Outrage 1
We Dismantled the Ebola Response. Now There’s an Ebola Outbreak.
This is the one that should end the argument about whether any of this matters.
On May 17, 2026, the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency over an Ebola outbreak spreading through the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. As of that declaration, the outbreak had already become the third-largest in recorded history — over 513 cases, more than 130 suspected deaths, crossing an international border.
And the United States, which has led the response to every major Ebola outbreak for the past two decades, is largely not there.
Here is what the Trump administration did before this outbreak began: It cut 90% of USAID funding. It dissolved USAID entirely, firing nearly all of its staff. It withdrew from the World Health Organization. It gutted the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service. It cancelled the contracts running specifically for Ebola preparedness in central Africa.
Almost everyone on the USAID team that worked on the most recent previous Ebola outbreak in Uganda has been fired. The infrastructure — early warning systems, rapid response teams, supply chains for protective equipment and experimental vaccines — was dismantled. The previous U.S. response included thousands of military personnel and hundreds of CDC staff. The current response is being managed by a State Department bureau with fewer personnel and substantially fewer resources.
Elon Musk acknowledged in February 2025 that DOGE had “accidentally” cancelled Ebola prevention funding. He said it was immediately restored. Health specialists on the ground say it wasn’t. The WHO and the African CDC have mobilized $2.5 million. The previous U.S. response alone ran to hundreds of millions. Ebola does not have to stay in central Africa. The U.S. had systems in place to make sure it didn’t. Those systems were dismantled.
Outrage 2
The $1.776 Billion Wink
The dollar amount is not a coincidence. $1.776 billion — the year 1776, the rallying cry of every person who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. It appears in chants, flags, and a document seized by the FBI from the Proud Boys titled “1776 Returns,” which outlined a plan to seize federal buildings and force a new election.
The Trump administration has created a fund in exactly that amount — $1.776 billion of your money — called the “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” to compensate people the president believes were unfairly targeted by the Biden administration. It was announced as part of a settlement of Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS, through which he also permanently eliminated future IRS audits of himself and his family.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche — Trump’s former personal attorney — will appoint every member of the commission that decides who gets paid. When asked whether people who assaulted police on January 6 could apply, Blanche said: “Anybody in this country can apply.” JD Vance said at a White House briefing he is “not committing to giving anybody money or committing to giving no one money.” When pressed on a specific January 6 participant convicted of attacking police, Vance called her an “innocent grandmother.”
The Lectern Guy — photographed carrying Nancy Pelosi’s podium through the Capitol — confirmed he is already writing his application and estimates he would seek $255,000. John Eastman, who devised the fake electors scheme, is lining up. Mike Lindell says he wants $400 million for his employees.
This is your money. No congressional vote authorized this fund. There is no judicial oversight. There is no appeal process for Americans who object to their taxes being used to pay the people who attacked their democracy.
Outrage 3
Bobby Kennedy Is Dismantling Children’s Vaccines. That’s Not the Half of It.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told senators before his confirmation: “If confirmed, I will do nothing as HHS secretary that makes it difficult or discourages people from taking vaccines.” He wrote this repeatedly. He said it in hearings. He made it a condition of his confirmation.
He has broken essentially every specific promise he made.
On January 5, 2026, a CDC memo stripped seven childhood vaccines of their universally recommended status: rotavirus, meningitis, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, influenza, COVID-19, and RSV. Kennedy fired all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — the expert panel established in 1964 as the nation’s authoritative source on immunization guidelines — and replaced them with unqualified individuals.
A coalition of 15 states is suing Kennedy, noting that routine childhood vaccinations prevented approximately 508 million cases of illness, 32 million hospitalizations, and over 1.1 million deaths in a 30-year period. The FDA’s top vaccine expert resigned in March. Kennedy pressured the CDC’s new director to resign; when she refused, the White House fired her. Three top CDC officials resigned in protest. Kennedy has also cancelled $500 million in mRNA vaccine research contracts.
Here is the detail that doesn’t fit the “concerned parent” narrative: Kennedy initiated a trademark application for a MAHA brand — covering vaccines, vitamins, supplements, and essential oils — before taking office. He was required to transfer this business venture upon becoming HHS secretary due to conflict of interest regulations. The question that hasn’t been answered: is the goal to destabilize the existing vaccine market to create room for future MAHA-branded alternatives?
