Top Items:
Jennifer Scholtes / Politico:
Top senators consider blocking Trump's grant shakeup in spending stopgap — Senate leaders are deciding whether to block President Donald Trump from finalizing a plan to put political appointees in charge of approving grants, Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins said Thursday.
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Brian Faler / Politico:
Finance Republicans kill bid to stop Trump IRS audit-immunity deal — Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee defeated an effort Thursday by Democrats to block a plan by the Trump administration to shield the president from IRS audits. Lawmakers voted along party lines, 14-13 …
Discussion:
GovExec.com, New York Times, Lawyers, Guns & Money, NewsMax.com, NBC News and CBS News
Mychael Schnell / MS NOW:
The GOP revolt over Todd Blanche is suddenly very real
The GOP revolt over Todd Blanche is suddenly very real
Discussion:
CNBC, New York Times, The Bulwark, NBC News, Fox News, The Federalist, CBS News, Axios, Federal News Network, The Hill, Staff Stories, DEFIANCE.org, The Preamble, The Daily Caller, Los Angeles Times, Washington Times, NewsMax.com, Washington Examiner, Courthouse News Service, One America News Network, The Guardian, RedState, Townhall, The Independent, Bloomberg, New Republic, Scripps News, Forbes, NOTUS, Raw Story, Breitbart, Legal Insurrection, Washington Post, Politico, CNN and GovExec.com
Steve Benen / MS NOW:
As Blanche struggles, Trump opens the door to ‘temporarily withdrawing’ his nomination
As Blanche struggles, Trump opens the door to ‘temporarily withdrawing’ his nomination
Discussion:
Washington Post, Associated Press, Politico, Axios, The Hill, MeidasTouch, New Republic, The Mahablog, The Gateway Pundit, NBC News, PoliticusUSA, New York Magazine, Townhall, Washington Examiner, Washington Times, Houston Public Media, Fox News, Blaze Media, Straight Arrow, Raw Story, Forbes, Bloomberg, CBS News, The Texas Tribune, NOTUS and ABC News
Axios:
Inside Trump's Senate playbook
Inside Trump's Senate playbook
Discussion:
MS NOW, Semafor, Politico, Joe.My.God., The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo and NewsMax.com
Michael Gold / New York Times:
Defying Trump, Cornyn Uses His Lame-Duck Power
Defying Trump, Cornyn Uses His Lame-Duck Power
Discussion:
Politico, The Daily Wire, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Raw Story, CBS News, The Gateway Pundit, Deseret News, The Independent and Roll Call
Bloomberg:
Trump Puts Immunity From Probes Over His Fight for Blanche
Trump Puts Immunity From Probes Over His Fight for Blanche
Discussion:
UPI, New York Times, Politico, Associated Press, ABC News, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Daily Mail, emptywheel, New York Sun, Reason, Vox, Staff Stories, Roll Call, The Guardian, Above the Law, Radio Iowa, RedState, Forbes and Talking Points Memo
Reuters:
US government map of Africa mislabels every country at global conference — State department ‘takes full responsibility’ for erroneous, widely shared chart displayed at Aids conference in Brazil — A US government map of Africa mislabeled every country during a state department presentation …
Discussion:
Marcus on AI, Advocate, Truthout, New Republic, The Independent, HuffPost, Semafor and Lawyers, Guns & Money, more at Techmeme »
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NBC News:
Democrats' novel red-state strategy: From the Politics Desk — Plus, another shake-up in the Wisconsin governor's race. … Democrats pursue a new Senate strategy in rural states: Dropping out — By Sahil Kapur — Facing slim prospects in rural red states, Democrats are embarking …
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Journal Sentinel:
Mandela Barnes ends Democratic campaign for Wisconsin governor — Mary Spicuzza Molly BeckMilwaukee Journal Sentinel — Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes has ended his campaign for governor. — The decision by Barnes came amid reporting by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel into allegations …
Discussion:
NOTUS, WBAY-TV, Washington Post, The Guardian, Newsweek, FOX6 News Milwaukee, Ballotpedia News, Washington Examiner and The Hill
Anthropic:
Investigating three real-world incidents in our cybersecurity evaluations — In a review of our cybersecurity evaluation transcripts, we found three incidents in which a Claude model reached the internet from within or while interacting with a third-party evaluation environment …
Discussion:
Washington Post, CBS News, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Politico, Wired and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »
Miranda Nazzaro / The Hill:
Commerce Department quietly announces 7 new equity stakes in private companies — The Department of Commerce quietly announced this week it will designate more than $870 million in federal incentives for semiconductor manufacturing in exchange for a minority equity stake in seven companies.
