CNN 5 Things

Hey from CNN, I'm Ifeoma Dike with the five things you need to know for Thursday, May 21st.

'Some Senate Republicans are at odds with the Trump administration's promised $1.8 billion so-called anti-weaponization fund as they leave for Washington for the Memorial Day holiday recess. The fund would set aside money for people who claim they were treated unfairly by the Biden Justice Department. According to a fact sheet sent to lawmakers and reviewed by CNN, senators whose records were subpoenaed by the DOJ during former President Joe Biden's administration would be able to seek compensation from the fund. However, the idea of the fund became so toxic for the Senate GOP that there were doubts they could muster the votes to pass a major immigration enforcement package that would provide tens of billions of dollars to ICE and Border Patrol. Today, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche faced serious pushback in a tense, more-than-90-minute meeting with several GOP senators. According to a person familiar with the matter, lawmakers warned that the fund could derail plans to pass the bill by President Donald Trump's June 1 deadline. Here is Republican North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis.

'These people don't deserve restitution. Many of them deserve to be in prison. Some of them deserved the pardon because they were over-prosecuted. But this is, I mean, this is just stupid on stilts.

Blanche told CNN in an interview yesterday that violent conduct from Capitol rioters on January 6, 2021 will be taken into account when a commission reviews applications for payouts.

It's abhorrent to ever, ever touch a law enforcement officer, which is why anytime anybody does that and is a federal officer will prosecute them. But that's a completely different question with whether an individual is allowed to apply for a claim.

More news coming up, including charges in the Minnesota fraud scheme.

'The federal government has charged 15 people with defrauding social service programs in Minnesota. The Justice Department says the cases involve theft of more than $90 million in taxpayer money. The announcement came moments after Aimee Bock, the founder of the charity Feeding Our Future, was sentenced to nearly 42 years in prison on federal charges, including bribery. She's the person who prosecutors called the ringleader of the largest COVID-19-related fraud scheme in the country, which diverted millions in government money meant to feed hungry children. Some other cases involve allegations of Medicaid fraud. Federal prosecutors say children were falsely being diagnosed with autism in order to receive government money.

'A Virginia judge has dismissed criminal charges against a former school official in a case of a six-year-old who shot his teacher in 2023. CNN's Jean Casarez has been following the case.

This judge started saying that she didn't believe that the conduct was criminal in nature of what Ebony Parker did. Now she was charged with felony child abuse or child endangerment as the judge had termed it in court, which is there is a duty of the assistant principal to the elementary students. And if there is an omission of gross negligence, then she can be responsible for any harm that comes to those children. After the judge said, this is not a crime, she broke down in tears. The judge said that she didn't see any information leading to harm, that Ebony Parker just didn't have it. There was no one that actually saw a firearm.

An official familiar with the ruling said the case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it could not be brought to trial again. CNN has reached out to prosecutors and the defense for comment.

The Iran war is threatening to make buying a home even more expensive. CNN's Samantha Delouya explains.

'Hi, Afoma. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbed to 6.51% this week. That's a sharp rise from February when rates briefly dipped below 6% before the war began. That increase could cost today's homebuyers thousands more over the life of their mortgage compared to buyers who locked in rates just a few months ago. So what's driving this spike? Well, mortgage rates follow the bond market, and bond yields have been surging amid worries that the war could continue to push up oil prices and inflation. But it's not just rates that are making home buying expensive. National home prices continue to hover at record highs.

Up next, an update on one of Trump's projects in the nation's capital.

President Trump's plan to build the tallest arch in the world is one step closer to becoming reality. A key agency approved a revised design of the structure, but the height of the monument shrank. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty has more.

They have taken away four gold lions that were there. This base that was here, now it's just straight with the ground. That will give them another eight feet back. And the size of the structure is one that really has been very controversial. The size, how large it is. They also had a planned tunnel underneath that was taken away. Now they'll just have crosswalks around it. But overall. I should note that this is a committee, one of two, that has to approve this project. This committee, of course, was stacked with Trump allies and loyalists, so it's no surprise that it's getting through. It does have another committee to go through, but as of now, it looks like President Trump will be getting his arch. It's just a matter of making sure the final things are going through. And the Department of Interior has started some initial ground and soil assessments that they say has to happen.

That is it for us. Our next episode drops tomorrow morning.