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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.

Eugene

Trump 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.

BumRushDaShow

'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.

BumRushDaShow

'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.

justaprogressive

'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.”

Eugene

Donald 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.”

BumRushDaShow

'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.

BumRushDaShow

Trump 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.

BumRushDaShow

Trump 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.

Bayard

She 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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Lindsey Graham Vows to 'Grind' Russia's 'War Machine' to a Halt if Trump and Putin Can't Reach a Deal Soon

18 min ago - May 27th, 2025, 11:08 am Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) wrote a letter to the editors of The Wall Street Journal that was published on Tuesday in which he vowed that the U.S. Senate was ready to “grind” Vladimir Putin’s “war machine ... (MEDIAite)

Harvard President Says Trump's Attacks Are 'Perplexing'

47 min ago - May 27, 2025, 12:15 PM EDT Harvard President Alan Garber said the federal funding cuts the Trump administration has ordered for the university do little to advance Donald Trump’s purported goal of fighting antisemitism, calling the approach ... (Huff Post)

Rick Derringer, who had a hit with 'Hang On Sloopy' and produced 'Weird Al,' dies at 77

50 min ago - By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Updated 2:59 PM EDT, May 27, 2025 Guitarist and singer Rick Derringer, who shot to fame at 17 when his band The McCoys recorded “Hang On Sloopy,” had a hit with “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo” and earned a Gr ... (Associated Press)

CDC ends Covid vaccine recommendation for healthy kids and pregnant women

1 hr ago - May 27, 2025, 10:50 AM EDT The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will no longer recommend routine Covid shots for healthy children and pregnant women, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Tuesday. “We are ... (NBC News)

Judge halts Trump administration effort to ax New York congestion pricing

2 hrs ago - 05/27/25 2:01 PM ET A judge has temporarily halted a Trump administration effort to kill New York City’s congestion pricing program, which imposes a significant toll on cars entering part of Manhattan. Federal judge Lewis Liman issued a temporar ... (The Hill)

PBS Chief Paula Kerger Dismisses Trump's Claims of 'Bias' After Executive Order Targeting Network

2 hrs ago - May 27th, 2025, 9:53 am PBS CEO Paula Kerger told Katie Couric she doesn’t fully comprehend why her network is accused of a left-wing bias following President Donald Trump’s executive order barring appropriated public funds. Kerger recentl ... (MEDIAite)

First measles case reported in Nebraska. Here's what we know so far

2 hrs ago - By Julie Anderson May 27, 2025 Updated 20 mins ago Nebraska health officials on Monday confirmed the state's first measles case of the year in the Panhandle's Sheridan County. The patient, according to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Serv ... (Omaha World Herald)

Donald Trump Freezes All New Student Visa Interviews: Report

3 hrs ago - Published May 27, 2025 at 12:24 PM EDT Updated May 27, 2025 at 1:22 PM EDT The Trump administration has ordered a freeze on all new student visa interviews at U.S. embassies and consulates, as it weighs a plan to require foreign applicants to underg ... (Newsweek)

Within Pete Hegseth's divided inner circle, a 'cold war' endures

3 hrs ago - An enduring rift among Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s cadre of senior advisers has divided the Pentagon’s front office and fueled internal speculation about his long-term viability in the Cabinet post after several episodes that attracted ... (Washington Post)

Tesla's monthly sales in Europe plunge by almost 50% amid protests and backlash against Elon Musk

3 hrs ago - May 27, 2025 / 9:07 AM EDT Tesla sales across Europe plummeted by almost 50% last month even as the broader market for electric cars saw growth in the region, according to data released Tuesday. Sales of Tesla vehicles in 32 European countries tumble ... (CBS News/AP)

Chaos erupts at Gaza aid site as crowds overwhelm distribution efforts

3 hrs ago - A newly established food distribution center in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood of Rafah descended into chaos Tuesday, hours after opening, as hundreds of Palestinians overwhelmed the site. According to reports from Gaza, the surge prompted American a ... (Ynet News)

Trump Pardoned Tax Cheat After Mother Attended $1 Million Dinner

4 hrs ago - As Paul Walczak awaited sentencing early this year, his best hope for avoiding prison time rested with the newly inaugurated president. Mr. Walczak, a former nursing home executive who had pleaded guilty to tax crimes days after the 2024 election, su ... (New York Times)

GOP declares war on GAO

4 hrs ago - 05/27/2025 04:45 AM EDT The independent Government Accountability Office has served Congress as the nation's chief investigator of wrongdoing at federal agencies for more than a century. Now it's under assault. The typically uncontroversial, under-th ... (Politico)

Gorsuch, Thomas dissent as Supreme Court declines to take up Apache challenge to copper mine

4 hrs ago - COURT BATTLES Gorsuch, Thomas dissent as Supreme Court declines to take up Apache challenge to copper mine BY RACHEL FRAZIN 05/27/25 11:04 AM ET The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to take up a challenge to a land swap enabling mining at a sacred I ... (The Hill)

Supreme Court rejects student's challenge to 'two genders' T-shirt ban

5 hrs ago - SUPREME COURT Supreme Court rejects student's challenge to 'two genders' T-shirt ban A middle school student in Massachusetts was told he could not wear the T-shirt based on the school's dress code, which forbids hate speech. {snip picture} May 27, 2 ... (NBC News)

Tourists from countries badly hit by Trump tariffs are staying away from US

5 hrs ago - Mon 26 May 2025 19.01 EDT Last modified on Tue 27 May 2025 00.12 EDT Holidaymakers in countries hit the hardest by Donald Trump’s trade tariffs are taking the US off their list for trips abroad, according to online travel booking data. Findings ... (The Guardian)

ICE Taps into Nationwide AI-Enabled Camera Network, Data Shows

6 hrs ago - Data from a license plate-scanning tool that is primarily marketed as a surveillance solution for small towns to combat crimes like car jackings or finding missing people is being used by ICE, according to data reviewed by 404 Media. Local police aro ... (404 Media)

NPR and Colorado public radio stations sue Trump White House

7 hrs ago - May 27, 2025 8:07 AM ET NPR and three Colorado public radio stations filed suit Tuesday morning in federal court against the Trump White House over the president's executive order purportedly barring the use of Congressionally appropriated funds for ... (NPR)

Maryland congressman denied access to see man wrongly deported to El Salvador

7 hrs ago - May 27, 2025 5:11 AM EDT Updated 4 hours ago SAN SALVADOR, May 26 (Reuters) - A Maryland congressman said on Monday he was unable to meet one of his constituents, a Salvadoran man wrongly deported from the United States to a prison in El Salvador. R ... (Reuters)

Memorial Day mass shooting leaves 2 dead, 9 injured in Philadelphia park

7 hrs ago - Two people are dead, and nine others have been injured in a Memorial Day mass shooting in Philadelphia, authorities said. The shooting took place at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia on Monday evening, the final day of the long Memorial Day weekend, whe ... (ABC News)