Gerrymander
Week of April 24-May 1, 2026
Welcome to TRACKING THE CRISIS, a weekly round-up from The Democracy Collaborative tracking the administrative, legislative, and other actions of the Trump Administration as well as the many forms of legal and movement response from across a broad range of social, political, and economic actors. TDC is providing this service for collective informational purposes, as a tool for understanding the times during a period of disorientingly rapid flux and change in the U.S. political economy. This round-up is produced by humans, not by Artificial Intelligence. TDC should not be understood as endorsing or otherwise any of the specific content of the information round-up.
TRUMP TRACKER: Administration actions
Supreme Court votes 6-3 to ‘eviscerate’ the Voting Rights Act. In a party-line vote, with all Republican appointees voting in favor and all Democratic appointees opposed, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 on Wednesday, April 29, to restrict Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act – which broadly outlaws racial discrimination in voting – to exclude ‘race-conscious’ measures that have been routinely taken for decades to protect the voting power of minority communities and ensure their fair representation in Congress. The case in question, Louisiana vs. Callais, involves, as has been standard practice for decades and codified in law by Congress since 1982, a lower court’s ability to strike down a redistricting map on racial representation grounds and require states found to have racially gerrymandered their districts to redraw them – in this case, to ensure that majority Black districts are able to elect Black representation, or someone who represents majority interests. In Wednesday’s ruling, the conservative-led court found that forcing states to redraw maps to ensure representation for racially defined voting blocs was, according to Justice Alito who wrote the majority opinion, “engaging in the very race-based discrimination that the Constitution forbids” by virtue of including demographic data in the mapmaking process. Unable to strike down the statutory provision in Section 2 that required states to apply the question of “whether there is a group large and compact enough to form a single member district where they would have a fair chance of electing their candidate of choice” into the drawing of districts, Alito and the conservative majority limited the criteria determining how it is applied to only one instance: if a random computer model’s algorithm gave the group the ‘opportunity’ to elect their character of choice. Alito’s interpretation thus renders the Voting Rights Act itself, and the many affirmations of its practice over at least half a century, “a much weaker, and potentially toothless, law.”
Justice Elena Kagan, who wrote the dissenting opinion, blasted the majority’s decision, saying that “without a basis in Section 2’s text or the Constitution, the majority formulates new proof requirements for plaintiffs alleging vote dilution,” thus invalidating decades of actual historical practice that has demonstrably widened the depth and breadth of demographic representation in Congress. In her 48-page opinion, she pointed to the “obsession” that Justice Alito and Chief Justice Roberts have had with voting rights in particular; Kagan and the dissenting justices explicitly called out the fact that the Roberts court – and the conservative forces and interests behind it – has “set its sights on the Voting Rights Act” for over a decade, and the ruling is “part of a set” of actions taken by the conservative-led Court to stifle enforcement of the law. Noting that the Supreme Court had previously upheld the provision in Article 2, she said that the ruling deliberately set out to “revise,” “reformulate,” and “destroy” the Act; using “untenable readings of statutory text, made-up and impossible-to-meet evidentiary requirements, disregard for precedent, and disdain for congressional judgment” to pave the way for racially motivated state legislatures to advance “redistricting plans that will disable minority communities – in Louisiana and across the Nation – from electing, as majority communities can, ‘representatives of their choice.’”
A New York Times feature reviews key moments in the history of the Voting Rights Act and minority participation in U.S. representative democracy, showing how before the Civil Rights Movement pushed for the landmark passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, there had been zero representation for Black people or people of color in Congress since Jim Crow’s reign of terror replaced Military Reconstruction in the 1870s. It was only due to the hard-fought provisions of the Voting Rights Act that people of color began to have a voice in the halls of power. Advocates warn that Wednesday’s decision could return Black communities to the dark days of Jim Crow disenfranchisement: “If your partisan designs trump everyone else’s rights, then you can just, under the guise of partisan gerrymandering, eliminate the voting rights of minority voters simply because they don’t vote for your party. It is absolutely a Jim Crow tool now,” Mother Jones’ Pema Levy said of the kind of practices that could be unleashed by the decision. Several Republican-led states wasted no time in taking advantage of the new standards set by the decision; just hours after the ruling was announced by the Supreme Court, the Florida state legislature approved a redistricting bill, championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, that aggressively gerrymanders the state’s congressional districts in favor of adding up to four Republican seats in the midterm elections. Louisiana scrambled into action as well, facing a tight window to pass its gerrymandered map before the midterms. Trump praised the decision on Truth Social, saying that the ruling returned civil rights legislation to its “original intent”; he has previously told the New York Times that “white people had been treated very badly” as a result of enacting protections for racial minorities in the Civil Rights era.