More than a thousand current and former HHS staff and numerous medical groups have called for his resignation. Senator Ben Ray Luján said it plainly: “People are dying under his leadership.”
Outrage 4
The Iran “Deal” That Keeps Being “Almost Done”
On May 23, Trump posted on social media that a peace deal with Iran, including the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, was “largely negotiated” and would be announced “shortly.” He said he had held calls with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain — all focused on finalizing terms.
Iran said the deal had not been agreed to.
This is not the first time. Trump has described a deal with Iran as close, imminent, or essentially done on multiple occasions since the U.S. and Israel launched joint military strikes on Iran on February 28, 2026. Iran’s semi-official state media said the countries had been “putting forth conflicting stances several times.” Iran also stated the Strait of Hormuz “would not return to its pre-war status” under any agreement.
Trump notably failed to mention, in his announcement, any resolution on Iran’s nuclear program or its highly enriched uranium stockpile — the items his administration had described as non-negotiable conditions for ending the war. Iran has said it wants a formal ceasefire before nuclear talks begin. Any announcement was then further delayed after gunshots were heard near the White House.
The pattern is familiar. The announcement is the point. The deal, if it exists, is secondary. Meanwhile the Strait remains contested, global oil markets remain disrupted, and Americans are paying $4.55 a gallon.
Outrage 5
$4.55 a Gallon. You’re Welcome.
Gas hit $4.55 per gallon nationally on May 21, 2026. That is up 43.6% from a year ago. California is at $6.15. Washington State at $5.77. Six states are above $5.00. Only Oklahoma and Mississippi have averages below $4.00, and barely.
The cause is not complicated. The Iran war closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which a significant portion of global oil supply moves. The resulting energy shock drove gasoline above $4.00 for the first time in more than three years. The CPI shows inflation rising 3.8% from the prior year. Consumer expectations for gas price increases hit their highest level since March 2022 — surging from 4.1% to 9.4% in a single month.
Trump promised, repeatedly, that he would lower energy prices. “Drill, baby, drill.” He said it in the campaign, after the election, and in office.
A CNN report published this week carried the headline: “I’ve never felt poor before.” It quotes workers across income levels describing a breaking point. Everyday goods and services are up about 25% since 2021. Lower-income households are disproportionately impacted, spending a larger share of their earnings on basics like groceries and gas. The price at the pump is the fact. Everything else is marketing.
Outrage 6
They Gutted the Food Supply for 4 Million People and It Kicks In This Fall
This was covered when the Big Beautiful Bill was signed on July 4, 2025. It deserves to be covered again — because the cuts haven’t kicked in yet, and they’re about to.
Effective October 1, 2026 — the largest cut to SNAP in the program’s history takes effect. The bill cut $187 billion — roughly 20% — from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The Congressional Budget Office projects that 4 million people, including 1 million children, will see their food assistance cut substantially or eliminated altogether in an average month.
By 2034, the average SNAP benefit will be $14 per month less per recipient. States are now responsible for 75% of administrative costs. States that cannot absorb those costs face a choice: cut benefits further, or cut something else.
Trump’s position throughout: “We are not cutting SNAP, just targeting fraud. Nobody minds that.” He said this on “Meet the Press.” The bill he signed cut $187 billion from SNAP. Both things are true simultaneously.
October 1 is four months away. The midterms are in November. The window between them is the argument. Four million people are approaching that date with less food incoming — many of them in congressional districts represented by Republicans who voted for this bill and then went home to say they were protecting their constituents.
The Number This Week
43.6% — the increase in gas prices over the past year, from $3.14 to $4.55 per gallon nationally. The last time prices were this high was during the Biden administration, which Republicans spent three years blaming for expensive gas.
What You Can Do
202-224-3121 — the congressional switchboard. Pick up the phone. Tell them about any of the six stories above. Be specific. They log every call.
October 1 is when the SNAP cuts hit. November is the midterm. The window between them is the argument. Enter your zip code on this site, find your races, and know which seat you’re voting on. The House flips one seat at a time.