WASHINGTON: Organizers behind the “uncommitted” political movement against President Joe Biden’s staunch support for Israel’s war against Hamas will travel to the University of Michigan’s campus on Thursday to join students protesting the war.
Student protests in the US over the war in Gaza have intensified and expanded over the past week after police first arrested students at Columbia, with so-called Gaza solidarity encampments established at colleges, including Yale, and New York University. Police have been called in to several campuses to arrest hundreds of student demonstrators.
Uncommitted organizers will travel to the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus, they told Reuters, bringing together a political movement that’s disrupted Biden events and amassed hundreds of thousands of votes in Democratic primaries and a student movement that’s drawn students and faculty of various backgrounds.
Biden won Michigan by less than a 3 percent margin in 2020.
Democrats have become increasingly uneasy over the US support for Israel as the death toll and destruction climb in Gaza. A growing revolt inside the Democratic base signifies the challenge Biden faces in bringing together the coalition he needs to defeat Republican frontrunner and former President Donald Trump.
“President Biden is choosing to put his hands over his ears and ignore the hundreds of thousands of people who have already come out against the war at the ballot box,” said Abbas Alawieh, a prominent “Uncommitted” organizer, who is going to Ann Arbor with Layla Elabed, another Michigan organizer.
“Signing into law more money for Israel is sending a clear message to uncommitted voters, young voters that he doesn’t care to engage seriously with our demands to end this war,” he said, referring to the $26 billion in new aid Biden recently approved.
Alawieh said the uncommitted movement has not been coordinating with student groups so far. “We have an electoral focus, but we certainly see the demands of student protesters, who are calling for peace,” he said.
On campuses where protests have broken out, students have issued calls for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, an end to US military assistance for Israel, university divestment from arms suppliers and other companies profiting from the war, and amnesty for students and faculty members who have been disciplined or fired for protesting.
Biden told reporters on Monday that he condemned both “antisemitic protests” and “those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.” Biden campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt has said the president “shares the goal for an end to the violence and a just, lasting peace in the Middle East. He’s working tirelessly to that end.”
Trump called the campus protest situation “a mess” as he walked into his criminal trial in New York.
The uncommitted movement amassed sizable vote totals in Michigan, Minnesota and Hawaii primaries and had won 25 delegates as of the beginning of April. They are preparing to target the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August, where Biden is expected to be nominated.
Polls show Biden and Trump running neck-and-neck ahead of their Nov. 5 election rematch nationally. Biden’s 2020 victory was due to narrow wins in key swing states like Michigan.
‘Uncommitted’ organizers will join campus protesters in Michigan over Gaza
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‘Uncommitted’ organizers will join campus protesters in Michigan over Gaza

- Student protests in the US over the war in Gaza have intensified and expanded over the past week
- Democrats have become increasingly uneasy over the US support for Israel as the death toll and destruction climb in Gaza
South Korean presidential frontrunner Lee Jae-myun proposes revising constitution on martial law

- More South Koreans turned out for early voting on Friday after reaching record numbers on Thursday
- As of noon on Friday, 25.8 percent of eligible voters had voted, the highest turnout compared to other polls in the same period
As candidates entered their final stretch before the snap presidential election on June 3, Lee and his Democratic Party urged South Koreans to come out to vote to end the political turmoil that has gripped the country since ousted conservative leader Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law declaration in December.
“Our national prestige has fallen, but it (martial law) happens. We have to make that impossible systematically,” Lee told a live-streaming talk show on YouTube.
“Overcoming the insurrection (crisis) is no-brainer. Without it, our country will collapse,” Lee said, adding that economic growth and unity would be among his other top priorities.
Lee said he would seek to revise the constitution to strengthen martial law requirements, for instance by not allowing leaders to implement martial law without getting parliament’s approval within 24 hours.
More South Koreans turned out for early voting on Friday after reaching record numbers on Thursday. Early voting ends at 6 p.m. (0900 GMT) on Friday.
As of noon on Friday, 25.8 percent of eligible voters had voted, the highest turnout compared to other polls in the same period.
Lee also said a special prosecutor should investigate the December 3 martial law incident to make sure those responsible were punished, although he called for leniency for those in the military who were reluctant to follow orders.
Yoon Yeo-jun, chair of the Democratic Party’s election campaign, said that the vote would be an opportunity to set the country right so that the “Yoon Suk Yeol tragedy would never happen again.”
Kim Moon-soo, Lee’s rival candidate from the conservative People Power Party, said he would stop “legislative dictatorship” by Lee’s Democratic Party that holds a majority in parliament.
Trump administration considers allowing tariffs of up to 15% for 150 days, WSJ reports

