Johnson's spending holdouts  —  Presented by IN TODAY'S EDITION:  — Johnson, White House hammer holdouts  — Thune taps a debt-limit whisperer  — More tax complications on GOP agenda  —  EAT LIKE A LAWMAKER — POLITICO Magazine is out this morning with a rundown of where Republicans …

Education Department Fires 1,300 Workers, Gutting Its Staff  —  The layoffs mean that the department will now have a work force of about half the size it did when President Trump took office.  —  The Education Department announced on Tuesday that it was firing more than 1,300 workers …

Marco Rubio Personally Signed Off to Detain Mahmoud Khalil on ‘Foreign Policy Grounds,’ Sources Confirm  —  Marco Rubio personally signed off on the arrest of Palestinian Columbia University student protest negotiator Mahmoud Khalil, using a narrow, little-used authority given to the secretary of state …

Ontario suspending 25% surcharge on provincially generated electricity purchased by U.S. states  —  Move comes after Trump threatened Ontario ‘will pay a financial price’ for levy  —  Ontario is suspending its promise to add a 25 per cent surcharge on exports of electricity to some U.S. states …

White House prepares high-profile purchase of Tesla auto  —  Trump aides were arranging to bring a Tesla to the White House on Tuesday.  —  The White House announced a plan Tuesday to promote President Donald Trump's potential purchase of a Tesla, the car produced by Elon Musk …

What Really Happened With the DDoS Attacks That Took Down X  —  Elon Musk said a “massive cyberattack” disrupted X on Monday and pointed to “IP addresses originating in the Ukraine area” as the source of the attack.  Security experts say that's not how it works.

Trump trade war confounds CEOs, deepening economic unease  —  Trump addressed business leaders Tuesday as stock markets continue sliding over concerns about his tariff policies.  —  just now  —  President Donald Trump faced more than 100 top business leaders Tuesday …

USAID official tells remaining staffers: Shred and burn all your documents  —  The mass document destruction order marks the latest step to dismantle the agency.  —  A senior official at USAID instructed the agency's remaining staff to convene at the agency's now-former headquarters …

Ukraine willing to accept 30-day ceasefire with Russia as U.S. lifts freeze on aid and intelligence  —  Jeddah, Saudi Arabia — The U.S. and Ukraine said Kyiv would accept a 30-day ceasefire with Russia after talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, with Washington pledging to immediately lift …

“Have You No Decency?”:  Republican Calls Sarah McBride “Mister,” Dems Erupt And End Hearing  —  During a meeting of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, a Republican representative, Rep. Keith Self, called transgender congresswoman the “gentleman from Delaware.”  Dems pushed back.

Trump's Latest Weapon Against Critics: Destroying Their Lawyers  —  from the first-they-came-for-the-lawyers dept  —  When a president uses executive power to not just blacklist but effectively destroy a major law firm, solely for representing political opponents, it means he's given …

USDA halts more than $100M in funding for University of Maine System programs  —  The move temporarily pauses USDA funding for Maine's university system after President Donald Trump threatened to cut off the state over Maine's decision to allow transgender athletes to compete in sports.

Remembering Kevin Drum  —  My friend and colleague, who died this month, was not only a pioneer blogger but also a journalist who should have won the Pulitzer Prize.  —  One day in early 2004, I called my senior editor at the Washington Monthly, Josh Marshall, with a proposition …

Elon Musk Has Wanted the Government Shutdown  —  Sources tell WIRED that Elon Musk has wanted a government shutdown in part because it would potentially make it easier to eliminate the jobs of hundreds of thousands of federal workers.  —  As President Donald Trump has been trying …

His Daughter Was America's First Measles Death in a Decade  —  A visit with a family in mourning  —  Peter greeted me in the mostly empty gravel parking lot of a Mennonite church on the outskirts of Seminole, a small city in West Texas surrounded by cotton and peanut fields.

Trump official tasked with defending DOGE cuts posted fashion influencer videos from her office  —  As the Office of Personnel Management oversaw the layoffs of thousands of federal workers and pressed others to justify their positions, the agency's chief spokesperson repeatedly used her office …

‘Big one to eliminate’: Elon Musk spotlights cost of federal entitlements amid fear of cuts to programs  —  Elon Musk on Monday highlighted the cost of federal spending on entitlement programs, the latest sign of the tech billionaire and presidential adviser's focus to downsize …

What lies behind the dramatic shift in markets  —  The sudden change in investors' growth expectations for the three largest economies is upending many consensus trades  —  The writer is president of Queens' College, Cambridge, and an adviser to Allianz and Gramercy

Justice Department office that prosecutes public corruption slashed in size, sources say  —  Only a fraction of the Public Integrity Section's employees — roughly a half dozen — will remain in an office that, until recently, had dozens of employees.  —  The Trump Administration is slashing …