Thune warns Democrats about Russ Vought: 'We don't control what he's going to do'  —  Senate Majority Leader John Thune isn't endorsing the slash-and-burn campaign White House budget director Russ Vought has planned for the federal government during the pending shutdown.

Massive immigration raid on Chicago apartment building leaves residents reeling: ‘I feel defeated’  —  Dan Jones was jolted awake around 1 a.m. Tuesday to the sound of federal agents trying to break through his apartment door.  They couldn't get past his double lock, so he went back to bed.

Trump Quietly Grants Defense Guarantee To Autocracy That Gave Him A Luxury Jet  —  Maybe Ukraine should have just given him a gold-plated 747.  —  WASHINGTON - Just months after soliciting and receiving a $400 million luxury airliner for himself from Qatar, President Donald Trump …

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.

Jane Fonda relaunches McCarthy-era committee to defend free speech  —  The actor said the Committee for the First Amendment — first backed by her father in 1947 — would fight the Trump administration's attempts to silence critics.  —  Actor and activist Jane Fonda has relaunched the Committee …

EXCLUSIVE: NARA Ousts Eisenhower Library Director Over Proposed Trump Gift to King Charles  —  James Byron, Special Assistant to Acting Archivist Marco Rubio at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, this week forced Dr. Todd Arrington, director of the federal Dwight D. Eisenhower …

Israel Intercepts Boats Headed to Gaza With Humanitarian Aid  —  The boats were part of a flotilla, carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists, that was organized to break Israel's blockade and protest the war.  —  Israel intercepted more than a dozen boats with activists from around …

Kash Patel cuts FBI ties with Anti-Defamation League  —  FBI Director Kash Patel ended the bureau's long-standing partnership with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the prominent civil rights group that has worked with law enforcement to combat antisemitism and extremism.

Bonus 180: “Domestic Terrorism” and NSPM-7  —  The Trump administration is hoping no one notices that, although federal law *defines* “domestic terrorism,” it provides no special authorities against anyone whose behavior *meets* that definition.  —  ∙ Paid  —  Welcome back to the weekly bonus content for “One First.”

Corey Lewandowski Drops Menacing ICE Threat Over Bad Bunny's Super Bowl Show  —  The Department of Homeland Security adviser also joined in with MAGA outrage over the Puerto Rican superstar's halftime gig.  —  Department of Homeland Security adviser Corey Lewandowski on Wednesday fumed …

Trust in Media at New Low of 28% in U.S.  —  Republicans' confidence in mass media to report news “fully, accurately and fairly” now at 8%  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans' confidence in the mass media has edged down to a new low, with just 28% expressing a “great deal” or “fair amount” …

Axios Vibes: Grocery price pain rises, in warning sign for Trump and GOP  —  Americans say it's harder to afford their groceries now than it was a year ago, a warning sign for President Trump and Republicans, in the latest Axios Vibes survey by The Harris Poll.

Google joins presidential bribe club  —  PN is supported by paid subscribers.  Become one ⬇️  —  🧠 Subscribe to PN 🧠  —  On Monday, Google paid a $24.5 million bribe to President Trump.  —  The bag of cash was euphemistically described as a “legal settlement …

Elon Musk's SpaceX Took Money Directly From Chinese Investors, Company Insider Testifies  —  The newly unsealed testimony marks the first time direct Chinese investment in the company has been disclosed, raising new questions about foreign ownership interests in one of America's most important military contractors.

Two dead in Manchester synagogue attack, with suspect also believed to have been killed - police  —  Summary  — Two people have died after a car and stabbing attack at a synagogue in Manchester - here's a timeline of how the attack unfolded  — A third person - thought to be the suspect …

Europe's Emerging Plan: Give Ukraine $200 Billion in Russian Money  —  The loan—which likely wouldn't be paid back—represents a creative way to tap Moscow's frozen assets without legally confiscating them  —  COPENHAGEN—The European Union struggles to make quick decisions and wield its political weight.

Political Triumphalism Is Contrary to the Spirit of Yom Kippur  —  I can only imagine the scene that day in March of 1863 when Peter wandered into a Union army camp in Mississippi.  Ten days earlier, he had escaped from slavery, along with three others, still bloodied from a recent brutal whipping.

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.”

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 …

At Stake in the Shutdown Fight: Obamacare Prices That Could Rise by Thousands of Dollars  —  Democrats say they will not vote to end the government shutdown unless Congress extends extra Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire next year.  Republican leaders have said the subsidies …

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,” …

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.