Pressure mounts on Democratic national committee chair over delayed 2024 election autopsy report – US politics live
Pressure mounts on Democratic national committee chair Ken Martin
Ken Martin, the Democratic National Committee’s party chair, delayed releasing the DNC autopsy report, a 192-page analysis on the party’s 2024 election loss, for months – now that he has released the controversial report, he is facing mounting questions and a lack of confidence in his leadership.
David Hogg, the former DNC vice-chair, called on Martin to resign on Thursday. In a statement, Hogg wrote:
“This autopsy and the months-long debate about even releasing the report, is a demoralizing joke … Ken Martin should resign, and the DNC should select a new leader who demonstrates competence, creativity, moral clarity, and a relentless commitment to actually changing the broken Democratic Party brand.”
Some on Capitol Hill, including Seth Moulton, a representative from Massachusetts, have also called for Martin’s resignation.
“He should resign,” Moulton told Axios, adding that it’s “Utterly nuts it took us this long to release the autopsy.”
Key events
Jesse Hassenger
Host Stephen Colbert and the CBS Late Show bid farewell to the small screen on Thursday night after a controversial cancellation.
The CBS Late Show leaves the air as the No 1 show in network TV late night, with that 11.35pm real estate immediately and ignominiously rented out to Byron Allen’s longtime syndication seat-filler Comics Unleashed. It’s a stunning streaming-era abdication that will for ever be tied with Trump, even as the network has insisted (as echoed by a dolphin in a finale gag) that the decision was purely financial, not political.
With plenty of strong choices for last guests already sorted – David Letterman, Bruce Springsteen and Jon Stewart had already dropped by – the supersized 80-minute finale made a running gag out of a delayed reveal. Throughout the first half-hour, Bryan Cranston, Paul Rudd, Tim Meadows, Tig Notaro and Ryan Reynolds interrupted various usual Colbert bits. Finally, Colbert welcomed Paul McCartney, highlighting the show’s occupation (and CBS’s impending abandonment) of the refurbished Ed Sullivan Theater, where McCartney famously performed back in 1964 with the Beatles.
Trump commented on Colbert’s departure early Friday morning on Truth Social:
“Colbert is finally finished at CBS. Amazing that he lasted so long! No talent, no ratings, no life. He was like a dead person. You could take any person off of the street and they would be better than this total jerk. Thank goodness he’s finally gone!”
Advocacy group sues Trump administration over decision to reinstate near-ban on abortions for veterans
An advocacy group has filed suit against the Trump administration over its decision to reinstate a near-ban on abortions for veterans and their family members who depend on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for healthcare, AP reports.
The federal lawsuit filed Thursday says the rule finalized by the VA on 31 December takes away limited abortion access that was “crucial for the health, autonomy, and equality of veterans and their family members.”
Attorneys for the group Minority Veterans of America want the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to throw out the rule. They say the VA adopted the change without citing medical evidence or other justifications, violating the Administrative Procedures Act that governs federal rulemaking.
Cubans gather before US embassy in Havana to protest Raul Castro indictment
Thousands of Cubans gathered on Friday before the U.S. embassy in Havana to protest a U.S. decision to indict former leader Raul Castro in the downing of two civilian airplanes 30 years ago, Reuters reports.
The pro-government demonstration, which began shortly after sunrise on Havana’s waterfront, comes as Cuban officials rallied this week around the island’s former president and revolutionary hero.
Cuba says Castro’s indictment on murder charges on Wednesday was based on “spurious” allegations designed to serve as a pretext to invade the nation amid a Trump administration push to upend the island’s government.
Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel and Prime Minister Manuel Marrero attended the rally, the 94-year old Castro did not.
Opening summary
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House Republicans canceled a scheduled Thursday vote on a war powers resolution aimed at ending the US war with Iran, a measure that likely would have advanced had the vote been held.
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Donald Trump has announced he will deploy an “additional” 5,000 US troops to Poland, just days after the Pentagon controversially halted a long-planned deployment of forces to the country – the largest on Nato’s eastern flank.
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Nato’s secretary general Mark Rutte struck somewhat more cautious note, saying the bloc’s trajectory was one that was prioritising a stronger Europe, “less reliant on the US”.
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On Thursday, the US president admitted that he might skip Donald Trump Jr’s wedding, reportedly taking place in the Bahamas over the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, citing that he has “this thing called Iran”.
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US arms sales to Taiwan have been “paused” to ensure the US military has enough munitions for its Iran operations, according to Washington’s acting navy secretary.
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The US president, Donald Trump, and the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, on Thursday again raised the spectre of military intervention in Cuba, a day after the administration announced criminal charges against Raúl Castro, the island’s former leader.
Trump postpones executive order on AI, citing need to keep ‘lead’ over China
The US president Donald Trump postponed signing an executive order on AI because he did not like certain aspects of it and did not want to take any steps that might undermine the US position in its AI competition with China.
The order would create a voluntary framework for AI developers to engage with the U.S. government before the public release of advanced AI models, two sources familiar with the order told Reuters.
“I think it gets in the way of, you know, we’re leading China, we’re leading everybody, and I don’t want to do anything that’s going to get in the way of that lead,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Trump did not specify which parts of the executive order he objected to.
It comes after the Trump became the first US president in nearly a decade to visit China, and described his meeting with his counterpart Xi Jinping as “very successful”.
The administration’s plans were reportedly put on hold after a push from xAI founder Elon Musk and other big tech figures.
Replying to a post on X about the reporting, Musk said, “this is false,” adding: “I still don’t know what was in that EO and the president only spoke to me after declining to sign.”
