Government shutdown hours away as House GOP pitches last-ditch deal  —  Just hours before a government shutdown, the House planned to vote on a measure to keep the government open for 45 days at current spending levels, adding money for U.S. disaster relief but none of the billions of dollars …

McCarthy compares Rep. Jamaal Bowman pulling a fire alarm to Jan. 6 rioters  —  The fire alarm, which Bowman's office suggested was unintentional, came as Democrats were trying to delay a vote after Republicans rushed to pass the stopgap measure.  —  Rep. Jamal Bowman allegedly pulls fire alarm in House building

Elon Musk crosses the border to Nazi  —  He's blown past blatant antisemitism and is now aligning with Jew-hating, right wing Germans.  What else would you call that?  —  On Thursday I posted on Bluesky that it's been a quiet week for the Jews, and that turned out to be a mistake.

House GOP stunner: Spending patch passes with mostly Dem votes  —  “We're tired of f—king around with these whack jobs,” one House Republican said as Kevin McCarthy risked a far-right rebellion aimed at taking his gavel.

Squabbles, missteps and failure to govern: The Republican week that was  —  Republicans offered a kaleidoscopic display of self-inflicted wounds by politicians unwilling to govern responsibly and loath to confront the damage done by Donald Trump  —  There are good weeks and bad weeks …

The MAGAmerican dream lives in Sarasota  —  On Florida's Gulf Coast, a loose coalition of activists, officials and Trumpworld celebrities is building the world they want to live in  —  There are a few ways to enter Sarasota County's modern conservative paradise, but Vic Mellor led me in through what he calls “the cave of doom.”

DeSantis Super PAC Cuts Back Iowa, New Hampshire TV Ads in Shift  — DeSantis trails Trump by smaller margin in early-voting states  —  Never Back Down, the super PAC supporting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's presidential bid, cut more than $530,000 in reserved time on broadcast television stations …

Pregnant with no OB-GYNs around: In Idaho, maternity care became a casualty of its abortion ban  —  After an Idaho hospital closed its obstetrics department, pregnant women in the county have been left without nearby care.  Their OB-GYNs fled the state.  —  If you're pregnant in Bonner County …

‘No enemies to the right’: DeSantis ally hosts debate hedging white nationalism  —  Christopher Rufo's Twitter space discussed conservatives cooperating with extremists ‘to destroy the power of the left’  —  Conservative activist Christopher Rufo, who is a close ally of Florida governor …

The Trump administration touted him as a victim of #MeToo.  Now he's accused of dismembering a girlfriend  —  The gruesome discovery spoke to a ghastly crime.  —  On the afternoon of July 20, someone using a waterfront trail in Alameda spotted a large garbage bag wrapped in duct tape …