Top Items:
NBC News:
Hegseth has intervened in military promotions for more than a dozen senior officers — The defense secretary's efforts to block or delay promotions to general or admiral for some officers has raised concerns that he may be targeting them because of race, gender or affiliation with the Biden administration, sources say.
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money
RELATED:
Jennifer Jacobs / CBS News:
Hegseth ousts Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George — Add CBS News on Google — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George to step down and take immediate retirement, sources familiar with the decision told CBS News. — One of the sources …
Discussion:
Straight Arrow News, Letters from an American, The Atlantic, Axios, Raw Story, USA Today, The Daily Wire, CNN, RedState, Defense One, The Preamble, Breaking Defense, Task & Purpose, DefenseScoop, France 24, NOTUS, Politico, The Independent, Washington Examiner, Reuters, Mediaite, New Republic and The Gateway Pundit
New York Times:
Hegseth Fires Army Chief Amid Battle With Its Leaders — Senior Army officers reacted with anger and frustration to news of Gen. Randy George's dismissal, characterizing it as the latest blow to the service. — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Gen. Randy George, the Army's chief of staff …
Discussion:
The Bulwark, The Atlantic and MS NOW
Washington Post:
Hegseth forces out Army's top general, two other senior officers
Discussion:
Straight Arrow News, Fox News, NBC News, Military and Veteran …, The Gateway Pundit, MS NOW, UPI, Mediaite and Grabien
Konstantin Toropin / Associated Press:
Hegseth asks the Army's top uniformed officer to step down while US wages war against Iran
Hegseth asks the Army's top uniformed officer to step down while US wages war against Iran
Wall Street Journal:
'I Think It's Time': The Inside Story of Pam Bondi's Ouster — The attorney general was always on the ropes but thought she was finally on safer footing. She wasn't. — WASHINGTON—On Wednesday morning, Attorney General Pam Bondi descended the sun-splashed steps of the White House with President Trump …
Discussion:
The Hill, New York Post, WNYW-TV, The Independent, Wonkette, IJR, Raw Story, Mediaite, National Review, Just Jared, The Daily Caller, Washington Post, MS NOW, NPR, The 19th, New York Times, HotAir and Grabien
RELATED:
New York Times:
Pam Bondi Wanted a Graceful Exit. But Trump Wanted Her Gone. — Pam Bondi had a feeling her days as attorney general were numbered. But she didn't expect President Trump to drop the curtain quite so soon. — Attorney General Pam Bondi had a pretty good idea her days were numbered.
Discussion:
CBS News, Politico, Wall Street Journal, The Free Press, Reuters, Washington Examiner, HuffPost, France 24, Raw Story, America, America, MS NOW, Daily Mail, Bloomberg, Newsweek, NewsMax.com, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, The Guardian, Federal News Network, Advocate, Al Jazeera, Patterico's Pontifications, Reason, NBC News, CNN, Townhall, RedState, The Gateway Pundit, Salt Lake Tribune and Boston.com
The Atlantic:
Trump's Purge May Be Just Beginning — After Pam Bondi's ouster today, which followed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's firing last month, Cabinet secretaries and other senior administration officials were anxiously eyeing their phones, wondering whether they'd be next.
Discussion:
Blaze Media, Raw Story, The Dispatch, The Guardian, Vox, The US Sun, NewsMax.com, Fox News and MS NOW
Dasha Burns / Politico:
Trump weighs more Cabinet changes after Bondi ouster … No final decisions have been made on Chavez-DeRemer and Lutnick — and Trump has contemplated firing people and then backed off before. — Should Trump proceed with a larger set of Cabinet changes, it could represent a major attempted reset …
Discussion:
CBS News, TMZ.com, Fox News, Metro.co.uk, The Independent, IJR, Raw Story, Washington Post, Newsweek, Mediaite, The Atlantic, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Rolling Stone, Slate, Christian Science Monitor and The Guardian
Adam Wren / Politico:
The Kamala flex — With help from Eli Okun, Ali Bianco, Irie Sentner and Makayla Gray — Happy Friday. This is Adam Wren. Get in touch. — FRIDAY LISTEN: With the Artemis II mission in full swing, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman sat down with Dasha for this week's episode of …
Kimberly Leonard / Politico:
When the Bond(i) breaks — Presented by Good morning and happy Friday.
