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.

Robert Morris, Texas megachurch pastor and former Trump adviser, indicted for child sex crimes  —  Morris is a former spiritual adviser to President Donald Trump, and Gateway — one of the nation's largest megachurches — has been particularly active in Dallas-area GOP politics.

Russia says it does not want a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine  —  Putin's foreign policy adviser says Moscow wants long-term settlement taking its interests into account  —  Russia does not want a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine and is pushing for a long-term peace settlement that will take into account …

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 …

Trump's Big Bet: Americans Will Tolerate Economic Downturn to Restore Manufacturing  —  The president offers many reasons for imposing tariffs, including revenue, leverage over competitors and job creation.  But history suggests a more complex history.  —  President Trump's simultaneous trade wars …

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 …

EPA administrator announces huge rollback of environmental regulations  —  Lee Zeldin said he will reconsider a list of core EPA policies, including emissions standards for vehicles and the finding that serves as the basis for addressing climate change.  —  Promising to drive …

Tim Walz to launch national tour of town halls in Republican House districts  —  Tim Walz is headed back out on the road - this time, for a tour of House districts represented by Republicans who have stopped holding in-person town halls amid the raucous receptions some of their colleagues have gotten across the country.

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 …

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 …

Judge orders DOGE and Elon Musk to turn over documents, answer written questions  —  The demands for information are designed to clarify the “parameters of DOGE's and Musk's authority.”  —  A federal judge has ordered that Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency turn …

Elon Musk Looks Desperate  —  How to lose $148 billion in less than two months  —  For years, Donald Trump's critics have accused him of behaving like a crooked used-car salesman.  Yesterday afternoon, he did it for real on the White House South Lawn.  —  Squinting in the sun with Elon Musk …

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 …

Who's in Elon's ear — and DMs  —  Musk's most trusted advisers remain a tight-knit group of executives who have followed him from his companies but lack political experience.  —  Unlike traditional Washington power players, Elon Musk doesn't have a deep bench of policy wonks …

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.

Biggest Federal Employee Unions Says Shutdown is Preferable to Elon/Trump CR … Federal workers obviously don't like government shutdowns.  Most of them are furloughed.  Others are forced to continue working without pay.  But in a letter addressed to members of the Senate, which I obtained …

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 …

Testimony Reveals Doors Would Not Open on Cybertruck That Caught Fire in Piedmont, Killing Three  —  The Highway Patrol's investigation into a November Cybertruck crash in Piedmont where three college kids died is finding two very Tesla problems: the vehicle immediately caught fire, and its doors would not open.

Venezuelan couple arrested and charged with illegal entry — two years after crossing into the U.S.  — The timing of the arrests and charges is unusual and reflects the Trump administration's increasingly aggressive tactics on immigration.  — The couple had been granted protected status …

S.F. Tesla showroom has been operating without proper permits for nearly a decade  —  The San Francisco Tesla showroom on Van Ness Avenue has been operating without a proper permit for nearly a decade after city building inspectors failed to sign off on a $2.3 million renovation back in 2016.

In Memoriam: Mark Klein, AT&T Whistleblower Who Revealed NSA Mass Spying  —  EFF is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Mark Klein, a bona fide hero who risked civil liability and criminal prosecution to help expose a massive spying program that violated the rights of millions of Americans.

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 …

Federal student loan site down Wednesday, a day after layoffs gutted Education Department  —  An hours-long outage Wednesday on StudentAid.gov, the federal website for student loans and financial aid, underscored the risks in rapidly gutting the Department of Education, as President Donald Trump aims to dismantle the agency.