Education Department opens probe into Smith College for admitting trans women … Smith College, a private liberal arts school founded in 1871, has admitted trans women since 2015, along with many other elite women's colleges.  —  The school's admission policies drew attention and sparked …

2 U.S. Navy destroyers transit Strait of Hormuz after dodging Iranian onslaught  —  Add CBS News on Google  —  Washington — Two U.S. Navy destroyers transited the Strait of Hormuz and entered the Persian Gulf after navigating an Iranian barrage, according to defense officials who spoke …

Supreme Court Agrees to Fast-Track Louisiana Voting Map Decision  —  Louisiana voters who successfully challenged the state's voting map as an illegal racial gerrymander had asked the justices to quickly return the case to the lower courts, clearing the way for a new map.

Trump Is Losing a Second War  —  The Iran debacle is accelerating the shift away from fossil fuels  —  Last month, out of more than 11,000 new passenger vehicles registered in Norway, only around 150 had internal consumption engines.  The rest were fully electric.

How Trump Turned His Ballroom into a Midterm Gift for Democrats  —  Trump says he can't afford childcare but wants to use your tax dollars to build a ballroom/  —  How leaders respond in moments of crisis tells you everything about their values and priorities.

Exclusive: VA conducted internal investigations into employees who attended vigil for Alex Pretti  —  Federal agencies Veterans Labor unions  —  For days after the killing of Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, fellow workers for the Department of Veterans Affairs held vigils …

We're about to find out whether Trump is kingmaker or lame duck … The results will reveal how effective the president's political operation is at turning out Republicans when Trump is not on the ballot, and how motivated MAGA is to go along with his ongoing retribution campaign.

Trump to Sign Memo Bringing Back Presidential Fitness Test Award  —  President Donald Trump is slated to sign a memorandum Tuesday that brings back the Presidential Fitness Test Award, according to a White House official, part of a broader effort by the administration to revamp US public health policies.

Prosecutors Had a Drugs-for-Votes Scheme “Locked Up.”  Under Trump, They Were Told Not to Pursue Charges.  —  To the narcotics agents investigating drug smuggling in Puerto Rico prisons, it seemed at first like a typical scheme: associates of an inmate gang sneaking drugs into the prison …

Kennedy Starts a Push to Help Americans Quit Antidepressants  —  The health secretary has long complained that Americans overuse psychiatric medications.  New policies he is introducing aim to change that.  —  Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday announced several initiatives intended …

“You have to fight, not fold”: Angelo Carusone discusses Media Matters' victory against the Federal Trade Commission  —  Carusone: “They hope everybody folds because the process is the punishment, and that paves the way for them to do it to more people and exert power, especially over the media”

Exclusive: US intelligence indicates limited new damage to Iran's nuclear program, sources say  —  U.S. intelligence assessments indicate that the time Iran would need to build a nuclear weapon has not changed since last summer, when analysts estimated that a U.S.-Israeli attack had pushed …

U.S. Military Strikes Boat in Caribbean, Killing 2  —  The aerial strike raised the death toll to at least 187 in the U.S. campaign against boats the Trump administration accuses of smuggling drugs.  —  The U.S. military said on Monday that it had struck another boat in the Caribbean Sea …

Ukraine's fight against Russia is going better than you might think  —  The war in Iran looked like a gift for Russia.  It hasn't worked out that way. … “I suggested a little bit of a ceasefire, and I think he might do that,” President Donald Trump told reporters this week after a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The age of the American Pharaoh  —  It would be strange if dynastic succession were not on Trump's mind  —  Were America's 25th amendment to be used on Donald Trump, his ejectors would surely cite the monuments he is building to himself.  “Me,” was Trump's answer about the object of his proposed 250ft triumphal arch in Washington.

Trump Tries to Downplay Economic Effects of the Iran War  —  At a White House event for Small Business Week, he described the economy as “roaring” and predicted that gas prices would go down soon.  —  Facing pressure to address the economic fallout of his war in Iran, President Trump …

'When You Think of It, We Shouldn't Even Have an Election'  —  President Trump hates to lose.  —  Heading into the 2026 midterm elections, you can't say that the president hasn't warned us, over and over, that he will do all he can to prevent the congressional contests from turning into a humiliating Republican rout.

Vladimir Putin hunkers down for fear of assassination  —  Security around Russia's president tightens after audacious drone attacks from Ukraine

Ken Paxton Narrowly Leads John Cornyn in Bruising Texas GOP Race  —  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton held a slim edge over incumbent John Cornyn in a new poll as the state's bitter Republican Senate primary nears its finale.  —  Paxton led Cornyn 48% to 45% among likely GOP voters …

Inside the heated clash over the DHS ‘master plan’ for deportations  —  A new book, “Undue Process: The Inside Story of Trump's Mass Deportation Program,” details a tense fight over how to carry out Trump's immigration agenda  —  WASHINGTON — Homeland Security immigration leaders disagreed …

It'll be years before Americans get used to higher prices — and politicians can't just wait it out  —  Consumers will eventually adjust, but in the meantime, they'll keep punishing leaders who don't act  —  Strength In Numbers is a reader-supported publication.

Trump Administration Demands Names of 2020 Election Workers in Georgia  —  The Justice Department again appears to be using the investigative power of the federal government to rehash debunked claims that Democrats stole the 2020 election.  —  The Justice Department has demanded the identities …

Trump's New European Car Tariffs Demonstrate Why His ‘Deals’ Are Worthless  —  When President Donald Trump struck a trade deal with the European Union in July, officials on both sides stressed how it would ensure long-term stability to trans-Atlantic trade.  —  The Trump administration called …

'They're spinning': Republicans, grappling with midterm anxiety, go negative … And while Trump has never shied away from blaming the opposition, especially his predecessors, his tendency to deviate from his message — to talk about the new White House ballroom, the reflecting pool or the construction of his …