Top Items:
Brian Schwartz / Wall Street Journal:
Trump Backs Off 20% Strait of Hormuz Fee — The decision comes just a day after the president floated the idea of charging other countries shipping cargo through waterway that Iran has sought to control — President Trump's Iran strategy abruptly reversed course Tuesday when he announced …
RELATED:
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
Trump Keeps Bombing, Nothing Keeps Changing. — The National Mall has a new feature. No, not the once-again-drained Reflecting Pool. And no, not the mysterious gash the president insists some vandal (or “Vandal") made in it—the length of which has grown, somehow, to 300 feet since the last time he complained about it.
Discussion:
Newsweek and Council on Foreign Relations
Jon Gambrell / Associated Press:
US attacks Iran and Tehran retaliates across the Middle East, threatening a return to all-out war
Discussion:
Reuters, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, Bangor Daily News, MPR News, NPR, Straight Arrow, The Guardian, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Lawfare, Blaze Media and CBS News
Financial Times:
Washington and Tehran send warnings by missile
Washington and Tehran send warnings by missile
Discussion:
Radio Free Europe/Radio …
CBS News:
Gaining full control of Strait of Hormuz has proven exceptionally hard for U.S. Here's why.
Gaining full control of Strait of Hormuz has proven exceptionally hard for U.S. Here's why.
Discussion:
Washington Times, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, NewsMax.com and Associated Press
Judd Legum / Popular Information:
Straight talk about Hormuz
Straight talk about Hormuz
Discussion:
The Bulwark, Semafor, The Times of Israel, Axios, 19FortyFive, Radio Free Europe/Radio … and CNBC
Jennie Taer / The Daily Wire:
EXCLUSIVE: ICE Orders Agents To Cease All Vehicle Stops After Recent Shootings … Federal immigration officers across the country have been told to stop pulling over vehicles after recent shootings in Maine and Texas. — Three Homeland Security sources told The Daily Wire Tuesday that they were told “no more vehicle stops for now.”
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New York Times:
ICE Ordered to Cease Most Vehicle Stops After 2 Killings in a Week — Agents fatally shot a man in Houston and another in coastal Maine, both in their vehicles. The killings were the latest in a string of ICE shootings during President Trump's second term.
Discussion:
The Hill, Mediaite, Townhall, The Daily Wire, NOTUS and Blaze Media
Nicole Sganga / CBS News:
ICE agents halt most vehicle stops following deadly shootings in Maine, Texas, sources say
ICE agents halt most vehicle stops following deadly shootings in Maine, Texas, sources say
Discussion:
NOTUS, Scripps News, Straight Arrow, Bloomberg, NBC News, MPR News, The Gateway Pundit and Fox News
Clarissa-Jan Lim / MS NOW:
E. Jean Carroll finally gets Trump's $5 million — plus interest — Writer E. Jean Carroll finally has the $5 million — plus interest — that a jury ordered President Donald Trump to pay her in damages in one of her two cases against him, after Trump fought the payout for years.
Discussion:
CNBC, Reuters, Axios, Associated Press, NBC News, The Hill, CBS News, TMZ.com, New York Times, Mercury News, Mediaite, Courthouse News Service, The Gateway Pundit, New Republic and The Independent
Steve Benen / MS NOW:
GOP's Ron Johnson shares, then retracts, a conspiratorial ‘rumor’ about Mitch McConnell — We've known for a month that Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was hospitalized, but neither he nor anyone on his team has been willing to say why. Over the weekend, McConnell finally took steps …
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, Daily Mail, New Republic, Mediaite, Raw Story and LGBTQ Nation
RELATED:
Paul Waldman / Public Notice:
Mitch McConnell's legacy of destruction
Mitch McConnell's legacy of destruction
Discussion:
PREVAIL and LGBTQ Nation
Riley Rogerson / Politico:
Hakeem Jeffries says he will oppose bid to cut off Israel aid — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told fellow Democrats Tuesday he will oppose an amendment aimed at cutting off U.S. aid to Israel, wading directly into a contentious issue that is dividing the party.
