamdani have based the foundation of their socialist program on the idea that the magical geese that lay the golden eggs—the “rich”—are going to pay for it all. How exactly does that work if the geese go away to lay eggs for someone else? Wilson admitted later in the interview that the taxes may cause some problems for the city, but she shrugged them off. Wilson’s sentiment does seem to be common on the Left. They create policies that drive people away, declare some kind of victory that their enemies are leaving, then at some point desperately try to get them to come back. Somehow their ideas always lead to a Berlin Wall to keep people in rather than out. New York’s Democrat governor, Kathy Hochul, had a similar message to Wilson’s until she started to figure out the downside of the “neener, neener, get lost!” approach to governance. Years ago, Hochul told New Yorkers who weren’t happy with the leftist direction of the state’s policies, “get out of here. We don’t need you.” It turns out she did need them. In March Hochul admitted that New York’s dwindling tax base was creating a fiscal crisis for the state. She begged wealthy former residents who had fled to red states like Florida to come home to be taxed. Kathy Hochul making a weak plea for wealthy people who have left New York (to red states like Florida) to come back to pay their high taxes to fund failing (unaccountable) social programs: “I need people who are high net worth to support the generous social programs we have in… pic.twitter.com/7quhsFyWyn— Matt Whitlock (@MattWhitlock) March 18, 2026 What a compelling message. At least Hochul is beginning to understand the basic math problem she and her fellow Democrats have created. I suspect Mamdani simply believes that New York City is too big to fail, that the draw of the Big Apple will compel businesses and the wealthy to stay no matter how bad things get. There may be some truth to that, but the financial calamity Mamdani and his only slightly less spendthrift predecessors have created is one that even New York can’t sustain. Productive people are leaving, the coffers are tapped out, and the expensive programs are multiplying. Seattle and the state of Washington look to be in even more dire straits than New York if that can be believed. The state faces a massive, multibillion dollar budget deficit. And this is after some of the considerable tax increases kicked in. Seattle faces a large budget deficit too, and the hits will keep on coming. One of Wilson’s first acts after Seattle elected her mayor was to call for a boycott of Starbucks, which was her way of showing solidarity with striking baristas. You won’t believe what happened next. Starbucks, the famed Seattle brand, effectively pulled up stakes and announced in April that they would make a massive expansion to their Nashville corporate office. The Seattle HQ would stay where it is but is clearly being bypassed for the new growth. As Fox Business reported, the move means that Seattle “could lose up to $750 million in tax revenue in the coming years.” When asked about this problem by a reporter, the seemingly blindsided Wilson hemmed and hawed about the Nashville move being in the works “for years” before being spirited away by a staffer. WATCH: Local media asked Socialist Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson if she is concerned other businesses might leave after Starbucks announced its new HQ in Nashville. Twice, she answered, "This is not the subject of our press conference," before claiming the "Starbucks expansion to… pic.twitter.com/BXiZf9hy19— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) April 28, 2026 The reason this move has been in the works for a while is because of the punitive Washington state tax increases that are only getting worse. Ryan Frost, a tax policy analyst at the Washington Policy Center, wrote in City Journal about how Washington and Seattle are driving out “wealth creators.” “The Association of Washington Business’s quarterly survey shows 44 percent of Washington business leaders are considering moving their personal residence out of state,” Frost wrote. “The share planning to move their businesses out of state has nearly doubled in a year, from 9% to 17%. State population data show net migration falling by 7,500 people year over year, with domestic in-migration down 18% relative to pre-pandemic levels. Those leaving are disproportionately high-income earners.” This is a classic blue state doom loop. It’s so bad in Washington that even Nick Hanauer, the leftist venture capitalist who supported the state’s tax the rich schemes, whined about how they are driving the wealthy entirely out of the state. “Virtually every wealthy friend I have has either left or is planning to,” Hanauer said recently. “It’s a catastrophe.” I’m not going to cry for Hanauer. Serves him right. But it couldn’t be clearer that Wilson and her Democrat allies in the state capitol have created a huge mess they have no plan to fix. The spending won’t stop. Instead, the financial burden will simply fall on the middle class, which is also fleeing the state. Who could have guessed that a 43-year-old socialist community organizer living off the charity of her parents hasn’t got a clue of how to turn things around in the Emerald City?

