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 …

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 …

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.”

Alabama legislative committees approve GOP gerrymanders despite ongoing primary election  —  Alabama lawmakers took initial votes Tuesday giving the greenlight to legislation that would change congressional and state senate district maps in primary elections that are already underway.

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 Is Losing a Second War  —  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.  In mainland Europe as a whole, EV sales are up 51 percent from a year ago.

Fox's “nuke” justification for the Iran war — and the higher prices it's wrought — has collapsed  —  Fox pundits have repeatedly argued that the Iran war's costs are “a small price to pay” for its supposed prevention of the imminent threat posed by Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon.

DOJ Offers Lawyers $25,000 Signing Bonuses as Recruitment Lags  —  The Justice Department is taking a new tack to overcome hurdles in attracting qualified legal talent: offering $25,000 signing bonuses to staff an office investigating youth transgender treatments and litigating the Trump administration's immigration agenda.

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.

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 …

Trump Pressures FDA Commissioner to Approve Flavored Vapes  —  Marty Makary has been on thin ice with the White House in recent days  —  WASHINGTON—A frustrated President Trump over the weekend upbraided Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary for not moving quickly enough …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Ukraine's fight against Russia is going better than you might think  —  “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.  “There's so many people being killed, it's so ridiculous.”

SEC moves to scrap quarterly reporting requirement  —  Wall Street watchdog suggests allowing public companies to file semi-annual reports  —  Wall Street's top watchdog has proposed scrapping mandatory quarterly reporting for US-listed companies, a sweeping move that has the potential …

'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.

A Conspiracy Theory We Can All Believe In  —  How do Democrats win the crazy person vote?  —  ∙ Paid  —  1. True Lies  —  On The Focus Group this week, Sarah heard from lots of voters—Republicans and Democrats—who think the latest alleged assassination attempt on Donald Trump was not on the level.