President Donald Trump’s administration is considering a stopgap effort to impose tariffs on large parts of the global economy under an existing law that includes language allowing for tariffs of up to 15 percent for 150 days, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The administration has not made a final decision and it could wait to impose any plans after a federal appeals court on Thursday temporarily reinstated the most sweeping of Trump’s tariffs following a trade court ruling to immediately block them, the report added.
Tens of thousands demonstrate in Nepal seeking restoration of ousted monarchy

KATMANDU, Nepal: Tens of thousands of protesters demanding the abolished monarchy be restored and the former king be made the head of state of the Himalayan nation demonstrated in Nepal Thursday.
The protesters, waving flags and chanting slogans, demanded the return of the king and the restoration of Hinduism as a state religion as they marched through the main circle in the capital, Katmandu.
Just a few hundred meters (yards) from the pro-monarchy protesters, their opponents, who are supporters of the Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli, had gathered at the exhibition grounds to celebrate Republic Day.
There was fear that these two groups could likely clash and create trouble in the city. Hundreds of riot police kept the two groups apart and authorities had given them permission on different times to carry out their rallies.
Nepal abolished the monarchy and turned the nation into a republic in 2008, bringing in a president as the head of the state.
“Bring king back to the throne and save the country. We love our king more than our lives,” the estimated 20,000 protesters chanted with a few playing traditional drums and musical instruments.
“We are going to continue our protests until the centuries-old monarchy is brought back and the country turned in to a Hindu stage for the interest of the country,” said Dil Nath Giri, a supporter of the former king at the rally.
The pro-monarchy supporters had announced they were restarting their protests from Thursday.
In their last protest on March 28, two people including a television cameraman, were killed when protesters attacked buildings and set them on fire while police fired bullets and tear gas on the protesters. Several protesters arrested on that day are still in jail.
There has been growing demand in recent months for Gyanendra Shah to be reinstated as king and Hinduism to be brought back as a state religion. Royalist groups accuse the country’s major political parties of corruption and failed governance and say people are frustrated with politicians.
Massive street protests in 2006 forced Gyanendra to give up his authoritarian rule, and two years later the parliament voted to abolish the monarchy.
Gyanendra, who left the Royal Palace to live as commoner, has not commented on the calls for the return of monarchy. Despite growing support, the former king has little chance of immediately returning to power.
US probes effort to impersonate White House Chief of Staff, WSJ reports

US federal authorities are investigating an effort to impersonate White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The report said Wiles had told associates that some of her cellphone contacts had been hacked, allowing the impersonator to access private phone numbers.
The incident affected her personal phone, not her government phone, the report said.
The Journal reported that in recent weeks, senators, governors, top US business executives and other figures received messages and calls from a person who claimed to be Wiles, citing the people familiar with the messages.
The White House and FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The White House has struggled with information security. A hacker who breached the communications service used by former Trump national security adviser Mike Waltz earlier this month intercepted messages from a broad swathe of American officials, Reuters reported recently.
And late last year, a White House official said the US believed that an alleged sweeping Chinese cyber espionage campaign known as Salt Typhoon targeted and recorded telephone calls of “very senior” American political figures.
As Wiles is a key Trump lieutenant and a lynchpin of the White House’s operation, the content of her personal phone would be of extraordinary interest to a range of foreign intelligence agencies and other hostile actors.
Wiles has reportedly been targeted by hackers at least once before, in the final months of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. At the time, hackers alleged by US authorities to be acting on behalf of Iran approached journalists and a political operative with a variety of messages sent to and from Wiles, some of which were eventually published.
Elon Musk came to Washington wielding a chain saw. He leaves behind upheaval and unmet expectations

