Jonathan Lemire: “Military success in Venezuela has emboldened the president to flex his power even more.”
GOP Lawmaker Proposes Bill to Make Greenland a State
Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) introduced a bill Monday to annex Greenland and make it the 51st U.S. state as President Trump threatens to seize the autonomous Danish territory, CBS News reports.
Accounts of Brutal Crackdown Emerge From Iran
“As the Iranian authorities impose a near-total communication blackout on a country convulsed by mass protests, videos and witness accounts slowly emerging suggest that the government is waging one of its deadliest crackdowns on unrest in more than a decade,” the New York Times reports.
“Eyewitnesses say government forces have begun opening fire, apparently with automatic weapons and at times seemingly indiscriminately, on unarmed protesters.”
Midterms Are Usually a Backlash Against the President
G. Elliot Morris: “The economy doesn’t really move midterm outcomes at all, and while presidential approval has an effect, it is also dwarfed by the general tendency of the electorate to punish the party in power. What matters more than anything is which party controls the White House.”
The Senate Is Back in Play
Join now to continue reading.
Members get exclusive analysis, bonus features and no advertising. Learn more.
White House Reels From Powell Probe
Playbook: “The Trump administration’s decision to launch a criminal investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell has overshadowed all economic discussion for the past 36 hours, and the row shows little sign of abating. The whole thing is proving a disaster for the White House — to the extent that you have to wonder how quickly this probe might get wrapped up.”
Politico: “The inquiry, which blindsided many White House aides, is renewing fears over the future of the central bank’s independence and offering fresh fodder for concerned Senate Republicans, many of whom will be needed to confirm the next Fed chair.”
Newsom Vows to Stop Proposed Billionaire Tax in California
“Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed on Monday to stop a proposed wealth tax in California, saying that its mere introduction had already hurt the state by driving some billionaires to relocate and take their tax dollars with them,” the New York Times reports.
“The governor has long opposed a wealth tax because of concerns that it would stifle innovation in California, where the booming tech industry has sent state revenues soaring and driven the economy for years.”
Labor Secretary Accused of Affair with Subordinate
“The secretary of labor’s chief of staff and deputy chief of staff were placed on administrative leave on Monday, as the Labor Department’s watchdog begins investigating allegations of professional misconduct involving the secretary,” the New York Times reports.
“The move to place the two officials on leave followed a report by The New York Post on Friday that said a formal complaint had been filed against Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer with the department’s inspector general’s office, accusing her of abusing her office and of having an affair with a subordinate.”
How Trump Is Blowing Up Capitalism
Punchbowl News: “Trump’s style has always blended populism with corporate giveaways. Following his inauguration nearly a year ago — attended by some of the world’s richest people — Trump successfully focused on passing his massive tax cut package. Then Trump’s attention seemed to focus more on foreign policy as crises in Gaza, Ukraine and now Venezuela beckoned.”
“Yet following Democrats’ wins in November — and the very real threat of a partially Democratic-controlled Congress next year — Trump has shifted back to his populist approach. In spurts anyway.”
“Taken together, this rollout has left many, many congressional Republicans unsettled about the direction of the president and his economic policy, all as the midterms begin to ramp up. Unlike other Trump controversies, the grumbling this week has largely occurred in public.”
Iran Is Hunting Down Starlink Users
“With the government shutting down the internet and throttling phone services, Iranians are leaning heavily on Elon Musk’s Starlink service to share videos of growing protests and the regime’s escalating crackdown with the world,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“But Iran has intensified efforts to jam the service, which is banned in the country, and users are being hunted.”
Frontliners Erupt at DNC Chair
“Vulnerable House Democrats confronted DNC Chair Ken Martin over the committee’s anemic fundraising and midterm plans during a heated meeting last month,” Punchbowl News reports.
“The tense exchanges show a wide gulf between Democratic Frontliners and the man charged with rebuilding the party following 2024’s setbacks.”
Trump May Have Undermined the Case Against Powell
“President Donald Trump’s campaign to criminally investigate his political adversaries keeps running into an intractable problem: his mouth,” Politico reports.
“The news Sunday that the Justice Department has been secretly weighing charges against Fed Chair Jerome Powell — a frequent target of Trump’s attacks — alarmed lawmakers, who called it an effort to weaponize the justice system to affect economic policy. But Trump’s freewheeling commentary has gotten in the way of past prosecutions he demanded — and could get in the way this time, too.”
Venezuela Opposition Leader to Visit White House
“President Trump will receive Venezuelan opposition activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado at the White House on Thursday,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“It will be a high-stakes meeting for Machado, who has been sidelined since the Jan. 3 military operation that captured Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro and sent him to the U.S. to stand trial. Some aides fear that meeting with Trump could damage her movement’s political aspirations if the president appears to undercut her or dismisses the need for a democratic transition.”
Trump Called Elizabeth Warren
Sen. Elizabeth Warren says she’s “absolutely” willing to work with President Trump after they spoke on Monday, pointing to a potential cap on credit card interest rates as an area for collaboration, Bloomberg reports.
Washington Post: “This was the first time Trump has called Warren, according to an aide to the senator. More typically, he has disparaged her left-leaning politics and derisively called her ‘Pocahontas’ — reveling in the nickname as recently as last month — as a way to mock her claims of Native American heritage.”
Senate Has Little Appetite for Powell Probe
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said that the Justice Department’s targeting of Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell “better be real” and “better be serious,” raising concerns about “political interference” in monetary policy, Punchbowl News reports.
Thune is the highest-ranking Republican to raise concerns about the unprecedented criminal investigation of the Fed chair.
Financial Times: Top Republicans denounce justice department’s criminal probe into Fed chair Jay Powell.
U.S. Attacked Boat With ‘Civilian Plane’
“The Pentagon used a secret aircraft painted to look like a civilian plane in its first attack on a boat that the Trump administration said was smuggling drugs, killing 11 people last September… The aircraft also carried its munitions inside the fuselage, rather than visibly under its wings,” the New York Times reports.
“The nonmilitary appearance is significant, according to legal specialists, because the administration has argued its lethal boat attacks are lawful — not murders — because President Trump ‘determined’ the United States is in an armed conflict with drug cartels.”
“But the laws of armed conflict forbid combatants from feigning civilian status to fool adversaries into dropping their guard, then attacking and killing them. That is a war crime called ‘perfidy.’”
Trump Puts Tariff on Countries Doing Business with Iran
President Trump said countries doing business with Iran will be subject to a 25 percent tariff on trade with the U.S., a move that could hit major economies such as China, Russia and India, the Financial Times reports.
Bessent Warned Trump Over Probe Into Fed Chair
“A perturbed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told President Trump late Sunday that the federal investigation into the Federal Reserve chair ‘made a mess’ and could be bad for financial markets,” Axios reports.
“Sunday night, Trump appeared to distance himself from the investigation of Fed chair Jerome Powell for allegedly misrepresenting the costs of renovations to the Federal Reserve’s headquarters in DC.”
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 8405
- Next Page »
