“Elon Musk’s threat Thursday to decommission SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft would have left NASA reliant on Russian capsules to get its astronauts into space,” Axios reports.
“Musk’s rift with President Trump exposes how reliant NASA has become on a single private sector partner to reach the International Space Station after ending the space shuttle program in 2011.”
“Musk eventually walked back the threat Thursday, but it demonstrates how critical SpaceX is to the American space program.”
Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) posted — then quickly deleted — that a Sikh should have “never been allowed” to lead the House of Representatives’ daily prayer on Friday after initially incorrectly calling the man a Muslim, Axios reports.
“The Trump administration is preparing to cancel a large swath of federal funding for California, an effort which could begin as soon as Friday,” CNN reports.
“Agencies are being told to start identifying grants the administration can withhold from California. On Capitol Hill, at least one committee was told recently by a whistleblower that all research grants to the state were going to be cancelled.”
Amy Walter: “As legacy media’s influence continues to wane and the information space gets more diffused, it’s becoming harder to gauge the impact of news events on an upcoming election or a political figure. If a tree falls in the New York Times, will it make a sound on TikTok or Facebook or YouTube?”
“If we’ve learned anything from these past few years, it’s that we can’t fully understand the behavior of the electorate without a fulsome understanding of how people find, consume and process news and information.”
“Two recent public polls, from The New York Times/Siena College and CNN, have found that those who are the least aware of specific news events — and those who are the least inclined to follow political news at all — are generally more supportive of Trump and Republicans.”
“The Trump administration is trying to get Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to significantly weaken his Russia-sanctions bill while the White House seeks to patch up its relationship with Moscow instead of punishing it for the continued invasion of Ukraine,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“A key provision in the legislation, backed by more than 80 senators, is the imposition of sanctions on key Russian officials and sectors, as well as penalties for countries that do business with Moscow. That, President Trump fears, could harm his goal of reviving relations between the U.S. and Russia even as he seeks to end the war in Ukraine.”
President Trump urged Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to slash interest rates by a full percentage point, despite a better-than-expected result from the Labor Department’s latest jobs report, CNBC reports.
James Fishback, the chief architect behind the proposal to send “DOGE checks,” told Politico he’s stepping away from the movement after Elon Musk lashed out at President Trump.
Said Fishback: “The truth is that Elon set expectations that he relayed to the president, me, and the country that he did not come close to fulfilling. That’s disappointing, but okay. What’s not okay is his baseless personal attacks against President Trump.”
“While Ukraine just pulled off an audacious and effective attack on Russia’s bomber fleet, Vladimir Putin is slow-walking Donald Trump’s effort to nudge the warring countries toward peace talks and continuing to kill Ukrainian civilians, irritating the American president,” Politico reports.
“Soon, Trump could have on his desk a sanctions bill that would do grave damage to Russia’s capacity to fund the war by targeting the countries still buying Moscow’s oil and gas, the lifeline of their economy. The measure, co-sponsored by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), has amassed a remarkable 82 sponsors and both Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson this week vocalized their support for confronting Russia.”
Washington Post: “Across the government, the Trump administration is scrambling to rehire many federal employees dismissed under DOGE’s staff-slashing initiatives after wiping out entire offices, in some cases imperiling key services such as weather forecasting and the drug approval process.”
Fox News’ Mark Levin slammed his former colleague Tucker Carlson as a “loathsome ass who is increasingly unhinged and pathetic,” Mediaite reports.
Levin’s declaration of war came after Carlson claimed that Levin “was at the White House today, lobbying for war with Iran.”
He added: “To be clear, Levin has no plans to fight in this or any other war. He’s demanding that American troops do it.”
President Trump told CNN he is “not even thinking about” billionaire Elon Musk and won’t be speaking to him in the near future.
Said Trump: “I’m not even thinking about Elon. He’s got a problem. The poor guy’s got a problem.”
A White House official told NBC News that Trump is “not interested” in having a call with Musk.
The Guardian: 10 ways Donald Trump and Elon Musk can further hurt each other if they fail to broker a peace deal.
“A super PAC with close ties to House Democratic leadership is taking a more active role with House candidates ahead of next year’s elections, expanding its political operation into the realm traditionally occupied by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee,” NOTUS reports.
“While many Democratic strategists and elected officials welcome the new hands-on approach from House Majority PAC, some question whether it excessively overlaps with the DCCC, reducing the committee’s role and ceding some responsibility for candidate management to the outside group.”
Ben Smith: “The most plugged-in people in Washington are reading the same tweets you are, marveling. The persons-familiar who populate so much of the reporting about Trump are no more or less familiar with his Truths than you are, and are speculating on his plans and motives — Is this breach final? Will it heal soon? — just the same as many Americans.”
“This is a feature of a presidency that sees itself as media: Journalists can become mere television critics.”
“U.S. job growth slowed slightly last month, a sign employers remained cautious about hiring amid uncertainty over tariffs and the nation’s economic outlook,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
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.