“Brace for losing everything”: Farm crisis fears grip GOP in Iowa  —  Iowa is on the verge of a farm crisis that threatens to wreck the agricultural heart of the state and hurt the fortunes of Republicans at the top of the midterm ticket, GOP strategists acknowledge.

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 …

Trump personally helped orchestrate taxpayer-funded ads promoting himself and his policies, source says  —  President Donald Trump has personally driven the controversial, taxpayer-funded video ads promoting himself and his administration's policies, including helping select the imagery and videos used …

How Paxton vs. Talarico compares to Cruz vs. O'Rourke … The similarities … Talarico, a state legislator from Austin, was relatively unknown outside of Central Texas before he launched his Senate bid.  —  Cruz first won election to the Senate as a tea party insurgent who defeated a better-funded …

A Pentagon Influencer Called Liberal Women a ‘Pestilence’ Who Will End Western Civilization  —  Kurt Schlichter was part of a task force rooting out so-called woke ideologies at the military's war colleges.  He has called to bar childless adults from voting.

Jack Smith stresses strength of Trump cases, says he will not be ‘silenced’ by threats  —  Former special counsel Jack Smith stressed in prepared remarks that it was the evidence tied to President Trump's own actions that prompted him to bring charges against Trump.

Rubio says foreign actor was ‘clearly’ behind suspected RAF Fairford plot  —  US secretary of state, who offered no evidence for claims, also says many people ‘disturbed’ that five suspects released on bail  —  A counter-terrorism operation near RAF Fairford in the UK was mired in confusion …

DOJ probe into Trump foes sees another prominent departure  —  Kurt Olsen, who previously worked as Trump's election security czar, left the so-called “grand conspiracy” investigation Monday.  —  SummaryLoading...  Another prominent Trump loyalist working on a wide-ranging conspiracy investigation …

“A Massive Power Grab”: White House Proposal Threatens Funding That Helps Disabled Americans Vote  —  Without Amy Miller, some elderly and disabled people wouldn't be able to vote.  —  The attorney for Disability Rights Nebraska travels the state, investigating the quality of nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

GOP senator blocks bill to stop Trump from demolishing Kennedy Center  —  The bipartisan effort to ban the demolition of presidential memorials was thwarted in the Senate by an objection from Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).  —  Loading...  A bipartisan effort to ban the demolition of presidential memorials …

Here's What Could Happen if Democrats Win in November  —  Plus, RFK Jr.'s plan to get Americans to eat healthily hits White House resistance, and Iran is losing its leverage over the Strait of Hormuz  —  Good morning.  This is the second in a two-part series where we explore what could happen …

Top FBI official Andrew Bailey, who was once widely seen as Patel successor, resigns  —  Andrew Bailey, FBI co-deputy director who was once widely viewed as a potential successor to FBI Director Kash Patel, is resigning, he announced Monday.  —  His resignation takes effect Oct. 2, multiple sources said.

Midterm Elections in Ohio, September 2026  —  Democrats Lead in Ohio's Senate & Gubernatorial Contests... Impressions of Trump Loom Large  — Brown (51%) leads Husted (43%) among registered voters statewide in the race for U.S. Senate in Ohio.  Independents break for Brown (58% to 33% for Husted).

OpenAI Scraps Release of New AI Model Over Safety Concerns  —  Model dubbed GPT-6.1 Astra was due to make its debut inside ChatGPT and Codex in October  —  OpenAI says it is scrapping the release of its next-generation AI model over safety concerns that researchers raised during internal testing …

Anthropic's IPO prospectus shows sweeping AI vision, surging costs  —  Anthropic is making a massive bet that AI will transform the global economy more profoundly than industrialization, electricity and the internet, according to its IPO prospectus seen by Reuters.  —  But the cost to get there will be staggering.

Tennessee to execute a woman for first time in over 200 years  —  Christa Pike was convicted in a brutal 1995 killing committed when she was 18.  Advocates pushing for her life to be spared point to abuse she suffered as a child.  —  SummaryLoading...  A Tennessee woman scheduled …

Will Democrats offer Americans a New New Deal?  —  Ahead of PN's 5th anniversary next week, we're offering paid subscriptions at the special yearly rate of $40 (or about 16¢ per edition).  This newsletter is only possible thanks to the support of paid subscribers.

How Trump's sweeping changes are remaking Washington  —  June 3, 2025. Sept. 1, 2026.  —  President Donald Trump has focused on remaking Washington in his second term, from blades of grass on the White House lawn to new monuments around the city.  —  He regularly directs the presidential helicopter …

ICE agent who shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston identified  —  The federal government has withheld his identification, even as major state and local law enforcement agencies across the country typically identify officers involved in shootings on the job soon after the incident.

Unsurprisingly, Meta's new Muse AI agent blatantly ignores users permissions  —  In a completely unsurprising turn of events, Meta's Muse AI is stealing Apple Messages, past and present, and uploading the contents to its cloud, even if explicitly told not to.

EXCLUSIVE: Hegseth to double cuts to generals, admirals in major Pentagon shakeup  —  The War Secretary's State of the Force address doubles last year's 10% reduction target, with changes due by Jan. 1, 2027  —  War Secretary Pete Hegseth will announce plans to reduce by 20% the number …

Cotton calls for review after F-35 parts vanish  —  Sen. Tom Cotton is pushing the Pentagon to review military equipment shipping after sensitive F-35 components were diverted to Hong Kong early this summer — the first formal indication that a senior Republican is concerned about the incident.

Bizarro White House Vid Has QAnon Buzzing  —  While Republicans cringed at the champagne-soaked spectacle, conspiracy theorists scoured it for a message.  —  TRUMP ADVISER DAN SCAVINO got in a heap of trouble on Saturday for posting a video about how much partying he's doing as White House deputy chief of staff.

Obama boosts Senate Democrats with October fundraiser  —  The former president is set to hold his first fundraiser this election cycle for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.  —  Former President Barack Obama is looking to give Democrats a financial boost, headlining a fundraiser next month …

House Speaker Johnson says he hopes AI guardrails are ‘voluntary’ amid Congress inaction … House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who is joining a meeting of artificial intelligence officials in Washington later Tuesday, said on CNBC's “Squawk Box” that he favors “striking the right balance” …

Why Democrats Should Stop Using the Phrase “Culture Wars”  —  Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa, who is surprisingly close in polls against Republican incumbent Greg Abbott, attributes that strong standing to her campaign strategy.  She says her secret sauce is avoiding the “culture wars.”

What's Gone Wrong For the GOP  —  And some speculation about why.  —  A two-part item today: I'm looking again at the state of the election, focused this time mainly on the Senate, and then shifting to some first thoughts about why things have gone so badly so far for Republicans.