The House approved Trump’s plans to claw back $8 billion in approved funding for foreign aid. Experts told NPR the administration has provided little to no evidence to justify the cited claims of waste, fraud, and abuse. The Supreme Court is delivering wins for Trump’s agenda while often providing no explanation for its decisions. Bloomberg ’s Lydia Wheeler explores why. The administration is trying to speed up deportation s by making people they detain ineligible for bond hearings. Maria Sacche...
Jul 18, 2025•15 min
The Senate just passed a bill that would cut more than $1.1 billion in previously allocated federal funds for public media. The Wall Street Journal reports. The president of PBS tells the Washington Post the move would result in an existential crisis for member stations that depend on federal dollars. Trump has been going back and forth on his desire to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Neil Irwin from Axios discusses whether the president has the power to do so, and why a recent Fed building renova...
Jul 17, 2025•13 min
The Senate voted to advance legislation that would claw back over $9 billion dollars for foreign aid and public media that both chambers of Congress, and President Trump himself had previously approved. Reuters ’s Bo Erickson explains how it's part of a broader effort by the administration to assert more authority over the federal budget. The executive director of Camp Mystic, the all-girls camp in Texas, received a severe flood warning on his phone in the early-morning hours of July 4. Accordin...
Jul 16, 2025•14 min
New reporting from the Miami Herald reveals that a significant portion of detainees held at an immigration detention facility in the Florida Everglades do not have criminal charges. Reporter Ana Ceballos joins to discuss that story and another highlighting conditions inside. Some Trump supporters inside and outside of the White House are disappointed with how the administration handled the Jeffrey Epstein case. The Washington Post ’s Natalie Allison reports on how the broader MAGA movement is re...
Jul 15, 2025•16 min
It’s one year since the assassination attempt against Trump, and a damning Senate committee report just described the event as a “preventable tragedy.” Carol Leonnig at the Washington Post explains what went wrong and what we know about the shooter’s motives . New reporting from CNN indicates that recently implemented cost controls may have delayed FEMA’s response to the deadly floods in Texas. Scott Peterson was convicted of killing his wife in 2002. He always professed his innocence, and now t...
Jul 14, 2025•15 min
Trump is expected to visit Texas today, amid longer-term questions over the future of FEMA. Zack Colman from Politico takes us through them. The president has recently expressed frustration with Russia’s Putin. The Wall Street Journal ’s Matthew Luxmoore explains why, and explores what could come next in the war in Ukraine. Federal immigration agents are increasingly wearing masks. Jenny Jarvie of the Los Angeles Times describes how that’s affecting targeted communities. Plus, student activist M...
Jul 11, 2025•15 min
A federal judge issued a new, temporary nationwide block on Trump’s birthright citizenship ban. Tom Hals of Reuters told us about the plaintiffs’ legal strategy. Lily Hay Newman, a senior writer for Wired , takes us behind the scenes of a group of young cybercriminals called the Scattered Spider. Plus, measles has hit record levels in the U.S., Elon Musk lost his CEO at X, and the AI music going viral . Today’s episode was hosted by Shumita Basu....
Jul 10, 2025•15 min
Trump extended his deadline for countries to make tariff deals, and sent a host of letters threatening new measures. Brian Schwartz at the Wall Street Journal brings us up to speed. Mary Ilyushina with the Washington Post discusses Putin’s “anti-woke” visa, and how U.S. citizens are using it to migrate to Russia. Cuts are coming for the federal SNAP program, which provides food assistance to more than 40 million Americans. Marcia Brown with Politico explains how the move will leave food banks sc...
Jul 09, 2025•13 min
The death toll from the Texas floods climbed above 100, as stories of tragedy and heroics continue to emerge. Keri Heath at the Austin American-Statesman gives us the latest from the scene. The Trump administration’s funding freezes are teeing up a budgetary challenge between the White House and Congress. Jeff Stein with the Washington Post explains how it could reshape the balance of power between them. Kavitha Surana with ProPublica unpacks how abortion bans have made first-trimester miscarria...
Jul 08, 2025•15 min
Catastrophic flooding in Texas killed at least 80 people, and more rainfall is expected. The Texas Tribune has the latest. Congressional Republicans passed a sprawling bill that cuts Medicaid, clean-energy funding, and taxes. NBC ’s Sahil Kapur unpacks the details. Jobs in meatpacking plants are notorious for being dangerous and physically taxing. Scott Calvert with the Wall Street Journal reports on how a slaughterhouse in Nebraska wants to change that. Plus, Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks began ...
