The Trump administration can’t force organizations that receive federal teen pregnancy prevention grants to comply with an executive order against “indoctrinating” children about “radical gender ideology,” a federal judge ruled Tuesday.  U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington, D.C., appointed by former President Obama, ruled that a July directive from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was arbitrary and capricious and contradicted the original congressional intent of the grants.   Howell said HHS imposed binding requirements on grant recipients but gave no indication that those requirements "were the product of reasoned decision-making and analysis of evidence.”  Instead, the agency “seemingly relied on irrelevant ideological factors, and did not justify its change in position,” Howell wrote.   The Teen Pregnancy Prevention program funds diverse organizations nationwide working on evidence-based methods to prevent adolescent pregnancy.   The ruling marked a victory for Planned Parenthood affiliates in California, Iowa and New York that sued to try to block enforcement of the change, but it will apply to all organizations that received grants.  HHS declined to comment on the ruling.  In a statement on the notice of funding availability released in July, HHS said the pregnancy prevention program's mission is “not to promote harmful ideologies, risky sexual activity for minors, or other content outside the scope of the program.”  In the guidance, HHS said that grant recipients must ensure that the curricula in their teen pregnancy programs “reflect the immutable biological reality of sex, not radical gender ideology, and may not promote anti-American ideologies such as discriminatory equity ideology.”  The lawsuit claimed the groups, which were already approved for the grants, could not use any of the funding without certifying compliance with the policy, which they said would require them to change their programming in a way that would make it ineffective.  Judge Howell agreed and said HHS "seemed to make the decision based solely on ideological and political preferences contrived out of thin air.”  HHS did not submit any evidence of how it decided to implement the policy, and the policy itself was vague on compliance, yet also binding, Howell wrote.   He said HHS seemed “motivated solely by political concerns, devoid of any considered process or analysis, and ignorant of the statutory emphasis on evidence-based programming.”  In its announcement of the change, HHS cited a series of executive orders President Trump signed aimed at rolling back diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and the recognition of LGBTQ+ individuals.  “Such ideological considerations are irrelevant to the statutory program established by Congress, which targets effective, evidence-based programming,” Howell ruled.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) challenged President Trump to “come and get” him after the president called for Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) to be put in jail. “You know as well as I do, the president of the United States in the last 24 hours called for you to be imprisoned,” MSNBC’s Jacob Soboroff said in an interview on “Chris Jansing Reports.”  “I want to give you an opportunity. We have seen your reaction on social media, but I want to hear what you have to say back to the president of the United States.” “Well, let's start with the idea that this is a convicted felon — I mean, think about that — who is threatening to jail me,” Pritzker replied. “I got to say, this guy's unhinged, he's insecure, he's a wannabe dictator. And there's one thing I really want to say to Donald Trump: If you come for my people, you come through me. So, come and get me.” In a Wednesday morning post on Truth Social, Trump said Johnson “should be in jail for failing to protect [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] Officers!”  “Governor Pritzker also!” the president added. Tensions between Democratic leaders and the Trump administration have risen dramatically with increasing attempts by the administration to exert federal force in their hometowns and states. “Pritzker is an incompetent slob who has stood idly by while innocent Americans fall victim to violent crime time and time again," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said when reached for comment. "Last weekend alone, 30 people were shot and five of them died. But Pritzker would rather attack the President than actually work towards solutions for Chicago’s out-of-control crime. Pritzker has blood on his hands." Pritzker also suggested earlier that Trump was sending federal troops to Chicago due to “suffering dementia.” During an interview with the Chicago Tribune, the Illinois governor stated that the president’s fixation on Chicago originates from “something in the recesses of his brain.” “This is a man who’s suffering dementia,” Pritzker said. “This is a man who has something stuck in his head. He can’t get it out of his head.”

President Trump said he may travel this weekend to the Middle East as his administration aims to close the deal on a peace agreement that would stop the fighting in Gaza. “It’s something I think that will happen. Got a good chance of happening. I may go there sometime toward the end of the week. Maybe on Sunday actually. And we’ll see. But there’s a very good chance, negotiations are going along very well,” Trump said at the opening of a roundtable on left-wing violence. "Our final negotiation as you know is with Hamas. And it seems to be going well," Trump added. "So we’ll let you know. If that’s the case, we’ll be leaving probably on Sunday. Maybe Saturday.  Maybe a little later than Saturday evening. But that seems to be our schedule.” Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner arrived in Egypt on Wednesday as representatives for the White House for peace talks. Trump presented a 20-point plan last week during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The agreement, if agreed to by all parties, would lead to the release of the remaining hostages and pause fighting in Gaza for the first time in months. The proposal also outlines the governance of Gaza moving forward, giving Trump significant authority over the issue. Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, launched attacks against Israel that killed more than 1,000 people, including hundreds of civilians. In addition, hundreds were taken hostage. Israel’s subsequent military campaign against Hamas has killed thousands in Gaza and created a humanitarian crisis in the region.

