WASHINGTON (OSV News) — The U.S. House of Representatives May 22 passed a sweeping package in an effort to enact key parts of President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda.
The same week in Washington, Trump held a tense Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and bipartisan legislation was reintroduced that would impose new penalties for online sexual exploitation.
House Passes ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’
House Republican leadership passed what Trump calls his “one big, beautiful bill” — and as such, later named the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — by one vote, over concerns from some of their members about how the legislation is projected to raise the deficit. The package would enact key provisions of Trump’s legislative agenda on tax and immigration policy.
OSV News previously reported Catholic leaders have alternately praised and criticized various provisions in the House’s version of that package. It has drawn fire from some critics over its cuts to Medicaid, while drawing praise from others for promises to eliminate funds to health providers who also perform abortions.
The Senate will take up the package for consideration, but some Republicans in the upper chamber have objected to its cuts to Medicaid.
Tense Oval Office Meeting with South Africa’s President
In a contentious Oval Office meeting between Trump and Ramaphosa, Trump alleged an ongoing “genocide” against white farmers in South Africa, showing videos he claimed showed evidence of such violence.
However, while South Africa has a relatively high crime rate, there is no evidence that crimes against white farmers are disproportionate, a BBC analysis found. The BBC reviewed data from South African Police Service figures showing there were 26,232 murders in the country in 2024. Of those deaths, 44 were killings of people within the farming community, including black and white South African victims.
A 2019 country report by the State Department during Trump’s first term also disputed that argument, which is sometimes circulated by white nationalist groups.
“Some advocacy groups asserted white farmers were racially targeted for burglaries, home invasions, and killings, while many observers attributed the incidents to the country’s high and growing crime rate,” the report said, calling those isolated incidents “in line with the general upward trend in South Africa’s serious and violent crimes.”
Reuters reported that one of the photos Trump displayed to make his claims was a screenshot of a video it took in Congo in February. A vast distance separates both South Africa and Congo on the African continent, with planes having to cover more than 1,800 miles between the countries’ respective capitals.
Vance Claims Courts Should Be ‘Deferential’ to President
In an interview on New York Times opinion columnist Ross Douthat’s “Interesting Times” podcast published May 21, Vice President JD Vance took aim at comments made by Chief Justice John Roberts earlier this month, calling the justice’s argument that the judiciary’s role is to check the executive branch a “profoundly wrong sentiment.”
Earlier this month, at rare public remarks at an event in Buffalo, New York, Roberts criticized calls to impeach judges over disagreements with their rulings.
“Impeachment is not how you register disagreement with a decision,” Roberts said.
Roberts’ comments followed a similar written statement in March, when the Catholic jurist rebuked Trump’s call to impeach a federal judge who ruled against his administration in a case concerning deportations.
Vance, however, argued, “That’s one half of his job.”
“The other half of his job is to check the excesses of his own branch,” Vance said. “And you cannot have a country where the American people keep on electing immigration enforcement and the courts tell the American people they’re not allowed to have what they voted for.”
Traditionally U.S. civic education has taught the country has three co-equal branches of government under the Constitution — executive, legislative and judicial — as a system of checks and balances, in order to govern for the common good and prevent any one branch from acquiring too much power and endanger American rights and liberties. A 2025 American Bar Association Survey of Civic Literacy found nine in 10 Americans hold this view of co-equal branches of government.
Elsewhere in the Douthat interview, Vance, who became Catholic in 2019, discussed attending the inauguration Mass of Pope Leo XIV and called his meeting with the new American-born pontiff “a very productive conversation.”
Douthat asked Vance about how he intended to navigate issues where he may not be “in tune with the Vatican” politically.
“I am a Catholic, I believe that Pope Leo is actually the shepherd of 1.4 billion Catholics, and there are things like bowing before him or kissing the ring that are signs of respect for a spiritual father. But on the world stage, I’m not there as JD Vance, a Catholic parishioner,” Vance said. “I’m there as the vice president of the United States and the leader of the president’s delegation to the pope’s inaugural Mass. And so some of the protocols about how I respond to the Holy Father were much different than how I might respond to the Holy Father, or how you might respond to the Holy Father purely in your capacity as a citizen.”
Poll Shows Public Disapproval of Trump’s Overall Performance, But Not on Immigration
A May 21 Marquette Law School Poll national survey found a majority of voters disapprove of Trump’s overall job performance, 54% to 46%.
On specific issues, the survey found a majority approves of Trump’s job performance on border security (56%) and splits down the middle on immigration (50%).
However, majorities disapprove of his handling of foreign policy (57%) and the economy (58%). At least six in 10 Americans also disapproved when asked about Trump’s handling of Russia’s war in Ukraine, tariffs, and inflation and the cost of living.
Most adults also said they favor his executive order requiring federal agencies to only recognize two biological sexes, male or female.
However, most oppose Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. should acquire Greenland, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
DEFIANCE Act to Allow Victims of Nonconsensual Sexually Explicit Images to Sue
Citing Trump’s May 19 signature on the Take It Down Act, a measure that imposes penalties for online sexual exploitation, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in Congress reintroduced legislation they say would help victims of such exploitation pursue civil action.
The Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits Act — or DEFIANCE Act — would create a new path for those who did not consent to the online publication of such material, either authentic or generated by artificial intelligence, sometimes called “deepfakes,” to pursue civil justice, its proponents said.
The bill was sponsored in the House by Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Laurel Lee, R-Fla., and in the Senate by Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
“We are reintroducing the DEFIANCE Act to grant survivors and victims of nonconsensual deepfake pornography the legal right to pursue justice,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement. “I am proud to lead this legislation with Representative Lee, and Senators Durbin and Graham to provide victims with the federal protections they deserve.”
Lee said the legislation would give “victims a civil right of action when predators attempt to use exploitative AI-generated intimate images — so-called deepfakes — to intimidate, shame, or harm them.”
“We’ve seen stories across the country of women and girls as young as 12 years old victimized by this new and growing form of sexual violence,” Lee said. “The time for action is now. This legislation will complement the TAKE IT DOWN Act, which was recently signed into law. Together, they both create both accountability and recourse. I am grateful for my colleagues’ work on these issues, and look forward to moving this bill through Committee.”
Catholic Congressman from Virginia Dies at 75
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., died May 21 after a battle with esophageal cancer, his family said in a statement shared by his office. He was 75.
“It is with immense sadness that we share that our devoted and loving father, husband, brother, friend, and public servant, Congressman Gerald E. Connolly, passed away peacefully at his home this morning surrounded by family,” the statement said.
Connolly represented Virginia’s 11th district, which includes parts of Northern Virginia, since 2009. In April, he announced he intended to step down from his leadership position on the House Oversight Committee due to his health. In December, he defeated a bid by Ocasio-Cortez, who challenged him to become ranking member of the powerful committee.
Connolly’s family pointed to his work on projects within his district as part of his legacy.
“From the Silver Line to the Oakton Library, Mosaic District to the Cross County Trail and beyond, his legacy now colors our region,” they said. “We were fortunate to share Gerry with Northern Virginia for nearly 40 years because that was his joy, his purpose, and his passion. His absence will leave a hole in our hearts, but we are proud that his life’s work will endure for future generations. We thank you for your love of Gerry, and know he loved you all so much.”
Connolly was Catholic, according to the Pew Research Center’s list of the religious affiliations of members of Congress.
Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.
