--- title: Morning Must Reads: May 16 description: In the news: The next prime minister of India; Reversing the momentum in eastern Ukraine; Conservatives versus the G.O.P.; Gem State hosts the "best political debate of the year" canonical: https://time.com/102581/morning-must-reads-may-16/ author: Alex Rogers article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-16T12:28:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:52:58.302Z article:section: Politics og:title: Morning Must Reads: May 16 og:description: In the news: The next prime minister of India; Reversing the momentum in eastern Ukraine; Conservatives versus the G.O.P.; Gem State hosts the "best political debate of the year" og:url: https://time.com/102581/morning-must-reads-may-16/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Morning Must Reads og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Morning Must Reads: May 16 twitter:description: In the news: The next prime minister of India; Reversing the momentum in eastern Ukraine; Conservatives versus the G.O.P.; Gem State hosts the "best political debate of the year" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Morning Must Reads: May 16 > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers May 16, 2014 12:28 PM UTC  The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers May 16, 2014 12:28 PM UTC * “Opposition candidate Narendra Modi will be the next prime minister of India, with counting trends showing the pro-business Hindu nationalist and his party headed for the most resounding election victory the country has seen in 30 years.” \[[Reuters](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/16/us-india-election-idUSBREA4E0XG20140516)\] * “Thousands of steelworkers fanned out on Thursday through the city of Mariupol, establishing control over the streets and banishing the pro-Kremlin militants who until recently had seemed to be consolidating their grip on power, dealing a setback to Russia and possibly reversing the momentum in eastern Ukraine.” \[[NYT](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/16/world/europe/ukraine-workers-take-to-streets-to-calm-Mariupol.html?hp)\] * Mideast Peace Effort Pauses to Let Failure Sink In \[[NYT](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/16/world/mideast-peace-effort-pauses-to-let-failure-sink-in.html?hp&%5Fr=0)\] * U.S. Waited Months to Send Ukraine Spare Tires \[[Daily Beast](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/05/16/u-s-waited-months-to-send-ukraine-spare-tires.html)\] * “Iran has been recruiting thousands of Afghan refugees to fight in Syria, offering $500 a month and Iranian residency to help the Assad regime beat back rebel force…” \[[WSJ](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304908304579564161508613846?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304908304579564161508613846.html)\] * “President Barack Obama’s new homeland security secretary is offering his first public hints at executive action the administration might take on immigration, suggesting changes to a much-criticized program that runs the names of people booked for local crimes through a federal immigration database.” \[[AP](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US%5FIMMIGRATION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-05-16-04-19-05)\] * “\[White House senior advisor Valerie\] Jarrett believes \[House Speaker John\] Boehner will allow a comprehensive immigration reform bill, or a package of bills, to come up for a vote after the primary election to avoid spoiling some GOP candidates’ chances.” \[[Las Vegas _Review Journal_](http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/obama-hoping-pass-immigration-reform-year-adviser-tells-las-vegas-conference)\] * How Mitch McConnell Hacked American Politics \[[NYMag](http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/05/how-mitch-mcconnell-hacked-american-democracy.html)\] * “Although many Republicans are optimistic about their chances in this year’s elections, some of Washington’s leading conservatives gathered Thursday to privately vent frustrations about what kind of party they will be left with after November.” \[[WashPost](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/conservatives-seek-to-regain-control-of-republican-agenda/2014/05/15/aaa20c80-dc6e-11e3-bda1-9b46b2066796%5Fstory.html?hpid=z1)\] * Zero Tea Party candidates are ahead in next Tuesday’s big primaries. Zero. \[[WashPost](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/05/15/zero-tea-party-candidates-are-ahead-in-next-tuesdays-big-primaries-zero/?tid=pm%5Fpolitics%5Fpop)\] * “The once-peaceful Georgia GOP Senate primary has devolved into an all-out brawl in its final days, ripe with charges of sexism, arrogance, lying, distortion and even ‘promoting teenage homosexuality’—and that’s just a taste of the venom.” \[[Politico](http://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/gop-georgia-106748.html?hp=t1)\] * “As he hints at a possible second bid for president, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is contending with an unusual criminal investigation into whether he abused his authority, a case that legal experts say has virtually no precedent in modern Texas history.” \[[WSJ](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303851804579560070156467150?mod=WSJ%5Fhpp%5FMIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303851804579560070156467150.html%3Fmod%3DWSJ%5Fhpp%5FMIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird)\] * “First lady Michelle Obama will speak to high school seniors in Topeka, Kansas on Friday evening about the importance of diversity, just a day before the 60th anniversary of a landmark Supreme Court case outlawing school segregation.” \[[Hill](http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/206289-first-lady-to-talk-diversity-with-kansas-seniors)\] * Idaho Just Hosted the Best Political Debate of the Year \[[Yahoo!](http://news.yahoo.com/idaho-just-hosted-the-best-political-debate-of-the-year-214051999.html)\] * U.S. Waited Months to Send Ukraine Spare Tires \[[Daily Beast](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/05/16/u-s-waited-months-to-send-ukraine-spare-tires.html)\] * “\[White House senior advisor Valerie\] Jarrett believes \[House Speaker John\] Boehner will allow a comprehensive immigration reform bill, or a package of bills, to come up for a vote after the primary election to avoid spoiling some GOP candidates’ chances.” \[[Las Vegas _Review Journal_](http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/obama-hoping-pass-immigration-reform-year-adviser-tells-las-vegas-conference)\] * Zero Tea Party candidates are ahead in next Tuesday’s big primaries. Zero. \[[WashPost](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/05/15/zero-tea-party-candidates-are-ahead-in-next-tuesdays-big-primaries-zero/?tid=pm%5Fpolitics%5Fpop)\] * “The once-peaceful Georgia GOP Senate primary has devolved into an all-out brawl in its final days, ripe with charges of sexism, arrogance, lying, distortion and even ‘promoting teenage homosexuality’—and that’s just a taste of the venom.” \[[Politico](http://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/gop-georgia-106748.html?hp=t1)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/102581/morning-must-reads-may-16/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/102581/morning-must-reads-may-16/"},"headline":"Morning Must Reads: May 16","datePublished":"2014-05-16T12:28:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:52:58.302Z","description":"In the news: The next prime minister of India; Reversing the momentum in eastern Ukraine; Conservatives versus the G.O.P.; Gem State hosts the \"best political debate of the year\"","url":"https://time.com/102581/morning-must-reads-may-16/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Rogers","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Morning Must Reads","caption":"Capitol","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/102581/morning-must-reads-may-16/","name":"Morning Must Reads: May 16"}}]}] ```