Top Items:
Andrew Egger / The Bulwark:
The Silence of the Generals — Well, here we go: The federal government has shut down. Senate Democrats have vowed to oppose any spending measure that doesn't restore some of the health care cuts of this summer's One Big Beautiful Bill Act; meanwhile, Republicans are refusing to negotiate point blank …
Discussion:
Common Dreams and Bloomberg
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Tom Nichols / The Atlantic:
The Commander in Chief Is Not Okay — Trump put on a disturbing show for America's generals and admirals. — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's convocation of hundreds of generals and admirals today turned out to be, in the main, a nothingburger. Hegseth strutted and paced and lectured and hectored …
Discussion:
CNN, RUSI, America, America, Raw Story, New York Times and NewsMax.com
Eliot A. Cohen / The Atlantic:
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.
Discussion:
Onward and Upward
Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:
Last Thursday, September 25, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suddenly announced he was calling about 800 of the nation's top military generals and admirals, along with their top enlisted advisors, to meet at Marine Corps Base Quantico, in Virginia, today. Such a meeting was unprecedented …
Discussion:
USA Today, Politico, Washington Post, Breitbart, Raw Story, 404 Media, The Free Press and OutsideTheBeltway
Justin Glawe / Public Notice:
Trump attempts a major step toward dictatorship — PN is supported by paid subscribers. Become one ⬇️ — 🫡 Subscribe to PN 🫡 — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday delivered a speech to the nation's top generals and admirals that laid out his plans …
Discussion:
HuffPost, Diane Ravitch's blog, Forbes and Politico
The Atlantic:
Hundreds of Generals Try to Keep a Straight Face
Discussion:
Vox, New York Post, Defense One, The 19th, The Dispatch, GB News, Townhall, Blaze Media, SOFX, Politico, Slate, Ace of Spades HQ, RedState, NBC News, The Hill and Task & Purpose
Paul Krugman:
Bulging Biceps Don't Win Modern Wars
Bulging Biceps Don't Win Modern Wars
Discussion:
RealClearPolitics, Breitbart, Substack and RedState
Hamilton Nolan / How Things Work:
Leave the Military Now — Six months ago, I wrote a piece urging soldiers to leave the United States military.
Leave the Military Now — Six months ago, I wrote a piece urging soldiers to leave the United States military.
Discussion:
Air & Space Forces Magazine
Zachary Basu / Axios:
Trump's MAGA-fied military prepares for “war from within”
Trump's MAGA-fied military prepares for “war from within”
Discussion:
Common Dreams, Washington Post, Real Patriotism …, Daily Kos, New York Post and The Parnas Perspective
George Chidi / The Guardian:
Veterans react to Hegseth's ‘insulting’ address to generals and admirals
Veterans react to Hegseth's ‘insulting’ address to generals and admirals
Discussion:
MeidasTouch News
Popular Information:
Trump declares war on America
Trump declares war on America
Discussion:
New Republic, Talking Points Memo and Diplomatic,
Zeeshan Aleem / MSNBC:
Pete Hegseth's speech wasn't just insulting to the military. It was radical.
Pete Hegseth's speech wasn't just insulting to the military. It was radical.
Discussion:
HuffPost, Raw Story, New York Times, Jill Filipovic, Task & Purpose, Associated Press and Times Now
Gregory Svirnovskiy / Politico:
Vance says he'll talk Obamacare premiums with Schumer — but only with government open … The federal government shut down in the early morning Wednesday, raising the specter of furloughs for up to 750,000 federal employees, per the Congressional Budget Office.
