Talking Points Memo

We’ve noted this in the emails members have received, but since we’ve gotten a lot of questions about it: tickets for individual nights will go on sale this coming week. We know a lot of people can’t make it in for both nights (Thursday and Friday). So for … 25th Anniversary Event UpdateRead more

President Trump notched a startling legal win Friday evening, as the Supreme Court gave an early stamp of approval to a legal theory so outlandish that experts at one point predicted to TPM it wouldn’t “get a single vote.” 

Hello it’s the weekend. This is The Weekender ☕️ Eager to cleanse his administration of the human guardrails that fenced him in during his first term, President Trump stocked his second White House with slavishly loyal zealots.

As I’ve written a few times, we can’t over-read any single move in the broad contest over big societal institutions obeying or resisting Trump administration diktats. But Sinclair Broadcasting just announced they’re ending their “preemption” of the Jimmy Kimmel show. Even their own statement seems to make clear … Sinclair Backs DownRead more

As we hurtle toward an almost inevitable government shutdown I want to note one part of the discussion I’ve seen among commentators. This is a bit in the weeds but I think it’s worth discussing. Some writers say that it’s actually a mistake for Democrats to make any … Beware the (Purported) Iron Laws of ShutdownsRead more

This story first appeared at ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. For months, the complaints have rolled in from parts of the country hit by natural disasters: The Federal Emergency Management Agency … Kristi Noem Fast-Tracked Millions in Disaster Aid to Florida Tourist Attraction After Campaign Donor IntervenedRead more

This story first appeared at The 74, a nonprofit news site covering education. Sign up for free newsletters from The 74 to get more like this in your inbox. He once called Oklahoma’s teachers union a “terrorist organization.” Now state Superintendent Ryan Walters is threatening to “destroy” teachers … Scandal-Plagued Oklahoma Schools Chief Ryan Walters Steps Down to Lead Anti-Teachers Union GroupRead more

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version. With Fear and Favor Donald Trump’s corruption of the Justice Department came to its fullest fruition last evening with the bogus indictment of former FBI Director … Trump Thoroughly Corrupts DOJ, Forcing It To Eat One Of Its OwnRead more

In a way, it’s surprising it took this long.  Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. finally acceded to the anti-abortion movement, alerting Republican attorneys general last week that the Food and Drug Administration has begun a review of the “safety profile” of mifepristone. 

Democrats are using what little power they have in the Senate as a government shutdown nears to hold the Trump administration to account for some of its abuse of power. Specifically, they are trying to force the executive branch to let the legislative branch do its job, demanding, … White House Tries to Smush Dems’ Backbone With Threats of Mass Firings During Gov’t ShutdownRead more

Every living former Federal Reserve Chair, from Alan Greenspan to Janet Yellen, signed on to an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court not to allow President Donald Trump to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook while her case against the president moves through the courts. Allowing Trump to … Every Living Former Fed Chair is Urging the Supreme Court to Stop Trump from Removing Lisa CookRead more

I have a growing sense of optimism about the political situation in the United States. But it’s not necessarily because I’m more confident about the outcomes, though I am that too. It is more that on a number of fronts the actual fight is coming into the open. … Let It Begin — The Real Fights Are Finally Coming Into ViewRead more

Kate and Josh talk Kimmel’s return, the corruption of the White House and how regular people keep smacking down Trump’s authoritarian attacks.

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version. The Old Journalism Doesn’t Work in the Current Moment With the not-at-all-surprising-but-still-dismaying news that newly appointed U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan will seek an indictment of former … Trump’s Retribution Requires a New Way of Covering Bogus Criminal CasesRead more

As we saw in the immediate aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination earlier this month, the Trump administration is looking to markings on bullets and grasping at any other early information they can grab ahold of to blame some amorphous, leftist, anti-Trump entity for another act of violence.

