Top Items:
Nicole Winfield / Associated Press:
Vatican declares Society of St. Pius X in schism, excommunicates bishops and invalidates sacraments — The Vatican responded aggressively Thursday to a traditionalist group that consecrated bishops without the pope's consent, declaring the Society of St. Pius X had formally broken with the Catholic Church.
Discussion:
Vatican News, Reuters, Straight Arrow, CNN, Associated Press, Townhall, RNS, Al Jazeera, CBS News, America Magazine, fsspx.news, The Guardian, The Pillar, The Daily Caller, UPI, RTÉ, Fox News, New York Times, Blaze Media, NPR, The Gateway Pundit, GB News, Washington Examiner, New York Sun and India Today
Washington Post:
Donors were misled by Trump-backed Freedom 250, House Democrats allege — The lawmakers' report alleges that Trump allies worked to divert funds away from America250, a bipartisan effort to mark the nation's semiquincentennial. — Summary — Some donors who intended to give money …
Discussion:
New Republic, New York Sun, The Independent, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and GovExec.com
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Scott MacFarlane / MeidasTouch:
Democrats Allege Trump Allies ‘Misled Donors’ to Bankroll Freedom 250 — New Democratic report alleges Trump allies misled donors, hijacked America's 250th, and sold access for millions. — Add us on — A scathing new investigation alleges Trump allies misled donors, enriched fellow Trump allies …
Discussion:
Mother Jones
Amy B Wang / Washington Post:
Babies born this year will receive Social Security cards with 'Freedom 250′ logo — The cards look similar to the standard blue wallet-sized Social Security cards the agency has issued for decades, but they are stamped with the logo of the Trump-backed initiative.
Discussion:
NewsMax.com, One America News Network, The Daily Wire, Washington Examiner, The Hill and Fox News
Michael Luciano / Mediaite:
White House Officials Reportedly Deleted Photos of Trump Rally After President Became ‘Enraged’ by Poor Attendance — President Donald Trump became so enraged by photos of a small crowd at his rally kicking off the Great American State Fair that White House officials deleted the images …
Discussion:
CNN, Staff Stories, The Independent, Wonkette, New Republic and Raw Story
Jeff Cox / CNBC:
U.S. economy added 57,000 jobs in June, less than expected; unemployment rate at 4.2% — The U.S. economy saw job creation cool sharply heading into the summer, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday. — Nonfarm payrolls for June increased by a seasonally adjusted 57,000 for the month …
Discussion:
HotAir, Wall Street Journal, Scripps News, Staff Stories, Straight Arrow, Breitbart, MS NOW, UPI, NewsMax.com, Washington Examiner and Deadline
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Talmon Joseph Smith / New York Times:
Live Updates: U.S. Hiring Continues at a Steady Pace
Discussion:
Washington Post, Townhall, Raw Story and CBS News
Politico:
Trump's job market is proving resilient. Consumer confidence is still sagging.
Trump's job market is proving resilient. Consumer confidence is still sagging.
Discussion:
The Conference Board and Realtor.com Economic Research
Christopher Rugaber / Associated Press:
US employers still reluctant to add many jobs as hiring slows in June
US employers still reluctant to add many jobs as hiring slows in June
Discussion:
Federal News Network, Semafor, Deseret News, Los Angeles Times, Washington Times, KSTP-TV, Fox Business and Newsweek
Meredith Lee Hill / Politico:
The GOP's dirty little secret about the SAVE America Act … Instead, Johnson and other House leaders have stuck with an older version of the SAVE America Act that focuses on proof-of-citizenship requirements but otherwise lets states run their elections as they see fit.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Scripps News and The Hill
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New Republic:
Transcript: Trump Shows New Signs of Midterm Panic as Brutal Polls Hit — The following is a lightly edited transcript of the July 2 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:
MS NOW and New York Times
Ken Dilanian / MS NOW:
FBI directing hundreds of analysts to dig into Georgia election probe subjects, sources say — A personnel surge supporting Kash Patel's “priority effort” is underway, tasking intelligence experts with running tens of thousands of records checks by mid-July.
