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August 11, 2025
Trump readies federal moves on D.C. crime, takes over D.C. police
(Washington Post) President Donald Trump announced Monday that he would place the D.C. D.C. police under direct federal control and deploy the National Guard to the streets of Washington to fight crime and clear the city of its homeless population, an extraordinary flex of federal power that could expose residents of the nation’s capital to unpredictable encounters with a domestically-deployed military force. The decision to deploy troops comes as the president has been slamming America’s cities as places where crime is out of control, despite two years of declines that have brought homicide levels in many major cities to their lowest levels in decades.
Go to discussionTexas Legislature to take another swing at redistricting vote as Democrats extend their walkout
(AP) Texas Republicans will again try to convene the state Legislature Monday for a vote on redrawing congressional maps in their party’s favor, an effort that already sparked a national political brawl and prompted Democratic lawmakers to leave the state to deny Republicans the quorum they need. The Republican majority is seeking to redraw five U.S. House districts at President Donald Trump’s urging as he tries to avoid a replay of the 2018 midterms. Those elections installed a new Democratic majority in the U.S. House that stymied the president’s agenda and twice impeached him.
Go to discussionPritzker on GOP's FBI arrest threats: 'Texas law does not apply' in Illinois
(The Hill) Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) said Sunday it would be illegal for President Trump to order the FBI to arrest Texas state Democratic officials for fleeing their state to halt Republican redistricting efforts. “Well, first of all, Texas law does not apply in the state of Illinois, and there’s no federal law that would allow the FBI to arrest anybody that’s here visiting our state. So, it’s a lot of grandstanding,” Pritzker said to host Kristen Welker on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Go to discussionSupreme Court formally asked to overturn landmark same-sex marriage ruling
(ABC News) Ten years after the Supreme Court extended marriage rights to same-sex couples nationwide, the justices this fall will consider for the first time whether to take up a case that explicitly asks them to overturn that decision. The petition appears to mark the first time since 2015 that the court has been formally asked to overturn the landmark marriage decision.
Go to discussionVance says US is 'done with funding Ukraine war' ahead of Trump-Putin talks
(The Independent) US vice-president JD Vance says Europe must spend more on Ukraine as he warned that America is “done with the funding of the war”. He also vowed that Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky will be forced to meet by Donald Trump. Mr Vance, in a wide-ranging interview on Fox News, went on to dismiss European leaders’ calls to allow the Ukrainian president to attend the upcoming summit between the US and Russian leaders, insisting that it would not be “productive” at this point.
Go to discussionTrump and Putin May Get a Cold Reception From Some Alaskans
(NY Times) President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia may arrive to a somewhat chilly reception in Alaska next week, as the state that has long made efforts to deepen and even celebrate its ties to the country has soured on its neighbor across the Bering Sea. President Trump said on Friday that he would meet with Mr. Putin on Aug. 15 in Alaska, in an attempt to secure a deal to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Go to discussionFormer Trump surgeon general says "people are going to die" after RFK Jr halts mRNA vaccine research
(CBS News) Former Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams — who served during the first Trump administration — argued Sunday that "people are going to die" if the U.S. backs away from mRNA vaccine development, after Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. halted around $500 million in research funding. Adams, who appeared Sunday on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," said Kennedy's assertions about the efficacy of mRNA vaccines are "simply not true" — citing their effectiveness in the COVID-19 pandemic, during which hundreds of millions of people took Pfizer and Moderna's mRNA vaccines.
Go to discussionTrump's former surgeon general blasts Kennedy for 'tepid' response to CDC shootings
(Politico) A former U.S. surgeon general on Sunday said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “failed” in his response to the shootings that took place on Friday at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta. “How you respond to a crisis defines a leader, and quite frankly Secretary Kennedy has failed in his first major test in this regard,” Dr. Jerome Adams told CBS’ Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation.”
Go to discussionAnother megabill? Senate Republicans have their doubts.
(Politico) House Republicans are pushing for a second megabill. The Senate GOP’s not so sure. After a grueling ordeal to get President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” signed into law last month, Speaker Mike Johnson and other leaders are already talking about crafting at least one more domestic policy package that can pass along party lines in the Senate. A White House official, granted anonymity to share details about private conversations, said another filibuster-skirting reconciliation bill is under discussion.
Go to discussionThe legal battle over Trump's use of the National Guard moves to a California courtroom
(CNN) Lawyers for President Donald Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom are set to face off Monday to determine whether the president violated a 147-year-old law when he deployed the National Guard to quell protests over immigration raids in Los Angeles – against the wishes of the Democratic governor.
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