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Trump administration plans to stop routine Covid-19 vaccine recommendations for pregnant women, children, WSJ reports
The Trump administration is planning to drop routine Covid-19 vaccine recommendations for pregnant women, children, and teenagers, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The Department of Health and Human Services, led by secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, is expected to make the change as it introduces a new vaccine approval framework. The timing of the announcement is unclear but could come within days.
Currently, the CDC recommends Covid-19 vaccination for everyone aged six months and older, including pregnant women. It’s also unclear whether HHS intends to fully revoke these recommendations or simply advise patients to consult their doctors about the risks and benefits.
Kennedy has been a longtime opponent of Covid vaccines. In 2021, he petitioned the FDA to revoke their emergency-use authorization. Several Trump allies working with him have also opposed the vaccines, especially mRNA shots and those approved for children.
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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that federal law enforcement is investigating a social media post made by former FBI Director James Comey that she and other Republicans suggest is a call for violence against President Donald Trump.
In an Instagram post, Comey wrote “cool shell formation on my beach walk” under a picture of seashells that appeared to form the shapes for “86 47.”
Merriam-Webster says 86 is slang meaning “to throw out,” “to get rid of” or “to refuse service to.” It notes: “Among the most recent senses adopted is a logical extension of the previous ones, with the meaning of ‘to kill.’ We do not enter this sense, due to its relative recency and sparseness of use.”
”Disgraced former FBI Director James Comey just called for the assassination of @POTUS Trump,” Noem wrote on X. “DHS and Secret Service is investigating this threat and will respond appropriately.”
Numerous Trump administration officials, including Noem, said Comey was advocating for the assassination of Trump, the 47th president.
The post has since been deleted. Comey subsequently wrote, “I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message. I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence.
A group of voters is suing Elon Musk’s America Pac, alleging that they weren’t paid what they were promised for signing a petition during President Trump’s 2024 campaign.
Three plaintiffs from Pennsylvania, Nevada and Georgia filed the lawsuit last week on behalf of anyone who is in the same situation. The voters are suing the Super Pac of not paying them in full for their signatures or for referring other voters to sign.
The petition declared support for the first and second amendments to the constitution.
Tiffany Trump, the president’s youngest daughter, announced the birth of her first child on Thursday: Alexander Trump Boulus. The boy is Trump’s 11th grandchild.
“Welcome to the world our sweet baby boy, Alexander Trump Boulos. We love you beyond words. Thank you for coming into our lives!,” Tiffany posted on X.
Tiffany Trump is married to business executive Michael Boulos. His father, Massad Boulos, serves as Trump’s senior adviser for Africa.
Judge dismisses trespassing charges against people crossing US-Mexico border
A federal judge in New Mexico on Thursday dismissed trespassing charges against dozens of immigrants caught in a new military zone on the US-Mexico border, marking a setback for Trump administration efforts to raise penalties for unlawful crossings into the US.
Chief US magistrate judge Gregory Wormuth began filing the dismissals late on Wednesday, ruling that immigrants did not know they were entering the military zone in New Mexico and therefore could not be charged, according to court documents and a defense attorney.
Assistant federal public defender Amanda Skinner said Wormuth dismissed trespassing charges against all immigrants who made initial court appearances on Thursday. The immigrants still face charges accusing them of crossing the border illegally.
“Judge Wormuth found no probable cause,” Skinner said in an email.
The New Mexico US attorney Ryan Ellison, who filed the first trespassing charges against migrants on 28 April, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Military commanders will be told to send transgender troops to medical checks to oust them
Military commanders will be told to identify troops in their units who are transgender or have gender dysphoria, then send them to get medical checks in order to force them out of the service, officials said Thursday.
A senior defense official laid out what could be a complicated and lengthy new process aimed at fulfilling President Donald Trump’s directive to remove transgender service members from the US military.
“Commanders who are aware of service members in their units who meet the criteria of this policy will direct individualized medical record reviews,” a senior defense official told reporters Thursday. “Any individuals who meet the criteria of the policy and do not voluntarily identify themselves and go through the voluntary separation process will be processed involuntarily unless they are granted a waiver.”
The new order to commanders relies on routine annual health checks that service members are required to undergo. Another defense official said the Defense Department has scrapped — for now — plans to go through troops’ health records to identify those with gender dysphoria.
A Wisconsin judge who was arrested by the FBI last month on allegations that she helped an undocumented immigrant avoid federal authorities pleaded not guilty.
Milwaukee County circuit judge Hannah Dugan entered the plea during a brief arraignment in federal court. US magistrate judge Stephen Dries scheduled her trial to begin on July 21. Dugan’s attorney, Steven Biskupic, told the court the trial is expected to last about a week.
Dugan is charged with obstruction and concealing an individual to prevent arrest. Prosecutors allege that on 18 April, she escorted Eduardo Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out of her courtroom through a back door after learning US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were in the courthouse to detain him for being in the country illegally.
If convicted, she faces up to six years in prison.
