Chris Rufo — Known For ‘DEI’ and ‘CRT’ Panics — Tries to Make ‘the Indian Question’ a Thing  —  Rufo often gets treated as a “respectable” conservative.  His latest podcast episode — framing Indian-Americans as a problem in need of solving — is more evidence that he shouldn't be.

Top GOP group pauses Senate spending in N.C., goes up in Kansas  —  Senate Republicans' top super PAC is making a tactical change, pausing its ad campaign in North Carolina's Senate race and launching a new one in Kansas.  —  Senate Leadership Fund is plowing seven figures into Kansas …

Trump Directed Use of Taxpayer Money for Ads Praising His Presidency  —  The government-funded ads show just how much President Trump has been able to use federal money for his own aims.  —  President Trump personally instructed his budget director to use taxpayer money for TV ads praising …

White House Officials Told the DOJ to Delay Action on Abortion Ahead of the Midterms  —  The White House has instructed the Justice Department to move slowly on any abortion-related actions ahead of the midterm elections, The Washington Sun has learned.  —  In a series of discussions …

Agency Diverted $1.4 Billion in Science Funds Mandated by Congress  —  The move, affecting about one-fifth of the National Science Foundation's primary research budget, is the latest sign of how the White House is asserting more control over grants.  —  The National Science Foundation …

Justice Alito confirms he is considering retirement  —  Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has confirmed that he is considering retirement, leaving open the possibility that he could leave after next year's term and hand another nomination to President Donald Trump.

Georgia board asks Trump administration to investigate voting machines … The State Election Board's Executive Director James Mills has asked the Trump administration to examine Georgia's voting machines that are deployed statewide and prohibit QR-code vote counting, according to letters obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

US adds disappointing 29,000 jobs and unemployment ticks up to 4.2% in September  —  U.S. employers added a disappointing 29,000 jobs and the unemployment rate ticked up last month, the government reported Friday, a month before voters go to the polls in pivotal midterm elections …

DOJ Not Reopening Criminal Probe Into Powell, Blanche Says  —  The US Justice Department isn't reopening a criminal investigation into former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for cost overruns related to the central bank's building renovation project.  —  Attorney General Todd Blanche …

MAGA podcaster Benny Johnson sued for defamation over ICE ride-along videos calling protesters ‘terrorists’  —  Johnson accompanied top DHS officials last year to an ICE protest, where he pointed out “left-wing terrorists” for his millions of followers across social media.

FlyDubai Attacker Had Been Banned From Flying by Oman for Radical Views  —  The U.A.E. airline later hired the co-pilot who stabbed the captain of Flight 1073 and nearly crashed the plane  —  The FlyDubai co-pilot who stabbed his captain and sent Flight 1073 diving toward the ground …

With Christa Pike Unconscious, Another Execution Attempt Is in Doubt  —  Her condition raises questions about whether Tennessee could attempt to execute her again if she is incapable of understanding what is happening.  —  Christa Pike was unconscious, intubated and on a ventilator …

Mayor Mamdani holds hands with one-time rival Curtis Sliwa to get flu shot  —  An apparent bromance has continued to blossom for the one-time political rivals.  —  FORT GREENE, Brooklyn (WABC) — Mayor Zohran Mamdani held hands with his one-time political rival, Curtis Sliwa …

Letitia James Takes Over Cornell 7 Case (She Issued Her Judgement Days Ago)  —  What the so-called “Cornell 7” case needed was a serious investigator who would carefully sort through the conflicting claims, including claims made by the alleged victim which seem to contradict some of her own statements.

Musk-led war commission triggers alarms in Pentagon  —  Pentagon officials warn that Pete Hegseth's plan for a pair of billionaire defense contractors to help steer the military's future will produce conflicts of interest that threaten the long-term integrity of the department.

Who was behind a $250K mystery donation to super PAC backing Ken Paxton?  —  Last year, a super PAC supporting Texas Senate hopeful Ken Paxton received a $250,000 donation from a man calling himself “Paul McLaren,” a supposed “entrepreneur” living in Plano, Texas.

Judge Slows Border Wall Construction in Big Bend Sector  —  The order prevents the Trump administration from waiving environmental protections that would allow it to quickly build across a national and state park.  — Copy  —  A judge on Friday slowed the Trump administration's plans …

Judge Throws Out Another Confession in Sept. 11 Case  —  Prosecutors have long considered the defendants' admissions during interrogations in 2007 to be their best evidence.  —  In a new setback to prosecutors in the Sept. 11 case, a military judge on Friday excluded the confessions …

Kash Patel commissions classified, internal FBI report to examine department ‘failures’  —  FBI Director Kash Patel has commissioned a classified report examining purported past FBI shortcomings, in what current and former bureau officials see as the Trump administration's latest effort to rewrite history in the president's favor.

Trump threatens to double tariffs on South Korea if they do not pay for Alaska natural gas pipeline - US politics live  —  President has claimed pipeline project was part of a deal made last year to lower tariffs on imports from South Korea in return for billions of dollars of investments in the US

Voters can stop MAGA from running elections in more than a dozen states  —  Our complete guide every race for secretary of state (and more!) this year  —  As Donald Trump once again seeks to subvert America's elections, voters in three dozen states will have the opportunity next month …

ICE Has Been Dumping Protester Photos Into a Palantir Database  —  DHS agents not only tracked and intimidated people observing ICE activity in Maine, but stored information about them in a Palantir-built database, newly unsealed court filings say.  —  An explosive and newly partially …

Trump talks 2028, midterms and media woes at Murdoch dinner  —  President Trump ragged on several mainstream news outlets, including the Washington Post, New York Times and MS NOW, at a dinner he hosted Tuesday for News Corp. executives, including Rupert Murdoch, a source familiar with the event told Axios.

Bill Pulte Guts the IG Office That Investigated Him  —  Cuts Would Put IG Office Out of Business  —  In a move that smacks of retaliation, Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte is moving to slash next year's budget for the agency's inspector general's office by more than 60% …

CBS News poll finds voters split on state v. national focus in tied Maine Senate race  —  Anyone who's walked its rugged coast or skied in its mountains knows Maine can get windy.  —  But right now Maine's Senate race seems a bit insulated from the national political winds …

Not To Alarm You, But Trump's Brain Is Melted  —  Just how bad has Donald Trump's leadership been for the Kennedy Center's financial health?  CNN reports that, after Trump slapped his name on the building late last year, donation pledges plunged more than 100 percent compared to the previous three-month period.

Trump Tourism Effects  —  In the past day or two on social media I kept seeing this graph from a Semafor story on the declining volume of international visitors to the United States.  —  It seems to show, and was being remarked on as showing, that the second Trump administration …

Senate crushes House on congressional work days  —  The Senate is well on its way to claiming the congressional attendance trophy this year, spending 32 more weekdays in session so far than the House. … - The Senate left town late Wednesday — two weeks after its House counterparts …

Sanders to rally for Troy Jackson in Maine  —  Sen. Bernie Sanders will hit the road for Troy Jackson in Maine starting Oct. 10, the first time the progressive leader will stump for the candidate this cycle.  The Vermont independent plans to hold three rallies with Jackson …

F.D.A. Found Cyclospora During Taylor Farms Inspection in Mexico  —  The discovery adds strong evidence that the outbreak that sickened thousands over the summer originated in the company's fields or processing facility in northeastern Mexico.  —  The Food and Drug Administration said on Friday …