{"id":610075,"date":"2026-04-27T22:25:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T22:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/610075\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T22:25:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T22:25:09","slug":"all-about-the-ballroom-notus-news-of-the-united-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/610075\/","title":{"rendered":"All About the Ballroom – NOTUS \u2014 News of the United States"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good afternoon. This is the Final NOTUS newsletter for April 27, 2026. You can get it in your inbox every day by signing up here<\/a> \u2014 it\u2019s free!<\/p>\n

THE LATEST<\/p>\n

The suspect accused of attempting to storm into Saturday\u2019s White House Correspondents\u2019 Association dinner carrying multiple firearms was charged this afternoon with attempting to assassinate Donald Trump (along with two separate gun charges). Cole Tomas Allen, 31, made his first appearance in a D.C. federal court, where he did not enter a plea.<\/p>\n

Allen is expected back in court for another hearing later this week.<\/p>\n

At Karoline Leavitt\u2019s first briefing since the incident, the White House press secretary abandoned the conciliatory tone that Trump struck in the hours after the shooting and said there<\/a> was \u201cno difference at all\u201d between Democrats\u2019 rhetoric and the suspect\u2019s alleged manifesto.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all about the ballroom now. Senate Republicans are pushing several measures that would restart construction of the White House ballroom after a federal judge ordered Trump to seek congressional approval. They include a proposal from Lindsey Graham to appropriate taxpayer funds and another<\/a> from Rand Paul that would allow the project to continue using private donations.<\/p>\n

The House got in on the action today as well. Rep. Randy Fine said he planned to introduce<\/a> a \u201cBuild the Ballroom Act\u201d that would allow construction to proceed.THE HILL<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the rest of the to-do list. Speaker Mike Johnson has his work cut out for him as he attempts to host the U.K.\u2019s King Charles III, thread the needle on FISA, end the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history, pass the crucial farm bill and deal with aforementioned calls to fund Trump\u2019s ballroom.<\/p>\n

The DHS shutdown appears destined to continue. Johnson told reporters<\/a> today that he would not hold a vote on an appropriations bill that cleared the Senate last week.THE ADMINISTRATION<\/p>\n

Jimmy Kimmel is once again the target of MAGA\u2019s ire. Last Thursday, Kimmel called the first lady an \u201cexpectant widow\u201d during a skit about the White House Correspondents\u2019 dinner.<\/p>\n

By Monday, the clip caught Trump\u2019s attention. He called it a \u201cdespicable call to violence\u201d and demanded that ABC and Disney fire the late-night host.Melania Trump, in a social media post<\/a>, also called for Kimmel\u2019s network to \u201ctake a stand.\u201d<\/p>\n

JD Vance has questions. In closed-door meetings, the vice president has repeatedly questioned the Defense Department\u2019s public depiction of the Iran war and asked whether the Pentagon has understated how depleted U.S. stockpiles of missiles have become, The Atlantic<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have publicly characterized the stockpiles as robust. Trump has suggested they are \u201cvirtually unlimited.\u201dTHE STATES<\/p>\n

New Florida map? A week after Virginia voters approved a new map that could give Democrats all but one of that state\u2019s U.S. House seats, Gov. Ron DeSantis showed off a redistricting plan today that could add up to four Republican seats to Florida\u2019s congressional delegation.<\/p>\n

Florida has a constitutional ban on partisan gerrymandering \u2014 but DeSantis\u2019 office argued in a memo to lawmakers obtained by the Tampa Bay Times<\/a> that the \u201crace-based requirements\u201d included in that ban make the measure illegal, citing a pending Supreme Court case involving the Voting Rights Act.FOR THOSE WONDERING<\/p>\n

The Hilton donated the ~2600 dinners that went unserved at WHCD. They freeze dried the steak and lobster for longer shelf life before giving them to 2 shelters for abused women and children. HUGE thank you to the staff that worked through the night under terrible circumstances.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Weijia Jiang (@weijia) April 27, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Thank you for reading! Today\u2019s newsletter was produced by Kate Nocera and Andrew Burton. If you liked it, please forward it to a friend. If someone shared it with you, please subscribe<\/a> \u2014 it\u2019s free! Got a tip or comments to share? Email us at finalnotus@notus.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n