Top Items:
Associated Press:
Todd Blanche narrowly confirmed as Trump's attorney general in overnight vote — The Senate confirmed Todd Blanche as attorney general in a vote early Saturday morning, cementing President Donald Trump's former personal attorney's command of a Justice Department the Republican president has sought to bend to his will.
Discussion:
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Jordain Carney / Politico:
Republicans face likely year-end test after punting Trump spending bill — A sweeping party-line spending bill demanded by President Donald Trump is at risk of being put on hold until after November's election, after Senate Republicans failed to muster support before departing for August recess.
Discussion:
Roll Call, Washington Examiner and NewsMax.com
Hannah Rabinowitz / CNN:
Blanche confirmed as attorney general at a Justice Department shaped to serve Trump — Donald Trump Federal agencies Trump appointments — Todd Blanche, who risked his career as a prestigious member of New York's legal establishment to keep Donald Trump out of jail, was confirmed on Saturday as the attorney general.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Roll Call, Legal Insurrection, New York Post, The Times of Israel, CBS News, The Hill, NBC News, RedState, The Guardian, Straight Arrow and Bloomberg
NPR:
Senate votes to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general — The Senate voted to confirm Todd Blanche as U.S. attorney general, elevating the Justice Department's No. 2 leader and President Trump's former personal lawyer to head the entire 100,000-plus person department.
Discussion:
Straight Arrow, Washington Post, Axios, Forbes, MS NOW, America, America, Bloomberg, Associated Press, Fox News, CNBC, The Daily Wire, Above the Law, HotAir, Roll Call, Breitbart, New York Magazine, Townhall, New York Sun, The Daily Caller, Deseret News, The Gateway Pundit, The Hill, Courthouse News Service, E&E News, Joe.My.God., New York Times and Politico
Avery Lotz / Axios:
Senate confirms Todd Blanche as attorney general
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, New Yorker, The Independent, Washington Examiner, Scripps News, NewsMax.com and MeidasTouch
Politico:
How the solar industry helped take down Ogles — With help from Daniel Barnes and Daniel Lippman — An aggressive new PAC backed by renewable energy supporters notched a major win last night by helping unseat Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) despite President Donald Trump's vocal support, our colleague Timothy Cama reports.
Discussion:
E&E News, Talking Points Memo, Breitbart and The Gateway Pundit
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Faris Tanyos / CBS News:
Senate approves bill to fund government into December, but House support remains uncertain
Jasper Goodman / Politico:
Crypto faces a setback in the Senate
Crypto faces a setback in the Senate
Discussion:
Roll Call, NewsMax.com, NOTUS, CoinDesk and MS NOW, more at Techmeme »
Tom Burgis / The Guardian:
Greenland issues ‘strong warning’ as Trump-linked oil firm prepares to drill — Island's government says no approval given after Greenland Energy brings kit ashore for exploratory drilling — An American oil company connected to Donald Trump is preparing to sink wells in remote Greenland despite …
Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:
On Tuesday, August 4, Erin Banco, Mike Stone, and Jonathan Landay of Reuters reported that the U.S. has used “virtually all” of its highly accurate long-range missiles that can strike accurately from a safe distance. Sources told the journalists that the dwindling missile supplies …
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RTÉ
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David Rothkopf / The Daily Beast:
I've Got The Proof. This Is The Worst Member of Trump's Cabinet
I've Got The Proof. This Is The Worst Member of Trump's Cabinet
Discussion:
Bloomberg
New York Times:
After Supreme Court Win, Trump Officials Under Pressure to Deport Haitians — The lack of visible raids aggressively targeting Haitians who lost temporary status has frustrated some of President Trump's most fervent supporters. — The Trump administration is facing pressure on the right …
Discussion:
Joe.My.God.
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Nate Raymond / Reuters:
US judges allow Trump to end protections for migrants from South Sudan, Myanmar
Discussion:
Breitbart, Al Jazeera, The Hill, Newsweek and Washington Examiner
James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:
Justice Samuel Alito: ‘Practical Originalism’ and Its Facile Critics — He explains his interpretive method and defends it against a hostile biographer—and his high-school English teacher. — Washington — Reports of his end have been greatly exaggerated: “Justice Samuel Alito …
Discussion:
Legal Insurrection, UPI, Newsweek, Breitbart, RedState, Washington Examiner, Associated Press, The Gateway Pundit, The Hill, KIFI-TV, MS NOW, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Bloomberg and Political Wire
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Emilio Perez Ibarguen / Politico:
Alito bats down retirement rumors: 'Obviously I'm here for another term'
Alito bats down retirement rumors: 'Obviously I'm here for another term'
Discussion:
Townhall
Zachary Cohen / CNN:
Trump's top general is ‘looking for an off-ramp’ from Iran war as US military options remain limited, sources say — Over the last few weeks, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine has privately made clear to other top Trump advisers that the US needs to find an off-ramp from the war with Iran …
Discussion:
emptywheel, The Independent and Middle East Monitor
Washington Post:
Trump says he'll bring ballroom fight to Supreme Court after lower court halts work — An appeals court ruled earlier Friday that construction must stop until Congress authorizes the project. The ballroom is among the president's top priorities for this term. — Just now — Summary
Discussion:
Salon, Staff Stories, Adam Kinzinger, Reason, Blaze Media, Forbes and SCOTUSblog
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NBC News:
Appeals court blocks Trump's White House ballroom construction
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The Maine Wire, Deadline, CNN, JURIST, Washington Times, CNBC, All Rise News, Al Jazeera, The Japan Times, New York Sun, The Preamble, New York Times, Associated Press, The Daily Wire, Breitbart, Fox News, One America News Network, ProtoThema English, UPI, RedState, Wall Street Journal, PBS NewsHour, France 24, Washington Examiner, MS NOW, MPR News and The Guardian, more at Techmeme »
Politico:
Appeals court blocks Trump's White House ballroom renovation
Appeals court blocks Trump's White House ballroom renovation
Discussion:
KIFI-TV, Deseret News, Rolling Stone, Roll Call, Bloomberg, RedState, Legal Insurrection, MS NOW, NPR, The Daily Caller, Associated Press, CBS News, Courthouse News Service, The Independent, NOTUS, New Republic, New York Magazine, Al Jazeera, NewsMax.com, The Gateway Pundit and New York Times
Emilio Perez Ibarguen / Politico:
Trump calls on Jeanine Pirro to ‘re-visit’ Reflecting Pool case — President Donald Trump is calling on Washington U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro to take another look at her decision to drop charges against a former Olympian accused of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool.
