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Chuck Schumer says Senate Democrats won't provide votes to pass GOP funding bill as shutdown draws near — After meeting with his conference, the Senate minority leader said “Republicans do not have the votes” to advance the House-approved measure, which requires 60 to pass.
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Politico, Washington Post, The Guardian, Bloomberg, Raw Story, Townhall, Mediaite, NPR, The Hill, Orange County Register, Washington Times and Bangor Daily News
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Senate Democrats embrace hardball on government shutdown — Senate Democrats left a private meeting Wednesday saying there aren't enough votes to advance the short-term funding bill that passed the House on Tuesday. — Why it matters: This raises the chances of a government shutdown this weekend.
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Talking Points Memo, Associated Press, New York Times, The Hill and Washington Post


Government Shutdown Looms With Senate Democrats Opposing 6-Month Funding Bill

Democrats are heading to GOP districts for town halls: 'We're filling a void'
Discussion:
CNN

Trump and Musk are building a new spoils system
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New York Magazine

Senate Dems form plan to avoid a shutdown
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Talking Points Memo, One America News Network, The Daily Wire, Roll Call, WBUR and The Hill

Senate Democrats take stock of their shutdown pickle
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Washington Post, GovExec.com, The Hill, Townhall, Washington Times, Forbes, Joy's House, Bloomberg, HotAir, God's Spies, New Republic, CNN, Fox News, Blaze Media and Voice of America

Democrats divided on whether to shut down government or vote with GOP
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Axios, The Hill, NBC News, Punchbowl News, Competitive Enterprise …, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Deseret News, Blaze Media, Politico and Scripps News

Republicans Quietly Move to Relinquish Power to Undo Trump's Tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China

A Republican-backed bill would upend voter registration. Here are 8 things to know
Discussion:
Votebeat, The Federalist and Raw Story


Social Security scraps far-reaching cuts to phone services after Post report — The agency will move ahead with a much narrower change eliminating direct deposit changes by phone amid DOGE fraud concerns. — just now — The Social Security Administration late Wednesday abandoned plans …
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The Hill, MSNBC, PolitiFact, Forbes, New Republic, Raw Story and ABC News
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“The President Wanted It and I Did It”: Recording Reveals Head of Social Security's Thoughts on DOGE and Trump — ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published. — Since the arrival of a team …
Discussion:
The Independent and The Daily Beast


Trump's FBI Moves to Criminally Charge Major Climate Groups — The FBI is moving to criminalize groups like Habitat for Humanity for receiving grants from the Environmental Protection Agency under the Biden administration. — Citibank revealed in a court filing Wednesday that it was told …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, New York Post and New York Times
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E.P.A. Cancels Climate Grants, Intensifying Battle Over $20 Billion
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Reuters, Associated Press, Ars Technica, Grist and Politico


At Columbia, Tension Over Gaza Protests Hits Breaking Point Under Trump — There were protests, arrests, the departure of the school's president. Then, a new administration arrived in Washington. — Days after immigration officers arrested a prominent pro-Palestinian campus activist …
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Associated Press, New York Daily News, The Hill, Axios and Chicago Tribune
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Effort to deport Columbia student rests solely on Rubio determination — A government document that details the civil charges against Mahmoud Khalil does not include written evidence from immigration officers. — NEW YORK — A determination by Secretary of State Marco Rubio is so far …
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New York Times, CNN, Mother Jones, The Hill, Christian Science Monitor, Fox News and Jacobin


Vandalize Tesla property and the White House will prosecute you as a domestic terrorist, Trump pledges — The White House could bring the full force of the U.S. government to bear on anti-Elon Musk protestors found to have destroyed his carmaker's assets, following a spate of attacks large and small targeting Tesla.
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The Present Age, Business Insider, RedState, TheTruthAboutCars, The Guardian, Reason, Bloomberg, El País, The Post Millennial, USA Today, Breitbart, Townhall, The Daily Wire, Mashable, CNN, Crooks and Liars, NBC News, Twitchy, NPR, HuffPost, Grabien, Washington Times, Reuters, The Hill, Raw Story, UPI and The Gateway Pundit
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Elon Musk Looks Desperate
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Los Angeles Times, Global News, Vanity Fair, New York Daily News, Raw Story, The Hill and Deseret News


U.S. citizen child recovering from brain cancer deported to Mexico with undocumented parents — The Texas family was on their way to an emergency medical checkup, they said, when they were detained at an immigration checkpoint. — A family that was deported to Mexico hopes they can find …


Why I Left the Washington Post — Owner Jeff Bezos wants to transform the Opinions section of the paper, where I worked for forty years. After the publisher killed my column disagreeing with that move—it appears here in full—I decided to quit. — I walked into the Washington Post building …
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The Wrap, Fox News, The Independent and Nieman Lab, more at Mediagazer »


In reversal, NPR permits anchor to attend Pride event — The Scoop — National Public Radio dissuaded one of its most visible gay employees from attending a corporate LGBTQ Pride event, as the Trump administration and congressional Republicans put pressure on the public broadcaster.
Discussion:
Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

