“We just started hitting drug boats and putting drug terrorists at the bottom of the ocean because they were poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while also noting that he did not know if the boat carried any survivors after the first strike, a fact, he said, shrouded in the “fog of war.”
-Nicole Lafond
In case you missed it
Josh Marshall: Rethinking Federalism in the Age of Trump – A Response to Tom Nichols
Morning note: Trump White House throws military personnel under the bus for launching a lawless attack
TBM Cafe: State leaders are not waiting for Congress to get its act together
From Hunter Walker: Bernie Sanders Certainly Doesn’t Think Trump Is the ‘Affordability President’
Yesterday’s most read story
“The order was to kill everyone”: a brutal incident at sea
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after the crisis The Washington Post He reported last week that he had issued a verbal order to “kill everyone” on the ship that the Trump administration illegally attacked in September. But Hegseth was defiant during one of Trump’s signature “Cabinet meetings” that was televised on Tuesday.
“We just started hitting drug boats and putting drug terrorists at the bottom of the ocean because they were poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while also noting that he did not know if the boat carried any survivors after the first strike, a fact, he said, shrouded in the “fog of war.”
-Nicole Lafond
In case you missed it
Josh Marshall: Rethinking Federalism in the Age of Trump – A Response to Tom Nichols
Morning note: Trump White House throws military personnel under the bus for launching a lawless attack
TBM Cafe: State leaders are not waiting for Congress to get its act together
From Hunter Walker: Bernie Sanders Certainly Doesn’t Think Trump Is the ‘Affordability President’
Yesterday’s most read story
“The order was to kill everyone”: a brutal incident at sea
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after the crisis The Washington Post He reported last week that he had issued a verbal order to “kill everyone” on the ship that the Trump administration illegally attacked in September. But Hegseth was defiant during one of Trump’s signature “Cabinet meetings” that was televised on Tuesday.
“We just started hitting drug boats and putting drug terrorists at the bottom of the ocean because they were poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while also noting that he did not know if the boat carried any survivors after the first strike, a fact, he said, shrouded in the “fog of war.”
-Nicole Lafond
In case you missed it
Josh Marshall: Rethinking Federalism in the Age of Trump – A Response to Tom Nichols
Morning note: Trump White House throws military personnel under the bus for launching a lawless attack
TBM Cafe: State leaders are not waiting for Congress to get its act together
From Hunter Walker: Bernie Sanders Certainly Doesn’t Think Trump Is the ‘Affordability President’
Yesterday’s most read story
“The order was to kill everyone”: a brutal incident at sea
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after the crisis The Washington Post He reported last week that he had issued a verbal order to “kill everyone” on the ship that the Trump administration illegally attacked in September. But Hegseth was defiant during one of Trump’s signature “Cabinet meetings” that was televised on Tuesday.
“We just started hitting drug boats and putting drug terrorists at the bottom of the ocean because they were poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while also noting that he did not know if the boat carried any survivors after the first strike, a fact, he said, shrouded in the “fog of war.”
-Nicole Lafond
In case you missed it
Josh Marshall: Rethinking Federalism in the Age of Trump – A Response to Tom Nichols
Morning note: Trump White House throws military personnel under the bus for launching a lawless attack
TBM Cafe: State leaders are not waiting for Congress to get its act together
From Hunter Walker: Bernie Sanders Certainly Doesn’t Think Trump Is the ‘Affordability President’
Yesterday’s most read story
“The order was to kill everyone”: a brutal incident at sea
Per States United survey (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump’s unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. Polls conducted in the United States have found that 74% of Americans believe that the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
-Nicole Lafond
Hegseth digs the heels in
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after the crisis The Washington Post He reported last week that he had issued a verbal order to “kill everyone” on the ship that the Trump administration illegally attacked in September. But Hegseth was defiant during one of Trump’s signature “Cabinet meetings” that was televised on Tuesday.
“We just started hitting drug boats and putting drug terrorists at the bottom of the ocean because they were poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while also noting that he did not know if the boat carried any survivors after the first strike, a fact, he said, shrouded in the “fog of war.”
-Nicole Lafond
In case you missed it
Josh Marshall: Rethinking Federalism in the Age of Trump – A Response to Tom Nichols
Morning note: Trump White House throws military personnel under the bus for launching a lawless attack
TBM Cafe: State leaders are not waiting for Congress to get its act together
From Hunter Walker: Bernie Sanders Certainly Doesn’t Think Trump Is the ‘Affordability President’
Yesterday’s most read story
“The order was to kill everyone”: a brutal incident at sea
The report reviews recent history to note that presidents often use executive orders to advance their agenda when different parties control the House and Senate of Congress, causing the legislative process to deadlock. However, Trump’s party controls both chambers of Congress, albeit by a small margin, and Americans disapprove of Trump’s approach to governing. (And as TPM reported, Republican congressional leadership did little to defend the power of their branch of government in the first year of a second Trump, either.)
Per States United survey (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump’s unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. Polls conducted in the United States have found that 74% of Americans believe that the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
-Nicole Lafond
Hegseth digs the heels in
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after the crisis The Washington Post He reported last week that he had issued a verbal order to “kill everyone” on the ship that the Trump administration illegally attacked in September. But Hegseth was defiant during one of Trump’s signature “Cabinet meetings” that was televised on Tuesday.