Washington, Tehran locked in tense detente as Pentagon reports reveal extent of destruction of Gulf bases, depleted munitions; Araghchi goes to Russia. Trump’s war on Iran went into its third week of ceasefire with little development towards a permanent agreement to settle the war and end hostilities. As Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi landed in Islamabad last Friday to speak with his Pakistani counterparts who are mediating indirect talks between the U.S. and Iran, to discuss, among other things, Iran’s updated position on a “workable framework” to end the war. Trump scrambled to get Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff on a plane to Islamabad to catch him, with JD Vance “standing by”; but then abruptly canceled the trip on Saturday morning as it became clear Araghchi would not stay to meet them. By Saturday morning, Araghchi was on his way to Muscat to meet with Omani officials on “bilateral matters and regional developments.” Trump took to Truth Social to explain the cancellation, saying “Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work!” before reiterating that Iran’s leadership is in disarray and the United States holds all the cards. He concluded the post by saying if Iran wants to talk, “they can just call us.”
On Monday, April 27, after first stopping by Islamabad again to drop off Iran’s latest offer for the resumption of talks, Araghchi landed in St. Petersburg, where he was due for talks with Putin and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov “with the aim of continuing close consultations between Tehran and Moscow on regional and international issues.” Araghchi conveyed in the meeting that through the course of the war, “the world has now realised Iran’s true power” and “it has become clear that the Islamic republic of Iran is a stable, solid and powerful system.” Sitting across the table, Putin pledged to remain a staunch ally of Iran, seeing how “courageously and heroically the Iranian people are fighting for their independence and sovereignty.” Russian state media later quoted him as saying: “For our part, we will do everything that serves your interests, the interests of all the people of the region, so that peace can be achieved as soon as possible”; the clearest indication yet that Russia had openly ‘taken a side’ in the conflict. Al Jazeera’s Tehran correspondent Tohid Asadi said Russia will play a key role in whatever comes next: “We have a scenario for diplomatic settlement and another for confrontation… Russia is going to play a key role when it comes to both, so Iran’s FM is there for consultations.” In the meantime, the United States seized several Iranian-flagged tankers in international waters, in what Tehran condemned as “piracy and armed robbery on the high seas.”
Pete Hegseth and other Pentagon officials went to Capitol Hill on Wednesday and Thursday for hearings before the House and Senate Armed Services Committees. The Department of War is also trying to sell Congress on the unprecedented $1.5 trillion military budget the Trump Administration has requested for fiscal year 2027, amid the countdown to the 60-day deadline for a War Powers Resolution. The Pentagon’s official estimate for the cost of the war to date, as presented before Congress, is approximately $25 billion, most of which was spent on munitions. Many others, including Sen. Angus King, Rep. Ro Khanna and other lawmakers, believe that number to be far higher; economists and other sources with military experience estimate the actual number to be closer to $50 billion, double the number conveyed to Congress. Hegseth was grilled by Senate Democrats Thursday on the true cost of war; Hegseth refused to say whether the $25 billion figure would include the cost of repairing the ‘extensive’ damage done to U.S. bases in the Middle East, which Pentagon sources say is far more extensive than the department has let on. CNN reports that In the early days of the war, Iranian attacks “significantly damaged” at least nine U.S. bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, the UAE and Qatar in the space of just 48 hours; critical and expensive radar systems for THAAD missiles in Jordan and the UAE were also destroyed; and another report shared with the Washington Post revealed that the U.S. burned through $5.6 billion worth of advanced munitions in just the first two days of the Iran war. Pentagon reports also revealed that in one embarrassing incident that took place in the early phase of the war, an Iranian F-5 fighter jet – a vintage Vietnam-era, low-end model made famous in the 1980s film Top Gun – was able to breach the United States’ top-of-the-line layered defense systems to carry out a successful bombing run on Camp Buehring in Kuwait. The Pentagon also revealed data estimating that Iranian missile capacity has only been reduced about 40 percent and not ‘obliterated’ in contrast to what Trump and Hegseth have been claiming nearly every day; moreover, much of the ‘destroyed’ stockpile can easily be dug up and prepared for use relatively quickly by the IRGC, which according to reports is precisely what they have been using the ceasefire to do. The Atlantic reported that in closed-door meetings, JD Vance this week appears to have gone off the Trump Administration script, repeatedly ”questioning the Defense Department’s depiction of the war in Iran and whether the Pentagon has understated what appears to be the drastic depletion of U.S. missile stockpiles.”
