Top Items:
Jordain Carney / Politico:
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.
Discussion:
Semafor, CNN, The Hill, Fox News, Associated Press, Axios, Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Mock Paper Scissors, Townhall, New Jersey Online, New Republic, Washington Examiner, CBS News, NewsMax.com, The Daily Signal, Raw Story, Washington Times, Michigan Advance, The Daily Caller, UPI, New York Magazine and NPR
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Washington Post:
We asked 1,000 Americans who they blame for the shutdown — Here's what they said. — Just now — How concerned are Americans about the partial shutdown of the federal government and whom do they blame for causing it? The Washington Post texted a nationally representative sample of 1,010 people on Wednesday to ask.
Discussion:
NBC News, New Republic, HuffPost, Daily Mail, The Independent, Newsweek, Mediaite, Fox News, Raw Story, The Hill, Roll Call, Breitbart and San Diego Union-Tribune
Politico:
Farmers, a key GOP constituency, hit hard by shutdown — The government shutdown is already hurting a key GOP constituency: farmers. Thousands of USDA's Farm Service Agency offices that help producers across the country access loans and other services are completely shuttered and only available for “emergency scenarios.”
Discussion:
Raw Story, Newsweek, MSNBC, DTN Progressive Farmer and NewsMax.com
Meredith Lee Hill / Politico:
Mike Johnson: Republicans ‘have nothing to negotiate’ on shutdown — Speaker Mike Johnson moved to shut down any attempts to negotiate a way out of the shutdown Thursday as some senators look for off-ramps. Johnson said in a news conference outside his Capitol office that Democrats …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, The Hill, Fox News, Washington Times, The Daily Signal, The Western Journal and NewsMax.com
Washington Post:
The health care subsidies at the heart of the government shutdown
Discussion:
Fox News, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Associated Press
Tom Latchem / The Daily Beast:
Trump Finds a New Way to Use the White House for Tacky Racist Trolling
Trump Finds a New Way to Use the White House for Tacky Racist Trolling
Tara Suter / The Hill:
More Americans blame Trump, Republicans for shutdown than Democrats: Survey
More Americans blame Trump, Republicans for shutdown than Democrats: Survey
Discussion:
NBC News
Steve Inskeep / NPR:
In Trump country, a Democrat critiques Trump — and talks of succeeding him
In Trump country, a Democrat critiques Trump — and talks of succeeding him
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Hill, New Jersey Online and Courier-Journal
Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:
Last night, as the government barreled toward a shutdown, President Donald J. Trump posted yet …
Last night, as the government barreled toward a shutdown, President Donald J. Trump posted yet …
Discussion:
Politico, The Hill, HuffPost, Townhall, New Jersey Online, The Independent, New York Sun, Mediaite, New York Times, Times Now, Fox News, Raw Story, Deadline, LGBTQ Nation and IJR
Jordain Carney / Politico:
How John Thune sees the shutdown ending
How John Thune sees the shutdown ending
Discussion:
Daily Caller News Foundation and Newsweek
Cindy Hernandez / Chicago Sun Times:
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.
Discussion:
Salon, New York Times, Raw Story and Block Club Chicago
Washington Post:
Senior government officials privately warn against firings during shutdown — The Trump administration has telegraphed that mass firings are coming, but officials have cautioned that such moves could violate appropriations law. — Senior federal officials have quietly counseled several agencies …
Discussion:
NewsNation, Al Jazeera, Daily Mail, Raw Story, The Hill and NewsMax.com
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Andrew Egger / The Bulwark:
Trump's ‘Shoot the Hostage’ Shutdown Strategy
Trump's ‘Shoot the Hostage’ Shutdown Strategy
Discussion:
HuffPost, The Status Kuo, NOTUS and NBC News
Kevin Breuninger / CNBC:
Trump touts shutdown as ‘unprecedented opportunity’ to cut more Democratic priorities
Trump touts shutdown as ‘unprecedented opportunity’ to cut more Democratic priorities
Discussion:
New Republic, Axios, Fox News, New York Times, Reuters, Washington Examiner, Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, The Guardian, Blaze Media, NewsMax.com, The Daily Caller, Wall Street Journal, Washington Times, Patterico's Pontifications, The Independent, The National Pulse, Mediaite, Mercury News, CBS News, NPR and AM New York
Anthony Clark / The Last Campaign:
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 …
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Ed O'Keefe / CBS News:
Head of Eisenhower library resigns after sword spat with Trump administration
Head of Eisenhower library resigns after sword spat with Trump administration
Discussion:
Raw Story
S.V. Date / HuffPost:
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 …
Discussion:
MSNBC, CNN, New York Times, Israpundit, Political Wire, Ace of Spades HQ, New York Post, SOFX, Associated Press, Daily Kos, Axios and Washington Times
Victoria Craw / Washington Post:
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 …
Discussion:
MSNBC, Committee for the First …, Mediaite, CNN, UPI, The Guardian, NPR, The A.V. Club, Fox News, NewsMax.com and The Hill
Chris Mason / BBC:
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 …
Discussion:
The Washington Free Beacon, Bloomberg, The Guardian, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, New York Post, GB News, The Sun, Metro.co.uk, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, The Western Journal, Associated Press, New York Sun, UPI, Breitbart, France 24, Daily Mail, Los Angeles Times, Fox News, Al Jazeera, Times Now, Channel2 NOW, Telegraph and NPR
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Financial Times:
Two killed in attack at Manchester synagogue
Two killed in attack at Manchester synagogue
Discussion:
The Free Press, Reuters, Metro.co.uk, HuffPost, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, France 24, GB News, Washington Examiner, 77 WABC, The Daily Caller, CBS News, Not the Bee, The Times of Israel, Al Jazeera, New York Post, New York Times, FOX 11 Los Angeles, WTOP News, Channel2 NOW, KSLTV.com, Daily Mail, Politico, Semafor and Agence France-Presse
Lee Moran / HuffPost:
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 …
Discussion:
MSNBC, Axios, TMZ.com, The Daily Caller, The Independent, Breitbart, New York Post, New Jersey Online, El País, American Thinker, Claytoonz, Raw Story, The Wrap, Straight Arrow News, Washington Examiner, Rolling Stone, UPI, Forbes, Deadline, The Hill, Mediaite, al.com, The Hollywood Reporter and NewsMax.com
Bloomberg:
Mamdani Says He Would Eliminate Gifted Programs for NYC Kindergarten Students — New York mayoral front-runner and Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani said he wants to end the city's gifted and talented program for kindergarten students in public schools, wading into a contentious issue weeks before the election.
