Top Items:
Politico:
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 …
Discussion:
Fox News, The Daily Signal, Townhall, The Daily Wire and Washington Times
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Michael T. Nietzel / Washington Monthly:
Higher Ed's Affordability Problem Isn't Just the Price — It's increasingly apparent that public support for the nation's colleges and universities has eroded over the past few years. While some of the disillusionment reflects the impact of conservative attacks on higher education …
Discussion:
New Yorker, The Portland Press Herald and Strada Education Foundation
U.S. Department of Education:
U.S. Department of Education Opens Title IX Investigation into All-Women's Smith College for Admitting Men — Today, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) opened an investigation into Smith College, one of the nation's largest all-women's colleges …
Discussion:
The Guardian, Washington Examiner, Advocate, The Daily Caller, NewsMax.com, Washington Post, CNN and The Hill
James LaPorta / CBS News:
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 …
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Post, CNBC, 19FortyFive, Stars & Stripes, Fox News, Politico, Human Events, Jewish Insider, Washington Examiner, The Guardian, One America News Network, Asia Times, Associated Press, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, NewsMax.com, Ace of Spades HQ, HotAir, Deccan Chronicle, KTLA, Reuters, Responsible Statecraft, Middle East Monitor, New York Times, Washington Times, CNN, Task & Purpose and NBC News
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Politico:
Hegseth says battle for Hormuz is ‘separate and distinct’ from the Iran war … The mission in the strait, dubbed Project Freedom, is “defensive in nature, focused in scope and temporary in duration,” Hegseth said at a press conference with Caine. “We're not allowing ourselves to get distracted.”
Discussion:
Axios, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera and The Daily Signal
Alexander Ward / Wall Street Journal:
Attacks on U.S. Warships in Strait Test Trump's Desire to End Iran War
Attacks on U.S. Warships in Strait Test Trump's Desire to End Iran War
Discussion:
NOTUS, HotAir, GB News, HuffPost, The American Conservative and The Daily Signal
Filip Timotija / The Hill:
Hegseth says ceasefire is not over, Project Freedom ‘churn’ was expected
Hegseth says ceasefire is not over, Project Freedom ‘churn’ was expected
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Reuters, New York Times, Stars & Stripes, The Daily Caller, IJR and CNN
Jordain Carney / Politico:
Trump ballroom project security funding included in $72B GOP enforcement bill … “The White House applauds Congress's latest proposal in its reconciliation package which includes additional funding for security infrastructure upgrades in relation to the long overdue East Wing Modernization Project …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Scripps News, The Hill, Fox News, Daily Caller News Foundation, Washington Times, Roll Call and Raw Story
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Dan Pfeiffer / The Message Box:
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.
Discussion:
To the Contrary
Igor Bobic / NOTUS:
Senate Republicans Seek $1 Billion for White House Ballroom Security
Senate Republicans Seek $1 Billion for White House Ballroom Security
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Bloomberg, New Republic, Deseret News and MS NOW
Paul Krugman:
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.
Discussion:
The Nation
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New York Times:
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.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Pluribus News, Talking Points Memo, SCOTUSblog, JONATHAN TURLEY, The Guardian and Democracy Docket
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Marc Novicoff / The Atlantic:
The House of Representatives Is Turning Into the Electoral College
Discussion:
Democracy Docket, New Republic, Associated Press, Palm Beach Post, Liberal Currents and Wisconsin Examiner
Noah Berlatsky / Public Notice:
How Democrats can avenge the demise of the VRA
How Democrats can avenge the demise of the VRA
Discussion:
The Federalist
Jacob Knutson / Democracy Docket:
In major escalation, DOJ demands personal information of 2020 election workers in Georgia — Over three months after the FBI seized 2020 election materials from Fulton County, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is now seeking the identities and personal information of thousands of people who helped run the vote in the county.
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Ellen Barry / New York Times:
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 …
Discussion:
The Independent, STAT, The Federalist, NewsMax.com, NOTUS and Washington Examiner
Politico:
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.
Discussion:
NBC News, NewsMax.com and Raw Story
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Andrew Solender / Axios:
Infighting erupts as Democrats intervene in contested primaries
Infighting erupts as Democrats intervene in contested primaries
Discussion:
Fox News, CNN, The Maine Wire, RedState, Newsweek, Washington Examiner, The Guardian, Roll Call and NOTUS
Brian Todd / CNN:
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 …
Discussion:
Raw Story
The Hill:
Watch live: Trump signs proclamation from White House — President Trump on Tuesday morning will sign a proclamation from the Oval Office related to the Presidential Fitness Test. — Trump signed an executive order last July to bring back the test, which was replaced in 2013 …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner
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Catherine Lucey / Bloomberg:
Trump to Sign Memo Bringing Back Presidential Fitness Test Award
Trump to Sign Memo Bringing Back Presidential Fitness Test Award
Discussion:
Fox News
Wall Street Journal:
Trump Accuses Pope Leo of Endangering Catholics by Opposing Iran War — The president's criticism adds to tensions ahead of Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit to the Vatican — ROME—President Trump escalated his public feud with Pope Leo XIV, accusing the pontiff of endangering Catholics …
Discussion:
RNS, The Guardian, The Independent, New York Times, The Daily Wire, New Republic, Townhall, Breitbart, Washington Examiner, Washington Times, Agenzia ANSA and Politico
Joshua Keating / Vox:
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.
Discussion:
The Guardian and Al Jazeera
Raquel Rutledge / ProPublica:
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 …
Thomas B. Edsall / New York Times:
'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.
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money
Ashleigh Fields / The Hill:
250+ Democrats urge Supreme Court to overturn abortion pill ruling — A majority of Democrats in the House and Senate submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court on Monday seeking to protect access to the abortion pill mifepristone. — Forty-seven Democratic senators and 212 House members urged …
Discussion:
Bangor Daily News, WBUR, Forbes, The Portland Press Herald, Fox News, Mother Jones, MPR News, The Nation, NPR and Politico
Financial Times:
Vladimir Putin hunkers down for fear of assassination — Security around Russia's president tightens after audacious drone attacks from Ukraine
Discussion:
NewsMax.com, GB News, Reuters and Semafor
Media Matters for America:
“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”
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Reuters:
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 …
Discussion:
Media Matters for America, The Independent and Responsible Statecraft
John Yoon / New York Times:
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 …
New York Times:
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 …