The lies, evasions and complications around the U.S. military’s capabilities relative to Iran’s has become more salient near the end of the week as Trump and Israel have been escalating their rhetoric as well as making material moves that suggest a resumption of the war may be imminent. On Wednesday, Trump rejected the revised framework that Iran had put forward, which suggested an immediate resolution for opening the Strait of Hormuz while postponing nuclear talks, and told Axios that the blockade will continue until Tehran agrees to a nuclear deal; and that Iran “has to cry uncle… just say, ‘we give up’” to secure an agreement with Washington. Araghchi responded on behalf of Iran by posting on Telegram that “Iran is ready to pursue diplomacy if the American side changes its expansionist approach, threatening rhetoric, and provocative actions.” His stance was echoed by Iran’s Supreme Court Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, who released a statement on Iranian state media saying that Iran has “always welcomed negotiations” but that diplomacy is “based on logic and rationality”. He also called out U.S. intransigence by saying: “We certainly do not accept imposition. An enemy that has not achieved any of its goals and objectives through aggression and threats cannot be imposing or demanding at the negotiating table either.” As rumors of an impending strike continued to loom, Araghchi added that “Iran’s armed forces are also fully alert and prepared to defend the country decisively and comprehensively against any threat or aggression.”
On Thursday, a senior Trump Administration official informed Congress that hostilities with Iran have “terminated” just short of the 60-day War Powers deadline, perhaps merely a formality as Trump is claiming to “reset” the clock. Army National Guard units prepared to deploy to the Gulf as a CENTCOM official was reportedly sent to the White House to brief Trump on a new ‘plan’ that is rumored to involve a ‘short, powerful’ wave of strikes. Israel received 6,500 tons of munitions in 24 hours as it continued to bombard Lebanon, wiping out villages and killing 32 people in one day as IDF officials turned their sights – and their rhetoric – back on Iran. Mojtaba Khamenei issued a statement that hailed the nuclear program as a “national asset,” saying Tehran will “end the enemy’s abuses” in the Gulf while hinting at “new weapons” that will be used if hostilities resume; and said the only place America belongs in the Gulf is at the bottom of the ocean. Drone sounds and small explosions were heard over Tehran Thursday night as the IRGC reported engaging “micro-air vehicles” and reconnaissance drones. The official 60-day War Powers deadline was reached on Friday, May 1, which means any action Trump or Hegseth takes will drag the situation into an even more legally questionable realm than the last 68 days of military actions. Iran has sent a new proposal to Pakistani mediators, which Trump has said he is “not satisfied” with and has told reporters that he is “not sure they can ever” get to a deal, as Sen. Richard Blumenthal warned a strike is imminent.