Discussion:
UPI, The Hill, American Greatness, NewsMax.com and KIFI-TV
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Salvador Rizzo / Washington Post:
Pirro, Trump's longtime champion, is on the outs over Reflecting Pool move
Pirro, Trump's longtime champion, is on the outs over Reflecting Pool move
Discussion:
NewsMax.com
Marcus Weisgerber / Wall Street Journal:
Hegseth Strips Security Clearance From Biden's Air Force Secretary — Frank Kendall, accused of leaking sensitive information, is latest former defense official to lose access to classified information — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth revoked the security clearance of a former high-ranking …
Discussion:
CBS News, New York Post, The Hill, Newsweek and Fox News
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Ross Douthat / New York Times:
Who Are the Good Guys and the Bad Guys? I'm No Longer Sure. — When I joined this newspaper as a columnist, 17 years ago, Barack Obama was still enjoying the flush of first-term popularity. In both political and cultural circles, there was vaulting confidence that his fusion of social liberalism …
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money
Vera Bergengruen / Wall Street Journal:
The Cyberattack That Brought a Distant War to Small-Town Minnesota — The water system in Braham was one of dozens affected after federal agencies warned Iran-linked hackers could target U.S. infrastructure — At 8:42 a.m. on July 27, a public works operator was carrying out his daily check …
Bloomberg:
Trump's Homegrown Solar Push Risks Widening Green Divide — President Donald Trump's latest move to shun foreign solar power equipment is part of his effort to rebuild US manufacturing clout. It may simultaneously exacerbate the fast-widening green technology split between the US and the rest of the world.
Discussion:
Canary Media, The Guardian, Heatmap News, NewsMax.com, E&E News, UPI and New York Times
New York Times:
Trump Restarts Battle to Fire Sitting Fed Governor — The Trump administration, rebuffed by the Supreme Court in its first attempt to fire Lisa D. Cook, sent the Federal Reserve governor a letter saying it was “considering” removing her from the job. — President Trump opened a new front …
Discussion:
ABC News, Al Jazeera, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, NOTUS, TheGrio, The Guardian, MS NOW, Axios, The Hill, Washington Examiner, CNBC, New Republic, CBS News, Joe.My.God., Law.com and NewsMax.com
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Isaac Arnsdorf / Washington Post:
Trump won't let the Supreme Court have the last word
Trump won't let the Supreme Court have the last word
Discussion:
Scripps News, Reason, NOTUS, UPI, SCOTUSblog, NPR, Politico, The Gateway Pundit, KIFI-TV, Bloomberg, Fox Business, Catholic World Report, National Review, The Federalist, The Maine Wire, Above the Law, CBS News, El País, New York Times, News Talk 105.9, RTÉ, New York Times, Staff Stories, twitchy.com, The Japan Times, RedState, Israpundit, Courthouse News Service and USA Today
Nathan Rennolds / Associated Press:
Unidentified drone explodes in Bulgaria, close to major gas pipeline — Bulgaria's prime minister said both Bulgarian and Romanian authorities had failed to pick up the drone as it made its way through their respective airspace. — An as yet unidentified drone exploded in Bulgaria on Saturday …
Discussion:
Reuters, Bloomberg and Al Jazeera
ABC News:
A top US general in Europe abruptly removed from command — The circumstances surrounding his removal remain unclear. — Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza, commanding general of V Corps presents a coin to U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jesus Arce Calderon during V Corps' Best Squad Competition awards ceremony at Grafenwohr, Germany, June 11, 2026.
Discussion:
Stars & Stripes, Task & Purpose, The Hill and Joe.My.God.
Tim Balk / New York Times:
Democrats Vow to Unite Behind El-Sayed, but Tensions Remain — The party is racing to get behind Dr. Abdul El-Sayed after a poisonous Senate primary in Michigan, but some Democrats still have reservations. — It was just a week ago that one Democratic Senate contender in Michigan said her rival wanted to …
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Examiner, Joe.My.God., Fox News, Jewish Insider, The Hill, NRSC and CBS News
Washington Post:
Voter turnout surges in Tennessee after Black-majority district is erased — High Democratic turnout for House primaries in Shelby County, which includes Memphis, is the latest sign that redistricting may be energizing Black Southern voters. — Summary — Democratic turnout for House primaries …
Discussion:
TheGrio
Michael Gold / New York Times:
Lindsey Graham Loved to Gab With Reporters. His Sister Won't. — Senator Darline Graham, who took her brother's place after his death and is now seeking to succeed him, has mostly declined to answer questions from reporters at the Capitol. — After Senator Lindsey Graham died last month …