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Wrap, CNBC, Fox News and STAT
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Vittoria Elliott / Wired:
Federal Workers Are Being Told to Blame Democrats for the Shutdown — Workers at one agency were given unhinged, partisan language to use when setting out-of-office replies. — At 9:35am on Wednesday, the first morning of the US government shutdown, employees at the Small Business Administration …
Punchbowl News:
10/1/25 ☀️ AM: … The federal government shut down at 12:01 a.m. this morning. It's the first government shutdown since 2019. … The party looking to force a policy change via a shutdown rarely gets what it wants. — We know that from the Republicans' 2013 shutdown seeking …
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Monthly, New York Times, Associated Press, The Hill, Fox News, NBC News, New York Post, CBS News, RedState, Ace of Spades HQ, The Atlantic, E&E News, emptywheel, GB News, Bloomberg, One America News Network, MSNBC, Breitbart, Roll Call, Newsweek, Oregon Capital Chronicle, Forbes, Washington Times and NOTUS
Jonathan Cohn / The Bulwark:
The Republican Shutdown Argument is a Giant Lie
Discussion:
Associated Press, Daily Kos, CNN, Mediaite, The Guardian and New Republic
Jordain Carney / Politico:
Senate GOP to hear from Obamacare subsidies skeptic
Senate GOP to hear from Obamacare subsidies skeptic
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Hill, New York Times, The Daily Caller, KFF Health News, Times Now, The Guardian and Wall Street Journal
Matt Margolis / PJ Media:
Yes, Democrats Shut Down the Government to Give Illegals Free Healthcare
Yes, Democrats Shut Down the Government to Give Illegals Free Healthcare
Discussion:
Ace of Spades HQ, NewsMax.com, The Post Millennial, Patterico's Pontifications, twitchy.com, Fox News, Newsweek and RedState
Marisa Kabas / The Handbasket:
Trump mandates all federal agencies send email blaming Dems for potential gov't shutdown
Trump mandates all federal agencies send email blaming Dems for potential gov't shutdown
Discussion:
NPR, NBC News, The Guardian, Mediaite, Politico, The Hill, Federal News Network, NASA Watch and Lawfare
Associated Press:
Government shutdown begins as nation faces new period of uncertainty
Government shutdown begins as nation faces new period of uncertainty
Discussion:
Fox News, The Hill, Washington Examiner, MSNBC, Bloomberg, Townhall, ABC News, Washington Times, Associated Press, New Jersey Online, New Yorker, Blaze Media, Raw Story, Chicago Sun Times, Florida Politics, Poynter, WTOP News, The National Pulse, Chicago Tribune, NewsNation, The Guardian, The.Ink, Federal News Network, New Jersey Globe, NPR, NewsMax.com, Al Jazeera, Reason, Newsweek and New York Times
Richard Rubin / Wall Street Journal:
Some Democrats Want to Upsize Trump's New Tax Cuts
Some Democrats Want to Upsize Trump's New Tax Cuts
Discussion:
Office of Advocacy and Hartford Courant
NBC News:
Government shutdown threatens to upend Virginia's race for governor
Government shutdown threatens to upend Virginia's race for governor
Discussion:
Axios, Politico, The Guardian, Above the Law, al.com, Daily Mail, Semafor, Bloomberg, Slate, France 24, The Hill, UPI, PBS NewsHour, Deadline, Raw Story, Washington Post and The Daily Caller
Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries:
JEFFRIES, SCHUMER STATEMENT ON THE TRUMP SHUTDOWN
JEFFRIES, SCHUMER STATEMENT ON THE TRUMP SHUTDOWN
Discussion:
CBS News, New Jersey Online, The Hill, The Daily Caller, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries and Los Angeles Times
Steve Benen / MSNBC:
E.J. Antoni's failed nomination makes the White House look even more incompetent — It's not often that Senate Republicans muster the courage to tell Donald Trump and his team, “Whoa, hold on, we can't go that far.” — As a rule, the process surrounding Donald Trump's nominees is relatively efficient.
Discussion:
NBC News, The Friends of the Bureau … and UPI
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CNN:
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.
