Top Items:


House Dems go into “complete meltdown” as Schumer folds — House Democrats erupted into apoplexy Thursday night after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he would support Republicans' stopgap government funding measure. — Why it matters: House Democrats feel like they “walked the plank,” in the words of one member.
Discussion:
NPR, The Hill, NBC News, New York Times, Blaze Media, Fox News, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Newsmax, UPI, Reason, HotAir, NewsNation, IJR, Joy's House, Washington Examiner, Deadline, Mediaite, Eschaton and Breitbart
RELATED:


Inside House Dems' furious anti-Schumer movement — House Democrats from across the party's ideological spectrum — united in their fury at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) — are engaged in a campaign to get Senate Democrats to defy their leader.
Discussion:
The Hill, NOTUS, New York Times, The Washington Free Beacon, New Jersey Online, Vanity Fair, Washington Times, RedState, PoliticusUSA, Raw Story, CNN, New York Post, Townhall, Bloomberg, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Signal, Blaze Media, Fox News, HotAir, The Post Millennial and CBS News


Ocasio-Cortez mobilizes Democrats against Schumer plan as colleagues privately urge her to consider primary challenge — New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Thursday that she plans to mobilize her massive base of followers to oppose what she described as an “acquiesce” …
Discussion:
The Washington Free Beacon, The Hill, RedState, The City, Townhall, One America News Network, Fox News, The Daily Wire, The Guardian, New Republic, Washington Examiner, The Gateway Pundit, New York Daily News, Bloomberg, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, NewsNation, The Independent, HotAir, Twitchy, The Left Hook with Wajahat Ali, Raw Story, Scripting News, NBC News, Grabien, Politico and Breitbart


Young Democrats' Anger Boils Over as Schumer Retreats on Shutdown — A generational divide, seen in newer lawmakers' impatience with bipartisanship and for colleagues who don't understand new media, has emerged as one of the deepest rifts within the party. — Senator Chuck Schumer's sudden decision …
Discussion:
SFist and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Trump and Musk Would Love a Shutdown. We Must Not Give Them One.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Senate Democratic Leadership, ABC News, Rolling Stone, Politico, New York Magazine, Progress Pond, Ace of Spades HQ, Axios, The Mahablog, Daily Kos, USA Today, Washington Monthly, Raw Story, Washington Post, Forbes, The Independent, Fox News, Wall Street Journal, New Republic, Bloomberg, PJ Media, Townhall, American Prospect, Vox and NPR

3/14/25 ☀️ AM: — Schumer folds on funding and Democrats are furious
Discussion:
Politico, Scripps News, Talking Points Memo, DNyuz, Wall Street Journal, New Republic, RedState, MPR News, Axios, New York Daily News, New York Times, Washington Post and Fox News

Democrats Have to Stop Making Political Decisions with an Eye Towards 2026
Discussion:
PJ Media, Lawyers, Guns & Money, IJR, Mock Paper Scissors, Deseret News, Townhall and Punchbowl News

Live updates Senate plans vote on Trump-backed bill to avert government shutdown
Discussion:
The Hill, Politico, New York Times, NBC News, Roll Call and Washington Times

Pelosi slams ‘false choice’ on shutdown, indirectly criticizing Schumer
Discussion:
New Republic, The Hill, CBS News, Raw Story, Mediaite, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Guardian, E&E News, Twitchy, NOTUS, New York Post, Washington Post and The Daily Wire


Trump Demands Major Changes in Columbia Discipline and Admissions Rules — A letter outlining “immediate next steps” arrived less than a week after the administration said it was canceling $400 million in grants and contracts. — The Trump administration on Thursday demanded …
RELATED:


First They Came for Columbia — Like many autocrats before him, Donald Trump has launched what could be a devastating attack on universities. — Over the last week, the Trump administration has cancelled $400 million in grants and contracts to Columbia University and $800 million in grants to Johns Hopkins University.
Discussion:
New York Times, DNyuz, Bloomberg and Business Insider