‘Vibes all the way down’: UAE leaves OPEC, Ghalibaf takes aim at U.S. bond market as Iran war destabilizes petrodollar’s role in the world economy. While war pundits focus on bombings and bluster, the quiet yet accelerating decline of U.S. dollar hegemony in the global financial system has been described by some economists and investors as a second front in the war between the United States and Iran. The United Arab Emirates’ surprise exit from OPEC and OPEC+ this week appears as an apex event within the larger process of transition and restructuring of the global financial and geopolitical order as the war continues to erode U.S. political hegemony and the economic influence of the dollar in favor of a multipolar monetary order. During the tenuous ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammed Ghalibaf has taken to social media in recent weeks to mirror and confront Trump’s apparent market manipulation through his provocative announcements on Truth Social. Last week, Ghalibaf posted: “Vibe-trading digital oil is like vibe-hedging in treasuries during Hormuz risk-off. Both share one house of cards that works on paper. Difference: oil at least has Dated Brent. Treasuries? Vibes all the way down.” The comment on ‘vibe-trading digital oil’ refers to the recurring pattern of large spikes in oil futures trading immediately before and after Trump makes an announcement regarding the war; which, as the BBC has reported, has drawn public and federal scrutiny on a suspected massive insider trading scheme that is reaping billions of dollars in profit based on Trump’s statements and the war news cycle.
As far as Treasuries go, the recent turbulence in the U.S. bond market following the closure of the strait of Hormuz reflects the global oil panic as nations sold off large amounts of Treasury assets to obtain dollars to buy oil, leading to a temporary spike in yields; Ghalibaf makes the point that unlike the tangible commodity nature of oil, U.S. Treasury prices are mostly based in market psychology that has long regarded the U.S. dollar as a ‘safe haven’ for capital during periods of uncertainty. Ghalibaf’s implication is that Iran, with tangible value in the form of oil, holds the ‘real’ power and, like its asymmetric military capabilities, also has greater capacity for economic resilience in the current standoff than the foundering U.S. economy, which has remained at historic highs in recent months due in significant part to speculation and a giant asset price bubble in AI and tech whose bursting could precipitate a crisis in a sector at least three times larger now than in the dot-com crash of the early 2000s. His point was timely as the ‘safe haven’ role that U.S. bonds have played in the global economy for decades was thrown into question this week as dollar yields sharply diverged from oil prices, aggressively weakening against nearly every other currency as oil continued to climb and investors abandoned strong dollar bets; Treasuries also diverged from credit based assets as bond investors stuck to the most cautious possible route amid ongoing policy uncertainties; and the UAE made a critical move that called a fundamental question at the heart of the U.S. dollar-based global oil economy.
Amidst the trend of lower yields and weakening dollar demand, Gulf state economies have been hit hard as the Hormuz blockade sent oil revenues crashing and Iranian strikes have taken out a significant amount of production capacity; and in the UAE, the war has completely collapsed the tourism industry in Dubai with little prospect of recovery. Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the UAE had begun talks with Washington about opening a currency-swap line with the Treasury Department to provide a “financial lifeline” in the event of a dollar liquidity crisis, similar to the $20 billion swap that was extended to Argentina’s Milei in the midst of their financial crisis last year. Treasury observers note that Emirati finances are not currently on the brink of crisis, and it still “has more than enough U.S. equities and Treasuries to meet its needs.” The request for a swap line thus appears to be less out of economic need than a pointed political challenge to Washington; an “implicit threat” or “calibrated diplomatic warning,” as informed observers described it, designed to put the United States and the political investment-for-security bargain undergirding U.S. global dollar hegemony to the test. The UAE made this last point clear: even as it signaled no need for financial backing, it warned that if the current stalemate in the Strait of Hormuz goes on, prolonged dollar shortages could “force Emirati oil sales into Chinese yuan.” Treasury Secretary Bessent touted the plan in front of a Senate hearing, saying it would “prevent the disorderly sale of U.S. assets as nations look to secure access to dollars.” Ghalibaf once again offered his commentary on the situation on X; quoting Bessent, he noted that “some holders can’t sell,” referring to large institutional holders such as Gulf sovereign wealth funds, and warned: “Door closes if things escalate. Get out while still open,” highlighting that the real pressure point on U.S. hegemony right now is the bond market: “Their frontline is the yield curve.”