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Wall Street Journal:
‘The Boss Wants This Money’: Inside Trump's Unprecedented Fundraising Operation — Meredith O'Rourke, nicknamed ‘princess of darkness,’ carries out president's desire to wring hundreds of millions from companies for his projects — WASHINGTON—Almost every night in the White House …
Mackenzie Wilkes / Politico:
Senate education committee blocks parts of Trump's Education Department breakup — The Senate education committee approved legislation to stop four of the Trump administration's deals to downsize the Education Department. In a 13-9 vote, the Senate HELP Committee advanced S. 5046 …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Bloomberg
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Michael C. Bender / New York Times:
Senate Committee Approves Measure to Block Trump's Effort to Gut Education Dept.
Senate Committee Approves Measure to Block Trump's Effort to Gut Education Dept.
Discussion:
Bloomberg
Ali Swenson / Associated Press:
The Trump administration is ending a Medicare drug subsidy program. Here's how it could affect costs — Millions of older adults on Medicare prescription drug coverage could face steeper monthly costs in 2027, after the Trump administration concludes a temporary subsidy program that has helped offset premiums for the past two years.
Discussion:
MS NOW, Washington Examiner, The Independent, Wonkette, NPR, ABC News and Democrats
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Fox News:
Fox News Poll: GOP divisions shape Texas Senate race — President Donald Trump won the Lone Star state by nearly 14 percentage points in 2024, but a new Fox News Poll of Texas registered voters suggests this year's Senate race is far less settled. Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton …
Discussion:
Joe.My.God.
Kyle Cheney / Politico:
5th federal appeals court rejects ICE mass detention policy — A fifth federal appeals court has rejected the Trump administration's bid to subject millions of immigrants — most of whom have lived in the U.S. for years without criminal records — to mandatory detention without bond.
Discussion:
El Paso Matters and New Republic
Holly Baxter / The Independent:
Trump's ‘Freedom Haulers’ event revealed something deeply unsettling about the president and his team — Trump struggled to speak off-script and his transportation secretary jumped in to praise him. It was an uncomfortable dynamic that speaks to what's happening behind the scenes, writes , Holly Baxter
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Blaze Media, One America News Network, The Hill and The Post Millennial
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Julia Manchester / The Hill:
Trump announces ‘Freedom Haulers’ initiative
Trump announces ‘Freedom Haulers’ initiative
Discussion:
RedState, Fox News, Washington Times, New Republic, National Politics and The Gateway Pundit
New York Times:
Trump Says Peace Board Has Plan for Gaza Disarmament — There was no immediate comment from Hamas or Israel, though the Board of Peace said Hamas had agreed to a “road map” to give up its weapons. — President Trump said on Thursday in a social media post that the Board of Peace …
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Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy / USA Today:
Exclusive: RFK Jr. hosting a new cooking show with celebrity chefs — RFK Jr.'s new dietary guidelines push protein at every meal, full-fat dairy, vegetables, fruits and whole grains. The slogan, ‘Eat Real Food’ is mantra embraced by his circle of influencers. — WASHINGTON − Get ready for some sauerkraut-infused meals.
Jordan Rubin / MS NOW:
Donald Trump v. Hillary Clinton is coming to the Supreme Court — The president said he wants to petition the justices in the 2016 election-related case. — President Donald Trump wants to add another one of his personal cases to the Supreme Court's docket: his bid to revive a lawsuit …
Discussion:
Bloomberg
Rachel Frazin / The Hill:
White House eyes reopening oil refineries amid high gasoline prices — The Trump administration is looking to reopen closed oil refineries, including an embattled one in the Virgin Islands, amid high gasoline prices spurred by the Iran war. — A White House official confirmed to The Hill …
Discussion:
Politico and Business Insider
Will Saletan / The Bulwark:
Here Are the Republicans' Biggest Lies From Their Fauci Show Trial — In their retelling of the COVID story, the doctor was the bad guy, the vaccines were deadly, and Trump did everything right. — REPUBLICANS HAVE BEEN TRYING for five years to rewrite the history of Donald Trump's two biggest moral crimes.
