“The Trump administration has changed which holidays qualify for free entrance to national parks, removing two holidays celebrating Black people and adding the president’s birthday,” SFGate reports.
“Now, visitors to the 116 parks that charge entrance fees will no longer get in for free on MLK Day or on Juneteenth, a federal holiday on June 19 that celebrates the end of slavery in the U.S. They will, however, on Trump’s June 14 birthday, which was added to the list this year.
Vanity Fair and Olivia Nuzzi have agreed to part ways following new revelations and allegations about an affair with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and her behavior while reporting on him, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“A federal judge in Florida on Friday approved the release of grand jury documents from a nearly 20-year-old investigation of Jeffrey Epstein, beginning the process of making public another batch of long-sought material about the deceased financier,” the New York Times reports.
“The Supreme Court announced on Friday that it would hear a landmark dispute over the constitutionality of President Trump’s effort to end birthright citizenship,” the New York Times reports.
“The legal fight stems from an executive order signed by the president on his first day back in office declaring that children born to undocumented immigrants and to some temporary foreign residents would no longer be granted citizenship automatically.”
“The executive order, which was immediately paused by courts without going into effect, would upend the commonly accepted view of American citizenship guaranteed since 1898: that citizenship should be extended to anyone born in the United States.”
“Indiana’s mid-decade redistricting bill has cleared its first chamber, passing the House by a 57-41 vote,” the Indianapolis Star reports.
“It’s a significant milestone for the new congressional map proposal, drawn in direct response to a request from President Donald Trump after months of pressure, both direct and indirect. A dozen Republicans joined with Democrats in voting against the proposal.”
“The map proposal now goes to the Indiana Senate, where its fate is far less certain.”
Just in time for the holidays — and for next year’s midterm elections — the Blue Wave T-Shirt is back.
“President Trump has made increasingly sweeping claims about new investments flowing into the United States, citing figures as high as $21 trillion since taking office,” CBS News reports.
“But a CBS News review found no evidence that total commitments or new investments approach the scale the president has cited.”
“A political group tied to President Trump is quietly spending millions to help Republicans in Utah in the 2028 election cycle, offering a window into how Mr. Trump could keep wielding influence in his party even after he is no longer president,” the New York Times reports.
“The effort is focused on recapturing a House seat that Republicans anticipate will flip to Democrats next year. All of Mr. Trump’s other moves this year on redistricting are meant to help Republicans maintain control of the House after the 2026 midterm elections, which would help him stave off Democratic investigations and continue to advance his agenda.”
“The Utah effort, by contrast, would redound to Republicans’ benefit only in 2028, when Mr. Trump will be constitutionally ineligible to run for re-election.”
“FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino brushed off questions about his past claims that the FBI had covered up the identity of the person who placed pipe bombs outside of political party headquarters on Jan. 5, 2021,” USA Today reports.
“A group of Trump-aligned super PACs will attempt to oust Indiana Republicans who have opposed redistricting,” Politico reports.
MIT Technology Review: “A multi-university team of researchers has found that chatting with a politically biased AI model was more effective than political advertisements at nudging both Democrats and Republicans to support presidential candidates of the opposing party.”
“The chatbots swayed opinions by citing facts and evidence, but they were not always accurate—in fact, the researchers found, the most persuasive models said the most untrue things.”
James David Stockton III (D), a pastor who unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. House in 2024, was arrested on charges of contact minor with intent sex and arrange/go to meeting with minor, the Ocala Star-Banner reports.
“Speaker Mike Johnson is a political survivor, weathering crisis after crisis since his unlikely ascent two years ago,” CNN reports.
“But now, the battered House leader is entering what could be the most difficult stretch of his speakership — facing attacks from all sides with little reinforcement from his most important ally, President Donald Trump.”
One GOP lawmaker told Johnson his leadership was “slipping away,” that the frustration members are feeling is “boiling over” and that “morale has never been lower.”
“A group of vaccine advisers to U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Friday voted to remove the broad recommendation that all newborns in the U.S. receive a hepatitis B vaccine,” Reuters reports.
NBC News: “The vote came after a day and a half of heated debate and confusion that included misinterpreted data and pleas from public health experts to uphold recommendations for the vaccine that protects against an incurable infection.”
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“When you attack American citizens, when you attack our institutions of legislation, when you attack our nation’s Capitol, you attack the very being of our way of life.”
— FBI Director Kash Patel, announcing the arrest of a suspect in the January 6 pipe bomb case.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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