Discussion:
Axios, Washington Examiner, Jewish Insider, New Republic and New York Times
Sahil Kapur / NBC News:
The Iran war and McConnell's absence are complicating government funding talks — The stalled negotiations are a particular issue for Sen. Susan Collins, who chairs the committee responsible for writing funding bills and faces a tough re-election race in November.
RELATED:
Meredith Lee Hill / Politico:
Luna signals she will end revolt, vote to allow the House to debate legislation
Luna signals she will end revolt, vote to allow the House to debate legislation
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, The Hill, Fox News, Townhall, Florida Politics, The Gateway Pundit, The Maine Wire and MS NOW
Anthony Izaguirre / Associated Press:
New York to impose the country's first statewide moratorium on data centers — New York will block the construction of any new large data centers for up to a year so the state can create rules to protect the environment and energy grid from the power-hungry facilities that fuel artificial intelligence technology.
Discussion:
New York Times, The Guardian, Reuters, Straight Arrow, Washington Examiner, Business Insider, Gizmodo, PCMag, TechCrunch, Politico, One America News Network, Washington Post, Forbes, UPI, The Hill, Pluribus News, The Verge, Bloomberg, The City Reporter, CBS News, WBUR and Semafor, more at Techmeme »
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Adam Serwer / The Atlantic:
The See-No-Evil Supreme Court … The Roberts Court accelerated its assault on the freedoms guaranteed by the Reconstruction amendments this term, leaving only the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of birthright citizenship intact—and that by only one vote. Across multiple cases dealing …
Cate Brown / The Guardian:
Marco Rubio launches campaign to dismantle international criminal court — US secretary of state claims the global tribunal is interfering with US military and law enforcement operations — Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, launched a campaign to dismantle the International criminal court …
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Glenn Thrush / New York Times:
Blanche Was a Driving Force in Retribution Campaign, Emails Show — The cooperation of Todd Blanche in President Trump's retribution against enemies will be a flashpoint in his confirmation hearing to be attorney general on Wednesday. — Todd Blanche, then the Justice Department's No. 2 official …
Discussion:
CNN, Associated Press, CBS News, Washington Post, Executive Functions, Election Law Blog and The Philadelphia Inquirer
The White House:
Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Modifies Two National Monuments, Restoring Sensible Land Management — RIGHTSIZING UTAH NATIONAL MONUMENTS: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed Proclamations modifying two Utah national monuments, the Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
Discussion:
Axios, Reuters, Washington Post, Associated Press, UPI, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Times, NOTUS and Salt Lake Tribune
RELATED:
Anders Hagstrom / Fox News:
Trump to shrink 2 Utah national monuments by 90%
Trump to shrink 2 Utah national monuments by 90%
Discussion:
Straight Arrow, Associated Press, The Independent, New York Times, KUER and The Hill
Alex Kirshner / Slate:
Graham Platner Was the Perfect Twitter Candidate — Elon Musk's X transformed his campaign into a political mirage. … It should now be well established that Elon Musk has turned Twitter into a right-wing fever dream in which Democrats rarely win elections legitimately, Donald Trump is popular …
José Olivares / The Guardian:
‘Misuse’ of crowd control weapons on ICE protesters led to blindings and traumatic brain injuries, report finds — Doctors and human rights experts documented hundreds of incidents from June 2025 through May 2026 and estimate true number is ‘far greater’ — It's been a brutal tactic deployed …
G. Elliott Morris / Strength In Numbers:
Democrats lead by 26 points among “double haters” in the 2026 House midterms vote — One in five Americans rates both parties unfavorably. These voters lean Democratic and say Trump has hurt the economy — ∙ Paid — Americans have never liked their political parties less.
