White House pulls stalled ICE director nominee  —  The White House on Thursday withdrew the nomination of Oklahoma state trooper Lance Schroyer to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement after a Republican blocked his confirmation hearing.  —  Schroyer's nomination stalled …

Trump tells Axios he's approaching major crossroads in Iran war  —  President Trump told Axios Thursday that he's approaching a critical juncture in the Iran war over whether to restart massive attacks in an effort to bring the conflict to a close.  — “I have a big decision coming up.

Trump photo appears to reference Kennedy Center demolition, judge orders advance notice of any move to knock it down … A new photo shows President Donald Trump eyeing a poster that appears to reference the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts being demolished …

Federal court weighs whether it's too late to revive Missouri's gerrymandered map  —  The last legal battle over Missouri's 2025 redistricting plan played out Thursday, with a panel of federal appeals court judges hearing from Republicans that they should reinstate the map designed to help …

Trump's Minnesota Surge Threatened Democracy, Judge Warns … Judge Patrick J. Schiltz in his courtroom.  A former clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court, he does not have the profile of a jurist likely to engage in a high-stakes standoff with the executive branch.Jenn Ackerman for The New York Times

Who Will Win the Midterms?  Republicans Are Reeling. … The political environment has worsened for Republicans as they try to defend control of Congress, though the party has a big cash advantage over Democrats.  Alex Kent/The New York Times  —  In Georgia, Republican strategists …

Fox News Poll: 71% think Trump administration lacks plan to end Iran war  —  Nearly seven months into the war with Iran, a new Fox News national survey finds views souring as voters feel the Trump administration lacks a clear strategy for ending the war, a growing number think the conflict …

Democratic advisers are warning their candidates not to go too hard at AI  —  Democratic consultants are privately encouraging their battleground candidates to avoid talking about artificial intelligence regulations out of fear that powerful tech groups will unleash a tidal wave of spending against them ahead of November.

The quiet campaign to stop Kamala 2028 is growing louder  —  Making sense of Gavin Newsom's surprising pledge this week. … Welcome to The Midterms, Actually.  Every week I'll be writing about two things: one big idea or trend I see forming across the 2026 primaries, and one thing I'm hearing from a voice on the ground.

Hasan Piker on “The Axios Show”: America worse than al-Qaeda “pound for pound”  —  OPEN EMBEDDED CONTENT FROM CDN.JWPLAYER.COM … - “Pound for pound as far as the number of deaths, yes,” Piker said in an exclusive interview for a new episode of “The Axios Show.”

We Asked 28 GOP Officials If They'd Denounce the GOP Nominee Who Marched With Nazis in Charlottesville  —  Marshall Rawson, poised to join the Florida legislature, has condoned slavery and called for the execution of LGBTQ+ people.  Does the Republican Party even care?

Many of the “Michigan Jewish Dems” Backing Mike Rogers Are Actually Already Republican Supporters, Analysis Finds  —  Over 400 alleged Michigan Jewish Democratic and independent voters signed a pledge in late August to vote for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers …

DOGE Staffers Are Back—and Leading AI Takeover of Government Services  —  Former Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, employees are working on an artificial intelligence takeover of federal government services for the Trump administration.  —  The Washington Sun reports that the staffers …

Trump ‘I did that’ stickers pop up on gas pumps, four years after Biden got the same treatment  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump is on the receiving end of some sticker shock.  —  Detractors of the president have slapped decals faulting Trump for high gasoline prices on pumps across the country as the war with Iran grinds on.

Texas 2026 Poll: Talarico and Paxton in Dead Heat, Abbott Maintains Edge  —  Home Polls Texas 2026 Poll: Talarico and Paxton in Dead Heat, Abbott Maintains Edge  —  Majority of both Republicans and Democrats say RNC Midterm Convention Made Them More Excited to Vote

Reinvigorating America's Hunting Heritage  —  By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:  —  Section 1.  Purpose and Policy.  American hunters, anglers, and landowners are the greatest conservationists the world has ever known.

Mass. parents' story about child's gender transition complicated by court records  —  A Southborough family has stepped into the national spotlight with claims that their local school seeded — and the state of Massachusetts is facilitating — their child's gender transition.

