Top Items:

Now Republicans Have to Sell Trump's Megabill to Voters — Control of Congress in next year's election could turn on how Americans view the sweeping tax and domestic-policy package — Republicans had a hard time persuading some of their own lawmakers to support the party's big tax-cutting and domestic-policy bill.
Discussion:
Raw Story, HuffPost, Washington Post and Strength In Numbers
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A Road Map for Undoing the Damage of the Big, Awful Bill — In the 30 years I have been a part of fiscal policymaking I don't think I have ever seen a legislative push as impressive as the passage of President Trump's big, dubious tax and policy bill. — Don't get me wrong …
Discussion:
USA Today

Conservatives Are Prisoners of Their Own Tax Cuts — Aside from hype artists and White House spokespeople, it's hard to find true enthusiasm for the sweeping new policy law, even among Republicans who voted for its passage. But because almost all Republicans did vote for it …

Social Security Administration sends misleading email lauding Trump's new tax cuts law
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, CNN, Social Security Matters, CBS News, USA Today and Alternet.org
Shannon Najmabadi / Washington Post:
Social Security letter on taxes sends confusing message, some experts say
Social Security letter on taxes sends confusing message, some experts say
Discussion:
NPR, Forbes and MeidasTouch News
Reuters:
Trump signs controversial spending bill during White House 4th of July celebrations
Trump signs controversial spending bill during White House 4th of July celebrations
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Hill, APA.AZ, CBS News, The Gateway Pundit, Associated Press, UPI, New York Times, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, New York Sun, Washington Post, Rolling Stone, Washington Examiner, The Japan Times, WTTG-TV, The American Conservative, IJR, ABC News, Breitbart, Fox News, NewsNation and The Indian Express
Alex Leary / Wall Street Journal:
Trump Signs ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Into Law
Trump Signs ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Into Law
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Daily Mail, New York Post, CBS News and The Japan Times
Zac Anderson / USA Today:
Trump signs megabill that slashes taxes, Medicaid while boosting national debt
Trump signs megabill that slashes taxes, Medicaid while boosting national debt
Discussion:
The Fulcrum, National Review, Reuters and The Texas Tribune
Scott Wong / NBC News:
Trump signs big tax cut and spending bill into law in July Fourth ceremony
Trump signs big tax cut and spending bill into law in July Fourth ceremony
Discussion:
Roll Call, Washington Times, CBS News, MSNBC and Reuters
Brendan Buck / New York Times:
Is This Really How We're Legislating Now? — Speaker Mike Johnson once again defied skeptics …
Is This Really How We're Legislating Now? — Speaker Mike Johnson once again defied skeptics …
Discussion:
Alternet.org, Washington Examiner, NBC News and Punchbowl News
Zack Stanton / Politico:
Playbook: The fireworks begin
Playbook: The fireworks begin
Discussion:
New York Times and Washington Examiner

Don't call it ‘Alligator Alcatraz.’ Call it a concentration camp. — This facility's purpose fits the classic model, and its existence points to serious dangers ahead for the country. — By Andrea Pitzer, author of “One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps”
Discussion:
Alternet.org
RELATED:
Timothy Snyder / Thinking about:
Concentration Camp Labor

Trump's Politicized F.B.I. Has Made Americans Less Safe — Only 11 days after President Trump was inaugurated for a second term, his administration began a purge of the F.B.I. that now threatens some of the bureau's most important missions. His appointees ousted eight of its most experienced managers …
Discussion:
Just An Earth-Bound Misfit, I
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Critical Read About the BBB, Federalism and the Future of American Democracy … TPM Reader TS (Harvard sociologist/political scientist Theda Skocpol) and I often compared notes on the news of the day and I am always particularly attentive to her thoughts on state structure and power.

Texas Officials Blame Agency Gutted by Trump for Results of Deadly Storm — Experts warned for months about cuts to NWS and NOAA — As the best and the brightest were being fired at the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration by senseless …
Discussion:
The Mahablog

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Makes Herself Heard, Prompting a Rebuke — In solo dissents this term, the justice accused the conservative majority of lawless bias. On the term's last day, Justice Amy Coney Barrett fired back. — Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote just five majority opinions …
Discussion:
NewsNation and Whittier Daily News
RELATED:
Justin Jouvenal / Washington Post:
One of the Supreme Court's sharpest critics sits on it
One of the Supreme Court's sharpest critics sits on it
Discussion:
USA Today

‘The vehicle suddenly accelerated with our baby in it’: the terrifying truth about why Tesla's cars keep crashing — Elon Musk is obsessive about the design of his supercars, right down to the disappearing door handles. But a series of shocking incidents - from drivers trapped in burning vehicles …
Discussion:
Eschaton

Frantic Search for the Missing After At Least Six Killed in Texas Flood — The authorities confirmed that people had died as a result of the flooding along the Guadalupe River, but the scope of the disaster was not immediately clear. — At least six people were killed and frantic searches …
Discussion:
The Hill, Associated Press, New York Post, NBC News, Fox News, Texas Standard, NewsNation, KSAT-TV, The Guardian, APA.AZ, Salon, Washington Examiner, WTTG-TV, Breitbart, KPNX, KARE-TV, Metro.co.uk, CBS News, WBIR-TV and NewsMax.com
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Trump ramps up deportation spectacle with new stunts and ICE funding … - It's an extraordinary shift from Trump's first term, when nationwide backlash and the appearance of cruelty forced the administration to abandon its family separation policy for unauthorized immigrants.
Discussion:
Al Jazeera, Rolling Stone and Talking Points Memo

Trump tariff letters going to a dozen countries Monday — President Trump said the U.S. will begin sending letters Monday to other countries setting a tariff rate on their imports. … - For businesses craving certainty, who've had a period of relative calm of late, the move could once again upset that balance.
Discussion:
Euractiv, NewsMax.com, The Guardian, Forbes, HuffPost, Semafor and USA Today

Trump DOJ Drops Cases Against Top MS-13 Leaders — The deal with Bukele comes with significant strings attached, it turns out. — When foreign criminals commit serious crimes in the United States, and particularly if they are leaders of violent transnational organizations who orchestrate …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars

Congo Braces for HIV Surge After U.S. Funding Stops — The virus is quickly spreading in what should be the country's most economically productive regions — The mineral-rich provinces of South and North Kivu along the eastern flank of the Democratic Republic of Congo should be among its most productive.

No One is ‘Gutting’ the Safety Net — The GOP will have to rebut the Democratic and media distortions about their reforms or lose the 2026 election. — Democrats and their media collaborators always distort GOP policy, but the coverage about the big budget bill has kicked free of the earth.
Discussion:
Fox News

What Trump—And the U.S.—Can't Understand About Air Strikes — American leaders refuse to learn from allies and overestimate the benefits of showy tactical attacks. — When Donald Trump ordered air strikes on key Iranian nuclear-enrichment sites last month and immediately declared …

Judge transfers new case challenging South Sudan deportations — An administrative stay issued Friday morning will last until 4:30 p.m. Further action would have to come from Massachusetts. Read the new claims at Law Dork. — After a hearing on Friday, U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss transferred …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and Raw Story
RELATED:

CIA admits shadowy officer monitored Oswald before JFK assassination, new records reveal … - The linchpin document: A Jan. 17, 1963, CIA memo showing Joannides was directed to have an alias and fake driver's license bearing the name “Howard Gebler.” — Until Thursday …