Freedom Caucus leaders vent to Paul Ryan after talks with Steve Bannon  —  Leaders of the Freedom Caucus met with House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) on Wednesday to candidly express their frustrations with his leadership and his handling of the Republican legislative agenda, according to two people familiar with the discussion.

Scoop: Inside the Freedom Caucus' tax plan  —  The House Freedom Caucus — a group of around 35 ultra-conservative House Republicans who can block their party's leadership on key legislation — is in the final stages of drafting its own tax plan, according to sources familiar with the process.

GOP livid after Trump cuts deal with Democrats  —  President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's tête-à-tê te on Tuesday — after a summer of sniping between the two — lifted Republican hopes that the GOP was finally back in sync ahead of a brutal fall of fiscal deadlines.

Trump's Art of the Deal?  Not so much  —  President Trump handed Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer the deal of the century this morning.  —  One top Republican described the move to me as the legislative equivalent of giving an entire stockpile of weapons to Democrats and inviting them to take the entire Republican Party hostage.

The Pivot Is Real, And It's Spectacular  —  Trump doesn't like McConnell and Ryan, and never did.  He likes Chuck Schumer, and knows Chuck always makes money for his partners.  —  So President Trump calls the leadership of the Republicans and Democrats into the Oval Office today for a meeting …

Facebook says it sold political ads to Russian company during 2016 election … Representatives of Facebook told congressional investigators Wednesday that it has discovered it sold ads during the U.S. presidential election to a shadowy Russian company seeking to target voters …

Facebook gave special counsel Robert Mueller data on Russian ads, report says  — An internal Facebook investigation has found it is “likely” Russian operatives spent $100,000 on ads with “divisive messages”  — Though most of the ads did not reference the U.S. presidential election …

Hurricane Irma destroys 90 percent of structures, vehicles on Barbuda  —  Hurricane Irma ripped into the Caribbean island of Barbuda Wednesday morning, killing at least one person and destroying 90 percent of its structures and vehicles, according to Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne.

Hurricane Irma Reaches Puerto Rico: ‘There Is Nothing Like This’  —  • Hurricane Irma, one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the Atlantic, hit the eastern Caribbean on Wednesday with winds of up to 185 miles an hour.  —  • The Category 5 storm leveled Barbuda …