Cook Political Report: “The battle for the Senate is about to intensify ahead of the traditional Labor Day starting gun. Republicans still retain a structural advantage given the partisan challenges of the map, and Democrats still need almost every key race to break their way. But as we recently wrote, in a wave election akin […]

“Alina Habba, the president’s former personal attorney, ruled herself out as a candidate for White House press secretary as speculation swirls about who President Trump will pick to follow Karoline Leavitt,” NewsNation reports. Said Habba: “Flattered by the Kalshi odds, but I’m not in the running for any job. However, if I’m getting a new […]

“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. will soon unveil its plan to economically isolate Iran and its trading partners,” Bloomberg reports. Said Bessent: “Economic pressure means that we are going to all of our allies — and this is going to be the greatest coordinated economic isolation in the history of the world — […]

“Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former lawyer turned nemesis, defended his decision to interview the president on his podcast Thursday, saying the two men had forgiven each other,” MS NOW reports. “Cohen said he has been bombarded with angry responses since the news broke of his planned interview with a man he admitted to calling […]

“The United States sent 20 deportees to Liberia, who arrived on Thursday as part of 1,200 migrants that the African country will receive under a new deal,” The Guardian reports. “The 1,200 deportees will include African nationals and also nationals from North America, South America and the Caribbean, according to the Liberian information minister, Jerolinmek […]

“The longtime publisher of Stars and Stripes announced he’s stepping down weeks after the Pentagon installed an active-duty Navy captain at the military newspaper, an atypical appointment that staffers, board members and Democratic lawmakers say risks further eroding the publication’s independence from the government,” the Washington Post reports.

A new Talk Business & Politics-Hendrix College Poll in Arkansas finds U.S. Senate candidate Hallie Shoffner (D) holds a slim lead over incumbent Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), 47% to 44%, but within the survey’s margin of error.

The Economist: “For all the zeal Congress has shown in investigating America’s response to the covid-19 pandemic, it has been strangely uninterested in exploring a basic question: why did so many Americans die relative to the numbers who succumbed to the virus in other rich countries? Understanding the answer would seem relevant to guarding against […]

“Former Congressman Eric Swalwell, the disgraced California politician accused of rape, was confronted by FBI agents at San Francisco International Airport, where they seized his electronics as part of a federal criminal probe,” the New York Post reports.

“Boston, Denver and Philadelphia are the three finalists to host the 2028 Democratic National Convention,” CBS News reports. “The selection process now moves to the Democratic National Convention Committee. A DNC official stated that the process will take several months.”

“Democrats have a rosier view of the state of American democracy during President Donald Trump’s first term today than they did at the time,” the Washington Post reports. “That’s according to a new report from Bright Line Watch, a nonpartisan group that surveys political scientists and the general public to assess their views of the […]

Sidney Blumenthal: “Donald Trump has lost his war in reality and virtual reality, not only with Iran but also in the arena where he thought he was the eternal master, in image and myth. He has lost it on land, sea and air—and in thin air. He has lost his war both physically and metaphorically. […]

Wall Street Journal: “Debt and deficits haven’t always been a problem in the U.S. Publicly held debt—now approaching World War II levels at about 100% of the country’s annual GDP—was just 31.5% of GDP in 2001 after four years in which the government ran budget surpluses.”

“The Trump administration’s snub of South Korea has America’s allies in Asia rethinking how much they can depend on the U.S. for defense — and looking to each other to reduce their reliance on Washington,” Politico reports. Los Angeles Times: Anxiety grips Pacific allies as Trump pulls back.

“Even before Tuesday night’s debate, Sen. Darline Graham has been fending off questions about her qualifications to replace her brother, the late Lindsey Graham, in the Senate,” NBC News reports. “But her performance at the debate brought a fresh round of questioning in South Carolina — a state with a proud military tradition and several […]

“The U.S. service member who was arrested on the steps of the U.S. Capitol last month after he advocated for President Trump’s impeachment was detained again,” NewsNation reports. “U.S. Air Force Major Jason Watson was ordered into ‘pretrial confinement’ on Tuesday.”

