Top Items:
Carol Leonnig / MS NOW:
Vance's security detail ‘fed up’ with hastily arranged personal and family travel requests — On Thursday last week, Secret Service agents groused among themselves as they prepared to deliver another perk to Vice President JD Vance's family: join a military helicopter crew to fly his young son to his golf lesson.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Ellen Mitchell / The Hill:
Hegseth announces annual testosterone screenings for service members — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday announced a new effort to annually screen service members' testosterone levels and offer testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), framing it as a way to keep troops on the “leading edge of lethality.”
Discussion:
New York Post, NBC News, Advocate, Wall Street Journal, Stars & Stripes, The Independent, Truthout, NewsMax.com, Raw Story, LGBTQ Nation, Bloomberg and New Republic
RELATED:
Hannah Parry / Newsweek:
Hegseth Announces New Required Pentagon Testosterone Tests: Who It Impacts — Prefer Newsweek on Google — to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday that the Pentagon will begin requiring annual testosterone deficiency screenings …
Discussion:
Raw Story, RedState, Washington Examiner and Eschaton
Marina Dunbar / The Guardian:
Pete Hegseth says soldiers over age 30 to be screened for testosterone deficiency
Pete Hegseth says soldiers over age 30 to be screened for testosterone deficiency
Discussion:
The Daily Wire and Dean Blundell
Angie Orellana Hernandez / NOTUS:
Testosterone-Fueled Troops? Hegseth Says Military to Begin Testing Hormones.
Erica Orden / Politico:
Blanche's slip-up on his Trump relationship: 'I'm his lawyer' — Todd Blanche likely fueled the most potent criticism against him Wednesday with a gaffe that may haunt him beyond his ongoing confirmation hearing to become the next attorney general. Asked by Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Above the Law, Breitbart, Chicago Sun Times, Wonkette, The Jim Acosta Show, The Independent, Home of the Brave, Forbes, Mediaite, The Hill and NOTUS
RELATED:
Justin Papp / CNBC:
Trump's pick to head national intelligence, Jay Clayton, won't tell senators Biden won the 2020 election
Discussion:
New York Times, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, MS NOW, New York Times, The Hill, Politico, HotAir, UPI, Washington Examiner, Democracy Docket, Los Angeles Times, CNN, Raw Story, New York Sun, Washington Times, Al Jazeera, Talking Points Memo, Bloomberg, Newsweek, PoliticusUSA, Reuters, Roll Call, CBS News, New Republic, Forbes, Mediaite, Election Law Blog and Ace of Spades HQ
Noah Robertson / Washington Post:
Trump intel pick Jay Clayton questioned about election security, journalist subpoenas
Trump intel pick Jay Clayton questioned about election security, journalist subpoenas
Discussion:
Politico, Business Insider, The Gateway Pundit, CBS News, NBC News, The Guardian, The Intercept, The Hill, NewsMax.com, CyberScoop, Dean Blundell, Raw Story, Fox News, MS NOW, ABC News, Military.com, Washington Examiner, Associated Press, OutsideTheBeltway, New York Times and Election Law Blog
Sarah Davis / The Hill:
Cornyn noncommittal on Blanche attorney general nomination after pressing him in hearing
Cornyn noncommittal on Blanche attorney general nomination after pressing him in hearing
Discussion:
NOTUS, New York Post, NBC News, Slate, NPR, Raw Story, The Preamble, Roll Call, New York Sun, Politico, Washington Times, The Wrap, CBS News, NewsMax.com, New York Magazine, WBUR, Courthouse News Service, The Independent, CNBC, Bloomberg, Mediaite, Associated Press, MS NOW, New Republic, Election Law Blog and Wall Street Journal, more at Mediagazer »
Washington Post:
Trump ally Blanche vows to regain senators' trust at AG confirmation hearing
Trump ally Blanche vows to regain senators' trust at AG confirmation hearing
Discussion:
Public Notice, New York Times, Politico, The Hill, CBS News, New York Post, The Gateway Pundit, Reason, New Republic, The Dean's Report, twitchy.com, TheGrio, Florida Politics, NPR, Washington Times, Scripps News, Raw Story, Fox News, Newsweek, The Independent, Mediaite and Media Matters for America
Maegan Vazquez / Washington Post:
U.S. Mint to produce $1 coin with Trump's face on it, treasury secretary says — The U.S. Mint will soon begin producing a new $1 gold-hued coin with President Donald Trump's face on it. — Summary — The U.S. Mint will soon begin producing a new $1 gold-hued coin with President Donald Trump's face …
Discussion:
NOTUS, Forbes and The Independent
RELATED:
Emilio Perez Ibarguen / Politico:
US Mint to begin producing $1 coins featuring Trump
Discussion:
Scripps News, The Post Millennial, LGBTQ Nation, UPI, RedState, NewsMax.com and Breitbart
Riley Rogerson / Politico:
In seismic shift, more than 100 House Democrats vote to end Israel aid — Nearly half of House Democrats voted to cut off aid to Israel Wednesday, underscoring a seismic shift in political support for the longtime U.S. ally. — The amendment to a State Department spending bill …
CNN:
Exclusive: Officials asked to turn over phones at the White House as Wiles, Patel lead intensifying leak probe — Chief of staff Susie Wiles, President Donald Trump's closest aide, and FBI Director Kash Patel helped personally orchestrate a sprawling investigation last week at the White House aimed …
Discussion:
NewsMax.com, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, Salon and Talking Points Memo
Jeremy Scahill / Drop Site News:
Iran Sent Message to JD Vance Warning that Kushner and Witkoff Were “Abusing” Their Inside Access to Negotiations — Drop Site's journalism is free to read because thousands of readers choose to fund it. If our work matters to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today.