David Karpf / The Future, Now and Then:
What is the Great American State Fair like? — I stopped by the Great American State Fair on Tuesday. The website listed the day's theme as “Innovation, Technology & Progress.” It doesn't get more on-theme for The Future, Now & Then than that. — I documented the trip in a bluesky thread …
Discussion:
Unfogged
Shane Goldmacher / New York Times:
Ocasio-Cortez Endorses Abdul El-Sayed in Crucial Michigan Senate Race — The endorsement is the first in a contested Senate primary by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez this year, in a state that Democrats believe they must hold this fall to win a Senate majority.
Discussion:
NOTUS, Fox News, Washington Times, Bloomberg, Newsweek, The Hill, Washington Examiner and Abdul for U.S. Senate
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Nia Prater / New York Magazine:
What Is Going on With Mitch McConnell's Health? — In mid-June, Mitch McConnell was admitted to the hospital for an undisclosed reason, marking the latest health concern for Kentucky's senior senator and the former Republican Senate majority leader. In the weeks since …
Discussion:
NewsNation, CNN, CBS News, New Republic, Snopes, The Independent, The Gateway Pundit, American Greatness, Blaze Media and Mediaite
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Zolan Kanno-Youngs / New York Times:
Does Trump Worry About Conflicts of Interest? ‘I Found Out That Nobody Cared.’ — American presidents have generally tried to avoid appearing to profit from the office. President Trump has chosen a different path. — President Trump returned to the White House with an epiphany …
Discussion:
CNN, MS NOW, Washington Post, Deadline, Mother Jones, Salon, The Free Press and Robert Reich, more at Mediagazer »
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Tim Balk / New York Times:
Tucker Carlson, Who Broke With Trump, Plans to ‘Help Build a Third Party’ — The influential conservative commentator's relationship with the president and the G.O.P. fractured over the war with Iran. Now, he says he is charting a new course. — Tucker Carlson, the influential conservative …
Discussion:
Washington Times, Mediaite and Columbia Journalism Review, more at Mediagazer »
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Financial Times:
OpenAI proposes handing Trump administration 5% stake — Sam Altman's start-up in early talks for a public ownership deal as political pressure rises — Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free — OpenAI has discussed giving a 5 per cent stake to the US government as the $852bn AI start …
Discussion:
Axios, The Guardian, The Information, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Ars Technica, Mercury News, Forbes, The Verge, NewsMax.com and Semafor, more at Techmeme »
Hamed Aleaziz / New York Times:
Immigrant Arrests Surge to 10,000 in 5 Days as ICE Clamps Down — The agency has doubled its daily arrest numbers without the fanfare of last year's large urban operations, sowing fear in immigrant communities. — Federal immigration officials have detained more than 10,000 people in the last five days …
Discussion:
ABC News, The Daily Wire, The Bulwark, The Independent, Breitbart, Fox News and Talking Points Memo
Hailey Fuchs / Politico:
House Ethics says it doesn't have information to share on lawmaker sexual misconduct settlements — The House adopted a resolution Tuesday requiring the House Ethics Committee to release information on taxpayer funds used to pay out sexual misconduct settlements with lawmakers …
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Times, One America News Network, Legal Insurrection and NewsMax.com
Matt Viser / The Atlantic:
The Capital Is a Mess — The capital city is an absolute mess. — The White House is an active construction site, with cement trucks going through the same gates typically used by the president's armored limousine. There's a gaping hole where half of the building once stood, a project held up by lawsuits.
