Totally Brazen.  Comically Corrupt.  Painfully Dumb.  —  Twenty-six days into the government shutdown, we got an actual, meaningful development this morning.  The American Federation of Government Employees—a union that has regularly fought Donald Trump's assault on the federal workforce this year …

Trump Says a Recent M.R.I. Scan Was ‘Perfect,’ and He'd ‘Love’ a Third Term  —  President Trump made the comments on the second day of his trip to Asia.  The Constitution limits presidents to two terms, but Mr. Trump has suggested he might try to circumvent it.

Lawsuit Plunges New York Into the National Gerrymandering Fight  —  A suit filed by an election law firm contends that the state's 11th Congressional District, represented by a Republican, is drawn in a way that disenfranchises Black and Latino voters.  —  A lawsuit filed on Monday on behalf …

Trump Nixing of Dem State Disaster Aid Backfires, Screwing MAGA Voters … In recent days, President Trump has approved federal disaster aid for the red states of Nebraska, North Dakota, Missouri and Alaska while denying it to the blue states of Maryland, Vermont, and Illinois.

Left-wing ideas have wrecked Democrats' brand, new report warns  —  THE SCOOP  —  Democrats have badly weakened their party with left-leaning ideas and rhetoric, growing only with self-described “white liberals” while losing ground with other voters, according to a new center-left group's report shared first with Semafor.

ICE's Hiring Surge Is Already a Disaster  —  It's cutting standards and racing to hire exactly the wrong people, precisely as predicted. … ICE, turbocharged by $75 billion in new dollars, is in a huge rush to hire, train, and deploy 10,000 new deportation officers.

How Jack Smith's strongest case against Donald Trump collapsed  —  Seeking to get the classified documents case to a jury before the 2024 election, the special counsel made a fateful decision that some in his office saw as a misstep.  —  This story is adapted from the forthcoming book by Leonnig and Davis …

Trump Asks Supreme Court to Let Him Fire the Top Copyright Official  —  An appeals court sided with the director of the U.S. Copyright Office, saying her role is to work with Congress.  —  The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to allow the president to remove …

Accusing Jordan Silverman  —  Jordan Silverman still isn't sure he wants me to write this story.  —  He isn't sure if he wants me to publish his real name (I have), his photo (I have not), or the real names of his partner and kids (I have not).  —  Silverman says he wants to clear his name.

2 Illinois National Guard members speak out: “I won't turn against my neighbors”  —  Chicago — Two Illinois National Guard members told CBS News they would refuse to obey federal orders to deploy in Chicago as part of President Trump's controversial immigration enforcement mission …

Scoop: Graham Platner's campaign manager is out … - Platner's former political director, Genevieve McDonald, also previously departed the campaign.  — Politico reported that before Brown's start date, another aide, Daniel Moraff, worked as the de facto campaign manager, according to McDonald.

Food banks brace for 42 million without SNAP  —  Food banks are already seeing a surge as tens of millions of families prepare for their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to freeze. … - When SNAP benefits run out this week, food banks say they will face a demand they can't possibly meet alone.

186. When Can States Prosecute Federal Officers?  —  Stephen Miller claims that ICE officers have “immunity” for anything they do while enforcing immigration law.  Even as an argument about *state* criminal prosecutions, that claim is overstated at best.  —  Welcome back to “One First,” …

3 Scandals in 4 Days That Would Define Any Other Presidency  —  During the second Trump administration, corruption scandals that would typically define a presidency receive a day or two of coverage.  —  Part of the issue is that for Trump, enriching himself and his family is one of the core purposes of his presidency.

How Riley Gaines and the trans panic steal from horror films  —  Fake victims like Gaines evoke the little girls of “The Exorcist” and “The Conjuring”  —  On paper, former swimmer Riley Gaines is a puzzling choice for MAGA's appointed “victim” of trans people.

Trump dangles prospect of Mar-a-Lago visit for Xi  —  U.S. president hints at reciprocal summits with Chinese leader next year as trade talks are revived.  —  U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday he expects to visit China next year and that President Xi Jinping would likely travel to …

Sports Poll: Americans To NFL: Move The Super Bowl To A Holiday Weekend, Quinnipiac University National Sports Poll Finds; NFL Fans Favor Expanding Regular Season To 18 Games  — mail_outline  —  NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has talked about the possibility of extending the regular NFL season …

A Michigan elected official is married to a neo-Nazi.  Some constituents have a problem with that.  —  Meghyn Booth says she didn't know she was married to a neo-Nazi influencer, not exactly.  —  Did she realize her husband, Chris, had become more extreme in his views in the last few months?

The Venezuela Boat Strikes and the Justice Department's Golden Shield  —  Please click here to opt in to receive via email our Roundup—brief daily summaries of news developments and commentary related to executive power.  —  Many commentators have argued that the Trump administration's Venezuelan boat strikes are unlawful.

Why Biden's White House Press Secretary Is Leaving the Democratic Party  —  Karine Jean-Pierre feels that Democrats were so mean to Biden that she is becoming an Independent.  —  In a new book, “Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines,” …

Political peril spurs Trump to act on beef prices even as ranchers rage … But Trump's election was fueled, in part, by Americans' concerns over high costs, an issue the president often hammered on the campaign trail as he promised food prices would fall if he returned to the White House.

California will dispatch observers to watch DOJ's election monitors … Bonta's comments come after Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Friday that the U.S. Department of Justice would monitor polling places during next week's off-year elections in California and New Jersey to uphold “the highest standards of election integrity.”

DC's only outdoor statue of a Confederate general is back in a Judiciary Square park  —  On Saturday, the National Park Service returned the statue of Brig. Gen. Albert Pike to its home after being in storage for over five years.  —  The only statue of a Confederate general in the nation's capital …