Investigators search for a motive in the fatal shooting of two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington, D.C. The Trump administration blocks Harvard from enrolling international students. And the largest Medicaid funding cut in modern history is proposed in the spending bill.
Here’s what to know today.
What we know about the suspect in the Capital Jewish Museum shooting
Elias Rodriguez, the 31-year-old suspect in the shooting of two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington, D.C., has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder. He was also charged with the murder of foreign officials and several firearms charges. Rodriguez could face life in prison or the death penalty, the judge said at his initial federal court appearance.
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Federal agents said Rodriguez told Washington police officers who arrived at the scene that he “did it,” according to a criminal complaint. “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,” the complaint said.
Law enforcement agents were seen entering an address in Chicago tied to the suspect and leaving with what looked like large electronic equipment. Federal officials are reviewing writings that they say may belong to Rodriguez.
A neighbor said he interacted with Rodriguez infrequently but knew him for having a “Justice for Wadee” sign in his window, referring to Wadee Alfayoumi, a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy who was fatally stabbed by his landlord shortly after the Israel-Hamas war erupted. Here’s what else we know about the suspect.
A clearer picture of the victims — Israeli embassy colleagues Yaron Lischinsky and Sara Milgrim — has emerged since the shooting. The young couple was set to travel to Jerusalem next week, where Lischinsky intended to propose to Milgrim with a ring he bought last week, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter said. Their deaths prompted an outpouring of grief in Israel and in Overland Park, Kansas, where Milgrim was from.
Sarah “was thrilled” when she got the job at the Israeli Embassy, her father Robert Milgrim told NBC News on Thursday. “I couldn’t have been prouder.”
Read more about the victims, and follow our live blog for updates.
Trump administration blocks Harvard from enrolling international students
The White House is stopping Harvard University from being able to enroll international students amid an ongoing standoff between the government and the Ivy League school.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused Harvard of “fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party.” She separately posted that the restriction should serve as a “warning to all universities and academic institutions.”
The escalation comes shortly after a federal judged blocked the Trump administration from revoking international students’ legal status.
A university spokesperson decried the government’s action as “unlawful” and said it’s “fully committed to maintaining Harvard’s ability to host international students and scholars.”
Harvard currently enrolls nearly 6,800 international students, who will now need to transfer or lose their legal status.
In the backdrop of the president’s legal throes with Harvard, attorneys for Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil continue to advocate against his deportation, saying it could put his life at risk.
The administration argues it has the authority to deport Khalil because he “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”
Medicaid cuts, money for border security: What’s in the sprawling GOP bill
The Trump agenda bill passed by House Republicans would reshape the federal budget and affect millions of Americans in a plethora of ways, and its projected increase to the federal deficit spooked financial markets this week.
One of the major provisions in the package is an extension of the 2017 Trump tax cuts, which are set to expire at the end of this year. The extension touches Americans in all income tax brackets, but the largest benefits are projected to go to the highest earners.
The legislation also includes the largest Medicaid funding cuts in modern history, projected to be nearly $700 billion, and it imposes stricter work requirements and more frequent eligibility checks. Meanwhile, $290 billion will be cut from SNAP, the food assistance program for low-income Americans.
The so-called big, beautiful bill includes some spending increases, with $150 billion in new money for immigration enforcement and $150 billion in new military spending.
More politics news:
- One of the only Republicans to vote against the “big beautiful bill” has opposed Trump for years and survived. Can he do it again?
- The GOP has touted proposed expansion of state and local tax reduction caps in the spending bill as a major win for blue-state Republicans on the campaign trail.
Read All About It
- Say goodbye to the penny: The U.S. Treasury Department will mint its final batch of one-cent coins this month.
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting an above-average Atlantic hurricane season, with at least three Category 3 or higher storms.
- At least three people are dead after a small plane struck a power line in San Diego, California, before crashing into a nearby military housing neighborhood.
- Ultra-processed foods and environmental toxins top the list of root causes of chronic diseases in the long-awaited “Make America Healthy Again” report, released by the White House.
Staff Pick: The Indiana Pacers are on a ‘mission’: Become the NBA’s most difficult team to beat
During the most unpredictable NBA playoffs in recent memory, the Indiana Pacers have become the toughest team to beat. We’ve all seen an improbable comeback victory. What is incredibly rare, though, is how the Pacers have made such comebacks appear routine. I was fascinated to dig into the factors that have sustained their run of historic rallies through three consecutive rounds. In every NBA arena, cameras stationed in the rafters high above the court capture huge amounts of data about what is happening on the court. As someone who covered the NBA day in and day out for six years, I knew where to find that data, hoping it might explain the Pacers’ success. What I found about their statistics in the “clutch” was unlike anything I can recall seeing. Tune in. You never know what you might see with this team.
— Andrew Greif, sports reporter
NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified
Memorial Day is fast approaching, so we have a roundup of the best deals available right now. Plus, our editors also flipped through hundreds of deals on Amazon to find discounts on some of our favorite products.
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