Discussion:
Civil Discourse …, Raw Story, Advocate, Washington Examiner, Palm Beach Post, Washington Blade, The Hill and Newsweek
Moira Donegan / The Guardian:
Pam Bondi's firing won't have the effect Trump desires
Pam Bondi's firing won't have the effect Trump desires
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Robert Reich, Poynter, Fox News, Politico, Associated Press, Raw Story, New York Times, Mediaite, MercoPress, Washington Post, CNBC, Zeteo, Bloomberg, Newsweek, HuffPost, LGBTQ Nation, NBC News, TheGrio, The Daily Wire, Palm Beach Post, Metro.co.uk, Al Jazeera, Scripps News, WAGA-TV, The US Sun, The Daily Signal, CBS News, Deadline, Ace of Spades HQ, Just Jared, Forbes, New York Magazine and The Floridian, more at Mediagazer »
Tony Romm / New York Times:
White House Seeks $1.5 Trillion for Defense in New Budget Request — The massive, proposed increase would be offset in part by steep cuts to domestic programs, some of which the administration describes as wasteful. — With the United States at war with Iran and embroiled in conflicts around the world …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The Hill, Federal News Network, Scripps News and New Republic
RELATED:
Politico:
Trump asks Congress to supersize military budget, slash domestic programs … While calling for a historic increase in the military's budget, the White House is also seeking a 10 percent cut to nondefense spending, with a proposed reduction of $73 billion from federal programs outside the military.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Bloomberg, Colorado Politics, New York Times and PoliticusUSA
Associated Press:
Affiliate of Iranian state TV claims a US pilot ejected from their aircraft over southwestern Iran — A local channel of Iranian state television claimed Friday that a U.S. fighter pilot ejected from their aircraft over southwestern Iran. The U.S. did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
Discussion:
WXIA-TV
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Live updates: Iran launches missiles at Israel and Gulf states as explosions heard around Tehran — EDITED BY VERDA SUBZWARI, BRIAN P. D. HANNON AND HRVOJE HRANJSKI — Israel says it will occupy new positions inside Lebanon in coming days — Israel's military said Friday it will soon …
Yaroslav Trofimov / Wall Street Journal:
Control Over Strait of Hormuz Will Determine Who Wins the War
Discussion:
The Hill, New York Times, France 24, Semafor, Bloomberg, The Times of Israel, Los Angeles Times, Algemeiner.com, Financial Times and Washington Post
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Always Stuck in the 1950s, Trump Courts His Own Suez
Always Stuck in the 1950s, Trump Courts His Own Suez
Discussion:
Agence France-Presse
New York Times:
Is It Legal to Bully the Supreme Court? — Emily Bazelon: Hi David. I should start on a light and friendly note, I know, but I confess that the birthright citizenship case is making me feel trolled. President Trump began his term with an executive order professing to end the right …
Discussion:
CNN, The Guardian, The Bulwark, The Daily Caller, Reuters, El País, Raw Story, Politico and Christian Science Monitor
RELATED:
Reid J. Epstein / New York Times:
Liberal Group Warns That Trump Could Have Two More Supreme Court Picks … Demand Justice, a liberal organization, has mounted robust efforts to block President Trump's appointees to the Supreme Court in the past, but never before a vacancy existed. — For now, none of the nine Supreme Court justices …
Eric Cortellessa / Time:
Inside Trump's Search for a Way Out of the Iran War — Donald Trump was in the Oval Office during the third week of the Iran war when a group of his most trusted advisers came to deliver some unwelcome news. — His longtime pollster, Tony Fabrizio, had conducted surveys that indicated …
Discussion:
New Yorker, The Independent, Raw Story, RedState and Mediaite
RELATED:
Steve Peoples / Associated Press:
Trump offers murky path forward for Republicans as Iran war clouds midterm elections
Trump offers murky path forward for Republicans as Iran war clouds midterm elections
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and Raw Story
Politico:
‘What the hell did he just say?’ GOP Iran worries build after Trump speech.
‘What the hell did he just say?’ GOP Iran worries build after Trump speech.