Elon Musk has suffered a major blow in a lawsuit over his government clearances. The Pentagon has to provide The New York Times information about Elon …

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) predicted on Wednesday that dozens of Republicans may ultimately support legislation requiring the Department of Justice to release files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.  “It’s coming to an end guys. I’ve spoken to a lot of House Republicans this week and they’ve confided that Trump’s movement/support is fading. As one told me, ‘this Epstein bomb is about to drop and no [one] wants to defend a pedo-protector. It’s just a matter of time,’” Swalwell said in a thread on the social platform X Wednesday. “One Republican just texted me that if there’s a discharge vote on Epstein they expect a ‘jail break’ of over 100 members. Trump will go nuts!” he added. Amazon Prime Big Deal Days The 100+ best deals of October Prime Day, Day 2  Amazon has massive generator deals for October Prime Day  All the best October Prime Day deals on Apple bestsellers BestReviews is reader-supported and may earn an affiliate commission. In recent months, the Trump administration has faced intense pressure from both sides of the aisle over its handling of documents related to Epstein, who committed suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial for alleged sex trafficking. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) has been pushing a discharge petition, which would force a House vote on releasing the Epstein files, alongside Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). He suggested in a post on X Sunday that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) was keeping the House out of session to avoid the Epstein vote. “Why are we in recess? Because the day we go back into session, I have 218 votes for the discharge petition to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files,” he said. Johnson has also delayed swearing in Democratic Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (Ariz.), who would be the decisive vote on the discharge petition, joining all Democrats along with a handful of Republicans who have backed Massie's effort. Johnson has denied that his decision on Grijalva is linked to her upcoming signature on the discharge petition, saying instead that she will join the House when the government shutdown is over. “It has nothing to do with that at all. We will swear her in when everybody gets back,” Johnson said during a press conference.  On Tuesday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said that she has faced more pressure over the petition to trigger a House vote compelling a release of files linked to Epstein than any other issue . “My signature is on that discharge petition, and there has not been another issue where I have ever received more pressure than that one, and I’m pretty much shocked by it. I can’t imagine — I’ve never understood how this is an issue,” Greene told NewsNation’s Blake Burman on “The Hill.” The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.

Media organizations called out the Pentagon’s “unprecedented restrictions” for credentialed reporters , saying Wednesday the newly updated rules “appear designed to stifle a free press,” asking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to reconsider his stance. The draft policy,  released Monday , notes that journalists given permission to work in the building will not need approval from Defense Department (DOD) officials before publishing articles with information not officially released. The clarification comes after an earlier draft of the rules last month appeared to require that even unclassified department information be approved by Pentagon officials before it was published, otherwise reporters risked losing their credentials. But the latest policy — which comes after several weeks of negotiations between reporters and defense officials — “leaves open the threat of the Department of Defense revoking credentials for reporters who exercise their First Amendment rights by seeking information that hasn’t been pre-approved for formal release, even when the information is entirely unclassified,” the Pentagon Press Association (PPA) said in a statement. Amazon Prime Big Deal Days The 100+ best deals of October Prime Day, Day 2  Amazon has massive generator deals for October Prime Day  All the best October Prime Day deals on Apple bestsellers BestReviews is reader-supported and may earn an affiliate commission. The new rules clarify that members of the news media “are not required to submit their writings” to the Pentagon before publication but stipulates that U.S. military personnel “may face adverse consequences for unauthorized disclosures." Reporters who solicit them to leak nonpublic information could be seen as a “security risks” and have their credentials pulled. “The policy conveys an unprecedented message of intimidation to everyone within the DoD, warning against any unapproved interactions with the press and even suggesting it’s criminal to speak without express permission — which plainly, it is not,” according to the PPA. Although the Pentagon is no longer requiring reporters to agree with the new policy as a condition for obtaining press credentials, officials are still asking them to affirm in writing an “understanding” of policies “that appear designed to stifle a free press and potentially expose us to prosecution for simply doing our jobs,” the association said. Further causing alarm is the Pentagon’s plans to move all news organizations from their dedicated workspaces, moving the press corps to a still-unknown location in the building. That comes after Hegseth earlier this year made most of the hallways of the Pentagon off-limits to journalists without an official escort. The change was a major shake-up from the access journalists have held in the building for decades.  “We can surmise from restrictions imposed earlier this year that the changes will further isolate reporters, making it harder to interact even with the spokespeople inside the Pentagon who are entrusted to approve information for public release,” according to the PPA. Also being criticized are new demands to wear a press identifier badge in addition to their official badge that gives reporters access to the building. “Let's be clear about the facts. Pentagon reporters have always worn badges, and continue to do so to this day,” the association states. “Pentagon reporters have always been restricted to unclassified spaces only- the idea that reporters have been prowling in offices where they are not allowed is simply preposterous. And reporters have a constitutional right to ask questions.” Media outlets on Wednesday released statements on the new press policy, with  CNN saying  its mission to report on the U.S. military “will continue regardless of physical access to the Pentagon.” Gabe Rottman, vice president of policy for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said his organization still has concerns with the updated policy language “and expect that it will pose a significant impediment as journalists weigh with their employers whether or not to sign this revised version.” Hegseth has defended the updated guidelines while President Trump appeared last month to break with the Pentagon on the restrictions, telling The Hill at the time , "Nothing stops reporters."

