The Daily Brief - May 4, 2026
The latest on abortion pills by mail, the Strait of Hormuz, a hantavirus outbreak, and more
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Strait of Hormuz Standoff Escalates
The standoff over the Strait of Hormuz has escalated, with the US and Iran trading fire on the first day of a new American mission to move commercial ships through the waterway. President Trump announced the operation, which he calls “Project Freedom,” in a social media post yesterday.
After the announcement, US Central Command said that two Navy guided-missile destroyers entered the Gulf to support the mission, with 15,000 service members, more than 100 aircraft, and drones backing the broader operation. CENTCOM chief Adm. Bradley Cooper later told reporters that US helicopters destroyed six small Iranian boats in the strait after Iran launched cruise missiles, drones, and small boats at US Navy and commercial ships. CENTCOM also said that two American-flagged merchant vessels successfully transited the strait.
Iran responded that it will treat US action in the strait as a violation of the ceasefire. The Strait of Hormuz normally carries about a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil trade. Iran has effectively closed it since the war began Feb. 28, and the US has run a counter-blockade of Iranian ports since April 13.
SCOTUS Restores Access to Abortion Pill
The Supreme Court has temporarily restored mail and telehealth access to abortion pills while it considers an emergency appeal from the pill’s manufacturers.
Louisiana’s attorney general sued the drug companies that make mifepristone — Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro — arguing that allowing abortion pills to be dispensed by mail undermines the state’s abortion ban. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Louisiana last week, ruling that mifepristone can only be dispensed in person at a clinic and cutting off mail-order and telehealth access nationwide. Both drug companies then filed emergency appeals asking the Supreme Court to intervene.
Justice Samuel Alito issued an order this morning pausing the Fifth Circuit’s ruling from going into effect until May 11. He gave no reason.
Both companies are asking for a longer pause while litigation continues, and for the justices to take up the case on the merits before their summer recess.
Mifepristone is used in about two-thirds of US abortions, and roughly a quarter of patients get it through telehealth.
Southern States Move to Redraw House Maps
Two more Republican governors have called special sessions to consider new congressional maps. The moves are part of a wider effort across the South following last week’s Supreme Court ruling that struck down Louisiana’s second majority-Black district as a racial gerrymander.
The Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais narrows Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which had long required states to draw districts where racial minority groups did not have their votes diluted by cracking (splitting racial minority groups into different districts to minimize their impact) or packing (putting many minority voters into one district to diminish their impact on majority white districts).
South Carolina too is considering redrawing its congressional districts. Last week, Republican Gov. Henry McMaster said it would be “appropriate” for the legislature to to review the state’s map, and several GOP gubernatorial candidates have called for redrawing it to target Rep. Jim Clyburn, the state’s only Democratic House member.
Tennessee Republicans are openly aiming to break up the Memphis-based 9th District, the only Democratic seat in the state’s nine-member House delegation, which is held by Rep. Steve Cohen. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who is running for governor, has called for a 9-0 Republican map.
Alabama is currently under a federal court order to keep two majority-Black districts in place until after the 2030 census. Since Callais was decided, the state’s attorney general has filed emergency motions asking the Supreme Court to lift the injunction, and Gov. Kay Ivey said the special legislative session is meant to have a new map ready in case the Supreme Court lifts the injunction in time for it to be used this November.
Republicans hold a thin US House majority and have spent nearly a year pushing mid-decade redistricting in friendly states. Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, and Florida have already redrawn their maps to favor the GOP, while California and Virginia have redrawn theirs to favor Democrats.
Newsbreak
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Suspected Hantavirus Outbreak Kills Three on Cruise Ship
A Dutch cruise ship carrying nearly 150 people was stranded off the coast of Cape Verde today, awaiting clearance from local authorities to bring the passengers ashore. A suspected hantavirus outbreak on board has killed three passengers and left several others critically ill. There are reportedly 17 Americans on board the ship.
Hantavirus is a rare disease usually picked up from contact with the urine, droppings, or saliva of infected rodents. There is no cure.
The ship, MV Hondius, was on a cruise from Argentina to Cape Verde, an island nation off the coast of West Africa. The first to die was a 70-year-old Dutch man who fell ill on board on April 11; his 69-year-old wife later collapsed at Johannesburg’s airport while trying to fly home and died at a hospital. A German national died on the ship on May 2. So far only one case has been confirmed as hantavirus: a British passenger now in critical condition at a Johannesburg hospital. Two crew members on board, one British and one Dutch, are also seriously ill.
Cape Verde’s health ministry said today the situation is under control on land but has not allowed the ship to dock at the port of Praia, and local authorities have refused to let the people on board come ashore. The Netherlands has agreed to bring back the sick crew members home, and the World Health Organization is helping coordinate medical evacuation. It was not clear how the infections occurred.
Spirit Airlines Shuts Down
Spirit Airlines went out of business over the weekend after 34 years and two bankruptcies, stranding tens of thousands of passengers.
After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection — a process that lets companies keep operating while restructuring debt — twice in less than a year, Spirit had reached a deal with creditors in February. But the war in Iran began three days later, sharply increasing fuel prices and airfares. Since then, the company had been in talks with the Trump administration about a last-minute rescue plan involving a $500 million federal cash infusion in exchange for giving the government a stake of up to 90% of the company. But some creditors rejected the deal, citing the near-total federal control it would create.
The company’s closure puts about 17,000 people out of work, including roughly 14,000 Spirit employees and thousands of contractors. Passengers showed up to airports across the country Saturday morning to find Spirit’s planes grounded and customer service unreachable.
The company said refunds for flights booked on credit or debit cards will be processed automatically, but bookings made through third-party agencies must be refunded by those agencies. United, Delta, JetBlue, and Southwest have offered reduced fares for stranded Spirit passengers.
Indiana State Senate Primary Tests Trump’s Grip on GOP
Indiana Republicans vote tomorrow in state Senate primaries that have become a national test of how much loyalty President Trump can demand from his own party.
The fight goes back to December of last year, when 21 state senate Republicans joined all 10 Democrats to defeat a mid-decade redistricting plan that would have given the GOP up to two more US House seats from Indiana. The plan had been developed at Trump’s request, and it was the first time a Republican legislative chamber had rejected Trump’s redistricting drive. Trump warned beforehand that any Republican who voted no would face “a MAGA Primary in the Spring.”
At least 10 of those incumbents who defied Trump are on the ballot tomorrow. Trump has endorsed seven challengers running against incumbents who voted no. Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, a Trump ally, told CNN that at least three wins out of the seven targeted races would count as a successful night for the pro-Trump side.
So important to get EVERYONE to vote! Especially after such a negtive, depressing news day. We all have to work on that together-- We need change everywhere!