Top Items:
Greg Sargent / New Republic:
Trump Wins Big as Virginia Dems Won't Go Nuclear to Save 4 House Seats — Top Virginia Democrats have decided against exercising a controversial procedural end run around last week's state Supreme Court ruling that struck down their redistricting, which wiped away a gain of four House seats …
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New Republic:
Transcript: Trump Blurts Out Plot to Rig Midterms as Polls Turn Brutal — The following is a lightly edited transcript of the May 11 episode of The Daily Blast podcast. Listen to it here. — Greg Sargent: This is The Daily Blast from The New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR Network.
Discussion:
The Contrarian and Townhall
Brian Beutler / Off Message:
Republican Judges Leave Democrats No Choice But To Escalate
Discussion:
Politico, Slate and NewsMax.com
Andy Craig / The UnPopulist:
The VRA Ruling Might Have Handed Republicans a Weapon to Attempt a Jan. 6-style Midterm Coup
The VRA Ruling Might Have Handed Republicans a Weapon to Attempt a Jan. 6-style Midterm Coup
Discussion:
Democracy Docket and Raw Story
Jonathan Martin / Politico:
Trump's Redistricting Push Could Cost Republicans More Than It Gains
Trump's Redistricting Push Could Cost Republicans More Than It Gains
Discussion:
The Bulwark, The Contrarian, Raw Story and Mediaite
Nick Corasaniti / New York Times:
Why Republicans Are Still Drawing House Maps, While Democrats Are Stuck
Why Republicans Are Still Drawing House Maps, While Democrats Are Stuck
Paul Waldman / Public Notice:
This is a crisis of democracy. What will Dems do about it?
This is a crisis of democracy. What will Dems do about it?
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money and twitchy.com
New York Times:
Virginia Officials Ask Supreme Court to Restore Voting Map Drawn by Democrats
Virginia Officials Ask Supreme Court to Restore Voting Map Drawn by Democrats
Discussion:
Associated Press, RedState, The Hill, CBS News, Bloomberg, Roll Call, Townhall, Raw Story, Blue Virginia, Washington Times, Virginia Scope, New York Sun, MS NOW, The Guardian, BizPac Review, The Daily Wire and Cardinal News
Gregory S. Schneider / Washington Post:
Virginia Democrats appeal to U.S. Supreme Court to save new House maps
Jen Rice / Democracy Docket:
Supreme Court greenlights 11th-hour Alabama redistricting plan for 2026 election — The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has allowed Alabama to select a different map for this year's congressional elections in a stunning, last-minute move to interfere with another state primary election that has already begun.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, New York Post, CNN, The Guardian, RedState, Talking Points Memo, Townhall and SCOTUSblog
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Associated Press:
Supreme Court halts order for Alabama to use US House map with 2 largely Black districts — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday set the stage for Alabama to get rid of one of two largely Black congressional districts before this year's midterm elections, creating an opening for Republicans …
Discussion:
CNN, Reuters, New York Times, Washington Post, The Hill, NBC News, CBS News, Washington Times, Mississippi Free Press, The Gateway Pundit and GV Wire
Steve Vladeck / One First:
227. “We're All Trying to Find the Guy Who Did This”
New York Times:
Reflecting Pool Repairs to Cost $13.1 Million. Trump Had Promised $1.8 Million. — The Interior Department added $6.2 million to the no-bid contract for repairs to the Lincoln Memorial pool late last week. — President Trump said that his handpicked contractor would charge only $1.8 million …
Discussion:
NBC News, The Hill, TCLF, The Daily Caller, The Architect's Newspaper, MS NOW, Washingtonian, CBS News, Daily Kos, Raw Story, The Independent, New Republic and Mediaite
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Dan Diamond / Washington Post:
Nonprofit sues to stop Trump's changes to Reflecting Pool, a historic site
Nonprofit sues to stop Trump's changes to Reflecting Pool, a historic site
Discussion:
NOTUS, CNN, WTTG-TV, Associated Press, twitchy.com, HuffPost, PBS NewsHour and Politico
Nancy Cordes / CBS News:
Trump says he aims to suspend gas tax “for a period of time” — Add CBS News on Google — Washington — President Trump said in a phone interview with CBS News Monday morning that he aims to suspend the federal gas tax “for a period of time.” — “I think it's a great idea,” the president said.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, NOTUS, New York Post, Axios, KEYT-TV, Al Jazeera, MS NOW, CNBC, Washington Examiner, Florida Politics, NewsMax.com, Daily Kos, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Deseret News, ABC News, The Guardian, Chicago Sun Times, NBC News, WLTX-TV, WCSH, The Post Millennial, FOX 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth, NPR, The Hill, RedState, New York Magazine, The Independent, Politico, Business Insider, New Republic, Washington Times, The Daily Wire, Straight Arrow News, Bangor Daily News, Mediaite and FOX 32 Chicago
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Bloomberg:
Trump Floats Temporary US Gas Tax Halt as Pump Prices Soar
Discussion:
The Independent, CBS News, NewsMax.com, U.S. Home, WTTG-TV, The Hill, New York Times, UPI and Fox News
Isaac Arnsdorf / Washington Post:
Trump seeks to pause federal gas tax as prices soar amid Iran conflict
Trump seeks to pause federal gas tax as prices soar amid Iran conflict
Discussion:
CBS News, Townhall, Washington Examiner, Algemeiner.com, Reuters, New York Post, Scripps News, The Hill and Axios
Wall Street Journal:
Trump's Complaints About Iran War Leaks Prompt Aggressive DOJ Investigations — President Trump privately complained to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche about media leaks in the wake of the Iran war last month, according to administration officials familiar with the matter …
Discussion:
NewsMax.com, Raw Story and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »
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Thomas Frank / Politico:
Trump picks Cameron Hamilton to run FEMA — The president nominated the man he fired as leader of the nation's disaster agency a year ago. — Cameron Hamilton testifies on Capitol Hill last year before he was fired as acting administrator of FEMA. President Donald Trump nominated him Monday to lead the agency again.
Discussion:
New York Times, Federal News Network, NewsMax.com and Raw Story
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Gabriela Aoun Angueira / Associated Press:
Trump nominates Cameron Hamilton to lead FEMA, a year after he was fired from the role
Trump nominates Cameron Hamilton to lead FEMA, a year after he was fired from the role
Discussion:
NOTUS and The Gateway Pundit
The White House:
Nominations and Withdrawal Sent to the Senate — NOMINATIONS SENT TO THE SENATE: — Francis Brooke, of Virginia, to be Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. — Cameron Hamilton, of Virginia, to be Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Washington Examiner, Scripps News, The Hill, Bloomberg, Raw Story and Deseret News
New York Times:
Kennedy Is Driving a Vast Inquiry Into Vaccines, Despite His New Silence on the Issue … Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said little publicly about vaccines in recent months, at the behest of a White House worried that his unpopular stance will hurt Republicans in November's midterm elections.
Liam Scott / Washington Post:
Many Americans think Trump assassination attempts were fake, survey finds — About 1 in 4 say the correspondents' dinner shooting was staged, the poll found, including roughly a third of Democrats, as conspiracy theories spread widely online. — Summary — About 1 in 4 Americans …
Discussion:
Newsbusters, Florida Politics, Ace of Spades HQ, RedState, Raw Story, The Independent, HotAir, Straight Arrow News, The Hill, Althouse and Mediaite
RELATED:
Elena Moore / NPR:
New poll finds a majority of Americans unsure if attempts on Trump's life were real
New poll finds a majority of Americans unsure if attempts on Trump's life were real
Discussion:
The Hill, The Daily Caller, Mediaite and LifeNews.com
theRighting:
Traffic to Truth Social Soars 45% in April While Other News Websites Decline — Trump-Controlled Platform Vaults to #2 in Traffic for First Time Ever — Year-over-year (YOY) visits in April to the Trump-controlled Truth Social rose 45%, while almost every news website monitored by TheRighting experienced declines.
Steve Benen / MS NOW:
The problem(s) with the transportation secretary's tone-deaf reality series — Sean Duffy's return to reality programming isn't just a political mess, it also raises unavoidable ethical questions. — Just two weeks into Donald Trump's second term, Axios published a report noting …
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New York Post:
Arcadia mayor Eileen Wang admits acting as Chinese spy, running fake news website with ex-lover in shocking plea deal — The former mayor of Arcadia resigned after admitting to acting as an illegal foreign agent of China in a federal plea deal unsealed on Monday.