“We just started hitting drug boats and putting drug terrorists at the bottom of the ocean because they were poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while also noting that he did not know if the boat carried any survivors after the first strike, a fact, he said, shrouded in the “fog of war.”
-Nicole Lafond
In case you missed it
Josh Marshall: Rethinking Federalism in the Age of Trump – A Response to Tom Nichols
Morning note: Trump White House throws military personnel under the bus for launching a lawless attack
TBM Cafe: State leaders are not waiting for Congress to get its act together
From Hunter Walker: Bernie Sanders Certainly Doesn’t Think Trump Is the ‘Affordability President’
Yesterday’s most read story
“The order was to kill everyone”: a brutal incident at sea
The report reviews recent history to note that presidents often use executive orders to advance their agenda when different parties control the House and Senate of Congress, causing the legislative process to deadlock. However, Trump’s party controls both chambers of Congress, albeit by a small margin, and Americans disapprove of Trump’s approach to governing. (And as TPM reported, Republican congressional leadership did little to defend the power of their branch of government in the first year of a second Trump, either.)
Per States United survey (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump’s unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. Polls conducted in the United States have found that 74% of Americans believe that the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
-Nicole Lafond
Hegseth digs the heels in
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after the crisis The Washington Post He reported last week that he had issued a verbal order to “kill everyone” on the ship that the Trump administration illegally attacked in September. But Hegseth was defiant during one of Trump’s signature “Cabinet meetings” that was televised on Tuesday.
“We just started hitting drug boats and putting drug terrorists at the bottom of the ocean because they were poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while also noting that he did not know if the boat carried any survivors after the first strike, a fact, he said, shrouded in the “fog of war.”
-Nicole Lafond
In case you missed it
Josh Marshall: Rethinking Federalism in the Age of Trump – A Response to Tom Nichols
Morning note: Trump White House throws military personnel under the bus for launching a lawless attack
TBM Cafe: State leaders are not waiting for Congress to get its act together
From Hunter Walker: Bernie Sanders Certainly Doesn’t Think Trump Is the ‘Affordability President’
Yesterday’s most read story
“The order was to kill everyone”: a brutal incident at sea
The United States published a report today that delves into Trump’s use of executive action, which is unparalleled in modern history. From January 20, 2025, to December 1, 2025, Trump issued 217 executive orders. For context, per US:
Presidents from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden issued an average of 19.8 executive orders in their first 100 days. Most of Trump’s predecessors, from Kennedy to Barack Obama, fell within a relatively narrow range of 12 to 23 orders in their first 100 days. Biden issued 42 executive orders in his first 100 days, which itself was a record at the time among recent presidents.
The report reviews recent history to note that presidents often use executive orders to advance their agenda when different parties control the House and Senate of Congress, causing the legislative process to deadlock. However, Trump’s party controls both chambers of Congress, albeit by a small margin, and Americans disapprove of Trump’s approach to governing. (And as TPM reported, Republican congressional leadership did little to defend the power of their branch of government in the first year of a second Trump, either.)
Per States United survey (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump’s unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. Polls conducted in the United States have found that 74% of Americans believe that the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
-Nicole Lafond
Hegseth digs the heels in
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after the crisis The Washington Post He reported last week that he had issued a verbal order to “kill everyone” on the ship that the Trump administration illegally attacked in September. But Hegseth was defiant during one of Trump’s signature “Cabinet meetings” that was televised on Tuesday.
“We just started hitting drug boats and putting drug terrorists at the bottom of the ocean because they were poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while also noting that he did not know if the boat carried any survivors after the first strike, a fact, he said, shrouded in the “fog of war.”
-Nicole Lafond
In case you missed it
Josh Marshall: Rethinking Federalism in the Age of Trump – A Response to Tom Nichols
Morning note: Trump White House throws military personnel under the bus for launching a lawless attack
TBM Cafe: State leaders are not waiting for Congress to get its act together
From Hunter Walker: Bernie Sanders Certainly Doesn’t Think Trump Is the ‘Affordability President’
Yesterday’s most read story
“The order was to kill everyone”: a brutal incident at sea
A new poll today from USA, a non-profit group dedicated to elections and the rule of law, He appears There is significant public opposition to President Trump’s continued expansion of presidential power and his unprecedented reliance on unilateral action to implement his agenda in the first year of his second term.
The United States published a report today that delves into Trump’s use of executive action, which is unparalleled in modern history. From January 20, 2025, to December 1, 2025, Trump issued 217 executive orders. For context, per US:
Presidents from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden issued an average of 19.8 executive orders in their first 100 days. Most of Trump’s predecessors, from Kennedy to Barack Obama, fell within a relatively narrow range of 12 to 23 orders in their first 100 days. Biden issued 42 executive orders in his first 100 days, which itself was a record at the time among recent presidents.
The report reviews recent history to note that presidents often use executive orders to advance their agenda when different parties control the House and Senate of Congress, causing the legislative process to deadlock. However, Trump’s party controls both chambers of Congress, albeit by a small margin, and Americans disapprove of Trump’s approach to governing. (And as TPM reported, Republican congressional leadership did little to defend the power of their branch of government in the first year of a second Trump, either.)
