Top Items:
Punchbowl News:
Trump mulls Noem firing … Even Speaker Mike Johnson speculated about the potential for a change at the top of DHS during a recent House Republican elected leadership retreat in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. — Trump dialed up some GOP senators after Noem testified in front of the Senate …
Discussion:
Mediaite, New York Post, New York Magazine, Reason and The American Spectator
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Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:
Buried in the cascade of news this week, Sadie Gurman and Caitlin Ostroff of the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that 47,635 files are missing from the Epstein files documents that the Justice Department has made public. A spokesperson for the Justice Department told the reporters that the files were …
Discussion:
New York Times, New Republic, Washington Post, CNN, Al Jazeera, Blaze Media, Axios, NewsMax.com, Democracy Docket and Associated Press
Politico:
'We're in it': Democrats won't rule out giving Trump more money for Middle East war … To pass any new military funding measure through the Senate, the support of at least seven Democrats will be needed to overcome the filibuster. It's far from certain the votes are there. — “Good luck.
Discussion:
Semafor, Mediaite, Bangor Daily News, Foreign Policy, Washington Times, CT Mirror, Al Jazeera, Slate, CBS News, The Hill, Bloomberg and NewsMax.com
MS NOW:
Senate GOP gives Trump free hand in Iran as war powers vote fails
Senate GOP gives Trump free hand in Iran as war powers vote fails
Discussion:
Politico, The Guardian, New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Zeteo, NPR, CBS News, Fox News, Chicago Tribune, The Forward, GV Wire, Christian Science Monitor, Townhall, ABC News, One America News Network, Washington Times, New York Post, Axios, Al Jazeera, The Gateway Pundit, The Independent, NBC News, Washington Examiner, Reuters, Straight Arrow News, UPI, New Republic and Washington Post
David E. Sanger / New York Times:
Trump Follows His Gut. His National Security Advisers Try to Keep Up. — Decisions come fast, even if contradictions and inconsistencies abound. But without much of a process, there is little preparation for how things can go wrong. — Sitting beside Germany's chancellor in the Oval Office on Tuesday …
Discussion:
The Dispatch and Althouse
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Luke Broadwater / New York Times:
Trump Wants a Quick Victory in Iran. But the War May Be Costly.
Discussion:
NOTUS, Boston.com and Truthout
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
How the Decision to Start a War Became the President's
How the Decision to Start a War Became the President's
Discussion:
The Dispatch, The Contrarian and Blue Virginia
Washington Post:
Trump calls on Kurds to aid U.S. effort in Iran, offers support — In outreach to Kurdish minority leaders in Iran and neighboring Iraq, the president offered U.S. support to insurgent efforts against Tehran. — The Trump administration, bracing for more U.S. casualties and considering whether …
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Axios, Al Jazeera, Financial Times, Reuters, Associated Press, France 24, The National, New York Sun, The Atlantic, The Times of Israel, Asia Times, Jewish Insider, Wall Street Journal, Responsible Statecraft, The Free Press, Townhall, Breitbart, Middle East Monitor, Semafor, Mediaite, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Forbes
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Popular Information:
Hundreds of thousands of Americans stranded in a war zone — On February 28, the United States and Israel launched major combat operations in Iran. Iran has retaliated by striking multiple U.S. military facilities and embassies across the Middle East, including in Iraq, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Discussion:
NBC News, Sheboygan, United States Department …, DNYUZ, The Daily Signal, Salon, The Hill, NOTUS, Raw Story, CBS News, UPI, The Floridian, Washington Times, WTTG-TV, Wonkette, NewsNation, ABC News, MS NOW, News Talk 105.9, Roll Call and Zeteo
CNN:
‘Soulless hotel conference space’: Approval for Trump's East Wing ballroom delayed amid scathing public feedback — Approval for President Donald Trump's massive East Wing ballroom project - from a government commission that oversees planning for federal buildings and land in the nation's capital …