Discussion:
New Republic, Truthout, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Raw Story and Breitbart
Fred Fleitz / American Greatness:
President Trump Lays Out His Iran War Endgame
President Trump Lays Out His Iran War Endgame
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Post, Rolling Stone and One America News Network
CNN:
Exclusive: US intelligence assesses Iran maintains significant missile launching capability, sources say — Roughly half of Iran's missile launchers are still intact and thousands of one-way attack drones remain in Iran's arsenal despite the daily pounding by US and Israeli strikes …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Jerusalem Post, Just Security, Politico, The Times of Israel, gCaptain, Mediaite and PolitiFact
RELATED:
Barak Ravid / Axios:
U.S. bombs Iran's civilian infrastructure for first time after “Stone Ages” threat
U.S. bombs Iran's civilian infrastructure for first time after “Stone Ages” threat
Discussion:
New York Times, The Guardian, Mediaite, Breitbart, Politico, NewsMax.com, New York Post, Washington Examiner, Reuters, Al Jazeera, Daily Mail, UPI, HuffPost, The US Sun, The Hill, Newsbusters, IJR, PolitiFact and Bloomberg
New York Times:
Wealthy Donors Are Hiding Political Money in Secretive Nonprofits — Using philanthropy for campaign donations is illegal. But an exception for some nonprofits has allowed Democratic billionaires like Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg to remain anonymous when they want to play politics.
Discussion:
Magnolia Tribune
RELATED:
Theodore Schleifer / New York Times:
How Democrats Are Embracing Dark Money
Barak Ravid / Axios:
U.S. fighter jet shot down in Iran, search underway for crew — Iran has shot down a U.S. fighter jet, per Iranian media and a source familiar with the incident, and a search and rescue effort is underway to locate two crew. … - The U.S. military and the White House didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
Discussion:
The War Zone, The National Pulse, The US Sun, Raw Story, NewsMax.com, Associated Press, Middle East Monitor, WTOP News, Newsweek and WNYW-TV
Punchbowl News:
4/3/26☀️ AM: … GOP lawmakers held a nearly three-hour call Thursday, during which Speaker Mike Johnson pitched them on passing the Senate's Department of Homeland Security minus ICE and CBP funding bill. That's the same bill that Johnson called a “joke” a week ago.
RELATED:
Michael Gold / New York Times:
Johnson Wavers on Ending the Shutdown, Reflecting His Weak Hold on Power
Johnson Wavers on Ending the Shutdown, Reflecting His Weak Hold on Power
Discussion:
MS NOW and New York Magazine
Jeff Cox / CNBC:
U.S. payrolls rose by 178,000 in March, more than expected; unemployment at 4.3% … The U.S. labor market bounced back in March, with job creation much stronger than expected though the broader picture of a slow-growth labor market held intact. — Nonfarm payrolls rose …
Discussion:
Axios, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Scripps News, NewsMax.com, MS NOW and WTOP News
RELATED:
Lydia DePillis / New York Times:
Live Updates: Strong Showing for Job Market in Latest Report
Live Updates: Strong Showing for Job Market in Latest Report
Discussion:
Politico, The Hill, Washington Examiner, NPR, Washington Times, WNYW-TV, Associated Press, Newsweek, CBS News, Deadline and The National Pulse
Joseph Choi / The Hill:
Trump signs order imposing 100 percent tariff on brand name drugs — President Trump signed an executive order Thursday targeting imported brand name drugs with a 100 percent tariff, citing the U.S.'s “import reliance” as reason for the decision. — “I have determined that it is necessary …
Discussion:
Straight Arrow News, Washington Post, STAT, CBS News, Blaze Media and The Guardian
RELATED:
The White House:
Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Bolsters National Security and Strengthens U.S. Supply Chains by Imposing Tariffs on Patented Pharmaceutical Products
Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Bolsters National Security and Strengthens U.S. Supply Chains by Imposing Tariffs on Patented Pharmaceutical Products
Discussion:
STAT, Associated Press, CNN, Breitbart, Al Jazeera, The Hill, Newsweek, The National Pulse, The Independent, Politico, NewsMax.com, Wall Street Journal, Washington Examiner, Axios and Semafor
Nicole Charky-Chami / Raw Story:
Tiger Woods called Trump between car flip and DUI arrest: report — Golf legend Tiger Woods called President Donald Trump after he flipped his Land Rover, according to body camera footage released by authorities in Jupiter Island, Florida, on Thursday. — In the video, a deputy …
Discussion:
Page Six
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Poll shows mixed signs for Democratic push to gain seats in Congress — A slight majority of Virginia voters supports giving Democrats a temporary edge in congressional maps, but opponents are more motivated in new Post-Schar School poll. — A slim majority of Virginia voters favors …
Discussion:
Blue Virginia, NBC News and The Hill

