Top Items:
Wall Street Journal:
Homeland Security Money Financed Pro-Trump Television Ads — White House calls the spots public-service ads, but critics argue using taxpayer money for campaign-like messaging may violate federal law — WASHINGTON—The Trump administration used federal funds from the Department …
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Homeland Security taps $20M in taxpayer funds for pro-Trump ads — The Department of Homeland Security has tapped $20 million to pay for the campaign-style ads glorifying President Donald Trump that have drawn widespread criticism from Republicans and Democrats as a blatant misuse …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Politico, The Hill, Roll Call, The Independent, Washington Examiner and HuffPost
Alex Isenstadt / Axios:
Scoop: Trump's hand-picked, taxpayer-funded ads about to ramp up
Discussion:
Vox, CNN, Associated Press, The Contrarian, The Independent, ABC News, MS NOW, Time and Politico
Jordain Carney / Politico:
Lummis blocks resolution denouncing Trump's ‘public service announcements’
Lummis blocks resolution denouncing Trump's ‘public service announcements’
Discussion:
Washington Post
Politico:
Sen. Eric Schmitt pins down Jack Smith — as a Caitlin Clark fan — Sen. Eric Schmitt thought he caught Jack Smith in a lie. Instead, he outed him as a fan of former Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark. In a quest to frame former special counsel Jack Smith as a liar during his testimony …
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Politico:
Republicans wanted Jack Smith to give them a smoking gun. They got a gaffe instead. — It started with a pledge to expose a Biden-era conspiracy to take down President Donald Trump. It ended with a botched attack over basketball tickets. — Armed with subpoena power in Congress …
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Parnas Perspective, The Independent and Roll Call
NBC News:
GOP senator airballs perjury claim against Jack Smith over apparent Hawks/Hawkeyes mix-up
Discussion:
CNN and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Jack Crosbie / Rolling Stone:
MAGA Media Is Trying to Spin Senator's Brutal Gaffe Into a Win
MAGA Media Is Trying to Spin Senator's Brutal Gaffe Into a Win
Discussion:
Forbes, The Independent, Associated Press, Slate, New York Times, New Republic, The Wrap, MeidasTouch, PoliticusUSA, Mediaite, The Washington Sun, The Hill and National Politics
Jeremy Roebuck / Washington Post:
Senator's basketball mix-up derails ‘gotcha’ moment at Jack Smith hearing
Senator's basketball mix-up derails ‘gotcha’ moment at Jack Smith hearing
Discussion:
TMZ.com, PBS NewsHour, Rolling Stone, Esquire, The Hill, Mediaite and CBS News
Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:
Supreme Court allows Trump's ‘third country’ deportation policy — This is the second time the court has rejected lower court rulings that immigrants must be able to object before being sent to countries to which they have no previous connection. — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday …
Discussion:
CBS News, Fox News, VINnews, Law Dork, RedState, Reuters, Washington Examiner and The Gateway Pundit
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Abbie VanSickle / New York Times:
Supreme Court Allows Rapid Third-Country Deportations, for Now — The court also announced it would hear arguments in December on the legality of the Trump administration policy to swiftly deport immigrants to countries not their own. — The Trump administration can resume rapidly deporting immigrants …
Discussion:
HotAir, Washington Post, Lawyers, Guns & Money and The Guardian
Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
A.I. Is ‘Better Informed’ Than Doctors, Kennedy Tells Industry-Backed MAHA Summit — The health secretary, Vice President JD Vance and other top officials addressed a conference sponsored by corporations, including A.I. companies and others with business before the government.
