Headlines May 22, 2026 from Democracy Now!

Republican leaders in the House of Representatives called off a vote Thursday on a war powers resolution seeking to end President Trump’s ability to strike Iran. Its abrupt cancellation came as Republicans were on the verge of losing the vote, as several members were absent from the House floor. This follows Tuesday’s 50-47 vote by the Senate to advance a war powers resolution. Any vote in the House will have to wait until at least June 1, when Congress returns from its Memorial Day recess.

This comes as the U.S. and Iran continue to exchange proposals for a peace agreement through Pakistani mediators. Earlier today, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said indirect negotiations over a deal with Iran had seen “a little bit of movement and that’s good.” 

Russia and China have condemned the Trump administration’s indictment of 94-year-old former Cuban President Raúl Castro on murder charges. Russia’s Foreign Ministry accused the White House of “attempts to tighten the sanctions noose” and promised to provide “active support” to Cuba. China’s Foreign Ministry said it always opposes unilateral sanctions that have no basis in international law. It added, “The United States should stop brandishing sanctions or judicial proceedings at Cuba and stop resorting to the threat of force at every turn.” On Thursday, President Trump said it was likely he would order military strikes on Cuba.

President Donald Trump: “Other presidents have looked at this for 50, 60 years, doing something. And it looks like I’ll be the one that does it. So, I would be happy to do it.”

Lebanon’s National News Agency reports an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon’s Tyre district has killed six people, including two paramedics and a Syrian child. The medics were reportedly killed in a “double tap” strike after an initial strike on a motorcycle. The latest violence came despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that Israel has violated on a near-daily basis. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reports Israeli attacks have killed nearly 3,100 people. Meanwhile, Lebanon’s finance minister told Reuters the war could shrink the economy by at least 7% this year. 

Israel has deported more than 400 activists it abducted from a Gaza-bound humanitarian aid flotilla in international waters. On Thursday, members of the Global Sumud Flotilla were flown from southern Israel to Istanbul, Turkey, aboard three chartered flights. They arrived with stories of physical and psychological abuse at the hands of their Israeli captors. This is U.S. activist Alex Colston.

Alex Colston: “In one of the prison boats, 35 people suffered fractures to their ribs. People said there was at least 12 sexual assaults that took place. People were tased. Me personally, I was kept in cuffs, where I can’t feel my hands anymore. I was kicked in the ribs multiple times.” 

The release of the Gaza flotilla members comes amid global condemnation of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who published video of himself taunting dozens of handcuffed activists. 

In Greenland, hundreds of protesters gathered at the opening of a new U.S. consulate building in the capital Nuuk on Thursday to denounce President Trump’s threats to annex the island. The protest came after Trump’s special envoy to Greenland, Republican Governor Jeff Landry of Louisiana, made his first trip to the semiautonomous Danish territory. Landry reportedly spoke on Saturday with President Trump, who told him to “go there and make a bunch of friends.” This is Nuuk resident Aron Bang-Isaksen.

Aron Bang-Isaksen: “It’s just a really unpleasant reminder of people as commodities or as a product, as something that can be bought and sold. It’s very unpleasant to witness. And I think this ruthless rhetoric, where military actions are not taken off the table, is completely wild and ruthless towards the people who live here.”

Senate Republicans abruptly left Washington, D.C., on Thursday for the Memorial Day recess without casting a vote for a $72 billion budget reconciliation bill to fund ICE and Border Patrol for three years. That’s on top of the $170 billion provided to those agencies by Congress last year. This comes as President Trump faces a growing revolt among Republicans over his plans to use public funds to build a $1 billion ballroom at the White House and the Justice Department’s creation of a nearly $1.8 billion slush fund to compensate MAGA allies prosecuted by the Justice Department. Already several prominent January 6 rioters have said publicly they’ll seek a share of the fund, as have disgraced politicians George Santos and Rod Blagojevich. On Thursday, Senate Republicans met with Attorney General Todd Blanche behind closed doors. The Hill reports the meeting became “a screaming-fest” after Blanche refused to limit who would be eligible to get paid by the fund. North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis called the plan “stupid on stilts.”

Sen. Thom Tillis: “Because it will invariably put us in a position where your taxpayer dollars and my taxpayer dollars could potentially compensate someone who assaulted a police officer, admitted their guilt, got convicted, got pardoned, and now we’re going to pay them for that? That’s absurd. The American people are going to reject this out of hand.”

Meanwhile, congressional Democrats have introduced legislation to block the Trump Justice Department’s new slush fund. A bill authored by Maryland Congressmember Jamie Raskin would bar the use of any federal funds to back the settlement and would limit payouts. Other legislation proposes a 100% tax on future beneficiaries. Click here to see our interview with Congressmember Jamie Raskin.

