Rubio tells Orban ‘your success is our success’ during Hungary visit ahead of elections  —  During a visit to Budapest Monday, just weeks before Hungary's parliamentary elections, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban that the nationalist leader's “success” was a success for the US.

Mitch McConnell is taking a beating in the race to replace him  —  Three GOP candidates, all former McConnell interns, are keeping their distance as they seek to align with President Donald Trump.  —  One Republican candidate to succeed Sen. Mitch McConnell introduced himself with an ad …

With Latest Rollback, the U.S. Essentially Has No Clean-Car Rules  —  The E.P.A.'s killing of the “endangerment finding” caps a year of deregulation that is likely to make cars thirstier for gas and less competitive globally, experts say.  —  The momentous end to the federal government's legal authority …

You Know What?  Maybe the Time Is Right for an AOC Presidential Bid  —  Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sure looked like a presidential candidate this weekend.  She attended a policy conference in Munich that often draws potential White House hopefuls, including Governor Gavin Newsom and Senator Ruben Gallego this year.

The Trump admin argument that masks “are for officer safety reasons” is actually an admission  —  Tom Homan highlights how secrecy aims to block accountability, the immoral lawlessness at the core of the Trump administration.  And, for paid subscribers: Closing my tabs.  —  ∙ Paid

Despite Epstein's Toxicity, Steve Bannon Stood by Him, Texts Indicate  —  Mr. Bannon, a MAGA podcaster, developed a seemingly chummy relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of sex trafficking.  He said it was in the name of getting Mr. Epstein to open up.

Trump wants the Fed to cut rates.  Kevin Warsh has bigger plans. … That policy, he says, has distorted the market and enriched Wall Street rather than ordinary Americans by propping up stocks and bonds, which are overwhelmingly owned by the wealthy.  —  But any effort to significantly reduce …

“Just making s**t up” — David Roberts sounds off on the EPA  —  PN is supported by paid subscribers.  Become one ⬇️  —  🏭 Subscribe to PN 🏭  —  On the heels of Trump's Environmental Protection Agency announcing that it's repealing the endangerment finding …

NAACP asks judge to protect against ‘misuse’ of voter data seized by FBI in Georgia's Fulton County  —  The NAACP and other organizations are asking a judge to protect personal voter information that was seized by the FBI from an elections warehouse just outside Atlanta.

Pelosi's new campaign: Boost Newsom for 2028  —  Nancy Pelosi is retiring from Congress, but she has more campaigns in mind.  Among them: Boost Gavin Newsom as a potential contender for the White House in 2028. … She's been a key validator for Newsom as he's emerged on the national stage …

Like Trump, U.S. Embassies Are Raising Cash for Lavish July Fourth Parties  —  Some of Washington's diplomatic outposts in Asia are raising millions for events to mark the 250th independence anniversary.  One ambassador offered to sing and dance.  —  From his desk at the White House in December …

All the President's U-turns  —  With help from Eli Okun, Ali Bianco, Irie Sentner and Makayla Gray  —  Good Monday morning.  This is Jack Blanchard, busy reading and re-reading this new Harvard study that suggests drinking strong tea and coffee actually lowers your risk of dementia.

Libertarians warned about the ‘imperial presidency.’ Too few actually warned about Trump.  —  When I saw the headline “Libertarians Tried to Warn You About Trump” atop a New York Times op-ed last Monday, I thought, “Hmmm, that's not quite how I remember it.”

February 15, 2026  —  The Trump administration's white nationalist project was on full display this weekend at the 62nd Munich Security Conference that took place from February 13 to 15, 2026.  The Munich Security Conference is the leading international forum for discussions of security policy.

Turning Our Back on Clean Energy  —  Why does MAGA hate the planet?  —  Source: Berkeley Earth  —  It has been a brutal winter in much of the United States.  Weather is a chaotic system in which extreme events are always happening somewhere.  But as I am sure you have noticed …

Exclusive: Pentagon threatens Anthropic punishment  —  Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is “close” to cutting business ties with Anthropic and designating the AI company a “supply chain risk” — meaning anyone who wants to do business with the U.S. military has to cut ties with the company, a senior Pentagon official told Axios.

Anti-system voters are turning on Trump over Epstein  —  And young Republicans are particularly enraged. … If Joe Rogan is any indication, February 2026 may go down as the month that the Epstein files saga cemented itself as a lasting political liability for President Donald Trump and Republicans.

Tax Deadlines Accidentally Got Turned Off for Three Years.  Now What?  —  Attorneys race to file refund claims after IRS loses court case  —  WASHINGTON—Oops.  So it turns out that Congress may have turned off tax-filing and payment deadlines for more than three years.

Agreements that allow local police to work with ICE skyrocket  —  There were 1,168 agencies with officers signed up to help ICE, up from 135 during the Biden administration and 150 at the end of Trump's first term, according to an analysis of ICE data.  —  Listen to this article with a free account

An Alternative to the Supreme Court's Originalism  —  The Federalist Society, the conservative legal organization founded in 1982, is justly famous for providing a right-wing agenda for the courts and for promoting its allies to be judges and justices.  The American Constitution Society …

2/16/26☀️ AM: … Funding for the Department of Homeland Security ran out Friday evening.  In conversations with lawmakers and aides on both sides of the aisle, there doesn't seem to be any real rush to end the impasse.  —  Remember that DHS has more than 260,000 employees across an array of agencies.

Teddy Roosevelt's Family Urges G.O.P. to Protect Public Lands  —  In a rare letter to Republican senators, four descendants of the former president oppose mining near a wilderness area in Minnesota.  —  Ted Roosevelt IV doesn't like to put words in a dead man's mouth.