Discussion:
The Hill, The Washington Sun, Washington Examiner, MS NOW, NewsMax.com, Malone News and Politico
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Politico:
A cure for ‘medical tyranny’: RFK Jr. puts a positive spin on AI
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and Wall Street Journal
Melody Schreiber / The Guardian:
RFK Jr outlines expansive vision for collecting US health data at Maha event
RFK Jr outlines expansive vision for collecting US health data at Maha event
Discussion:
New Republic
Ed Kilgore / New York Magazine:
Trump's Campaign Schedule Is a Really Bad Sign for Republicans — For much of the 2026 midterm-election cycle, Donald Trump has maintained that keeping the MAGA base energized would be the key for Republicans seeking to keep control of Congress. And he's been especially insistent that making …
Discussion:
New York Times, Politico, The Hill, MS NOW and Daily Kos
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Will McDuffie / MS NOW:
A Kansas Democrat's red-state pitch: A two-term limit and no Trump trials
A Kansas Democrat's red-state pitch: A two-term limit and no Trump trials
Discussion:
Breitbart, New York Times and Reuters
Charles Creitz / Fox News:
Jack Smith's Trump probe swept up Fox News, other media communications as investigation went beyond lawmakers — Nearly 50 journalists from major news outlets were swept up in the probe, a Senate hearing will examine — FIRST ON FOX: Former special counsel Jack Smith's investigators …
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Melissa Quinn / CBS News:
Jack Smith defends handling of Trump probes at heated Senate hearing
Discussion:
NBC News, Politico, Washington Post, Al Jazeera, National Review, PBS NewsHour, The Atlantic, The Hill, Associated Press, abc7NY, RedState, Washington Examiner, Deseret News, Bloomberg, The Daily Caller, Roll Call, The Washington Sun, Blaze Media, Mediaite, Straight Arrow, National Politics, New Republic and Breitbart
Filip Timotija / The Hill:
Hegseth to cut 20 percent of admirals, generals in major Pentagon overhaul — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is set to announce a 20 percent cut to slots slated for admirals and generals at the Pentagon as part of his push to overhaul the outlook of the department, a Pentagon official confirmed to The Hill on Tuesday.
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Politico:
Navarro warns Canada against election interference — White House trade adviser Peter Navarro warned Canadians not to interfere in U.S. elections, a rhetorical escalation in the ongoing trade war between the two countries. — At an economic event hosted by a communications and policy firm …
Discussion:
NewsMax.com
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Joe Deaux / Bloomberg:
Navarro Tells Canadian Lobbyists to ‘Get the Hell Out’ of US
Navarro Tells Canadian Lobbyists to ‘Get the Hell Out’ of US
Discussion:
The Atlantic, New York Times, Deseret News and Mediaite
Chris Dolmetsch / Bloomberg:
NYC Pied-a-Terre Tax Rollout Blocked Again by State Judge — New York's pied-a-terre tax rollout was blocked for a second time by a Staten Island judge who said the city improperly published property information and wrongly required homeowners to apply for exemptions.
Discussion:
New York Times, Wall Street Journal, VINnews and The City Reporter
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Jay Willis / Slate:
It Was the Essential Home of Supreme Court News. Now It's a Joke. What Happened? — Earlier this month, SCOTUSblog hosted its annual Supreme Court “summit” in Washington. For nearly a quarter century, SCOTUSblog has been the go-to outlet for information about the court and its docket …
Jim VandeHei / Axios:
Sen. Eric Schmitt is drawing buzz as a possible Vance VP in 2028 — First-term Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) — who was a tough-on-crime state attorney general, and now is vice chair of the Joint Economic Committee — has grown close to Vice President Vance and is seen as a top prospect to become a potential 2028 running mate.
Discussion:
MeidasTouch, HuffPost, The Daily Beast, NewsMax.com, The Daily Caller, New York Magazine, Washington Examiner, MS NOW, Mediaite and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Paul Krugman:
The Beclowning of Scott Bessent — One iron law of current politics is that nobody who associates themselves with Donald Trump emerges with a shred of credibility. For some, that's not a big loss — it's not as if anyone respected Pete Hegseth even before he decided that the key …
Discussion:
DeLong's Grasping …, NewsMax.com, Townhall and Fox News
Simon Shuster / The Atlantic:
Trump's Latest Appeal to Russia Could Outrage Even His Allies — Trump's envoy wants to trade Russian political prisoners for U.S. sanctions relief, creating a path to business deals before the war in Ukraine ends. — A few months ago, Donald Trump's envoy to Eastern Europe came …
Discussion:
MeidasTouch, Catholic World Report, Bloomberg, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Semafor and The White House
The White House:
Inaugurating The Era Of Super Intelligence — 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. America stands at the forefront of a new technological revolution in intelligence.
Discussion:
Politico, MS NOW, TechCrunch, RedState, The Information and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
The Forces of Trumpism Are in Disarray — This is what it looks like when a movement begins to come apart. — 1. Things Fall Apart — The last 72 hours have seen a remarkable series of fractures within the Republican party. Taken together they are signs that Donald Trump, his movement …
Collin Binkley / Associated Press:
Trump announces a new $15B Iowa steel plant and claims it will be the nation's biggest — It comes as Trump is trying to energize voters ahead of difficult midterm races including in Iowa, where governor and Senate seats have become competitive. — President Donald Trump on Monday announced …
Discussion:
New York Times, Axios, Iowa Starting Line, The Post Millennial, One America News Network, NewsMax.com, NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT, The Independent, CBS News, Mother Jones, The Hill, VINnews, American Greatness, CNBC, Breitbart, Deseret News, Radio Iowa, Associated Press, Mediaite, Al Jazeera, Washington Examiner, MPR News, National Politics, Newsweek, New York Post, American Iron …, Bloomberg, Reuters, New Republic, Daily Mail and Fox News
Joe Perticone / The Bulwark:
An Evangelical Kingmaker Is Lost in the Age of Trump — Eat Pray Love Vote Stand — One of the major subplots in American politics over the past half-decade is evangelical Christians—the political constituency without which Trump would have never been elected president—becoming the dog that caught the car.