EPA Launches Biggest Deregulatory Action in U.S. History — Administrator Zeldin Announces 31 Historic Actions to Power the Great American Comeback — WASHINGTON - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the agency will undertake 31 historic actions …
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New CNN poll: Americans are negative on Trump's handling of economy — Americans are not impressed with President Donald Trump's stewardship of the economy, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, putting him underwater on the nation's top issue even as he sees ratings among the best …
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Washington Post, The Hill, Washington Examiner, New York Post, Plain Dealer, Raw Story, Forbes, Axios, Mediaite, Breitbart, WTOP News, Billboard, MM Press, New Republic and masslive.com
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Americans sour on Trump's handling of economy, poll finds
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Vox, Business Insider, Washington Times, Democrats and Raw Story


Judge says Trump penalties on law firm send ‘chills down my spine’ — The Trump administration was ordered to halt, at least temporarily, parts of its executive order punishing the law firm Perkins Coie. — A D.C. federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Trump administration …
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The Hill, CNN, Raw Story, NPR, Associated Press, Politico, USA Today, Talking Points Memo, Law Dork, Blaze Media, Fox News, Forbes and Reuters
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Trump's Revenge on Law Firms Seen as Undermining Justice System
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CBS News, Washington Examiner, Axios, New York Post, Raw Story and Above the Law


ICE Returns All Migrants From Guantánamo to Stateside Facilities — A court filing described strip searches and the use of restraint chairs on some of the 290 migrants the Trump administration has cycled through the base. — The Trump administration has abruptly cleared out a second group …
Discussion:
Voice of America, Reuters and Informed Comment


CEOs Don't Plan to Openly Question Trump. Ask Again If the Market Crashes 20%. — Behind closed doors, business leaders air plenty of concerns about the administration and its policies — WASHINGTON—How business leaders talk about the Trump administration in private has been markedly different …
Discussion:
Fortune


Putin orders swift expulsion of Ukrainian forces before peace talks — The Russian leader promised to treat captured forces as “terrorists.” — Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his troops to defeat Ukrainian forces occupying its Kursk border region as soon as possible …
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Bloomberg, The Moscow Times, Washington Examiner, Associated Press, New York Times, Reuters, Al Jazeera, El País, The War Zone, The Kyiv Independent and Israpundit


EU retaliates against Trump's trade moves and hits beef, whiskey, motorcycles with targeted tariffs — The European Union on Wednesday announced retaliatory trade action with new duties on U.S. industrial and farm products, responding within hours to the Trump administration's increase …
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Yale Suspends Scholar After A.I.-Powered News Site Accuses Her of Terrorist Link — The deputy director of a liberal project at Yale Law School was put on leave over allegations that she is linked to Samidoun, a group the U.S. government has said funds terrorists.


Antisemitic and racist shock jock is back on the radio, 11 years after being fired for tirade — A conservative radio host who was fired a decade ago for calling a Black woman an “animal” and has since shared a host of racist and antisemitic content on social media has a new show on New York's WABC …


District Court Rules Trump Violated Constitution by Usurping Congress's Spending Power — On Monday, US District Judge Amir Ali ruled against the Trump Administration in an important case involving control over the spending power. The court held the administration could not withhold payments …
Discussion:
E&E News


Is Trump Taking a ‘Liquidationist’ Approach to the Economy? — The administration's view that damaging the economy now could help it later comes with little upside for investors — During President Trump's first term, stocks rode high on the belief that he would always pull back on policies that led to a selloff.


Trump Officials Are ‘Pretending’ a Judge Didn't Bar His Anti-Diversity Orders — A judge blocked the administration from forcing organizations to accept anti-diversity contract terms. Trump officials haven't let them know … Trump's Justice Department decided the fairly broad injunction only covered certain agencies.
Discussion:
New York Times


The 200+ Sites an ICE Surveillance Contractor is Monitoring — A contractor for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and many other U.S. government agencies has developed a tool that lets analysts more easily pull a target individual's publicly available data from a wide array of sites …


Judge appears likely to grant request to reinstate thousands of fired probationary workers — “Move fast, fine. Break things? If that involves breaking the law, then that becomes problematic,” U.S. District Judge James Bredar said at the hearing. — BALTIMORE — A federal judge …
Discussion:
USA Today, Associated Press, Raw Story, Forbes and Reuters


Trump calls Schumer a ‘Palestinian’ while defending GOP spending bill, egg prices and tariff policy — The comment came during a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin as Republicans try to get a government spending bill enacted before funding runs out on Friday evening.
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Reuters, Politico, The Guardian, RedState, The Independent, Fox News, Raw Story, New York Post, Townhall, Blaze Media, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Washington Examiner, Mediaite and The Forward


‘I feel utter anger’: From Canada to Europe, a movement to boycott US goods is spreading — Tesla sales are falling and apps and online groups are springing up to help consumers choose non-US items — The renowned German classical violinist Christian Tetzlaff was blunt in explaining …


White House reporter asks Irish PM why he ‘let’ Rosie O'Donnell move to his country — A reporter covering the Wednesday White House meeting between President Trump and Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin asked the prime minister why he allowed American comedian Rosie O'Donnell to move to the country.
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Rahm Emanuel Is Gearing Up to Run for President — The former Chicago mayor is already on the hustings, finding new ways to attack Trumpism from the center. — Rahm Wants to Run. — Yes, that Rahm. And, yes, for that office — the presidency. — “I've only been back two months …
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The Daily Caller, RedState, The Independent, Mediaite, The National Pulse, The Post Millennial, IJR and Mock Paper Scissors