Top Items:
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Weaponizing the First Amendment: How Free Speech Became a Conservative Cudgel — WASHINGTON — On the final day of the Supreme Court term last week, Justice Elena Kagan sounded an alarm. — The court's five conservative members, citing the First Amendment, had just dealt public unions a devastating blow.
Discussion:
Political Wire
RELATED:
David Greenberg / Politico:
How Supreme Court Nominations Lost Their Apolitical Pretense — It used to be that nobody would admit to opposing a nominee for ideological reasons. Should we be happy that illusion is over? — Sometimes what's remarkable is what goes unremarked upon. In all the pieces already written …
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
An explosion is coming — Eight years ago, when Congress was about to pass Obamacare, John A. Boehner, leader of a powerless Republican congressional minority, gave a passionate, prescient speech on the House floor. — “This is the People's House, and the moment a majority forgets this …
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, Outside the Beltway, Hullabaloo and NBC News
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Dan Balz / Washington Post:
The midterm elections shape up as a battle over intensity. Are Democrats ready? — The November election could be about many things. Immigration. Tax cuts and the economy. The Supreme Court and the future of abortion rights. Trade and tariffs. The menu changes with the cascading of events.
Washington Post:
Top Supreme Court prospect has argued presidents should not be distracted by investigations and lawsuits
Top Supreme Court prospect has argued presidents should not be distracted by investigations and lawsuits
Discussion:
Breitbart, Politico, Political Wire, Raw Story, ABC News, Washington Press, Vox, The Hechinger Report, Townhall, LifeNews.com and Scared Monkeys
Paul Schiff Berman / New York Times:
A Better Reason to Delay Kennedy's Replacement
A Better Reason to Delay Kennedy's Replacement
Discussion:
VTDigger
Bob Brigham / Raw Story:
Conservative Hugh Hewitt makes surprise announcement MSNBC has pulled plug on his show — MSNBC has cancelled that weekly television show hosted by right-wing pundit Hugh Hewitt, the conservative explained at the end of his final show on Saturday. — “This has been the last Hugh Hewitt Show on Saturday mornings,” Hewitt explained.
Discussion:
Joe.My.God.
NBC News:
North Korea has increased nuclear production at secret sites, say U.S. officials — “Work is ongoing to deceive us on the number of facilities, the number of weapons, the number of missiles,” said one U.S. official. — WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence agencies believe that North Korea …
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Nahal Toosi / Politico:
‘Nobody in the bullpen’: White House approaches North Korea talks without envoy — Critics argue that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo can't give the topic the explicit, sustained attention it requires. — The Trump administration is barreling ahead in its high-stakes nuclear diplomacy …
Axios:
Top Democrats see danger on sudden party push to abolish ICE — Top Democrats tell Axios they're worried that a sudden wave of ambitious party members calling for the abolition of ICE — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is newly controversial because of the detained kids …
Discussion:
The Guardian and Conservative News Today
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Alexander Mallin / ABC News:
President Trump defends ICE amid increasing calls from Democrats to abolish the agency
President Trump defends ICE amid increasing calls from Democrats to abolish the agency
Discussion:
Mother Jones, USA Today, ThinkProgress and Splinter
Jon Hernandez / CBC News:
Vancouver restaurant manager unrepentant after refusing Trump supporter — Darin Hodge fired following confrontation at the Teahouse in Stanley Park — The manager of a popular Vancouver tourist restaurant has been fired after refusing service to a supporter of Donald Trump.
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Bradford Betz / Fox News:
Reporter resigns after false tweet that Maryland shooting suspect had MAGA hat
Reporter resigns after false tweet that Maryland shooting suspect had MAGA hat
Discussion:
Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Daily Caller and IJR
Tal Kopan / CNN:
Government never had specific plan to reunify families, court testimony shows — 2,000 children wait to be reunited with parents — Washington (CNN)In recent weeks, the government has stumbled trying to explain its plan for reunifying families in the wake of its much-criticized family separations policy at the border.