Discussion:
Truthout, CNN and LifeNews.com
Lauren Green / Washington Examiner:
Huckabee Sanders slammed for ad featuring white man on welfare — Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders's (R-AR) new campaign advertisement has been the subject of backlash on the Right after she released a new ad portraying an unemployed white man as a welfare recipient.
Zoe Tillman / Bloomberg:
Trump Loses Bid to Pause Judge's Sanctions in IRS Case Fight — A US appeals court has refused to halt a Florida federal judge's decision to penalize President Donald Trump and his lawyers for “bad faith” conduct in his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service while he appeals.
Discussion:
MeidasTouch, The Washington Sun, CNBC, Reason, Scripps News and NewsMax.com
Julianne McShane / MS NOW:
Kristi Noem files for divorce from Bryon Noem — Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has filed for divorce from her husband of over three decades, Bryon Noem, six months after a tabloid published photos that appeared to show him wearing women's clothing and fake breasts and reported …
New York Times:
OpenAI Ignored Employees Who Warned It Wasn't Doing Enough About Security — Employees and security researchers said that they had cautioned the company on safely testing its A.I. models and strengthening its corporate infrastructure, but that OpenAI did not listen.
Discussion:
GovExec.com and NextDraft, more at Techmeme »
Garrett Graff / Doomsday Scenario:
The Disgrace and Danger of Kash Patel, Part II — A quick check-in on the FBI director's latest raft of scandals (including, of course, the bestiality). … The swirl of scandal around Patel seemed like it would imminently end his career, but the Trump administration's depth and breadth …
Discussion:
MS NOW, SpyTalk, Wonkette, Mother Jones and CBS News
Jenna Monnin / The Washington Sun:
Lone Republican Senator Derails a Bill to Prevent Demolition of the Kennedy Center — Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) blocked a bipartisan bill that would have prohibited the destruction of any national memorial honoring a U.S. president — a measure meant to protect the Kennedy Center from a full demolition — without congressional approval.
Discussion:
The Guardian, USA Today, Breitbart, Washington Post, Merkley, Townhall, Deseret News, Washington Examiner and New Republic
Daniel Miller / Politico:
Why Aaron Sorkin left Trump out of ‘The Social Reckoning’ — LOS ANGELES — Aaron Sorkin says “The Social Reckoning” “shouldn't” be a political film. — But he acknowledges that it is one, probing Facebook's role in the rise of extremism and division ahead of the 2020 presidential election …
Discussion:
Vanity Fair, The Hill and Vogue
Politico:
Trump says tech execs signed ‘morally binding’ accord to help police AI — Tech executives signed a “morally binding” constitution on artificial intelligence during a White House lunch Tuesday, President Donald Trump told reporters following the event. The president also floated forming …
Discussion:
Forbes, The Guardian, Bloomberg, CBS News, New York Post, The Hill, Washington Examiner and CNBC, more at Techmeme »
New York Times:
Democrats in Congress Embrace a More Punitive Posture Toward Israel — Nearly every Democratic senator voted to advance a measure calling for a human rights report on Israel's conduct in the West Bank, as some in the party propose punishing settlement activity with sanctions.
Discussion:
Reuters and Jewish Insider
Filip Timotija / The Hill:
Hegseth freezes hiring of civilian tenured faculty at US military academies — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed departments on Tuesday to halt appointments of civilian staff to tenured positions at U.S. military service academies and develop hiring plans that prioritize …
Discussion:
CBS News, Associated Press, Stars & Stripes and The Daily Wire
The Washington Sun:
Trump Is Preparing to Auto-Enroll Every Child in a Trump Account — The Trump administration is preparing to automatically enroll every American child in a Trump Account before the midterm elections, aiming to increase the impact of a program that has struggled with low take-up, according to four sources familiar with discussions.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The Hill, CNBC, NewsMax.com and The Independent
Aiden Reiter / Politico:
Financial regulator investigates Adam Kinzinger over Kalshi trading — A top federal financial regulator is investigating former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger — an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump — for prediction market trades he made tied to his pardon by former President Joe Biden …