Some Gas Stations ‘Out of Diesel’ as Prices Surge  —  Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.  —  Photos appearing to show gas stations running out of diesel have spread across social media as U.S. fuel prices climb to record highs …

Violence toward journalists is a symptom of a terminally ill U.S. democracy  —  Some days it's hard to know what's worse for America: the wars Donald Trump is losing — most notably in Iran, as U.S. motorists pay painful reparations at the gas pump — or the ones he's winning, like his onslaught against a free press.

Who Made America Poorer and Dirtier?  —  The people in charge are really hoping you'll blame someone else.  —  At last week's GOP midterm convention in Dallas, Vice President Vance painted a bleak picture of American life before the second Trump administration:

Wanna Influence Sean Duffy?  Try His Son-in-Law's Campaign.  —  Transportation interests have poured money into Michael Alfonso's congressional bid while seeking decisions from Duffy's department.  —  DAVID PARKER, THE CHAIRMAN AND CEO of the trucking company Covenant Logistics, has been a reliable Republican donor for decades.

US, in controversial deal, agrees to sell F-35s to Saudi Arabia  —  The Trump administration on Thursday agreed to sell F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, despite concerns from lawmakers and defense officials that it could give China access to highly sensitive technology.

Iran downed at least 2 unmanned American aircraft in recent days, U.S. officials say  —  Washington — Iranian forces in recent days have brought down at least two American MQ-1 unmanned aircraft, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity …

OpenAI Discloses Six New Incidents of ‘Concerning’ A.I. Behavior  —  The artificial intelligence company also released a framework for reporting when its systems go wrong.  —  OpenAI on Wednesday disclosed six new instances in which artificial intelligence systems hid mistakes …

Senate Democrat blocks House-passed bill on data center electricity costs  —  Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) blocked Sen. Jon Husted's (R-Ohio) Thursday effort to unanimously pass a bill that seeks to force states to consider making tech companies cover their data centers' electricity price impacts.

Longtime Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl dies following dementia diagnosis  —  PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A longtime Arizona Republican congressman has died, months after he announced his dementia diagnosis, according to reports.  —  Jon Kyl, who served in the U.S. House from 1987 to 1995 and the Senate from 1995 to 2013, died Thursday.

Neighbors Upset Over Federal Agents' Presence at D.C. School  —  Dozens of federal agents accompanied by National Guard troops fanned out around an elementary school in Northwest D.C. on Thursday, prompting questions and concerns from some residents while also serving as a vivid reminder …

‘Godfather of AI’ warns Congress has ‘maybe a year’ left to regulate AI  —  There appeared to be a lot of talk about artificial intelligence and little progress on Capitol Hill this week.  But members remain hopeful that Congress can act.  —  WASHINGTON — Geoffrey Hinton …

China Stockpiled Oil, and Now It Could Dominate the Energy Landscape  —  The war with Iran revealed just how much influence the world's biggest oil importer has over prices and other countries' supplies of jet fuel, gasoline and diesel.  —  One of the most important lessons from the war with Iran is one that few saw coming.

Universal Is Getting Cold Feet on Releasing the Elon Musk Documentary (Exclusive)  —  The Comcast-owned studio is not yet committing to rolling out Alex Gibney's movie that it paid millions to acquire for non-North American release before the political winds shifted.

Pentagon weighs pulling nearly a third of U.S. forces from Europe  —  The potentially drastic drawdown of 25,000 or more U.S. troops comes amid warnings from NATO allies about a growing threat posed by Russia.  —  WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is weighing a drastic plan to pull planes, ships …

Inside House Democrats' behind-the-scenes food fight  —  The House's last in-session week before the midterms was beset by furious private finger-pointing between House Democrats following several high-profile rebellions. … - There is even chatter among members contrasting the ability …

Why Karl Rove, a father of the modern Texas GOP, is voting for a Democrat  —  How Texas Republicans abandoned their immigrant-welcoming tradition.  —  Summary  —  Legendary Republican operative Karl Rove has said that he plans to do something in November that, for him, is radical …

Josh Shapiro Calls for Federal Government to Place ‘Strict Guardrails’ on AI  —  The governor and potential 2028 Democratic candidate sought a middle ground between being hands-off and seeking a moratorium on AI development.  — Copy  —  Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro criticized Congress' inaction …