Discussion:
Associated Press, US Department of Justice, Ace of Spades HQ, The Post Millennial, ABC7 and Los Angeles Times
Gary Sernovitz / New York Times:
'Bill Cassidy Sold His Soul to the Devil, and He Didn't Get Anything for It' — On Saturday, we'll get some data on how yet another Trump Tragedy will end. Recent polls put Bill Cassidy, the senator from Louisiana, in third place heading into the first round of the Republican primary here.
Discussion:
Newsweek, Townhall and Lawyers, Guns & Money
RELATED:
Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
People Want What They Want — 1. The People — Sarah had Tim on The Focus Group this weekend.
People Want What They Want — 1. The People — Sarah had Tim on The Focus Group this weekend.
Discussion:
The Atlantic
Brandi Buchman / HuffPost:
Trump Gets 3 ‘Fully Functional’ Arcade Games Erected At D.C. War Memorial — See scenes from Secret Handshake's games depicting FBI Director Kash Patel, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the pope and others. — Secret Handshake, the group responsible for erecting statues around Washington …
Discussion:
Gizmodo, The Independent, MS NOW and Wired
Erica Orden / Politico:
Top federal prosecutor in New York committed misconduct, watchdog says … A request for comment left with Sarcone's office wasn't immediately returned. — Though the letter didn't disclose the conduct in question, a complaint by the watchdog organization, Campaign for Accountability …
Discussion:
All Rise News, The Intercept and Raw Story
Andrew Solender / Axios:
Inside the wild fight to oust a top GOP Trump critic — The fight between Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and President Trump-backed rival Ed Gallrein is now the most expensive U.S. House primary in history — and it's one of the nastiest, too. … - One pro-Gallrein super PAC ad features …
Discussion:
Raw Story, HuffPost, Washington Examiner, Mediaite and The Daily Signal, more at Mediagazer »
Nicholas Kristof / New York Times:
The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians … It's a simple proposition: Whatever our views of the Middle East conflict, we should be able to unite in condemning rape. — Supporters of Israel made that point after the brutal sexual assaults against Israeli women during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Discussion:
twitchy.com
Wall Street Journal:
Trump Clears Way for More Beef Imports, Aiming to Bring Down Record-High Prices — The administration is suspending tariff-rate quotas on all beef-exporting nations; beef prices have climbed steadily since Trump took office — The Trump administration is opening the way to import more steaks …
Discussion:
The Bulwark, NBC News, NOTUS, Politico, GV Wire, Bloomberg, NewsMax.com and Raw Story
Shannon Pettypiece / NBC News:
The families going hungry because of Trump's food stamp cuts — Under President Donald Trump's “big, beautiful bill,” food stamp applicants are fighting to prove eligibility and facing questions about birthday gifts sent over Zelle. A crisis in Arizona offers a warning for America.
Discussion:
New Republic and Al Jazeera
The Atlantic:
Stephen Miller in Retreat — Just hours before Stephen Miller arrived at the Mar-a-Lago ballroom on New Year's Eve—where he would welcome 2026 by dancing next to the soon-to-be-defenestrated homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, as the 1990s cultural relic Vanilla Ice performed—he won a great, though ultimately fleeting, victory.
Discussion:
The Independent, New Republic, Raw Story, Adam Kinzinger and Mediaite
David McAfee / Raw Story:
Trump official rages at legendary basketball star: ‘What a selfish move’ — A Donald Trump admin official took the time Sunday night to chastise one of the greatest basketball legends in history. — It all started with a video posted by LA Mayor Karen Bass, who is currently in a fight …
Discussion:
New York Post, The Hill, RedState, IJR, The Gateway Pundit, Fox News and LGBTQ Nation
Bloomberg:
Navy Plans to Buy 15 Costly Trump-Class Battleships by 2055 — The US Navy said it plans to buy at least 15 new battleships endorsed by President Donald Trump over the next 30 years, according to its new shipbuilding plan, marking a deeper commitment than previously revealed to what could be the costliest warship ever produced.
Discussion:
USNI News
Claire Cain Miller / New York Times:
Why Two Big Companies Just Cut Paid Family Leave — Deloitte and Zoom are among the employers reducing support for working parents, signaling a retreat from a “golden age of benefits.” — Not long ago, employers were competing over who could be most generous in providing family-friendly benefits …
Discussion:
UPI, MS NOW, Washington Examiner, Straight Arrow News and Washington Post

