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May 27, 2025
White House stunned as Hegseth inquiry brings up illegal wiretap claims
(The Guardian) The White House has lost confidence in a Pentagon leak investigation that Pete Hegseth used to justify firing three top aides last month, after advisers were told that the aides had supposedly been outed by an illegal warrantless National Security Agency (NSA) wiretap. The extraordinary explanation alarmed the advisers, who also raised it with people close to JD Vance, because such a wiretap would almost certainly be unconstitutional and an even bigger scandal than a number of leaks.
Go to discussionTrump adviser David Sacks says the quiet part out loud on Medicaid cuts
(Daily Beast) Oops! White House adviser David Sacks admitted over the weekend that the GOP’s tax bill will include significant cuts to Medicaid, despite claims from his boss and other MAGA loyalists that it will not. Sacks, who is President Donald Trump‘s AI and crypto czar, said plainly on the All-In podcast: “This bill cuts $880 billion from Medicaid over a decade.” That statement undercuts weeks of spin from the White House and House Speaker Mike Johnson. Each has repeatedly claimed that Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” will not reduce funding to Medicaid, which provides free or low-cost health coverage to 85 million Americans.
Go to discussion'Time for a GOP revolt': WSJ urges senators to force Trump's hand
(Raw Story) The conservative Wall Street Journal urged Republican senators Monday to stand up to President Donald Trump and force through action against Russia — even if their leader opposes it. In a column titled “Time for a GOP Senate Revolt on Sanctions Against Putin,” the editorial board of the Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper complained that Trump was unlikely to stand up to Putin. But, the writers added, his party’s senators could do it despite him.
Go to discussion'60 Minutes' Reporter Rips Into Trump In Viral Commencement Speech
(Huff Post) Journalist Scott Pelley accused President Donald Trump of “attacking” free speech and spreading “insidious fear” among the public during a commencement address at Wake Forest University. The speech came as concerns grow over the country’s free speech rights amid Trump’s targeted attacks aimed at universities over a range of topics, including diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices and foreign students’ enrollment. Trump and Harvard University are currently embroiled in a heated legal battle over its enrollment of foreign students.
Go to discussion'They can't afford to live here': Deep red Montana town faces DOGE fallout
(Alternet) Harsh DOGE-related cuts are endangering a research facility serving as a huge economic driver for in Montana’s town of Hamilton. Built in the middle of a conservative, blue-collar community of 5,000, Rocky Mountain Laboratories generates hundreds of millions of dollars for the local economy through spillover to other industries and retail. But NPR reports Hamilton is “a prime example of how the Trump administration's mass federal layoffs and cancellation of research grants are being felt in communities far from Washington, D.C.”
Go to discussionDonald Trump grows angrier as Vladimir Putin exposes his impotence
(The Independent) Trump sudden harsh turn was illuminative, if not for the reason he may have intended. A throwaway jab aimed at Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky (“everything out of his mouth causes problems … it better stop”) in the same post solidified the underlying intention of the screed: Trump was massaging a bruised ego. With his pride wounded, Trump has turned to lashing out at the Russian leader who is now publicly refuting his repeated claim that he could end the destructive three-year-old conflict in “24 hours.”
Go to discussion'More pressure on families.' Nearly half of US states are on the brink of a caregiving emergency
(USA Today) A new study by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health found nearly half of America's states are on the brink of a caregiving emergency, with the worst conditions being in the South. In the study, sponsored by Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, researchers developed a new scorecard to assess the urgency of local caregiving needs.
Go to discussionTrump Intends to Cancel All Federal Funds Directed at Harvard
(New York Times) The Trump administration is set to cancel the federal government's remaining federal contracts with Harvard University -- worth an estimated $100 million, according to a letter that is being sent to federal agencies on Tuesday. The letter also instructs agencies to "find alternative vendors" for future services. The additional planned cuts, outlined in a draft of the letter obtained by The New York Times, represented what an administration official called a complete severance of the government's longstanding business relationship with Harvard.
Go to discussionTrump doubles down on demand for names, countries of Harvard's international students
(ABC News) President Donald Trump on Monday doubled down on his demand for a list of names of international students enrolled at Harvard, yet another escalation in his administration's standoff with the university. In a social media post on Sunday, Trump claimed that a third of students at the Massachusetts institution are from foreign nations and "some not at all friendly to the United States." "We want to know who those foreign students are, a reasonable request since we give Harvard BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, but Harvard isn't exactly forthcoming. We want those names and countries," he wrote.
Go to discussionShe Exposed Government Abuse. Now She's Locked Up in an El Salvador Prison
(The Intercept) Late Sunday night, police in El Salvador arrested one of President Nayib Bukele’s sharpest critics, Ruth Eleonora López, an anti-corruption attorney who has spent years exposing government abuses. “[She] is one of the strongest voices in defense of democracy,” says Noah Bullock, her colleague and the executive director of Cristosal, a human rights group operating in northern Central America, including El Salvador.
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