US
(Holly Otterbein – Axios) Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner is making the case that his primary race against Gov. Janet Mills is all but over, a full two months ahead of their primary election on June 9. The Maine Democratic contest to take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins is one of the messiest primaries in the country, exposing rifts in the party over age, gender and ideology. – Democrat Platner: Governor Mills’ Maine Senate primary race nearly finished
(Andrew Solender – Axios) A House Democrat announced Monday she will introduce articles of impeachment against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth over his handling of U.S. operations in Iran. Hegseth is emerging as Democrats’ top target in the Trump Cabinet following the ousters of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi. Polls have shown Hegseth is among the least popular members of the Cabinet, with the mounting costs of the Iran conflict placing further strain on his public image. The White House and Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment. – House Democrat announces impeachment push against Hegseth over Iran war
(Andrew Solender – Axios) Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will sit for a transcribed interview with the House Oversight Committee on May 6, three sources familiar with the matter told Axios. Lutnick has come under intense public scrutiny after the Justice Department’s release of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein shed new light on the ties between the two men. – Howard Lutnick to sit for May interview with House panel on Epstein
(Kyle Stokes – Axios) Newly released video contradicts federal claims that two Venezuelan immigrants assaulted an ICE agent with a snow shovel before an agent shot one of them during Operation Metro Surge. The footage raises questions about why it took federal officials weeks to back off from their original story about — and drop criminal charges against — the wounded Julio Sosa-Celis and his roommate, Alfredo Aljorna. The New York Times, which was first to publish the video, reported that authorities had access to the footage “within hours of the shooting.” – New video contradicts ICE’s original story about North Minneapolis shooting – Axios Twin Cities
(Dan Folliard and Michael Sion – Breaking Defense) Private capital is a potential force multiplier for the defense industrial base. Investment is at a record high and deal counts are climbing. Investors are placing big bets on new entrants that promise faster timelines, lower costs, and capability gains. At the same time, the US government has made acquisition reform and defense industry capacity top priorities over the past year. It feels like a turning point, but it is also a fragile one. If financial backers and the government don’t work to understand each other, the investment and effort could be in vain. Capital alone doesn’t produce readiness. Defense development cycles are long and the path from prototype to scaled production is rarely linear. Unless suppliers, customers, and investors move in sync, investment could pour in without enhancing military capability—or driving results for investors, suppliers, and taxpayers. – Will private capital and disruption reshape the defense industrial base? – Breaking Defense
(Ashley Roque, Valerie Insinna, Theresa Hitchens, Michael Marrow, Diana Stancy and Carley Welch – Breaking Defense) While the Trump administration is requesting $1.5 trillion in defense spending for fiscal 2027, that number will likely to trend downwards in the coming years based on projections revealed (…) by the Office of Management and Budget. As part of the Trump administration’s broader FY27 budget request roll out, OMB broadly laid out plans to hike defense spending by budgeting $1.15 trillion in the base budget request and an additional $350 billion from a forthcoming reconciliation bill. This is the first time that base budget defense spending has hit the $1 trillion mark. However, that $1.5 trillion figure could drop to $1.28 trillion in 2028, only rising to $1.35 trillion in 2031, if no additional reconciliation or supplemental dollars are approved, according to an OMB chart. Given that mid-term elections are coming up later this year and Democrats could reclaim one chamber, prospects of future reconciliation bills are dim, meaning that FY27 could simply be a one-year surge in funding. While those numbers are far from final and lawmakers are ultimately charged with passing bills, they do provide a peak into plans to boost investments at a time when the administration is moving out with a new National Defense Strategy that places an emphasis on the Western Hemisphere. In the coming weeks, the Pentagon is expected to release in-depth budget justification documents detailing how it wants to funnel $1.5 trillion to specific programs next year. However, OMB and initial department documents broadly lay out the plan. – Golden Dome, out-years and lots of missiles: Details of Trump’s $1.5T defense budget request – Breaking Defense
