A president putting his own face on a U.S. coin while still in office would have been unthinkable not long ago. The White House says it's a patriotic tribute. Critics say it's another test of the rules that were supposed to prevent exactly this.

Trump sold himself as the president who'd keep America out of endless wars. Now, with fighting against Iran back on, reports say Pentagon planners are studying military options against Cuba too. "America First" keeps looking a lot like intervention by another name.

"I want to stick a fork in this turkey... it should never be paid out." That's Republican Sen. Thom Tillis talking about the $1.776 billion settlement fund negotiated by Todd Blanche. When your own party wants to bury your biggest deal, that's part of the story.

Whether you believe in mediums or not, this piece is really about one question: what helps people live with grief? The people interviewed say death isn't an ending but a change in how we stay connected to those we've lost. It's less about proof than about hope.

"I'm his lawyer. Was his lawyer!" Todd Blanche said it himself during his confirmation hearing. That slip landed harder than hours of prepared testimony because it summed up the concern hanging over his nomination to lead the DOJ.

Congress has rules for almost everything. Telling voters when their representative disappears for months isn't one of them. Rep. Ritchie Torres wants to change that after extended absences by Mitch McConnell and Tom Kean Jr. exposed a surprising gap in accountability.

"What happens there often spreads to other areas," says Brookings fellow Darrell West. That's why New York's one-year pause matters. If it works, other states wrestling with AI's energy and water demands may follow. buff.ly/c492xEm

Bob Cesca sits down with journalist Sarah Burris for a conversation that moves from Todd Blanche's confirmation hearings to Mitch McConnell and the latest twists in Washington. It's equal parts news, analysis, and media talk.

Trump once called crypto a casino. Now it's helping power a multibillion-dollar fortune while he's president. This story traces how foreign investment, meme coins, and crypto became central to the Trump family's wealth. 👀

Todd Blanche's confirmation hearing isn't only about qualifications. It's also about whether he'll answer for his role in the Epstein files, and whether survivors finally get heard in the same room as the man they say refused to meet with them.

"Donald Trump's spiral continues," Senator Jon Ossoff said as news broke of Trump's planned Georgia speech. Ossoff argues Trump is reviving old election claims to shape the midterm narrative before voters head to the polls.

For years, the debate was about WHEN governments knew climate change was a serious threat. A new report argues the answer is much earlier than many people realize. Scientists warned governments in the 1950s and '60s, yet fossil fuel expansion continued anyway.

Trump's own legal theory came back to bite him. A federal judge ruled that if the president really IS the executive branch, then Donald Trump can't create a real lawsuit against agencies that answer to him. The IRS settlement is gone.

This New Yorker story isn't really about AI. It's about loneliness, grief, parenting, and what happens when tech starts filling roles that communities once did. The question isn't whether AI can comfort people. It's what we lose if it becomes our closest listener.

Marco Rubio talks tough about cartels, but this investigation argues his Latin America strategy relies on leaders with their own drug trafficking scandals while reviving Cold War playbooks that never really disappeared. It's a history lesson with current consequences.

The defense bill almost always moves forward. This time, every Senate Democrat voted NO. The clash isn't only about Pentagon spending. It's about Trump's Iran policy, war powers, and whether Congress is willing to draw a line. 👀

Lindsey Graham saw the danger in Trump before almost anyone in the GOP. Then he became one of Trump's closest defenders. Will Saletan argues that this wasn't only one senator's story. It shows how authoritarian politics spreads through slow compromises instead of one dramatic break.

At some point the question stops being whether a statement is wrong and becomes why the mistakes keep following the same pattern. This article looks at Trump's latest false claim during a meeting with Iraq's new prime minister.

Some voters only rethink their politics after policies hit THEM. This piece contrasts a gay WY Republican facing attacks from his own party with a TX Latino business owner who backed Trump before immigration crackdowns hurt his workers. It asks why the warning signs were ignored.

Two senators say Todd Blanche promised to meet with Jeffrey Epstein's survivors, but months later many say that never happened. Now they're accusing Trump's former lawyer of putting political damage control ahead of transparency and justice.

A tube of Krazy Glue on Trump's Oval Office desk might sound trivial. It isn't because it matches earlier reporting that Trump personally glued gold decorations onto the Oval Office mantel. Katie Miller mocked the coverage, but the photo ended up reinforcing it.

Trump bets that making the 2026 midterms all about HIM will fire up Republican turnout. History says presidents usually do the opposite because voters often punish the party in power. It's a high stakes test of whether Trump's political gravity still outweighs political history.

Ari Berman says Trump's latest moves aren't about relitigating 2020. They're about building a case to challenge how Americans vote, count ballots, and certify the 2026 midterms. Courts have slowed many efforts so far, but the pressure campaign is growing.

Sanctions aren't failing. They're becoming a long game. Russia keeps finding new ways around restrictions, borrowing tactics from North Korea and building new smuggling networks. That means enforcement has to keep evolving too.

Trump has now paid E. Jean Carroll more than $5.6 million, including interest, in the sexual abuse and defamation case. The court record shows the money has been transferred. One judgment down, with another still outstanding.

Mike Johnson says he was too busy to learn about the ICE shooting that killed Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Maine. The Speaker oversees the branch that's supposed to hold agencies like DHS accountable. The article asks what oversight means if the people in charge won't look.

Trump is returning to a familiar playbook with a primetime speech centered on 2020 election claims that courts repeatedly rejected. The new hook is declassified intelligence, but there's still no evidence the election outcome was changed.

Senator Ron Wyden says Robert F. Kennedy Jr. used his federal office to push Libertarians out of key Iowa races. Watchdogs see a Hatch Act violation. Accountability may be another matter.

Miles Taylor says Donald Trump is about to recycle old intelligence on foreign election meddling and sell it as proof the 2020 election was stolen. Taylor says he helped build the election security effort and insists the evidence never supported that claim.

Trump got what he wanted. Folarin Balogun got back on the field. But Balogun now says the political storm around that decision made life harder for the U.S. team before its loss to Belgium. Sometimes the biggest distraction isn't on the pitch.

Power isn't only about what people say. Sometimes it's about who gets access after everyone else leaves. This article explores claims that the FBI visit to Lindsey Graham's home may have been about documents, not his death.

George Conway thinks Trump's plan to revive 2020 election claims in Georgia could do the opposite of what Trump wants. His argument is simple: voters care more about corruption, costs, and governing than replaying a conspiracy that courts already rejected.

Trump has benefited from one of the most favorable Supreme Courts in modern history. But when the Court occasionally rules against him, he attacks the justices instead. Justice Elena Kagan says that's more than politics. It risks judicial independence.

Mike Johnson says "communists" are the big threat to America. This piece argues that's a distraction while Trump keeps targeting journalists, media outlets, and political speech. The fight over "freedom" may really be about who gets to define it.

Tyler Robinson's murder trial is underway, but JD Vance is already floating theories about unseen players behind Charlie Kirk's killing. He says Robinson is guilty while hinting others helped radicalize him, without pointing to evidence.

A federal appeals court says ISIS inspiration isn’t enough for a material-support conviction without some direct connection. Lawfare’s authors warn that this leaves the law chasing an older model of terrorism.

A nationwide parasite outbreak has sickened thousands more people than the official CDC count suggests. Lettuce and salad greens are under scrutiny, but investigators haven't confirmed the source. Meanwhile, states are doing much of the detective work.

Extreme weather isn't only destroying homes. It's wearing people down. Researchers say repeated floods, fires and hurricanes are creating "disaster fatigue," making recovery harder and even changing how people respond to future emergencies.

"The lawsuit was brought for an 'improper purpose,' and... had no viable basis in law or fact." That's Judge Kathleen Williams explaining why she wiped out the settlement behind Trump's $1.8 billion fund. If that finding holds, the legal fallout could reach beyond the case itself.

One day: announce a 20% Hormuz transit fee. Next day: say nobody should charge transit fees. The missing piece is Trump's claim that Gulf states offered major investment deals instead. So far, the details are still missing. 👀 buff.ly/LKcmYdQ

A giant gold participation trophy showed up on the National Mall. The fake monument comes with plaques, an invitation for visitors to leave their own trophies, and a pointed message about Trump's Iran war. 🏆

Yesterday a co-worker didn't reply to my email right away. A few hours later she replied, "I was out of the office this morning. I had to go pick up my cow." That is THE most Nebraska thing I've ever heard...

"If there was a weirder way to pay tribute to Lindsey Graham, I haven't seen it." That's Grant Stern's reaction after the White House posted an image that seemed to shift the focus from Lindsey Graham to Trump. That's the moment this story turns from odd to revealing.

One strange feature of modern politics is how conspiracy theories fill every gap. Even a new photo of Mitch McConnell becomes suspect to some people. This episode connects that mindset to a much bigger political story.

Trump is attacking Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat he pardoned, because Cuellar stayed in his own party and kept acting independently. The story isn't only about one congressman. It's about what Trump seems to expect in return for political favors.

McConnell's health has become a political story of its own. Republican senators are asking for more transparency, while conservative media figures fuel speculation instead of settling it. The bigger question is how much the public deserves to know about an elected leader's condition.

"Jon Ossoff is running for re-election... and the President is rumored to be making an in-kind contribution to Ossoff's campaign." That's Erick Erickson, not a Democrat. It shows concern on the right that reviving 2020 could backfire.

A federal judge didn't simply reject Trump's IRS lawsuit. She described it as self-dealing, sanctioned lawyers involved, and questioned whether there was ever a real legal dispute at all. Senator Ed Markey says the next step is impeachment.