“Several journalists resigned this week from three newspapers in Alaska after the publications’ corporate owner made significant edits to an article about Charlie Kirk’s death, appearing to yield to pressure from a Republican state lawmaker who had criticized the coverage,” the New York Times reports.
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Hamas Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details, Reuters reports.
Chart of the Day
The poorest countries are also the most religious. And the countries with higher GDP are more secular.
However, there’s a pretty big outlier: The United States.
House Will Not Be Back Next Week
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) decided to not bring the House of Representatives back next week as the government shutdown continues.
RFK Jr. Fires Vaccine Whistleblower
“Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has fired a top official with the National Institutes of Health who blew the whistle on internal clashes over vaccine research in the early months of the Trump administration,” CBS News reports.
Bonus Quote of the Day
“We’re not seeing the leadership on both sides really willing to sit down and negotiate. And I think that’s what it’s gonna take.”
— Sen. Jean Shaheen (D-NH), talking on CNN about the government shutdown.
U.S. Strikes Boat Off Venezuela
“President Trump ordered another lethal military strike on an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the Caribbean early Friday, signaling the administration is undeterred by mounting legal questions about the campaign,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced in a social-media post that on Trump’s orders he had directed a ‘lethal, kinetic strike on a narco-trafficking vessel.'”
Treasury Considers Minting $1 Trump Coin
“The Treasury Department is considering producing a one-dollar coin featuring President Donald Trump to commemorate the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence next year,” Politico reports.
“The draft design of the coin, which was overseen by the Office of the U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach, features Trump’s profile on one side of the coin. The opposite side depicts Trump with a clenched fist in front of an American flag alongside the words ‘FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT.'”
GOP Senators Head to Luxury Weekend During Shutdown
“The Senate will not be holding votes this weekend on reopening the government as was initially expected, as some Republican senators will be attending a high-dollar fundraising retreat for the National Republican Senatorial Committee on Georgia’s Sea Island,” The Hill reports.
Johnson May Not Bring Back House
“Speaker Mike Johnson said he’s not inclined to bring the House back into session until the Senate passes the House’s continuing resolution,” NOTUS reports.
Said Johnson: “The House will come back into session and do its work as soon as Chuck Schumer allows us to re-open the government.”
Why Republicans Won’t Link Shutdown to Healthcare
Punchbowl News: “The idea is that if Republicans just give Democrats a commitment to take up and pass a bill to extend the enhanced Obamacare tax credits at some point this fall, then Democrats will help provide the 60 votes needed for the House-passed Nov. 21 CR.”
“But Republicans won’t do it. Why? Because renewing the tax credit divides Republicans. Neither Speaker Mike Johnson nor Senate Majority Leader John Thune can or will commit to moving any such measure.”
For members: A Shutdown With No Clear Exit Ramp
Democrat Texted About Shooting Virginia Speaker
Virginia Attorney General candidate Jay Jones (D) sent disturbing text messages to a colleague fantasizing about killing then-Virginia Speaker Todd Gilbert (R), National Review reports.
Said Jones: “If those guys die before me, I will go to their funerals to piss on their graves to send them out awash in something.”
He then suggested that in a hypothetical situation in which he had only two bullets and was faced with the choice of murdering Hitler, Pol Pot or Gilbert, he’d shoot Gilbert “every time.”
Not the Same Guy
The Atlantic: “Thirty-four days into the previous government shutdown, in 2019, reporters asked President Donald Trump if he had a message for the thousands of federal employees who were about to miss another paycheck.
Said Trump: “I love them. I respect them. I really appreciate the great job they’re doing.”
“The following day, caving after weeks of punishing cable-news coverage, he signed legislation to reopen the government, lauding furloughed employees as ‘incredible patriots,’ pledging to quickly restore their back pay, and calling the moment ‘an opportunity for all parties to work together for the benefit of our whole beautiful, wonderful nation.'”
“Doesn’t really sound like the same guy, does it? This time, it took Trump fewer than 24 hours to turn a shutdown into a weapon wielded against the civil servants he once praised and the opposing party he has long derided.”
Abigail Spanberger Holds Wide Lead for Virginia Governor
Abigail Spanberger (D) leads Winsome Earle-Sears (R) by double digits in the contest for Virginia governor, 55% to 43% among likely voters, according to a new Washington Post-Schar School poll.
Democrats Need to Focus on Power, Not Healthcare
Jonathan Last: “So far as I can tell, the Democratic ask on the shutdown negotiations boils down to:
- “Preserving ACA subsidies for low-income people that will keep health care premiums lower.”
- “Undoing Republican cuts to Medicaid in order to preserve healthcare access, especially in poor, rural areas.”
“This is political malpractice.”
“Democrats have Trump over a barrel. The government is shut down. Real-world impacts from the last piece of Republican legislation will start crushing voters, soon. And the Democrats’ proposal is to… save Trump from the political costs of the shutdown by saving him from the political costs of his Big Beautiful Bill?”
“Don’t do these things that will make you unpopular, Mr. President, and then we’ll give you the votes you need to end the shutdown, which is also making you unpopular.”
Chris Murphy Issues a Warning
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) told the New Republic that meaningful political opposition to President Trump could be seriously constrained.
Said Murphy: “My belief has never been that he’s going to cancel the election in 2026 or 2028—he’s not going to do that. Turkey still has elections, Hungary still has elections, Russia still has elections.”
He added: “The leaders in those countries just constrain that space the opposition can operate in, such that they never have enough room to win a national election. If we are not already there, we are really, really close. Which is why the only way out of that is to make them pay a political price every time they ratchet up pressure on the opposition.”
JD Vance Takes Center Stage During Shutdown
“Vice President Vance is getting a moment in the spotlight amid the ongoing government shutdown, putting the potential 2028 GOP nominee front-and-center as a top messenger and attack dog for the administration,” NewsNation reports.
‘Voter Fraud’ Watchdog Votes Where He Doesn’t Live
Slate: “Jack Posobiec is very concerned about voter fraud. An influential MAGA voice and prominent conspiracy theorist, he’s perhaps best known for amplifying the 2016 ‘Pizzagate’ conspiracy, which culminated in a man firing a gun in a D.C. pizza restaurant.”
“In the years since, Posobiec has loudly espoused a range of debunked conspiracy theories. That includes the GOP theory—once semi-fringe and now thoroughly MAGA mainstreamed—that Democrats have won elections via millions of fraudulent votes. The Republican National Committee last fall enlisted him to speak to poll watchers about election security. Posobiec is particularly focused on Pennsylvania, repeatedly accusing the state’s Democratic officials of fraud, even spreading conspiracy theories that were followed by an RNC lawsuit.”
“The focus on voter fraud in Pennsylvania is particularly ironic because it sure looks like, and a trail of documentation suggests, that Posobiec is living in Maryland but voting in Pennsylvania. If so, that would be a violation of voting laws, experts say.”
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