Morning Brief: Trump’s Budget Win, D.C. Attack, & Parents Fight Trans Law

The budget bill moves to the Senate, Trump confronts the President of South Africa, and two staffers at the Israeli Embassy are gunned down in a targeted attack. Plus, Colorado passes a bill that makes misgendering a discriminatory act.

It’s Friday, May 23, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.

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Washington Roundup

Topline: It’s been a busy few days in Washington, with big news on Trump’s budget bill, South Africa, and even the Supreme Court.

Early Thursday morning, the House of Representatives passed a comprehensive tax and budget package — what the president has been calling the “big, beautiful bill.” This was a huge win for President Trump, who pushed congressional Republicans to pass a single bill rather than several smaller pieces of legislation. It’s perhaps an even bigger win for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who not only rallied his caucus to this seemingly impossible task, but did so by his self-imposed Memorial Day deadline, which many people thought was impractical. The bill passed the House 215-214, with every Democrat voting “no” and a handful of Republicans dissenting as well. The legislation now goes to the Republican-controlled Senate, which Trump hopes will wrap things up by July 4.

The bill contained many key priorities for the Trump administration. Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, joked that there was so much good stuff in the bill, it was impossible for him to single out the most important part: “You’re asking me to choose amongst my children! They are all very important … we have ended fiscal irresponsibility and futility by not being able to pass big reductions and mandatory savings that make total sense.”

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Among other things, the bill, which is more than 1,000 pages long, raises the debt limit by $4 trillion and funds Trump’s priorities on border security, energy, and national defense. It extends the 2017 Trump tax cuts, which are set to expire at the end of the year. It also defunds Planned Parenthood and blocks federal dollars from funding transgender procedures.

Meanwhile… This week, President Trump hosted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in an Oval Office meeting — they wanted to talk tariffs and foreign aid. Remember, this came on the heels of the White House welcoming 59 white South African farmers to the United States. Those farmers claim they’re fleeing an anti-white genocide in their home country, something the South African government strongly denies. But Trump came prepared to have that conversation with Ramaphosa, at one point dimming the lights in the Oval Office to play videos of anti-white rhetoric in South Africa.

And… On Thursday, the Supreme Court handed down a 4-4 decision on whether Oklahoma could open the nation’s first religious charter school. Justice Amy Coney Barrett abstained from voting, which caused the tie. Because there was no majority, the court did not issue an opinion, and we don’t know how the other justices voted. But that also means this case does not become federal precedent, and the court will likely have to take up the issue again.

Embassy Staff Gunned Down In Antisemitic Terror Attack In D.C.

Topline: Two Israeli Embassy staffers were gunned down in Washington, D.C. this week in what FBI officials are calling an act of terrorism.

On Wednesday night, the American Jewish Committee was hosting a celebration at the Capital Jewish Museum, just blocks from the U.S. Capitol. As the event ended, a lone gunman opened fire, killing 26-year-old Sarah Milgrim and 30-year-old Yaron Lischinsky, both of whom worked at the Israeli Embassy and were in a relationship. According to family members, Yaron had purchased an engagement ring and planned to propose to Sarah next week during a trip to Jerusalem.

Shortly after opening fire, the gunman, 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez, entered the museum and told attendees to call the police. Footage from the scene shows him holding up a red kaffiyeh while chanting two words while being handcuffed: “Free Palestine.”

Days before the attack, the museum where the shooting took place applied for a security grant from the D.C. Government, citing “concern[s] about security due to some very scary incidents that some institutions have faced and because of a climate of antisemitism.” FBI Director Kash Patel said the incident was an act of terrorism, and officials say Rodriquez appeared to have acted alone.

Shortly before the attack, Rodriquez published a manifesto titled “Escalate for Gaza, Bring The War Home.” There, he wrote that anyone supporting Israel had “forfeited their humanity,” adding that his attack was “in some funny way, the only sane thing to do.” In recent years, Rodriguez was heavily involved in far-Left political activism — taking part in numerous anti-Israel demonstrations and working with the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL).

Jewish leaders have been warning that growing anti-Israel sentiment on college campuses and in the media would inevitably lead to attacks like this one. Jonathan Epstein, a recent graduate of Columbia University who was a witness to the shooting, told CNN, “I saw the same thing in his eyes that I saw in the eyes of all the protesters at Columbia. Nothing different between him and them. … They gave the permission. And they have called for this.”

Colorado Makes “Misgendering” Illegal

Topline: “Misgendering” is now officially an illegal, discriminatory act under Colorado law.

Colorado Democratic Governor Jared Polis signed House Bill 1312 into law last week. This applies to places like workplaces and schools, and violations of the statute could lead to fines or other civil penalties under Colorado’s anti-discrimination laws.

The law is drastically pared down from its original version, which said parents in custody battles who misgender or “deadname” their child were guilty of “coercive control” and could lose custody. Under Colorado law, “coercive control” is a serious category that includes things like threatening to kill someone.

“This bill was an attack on parental rights,” Colorado House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese (R-14) told The Daily Wire. “This is an issue that transcends party lines. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Republican, a Democrat, or unaffiliated. Nobody wants the government to be raising our children, or telling us how to raise our children.”

More than 700 Coloradans signed up to testify against the bill, and tens of thousands more signed petitions against it. Ultimately, Democrats were forced to strike the radical custody battle language, and some Democratic lawmakers even backed down and refused to vote for it unless the custody provision was removed.

The new law bars Colorado courts from enforcing statutes from other states that could remove children from parents who support their children taking transgender hormones or undergoing surgeries. It also requires schools that have dress codes to allow students to wear the uniform of the opposite gender and mandates that schools have policies affirming chosen names. The bill also allows people who identify as transgender to change the gender marker on their driver’s license up to three times without a court order.

Colorado has other controversial bills on transgender ideology coming down the pike, including one that would ban health insurers from limiting so-called “necessary” transgender procedures.