The real reason Democrats lost in 2024  —  My weekly Friday column is free to read, but it is not free to produce.  Become a paying member today to support work like this and all the original data Strength In Numbers publishes.  —  Upgrade to support Strength In Numbers

‘Goes to Show You How Stupid They Are’: Tillis Lets Loose on Trump Advisers  —  Sen. Thom Tillis isn't afraid to give his party, or the president, a dose of bitter medicine.  —  In an interview with POLITICO Magazine in his Capitol Hill Office, the retiring North Carolina Republican said his criticism …

Todd Blanche pulls his most eyebrow-raising move yet  —  When Todd Blanche announced charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center last month, critics accused him of placating President Donald Trump in an effort to secure the attorney general job permanently.

Their Loved Ones Died for the Voting Rights Act.  The Supreme Court's Ruling Is a New Injustice.  —  Dennis Dahmer was 12 years old in January 1966 when Klansmen stormed his family home and set it on fire, murdering his father, Vernon.  He still remembers the shootout; he remembers watching his father die from smoke inhalation.

NATO allies bewildered by Trump's about-face on US troop moves in Europe  —  NATO allies and defense officials expressed bewilderment on Friday at U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement that he would send 5,000 U.S. troops to Poland just weeks after he ordered the same number of forces pulled out of Europe.

All charges dismissed against “Broadview Six,” defense says grand jury transcript revealed “gross misconduct”  —  Add CBS News on Google  —  All remaining charges against the “Broadview Six” defendants have been dismissed with prejudice, U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros announced in court Thursday afternoon.

Exclusive: Trump officials tried to ban half of U.S. voting machines, citing conspiracy theories  —  U.S. President Donald Trump's election-security czar last year sought to ban voting machines used in more than half of U.S. states by asking whether the Commerce Department could declare …

Scoop: Trump escalates citizenship crackdown  —  The Trump administration is temporarily moving immigration lawyers to the Justice Department to speed up efforts to strip citizenship from naturalized Americans, Axios has learned. … - One source said staffers were being “volun-told” to move offices.

Tom Kean Jr.'s absence from Congress makes Democrats bullish they can flip his seat … But others caution they're being “cocky” about taking down Kean, who's never been big on unscripted public appearances anyway.  On Thursday, Kean spoke to the New Jersey Globe and reiterated that he'll …

Trump yanked AI order after David Sacks raised industry concerns … But during a conversation with Trump, Sacks told the president that companies were already cooperating, and that having the federal government review models before their public release would slow down innovation and harm …

Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding will be on a small island in the Bahamas — without his father present, sources say  —  Relationships Trump family The Caribbean  —  The president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., will wed Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson on a small island in the Bahamas this weekend …

California Teacher Previously Fired for Sexual Harassment Is No Longer in the Classroom After New Complaints  —  A San Francisco Bay Area school district has replaced a middle school math teacher for the remainder of the academic year following an investigation by KQED and ProPublica that showed …

Louisiana's Tough-on-Crime Policies Stand to Cost Taxpayers Millions More for Years to Come  —  The day after a shooting last month killed a teenager and injured five people at the Mall of Louisiana, Gov. Jeff Landry blasted what he referred to as “hug-a-thug” policies …

UF Interim President to Receive $2M Exit Package  —  University of Florida interim president Donald Landry is set to receive a $2 million payout as part of an unusual contract provision entitling him to severance pay if he didn't get the permanent job.  —  On Monday UF announced …

New Taliban Decree on Divorce Formalizes Child Marriage, U.N. Warns  —  A new Afghan law requires girls to wait until puberty before seeking to get out of a marriage.  It also requires mediation for women seeking to escape an abusive husband.  —  A decree published by the Taliban government …