- The world’s richest person got a seat at Trump’s table and put $250 million behind his campaign
- He was suddenly everywhere — in Cabinet meetings, sleeping in the White House, or with his young son in the Oval Office
- “They made some changes without really knowing what they were doing... they set themselves up for failure,” says think tank exec
WASHINGTON: Elon Musk arrived in the nation’s capital with the chain saw-wielding swagger of a tech titan who had never met a problem he couldn’t solve with lots of money, long hours or a well-calibrated algorithm.
President Donald Trump was delighted to have the world’s richest person — and a top campaign donor — working in his administration, talking about how he was “a smart guy” who “really cares for our country.”
Musk was suddenly everywhere — holding forth in Cabinet meetings while wearing a “tech support” shirt and black MAGA hat, hoisting his young son on his shoulders in the Oval Office, flying aboard Air Force One, sleeping in the White House. Democrats described the billionaire entrepreneur as Trump’s “co-president,” and senior officials bristled at his imperial approach to overhauling the federal government.
After establishing Tesla as a premier electric automaker, building rockets at SpaceX and reshaping the social media landscape by buying Twitter, Musk was confident that he could bend Washington to his vision.
Now that’s over. Musk said this week that he’s leaving his job as a senior adviser, an announcement that came after he revealed his plan to curtail political donations and he criticized the centerpiece of Trump’s legislative agenda.
It’s a quiet exit after a turbulent entrance, and he’s trailed by upheaval and unmet expectations. Thousands of people were indiscriminately laid off or pushed out — hundreds of whom had to be rehired — and some federal agencies were eviscerated.
But no one has been prosecuted for the fraud that Musk and Trump said was widespread within the government. Musk reduced his target for cutting spending from $2 trillion to $1 trillion to $150 billion, and even that goal may not be reached.
In Silicon Valley, where Musk got his start as a founder of PayPal, his kind of promises are known as vaporware — a product that sounds extraordinary yet never gets shipped to market.
Trump said Thursday on his Truth Social platform that he would hold a press conference Friday with Musk. “This will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way,” Trump added. “Elon is terrific!”
Musk’s position was always designed to be temporary, and he had previously announced his intention to dedicate more of his time to his companies. But he also told reporters last month that he was willing to work part-time for Trump “indefinitely, as long as the president wants me to do it.”
Musk got a seat at Trump’s table and put $250 million behind his campaign
It was clear that Musk wouldn’t be the typical kind of presidential adviser around the time that he showed the world his belly button.
Racing on stage at a campaign rally one month before the election, he jumped for joy next to Trump, his T-shirt rising to expose his midriff. Musk had already sold Trump on his idea for a Department of Government Efficiency while also putting at least $250 million behind his candidacy.
The plan called for a task force to hunt for waste, fraud and abuse, a timeworn idea with a new twist. Instead of putting together a blue-ribbon panel of government experts, Trump would give his top donor a desk in the White House and what appeared to be carte blanche to make changes.
Musk deployed software engineers who burrowed into sensitive databases, troubling career officials who sometimes chose to resign rather than go along. Trump brushed off concerns about Musk’s lack of experience in public service or conflicts of interest from his billions of dollars in federal contracts.
Their unlikely partnership had the potential for a generational impact on American politics and government. While Musk dictated orders for government departments from his perch in the White House, he was poised to use his wealth to enforce loyalty to the president.
His language was that of catastrophism. Excessive spending was a crisis that could only be solved by drastic measures, Musk claimed, and “if we don’t do this, America will go bankrupt.”
But even though he talked about his work in existential terms, he treated the White House like a playground. He brought his children to a meeting with the Indian prime minister. He let the president turn the driveway into a makeshift Tesla showroom to help boost sales. He installed an oversized screen in his office that he occasionally used to play video games.
Sometimes, Trump invited Musk to sleep over in the Lincoln Bedroom.
“We’ll be on Air Force One, Marine One, and he’ll be like, ‘do you want to stay over?’” Musk told reporters. The president made sure he got some caramel ice cream from the kitchen. “This stuff’s amazing,” Musk said. “I ate a whole tub of it.”