Jul 07, 2025•15 min
The Trump administration is building a national citizenship-data system. NPR ’s Jude Joffe-Block joins to discuss her exclusive reporting behind the project. The Senate narrowly passed Trump’s tax-and-spending bill. Next comes the challenge to get it through the House before July 4. Politico looks at what might happen next. California has rolled back a landmark environmental law. Liam Dillon from the Los Angeles Times explains. Plus, the University of Pennsylvania bans transgender athletes from ...
Jul 02, 2025•16 min
Senate Republicans are racing to get their sprawling bill to the House. The Wall Street Journal ’s Richard Rubin joins to explain the financial maneuver Republicans are using to say that their tax-cut extensions will not impact the federal budget. As USAID is absorbed into the State Department, the Washington Post ’s Katharine Houreld tells us funding how cuts are hurting people in Sudan. The Trump administration has repurposed an app from the previous administration to encourage migrants to sel...
Jul 01, 2025•15 min
Republicans are grappling with their big tax-and-spending bill, which the independent Congressional Budget Office estimates will add $3.3 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. As they debate Medicaid cuts and work requirements at the federal level, Jeanne Whalen with the Wall Street Journal explains why Medicaid work requirements at the state level have not worked out. Following the Supreme Court ruling on birthright citizenship, Politico reporter and former prosecutor Ankush Khard...
Jun 30, 2025•16 min
Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman — along with her husband, Mark, and their golden retriever, Gilbert — will lie in the Minnesota state Capitol on Friday ahead of a private funeral on Saturday. Patrick Coolican with the Minnesota Reformer tells us about her political legacy. Alicia Victoria Lozano from NBC lays out what to know about the detention of Iranians in the U.S. Plus, how a larger turnout might have affected the 2024 election , Anna Wintour gives up the editor’s chair at V...
Jun 27, 2025•16 min
Israel tasked private contractors with distributing aid in Gaza. Nabih Bulos with the Los Angeles Times explains how those sites have descended into chaos. Arian Campo-Flores with the Wall Street Journal unpacks the economic implications of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration policy. More than 100 million Americans have faced sweltering weather this week. NPR asks, how hot is too hot for kids? Plus, the NATO summit concluded with new spending targets , the readout from the first me...
Jun 26, 2025•14 min
The Iran-Israel ceasefire is tentatively holding, as questions emerge over the scale of Iran’s nuclear setbacks. Reuters reports. Megan Messerly at Politico tells us how it all unfolded. In a shock result, 33-year-old democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani is set to win the Democrat mayoral primary in New York City. Axios has been following the result. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has changed who makes vaccine recommendations to the CDC. Helen Branswell with Stat unpack...
Jun 25, 2025•16 min
Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, but has now accused both countries of violating it. Reuters has the latest. What to know about New York City’s mayoral primary, and the unique ranked-choice voting system that will decide the next mayor. Laura Nahmias with Bloomberg News has the details. Wyatt Myskow with Inside Climate News reports that congressional Republicans’ proposed federal budget would cut millions from national parks, as part of the Trump administration’s broader atta...
Jun 24, 2025•15 min
Following the U.S.’s strikes on nuclear sites in Iran, there are major questions in the days ahead. CNN reports on the members of Congress who were informed beforehand. Lawfare examines the legality of going to war with Iran. A major heat wave is bearing down on much of the U.S. Eric Holthaus, meteorologist with The Guardian , examines how Trump administration cuts could affect preparedness for summer heat. Plus, Mahmoud Khalil was released from ICE custody, why visas were rejected for members o...
Jun 23, 2025•15 min
In a 6-3 ruling along ideological lines, the Supreme Court determined a Tennessee state law banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors is constitutional, in a major setback for trans rights Political violence appears to be on the rise in the U.S. Aaron Blake with CNN unpacks what that says about the state of partisanship. Israel says Iran was very close to getting nuclear weapons. Now Trump agrees. The Washington Post has been assessing Iran’s capabilities. Maanvi Singh with The Guardi...
Jun 18, 2025•16 min
As Iran and Israel trade missiles, The Economist explores how citizens might respond to their leaders’ actions. The suspect in the Minnesota killings is alleged to have visited other homes that night. The Minnesota Star Tribune covers the hunt to find him. Katy Stech Ferek with the Wall Street Journal discusses how stock trading by lawmakers around Trump’s tariff announcements has revived calls for a ban. Plus, more deaths around aid centers in Gaza, tension from overwhelming tourism levels forc...