Discussion:
New Republic and Raw Story
Corey G. Johnson / ProPublica:
FCC Officials Took Pricey Gifts From Paramount as the Company Needed Approval for Billion-Dollar Deals — The rich and famous who filed into the Kennedy Center's opera house in December were there to enjoy one of the nation's most exclusive celebrations of the performing arts: the center's annual honors gala.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Staff Stories, Reason, Gadget Review, New Republic, Mediaite, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter and Reuters, more at Mediagazer »
Katrine Wallace / STAT:
Why we still don't know what foods are the source of the cyclospora outbreak — Government cuts have contributed to an information vacuum on foodborne illness — As of Tuesday, a parasite called cyclospora has — so far this summer. On Monday, Michigan health officials announced their first potential source:
Discussion:
Wired, KVIA-TV, New York Times, Bloomberg, State of Michigan, Breitbart, New York Post, CBS News, Detroit Free Press, The Guardian and BBC
Paul Campos / Lawyers, Guns & Money:
New frontiers in sanewashing — One of the keys to understanding the current catastrophe enveloping this country because it chose to make Donald Trump president (twice, so far) is that for no doubt complex sociological and psychological reasons lots of elite actors have to pretend to themselves …
James LaPorta / CBS News:
Senior defense officials looking at Cuba military options — Add CBS News on Google — Washington — As the U.S.-Iran war restarts following the collapse of the weeks-long ceasefire, senior Pentagon officials are also quietly eyeing another flashpoint much closer to home: Cuba.
Discussion:
Reuters and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Autonomy News:
Trump's Attorney General Nominee Just Opened the Door to a National Abortion Ban — Under questioning from Sen. Ted Cruz, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche committed to reviewing Biden-era guidance on the Comstock Act. … At the very end of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's Wednesday …
ProPublica:
FBI Has Looked at Using Questionable AI Tech to Review Signatures on Seized Mail-In Ballots — The FBI has explored using artificial intelligence to assess the validity of signatures on tens of thousands of mail-in ballot envelopes seized from Fulton County, Georgia, the latest push …
Robby Soave / The Hill:
Amy Coney Barrett reveals insane threats against SCOTUS — Enough is enough — it is wrong that public officials are receiving an unprecedented level of threats on their lives and now require significant security measures to guarantee their safety. — Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett …
Discussion:
Townhall, CBS News, New York Times and PBS NewsHour
Politico:
Judge handling challenge to Trump immigration halt cites exceptions for World Cup visas — A federal judge said Wednesday that President Donald Trump's policy facilitating visas for participants in the ongoing World Cup soccer tournament undercuts the administration's claims …
Josh Kovensky / Talking Points Memo:
EXCLUSIVE: Trump DOJ's Top ‘Antifa’ Prosecutor Marched With Crowd on Jan. 6 — It was not known publicly that a federal prosecutor marched to the Capitol on Jan. 6. He was appointed this year to run a national task force targeting alleged left-wing political violence.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and Justice Connection
Vaughn Hillyard / MS NOW:
In Arizona, the McCain name is now raising money for a Democrat — Cindy and Jimmy McCain's support for Gov. Katie Hobbs underscores the state's drift away from the party their family long defined. — Cindy and her son Jimmy McCain will host a fundraiser on behalf of Gov. Katie Hobbs in September …
Kellen Browning / New York Times:
G.O.P. Appears to Boost Socialist's Primary Campaign for Wisconsin Governor — Republicans appear to view Francesca Hong as their weakest opponent in a general election. They are spending $2.2 million in an apparent attempt to aid her primary campaign. — A super PAC tied to Republicans …
Discussion:
Townhall
Ellen Mitchell / The Hill:
Pentagon panel to study 2021 COVID vaccine mandate — The Pentagon on Wednesday announced it will convene a panel to study the “decisions, coordination, planning, and execution” of the military's 2021 COVID-19 vaccine mandate, a rule that led to the dismissal or departure of more than 8,700 service members.
