Talking Points Memo

While Missouri Democrats stage protests and push Republican leadership to engage with them, it appears that Republicans in the Missouri state House will ultimately be able to pass redrawn congressional district maps this week, bowing to pressure from the Trump administration.

I was very pleased to see that Ezra Klein has joined the ranks of those who think that Democrats need to gird themselves for a fight in the budget showdown coming at the end of this month. I have various disagreements with Klein, some rooted in policy and … On Shutdowns, Get the Wording Right and Other ThoughtsRead more

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version. These People Deserve Each Other Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent got into a heated confrontation with Federal Housing Finance Agency chief Bill Pulte last week at the Executive Branch, the MAGA-chic private … Treasury Secretary Comes Unglued: ‘I’m Gonna Punch You in Your F—ing Face’Read 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. On Feb. 10, on the third floor of the Social Security Administration’s Baltimore-area headquarters, Leland Dudek unfurled a 4-foot-wide roll of paper that extended … The Untold Saga of What Happened When DOGE Stormed Social SecurityRead more

Everyone is rightly shocked, disgusted, outraged by Trump’s Truth Social meme threatening to turn Chicago into a war zone. But where’s the National Guard exactly? Trump said he was doing this a couple weeks ago. He said they were “going in” right away a week later. Maybe he’ll … Where Are They?Read more

Let me connect a few dots for you that may be a key part of the Trump-Epstein drama and may even be what Trump has been trying to keep hidden in those files. I’m not sure quite what we’re dealing with here. But I think this is significant. … Is This The Hidden Part of the Trump-Epstein Drama?Read more

Hello it’s the weekend. This is The Weekender ☕️ It has been quite a week for embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams.  After a term full of indictments, defiant “earring-wearing swagger,” an extraordinary reversal from the Justice Department, and even potato chip bags filled with cash, Adams’ … Eric Adams Is Making His Last StandRead more

I wanted to return one more time — hopefully just one more time — to the question of what Democrats should demand in exchange for their votes on a continuing resolution. Over the years, I’ve mentioned in various posts that Trump’s world isn’t just winning and losing. It’s … Living in Trump’s WorldRead more

This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. It was originally published at The Conversation. In October 2023, a group calling itself Return to the Land established its first “Whites only community” in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. They followed that with a second enclave … An Arkansas Group’s Effort to Build a White Ethnostate Is Part of a Wider US MovementRead more

Lawmakers came back from their lengthy August recess this week. They have until the end of the month to fund the government for the next fiscal year and avoid a government shutdown. But there’s an elephant in the room as negotiations get underway: how do you do the … Dems Are Focused on Health Care But Trump’s Power Grab Looms Over Gov’t Funding FightRead more

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version. Questions His Allegiance D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro savaged a sitting federal magistrate who had chastised her prosecutors for their conduct in yet another case where a grand … Pirro Unleashes Vicious Attack Against Sitting JudgeRead more

President Donald Trump learned the hard way Friday morning that firing the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn’t change the facts: the economy is cooling, the unemployment rate is going up, and the number of job openings isn’t keeping pace. The U.S. economy added just 22,000 … New Jobs Report Shows Trump Can’t Control Data by Firing People He Doesn’t LikeRead more

I had some further conversations this afternoon about the Dems’ strategy on the coming shutdown fight. They basically just confirmed the outlines of what I discussed in the two posts I did earlier today, but with some additional detail and color. One point I heard from one of … What Are Senate Dems Thinking?Read more

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed Thursday to a Senate committee that the Biden administration had hidden evidence of the danger of the abortion drug mifepristone — an age-old anti-abortion smear that gives the movement pretext to make the medicine difficult to obtain. 

