Top Items:
New Republic:
Trump Hit by Brutal Fox Poll as Aides Scramble: “He's in a Bad Mood” — A new Fox News poll contains crushing findings for Donald Trump. His approval on the economy is at 34 percent with 66 percent disapproving. On inflation, those numbers are even worse, at 28-72.
Discussion:
Politico
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Greg Sargent / New Republic:
The Incredible Shrinking MAGA — If you follow politics on social media, you've probably encountered a claim about Donald Trump that goes like this: “LOL Trump's support is rock-solid LOL, his base will never leave him LOL.” And it's true: The white-hot core of MAGA does remain with him.
Discussion:
Fox News
US Department of Justice:
The Justice Department Takes Actions to Strengthen the Federal Death Penalty — For Immediate Release — President Trump's Day-One Executive Order Directed the Department to Prioritize Seeking and Implementing Death Sentences to Protect Public Safety — Today, the Department of Justice acted …
Discussion:
CNN, Straight Arrow News, CBS News, The Independent, The Daily Caller, New Republic, Forbes and The Post Millennial
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Reuters:
Justice Department readopts firing squads in federal executions — The department said it is also resuming the use of lethal injection in executions.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Associated Press, Washington Times, Al Jazeera, Joe.My.God. and Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Fox News:
Justice Department announces it's readopting the firing squad as a means of execution — The Department of Justice on Friday directed the Bureau of Prisons to expand death penalty protocols to include pentobarbital injections and firing squads as part of broader actions to strengthen the federal death penalty.
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, Washington Examiner, Breitbart and Louder With Crowder
Trevor Aaronson / The Intercept:
Kash Patel Got Arrested for Public Urination After a Night of Drinking — FBI Director Kash Patel was twice arrested in incidents involving alcohol, once for public intoxication and once for public urination after leaving a bar, he admitted in a 2005 letter about disclosures on his Florida Bar application.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Marc Caputo / Axios:
DeSantis plots end run of Florida law to create more GOP House seats — Florida bans lawmakers from intentionally creating congressional seats to give their party an advantage. But Gov. Ron DeSantis quietly has launched a three-tiered power play to evade the ban — and create more GOP-friendly seats — in November.
Discussion:
New Republic, The Contrarian, Raw Story, Joe.My.God., Fox News, Roll Call, IJR, Florida Politics, Washington Examiner, The Hill, KDFX-TV and Politico
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Parker Molloy / The Present Age:
The “Freakout” and the “Abyss” — When Texas Republicans gerrymandered at Trump's direction, the Washington Post told readers to calm down. When Virginia Democrats responded, the editorial board found the end of democracy. — Hello! If you are reading this today, April 24, 2026, it is my 40th birthday!
Discussion:
The Week and Letters from an American
Ryan Mancini / The Hill:
Rove warns of proposed Florida Republican gerrymander ‘risk’
Rove warns of proposed Florida Republican gerrymander ‘risk’
Discussion:
Florida Politics and Daily Kos
Phil Stewart / Reuters:
Exclusive: Pentagon email floats suspending Spain from NATO, other steps over Iran rift, source says — An internal Pentagon email outlines options for the United States to punish NATO allies it believes failed to support U.S. operations in the war with Iran, including suspending Spain …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, The Guardian, GZERO, NewsMax.com, France 24, Mediaite, Council on Foreign Relations, Los Angeles Times, Al Jazeera, Breitbart, The Independent, CoinDesk, Raw Story, The National Pulse, New Republic, The Gateway Pundit, Bloomberg, GB News and Modern Diplomacy, more at Techmeme »
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Ayaan Hirsi Ali / The Free Press:
The SPLC Targeted Me. Now Its Reckoning Has Come. — The group that called me an ‘extremist’ has been accused of funding hate groups. And it's provoked racial conflict for decades. — Upgrade to Listen — A federal grand jury in Montgomery, Alabama, on Tuesday issued an 11-count indictment …
Discussion:
Breitbart, PJ Media, The Daily Wire, No More Mister Nice Blog, twitchy.com, The Federalist, Townhall and Public Notice
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Chris Bradford / New York Post:
Trump calls for 2020 presidential election to be ‘permanently wiped from the books’ if Southern Poverty Law Center convicted of fraud
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Mediaite, Breitbart, New Republic, MeidasTouch News, NewsMax.com, Joe.My.God., The Daily Wire, HuffPost and IJR
Rick Hasen / Election Law Blog:
Trump Bizarrely Ties Politically-Motivated Prosecution of the Southern Poverty Law Center to Having the Results of the 2020 Election Be “wiped from the books …
Trump Bizarrely Ties Politically-Motivated Prosecution of the Southern Poverty Law Center to Having the Results of the 2020 Election Be “wiped from the books …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
Joyce Vance / Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance:
What's Wrong With The SPLC Indictment
What's Wrong With The SPLC Indictment
Discussion:
The Intercept, MS NOW, Raw Story, Townhall, New York Post, Fox News, CBS News, The Hill, Associated Press, Talking Feds Substack and The Daily Wire
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
Trump Isn't Thinking Strait — Another day, another Pentagon press conference in which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fruitlessly demands Europe get more involved with reopening the Strait of Hormuz: “This should not be America's fight alone,” Hegseth seethed. “We barely use the Strait of Hormuz. . . .