Mehek Cooke, Senior National Security and Legal Analyst at The Daily Signal, warned that last week’s attempted assassination of President Donald Trump shows that the United States is failing to learn from repeated security breaches, leaving serious vulnerabilities unaddressed. During an appearance on Newsmax Thursday, Cooke said that what is troubling in the broader security failure at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner is the question of what—if anything—has been learned from previous breaches. Referencing the 2024 attempted assassination of Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, Cooke noted that Americans are still waiting for concrete, actionable changes to security. “This just shows you how incredibly thoughtless this event was in terms of the planning and the execution,” she said of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. She also raised questions about the incident that have not been answered, including uncertainty about who ultimately stopped the threat and how security responses unfolded in real time. “We’re not learning fast enough to keep up with these security incidents,” Cooke warned, arguing that repeated failures underscore the need for urgent reforms to protect national leaders and the public. Cooke said the suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, 31, “knows exactly what he’s up against” in court. Allen has been charged with attempting to assassinate the president of the United States, transporting a firearm across state lines and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. She pointed to his clear digital trail that included a manifesto, records of travel across state lines from California, and efforts to map the president’s movements and those of senior administration officials. “There’s a digital footprint. There’s planning. There’s execution,” Cooke said, adding that the individual represents a serious threat—one the defense itself appears to be conceding. “He is really up against a massive battle.” Cooke emphasized that the most important takeaway is that no one was harmed, calling that outcome a matter of providence rather than preparedness. “The only people we should really be thanking today is our faith in God, because thank God nobody was injured that day,” she said.

Nearly one in five veterans who serve our country are Catholic, yet the Department of Veterans Affairs does not grant them the option to display the crucifix on their headstones when buried at national cemeteries—but this is about to change. With strong Catholic members on the House Appropriations Committee, this will soon be mandated by a 2027 military spending plan. Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., a devout Catholic, successfully added an amendment to the draft 2027 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies bill to ensure that Catholic veterans’ inalienable right to religious liberty is protected. Moore told The Daily Signal that this amendment will “mandate [Veterans Affairs] to have the crucifix option on headstones.” It’s not just a letter.I secured an amendment to this year's VA funding bill that ensures Catholic veterans can choose to have the crucifix on their headstones. This is long overdue! https://t.co/8RZuQ0h3q5— Rep. Riley M. Moore (@RepRileyMoore) April 24, 2026 Veterans and their next of kin are currently given the option to pick from more than 100 symbols of many different faiths, including Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, and different denominations of Christianity. Atheists, pagans, and humanists even have eligible emblems to choose from. But not the veterans who are Catholic. Moore told The Daily Signal he has no idea how this has gone on for so long. “I’m not sure why some of us who are Catholic had not been made aware of this previously. I mean, this is ridiculous,” Moore said. “I’m not going to stop until it gets fixed—and it’s going to get fixed. I mean, we got it in the bill, and there’s this letter as well. But this is just right,” he concluded. Moore noted that even Ranking Member Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who was raised Catholic, voted for and supported his amendment, which passed out of committee. “Had to give her credit as the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee. She obviously was raised Catholic, as well. So, yeah, I mean, this just made sense to everybody,” Moore continued. Moore expects the bill and the amendment to also pass the House. Nearly 1 in 5 of our nation’s Veterans are Catholic. And while atheists, humanists, and nearly 100 other belief systems can choose their symbol on a VA cemetery headstone, Catholics still cannot choose a crucifix as their emblem of belief.That is why I am advocating that the… pic.twitter.com/FctUFBkQMI— Congressman Nick LaLota (@RepLaLota) April 29, 2026 The amendment text states that the committee is concerned about the crucifix not being an option and “supports providing a complete and inclusive set of emblem options.” “The Committee directs the VA, in coordination with the National Cemetery Administration, to approve the crucifix as an eligible emblem of belief for inscription on headstones and markers in national cemeteries not later than 90 days after enactment of this Act,” the amendment reads. It continues by directing the VA to notify the House and Senate appropriations committees as soon as this is completed. This effort from Moore was prompted by Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., bringing together 45 bipartisan members of Congress to bring this issue to Veteran Affairs Secretary Douglas A. Collins. “Our veterans made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country, and they deserve to be honored in a way that reflects their deeply held beliefs,” Steube said. “Catholic veterans should not be denied the ability to have a crucifix on their headstones while other belief systems are represented.”