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.

‘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 …

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.

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.

Federal agents grab and shove journalists outside NYC immigration court, sending one to hospital  —  Federal agents grabbed and shoved journalists in a hallway outside a New York City immigration court on Tuesday, sending one to the hospital in the latest clash between authorities enforcing …

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 …

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 …

Pfizer-Trump deal blindsides other drug companies  —  Pfizer's decision to announce a deal with the Trump administration on drug prices Tuesday caused an uproar within much of the pharmaceutical industry, most of which was caught off guard by the announcement.

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 …

Jimmy Fallon Plans to ‘Keep My Head Down’ and Avoid Politics on ‘The Tonight Show’: ‘We Hit Both Sides Equally’  —  Jimmy Fallon plans to keep “The Tonight Show” out of politics.  —  During a recent interview with CNBC's “Squawk on the Street,” the late-night frontman said his show has …

New High Say Supreme Court Is Too Conservative  —  Story Highlights  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Forty-three percent of Americans think the current Supreme Court is too conservative.  Though that proportion is not meaningfully different from 2022-2024 readings, it is the highest Gallup has measured by one percentage point.

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.

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 …

Spending Soars, Rankings Fall at New College of Florida  —  Student outcomes and rankings are slipping at the liberal arts college while spending is up.  Critics believe the college is at risk of implosion, and some are calling for privatization.  —  More than two years into a conservative takeover …

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.