Discussion:
CNN, MS NOW and Joe.My.God.
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Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:
April 23, 2026 — Yesterday Secretary of the Navy John Phelan spent the day talking …
April 23, 2026 — Yesterday Secretary of the Navy John Phelan spent the day talking …
Discussion:
Washington Times, Wall Street Journal, Fox News, The Hill and MS NOW
ABC News:
DOJ expected to drop criminal probe of Fed Chair Jerome Powell amid pressure from senators: Sources — The investigation threatened to delay the confirmation of Powell's successor. — Katherine Faulders, Elizabeth Schulze, Allison Pecorin, and Alexander Mallin
Discussion:
CBS News, The Hill, Washington Post, NPR, NOTUS, NBC News, CNBC, Reuters, New York Post, Blaze Media, The National Pulse, MS NOW, The Gateway Pundit, The Stanford Daily, Bloomberg and New Republic
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Associated Press:
Justice Department drops criminal probe of Fed chair Powell, likely clearing way for Warsh — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Deparment has ended its probe into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, clearing a major roadblock to the confirmation of his successor, Kevin Warsh.
Discussion:
Axios, The Hill, Bloomberg, CBS News, Scripps News, Straight Arrow News, CoinDesk, Washington Examiner, Washington Times, Associated Press, Semafor, The Independent, New Republic, KARE-TV, Mediaite and Joe.My.God.
Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:
The Conspiracy Theory Behind Tucker Carlson's Apology — Tucker Carlson, you might have heard, is sorry. Early this week he posted a long conversation with his brother, Buckley, a former Trump speechwriter, in which they tried to make sense of the wreckage of the second Donald Trump presidency.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Digby's Hullabaloo
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Matt Lewis / The Hill:
Trump lived by the conspiracy theory — now he pays the price
Trump lived by the conspiracy theory — now he pays the price
Discussion:
Raw Story
Washington Post:
Elon Musk's near-daily online posts about race are turning off some fans — The billionaire posted 850 times on the topic in recent months, almost triple the rate for the previous two years. — Summary — Elon Musk, the world's richest person, is on the cusp of a record-setting initial public offering …
Discussion:
The Independent
Ben Protess / New York Times:
Trump Says He Dislikes Prediction Markets. His Family Invests in Them. — The White House has warned staff not to wager on government decisions, but his family's involvement with these firms undermines the president's message. — When a U.S. soldier was indicted on Thursday on charges …
Discussion:
ABC News, Politico, Business Insider, New York Post, The Daily Caller, Los Angeles Times, Truthout, UPI, Al Jazeera, CBS News, Bloomberg, Associated Press, Joe.My.God., Financial Times, Gizmodo and Mediaite
Claire Carter / Washington Examiner:
Panda diplomacy: China sends two bears to Atlanta ahead of Trump-Xi summit — China on Friday agreed to send two giant pandas to the United States in a renewed display of “panda diplomacy,” a move that comes weeks before a planned summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Discussion:
The Daily Wire, Zoo Atlanta, NewsMax.com, Bloomberg and Washington Times
Anna Clark / ProPublica:
Unfounded Health Concerns Are Powering a Solar Backlash Unfounded Health Concerns Are Powering a Solar Backlash — Reporting Highlights — Health Fears: Some critics say large solar farms are a public health threat. While there is little reputable evidence for this, their claims have helped power a backlash.
