“The next great First Amendment battleground is just six inches high and is attached to about a million motor vehicles in Virginia alone. It is the vanity license plate, and courts are splintered over whether and how states can censor the messages the plates convey,” the New York Times reports. “The latest decision landed Friday. […]

“The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first mRNA-based flu vaccine, paving the way for a new type of shot that will be available for adults 50 and over looking to get immunized against the respiratory illness,” the Washington Post reports.

“The Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal the national broadcast ownership cap and replace it with a case-by-case review, approving the measure by a 2-1 margin on Thursday,” The Wrap reports. “The cap, which was implemented by Congress in 2004 to prevent monopolization, limits entities from owning or controlling broadcast television stations that, in the […]

Coming this fall: How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents by Sen. Thom Tillis. According to Politico, Tillis describes Donald Trump’s advisers as “MAGATS” in his book, saying they “are not giving the president honest advice and putting us in positions that we could avoid.”

For months, the Democratic Senate primary in Michigan was framed as a looming civil war — a proxy fight over the party’s future that would leave deep scars. Instead, it ended with something much less dramatic: Democrats acting like a political party. Join now to continue reading. Members get exclusive analysis, bonus features and no […]

“When Qatar donated a Boeing jet for use as a temporary Air Force One, President Trump said the luxury plane would come with him when he left office — but only as a display at his presidential library,” the New York Times reports. “Those plans appear to have changed.” “A White House official, speaking on […]

“We’re gonna win this election whether we resolve the Iran situation before the election or not.” — Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), quoted by Politico.

“It was hardly the first time that someone on social media called someone else fat. But it may have been the first time that a vice president of the United States did so,” the New York Times reports. “Peeved at a conservative columnist who criticized his position on Iran, Vice President JD Vance jabbed on […]

Jonathan Chait: “When left-wing insurgents defeated a trio of progressive House members in New York, the House Democratic leadership suffered merely an embarrassment. Last night’s primary election in Michigan, by comparison, is an outright catastrophe for the party’s leaders. The Democratic Senate nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, who defeated the four-term Representative Haley Stevens, has attacked the […]

“President Donald Trump declared Thursday that the U.S. has a ‘massive’ munitions stockpile and ‘treasonous’ leakers are ‘being hunted down’ after reports emerged claiming the U.S. Army has burned through nearly all of its stockpiles of two of its primary long-range precision weapons,” Fox News reports. Said Trump: “The U.S. has massive amounts of ‘munitions,’ […]

“The U.S. DOGE Service, the cost-cutting group spearheaded by Elon Musk, consistently overstated its savings in online posts, taking credit for lease cancellations initiated before the group existed, according to a report from a government watchdog to be released Thursday,” the Washington Post reports. “DOGE also claimed contracts were terminated that had not been and […]

One of the strangest primary results of the cycle came this week in Michigan. Navy veteran Amir Hassan (R) had the backing of President Trump, Republican leaders and the advantages that usually come with establishment support. Join now to continue reading. Members get exclusive analysis, bonus features and no advertising. Learn more. If you’re already […]

A new Senate Majority PAC poll — the spending arm of Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-ME) — shows Troy Jackson (D) with a slight lead over Sen. Susan Collins (R), 49% to 45% with 6% undecided.

“Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer doesn’t want to talk about anything past Nov. 3. Not the Democratic leadership elections that month. And certainly not whether he’ll run for reelection in 2028,” Punchbowl News reports. “In an interview in his Capitol office Wednesday – a day after progressive Abdul El-Sayed narrowly beat Schumer’s preferred candidate, Rep. […]

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 8-5 along party lines to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress, the AP reports.

