Top Items:
Michael Gold / New York Times:
House Democrats Sue ICE for Barring Them From Detention Facilities — The 12 Democrats accused the Trump administration of violating the law when it turned them away from immigrant detention sites and imposed a new policy limiting congressional access. — A dozen House Democrats who were barred …
Discussion:
TheGrio
RELATED:
Jacob Knutson / Democracy Docket:
House Dems Sue ICE For Blocking Oversight on Immigration Facilities — A dozen House Democrats sued Trump administration officials Wednesday, alleging that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has prevented them from conducting oversight on federal immigration detention facilities.
Discussion:
Newsweek
Greg Sargent / New Republic:
Trump's Epstein Fiasco Worsens as Dems Suddenly Find Big New Weapon — Desperate times may call for desperate measures, but they also call for creative ones. Faced with a criminal president and a GOP congressional majority that's wholly devoted to shutting down any and all transparency …
Discussion:
Axios and Washington Times
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Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
Why Won't Democrats Fight?
Discussion:
CBS News and The Daily Caller
Ben Casselman / New York Times:
U.S. Economy Slowed in First Half of 2025 as Tariffs Scrambled Data — Gross domestic product rebounded in the spring after contracting at the start of the year, but consumer spending remained weak. — Economic growth softened in the first half of the year, as tariffs …
Discussion:
MSNBC, The Hill, New York Sun, Daily Caller News Foundation, Althouse and Semafor
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Harriet Torry / Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Economy Grew at 3.0% Rate in Second Quarter — Consumer spending rose 1.4% but was offset by weaker business spending — Created with Highcharts 9.0.1GDP, change from previous quarterSources: Commerce Department (actual); WSJ survey of economists (forecasts)Notes …
Discussion:
U.S. Bureau …, Financial Times, Bloomberg, CNBC, Reuters, Associated Press, NPR, UPI, HotAir, Washington Examiner, Axios, CBS News and National Politics
Punchbowl News:
A Texas-sized gamble: Details on the new map — We have a lot of news for you on the new shape of the political universe in Texas. — As early as today, Texas Republicans will release their proposed new congressional map for the Lone Star State. — This proposal could change some as it winds …
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David Weigel / Semafor:
Democrats struggle against Trump-waged redistricting battle — The News — Democrats are struggling to respond to a White House-backed push to redraw Texas' congressional maps with five new safe GOP seats, which could short-circuit their entire midterm campaign effort.
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, The Hill, KVUE-TV and Democracy Docket
The Texas Tribune:
Texas House Republicans unveil new congressional map that looks to pick up five GOP seats
Texas House Republicans unveil new congressional map that looks to pick up five GOP seats
Discussion:
Mother Jones, NBC News, Axios, Associated Press, Washington Post, Roll Call, New Jersey Online, Washington Times, New Republic, Los Angeles Times, Lone Star Left, Strength In Numbers, NewsMax.com, The Daily Signal, Raw Story, The Hill, Bloomberg, Deseret News, Washington Examiner, NRCC and Vox
Fox News:
Patel found thousands of sensitive Trump-Russia probe docs inside ‘burn bags’ in secret room at FBI — EXCLUSIVE: FBI Director Kash Patel found a trove of sensitive documents related to the origins of the Trump-Russia probe buried in multiple “burn bags” in a secret room inside the bureau, sources told Fox News Digital.
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Rex Huppke / USA Today:
Trump says Epstein ‘stole’ Virginia Giuffre, a heartless and revealing admission — Virginia Giuffre died by suicide only three months ago, having lived much of her life as an advocate for survivors of sex trafficking. Now the president is speaking about her like she's property.
