Replaced

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., took over as the No. 3 Republican in the U.S. House in a secret ballot vote behind closed doors on May 14. She won her congressional seat in 2015 running as a moderate and initially parted ways with President Donald Trump on several issues. But she came to his defense during his first impeachment trial and—unlike her predecessor as House conference chair, Rep. Liz Cheney—has spoken in support of Trump’s claim that he lost the 2020 election due to voter fraud. Both Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., endorsed Stefanik for the leadership position. Two days before, House Republicans used a voice vote to remove Cheney as conference chair. GOP lawmakers said Cheney’s view of Trump was not the problem, instead citing the divisions caused by her public disagreements with other party leaders about the president.

Declined

California’s Department of Finance announced on May 7 the state’s population fell by more than 182,000 people last year, a drop of 0.46 percent. Only a week earlier, the U.S. Census Bureau said the state had grown so slowly in the past decade compared with others that it was losing a congressional seat for the first time. State officials blame the declining birthrate, reductions in immigration under President Donald Trump, and increased deaths from the pandemic. They predict that next year California will again see a slight annual population increase. For the past several decades, the state has seen more people move out of the state than move in, but immigration and births previously offset those losses.

Diagnosed

After successfully curbing COVID-19 last year, Taiwan recorded more than 1,300 domestic cases in one week in mid-May due to an outbreak connected to airline workers, doubling its total number of COVID-19 infections since the pandemic began. In Thailand, the government recorded 35 deaths on May 18—the highest since the pandemic began—and another 29 the next day. The country stood as another success story with only about 7,000 infections last year. Other countries, including Mongolia, Malaysia, and Singapore, have recorded similar jumps in cases and deaths. As a result, several of those countries instituted shutdowns and social distancing measures most of the world observed a year ago.

Indicted

A federal grand jury indicted Derek Chauvin and three other former Minneapolis police officers on civil rights charges, the Justice Department announced on May 7. The charges allege Chauvin violated George Floyd’s right to be free from unreasonable seizure and force when he restrained Floyd as he struggled to breathe. Floyd’s May 2020 death sparked nationwide protests against police. Ex-officers J. Kueng and Tou Thao are accused of failing to intervene. They and Thomas Lane are also charged with failing to give Floyd medical help.