“President Trump has been trying to force Iran to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz for months, turning to everything from airstrikes and naval blockades to negotiations and threats to destroy a ‘whole civilization.'” CBS News reports. “But restoring oil tanker traffic in the vital Middle East shipping corridor to prewar flows likely will require […]

Despite an erroneous report from one of the Supreme Court’s most respected correspondents, the long-anticipated retirement of a conservative justice still hasn’t happened. For months, the assumption has been that Justices Clarence Thomas or Samuel Alito — perhaps both — would step down while Republicans still control the White House and the Senate. Join now […]

Paul Krugman: “Are we back at war with Iran? Did the war ever stop? The U.S. is, once again, bombing Iran while Iranian drones strike shipping. Iran, giddy with its success in defying America, is demanding sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, while Donald Trump is saying no, he owns the Strait and will collect […]

“With President Trump’s approval ratings languishing and Democratic candidates polling well, Rob Sand, Iowa’s state auditor, could become the state’s first Democratic governor in 16 years after November’s election,” the New York Times reports. “Yet as governor, Mr. Sand would be unable to block Republican priorities if the GOP wins a supermajority in the state […]

“Consumer prices posted their biggest decline in more than six years during June as a sharp swoon in energy prices provided at least temporary relief from this year’s inflation surge, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday,” CNBC reports.

Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (R) still isn’t ready to rally behind billionaire Rick Jackson’s (R) bid for governor, Atlanta Journal Constitution reports. “In his first interview since his defeat in the Republican runoff, Jones wouldn’t say whether he would even vote for Jackson in November and warned that the party’s nominee must repair a […]

“Behind a string of recent leftist victories in Democratic primaries across the country is a growing ecosystem of progressive media consulting firms and strategists positioning themselves ahead of a wide-open 2028 presidential cycle,” NOTUS reports. “One of those firms, Middle Seat, has quietly racked up a string of victories by working with what have turned […]

“Sen. Mitch McConnell’s office released a photo Sunday night in an effort to answer weeks of questions about his health. In it, the 84-year-old Kentucky Republican smiles beside his wife, Elaine Chao, while holding what appears to be that day’s Washington Post Sports section,” the Washington Post reports. “But the image did not end the […]

“Oil prices continued to climb on Tuesday, hitting their highest levels in a month, as an escalating pattern of strikes and counter strikes between the United States and Iran rattled markets,” the New York Times reports.

“The always unconvincing ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is all but dead,” Bloomberg reports. “What is indisputable is that the geopolitics of the Middle East have been indelibly changed by the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered a series of once unthinkable events, culminating in the U.S.-led war on Iran that is reshaping […]

Punchbowl News: “How’s this for election-year governing?” “With the political winds howling in their face, House Republicans are gearing up to send the Pentagon tens of billions of dollars in new funding for a seemingly endless Iran war that’s bottoming out in public opinion polls.” “The new Pentagon money may not be offset by spending […]

G. Elliot Morris: “In our June Strength In Numbers/Verasight poll, we asked 2,000 Americans to rate both parties on a 0-to-100 ‘feeling thermometer’ scale (where 0 represents ‘cold’ and 100 ‘warm’ toward a figure/party), and about one in five registered voters put both parties below 50.” “This is the group we’ll call the ‘double haters’ […]

“President Donald Trump just threw out a demand of a 20% reimbursement on cargo shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, or roughly $30 million on full supertankers carrying oil,” Bloomberg reports. “That’s based on current oil prices of about $80 per barrel. Supertankers can hold about 2 million barrels of crude.” “In contrast, Iran had […]

“Hunter Biden says he is ‘grateful that the rule of law prevailed’ in a defamation lawsuit that recently netted him a judgment of $1.7m in punitive damages from former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne,” The Guardian reports.

