Top Items:
Paul Krugman:
Attack of the Sadistic Zombies — The GOP budget is incredibly cruel — and that's the point — Republicans in Congress, taking their marching orders from Donald Trump, are on track to enact a hugely regressive budget — big tax giveaways to the wealthy combined with cruel cuts in programs that serve lower-income Americans.
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Richard Rubin / Wall Street Journal:
The Stark Math on the GOP Tax Plan: It Doesn't Cut the Deficit — As House Republicans wrangle over tax-and-spending bill, budget analysts across the political spectrum warn that the proposal worsens the U.S. fiscal picture — WASHINGTON—House Republicans' last-minute grappling …
Discussion:
USA Today and Issues & Insights
Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:
Tonight, late on a Sunday night, the House Budget Committee passed what Republicans are calling their “Big, Beautiful Bill” to enact Trump's agenda although it had failed on Friday when far-right Republicans voted against it, complaining it did not make deep enough cuts to social programs.
Discussion:
The Daily Signal, Boston.com, ABC News and Fortune
Judd Legum / Popular Information:
The ugly truth about Trump's “big, beautiful bill” — On the campaign trail in 2024, Trump pledged to improve the economic conditions of the working class. “My plan will massively cut taxes for workers,” Trump declared at a campaign stop in Raleigh, North Carolina, on November 5, 2024, the day before the election.
Steve Benen / MSNBC:
In overnight vote, Republicans move closer to pushing Trump agenda bill through House — GOP officials are scrambling to advance massive tax breaks and dramatic Medicaid cuts, and it's worth appreciating why they're in such a rush. — Republican leaders on Capitol Hill imposed an exceedingly difficult timeline on themselves.
Discussion:
Washington Post, New York Times and The Bulwark
The Hill:
Republicans advance Trump's ‘big, beautiful bill’ in unusual late-night vote
Discussion:
NBC News, Associated Press, Breitbart, The Daily Wire, Forbes, Blaze Media, New York Post, UPI, CNN, Fox News and Raw Story
Punchbowl News:
5/19/25 ☀️ AM: … The House Budget Committee approved the Republicans …
5/19/25 ☀️ AM: … The House Budget Committee approved the Republicans …
Discussion:
E&E News, The Daily Caller and Roll Call
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate Republicans want to break up House's Trump bill into bite-sized pieces
Senate Republicans want to break up House's Trump bill into bite-sized pieces
Discussion:
Townhall
Washington Post:
Trump's tax and immigration bill clears hurdle after late-night vote
Trump's tax and immigration bill clears hurdle after late-night vote
Discussion:
The Status Kuo, USA Today, Al Jazeera and One America News Network
Elizabeth Elkind / Fox News:
Trump's ‘big, beautiful bill’ passes key House hurdle after GOP rebel mutiny
Trump's ‘big, beautiful bill’ passes key House hurdle after GOP rebel mutiny
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Federal News Network, The Post Millennial, The Hill, Newsweek, ZeroHedge News, NOTUS, RedState, Must Read Alaska, The Gateway Pundit and CBS News
Andrew Prokop / Vox:
The ugly truth about Trump's big, beautiful bill
The ugly truth about Trump's big, beautiful bill
Discussion:
The Guardian, Forbes and Washington Examiner
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Head of CBS News to Depart Amid Tensions With Trump — Wendy McMahon, the president of CBS News and Stations, had allied herself with Bill Owens, the “60 Minutes” executive producer who recently resigned. — CBS News faced another shock wave on Monday after its president, Wendy McMahon …
Politico:
Why has Elon Musk disappeared from the spotlight? — The tech CEO isn't exactly gone yet, but Republicans have stopped bringing him up. — Elon Musk and Donald Trump were the main characters on the internet and across Washington day after day. Then the world's richest man started to fade away.
Discussion:
The Independent, The.Ink and Raw Story
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William Kristol / The Bulwark:
A Word About Joe Biden — Somber one today. Let's get right into it. Happy Monday. — Joe Biden's Uncertain Legacy — by Andrew Egger — The news of Joe Biden's cancer—prostate, stage 4, metastatic to the bone—is a sledgehammer. It's also a Rorschach.
Discussion:
USA Today, Washington Examiner, HotAir, al.com, Townhall, Reason, New Jersey Online, Newsweek, American Thinker, The Post Millennial, Daily Mail, Twitchy and The Daily Caller
Noah Berlatsky / Public Notice:
Voters want Dems to stand up to Trump, not self-flagellate — A note from Aaron: Today's newsletter was all edited and ready for publication yesterday afternoon when the sad news broke that Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer.
Discussion:
NRCC, masslive.com, Fox News, Washington Post, The Moderate Voice and Grabien
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New York Times:
Markets Rattled on Concerns About U.S. Debt — Stocks fell, the dollar slipped and bond yields jumped after a rating downgrade highlighted worries about the cost of President Trump's policies and the health of the economy. — Turbulent trading hit financial markets on Monday …
Discussion:
MSNBC, The Hill, CNBC, Fortune, New York Post, Fox Business, Bloomberg, Washington Times, Associated Press and ZeroHedge News
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Elizabeth Crisp / The Hill:
Trump says he'll call for ‘major investigation’ into performers at Harris events — “HOW MUCH DID KAMALA HARRIS PAY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN FOR HIS POOR PERFORMANCE DURING HER CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT? WHY DID HE ACCEPT THAT MONEY IF HE IS SUCH A FAN OF HERS? ISN'T THAT A MAJOR AND ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION?
