Trump Labor Aide Quits After Anti-Semitic Facebook Posts Surface  —  A recently appointed Trump Labor Department official with a history of advancing controversial conservative and faith-based causes in court has resigned after revelations that he wrote a 2016 Facebook post suggesting the Jewish-controlled media “protects their own.”

Brexit: Tory MP defects ahead of crucial no deal vote  —  Conservative MP Phillip Lee has defected to the Liberal Democrats ahead of a showdown between Boris Johnson and Tory rebels over Brexit.  —  Dr Lee, the MP for Bracknell, took his seat on the opposition benches as the PM addressed the Commons.

Trump made ‘suggestion’ Pence stay at president's Irish golf club, VP's chief of staff says  —  “I don't think it was a request, like a command,” Pence's chief of staff Marc Short told reporters Tuesday.  “I think that it was a suggestion.”  —  President Donald Trump suggested …

Judges strike down NC state legislature lines as unconstitutional gerrymandering  —  North Carolina's political maps for the state legislature are unconstitutional and must be redrawn before the 2020 elections, lawyers for the winning side said Tuesday.  —  The ruling hasn't been posted online yet …

Walmart ends all handgun ammunition sales and asks customers not to carry guns into stores  —  New York (CNN Business)Walmart on Tuesday announced it will reduce its gun and ammunition sales, one month after more than 20 people were killed in a mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas.

Pentagon approves diversion of military construction funds for Trump's wall  —  Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper agreed on Tuesday to free up $3.6 billion from the Pentagon budget for President Trump's border wall by effectively defunding 127 military construction projects using emergency authorities.

Conversion therapy crusader has something to say: He's gay  —  “Conversion therapy is not just a lie, but it's very harmful,” said McKrae Game, a South Carolinian who founded one of the nation's biggest ex-gay ministries.  —  SPARTANBURG, S.C. - A South Carolina man who founded …

AP source: Texas shooter purchased AK rifle at private sale  —  ODESSA, Texas (AP) — The gunman in a West Texas rampage that left seven dead obtained his AR-style rifle through a private sale, allowing him to evade a federal background check that previously blocked him from getting a gun …

Trump's favorite rage-attack on Democrats is facing a big test  —  There may be only one thing that gets President Trump angrier than accusations that he's a racist: the suggestion that he's failing.  Put those claims together, and Trump will explode in fury.

On days when President Trump tweets a lot, the stock market falls, investment bank finds  —  KEY POINTS  — Bank of American says that “since 2016, days with more than 35 tweets (90 percentile) by Trump have seen negative returns (-9bp).”  — “Days with less than 5 tweets (10 percentile) …

Trump's 2020 pitch: A powerless presidency  —  Analysis: The most powerful man in the world would like voters to know he is beset on all sides by sinister forces that deprive him of the authority he needs to deliver on his vision for America.  —  WASHINGTON — The most powerful man in the world prefers to portray himself as a martyr.

Trump's Wacky, Angry, and Extreme August  —  President Trump ended August as he began it, with a blast of angry tweets, ad-hominem insults, and bizarre fulminations that have become so standard that they no longer receive the attention they deserve—emanating, as they do, from the world's most powerful leader.

U.S. Manufacturing Contracts for First Time in Three Years  —  U.S. factory activity unexpectedly contracted in August for the first time in three years as shrinking orders, production and hiring pushed a widely followed measure of manufacturing to its lowest level since January 2016.

Scoop: Trump allies raise money to target reporters  —  President Trump's political allies are trying to raise at least $2 million to investigate reporters and editors of The New York Times, The Washington Post and other outlets, according to a three-page fundraising pitch reviewed by Axios.

Mike Johnston ends his U.S. Senate campaign against Cory Gardner  —  U.S. Senate candidate Mike Johnston said Tuesday he is suspending his campaign.  —  Johnston, a 44-year-old former state senator, led the crowded Democratic field this year in fundraising and was a top-tier candidate in the polls.

The Disgraced Cardinal and the Small Town Where He Was Sent to Disappear  —  VICTORIA, Kansas—On a cloudy Sunday morning in August, Father John Schmeidler delivered a brisk homily at St. Fidelis Catholic Church on the virtue of trusting that God always has a plan.

McConnell: ‘Over-the-top’ Moscow Mitch nickname effort to ‘smear’ me  —  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday vehemently denounced political opponents who have dubbed him “Moscow Mitch,” calling the nickname an “over-the-top” effort to “smear” him.

Book: Kavanaugh accuser's attack ‘motivated’ by defending Roe v. Wade  —  Christine Blasey Ford and her feminist attorney were “motivated” in their attack on then-federal judge Brett Kavanaugh by their passion to protect abortion rights, not just their “civic duty” to provide information …

Governing by Owning the Libs  —  Fine: Donald Trump wanted to buy Greenland, or at least wanted to talk about wanting to buy Greenland.  Presidents are allowed to be silly and imperialist; taking over Greenland is mild stuff compared with, say, planting a flag on the moon.

‘Details Are Irrelevant’: Biden Says Verbal Slip-Ups Don't Undermine His Judgment  —  Toggle more options  —  Joe Biden wants voters to look at the big picture.  —  His campaign is focused on a mission to “restore the soul of this nation.”  —  That's also why the former vice president does …

Ilhan Omar feels the heat  —  Of all the scandals in which Ilhan Omar is enmeshed, one might think the Daily Mail's revelation this past July of her affair with political consultant Tim Mynett would be the least of them.  The news last week of Beth Mynett's divorce filing, however …

State Department Failed to Shield Its Diplomats From Political Reprisals, Officials Concede  —  But the department's top leaders say they can't sack the Trump appointee at the center of scandal.  —  U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan has acknowledged having failed to act more vigorously …