GOP unites in brinkmanship over default, rejecting Biden compromises  —  Several House Republican lawmakers have begun casting doubt on the Treasury Department's deadline for averting a financial crisis  —  During a closed meeting Tuesday morning at a GOP hangout a block from the U.S. Capitol …

Ron DeSantis Has a Problem.  It's Florida.  —  There's a reason the state has never sent a politician to the White House.  —  Ron DeSantis is set to join the 2024 campaign amid high Republican hopes that he's precisely the kind of conservative who can knock off President Joe Biden.

G.O.P. Split in Texas Breaks Wide Open With Drunkenness Accusation  —  Attorney General Ken Paxton's accusation against the House speaker came as the House investigated Mr. Paxton's request for $3.3 million to settle a suit accusing him of corruption.  —  Reporting from Houston

As staff shield Feinstein from the press, a picture really is worth a thousand words  —  Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter.  It's Wednesday, May 24.  I'm Kent Nishimura, a staff photographer for the Los Angeles Times based out of Washington.  I cover politics and national news.

The deepening radicalization of Donald J. Trump  —  Watch how the former president's positions and rhetoric have grown more confrontational and extreme as he seeks a second term  —  In the immediate aftermath of Jan. 6, 2021, President Donald Trump stayed mostly silent …

Target removes some Pride Month products after facing threats  —  Target will remove some of its LGBTQ+ merchandise from its Pride Month collection after facing customer backlash that threatened the safety of its workers, the company said.  —  The company's website features hundreds …

Amanda Gorman says her inaugural poem has been banned by Miami-Dade school  —  American poet Amanda Gorman said on Tuesday that the poem she recited during President Biden's inauguration has been banned by a school in Miami-Dade County.  —  “I'm gutted.  Because of one's parent's complaint …

How Twitter became a haven for climate misinformation  —  “The intention is to create a perception that denial is far more widespread than it actually is,” Michael Mann tells us.  —  ∙ Paid … On World Meteorological Day in March, the UN Climate Change Twitter account posted …

Scoop: Myrna Morrissey files for divorce  —  Myrna Morrissey initiated divorce proceedings against Sen. Joe Morrissey last week. … - Joe Morrissey denied the allegations in the filing. … - He was 55, and she was 17 when they met.  — Former Gov. Ralph Northam pardoned him last year before leaving office.

Bill to Force Texas Public Schools to Display Ten Commandments Fails  —  A Republican effort to bring religion into classrooms faltered, though lawmakers were poised to allow chaplains to act as school counselors.  —  Reporting from Houston  —  A push to inject religion …

Clean Debt Deal Preferred by 2:1  —  Few say dire predictions from default are exaggerated  —  West Long Branch, NJ - Half of Americans say the debt ceiling issue should be dealt with cleanly, while just 1 in 4 want to tie it to federal spending negotiations, according to the Monmouth ("Mon-muth") University Poll.

Alex Murdaugh indicted on federal fraud charges  —  A grand jury returned a 22-count indictment against the disgraced lawyer.  —  A grand jury has indicted convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh, the disgraced South Carolina attorney, on federal fraud charges, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

The Dodgers Promote Anti-Catholicism  —  When businesses celebrate various identity groups among their customers and employees, it can easily descend into cloying and opportunistic pandering.  But it is mostly harmless, in the way that drinking green beer on St. Patrick's Day or wearing plastic sombreros on Cinco de Mayo is harmless.

Emails Show SpaceX Bungled Elon Musk's Private Jet Privacy  —  FOIA docs reveal that SpaceX enrolled Elon Musk's jet in a federal program to prevent tracking, failed to implement it properly, then asked for help during the @ElonJet meltdown.  —  Jason Koebler

Why aren't we talking more about Trump's business with the Saudis?  —  The Republican-led House Oversight Committee has spent most of the past five months hard at work trying to link “the Biden family” (read: relatives of President Biden but not Biden himself) to millions of dollars proffered …

Driver's Licenses, Addresses, Photos: Inside How TikTok Shares User Data  —  Employees of the Chinese-owned video app have regularly posted user information on a messaging and collaboration tool called Lark, according to internal documents.  —  In August 2021, TikTok received a complaint …

Former Army Ranger turned ‘against his own country’ on Jan. 6, DOJ says  —  Robert Morss, of Pennsylvania, was convicted of three felony counts for his role in the assault on police in the Lower West Terrace Tunnel.  —  WASHINGTON — A federal judge will decide Wednesday whether …

Trump's worst judge will hear a $1.8 billion attack on Planned Parenthood  —  Remember that guy who tried to ban mifepristone?  He's back.  —  Remember Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk?  Last month, Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee to a federal court in Texas, tried to remove mifepristone …

Beware Elon Musk's warped libertarianism  —  The billionaire entrepreneur's AI initiative is disturbing in light of his selective approach to political and civic freedoms  —  Future generations might say that the big event of 2023 was when Elon Musk thought of TruthGPT — the “maximum truth-seeking AI” he plans to launch.

Musk moves in on Murdoch  —  Elon Musk has displaced Rupert Murdoch and Fox News as the king of conservative media in recent weeks. … But the right-wing ecosystem has turned on the network, leaving Twitter as the center of media gravity for the Republican Party just as the 2024 election heats up.

Republican debt ceiling plans could see most vulnerable Americans lose aid  —  GOP attempt to add work requirements to safety net programs such as Medicaid and Snap could harm families already struggling  —  As debt ceiling negotiations come down to the wire with the 1 June deadline looming …

Meatball's Musk Moment  —  Well, we have our soundtrack for the day. … -Queen, “Bohemian Rhapsody”  —  Happy Wednesday.  —  Morning Shots is a reader-supported newsletter.  To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.