Discussion:
Newsmax, Mediaite, Axios, Rolling Stone, TMZ.com, al.com, Washington Examiner, New Jersey Online, Politico, The Wrap, Raw Story, Daily Mail, Deadline, Breitbart, New Republic, New York Post, The Gateway Pundit, IJR and Newsweek
RELATED:
J.D. Wolf / MeidasTouch News:
Trump Wants to Investigate “Unpatriotic Entertainers” Beyoncé, Others
Trump Wants to Investigate “Unpatriotic Entertainers” Beyoncé, Others
Discussion:
Raw Story
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
‘Sesame Street’ Saved, Inks New Streaming Deal With Netflix — Episodes will also continue to air on PBS, debuting the same day as they launch on Netflix. … The streaming giant has inked a deal with Sesame Workshop for new episodes of the long-running children's show …
Discussion:
Salon, New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Wrap, Variety, Deadline, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, KDFX-TV and The Verge, more at Mediagazer »
Philip Bump / Washington Post:
What you — yes, you — should know about interacting with ICE — A legal expert explains the rights immigrants — and U.S. citizens — have when facing immigration officials. — The Trump administration is aware that Americans broadly support the deportation of undocumented immigrants who have committed violent crimes.
Amrith Ramkumar / Wall Street Journal:
Breaking Down Trump's Entanglements With Crypto — Sector has been one of the biggest winners in the president's second term — President Trump and his family's embrace of cryptocurrencies have made the sector one of the biggest winners in his second term.
Discussion:
NPR, RealClearMarkets, National Review and The Nation
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Kyle Chan / New York Times:
In the Future, China Will Be Dominant. The U.S. Will Be Irrelevant. — 阅读.体中文.閱讀.體中文. — For years, theorists have posited the onset of a “Chinese century”: a world in which China finally harnesses its vast economic …
Discussion:
Semafor
Prem Thakker / Zeteo:
New Video of Mahmoud Khalil's Arrest Shows Trump Admin is Lying in Court — The new footage of ICE's warrantless arrest shows the Palestinian student fully cooperated with federal agents and was not a flight risk, as the government continues to falsely claim.
Discussion:
Daily Kos
NOTUS:
John Cornyn's Primary Problems Are Starting to Scare Republicans — Cornyn is down substantially to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in Texas Senate primary polls. But Republicans are concerned that Paxton could lose the Senate seat — or, at least, make Republicans spend a lot more money.
USA Today:
Britain agrees trade and defense reset with European Union — Britain agreed the most significant reset of ties with the European Union since Brexit on Monday, removing some trade barriers and collaborating on defence to help grow its economy and boost security on the continent.
Jeffrey Toobin / New York Times:
Trump Has His Law Firms Right Where He Wants Them — Nine major corporate law firms have groveled before President Trump by agreeing to provide hundreds of millions of dollars in free legal services to the executive branch. The immediate result of these capitulations is clear …
Discussion:
elhayat-life.com, The Daily Caller and Raw Story
New York Times:
Bove, Top Justice Dept. Official, Is Considered for Circuit Court Nomination — Emil Bove III has emerged as a top contender to fill a vacancy on the appeals court covering Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, people familiar with the matter said. — President Trump is considering …
Troy Matthews / MeidasTouch News:
Donald Trump Jr. Mocks Biden Cancer Diagnosis in Heartless Post — Is the Trump family physically incapable of showing basic decency? — Donald Trump Jr. mocked the cancer diagnosis of former President Joe Biden in a post on X Sunday evening, then pinned the post to the top of his feed.
Discussion:
The Hill, Axios, RedState, USA Today, New York Daily News, The European Conservative, The Independent, Raw Story, The Daily Wire and Grabien
John Hendel / Politico:
Brendan Carr stages a Trumpian show at the FCC — For years, he was a low-key conservative policy player. Now he's using an entire agency to wage Trump's battles. — Four months into his tenure as head of America's top communications regulator, Brendan Carr appears to be running …
Ben Berkowitz / Axios:
The argument's over: Americans pay for tariffs — The Trump administration conceded this weekend what economists, CEOs and consumers already knew: Americans pay for tariffs. — Why it matters: Nearly a decade of Trump trade arguments held that foreign countries, not Americans, paid the ultimate cost of a trade war.
Discussion:
Fortune, The Daily Caller and KDFX-TV
Steven Beschloss / America, America:
Heeding the Warnings — Those of us committed to saving our democracy share the same task: To expand the awareness of people we know and meet about the dangers in our midst. For all of us who've been paying attention to the dismantling of our democracy and the cruel, arrogant and reckless …
Kwan Wei Kevin Tan / Business Insider:
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says Trump's ‘strategic uncertainty’ is a negotiating tactic — Scott Bessent has said the uncertainty over tariffs is a trade negotiating tactic. — Bessent said countries could “play us in the negotiations” if the US gives them “too much certainty.”
Discussion:
Reuters, Axios, American Greatness, Washington Examiner, One America News Network, Fortune and The Hill
