Top Items:
Gregory Svirnovskiy / Politico:
Tillis renews calls for Hegseth's ouster — Sen. Thom Tillis renewed his call for President Donald Trump to fire Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday, following the resignation earlier this week of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll. “I have never witnessed more inept management of the brave men …
Discussion:
Financial Times, The Free Press, Semafor, CBS News and IJR News
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Matt Gertz / Media Matters for America:
Pete Hegseth hasn't been on Fox News in 11 months — His last interview came just days before the Pentagon implemented new press restrictions that Fox condemned — Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy, while anchoring The Sunday Briefing on October 5, 2025 …
CNN:
Hegseth's culture war fixation disrupting Army progress, sources say — Pete Hegseth Federal agencies US military National security — In the aftermath of the resignation of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, multiple sources told CNN they believe Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is damaging …
Discussion:
The Hill, Associated Press, ABC News, LGBTQ Nation, New Republic, Forbes, Alternet.org, Mediaite, Politico, Washington Examiner, Defense One and Reuters
Zachary Basu / Axios:
Pentagon turmoil deepens as Hegseth consolidates control
Discussion:
New York Times and NBC News
Mychael Schnell / MS NOW:
‘Tired of all the churn’: Key Republicans are starting to turn on Hegseth over Pentagon departures
‘Tired of all the churn’: Key Republicans are starting to turn on Hegseth over Pentagon departures
Discussion:
Roll Call, The Hill and The Atlantic
Perry Bacon / New Republic:
Good Riddance, Seth Moulton: You Got What You Deserved — The biggest reason that Kamala Harris lost the 2024 election is probably the post-Covid-19 inflation and anti-incumbent sentiment that resulted in parties in power across the world being defeated. It didn't help that she refused …
Discussion:
Erin In The Morning, LGBTQ Nation, New York Times, Newsweek, Straight Arrow, The Washington Free Beacon, Semafor, Eschaton, Boston.com and NBC News
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Reid J. Epstein / New York Times:
Six Takeaways From the Massachusetts Primaries — Senator Ed Markey, 80, trounced a younger challenger who had made an argument for generational change. Two other longtime Democratic lawmakers hung on, too. — Massachusetts, as it turns out, is a good state in which to be a very old Democratic incumbent.
Discussion:
Washington Post, NBC News, Reuters, NPR, IJR News, The Hill, Mock Paper Scissors, The Boston Globe, WTOP News, Blaze Media, Fox News, New York Post, Scripps News, Wall Street Journal, The Forward, MS NOW, Bloomberg, CBS News, UPI, Associated Press, ABC News, Politico and Semafor
Nicole Silverio / The Daily Caller:
Geriatric Democrat Senator Fends Off Young-Blood Challenger In Rare Win For Old Guard
Geriatric Democrat Senator Fends Off Young-Blood Challenger In Rare Win For Old Guard
Discussion:
The Boston Globe, NBC News, Associated Press, Politico, The Message Box, NOTUS, Fox News, Robert Reich, The Hill, The Atlantic and WBUR
Jen Fifield / ProPublica:
New Mail Voting Rules Moved Forward Despite USPS Officials' Concerns About Mass Disenfranchisement — In internal meetings, officials worried the rules they were drafting could delay or block ballots from reaching large swaths of eligible voters for the upcoming midterms.
Discussion:
NPR, The Status Kuo, Talking Points Memo, The Guardian, The Moderate Voice, NBC News, Rolling Stone, Wall Street Journal, ABC News, New York Magazine, NOTUS, CNN, MS NOW, Truthout, Axios and Washington Post
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Liz Dye / Public Notice:
Trump begs SCOTUS to let him unleash midterm chaos
Discussion:
CNN, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Democracy Docket and Vox
Madiba K. Dennie / Balls and Strikes:
How the Supreme Court Helps Trump Run Out the Clock
How the Supreme Court Helps Trump Run Out the Clock
Discussion:
Alternet.org and Democracy Docket
Steve Benen / MS NOW:
Trump approves disaster relief funds for 7 red states, after denying aid to blue states — Ahead of the midterm elections, the president isn't even being subtle about his scandalous politicization of disaster aid. — Donald Trump's politicization of federal disaster relief funds has become …
Discussion:
MeidasTouch and Trump's Truth
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William Kristol / The Bulwark:
Mike Johnson, Wet Noodle — Donald Trump has spent two years openly favoring red states over blue ones while disbursing federal disaster relief funds, but it's still surreal to see him talk openly about it. In a Truth Social post last night, Trump had this to say:
Mia McCarthy / Politico:
Mike Johnson says he has ‘no plans’ to campaign with Max Miller
Mike Johnson says he has ‘no plans’ to campaign with Max Miller
Discussion:
Truthout, New York Post, NewsMax.com and The Hill
Politico:
Republicans aren't exactly flocking to Trump's midterm convention — President Donald Trump has a vision for next week's GOP convention in Dallas: a televised spectacle putting Republican candidates in front of midterm voters and top party donors just two months before the Election Day — with Trump himself headlining the show.