“Heidi Overton’s years of loyalty to Donald Trump helped her become his pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration, one of the government’s most powerful regulatory agencies. But that devotion could ruin her chances at Senate confirmation,” Politico reports. “As Trump’s deputy assistant for domestic policy, Overton, a physician, has helped bring Trump’s health […]

Two election modelers — Nate Silver and G. Elliott Morris — now give Democrats a better than 50% chance of winning the Senate, Bloomberg reports.

The November elections technically start on September 4, when North Carolina starts sending out absentee-vote-by-mail ballots, Jamie Dupree reports. Jonathan Bernstein: “Other states follow soon after; by early October lots and lots of people will be voting; almost a third of the states begin early voting by the end of the first week of October.”

“A Missouri judge has allowed new U.S. House districts backed by President Donald Trump to be used in the November elections, rejecting a bid by to put the Republican-friendly districts to a statewide vote of the people,” the Associated Press reports. “The ruling Wednesday by Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green is a victory for […]

Punchbowl News: “Andrew Tupone is running for a crucial Pennsylvania swing seat as a Green Party candidate. But it’s Republicans who have played a key role in helping him get on — and stay on — the ballot.” “Tupone’s bid for Pennsylvania’s 7th District quickly raised alarms for House Democrats. His presence in the race […]

“The hard-right Freedom Caucus is having a rough primary season,” Politico reports. “Candidates with backing from the caucus and its allies flopped in primaries from Florida to Wyoming on Tuesday, adding to a string of recent losses for the group.”

“After nearly six months in a fast-paced, unplanned war with Iran, the parts onboard the Navy’s aircraft carriers are at risk of wearing out. That includes the plumbing and air-conditioning systems, catapults that launch fighter jets and the gear that catches the planes slamming to a halt on the floating runway,” MS NOW reports. “Retired […]

“Six weeks from Brazil’s election, the talk of its campaign season is less about who will win than what President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will do when he does,” Bloomberg reports. “From the capital Brasilia to trading desks in Sao Paulo, Lula is broadly considered the favorite to beat right-wing challenger Flávio Bolsonaro, whose […]

MS NOW: “As of June 29, Republican members of Congress had held just 39 in-person town halls this year, according to LegiStorm, marking the lowest first-half-of-the-year number since the Capitol Hill-focused platform began tracking that data. Democratic lawmakers, in contrast, had hosted 451 town halls during the same period.”

“South Korea estimates North Korea possesses between 80 and 120 nuclear warheads, its defence minister said on Thursday, citing a range significantly higher than President Donald Trump’s recent assertion that Pyongyang has ​57 nuclear weapons,” Reuters reports. Financial Times: North Korea dismisses Trump overture.

“They are not seriously negotiating, nor are they shooting at each other. Instead, Iran and the United States have settled into an uneasy, in-between state that risks either a return to fighting or a hardening stalemate,” the New York Times reports. “At the core of this unresolved status are calculations, perhaps miscalculations, by each side.” […]

“The Trump administration has taken a series of extraordinary steps to attack California’s position as a national leader in environmental protection, enlisting at least a half-dozen federal agencies to undermine the state’s efforts to pivot away from fossil fuels,” the New York Times reports.

“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has shown he’ll do unconventional things to get markets moving his way. His latest maneuver is his most radical yet,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “Facing an uncomfortable rise in longer-term interest rates, Bessent took action early Wednesday when the agency he leads announced that it would significantly step up purchases […]

“Vice President Vance hosted a Wednesday evening fundraiser in Southampton, N.Y. for young Republican donors that raised more than $5 million,” Axios reports. “Why it matters: The event drew several up-and-coming donors in their 20s and 30s — providing a glimpse into the finance network Vance is assembling ahead of a possible run for president […]