Here are today's featured stories, posted by DU members and curated by the Administrators. More news items can be found in our Latest Breaking News forum, and for all the most up-to-the-minute stories that are being talked about by DU members, visit the Latest Discussions page.
May 22, 2026
GOP Rep. Says January 6 Was 'Made Up': 'That Was A Staged Thing'
(Mediaite) Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) said on Thursday that the January 6 insurrection was “made up,” claiming that the event was “staged” by those who opposed President Donald Trump. Norman was asked by press about the Department of Justice’s new $1.776 billion fund set up as part of a settlement of Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the 2019 leak of his tax returns.
Go to discussion'Get ready for the handcuffs': No nonsense district attorney puts Trump allies on notice
(Raw Story) Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner made it crystal clear on Thursday that any Donald Trump ally — or any federal government agent — who attempts to interfere at polling locations in November will quickly be arrested and prosecuted. He then added that they will be facing state charges putting them beyond the reach of any possible Trump pardon. Speaking with MS NOW host Chris Jansing, the blunt-speaking Krasner noted that he is calling for an army of poll-watchers armed with folding chairs and phone cameras to provide him with evidence of MAGA criminality that will then be used in court.
Go to discussionOutrage as Trump cronies buy ICE warehouses for 10x markup: 'A new level of corruption'
(Raw Story) It was reported earlier this year that under then-Secretary Kristi Noem, who has since been fired, DHS was planning to spend nearly $40 billion to buy up dozens of warehouses around the US to convert them into makeshift detention camps that could each hold anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 people arrested as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation effort. But when Mae Ryan, a reporter at More Perfect Union, looked into the contracts, she said she “noticed something weird.”
Go to discussionBipartisan House bill would ban use of federal money for DOJ's
(CBS News) Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi of New York introduced a bill Thursday to ban the use of federal money for paying out claims from the Justice Department's new "anti-weaponization" fund. The bill, titled the Bipartisan Transparency for American Taxpayers Act, comes as Republicans fight over the nearly $1.8 billion fund that was established to compensate people who claim they were improperly targeted or investigated by the government.
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In apparent reversal, Trump says he's sending 5,000 troops to Poland
(ABC News) President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he is sending 5,000 U.S. troops to Poland -- appearing to reverse a move announced last week to halt a U.S. Army brigade headed to the U.S. ally in Europe. In a post on his social media platform on Thursday evening, Trump said the decision to send troops was, in part, because of the 2025 election of Poland's President Karol Nawrocki.
Go to discussionHearing bombshell: Acting director of NIH's infectious disease institute is out
(Science.org) Jeffery Taubenberger, an influenza researcher named last year as acting director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), has “stepped down from his position,” Senator Tammy Baldwin (D–WI) revealed at a Senate hearing today on the budget for its parent institution, the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The departure of Taubenberger, who is best known for resurrecting the sequence of the 1918 flu virus, comes amid a broad leadership shake-up at NIAID, which has long been under attack from President Donald Trump.
Go to discussionNancy Mace proposes ban on naturalized citizens in US government
(USA Today) U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace is pushing to bar naturalized Americans from serving in Congress or other high-levels of the federal government. A Republican from South Carolina, Mace has unveiled legislation aiming to ban foreign-born U.S. citizens from becoming federal judges and being appointed to Senate-confirmed positions. Mace, 48, called her push a "long overdue joint resolution" for the constitutional amendment.
Go to discussionTrump's Endgame in Iran Is Surrender
(The Atlantic) Trump has blinked many times in the confrontation with Iran—ever since March 18, when Israel attacked the Pars gas field and Iran retaliated with a strike against Qatar’s most important natural-gas-production facility. As the Institute for the Study of War reports, Iran has been using the cease-fire period to “normalize” its control over the strait by “compelling oil-importing countries” to establish transit agreements with Tehran and charging fees on vessels from nations without such deals. According to Iranian officials, the new strait regime will give Iran’s strategic partners, such as Russia and China, priority and allow nations friendly to Iran, such as India and Pakistan, to negotiate their own transit agreements.
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