Per States United survey (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump’s unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. Polls conducted in the United States have found that 74% of Americans believe that the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
-Nicole Lafond
Hegseth digs the heels in
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after the crisis The Washington Post He reported last week that he had issued a verbal order to “kill everyone” on the ship that the Trump administration illegally attacked in September. But Hegseth was defiant during one of Trump’s signature “Cabinet meetings” that was televised on Tuesday.
“We just started hitting drug boats and putting drug terrorists at the bottom of the ocean because they were poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while also noting that he did not know if the boat carried any survivors after the first strike, a fact, he said, shrouded in the “fog of war.”
-Nicole Lafond
In case you missed it
Josh Marshall: Rethinking Federalism in the Age of Trump – A Response to Tom Nichols
Morning note: Trump White House throws military personnel under the bus for launching a lawless attack
TBM Cafe: State leaders are not waiting for Congress to get its act together
From Hunter Walker: Bernie Sanders Certainly Doesn’t Think Trump Is the ‘Affordability President’
Yesterday’s most read story
“The order was to kill everyone”: a brutal incident at sea
A new poll today from USA, a non-profit group dedicated to elections and the rule of law, He appears There is significant public opposition to President Trump’s continued expansion of presidential power and his unprecedented reliance on unilateral action to implement his agenda in the first year of his second term.
The United States published a report today that delves into Trump’s use of executive action, which is unparalleled in modern history. From January 20, 2025, to December 1, 2025, Trump issued 217 executive orders. For context, per US:
Presidents from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden issued an average of 19.8 executive orders in their first 100 days. Most of Trump’s predecessors, from Kennedy to Barack Obama, fell within a relatively narrow range of 12 to 23 orders in their first 100 days. Biden issued 42 executive orders in his first 100 days, which itself was a record at the time among recent presidents.
The report reviews recent history to note that presidents often use executive orders to advance their agenda when different parties control the House and Senate of Congress, causing the legislative process to deadlock. However, Trump’s party controls both chambers of Congress, albeit by a small margin, and Americans disapprove of Trump’s approach to governing. (And as TPM reported, Republican congressional leadership did little to defend the power of their branch of government in the first year of a second Trump, either.)
Per States United survey (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump’s unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. Polls conducted in the United States have found that 74% of Americans believe that the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
-Nicole Lafond
Hegseth digs the heels in
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after the crisis The Washington Post He reported last week that he had issued a verbal order to “kill everyone” on the ship that the Trump administration illegally attacked in September. But Hegseth was defiant during one of Trump’s signature “Cabinet meetings” that was televised on Tuesday.
“We just started hitting drug boats and putting drug terrorists at the bottom of the ocean because they were poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while also noting that he did not know if the boat carried any survivors after the first strike, a fact, he said, shrouded in the “fog of war.”
-Nicole Lafond
In case you missed it
Josh Marshall: Rethinking Federalism in the Age of Trump – A Response to Tom Nichols
Morning note: Trump White House throws military personnel under the bus for launching a lawless attack
TBM Cafe: State leaders are not waiting for Congress to get its act together
From Hunter Walker: Bernie Sanders Certainly Doesn’t Think Trump Is the ‘Affordability President’
Yesterday’s most read story
“The order was to kill everyone”: a brutal incident at sea
The Court has been creating new jurisprudence on abortion since the earthquake DobbsBut every right-wing justice was strident in her defense of the first option on Tuesday. Meanwhile, red state funding continues to flow into the ruse, as crisis pregnancy centers crowd up like mushrooms in states purged of all real abortion care.
-Kate Rega
Americans want Congress to legislate, not Trump
A new poll today from USA, a non-profit group dedicated to elections and the rule of law, He appears There is significant public opposition to President Trump’s continued expansion of presidential power and his unprecedented reliance on unilateral action to implement his agenda in the first year of his second term.
The United States published a report today that delves into Trump’s use of executive action, which is unparalleled in modern history. From January 20, 2025, to December 1, 2025, Trump issued 217 executive orders. For context, per US:
Presidents from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden issued an average of 19.8 executive orders in their first 100 days. Most of Trump’s predecessors, from Kennedy to Barack Obama, fell within a relatively narrow range of 12 to 23 orders in their first 100 days. Biden issued 42 executive orders in his first 100 days, which itself was a record at the time among recent presidents.
The report reviews recent history to note that presidents often use executive orders to advance their agenda when different parties control the House and Senate of Congress, causing the legislative process to deadlock. However, Trump’s party controls both chambers of Congress, albeit by a small margin, and Americans disapprove of Trump’s approach to governing. (And as TPM reported, Republican congressional leadership did little to defend the power of their branch of government in the first year of a second Trump, either.)
Per States United survey (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump’s unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. Polls conducted in the United States have found that 74% of Americans believe that the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
-Nicole Lafond
Hegseth digs the heels in
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after the crisis The Washington Post He reported last week that he had issued a verbal order to “kill everyone” on the ship that the Trump administration illegally attacked in September. But Hegseth was defiant during one of Trump’s signature “Cabinet meetings” that was televised on Tuesday.