We are a collective of grassroots organizers against executive overreach.

Proposals from both sides fail to receive enough support as no senators changed their votes from recent days

Katie Porter grows testy when CBS reporter asks about 40% of voters who went for Trump, saying: ‘I’m going to call it’

The IRS said it was furloughing nearly half of its workforce and shuttering most operations Wednesday, but will continue work to implement President Donald Trump's signature tax cuts. Work on preparing for next year’s tax-filing season will also continue, but numerous operations will be halted, including taxpayer services like call site operations. The agency will also suspend non-automated tax collections and “most headquarters and administrative functions not related to the safety of life and protection of property” during non-filing season, according to the agency’s latest contingency plan . The plan will idle tens of thousands of employees. While 39,870 — 53.6% of the total workforce — will remain at work, 34,429 will be furloughed. The union that represents IRS workers condemned the move. “Today, due to the government shutdown the American people lost access to many vital services provided by the IRS,” said Doreen Greenwald, the national president of the National Treasury Employees Union. “Expect increased wait times, backlogs and delays implementing tax law changes as the shutdown continues. Taxpayers around the country will now have a much harder time getting the assistance they need, just as they get ready to file their extension returns due next week.” When the government shut down last week, the agency exempted all of its employees from furlough for at least five business days, saying it would stay open by using special funding it was given by Congress in 2020. But Wednesday morning, the agency announced that, “An IRS-wide furlough began on October 8, 2025, for everyone except already-identified excepted and exempt employees,” according to a statement on the IRS’s website . “Employee[s] who are not exempt or excepted are furloughed and placed in a non-pay and non-duty status until further notice.” The IRS’s furlough decision letter — which came a day after a White House memo suggested furloughed federal employees might not receive backpay — includes a reminder that “employees must be compensated on the earliest date possible after the lapse ends, regardless of scheduled pay dates,” per a law President Donald Trump passed in 2019. The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The agency originally dodged the furloughs in part because it bore responsibility for implementing the administration’s marquee tax cuts, including no tax on tips, overtime and Social Security, which Republicans are counting on for a boost in next year's midterm elections. “We suspect people will be getting notified all day,” said Daniel Scharpenburg, a union leader at the IRS.

Even when a prosecution fails to convict someone, the process of defending against charges can itself can be a form of punishment.

The scale and scope of federal data and statistics that have been...

