Top Items:
G. Elliott Morris / Strength In Numbers:
The simple statistical error Republican Supreme Court justices used to gut the VRA — The Court says vote dilution can be proven only after “controlling” racial polarization for partisan polarization. This is a nonsensical and impossible test … The six Republican-appointed justices …
Discussion:
The Downballot
Carol Leonnig / MS NOW:
Kash Patel ordered polygraphs of more than two dozen members of his team, sources say — FBI Director Kash Patel ordered the polygraphing of more than two dozen former and current members of his security detail, as well as other staff, and has been described as being in panic mode to save …
Discussion:
Zeteo, Raw Story, Poynter, Law and Chaos, The Independent, Meidas+, emptywheel, Mediaite, NewsMax.com, twitchy.com and The Atlantic
New York Times:
Trade Court Rules Trump's 10% Global Tariff Is Illegal — A panel of federal judges found that President Trump could not legally impose the tariff on most imports. — A panel of federal judges on Thursday found President Trump had violated the law when he imposed a 10 percent tariff on most U.S. imports …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Reuters, Deseret News, Politico, Liberty Justice Center, UPI and Raw Story
RELATED:
Scott Horsley / NPR:
Trade court strikes down a second round of Trump tariffs
Discussion:
The Dispatch and Roll Call
Wall Street Journal:
Rule of Law 2, Trump's Tariffs 0
Rule of Law 2, Trump's Tariffs 0
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, New Republic, Reason, Raw Story, Washington Times, Independent Institute, NOTUS and Los Angeles Times
Associated Press:
Federal court rules against new global tariffs Trump imposed after loss at the Supreme Court
Federal court rules against new global tariffs Trump imposed after loss at the Supreme Court
Discussion:
Straight Arrow News, Reason, Politico, ABC News, SCOTUSblog, DNYUZ, New York Sun, CBS News, Deccan Chronicle, All Rise News, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Townhall, New Jersey Office …, The Independent, Forbes, Axios, Talking Points Memo, NewsMax.com, New York Times, The Hill, Washington Examiner, KEYT-TV, PoliticusUSA, The Japan Times, The Gateway Pundit, Scripps News and Mediaite
The Guardian:
Supreme court's Voting Rights Act ruling cited misleading data from DoJ — Exclusive: Data in justice department filing quoted by Samuel Alito in his opinion relied on unusual methodology, a Guardian analysis has found — The claims Samuel Alito, a supreme court justice …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Punchbowl News:
5/8/26☀️ AM: … Several House and Senate Republicans are privately raising alarms about the money and the political pitfalls of funding anything related to Trump's controversial ballroom, even as the White House, administration officials and GOP leaders insist the $1 billion is only for security.
Discussion:
Breaking Defense, Raw Story, WACH-TV, The Portland Press Herald and Daily Montanan
RELATED:
Oren Cass / New York Times:
Is Trump About to Invite In the Biggest Predator in the World? — “If you look at my old speeches when I was young, very handsome,” President Trump said while announcing his “Liberation Day” tariffs last year, “I'd be on a television show. I'd be talking about how we were being ripped off.”
Discussion:
Raw Story
RELATED:
Associated Press:
UAE reports drone and missile attack after US says it traded fire with Iran — The United Arab Emirates said it responded to another Iranian missile barrage on Friday, hours after the U.S. said it traded fire with Iranian forces in the Strait of Hormuz, in the latest blows to a shaky month-old ceasefire.
Discussion:
Straight Arrow News, New York Times, WXIA-TV, Washington Examiner, MS NOW, Associated Press, News Talk 105.9 and Semafor
RELATED:
Dave Collins / Associated Press:
Judge rules Trump administration's cancellation of humanities grants was unconstitutional — The Trump administration's cancellation of more than $100 million in humanities grants to scholars, writers, research groups and other organizations was unconstitutional, and the Department …
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Post, ABC News, Reuters, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, RedState and CBS News
RELATED:
Zoe Tillman / Bloomberg:
DOGE Slammed by Judge for AI Use in Cutting $100 Million
DOGE Slammed by Judge for AI Use in Cutting $100 Million
Discussion:
The Parnas Perspective, more at Techmeme »
Joshua Yaffa / New Yorker:
For Putin, Problems (and Paranoia) Keep Mounting — Drone attacks, internet blackouts, and a sudden downturn in the economy have led some prominent Russians to start openly questioning their President's grip on power. — In recent months, the normally placid waters of Russian politics …
Discussion:
HuffPost and NewsMax.com
RELATED:
Will Bunch / The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Did Amazon just deliver a blow to Josh Shapiro's White House dreams? — There are many hurdles facing Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro if he truly hopes to make the transition from a popular governor, seemingly cruising toward reelection this November, to a Democratic presidential contender in 2028.
Catherine Bouris / The Daily Beast:
MAGA Rep Accused of Brutally Beating GOP Senator's Daughter — FAMILY TRAUMA — Rep. Max Miller was elected in 2022 and previously served in the Trump administration. — A MAGA congressman has been accused of years of physical abuse against his ex-wife, the daughter of a prominent Republican senator.
Discussion:
Charleston Daily Mail, DNYUZ and Raw Story
Reuters:
UK's Labour Party suffers heavy early losses as Reform gains in elections — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed on Friday to stay in office to “deliver change” after his Labour Party suffered heavy losses in local elections that deepened doubts over his ability to govern.
