Top Items:
Jonathan Saul / Reuters:
US Navy tells shipping industry Hormuz escorts not possible for now — The U.S. Navy has refused near-daily requests from the shipping industry for military escorts through the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the war on Iran, saying the risk of attacks is too high for now, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Asia Times, Bloomberg, Reuters, Human Events, Daily Kos, Mediaite, Washington Times, Forbes, The Maritime Executive, The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, IJR, DNYUZ, UPI, The Spectator, Al Jazeera, The Preamble and CNBC
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New York Times:
How Trump and His Advisers Miscalculated Iran's Response to War — In the lead-up to the U.S.-Israeli attack, President Trump downplayed the risks to the energy markets as a short-term concern that should not overshadow the mission to decapitate the Iranian regime.
Discussion:
Straight Arrow News, Vox, emptywheel, NewsMax.com, CBS News, Bangor Daily News, The Hill, Modern Diplomacy, Al Jazeera, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times
Natasha Bertrand / CNN:
Iran begins laying mines in Strait of Hormuz, sources say — The Middle East Oil & gas Investing National security — Iran has begun laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important energy chokepoint that carries about one-fifth of all crude oil, according to two people familiar …
Discussion:
Straight Arrow News, Politico, The Guardian, CBS News, Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, The Hill, The Independent, The Week, DNYUZ, NewsMax.com, France 24, Semafor, The Gateway Pundit, The Verge, RedState, Blaze Media, New York Post, The US Sun, Forbes, New Republic, Raw Story, Mediaite, The Daily Wire and Associated Press
Matt Novak / Gizmodo:
Gas Tax Holiday Floated as Band-Aid for Skyrocketing Prices at the Pump — Democratic senators have pitched the Gas Prices Relief Act. — The average price of a gallon of gas in the U.S. hit $3.53 on Tuesday, up from $2.90 a month ago, according to AAA. Needless to say, Americans are not happy about it.
Discussion:
New York Magazine, CT Mirror, CNBC, MS NOW, WXIA-TV, The Hill, Governor of California, KXTV and The American Spectator
Wall Street Journal:
Deleted Tweet From Energy Secretary Sends Oil Markets on Another Wild Ride — A now-erased post from Chris Wright whipsawed crude for the second-straight session — For days, the global oil market has swung wildly while traders from New York to London to Singapore have watched footage …
Discussion:
NOTUS, Heatmap News, The Independent, Raw Story, Daily Mail, The Hill, NewsMax.com, Washington Examiner, Mediaite, Politico, Bloomberg, Washington Post and CNBC
Politico:
The White House isn't panicking about oil prices. That may change in a few weeks. … “Assuming the economy continues to turn around once the active part of the war is concluded, you'll have the whole summer from May through August to ride the turnaround,” the person said.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, MS NOW and NewsMax.com
Wall Street Journal:
IEA Proposes Largest Ever Oil Release From Strategic Reserves — Countries would decide Wednesday whether to release oil stocks in an attempt to tame crude prices — PARIS—The International Energy Agency has proposed the largest release of oil reserves in its history to bring down crude prices …
Discussion:
New York Times, Politico, Bloomberg, DNYUZ, NewsMax.com, France 24, UPI, CoinDesk, Modern Diplomacy, The Maritime Executive, CNBC, Al Jazeera and Reuters
Wall Street Journal:
Iran's Control of Hormuz Means It's Exporting More Oil Today Than Before the War
Discussion:
USNI News, CNBC, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, Semafor, The Hill and Straight Arrow News
Barak Ravid / Axios:
U.S. destroys 16 Iranian vessels amid worries of mines in Strait of Hormuz
U.S. destroys 16 Iranian vessels amid worries of mines in Strait of Hormuz
Discussion:
Straight Arrow News, Washington Times, The Gateway Pundit, France 24, NPR, The Week, MercoPress, Newsweek, DNYUZ, Forbes, The US Sun, NewsMax.com, Washington Examiner, Breitbart, New York Sun, The Maritime Executive, Scripps News, The Independent, 19FortyFive, Instapundit, Metro.co.uk, Bloomberg, The Japan Times, Middle East Monitor and KVUE-TV
Associated Press:
Live updates: US says it destroyed 16 minelaying vessels near the Strait of Hormuz
Live updates: US says it destroyed 16 minelaying vessels near the Strait of Hormuz
Discussion:
Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Military and Veteran …, WISH-TV, CBS News, Semafor and France 24
Jordain Carney / Politico:
John Thune says he's ready to take the filibuster heat … Thune, confident of his support from fellow Republican senators, brushed off the criticism in an interview Tuesday. — “It just kind of comes with the territory,” he said. “You just roll with it, you know. It's the times in which we live.”
