The Daily Brief - Apr. 27, 2026
The latest on the WHCD shooter, Florida and Virginia redistricting, geofence warrants at the Supreme Court, and more.
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WHCD Shooter Charged
The 31-year-old man accused of targeting the White House Correspondents’ Dinner armed with guns and knives has been charged with attempting to assassinate President Trump and other crimes.
Cole Tomas Allen, a California tutor, is accused of exchanging fire with the Secret Service at a security checkpoint outside the ballroom of the Washington Hilton. No attendees were seriously hurt, and one agent who was hit was reportedly saved by his bulletproof vest.
Investigators say Allen sent family members a long note minutes before the attack that read as a mix of grievance, confession, and farewell, apologizing to relatives while trying to justify what he was about to do.
The note does not name Trump, but in a 60 Minutes interview that aired last night, Norah O’Donnell read Trump one of its lines: “I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.” Trump denied the descriptors and called O’Donnell “a disgrace” for reading the words on air. “Oh, do you think he was referring to you?” O’Donnell asked. Trump again denied being a pedophile, and criticized O’Donnell for reading part of the manifesto on air. “You should be ashamed of yourself reading that because I’m not any of those things,” he said.
Trump, Allies Push to Kill Ballroom Lawsuit
The Trump administration is using the attack on the White House Correspondents’ Dinner to argue that the lawsuit blocking construction of the president’s $400 million White House ballroom should be dismissed.
In a letter posted on X by the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche says, “in light of [Saturday] night’s extraordinary events,” the Washington Hilton is “demonstrably unsafe” for events with the president, making construction of the ballroom on White House property that much more important.
President Trump demolished the East Wing of the White House last year to make way for the 90,000 square foot ballroom. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has sued to stop its construction, arguing that Trump didn’t get the necessary sign-off for the project from the National Capital Planning Commission and Congress.
A judge halted above-ground construction last month, allowing only work on an underground bunker. The DC Circuit has scheduled oral arguments for June 5.
Supreme Court Lets Texas Map Stand
The US Supreme Court reversed a lower-court order today that had blocked Texas’s redrawn congressional map. The decision clears the way for the state to use its newly-drawn lines in the 2026 midterms.
The case, Abbott v. League of United Latin American Citizens, grew out of a mid-decade redistricting effort Texas Republicans pushed through at the urging of President Trump, who wanted more Republican-leaning seats to protect the party’s narrow majority in the House of Representatives.
A federal court in El Paso blocked the map, saying it violated the Constitution and the federal Voting Rights Act. Texas appealed to the Supreme Court.
The justices reversed the lower court’s ruling without holding a hearing or asking lawyers to file written arguments — a fast-track move the court uses infrequently. They issued a brief, unsigned order, noting there was dissent from Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
The map could give Republicans up to five additional House seats.
Newsbreak
At the end of a busy day, one of the best ways to unwind is to settle down, turn on some music, and do a puzzle. This 300-piece Rocky Cliff Lighthouse jigsaw puzzle comes together in just a couple of hours — it’s just enough to be challenging, but finishable in one sitting. Made in the US with recyclable materials and premium puzzleboard, the pieces come together with a satisfying click. When you’re done, you’re rewarded with a beautiful coastal scene of sunset beyond the lighthouse, based on work by artist Dominic Davidson.
Geofencing at SCOTUS
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments today on whether police can use “geofence warrants” — court orders compelling Google and similar companies to identify every phone in a defined area at a defined time — without violating the Fourth Amendment.
The case, Chatrie v. United States, involves a 2019 robbery of a credit union in Midlothian, Virginia, in which the suspect made off with $195,000. With no leads, police served Google with a warrant covering a 150-meter radius around the bank for the hour of the robbery.
Google came back with 19 phones — those of users who had turned on Location History, the only people Google could track. The police narrowed the list to nine accounts, asked Google for more details, then asked Google to identify three of those people by name.
One of the three names was Okello Chatrie. He was arrested and eventually pleaded guilty to the robbery.
