Trump Urges GOP to Pass Budget Bill; Biden Team Responds to Book Allegations; Severe Storms Batter Midwest

Trump's Push for Budget Bill

• 🏛️ President Trump met with Republican House members to urge them to pass a budget bill, referred to as the "big beautiful bill," before the Memorial Day recess.
• 💰 The bill includes extending 2017 tax cuts, eliminating taxes on overtime pay, and increasing defense and immigration spending, while cutting funding for Medicaid, food stamps, and clean energy subsidies.
• ⚠️ Trump warned Republicans against letting State and Local Tax (SALT) deductions and Medicaid cuts impede the bill's passage, urging them to "stop talking and get it done."
• 🗣️ House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise expressed commitment to passing the bill, acknowledging internal differences but emphasizing unity and the need for action.
• 📉 Some Republicans, including members of the House Freedom Caucus and those concerned about SALT taxes, remain hesitant, with Republicans able to afford only a few dissenting votes.

Biden Health Allegations and Response

• 📖 A new book, "Original Sin," by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, alleges that President Biden's team hid his declining health from the public.
• 🏥 The book's release comes shortly after Biden's diagnosis with prostate cancer, with authors claiming his schedule was structured to conceal his diminishment.
• ❌ A spokesperson for former President Biden denied the book's allegations, stating there was no evidence of failure to do his job or a cover-up, and that national security was not threatened.
• 🗣️ Naomi Biden, granddaughter of the former president, discredited the book, calling it a self-serving false narrative based on anonymous sources.
• 📈 The discussion also touched upon the timeline of Biden's cancer diagnosis and previous concerns raised by the release of audio from his interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur.

Severe Storms and FEMA Concerns

• 🌪️ Massive tornadoes, heavy rains, and high winds have caused widespread destruction in states like Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kentucky.
• ⚡ Reports include baseball-sized hail and lightning striking a police cruiser, with damage to homes and impassable roads due to downed trees and power lines.
• 📉 FEMA is facing challenges in assisting Kentucky residents recovering from deadly tornadoes, having lost approximately a third of its staff due to buyouts and firings.
• ☔ The storm system is pushing east, with potential for damaging storms in Memphis, Tennessee, Tupelo, Mississippi, Huntsville, Alabama, Nashville, Tennessee, Knoxville, and Atlanta, Georgia.
• ⚠️ Residents in affected areas are urged to stay alert, with concerns about continued damaging winds, hail, tornadoes, and debris posing hazards.

Other News Briefs

• 🚨 In New Orleans, a maintenance worker was arrested for allegedly aiding 10 inmates in escaping a jail through a hole behind a toilet, leaving a taunting message.
• ✈️ Newark Liberty Airport experienced its fourth air traffic control system outage in less than a month, causing flight disruptions.
• 🚢 Investigators are examining a deadly crash involving a Mexican naval ship and the Brooklyn Bridge, with early indications suggesting the incident occurred shortly after the ship left its pier.
• 🎤 Testimony continued in the sex trafficking and racketeering trial against Sean "Diddy" Combs, with witnesses detailing alleged abuse and control over Cassie Ventura and others.
• ⛪ SNAP (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests) unveiled documents accusing Pope Leo XIV of mishandling abuse allegations during his time as bishop in Peru, Chicago, and the Vatican.
• 🔥 Wildfires in Minnesota and Arizona continue to be battled by firefighters, with high winds and dry conditions posing ongoing risks.