Good morning! This weekend marks three occasions of dramatically varying importance. First, we honor fallen servicemembers on Memorial Day. Second, summer unofficially kicks off. Third, we begin an Elective-free week. The next time we hit your inbox will be Monday, June 3. Hopefully, nothing major happens while we’re gone…

STATES

💔 Oregon-Idaho secession push continues

Two-thirds of Oregon wants to secede. No, not from the United States. That’s been illegal since, well, about 1865. They want to secede from Oregon. And join Idaho.

Crook County, OR just became the thirteenth county in Oregon to join the “Greater Idaho” movement. Voters approved the measure this week with a narrow 53% majority. Owing to hefty disagreements on everything from social issues and crime to budgets and taxes, many voters want to take their land and go home. To Idaho.

• The movement includes 14 full counties and 3 partial ones. It used to include a few others, but voters there rejected the plan. All are primarily rural.

• While this includes about two-thirds of Oregon’s land, it’s only about 10% of its population (~400,000 people).

What do Oregon and Idaho think? The Idaho House of Representatives passed a bill last year authorizing the state to have a little chat with Oregon about this. Oregon's government hasn't chimed in.

This is weird but totally legal. It's in the Constitution! The Oregon and Idaho legislatures would need to approve the move. Then Congress would need to agree. If that happens? Ore-gone.

• This wouldn't have much of a political impact. What's left of Oregon would stay pretty Democratic. The new and improved Idaho would stay pretty Republican. That's kind of the point.

We're in uncharted territory here. No state has ever just given territory to another. However, three new states have been created from the territory of other states using similar processes.

• Kentucky split from Virginia in 1792.

• Maine split from Massachusetts in 1820 (no, they don't border one another).

• West Virginia split from East regular Virginia in 1863.

Future: Oregon has shown no interest in giving up this land just to be nice. And Idahoans will understandably be worried about a large influx of outsiders. The U.S. has a long history of similar movements, all of which failed. But who knows? There's a first time for everything.

In other, less momentous U.S. news:

• 🌀 NOAA (Noah) and its crack team of weather nerds are predicting the most aggressive hurricane season ever (well, since they started this back in ‘99). They expect 4 to 7 major hurricanes.

• 🎟️ The Department of Justice and 30 states are suing Live Nation (Ticketmaster's parent.). They claim the ticketing giant abuses its power and illegally stomps out rivals.

• ✈️The Air Force dropped some pics of its newest stealth bomber. Flight testing is underway on the B-21 Raider that the Pentagon calls the “backbone” of our future bombing fleet.

POLITICS

🔵 Need a job? The Biden campaign is hiring one lucky person as an official meme manager. The gig pays up to $85,000.

🔴 Donald Trump held a campaign rally in the Bronx — New York's most diverse borough. He won a cool 16% of the vote here last time around. But his campaign says he's bringing his message to "every corner" of America.

🔴 Vanquished Republican candidate Nikki Haley will support Trump this year after all, saying, "Trump has not been perfect... But Biden has been a catastrophe. So I will be voting for Trump."

🔴 The Republican Party had to evacuate its HQ after some nut mailed them two vials of blood addressed to Trump. Michael Whatley, the party's chair, called it "revolting." White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre also condemned the move.

🟡 Both Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will speak this weekend at the Libertarian Party’s national convention. The Trump campaign hopes to garner a little bit of support from Libertarian voters. And that could matter at the margins. In 2020, the Libertarian candidate received 38,000 votes in Wisconsin. Biden beat Trump there by just 21,000.

🔵 A New York Democrat is engaging in shenanigans. She’s attempting to get her name on the ballot for Congress under the “Patriot Party” banner, (presumably) hoping to siphon off just enough Republican votes to throw the race to the Dems.

⚪ Conservative Justice Andrew Pinson won reelection to the Georgia Supreme Court over former Democratic Rep. John Barrow in a race focused almost exclusively on abortion. Pinson’s victory is a major win for pro-life activists.

TRIVIA

Americans have honored fallen military personnel every May since 1868. These days, Memorial Day is always the final Monday in May. But it hasn’t always been that way. For over a century, it was on May 30 — Monday or not. In what year did we move federal holidays to Mondays?

Hint: Over a century. Do the math and you’re close.

WORLD

🇰🇪 Kenya: President William Ruto is in D.C. this week for an official state visit (and state dinner!). Kenya will soon become a "major non-NATO ally" of the United States (the first in sub-Saharan Africa). Mutual benefits include tighter security and economic cooperation.

🇵🇸 Palestine: Ireland, Norway, and Spain will officially recognize a Palestinian state next week. Israel called the move "a reward for terrorism." But the Palestinians see this as further diplomatic legitimacy of their quest. No major Western power recognizes Palestine as independent.

🇷🇺 Russia: Putin signed an order allowing Russia to seize the Russian assets of American and European citizens and businesses. The move comes as the U.S. and its European allies meet to consider doing the same thing in reverse.

🇬🇧 United Kingdom: The U.K. will hold its election this year on… July 4. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak chose the date. His Conservative Party is expected to go down hard after holding power for 14 years straight.

BRIEFS

• Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy bought an 8% stake in Buzzfeed and wants a change in strategy

• Video of golfer Scottie Scheffler’s arrest doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in Louisville PD’s trustworthiness

• Ukraine is now recruiting nonviolent prisoners to the war’s front lines but says it won’t follow Russia’s lead on using murderers

• Norfolk Southern railroad will pay $310 million to clean up its 2023 toxic derailment in Ohio, the EPA says, plus $600 million to residents

• The World Wildlife Fund is suing Norway over its deep-sea mining plans — Norway says the activity is necessary to counter China

QUOTE

SNACKS

🏀 Basketball: Toronto just scored the 14th WNBA franchise. The team will be Canada’s first and plans to begin play in 2026.

🤣 Comedy: “The Daily Show” takes a peak behind the curtain of Vice President Kamala Harris’ soaring oratory skills.

🛏️ Design: Hide your Supreme stickers, boys. Comedian Rachel Coster is racking up millions of views pointing out the decor fails of so-called Boy Rooms.

🐢 Turtles: Yesterday was the 25th annual World Turtle Day. Give your Friday morning a boost with some pics from Smithsonian Magazine.

ANSWER

President Lyndon Johnson signed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act in 1968. It took effect in 1971, securing three-day weekends for us all. Huge for The Lake industry.