Discussion:
THE FARCE
Ewan Palmer / The Daily Beast:
Stephen Miller's Wife Melts Down Over What's Sitting on Trump's Desk — STICKY FINGERS — The president failed to hide the embarrassing item while appearing before the press. — Katie Miller, the wife of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, failed to see the funny side …
CBS News:
Republicans consider future of Lindsey Graham's Senate seat as Darline Graham Nordone fills in — Darline Graham Nordone, the sister of late South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, will serve out the remainder of his term. Meanwhile, Republicans are discussing potential candidates who could compete …
Discussion:
New York Times, News Talk 105.9, Yellowhammer News, Israpundit, Washington Examiner, Al Jazeera, Associated Press, Fox News, Fox Carolina, Axios, RedState, The Gateway Pundit, NBC News, Blaze Media, New York Sun, TMZ.com, Washington Times, The Daily Signal, One America News Network, Bloomberg, Scripps News, New York Times, The American Conservative, Politico, NewsMax.com, CNN, The Daily Wire, Mediaite, HuffPost, Raw Story, New Republic and Newsweek
Reuters:
Pollution from Musk's unpermitted xAI power project hits hardest in Black communities — Elon Musk's xAI has installed far more gas turbines without federal permits at its Colossus 2 data center project in Tennessee than it has publicly acknowledged, and the pollution is hitting predominantly …
Fox News:
‘Did you call 911?’ Tuberville recounts Graham's frantic final phone call — A Senate Republican added further detail to the late Sen. Lindsey Graham's, R-S.C., final moments thanks to an unlikely connection. — Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., revealed that it was a former member …
Cheyanne M. Daniels / Politico:
Trump backtracks on plan to charge 20 percent fee for ships traveling through Strait of Hormuz — President Donald Trump on Tuesday walked back threats to charge a 20 percent fee on all cargo ships that pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway that has been central to the renewed U.S.-Iran conflict.
Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:
Warren Buffett stops Gates Foundation donations following Epstein revelations — Warren Buffett confirmed he has stopped donating money to the Gates Foundation, following revelations about interactions between the Microsoft (MSFT.O) co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Forbes and The Independent
Alex Miller / Fox News:
Trump reveals who he's eyeing to replace Lindsey Graham — Trump called Rep Russell Fry an ‘outstanding’ and ‘very talented person’ — President Donald Trump teased who he may like to see as a long-term replacement for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., as a special election to lock in a candidate for the seat fast approaches.
Discussion:
Politico, NewsMax.com, Mock Paper Scissors, FITSNews, Washington Examiner, The Hill, The Daily Signal, Forbes and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Meredith Lee Hill / Politico:
Jim Jordan explores immigration deal with hard-liners amid floor impasse — House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan said Tuesday he is negotiating with a key GOP holdout in hopes of drafting an immigration bill that can help unlock the ongoing floor impasse. Jordan (R-Ohio) said he is speaking …
Cate Brown / The Guardian:
Trump ballroom donor to lead state department's $200m Armenia fund — Konstantin Sokolov, who gave undisclosed sum and has not held government job before, to chair Tripp+ trade project — Konstantin Sokolov, a Russian-born private equity investor in Chicago, will serve as chairman …
NBC News:
Supreme Court justices ask Congress for additional security funding — Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett are testifying before Congress as judges throughout the judiciary have seen an uptick in threats. — WASHINGTON — Supreme Court justices are testifying before Congress …
Brian Beutler / Off Message:
How Low Would Sam Alito Go? — Brace yourself for LEGAL judicial election interference, and another heist. — ∙ Paid — Catching up with post-vacation news over the weekend, I happened upon this somewhat mortifying story about NPR's veteran Supreme Court reporter Nina Totenberg …
Discussion:
The Federalist and Political Wire
Washington Post:
RFK Jr. faces Hatch Act complaint after intervening in congressional races — A top Senate Democrat has requested an investigation into whether the health secretary broke a law that bars political appointees from trying to influence elections. — A top Senate Democrat has requested …
Discussion:
The Hill and Washington Examiner
Josephine Walker / Axios:
Exclusive: Trade Rep. Greer pushes Europe to ease tech regulation — Europe must take “concrete actions” to rein in its enforcement of laws that disproportionately hit American tech companies, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said at Axios House D.C. on Tuesday.
Stephen Neukam / NOTUS:
The Race to Become the Democratic Left's Next Power Firm — Behind a string of recent leftist victories in Democratic primaries across the country is a growing ecosystem of progressive media consulting firms and strategists positioning themselves ahead of a wide-open 2028 presidential cycle.