Virginia Giuffre's brother on Tuesday said it’s “hurtful” that President Trump declined to rule out issuing a pardon to Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's longtime associate and girlfriend. “It’s hurtful for a lot of survivors out there. It’s hurtful for me, as a family member, to even hear the potential for a pardon — that he is considering it, or possibly not considering it, as he said. He didn’t waver one way or the other,” Giuffre’s brother, Sky Roberts, told MSNBC’s Jen Psaki, when asked about Trump’s comments about possible clemency for Maxwell. “However, I mean, why is this even a conversation?” he added. Roberts noted Maxwell was convicted of crimes related to the sexual abuse of minors. She is currently serving a 20-year sentence, and the Supreme Court on Monday  declined to review  her 2021 sex-trafficking conviction. “She was convicted of basically running a sex trafficking ring,” Roberts said. “What does this teach our children? What does this teach the people around us? I can’t even look my daughter in the face and give her a square answer about what our government stands for and that’s disgraceful. It really is disgraceful, and it’s very hurtful.” Roberts said that his sister — who died by suicide earlier this year and was among the most outspoken victims of the late convicted sex offender — believed Trump would bring justice to survivors after he discussed the issue on the campaign trail. “I know my sister would be very hurt by it because we did believe, based off of the campaign that he ran, that he would do the right thing,” Roberts said. “And, right now, he seems to have amnesia, as does most of the campaign administrators or people that he appointed.” “They seem to have amnesia that they ran their campaign on this,” he added. On Monday, Trump  was asked whether he would consider  a pardon for Maxwell and repeatedly declined to rule it out, saying instead that he needed to look into the matter further. “You know, I haven’t heard the name in so long. I can say this, that I’d have to take a look at it. I would have to take a look,” Trump said during  an exchange  with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. “I’ll take a look at it. I’ll speak to the DOJ,” Trump said, referring to the Department of Justice. “I wouldn’t consider it or not consider — I don’t know anything about it. I will speak to the DOJ.” A White House official told The Hill that the "White House does not comment on the existence or nonexistence of pardons." "The President is the final decider on pardons.”

Music artist Zach Bryan is responding to backlash after a clip from one of his songs was interpreted as critical of immigration raids , saying it was taken out of context and the tune is actually about his "love" of the U.S. "I wrote this song months ago. I posted this song three months ago as a snippet," the country music singer  wrote in a statement  posted on his Instagram stories on Tuesday. "This shows you how divisive a narrative can be when shoved down our throats through social media," he added. "This song is about how much I love this country and everyone in it more than anything." The 29-year-old musician had originally posted part of his song, called "Bad News," on social media last Friday. Some of the lyrics in the portion he shared included: "And ICE is gonna come bust down your house, try to build a house no one builds no more, but I got a telephone, kids are all scared and all alone." Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem  called Bryan's song  "disrespectful" to both Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and "to this country." But Bryan defended his music in his Tuesday message, saying, "When you hear the rest of the song, you will understand the full context that hits on both sides of the aisle. Everyone using this now as a weapon is only proving how devastatingly divided, we all are." "I served this country, I love this country and the song itself it about all of us coming out of this divided space," Bryan, a U.S. Navy veteran, wrote to his nearly five million followers. "I wasn't speaking as a politician or some greater-than-thou a‑‑hole, just a 29-year-old man who is just as confused as everyone else," he said. Saying he was both "embarrassed" and "kind of scared" by the reaction to it, the singer added, "Left wing or right wing we're all one bird and American." "To be clear I'm on neither of these radical sides," he said. "To all those disappointed in me on either side of whatever you believe in just know I'm trying my best too and we all say things that are misconstrued sometimes."

You probably didn’t expect House Speaker Mike Johnson to have good taste in music, but now he’s gone and confirmed it. Reporter Pablo Manríquez of the independent outlet Migrant Insider asked ...

On Tuesday, Senate Republicans confirmed former NFL player Herschel Walker as the U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas, ignoring his history of lying, weird statements, and multiple accusations of ...

A cartoon by Pedro Molina. Related |� So much for trying to protect your neighbors from being kidnapped by ...

Former White House aide Steve Bannon bemoaned that former FBI director James Comey did not walk through the front door of the Virginia courthouse where he was arraigned Wednesday on charges linked to his 2020 congressional testimony about the investigation into Russian ties to President Trump’s 2016 campaign. "They slipped Comey in through another entrance, so he didn't have to come through here," Bannon said on his daily "War Room" show, as the conservative host showed viewers a live feed of the courthouse in Alexandria, Va. "This is bulls---," he continued in comments highlighted by Mediaite , referring to the lack of a perp walk . "I don't know who at [the Justice Department] and who at the FBI, and I hope the White House understands this." Bannon compared Comey's arraignment to his own court proceedings relating to his refusal to comply with a congressional subpoena, a decision that earned him several months in jail. The former FBI chief pleaded not guilty on Wednesday in response to the two-count indictment which came last month after President Trump urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute him. His trial date is set for January and is expected to last two or three days. Trump, Bannon and others in the MAGA movement have vowed retribution against the president's perceived enemies , with Comey ranking as was one of the president's most prominent and longstanding foils. "But they try to sit there and psychologically break you, so they got that image of you walking to court the entire time," Bannon said, complaining Comey was not seen walking through the front door. He added, "I don’t know how James Comey’s in court right now."