Discussion:
twitchy.com, Washington Examiner and Global News
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Washington Post:
‘I did not vote for this’: Thousands of public comments slam Trump's ballroom … President Donald Trump has spent months touting his planned White House ballroom, but this week the public gets its first chance to formally offer him their thoughts. — The verdict: They don't like it.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Megan Lebowitz / NBC News:
Panel led by Trump allies to consider White House ballroom approval
Discussion:
Associated Press, MS NOW and The Independent
Jennifer Rubin / The Contrarian:
The Year Texas Might Turn Blue — Democrats may have gotten the race in Texas they have been pining for since 1993, when the last Democrat held a U.S. Senate seat. Rising Democratic star and state representative James Talarico — with an assist from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr …
Discussion:
The Nation, The Hill, Washington Post, CNN, Axios, DNYUZ, IVN, NBC News, Talking Points Memo, Crooked Media, Washington Examiner, Fox News, New York Magazine, Mediaite, KHOU-TV, The Texas Tribune and The Independent
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Ramón Ramirez / New York Times:
James Talarico Says ‘New Politics Is Being Born’ After Texas Primary Win
James Talarico Says ‘New Politics Is Being Born’ After Texas Primary Win
Discussion:
The Daily Wire, WAGA-TV, The Texas Observer, Twin Cities, WTOP News and Washington Examiner
David Lindsey / Axios:
How fired-up Texas Dems gave Talarico a jolt toward November
How fired-up Texas Dems gave Talarico a jolt toward November
Discussion:
Politico, PinkNews, Los Angeles Times, Capital B News, Townhall, DNYUZ, Newsweek, Grabien, New York Daily News, NPR, Deseret News and American Thinker
Claire Heddles / Miami Herald:
‘Nazi heaven’: Inside Miami campus Republicans' racist group chat — The secretary of Miami-Dade County's Republican Party started a group chat primarily for conservative students last fall — and within three weeks it was filled with racist slurs, someone wrote dozens of ways …
Discussion:
The Parnas Perspective, Washington Examiner, LGBTQ Nation, The Floridian, Joe.My.God. and Raw Story
Paul Waldman / Public Notice:
Vance's “war on fraud” is a fraud — PN is supported by paid subscribers. Become one ⬇️ — 💥 Subscribe to PN 💥 — In his State of the Union address, President Trump mentioned his vice president only once. It came after he denounced the state of Minnesota …
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Selena Simmons-Duffin / NPR:
In lawsuit, Minnesota accuses Trump administration of ‘weaponizing’ Medicaid funding
In lawsuit, Minnesota accuses Trump administration of ‘weaponizing’ Medicaid funding
Discussion:
FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul
Ben Lefebvre / Politico:
Susie Wiles sounds the alarm on gas prices … Energy Secretary Chris Wright and other advisers focused on energy policy, including a council led by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, “are getting screamed at to find some good news” on bringing down prices, the same executive said.
Discussion:
Raw Story, DNYUZ, Chicago Tribune, Reuters and Washington Times
NBC News:
GOP Sen. Steve Daines of Montana says he won't seek re-election — The two-term senator endorsed Kurt Alme, the U.S. attorney for Montana, as his successor. — Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., announced Wednesday that he will not seek a third term, making him the latest Republican in Congress to head for the exit this year.
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Politico:
Sen. Steve Daines announces he will not seek reelection
Sen. Steve Daines announces he will not seek reelection
Discussion:
The Downballot, The Hill, NBC News, New York Times, KRTV-TV, Daily Montanan, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, Roll Call, Newsweek, DNYUZ, Washington Times, Wall Street Journal, NewsMax.com, Bloomberg, Fox News, Montana Free Press, Townhall, CBS News, Axios, Raw Story, Washington Examiner, Semafor and WTOP News
New York Times:
Justice Dept., Under Pressure From Trump, Fails to Build Autopen Case Against Biden — Prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's office in Washington were unable to build a case, underscoring the department's increasing inability to follow through on the president's desire to indict his rivals.
