Top Items:

GOP tax bill on track to add more than $2.5 trillion to U.S. deficit — The figure is expected to intensify a national debate over spending and tax levels as President Donald Trump tries to push the legislation through Congress. — The Republican tax proposal emerging in the House …
Discussion:
Inside Higher Ed, Forbes, Punchbowl News, New York Times, PoliticusUSA, E&E News, Politico and Washington Examiner
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Why The Qataris Are Happy To Dump Their 747 On Trump — The Qatari 747 that President Donald Trump would like to make the next Air Force One. — The president may be thirsting for a new four-engine jumbo jet, but many governments and royal families are unloading their fuel-guzzling palaces in the sky.
Discussion:
BBC, Raw Story, CNN, ARLnow, New Republic, Politico, The Wrap, USA Today, Washington Examiner and RedState
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The Trump Administration Leaned on African Countries. The Goal: Get Business for Elon Musk. — The State Department has intervened on behalf of Musk's satellite internet company in five developing nations. In Gambia, U.S. diplomats have lobbied and browbeat at least seven government ministers …
Discussion:
New Republic, UPI, The Hill and Reuters, more at Techmeme »

Democrats grill Noem on Abrego Garcia and 2 deported US children — A House Homeland Security Committee meeting on reconciliation devolved into a slew of criticism on Trump's biggest immigration controversies this term. — Democrats on Wednesday pressed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Fox News, HuffPost, The Daily Wire, Daily Kos, RedState, Rolling Stone, Breitbart, New Republic, Washington Times, New Jersey Online and Mediaite
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Trump wants a new plane. Now, so does Homeland Security Secretary Noem.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, The Hill, Associated Press, al.com, Daily Kos, FLYING Magazine, The Independent, Raw Story, New York Daily News and New Jersey Online
Rebecca Beitsch / The Hill:
Noem eyes $50M for new DHS jet

Walmart Plans to Raise Prices Because of Tariffs — Retailer has weathered the trade war but says the full impact of tariffs on consumers has yet to come — Higher prices are coming to Walmart's shelves. — The retailer said Thursday that it plans to raise prices this month and early this summer …
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Examiner, IJR, Democrats, Fortune, National Review, NPR, Mediaite, Washington Times, New York Post, MeidasTouch News, Rolling Stone, Daily Kos, CBS News and Semafor
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Melissa Repko / CNBC:
Walmart CFO says price hikes from tariffs could start later this month, as retailer beats on earnings
Walmart CFO says price hikes from tariffs could start later this month, as retailer beats on earnings
Discussion:
New York Times, Associated Press, The Verge, New Republic, Gizmodo, Al Jazeera, CNN, UPI, The Daily Caller, New Jersey Online, Fox Business, The Information, CBS News and The Independent

Trump White House Sharpens Its Knives for Politico's Owner — A Different Type of Playbook — THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IS SENDING aggressive signals about launching a potential federal investigation into the company that owns Politico and Business Insider as retaliation …
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Judge Dismisses ‘Trespassing’ Charges Promoted by Trump in Border ‘Defense Area’ — A newly designated “military installation” that stretches the length of the frontier in New Mexico has made trespassing a novel criminal charge at the border, bringing turmoil to the state.
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In Birthright Citizenship Case, Supreme Court Examines the Power of District Judges — The Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether federal judges can block Trump administration policy across the country. — It has been a major impediment to President Trump's agenda …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Washington Post, Politico, Fox News, NBC News, ABC News, NextDraft, Washington Times, Raw Story, CBS News, NPR, The Daily Caller, CNN, Associated Press, al.com, CNBC, Townhall, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Status Kuo, New York Daily News, Daily Caller News Foundation, The Post Millennial, The Hill, Crooked Media, Semafor, Roll Call, Al Jazeera, ZeroHedge News, The Federalist and Bloomberg
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Politico:
Trump's birthright order gets frosty reception, but justices appear ready to limit nationwide blocks
Trump's birthright order gets frosty reception, but justices appear ready to limit nationwide blocks
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Washington Examiner, Bloomberg, Democracy Docket, NOTUS, NPR, MeidasTouch News, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Lawyers, Guns & Money, New York Post, Forbes, The Federalist, The Post Millennial, The Guardian, American Greatness, MSNBC, The Daily Signal, The Independent, ZeroHedge News, USA Today, Axios, Scripps News, ABC News, Roll Call, CNN and The Hill

D.H.S. Requests 20,000 National Guard Members to Help With Immigration Crackdown — The Defense Department is reviewing the request. If approved, one official said, it would be the first time National Guard troops were used to help enforce an immigration crackdown in the country.
Discussion:
ZeroHedge News, Washington Times and Breitbart

Baby Is Healed With World's First Personalized Gene-Editing Treatment … KJ Muldoon was born with a rare genetic disorder, CPS1 deficiency, that affects just one in 1.3 million babies.Muldoon Family — Something was very wrong with Kyle and Nicole Muldoon's baby. — The doctors speculated.
Discussion:
STAT, HotAir, Associated Press, Wired, NPR, El País, MIT Technology Review and Scientific American

‘Most Transparent’ White House In History Keeps Majority Of Trump's Remarks Secret — Trump's aides released just 20% of the transcripts of his speeches and interactions with the press over his first 100 days, excluding many of his most unhinged comments — WASHINGTON — If you're interested …

Tanks, cannons and soldiers sleeping in DC offices: Inside Trump birthday military parade — Plans include bringing 7,500 cots to DC office buildings for soldiers. The latest price tag for the affair: $30 million, a figure expected to rise to $45 million.
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Hill and New York Magazine
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Denver airport air traffic control went out for 6 minutes on Monday, report says — Up to 20 pilots were unable to talk to controllers, Denver7 reports — Pilots flying into Denver International Airport on Monday couldn't communicate with air traffic controllers for about six minutes …
Discussion:
Forbes, Fox Business, New York Post and Associated Press

