"DAY AHEAD" - My Daily Editorial Note
April 24, 2026
If I were leading a big editorial meeting today with newsroom colleagues… I’d start here (on behalf of the person who views the news later today):
Where’s your money going today? Do you want to pay for those expensive movie tickets tonight? And the popcorn?
Is dinner at a restaurant a little too pricey this weekend?
What are you NOT buying at the grocery store tomorrow? Because you want to keep the bill under $200 or $300!
It’s myopic or tone deaf to launch our news planning without talking about money.
These gas prices seem stuck! Airfares seems to be in a fragile place. Farmers are frightened by fertilizer prices. College bills are stinging.
So these headlines seem to be a good place to begin the day:
1) Trump Admin. is considering financial aid for the United Arab Emirates, amid the damage and cost to the UAE from the Iran War. (Some will characterize this as a “bailout”)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/business/economy/us-uae-financial-support.html
2) Eric Trump appears to have scored a lucrative defense contract for a business he backs.
3) CNBC reports an International Energy Association official saying “We are facing the biggest energy security threat in history.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/23/oil-markets-prices-fuel-shortages-iran-war-iea-chief.html
4) Major layoffs. Even at META
https://www.wsj.com/tech/meta-will-lay-off-8-000-employees-in-may-memo-ce8b97f0?mod=hp_lead_pos3
5) Grocery giants overseas are warning about an ominous trajectory for grocery costs.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/sainsburys-boss-issues-new-iran-37057442
For all of us: This is painful. For reporters this morning… it would be myopic and unfeeling if we don’t address this issue head-on and declaratively in our reporting.
For politicians, it’s the same dynamic. They’ll look unfeeling and out-of-touch if that don’t tackle this issue head-on and declaratively.
I spoke about this on “Deadline: White House” with Nicolle Wallace.
Speaking of money-making, here’s the court order to unseal the criminal case against Gannon Van Dyke in New York. Van Dyke is the soldier charged with a federal crime for allegedly making a polymarket bet about the capture of Nicolas Maduro, before taking part in the raid on Maduro
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.662484/gov.uscourts.nysd.662484.3.0.pdf
A court appearance by Van Dyke is likely quite soon.
About the Epstein Files quicksand, in which the Trump Admin is stuck….
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) is looking beyond Pam Bondi at this point. His basic take on Bondi’s no-show for her deposition is…….. “meh”
Massie thinks Todd Blanche is the better witness and would have much more to spill.
Massie says Blanche was “the one pulling the strings”
Some members of Congress have been calling for a third-party review of the handling of the Epstein Files .... for months! Now it’s happening. The Inspector General of the US Department of Justice has announced it’s initiating an audit of how the Justice Dept is handling the *partial* release of the files.
Here’s the announcement:
https://oig.justice.gov/news/doj-oig-announces-initiation-audit
It’s also becoming increasingly clear that some US House members want to make a larger move against Bondi and approve some form of contempt resolution. Why? She defied a subpoena. Congress fears that sets a precedent of sorts. Both parties might want to join a contempt finding against her. (not sure how many Republicans… but probably a non-zero number)
Meanwhile, some Epstein survivors are en route to Washington today. They’re planning an event Saturday to continue to press the issue of the Epstein Files release – and continue to push the Administration to reconsider its handling of the matter.
The family of the late Virginia Giuffre will be part of a memorial event tomorrow on the National Mall. Women’s March, alongside UltraViolet and other organizations will be part of it too. (There’s no shortage of press in Washington this weekend! Every major media organization is in town for the White House Correspondents dinner)
Other news items through the day
1) The Virginia Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Monday, April 27 at 9 a.m. in the redistricting referendum case. Let’s see if we get clarity today on what specifically will be presented and argued to the court.
Rep. Jennifer McLellan (D-VA) told me she is not worried. She’s confident the court will knock down a lower court order and uphold what voters decided this week.
2) A very interesting bill, which would limit social media access for kids under 16, is inching forward in the California state legislature. (A critical “second reading” occurred last night… keep the bill on a positive trajectory)
The bill its titled “Protecting our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act.” I’ve linked the legislation below. It says the bill “prohibits an operator of an addictive internet-based service or application from providing an addictive feed, as defined, to a user unless the operator does not have actual knowledge that the user is a minor, as specified, or the operator has obtained verifiable parental consent to provide an addictive feed to the user who is a minor.”
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1709
3) California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta is filing a motion to block Trump’s attempted “mail-in voting” executive order. Bonta predicts the exec order will be killed off by the courts.
Bonta said, “President Trump’s executive order not only represents a dangerous attempt to erode public trust in free and fair elections; it also reeks of desperation. Facing clear political headwinds — as he and Republicans are likely to suffer heavy losses in the upcoming midterm elections — he is throwing everything at the wall and hoping something sticks. This will not.”
4) The White House Correspondents Association Dinner weekend of events includes a jam-packed schedule today. YOUTUBE is throwing its shin-dig tonight. So too is Creative Artists Agency. Lots of booze. Lots of food. Lots of networking.
You can expect some large protests TOMORROW outside the WHCA event in northwest DC. Code Pink and others will be there to push back against Trump, Hegseth and what protest organizers call a “sycophantic media.” Attendees *will* have to walk past/near those protests.
5) House Majority PAC, which is trying to help win control of the US House for Democrats, has announced more than a quarter of a billion dollars in ad reservations ahead of November.
That’s not a surprise. But take a look at the cities/markets in which they’ve reserved time: In Alaska, South Carolina and *Tennessee*
Alaska
Anchorage — $1,811,500
Fairbanks — $396,000
Juneau — $240,000
Arizona
Phoenix — $7,670,000
Tucson — $2,625,000
Tucson (Spanish) — $647,500
California
Bakersfield — $2,075,000
Bakersfield (Spanish) — $755,000
Fresno — $2,400,000
Fresno (Spanish) — $1,550,000
Modesto/Stockton (Spanish) — $30,000
Sacramento — $825,000
Sacramento (Spanish) — $290,500
San Diego — $3,480,000
San Diego (Spanish) — $1,362,000
Colorado
Colorado Springs — $1,158,000
Denver — $6,850,000
Denver (Spanish) — $810,500
Grand Junction — $280,000
Florida
Miami — $6,800,000
Miami (Spanish) — $2,270,000
Orlando — $3,900,000
Tampa — $6,600,000
Georgia
Savannah — $1,200,000
Iowa
Cedar Rapids — $4,680,000
Des Moines — $3,465,000
Quad Cities — $2,700,000
Kentucky
Lexington — $670,000
Maine
Bangor — $2,720,000
Portland — $4,725,000
Presque Isle — $780,000
Michigan
Detroit — $14,400,000
Flint — $4,185,000
Grand Rapids — $5,250,000
Lansing — $5,190,000
Montana
Butte — $720,000
Missoula — $774,000
Nebraska
Omaha — $2,886,000
Nevada
Las Vegas — $2,310,000
North Carolina
Greenville-New Bern — $1,530,000
Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville — $4,300,000
Raleigh — $5,400,000
Ohio
Cincinnati — $1,900,000
Cleveland — $1,175,000
Columbus — $1,800,000
Dayton — $2,880,000
Toledo — $3,067,500
Oregon
Portland — $3,300,000
Pennsylvania
Allentown + Wilkes Barre-Scranton (Spanish) — $35,000
Harrisburg — $3,474,000
Philadelphia — $12,600,000
Philadelphia (Spanish) — $262,500
Wilkes Barre — $3,667,500
South Carolina
Charleston — $960,000
Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville — $4,300,000
Tennessee
Nashville — $1,566,000
Texas
Corpus Christi — $1,530,000
Corpus Christi (Spanish) — $821,000
Harlingen — $10,660,000
Harlingen (Spanish) — $2,361,000
Laredo — $450,000
Laredo (Spanish) — $232,500
San Antonio — $4,800,000
San Antonio (Spanish) — $1,357,500
Virginia
Norfolk — $1,350,000
Wisconsin
La Crosse — $2,678,000
Madison — $1,282,500
Milwaukee — $2,025,000
Wausau — $2,484,000
6) In Georgia, Democrats are launching something called the “Peach State Gubernatorial War Room.” They’re realty really keen on their chances of flipping the Governor’s seat. They say the war room is “a team of staff exclusively focused on holding Republican candidates accountable by calling out the GOP gubernatorial candidates’ extreme positions at every turn and showcasing how they are not fit to lead Georgia.”
