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House Budget Committee rejects Trump agenda bill in major setback for GOP leaders — A group of conservative holdouts voted against the massive party-line package, citing concerns over the level of spending cuts and impact to the U.S. deficit. — WASHINGTON — The GOP-led House Budget Committee voted …
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CNBC, MSNBC, CBS News, Washington Examiner, ABC News, The Guardian, Roll Call, Raw Story, RedState, New York Daily News, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, Scripps News, Newsweek, Washington Times, The Hill and PoliticusUSA
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GOP fiscal hawks sink key vote on Trump ‘big, beautiful bill’ — Fiscal hawks on the House Budget Committee on Friday sunk a key vote on advancing the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that encompasses President Trump's legislative agenda, marking a stunning setback for the legislation.
Discussion:
Politico, ABC News and Washington Examiner

Conservatives Block GOP Tax Megabill, Demand Changes — Republican holdouts in committee vote seek more savings from Medicaid, faster wind down of clean-energy breaks — WASHINGTON—House Republican spending hawks are demanding changes to the party's tax-and-spending bill …
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New York Times, Washington Examiner, Bloomberg, NOTUS, Fox News, Lawyers, Guns & Money, New Jersey Online, The Daily Signal, CBS News, The Hill and E&E News

G.O.P. Tax Bill May Hurt the Lowest Earners and Help the Richest — Even though most Americans may see lower taxes, Republicans' spending cuts could outweigh those benefits and leave some worse off. — As Representative Jason Smith commenced a marathon session this week to consider …
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Axios, CBS News, The Current and Politico

‘No Way to Run a Two-Car Parade Let Alone the House’
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Democrats, Raw Story, Chicago Tribune, Bloomberg and Blaze Media
Politico:
House budget panel rejects GOP megabill amid conservative opposition
House budget panel rejects GOP megabill amid conservative opposition
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CBS News, The National Pulse, Daily Kos, The Hill, Blaze Media, Roll Call and Washington Times

Comey under investigation for ‘threat’ to Trump on social media, officials say — The Trump administration accused the former FBI director of insinuating a call to violence in his Instagram post, which he denied. — Trump administration officials said Thursday that they would investigate …
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I Called the Constitution Police and They Say You're Going to Jail
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HuffPost and New Republic
Rachel Treisman / NPR:
James Comey is under investigation for his ‘8647’ Instagram post. What does it mean?
James Comey is under investigation for his ‘8647’ Instagram post. What does it mean?
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Newsmax, Rolling Stone, Gizmodo, New York Post, BBC, Mediaite, Blaze Media, Daily Caller News Foundation, Washington Times, Axios, The Gateway Pundit, CNBC, Raw Story, One America News Network, Washington Examiner, The Daily Wire, Fox News, RedState, Townhall, ABC News, Forbes, Daily Mail, The Independent, The American Conservative, Associated Press, IJR, Twitchy and The Hill
Ross O'Keefe / Washington Examiner:
Comey's ‘8647’ message ‘concerns’ White House and prompts DHS investigation
Comey's ‘8647’ message ‘concerns’ White House and prompts DHS investigation
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Distractify, USA Today, Townhall, Raw Story, Newsbusters, CBS News, Ace of Spades HQ, Megyn Kelly, American Greatness, The Daily Signal, Axios, TMZ.com, The Federalist, New York Daily News, Mediaite, UPI, Gizmodo, Daily Caller News Foundation, The Daily Wire, Washington Times, The Guardian, HotAir, Blaze Media, New York Post, RedState and The Post Millennial
Josh Meyer / USA Today:
Secret Service investigating ex-FBI Director James Comey's ‘8647’ Instagram post
Secret Service investigating ex-FBI Director James Comey's ‘8647’ Instagram post
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Washington Examiner, PJ Media, Fox News, NBC News, The Independent, Townhall, The Guardian, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, New Republic, Shore News Network, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Caller News Foundation, The Daily Signal, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Times, IJR, American Greatness, Associated Press, Must Read Alaska, Newsweek, Twitchy, One America News Network, Axios and The Post Millennial

DHS Is Considering Reality Show Where Immigrants Compete for Citizenship — 'This isn't ‘The Hunger Games’ for immigrants,' says the producer behind the pitch — The Department of Homeland Security is considering being part of a television show in which immigrants would compete …
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New York Times, MeidasTouch News, Washington Post, MSNBC, The Hill, The Wrap and Newsweek, more at Mediagazer »
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Kristi Noem Wants Migrants to Compete for Citizenship on New Reality Show — LET THE GAMES BEGIN — A Homeland Security official told the Daily Beast that the show is in the early stages of vetting, though approval has not been given—or denied. — Kristi Noem reportedly wants …
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FOX 35 Orlando, New Republic, Common Dreams, The Independent and Lawyers, Guns & Money

The Biden question hanging over the 2028 field — Some Democrats argue their leaders aren't owning up to the truth about Biden — and risk keeping the issue alive indefinitely. — Joe Biden may have cost Democrats the White House in 2024. Their inability to admit it, some Democrats fear, could hobble them in 2028.
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New York Times, Fox News, The Hill, HotAir, New Jersey Online, Daily Caller News Foundation, Blaze Media, PoliticusUSA and Mediaite
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The Biden Scandal Goes Well Beyond the Aging Cover-Up
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Washington Times, Fox News, RedState, The Permanent Campaign and The Hill
Myles McCormick / Financial Times:
Joe Biden ‘redemption tour’ backfires as cognitive doubts resurface
Steve Schale / The Bulwark:
I Worked for Joe Biden. I Love Joe Biden. He Must Rethink His Post-Presidency.
Tyler Austin Harper / The Atlantic:
An Autopsy Report on Biden's In-Office Decline
An Autopsy Report on Biden's In-Office Decline
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The Daily Caller, masslive.com, OutsideTheBeltway, The Independent, Mediaite and Silver Bulletin

