Vol. 1, No. 61
Federal politics, policy, elections, and the institutions that shape public life.
Obama's $850 million presidential center opened in Chicago's Jackson Park this week — on public parkland the city leased to his foundation for $10. Courts upheld the deal; critics still call it a land grab.
A leaked DHS document reveals the ICE Task Force Module, a face-scanning app already in local police hands that runs images against 250 million records.
It began with an Ohio mother calling the FBI about her 19-year-old son. Five men now face federal charges in a plot to bomb and then shoot the crowd at Trump's White House UFC event.
The Senate passed a $70 billion immigration enforcement package 52-47 at 5 a.m. Friday. Only Lisa Murkowski voted no among Republicans. The $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund survived every amendment.
SOUTHCOM calls all 199 dead narco-terrorists. The Guardian found no drug links for 13 identified victims. The Pentagon watchdog has opened a targeting review.
The House passed the Ukraine Support Act 226-195 after 18 Republicans used a rare discharge petition to bypass Speaker Johnson and Trump's opposition.
Acting AG Todd Blanche told Congress the $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund is finished — 'period' — after a federal judge blocked it and both parties revolted over potential January 6 payouts.
Trump named Bill Pulte — who runs the federal mortgage giants and has no intelligence background — acting spy chief. He'll oversee 18 agencies without giving up the day job, and even Republicans are uneasy.
A White House budget office proposal would require senior political appointees to approve every discretionary federal grant, from NIH cancer research to NSF climate science, before awards are made.
Iowa Republican primary voters rejected Trump's last-minute endorsement Tuesday, handing him his first primary loss of the 2026 cycle as MAHA-backed Zach Lahn defeats Rep. Randy Feenstra.
A 2-1 appeals court panel ruled the Pentagon's transgender ban violates equal protection, blocking active-duty discharges. Hegseth vows a Supreme Court fight.
DOJ released 3.5 million of 6 million collected pages and certified full compliance. Congressional investigators say roughly half the files are still missing.
The DHS shutdown ended in April, but FEMA heads into hurricane season with 5,000 fewer employees, half its senior leadership vacant, and 300,000 open disaster projects still waiting.
Prosecutors are examining whether Carroll lied in a 2022 deposition about litigation funding — and why the Chicago U.S. attorney denies running the probe.
The House passed the budget bill 215-214 ten days ago. Senate Republicans still don't have 51 votes. Four holdouts are pulling in opposite directions.
A federal judge ruled Friday the Kennedy Center's board illegally renamed the building after Trump, ordering the name removed within 14 days and blocking its planned closure.
Two survivors of the latest U.S. drug-boat strike can't be found, lifting the campaign's nine-month toll to 199 as the Pentagon watchdog probes targeting.
FBI agents found 303 gold bars worth $40 million, $2 million cash, and 35 watches at a Virginia home of a CIA senior official who allegedly fabricated his credentials for two decades.
Talarico leads Paxton in every post-runoff poll and has more than $40 million banked. But Democrats haven't won a Texas Senate race since 1988, and that gap doesn't close without a reason.
The Treasury says the Bureau of Engraving and Printing is ready to print a $250 commemorative bill bearing President Trump's face — if Congress lifts an 1860s-era ban on living figures appearing on U.S. currency.
A Department of War inspector general report says a legally required program to reduce civilian casualties has gone dormant: meetings stopped, funding cut, staff reassigned. The Pentagon calls it a review.
Thirty-five former federal judges say the DOJ deceived a federal court to create a $1.776B fund that permanently shields Trump from IRS prosecution.
Texas AG Ken Paxton ousted Sen. John Cornyn 62-38 in a Trump-backed runoff, ending 24 years and opening the most competitive Texas Senate race in decades.
Graham and Wicker say the Iran deal would be a disaster. A 2015 law gives Congress 60 days to formally object. Whether Trump uses it is another matter.
Nasire Best, 21, with a prior White House arrest and outstanding bench warrant, opened fire Saturday evening and was shot dead by Secret Service; a bystander was also wounded.
