The Daily Brief - May 6, 2026
The latest on the Iran war, primary election results, the hantavirus outbreak, and more
These are today’s top stories, delivered straight to your inbox. Catch up here on all the news.
Iran War
President Trump said today that the war with Iran could end soon, but warned that bombing will resume — at a “much higher” intensity — if Iran does not accept the US’s terms.
Axios reported today that the US proposal is a one-page, 14-point memorandum that would declare an end to the war and open a 30-day window for detailed talks on the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s nuclear program, and US sanctions. Iranian officials said they are reviewing the proposal.
Trump launched “Project Freedom” two days ago to guide commercial ships through the strait by force, risking an escalation with Iran which has warned ships not to transit without its permission. Last night, Trump halted the operation — reportedly at Pakistan’s request. Hours later, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said “safe and sustainable transit through the strait will be facilitated.” The IRGC statement did not provide details.
The strait has been effectively closed since the US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. About 20% of the world’s oil normally passes through the waterway, and the closure has driven crude prices up and fuel inventories down.
Indiana, Ohio, Michigan: Election Results
Five GOP state senators in Indiana who voted against Trump’s congressional redistricting push lost their primaries yesterday to Trump-endorsed challengers.
In Ohio, former Sen. Sherrod Brown won the Democratic Senate primary and will run in the general election against Republican Sen. Jon Husted, who was appointed to the seat after JD Vance became vice president. Brown is attempting a comeback after losing his Senate seat in 2024. In the governor’s primary, Vivek Ramaswamy beat Casey Putsch on the Republican side. Ramaswamy will face Democrat Amy Acton, who ran unopposed.
In Michigan, Democrats kept control of the state Senate. Democrat Chedrick Greene won the 35th senate district special election by about 20 points, in a district Kamala Harris carried by less than a point in 2024. A Republican win would have deadlocked the chamber 19-19.
FBI Raids Office of VA Democrat Who Led Redistricting
The FBI searched the district office of Virginia state Senate leader L. Louise Lucas this morning, along with a cannabis dispensary she co-owns.
Lucas helped steer Virginia’s recent redistricting through the legislature — which produced a new congressional map favoring Democrats.
Anonymous law enforcement officials told The Washington Post that the investigation involves bribery allegations and began during the Biden administration.
Cruise Ship Hantavirus Outbreak
The World Health Organization has now confirmed that the hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius involves the Andes strain, a rare variant that can spread from person-to-person through close contact. Most hantaviruses only spread from rodent droppings or saliva.
Three sick patients were evacuated this week. The ship is currently anchored off Cape Verde with about 150 people still on board, including 17 Americans. Three passengers have died so far, and the WHO has identified seven cases in total — two lab-confirmed, and five suspected. The WHO believes the virus was likely introduced by a passenger who picked it up before boarding.
Cape Verde, an island nation off West Africa, has refused to let passengers come ashore. The ship is expected to head next to the Canary Islands for a full epidemiological investigation.
Newsbreak
In American Daughters, author Piper Huguley delves into the remarkable friendship of Portia Washington and Alice Roosevelt, the daughters of educator Booker T. Washington and President Teddy Roosevelt. Brought together in the wake of their fathers’ friendship, these bright and fascinating women helped each other struggle through marriages, pregnancies, and political upheaval, supporting each other throughout their lives. A provocative historical novel and revealing portrait, American Daughters vividly brings to life two passionate and vital women who nurtured a friendship that transcended politics and race over a century ago.
$1 Billion for the White House Ballroom
Senate Republicans have allocated $1 billion in an immigration bill for President Trump’s new ballroom project.
The bill text says the money is for “security adjustments and upgrades” only. A spokesman for Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told reporters the bill “does not fund ballroom construction.”
But White House officials told The Washington Post yesterday that, if enacted, the legislation would fund and authorize the entire project, ballroom included.
The ballroom had previously been priced at $400 million, which Trump said would come entirely from private investors and not taxpayers.
New Tennessee Congressional Map Released
Tennessee Republicans released their proposed congressional map this morning which splits Memphis into three districts and Nashville into five. If passed, all nine of Tennessee’s congressional seats would lean Republican in a state where roughly 40% of voters back Democrats.
The new map splits the 9th Congressional District, currently the state’s only majority-Black district and only Democratic stronghold. This practice is called cracking (splitting racial minority groups into different districts to minimize their impact), and will likely result in Democrats losing the district.
Both chambers of the Tennessee General Assembly are expected to pass the new map. While typically such bills require multiple days of hearings, the GOP majorities in the state legislature are proceeding on an expedited schedule to have the new map passed on Thursday for the 2026 midterms. Tennessee’s congressional primary filing deadline already passed on March 10, and the primary itself is August 6. Democrats have opposed the new map proposal.
The Tennessee push is part of a wider Southern scramble to change maps after the Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais. Florida already enacted a new map that adds four GOP seats. Louisiana’s governor postponed congressional primaries scheduled for May 16, resulting in two lawsuits. The Alabama legislature called a special session to consider a new map, though the state remains under a federal court order requiring two majority-Black districts through the 2030 census. The state’s attorney general has filed emergency motions asking the Supreme Court to lift that injunction.
DOJ Steps Back from Andy Ogles Probe
The Justice Department appears to be winding down its nearly two-year investigation of Tennessee Republican Rep. Andy Ogles about whether he misrepresented his campaign finances in 2022. Ogles’ attorneys said this week that prosecutors agreed to return his phone and destroy data the FBI had pulled from his Google account.
The FBI probe began with a local news investigation in late 2023 that flagged a discrepancy in Ogles’ campaign finance reports: he initially reported to FEC he had loaned his campaign $320,000, then later amended that to $20,000. The FBI seized Ogles’ phone in August 2024, the day after he won his primary.
A House ethics panel separately concluded in 2025 that it had “substantial reason to believe” he misrepresented his finances. Ogles’ treasurer told the ethics panel that the representative may have misrepresented his finances to “buy the primary” by making his campaign look better-funded than it was.
Ogles’ legal team had argued that the FBI’s seizure of his phone and email violated the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause, which protects members of Congress from executive branch scrutiny of their legislative communications. With prosecutors now stepping back, that legal question goes unresolved.
ICE Walks Back Fast-Track Hiring
The Trump administration is abandoning the fast-track hiring program it used last year for ICE after fatal shootings and a whistleblower account drew criticism over short training and weak background checks.
The program cut basic training by more than 40%, about 240 hours, and let ICE grow from roughly 10,000 officers in January 2025 to more than 22,000 by early this year.
Now the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, plans to standardize instruction across offices and lean on veteran officers to mentor newer hires in the field.
You should end every day with “and the Epstein files still haven’t been released”
Thanks for distilling this all down. The book recommendation is very interesting too.