US/Hungary
(Zachary Basu – Axios) Vice President Vance on Tuesday will plunge into Europe’s most volatile election in years — a Hungarian campaign engulfed by spy scandals, sabotage and unprecedented peril for MAGA’s favorite foreign ally. Viktor Orbán is the cornerstone of President Trump’s vision for Europe. The pro-Kremlin, anti-EU strongman has spent 16 years building a template for Christian nationalist rule now embraced by the American right. Trump’s national security strategy openly calls for “cultivating resistance” in Europe by empowering nationalist forces like Orbán’s. His defeat would shatter that model at its source. Vance arrives in Budapest with a clear mission: Boost Orbán as an indispensable U.S. ally in the fight against migration and the liberal European order. – Trump MAGA global model faces big test in Hungary
War in Iran/Middle East/Gulf and beyond
(Al Arabiya) The UN Security Council is expected to vote Tuesday on a watered-down resolution calling for the unblocking of the Strait of Hormuz. The vote is expected at 11:00 am (0300 GMT), though the outcome is not certain. The text in question has been diluted in recent days in the hope of avoiding rejection. – UN security council vote expected on Strait of Hormuz resolution
(Al Arabiya) Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is reportedly “unconscious” and is receiving medical treatment in the Iranian city of Qom, The Times reported on Monday citing intelligence assessment. Khamenei, who succeeded his father Ali Khamenei after being killed in US-Israeli strikes on Iran, is being treated for a “severe medical condition,” the report said referencing a diplomatic memo that was believed to be based on American and Israeli intelligence. – Iran’s supreme leader reportedly ‘unconscious,’ ‘receiving treatment in Qom’
(Al Arabiya) Saudi Arabia intercepted and destroyed 11 ballistic missiles that were launched toward the Kingdom’s Eastern Province, Ministry of Defense announced on Tuesday. – Saudi Arabia intercepts 11 ballistic missiles, 18 drones
(Reuters/Al Arabiya) The Israeli military on Tuesday told people in Iran not to use trains or go near railway lines. “For the sake of your security, we kindly request that from this moment until 21:00 Iran time, you refrain from using and travelling by train throughout Iran,” the military posted on its Persian-language account on X. – Israeli military tells people in Iran to avoid using trains
(Reuters/Al Arabiya) Judicial cases against individuals assisting Iran’s adversaries should be processed quicker, Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said on Tuesday according to Mizan news, urging execution or asset confiscation verdicts to be expedited. – Verdicts against ‘enemy agents’ should be expedited, Iran judiciary chief says
(AFP/Al Arabiya) Iran has freed a Japanese national held since January, Tokyo said Tuesday, with Kyodo News reporting however that the individual is not allowed to leave the Islamic republic. The Japanese news agency also reported, citing unnamed sources within the government in Tokyo, that the person is believed to be the Tehran bureau chief of broadcaster NHK. – Japanese freed in Iran not allowed to leave country: Report
(AFP/Al Arabiya) Two blasts were heard near Erbil’s airport, which hosts advisers from the US-led anti-extremist coalition, in Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region, an AFP journalist said on Monday. Some hours earlier, air defense systems downed four missiles headed towards the US consulate in Erbil, a security source told AFP. – Blasts heard near Erbil airport in Iraqi Kurdistan: Reports
(Barak Ravid, Marc Caputo – Axios) President Trump faces a momentous decision on a tight timeline: carry out his threat to obliterate Iran’s infrastructure beginning at 8pm ET, or push his own deadline again to give negotiations a chance. Trump has threatened to destroy every bridge and power plant in Iran by midnight, among other options that would have devastating consequences for ordinary Iranians and spark dangerous retaliation across the region. Mediators from Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey are working to avert that outcome by brokering a deal — or at least putting time back on the clock. “If the president sees a deal is coming together, he’ll probably hold off. But only he and he alone makes that decision,” a senior administration official told Axios. A defense official said they were “skeptical” there would be any extension this time around. This account is based on interviews with six officials and sources with direct knowledge of the ongoing diplomacy or Trump’s thinking. – Trump Iran deadline: Blow up bridges or give talks a chance