Discussion:
Wonkette, The Independent, Daily Kos, PoliticusUSA, Mediaite, The Bulwark, The Hill, New Republic and Alternet.org
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Politico:
Trump invites battleground Republicans to Rose Garden dinner — President Donald Trump has invited a group of GOP lawmakers including Republicans in competitive races to dine with him Wednesday night at the White House as many in the party press the president to unleash his massive war chest ahead …
Discussion:
MS NOW, NewsMax.com, Joe.My.God., [your]NEWS and Mediaite
Praveena Somasundaram / Washington Post:
Poll shows nearly 90% of Americans believe government corruption is widespread — The belief increased by 10 percentage points compared with last year, a Gallup poll found. — Summary — A record number of Americans believe there is widespread corruption in the U.S. government …
Discussion:
Semafor and The Guardian
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Benedict Vigers / Gallup:
Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread
Discussion:
Axios, The Independent and WTOP News
Gregory Svirnovskiy / Politico:
Almost 90 percent of Americans say there is widespread corruption in government
Almost 90 percent of Americans say there is widespread corruption in government
Discussion:
Joe.My.God.
Leah Litman / The Atlantic:
The Court's Ballroom Decision Is a Sign of Deeper Problems — The conservative justices have separation of powers exactly backwards. — In deciding to allow President Trump to proceed with constructing a new ballroom, which Congress has not authorized, at the White House, which Trump does not own …
Discussion:
Lawfare
Kevin Breuninger / CNBC:
Trump floats renaming Strait of Hormuz the ‘Trump Strait’ … President Donald Trump on Wednesday floated renaming the Strait of Hormuz — the central point of contention in the ongoing war against Iran that the U.S. and Israel started — after himself. — The proposal via a Truth Social post came less …
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Greg Sargent / New Republic:
What JD Vance's Eruption of Rage Over Usha and El-Sayed Really Reveals — JD Vance is pretending to be very, very angry at Abdul El-Sayed for drawing his wife, Usha Vance, into our political debates. “Abdul, keep my wife's name the hell out of your mouth,” Vance seethed while campaigning …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, The Guardian, The Forward, twitchy.com, New York Magazine, Forbes and Mediaite
Mira Bhakta / The Hill:
US Mint officially launches $1 coin featuring Trump — The United States Mint released 250,000 $1 coins Wednesday featuring President Trump's likeness to commemorate the nation's 250th anniversary. — The design of the coin shows a simple portrait of the president …
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Guardian, The Gateway Pundit, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Mediaite
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Jonathan Martin / Politico:
Can Susan Collins Survive the Craziest Race in the Country? … Yet nowhere has been as idyllic as Perry's Lobster Shack. — Set on a harbor, where — in local parlance — Midcoast meets Downeast, the view from Perry's over the water is of Mount Desert Island and Acadia National Park.
Discussion:
RedState, Washington Examiner and The 19th
John Sexton / HotAir:
CNN: Is Capitalism Tied to White Supremacy? — Yesterday, CNN unearthed some comments James Talarico, the Democrat running for Senate in Texas, made about capitalism back in 2020. Ed covered Talarico's comments and the story about them by CNN's Andrew Kaczynski.
Discussion:
RedState, twitchy.com and Grabien
RELATED:
Shane Harris / The Atlantic:
The Air Marshals Keeping Watch On Eric Swalwell — On August 8, former Representative Eric Swalwell boarded a United Airlines flight from Frankfurt, Germany, to Washington, D.C. He didn't know it, but federal agents were watching him throughout the nine-hour trip.
