Trump Is Expected to Endorse Cornyn  —  President Trump's political advisers expect him to endorse Senator John Cornyn in Texas's May 26 Republican-primary runoff election following the incumbent's better-than-expected finish against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the first round of voting yesterday …

Sri Lanka rescues 30 people on board distressed Iranian ship, foreign minister says  —  A U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship off the southern coast of Sri Lanka, killing dozens of sailors and dramatically widening Washington's pursuit of the Iranian navy.

Justice Dept., Under Pressure From Trump, Fails to Build Autopen Case Against Biden  —  Prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's office in Washington were unable to build a case, underscoring the department's increasing inability to follow through on the president's desire to indict his rivals.

GOP Sen. Steve Daines of Montana says he won't seek re-election  —  The two-term senator endorsed Kurt Alme, the U.S. attorney for Montana, as his successor.  —  Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., announced Wednesday that he will not seek a third term, making him the latest Republican in Congress to head for the exit this year.

House Oversight panel subpoenas Pam Bondi over Epstein files  —  The House Oversight Committee on Wednesday took the remarkable step of issuing a subpoena to Attorney General Pam Bondi, compelling her to appear to answer questions about the Epstein files.  —  The resolution to subpoena Bondi …

James Talarico Says ‘New Politics’ Is Being Born After Texas Primary Win  —  After clinching the Democratic Senate primary, he told supporters in Austin that the country's real divide is between “top versus bottom,” not the left versus right.  —  James Talarico, the state lawmaker and seminarian …

‘Substantial reason to believe’ Tony Gonzales had sex with his staffer, House probe finds … Gonzales has denied wrongdoing and resisted calls from within his own party to resign as details of his relationship with the former staffer, Regina Santos-Aviles, continue to emerge.

Dem Candidate for Rep. Eric Swalwell's Seat Donated to Far-Right Republicans — Including Laura Loomer  —  A new Democratic candidate in California's 14th Congressional District primary raised eyebrows when she announced she raised $2 million in the first two weeks of her campaign.

Iraq plunged into nationwide blackout as US tells citizens to leave immediately  —  Iraq's Ministry of Electricity announced a complete shutdown of the national power system on Wednesday, with every governorate in the country losing electricity after all transmission lines …

‘Nazi heaven’: Inside Miami campus Republicans' racist group chat  —  The secretary of Miami-Dade County's Republican Party started a group chat primarily for conservative students last fall — and within three weeks it was filled with racist slurs, someone wrote dozens of ways …

Scoop: Trump officials broker massive U.S.-Venezuela gold deal … - The contract calls for 98% final gold content, the source said.  — Trafigura will shepherd the gold to U.S. refineries under a separate arrangement with the U.S. government, that source said.

Comer Opens Hearing on Minnesota Fraud with Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison  —  “Instead of protecting the whistleblowers, the Walz administration protected the system that enabled fraud.”  —  WASHINGTON— House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer …

Trump DOJ Pushes to Sideline State Bar Ethics Investigations  —  The Justice Department has proposed a regulation seeking to authorize Attorney General Pam Bondi to suspend state bar ethics investigations into current and former DOJ lawyers—a step outside attorneys quickly criticized as an illegal intervention into state-run processes.

Kristi Noem Misled Congress About Top Aide's Role in DHS Contracts  —  Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem misled Congress on Tuesday about the powers of her controversial top aide Corey Lewandowski, according to records reviewed by ProPublica and four current and former DHS officials.

Pro-American Kurdish Forces Are Preparing Possible Iran Incursion  —  The C.I.A. has given small weapons to Iranian Kurdish forces in Iraq in a covert program that began before the current war.  —  Pro-American, Iranian Kurdish forces based in Iraq are preparing armed units that could enter Iran …

ICE taking steps to close detention center at Fort Bliss, document shows  —  Preparations to shutter Camp East Montana in El Paso come less than eight months after facility's opening, according to an internal ICE document —  ending a tumultuous experiment in large-scale detention where three detainees died.

US launches military operations in Ecuador … Since President Donald Trump took office, the U.S. has taken aggressive steps to curb the flow of drugs from the Southern hemisphere.  The administration has conducted about 45 strikes against suspected smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean, killing more than 150 people.

Justice Dept. employee charged in child pornography case  —  Add CBS News on Google  —  A longtime Justice Department employee has been arrested and charged in a child pornography case, according to multiple sources who spoke with CBS News.  —  Timothy Parsons, a legal staffer …

Statement of the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on Ethics Regarding Representative Tony Gonzales  —  Pursuant to Committee Rule 7, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on Ethics (Committee) determined to release the following statement: