Wall Street Journal: “The push to expand head count, at least modestly, is a reversal from the prevailing corporate messaging during much of the AI era. Major employers largely held back on adding people due to economic uncertainties or a belief that artificial intelligence could shoulder more tasks on the job.” “But some executives say […]

“Embattled Cracker Barrel Chief Executive Julie Masino is stepping down, the company said,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The move ends a roughly three-year tenure in which the restaurant chain was widely criticized by customers and President Trump for her efforts to modernize the eatery and its stores. Masino pressed forward with a revamp that […]

“German Chancellor Friedrich Merz came under criticism from his own party members after a cabinet reshuffle, which was meant as a fresh boost for his leadership, turned into chaos,” Bloomberg reports.

“President Donald Trump ramped up pressure Monday on Majority Leader John Thune, telling him to keep the Senate in session until a GOP election bill passes,” Politico reports. Wrote Trump, on Truth Social: “John Thune should not allow the United States Senate to ‘leave town’ until it passes The Save America Act or, far better […]

“Moderate Democrats in the Empire State are being forced to evolve — or risk going extinct,” Politico reports. ”A surging youth vote that propelled New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s rise and powered recent primary upsets against the Democratic establishment has become a flashing red light for centrist Democrats who are now scrambling for solutions.” […]

“Acting Director of National Intelligence William Pulte announced Sunday that his office has completed a fourth batch of layoffs,” Fox News reports.

“Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) needs to get to work on passing the rest of President Trump’s agenda with fewer than 100 days to go before the midterm elections, a key member of the GOP’s rank-and-file warned Sunday,” the New York Post reports. Said Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA): “Look, I mean no disrespect. I […]

“Abdul El-Sayed has a frank private assessment of what victory in the Michigan Senate Democratic primary over Rep. Haley Stevens would mean,” Politico reports. “During a recent Zoom donor meeting, El-Sayed indicated that a win in the Aug. 4 contest — and another one in November — would give him a platform to push the […]

“John Thune has a long to-do list, a shrinking runway for getting it done and a president in the peanut gallery,” Politico reports. “The Senate is back Monday with only two more weeks — more realistically, eight legislative days — in town until the chamber leaves Washington through mid-September.” “The majority leader wants to clear […]

“Congressional Republicans have a political problem with their signature legislative achievement of the second Trump era: People don’t know about it,” Politico reports. ”A new Politico Poll finds that nearly half of Americans say they can’t explain the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — and those who can are much more likely to say it’s […]

Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball: “Republicans made the House map better for themselves compared to the 2024 map by winning this cycle’s expansive redistricting fight.” “However, comparing this year’s map to the district lines in place in 2018—the last midterm held under President Trump—puts the 2026 House map in a different light.” “By a number of […]

“The U.S. Senate is due to begin voting as early as Monday on the nomination of Manhattan ​U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, President Donald Trump’s pick to be the top U.S. spy, and he is ‌expected to be approved within days despite a tense confirmation hearing,” Reuters reports. “If approved to be the director of national […]

“Officials who separated former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg from his young twins last month relied on a vague and unsubstantiated allegation from an accuser authorities later deemed possibly ‘mentally unstable,’ according to previously unreported police records,” the Washington Post reports. ”The records, obtained by The Washington Post, and an interview with the apparent complainant offer […]

Bloomberg: “We got a clear gameplan here Sunday at an event featuring two of the party’s most prominent figures marking 100 days until the midterm elections.” “In a steel workers’ union hall set in one of the country’s most competitive districts — and one of the most vital states for control of the House — […]

“President Donald Trump is scheduled to stop at an auto facility in Michigan on Monday as the GOP pivots to the midterms,” Semafor reports.