Discussion:
Deseret News, The Gateway Pundit, Wonkette, HuffPost, Public and Raw Story
James LaPorta / CBS News:
Pentagon weighs eliminating civilian tenure at military academies and reviewing all curriculum, draft memo says — Add CBS News on Google — Washington — The Defense Department is considering its most sweeping remake of military higher education, according to an unreleased draft memorandum obtained …
Elizabeth Williamson / New York Times:
Kennedy Center Halts Free Public Tours After Five Decades of Service — The decision to suspend tours indefinitely came after a volunteer tour guide was featured in a Times article detailing President Trump's dramatic revamp of the Kennedy Center. — The John F. Kennedy Center …
Discussion:
The Atlantic
Alex Kaplan / Media Matters for America:
Tina Peters and other election deniers claim they've pitched the Trump administration on a midterm “election-security plan” — Multiple figures behind the proposal have also urged Trump to declare a “national emergency” over the midterm elections — A group of activists …
Michelle Hackman / Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Weighs $100,000 Fee for Foreign Students Wanting to Work After Graduation — Proposed policy would particularly affect Silicon Valley, Wall Street and universities — WASHINGTON—The Trump administration is considering attaching a $100,000 price tag on international students' ability …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Staff Stories, NewsMax.com and The Independent
Jenna Lemoncelli / New York Post:
Amused Eagles DC copied Anthony Fauci's pleading the Fifth: ‘Did you guys see that?’ — Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio couldn't help but laugh when he brought up controversial scientist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment in a Senate committee hearing on Wednesday.
Discussion:
USA Today, Fox News, The Daily Caller, RedState, TMZ.com, The Hill and The Independent
San Francisco Chronicle:
At least 11 Bay Area residents have been detained in ICE airport crackdown — A newlywed on her way home after celebrating her marriage to her American husband with friends. — A professional athlete who'd previously been granted a visa for sportsmen with extraordinary abilities.
Discussion:
The Independent, Washington Post and Forbes
Courtney Martinez / WSB-TV:
Apalachee school shooting: Father of shooter sentenced to 15 years in prison — BARROW COUNTY, Ga. — The judge sentenced Colin Gray, the father of Apalachee school shooter Colt Gray, to 15 years in prison. — Colin Gray was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths …
Mariane Angela / Breitbart:
Report: Maine Democrat Troy Jackson, Longtime Partner Are Second Cousins with 2 Children — Maine Democrat U.S. Senate nominee Troy Jackson and his longtime partner are second cousins who share two children, according to reports published Thursday. — The Maine Wire reported that Jackson …
Discussion:
Townhall, The Daily Caller, The Daily Wire and twitchy.com
Andy Greenberg / Wired:
A Leaked Memo Ties Cyberattacks on Minnesota Water Utilities to Iran — A memo obtained by WIRED, issued by the water utilities information sharing group WaterISAC, links dozens of cyberattacks against Minnesota water utilities to Tehran. — Since the US launched its war against Iran in late February …
Discussion:
The Hill, New York Times, CBS News, NewsMax.com, Al Jazeera, Washington Examiner and RedState, more at Techmeme »
Mira Bhakta / The Hill:
Birx says ‘persistent anger’ over COVID response evident after Fauci hearing — Deborah Birx, the former coordinator of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, said there is still “persistent anger” about the government's COVID-19 response following former chief White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci's Senate hearing Wednesday.
Discussion:
Washington Times, Breitbart, New York Post, CBS News, ABC News, Daily Mail, Financial Times, HuffPost and Forbes
Greg Sargent / New Republic:
We've Officially Entered the Twilight of Late-Stage Trumpism — No one has ever seen anything like it, as Donald Trump himself might say. Buried in a new CNN poll is something striking: Trump isn't just cratering by conventional approval measurements; he's also absolutely collapsing …
Theodore Schleifer / New York Times:
Musk Plans to Spend at Least $100 Million to Help Republicans in the Midterms — Elon Musk, a year after a huge blowup with President Trump and the Republican Party, is said to be planning to spend in at least eight states to help them in November. — Elon Musk, a year after voicing deep frustration …
Discussion:
Gizmodo, ABC News, New York Magazine, TheGrio, Rolling Stone, The Gateway Pundit, NOTUS, The Hill, Forbes, Washington Examiner, CNN and Joe.My.God.
Brett Meiselas / MeidasTouch:
Trump DOJ Hands Judge Unredacted Epstein Records After Katie Phang's Court Win — The Justice Department now says it delivered the records directly to the judge after Katie Phang successfully challenged the government's Epstein-file redactions. — Co-Founder of MeidasTouch — Add us on
Discussion:
Raw Story, Joe.My.God. and The Parnas Perspective
Yunior Rivas / Democracy Docket:
Kansas Supreme Court deals final blow to GOP bid to throw out late-arriving mail ballots — In a decisive win for voters, the Kansas Supreme Court rejected Secretary of State Scott Schwab's (R) final emergency effort to revive a strict Election Day receipt deadline for mail-in ballots right before the state's primary.
Discussion:
Ballotpedia News

