Top Items:
Devin Dwyer / ABC News:
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas blasts progressivism as threat to America — He said values in the Declaration of Independence have “fallen out of favor.” — Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Wednesday delivered a televised broadside against progressivism …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Gateway Pundit and Newsweek
Politico:
Tillis holds the cards in Trump Fed clash — and won't fold … Tillis is blocking Trump's Fed chair nominee, Kevin Warsh, until the Justice Department drops an investigation into Powell. And the stalemate is leaving him in limbo with no clear off-ramp in sight.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, CNBC, Raw Story, Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit, MS NOW, CBS News, PolitiFact, The Daily Signal, New York Magazine, ABC News, The Hill, Al Jazeera, IJR, Bangor Daily News, NOTUS, UPI, Washington Times, NBC News, Bloomberg, Mediaite, New Republic, Wall Street Journal, Fox News, NPR, New York Times and Associated Press
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Victoria Guida / Politico:
How Trump Is Sabotaging Himself on the Federal Reserve … President Donald Trump is threatening — again — to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, this time in the event that Powell doesn't step down from the Fed when his term as chair ends on May 15. — Let's play out how that might unfold.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Raw Story, MS NOW, Washington Examiner and UPI
Julie Tsirkin / NBC News:
Tillis vows to keep blocking Fed nominee and says Trump should apologize for pope attacks
Tillis vows to keep blocking Fed nominee and says Trump should apologize for pope attacks
Discussion:
Politico, The Hill, CNN, Raw Story, New York Sun, NewsMax.com, IJR and Fox Business
Michael Gold / New York Times:
In the House, Republican Plans Go Awry Amid Party Divides — Fresh off a two-week break, lawmakers returned to turmoil in the House, where legislation to reopen the Department of Homeland Security is stalled and the G.O.P. is struggling to keep its agenda on track.
Discussion:
Semafor, The Guardian, Fox News and Politico
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Punchbowl News:
4/16/26☀️ AM: … We have a bunch of topics to cover this morning.
Discussion:
The Times of Israel
Yunior Rivas / Democracy Docket:
Key Trump lawyer who tried to overturn 2020 election permanently disbarred — The California Supreme Court Wednesday permanently disbarred John Eastman — a key architect in President Donald Trump's failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election — delivering one of the most consequential …
RELATED:
Pooja Salhotra / New York Times:
Lawyer John Eastman Disbarred for Efforts to Overturn 2020 Election
Lawyer John Eastman Disbarred for Efforts to Overturn 2020 Election
Discussion:
The Hill
Brian Kaylor / A Public Witness:
Hegseth Borrows Violent Prayer from ‘Pulp Fiction’ to Bless Iran War at April Pentagon Worship Service — For the second month in a row, Pete Hegseth, who likes to call himself “secretary of war,” read a violent prayer — that echoes a scene in the Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction …
Discussion:
Mediaite, MeidasTouch News, IJR, Newsweek and Axios
NBC News:
Justice Sonia Sotomayor issues unusual apology over ‘hurtful’ remarks about colleague Brett Kavanaugh — The liberal Supreme Court justice had criticized her conservative colleague while she was talking about an opinion he wrote last year in an immigration case.
Discussion:
Straight Arrow News, Politico, ABC News, RedState, Law Dork, SCOTUSblog, IJR, Breitbart and Mediaite
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Thomas Stevenson / The Post Millennial:
BREAKING: Former Dem Virginia Lt Gov, wife dead in apparent murder-suicide — The two were going through a divorce. … Minute Read — Democrat and former Lt. Governor of Virginia, Justin Fairfax, has killed his wife, Cerina Fairfax, and then shot himself dead in an apparent murder-suicide …
Discussion:
New York Post, CBS News, WXIA-TV, TMZ.com, twitchy.com and Washington Times
RELATED:
Melanie Alnwick / WTTG-TV:
Former Va. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax fatally shot wife, then himself inside Virginia home, police say
Former Va. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax fatally shot wife, then himself inside Virginia home, police say
Discussion:
NBC News, Washington Post, HotAir, Politico, CNN, Daily Mail, RedState, Townhall, Breitbart, The Daily Wire, The US Sun, MS NOW, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, Washington Times, Blue Virginia, Bangor Daily News and KRDO
Camille Mumford / Emerson Polling:
California 2026 Poll: Swalwell Exit from Governor Race Opens Lane for Democrat Xavier Becerra — Home Polls California 2026 Poll: Swalwell Exit from Governor Race Opens Lane for Democrat Xavier Becerra — Economy Top Issue for 41% of Voters, Highest Since April 2025
Discussion:
Newsweek and New York Post
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Camille Mumford / Emerson Polling:
Michigan 2026 Poll: Abdul El-Sayed, Mallory McMorrow Tied for Lead in Democratic Senate Primary
Michigan 2026 Poll: Abdul El-Sayed, Mallory McMorrow Tied for Lead in Democratic Senate Primary
Discussion:
The Hill
New York Times:
Trump's ‘Triumphal Arch’ Draws Backlash, Even From an Expert Who Proposed It — The story of how President Trump quadrupled the size of the original proposal for the arch follows a now-familiar pattern. — During his first term, President Trump visited the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to attend …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Washington Monthly, Mock Paper Scissors, NewsMax.com and The Hill
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The Economist:
Pete Hegseth's Pentagon is a lethality-maxxing wasps' nest — America's armed forces are supremely capable and roiled by infighting — The prowess of America's armed forces has been on full display in the skies over Iran. During the 38-day air campaign, warplanes flew more than 13,000 combat sorties …
New York Times:
How the Supreme Court Defeated Trump — A conservative court watcher explains why the president has failed to bend the judicial branch to his will. — President Trump has been testing the limits of presidential power since he returned to office — from his assertion of total control over federal agencies …
Rachael Bedard / New York Times:
MAHA Propelled Kennedy to the White House. It May Become His Downfall. — In late February, I went to Austin, Texas, to see America's health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., headline an “Eat Real Food” rally. A Steak ‘n’ Shake food truck was on site, offering free burgers and tallow-fried fries.
