The Supreme Court handed down a unanimous decision Thursday in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, ruling that federal law does not block injured drivers from suing freight brokers who negligently hire unsafe trucking companies. Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the opinion. All nine justices agreed. The case centers on Shawn Montgomery, a truck driver who lost part of his leg after his parked tractor-trailer was struck by another truck on an Illinois road. The driver who hit him, Yosniel Varela-Mojena, was hauling a load of plastic pots for Caribe Transport. C.H. Robinson Worldwide, the country’s largest freight broker, had coordinated the shipment. JUST IN: Supreme Court just dropped a UNANIMOUS 9-0 ruling, freight brokers can now be held LIABLE for negligently hiring unsafe trucking companies. That includes the ones flooding our roads with illegal alien and foreign drivers who don’t have proper CDLs, can’t speak English,… — Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) May 14, 2026 Montgomery alleged that C.H. Robinson negligently hired the motor carrier and driver despite safety red flags. C.H. Robinson argued that a federal statute, the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act, preempted state-law claims like Montgomery’s. The Seventh Circuit agreed and tossed the case. The Supreme Court reversed that decision and sent the case back. The core of the ruling is straightforward: states retain the authority to regulate safety with respect to motor vehicles, and a negligent-hiring claim fits squarely within that retained authority. Barrett’s opinion makes clear that this exception to federal preemption applies even when the defendant is a freight broker rather than a trucking company itself. The Supreme Court laid out the case and holding this way: Shawn Montgomery sustained severe and permanent injuries after his parked tractor-trailer was struck by a truck driven by Yosniel Varela-Mojena while carrying a load for Caribe Transport in Illinois. C.H. Robinson Worldwide, a transportation broker, had coordinated the shipment. Montgomery alleged that C.H. Robinson was liable because it negligently hired the driver and carrier despite safety red flags, including a safety rating that allegedly showed problems involving driver qualifications, hours of service, inspection, repair, maintenance, and crash rate. Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for a unanimous Court that the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act does not preempt this type of negligent-hiring claim because states retain safety regulatory authority with respect to motor vehicles. The Court reversed and remanded the Seventh Circuit’s decision. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, joined by Justice Samuel Alito, wrote separately to emphasize that the decision does not mean brokers will routinely be liable after truck accidents. That Kavanaugh concurrence is worth reading carefully. He and Justice Samuel Alito agreed with the result but wanted to make sure the ruling was not read as a blank check. Their point: just because a lawsuit can proceed past this federal-preemption barrier does not mean freight brokers will face automatic liability every time there is a crash. In one of two unanimous opinions delivered today, the Supreme Court said federal law doesn’t bar state negligent hiring claims against freight brokers. The case is Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II. Justice Barrett writes for the court.https://t.co/auGlx0eHMu — Jordan Fischer (@JordanOnRecord) May 14, 2026 The practical implications are significant. AP described the industry stakes this way: The Supreme Court allowed Shawn Montgomery to sue C.H. Robinson after he lost part of his leg in a semi tractor-trailer crash, a ruling that could have major ripple effects across the trucking industry. C.H. Robinson is the country’s largest freight broker by size, and brokers could now face more pressure to consider safety records when selecting carriers rather than focusing only on speed and price. The decision opens the door to more liability exposure for freight brokers, which sit between shippers and the trucking companies that physically move the freight. The ruling does not mean Montgomery necessarily wins his lawsuit, because C.H. Robinson is contesting the claims on the merits. AP also reported that the Trump administration and companies such as Amazon had warned that letting the suit proceed could expose logistics companies to liability under a patchwork of state laws. One logistics executive told AP that brokers may now have to pay closer attention to the safety records of carriers they contract with to haul all kinds of goods, including hazardous materials. That last point is notable. The Trump administration and Amazon both filed arguments warning against opening the door to a web of state-by-state litigation. The Court was not persuaded, at least not on the preemption question. The ruling lands at a moment when the Department of Transportation is already pushing hard on commercial-driver safety. In February, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy finalized a rule aimed at stopping unqualified foreign drivers from operating big rigs on American roads. That action followed emergency steps to end the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs to truckers with unverified driving histories, and it connected to broader enforcement of longstanding English-language proficiency requirements for commercial operators. The Department of Transportation has been moving separately on that broader trucking-safety front: DOT announced in February that Secretary Sean Duffy finalized a rule intended to stop unqualified foreign drivers from operating big rigs on American roads. The department said the reforms followed emergency action to end the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs to truckers with unverified driving histories after a surge of deadly crashes involving non-domiciled drivers. DOT framed the move as part of the Trump administration’s push to put the safety of the driving public first and restore integrity to commercial trucking. The department also connected the broader campaign to English-language enforcement for commercial motor vehicle operators, saying drivers who fail to meet longstanding English-language proficiency requirements can be placed out of service. That does not mean the Supreme Court case itself was about immigration status, CDL testing, or English proficiency. It means the ruling lands in the middle of a larger national fight over who is responsible when unsafe commercial drivers are allowed onto American roads. Those DOT policies address a different set of problems than the one the Supreme Court decided Thursday, but they share a common thread: when freight companies cut corners on safety, people get hurt on American highways. Montgomery has not won his lawsuit. He has won the right to bring it. The preemption shield that freight brokers relied on to avoid state negligent-hiring claims is gone, and every broker in the country now operates under a simple new reality: if you contract with an unsafe carrier and someone gets maimed on the highway, you can be hauled into court to answer for it. Safety vetting is no longer a paperwork detail. It is a legal obligation with teeth.

Congressman Bennie Thompson (24705452669).jpg Governor Tate Reeves doesn’t believe there is enough time to redraw the Mississippi congressional districts by November, but he promises they will be redrawn by 2027. He said Bennie Thompson’s reign of terror will end. Fox News reported that Mississippi has dozens of redrawn maps ready to eliminate Bennie’s seat, but that doesn’t seem to be the problem. He said it would potentially invalidate its primary results and make Republican areas more competitive by adding more Democratic voters, according to The Guardian. Furthermore, he said, redrawing the maps this month—more than two months after the state’s party primary election—could have set a precedent for other states to invalidate their primary results, potentially putting Republican congressional seats at risk, The Guardian said. Reeves said he had been anticipating a ruling like this from the conservative-majority Supreme Court in Washington. It Is Legal and Possible to Do It Now State Auditor Shad White said it is legally possible to redistrict. White, a rising star in the GOP following his major anti-fraud and waste investigations, said that Thompson is “the worst congressman in America” and the state’s map favoring him must be dealt with promptly. “Among Mississippians, normal taxpayers, Bennie Thompson is incredibly unpopular,” White said in an exclusive Fox News Digital interview on Wednesday. Reeves Promises the Tyrant’s Days Are Numbered “Understand something — that maybe while it may be in the best interest of individual politicians in Mississippi to talk about congressional redistricting, what happens in Mississippi doesn’t happen in a vacuum,” he said. Reeves also noted efforts to eventually unseat the state’s only Democrat, Representative Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.). “What I will tell you is the tenure of Congressman Bennie Thompson, reigning terror on the 2nd Congressional District, is over. It is not a question of if; it is a question of when,” Reeves said. Thompson, of Impeachment and J6 Star Chamber fame, said on Monday that he will “fight against any effort to redraw my congressional district.” Mississippi already has ‘dozens’ of redrawn maps ready to eliminate Democrat Bennie Thompson’s seat — and every single one gives all four congressional districts a Trump margin of 15 points or higher. But Gov. Tate Reeves just pulled the plug on a special session that would have… pic.twitter.com/gAkv9r4eiL — Fox News Politics (@foxnewspolitics) May 14, 2026 Here is Bennie threatening Civil War. No wonder Bennie Thompson is likening all of this to “a second Civil War.” His days in congress are numbered. https://t.co/8cfdSBpvq8 pic.twitter.com/MDyMesTsmv — Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) May 12, 2026 The post Miss. Gov. Won’t Unseat Tyrant Bennie Thompson This Year appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