Discussion:
Press Watch, Popular Information, New Republic, Associated Press, HuffPost, Fox News, CNN, Raw Story, Mediaite, The Left Hook with Wajahat Ali, New York Post, The Hill, Axios, NBC News, The Nation, Talking Points Memo, CBS News, Townhall, The Guardian, New York Times, Daily Mail, All Rise News, Al Jazeera, New York Daily News, ABC News, Scripps News, Salon, New York Sun and The Gateway Pundit
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Liz Dye / Public Notice:
The conspiracy to free the world's most notorious sex trafficker
The conspiracy to free the world's most notorious sex trafficker
Discussion:
USA Today and New Republic
ProPublica:
Now That They're Free — Venezuelan men deported by the Trump administration say they endured months of physical and mental abuse inside a Salvadoran prison. Though happy to be home, they say the fact that they were released is proof of how senseless their detentions were. — Reporting Highlights
Discussion:
Rolling Stone
Natasha Korecki / NBC News:
Kamala Harris decides not to run for governor of California — The former vice president gave “serious thought” to a campaign but opted against it, after losing the 2024 presidential race. — Former Vice President Kamala Harris will not run for California governor, she announced Wednesday …
Discussion:
Reuters, NewsNation, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion and National Review
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Maeve Reston / Washington Post:
Kamala Harris will not run for California governor, opening door for 2028 run
Kamala Harris will not run for California governor, opening door for 2028 run
Discussion:
Deadline, MeidasTouch News, CBS News, Scripps News, USA Today, Advocate, New York Times, WCNC-TV, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times and TheGrio
Financial Times:
Paramount deal thrusts David Ellison into Trump's war with US media — What began as a Hollywood studio merger has become a test of how far corporate America will bend to president's will — Anna Nicolaou and James Fontanella-Khan in New York, Christopher Grimes in Los Angeles and Daniel Thomas in London
Sohrab Ahmari / UnHerd:
The antitrust war inside MAGA Powerful lobbyists are battling populist reformers — President Trump returned to the Oval Office thanks to massive support from working-class and low-income Americans. During the transition, Trump telegraphed an intent to honor this realignment by nominating …
Discussion:
Axios, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, The Hill, Techdirt, BIG by Matt Stoller, Bloomberg and American Prospect, more at Techmeme »
Wall Street Journal:
Fed Meeting Today: Federal Reserve Leaves Rates Unchanged; Investors Await Powell Remarks — Two Fed governors dissent, calling for quarter-point rate cut — The Fed held interest rates steady, as expected, Wednesday. For the first time since 1993, two Fed governors dissented from the majority decision …
Discussion:
Associated Press, CNBC, HotAir, Al Jazeera, Reuters, NewsMax.com, NPR and Semafor
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Tobias Burns / The Hill:
Fed holds rates steady but sees first double dissent in three decades
Fed holds rates steady but sees first double dissent in three decades
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Reuters, New York Times, Fox Business, Semafor, Associated Press and The Gateway Pundit
Paul Krugman:
Fossil Fool — How Europe took Trump for a ride — Like many U.S. institutions, the European Union has abysmally failed the Trump test. The EU is an economic superpower and could have retaliated effectively against Trump's illegal tariffs — illegal under both U.S. and international law.
Discussion:
Financial Times
Isaac Chotiner / New Yorker:
How the Israeli Right Explains the Aid Disaster It Created — The fiercest defenders of Netanyahu's war in Gaza continue to insist that Palestinians aren't starving. — Last week, in a piece for the Guardian, Nick Maynard, a volunteer surgeon at a hospital in southern Gaza, wrote …
Discussion:
The Intercept, israelhayom.com and The Contrarian
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Jennifer Rubin / The Contrarian:
It's Not a Linguistic Debate, it's Man-Made Starvation
Hailey Fuchs / Politico:
Trump not letting off pressure campaign against Grassley over ‘blue slips’ — President Donald Trump is continuing his overnight crusade against Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley in an apparent attempt to pressure the Iowa Republican to ram through more nominees coming …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, The Hill, Fox News, New Republic, New York Sun, New York Post, Wake Up To Politics, The Gateway Pundit, Newsweek, Mediaite and NewsMax.com
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Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:
Chuck Grassley ‘Offended’ By Trump Attack On Senate Rules For Judges
Chuck Grassley ‘Offended’ By Trump Attack On Senate Rules For Judges
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Semafor, Washington Times, New Jersey Online, NewsMax.com, The Hill, Raw Story, Roll Call, New York Post and Mediaite
Jeremy Roebuck / Washington Post:
Epstein grand jury transcripts include testimony from two witnesses, feds say — The disclosure raises questions on whether unsealing the transcripts would satiate the appetite for more information. — just now — The grand jury transcripts the Justice Department is seeking to make public …
Discussion:
USA Today, The Hill, MSNBC, NBC News, Associated Press, Washington Examiner, New York Post, Fox News, Forbes, The Guardian, NewsMax.com and CNBC
Adrian Carrasquillo / The Bulwark:
His Name Is Jesus. He's a Carpenter. ICE Arrested Him. — Seriously. — ∙ Paid — JESUS TERAN FLED PERSECUTION in Venezuela, seeking asylum in the United States in 2021 and joining his family in Imperial, Pennsylvania, half an hour outside Pittsburgh. He was living a version of the American Dream.
Seth Masket / Tusk:
Murdering higher education, 1-2-3 — Much of Donald Trump's governing approach in his second term is to take conservative bogeymen — long used for fundraising and for riling up base voters — and actually use the power of the government to attack them. We've seen that with foreign aid …
New Republic:
Transcript: Krugman Wrecks Trump's Europe Deal: “Scam on His Voters” — The following is a lightly edited transcript of the July 30 episode of the — Daily Blast podcast. Listen to it here. — Greg Sargent: This is The Daily Blast from The New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR network.