Looking back on his experience in government, he described it as a lark.
“It is funny that we’ve got DOGE,” an acronym that references an online meme featuring a surprised-looking dog from Japan. “How did we get here?”
Musk did not give federal workers the benefit of the doubt
From the beginning, Musk treated federal workers with contempt. At best, they were inefficient; at worst, they were committing fraud.
His team offered them a “fork in the road,” meaning they could get paid to quit. Probationary employees, generally people new on the job without full civil service protection, were shown the door.
Anyone who stayed faced escalating demands, such as what became known as the “five things” emails. Musk wanted every government employee to submit a list of five things they accomplished in the previous week, and he claimed that “failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
Some administration officials curtailed the plan, concerned that it could jeopardize security in more sensitive areas of the government, and it eventually faded, an early sign of Musk’s struggle to get traction.
But in the meantime, he continued issuing orders like thunderbolts.
One day in February, Musk posted “CFPB RIP,” plus an emoji of a tombstone. The headquarters of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, created after the Great Recession to protect Americans from fraud and deceptive practices, was shut down and employees were ordered to stop working.
Musk had already started gutting the US Agency for International Development, a pillar of the country’s foreign policy establishment and the world’s largest provider of humanitarian assistance.
“Spent the weekend feeding USAID into a wood chipper,” he bragged.
Thousands of contacts were cut off, pleasing conservatives who disliked the agency’s progressive initiatives on climate change and gay rights.
Musk rejected concerns about the loss of a crucial lifeline for impoverished people around the globe, saying, “no one has died.” However, children who once relied on American assistance perished from malnutrition, and the death toll is expected to increase.
The lawsuits began piling up. Sometimes workers got their jobs back, only to lose them again.
The Food and Drug Administration, which is responsible for ensuring the safety of everything from baby formula to biotech drugs, planned to lay off 3,500 employees. But again and again, the agency was forced to rehire people who were initially deemed expendable, including laboratory scientists, travel bookers and document specialists.
Commissioner Marty Makary, who started his job after many of the cuts took place, told attendees at a recent conference that “it was hard and my job is to make sure we can heal from that.”
Only 1,900 layoffs took place, but another 1,200 staffers took buyouts or early retirement. Experts fear the agency has lost much of its institutional knowledge and expertise in areas like vaccines, tobacco and food.
There are also concerns about safety on public lands. The National Park Service has been bleeding staff, leaving fewer people to maintain trails, clean restrooms and guide visitors. More cuts at the Forest Service could undermine efforts to prevent and fight wildfires.
The Environmental Protection Agency faces a broad overhaul, such as gutting the Office of Research and Development, which was responsible for improving air pollution monitoring and discovering harmful chemicals in drinking water.
Not even low-profile organizations were exempt. Trump ordered the downsizing of the US Institute of Peace, a nonprofit think tank created by Congress, and Musk’s team showed up to carry out his plan. The organizations’ leaders were deposed, then reinstated after a court battle.
Musk made little headway at the top sources of federal spending
The bulk of federal spending goes to health care programs like Medicaid and Medicare, plus Social Security and the military.
Unfortunately for Musk, all of those areas are politically sensitive and generally require congressional approval to make changes.
Thousands of civilian workers were pushed out at the Pentagon, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is reducing the ranks of top generals and looking to consolidate various commands. A plan to downsize an office for testing and evaluating new weapons systems could save $300 million per year. Hegseth recently asked employees to submit one idea per week for cutting waste.

However, the Pentagon budget would increase by $150 billion, for a total of more than $900 billion, under Trump’s spending proposal working its way through Congress. The money includes $25 billion to lay the groundwork for Trump’s “golden dome” missile defense program and $34 billion to expand the naval fleet with more shipbuilding.
Another $45 million is expected to be spent on a military parade on June 14, which is the 250th anniversary of the Army’s founding and Trump’s 79th birthday.
Musk also faced blowback for targeting Social Security, which provides monthly benefits to retirees and some children. He suggested that the popular program was “a Ponzi scheme” and the government could save between $500 billion and $700 billion by tackling waste and fraud.
However, his estimates were inflated. Social Security’s inspector general said there was only $71.8 billion in improper payments over eight years. Nor was there any evidence that millions of dead people were receiving benefits.
Changes to Social Security phone services, pitched as a way to eliminate opportunities for fraud, were walked back after an outcry from lawmakers and beneficiaries. But the agency could still shed 7,000 workers while closing some of its offices.
Musk’s popularity cratered even though Americans often agreed with his premise that the federal government is bloated and wasteful, according to polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Just 33 percent of US adults had a favorable view of Musk in April, down from 41 percent in December. In addition, 65 percent said Musk had too much influence over the federal government.
Musk talked of staggering savings but delivered modest results
During a campaign rally in October, Musk said he could find “at least $2 trillion” in spending cuts. In January, before Trump was inaugurated, he revised by saying, “if we try for $2 trillion, we’ve got a good shot at getting one.”
But in April, at a Cabinet meeting, Musk provided a different target. He was “excited to announce” that they could reach $150 billion in savings during the current fiscal year.
Whether that figure proves to be accurate is difficult to measure, especially because DOGE routinely inflated or mischaracterized its work. But it falls short of President Bill Clinton’s initiative three decades ago, which resulted in $136 billion in savings — the equivalent of more than $240 billion today.
Elaine Kamarck, a key figure in the Clinton administration, said they focused on making the government more responsive and updating antiquated internal procedures. The work took years.
“We went about it methodically, department by department,” she said. The effort also reduced the federal workforce by more than 400,000 employees.
However, Musk did little to seek insight from people who knew the inner workings of government.
“They made some changes without really knowing what they were doing,” said Alex Nowrasteh, vice president for economic and social policy studies for the libertarian think tank Cato Institute. He said there were “a lot of unforced errors.”
In the end, Nowrasteh said, “they set themselves up for failure.”