“President Donald Trump is ‘very serious’ about his plan to impose a 20% toll on cargo transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, asserting that it’s a plan he’s wanted to move forward with for months,” Semafor reports. “The president has long flirted with the idea of charging a toll, wondering back in April ‘why shouldn’t’ […]

“Iran seems to be playing Donald Trump at his own game,” CNN reports. “The president complained Monday that the Islamic Republic can’t be trusted to honor an agreement, rebuking its rulers for one of his own signature moves.” “‘It was a done deal, and then they broke it. They always break it,’ he told Fox […]

“President Donald Trump said the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was drained Monday to make repairs and that it ‘will be refilled and put back into service soon,’ again claiming that vandals gashed the pool’s lining,” CNN reports. USA Today: From blue to green to empty, a look at the DC Reflecting Pool saga.

“Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg left the door open to a potential 2028 presidential run during a visit to Iowa, but said he is focused on the 2026 midterm elections,” USA Today reports. “After rallying phone bank volunteers with Democratic congressional hopeful Sarah Trone Garriott in Des Moines on July 13, the former mayor […]

“Americans’ confidence in 14 of the nation’s core institutions is at or near all-time lows, according to new Gallup polling,” Axios reports. “Why it matters: Trust in America’s institutions is being pulled apart by a widening partisan gap, with Republicans far more confident than Democrats in the Trump 2.0 era of mass societal disruption.”

New York Times: “Rural voters have been President Trump’s most enduring supporters, but they have edged away from him as the Iran War has spiked prices of diesel and fertilizer. Tariff wars have made it harder for farmers to sell their products, and rural families depend especially heavily on the Affordable Care Act subsidies that […]

Washington Post: “In the days since Graham’s death, our era of paranoid politics has produced a string of theories online: He died in Kyiv. He was taken out by Israel. He was poisoned by Iran. He was blown up by Russia.l ”In a statement, Graham’s office said Sunday that preliminary findings from the D.C. medical […]

“New York became the first U.S. state on Tuesday to halt construction of large new data centers, imposing ‌a one-year moratorium as concerns grow that the facilities driving the artificial-intelligence boom are raising power costs, straining water supplies and burdening local communities,” Reuters reports.

“The Senate is still reeling from South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham’s death, and GOP leaders will soon have to turn to the weighty question of who will fill his spots on key congressional committees,” Semafor reports. “Those include Judiciary, Appropriations, Environment and Public Works, and his Budget Committee chairmanship.”

“Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh will have his resistance to previewing interest-rate decisions tested again Tuesday morning when he appears before lawmakers for the first time since his confirmation,” Semafor reports.

“Mike Lawler was in his element at the Rockland County America 250 celebration,” NOTUS reports. “He’s one of the most endangered House Republicans, running for reelection in New York’s 17th Congressional District at a time when President Donald Trump’s approval ratings are at record lows and voter concerns about the economy are increasing.” “But making […]

“House GOP leaders face a pivotal test Tuesday as they try to break a conservative revolt that has paralyzed the House floor for weeks,” Fox News reports. “The rebellion, including several dozen Republicans, has repeatedly forced House Speaker Mike Johnson to pull votes on key legislation, grinding House business to a halt just months before […]

“A wave of nationalist fervor in Iran is creating a difficult atmosphere for the country’s diplomats, making it harder to agree to U.S. terms to permanently end the fighting and secure much needed relief from sanctions,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The regime, rocked by protests early this year and still deeply unpopular with much […]

“President Trump’s primetime Thursday speech from the White House is slated to include election integrity, an update on Iran and whatever else he deems important,” Axios reports. Said an adviser: “It will be a potpourri.” “Though ever-available to reporters, Trump hasn’t given many primetime, direct-to-camera speeches from the White House. He wants to do more […]

“President Trump gave Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) his support for a highly unusual military action against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen,” Axios reports. “The Saudi strike on the Sanaa airport Monday and Houthi retaliatory missile attacks that followed were the most serious cross-border escalation since 2022. They could signal the collapse of […]

“The United Arab Emirates’ Defense Ministry said early Tuesday that Iran attacked two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, killing one mariner and wounding eight others,” the Associated Press reports.