Top Items:
Dietrich Knauth / Reuters:
Most Trump tariffs are not legal, US appeals court rules — A U.S. appeals court ruled on Friday that most of Donald Trump's tariffs are illegal, undercutting the Republican president's use of the levies as a key international economic policy tool. — Trump has made tariffs a pillar …
RELATED:
Erik Larson / Bloomberg:
Bessent Warns of US ‘Embarrassment’ If Tariffs Ruled Illegal — Trump cabinet officials told a federal appeals court that ruling president's global tariffs illegal would seriously harm US foreign policy, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warning of “dangerous diplomatic embarrassment.”
Discussion:
Reason
Axios:
Most of Trump's sweeping global tariffs not legal, appellate court says — A federal appellate court on Friday upheld a lower-court ruling invalidating the bulk of President Trump's sweeping global tariffs. … - Trump said the ruling would “literally destroy the United States of America” …
Discussion:
Politico
Ilya Somin / Reason:
Federal Circuit Rules Against Trump's Massive IEEPA Tariffs in Our Case Challenging Them
Blake Brittain / Reuters:
Court extends suspension of 98-year-old US circuit judge Newman
Christopher Wiggins / Advocate:
RFK Jr.'s damage to the CDC is ‘past the point of no return,’ Dr. Demetre Daskalakis warns — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, once regarded as the nation's premier agency against illness, is now damaged beyond repair, according to one of its most prominent departing leaders.
Discussion:
Axios, NOTUS, Wall Street Journal, Gay City News and Futurism
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Greg Sargent / New Republic:
Trump's Decapitation of CDC Takes Darker Turn—and Hands Dems a Weapon … This week, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker offered an extraordinary viral response to President Trump's vow to dispatch troops into Chicago. Critically, Pritzker cast Trump as a malignant, active threat to his Illinois constituents …
Discussion:
Can We Still Govern? and New York Times
New York Times:
How the Trump-Kennedy Alliance Is Pushing the Boundaries of Public Health
Discussion:
Reuters and Associated Press
Adam Cancryn / CNN:
New CDC chief was part of meetings where officials pressed ousted leader on vaccines
New CDC chief was part of meetings where officials pressed ousted leader on vaccines
Discussion:
Washington Post, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, The National Pulse, Washington Examiner, Bloomberg, Axios, WATN, Newsweek and CBS News
Steve Benen / MSNBC:
RFK Jr. targets CDC with a ridiculous complaint as chaos grips the agency
RFK Jr. targets CDC with a ridiculous complaint as chaos grips the agency
Discussion:
Reason, CNN, New York Times, NOTUS, Fox News, Washington Examiner, The Hill and WTOP News
Apoorva Mandavilli / Associated Press:
Will the C.D.C. Survive? — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s assault may have dealt lasting damage to the agency …
Will the C.D.C. Survive? — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s assault may have dealt lasting damage to the agency …
Discussion:
Techdirt, Newsweek and Washington Post
Claudia Grisales / NPR:
With newly approved maps in Texas, GOP puts its gains with Latinos to the test — SEGUIN, Texas - Under a broiling sun, there's a popular, frozen drinks stop here in the seat of Guadalupe County known as Milly's where locals cool off in the summer. — But business owner Tomas Hernandez Jr …
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Marianne LeVine / Washington Post:
Judge blocks Trump's broad expansion of expedited removal of migrants — The ruling says the administration's policy violated due process rights as it sought to speed up the president's mass deportation agenda. — Just now — A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration …
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Zach Montague / New York Times:
Judge Blocks Pillar of Trump's Mass Deportation Campaign
NBC News:
Angry constituents confront Congress on immigration, Medicaid cuts and Gaza — The few lawmakers who held town halls this summer faced voters furious with Republicans about Trump's agenda and with Democrats for not doing enough to fight back. — With political tensions running high …
Discussion:
al.com
Washington Post:
Social Security whistleblower quits after saying Americans' data was compromised — The agency's chief data officer said the U.S. DOGE Service had uploaded personal information for more than 300 million people to the digital cloud. — Just now — A Social Security Administration official responsible …
RELATED:
Tyler Pager / New York Times:
Trump Administration Live Updates: President Revokes Kamala Harris's Secret Service Protection — Where Things Stand — Secret Service: President Trump has revoked Secret Service protection for former Vice President Kamala Harris, effective Monday, according to a letter obtained by The Times.
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Axios, Reuters and Associated Press
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Colleges face financial struggles as Trump policies send international enrollment plummeting — One international student after another told the University of Central Missouri this summer that they couldn't get a visa, and many struggled to even land an interview for one.
Associated Press:
Trump administration cancels $679 million in funding for offshore wind projects — The Transportation Department on Friday canceled $679 million in federal funding for a dozen offshore wind projects, the latest attack by the Trump administration on the reeling U.S. offshore wind industry.
Matthew Lee / Associated Press:
U.S. revokes visas of Palestinian president, other officials ahead of UN General Assembly — Secretary of State Marco Rubio has revoked the visas of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials ahead of next month's annual high-level meeting of the U.N. General Assembly …
RELATED:
Des Moines Register:
Joni Ernst expected to announce she won't seek reelection in 2026, sources say — Stephen Gruber-Miller Brianne PfannenstielDes Moines Register — U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst will not seek reelection in 2026, according to two people familiar with her decision, setting off a massive upheaval in one of Iowa's marquee midterm contests.
Discussion:
New York Times
RELATED:
Jeff Zeleny / CNN:
Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst won't seek reelection to third term, sources tell CNN
Discussion:
Bloomberg
Jennifer Jacobs / CBS News:
Joni Ernst won't seek reelection to Senate in 2026, sources say
Joni Ernst won't seek reelection to Senate in 2026, sources say
Discussion:
Politico
Kadia Goba / Washington Post:
Comer set to meet privately with Epstein victims — It was unclear which of Epstein's victims is expected to attend the meeting after a federal probe into the convicted sex trafficker ended in August 2019 with the financier's death. — House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Kentucky) …
Discussion:
LGBTQ Nation
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
House Republicans Want To Doxx Wikipedia Editors Over Bogus ‘Bias’ Complaints — from the congress-shall-make-no-law dept — Congress has absolutely zero constitutional authority to investigate a private website for its editorial decisions. Zero. None. This is First Amendment 101.
Discussion:
Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »
Jeff Horwitz / Reuters:
Exclusive: Meta created flirty chatbots of Taylor Swift, other celebrities without permission — Meta has appropriated the names and likenesses of celebrities - including Taylor Swift, Scarlett Johansson, Anne Hathaway and Selena Gomez - to create dozens of flirty social-media chatbots without their permission, Reuters has found.
Matthew Gault / 404 Media:
Trump Take LEGO — Add LEGO to the list of hobbies that Trump has made more expensive and worse with his tariff policy. Thanks to America's ever shifting trade policies, LEGO has stopped shipping more than 2,500 pieces from its Pick a Brick program to both the United States and Canada.
Catie Edmondson / New York Times:
Defying Congress, Trump Moves to Cut $4.9 Billion in Foreign Aid — The White House notified Congress that it plans to use a legally untested maneuver to circumvent lawmakers and claw back more money for foreign aid programs. — The White House has informed Congress it intends …
Discussion:
Associated Press, CNN, New York Post and Politico
RELATED:
Kate Riga / Talking Points Memo:
Democrats Predict Shutdown After Trump Tries to Snatch Congress' Most Important Power
Democrats Predict Shutdown After Trump Tries to Snatch Congress' Most Important Power
Discussion:
Reason and The Daily Signal


