Tennessee vote marks latest GOP move to stifle dissent, experts say  —  Tennessee Republicans' dramatic expulsion of two Democrats who agitated for gun control in the state Capitol after a mass killing is the latest move by Republican state leaders around the country to stifle dissent and expand …

Justice Thomas Defends Against Allegations of Improper Gifts and Travel  —  In a statement released by the Supreme Court, the justice said he had followed guidance from others at the court and believed he was not required to report the trips.  —  WASHINGTON — Justice Clarence Thomas defended himself …

The GOP's epic losing streak  — First, the 2018 House elections were a disaster for Republicans: Democrats had a net gain of 40 seats to take over the House — their largest gain since the post-Watergate election of 1974.  — Then Trump lost the presidency.

How Wisconsin Republicans Got So Angry  —  They've lost four major statewide elections since 2018, for starters, and this year's supreme-court election exposed their growing vulnerability.  —  Wisconsin Republicans are caught in a bind: What the base wants, the majority rejects.

Ukraine War Plans Leak Prompts Pentagon Investigation  —  Classified documents detailing secret American and NATO plans have appeared on Twitter and Telegram.  —  WASHINGTON — Classified war documents detailing secret American and NATO plans for building up the Ukrainian military ahead …

Twitter now disables likes, replies, and retweets if a tweet has Substack links … Writers trying to embed tweets in their Substack stories are in for a rude surprise: after pasting a link to the site, a message pops up saying that “Twitter has unexpectedly restricted access to embedding tweets …

Job growth totals 236,000 in March, near expectations as hiring pace slows  — Nonfarm payrolls grew by 236,000 for March, compared to the Dow Jones estimate for 238,000 and below the upwardly revised 326,000 in February.  — The unemployment rate ticked lower to 3.5% amid an increase …

North Dakota senators vote to boost their own meal reimbursements after rejecting free school lunch bill  —  Thirteen Republican senators voted to increase meal reimbursements for state employees after voting against a bill to expand free school lunches for low-income students.

Schumer, McConnell Call for Russia to Release Evan Gershkovich  —  In joint statement, U.S. Senate leaders ‘strongly condemn the wrongful detention’ of jailed Wall Street Journal reporter  —  WASHINGTON—The Senate's Democratic and Republican leaders called for Russia to free jailed Wall …

The Ultimate Political Shmear Campaign  —  How D.C. — finally! — became a legitimate center of bagel excellence.  —  When Rep. Dan Goldman launched the congressional bagel caucus shortly upon entering Congress, it was with the lofty goal of using food to bring comity to an institution severely lacking it.

IRS releases plan to spend $80 billion windfall — with critical details missing  —  The report was quiet on how many employees the IRS would like to hire long term.  —  The IRS released a much-anticipated report on Thursday outlining how it will spend new funding on ambitious hiring plans …

‘Zero Interest in Doing Business’: TSMC Snubs Phoenix Construction Workers  —  The building trades just won a surprise victory through the city council.  But despite the hot labor market, securing manufacturing jobs is an uphill battle for organized labor.  —  President Joe Biden tours …

Elon Musk says NPR's ‘state-affiliated media’ label might not have been accurate  —  Twitter CEO Elon Musk said the platform's recent labeling of NPR as “state-affiliated media” might not have been accurate during a series of email exchanges that provided a glimpse into the billionaire's thought process …

Nord Stream Sabotage Theories Deepen as Shreds of Evidence Emerge  —  Intelligence leaks surrounding the sabotage of the pipelines have provided more questions than answers.  It may be in no one's interest to reveal more.  —  Russian and Danish naval vessels that disappear in the Baltic Sea, days before an underwater pipeline blast.