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New York Times:
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 …
Discussion:
HotAir, BBC, Jacobin, One America News Network, The Gateway Pundit, The Times of Israel, Los Angeles Times, France 24, Straight Arrow News, Fox News, Ynetnews, vaticannews.va, NewsMax.com, NewsNation, Reuters, Middle East Monitor, CBS News, UPI, Associated Press, The Western Journal, Washington Examiner, Drop Site News, New York Post and Semafor
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Axios:
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.
Discussion:
The Hill, Mock Paper Scissors, NewsMax.com and Raw Story
Wall Street Journal:
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.
Discussion:
CNN, The Guardian, New York Times, The Hill, The Texas Tribune, UPI, Prism, The Daily Signal, The National Pulse, Washington Examiner, Reason, NewsMax.com, New Republic, Reuters and Bloomberg
Mike Ludwig / Truthout:
Trump's ICE Has Started Targeting Activists, Not Just Immigrants — ICE demanded Meta hand over personal information attached to Instagram accounts that track immigration raids. … As President Donald Trump prepares to further unleash a rapidly expanding surveillance state …
Discussion:
The Verge, Raw Story, Fox News, Townhall, The Post Millennial and American Greatness
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Steve Vladeck / One First:
Bonus 180: “Domestic Terrorism” and NSPM-7
Peter Nicholas / NBC News:
‘NATO for nonprofits’: Groups organize to band together if targeted by Trump — Nonprofit organizations took lessons away from law firms and universities that largely decided to act in isolation after finding themselves in the administration's crosshairs. — WASHINGTON — Nonprofit groups …
Discussion:
DDF
Matt McGrath / BBC:
Pope Leo condemns climate change critics — Pope Leo XIV has hit out at those who minimise the “increasingly evident” impact of rising temperatures in his first major statement on climate change. — Reiterating the words of his predecessor Pope Francis, the new pontiff lambasted critics who …
Discussion:
Associated Press, New York Times, vaticannews.va and Times Now
Megan Brenan / Gallup:
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” …
Discussion:
The Hill, The Hollywood Reporter, Newsbusters, Washington Times, IJR, Axios and Semafor, more at Mediagazer »
Paul Krugman:
An Autocracy of Dunces — How stone-faced generals, Wall Street pushback, and a government shutdown may save America's quickly declining democracy — If America still had a fully functioning democracy, Donald Trump's speech Tuesday to the assembled generals would have ended his presidency.
Brendan Cole / Newsweek:
Mike Johnson's Response to Being Told Trump is ‘Unhinged’ Takes Off Online — A clip has gone viral of Democratic Representative Madeleine Dean telling House Speaker Mike Johnson that President Donald Trump's address to military top brass showed the U.S. president was “unhinged.”
Discussion:
Raw Story, New Jersey Online, The Gateway Pundit and Mediaite
Bolts:
Your Cheat Sheet to the 2025 General Elections — Four contests have come to largely define the 2025 elections: the elections to lead New Jersey, Virginia, and New York City, plus California's redistricting measure. But there's so much else on the ballot.
Michael G. Holzman / The UnPopulist:
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.
Discussion:
WTOP News
ProPublica:
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.
Derek Thompson:
This Is How the AI Bubble Will Pop — The AI infrastructure boom is the most important economic story in the world. But the numbers just don't add up. — ∙ Paid — Some people think artificial intelligence will be the most important technology of the 21st century.
Discussion:
Reuters
Avery Lotz / Axios:
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.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, Washington Times, Fox News, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, New York Sun, The Independent, Crooks and Liars, Al Jazeera, Reuters, RedState, The Federalist, The National Pulse, HotAir, Politico, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, twitchy.com, Blaze Media, The Daily Caller and Jewish Insider
New York Times:
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 …
Discussion:
FactCheck.org, NPR, Los Angeles Times, The Texas Tribune, Forbes, Politico, Washington Post and HotAir
The Guardian:
Judge denies Kilmar Ábrego García's bid for asylum in the US — Ábrego, who was deported to El Salvador in March before being returned to the US, has 30 days to appeal ruling — An immigration judge in Baltimore has denied Kilmar Ábrego García's bid …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Associated Press and Townhall

