The briefing for Wednesday, May 13.

US consumer prices rose 3.8% in April compared to a year earlier, marking the highest inflation rate since May 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The surge was driven primarily by energy costs, with gasoline prices up more than 28% from a year ago and reaching $4.50 per gallon nationally—the highest since July 2022. The war in Iran and the resulting effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane have caused oil prices to jump, translating directly into higher costs at the pump for American consumers.

The April inflation figure represents a significant increase from March's 3.3% rate, with almost half of the rise attributed to surging energy costs. Housing and food prices also contributed to the increase, with grocery prices rising 0.7% from March to April. The data makes it increasingly unlikely the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year, and some analysts suggest rate hikes are now "firmly on the table" as incoming Fed chair Kevin Warsh prepares to take over from Jerome Powell.

The inflation surge poses a political challenge for President Trump ahead of November's midterm elections, as his 2024 campaign focused heavily on reducing inflation. For the first time in three years, Americans' wages are no longer keeping pace with rising prices—average paychecks grew just 3.6% in the year to April while prices rose 3.8%. One Iowa resident told the AP she has severely cut back on clothing purchases, noting "there's pressure basically everywhere from the groceries that I buy to the gas to fill up the tank."

President Trump's proposed 'Golden Dome' missile defense system will cost approximately $1.2 trillion to develop, deploy and operate over 20 years, according to a new Congressional Budget Office analysis—far exceeding the initial $175 billion price tag Trump announced last year. The nonpartisan report warns that despite the massive investment, the system "could be overwhelmed by a full-scale attack mounted by a peer or near-peer adversary" such as Russia or China. Acquisition costs alone would exceed $1 trillion, including interceptor layers and a space-based missile warning and tracking system.

Trump unveiled plans for the futuristic system days after returning to the White House in January, aiming to counter "next-generation" aerial threats with technologies across land, sea and space. The system would be capable of intercepting missiles launched from anywhere in the world or from space, according to the president. Congress has already approved roughly $24 billion for the missile defense initiative through last summer's Republican tax and spending measure, and SpaceX and Lockheed Martin won contracts worth up to $3.2 billion in April to develop space-based interceptor prototypes.

Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, who requested the CBO estimate, criticized the program as "nothing more than a massive giveaway to defense contractors paid for entirely by working Americans." Officials have long expressed doubts about whether the US could deliver a comprehensive defense system for such a huge land mass, and existing systems have not kept pace with increasingly sophisticated weapons possessed by potential adversaries. The BBC contacted the White House and Pentagon for comment but received no immediate response.

Federal prosecutors announced criminal charges Tuesday against Singapore-based Synergy Marine and one of its senior employees over the 2024 collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge that killed six construction workers. The indictment charges Synergy Marine Pte Ltd., Synergy Maritime Pte Ltd., and technical superintendent Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair with conspiracy, willfully failing to notify the Coast Guard of hazardous conditions, obstructing the NTSB investigation, and making false statements. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche called it a "preventable tragedy of enormous consequence."

The Dali container ship lost power twice in a four-minute span as it departed the Port of Baltimore on March 24, 2024, causing it to crash into the bridge at approximately 1:30 a.m. Investigators determined a loose wire in a switchboard likely caused the first blackout. According to the indictment, the second blackout occurred because the crew relied on a flushing pump not designed to automatically restart after power loss. Prosecutors allege that if proper fuel pumps had been used, the vessel would have regained power in time to safely pass under the bridge.

The indictment also alleges Synergy knew about the improper pump use and took steps to hide it on the Dali and other vessels, and that the companies falsified safety records and provided false information to the NTSB. The ship had experienced two blackouts in port a day earlier, but Synergy did not investigate or report them as required. Synergy said in a statement it "will defend against these allegations with vigor," calling them "baseless." Separately, Maryland announced a $2.25 billion settlement with Synergy over civil claims, though some portions of the lawsuit remain unresolved. Maryland estimates replacing the bridge will cost between $4.3 billion and $5.2 billion.

Dr. Marty Makary is resigning as head of the Food and Drug Administration after just 13 months in the position, following months of complaints from health industry executives, anti-abortion activists, vaping lobbyists and other Trump allies. The surgeon and health researcher came to prominence among Republicans as a COVID-19 pandemic critic who frequently appeared on Fox News, but struggled to manage the FDA's bureaucracy and lost the confidence of staff after mass layoffs, leadership upheavals and controversies where scientific principles appeared overridden by political interests.

President Trump confirmed the departure Tuesday, saying "He's a great doctor, and he was having some difficulty." Kyle Diamantas, the agency's chief for foods and an attorney with personal ties to Donald Trump Jr., is expected to take over as acting commissioner. In what appeared to be a text message from Makary submitting his resignation, he noted announcing "50 major FDA reforms" compared to none under Biden's FDA. An administration official said the decision to remove Makary was made by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with White House approval.

Makary faced unique challenges balancing Republican calls to cut FDA red tape while addressing Kennedy's interest in scrutinizing vaccine, drug and food additive safety. Virtually all of the FDA's senior career officials resigned, retired or were forced out in Trump's second term, leading to steady leaks about low morale and dysfunction. The FDA commissioner must juggle competing priorities managing an agency that regulates billions of dollars in consumer goods and medicines, straddling both science and politics.

President Trump's push to redraw US House districts received mixed results Tuesday as South Carolina senators defied his desires while Missouri's Supreme Court upheld a new map that could help Republicans win an additional seat in November's midterm elections. The redistricting battle that began 10 months ago has intensified following a recent US Supreme Court ruling that weakened the federal Voting Rights Act, providing grounds for states to try eliminating districts with large minority populations. Republican lawmakers in Louisiana are wrestling with how aggressive to be when redrawing districts after the Supreme Court invalidated a majority-Black district as an illegal racial gerrymander.

Missouri's Supreme Court delivered two unanimous decisions upholding the state's new congressional map, which stretches a compact Kansas City district previously covering 20 miles and two counties into a 200-mile sprawl across 15 counties. The court found the map satisfied compactness requirements overall despite the Kansas City district appearing less compact. Attorneys challenging the map argued it distorted a district long represented by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, the city's first Black mayor, into "a sprawling behemoth that cuts clear across the state to unite territories that share nothing in common."

The Supreme Court's recent ruling has already led to new districts in Tennessee and extended to Alabama, where Republican Gov. Kay Ivey announced an August 11 special primary after the Court overturned an order mandating two largely Black districts. Alabama plans to use a 2023 map with only one majority-Black district, giving Republicans a chance to win an additional seat. Republicans believe they could gain as many as 14 seats from new maps in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida and Tennessee, while Democrats think they could gain six seats from new maps in California and Utah.

NYU Langone Health disclosed receipt of a federal grand jury subpoena from Texas prosecutors seeking records of children who received gender-affirming care and the names of medical providers, marking the first public acknowledgment by a major hospital system of such a request in an ongoing Trump administration investigation. The subpoena is part of a broader federal effort that has issued similar demands to multiple healthcare providers nationwide, triggering court challenges and a class-action lawsuit by families opposing the disclosure of patient records.