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Reuters reported Friday that 77% of registered voters blame President Donald Trump at least a fair amount for the recent jump in gasoline prices, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted April 15-20. The poll found the blame crosses party lines: 55% of Republicans, 82% of independents, and 95% of Democrats say Trump bears responsibility. The price spike followed the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, which Reuters says shut down roughly a fifth of global oil trade and pushed U.S. gasoline to about $4 a gallon, roughly a dollar above the prewar level. The political damage is showing up before the midterms. Fifty-eight percent of voters said they would be less likely to support candidates who back Trump’s approach to Iran, including one in five Republicans and two-thirds of independents. The poll also found 77% of Americans see fuel prices as a very big concern, 82% say inflation is a big concern, and 70% reject the claim that the economy is booming. Republicans’ advantage on the economy has narrowed from 14 points in early 2025 to one point.

Reuters reports that Trump adviser Kurt Olsen and other administration officials continued pursuing election-rigging claims even after a secret federal review of Dominion Voting Systems machines in Puerto Rico found no evidence of hacking. According to Reuters, the administration seized the machines in May and had Mojave Research analyze them for months. When the contractor found no malicious code, Olsen accused the company of blocking his work, serving the “deep state,” and taking money from George Soros — claims the company and Soros’s Open Society Foundations denied. Reuters says the failed Puerto Rico probe helped expand the effort to Georgia, where the FBI seized 2020 election ballots, and Arizona, where the FBI subpoenaed voter records. The investigation reportedly used staff and resources from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Justice Department, the FBI, and even CIA access to election-related intelligence. The White House called the reporting “misinformation” from “disgruntled leakers” and defended election-security work.

Reuters reports that Senate Republicans voted 50-48 in the predawn hours Thursday to advance a non-binding budget resolution that would provide $70 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol over the next three years. Senators Rand Paul and Lisa Murkowski were the two Republicans who opposed the measure. If the House adopts it, congressional committees can write detailed legislation using budget reconciliation, allowing the plan to bypass a 60-vote Senate threshold. The funding fight has helped keep much of the Department of Homeland Security partially shut since mid-February. Democrats demanded operational guardrails after two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis, including a requirement that agents obtain judicial warrants before entering private homes. Republicans accused Democrats of trying to defund immigration enforcement. Reuters notes that last year Republicans separately approved roughly $130 billion for ICE and Border Patrol, meaning this new package would come on top of a major prior expansion.

Reuters reports that Justice Department records show the Trump administration has cut more than 4,000 employees from major federal law-enforcement agencies even while promising to crack down on crime. The FBI’s workforce is down more than 7% since fiscal 2024, a loss of about 2,600 people; DEA staffing is down about 6%; ATF is down about 14%; the National Security Division has lost nearly 38%; the Civil Rights Division has lost more than half its staff; and the Bureau of Prisons has shed more than 2,200 employees despite what the department’s watchdog has called a staffing crisis. Reuters also found that federal drug-trafficking prosecutions dropped last year to their lowest level in more than two decades and are running even lower this year. Justice Department officials argue buyouts removed employees unwilling to execute the administration’s priorities. Former officials and critics say the cuts undermine the very crime-fighting capacity the White House claims to be strengthening.

Newly released documents obtained by Public Citizen show the Trump administration set up a legal framework allowing anonymous private donations for a roughly $400 million White House ballroom project while limiting conflict-of-interest reviews. Known donors include Amazon, Lockheed Martin, Palantir, and Google — companies that collectively hold billions in federal contracts.

The U.S. Senate voted 50-48 to advance a $70 billion three-year funding plan for ICE and Border Patrol through budget reconciliation, bypassing Democrats entirely. During a nearly six-hour vote-a-rama, every Democratic amendment on healthcare costs, food assistance, childcare, school meals, tariff-driven price hikes, and electricity costs failed — even as a Reuters/Ipsos poll shows more than half of Americans say soaring gasoline prices have hurt their household finances.

Reuters obtained FOIA records showing the Trump DOJ has cut more than 4,000 workers from top law-enforcement agencies — the FBI lost about 2,600 people, the ATF lost 14% of its staff, the National Security Division lost nearly 38%, and the Civil Rights Division lost more than half — while the administration keeps promising to crack down on crime. Federal drug-trafficking prosecutions have dropped to their lowest level in more than two decades.

Reuters reported Wednesday that prediction-market platform Kalshi suspended three U.S. congressional candidates for what it called ‘political insider trading’ after the candidates traded on their own elections. Kalshi said the cases were caught by new safeguards aimed at blocking political candidates from trading on contests in which they are directly involved. Reuters identified the candidates as Minnesota Democratic state Senator Matt Klein, Texas Republican Ezekiel Enriquez, and Virginia independent Senate candidate Mark Moran. Moran said on X that he intentionally placed a $100 bet on himself to provoke attention. Klein apologized for a $50 bet on his primary race and called it a mistake.

Reuters reported Wednesday that the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran is now pushing through corporate earnings in plain sight. Companies across consumer goods, travel, mining, industrials, and aviation said the conflict is driving up transport and raw-material costs, disrupting supply chains, and clouding the rest of the year. Reuters’ review found that since the war began, 21 companies have withdrawn or cut guidance, 32 have signaled price hikes, and 31 have warned of a financial hit. AkzoNobel told Reuters that disruption around the Strait of Hormuz could push its raw-material basket up by percentages in the high teens over the next two quarters. Danone said baby-formula shipments were disrupted. TUI cut its operating-profit forecast and suspended revenue guidance.

Reuters reported Wednesday that Senate Republicans were moving to advance a three-year, $70 billion plan to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol through budget reconciliation, a procedure that would let them bypass Democratic opposition with a simple majority. The proposal comes after a partial Department of Homeland Security shutdown that has dragged on since mid-February. Republicans argue the package is needed to restore immigration enforcement capacity and keep border operations running through the rest of Donald Trump’s presidency.