“With control of the Senate hanging in the balance, President Trump is heading to Houston on Friday to raise money to help a Republican ally who has been struggling,” the New York Times reports. “The Republican National Committee is holding a fund-raiser for Ken Paxton, the scandal-plagued Texas attorney general who is running for Senate. […]

“The Trump administration plans to step up deportation flights to Haiti as soon as this week, a move intended to more quickly expel thousands of Haitians whose legal status expired this summer with the end of a humanitarian program,” the New York Times reports.

“A Republican push to prosecute Dr. Anthony Fauci for contempt of Congress has stalled as the Trump administration questions whether the legal approach supports an indictment by the Justice Department,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “Three weeks after a GOP-led Senate committee voted to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress, some administration officials are skeptical […]

“A coalition of more than 600 historic preservation groups, architectural associations, Tribal governments and other organizations is urging Congress to block President Donald Trump’s efforts to weaken or evade laws intended to protect historic sites,” the Washington Post reports. “Members of the new coalition say they are seeking to safeguard sites in every congressional district […]

“The Trump administration’s top trade negotiator suggested the U.S. ought to consider banning some Canadian goods, injecting another threat into a trade dispute between Washington and Ottawa,” Bloomberg reports.

“Embattled North Carolina Rep. Chuck Edwards sent a 23-page letter to his colleagues defending himself against sexual harassment allegations that led to his decision to not run for reelection in November,” NOTUS reports. Wrote Edwards: “Friendship is not misconduct. Generosity is not misconduct. Social interaction is not misconduct. Caring deeply about colleagues who have become […]

“A former staffer for Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) shared images in June and July on his X account of a swastika and one that depicts himself in Ku Klux Klan robes,” the Washington Post reports. “The images follow other controversial actions and rhetoric from former Collins staffers and other Collins associates that have dogged his […]

Wall Street Journal: “The air war between Russia and Ukraine has entered a new phase. With expanded aerial arsenals and inadequate air defenses, both sides are bludgeoning each other in a bare-knuckle fight that is causing a widening swath of destruction and a rising civilian toll.”

Paul Krugman: “A clear indicator that Trump sycophants realize that they are caught in reality’s snare is how they respond to any question about current economic difficulties. Their first sentence almost always contains the word ‘Biden,’ as they make the false claim that things were worse under Joe Biden, or that Biden somehow caused all […]

“Newly obtained documents indicate that the U.S. health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, lied during two congressional hearings last year, telling lawmakers who held the key to his confirmation that a 2019 visit to Samoa had ‘nothing to do with vaccines,'” The Guardian reports. “Letters obtained by the Guardian and the Associated Press contradict that […]

“The U.S. aims to ‘advance and accelerate’ the transfer of responsibility for most of Europe’s own conventional defense as Washington continues a review of its troop presence, a top Pentagon official said,” Bloomberg reports. “Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby arrived in Brussels for talks with NATO allies on Thursday to update them on […]

Toluse Olorunnipa: “GOP lawmakers are pushing to restrict the rights of naturalized and dual citizens—including their ability to run for office.”

Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball: “Despite the collective Republican lean of the Senate seats being contested this year, the current average Democratic lead in generic ballot polling along with the large number of Republican seats up for election suggests that Democrats have a realistic chance of gaining at least four seats to take control of the […]

New Yorker: “Ever since Trump’s combustive, combative second term began, a conversation once consigned to academic circles and the parlor rooms of Brussels and Ottawa has entered the mainstream: forget being the fifty-first U.S. state—what if Canada became the twenty-eighth member of the E.U.?” “A widely read column in The Economist from January, 2025, laid […]

What once sounded like the plot of a spy thriller is quickly becoming a real political issue. And it’s happening much faster than Washington seems capable of responding. Join now to continue reading. Members get exclusive analysis, bonus features and no advertising. Learn more. If you’re already a member, sign in to your account.

