Axios PM

May 21, 2026
Happy Thursday! Today's newsletter, edited by Alex Fitzpatrick, is 688 words, a 2½-min. read. Thanks to Sheryl Miller for copy editing.
⚡️ Situational awareness: $72 billion in ICE and Border Patrol funding is now in limbo after GOP senators revolted against President Trump's $1.776 billion "anti-weaponization fund." Go deeper.
🏗️ The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts approved the design for President Trump's "Triumphal Arch" in Washington, D.C. Go deeper.
1 big thing: The forever CEO

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk will retain a vise-like grip on the company even after it goes public, Axios' Emily Peck and Matt Phillips report.
- Investors will have little control over how the company operates — and almost no ability to force Musk out.
Many companies have embraced dual-class stock structures that give founder-CEOs more voting power.
- Yesterday's SpaceX filing blasts this strategy to a new level.
🗳️ How it works: Class A SpaceX shares give holders a single vote each.
- Class B shares, held by company insiders, confer 10 votes each.
👑 Musk — the majority Class B holder — has a stunning 85% of the voting rights.
- Class B holders get to decide the big questions. And when they sell their shares, the B's convert to A's — unless Musk is the buyer.
- The only person who can remove Musk as CEO or chair is Musk himself, as long as he holds most of the Class B shares.
2. 🗳️ Dems release '24 autopsy

The Democratic National Committee released what it says is the full, unredacted draft of a long-withheld autopsy of the 2024 presidential election, Axios' Alex Thompson and Holly Otterbein report.
- The release of the 192-page "DNC After Action Report" follows months of pressure on party chair Ken Martin.
- The report calls for "renewed focus on the voters of Middle America and the South."
🫏 Among its other assertions: Democrats have suffered from "unfortunate reductions in support and training for our state parties, consequential shifts in voter registration, a loss of partisan organizing capacity, and a persistent inability or unwillingness to listen to all voters."
- "When an ecosystem invests so heavily in paid media, in fundraising, and events; or in paid voter 'contact' through phones and texting, what gets left behind for the next campaign other than lists to rent or sell?" the report says.
- "Building to win requires new thinking, and building to last requires thinking about more than the next election. It requires finding the best way to connect with the right voters in the right places."
🤷 The analysis contains errors, and the "Conclusion" section is blank — signs that part of the reason the autopsy wasn't released sooner is that it was poorly done.
- Martin selected Paul Rivera, a veteran Democratic strategist close to the chair, to write the report.
- Rivera had not worked on a presidential campaign in more than two decades, and was conducting the autopsy part-time.
📝 Each page is topped with a red "Disclaimer": "This document reflects the views of the author, not the DNC. The DNC was not provided with the underlying sourcing, interviews, or supporting data for many of the assertions ... and therefore cannot independently verify the claims presented."
3. ⚡️ Catch me up

- ⛽️ Steep gas prices and airfares have many Americans scaling back Memorial Day and summer travel plans. People are traveling but finding ways to do it cheaper, including shorter trips and tweaking destinations. Today's national average: $4.56/gallon. Interactive map ... Go deeper.
- 🤖 The White House postponed a planned signing ceremony today for President Trump's executive order on AI and cybersecurity, per a note seen by Axios' Ashley Gold. Go deeper.
- 🌊 NOAA's Atlantic hurricane forecast calls for 8–14 named storms, 3–6 hurricanes and 1–3 major hurricanes. That's less than normal thanks to a possibly record-setting El Nino. Go deeper ... More from Axios' Kathryn Varn.
- 👾 The U.S. government is taking equity stakes in nine quantum computing companies, tied to $2 billion in CHIPS Act grants. More from Dan Primack.
4. ✈️ 1 fun thing: Lookin' fly

Travelers can now buy themed merch from Washington's two closest airports, Axios D.C.'s Mimi Montgomery reports.
- 🖼️ Think: Dulles and Reagan National-themed apparel, travel pillows, art prints, shower curtains, towels and more.
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