Associated Press:
Trump pulls nomination of E.J. Antoni to lead Bureau of Labor Statistics, AP source says
Discussion:
HuffPost, The Forward, Axios, Mediaite, Quartz, Wall Street Journal, Washington Times, CBS News, Fox Business, The Daily Caller, IJR, Bloomberg, NewsMax.com, Politico and New Republic
Eli Stokols / Politico:
Trump promises to defend Qatar in wake of Israeli missile strikes — The U.S. is providing a security guarantee akin to NATO's Article V. … The attack killed a Qatari security officer. The president, shortly after the attack, promised the Qataris it would not happen again.
Discussion:
Reuters, New York Times, Times Now and Al Jazeera
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President Donald J. Trump / The White House:
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.
Discussion:
CNN, Axios, Washington Examiner, The Hill, New Republic, The Times of Israel, Jewish Insider and Patterico's Pontifications
Greg Sargent / New Republic:
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 …
Catherine Bouris / The Daily Beast:
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 …
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Examiner, The Philadelphia Inquirer, New Jersey Online, The Dean's Report, Mediaite, Townhall, Newsweek, The Hill, Raw Story and Ars Technica
RELATED:
Meredith Lee Hill / Politico:
‘Pain will be inflicted’ as shutdown drags on, Mike Johnson says
‘Pain will be inflicted’ as shutdown drags on, Mike Johnson says
Discussion:
Fox Business
Greg Ryan / Bloomberg:
Boston Mayor's Blowout Victory Jolts CEOs Seeking New Direction — Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is coasting to reelection after her main opponent quit the race, giving her a commanding mandate that's putting city business leaders on edge. — The progressive Democrat defeated Josh Kraft …
G. Elliott Morris / Strength In Numbers:
Experts now rate the U.S. as a “mixed” or “illiberal” democracy — Experts say political violence, Trump's attacks against non-partisan agencies and institutions, and partisan gerrymandering are their top concerns — The U.S. has never been a full democracy.
Discussion:
Bright Line Watch
Valentina di Donato / The Daily Register:
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 …
Discussion:
America Magazine, Townhall, LifeNews.com, The Hill and NewsMax.com
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Shia Kapos / Politico:
Pope Leo speaks up on Dick Durbin's behalf amid abortion rift
Pope Leo speaks up on Dick Durbin's behalf amid abortion rift
Discussion:
Scripps News, Washington Post, State Journal Register and Chicago Sun Times
Josh Moody / Inside Higher Ed:
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 …
Chris Tye / CBS News:
Pritzker compares Trump to Putin, calls for invoking 25th Amendment for suggesting military use Chicago as “training grounds” — After President Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested cities like Chicago should be used as “training grounds for our military,” Gov. JB Pritzker said the 25th Amendment …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and Chicago Sun Times
Oliver Darcy / Status:
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 …
Discussion:
New York Post, more at Mediagazer »
Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:
Supreme Court allows the Fed's Lisa Cook to stay in office for now as Trump pushes to fire her — The court agreed to take up Cook's challenge to her firing from the independent Federal Reserve Board and will hear arguments in the case in January. — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court …
Discussion:
The Hill, Politico, Washington Post, Fox News, MSNBC, Axios, CBS News, Bloomberg, New York Times, Associated Press, CNBC, Scripps News, NOTUS, ABC News, UPI, NPR, Quartz, New Republic, Daily Mail, New York Post, Washington Times, Talking Points Memo, New York Sun, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, SCOTUSblog, The Daily Caller, The Independent and Los Angeles Times
Jamelle Bouie / New York Times:
Trump Has No Mandate to Destroy America — Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election with 49.8 percent of the national popular vote — compared with 48.3 percent for Vice President Kamala Harris — and 312 electoral votes to Harris's 226. Overall, looking at the 20 presidential elections since …
Daniel Boguslaw / American Prospect:
We Obtained Thousands of New Epstein Documents — The mostly redacted documents pertain to a New Mexico attorney general investigation that was launched in 2019 but never led to criminal charges. — Jeffrey Epstein's Zorro Ranch in Stanley, New Mexico, seen on July 8, 2019