In their Supreme Court appeal, Chatrie’s lawyer told the justices that the police violated the Fourth Amendment by searching first, and deciding who was a suspect later. The Justice Department argued that when Chatrie turned on Google’s location tracking, he gave up any expectation that what he did with his phone in public would stay private.
Neil Gorsuch and Sonia Sotomayor — often on opposite ends of the bench — warned that allowing broad access to location data could open the door to sweeping surveillance of other personal digital information, such as emails, photos, and documents.
Justices Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh focused on the practical consequences for policing. Kavanaugh, in particular, questioned whether investigators had actually done anything improper.
Meanwhile, Chief Justice John Roberts suggested that users can simply disable location tracking. But he also asked about the implications of performing sweeping searches of everybody present at particularly sensitive locations, like a church or a political organization.
A ruling is expected by the end of June.
Florida and Virginia Redistricting
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis released a proposed state congressional map today, a day before the legislature’s special session on redistricting. The map would create the potential for four additional Republican seats in Congress.
Virginia’s redistricting battle is continuing after voters approved a referendum that could give Democrats four additional House seats in the state. The Virginia Supreme Court heard oral arguments today on a Republican challenge to the new map. Republicans argue the legislature broke procedural rules in placing the amendment on the ballot.
Virginia’s constitution requires a constitutional amendment to clear two consecutive legislative sessions with an election in between. Republicans argue this standard wasn’t met. Several justices — though not the majority — signaled today they thought the timing was a problem, and the court has not said when it will rule.
Iran Talks
Iran is now proposing reopening the Strait of Hormuz now if the US ends its naval blockade, saying a deal on its nuclear program can wait until later.
The White House has not formally responded to the offer.
Accepting Iran’s proposal would mean a faster end to the war but would cost Trump his biggest piece of leverage — the blockade — without securing the two things he said he needed: a suspension of Iran’s uranium enrichment and the removal of its enriched-uranium stockpile from the country.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg today, where the Russian president told him Moscow would do “everything that serves your interests” so that “peace can be achieved as soon as possible.” Russia has previously offered to store Iran’s enriched uranium as a way to defuse the standoff — an offer Washington has not taken up.
The trip to Russia followed Araghchi’s weekend stops in Pakistan and Oman.
Court: Trump’s Asylum Ban Illegal
Last week, an appeals court blocked President Trump’s proclamation suspending asylum at the US-Mexico border. The president issued the order on the first day of his second term last year, barring entry to asylum seekers until such time he determined that “the invasion at the southern border has ceased.” The Immigration and Nationality Act says any person physically present in the US — regardless of how they entered — has the right to apply for asylum, get a screening interview to show a “credible fear” of persecution, and have their claim heard by an immigration judge before being deported.
In its opinion, a three-judge panel said Trump’s order ignored long-standing federal laws outlined by Congress and probably endangered migrants’ lives.
The court concluded that the INA doesn’t authorize the president to remove immigrants like the plaintiffs under “procedures of his own making,” or allow him to suspend their right to apply for asylum. The plaintiffs include those removed or marked to be removed from the US.
The Trump administration is expected to appeal.
Senate Budget Reconciliation
Senate Republicans are moving forward with a new plan to fund ICE and CBP, which will allow them to send $70 billion without any support from the Democrats.
Republicans are using budget reconciliation, which is a process that allows Congress to pass bills related to revenue in the Senate with a simple 51-vote majority instead of the usual 60 needed to break a filibuster.
The reconciliation process requires both the Senate and the House to pass a budget resolution, or budget framework. It tells specific committees how much they have to spend, and then those committees write a budget that sticks to the framework. Then, the committees in both houses of Congress reconcile those budgets, working to agree on final numbers, and the bill can be passed with a simple majority in each chamber. The budget reconciliation process can only be used once per year per topic.
The Senate cleared the budget reconciliation proposal 50-48 last week, with two Republicans joining all Democrats in opposition, while the House has not yet taken it up. The temporary DHS funding is running out this week, and several agencies, including TSA, say they won’t be able to continue to pay employees unless Congress acts.
After reading all of these stories, I can only comment: to this republican administration, maybe try writing some policies that actually work for the people instead of spending all your time trying to finagle your way into continued power. It’s childish, pathetic, and disgraceful.