- Chris Marquette @ Politico: Todd Blanche clears Judiciary Committee hurdle on party lines
The attorney general nominee is on track for a final confirmation vote later this week.
- Ian Millhiser @ Vox: The real reason Republican senators should have opposed Todd Blanche
Two key Republican senators drew a line in the sand. It wasn’t far from where Trump already stood.
- Christopher Lewis @ Slate: How the Legal Mastermind of Trump’s Most Damaging Policies Stays Anonymous
Mark Paoletta is not a household name. Despite this, over the past decade, he has quietly become one of the conservative legal movement’s most influential operators, making Paoletta an underrated political power in his own right.
- Kiera Butler @ Mother Jones: Oh Look, Another Far-Right Extremist at the Pentagon
A senior defense official in Hegseth’s department appears to share these ties—and has expressed Christian nationalist and far-right views on social media. Justin Overbaugh, a retired US Army colonel, currently serves as Deputy Under Secretary of War for Intelligence and Security.
- Richard Luscombe @ The Guardian: Far-right Republican accused of stiffing student debate champion of $8,000
Florida gubernatorial candidate James Fishback calls failure to pay Briana Whatley money owed ‘an oversight.’
- Nick Viviani @ Fox 5: Charges dropped against all Reflecting Pool vandalism suspects
Prosecutors are dropping charges against all four people accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
- Will Sommer @ The Bulwark: What the Hell Happened to Sean Duffy’s Road-Trip TV Show?
Three months after it was announced, the secretary of transportation’s summer show—funded by companies he regulates—hasn’t aired a single episode.
- Hannah Critchfield and Shane Shifflett @ The Wall Street Journal: How ICE Is Weaponizing Social Media Against Its Critics
Agency says its surveillance program searches for threats to agents, but critics see free-speech infringements.