Steve Holland / Reuters:
Witkoff and Kushner to travel to Pakistan soon for Iran talks, US official says — U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner will travel to Pakistan soon for talks with Iran's foreign minister, a U.S. official told Reuters on Friday.
Erica Orden / Politico:
Judge sanctions law firm that has pursued Leon Black over Epstein ties … The woman in this case, whom Christensen no longer represents, sued Black using a Jane Doe pseudonym. — Clarke, a Biden appointee, found that Christensen “repeatedly lied to the Court and to opposing counsel in this litigation” …
Natalie Hausmann / Democracy Docket:
Many Americans believe Trump's lies about voter fraud, poll shows — President Donald Trump's repeated attempts to convince the public that elections are rigged and voter fraud is rampant - both false claims - have had an impact, a new poll shows. — The findings underscore the damage …
Minho Kim / New York Times:
White House Allowed Officials' Text Messages to Be Deleted, Lawsuit Says — Two watchdogs say internal White House guidance that text messages need not be preserved unless “they are the sole record of official decision-making” contradicted the law. — Two government watchdogs sued President Trump …
Discussion:
Washington Post and NewsMax.com
Jason Leopold / Bloomberg:
FOIA Documents ‘Scrubbed’ From Intelligence Agency Website — Last year, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence removed all documents from its FOIA reading room. Emails say a Biden-era FOIA release caused a “fuss.” … At first glance, the disappearance of documents …
G. Elliott Morris / Strength In Numbers:
The incredible shrinking Trump coalition — An updated look at the president's approval rating by geography and demographics shows just how narrow his coalition has become. — It has been an exciting poll week here at Strength In Numbers. On Tuesday, we released our April Strength …
Tracey Tully / New York Times:
Concern Grows Over Republican Congressman's Mysterious Absence — A spokesman for Representative Thomas Kean Jr. said an unspecified “personal medical issue” has led the New Jersey Republican to miss House votes. — Representative Thomas Kean Jr., one of the most vulnerable Republican members of Congress …
Discussion:
NBC News, ABC News, Townhall, New Jersey Globe, Althouse, RedState, NJ Spotlight News and New York Post
Benjy Sarlin / Vox:
Nobody is laughing at Donald Trump anymore — When I think of the difference between Donald Trump's first term and Donald Trump's second term, the image that stands out most is the president bombing. — Not a country, in this case — a comedy routine. — It was this January's keynote speech …
Sam Biddle / The Intercept:
Palantir Is Helping Trump's IRS Conduct “Massive-Scale” Data Mining — Military contractor Palantir has been paid more than $130 million by the IRS to analyze sensitive federal databases. — MILITARY CONTRACTOR PALANTIR is helping the IRS analyze dozens of different data sets on Americans …
Associated Press:
Head-on bus crash near a Pentagon stop injures 23 people, including Defense Department workers — Two buses crashed head-on near a Pentagon bus stop on Friday, injuring 23 people, including Defense Department personnel. The Omni Ride and Fairfax Connector transit buses struck each other shortly …
Discussion:
WUSA, RedState, The Daily Wire, WTTG-TV and Fox News
Dasha Burns / Politico:
White House directs post-Virginia ire at Youngkin … “Look, there's plenty of blame to go around. But if Youngkin hadn't left the special session open, Louise Lucas would never have had the chance to ram through those maps,” the person said, referring to the Democratic state senator who helped lead the charge.
Discussion:
NewsMax.com
Chris Truax / The Hill:
Trump's decline is an emergency: Why doesn't Congress treat it like one? — Democrats need to stop playing games. — I have a lot of respect for Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.). I fully understand why he's sponsoring a bill to create a “Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Politico:
King Charles to meet New York Mayor Mamdani in New York … King Charles' stop at the 9/11 memorial is the kind of standard royal visit fare aimed at reinforcing the countries' close security partnership and shared sacrifice. New York's mayor is a natural part of that kind of programming.
Discussion:
NewsMax.com and GB News