Discussion:
The Independent
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Joseph Choi / The Hill:
Kennedy's new podcast might satisfy MAHA, but it won't save ‘Republican bacon’
Kennedy's new podcast might satisfy MAHA, but it won't save ‘Republican bacon’
Discussion:
Washington Examiner
Miami Herald:
Amid quarrel with pope, Trump strips Miami charity of funding to house migrant kids — The Trump administration has abruptly canceled an $11 million contract with Catholic Charities to shelter and care for migrant children who enter the U.S. alone, ending a relationship between the Catholic Church …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Letters from Leo, Crooks and Liars and NewsMax.com
Washington Post:
White House sidesteps vaccine skeptics in potential CDC leadership reset — A new team could mark a shift away from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s unpopular vaccine agenda ahead of the midterms. — Summary — Trump administration officials believe they have found a prescription …
Discussion:
The Hill, NewsMax.com, Axios, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal and Mock Paper Scissors
RELATED:
Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:
Trump tests loyalty of Christian supporters as erratic behavior escalates — The president maintains his hold on the Christian right, but his bluster, fight with the pope and portrayal of himself as a Jesus-like figure strain that bond. — Summary — The willingness of his supporters …
Discussion:
Forbes
David Jeans / Reuters:
Exclusive: Starlink outage hit drone tests, exposing Pentagon's growing reliance on SpaceX — Last August, U.S. Navy officials carrying out a test of unmanned vessels realized they had hit a single point of failure: Starlink. A global outage across Elon Musk's satellite network affecting millions …
Alan Blinder / New York Times:
Yale Report Finds Colleges Deserve Blame for Higher Education's Problems — A 10-member committee offered a brutal assessment of academia's role in creating the forces challenging American colleges and universities. — American colleges and universities bear significant responsibility …
Discussion:
Forbes
Axios:
Religious resurgence stirs Gen Z — New polling shows an uptick in religious fervor among young men, even as overall U.S. levels remain near historic lows. — Why it matters: Gen Z still has the highest share of religiously unaffiliated adults in modern history.
Discussion:
Gallup, Throughline, New York Times and RNS
New York Times:
Ahead of 2028, Vance Collects Cash, Chits and Contacts … Vice President JD Vance's unusual second job as the finance chair of the Republican National Committee is exactly the kind of role an ambitious presidential aspirant might dream up. — He's been able to do some good for the party …
Discussion:
Axios
Brooke Singman / Fox News:
ODNI sends criminal referrals to DOJ for ex-IG, whistleblower tied to Trump impeachment — The criminal referrals come after DNI Gabbard said newly-declassified records reveal a ‘coordinated effort’ to advance 2019 Trump impeachment — EXCLUSIVE: The Office of the Director …
Discussion:
Straight Arrow News, CBS News, CNN, TMZ.com, NewsMax.com, Forbes, MS NOW, American Greatness, New York Post, Townhall, RedState, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit and Megyn Kelly
Tom Schaller / Public Notice:
Trump's polling is terrible and getting worse — His second term is already an unambiguous failure. — PN is supported by paid subscribers. Become one ⬇️ — The irony is profound: Donald Trump, a man who craves adulation and perhaps deification, is the least-liked American president ever.
Discussion:
Newsweek
Marc Caputo / Axios:
Scoop: Trump discussed “Jesus” meme with Bill Pulte before posting it, sources say — Before President Trump posted an image of him as a Christ-like healer, he discussed the meme with his controversial housing finance chief Bill Pulte, Axios has learned.
Discussion:
The Independent, The Hill, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Mercury News
Renee DiResta / Agents of Influence:
I Was Falsely Accused of “Censorship” in The Free Press. Then Their Editors Censored The Truth. — I prefer to keep drama off main in this newsletter, so I would rather not have to publish a post like this. But one of the things I've been meaning to write about is the way that partisan media ecosystems protect their own.
Wall Street Journal:
Iran's War-Shattered Economy Means It Has an Urgent Reason to Negotiate — Damage done by U.S. and Israeli attacks will take years to repair, putting pressure on Tehran to seek financial relief in talks. — Iranian leaders have portrayed the current cease-fire as a victory against an overwhelming U.S. and Israeli onslaught.
The Harvard Crimson:
Harvard Asks Donors to Endow $10 Million Professorships for ‘Viewpoint Diversity’ Initiative — Harvard is quietly asking donors for $10 million gifts to establish new endowed professorships in a sweeping bid to reshape its faculty under the banner of “viewpoint diversity,” according to two people familiar with the initiative.
TMZ.com:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Cut Penis off Raccoon — ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. I CUT OFF DEAD RACCOON'S PENIS — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sounds like a bizarro Dr. Doolittle ... because he once chopped off a dead raccoon's penis. — President Trump's Secretary of Health and Human Services has a new biography out …
Discussion:
Raw Story and Daily Mail
Berkeley Lovelace Jr / NBC News:
Drugmakers raised prices on hundreds of drugs despite Trump deals, Senate Democrats report finds — The findings raise questions about whether the administration's “most favored nation” deals are having a meaningful impact on patients. — President Donald Trump has repeatedly said his deals …

