“Manosphere podcasters didn’t win Donald Trump the presidency in the 2024 election cycle, but they went a long way to solidifying the president’s support among large swaths of the young men who follow them,” Rolling Stone reports.
“Now — nine months into the implementation of the president’s agenda — the same ultra-popular podcasters and streamers who lent their audiences to the president in 2024 are scrambling to break with his government.”
Virginia Del. Carrie Coyner (R) told the Virginia Scope that Democratic attorney general nominee Jay Jones (D) told her in 2020 that if a few police officers died, then maybe they would stop killing people.
Jones referenced the conversation in a text message to her two years later: “Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.”
“A federal judge said on Monday that she was inclined to release Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man now being held in U.S. immigration custody after wrongfully being removed to El Salvador, if the federal government cannot quickly produce evidence it has plans to deport him soon,” the New York Times reports.
“She questioned whether the government was using a ‘trick bag’ to detain him indefinitely by claiming he needed to remain in immigration custody because of an imminent deportation when in fact it had not solidified any such plans.”
“When Russell Vought, the White House budget director, announced last week that he was canceling $8 billion in federal funding for energy projects, it was clear that his directive was aimed at hurting Democrats in states they lead,” the New York Times reports.
“But the energy cuts also appear to have done collateral damage to projects championed by House Republicans in competitive districts in blue states from New York to California — the kind of seats that built the G.O.P. majority, and whose loss could wipe it out.”
“A top prosecutor in Virginia has informed colleagues she plans to decline to seek charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, resisting intense pressure from President Donald Trump,” MSNBC reports.
“Elizabeth Yusi, who oversees major criminal prosecutions in the Norfolk office of the Eastern District of Virginia, has confided to co-workers that she sees no probable cause to believe James engaged in mortgage fraud.”
Jesse Jackson Jr. (D) will announce another bid this week to represent his old seat in Congress, now being vacated by Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL), Politico reports.
“In 2012, Jackson abruptly exited his seat, citing health reasons. A federal investigation revealed a misuse of campaign funds. Jackson pled guilty to siphoning $750,000 for personal luxuries, from Rolex watches to Michael Jackson memorabilia, leading to a prison sentence and a fall from grace.”
Speaker Mike Johnson said that he spoke to Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) over the weekend and assured her the House would pass spending bills if the federal government reopens, Punchbowl News reports.
Said Johnson: “I told her it is my full intention that if we break this impasse and we put these bills together — we have three of them in conference committee right now — whatever the conference committee comes up with, I will put on the floor. I’m ready to go. But we got to open government up so that they can move to that next level, so the conference committee can get that work done.”
“While Johnson said the call was ‘not some sort of confidential thing,’ the conversation is incredibly interesting. There have been absolutely no talks between Republicans and Democrats in recent days.”
“Police are investigating the cause of a fire that burned down the home of South Carolina Circuit Court judge Diane Goodstein, who had reportedly received death threats for weeks related to her work,” Time reports.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo told The View it would be a “gift” to President Trump if Zohran Mamdani wins the election in November and becomes New York City’s next mayor.
Cuomo said he’s the “last person” Trump wants to see as mayor: “We fought on a daily basis.”
The CDC updated its immunization schedule on Monday, dropping the universal Covid-19 vaccine recommendation and recommending that toddlers receive the chickenpox shot separately from the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) shot, ABC News reports.
“Mallory McMorrow, the Michigan Democrat running in a three-way primary to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters, has shifted her stance on the war in Gaza and now believes it is a genocide,” Politico reports.
Amy McGrath (D) officially launched another Kentucky Senate bid, aiming to take the seat held by retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Politico reports.
“House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries challenged Speaker Mike Johnson to a floor debate on the government shutdown Monday as agencies remained closed into a second workweek,” Politico reports.
Said Jeffries: “Given the urgency of the moment and the Republican refusal to negotiate a bipartisan agreement, a debate on the House Floor will provide the American people with the transparency they deserve. It will also give you an opportunity to explain your my way or the highway approach to shutting the government down, when Democratic votes are needed to resolve the impasse that exists.”
Johnson declined the offer: “I respect him, but we all know what he’s trying to do there.”
“The state of Illinois and Chicago on Monday sued the Trump administration over its move to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago as the White House targets Democrat-led cities amid weeks of protests against the federal government’s immigration enforcement campaign,” CNN reports.
Jonathan Chait: “The White House aide equates opposition to Trump’s agenda with terrorism—and pushes for the use of state power to suppress it.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will remain in his role as commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, and Frank Bisignano will serve in the newly created position of CEO, CNBC reports.
“Maine State Auditor Matt Dunlap on Monday launched a primary challenge against moderate Democratic Rep. Jared Golden in a race that could directly affect the party’s hopes of winning a House majority next year,” NOTUS reports.
“The showdown in Maine’s right-leaning 2nd Congressional District will likely draw national attention as a referendum on whether Democrats’ rank-and-file voters will continue to back candidates who break from the party on some key votes — or if they will take an electoral risk on a candidate they think better represents their values.”
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.