On Tuesday, April 28, just days after Bessent backed the currency swap line, the UAE stunned energy markets by announcing its exit from both OPEC and OPEC+. Observers note that this may have been coming for a while, given UAE’s longstanding rivalry with Saudi Arabia; the Iran war and oil crisis provided the catalyst for UAE to break with OPEC restrictions, capitalizing on the demand squeeze to maximize output to serve Western allies’ interests. It also signals a wider geopolitical alignment that has divided the GCC, with each of the Gulf states hedging the wider ‘great power’ rivalries in their own way. Saudi Arabia is leaning into its relationships with Pakistan, China and Turkey while UAE doubles down on its relationship with the United States and Israel in exchange for an Iron Dome of its own; and, through the currency swap, is set to act as a bastion for the petrodollar, aiming to eclipse Saudi Arabia as the main dollar clearinghouse for the region (while maintaining its own currency-swap arrangement with China). As the UAE and Saudi Arabia look set to engage in an oil ‘arms race’ to build alternative pipelines and routes to circumvent the Strait of Hormuz, many analysts see the petrodollar regime weakening even further as a result; but while some see the rise of the “petroyuan” to replace petrodollar hegemony, other experts, including some within China, acknowledge that the yuan still lacks reserve-currency infrastructure, and sees a more subtle shift emerging, with regional energy markets and currency circuits evolving in the near term as a “practical workaround” for a still-strong but increasingly volatile dollar regime.
Europe, feeling the squeeze of markets and political pressure, prepares for messy ‘divorce’ from United States. The scramble for alternative sources of oil and energy is redrawing the geopolitical map as we know it, according to author Daniel Yergin, who spoke to Bloomberg this week on the political calculus driving the shifting relations between various countries and regions. Following on from their summit last week, the UK and France called a new meeting of strategists from over 30 countries to discuss how the Strait of Hormuz can be kept open once a lasting ceasefire agreement has been established. So far, European countries have resisted Trump’s call to open the Strait by force; as an alternative, the effort would be “defensive in nature” and attempt to “translate the diplomatic consensus into a joint plan to safeguard freedom of navigation in the Strait and support a lasting ceasefire.” The plans come amid a deepening rift between the United States and the European NATO countries, which have come under increased fire from Trump and Hegseth as the United States gets stymied in the Strait of Hormuz. Hegseth lashed out at U.S. allies in Europe and Asia last Friday for not joining the United States in its efforts on the Strait of Hormuz, saying that “the time for free riding is over” and that “America deserves allies who are capable and loyal.” Noting that European nations “need the Strait of Hormuz more than we do,” Hegseth said they “might want to do less talking and having fancy conferences in Europe and get in a boat.” Last week, a leaked Pentagon email showed that the United States was reviewing options to expel Spain from NATO for President Sanchez’s staunch opposition to the Iran war. Spain is at the top of what has been described as a ‘naughty and nice’ list that Trump has drawn up for members of NATO as the Administration looks for ways to punish allies who refused to support the U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran. Sanchez dismissed the threat as NATO officials clarified that no mechanism exists for the United States or any other body to expel or suspend a member state from the organization. The Pentagon memo also mentioned “reviewing” Britain’s claim to the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands as a punishment for Keir Starmer’s refusal to join the U.S blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.
European leaders rallied behind Spain during an EU meeting in Cyprus over the weekend, as even Donald Tusk, usually a Trump ally, questioned if the United States would “remain loyal” to the alliance in the event of a Russian incursion, given the Pentagon’s recent decision to delay missile defense upgrades to Estonia citing the increasing need for spare munitions for the Iran conflict. French President Macron said “U.S. allies are no longer sure that Washington is a ‘reliable’ partner”; and German chancellor Friedrich Merz lay down harsh judgment on Monday, saying that Washington “clearly has no truly convincing strategy” in the war or the negotiations, and that “an entire nation [the United States] is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership.” Trump lashed back at Merz on Wednesday night, saying the United States is “studying and reviewing the possible reduction of troops in Germany.” Merz maintained his relationship with Trump remains “good,” while he said, “I’ve just had my doubts from the beginning about what was started there with the Iran war.” On Thursday, Trump expanded his ‘threat’ to withdraw troops from Italy and Spain as well, as he told reporters “why shouldn’t I? Italy has not been of any help… Spain has been horrible.” Even the UK appears to have soured on its ‘special relationship’ with the United States, as Sir Christian Turner, UK Ambassador, was quoted during King Charles’ visit to Washington DC this week that “there is probably only one country that has a ‘special relationship’ with the United States – and that’s probably Israel.” His remarks come amid a wave of ‘buyers’ remorse’ when it comes to Brexit, as 10 years on from the Brexit vote, nearly half of Britons polled this week supported rejoining the European Union.