Discussion:
Fox News, NewsNation, Townhall, twitchy.com, Daily Mail and New York Post
Andrew Solender / Axios:
Rogue House Democrats face growing push for “consequences” — Two centrist House Democrats who voted to help Republicans get a procedural motion across the finish line are now facing down possible punishment from party leaders who say they were blindsided by the move.
Paul Krugman:
The Hits Keep Coming — How much chaos can the economy take? — Here's the good news: The U.S. economy has proved remarkably resilient since the chaos monkeys, aka Donald Trump and company, took over the zoo. — There has been shock after shock: A trade war against everyone …
Discussion:
Alternet.org
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Trump's Speed on the White House Ballroom Threatens to Outpace the Courts — In his breakneck construction of a grand ballroom and in many other initiatives, critics say, the president has tried to outrun judicial review. — The courts cannot keep up with President Trump.
Discussion:
Fox News, Washington Post, Reason, Slate and Military.com
Nick Turse / The Intercept:
The U.S. Has Killed 227 Civilians in Boat Strikes During “A Year of Murders” — Top military officers from a secretive command watched a speedboat cut through the waters of the Caribbean Sea, early last September. A plane above provided live video of the vessel and the 11 men on board.
Discussion:
MS NOW, The Hill, Talking Points Memo and New Republic
Drew Berkemeyer / The Daily Wire:
Birth Tourism Mastermind Pleads The Fifth, Dismissed From Congressional Hearing … The doctor behind a Miami company that markets services to foreign nationals seeking to give birth in the United States was subpoenaed to testify before Congress Tuesday. He invoked the Fifth Amendment 11 times …
Discussion:
Newsweek, RedState, American Greatness, The Gateway Pundit, twitchy.com, Legal Insurrection, Louder With Crowder, Townhall and Breitbart
New York Times:
Kennedy Center Begins Removing Outdoor ‘Blue’ Sculpture — The towering artwork, added to the campus in 2019, was targeted for elimination after President Trump's takeover of the center. — The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts began removing a major outdoor sculpture from the center's grounds on Wednesday.
Discussion:
Forbes, Associated Press, NOTUS, The Hill, Washington Post, The Independent, WTOP News and Joe.My.God.
Sam Levine / The Guardian:
US lawmakers demand investigation into Trump administration's secret surveillance of Americans — Exclusive: Two congressmembers respond to revelations of government snooping on journalists, non-profits and unions — Two congressional Democrats asked a government watchdog Tuesday …
Discussion:
Straight Arrow and emptywheel
Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Record-High 47% Want Unions to Have More Influence — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nearly half of Americans (47%) want labor unions in the U.S. to have more influence than they do today, a record high in the past quarter century and roughly double the 23% who want unions to have less influence.
Discussion:
NewsMax.com
Robert Tait / The Guardian:
‘Pitiful’: experts condemn initial US aid contribution for Nepal flood victims — Sum of $500,000 has been increased as death toll passes 1,000 but specialists decry Trump dismantling of USAID — Aid experts have denounced the US's “embarrassing” and “pitiful” initial response …
Oliver Darcy / Status:
Apple's Map Acquiescence … On Tuesday afternoon, Apple began rolling out a small, yet quite consequential, change to its Maps product: Under direct pressure from the White House, the Cupertino-based company opted to rename Lake Ontario to “Lake America,” complying with an executive order Donald Trump signed last week.
Discussion:
NOTUS, The Hill, Reuters, Associated Press, UPI, One America News Network, FOX 32 Chicago, NewsMax.com, Axios, Washington Examiner, Bloomberg, Business Insider, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, Forbes and The Verge
J.D. Wolf / MeidasTouch:
New Epstein Files Discharge Petition Grows to 49 Signatures — 2nd Republican joins bipartisan effort to hold pedophiles accountable. — Add us on — Rep. Thomas Massie's bipartisan effort to force a House vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act II has gained 32 additional signatures since Monday …
Discussion:
ricochet.com, The Daily Caller and The Hill
chevron.com:
Chevron expands position in Venezuela — Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) today announced agreements with Venezuela that establish updated terms for its joint ventures, supporting future investment, project development and production growth in the country. — The agreements set out provisions …