Tara Suter / The Hill:
Nearly half of Americans think Iran war will go on for a year or beyond from now: Poll — Close to half of Americans believe the Iran war will stretch a year or beyond from now, according to a new poll, as tensions reignite between Washington and Tehran. — In a poll from The Economist/YouGov …
Sophie Gardner / Politico:
CDC nominee struggles to convince senators she'll stand up to RFK Jr. — Donald Trump's nominee to run the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Erica Schwartz, struggled during her Wednesday confirmation hearing to convince senators she'd stand up to her boss, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., like her predecessor did.
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
They Don't Care If ICE Kills People — Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has his first day of hearings for his nomination to the top Justice Department job today. He'll spend most of the day answering questions—or, more precisely, not answering questions, because the rules the Republicans …
Discussion:
Straight Arrow, MS NOW, The Marshall Project, Washington Post, American Prospect, New York Magazine, Townhall, The Guardian and LGBTQ Nation
Sudiksha Kochi / The Hill:
House passes State Department funding bill for fiscal year 2027 — The House on Wednesday passed an appropriations bill funding the State Department, national security and other programs for fiscal year 2027, sending the measure to the Senate for consideration.
Discussion:
The Guardian, Roll Call, The Post Millennial, The Daily Caller, RedState and NewsMax.com
Stephen Foley / Financial Times:
Billionaires who fled California wealth tax risk intrusive residency audit — State has a history of aggressively pursuing rich individuals who claim to have relocated to low-tax jurisdictions — Tech entrepreneurs and investors who claim to have left California to avoid a proposed …
Discussion:
NewsMax.com and New York Post
John Nolte / Breitbart:
Netflix Smears ‘Gone with the Wind’ as Racist, Refers Viewers to Black Lives Matter — If you look for the 1939 masterpiece Gone with the Wind on Netflix, you'll be smacked across the face as a racist and scolded into seeking out the far left-wing radicals in Black Lives Matter. — Here's the blurb:
Discussion:
Blaze Media, Washington Times, The Daily Wire, The Gateway Pundit and UPI
J. David Goodman / New York Times:
F.B.I. Searches for Drugs in Van Involved in Houston ICE Shooting — Federal investigators believe illegal drugs were inside the vehicle, though the immigration agents involved in the encounter do not appear to have known that. — The F.B.I. is investigating whether drugs were inside a van …
Discussion:
KVIA-TV and Houston Public Media
Nicholas McEntyre / New York Post:
Canadian woman slaps teen over Trump clothing on Jersey Shore boardwalk; now charged and in ICE custody — A leftist Canadian woman allegedly slapped a teen who was wearing President Trump-branded clothing on the Jersey Shore over the Fourth of July weekend — before she was arrested and detained by immigration officials.
Jon Gambrell / Associated Press:
Tehran threatens to halt all Middle East energy exports after US reimposes its blockade on Iran — The U.S. military reimposed a naval blockade on Iran and intensified its airstrike campaign early Wednesday, hitting an Iranian army barracks and killing at least seven troops …
Discussion:
The Hill, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Breitbart, Associated Press, Mock Paper Scissors, Townhall, TWZ, GZERO, HotAir, France 24, Straight Arrow, Fox News, MS NOW, Middle East Monitor, CNBC, The Times of Israel, RTÉ, Al Jazeera, MyNorthwest.com, Washington Times and Agence France-Presse
Beege Welborn / HotAir:
WHO Says ‘Masculinity Is Back’? Why Those Experts on the Subject at The Atlantic — Okay, OKAY. — Lemme just get my initial reaction to reading this - The Atlantic and ‘masculinity’ in the same sentence - out of the way. — Video — Alright, alright. I feel better.
Discussion:
Ace of Spades HQ, twitchy.com and Wonkette
José Olivares / The Guardian:
Venezuelan man becomes 22nd person to die in ICE custody this year — Jesús Manuel Arenas-Silva, 45, found ‘unresponsive’ while being transferred between detention facilities in Georgia — Another person has died in federal immigration custody this week in Georgia, officials announced on Wednesday.
Discussion:
Austin Kocher

