In the Matter of Lisa Cook  —  Trump's attempt to fire a Fed governor is illegal.  Now we find out whether that matters.  —  Yesterday Donald Trump said that he had fired Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.  My wording is advisable: He “said” that he had fired her.

Republican Told to Take His 'Head Out of Trump's A**' in Town Hall Trainwreck  —  MIC DROP  —  Other constituents complained about the president's support for Russia and booed his mass-deportation policy.  —  Voters at a town hall meeting in Missouri demanded that their Republican congressman …

DOGE Put Critical Social Security Data at Risk, Whistle-Blower Says  —  DOGE team members uploaded a database with the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans to a vulnerable cloud server, according to the agency's chief data officer.  —  Members of the Department …

‘The most illegal search’: Judges push back against D.C. criminal charges  —  Veteran defense lawyers and law enforcement experts have been warning about the potential for overreach since the federal government muscled its way into policing decisions in the nation's capital nearly three weeks ago.

Judge dismisses Trump lawsuit against Maryland-based judges over handling of immigration cases  —  The Trump administration alleged that the court had no authority to issue a standing order that imposes an automatic, two-day pause in deportation cases.  —  WASHINGTON — A federal judge …

Donald Trump's Big Gay Government … The Washington Monument as seen from the Ned, a private club where many Trump officials socialize.Caroline Gutman for The New York Times  —  It was the last Wednesday in July, and many of Washington's top players were hanging out at the Ned, a private club around the corner from the White House.

Trump to put Dan Scavino in charge of hiring at White House … Gor endeared himself to the president and his family for adopting a zero tolerance policy toward job-seekers who had been critical of Trump in the past, often scouring their social media posts and occasionally intervening to block hirings.

DNC Committee Rejects a Resolution Calling For an Arms Embargo on Israel  —  The Democratic National Committee is forming a new task force to discuss Israel's war on Gaza, chair Ken Martin announced.  — Copy  —  A polarizing resolution calling for an arms embargo on Israel was voted …

Dems' Messaging Nerds Urged Party Not to Talk About Trump's Military Takeover  —  Are Trump's military campaigns in blue cities a “distraction,” or what matters?  —  Donald Trump is waging a fascist takeover of the United States, siccing the Justice Department on his political enemies …

First lady Melania Trump will head effort to teach next generation about AI  —  In an exclusive statement to the New York Post, first lady Melania Trump has revealed her next official project: leading the Presidential Artificial Intelligence Challenge to inspire children and teachers …

Lutnick says administration considering taking stakes in defense companies … The investment came partially from grants awarded from the CHIPS Act, but not yet paid out.  President Donald Trump has previously railed against the Biden-championed law, calling on Congress to “get rid” of it.

In Big Win for Voters, Pennsylvania Must Count Undated Mail-In Ballots, Court Rules  —  A federal circuit court upheld a lower court ruling Tuesday that requires Pennsylvania to count undated or wrongly dated mail-in ballots, finding that a previous law rejecting such ballots violated the First and 14th Amendments.

America's leading physician groups are now openly defying RFK Jr.  —  For decades, the American public, the federal government, and the medical community have been nearly unanimous: Vaccines are important because they save lives.  Today, after years of escalating attacks, that consensus has irrevocably shattered.

The case against Kilmar Ábrego García is a study in sadistic absurdity  —  In its allegations against the Maryland man, the Trump administration is claiming authority over reality itself  —  In a way, you could think of the brief stint that Kilmar Ábrego García spent …

Jack Smith's Legal Team Fires Back Against Ethics Complaint  —  For months, the former special counsel has remained silent as the president and his advisers have publicly attacked him.  —  Lawyers for Jack Smith, the former special counsel who investigated Donald J. Trump …

Blue States That Sued Kept Most CDC Grants, While Red States Feel Brunt of Trump Clawbacks  —  The Trump administration's cuts to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funding for state and local health departments had vastly uneven effects depending on the political leanings of a state, according to a KFF Health News analysis.

Democrats lead the U.S. House generic ballot by 8; voters back fair maps and oppose Trump's tariffs  —  This article reports results from the August Strength In Numbers/Verasight poll.  You can read our previous poll releases here.  —  Summary of main poll findings:

Old master painting looted by Nazis spotted in Argentinian property listing  —  Dutch newspaper AD says it has traced Giuseppe Ghislandi's Portrait of a Lady to house near Buenos Aires  —  More than 80 years after it was looted by the Nazis from a Jewish art dealer in Amsterdam …

Can AIs suffer?  Big tech and users grapple with one of most unsettling questions of our times  —  As first AI-led rights advocacy group is founded, industry is divided on whether models are, or can be, sentient  — AI called Maya tells Guardian: 'When I'm told I'm just code, I don't feel insulted.

Our guardrails are failing us  —  But with discipline, Democrats can get the message out.  —  The military invasion of Washington, D.C.—with masked troops from several red states occupying the city, grabbing residents off the street and out of vehicles while hiding their identities …

Judge orders Kari Lake to answer questions about Voice of America under oath  —  A senior federal judge ordered Trump administration official Kari Lake to submit to questioning under oath in ongoing litigation over her efforts to effectively dismantle Voice of America despite Congressional mandates that it be maintained.

100 Push-Ups and 50 Pull-Ups in Under 10 Minutes.  What Could Go Wrong?  —  Fitness experts caution against jumping into a difficult routine suggested by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Pete Hegseth.  —  Last week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. challenged Pete Hegseth to a test of fitness in which each …

Young Voters Who Swung Right Are Already Regretting It  —  Trump convinced voters under 35 — especially men — to give him a chance.  They are souring on what they see.  —  One of the most surprising datapoints from President Donald Trump's 2024 victory was his strength among young voters …

A Teen Was Suicidal.  ChatGPT Was the Friend He Confided In. … A photograph of Adam Raine taken not long before his death.  His baby blanket, which his mother found in his bed, hangs over a corner.  Mark Abramson for The New York Times  —  When Adam Raine died in April at age 16, some of his friends did not initially believe it.