This is the Tangle Sunday Edition, a brief roundup of our independent politics coverage plus some extra features for your Sunday morning reading.
What the right is doodling.
Gary Varvel | Creators Syndicate
What the left is doodling.
Mike Luckovich| Creators Syndicate
Suspension of the Rules.
After some discussion of aliens last week, Isaac, Ari, and Kmele move on to the next big thing: athletes using steroids! After some discussion of cheating in sports, they dive deep into the electoral ramifications of Tuesday’s primary runoffs. Plus, Isaac addresses some criticisms, the guys speculate on Rep. Thomas Kean’s (R-NJ) absence, and Kmele tries to defend the indefensible.
Tangle did not release a newsletter in observance of Memorial Day.
Tuesday, May 26.
Tulsi Gabbard’s resignation. On Friday, May 22, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard announced her resignation, effective June 30, to support her husband as he fights a rare form of bone cancer. Gabbard will become the fourth cabinet secretary to leave the second Trump administration, following former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and former Attorney General Pam Bondi, who were fired, and former Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who resigned in April. President Donald Trump said that Principal Deputy DNI Aaron Lukas will serve as acting director when Gabbard officially departs.
Our take: “Gabbard is doing the admirable thing by supporting her husband, and I wish them the best. Her political career up to becoming DNI was confounding to watch. It’s hard to view her tenure in Trump’s administration as anything but a failure.”
Reader Survey:
Wednesday, May 27.
The 2026 Texas primary runoffs. On Tuesday, May 26, Texas voters participated in a slate of primary runoff elections, including a highly publicized Republican Senate primary between state Attorney General Ken Paxton and incumbent Sen. John Cornyn. Paxton defeated Cornyn by a 27.6-point margin and will go on to face state Rep. James Talarico (D) in the general election. In other races, state Sen. Mayes Middleton beat U.S. Rep. Chip Roy for the Republican nomination for attorney general, and state Sen. Nathan Johnson defeated former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski in the Democratic attorney general contest. In the race for lieutenant governor, the second-highest executive office in the state, state Rep. Vikki Goodwin won the Democratic runoff.
Our take: “Paxton’s victory over Cornyn means that, however the Texas Senate race turns out, more heat and division is sure to follow. Trump’s endorsement probably helped Paxton as much as Cornyn’s misalignment with primary voters hurt him. I worry that voters tolerating Paxton’s long list of scandals is a sign our political cynicism is running deeper and deeper.”
Reader Survey:
Thursday, May 28.
The DNC’s 2024 election retrospective. On Thursday, May 21, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) released a report examining the party’s performance in the 2024 elections. The 192-page postmortem argued that Democrats must “organize everywhere to Win Anywhere” and particularly advocated for a “renewed focus on the voters of Middle America and the South.” However, the organization distanced itself from the document’s findings. In a Substack post accompanying the report’s release, DNC Chair Ken Martin said, “I don’t endorse what’s in this report, or what’s left out of it.”
Our take: “The report is about as bad as it’s being portrayed. Its greatest failure is an unwillingness to draw firm, actionable conclusions. Democrats want to move on from 2024, but this saga shows their organizational challenges remain prevalent.”
Reader Survey:
Friday, May 29.
Tangle has been featuring reader essays in the Sunday edition for nearly three years, and we’ve built up quite the archive. To celebrate our readers’ fantastic contributions, this week’s Friday edition featured ten of our favorite reader essays, covering topics like smartphones, hot dogs, student protests, and airport security. Our list of selections is free to all readers, but the essays themselves are for paid members only. Check them out here.
What just happened.
Here’s a rundown of the major stories that have broken since our newsletter on Thursday.
On Thursday, the Trump Accounts app launched, allowing parents or guardians to establish and manage the tax-preferred investment accounts on their children’s behalf. The federal government plans to make a one-time $1,000 deposit into eligible accounts beginning July 4. (The launch)
On Thursday, the Commerce Department announced that the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, increased 3.8% on an annual basis in April, up from 3.5% in March and the highest rate since May 2023. The PCE rose 0.4% on a monthly basis, down from 0.7% in March. (The numbers)
On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said his department is preparing to print $250 bills bearing President Donald Trump’s face, though he acknowledged that doing so would require Congressional authorization to create an exception to prohibitions on putting a living person on U.S. currency. (The comments)
On Friday, Louisiana lawmakers approved a new congressional map that will eliminate one of the state’s two majority-black districts and likely net Republicans an additional seat in the U.S. House. In April, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the new map with a ruling that narrowed the application of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. (The approval)
On Friday, a federal judge blocked a plan to rename the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to include President Trump’s name. The judge also ruled that the center’s board improperly voted to approve a two-year closure and renovation, which was set to begin this summer. (The rulings) Separately, on Friday, a federal judge temporarily halted the Trump administration’s $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, ruling that the administration cannot take further action to establish the fund while challenges play out in court. (The order)
On Friday, law enforcement officials arrested an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Texas. The agent is charged with four counts of second-degree assault and filing a false police report in connection with the shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in January. (The arrest)
On Friday, President Trump met with top advisers at the White House to discuss a potential deal to extend the U.S.–Iran ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial traffic. However, the president reportedly did not decide on whether to accept the deal. (The meeting)
A regular game of chess — played in a public park or casually among friends — may seem simple, quiet, and even relaxing. But the world of competitive chess is much more intense, bringing with it high-stakes environments and stringent practice regimens. This week, an anonymous competitive chess player reader takes us into that world, explaining what they’ve learned about how the best of the best compete.
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The best of your best.