Trump mandates all federal agencies send email blaming Dems for potential gov't shutdown  —  Workers call the partisan email “a vile slap in the face.” … As the federal government teeters on the brink of a shutdown, workers across many agencies received identical emails late Tuesday afternoon blaming Democrats for the possibility.

White House withdraws Trump's controversial nominee to lead BLS after ousting predecessor over jobs data  —  The White House has sent paperwork to the Senate to withdraw the nomination of E.J. Antoni as head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, three sources told CNN.

‘Could have been an email’: Officials balk at Hegseth's generals meeting … Defense officials, in the Pentagon and at bases around the world, spent much of Tuesday trying to make sense of the last-minute gathering at the Quantico base in Virginia.  Hegseth called out “fat generals,” and …

Judge Rules Trump Unlawfully Targeted Noncitizens Over Pro-Palestinian Speech  —  In a blistering opinion, a federal judge in Boston said the Trump administration used the threat of deportations to systematically intimidate certain campus demonstrators into silence.

ICE agents assault amNewYork reporter at Federal Plaza immigration court; another journalist seriously injured after shove  —  ICE agents assaulted amNewYork's own Dean Moses, and allegedly attacked another journalist, on Tuesday morning as they were documenting the ongoing arrests …

Pope Leo XIV Wades Into Durbin Debate  —  The number of bishops who have condemned Cardinal Cupich's decision to honor Durbin with a ‘lifetime achievement award’ has risen to 10, including two bishops emeritus.  —  Pope Leo XIV responded to controversy over the Chicago cardinal's plans …

Republicans refuse to swear in newly elected Democrat, delaying success of Epstein petition  —  Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Republican leaders refused requests from Democrats to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) on Tuesday, saying she will be sworn in when the House returns to regular session.

Mike Johnson Caught Trashing Trump's Vulgar AI Video  —  TROUBLE IN PARADISE  —  The House Speaker was spotted discussing the president's bizarre video with a Democratic colleague.  —  House Speaker Mike Johnson was recorded criticizing a bizarre AI-generated video posted by President Donald Trump …

WaPo's Ad Chief Wavers … Those departures have drawn the most public attention, but an equally consequential matter has been unfolding on the business side.  The task of selling advertising, already a challenge in today's digital media economy dominated by Meta and Google …

Trump says deal reached to end feud with Harvard … The deal could include Harvard paying $500 million, operating trade schools, teaching artificial intelligence and other unspecified actions: “And then their sins are forgiven,” Trump said.  —  A Harvard University spokesperson did not respond to an immediate request for comment.

ICE to Buy Tool that Tracks Locations of Hundreds of Millions of Phones Every Day  —  Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has bought access to a surveillance tool that is updated every day with billions of pieces of location data from hundreds of millions of mobile phones, according to ICE documents reviewed by 404 Media.

Pfizer's Drug Price Cuts Yield Three-Year Trump Tariff Reprieve  —  Pfizer Inc. secured a reprieve from President Donald Trump's long-threatened tariffs on the pharmaceutical industry Tuesday by agreeing to slash some of its drug prices by up to 85% and selling directly to the American public …

National parks will remain mostly open in shutdown … The Trump administration will keep most national parks open to the public if the government shuts down Wednesday, according to two people briefed on the plan.  —  With congressional leaders still gridlocked on a deal to fund …

Fact check: Trump makes numerous false claims to generals and admirals, some about the military  —  President Donald Trump made numerous false claims in a rambling Tuesday speech to hundreds of generals and admirals who were summoned to a military base in Virginia to listen to addresses …

You don't have to swallow frogs  —  Klein and Coates show that if you don't know what your core beliefs are, you're going to get played.  —  Over the weekend, an interview circulated in which New York Times columnist and podcaster Ezra Klein talked to Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of Between the World and Me, among other essays and books.