This story was originally reported by Amanda Becker of The 19th. Meet Amanda and read more of her reporting on gender, politics and policy. Erika Kirk, the widow of slain right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, concluded her eulogy for him on Sunday by saying that she was “tremendously honored” … Who Is Erika Kirk?: Where the New Turning Point USA CEO Stands on Gender Roles, Marriage and MotherhoodRead more

You could almost hear the gears turning in Owen Strickland II’s head as he pondered slowly and deliberately whether Jimmy Kimmel should’ve been taken off air in the wake of conservative podcaster Charlie Kirk’s murder. “Mr. Kimmel started out his life and career as a comedian,” Strickland began. … MAGA Elite Are Split on Protected Speech. Trump Voters, Not So MuchRead more

Tickets for TPM’s 25th Anniversary Celebration — a two-day event featuring a live show Thursday, Nov. 6th and a big party Friday Nov. 7th — are on sale now and going fast. Get yours now! Included in the price of admission is a live show, admission to our … Get Your Tickets Now for TPM’s 25th Anniversary Celebration!Read more

This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. It was originally published at Balls and Strikes.  In a sting operation last September, White House “border czar” Tom Homan accepted $50,000 cash in a bag from Cava, the fast casual Mediterranean restaurant chain, from undercover … No One Is Sure If It’s Illegal to Accept a $50,000 Bribe Stuffed In a Cava Bag, Thanks to the Supreme CourtRead more

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version. Match Made in Conspiracy Heaven The photo that conspiracy-monger Alex Jones recently posted of himself alongside Trump DOJ official Ed Martin suggested something was up, but … Ed Martin Comes To The Rescue … of Alex Jones?!?Read more

This article first appeared at ProPublica, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. After a fight with a Black student in a St. Louis suburb left a white student badly injured in March … ‘His Audience Was Really Trump’: How New FBI Lead Used His Missouri AG Role to Wage a Culture WarRead more

For the last 48 hours or so, Trump’s toadies and martinets have been putting on a performance which is one half gaslighting, one half effort to create a bit of distance between FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s extortion and ABC’s decision to (now-temporarily) pull Jimmy Kimmel off the air. … Trump Ups the Ante and Says It Was Him All AlongRead more

The Supreme Court sent the independent executive branch agency into extinction this week, without even bothering to overturn the precedent that forbids it to do so first.

Since the assassination of Charlie Kirk, you’d think that the main violent force in American life lies on the left.

Bloomberg columnist Ron Brownstein posted this this morning on Twitter. Disney’s initial surrender over [Jimmy] Kimmel marked another ominous advance in Trump’s campaign to suppress dissent. Kimmel’s restoration shows those willing to resist that campaign can tap into a deep well of public concern. But this fight is … Nexstar/Sinclair Wants to Keep the Ban on Kimmel? AwesomeRead more

President Donald Trump agreed to and then — in less than a day— cancelled a Thursday meeting that he was going to have with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) in order to discuss government funding ahead of the looming deadline. … Trump Bails on Negotiations, Tries to Blame Dems for Impending Gov’t ShutdownRead more

This article first appeared at ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Erin McCanlies was listening to the radio one morning in April when she heard Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promising to find … RFK Jr. Vowed to Find the Environmental Causes of Autism. Then He Shut Down Research Trying to Do Just That.Read more

There are many threads surrounding the MAGA right’s ongoing martyr-making and canonization of Charlie Kirk. We know about the tendentious rewriting of history both from Kirk’s stalwarts and his fellow travelers; we know how his death is being used as the pretext for various crackdowns on free speech … And God Said, ‘Debate Me, Bro’ … And Other Notes From the Kirk CanonizationRead more

On November 6th and 7th we’re celebrating the 25th anniversary of TPM. It’s a two-day event in New York City — a TPM mini-festival: night one a discussion and oral history of TPM featuring TPM alums, current staff and special guests, followed by a live podcast and mega … Join Us for TPM-Fest, TPM’s 25th Anniversary CelebrationRead more

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version. High Popalorum and Low Popahirum Despite all the echoes of early 20th century European fascism, Donald Trump is still firmly planted in the long American tradition … Grifter-in-Chief Peddles Snake Oil From White House PodiumRead more