Trump Admin Tells Furloughed Workers To Set OOO Message Blaming Democrats For Shutdown  —  One health department employee said the directions seemed to be “coercing” subordinates into political activity.  —  After the government shutdown began Wednesday morning, furloughed employees …

FBI cuts ties with Anti-Defamation League, FBI director says  —  The FBI said on Wednesday it had cut ties with the Anti-Defamation League, a prominent Jewish group that tracks antisemitism, after Republicans criticized the group for including slain activist Charlie Kirk's organization in a glossary on extremism.

Trump targets states that voted for Harris in shutdown fight … New York-area lawmakers reacted with fury to the infrastructure cuts earlier Wednesday.  —  “Political revenge.  Clearly outlined by Trump, time and again.  He sees the U.S. as Blue and Red, and Blue states are enemies,” …

Vought: Mass firings will begin ‘in a day or two’  —  OMB chief Russ Vought told House Republicans on a private call Wednesday that the administration will start mass reduction in force moves, or firings, of federal workers “in a day or two,” according to four people granted anonymity to describe the call.

There's a New Lawsuit Against “Kavanaugh Stops.”  It's Absolutely Devastating.  —  Gregory Bovino, the officer in charge of roving immigration enforcement in American cities, admitted this week that his agents arrest people based on “how they look.”  Asked by a WBEZ reporter to elaborate …

Hegseth's Hatred of Americans Makes Him Unfit for Office but a Perfect Fit for Trump  —  The secretary is a Christian nationalist who wants to eliminate those who don't agree with his totalitarian vision  —  The speech delivered by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth yesterday at an extraordinary meeting …

Looming health insurance spikes for millions are at the heart of the government shutdown  —  The U.S. government shut down Wednesday, with Democratic lawmakers insisting that any deal address their health care demands and Republicans saying those negotiations can happen after the government is funded.

Hundreds of celebrities relaunch a McCarthy-era committee to defend free speech  —  On Wednesday, over 550 celebrities relaunched a group first organized during the post-World War II Red Scare: the Committee for the First Amendment.  Their intent is to stand up in what they call a …

Activists say Israeli navy has begun intercepting a Gaza-bound aid flotilla  —  Activists on board a flotilla of vessels sailing toward Gaza said late Wednesday that the Israeli navy had intercepted three of its boats as they approached the besieged Palestinian territory.

Jane Goodall, Eminent Primatologist Who Chronicled the Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91  —  Her discoveries in the 1960s about how chimpanzees behaved in the wild broke new ground and represented what was called “one of the Western world's great scientific achievements.”

White House Asks Colleges to Sign Sweeping Agreement to Get Funding Advantage  —  An initial round of nine schools is being asked to sign a wide-ranging accord  —  The Trump administration is laying out a set of operating principles that it wants universities to agree to in exchange for preferential access to federal funds.

Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro Hits 60% Job Approval, Leads Republicans In 2026, 2028 Matchups, Quinnipiac University Pennsylvania Poll Finds; Dems Sour On Fetterman While GOP Voters Approve Of Him  — mail_outline  —  As Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro winds down his third year in office …

White House fires much of the National Council on the Humanities  —  The White House appeared to fire all but four members of the National Council on the Humanities, an advisory board to the head of the government's grantmaking agency.  —  The White House on Wednesday abruptly terminated …

White House to begin firing federal workers within"day or two"  —  Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought said the Trump administration will begin firing federal workers in a “day or two” sources told Axios. … - Vought made the comments on a House Republican conference-wide call Wednesday afternoon.

Who Goes Nazi?  —  It is an interesting and somewhat macabre parlor game to play at a large gathering of one's acquaintances: to speculate who in a showdown would go Nazi.  By now, I think I know.  I have gone through the experience many times—in Germany, in Austria, and in France.

Trump's Rage at Zohran Just Backfired in a Surprisingly Revealing Way  —  The Democrats who are capturing media and public attention right now all share something in common.  They are openly and urgently leveling with the American people about a singular basic reality: President Trump …

OpenAI's Sora 2 Copyright Infringement Machine Features Nazi SpongeBobs and Criminal Pikachus  —  Within moments of opening OpenAI's new AI slop app Sora, I am watching Pikachu steal Poké Balls from a CVS.  Then I am watching SpongeBob-as-Hitler give a speech about the “scourge of fish ruining Bikini Bottom.”

Howard Lutnick tells ‘Pod Force One’ ex-neighbor Jeffrey Epstein showed off massage room, made creepy comment during townhouse tour  —  Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, in a notable break with the Department of Justice, claimed late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was “the greatest blackmailer ever” …

Pete Hegseth Is Living the Dream  —  A man who retired as a major lectures hundreds of generals about the need to meet his standards.  —  In the end, it was mostly blither.  When Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth announced a gathering of some 800 generals and admirals (with their senior enlisted advisers), rumors ran wild.

Democratic Virginia AG Nominee Convicted in 2022 After Driving 116 MPH at Midnight, Court Records Reveal  —  Jay Jones, who completed 1,000 hours of community service in lieu of jail time, is set to challenge Republican incumbent Jason Miyares on the ballot next month

Joe Rogan Defends Hegseth Address to Generals: ‘No More Identity Politics and B*llshit’  —  Joe Rogan heartily approved of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's speech to top commanders and his proposed changes to the U.S. military, saying it was nice there would be “no more identify politics and b*llshit” infecting the armed forces.

Trading on Tom Homan: Inside the Push to Cash in on the Trump Administration's Deportation Campaign  —  ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.  Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published.  —  The first time a Pennsylvania consultant …

Immigration judge denies Kilmar Abrego García's request to reopen case  —  The judge found “insufficient evidence” to show that the Trump administration would send Abrego to Uganda, according to a copy of the decision reviewed by The Washington Post.  —  A U.S. immigration judge …

U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz isn't part of Trump's Cabinet, sources say  —  The post of United Nations ambassador isn't a Cabinet position, according to sources familiar with the matter, as President Trump signals the decreased importance of the U.N. to his administration.

MAGA can't expand its base — and Christian music tells us why  —  The songs from Charlie Kirk's memorial exposed a serious problem  —  Donald Trump's authoritarian aspirations face one major obstacle: He is not very popular.  As counterintuitive as it may seem, political science shows …

Des Moines superintendent did not receive the doctoral degree he frequently claimed … The superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools did not obtain a doctoral degree from a Maryland university, as he has claimed for many years.  —  Ian Roberts, who was arrested by U.S. Immigration …

Assuring the Security of the State of Qatar  —  By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in recognition of the enduring alliance between the United States and the State of Qatar, it is hereby ordered:  —  Section 1.  Policy.

Hochul alleges DHS cut $187M from counterterrorism funding with ‘no discretion’  —  Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) on Monday alleged that President Donald Trump's Department of Homeland Security cut $187 million from New York's counterterrorism funds with no explanation.