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John Cornyn / New York Post:
Sen. Cornyn: Why the SAVE Act matters more than the filibuster
Discussion:
Joe Pags, Townhall, Washington Examiner and Fox News
Glenn Thrush / New York Times:
Bondi Is Said to Move to Military Housing Because of Threats — The attorney general relocated from a Washington apartment to a base in the area within the past month, according to people familiar with the situation. — Attorney General Pam Bondi has quietly relocated to one of several military bases …
Discussion:
RedState, NewsMax.com, Raw Story, The Independent and Althouse
Kyla Guilfoil / NBC News:
Trump nominee withdraws after senators press him on remarks about Jews, Israel and ‘white culture’ — Jeremy Carl cited a lack of support from GOP senators in withdrawing his nomination for assistant secretary of state. — President Donald Trump's pick for a senior role at the State Department …
Discussion:
The Guardian, NOTUS, IJR and Mediaite
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Jacob Wendler / Politico:
Trump pick for State Department drops out after drawing heat for comments about ‘white culture’
Trump pick for State Department drops out after drawing heat for comments about ‘white culture’
Discussion:
Fox News, MS NOW, NewsMax.com, Reuters, Advocate, Raw Story, Jewish Insider and Deseret News
Washington Post:
Whistleblower claims ex-DOGE member says he took Social Security data to new job — The Social Security inspector general's office is investigating allegations that the former DOGE engineer took sensitive data on a thumb drive in a major potential security breach, said people familiar with the process.
Discussion:
BizPac Review, New Republic, NewsMax.com, Mediaite, The Independent, Engadget, NOTUS, TechCrunch, Blue Virginia, Bloomberg and Raw Story, more at Techmeme »
Mariana Alfaro / Washington Post:
Former Virginia first lady Dorothy McAuliffe launches congressional campaign — McAuliffe, whose husband is one of the Democratic Party's most prolific fundraisers, is running in a newly redrawn district that still needs voter and court approval. — Former Virginia first lady Dorothy McAuliffe …
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CNN:
Democrat Shawn Harris to face Trump-endorsed Republican Clay Fuller in runoff to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene, CNN projects — Republican Clay Fuller will face Democrat Shawn Harris in a runoff to replace former GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in Georgia's 14th Congressional District, CNN projects.
Discussion:
Politico, HotAir, NBC News, Blaze Media, Advocate, CBS News, WXIA-TV, WDEF-TV, RedState, Axios, Newsweek, The Hill, The Guardian, New York Times, ABC News, MS NOW, Daily Mail, NewsMax.com, Jewish Insider, Associated Press and Washington Examiner
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William Jackson / Straight Arrow News:
Marjorie Taylor Greene's seat stays vacant as Fuller, Harris move to runoff
Marjorie Taylor Greene's seat stays vacant as Fuller, Harris move to runoff
Discussion:
New York Times, New York Post, WXIA-TV, Newsweek, CBS News, The Guardian, CNN, NewsMax.com, Bloomberg, Associated Press, Courthouse News Service, The Gateway Pundit, NOTUS, One America News Network, Fox News, The Independent, Townhall, IJR, WTTG-TV, Washington Examiner, NBC News, The Hill, MS NOW, New Yorker, KVUE-TV, NPR and Daily Mail
Hannah Allam / ProPublica:
The U.S. Built a Blueprint to Avoid Civilian War Casualties. Trump Officials Scrapped It. — Images from the missile strike in southern Iran were more horrifying than any of the case studies Air Force combat veteran Wes J. Bryant had pored over in his mission to overhaul how the U.S. military safeguards civilian life.
Discussion:
New York Sun, NOTUS, DNYUZ, Al Jazeera, PBS NewsHour and New York Times
RELATED:
Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:
Poll: Confidence in the Supreme Court drops to a record low — The latest NBC News poll shows that the percentage of voters with a “great deal” or “quite a bit” of confidence in the court is at the lowest ebb since the question was first asked in 2000. — The percentage of voters …
Discussion:
NewsMax.com
Washington Post:
RFK Jr.'s vaccine advisers drop proposal to revisit covid-19 shot — Some members of the CDC's vaccine advisory panel have publicly questioned the safety and manufacturing of the shots, including raising a debunked theory that DNA contaminants in the vaccines are harmful.
