Elon Musk says he's “disappointed” by Trump's “big, beautiful bill” and what it means for DOGE  —  Elon Musk says he is “disappointed” by the price tag on the domestic policy bill passed by Republicans in the House last week and heavily backed by President Trump, the billionaire who recently stepped …

Trump's Fury at Harvard Gets More Deranged—and Exposes a Big MAGA Scam  —  President Donald Trump has mostly justified his lawless attempt to restrict international students from attending Harvard University by pretending it's designed to root out the antisemites, woke radicals …

Back at SpaceX, Musk says in interview DOGE became D.C.'s ‘whipping boy’  —  Musk made his comments at an inflection point for SpaceX amid a string of failures of its Starship spacecraft in recent test flights.  —  STARBASE, Tex. — Elon Musk, returning to SpaceX on Tuesday for a test flight …

RFK Jr. says he may bar scientists from publishing in top medical journals  —  Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took aim at reputed journals such as the Lancet and said the agency will create “in-house” publications instead.  —  Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr …

US stops scheduling visa interviews for foreign students while it expands social media vetting  —  The State Department has halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for foreign students hoping to study in the U.S. while it prepares to expand the screening of their activity on social media, officials said.

Scoop: Stephen Miller, Noem tell ICE to supercharge immigrant arrests  —  In a tense meeting last week, top Trump aide Stephen Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanded that immigration agents seek to arrest 3,000 people a day, according to two sources familiar with the meeting.

Exclusive: Putin, for Ukraine peace, wants a pledge to halt NATO enlargement, sources say  —  President Vladimir Putin's conditions for ending the war in Ukraine include a demand that Western leaders pledge in writing to stop enlarging NATO eastwards and lift a chunk of sanctions on Russia …

Republican Crumbles When Pressed About Tax Bill at Heated Town Hall  —  Rep. Mike Flood admitted to angry constituents that he hadn't read Trump's “big, beautiful” reconciliation package before voting for it  —  Republican Rep. Mike Flood appeared before his constituents in Nebraska on Tuesday …

Wall Street Investors Mock Trump With A Brutal 4-Letter Code Word  —  Some investors are betting against Trump — and they've developed a tasty term for the move.  —  Wall Street investors have cooked up a new term for betting against President Donald Trump ― and some have used …

Trump targeted public media.  Now NPR is taking him to court  —  A coalition of public radio stations says the president's order to cut funding is unconstitutional retaliation and a threat to press freedom  —  NPR is fighting back.  —  Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed …

Justice Department Files Help America Vote Act Lawsuit Against North Carolina for Inaccurate Voter List  —  For Immediate Release  —  The Justice Department announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against the State of North Carolina and the North Carolina State Board of Elections …

Trump oversight picks include scandal-hit ex-lawmaker, antiabortion lawyer  —  Several nominees have clearly partisan backgrounds, including two with controversial histories and two with ties to the agency they would be investigating.  —  President Donald Trump's pick to investigate waste …

Trump Pledged to “Make America Healthy Again,” Then Cut a Program Many Tribes Rely on for Healthy Food  —  As he has promoted the Trump administration's “Make America Healthy Again” agenda, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, has lamented the toll that processed foods …

Trump to pardon reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley  —  The former stars of USA Network's “Chrisley Knows Best” were sentenced to 12 and seven years, respectively, in 2022 for fraud and tax evasion.  —  President Donald Trump will soon pardon a reality television couple found guilty …

RFK Jr.'s War on Vaccines Is Here  —  Always another thing with these guys: … The administration may already be abusing the customs process to block entry to the country for conduct as innocuous as criticism of the president.  But we're sure this power won't be one they'll abuse.  Happy Wednesday.

SpaceX Starship Loses Control on Test Flight 9 as Rocket Re-enters Earth  —  Much was riding on Flight 9 for Elon Musk's giant moon and Mars rocket after debris from January and March flights fell into the Atlantic Ocean, disrupting air travel.  —  The latest flight of SpaceX's Starship …

‘He Is Ohio’: DeWine Pitches an Alternative to Ramaswamy  —  Ex-Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel is mulling a challenge the Trump-endorsed entrepreneur in next year's governor's race.  —  CINCINNATI — The caper was great on paper.  —  Elon Musk, growing tired of Vivek Ramaswamy …

Behind the Curtain: A white-collar bloodbath  —  Dario Amodei — CEO of Anthropic, one of the world's most powerful creators of artificial intelligence — has a blunt, scary warning for the U.S. government and all of us:  — AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs …

Trump's pardons highlight Justice Department's pullback from public corruption cases  —  Former Virginia sheriff Scott Jenkins claimed he was being targeted because of his support for Donald Trump.  —  WASHINGTON — The government's evidence against Scott Jenkins was compelling …

America Turns Its Back on the World  —  Blocking foreign students is an act of self-destruction — and self-betrayal  —  My wife and I are co-authors of a widely used textbook on the principles of economics, which is revised on a three-year cycle.  When a new edition comes out …

Greg Abbott Issues a Grim Warning to Two Illegal Aliens Arrested Over Jet Skit Hit-and-Run  —  On Tuesday, reports broke that two illegal aliens were arrested for their alleged involvement in the death of Ava Moore, an 18-year-old Air Force cadet candidate who was killed in a jet ski hit-and-run on Sunday.

FEMA at ‘high risk’ of disrupting ‘life-saving’ disaster relief, per internal memo  —  If you want to support The Handbasket's 100% independent journalism, become a paid subscriber!  —  Video  —  Hurricane season in the United States kicks off this Sunday, June 1st, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is not prepared.

Senate Democrats Have Been Handed a Tool to Stop the Big Beautiful Bill  —  Thanks to a Republican vote to stop California from setting its own auto emissions, Democrats can challenge virtually any Trump administration action, and eat up time on the Senate floor.

Utah Lawmakers Flex Their Power Over Public Universities  —  In the past two years, the Republican-controlled Legislature has weakened tenure, restricted pride flags at universities, overhauled gen ed at one university and pushed institutions to reallocate funding.  Some faculty say their roles are being undermined.