In Arizona, Tucson advocates are demanding the release of activist and DACA recipient Karla Toledo, who was violently detained at her home earlier this week. Federal immigration agents forced their way into Toledo’s house to arrest her reportedly without showing a warrant. Toledo has lived in the U.S. since she was 1 year old, and obtained Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which protects immigrants who came to the U.S. as children from deportation. But under Trump’s second term, DACA recipients have been increasingly targeted. 

In Oregon, body-camera footage obtained by the group Innovation Law Lab shows federal immigration agents pulling over a van of farmworkers, then smashing the windows and using a facial recognition app to identify and arrest the workers without a warrant. The footage was disclosed as part of a class-action lawsuit filed against the agents’ violent tactics and racial profiling following the farmworkers’ detention in October. 

In related news, activists say at least 20 immigrants jailed at the Desert View Annex ICE detention facility in Adelanto, California, have started a hunger strike to protest inhumane conditions, including medical neglect and unsafe drinking water. Immigrants also say food portions have been reduced, forcing them to have to purchase items sold in the commissary at exorbitant prices. The Adelanto ICE jail is operated by the private prison company GEO Group. At least four immigrants have died there since September.

In Chicago, all charges against four activists who were arrested last year during mass protests against immigration raids outside the Broadview ICE facility have been dismissed. During a court hearing Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office admitted federal prosecutors committed misconduct during the grand jury proceedings that resulted in the indictments, including having conversations with grand jurors outside the courtroom. This was one of the most high-profile prosecutions against activists following Trump’s so-called Operation Midway Blitz crackdown, when hundreds of masked federal immigration agents flooded the streets of Chicago. The defendants came to be known as the “Broadview Six.” Ultimately, four activists faced the remaining charges, including former candidate for the U.S. House Kat Abughazaleh.

Here in Colorado, Democrats have censured their party’s highest elected official, Governor Jared Polis, for granting clemency to an election denier who was convicted of tampering with voting systems. Last Friday, Governor Polis announced he was commuting the nine-year prison sentence of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who was convicted of conspiring with allies of President Trump to breach voting systems in 2021 in an effort to prove Trump’s claims of a rigged 2020 election. On Wednesday, the Colorado Democratic Party State Central Committee voted to rebuke Governor Polis, writing, “Reducing her sentence now, under pressure from Donald Trump, is not justice. It sends a message to future bad actors that election tampering has consequences, unless you’re friends with the president. That’s a dangerous and disappointing precedent to set.”

The Democratic National Committee has released a post-election autopsy criticizing the failed 2024 presidential campaign. The release of the long-awaited, 192-page document follows a monthslong pressure campaign by party activists who protested DNC Chair Ken Martin’s decision to keep the report a secret. Martin had said he hoped to prevent a “distraction” ahead of the midterm elections. On Thursday, critics slammed the report as woefully incomplete and unsubstantiated. It makes no mention of President Biden’s decision to seek reelection, nor how Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee without having to compete in primaries. It also makes no reference to the Biden administration’s support for Israel. Graham Platner, the front-runner among Democrats seeking to challenge Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins in November, wrote, “The words 'Gaza' and 'genocide' appear precisely zero times in the DNC autopsy. Turning a blind eye to crimes against humanity was a grave injustice, and a terrible election strategy.”

In San Diego, more than 2,000 people gathered Thursday to mourn Amin Abdullah, Mansour Kaziha and Nader Awad, who were killed in a shooting at the city’s largest mosque. The three victims were remembered as heroes as they attempted to stop two attackers when they opened fire at the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday. This is the center’s imam, Taha Hassane.

Imam Taha Hassane: “Let’s work together to stop this hatred, stop this racism, stop dehumanizing the Muslim community, so we can live together in this very diverse society, very diverse nation. We can live together as brothers and sisters, loving one another and working together for the betterment of our community and our society.”

This comes as more details have emerged about one of the suspects. Caleb Vazquez came to police attention more than a year before the mosque attack over his disturbing behavior idolizing Nazis and mass shooters. In 2025, police obtained a court order to confiscate dozens of his father’s weapons from the family home. Vazquez had also been previously confined in an involuntary psychiatric hold. The new revelations came as part of documents filed in a San Diego court, raising questions about the authorities’ inability to prevent the mosque shooting.

Tennessee has called off the execution of Tony Carruthers after prison officials were unable to find a vein to administer lethal injection drugs. On Thursday, Republican Governor Bill Lee issued a one-year reprieve to Carruthers over the botched execution, which came despite his claims of innocence and demands for a new trial. Laura Porter, the executive director of the U.S. Campaign to End the Death Penalty, told The New York Times, “Tennessee has effectively made the case against the death penalty.”