Trump Wants His Corruption to Be Public — Programming note at the jump: Tonight, The Bulwark will host an emergency briefing on the major changes to our nation's health care system that Trump and his Republican allies are trying to push forward this week. Our own Jonathan Cohn …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Mediaite and New Republic

Trump's sanctions on ICC prosecutor have halted tribunal's work — The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor has lost access to his email, and his bank accounts have been frozen. The Hague-based court's American staffers have been told that if they travel to the U.S. they risk arrest.
Discussion:
Reuters and ZeroHedge News

We ran 10 flagship state colleges. The war on higher ed won't stop with Harvard. — Plus, the radical jurisprudence of the late David Souter. — The Trump administration's attack on higher education won't be confined to Harvard University. And Americans should be worried about what it portends …
Discussion:
New York Times, City Journal, Fortune and New York Post

Trump Administration Cancels Scores of Grants to Study Online Misinformation … Lisa K. Fazio, an associate professor at Vanderbilt University, whose federal grant to study how repetition of lies reinforced them was canceled.Houston Cofield for The New York Times
Discussion:
The Independent, more at Mediagazer »

US reportedly plans to slash bank rules imposed to prevent 2008-style crash — Watchdogs could cut capital rules as Trump's deregulation drive opens door to rollback of post-crisis protections — US watchdogs are reportedly planning to slash capital rules for banks designed …
Discussion:
Financial Times

Ed Martin publicizes ethics probe he says was wrongly disclosed — Former D.C. U.S. attorney nominee revealed he faces a legal disciplinary review in an all-office goodbye email, while claiming his confidentiality was violated — Justice Department official Ed Martin …
Discussion:
Reuters

Top Iranian official says Tehran would forgo highly enriched uranium in nuclear deal with Trump — The comments from a member of the supreme leader's inner circle appear to be the clearest public statements yet on Iran's willingness to reach an agreement with the U.S.
Discussion:
The Guardian, CNBC, Politico, Reuters, Axios, The American Conservative, Human Events, Al Jazeera, IJR, Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, USA Today, ZeroHedge News, HotAir, Daily Mail, Daily Caller News Foundation, Jewish Insider, Blaze Media, The Japan Times, The Washington Free Beacon, Fox News, The Hill and ABC News

Did the media blow it on Biden? — Beginning in 2023, I repeatedly criticized both the media and Democratic partisans for failing to take former President Biden's age and fitness for office seriously enough. This was not exactly a popular opinion at the time: the more common complaint …
Discussion:
Axios, Mediaite and Washington Examiner

Top Sexual Assault Hotline Drops Resources After Trump Orders — Fearing funding cuts, the anti-sexual-violence organization RAINN barred referring callers to resources for L.G.B.T.Q. people, immigrants and other marginalized groups. — Fearing the loss of federal funding …

Exclusive: FEMA is “not ready” for hurricane season, internal agency review shows — Hurricane preparations at Federal Emergency Management Agency have slowed to a crawl, and the disaster relief agency “is not ready” for the June 1 start to the season, according to an internal agency review obtained by CNN.
Discussion:
ABC News, Raw Story and Washington Post

Another Reason Trump's Birthright Citizenship Order is Unlawful — On his first day in office, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 14,160 (the EO), which denies birthright citizenship to any child born in the United States who does not have at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.
Discussion:
Raw Story, El País, The.Ink, New York Daily News, Reason, USA Today, The Intercept, JURISTnews, Mother Jones, New York Times and Townhall

JD Vance Plans Return to Vatican for Pope Leo's Inaugural Mass — Vice President JD Vance will attend the inaugural mass of Pope Leo XIV following the pontiff's historic election as the first American leader of the Roman Catholic Church. — Vance, the highest-ranking Catholic in the US government …
Discussion:
NBC News, USA Today, New York Daily News, The Daily Wire, Forbes, The National Pulse, Reuters, The Hill, Washington Times, Raw Story, The Post Millennial and IJR

Exclusive: Musk took leased cars back so Tesla could use them as “robotaxis.” Instead, Tesla sold them — Tesla last November ended an unusual policy that prohibited U.S. leasing customers from buying their cars at lease-end. — The policy started in 2019, when Tesla announced that customers …
Discussion:
Electrek and The Daily Wire

Decapitated Dolphin in North Carolina Prompts $20,000 Reward Offer From U.S. — The 8-foot long bottlenose dolphin was found dead with its head missing last month on the shore of Lea-Hutaff Island, N.C., north of Wilmington. — The federal authorities want to know who decapitated a dolphin …
Discussion:
WNYW-TV

Florida becomes second state to ban fluoride in public water — Gov. Ron DeSantis called the fluoridation of water “forced medication,” saying it violates “informed consent.” — Florida has become the second state to officially ban fluoride in public water.
Discussion:
Tampa Bay Times, USA Today, CBS News, New York Times, FOX 35 Orlando, Florida Politics and Sun-Sentinel

Lessons From the Newark Debacle — Maybe government does something useful — I did something either brave or foolish last week. I was booked on a flight from Amsterdam to Newark, and decided to ignore advice from friends urging me to rebook on a plane heading someplace else.
Discussion:
New York Times, Mises Institute and The Hill

Trump Mocks France Because He's Jealous of World War II Celebrations — Did you forget to celebrate America's newest holiday last Thursday? If so, that's understandable, as Victory Day is a holiday that largely only exists in Donald Trump's braggadocios rhetoric.
Discussion:
New York Times and Newsweek