“I’m not scared of a germ. I used to snort cocaine off of toilet seats.”
— Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, on a podcast.
Epstein’s Ghost Haunts Trump’s White House
Tara Palmeri: “Donald Trump thought he’d cut ties with Jeffrey Epstein years ago. But the deceased financier’s shadow lurks across an administration struggling to outrun its own history.”
Tillis Shuts Down Idea of Clearing the Way for Warsh
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) “rejected a suggestion that the Senate Banking Committee conduct its own investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to supplant a probe by the Justice Department and clear the way for the committee to approve President Donald Trump’s new pick to lead the central bank,” Bloomberg reports.
“Tillis, who views the DOJ investigation as an attack on the Fed’s independence, has vowed to hold up any Fed nominees until that probe is resolved. That could block Kevin Warsh, Trump’s selection to succeed Powell, from getting a confirmation vote before the full Senate.”
‘Always Concerned, But Never Courageous’
Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) launched a tough new ad hitting Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) as “always concerned, but never courageous” in the state’s U.S. Senate contest
Rodriguez Says Maduro Is Still the ‘Legitimate President’
Venezuela acting President Delcy Rodriguez told NBC News that Nicolás Maduro is still the “legitimate president” of her country.
Trump’s Defamation Case Against the BBC Scheduled
A federal judge said President Trump’s $10 billion defamation case against the BBC can start next year, setting a “provisional start date of Feb. 15, 2027 for a two-week trial,” the AP reports.
Bonus Quote of the Day
“I think there is a great sense of pride in the way we’ve stood up to this bullying and this lawlessness, but also it’s come at a huge price — a huge personal price, a huge economic price. There will be, I’m sure, a sense of hope that maybe the worst of this is coming to an end. But, boy, people are going to be reeling from this for a really long time.”
— Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN), quoted by Politico, on ICE pulling out of Minneapolis after weeks of protests.
Judge Shuts Down Hegseth’s Attempt to Punish Mark Kelly
“A federal judge on Thursday shut down Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s attempts to punish Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly over his urging of US service members to refuse illegal orders, ruling that the Pentagon chief’s actions were unconstitutionally retaliatory,” CNN reports.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon wrote that the Pentagon “trampled on Senator Kelly’s First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees.”
Trump Repeals Policy Undermining Climate Rules
“Nearly 17 years after the Environmental Protection Agency declared that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases threaten the public’s health and welfare, the agency on Thursday rescinded the landmark legal opinion underpinning a wave of federal policies aimed at climate change,” the Washington Post reports.
Byron Donalds May Have Had Someone Else Vote for Him
“Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) may have improperly allowed another member to cast two votes for him on Friday morning, a serious violation of House ethics rules,” Punchbowl News reports.
“Multiple sources said Donalds wasn’t in the Capitol at the time of today’s votes.”
Republicans Lose Their Advantage on Immigration
A new AP-NORC poll finds Republicans now hold a narrow, 4 percentage point edge over Democrats on which party Americans trust to handle immigration, down from a 13 percentage point advantage in October.
One-third of Americans now say they trust the GOP more on immigration, down from 39% in October. Twenty-nine percent say they trust the Democratic Party more.
A sizable 28% of Americans say they trust neither party to handle immigration.
Why Trump Gets Away with His Corruption
Matt Yglesias: “Some people think it’s because the voters don’t care about corruption, but I think that’s probably wrong.”
“Searchlight Institute polling on this shows that voters just have an incredibly low estimate of the baseline level of integrity of politicians. Seventy-one percent say the ‘typical politician’ is corrupt. Typical Republican? Sixty-eight percent. Typical Democrat? Sixty-one percent. Seventy-two percent say that ‘long-term elected officials’ are probably corrupt.”
“I think it’s hard to make political hay out of Trump’s corruption because, while it looks extraordinary to me (and probably to you if you’re reading this), many voters see it as pretty normal.”
Conservatives Fume as Trump’s Cost-Cutting Sputters Out
“The budget-slashing Department of Government Efficiency that upended the federal government at the start of President Donald Trump’s second term has stalled out on Capitol Hill, a reality that’s left conservative lawmakers fuming,” CNN reports.
“Inside the White House, the cost-cutting crusade marked by mass firings and blanket funding eliminations is largely seen as over, two people familiar with the discussions said, as Trump turns his attention to other priorities. On Capitol Hill, Republicans have passed just a single bill enacting $9 billion in DOGE cuts – far short of Elon Musk’s aim of cutting as much as $2 trillion from the nation’s budget.”
“And now, Trump officials are signaling they likely will not try to pass another package clawing back more funds, with White House budget director Russell Vought telling one GOP lawmaker last month that it amounted to a long-shot given the razor-thin Republican majority in the House and a lack of appetite in the Senate.”
U.S. Smuggled Starlink into Iran
“The Trump administration covertly sent thousands of Starlink terminals into Iran after the regime’s brutal crackdown on demonstrations last month, U.S. officials said, an effort to keep dissidents online following Tehran’s stifling of internet access,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Trump Officials Oust Anti-Trust Chief
“Top Trump administration officials had decided to oust Justice Department antitrust chief Abigail Slater and had discussions with her shortly before she announced on social media that she was leaving the department,” CBS News reports.
“In her post as assistant attorney general for antitrust, she determined whether business merger deals would be approved or get derailed, and her every move was closely watched by the business community.”
Don’t Tell the President
Just published: Don’t Tell the President: The Best, Worst, and Mostly Untold Stories from Presidential Advance.
A collection of the greatest tales of triumph and near-crisis in presidential advance.
Don’t Tell the President: The Best, Worst, and Mostly Untold Stories from Presidential Advance
- Hardcover Book
- Becker, Jean (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 320 Pages - 02/03/2026 (Publication Date) - Harper (Publisher)
U.S. Debt Projected to Hit $64 Trillion in Ten Years
“The United States’ national debt is set to balloon to $64 trillion over the next 10 years, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said on Wednesday, citing a jump in annual deficits that owes in part to tax cuts enacted by President Donald Trump,” ABC News reports.
Mamdani Reverses Promise on Rental Assistance
“Expanding a New York City program to help struggling tenants pay rent seemed like an obvious campaign promise for Zohran Mamdani, who staked his insurgent candidacy last year on making life more affordable in the five boroughs,” the New York Times reports.
“Now, confronting a grim fiscal picture in his second month as mayor, Mr. Mamdani no longer intends to back the growth of the $1 billion-plus initiative known as CityFHEPS, despite a plan passed by the City Council and upheld in court.”
“The reversal marks the clearest example yet of the clash between the ideology of his democratic socialist campaign and the tough realities of managing a sprawling, costly bureaucracy.”
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 8478
- Next Page »