“For more than four years, a fragile truce prevailed in Yemen, where a Saudi-led military coalition and the Iran-backed Houthi militia had fought a war that pushed the country to the brink of famine,” the New York Times reports. “The limbo was most likely never going to last. Talks toward a durable peace deal had […]

“Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has the power to stop pharmaceutical companies from advertising directly to consumers. He could do it almost instantaneously by revising the ’90s-era guidance giving drugmakers the opening to run 30-second TV ads on their products,” NOTUS reports. “However, the Department of Health and Human Services is taking a different […]

“Democrats are learning a hard lesson Republicans know all too well: The party out of power doesn’t just ride the anti-incumbency wave — it can also get swept up in it,” Axios reports. “The populist energy surging through the left after President Trump’s return to the White House is roiling Democratic primaries and fueling establishment […]

“During President Trump’s second term, Republicans have escalated their attacks on hard-to-trace fundraising methods used by left-leaning groups,” CBS News reports. ”Now, those efforts could force more disclosure for a project linked to Mr. Trump himself: Freedom 250, the entity behind America’s 250th birthday celebration.”

“Americans’ economic pessimism eased somewhat this month, a positive sign for the White House as it battles inflation fueled by the Iran war,” Semafor reports. “Gallup’s economic confidence measure rose to -31 in July from a low of -45 in May, an improvement largely driven by Republicans and independents shifting in a more positive direction.”

“President Donald Trump has arrived at yet another fork in the road on Iran. But each time he reaches such a point, his options only become more narrow and the costs of any course of action grow,” CNN reports.

“A bipartisan bill aiming to penalize Moscow’s war in Ukraine has exposed a fissure among potential 2028 Democratic presidential contenders, some of whom worry the measure would turbocharge President Donald Trump’s power to impose tariffs and harm the economy,” NOTUS reports. “The bill, titled the ‘Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026,’ could get […]

CNBC: “Initial market reaction Friday was muted, with the renewed tariff push largely anticipated by investors, given the approaching expiry of the previous duties. That contrasts with the ‘shock and awe’ approach that underpinned the sweeping ‘Liberation Day’ levies announced in April 2025, which sent markets plummeting.” “However, investors and analysts say the circumstances surrounding […]

New York Times: “Mr. Netanyahu, who is trailing in the opinion polls at home before Israel’s fall vote, is under pressure to show his domestic audience that he still has a close working relationship with Mr. Trump, analysts say, despite their differences. Mr. Trump is heading into U.S. midterm elections in November after an unpopular […]

“In the span of a week, Sen. Darline Graham was sworn into office, co-sponsored her first piece of legislation and made a massive political decision—all before she buried her brother, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “Darline Graham, who in recent years had run South Carolina’s Commission for the Blind, is […]

“Representative Hakeem Jeffries stood inside a union hall in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley on Sunday, under a banner that read ‘AFFORDABLE’ in oversize red letters,” the New York Times reports. “In case the message was not clear enough, the lectern the New York Democrat stood behind blared the same slogan — ‘Fighting for an Affordable America’ […]

“For decades, the federal government has funneled big-ticket grants to local communities to help them take on ambitious construction projects to expand public transit. The grants, sometimes in the billions of dollars, have funded new railroad tracks, train stations and roads rebuilt for modern bus service. Today, they’re funding extensions of the Second Avenue Subway […]

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Sunday responded directly to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s calls for his arrest, accusing the mayor of ‘fomenting hate’ and referring to a video address that Mr. Mamdani made last week as ‘hate speech.'” the New York Times reports. Bloomberg: Netanyahu vows to attend UN as Mamdani says he’s “not […]

“President Donald Trump is set to visit Michigan on Monday to highlight manufacturing and auto industry jobs ahead of the state’s Aug. 4 primary elections,” NewsNation reports.

“North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister denounced calls for denuclearization, describing the country’s nuclear weapons as its ‘ultimate shield,’ state media reported, as Ukraine warned that more North Korean soldiers could join Russia’s war efforts,” Bloomberg reports. South China Morning Post: America’s North Korea strategy needs a dose of reality.