“Speaker Mike Johnson said he has no plans to campaign with embattled Rep. Max Miller — or visit his home state of Ohio at all — before the midterms,” Politico reports. Said Johnson: “I have no plans to go to Ohio between now and the election. I’ve said everything I can say about the situation. […]

“Despite a stern message from party leaders, a panel of House Democrats did not settle on any particular consequences for the pair of lawmakers who crossed party lines Tuesday to advance an otherwise troubled slate of Republican-led bills,” Politico reports. “Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and fellow leaders said the matter would be reviewed by the […]

“As the on-again, off-again war in Iran flares up again, President Trump seems bogged down in a conflict that he cannot control or move past, despite his declarations of total victory,” the New York Times reports. “On Tuesday night, after the latest exchange of fire over control of the Strait of Hormuz, Mr. Trump called […]

Gallup: “Nearly half of Americans (47%) want labor unions in the U.S. to have more influence than they do today, a record high in the past quarter century and roughly double the 23% who want unions to have less influence. Another 26% want unions’ influence to remain the same.”

“With Army Secretary Dan Driscoll’s resignation announcement this week, the number of top Pentagon officials to depart under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth climbed to more than two dozen,” MS NOW reports. “At least 25 military and civilian leaders have been fired or forced out or have retired early since Hegseth’s tenure as defense secretary began […]

“President Donald Trump on Wednesday floated renaming the Strait of Hormuz — the central point of contention in the ongoing war against Iran that the U.S. and Israel started — after himself,” CNBC reports. Said Trump: “Now that we have it under USA control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT??? Like […]

The Economist: “A weary world may not want to hear it, but the war in Ukraine is intensifying, not ending. As it deepens, the conflict is also expanding. Increasingly, serious-minded governments across northern Europe are planning to defend themselves against Russia for decades to come.”

William Kristol: “Donald Trump isn’t on the ballot this November. But these midterms are a referendum on him. The 119th Congress has been controlled by the Republican party. That party’s distinctive feature, its defining characteristic, is that it has supported Trump. It’s done so uniformly, mindlessly, and obediently.” “So the Democrats’ message—the broad democratic opposition’s […]

“President Donald Trump will meet Wednesday with executives from some of the country’s largest airlines, hotel chains and travel companies as the White House looks to build on a summer tourism boost fueled in part by the men’s FIFA World Cup,” CNBC reports.

“The Trump administration is backing OpenAI in its copyright battle with The New York Times, arguing that using copyrighted material to train artificial intelligence models can be protected by fair use,” The Wrap reports.

“Just days before the far-right AfD clinches a possible election triumph, German executives are warning of the economic damage that its extremism might wreak,” Bloomberg reports. “The party is on track to win the vote in Saxony-Anhalt on Sunday, and could even potentially achieve an absolute majority. Such an outcome in the eastern German state […]

“The courts cannot keep up with President Trump,” the New York Times reports. “In cases on immigration, spending, mass firings and restructuring agencies, the administration has barreled ahead in the face of slow-moving legal challenges. If Mr. Trump loses when those lawsuits are finally resolved, it may be too late as a practical matter to […]

Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball: “Republicans probably retain a slight edge in the Senate, but that assessment has gotten harder to defend over the course of the summer.”

Washington Post: “Only three states still have primary elections pending before the crucial midterm elections to determine which party controls Congress during the last two years of President Donald Trump’s term.” “New Hampshire and Rhode Island hold elections next week, and the final primary of the season will be in Delaware on Sept. 15.” See […]

A new American University Sine Institute of Policy & Politics poll finds 70 percent of respondents aged 18 to 34 said they weren’t proud of “where America is heading as a nation.”

Politico: “When it comes to the regime in Tehran, the Trump administration appears to still be in the early learning stages.” “A clear sign of this is administration assertions that Iran’s regime is splintered or so divided that it can’t even effectively negotiate. At times, President Donald Trump and his aides, including those who’ve negotiated […]

“The backlash against AI data centers is uniting a huge swath of Americans, but splitting Republicans trying to defend their power in Washington,” Bloomberg reports. “Donald Trump’s call this week to ‘let Data Reign’ put the divide in stark relief, as GOP candidates and officials grapple with an issue that’s increasingly at the forefront of […]

“Florida banned local police from installing license-plate readers on state roads, responding to growing concern about the proliferation of surveillance cameras made by Flock Safety and other companies,” Bloomberg reports.

“The U.S. Mint announced Wednesday that $1 coins featuring President Donald Trump’s likeness have entered circulation and can be purchased on its website,” ABC News reports.

Ohio congressional candidate Brian Poindexter (D) “was arrested for allegedly swallowing a rock of crack cocaine at a traffic stop after he was stopped by police” in 1998, according to police records obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

A new Overton Insights/Texas Public Policy Foundation poll in Texas finds James Talarico (D) leading Ken Paxton (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 44% to 43%. Texas Senate Race James Talarico (D) 44%   Ken Paxton (R) 43%   Overton Insights/Texas Public Policy Foundation poll

“If I had any clue that anything remotely like this was even possible, I would never have gotten involved in supporting Trump in the first place. And I’m very ashamed that I did.” — Right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, talking to Piers Morgan after he was departed from the United States.

Paul Krugman: “To an important extent the economy’s resilience has depended on the widespread belief by investors and businesses that the Trump shocks are one-time events. Businesses can live with 10 or 15 percent tariffs, if that’s the new normal. The world economy can even manage in the face of significantly reduced flows of oil […]

“I’m not going to bring up the fact that the mother of his two children is his second cousin… It’s not something that I’m going to be emphasizing.” — Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), quoted by Politico, on challenger Troy Jackson (D).

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) suddenly has a leadership problem. Reps. Jared Golden (D-ME) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) stunned Democratic leaders by voting with Republicans on a procedural rule setting the terms for debate on a package of bills. Join now to continue reading. Members get exclusive analysis, bonus features and no advertising. […]

“Alaska’s House and Senate contests are set for November’s general election, after the results in the state’s nonpartisan top-four primary put fringe candidates on the ballot, including one who shares the same name as the incumbent and a felon serving a 20-year prison sentence in New York,” CBS News reports.

“Nearly every session at the Group of 20 meeting of finance ministers and central bankers in Asheville, N.C. this week began with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent extolling the state of the U.S. economy under President Trump and urging other countries to be more like America,” the New York Times reports. “America’s allies were not always […]

“This week, the U.S. Army used a high-energy multipurpose laser to shoot down three drones near the U.S.-Mexico border, which official reports claimed were ‘posing a physical threat to U.S. military personnel and CBP partners,’ referring to Customs and Border Patrol,” Wired reports.

“The Trump administration has a blunt message for state and local officials trying to prevent construction of a wall and other security measures along the 2,000-mile southern border: Resistance is futile,” Axios reports. “Driving the news: President Trump’s envoys recently met privately with officials from Texas border counties where residents have pushed back against construction, […]

“San Francisco Democrats have broken with their statewide party over California’s proposed billionaire wealth tax, rejecting Proposition 40 in a lopsided vote that exposes a growing divide over whether taxing extreme wealth is worth the potential economic consequences,” Fortune reports. “The San Francisco Democratic Party voted 17-4 to oppose Proposition 40—with five members abstaining, five […]