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BBC:
US ambassador to Estonia resigns ‘over Trump comments’ — The US ambassador to Estonia is resigning, reportedly in frustration at remarks made by President Donald Trump about America's European allies. — James D Melville revealed in a Facebook post that Mr Trump's comments had brought forward …
Discussion:
Politico
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politics.myajc:
Black and Democratic voters gain on Republicans in Georgia — Turnout among black voters soared in last month's Georgia primary, a show of strength that could bode well for Democrats in this year's contests for governor and other statewide offices. — The number of black voters rose 43 percent …
Discussion:
Booman Tribune
Bloomberg:
Trump Leaves Door Open to U.S. Recognizing Russia's Crimea Grab — President Donald Trump left the door open to recognizing Russia's annexation of Crimea, telling reporters that such a move would be up for discussion when he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin next month.
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Ewen MacAskill / The Guardian:
Edward Snowden describes Russian government as corrupt
Wall Street Journal:
Trump Boils Maine Lobstermen — A case study in how a tariff war will hurt small businesses and blue-collar workers. — Donald Trump has upended global trade relationships, promising that temporary disruption will end in better terms for American businesses.
Brendan Meyer / Dallas Morning News:
112-year-old Austin resident, our oldest living veteran, robbed of savings, identity — Someone is impersonating the oldest man in America. — Family members of Richard Overton, the 112-year-old World War II veteran who lives in Austin, learned that his personal bank account had been drained on Friday.
Discussion:
CNN, RedState, IJR and Daily Wire
Ali Breland / The Hill:
Warren: It's time to replace ICE — (D-Mass.) on Saturday joined calls from the left to get rid of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), saying it should be replaced with something new. — “The president's deeply immoral actions have made it obvious we need to rebuild our immigration system …
Sandra E. Garcia / New York Times:
3 Black U.S. Senators Introduce Bill to Make Lynching a Federal Hate Crime — The United States Senate's three black members introduced a bill on Friday that would make lynching a federal hate crime. — The move came more than two weeks after a similar bill was introduced in the House of Representatives.
Everton Bailey Jr / Oregonian:
Man killed by Portland State police was Navy vet trying to break up fight, friends say — A Portland man fatally shot early Friday outside a sports bar near Portland State University by campus police officers was a U.S. postal worker and father of three daughters who served in the Navy …
Charles S. Clark / GovExec.com:
Former ICE General Counsel Heads to Prison for Identity Theft — By angelo gilardelli / Shutterstock.com — A former top legal adviser to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau was sentenced to 48 months in prison for wire fraud and identity theft affecting aliens, the Justice Department announced on Thursday.
Discussion:
Splinter and Washington Post
Akbar Shahid Ahmed / HuffPost:
Trump May Deport 1,200 People To Yemen As The U.S. Bombs The Country — The Homeland Security Department will soon decide whether to end temporary protected status for Yemenis in America. — WASHINGTON If the Trump administration decides soon that Waddah Aldailami has to go back to Yemen, it's not clear how he'll get in.
Erin B. Logan / Washington Post:
White supremacist propaganda is inundating college campuses, civil rights group says — “Not Stolen. Conquered,” a flier found in a music building at San Diego State University read. “Your professor is scared of this book,” read a sticker outside a building at New York's Baruch College …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and Rewire.News
Marissa J. Lang / Washington Post:
Tens of thousands expected to protest Trump's immigration policy during Washington rally — It took 13 days to organize Saturday's demonstration against the Trump administration's “zero-tolerance” immigration policy and the detention of children and families. It was the fastest that organizers could patch something together.
Discussion:
USA Today, The Guardian, CBS San Francisco and The Week
Heather Long / Washington Post:
‘Not what we expected’: Trump's tax bill is losing popularity — In a packed arena in Fargo, N.D., this week, President Trump's most ardent supporters roared with approval when he talked about protecting the U.S. borders, beating the Democrats and “respect for our great, beautiful, wonderful American flag.”
Discussion:
CNBC