ProPublica:
Documents Reveal a Web of Financial Ties Between Trump Officials and the Industries They Help Regulate — ProPublica is releasing a trove of disclosure records that detail the finances of more than 1,500 Trump appointees, including former lobbyists, industry executives and at least …
Chris Geidner / Law Dork:
Judge moves, cautiously, toward civil contempt in case over treatment of trans people in prison — U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth made clear on Wednesday morning that he had no problem holding Trump administration officials in contempt if needed. — “Once I issue an order …
Discussion:
FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul
Alex Isenstadt / Axios:
How a feud led a billionaire donor to oust Rep. Crenshaw — Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw owes his defeat in this week's Republican primary to a billionaire megadonor who was hellbent on ending Crenshaw's career, sources tell Axios. … - In this case, Marling's clout meant Crenshaw was the first House incumbent to be ousted in 2026.
Discussion:
Raw Story, Houston Chronicle, Daily Mail and Associated Press
Financial Times:
Anthropic chief back in talks with Pentagon about AI deal — Dario Amodei holding discussions with deputy to Pete Hegseth to reach a compromise on military use of the technology — Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei is making a last-ditch attempt to strike a deal with the US defence department …
Discussion:
Axios, Engadget, CBS News, The Verge, TechCrunch, Deseret News, Semafor and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »
Marc Caputo / Axios:
Scoop: Trump officials broker massive U.S.-Venezuela gold deal … - The contract calls for 98% final gold content, the source said. — Trafigura will shepherd the gold to U.S. refineries under a separate arrangement with the U.S. government, that source said.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Townhall, NewsNation, Al Jazeera, NewsMax.com, Modern Diplomacy and Fox Business
Steve Vladeck / One First:
Bonus 214: Emergency Relief from State Courts — At a moment in which the Supreme Court's emergency docket is *already* busier than ever, Monday's stay grant in the Malliotakis case wrongly expands it to encompass countless state-court rulings, too. — ∙ Paid
Discussion:
New Republic
Sam Meredith / CNBC:
Spain rejects White House claim it agreed to cooperate with U.S. forces amid Iran war … Spain has pushed back against the White House's claim that it agreed to cooperate militarily with Washington amid the conflict with Iran, doubling down on its anti-war stance despite the U.S. president's threat to sever trade ties.
Discussion:
Politico, The Hill, Raw Story, El País, Al Jazeera, Associated Press, Forbes, NewsMax.com, WTOP News and The Independent
Ryan J. Reilly / NBC News:
Trump administration sued over U.S.-TikTok deal — The lawsuit was filed by the Public Integrity Project, new firm led by a former Justice Department lawyer seeks to raise the “reputational cost of corruption in America.” It argues the deal violates a 2024 law.
Christian Martinez / Reuters:
Pentagon identifies two soldiers killed in Iran war — The Pentagon on Wednesday identified two more soldiers who were killed in the war against Iran. — The two Army Reserve soldiers died on Sunday in a drone attack on a U.S. military facility in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait that also killed four other reservists.
Discussion:
Townhall, Breitbart, Radio Iowa, The Dispatch, One America News Network, DNYUZ, The Guardian, Washington Examiner, WWL-TV, MS NOW and NewsNation
Camille Mumford / Emerson Polling:
Georgia 2026 Poll: Senator Ossoff Starts Re-Election Near 50% and Outpaces GOP Field — Home Polls Georgia 2026 Poll: Senator Ossoff Starts Re-Election Near 50% and Outpaces GOP Field — Collins Leads GOP Senate Primary; Lance Bottoms ahead in Democratic Governor Primary as Republicans' Burt Jones and Rick Jackson run even
Discussion:
The Hill and Political Wire
Stephanie Liebergen / Scripps News:
The number that moves markets every month just got a new formula. Here's what changed. — The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently changed how it analyzes raw data in its monthly jobs report, updating a formula known as the “birth-death model” starting in January.