Donald Trump announced deals totaling over $200bn between the United States and the United Arab Emirates, as we reported earlier, including a $14.5bn commitment between Boeing, GE Aerospace and Etihad Airways.
The White House said Boeing and GE had received a commitment from Etihad Airways to buy 28 American-made Boeing 787 and 777X aircraft powered by GE engines.
“With the inclusion of the next-generation 777X in its fleet plan, the investment deepens the longstanding commercial aviation partnership between the UAE and the United States, fueling American manufacturing, driving exports,” the White House said.
Etihad has a fleet of around 100 aircraft, Reuters reports. Etihad CEO Antonoaldo Neves said last month that Etihad planned to add 20 to 22 new planes this year, as it aims to expand its fleet to more than 170 planes by 2030 and boost Abu Dhabi’s economic diversification strategy.
A Palestinian activist and Columbia University student can attend his college graduation amid the Trump administration’s efforts to deport him, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
Mohsen Mahdawi will be allowed to go to Columbia’s commencement on May 21. The student was recently released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention after being arrested during his naturalization hearing in April.
“Mr. Mahdawi is permitted to travel to New York State on or about May 15, 2025, returning to Vermont on or about May 25, 2025, in order to attend his graduation ceremony at Columbia University and related events,” judge Geoffrey Crawford wrote.
Mahdawi is a green-card holder targeted over his on-campus activism at Columbia.
Trump's tax bill hits setback in US Congress amid internal opposition
A Republican effort to advance President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax bill hit a setback today, as hardline conservatives demanded larger Medicaid cuts in exchange for their support in a procedural vote.
House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington, a Republican from Texas, said that the vote, scheduled for Friday, could be delayed amid internal opposition.
“There are concerns about having to get more information, which would potentially delay this to next week,” Arrington said.
According to Reuters, at least four hardliners on the panel threatened to block the measure, which would be enough to stop it from advancing, given Republicans’ 21-16 majority.
House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson insisted that the legislation was still on track for a floor vote next week, while other Republican leaders said disagreements between warring Republican factions had dwindled to a handful of issues.
“This is always what happens when you have a big bill like this. There’s always final details to work out, all the way up until the last minute, so we’re going to keep working,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said.
The FBI is disbanding a Washington-based team that investigates fraud and public corruption involving members of Congress and other federal officials, anonymous sources told the Associated Press.
An FBI official described the move as part of a broader reorganization of the bureau’s Washington field office. The agency will continue investigating corruption cases, the official said, though it’s unclear where the disbanded squad’s agents will be reassigned.
Other squads within the same office remain focused on public corruption cases in Washington, DC, and Virginia.
The move comes amid a larger shift in how the Trump administration handles public corruption enforcement. That includes efforts to downsize a Justice Department unit tasked with prosecuting fraud and corruption involving public officials.
Senate Republicans have blocked a Democratic resolution to require more transparency from the Trump administration about deportations to El Salvador, the AP reports.
The vote today was the latest attempt by minority Democrats to force Senate votes disapproving of Trump administration policy. The Senate rejected, 45-50, the motion to discharge the resolution from committee and consider it immediately on the floor.
“This information is critical at a time when the Trump Administration has admitted to wrongfully deporting people to El Salvador, and after Trump has said he’s also looking for ways to deport American citizens to the same terrible prisons,” said Virginia senator Tim Kaine, the lead sponsor of the resolution.
The resolution blocked by Republicans would force administration officials to report to Congress about what steps it is taking to comply with courts that have ruled on the deportations. Democrats have highlighted the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to the Central American country and who a Maryland judge has said should be returned to the US.
Former Justice Department pardon attorney Liz Oyer filed a lawsuit today in the US District Court in Washington DC, accusing the DOJ of unlawfully withholding records related to her firing and to a request to restore actor Mel Gibson’s gun rights.
Oyer believes she was terminated earlier this year because she refused to support restoring Gibson’s gun rights. Gibson lost those rights after being sentenced to probation for domestic violence in 2011.
The lawsuit claims the DOJ failed to release documents about her dismissal, despite several requests under the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act.
Oyer submitted two such requests after her firing to get more information related to the Gibson case and records about her termination. The DOJ acknowledged receiving the requests, but it did not meet the legal deadlines for disclosure.
The complaint asks the court to order the DOJ to immediately release the records.
A group of Senate Democrats introduced a resolution to block a $1.9 billion arms sale to Qatar amid concerns over a luxury jet offered to President Donald Trump.
The resolution is a direct response to Trump’s desire to accept a $400 million private aircraft from Qatar, which is reportedly intended for use as a new Air Force One.
“This isn’t a gift out of the goodness of their hearts – it’s an illegal bribe that the President of the United States is champing at the bit to accept. That’s unconstitutional and not how we conduct foreign policy. Unless Qatar rescinds their offer of a ‘palace in the sky’ or Trump turns it down, I will move to block this arms sale,” said Democratic senator Chris Murphy in a statement.
Trump’s comments about accepting the jet has drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle, including Republican senator Ted Cruz and several Democrats.
