--- description: In the News: Secretary Hagel, Bob Dole on VA scandal; Tennessee bringing back the electric chair; Putin to CNBC: Economic sanctions hurt country administering them; Snowden talks to Brian Williams; and 47% of unemployed Americans give up work search title: Morning Must Reads: May 23 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Morning Must Reads: May 23 by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 23, 2014 12:32 PM CUT  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 [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 23, 2014 12:32 PM CUT * Obama is about to face a new Syria crisis moment \[[TIME](http://time.com/109197/barack-obama-syria-crisis/ "undefined")\] * Julian Castro tapped for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development \[[Washington Post](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/05/22/obama-to-nominate-julian-castro-as-hud-secretary/ "undefined")\] * Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel: Someone must be held accountable for VA troubles \[[CBS This Morning](http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/veteran-hospital-scandal-someone-must-be-held-accountable-for-delays-hagel-says/ "undefined")\] * Bob Dole on VA: “I don’t want to be critical of the president, but he waited 23 days before he responded, and I think he should have done it sooner.” \[[USA Today](http://www.wusa9.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/22/va-shake-up-dole/9464901/ "undefined")\] * Brian Williams interviews Edward Snowden \[[NBC](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/nsa-snooping/exclusive-edward-snowden-gives-wide-ranging-interview-brian-williams-n110351 "undefined")\] * 47% of unemployed Americans have stopped looking for work \[[TIME](http://time.com/109335/unemployed-americans/ "undefined")\] * “The IRS will rewrite, without holding a public hearing, a proposed rule on the political activities of nonprofit groups, regulations that stemmed from the tea party controversy that rocked the agency last summer.” \[[Politico](http://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/irs-rewrite-nonprofit-rules-amid-criticism-107015.html#ixzz32XaI6j2T "undefined")\] * Putin to CNBC: ““Economic sanctions as a tool of political pressure are eventually going to attack the economy of the countries who have initiated the sanctions.” \[[CNBC](http://www.cnbc.com/id/101700307 "undefined")\] * Russian companies active in Syria at risk of U.S. sanctions \[[Bloomberg](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-23/russian-companies-active-in-syria-seen-at-risk-of-u-s-sanctions.html "undefined")\] * Democrats threw down a deadline for immigration reform, here’s what happens next \[[National Journal](http://www.nationaljournal.com/congress/democrats-just-threw-down-a-deadline-for-immigration-reform-here-s-what-happens-next-20140522 "undefined")\] * Someone just spent $1.5 million on a GOP Senate candidate. We’ll probably never know who. \[[Mother Jones](http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/05/no-one-knows-who-is-behind-arkansas-ad-buy "undefined")\] * Tennessee will bring back the electric chair \[[AP](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/tennessee-signs-bill-allow-electric-chair "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/110201/morning-must-reads-may-23/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/110201/morning-must-reads-may-23/"},"headline":"Morning Must Reads: May 23","datePublished":"2014-05-23T12:32:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:00:58.056Z","description":"In the News: Secretary Hagel, Bob Dole on VA scandal; Tennessee bringing back the electric chair; Putin to CNBC: Economic sanctions hurt country administering them; Snowden talks to Brian Williams; and 47% of unemployed Americans give up work search","url":"https://time.com/110201/morning-must-reads-may-23/","keywords":["Morning Must Reads"],"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":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"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/110201/morning-must-reads-may-23/","name":"Morning Must Reads: May 23"}}]}] ```