BREAKING: After losing five straight cases attempting to access state voter rolls, the DOJ tried to fix a key legal flaw in its Minnesota lawsuit — only to attach the wrong document and rely on a single, disputed allegation of noncitizen voting as its new justification.

James Talarico, the Democratic nominee, has been amassing campaign cash as Senator John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton still battle each other.

How America Reads the Bible promotes a Christian Past that Wasn't open.substack.com/pub/warrenth...

GOP senators urge Trump to find Iran exit plan as energy prices rise: ‘The clock is ticking’ www.politico.com/news/2026/04...

Trump shocked Netanyahu with post declaring Lebanon strikes "prohibited" www.axios.com/2026/04/17/l...

The daughter of Colombian and Dominican immigrants, Mejia ran on an adamantly anti-Donald Trump message and secured a whopping 70 percent of the vote as a result. The Associated Press called her victory shortly after the votes started rolling in. trib.al/9MWyBC5

‘We are not going back’: Iran war forces global energy shift www.politico.com/news/2026/04...

Texas Democrat James Talarico Is Out-Raising His G.O.P. Opponents www.nytimes.com/2026/04/17/u...

A new poll from the nonpartisan Texas Public Opinion Research shows state Attorney General Ken Paxton leading Sen. John Cornyn by 8 percentage points among likely voters in the Republican Senate primary runoff on May 26.

Oil prices dropped sharply and US stocks surged Friday after the Iranian foreign minister said the Strait of Hormuz will be “completely open” for commercial transit during the remainder of the ceasefire.

European nationalist leaders are distancing themselves from President Trump due to his controversial actions in Iran and attacks on Pope Leo XIV.

The Trump administration is considering unfreezing $20 billion in Iranian assets as part of ongoing negotiations with Tehran, according to two sources familiar with the discussions. https://cnn.it/4dUYDzq

He…doesn't really know what a corner store is. And clearly doesn't review what his speechwriters write beforehand.

RFK Jr: There's an argument for vapes. Vapes reduce cigarette smoking DeSAULNIER: That was the argument Juul made

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” — George Orwell

Just to avoid any misunderstandings here: NATO is not an individual — ergo, there was no phone call to Trump.

Trump: "Now that the Hormuz Strait situation is over, I received a call from NATO asking if we would need some help. I TOLD THEM TO STAY AWAY, UNLESS THEY JUST WANT TO LOAD UP THEIR SHIPS WITH OIL. They were useless when needed, a Paper Tiger! President DJT"

The price of oil plunges sharply, and U.S. stock indexes open at new all-time highs after the Iranian foreign minister says the Strait of Hormuz is open to commercial vessels.

Péter Magyar, who defeated Hungary's autocratic leader Viktor Orbán, vowed to shut down the country's state broadcaster, accusing it of spreading "North Korean-style" propaganda.

“We just defeated [Speaker Mike] Johnson’s efforts to sneak through a 5-year FISA authorization tonight,” Democratic Representative Ro Khanna said. “Now, they will have to fight in daylight.” trib.al/Ugw87Rt

Iran declares Strait of Hormuz "completely open" for remainder of truce in line with Israel-Lebanon ceasefire. Follow live updates. https://cnn.it/4sBmtnh

Trump: "IRAN HAS JUST ANNOUNCED THAT THE STRAIT OF IRAN IS FULLY OPEN AND READY FOR FULL PASSAGE. THANK YOU!"

BREAKING: She's 0-5. Harmeet Dhillon LOSES her demand for another state's sensitive voter data, as a Trump-appointed federal judge slaps down her "fishing expedition" in R.I. Background on All Rise News www.allrisenews.com/p/harmeet-dh...

Trump wakes up this morning attacking his long time supporters again.

Glad to see this important book from my old pal @wthrockmorton.bsky.social, who I got to know fighting US Christian right backing for Uganda’s “kill the gays” bill. Warren, a conservative Christian teaching at a Christian college, was a hero. He’s been fighting the good fight ever since.

CNBC: Democrats could pick up 40 House seats this year REP. JIM JORDAN: Well, I think we're gonna win because the left, every position they take is crazy CNBC: There's people who would use that slogan right back against you

“If you are a Republican candidate, you would like to not be talking about the economy right now. So this gives you an opportunity to control the debate and move it from economy to problems with Islam."

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina dropped his re-election bid after a public disagreement with President Trump last summer. Now, he says, he’s unfiltered, ncluding in his thoughts about some members of Trump’s Cabinet.

Yesterday: “This is someone who maybe had one speeding ticket in the last 30 years and [is] being treated like a notorious criminal.” Texas' only licensed Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu translator taken by ICE.

Though the pontiff didn’t mention Trump by name, he condemned leaders who “manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic, and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.” trib.al/KszR4Kf

Ari Melber's show put together a supercut of an 8-minute Trump rant about snakes that raised concerns about his mental wellbeing

Can't get much closer than that

Sen. John Cornyn outraised Attorney General Ken Paxton by fourfold in the first quarter of 2026, a key period that encompassed the Senate Republican primary and the beginning of the runoff between them.

NEW: Judge Leon reaffirms his order blocking ballroom construction. "Defendants now seek to tum this exception on its head and unreasonably insist that the entire ballroom project may proceed. Based on the record before me, I cannot possibly agree ...." storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Republicans are starting to fear their Senate majority is on shaky ground: www.politico.com/news/2026/04...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday renewed his threat to attack Iran’s electrical infrastructure if the cease-fire between Washington and Tehran failed. “We’d rather not have to do it, but we’re ready to go at the command of our president and at the push of a button,” Hegseth said.

NPR announces it has secured philanthropic gifts totaling more than $110 million -- including the largest by a living donor in NPR's history -- as a strategic investment in its future. This comes after Congress chose to eliminate federal funding for all public media. https://loom.ly/B71nWB8

President Trump has repeatedly said his deals with drugmakers would bring down prescription drug prices in the U.S. But a report released by Senate Democrats finds prices have continued to climb in some cases, sharply.

A federal judge ruled Thursday that construction can only proceed on the underground, national security–related parts of the project, and not on the 90,000-square-foot ballroom the president wants to build to entertain guests. trib.al/BTFw7dI

Donald Trump wants a friendly successor to the Ayatollah in Iran, but as of now, the power vacuum has been filled by hard-line members of the Revolutionary Guard. www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

For much of Monday, the agency didn't anticipate a tornado threat for Kansas City — then five hit that evening. Did a change in weather balloon launches leave forecasters in the dark? nbcnews.to/4eqqozS

And so it begins.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty: "Are we concerned as to whether there would be federal blowback? Not a concern of ours. Our role is to hold people accountable if they violate the laws of Minnesota. We feel strongly that this ICE agent committed 2nd degree assault."

The Trump admin tried to end-run an order blocking the East Wing ballroom's construction by invoking an exception permitting work on the project’s “safety and security” features. Judge Leon indignantly clarifies: “That is neither a reasonable nor a correct reading of my Order!” buff.ly/kWARaBf

“Everyone thought it was a joke,” one person that advised the president about the image told Axios. The Christian faction of the MAGA movement did not find it funny, however. trib.al/HtMRc9W

The Republican-led House narrowly rejected a Democratic push to block President Trump from ordering further strikes on Iran, a day after the Senate turned back a similar measure as the unpopular war approaches the two-month mark.

We've had Henry David Thoreau the environmentalist, the libertarian, the life coach—but to understand his influence, think of him first as a dissident, @galbeckerman.bsky.social argues.

🤔

Europe has “maybe 6 weeks or so (of) jet fuel left,” the head of the International Energy Agency says in a wide-ranging Associated Press interview, warning of possible flight cancellations “soon” if oil supplies remain blocked by the Iran war.

Breaking News: President Trump said Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 10-day cease-fire. Israel and Hezbollah did not immediately confirm. Follow live updates.