Amid the intensifying friction with Trump, and facing potentially crippling economic effects from the oil shock, the EU’s 27 leaders appear to be near consensus on the issue of needing to decouple, or at least have more security independence from the United States, especially as everyone, including far right parties, face domestic backlash from voters and need to be seen as conspicuously distancing themselves from Trump and his agenda. However, analysts note a lack of unity on the question of how to go about it. Some countries with deep ties to the Middle East are focusing on stabilizing the situation vis-à-vis Iran, while others on the eastern flank are worried that Russia may make a move as Western Europe is caught in an energy and economic bind and Iran pulls focus from the Ukraine front. As the transatlantic political ‘trust’ that underwrote NATO deteriorates, a flurry of proposals with different ideas as to how the bloc could ‘work around’ NATO through organizing independent initiatives were discussed. Putting an end to NATO’s high-profile annual meetings was floated, perhaps as a way to avoid more embarrassing moments with Trump. Some countries, including the UK and France, are readying a naval force independent of NATO to help with security in the strait of Hormuz; but will only deploy it once a ‘lasting’ ceasefire has been established. At the summit on Friday, members approved an effort by the European Commission to draw up a plan on how to utilize a little-known provision clause for mutual assistance in Article 42.7 of the EU Treaty to form a new European alliance organization independent of U.S. influence. Another proposal discussed the creation of a European Security Council to replace NATO entirely. On Thursday, Britain announced an effort with nine other European countries to create a joint naval force to deter Russia as a “complement” to NATO.
Trump assassination attempt at White House Correspondents’ Dinner raises questions. The annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner, a gala event created in 1921 to celebrate journalists and the First Amendment, ended in chaos this year after a gunman charged past a security checkpoint near the venue at the Washington Hilton. Shots were exchanged, sending Cabinet members ducking under tables as Vance and Trump were rushed off the stage by Secret Service. Secret Service agents in the lobby fired in the direction of the shooter and tackled him, detaining him at the top of a staircase leading down to the floor where the event was being held. The suspect, Cole Thomas Allen of Torrance, California, had apparently planned the action for weeks beforehand; he had sent a manifesto to his family before he left for Washington, singling out Trump and a ranked list of Trump Administration officials as targets, saying, “I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.” His family, concerned about the letter, contacted law enforcement on the day of the shooting. The incident has perhaps permanently marred a Washington tradition that many journalists, especially this year, had already felt a strange tension walking into given the rapid erosion of press freedom in Trump’s second term; board members gathered this week to discuss if it should be rescheduled, or even if the tradition should continue now that the United States is hitting historic lows on the Press Freedom Index.
As more details have emerged about the incident, as well as Trump’s reactions to and handling of the incident, they are bringing up more questions than answers. Conspiracy theories abounded on the Internet after the shooting, with even people who were there pointing out many small details that made it ‘feel’ like a staged false flag attack. Many attendees of the event have pointed out the extraordinary lack of security around an event that was to be attended by the President of the United States, several Cabinet members and nearly the entire line of presidential succession. Even the gunman, writing down a ‘postscript’ to his manifesto in the Hilton hotel room he booked for the occasion, ridiculed what he called lax security at the hotel and noted that “Iranian agents could easily have brought more dangerous weapons to the venue.” The Washington Post noted that the Trump Administration provided a “lower level of security for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner than it has for other gatherings of high-ranking officials,” even though the concentration of high-ranking leaders in one ballroom “left the nation unusually vulnerable” in the event of an attempted attack. Closer examination of a video of the moments before the shooting released by prosecutors showed that a sniffer dog had approached the room where the shooter was hiding, only to be pulled back by his handler before moving on, putting the Secret Service under scrutiny. The White House announced Tuesday that it will hold a meeting to review Trump’s security in the wake of the incident and before Trump is scheduled to attend many high-profile events this summer, including the World Cup. How Trump himself responded to the event has also fanned some conspiratorial flames; especially in how he has capitalized on the incident to raise money for his White House ballroom, writing on Truth Social that “This event would never have happened with the Militarily Top Secret Ballroom currently under construction at the White House.” Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced legislation on Tuesday to authorize $400 million of taxpayer money for the ballroom project, to which AOC responded, “Hell no.”