The Economist: “State tax systems are diverging. Much attention has been paid to Democrats’ efforts to raise taxes on the rich. Washington state, for example, introduced an income tax on millionaires this year, and in November Californians will vote on a wealth tax. But Republican-led states are moving in the other direction. Over the past […]

“China’s latest barrage of countermeasures against the U.S. drew on an expanding legal arsenal, demonstrating Beijing’s growing capacity to retaliate while warning Washington against further tech curbs before Xi Jinping’s expected visit next month,” Bloomberg reports. “The speed and breadth of the action, revealed in a volley of five statements released one week after the […]

“A Senate committee on Thursday could vote to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer more than 100 questions last week. In effect, that could amount to a criminal referral to the Justice Department,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “People have gone to prison recently for contempt of Congress. Just […]

“Last summer, when lawmakers launched their Jeffrey Epstein investigation, it came with an ambitious promise: to pull back the curtain on decades of failed federal probes, secure the full release of long-withheld files and provide a public accounting of how the late pedophile evaded accountability for so long,” CNN reports. “A year later, the probe […]

“Bobby Pulido is learning that the bright lights of politics can be even harsher than music superstardom,” Politico reports. “For the past several months, the Latin Grammy-winning singer and local megacelebrity has been the subject of a steadystream ofnational headlines scrutinizing his former professional relationship with a one-time bandmate who was imprisoned on child sex […]

“Democrats should use Congress’ August recess to lean into economic populism and take on corporate interests — not just ‘simply oppose Trump and his billionaire friends,’ according to a memo by a quartet of progressives,” Semafor reports. Wrote the senators: “If Democrats are going to be the party of working people, we have to prove […]

“President Donald Trump isn’t the only one frustrated with his U.S. attorney for DC, Jeanine Pirro, over her handling of Reflecting Pool cases,” Semafor reports. “Others inside the administration are raising concerns about her, Semafor is told, after a contentious Oval Office meeting in which Pirro defended her decision to drop charges against an alleged […]

“The residents of Boulder City, Nevada, are raging mad at the federal government,” NOTUS reports. “The Trump administration unilaterally approved a data center on a tract of public land within the city’s jurisdiction this summer without giving residents a say in the matter and without conducting an environmental assessment specific to the project.”

“With three months to go until the critical midterm elections, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill is taking her first major step onto the national political stage to help Democratic candidates with military service win in competitive frontline races,” CBS News reports. “The centrist Democrat, who won in a top battleground race last year, will use […]

“The wait for an Iran-Oman deal that partially reopens the Strait of Hormuz continued into Thursday morning, after the Islamic Republic said an agreement on proposed shipping lanes was in the final stages,” Bloomberg reports. ”The two countries that border the crucial waterway have been negotiating a plan for the management of maritime traffic through […]

A new Emerson College survey of Iowa voters in the race for Governor finds 48% of voters support Rob Sand (D), while 43% support Zach Lahn (R). Seven percent are undecided. In the race for U.S. Senate, 48% support Ashley Hinson (R), while 45% support Josh Turek (D). Six percent are undecided.

“President Donald Trump recently told donors in private that he wants to see his vice president win the 2028 presidential election — a sign that he is open to publicly backing JD Vance, even as some advisers caution that Trump has yet to settle firmly on a successor,” the Washington Post reports. For members: The […]

“President Donald Trump said talks with Tehran seemed ‘to be working out quite well,’ reiterating ​his positive portrayal of the negotiations on the Iran war without elaborating ‌on the specifics of the discussions,” Reuters reports. CNBC: Iran, Oman say Strait of Hormuz talks in final stages, as Trump again teases a deal being close.

“The Covid-19 pandemic was a historic stress test that revealed American politics as too broken to deal with a national crisis,” CNN reports. “Six years later, a new political storm over Dr. Anthony Fauci, once the nation’s most prominent health official, suggests those fractures are now even more toxic. And a long-delayed reckoning over the […]

“President Trump is taking issue with recent reports of significant U.S. munitions shortages due to the war with Iran,” CBS News reports. In a post on his Truth Social platform early Thursday, Mr. Trump said: “The U.S. has massive amounts of ‘munitions,’ especially of certain types. Additionally, large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the […]