Discussion:
New York Times
Paul Krugman:
There Are Very Few Socialists in America — But most of us are social democrats — Fox News has a poll supposedly showing “socialism gaining ground with young voters.” But I don't believe it. Young people may be more receptive to the word socialism, but that's only because right-wingers constantly use …
Discussion:
Associated Press
Jake Spring / Washington Post:
Fireworks on Mall likely to cause hazardous air pollution, documents show — Internal National Park Service modeling for the July Fourth show predicts dangerous pollution around the Mall and “very unhealthy” conditions across central D.C. — Summary — Fireworks for this year's July …
Discussion:
The Daily Wire, Mother Jones, Townhall and Eschaton
John Knefel / Media Matters for America:
The plot to subvert the midterms is getting stranger and more dangerous — Right-wing media figures including Steve Bannon, John Solomon, and Cleta Mitchell appear to be weaving together a narrative about interference by China in US elections to justify a national emergency to curtail voting rights
Discussion:
MS NOW
Liam Scott / Washington Post:
What to know if you go to Trump's potentially record-breaking fireworks show — The America 250 fireworks are expected to start later than normal on an unusually hot day. Here's what to know if you plan to watch from the National Mall on July Fourth. — Summary
Discussion:
USA Today, Los Angeles Times and New York Magazine
Jack Healy / New York Times:
Colorado Governor Fires Officials Who Opposed Freeing Election Denier — Gov. Jared Polis commuted the sentence of Tina Peters, who tampered with voting machines in an attempt to show that the 2020 election had been rigged against President Trump. — Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado …
Discussion:
USA Today, The Colorado Sun, Washington Examiner, Denver Post, The Hill, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Raw Story
Media Matters for America:
Right-wing media target pregnant and female travelers following SCOTUS birthright citizenship ruling — Pundits suggested refusing pregnant travelers visas, deporting “birthing-aged” women, and even sterilizing travelers entering the United States … - On June 30, the Supreme Court rejected …
Discussion:
The Hill, Legal Insurrection, New York Post, PolitiFact, The Guardian, The Gateway Pundit, Politico, Washington Times, The Post Millennial, Breitbart and Axios
Sabrina Siddiqui / Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Death Rate Falls to Its Lowest Point on Record — CDC says continued drop in drug overdose deaths contributed to low rate, while influenza and pneumonia now rank among top 10 causes of death — The U.S. overall death rate in 2025 fell to its lowest point on record …
Discussion:
CNN, Deseret News and Semafor
Megan Messerly / Politico:
‘The old politics are gone’: Steve Bannon on the democratic socialist wave … To Bannon, it's proof of something he's said for months: The U.S. is in a transformational political moment, and leadership in both parties is way behind. — “We are facing a new politics.
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
In Tumultuous Term, Chief Justice Roberts Took Charge of Unruly Supreme Court — The chief justice faced down the president, forged unlikely coalitions and achieved long-sought goals. — The Supreme Court term that ended Tuesday left almost everybody at least a little unhappy.
Discussion:
CNN, Roll Call, SCOTUSblog and Wall Street Journal
Alicia Diaz / Bloomberg:
US Decides Against Renewing USMCA, Shifting to Rolling Talks — US Won't Renew USMCA Trade Deal Video Player is loading. — Current Time 0:00 Loaded: 37.44% Playback Rate — This is a modal window. — Unmute — The US won't renew its trade deal with Canada and Mexico …
Discussion:
CNBC, NBC News, Al Jazeera, RealClearPolitics, El País, HotAir, ABC News, Breitbart, RedState, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, Fox Business, Houston Public Media, Reuters, Scripps News, Legal Insurrection, New York Sun, The Guardian, The Daily Caller, New Republic, NewsMax.com, NOTUS, Townhall, Washington Times, Axios, New York Post, United States Trade …, Washington Examiner, UPI, Texas Standard, Associated Press, New York Times, NewsNation and Semafor
Anna Betts / The Guardian:
Brutal heatwave scorches eastern US ahead of Fourth of July weekend — National Weather Service warns heat index could reach 115F as heat grips midwest, Ohio valley and east coast — A “prolonged, dangerous heatwave” is expected to intensify across parts of the central and eastern United States …
Quinta Jurecic / The Atlantic:
Pete Buttigieg's Ordeal Is a Frightening New Form of Political Harassment — Even in these unimaginative days, Americans are still capable of innovations in cruelty. — The news that former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was investigated by Child Protective Services for a false allegation of child abuse was surprising.
Discussion:
ABC News
Emily Goodin / New York Post:
Inside the new Air Force One: Trump's Qatari jet features massage chairs, Apple TV, gold fixtures — ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE - It's a plane fit for a showman. — President Trump debuted his new Air Force One on Wednesday with roomier seats, golden features, and more high-tech amenities than the 20-year-old 747 it replaced.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, MS NOW, Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, CBS News, New York Times, The Independent, Zeteo, The Times of Israel, Associated Press, Business Insider, Mediaite, New York Magazine, HuffPost, Daily Mail, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Politico, Newsweek, RedState, One America News Network, CNN, TWZ, The Daily Wire, The Gateway Pundit, New Republic, Fox News, NewsMax.com, UPI and ABC News