MOVEMENT TRACKER
Workers in the American mainstream join the rest of the world in the streets for International Workers’ Day. This May Day, over 3,500 rallies took place across the United States, building upon the momentum of the No Kings protests that have brought millions of people onto the streets. The May Day Strong coalition, currently composed of “over 500 labor unions, student groups, community organizations, pro-democracy, immigrant rights, and racial justice groups,” called for this May Day to be a nationwide day of economic disruption, encouraging participants to do “no work, no school, no shopping” on May 1. In contrast to the previous ‘No Kings’ protests, this May Day demonstrations, which aim to be a “historic day of worker and student-centered protest to stand up to an authoritarian billionaire takeover of government,” articulates three specific demands: 1.”Tax the rich: our families before their fortunes,” 2. “No ICE, no war,” and 3. “Expand democracy, not corporate power: hands off our vote." While many cities have had large May Day rallies in the past, the scale and geographic scope of the protests, recent experiences in Minneapolis that brought the concept of the general strike back into the U.S. political imagination, and the growing immediacy and salience of class-based issues like ‘affordability’ have compelled a greater degree of recognition and legitimacy in the American mainstream; where media publications like The Hill and USA Today are running ‘explainers’ that outline the history of Haymarket and the prominence of workers’ struggle throughout the world.
In some cities, nonviolent civil disobedience actions are taking place: at Oakland International Airport, protestors targeted Delta terminals for the airline’s role in transporting ICE detainees; and in New York, protestors blocked entrances to the New York Stock Exchange. In North Carolina, over 20 school districts shut down for the day; and in Los Angeles, immigrant rights are taking the forefront on the 20th anniversary of La Gran Marcha, the historic immigrant rights march in 2006 that brought more than one million people into the streets and held the record for the largest single protest in U.S. history before No Kings. In several cities, protests are also demanding minimum wage increases in coordination with the May Day Strong Coalition around the message: “If you work, you should be paid enough to live – and lawmakers must take a clear position.” In Chicago, the city where May Day/International Workers’ Day was born out of the fight for the eight-hour work day and the Haymarket Riot of 1886, the day’s 140-year legacy was celebrated with rallies and labor tours. The Chicago Teachers Union attempted to close schools for the day, but settled on a compromise with Chicago Public Schools, which kept schools open but designated May 1 as a “Day of Civic Action,” allowing for students to take excused absences and teachers to take students on ‘field trips’ to the rallies on buses provided by the district. Mayor Brandon Johnson, along with eight other mayors, signed the Haymarket Declaration, pledging to commit the power of their office to serve workers’ rights.
The over 3,500 local May Day actions in the United States join an international tradition of protest and mass action around the world, where International Workers’ Day has been adopted by social movements throughout the world and many countries have designated International Workers’ Day as a national holiday. This year, annual rallies in Europe, Southeast Asia, and Africa are taking on specific meanings, demands, and issues as those societies grapple with high fuel and food costs as a consequence of the Iran war and global energy crisis. “Working people refuse to pay the price for Donald Trump’s war in the Middle East,” said the European Trade Union Confederation, which represents 93 trade union organizations in 41 European countries, according to the AP. “Today’s rallies show working people will not stand by and see their jobs and living standards destroyed.” In Cuba, 94-year-old Raul Castro marched with workers along Havana’s waterfront and past the U.S. embassy in a show of defiance as sanctions tighten and tensions between the two countries escalate. Castro was presented with a book containing 6 million signatures from Cubans, nearly two-thirds of the population, demonstrating popular will to defend the country in case of military action or invasion from the United States.