7) The Army is rolling out some new “combat field tests” for physical performance.
Those tests are part of Sec. Pete Hegseth’s pledge to make the standards tougher.
Per a new report today, the tests include:
Soldiers must complete a 1-mile run; 30 dead-stop pushups; a 100-meter sprint; 16 lifts of a 40-pound sandbag onto a 65-inch platform; a 50-meter carry of two 5-gallon, 40-pound water cans; a 50-meter movement drill comprising a 25-meter high crawl and 25-meter 3-to-5 second rush; and then finish with another 1-mile run. It is scored based on the time completed, and must be finished within 30 minutes to pass, according to the Army.
https://www.stripes.com/branches/army/2026-04-22/army-new-combat-field-test-21452592.html
8) A pre-convention Democratic caucus is scheduled today in Texas, where Democrats are increasingly bullish about their chances at snatching a U.S. Senate seat and minimizing damage from the redrawing of US House districts. The state party’s convention is on the calendar for late June in Corpus Christi.
Yes… you’ll notice lots of photos of James Talarico in the literature and posts from the state party.
https://www.texasdemocrats.org/
https://www.texasdemocrats.org/events
9) Waiting for updates on Rep. Tom Kean (R-NJ) who has been absent here at the Capitol for weeks now. The New York Times characterizes it as a “mysterious absence” and reports Kean’s staff has acknowledged a “personal medical issue” for Kean.
He’s not showing up for votes. And he hasn’t for weeks.
His is a very competitive US House seat.
10) Keeping an on efforts to meddle in the 2026 elections. Alaska state officials are facing a lawsuit for sharing their voter registration information with the Trump Administration. Many other states said “no” to those requests from the Justice Dept. Alaska said “yes”
Here’s the headline in Fairbanks:
11) If you’re craving the midterm election season…. It’s here. Now. The GOP debate in a House primary in Montana is the lead story in the paper
I’ll be filing news over the weekend, including my Saturday edition of “Scott MacFarlane Reports.” So keep sending your ideas, questions and tips. I’ll keep grinding.
I do find these day ahead posts very useful
The money thing. I am on a fixed income. I have also had a health issue this past year that made me dependent on medical nutrition drinks. Expensive stuff, not what you buy in stores, but also provided a bit of a predictable hedge against grocery store shock...though it's amazing how quickly one hits $100 with not one package of meat, frozen meal, or piece of fresh produce in the buggy.
So the good news is, it has been resolved and I can eat real food again. Yay! This joy was immediately followed by the thought, "Oh damn I'm going to have to buy actual groceries again?!" yay? So trying to figure out how to reshape the budget...again...while receiving another huge health ins increase. My supplemental healthcare plan, which picks up the bits & bobs Medicare doesn't pay, has doubled in 3 years. This creates a spiral where more healthy people will likely cancel their plans which leaves the rest of us to pick up a larger portion of costs.
Every time I read an article about inflation they talk about working folks and how well (or not) their salary increases are keeping up with inflation. No one ever talks about the increasing number of retired/disabled folks who are being bled out by the leeches.