The Economist: “The wall serves more than one purpose, and will have broad effects. To Mr Trump’s base, it helps to fulfil a campaign promise. To government contractors, it presents an opportunity. To would-be migrants, it provides an enduring symbol of Mr Trump’s command to keep out. The wall will transform the nature of the […]

“Republicans have a white and married women problem,” Politico reports. “Democrats are hurtling into the post-Labor Day campaign season with an 18-point advantage on the generic congressional ballot, according to a national survey of women conducted by Christine Matthews, a pollster at Bellwether Research and Consulting who specializes in women voters, and has worked for […]

“Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Thom Tillis spent eight years rebuilding a bipartisan Senate channel to NATO at a time when allies increasingly looked to Congress for stability in Washington,” NOTUS reports. “Now both are leaving Congress, with no successors settled and no guarantee the group they rebuilt will survive or carry the same weight without […]

“President Donald Trump has touted his one-of-a-kind midterm convention as the spectacle his party needs to reenergize voters and alter its political fortunes ahead of the midterms,” CNN reports. “But as the two-day extravaganza approaches, Republicans are privately questioning if it strikes the right tone amid the electorate’s tightening budgets — and the wisdom of […]

“Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh is poised to take the global stage Friday as uncertainty over how he thinks about inflation reaches a fever pitch,” Semafor reports. “Warsh, who’s so far remained committed to revealing little about his view of the economy, will have his biggest audience yet when he delivers the keynote speech at […]

“On paper, Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia should be among the most vulnerable incumbents this year. He is the only Senate Democrat defending a seat in a state President Trump won in 2024,” NPR reports. “But the race has not turned into the nail-biter most anticipated, and Democrats outside Georgia are taking notice – at […]

“A sudden cut to Social Security checks — long seen as a far-off doomsday — is now an imminent problem for the next president and whomever voters send to Congress in the coming years,” Politico reports. ”The trust fund that bankrolls monthly checks to retirees is set to be drained of reserves in late 2032. […]

“As voters in both parties grow anxious about the rapid build-out of data centers, President Donald Trump remains one of the tech industry’s most prominent champions — putting him increasingly at odds with members of his own party,” the Washington Post reports. ”Nowhere is that divergence clearer than in Texas, where Trump travels Thursday to […]

“President Donald Trump’s push to have the U.S. Postal Service screen voters for eligibility in the midterm election is running up against tight deadlines that some officials are warning will cause massive errors and disenfranchisement,” NOTUS reports. “The Supreme Court this week temporarily allowed the Postal Service to move forward with a new plan — […]

“President Trump has been the most potent force in Republican primary elections, elevating allies and foiling foes with endorsements, social media posts and rally appearances,” the New York Times reports. “But as the end of primary season draws near and the sprint to the general election begins, Mr. Trump may soon be something entirely different […]

“Senator Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland, on Thursday plans to introduce a resolution that would order the Trump administration to provide Congress with a detailed accounting of Israel’s human rights practices in the West Bank, laying the groundwork to force a vote on the matter in coming weeks,” the New York Times reports. “The […]

“The massive expenditure of U.S. munitions in the Middle East is increasingly worrying Asian allies and frustrating Pentagon officials overseeing the Indo-Pacific, who fear that the prolonged war with Iran could undermine U.S. readiness for a conflict with China as it continues to step up military pressure across the region,” the Washington Post reports.

“A year after President Trump set out to rewire global trade in America’s favor, the biggest winner has turned out to be Vietnam,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “For the first half of this year, federal data shows Vietnam’s trade surplus with the U.S. hit $114 billion, ahead of semiconductor hub, Taiwan, Mexico, and even […]

“Former leaders of the National Archives — which preserves and protects the nation’s most important documents — are urging a federal appeals court to reject the Trump administration’s effort to ignore the Presidential Records Act, a decades old law that requires presidents save all official records from their time in office,” CNN reports. “Six archivists, […]

“Secret Service communications director Anthony Guglielmi has been placed on leave,” NBC News reports. “The news comes as a Secret Service spokesperson revealed that three officials who are not law enforcement personnel were put on leave pending an investigation into potential misconduct.” New York Post: Three Secret Service honchos put on leave, face misconduct probe […]