“We just started hitting drug boats and putting drug terrorists at the bottom of the ocean because they were poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while also noting that he did not know if the boat carried any survivors after the first strike, a fact, he said, shrouded in the “fog of war.”
-Nicole Lafond
In case you missed it
Josh Marshall: Rethinking Federalism in the Age of Trump – A Response to Tom Nichols
Morning note: Trump White House throws military personnel under the bus for launching a lawless attack
TBM Cafe: State leaders are not waiting for Congress to get its act together
From Hunter Walker: Bernie Sanders Certainly Doesn’t Think Trump Is the ‘Affordability President’
Yesterday’s most read story
“The order was to kill everyone”: a brutal incident at sea
Even Justice Elena Kagan objected to the unenforceable subpoena: “Any layperson — a funder of this or any similar organization — who served this subpoena and then said ‘But don’t worry, it has to be stamped by the court’ would not find that very reassuring.”
The Court has been creating new jurisprudence on abortion since the earthquake DobbsBut every right-wing justice was strident in her defense of the first option on Tuesday. Meanwhile, red state funding continues to flow into the ruse, as crisis pregnancy centers crowd up like mushrooms in states purged of all real abortion care.
-Kate Rega
Americans want Congress to legislate, not Trump
A new poll today from USA, a non-profit group dedicated to elections and the rule of law, He appears There is significant public opposition to President Trump’s continued expansion of presidential power and his unprecedented reliance on unilateral action to implement his agenda in the first year of his second term.
The United States published a report today that delves into Trump’s use of executive action, which is unparalleled in modern history. From January 20, 2025, to December 1, 2025, Trump issued 217 executive orders. For context, per US:
Presidents from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden issued an average of 19.8 executive orders in their first 100 days. Most of Trump’s predecessors, from Kennedy to Barack Obama, fell within a relatively narrow range of 12 to 23 orders in their first 100 days. Biden issued 42 executive orders in his first 100 days, which itself was a record at the time among recent presidents.
The report reviews recent history to note that presidents often use executive orders to advance their agenda when different parties control the House and Senate of Congress, causing the legislative process to deadlock. However, Trump’s party controls both chambers of Congress, albeit by a small margin, and Americans disapprove of Trump’s approach to governing. (And as TPM reported, Republican congressional leadership did little to defend the power of their branch of government in the first year of a second Trump, either.)
Per States United survey (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump’s unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. Polls conducted in the United States have found that 74% of Americans believe that the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
-Nicole Lafond
Hegseth digs the heels in
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after the crisis The Washington Post He reported last week that he had issued a verbal order to “kill everyone” on the ship that the Trump administration illegally attacked in September. But Hegseth was defiant during one of Trump’s signature “Cabinet meetings” that was televised on Tuesday.
“We just started hitting drug boats and putting drug terrorists at the bottom of the ocean because they were poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while also noting that he did not know if the boat carried any survivors after the first strike, a fact, he said, shrouded in the “fog of war.”
-Nicole Lafond
In case you missed it
Josh Marshall: Rethinking Federalism in the Age of Trump – A Response to Tom Nichols
Morning note: Trump White House throws military personnel under the bus for launching a lawless attack
TBM Cafe: State leaders are not waiting for Congress to get its act together
From Hunter Walker: Bernie Sanders Certainly Doesn’t Think Trump Is the ‘Affordability President’
Yesterday’s most read story
“The order was to kill everyone”: a brutal incident at sea
“Do you think there is a chilling effect of the state seeking the full names, phone numbers, addresses and present or last known place of business of every one of your donors who donated by any means other than a specific website?” Chief Justice John Roberts asked Sandeep Iyer, Platkin’s chief counsel.
Even Justice Elena Kagan objected to the unenforceable subpoena: “Any layperson — a funder of this or any similar organization — who served this subpoena and then said ‘But don’t worry, it has to be stamped by the court’ would not find that very reassuring.”
The Court has been creating new jurisprudence on abortion since the earthquake DobbsBut every right-wing justice was strident in her defense of the first option on Tuesday. Meanwhile, red state funding continues to flow into the ruse, as crisis pregnancy centers crowd up like mushrooms in states purged of all real abortion care.
-Kate Rega
Americans want Congress to legislate, not Trump
A new poll today from USA, a non-profit group dedicated to elections and the rule of law, He appears There is significant public opposition to President Trump’s continued expansion of presidential power and his unprecedented reliance on unilateral action to implement his agenda in the first year of his second term.
The United States published a report today that delves into Trump’s use of executive action, which is unparalleled in modern history. From January 20, 2025, to December 1, 2025, Trump issued 217 executive orders. For context, per US:
Presidents from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden issued an average of 19.8 executive orders in their first 100 days. Most of Trump’s predecessors, from Kennedy to Barack Obama, fell within a relatively narrow range of 12 to 23 orders in their first 100 days. Biden issued 42 executive orders in his first 100 days, which itself was a record at the time among recent presidents.