The ‘Modest’ Ruling That Could Kneecap Our Legal System — It is often difficult to persuade anyone other than lawyers to care about the more technical, procedural minutiae of Supreme Court decisions. But Thursday's oral argument in three Supreme Court cases challenging President Trump's efforts …
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Associated Press, Bloomberg, Distractify, Blaze Media, The Moderate Voice, OutsideTheBeltway, NPR, CBS News, The Guardian, HuffPost, The Gateway Pundit, Los Angeles Times, Daily Kos, New Republic, Mother Jones, The Hill, Washington Post, Axios, Rolling Stone, USA Today, Washington Examiner, The Independent, Forbes, The Federalist, The Post Millennial, MeidasTouch News, The Daily Signal, Fox News, The Status Kuo, Slate, San Diego Union-Tribune and Politico

Exclusive: US aid cuts leave food for millions mouldering in storage — Food rations that could supply 3.5 million people for a month are mouldering in warehouses around the world because of U.S. aid cuts and risk becoming unusable, according to five people familiar with the situation.
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Associated Press and The Dispatch

This Air-Traffic Controller Just Averted a Midair Collision. Now He's Speaking Out. — Jonathan Stewart says controllers didn't walk off the job after recent FAA equipment outages; 'I don't want to be responsible for killing 400 people' — MALVERN, Pa.—Jonathan Stewart …
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New York Post, NPR and Fox Business

DOGE Is Now Targeting GAO, and the Congressional Agency Is Fighting Back — “We are not subject to DOGE or executive orders,” GAO staff were told in an internal email sent Friday. — Copy — Elon Musk's DOGE team is now starting to target government agencies outside of the executive branch …
Discussion:
Law Dork

Exclusive: Trump's Losing the Latino Voters He Won in '24 — DONALD TRUMP'S SUPPORT AMONG LATINO VOTERS, including those who voted for him in 2024, is fracturing, a new poll shared exclusively with The Bulwark found. — The poll by Equis Research, a Democratic group …
Discussion:
New Republic

The Trade War Isn't Over — Look at the numbers, not the vibes — Monday morning I woke up to an urgent text from Robin, who is still visiting friends in Europe: “You have to look at the news NOW.” Sure enough, Donald Trump had suddenly slashed his tariff on China from 145 percent to 30 percent.
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Politico, The Hill, CBS News, CNN and Al Jazeera

Sean Combs Allies Are Actively Working for a Trump Pardon — Longtime Combs associates have spent months cozying up to Trump officials to lay groundwork for clemency pleas … It may be on to something. — Combs, who was charged last September, is currently on trial in the Southern District …
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Daily Mail

The Hyper-Aggressive, Comically Loyal Government Flacks Who Talk Like Trump — Spokespeople are defending the administration in a language pioneered by the president. — In March, Axios reported that Donald Trump's Oval Office had begun to resemble an Oscar night gift suite …

The Opinion That Ate the Paper — Under Kathleen Kingsbury, the Times' “Opinion” section has doubled in size. What kind of publication is she building? — In the summer of 2020, as James Bennet, the head of the New York Times' “Opinion” section, was being forced to resign, his deputy …

McIver set to be charged over Delaney Hall incident — Habba could announce charges against Newark Democrat as early as today — The Justice Department plans to bring charges against Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-Newark) following a scuffle with federal immigration agents last week …
Discussion:
HotAir, Politico, RedState, Twitchy and The Gateway Pundit
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The Law Firms' Deals with Trump are Even Riskier Than They Seem — By settling with Trump, law firms have much more than a moral stain to worry about. — nkorpett — nkorpett.bsky.social — Meet The Authors … We're living in a world where allusions to Shakespeare's famous …
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New York Times and E&E News

Donors Promised ‘VIP Experience’ to Military Events With Trump — Top donors to a committee supporting events celebrating America's 250th birthday will receive special access to a military parade and other festivities — Donors are being offered a “dedicated VIP experience” …

Russia-Ukraine peace talks end after less than 2 hours — The first direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine since the early weeks of Moscow's 2022 invasion ended Friday after less than two hours, and a senior Ukrainian official said the Russian side introduced new “unacceptable demands.”

Some Republicans Push to Put School Desegregation Officially in the Past — Louisiana officials want to overturn the remaining federal desegregation orders in their state. They may find allies in the Trump administration. — Republican leaders in Louisiana are pushing to end the last remnants …
Discussion:
Plain Dealer and Raw Story

Afrikaner resettled by Jewish-affiliated group denies antisemitism claims — Charl Kleinhaus, one of about 60 Afrikaners resettled as refugees under an executive order, said his social media posts were being taken out of context. — Just two days after arriving in the United States …
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Semafor, Axios, New York Times, The Guardian and The Independent

Senior faith leaders urge Starmer to tone down migration rhetoric — Exclusive: Christian, Muslim and Jewish representatives write to prime minister after ‘island of strangers’ speech — More than a dozen bishops and other senior Christian, Muslim and Jewish faith leaders have written …
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The New European