Discussion:
Salon, New York Times and The Guardian
Ed Ballard / Wall Street Journal:
CPI Report Today: Inflation Holds Steady at 2.4%, Oil Forges Higher on Gulf Disruption — Dow futures pause, IEA countries are set to decide Wednesday whether to release oil reserves — Oil prices forged higher as concern over disruption to energy flows in the Middle East outweighed hopes …
Discussion:
CNBC, Axios, CBS News, Washington Examiner, Washington Times and NewsMax.com
Associated Press:
As another shutdown impacts travelers, some see eliminating TSA agents as a solution — Long security lines snaked into baggage claim areas and parking garages at some U.S. airports this weekend, a possible indicator of more widespread travel problems as the latest government shutdown drags on.
Discussion:
CBS News, The Independent, WISH-TV and BizPac Review
Jaclyn Diaz / NPR:
The Trump DOJ is giving guns back to felons, including one alleged fake elector — Last month, the Department of Justice quietly published a list of 22 names in the Federal Register. With little explanation or fanfare, the department announced that these individuals had their federal gun rights restored.
David Nir / The Downballot:
Democrats win GOP seat in New Hampshire, notching 10th straight special election flip — The third time was the charm for New Hampshire Democrat Bobbi Boudman, who flipped a Republican-held seat in the state House in a special election on Tuesday night. — Boudman, a financial analyst …
Ankush Khardori / Politico:
Why DOJ Hasn't Charged Anyone Else From the Epstein Files … But more than a month after the release, something like the opposite has happened. — A variety of public figures in the U.S. have incurred professional and reputational consequences as a result of socializing with Epstein …
Wall Street Journal:
Justice Department Probes Iran's Use of Binance to Evade Sanctions — Investigation focuses on money flowing through crypto platform to network backing terror groups, including Yemen's Houthi militants — The Justice Department is investigating Iran's use of Binance to evade U.S. sanctions.
Discussion:
CoinDesk, more at Techmeme »
Politico:
Affordability trumps all — Presented by With help from Gelila Negesse — Albany's state budget battle is now in full swing — and competing visions over how to address voters' pocketbook concerns is at the heart of the fight. — Gov. Kathy Hochul's $263 billion spending plan …
Discussion:
RealClearPolitics and Gothamist
Washington Post:
Drone hits U.S. diplomatic facility in Iraq as Mideast violence deepens — The attack on a major U.S. diplomatic compound in Baghdad was suspected to be a retaliatory move by pro-Tehran militias against the U.S.- and Israeli-led war on Iran. — A drone assault hit a major U.S. diplomatic facility …
Discussion:
NewsMax.com, Fox News, Reuters and Middle East Monitor
Camille Mumford / Emerson Polling:
California 2026 Poll: Swalwell Takes Lead in Governor Primary, 25% undecided; Election for LA Mayor Wide Open — Home Polls California 2026 Poll: Swalwell Takes Lead in Governor Primary, 25% undecided; Election for LA Mayor Wide Open — A new Emerson College Polling/Inside California Politics survey …
Discussion:
The Hill and Noble Predictive
Axios:
Scoop: White House tells House Republicans to stop talking about mass deportations … - Nearly half — 49% — of Americans say Trump's mass deportation campaign is too aggressive, including 1 in 5 voters who backed the president in 2024, a Politico poll from January found.
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, Fox News, The National Pulse, Washington Post, Balloon Juice, The Independent, New York Magazine, Mediaite, Semafor and Blaze Media
Brittany Gibson / Axios:
The contracting mess Noem's leaving behind at DHS — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is on track to leave dozens of pending contracts on her desk when she leaves office in three weeks, the legacy of a system she imposed to cut “waste, fraud and abuse,” but that has stalled DHS programs.
Stephen Sorace / Fox News:
Secret Service agents question driver of suspicious vehicle near White House — Secret Service agents investigating a suspicious vehicle near the White House on Wednesday have detained the driver for questioning, the U.S. Secret Service said. — Various entrances and streets in northwest D.C …
Discussion:
CBS News, Townhall and The Independent
Greg Sargent / New Republic:
How Trump's War on Iran Is Hastening the Coming MAGA Crack-Up … Congratulations are in order for Donald Trump: His attack on Iran is the most unpopular American war in modern history. The New York Times compared support for Trump's war with initial support for nine other wars going back to World War II …
Discussion:
Strength In Numbers
John Sexton / HotAir:
LA County is ‘Ground Zero’ for Hospice Fraud — David mentioned this topic earlier but I wanted to drill down on the issue of hospice fraud. LA County is the capital of this type of fraud and despite state efforts to get it under control, CBS News investigated and found that things have only gotten worse.