The report reviews recent history to note that presidents often use executive orders to advance their agenda when different parties control the House and Senate of Congress, causing the legislative process to deadlock. However, Trump’s party controls both chambers of Congress, albeit by a small margin, and Americans disapprove of Trump’s approach to governing. (And as TPM reported, Republican congressional leadership did little to defend the power of their branch of government in the first year of a second Trump, either.)
Per States United survey (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump’s unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. Polls conducted in the United States have found that 74% of Americans believe that the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
-Nicole Lafond
Hegseth digs the heels in
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after the crisis The Washington Post He reported last week that he had issued a verbal order to “kill everyone” on the ship that the Trump administration illegally attacked in September. But Hegseth was defiant during one of Trump’s signature “Cabinet meetings” that was televised on Tuesday.
“We just started hitting drug boats and putting drug terrorists at the bottom of the ocean because they were poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while also noting that he did not know if the boat carried any survivors after the first strike, a fact, he said, shrouded in the “fog of war.”
-Nicole Lafond
In case you missed it
Josh Marshall: Rethinking Federalism in the Age of Trump – A Response to Tom Nichols
Morning note: Trump White House throws military personnel under the bus for launching a lawless attack
TBM Cafe: State leaders are not waiting for Congress to get its act together
From Hunter Walker: Bernie Sanders Certainly Doesn’t Think Trump Is the ‘Affordability President’
Yesterday’s most read story
“The order was to kill everyone”: a brutal incident at sea
But First Choice — represented by the now-infamous right-wing legal group Alliance Defending Freedom — wanted to fight this fight in federal court from the jump, the best roll of the dice for an anti-abortion judge. The Trump administration, which helped stack the federal judiciary, has since joined the case alongside the first option.
“Do you think there is a chilling effect of the state seeking the full names, phone numbers, addresses and present or last known place of business of every one of your donors who donated by any means other than a specific website?” Chief Justice John Roberts asked Sandeep Iyer, Platkin’s chief counsel.
Even Justice Elena Kagan objected to the unenforceable subpoena: “Any layperson — a funder of this or any similar organization — who served this subpoena and then said ‘But don’t worry, it has to be stamped by the court’ would not find that very reassuring.”
The Court has been creating new jurisprudence on abortion since the earthquake DobbsBut every right-wing justice was strident in her defense of the first option on Tuesday. Meanwhile, red state funding continues to flow into the ruse, as crisis pregnancy centers crowd up like mushrooms in states purged of all real abortion care.
-Kate Rega
Americans want Congress to legislate, not Trump
A new poll today from USA, a non-profit group dedicated to elections and the rule of law, He appears There is significant public opposition to President Trump’s continued expansion of presidential power and his unprecedented reliance on unilateral action to implement his agenda in the first year of his second term.
The United States published a report today that delves into Trump’s use of executive action, which is unparalleled in modern history. From January 20, 2025, to December 1, 2025, Trump issued 217 executive orders. For context, per US:
Presidents from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden issued an average of 19.8 executive orders in their first 100 days. Most of Trump’s predecessors, from Kennedy to Barack Obama, fell within a relatively narrow range of 12 to 23 orders in their first 100 days. Biden issued 42 executive orders in his first 100 days, which itself was a record at the time among recent presidents.
The report reviews recent history to note that presidents often use executive orders to advance their agenda when different parties control the House and Senate of Congress, causing the legislative process to deadlock. However, Trump’s party controls both chambers of Congress, albeit by a small margin, and Americans disapprove of Trump’s approach to governing. (And as TPM reported, Republican congressional leadership did little to defend the power of their branch of government in the first year of a second Trump, either.)
Per States United survey (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump’s unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. Polls conducted in the United States have found that 74% of Americans believe that the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
-Nicole Lafond
Hegseth digs the heels in
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after the crisis The Washington Post He reported last week that he had issued a verbal order to “kill everyone” on the ship that the Trump administration illegally attacked in September. But Hegseth was defiant during one of Trump’s signature “Cabinet meetings” that was televised on Tuesday.
“We just started hitting drug boats and putting drug terrorists at the bottom of the ocean because they were poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while also noting that he did not know if the boat carried any survivors after the first strike, a fact, he said, shrouded in the “fog of war.”
-Nicole Lafond
In case you missed it
Josh Marshall: Rethinking Federalism in the Age of Trump – A Response to Tom Nichols
Morning note: Trump White House throws military personnel under the bus for launching a lawless attack
TBM Cafe: State leaders are not waiting for Congress to get its act together
From Hunter Walker: Bernie Sanders Certainly Doesn’t Think Trump Is the ‘Affordability President’
Yesterday’s most read story
“The order was to kill everyone”: a brutal incident at sea
In 2023, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin (D) issued a subpoena to First Choice, seeking a broad swath of information — including donor identification — in his investigation into whether the center misled both donors and potential customers. The subpoena is not self-enforceable, meaning the parties would then go to state court and fight to enforce or block it.
But First Choice — represented by the now-infamous right-wing legal group Alliance Defending Freedom — wanted to fight this fight in federal court from the jump, the best roll of the dice for an anti-abortion judge. The Trump administration, which helped stack the federal judiciary, has since joined the case alongside the first option.
