Louisiana governor prepares to suspend House primaries after court ruling  —  Gov. Jeff Landry (R) told Republican House candidates he plans to suspend the May 16 primary elections so lawmakers can redraw the congressional map.  —  Summary  —  Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) …

Janet Mills Bows Out of Maine Senate Race as an Insurgent Democrat Rises  —  Her withdrawal reflects the energy of the party's left and voters' unease with older candidates and paves the way for Graham Platner to challenge Senator Susan Collins in November.  —  Gov. Janet Mills of Maine …

Public rejects Trump's ballroom by wide margin  —  The president's planned 250-foot arch and a Treasury Department plan to put Trump's signature on paper money are also unpopular.  —  Summary  —  Americans reject President Donald Trump's planned White House ballroom by a 2-to-1 margin …

Department of Just-Indict-Someone  —  Even Trump can barely defend the charges against James Comey with a straight face.  —  We know we keep saying it, but this business about the Strait of Hormuz is getting really, really alarming.  Oil prices hit their highest point since the war began overnight …

U.S. Debt Tops 100% of GDP  —  Federal debt exceeding the size of the economy is a potent symbol of the gathering fiscal stresses on the U.S.  —  WASHINGTON—The U.S. national debt now exceeds 100% of gross domestic product, crossing a once-unthinkable threshold, on the way toward breaking the record set in the wake of World War II.

Trump Administration Imposes Caps on Graduate School Loans  —  The changes stem from student loan provisions in a sprawling tax and domestic policy bill signed into law last year.  —  The Education Department said on Thursday that new caps on federal loans for graduate school would take effect on July 1 …

Thom Tillis doubles down on his latest Trump personnel ultimatum … Tillis has major leverage as a member of the Judiciary Committee, where Republicans have a one-vote advantage and he can exercise an effective veto.  —  That's exactly what Tillis did in the Senate Banking Committee …

The Logic of NACHO  —  The only available deal is no deal  —  On Wall Street, TACO — Trump Always Chickens Out — has abruptly been replaced as a favorite meme by NACHO — Not a Chance Hormuz Opens.  As a result, oil futures have soared.  —  I never bought into the TACO meme …

Democrats Regret Creating Independent Redistricting Commissions After Supreme Court Ruling  —  A decade ago, the party sought independent redistricting commissions.  Now, in an era of extreme gerrymandering, such efforts could slow Democrats as they try to keep up with Republicans.

Scoop: Commanders to brief Trump on new Iran military options Thursday  —  President Trump is slated to receive a briefing on new plans for potential military action in Iran on Thursday from CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper, two sources with knowledge tell Axios.

Hegseth to Defend $1.5 Trillion Budget, Iran War at Hearing  —  Hearing will be first public questioning by Congress … Questions for Hegseth  —  It's the start of two big days for Pete Hegseth.  —  For the first time since the Iran war began, the secretary of defense …

Scared and angry British Jews demand more from government after knife attack  —  Scared, angry at the government, and wondering whether they need to leave the country, British Jews in the north London suburb of Golders Green were reeling a day after an attacker stabbed two men in the street.

US economy undershot expectations to grow at 2% rate in first quarter  —  Expansion falls short of 2.2 per cent forecast by economists but marks a pick-up from a weak end to last year  —  Edited by Philip Georgiadis and Fergus Ryan in London  —  The US economy grew at an annualised rate …

Mark Sanford quits latest bid for Congress and says he'll set up a debt-focused nonprofit instead  —  Mark Sanford, the Republican former South Carolina congressman and governor whose political ascendency was stalled by a 2009 affair, has ended his latest bid for public office …

Republicans unlock filibuster-skirting power to pump billions of dollars to ICE … President Donald Trump wants the final product on his desk by June 1, completing one step in the two-part plan to resolve the DHS funding lapse that began more than 10 weeks ago.  —  “What choice do we have?”

This Summer, the American Water Crisis Becomes Real  —  Concerns over water access are poised to consume summer in the US, as crises in Corpus Christi and across the Colorado River threaten to boil over.  —  Two high-profile water crises, juiced up by climate change and industrial overuse, are building in the US.