Chinese officials have made life difficult for White House staffers, American journalists, and Secret Service agents as several chaotic scenes played out on Thursday in Beijing during President Trump’s visit to the communist nation. In one incident, a Secret Service agent accompanying the White House press pool was denied entry into a secure area because he was carrying a firearm, which is standard protocol for Secret Service agents providing protection in foreign countries, The New York Post reported. Chinese officials would only allow the agent to move into the secure area if he handed over his firearm, resulting in a standoff and heated argument. The standoff reportedly delayed the press pool for 30 minutes as they tried to reach Trump’s motorcade. A second agent who had already been allowed into the secure area came back to escort the journalists. The chaos was captured on the BBC’s live feed from the press pool. As reporters were held back, multiple people expressed their frustration with the Chinese official, telling him, “We have to go!” “U.S. press, we are going!” one woman said as the reporters finally pushed through. One person was heard calling the incident a “sh*t show.” As they moved toward the motorcade, more Chinese officials ran toward them to try to stop them, according to the Post. The American journalists, however, made it to the president’s convoy. In a separate incident on Thursday, a female White House staffer was trampled by Chinese reporters as the reporters attempted to get into the room where Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping were set to meet. The White House aide was reportedly bruised in the incident, but she didn’t sustain any major injuries. FOLLOW LIVE UPDATES The messy scenes took place shortly after China rolled out the red carpet for President Trump with a showy welcome as Trump stepped off Air Force One on Wednesday night. Trump and Xi engaged in bilateral talks for much of Thursday before the U.S. President accompanied Xi to a banquet at the Great Hall of the People. “It was a fantastic day,” Trump said during a speech at the banquet. “And in particular, I want to thank President Xi, my friend, for this magnificent welcome.” “We had extremely positive and productive conversations and meetings today with the Chinese delegation earlier,” Trump added.

Reps. Ro Khanna and Brad Sherman, both California Democrats, are pushing to restrict U.S. oil exports, claiming that keeping more oil would help lower gas prices.  Critics say that the opposite is far more likely.  “If adopted, the political responses to the current high gas prices will make a bad situation worse,” Wayne Winegarden, a senior fellow at the Pacific Research Institute, told The Daily Wire. Restricting exports, he said, “creates a major long-term disincentive to expand oil production. And expanding oil supply is exactly what consumers need in light of the large supply shock that the Iran war has caused.” Sherman recently introduced a bill to restrict American oil exports. If it passes, the legislation would restore an energy export ban that was eliminated under the Obama administration. “This is a terrible idea that would rewind the clock on America’s energy success story,” Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX), one of Congress’s leading advocates for American energy independence, told The Daily Wire. “Since lifting Obama’s oil export ban, the United States became a net exporter of petroleum, strengthening our allies and creating thousands of jobs in places like the Permian Basin. Reimposing an export ban would hand leverage back to OPEC and Russia, hurt American producers, and weaken our energy security.” Many U.S. refineries were built decades ago and are not designed to process the type of oil America now produces in massive quantities. The United States relied heavily on foreign imports, and American refineries were built to process the heavier crude oil coming from Venezuela, Mexico, and Canada. A technological breakthrough that combined fracking and horizontal drilling led to the shale boom of the late 2000s, flooding the market with lighter crude. Refinery infrastructure did not evolve nearly as quickly as domestic production. About 70% of U.S. refineries are designed to process heavy crude oil. That mismatch between the type of oil America pumps and the type of oil it can refine is one of the primary reasons the United States both imports and exports oil.   “Although large quantities of crude oil are produced in the United States, it still imports crude oil to meet domestic refining needs,” writes the U.S. Energy Information Administration.  An export ban doesn’t correct that imbalance, experts say. Dan Turner, founder and executive director of Power The Future, told The Daily Wire an export ban would “leave us sitting on all this oil with nothing to do with it.” Raw crude has limited value until it is refined into usable fuels like gasoline and diesel, and the United States lacks sufficient refining capacity to process the bulk of its oil.  Retrofitting refineries to process significantly more light crude would take years and cost billions. But even if refineries were redesigned, the United States would still face another major obstacle.  A century-old law known as the Jones Act requires that cargo shipped between United States ports travel on American-built, American-owned, and American-crewed vessels. There are very few of them. In 2024, there were only 92 Jones Act-compliant ships, creating a major bottleneck in domestic energy transport. Oftentimes, it is cheaper to import foreign oil than to move American oil from one U.S. port to another.  Keeping oil at home doesn’t mean it can get where it needs to go.

