Scoop by @zcolman.bsky.social for @politico.com: A Trump administration plan to boost civilian nuclear power would harvest the plutonium "pits" manufactured for nuclear weapons — raising concerns about the impact to U.S. defenses: www.politico.com/news/2025/09...

“Please ensure that every member of your team is aware that this is the latest list of words to avoid — and continue to be conscientious about avoiding any terminology that you know to be misaligned with the Administration’s perspectives and priorities." www.politico.com/news/2025/09...

Attorney General Pam Bondi explaining the scope of the Justice Department's criminal investigations: "...whether you’re a billionaire funding organizations to try to keep Donald Trump out of office, everything is on the table." www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

‘It’s the threats that are the point’: How Brendan Carr exerts the FCC's (limited) power against Trump's enemies. www.politico.com/news/2025/09...

Ben Storrow, @chelseaeharvey.bsky.social and I are out with a different look at the misleading Trump administration climate science report. It's more than a fact check. We show the sleights of hand they employ - fake debates, manipulated data, fossil fuel-funded experts - to reach a desired outcome.

By my colleagues Ben Storrow, @chelseaeharvey.bsky.social, @scottpwaldman.bsky.social and Paula Friedrich: A detailed, accessible deconstruction of the Energy Department report that the Trump administration is using to justify rolling back environmental regulations. politico.com/interactives/2…

How an Energy Department report on climate change cherrypicks research, uses partial quotes and leans on outdated studies to try to obscure the overwhelming consensus among scientists that the Earth is warming, humans are responsible and harm is occurring. www.politico.com/interactives...

“The whole thing is just bizarro. … This case should never go to trial because it’s obvious from the four corners of the indictment that there’s no case.” www.politico.com/news/2025/09...

"That is cool." Abraham Lincoln, February 27, 1860 www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/spee...

"I'm no linguist, but I've been told that in the Russian language there isn't even a word for freedom." Ronald Reagan, October 29, 1985 www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/spe...

Trump implausibly announces that Uzbekistan is "purchasing 22,787 Dreamliners" from Boeing, as opposed to buying 22 Dreamliners (a plane also known as the 787). At the Dreamliner's reported list price of $239 million, buying 22,787 would cost over $5 trillion. truthsocial.com/@realDonaldT...

Trump's ICE crackdown in DC drives up the costs of child care, home improvements and food delivery for the middle class. Though of course, billionaires will still be able to afford private islands, superyachts and mega mansions, especially after getting tax cuts. www.politico.com/news/magazin...

No access to Pentagon for journalists who publish info that hasn't been "approved for public release," Trump's Defense Department says. www.politico.com/news/2025/09...

Here's the optimistic take on the future of the United States as the nation nears its 250th birthday: "American democracy might be more resilient than you think." www.politico.com/news/magazin...

What's that rule about never demoing something live that you have not tried before?

Politico's John Hendel wrote this insightful story nearly five years ago about how Trump's first term had brought about a big change in the GOP: "rising support for government intervention in the marketplace of ideas." Of course, things have evolved since then. www.politico.com/news/2021/01...

Karl Rove (yes, that Karl Rove) chastises Republicans for continuing to spread conspiracy theories that "they" killed Charlie Kirk: www.wsj.com/opinion/they...

Tucker Carlson (yes, that Tucker Carlson) warns against letting the killing of Charlie Kirk become the excuse for the government to trample free speech: x.com/TuckerCarlso...

Tucker Carlson (yes, that Tucker Carlson) warns against letting the killing of Charlie Kirk become the excuse for the government to trample free speech: x.com/TuckerCarlso...

This would do away with all the real joy of writing -- the hours of staring at the blank screen, agonizing over the first sentence, hating your entire existence and praying for a giant asteroid to strike the Earth.

Stumbled upon this classic example of newsroom morale-building while digging through some old files. (This is NOT from my current employer, to be clear. In fact, I don't think I ever worked at the newspaper that this came from.) There are at least a dozen more items on the reset of the page.

“[Trump] may never be Europe’s president, but he can be its godfather,” said one EU diplomat. ... “The appropriate analogy is more criminal. We’re dealing with a mafia boss exerting extortionate influence over the businesses he purports to protect.” www.politico.eu/article/dona...

Would-be Nobel Peace Price laureate orders 44-year-long peace vigil dismantled across the street from the White House. www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

Amory Lovins on the nuclear renaissance: "[F]irms that have never built a reactor are...rebranding inexperience as a winning advantage. New designs are said to be so safe they don’t need normal precautions (though not safe enough to waive nuclear energy’s unique exemption from accident liability)."

Some may be relieved to see the courts identifying limits to the executive branch's power: subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...

Louisiana launched a $3B wetland restoration project after Hurricane Katrina with support from both parties, in part to "shield the New Orleans area from future storms." But now Gov. Jeff Landry, a Trump ally, has canceled it, @mirandawrites.bsky.social writes. www.politico.com/news/2025/08...

The great Felicia Schwartz peels back the lid on the role that developer-turned-diplomat Steve Witkoff is playing in peace talks with Russia — and complaints among U.S., Ukrainian and European (even Russian!) officials that his inexperience is getting in the way. www.politico.com/news/2025/08...

Gordon Russell, former managing editor of The Times-Picayune, now at Boston Globe, opines on Hurricane Katrina: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/29/o...

There aren't many stories that prompt gasps at our editors' daily budget meeting. But this was one.

"It is unusual for federal border agents to make arrests during the fighting of an active fire, especially in a remote area." www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

Trump’s former FEMA chief says "entirely new forms of bureaucracy" at the agency are delaying disaster aid, and that officials who say otherwise are misinformed or lying. "Trump and the American people deserve better than this." He doesn't mention Kristi Noem. www.politico.com/news/2025/08...

Who wants to tell the New York Times that the Imperial March doesn't appear in "the movie 'Star Wars'"? www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/u...

"Over a century of scientific evidence" backs up the overwhelming consensus among researchers that humans are warming the Earth in ways that are changing the climate, says a federal agencies currently overseen by (checks notes) Donald Trump.

The same Interior secretary who just halted a nearly-complete wind project said in April that the government should pay a penalty to energy companies if a president cancels fossil fuel or mining projects. www.eenews.net/articles/bur...

20 years ago, the WHO published a pair of reports estimating the number of annual deaths attributable to climate change. I was fascinated to learn that there have been few attempts since to revisit this fundamental question about the impact of global warming on humanity -- until now. The story:

"I never asked about Watergate. I simply asked what were Hunt's duties at the White House. They volunteered he was innocent when nobody asked if he was guilty." www.imdb.com/title/tt0074...

NEW: Ghislaine Maxwell was less then 10 minutes into her interview with top DOJ officials (incl. Trump's former lawyer) when she brought up Donald Trump. No one had asked. w/@eorden @kyledcheney www.politico.com/news/2025/08...

This news broke just after we published this newsletter by @timothycama.bsky.social on the expanding roster of federal agencies joining Trump's crusade to shut down clean energy projects, noting: "New examples pop up almost daily." www.politico.com/newsletters/...

The Trump administration ordered a halt to a nearly complete $1.5 billion wind project off Rhode Island, citing concerns about US "national security interests" — even as it warns that looming electricity shortfalls pose a national emergency. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...

Turns out that the DC residents on whose behalf this ostensible crime crackdown is being waged don't want it. www.politico.com/news/2025/08...

"People are mad about wind and they want to shut it down," Trump's energy secretary says. "There’s people, of course, that love it, and want more of it. But we got to balance those things."

"Who’s going to get blamed for it? We’re going to get blamed because we’re in office."

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said he knows Republicans could suffer political pain for the rising electricity prices before next year’s midterm elections. But he blames the Democrats— and hopes voters will too.

"Probability," not "probably." Whatever.

Crucial point on #HurricaneErin: Do NOT just look at the cone, which tells you only where the center of the storm is likely to go. Look at the NHC's wind probably map, which shows that a significant swath of the US coast may feel tropical storm force winds: www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/grap...

Trump's political operation is considering primarying Indiana lawmakers who don’t go along with redistricting, @adamwren.bsky.social and Liz Crampton write: www.politico.com/news/2025/08...

So part of the crime program ICE was sent to DC to solve was people posting signs denouncing ICE's presence in DC?

I'm not sure this is going to help VW with its problems in the U.S. market, where it wasn't allowed to sell its flagship electric car for much of last year because of problems with the doors flying open and the electronic display going blank.

Atlantic Hurricane Erin Intermediate Advisory Number 26a issued at Sun, 17 Aug 2025 23:50:15 +0000 ...LIFE-THREATENING SURF AND RIP CURRENTS LIKELY ACROSS THE U.S. EASTERN SEABOARD AS ERIN BECOMES A VERY LARGE HURRICANE THIS WEEK... Additional Details Here.

The State Department can't bring its own printer to a summit? Maybe theirs ran out of ink and they couldn't find a Staples in Alaska?