Universities Scramble to Avoid Being Trump's Next Target — Amid DEI backlash and funding threats, universities nationwide cancel events, rescind grad school offers — Ohio University suspended next month's Black alumni reunion. The University of Massachusetts revoked admission offers to biomedical graduate students.
Discussion:
Associated Press and israelhayom.com

Office for Civil Rights Initiates Title VI Investigations into Institutions of Higher Education — WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) opened investigations into 45 universities under Title VI following OCR's February 14 Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) …
Discussion:
New York Times, Politico, The Hill, ProPublica, UPI, Axios, al.com, New York Post, Deseret News, masslive.com, The Post Millennial, IJR and FOX 10 Phoenix


Federal Agents Search Two Dorm Rooms at Columbia University
Discussion:
Axios, Washington Examiner, The Hill, The Guardian, Fox News, Zeteo, The Post Millennial, New York Post and Reuters


Fear and Loathing in the West Wing — Inside the revolt against Elon Musk... Welcome back to The Red Letter. — The tolerance for Elon Musk inside of the White House is wearing thin, as they deal with the fallout of his calamitous interview with Larry Kudlow when he touched the third rail - entitlements.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, The Hill, Raw Story, New Republic and The Guardian


The right dominates the online media ecosystem, seeping into sports, comedy, and other supposedly nonpolitical spaces — A new Media Matters analysis found 9 out of the 10 top online shows assessed are right-leaning … The 2024 presidential election has been dubbed the “podcast election” …


USPS signs agreement with DOGE, agrees to cut 10,000 workers: ‘Broken business model’ — The service plans to cut 10,000 employees in the next 30 days through a voluntary early-retirement program — U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy informed members of Congress on Thursday he has signed …
RELATED:


Trump Admin Nixed Contract Helping Kidnapped Ukrainian Kids: Sources — Even as President Donald Trump and government-demolition czar Elon Musk appear to actively favor Russia's interests amid discussions of how to end the Russia-Ukraine war, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has struck a studiously neutral posture.
RELATED:


Fiasco for Musk as He Craters in New Polls and DOGE Cuts Lose in Court — Elon Musk is suddenly facing lots of bad news. A judge just ordered the Trump administration to reinstate thousands of fired federal workers, a blow to Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
Discussion:
Techdirt, Bloomberg, Raw Story, New York Daily News, Quinnipiac University Poll and New York Times
RELATED:

Mark Kelly ditches his Tesla
Discussion:
Ars Technica, Washington Examiner, The Hill, PoliticusUSA, Twitchy, Al Jazeera and The Free Press


Focus group: Trump swing voters in Michigan have buyers' remorse — Most Michigan swing voters in our latest Engagious/Sago focus groups said that although they voted for President Trump in November, they have objections, frustrations and fears about his behavior since he returned to power.
Discussion:
Raw Story


GOP lawmaker booed at North Carolina town hall, escorted from building — “How do you justify cuts to the VA?” demanded one angry constituent. — A man shouts at Rep. Chuck Edwards during a congressional town hall meeting on March 13, 2025 in Asheville, North Carolina.
Discussion:
The Hill, NBC News, New Republic, WYFF-TV and The Independent
RELATED:

North Carolina GOP town hall gets rowdy as attendees hurl scathing questions on Trump
Discussion:
Fox News, The Daily Beast, Washington Post, Mediaite, CNN, Daily Mail, Raw Story and Daily Kos


After JD Vance booed, Kennedy Center head urges ‘diversity and inclusion’ — In a staff email, interim president Richard Grenell, a Trump ally, condemned a chorus of boos directed at the vice president and his wife at a concert Thursday night. — When Vice President JD Vance took …
RELATED:

JD Vance Is Booed at a Kennedy Center Concert After Trump's Takeover
Discussion:
Fox News, The Hill, Washington Post, The Guardian, Washington Times, Global News, Daily Kos, USA Today, IJR, Billboard, Mediaite, NPR, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, Deadline and prima donna …


Dr. Oz Won't Commit To Protecting Medicaid — During his confirmation hearing, the celebrity doctor dodged questions about his plans for public services that provide healthcare to millions — The Department of Health and Human Services is already headed by a vaccine skeptic …
Discussion:
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren …, USA Today, Washington Times, Raw Story, New York Daily News, New Republic, CBS News, Fox News and Breitbart
RELATED:

Trump CMS nominee Dr. Oz won't commit to opposing Medicaid cuts
Discussion:
Fox News, Washington Examiner, New York Times, Bloomberg, UPI, Raw Story, The Hill, ABC News, Wall Street Journal and Roll Call


Washington, DC, Region Braces for ‘Devastating’ Cuts from Congress — Local leaders across the DC metro area are raising alarms about a stopgap measure in Congress that would trigger a $1 billion budget shortfall for the city. — A decision before Congress to strip $1.1 billion …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Washington Post, New York Times, WOUB Public Media, The Hill, Washington Times and USA Today


A Close Elon Musk Friend Joins His Effort on Social Security — The involvement of Antonio Gracias, an investor who has known Elon Musk for two decades, suggests that Mr. Musk has made overhauling the Social Security Administration a priority. — A private equity investor …


Who's Running the DOGE Wrecking Machine: The World's Richest Man or a Little-Known Bureaucrat? — ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published. — When President Donald Trump announced …
Discussion:
Forbes


Musk Immediately Calls for Judges to Be Impeached After DOGE Rulings — Elon Musk threw a tantrum after his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was dealt a series of legal setbacks, immediately calling for the impeachment of federal judges. “Without judicial reform …


Everybody Hates Elon — And other tales of collapsing confidence — After Donald Trump won the 2024 election, progressives had one great fear about his economic policies — namely, that he wouldn't do much. Oh, he'd slap on a few tariffs, make a big show of eliminating “woke” spending …
Discussion:
CBS News, Associated Press and UPI


Farmers face steep losses in the middle of Trump's trade war and funding cuts — From funding cuts to tariffs, farmers have found themselves struggling to find markets for their products and facing the risk of steep losses for the year ahead. — Jennifer Gilkerson never imagined …
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money, NBC Chicago and Raw Story


US Justice Dept probes Columbia war protests for terrorism violations, official says — The U.S. Justice Department is examining whether student protests at Columbia University over the Gaza war violated federal terrorism laws, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Friday.


Arlington Cemetery website scrubs links about Black and female veterans — Pentagon leaders have ordered that their websites and social media pages remove articles and images that “promote” DEI. — Arlington National Cemetery has scrubbed information about prominent Black …
Discussion:
Task & Purpose


Canada is so furious at the US right now — The US and Canada are meant to be the best of friends, but they're in the midst of a pretty ugly fight. — It began with President Donald Trump's ascent to the White House, when he began referring to his outgoing Canadian counterpart as …


Friday Catblogging — A tribute to Kevin Drum — Kevin Drum, pioneer of an entirely new communication medium called blogging, was in my life for more than 20 years. I wouldn't exactly call him a friend, more of a colleague, but I knew more about him than some of my friends.
Discussion:
New Republic and Eschaton


‘Highly unusual’: White House halts FBI background checks for senior staff, shifts them to Pentagon: Sources — The directive came before Kash Patel was confirmed as FBI director, sources say. — The Department of Defense logo is seen on the wall in the Press Briefing room at the Pentagon, Oct. 29, 2024, in Washington.


Trump's fantastical claim of a $200 billion ‘subsidy’ to Canada — No matter how we do the math, the numbers don't add up. — Just now — “We're spending $200 billion a year to subsidize Canada.” — President Donald Trump, during remarks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, March 13
Discussion:
New York Times, Global News, Raw Story, Cafe Hayek, HuffPost and IJR