Discussion:
The Mahablog, Bloomberg, Politico and Paul Krugman
James Osborne / Houston Chronicle:
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz files bill to target activist groups with anti-organized crime laws — Activist groups that fund and organize protests could be targeted by federal law enforcement under the same statute used to go after organized crime if U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz gets his way.
Kadia Goba / Washington Post:
GOP House committee chair yet to issue a subpoena for Epstein files — The chairman is physically required to sign each subpoena, but there is no deadline by which Rep. James Comer must issue the subpoenas, according to House rules. — Just now — A week after a House Oversight subcommittee voted …
Discussion:
NewsMax.com
Nicholas McEntyre / New York Post:
Ted Cruz is latest to defend Sydney Sweeney's American Eagle ad ripped as ‘Nazi propaganda’ — Sen. Ted Cruz came to the defense of Sydney Sweeney and her American Eagle jeans spot after twisted leftist TikTokkers claimed it was full of “Nazi propaganda.” — “Wow.
Discussion:
The Atlantic, The Free Press, The Daily Beast, Rolling Stone, USA Today, American Thinker, New York Daily News, NPR, New York Times, The Federalist, The Independent, Fox News, Washington Post, Althouse, NBC News, twitchy.com, Daily Mail, HuffPost, One America News Network, The Post Millennial and Human Events
Maya Yang / The Guardian:
US placed on rights watchlist over health of its civil society under Trump — International non-profit Civicus says ‘sustained attacks on civic freedoms’ put US on par with El Salvador and Kenya — A group of global civil society organizations have placed the US on a watchlist for urgent concern …
Discussion:
MeidasTouch News
Natalie Allison / Washington Post:
As MAGA storm over Epstein calms, White House plans next steps — Officials concede the furor has hurt Trump's standing, but the White House believes they've survived the worst of the furor. — Three weeks ago, White House officials were battling a frenzy from President Donald Trump's supporters over the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, emptywheel, The Independent, Daily Kos, The Hill, Raw Story and CBS News
Shia Kapos / Politico:
Danny Davis to announce he won't seek House reelection — Democratic Rep. Danny Davis of Illinois is expected to announce Thursday he won't run for reelection in 2026, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss his plans in advance. Davis — at 83, one of the oldest members of Congress …
Discussion:
Axios, Washington Examiner, NBC Chicago, The Daily Caller and NewsMax.com
Washington Post:
NTSB hearing live updates — Army helicopter crew had trouble hearing air tower before D.C. plane crash — As the National Transportation Safety Board began three days of hearings into January's deadly midair collision near Washington's Reagan National Airport, information from experts …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, CBS News, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Associated Press, ABC News, NewsNation and NPR
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System:
Federal Reserve issues FOMC statement — For release at 2:00 p.m. EDT — Although swings in net exports continue to affect the data, recent indicators suggest that growth of economic activity moderated in the first half of the year. The unemployment rate remains low, and labor market conditions remain solid.
Discussion:
Fox Business, RedState, CBS News and Daily Caller News Foundation
Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:
Democrats Introduce Bill To Audit What DOGE Bros Did To Government Data Systems — Senate Democrats are introducing a bill Wednesday that would require a sweeping audit of the federal government's computer systems to figure out what, exactly, Elon Musk's team of unvetted workers did when they meddled …
Ethan Stark-Miller / AM New York:
NYC Mayor's Race: Mamdani returns from Uganda trip without incident, immediately rejoins the campaign trail — Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani returned to the United States on Wednesday from a week-and-a-half-long trip to his native country of Uganda and was allowed through Customs without …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, New York Times, New York Post and Politico
Vittoria Elliott / Wired:
How Edward ‘Big Balls’ Coristine and DOGE Got Access to a Federal Payroll System That Serves the FBI — Hundreds of pages of records reviewed by WIRED show just how quickly DOGE gained access to systems at the Small Business Administration—and through it, a USDA system that handles payroll for federal law enforcement.
Matthew Perrone / Associated Press:
FDA vaccine chief leaving agency after less than 3 months — The Food and Drug Administration's polarizing vaccine chief is leaving the agency after a brief tenure that drew the ire of biotech companies, patient groups and conservative allies of President Donald Trump.
Brittany Gibson / Axios:
Musk's “America Party” is failing to launch — Elon Musk's new political party is so far a no-go on the launch pad. — Why it matters: A Musk-backed “America Party” could disrupt the midterms and escalate his feud with President Trump. But “Musk has read the room,” said Dan Ives …
Discussion:
The Independent, NewsMax.com and The Gateway Pundit