“Do you think there is a chilling effect of the state seeking the full names, phone numbers, addresses and present or last known place of business of every one of your donors who donated by any means other than a specific website?” Chief Justice John Roberts asked Sandeep Iyer, Platkin’s chief counsel.
Even Justice Elena Kagan objected to the unenforceable subpoena: “Any layperson — a funder of this or any similar organization — who served this subpoena and then said ‘But don’t worry, it has to be stamped by the court’ would not find that very reassuring.”
The Court has been creating new jurisprudence on abortion since the earthquake DobbsBut every right-wing justice was strident in her defense of the first option on Tuesday. Meanwhile, red state funding continues to flow into the ruse, as crisis pregnancy centers crowd up like mushrooms in states purged of all real abortion care.
-Kate Rega
Americans want Congress to legislate, not Trump
A new poll today from USA, a non-profit group dedicated to elections and the rule of law, He appears There is significant public opposition to President Trump’s continued expansion of presidential power and his unprecedented reliance on unilateral action to implement his agenda in the first year of his second term.
The United States published a report today that delves into Trump’s use of executive action, which is unparalleled in modern history. From January 20, 2025, to December 1, 2025, Trump issued 217 executive orders. For context, per US:
Presidents from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden issued an average of 19.8 executive orders in their first 100 days. Most of Trump’s predecessors, from Kennedy to Barack Obama, fell within a relatively narrow range of 12 to 23 orders in their first 100 days. Biden issued 42 executive orders in his first 100 days, which itself was a record at the time among recent presidents.
The report reviews recent history to note that presidents often use executive orders to advance their agenda when different parties control the House and Senate of Congress, causing the legislative process to deadlock. However, Trump’s party controls both chambers of Congress, albeit by a small margin, and Americans disapprove of Trump’s approach to governing. (And as TPM reported, Republican congressional leadership did little to defend the power of their branch of government in the first year of a second Trump, either.)
Per States United survey (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump’s unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. Polls conducted in the United States have found that 74% of Americans believe that the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
-Nicole Lafond
Hegseth digs the heels in
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after the crisis The Washington Post He reported last week that he had issued a verbal order to “kill everyone” on the ship that the Trump administration illegally attacked in September. But Hegseth was defiant during one of Trump’s signature “Cabinet meetings” that was televised on Tuesday.
“We just started hitting drug boats and putting drug terrorists at the bottom of the ocean because they were poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while also noting that he did not know if the boat carried any survivors after the first strike, a fact, he said, shrouded in the “fog of war.”
-Nicole Lafond
In case you missed it
Josh Marshall: Rethinking Federalism in the Age of Trump – A Response to Tom Nichols
Morning note: Trump White House throws military personnel under the bus for launching a lawless attack
TBM Cafe: State leaders are not waiting for Congress to get its act together
From Hunter Walker: Bernie Sanders Certainly Doesn’t Think Trump Is the ‘Affordability President’
Yesterday’s most read story
“The order was to kill everyone”: a brutal incident at sea
But recent efforts by the blue state to regulate these outposts of the anti-abortion movement have faced uproar in the right-wing Supreme Court, where crisis pregnancy centers have shrouded themselves in First Amendment protections. In 2018, the court struck down a California law that would have forced pregnancy centers there to inform patients of their abortion options. Tuesday’s case appears headed toward a similar fate.
In 2023, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin (D) issued a subpoena to First Choice, seeking a broad swath of information — including donor identification — in his investigation into whether the center misled both donors and potential customers. The subpoena is not self-enforceable, meaning the parties would then go to state court and fight to enforce or block it.
But First Choice — represented by the now-infamous right-wing legal group Alliance Defending Freedom — wanted to fight this fight in federal court from the jump, the best roll of the dice for an anti-abortion judge. The Trump administration, which helped stack the federal judiciary, has since joined the case alongside the first option.
“Do you think there is a chilling effect of the state seeking the full names, phone numbers, addresses and present or last known place of business of every one of your donors who donated by any means other than a specific website?” Chief Justice John Roberts asked Sandeep Iyer, Platkin’s chief counsel.
Even Justice Elena Kagan objected to the unenforceable subpoena: “Any layperson — a funder of this or any similar organization — who served this subpoena and then said ‘But don’t worry, it has to be stamped by the court’ would not find that very reassuring.”
The Court has been creating new jurisprudence on abortion since the earthquake DobbsBut every right-wing justice was strident in her defense of the first option on Tuesday. Meanwhile, red state funding continues to flow into the ruse, as crisis pregnancy centers crowd up like mushrooms in states purged of all real abortion care.
-Kate Rega
Americans want Congress to legislate, not Trump
A new poll today from USA, a non-profit group dedicated to elections and the rule of law, He appears There is significant public opposition to President Trump’s continued expansion of presidential power and his unprecedented reliance on unilateral action to implement his agenda in the first year of his second term.
The United States published a report today that delves into Trump’s use of executive action, which is unparalleled in modern history. From January 20, 2025, to December 1, 2025, Trump issued 217 executive orders. For context, per US:
Presidents from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden issued an average of 19.8 executive orders in their first 100 days. Most of Trump’s predecessors, from Kennedy to Barack Obama, fell within a relatively narrow range of 12 to 23 orders in their first 100 days. Biden issued 42 executive orders in his first 100 days, which itself was a record at the time among recent presidents.
