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“Multiple federal judges appointed to the bench by Donald Trump have been unable to hide their disdain for the administration’s attacks on the judiciary and the legal system itself,” the Daily Beast reports.
“An analysis by CNN found 77 rulings in which federal judges, including 11 selected by Trump during his two terms, launched blistering attacks on the president and his administration over a range of issues since January 2025.”
“President Donald Trump said his administration is about to sue ABC over its reporting on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool,” Mediaite reports.
“Donald Trump is about to come face to face with one of his frequent punching bags: Senate Republicans,” Politico reports.
“They might just be in a mood to punch back.”
“The president was invited to GOP senators’ Wednesday lunch to push for his No. 1 priority, the GOP election bill known as the SAVE America Act. But several outgoing Republicans who have clashed with Trump said Monday they will be there to deliver a reality check: The bill isn’t passing, and it’s time to move on.”
“New photos show that President Donald Trump’s name is indeed off the Kennedy Center, offering the first public look at the performing arts venue’s facade since crews removed the letters by court order,” the Washington Post reports.
ABC News: Kennedy Center board still considering closure and renovation, no programming set.
“Senate Republicans helped thwart half of President Donald Trump’s settlement with the IRS — his $1.8 billion ‘anti-weaponization’ fund. Now they’re starting to raise concerns about the other half of that deal: Trump’s audit immunity,” Semafor reports.
“Five GOP senators told Semafor that they have questions about last month’s agreement by the Justice Department to shield Trump, his family, and his businesses from IRS audits or prosecution. Some of them said they outright oppose the audit protection.”
Wall Street Journal: “It’s a remarkable turn of events for a country that has long prided itself on political stability. Between 1945 and 2016, Britain had just 13 prime ministers and power flipped between Labour and the Conservatives.”
“Now, prime ministers change on average every 14 months, and there are five or six major political parties in England, plus nationalist parties in power in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Reform has spent the past year leading polls at just under 30%, the first time since World War I that any party other than the Tories and Labour has led for so long.”
Bloomberg: A decade after Brexit, Britain can’t keep a Prime Minister.
“New York’s congressional primaries on Tuesday will be a key test of strength for the left-wing movement challenging the Democratic Party’s establishment,” Axios reports.
“Several of these races pit the interests of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) against those of democratic socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.”
New York Times: Will New York swing further to the left?
“Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the country’s largest abortion rights organization, officially backed the Democrat Graham Platner for Senate in Maine on Monday, selecting him over Senator Susan Collins, one of only two Republican senators who support abortion rights,” the New York Times reports.
“Rep. Ro Khanna challenged newly minted trillionaire Elon Musk to a televised debate on the impact of cuts made during Musk’s time atop the Department of Government Efficiency initiative, following an ugly social media spat between the Silicon Valley congressman and tech titan,” CNBC reports.
Mediaite: Elon Musk vows to sue “liar” Democratic lawmaker who suggested he killed 4.5 million kids with DOGE cuts.
“The Trump administration stepped up its law enforcement presence at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Monday, as the White House made new claims that vandalism was the chief cause of problems at the renovated site,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“President Trump in the Oval Office said he had photographic proof of someone cutting a 350-foot gash into the pool’s bottom coating, but he and others in the administration have provided few details to support those claims and no gash that large was visible earlier in the day.”
Said Trump: “I saw it. They cut it very violently.”
NBC News: Trump claims proof of Reflecting Pool vandalism will be seen in court.
“Vice President JD Vance on Monday brushed aside suggestions that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi intentionally snubbed him during weekend talks in Switzerland, saying social media speculation did not reflect the reality of the negotiations,” CNN reports.
Said Vance: “I mean, trust me, I’ve spent a lot of time dealing with the Iranians over the last few months. Sometimes I find them extremely confusing as negotiators.”
Mediaite: Trump admin denies JD Vance was snubbed at Iran summit after awkward video hits social media.
“The large-scale cuts that President Donald Trump’s acting director of national intelligence had been considering imposing at his own office started on Monday,” CNN reports.
Said a source: “The deep state firings have begun.”
“President Donald Trump on Monday hedged when asked if he could guarantee that Iran would not use profits from oil sales to rebuild its military in the wake of the war with the U.S. and Israel,” CNBC reports.
Said Trump: “Well, they’re not supposed to be doing that, so we’ll see.”
Bloomberg: If Iran doesn’t behave, I will do what I need to do says Trump.
“The biggest city in the country is led by a democratic socialist, and another is in the running to lead the second biggest. Seattle has a socialist mayor. And in 2027, a democratic socialist will almost certainly be taking the reins of the nation’s capital,” the New York Times reports.
“With her convincing victory in the Democratic primary in Washington last week, Janeese Lewis George, 38, became the latest candidate to claim victory with the once-forbidden “S word” in her biography and an ambitious left-wing agenda, promising to harness the power of municipal government to tackle the costs and challenges of urban living.”
CBS News: Democratic socialism in the midst of a U.S. revival.
“Secretary of State Marco Rubio will head to the Middle East this week for meetings with Arab Gulf allies, a high-stakes diplomatic assignment for a prominent Iran hawk who largely kept a low profile as the Trump administration pursued its fragile ceasefire deal with Tehran,” the Washington Post reports.
“In congressional races across the country, a new crop of super PACs is taking to the air with millions of dollars’ worth of advertisements to sway voters,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“The super PACs have nondescript names — such as Jobs and Democracy PAC and American Mission — and the text is so generic that it almost seems to have been created by artificial intelligence.”
“That isn’t so far off the mark. The AI industry has funded the ads.”
“Marjorie Taylor Greene is riding shotgun alongside Tucker Carlson as he drives away from the Republican Party,” Mediaite reports.
“The ex-GOP lawmaker on Monday said she is finished supporting the Republican Party — which she branded the ‘America LAST’ party — just like her pal Carlson. She also echoed Carlson’s claim that Republicans have betrayed the American public in favor of a foreign nation — namely Israel.”
“A private company run by a supporter of President Donald Trump has pledged $1 million to restore the grass on the South Lawn of the White House after it was destroyed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship event held there earlier this month,” the Washington Post reports.
“The White House announced last week that ScottsMiracle-Gro, an Ohio-based company, will commit $1 million to restore the South Lawn after the UFC event held on Trump’s 80th birthday left it heavily damaged.”
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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