Jun 17, 2025•16 min
The suspect has been found in the Minnesota killings of a lawmaker and her husband. The Minnesota Star Tribune has the details. Israel and Iran intensified their strikes into each other’s territories. The Atlantic ’s Isaac Stanley-Becker explains how Israel managed to take their neighbors by surprise, and looks at what comes next. Molly Ball with the Wall Street Journal reports on how California Gov. Gavin Newsom has taken center stage amid the L.A. protests, in a balancing act of state and nati...
Jun 16, 2025•14 min
CBS reports on Israel’s strikes on nuclear sites in Iran. Bloomberg has more details of the Air India crash — and the remarkable story of the sole person on board to survive it. Ahead of an Army parade in D.C, Politico ’s Megan Messerly walks us through Trump’s relationship with the military and displays of force. Plus, the House passed a bill to codify DOGE cuts , a senator’s dramatic encounter with DHS, and the dentist turned golfer at this year’s U.S. Open. Today’s episode was hosted by Gideo...
Jun 13, 2025•14 min
What to know about a fatal Boeing crash in India that killed more than 200 people. As protests continue in L.A. and elsewhere over immigration raids, Reuters has been exploring the “less lethal” tactics that police are using. Rare earth minerals are at the center of U.S. and China trade talks. The Wall Street Journal ’s Lingling Wei explains why. NPR reports that states with stricter gun laws have fewer teen and child deaths. Plus, an Air India flight carrying more than 200 people crashed , Harv...
Jun 12, 2025•15 min
An L.A. curfew was implemented amid protests against ICE raids there. Elizabeth Findell from the Wall Street Journal looks at the marching orders from the White House that started the migrant crackdown. Reporting from NPR ’s Jasmine Garsd details the unsanitary conditions migrants are facing in an overcrowded ICE facility in Florida. ‘Les Misérables’ is a story of the downtrodden. It’s also a musical loved by Trump. The Atlantic looks at its appeal for him. Plus, the Smithsonian agreed to review...
Jun 11, 2025•15 min
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sent Marines into Los Angeles, and California’s governor sued Trump. CalMatters ’s Nigel Duara has been following events in the city. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed the CDC’s entire panel of vaccine advisers. Stat reports. Amid the public feuding between Musk and Trump, the federal government is attempting to rehire people that DOGE summarily cut from roles. Hannah Natanson from the Washington Post has the story. Plus, Ukraine and Russia’s prisoner swap began, Jus...
Jun 10, 2025•15 min
It was a weekend of unrest in L.A. as protesters demonstrating against immigration raids and ICE agents collided. President Trump sent in the National Guard, defying the California governor’s wishes. The Los Angeles Times has been covering the scenes. How could Trump and Musk hurt each other in their spectacular breakup? We speak to Bloomberg ’s Ted Mann. Some families are moving from the U.S. due to policies aimed at transgender people. NBC News ’s Jo Yurcaba tells us some of their stories. Plu...
Jun 09, 2025•13 min
Trump and Elon Musk attacked each other on social media in an extraordinary public fight. Politico has the blow-by-blow. Afghanistan has a complex set of migration exemptions owing to the war. The travel ban could complicate that. The Washington Post ’s Kabul bureau chief, Rick Noack, joins to explain. The deported Venezuelan migrants were said by Trump aides to be the “worst of the worst.” ProPublica ’s Melissa Sanchez and colleagues have been digging to reveal a more complicated picture. Plus,...
Jun 06, 2025•15 min
Trump announced a new travel ban. The Wall Street Journal breaks it down. As Canada’s wildfires continue to rage, dangerous air is sweeping across the U.S. PBS explores conditions in the worst-hit states. The NBA Finals begin tonight between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers. The Ringer ’s Michael Pina tells us what to watch for. Plus, how Columbia University could lose its accreditation , the small Republican town that rallied to help an ICE detainee , and a mass evacuation after...
Jun 05, 2025•14 min
Elon Musk attacks “abomination” GOP bill. As he leaves government, he returns to an uncertain future for Tesla, as the Wall Street Journal’s Becky Peterson explains. Israel announces its controversial aid center will be closed for the day, as death and chaos continues to surround the distribution sites. Amidst the confusion, the BBC explores what we know and don’t know. The White House grapples with deporting migrants when the home country won’t accept them. NPR ’s Ximena Bustillo joins to discu...
Jun 04, 2025•15 min
There is unlikely bipartisan support in Congress around an effort to make childbirth free in America. Vox ’s Rachel Cohen discusses the plan and how it would work. The trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs is in its fourth week. CNN ’s Elizabeth Wagmeister, who’s been reporting from the courtroom, tells us the latest. There’s been an international series of brazen, violent crimes against crypto executives and their families. The Wall Street Journal ’s Sam Schechner explains what’s been happening. Plus, wh...
Jun 03, 2025•14 min