On the world stage, President Donald Trump has long emphasized negotiating from a position of strength. He applied that same approach domestically with the creation of TrumpRx — a platform intended to give consumers, particularly those without prescription drug insurance, access to safe, effective, FDA-approved medications at reduced prices. By bringing major pharmaceutical companies to the table, Trump sought to leverage scale and pressure to deliver lower costs. The program bears his name, signaling that it is not incidental but central to his healthcare agenda. Yet actions — or more precisely, inaction — by the previous FDA commissioner undermined that effort. One of the fastest-growing segments of the pharmaceutical market is GLP-1 weight-loss drugs. These treatments are transforming the lives of many Americans struggling with obesity, offering not just cosmetic benefits but meaningful improvements in long-term health. Even with prices coming down, many Americans without insurance coverage — or whose plans exclude weight-loss drugs — still struggle to afford them. In that environment, TrumpRx should be a natural destination for consumers seeking affordable, legitimate options. Some consumers have turned to it. But for many, the promise of TrumpRx is being undermined by a parallel market offering similar-looking products at even lower prices. Why? Because drug compounders have aggressively filled the gap, offering unapproved knock-off GLP-1 products at dramatically lower prices. These products are often marketed through polished, highly targeted advertising — frequently aimed at younger, vulnerable consumers — and are priced well below what even TrumpRx can offer. The problem, as experts report, is that many of these compounded drugs rely on questionable or unsafe active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), often sourced from overseas. At best, these knock-offs are ineffective. At worst, they pose serious health risks. Attorneys general across multiple states have warned of potential harm, including severe adverse reactions requiring medical intervention. The agency tasked with protecting consumers in this space is the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary talked a big game on this issue, declaring on social media that the FDA “will take swift action against companies mass-marketing illegal copycat drugs” and warning that “it’s a new era” of enforcement against misleading direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising. The agency has issued more than 50 warning letters to telehealth firms over the past year, established a “Green List” of vetted API suppliers, and on April 30, 2026, formally proposed to exclude semaglutide, tirzepatide, and liraglutide from the 503B bulks list — a step that, if finalized, I’m told would shut the door on most large-scale compounding of these drugs. But Makary’s pace and reach of enforcement have not yet matched the rhetoric. A parallel market for unsafe knock-offs continues to flourish in plain sight, and the gap between what the commissioner promised and what is actually happening on the ground is the problem. Consider the FDA’s “Green List” of API suppliers. In theory, this list is meant to identify trusted sources whose products can move more easily through customs. In practice, key allies point to FOIA-released inspection records of suppliers believed to be on the list that reveal troubling deficiencies — foreign residue on equipment marked “clean,” canvas glove pieces left behind in clean rooms, rainwater in storage areas, water leaks in microbiology labs, and live and dead insects in places they should never appear. The fact that a significant portion of these suppliers are based in China — a country whose loosely regulated chemical industry is also the world’s primary source of fentanyl precursors trafficked into North America — raises additional concerns about quality control and oversight. Compounding at scale is supposed to be permitted only during shortages of approved drugs. That condition once applied to GLP-1 medications, when demand initially surged. But authorities note that the FDA resolved the tirzepatide shortage in December 2024 and the semaglutide shortage in February 2025. The legal basis for mass compounding has evaporated. Even if the “Green List” functioned as intended — which current evidence suggests it does not — the compounding process itself introduces additional risks. The FDA has documented hundreds of adverse event reports tied to compounded GLP-1s, including dosing errors leading to hospitalization and the use of unapproved formulations such as the salt forms semaglutide sodium and semaglutide acetate, which have never been shown to be safe or effective. Despite this, large-scale compounding continues. And there is no need for it, because safe alternatives are now widely available. TrumpRx has secured substantial price reductions. Injectable GLP-1s that