May 3

Rubio certifies AECA Section 36(c) emergency to approve arms sale to Gulf states, bypassing 30-day congressional review

Secretary of State Marco Rubio invokes Section 36(c) of the Arms Export Control Act on May 3, 2026, certifying an emergency to approve an arms sale to Gulf states — including Saudi Arabia and the UAE — without the standard 30-day congressional notification period. Rubio cites Iran's regional military activity as the emergency justification, mirroring Pompeo's 2019 certification. The package's value and specific contents are not immediately disclosed to the public, though the administration notifies the full congressional intelligence committees in a classified briefing. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch receives notification; Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) objects that the emergency justification doesn't meet the statute's standard and calls for a committee vote on a resolution of disapproval. The certification extends a pattern in which executives use Section 36(c) to sell weapons to Gulf partners during periods of Iran tension, effectively converting an emergency exception into a routine policy tool.

Trump says the United States will help free ships stranded in the Strait of Hormuz

Reuters reported that Trump posted on Truth Social that the United States would launch an operation to help ships stranded in the Strait of Hormuz. The post matters because it combined wartime signaling with global commerce and maritime security.

Vance joins National Day of Prayer ceremony at the White House

Vice President JD Vance joined President Trump at the White House on May 3, 2026, for the National Day of Prayer ceremony. Congress established the National Day of Prayer as a federal observance in 1952 and designated the first Thursday in May as its annual date in 1988; presidents issue proclamations and hold ceremonies that function as public signals of the administration's alignment with religious communities and its positions on religious liberty in public institutions.

California man indicted for threatening to kill Fani Willis over Trump prosecution

A federal grand jury indicted Marc Shultz for allegedly posting online threats to injure and kill Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis because of her prosecution of Donald Trump. Prosecutors said Shultz wrote that Willis would be killed, adding another case to the pattern of threats against officials connected to Trump criminal cases.

Iowa SF 2340 prohibits DEI offices and diversity statements at public universities

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 2340, which prohibited Iowa's public universities from maintaining DEI offices, using diversity or equity statements in hiring and admissions, or sponsoring DEI programming with state funds. Iowa State University, the University of Iowa, and the University of Northern Iowa all faced compliance deadlines and began reviewing their organizational structures. The Iowa law was notable for its explicit prohibition on diversity statements in hiring. Legal scholars noted the provision could be challenged as a viewpoint-based restriction on faculty speech in the hiring process. The AAUP issued a statement warning that the diversity statement prohibition could be used to screen out faculty whose research or teaching engaged with equity-related topics.

Thiel donates $15M to JD Vance's Senate race, manufacturing a U.S. senator

Peter Thiel donated $15 million to Protect Ohio Values PAC supporting JD Vance's 2022 Ohio Senate campaign — the largest known donation from a single individual to a Senate race at that time. Vance had worked for Thiel at Mithril Capital venture fund, and Thiel personally introduced Vance to Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in 2021 after Vance had been a Trump critic. Vance won the Republican primary in May 2022 and the general election in November 2022. By 2024, Thiel's creation — Vance — was selected as Trump's vice presidential running mate, entering the White House as the first sitting VP with direct employment ties to a specific tech billionaire donor.

The Supreme Court declines Burk's Arizona decertification petition

Staci Burk filed or pursued Burk v. Ducey in Arizona after the 2020 election. The case sought to decertify Arizona results based on allegations of widespread election fraud in Pinal County and statewide. The primary court document records that the U.S. Supreme Court denied the petition for a writ of certiorari on May 3, 2021.

SCOTUS rules in Shelley v. Kraemer that courts cannot enforce racially restrictive housing covenants

The Supreme Court rules 6-0 in Shelley v. Kraemer that state courts cannot enforce racially restrictive covenants, private agreements barring the sale of property to Black buyers. Chief Justice Fred Vinson writes that using state court power to enforce racial covenants constitutes state action prohibited by the Fourteenth Amendment. The ruling does not make restrictive covenants illegal, only unenforceable in court. Private discrimination in housing continues, and the FHA does not remove race-based underwriting requirements until the 1950s.