Officials at the Food and Drug Administration have blocked publication of several studies supporting the safety of widely used vaccines against Covid-19 and shingles in recent months, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed. The studies, which cost millions of dollars in public funds, were conducted by scientists at the agency, who worked with data firms to analyze millions of patient records. They found serious side effects to be very rare. In October, the scient ...

Published Tue, May 5 2026 7:06 PM EDT Updated 2 Min Ago President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is pausing "Project Freedom," the U.S. military's effort to guide commercial ships out of the Strait of Hormuz, one day after the operation began. Trump, in a Truth Social post, said the decision was based in part on "the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement" with Iran. Project Freedom "will be paused for a short period of time to see ...

Tuesday 05 May 2026 10:35 EDT A Pentagon briefing on Iran Tuesday took a bizarre turn when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was forced to deny a claim that Iran has trained marine dolphins to conduct suicide attacks against U.S. forces and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Speaking at a press briefing at the Pentagon alongside Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair General Dan Caine, Hegseth was asked about “reports of kamikaze dolphins” that have appeared in some news outlets after Iran claime ...

White House East Wing debris dumped at nearby golf course has toxic metals, a report says The Associated Press May 5, 2026, 2:16 PM East Potomac Golf Course A pile of debris is seen in the background as Roman Sandal, right, prepares to putt at the East Potomac Golf Course, Sunday, May 3, 2026, in Washington. (AP photo/Julie Demaree Nikhinson) AP photo/Julie Demaree Nikhinson WASHINGTON (AP) -- Debris from the demolition of the White House East Wing that was dumped at a nearby public golf cou ...

Posted 11:07 AM, May 05, 2026 The Department of Justice is seeking the names of every person who worked in the 2020 election in Georgia’s Fulton County. The county is a Democratic stronghold that Donald Trump has long accused of widespread voter fraud. He has falsely claimed that fraud cost him the state against Joe Biden. Lawyers for the county filed a motion on Monday night to quash a grand jury subpoena that asks for the names and personal contact information of county employees and volun ...

(Raw Story) Senate Republicans unveiled a $72 billion spending package late Monday night, and onlookers were left stunned after discovering a $1 billion line item related to President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom project, which he’s long claimed would be entirely funded by private donors. “What happened to the ballroom being paid for by private funds?” asked political strategist Reed Galen, co-founder of the conservative organization The Lincoln Project, writing in a social media post on X late Monday night.

(Daily Beast) CNN’s chief data analyst is sounding the alarm on President Donald Trump’s abysmal poll numbers, saying they amount to an “absolute collapse” among key supporters. CNN’s Harry Enten said Trump, pushing 80, has watched his approval rating tank in recent months, with his disapproval hitting a record 62 percent as Republican-leaning Independents turn on him. “We are talking about a very important block [of voters] for the president of the United States—that is Republican-leaning Independents. That is what’s going on," Enten said Monday.

(Politico) President Donald Trump on Monday gathered more than a hundred small business leaders at the White House to tout tax cuts included in his “Big Beautiful Bill.”. Some of his closest allies worry the president is wasting time. With gas prices approaching record levels and Trump’s approval rating hovering around 37 percent, it’s time for Republicans to go scorched earth on Democrats, GOP operatives insist. And while Trump has never shied away from blaming the opposition, especially his predecessors, his tendency to deviate from his message — to talk about the new White House ballroom, the reflecting pool or the construction of his “victory arch” — is muddying the negative message allies insist the White House needs to sell heading into the fall.

(The Bulwark) Donald Trump's critics on the left have taken a lot of heat for suspecting that the assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner two weeks ago was a false flag attack—perhaps intended to give Trump a boost in the polls or provide an excuse to build his new ballroom. But it turns out that Trump supporters, already swimming in a sea of other conspiracy theories, don’t necessarily trust the WHCD shooting story presented by the feds, either. That’s one of the big findings of a recent focus group conducted by Bulwark publisher Sarah Longwell’s Longwell Partners of nine people who voted for Trump at least twice (in 2020 and 2024).

(The Hill) House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Monday he was devising a plan for redistricting in New York. The effort follows Florida’s decision to pursue new congressional maps and a Voting Rights Act decision from the Supreme Court that could change the math of some states’ districts ahead of the November midterms. In a statement, Jeffries said he asked Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) to travel to Albany, N.Y., on Tuesday to meet with state leaders in regard to the redistricting plan.