I’ve gotten some rather heated responses to today’s BackChannel. The one point which I think merits a response is people saying that I’m not proposing any alternative. I saw that as implicit. But fair enough. Some say I’m just saying shut things down permanently. That latter claim isn’t … What Dems Should Ask ForRead 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. The Trump administration has vowed to go after anyone who got lower mortgage rates by claiming more than one primary residence on their loan … Trump Is Accusing Foes With Multiple Mortgages of Fraud. Records Show 3 of His Cabinet Members Have Them.Read more

The Texas Senate passed new bounty hunter-style abortion legislation Wednesday night to quash mailed abortion pills, targeting a method that has slipped through the cracks of abortion bans and contributed to the slight rise in the total number of abortions since the Supreme Court decided Dobbs.

I agonized for a bit about the point I’m about to discuss. But I didn’t agonize for long because I decided there was not much to agonize about. The topic is the September federal budget showdown, essentially a replay of the March “continuing resolution” drama in which Democrats … There’s a New Budget Showdown. Senate Dems’ Current Plan Is BullshitRead more

Kate and Josh discuss the short-lived Trump death rumors, the end-of-year shutdown decision for Democrats and some eyebrow-raising GOP retirements.

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version. Abu Ghraib Meets Tonkin Gulf The startling U.S. attack on an alleged drug-running boat in international waters off Venezuela is precisely the kind of no-holds-barred combat that Defense … A Dangerous Line Was Crossed in Trump’s Lethal High Seas AttackRead more

Trump administration attorneys asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday night to overturn Friday’s appeals court decision finding that most of Trump’s tariffs are unconstitutional. The filing came after Trump at a Tuesday press conference — ostensibly about moving Space Command from Colorado to Alabama — said his administration … DOJ Takes Tariff Fight to SCOTUS, Opening a New Avenue for Court to Expand Trump’s PowerRead more

Texas’ top law enforcement official is set to appear alongside a man known as the “Lectern Guy” who served prison time for being among the crowds that broke into the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 to protest President Donald Trump’s election loss.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) signaled on Wednesday that he would oppose any effort to have the Senate consider a new nominee to replace Lisa Cook, whom President Trump fired from the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors last month a few days after MAGA influencer-turned-Federal Housing Finance Agency director … Republican Breaks With Trump By … Respecting the Role of the JudiciaryRead more

This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. It was originally published at The 19th.  For months, President Donald Trump’s base and congressional Republicans have fought over the release of files and documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, the late disgraced financier and convicted … ‘There Is No Hoax’: Epstein Survivors Go to Capitol Hill to Demand TransparencyRead more

One big threat that looms over free and fair elections for president is that a tie in the Electoral College or a disputed race gets thrown to the House. That could be a real dispute or, far more likely, a manufactured dispute as part of stealing the presidency. … Another Element of the Equation – Electoral Nuclear OptionsRead more

An email from TPM Reader PK on yesterday’s post about seating a new Congress in 2027. Your post was dead on today. I can easily see a scenario where rump GOP majorities in both houses refuse to seat enough Democrats to retain control. There’s actually some examples of … Continuing the Conversation on Electoral Nuclear OptionsRead more

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version. 5th Circuit Smacks Down Trump on Alien Enemies Act In the most important court decision on a day full of them, the most conservative federal appeals court became … Trump’s Use of Alien Enemies Act Declared Unlawful From the Get-GoRead more

Connor Clegg, a former Fox News producer who was ousted from his school’s student government over accusations of racism, is working in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s communications department, according to a current and a former EEOC employee with knowledge and a screenshot of the agency’s personnel directory … Former Fox News Producer With History of Racist Social Media Posts Lands New Gig at EEOCRead more

The other Republican who sometimes counters President Trump — and then still votes for things that advance his agenda, like the sweeping Medicaid cuts in Trump’s “big, beautiful” bill this summer — is slamming the White House for lawlessly withholding federal spending that’s been authorized by Congress.

As secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem has become one of the most visible leaders of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation and detention push. According to officials, the role has caused Noem and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who operate under her authority to … DHS Secretary Kristi Noem Seems To Have A Poorly Hidden Secret Facebook PageRead more