The report reviews recent history to note that presidents often use executive orders to advance their agenda when different parties control the House and Senate of Congress, causing the legislative process to deadlock. However, Trump’s party controls both chambers of Congress, albeit by a small margin, and Americans disapprove of Trump’s approach to governing. (And as TPM reported, Republican congressional leadership did little to defend the power of their branch of government in the first year of a second Trump, either.)
Per States United survey (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump’s unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. Polls conducted in the United States have found that 74% of Americans believe that the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
-Nicole Lafond
Hegseth digs the heels in
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after the crisis The Washington Post He reported last week that he had issued a verbal order to “kill everyone” on the ship that the Trump administration illegally attacked in September. But Hegseth was defiant during one of Trump’s signature “Cabinet meetings” that was televised on Tuesday.
“We just started hitting drug boats and putting drug terrorists at the bottom of the ocean because they were poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while also noting that he did not know if the boat carried any survivors after the first strike, a fact, he said, shrouded in the “fog of war.”
-Nicole Lafond
In case you missed it
Josh Marshall: Rethinking Federalism in the Age of Trump – A Response to Tom Nichols
Morning note: Trump White House throws military personnel under the bus for launching a lawless attack
TBM Cafe: State leaders are not waiting for Congress to get its act together
From Hunter Walker: Bernie Sanders Certainly Doesn’t Think Trump Is the ‘Affordability President’
Yesterday’s most read story
“The order was to kill everyone”: a brutal incident at sea
They use keywords and images related to abortion rights — in this case the center is called “The First.” option – To tempt pregnant women, it is better to discourage them from having an abortion. You have to scroll to the bottom of the New Jersey center’s website to access its disclaimer: “First Choice Women’s Resource Centers is an alternative to an abortion clinic and does not provide or suggest termination services.” They often set up shop near real abortion clinics, and promote anti-abortion misinformation.
But recent efforts by the blue state to regulate these outposts of the anti-abortion movement have faced uproar in the right-wing Supreme Court, where crisis pregnancy centers have shrouded themselves in First Amendment protections. In 2018, the court struck down a California law that would have forced pregnancy centers there to inform patients of their abortion options. Tuesday’s case appears headed toward a similar fate.
In 2023, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin (D) issued a subpoena to First Choice, seeking a broad swath of information — including donor identification — in his investigation into whether the center misled both donors and potential customers. The subpoena is not self-enforceable, meaning the parties would then go to state court and fight to enforce or block it.
But First Choice — represented by the now-infamous right-wing legal group Alliance Defending Freedom — wanted to fight this fight in federal court from the jump, the best roll of the dice for an anti-abortion judge. The Trump administration, which helped stack the federal judiciary, has since joined the case alongside the first option.
“Do you think there is a chilling effect of the state seeking the full names, phone numbers, addresses and present or last known place of business of every one of your donors who donated by any means other than a specific website?” Chief Justice John Roberts asked Sandeep Iyer, Platkin’s chief counsel.
Even Justice Elena Kagan objected to the unenforceable subpoena: “Any layperson — a funder of this or any similar organization — who served this subpoena and then said ‘But don’t worry, it has to be stamped by the court’ would not find that very reassuring.”
The Court has been creating new jurisprudence on abortion since the earthquake DobbsBut every right-wing justice was strident in her defense of the first option on Tuesday. Meanwhile, red state funding continues to flow into the ruse, as crisis pregnancy centers crowd up like mushrooms in states purged of all real abortion care.
-Kate Rega
Americans want Congress to legislate, not Trump
A new poll today from USA, a non-profit group dedicated to elections and the rule of law, He appears There is significant public opposition to President Trump’s continued expansion of presidential power and his unprecedented reliance on unilateral action to implement his agenda in the first year of his second term.
The United States published a report today that delves into Trump’s use of executive action, which is unparalleled in modern history. From January 20, 2025, to December 1, 2025, Trump issued 217 executive orders. For context, per US:
Presidents from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden issued an average of 19.8 executive orders in their first 100 days. Most of Trump’s predecessors, from Kennedy to Barack Obama, fell within a relatively narrow range of 12 to 23 orders in their first 100 days. Biden issued 42 executive orders in his first 100 days, which itself was a record at the time among recent presidents.
The report reviews recent history to note that presidents often use executive orders to advance their agenda when different parties control the House and Senate of Congress, causing the legislative process to deadlock. However, Trump’s party controls both chambers of Congress, albeit by a small margin, and Americans disapprove of Trump’s approach to governing. (And as TPM reported, Republican congressional leadership did little to defend the power of their branch of government in the first year of a second Trump, either.)
Per States United survey (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump’s unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. Polls conducted in the United States have found that 74% of Americans believe that the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
-Nicole Lafond
Hegseth digs the heels in
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after the crisis The Washington Post He reported last week that he had issued a verbal order to “kill everyone” on the ship that the Trump administration illegally attacked in September. But Hegseth was defiant during one of Trump’s signature “Cabinet meetings” that was televised on Tuesday.