once listed at roughly $1,000 to $1,350 per month are now available on the platform at an average of about $350 — and as little as $199 for the lowest dose. Oral formulations start at $149 per month. These are meaningful gains. But their impact is undercut when compounded alternatives — often lacking the same rigorous FDA oversight, quality controls, and consistency — are available at even lower prices despite materially higher safety risks. For seniors, obesity care is very important. In a national survey conducted by the Obesity Care Advocacy Network, 74% of medically eligible older Americans identified GLP-1 coverage as a top-tier health priority. One-third of all respondents said obesity care is a primary benchmark in evaluating whether a Medicare Part D prescription drug plan is high quality. An outdated provision in the law establishing Medicare Part D excludes coverage of weight-loss medications. Frustrated by the pace of congressional action to repeal this restriction, President Trump has made access to legitimate, FDA-approved GLP-1s more affordable right now. The administration created a temporary Medicare GLP-1 Bridge program, effective July 1, 2026, that allows eligible Medicare beneficiaries to obtain GLP-1s with a simple $50 monthly copay. Each consumer who chooses an unapproved compounded product over an FDA-approved drug available through TrumpRx or the Medicare Bridge represents a failure of the federal government and the program. The administration is expanding access to safe, affordable therapies, including GLP-1s, while another arm of the federal government — the FDA — was continuing to permit a sometimes lower-cost but demonstrably higher-risk parallel market to persist, one in which product variability, dosing inconsistencies, and sterility concerns can pose real dangers to patients. TrumpRx and the Medicare Bridge for GLP-1s were designed to give Americans access to safe, effective medications at reasonable prices. Expanding access to treatments like GLP-1s has broader public health implications, including reducing the long-term costs of obesity-related conditions for programs like Medicare and Medicaid. That is a meaningful achievement. But these programs cannot deliver on their promise if Americans continue to be drawn toward cheaper, riskier alternatives that the federal government has the authority — and the duty — to shut down. The previous FDA administrator’s regulatory gaps and inconsistent enforcement are allowing unsafe alternatives to compete directly with a program designed to provide safer ones. President Trump was right to fire Marty Makary on this failure alone. I implore him to ensure that his next FDA administrator gets this issue right and gives TrumpRX the tools it needs to succeed. *** Ken Blackwell is the former Ohio Treasurer and Secretary of State. He does a variety of national policy work through such organizations as the America First Policy Institute, the Family Research Council, the Public Interest Legal Foundation, and the Council for National Policy.

Adam Sandler is one of those comedians who everyone seems to love. He’s hysterically funny, down to earth, and 100% true to himself both on and off camera. Adam ditched the stereotypical Hollywood style a long time ago and proudly sports Hawaiian shirts and gym shorts as often as he can. Fans love Adam just as much as they did in his heyday on Saturday Night Live. He’s just as funny now as he was then, and his track record for movie success continues. Netflix gave us Happy Gilmore 2 in 2025, and fans went crazy. They loved seeing Happy and old Shooter McGavin back in action. Adam Sandler fans can get excited again: Netflix has confirmed that Grown Ups 3 is in the works. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Adam Sandler (@adamsandler) Adam Sandler’s Success at Netflix Makes it the Perfect Place for ‘Grown Ups 3’ Variety confirmed that Adam Sandler will reunite with Grown Ups 3 on Netflix, but the network remained mum on details. According to the news outlet, rumors swirl that Chris Rock, David Spade, Kevin James, and Rob Schneider will also return for the threequel, but at this point, those are just rumors. Variety reported that Adam Sandler and Tim Herlihy will write the script for Grown Ups 3, and Kyle Newacheck will direct. He also directed Adam’s Netflix movie Murder Mystery and Happy Gilmore 2. The Grown Ups franchise follows a group of lifelong friends as they tackle the ins and outs of adulthood. That includes relationships, parenting, and careers. In addition to Adam, Chris, David, Kevin, and Rob, the films also star Salma Hayek, Maria Bello, Maya Rudolph, Joyce Van Patten, Colin Quinn, Steve Buscemi, and Tim Meadows. The first two movies each grossed more than $200 million worldwide. A new Grown Ups movie sounds like a slam dunk for Adam Sandler, Netflix, and fans. This story’s featured image is by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic