Update: Pentagon revised the # of wounded in Operation Epic Fury on DCAS database to 400 (vs. 415 yesterday) • Army = 271 • Navy = 63 • Marines = 19 • Air Force = 47 Adjustment is to the # of *Air Force* wounded, down from 62 yesterday to 47 today. Other military branches remain unchanged.

NEW: # of U.S. troops wounded in action during Operation Epic Fury is now *415* per latest update from Pentagon's database of U.S. military casualties • Army = 271 • Navy = 63 • Marines = 19 • Air Force = 62 Age group w/ the highest # wounded (130) is >35 dcas.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/app/con...

Per WH, the U.S. delegation led by VP Vance includes officials from the NSC, State Department, + Pentagon who will "play a supportive role" in the Islamabad talks. Witkoff + Kushner have faced criticism for choosing not to include nuclear experts in past Iran negotiations.

(Iran does.)

Apropos of nothing, re-upping my @ms.now piece from last week on the tension between diverging U.S.-Israeli goals in the war against Iran: www.ms.now/news/iran-wa...

If you work with / have a tip about the State Department, Pentagon, White House, intelligence community, federal government, or politics — reach out via Signal: signal.me#eu/N9fO9Jy6Z...

NEW: The Pentagon has finally added Operation Epic Fury to its online database of U.S. military casualties As of April 3, a total of 365 have been wounded in action: • Army = 247 • Navy = 63 • Marine = 19 • Air Force = 36 Death toll remains at 13 dcas.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/app/con...

Latest from @julesjester.bsky.social: One crew member of the fighter jet downed over Iran has been rescued by U.S. forces, two U.S. officials tell MS NOW. The second crew member of the two-seat F-15E aircraft is still missing and has been declared “DUSTWUN,” or “Duty Status, Whereabouts Unknown.”

Reminder from @julesjester.bsky.social ahead of Trump’s speech tonight: “...political and military officials have yet to coalesce around a single, coherent account of what military success looks like, what achieving it would require or how the war ends.” 👀

The United States and Israel are fighting the same war. They just don’t agree on what winning it looks like. Read more from @julesjester.bsky.social

What are the U.S. military objectives in Iran? Depends on who you ask Trump + Hegseth say destroying Iran's nuclear program IS a goal of the *military* operation Military + intel officials (Caine Cooper Ratcliffe Gabbard) have avoided the word 'nuclear' entirely @ms.now www.ms.now/news/trump-i...

Big live blog day at @ms.now Follow our live updates on Tulsi Gabbard's testimony before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee — coverage coming w/ @julesjester.bsky.social + @davidrohde.bsky.social

Hegseth: “No quarter, no mercy for our enemies.” from @julesjester.bsky.social: Orders or threats of “no quarter” — killing enemies who surrender or are rendered unable to fight — are considered violations of international law and listed as a war crime following WWII. www.ms.now/liveblog/ira...

If you work with / have a tip about the State Department, Pentagon, White House, intelligence community, federal government, or politics — reach out via Signal: signal.me#eu/N9fO9Jy6Z...

I covered Tulsi Gabbard's 2020 Democratic presidential campaign, which centered on a singular message: No War With Iran. Six years later, the Director of National Intelligence has been conspicuously quiet as Trump's war with Iran engulfs the Middle East. @ms.now www.ms.now/news/tulsi-g...

What to know about today's talks between the U.S. & Iran, w/ Vaughn Hillyard + @julesjester.bsky.social for @ms.now:

The Trump admin's attacks on Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency — a federal agency that is supposed to help states w/ election security — could threaten the midterms, @julesjester.bsky.social writes:

w/ @julesjester.bsky.social for @ms.now

Trump diplomacy 2.0: Foreign diplomats say the president’s embrace of Steve Witkoff & the emir of Qatar is frustrating nations that have backed the U.S. for decades. w/Vaughn Hillyard @julesjester.bsky.social @ianjsherwood.bsky.social www.ms.now/news/trump-w...

Senate Judiciary leaders Grassley + Durbin issue a rare bipartisan statement slamming exclusion from briefing w/ Gang of 8, House+Senate Armed Services & Foreign Cmte leadership “The administration’s refusal to acknowledge our Committee’s indisputable jurisdiction in this matter is unacceptable”

No deadline but the ‘makings of a deal’: President Trump meets Ukrainian President Zelenskyy at Mar-a-Lago @ms.now www.ms.now/news/trump-z...

President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy will meet in Florida Sunday to hammer out a peace deal with Russia. The news comes after Russia launched a massive barrage of missiles and drones at Kyiv. MS NOW Reporter @julesjester.bsky.social reports. www.ms.now/weekends-wit...

4 key takeaways from the inspector general’s Signalgate report by @julesjester.bsky.social (TL;DR: Not quite an "exoneration"...) www.ms.now/news/4-key-t...

President Trump + Zohran Mamdani will meet at the White House today Mamdani says he’s “ready for whatever happens” — and there’s quite a bit at stake for NYC’s youngest mayor in more than a century My latest for @ms.now: www.ms.now/news/trump-m...

Exclusive for @msnbc.com: Democrats are showing signs of life not only w/ latest election wins, but also in a groundswell of fundraising The DNC is touting a $6 million haul of small-dollar grassroots donations in October — 3x MORE than Oct ‘17 of Trump’s first term www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/e...

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — With Trump's tariffs taking center stage at ASEAN + APEC in Asia this week, the president used summits of multilateral cooperation + diplomacy as the backdrop for his one-on-one dealmaking on trade. My latest for @msnbc.com: www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/a...

Humanitarian aid into Gaza by the # s, per a Trump administration official — ON Oct 16: 950 trucks entered Gaza via Kerem Shalom + Kissufim crossings, incl. 96 UN + NGO trucks w/ food, medicines, tents, WASH supplies + other aid SINCE Oct 10: 3,571 trucks have entered Gaza (avg of 510 daily)

Some ~professional news~ After 10 years with NBC, I’ll be joining @msnbc.com next month as a reporter covering all things Washington, Trump administration, + politics HUGE thanks to @sudeepreddy.bsky.social for the opportunity — excited for this new adventure. www.thewrap.com/msnbc-new-hi...

NEW: OPM is officially ending the Musk-led "5 things" weekly email requirement for federal employees OPM Dir. Scott Kupor: "We communicated w/ agency HR leads that OPM was no longer going to manage the 5 things process nor utilize it internally" + adds managers have other tools to stay informed

✅ @julesjester.bsky.social has been verified by @nbcnews.com.

A senior White House official calls Shaheen's letter "pointless." "SGEs are already required to abide by executive branch ethics rules including the rules relating to misuse of position or other government resources or information," the official told NBC News in a statement.

Scooplet: In a letter first shared w/ @nbcnews.com, Sen. @shaheen.senate.gov urged President Trump to require Elon Musk + other special government employees involved in DOGE to sign a certification that they won't use nonpublic information to their benefit. MORE: www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...

NEW: Jeremy Lewin – a DOGE associate & close ally of Elon Musk who was instrumental in dismantling USAID – is now serving as the Acting Director of Foreign Assistance at the State Department, a spox confirms. His appointment comes after Pete Marocco abruptly left the position.

NEW: Pete Marocco, the key figure in dismantling USAID + U.S. foreign assistance, is OUT at the State Dept Marocco “conducted that historic task” of conducting “an exhaustive review of every dollar spent on foreign assistance,” per a senior admin official in part to @nbcnews.com

Hi bsky 👋🏻 I’m an @nbcnews.com journalist reporting on Elon Musk, #DOGE, government agencies + the federal workforce. I’m looking for reporting tips, insights, + human impact stories. Reach out on Signal if you have any leads, intel, documents, &/or experiences that may be helpful to our reporting.

Interesting anecdote about AOC's popularity and how even moderate Dems recognize how effective she is www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...

NEW: ~A year after the Baltimore bridge collapse, the NTSB concludes "had the MDTA conducted a vulnerability assessment of the Key Bridge based on recent vessel traffic [it] would have been able to proactively identify strategies to reduce the risk of a collapse and loss of lives" (1/4)

Elon Musk has tweeted about impeaching judges more than a dozen times in the last 24 hours, per @julesjester.bsky.social

Not just affecting the nation's capital – from DC to TX to NC to OR to the Middle East: Pregnant federal employees who were fired grapple with stress of losing insurance and looking for work Important reporting by @janetimm.bsky.social + @natashakorecki.bsky.social www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...

By the # s — since President Trump took office, at least 90 lawsuits have been filed against his administration 21 re: immigration  19 re: DOGE 18 re: impacts on govt employees 13 re: funding freezes 11 re: gender/equal rights 2 re: USAID 6 others (ex. DEI, CFPB) h/t @garygrumbach.bsky.social

House Oversight Ranking Member Gerry Connolly (D-VA): “Can you imagine if we privatized the postal service, how expensive a letter would be?” He called #USPS the “one constant” during COVID: “The whole country understood how valuable you are.” + stressed its importance for rural communities

The National Association of Letter Carriers is rallying in DC against the dismantling + privatization of the U.S. Postal Service NALC President Brian Renfroe calls the potential “illegal” takeover of the USPS “a direct attack” on 640K postal workers + every American who relies on its deliveries

🫠 www.businesswire.com/news/home/20...

Currently: Letter by letter, crews remove the "U.S. Agency for International Development" signage from its HQ — a striking visual of the abrupt dismantling of USAID, which was est. by JFK in 1961 & delivered humanitarian aid around the world for decades (a small fraction will be folded into State)

no more news pls

Happening now: Hundreds of protesters rally outside of the Capitol in support of #USAID + its staffers, nearly all of which have been placed on admin leave as President Trump / Elon Musk dismantle the international aid + development agency. @nbcnews.com

NEW: 38 Democratic senators - led by Kaine - send Secretary of State Rubio a letter seeking answers re: Trump admin's "brazen & illegal attempts to destroy" USAID Dems NOT signing on: Cantwell + Murray (WA) Hassan + Shaheen (NH) Alsobrooks (MD) Fetterman (PA) Lujan (NM) Ossoff (GA) Schumer (NY)

Rep. Jamie Raskin notes that the entire US foreign aid budget is ~$40 billion. "We have a Pentagon budget of $900 billion. The Pentagon budget is where the defense contractor Elon Musk—who became the richest man in the world off of our money—he collects his payments from."

As a journalist, my favorite question at the doctor’s office is “Have you been experiencing fatigue?” as if that is not my default state

"Rather than using it as a moment to forgo political combat and and focus on the victims, President Trump took the opportunity to push his agenda against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts." @nbcnews.com www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...