“We just started hitting drug boats and putting drug terrorists at the bottom of the ocean because they were poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while also noting that he did not know if the boat carried any survivors after the first strike, a fact, he said, shrouded in the “fog of war.”
-Nicole Lafond
In case you missed it
Josh Marshall: Rethinking Federalism in the Age of Trump – A Response to Tom Nichols
Morning note: Trump White House throws military personnel under the bus for launching a lawless attack
TBM Cafe: State leaders are not waiting for Congress to get its act together
From Hunter Walker: Bernie Sanders Certainly Doesn’t Think Trump Is the ‘Affordability President’
Yesterday’s most read story
“The order was to kill everyone”: a brutal incident at sea
They use keywords and images related to abortion rights — in this case the center is called “The First.” option – To tempt pregnant women, it is better to discourage them from having an abortion. You have to scroll to the bottom of the New Jersey center’s website to access its disclaimer: “First Choice Women’s Resource Centers is an alternative to an abortion clinic and does not provide or suggest termination services.” They often set up shop near real abortion clinics, and promote anti-abortion misinformation.
But recent efforts by the blue state to regulate these outposts of the anti-abortion movement have faced uproar in the right-wing Supreme Court, where crisis pregnancy centers have shrouded themselves in First Amendment protections. In 2018, the court struck down a California law that would have forced pregnancy centers there to inform patients of their abortion options. Tuesday’s case appears headed toward a similar fate.
In 2023, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin (D) issued a subpoena to First Choice, seeking a broad swath of information — including donor identification — in his investigation into whether the center misled both donors and potential customers. The subpoena is not self-enforceable, meaning the parties would then go to state court and fight to enforce or block it.
But First Choice — represented by the now-infamous right-wing legal group Alliance Defending Freedom — wanted to fight this fight in federal court from the jump, the best roll of the dice for an anti-abortion judge. The Trump administration, which helped stack the federal judiciary, has since joined the case alongside the first option.
“Do you think there is a chilling effect of the state seeking the full names, phone numbers, addresses and present or last known place of business of every one of your donors who donated by any means other than a specific website?” Chief Justice John Roberts asked Sandeep Iyer, Platkin’s chief counsel.
Even Justice Elena Kagan objected to the unenforceable subpoena: “Any layperson — a funder of this or any similar organization — who served this subpoena and then said ‘But don’t worry, it has to be stamped by the court’ would not find that very reassuring.”
The Court has been creating new jurisprudence on abortion since the earthquake DobbsBut every right-wing justice was strident in her defense of the first option on Tuesday. Meanwhile, red state funding continues to flow into the ruse, as crisis pregnancy centers crowd up like mushrooms in states purged of all real abortion care.
-Kate Rega
Americans want Congress to legislate, not Trump
A new poll today from USA, a non-profit group dedicated to elections and the rule of law, He appears There is significant public opposition to President Trump’s continued expansion of presidential power and his unprecedented reliance on unilateral action to implement his agenda in the first year of his second term.
The United States published a report today that delves into Trump’s use of executive action, which is unparalleled in modern history. From January 20, 2025, to December 1, 2025, Trump issued 217 executive orders. For context, per US:
Presidents from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden issued an average of 19.8 executive orders in their first 100 days. Most of Trump’s predecessors, from Kennedy to Barack Obama, fell within a relatively narrow range of 12 to 23 orders in their first 100 days. Biden issued 42 executive orders in his first 100 days, which itself was a record at the time among recent presidents.
The report reviews recent history to note that presidents often use executive orders to advance their agenda when different parties control the House and Senate of Congress, causing the legislative process to deadlock. However, Trump’s party controls both chambers of Congress, albeit by a small margin, and Americans disapprove of Trump’s approach to governing. (And as TPM reported, Republican congressional leadership did little to defend the power of their branch of government in the first year of a second Trump, either.)
Per States United survey (which included online interviews with 1,515 American adults from September 30 to October 6, 2025):
Most Americans want to maintain checks and balances and object to Trump’s unilateral approach to advancing his agenda. Polls conducted in the United States have found that 74% of Americans believe that the best way to change public policy is for Congress to pass a bill that becomes law.
-Nicole Lafond
Hegseth digs the heels in
The White House is trying to distance itself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after the crisis The Washington Post He reported last week that he had issued a verbal order to “kill everyone” on the ship that the Trump administration illegally attacked in September. But Hegseth was defiant during one of Trump’s signature “Cabinet meetings” that was televised on Tuesday.
“We just started hitting drug boats and putting drug terrorists at the bottom of the ocean because they were poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said, while also noting that he did not know if the boat carried any survivors after the first strike, a fact, he said, shrouded in the “fog of war.”
-Nicole Lafond
In case you missed it
Josh Marshall: Rethinking Federalism in the Age of Trump – A Response to Tom Nichols
Morning note: Trump White House throws military personnel under the bus for launching a lawless attack
TBM Cafe: State leaders are not waiting for Congress to get its act together
From Hunter Walker: Bernie Sanders Certainly Doesn’t Think Trump Is the ‘Affordability President’
Yesterday’s most read story
“The order was to kill everyone”: a brutal incident at sea