Global Sumud Flotilla attempts new Gaza aid voyage, intercepted by Israeli military near Crete. More than 160 activists on board aid ships with the Global Sumud Flotilla bound for Gaza have been taken to the Greek island of Crete, after being intercepted by Israeli military forces who seized their vessels in international waters near Greece earlier this week. According to the flotilla’s tracker, 22 vessels have been intercepted since Wednesday, April 29, while 48 boats are still sailing. World leaders and government officials around the globe have condemned the interception and seizure of the boats as a violation of international law, with Turkiye calling it an “act of piracy”. The Italian government “condemns the seizure of the Global Sumud Flotilla vessels,” calling on Israel to “immediately release all the unlawfully detained Italians.” The Spanish foreign ministry has summoned Israel’s charge d’affaires to convey its protest against the seizure of the vessels and the detentions, which Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called “illegal.” Flotilla organizers issued a statement condemning the illegal seizures, saying: “No state has the right to claim, police, or occupy international waters. Yet, that is exactly what Israel has done, extending its regime of control outward, occupying the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Europe.” Amnesty International warned that “while in custody, Israeli authorities must ensure that all activists are… treated humanely and protected from torture and other ill-treatment.” Last October, Amnesty International documented several cases of ill treatment, abuse, and torture among the 450 activists detained by Israel when the first Sumud Flotilla was intercepted near the Gaza coast. Of the 176 activists who were taken to Crete, 31 were transferred to health care facilities and of the rest, all but two were taken to the airport where they could go back to their home countries. Two were taken into Israeli custody: Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish national of Palestinian origin, and Brazilian citizen Thiago Avila. Both the Brazilian and Spanish governments accused Israel of “kidnapping” their citizens, and issued a joint statement saying: “This blatantly illegal action by the Israeli authorities, outside their jurisdiction, constitutes an affront to international law, is subject to adjudication before international courts.” Amnesty International issued a statement outlining human rights guidance for governments whose nationals have been detained, pointing out that Israel’s illegal arbitrary detention of foreign nationals so far outside their national territory is the “consequence of decades of impunity” for Israel’s ongoing atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza and their occupation of Gaza, West Bank, and now Lebanon. The guidance states in clear terms that: “The crew of the intercepted vessels must be immediately and unconditionally released. States must urgently support their detained nationals. They must also urgently put in place tangible measure to bring Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza to an end, including by immediately lifting its illegal blockade, and allowing unimpeded humanitarian aid to enter and be distributed across the Gaza Strip. Third states must stop granting Israel impunity for its atrocity crimes and expedite the adoption of measures to bring Israel’s unlawful occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory to an end, as indicated by the International Court of Justice in 2024.”
Google AI workers in revolt after Google signs secret $200 million deal with the Pentagon. More than 600 Google employees signed on to a letter that was sent Monday to CEO Sundar Pichai, demanding that he block the U.S. military from using the firm’s artificial intelligence technology for classified projects. Many of the signatories are research scientists working in Google’s DeepMind laboratory who feel “incredibly ashamed” that their work may be used for military applications; one of them said he feels like he has “woken up to the worst-case version” of what many AI employees at Google had feared. Google’s contract permits the Pentagon to use its Gemini AI models on classified networks for ‘any lawful government purpose’; however, it also states that Google cannot 'control or veto lawful government operational decision-making.’ Dozens of managerial staff also signed on to the letter, including directors and vice presidents who noted that their work on AI has made them acutely aware of the potential dangers of using the technology without guardrails. “Human lives are already being lost and civil liberties put at risk at home and abroad from misuses of the technology we’re playing a key role in building,” the letter said, warning that classified AI military work could cause “irreparable damage to Google's reputation, business, and role in the world.” Not wanting to be left behind in the government contracting race as President Donald Trump returned to office last year, Google quietly pulled back its commitment to not use artificial intelligence for harmful purposes, marking a stark departure from the company’s long-standing founding motto of “Don’t be Evil,” which it ditched in 2018.