Discussion:
New York Times, Associated Press, HuffPost, The Gateway Pundit, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, Modern Diplomacy, RTÉ, Foreign Policy, HotAir, GB News, The Daily Sceptic and The Guardian
RELATED:
Tom Rees / Bloomberg:
London Vote Offers Snapshot of Fractured and Fractious UK
London Vote Offers Snapshot of Fractured and Fractious UK
Discussion:
Al Jazeera
Gillian Tett / Financial Times:
Humans still matter more than AI in finance — Recruiting digital natives with critical thinking skills is going to be crucial — A few months ago a New York financier told me he had just experienced a “first”: his 2025 summer interns “were the first true AI natives I have seen”.
Fox News:
Trump admin releases highly anticipated files documenting UFOs, ‘extraterrestrial life’ — Release includes Apollo operator transcripts describing ‘jagged, angular fragments’ seen from the spacecraft — FIRST ON FOX — The Trump administration on Friday released a batch of “never-before-seen” …
Discussion:
CBS News, Associated Press, Washington Examiner, Charleston Daily Mail, Washington Times, The Wrap, GB News, UNILAD, The Post Millennial and KEYT-TV
Al Jazeera:
Iran claims to have seized ‘offending’ oil tanker in Gulf of Oman — State TV releases a video of IRGC forces boarding and detaining the Barbados-flagged vessel, Ocean Koi. — Add Al Jazeera on Google — Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claims to have captured an oil tanker …
Discussion:
Reuters
John Fetterman / Washington Post:
I haven't changed. Here's what has. — Working across the aisle is the only way forward. — John Fetterman, a Democrat, is a U.S. senator from Pennsylvania. — Many might not know, but I won my first race by a single vote to be mayor of Braddock, a small steel town …
Discussion:
The Hill, New York Times, Politico, Townhall, RedState, New York Post, NewsMax.com and Althouse
Elina Shirazi / Charleston Daily Mail:
New DHS chief already humiliated as insiders make demeaning ‘queen’ comparison... and nasty infighting over Kristi Noem's replacement begins — When Markwayne Mullin attempted to install his personal pick to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement inside the Department of Homeland Security, the White House shot it down immediately.
Lisa Needham / Public Notice:
Stephen Miller's closed system of white supremacy — PN is supported by paid subscribers. Become one ⬇️ — 🔁 Subscribe to PN 🔁 — Working in the Trump administration these days is no doubt a dream come true for Stephen Miller.
New York Times:
We're at the Dawn of the Ozempic Era — and It's Really Weird — This is an edited transcript of “The Ezra Klein Show.” You can listen to the episode wherever you get your podcasts. — Here's a number from a KFF poll that actually shocked me when I learned it: One out of eight American adults is taking a GLP-1.
Discussion:
Deseret News
Oliver Darcy / Status:
Paramount's Paper Trail … Early on Thursday afternoon, Paramount's chief legal officer, Makan Delrahim, received a letter from lawyers representing Freedom of the Press Foundation and Reporters Without Borders—both organizations of which are shareholders in the David Ellison-owned media conglomerate.
Discussion:
DNYUZ and Los Angeles Times, more at Mediagazer »
Darlene Superville / Associated Press:
Trump drives across Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to inspect new blue coating he's putting on it — President Donald Trump on Thursday went on an unannounced trip to the Lincoln Memorial to see the Reflecting Pool after he had it coated in a color he calls “American flag blue.”
Discussion:
Mediaite, Washington Examiner, The Independent, New Yorker and The Gateway Pundit
Politico:
Graham Platner targets fuel tax, Big Oil in energy plan … “Nine hundred dollars more. That is what the average Maine household paid this winter compared to the year before — just to heat the house, keep the lights on, and get to work,” Platner, a Marine veteran and oyster farmer, says in the plan obtained exclusively by POLITICO.
Discussion:
Bangor Daily News, New York Times and Washington Examiner
New York Times:
U.S. Schools Face a Crisis as the Number of Children Drops — With fewer students, many public school districts are confronting unfilled classrooms, and hard choices about school closures. — As American women have fewer babies each year, the number of young children in the United States is dwindling.
Discussion:
Christian Science Monitor, American Greatness and Local News Matters
Alex Roarty / NOTUS:
Thomas Massie Is Really In Danger of Losing His Seat — Allies of the occasional Trump adversary acknowledge his race is tightening, just as Trump's intraparty dominance reemerges. — Copy — Republican Rep. Thomas Massie's lead in his primary later this month is slipping …
Discussion:
Washington Times, MeidasTouch, The Dispatch and Washington Examiner
Jessica Hill / Associated Press:
USPS considers allowing people to ship handguns through the mail — Handguns could be mailed through the United States Postal Service for the first time in nearly 100 years if a proposed rule under the Trump administration takes effect. Democratic attorneys general in two dozen states sent a letter this week in opposition.
Discussion:
Straight Arrow News, BizPac Review, DNYUZ, The Hill, Washington Times, Mediaite, KTLA and WJBK-TV
Elsa Ohlen / CNBC:
Marco Rubio says U.S. expects Iran response on peace deal ‘today’ — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the U.S. is expecting a response on Friday from Iran on the proposal to end the war. — “We should know something today... we're expecting a response from them,” …
Discussion:
Straight Arrow News, Bloomberg, Washington Times, Asia Times and Modern Diplomacy


