There is a place in politics for talented mercenaries, but in DC too many of the people who get ahead are the ones who always have their eye on the next career move and who are much more concerned with the next, bigger paycheck.
Soulless grifters aren't going to save us. Was Jean-Pierre good at her job? Did she succeed at any aspect of her job - informing the press, informing the public, and, yes, making her boss look good?
Private sector job creation slowed to a near-standstill in May, hitting its lowest level in more than two years as signs emerged of a weakening labor market, payrolls processing firm ADP reported Wednesday.
Payrolls increased just 37,000 for the month, below the downwardly revised 60,000 in April and the Dow Jones forecast for 110,000. It was the lowest monthly job total from the ADP count since March 2023.
Trump administration officials delayed and redacted a government forecast because it predicts an increase in the nation’s trade deficit in farm goods later this year, according to two people familiar with the matter.That isn't because economists think Trumpers are good, it's because they think economists are good.
Sales of subscriptions for the coming season of programming at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts are down by about $1.6 million, or roughly 36 percent, compared with last year.Certain types of things are going to have a liberal-leaning customer base. I'm sure Trump doesn't care about the finances, but MAGA isn't going to fill the seats of most things that hit a venue like that.
By this point in 2024, the center had generated $4,413,147 in revenue from selling subscriptions to its theater, dance, classical and other seasons of performances. This year, it has generated $2,656,524 as of June 1, plus $155,243 from a new mix-and-match package, according to internal data obtained by The Washington Post.
At air traffic control towers at two dozen West Coast airports, officials are unable to easily pay to have the windows washed and shades cleaned, said a Federal Aviation Administration employee. A DOGE-ordered overhaul of the payments system means FAA staffers must write statements justifying all expenditures, the employee said — not just for window-washing, but also elevator maintenance and even pens and pencils, the employee said. Purchase orders that used to take 15 or 20 minutes to fill out now consume 1 or 2 hours for each tower.Better solve this one, Mr. Duffy, because when the planes go down they're going to blame you anyway!
“These are things that people don’t think about, but clean windows are crucial for controllers,” the employee said. Because he is so often busy with purchase justifications, he has fallen behind on landscaping, fire alarm safety and pest control, all of which are “staples in the air traffic towers,” he said.
The abundance agenda has the virtue of not demanding any significant showdown with capital or corporate power. If all that is standing between here and a progressive utopia is a change in the “political culture” of liberalism, as Klein and Thompson say, we’re in luck. All we have to do is change a couple minds, flip the switch from FRET to BUILD, and let the good times roll.
But the abundance vision is smaller than it purports to be, myopic about power, and flattering to those who have it. It is satisfying — and convenient — to imagine the obstruction is all coming from inside the house, from wokesters and lawyers. The real impediments, however, are simultaneously more banal and more formidable. In the White House, Ramamurti tells me, “the biggest obstacle to fast, decisive, ambitious government action was the Administrative Procedure Act,” which was passed in 1946 at the behest of nervous anti–New Deal businessmen to check the public sector’s wartime economic powers. Time and time again, Ramamurti says, it was fear of lawsuits filed by corporate interests under the APA that thwarted government action.
Builder.ai, once touted as a revolutionary AI startup backed by Microsoft, has collapsed into insolvency after revelations that its flagship no-code development platform was powered not by artificial intelligence—but by 700 human engineers in India.
The company marketed its platform as being driven by an AI assistant named “Natasha,” which could supposedly assemble software applications like Lego bricks. But recent reports and commentary have revealed that behind the scenes, customer requests were manually fulfilled by developers, not machines.
Schumer tried to kill Obama's deal with Iran, so he's consistent!If TACO Trump is already folding on Iran, the American people need to know about it.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) June 2, 2025
No side deals. pic.twitter.com/T4gnekrGhT
WASHINGTON, June 2 (Reuters) - Staff of the Federal Emergency Management Agency were left baffled on Monday after the head of the U.S. disaster agency said he had not been aware the country has a hurricane season, according to four sources familiar with the situation.I usually don't point to people's university credentials, but...
June 2 (Reuters) - The Trump administration wants countries to provide their best offer on trade negotiations by Wednesday as officials seek to accelerate talks with multiple partners ahead of a self-imposed deadline in just five weeks, according to a draft letter to negotiating partners seen by Reuters.
I'm sure even the dates changing is convincing countries that this administration is serious, operating in good faith, and intending to stick to any agreements.
They also might be assuming the courts will throw all of them out soon.
When Kevin Heatley took over as superintendent of Crater Lake National Park in January, he was excited to oversee one of Oregon’s most iconic sites, whose stunning vistas and volcanic formations attract roughly half a million visitors each year.
But after less than five months on the job, Heatley hung up his ranger’s uniform Friday, citing the Trump administration’s staffing cuts at the National Park Service as a major reason for his decision to take a buyout offer.
But while the inflationary impact on U.S. domestic prices is widely expected to be severe, the effect in Europe will be more mixed, according to analysts — with some buyers and manufacturers able to benefit from lower prices.
“This was an absolute surprise. Already steel prices in the U.S. are higher than anywhere else, and it is a net importer which needs to have volumes coming in. All this does is raise prices there,” Josh Spoores, head of steel Americas analysis at CRU, told CNBC on Monday.
Speaking to the Trump 100 podcast, Matthew Miller, who, as a state department spokesman, was the voice and face of the US government's foreign policy under Mr Biden, revealed disagreements, tensions and challenges within the former administration. In the wide-ranging conversation, he said: • It was "without a doubt true that Israel has committed war crimes"; • That Israeli soldiers were not being "held accountable"; • That there were "disagreements all along the way" about how to handle policy; • And that he "would have wanted to have a better candidate" than Mr Biden for the 2024 election.As for this:
"Look, one of the things about being a spokesperson is you're not a spokesperson for yourself. You are a spokesperson for the president, the administration, and you espouse the positions of the administration. And when you're not in the administration, you can just give your own opinions."Or you could resign, free yourself.
Is Lindsey really suggesting Israel would kill Greta Thunberg? Unhinged antisemitic stuff there.Hope Greta and her friends can swim!https://t.co/Noab4QyJtV
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) June 1, 2025
[Dana Bash]: Now, I know you previously warned that the administration charging members of Congress was a -- quote -- "red line." What are you doing now that the red line you talked about has apparently been crossed?JEFFRIES: Well, let me make clear that the House is a separate and co-equal branch of government, the Congress. We don't work for Donald Trump. We don't work for the administration. We don't work for Elon Musk. We work for the American people.And we have a responsibility to serve as a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch. That's the constitutional blueprint that was given to us by the framers of the United States democracy that we have inherited over the last few centuries. And so we're going to continue to undertake our congressional responsibility, notwithstanding efforts by the Trump administration to try to intimidate Democrats.It's unfortunate that our Republican colleagues continue to be nothing more than rubber stamps for Trump's reckless and extreme agenda. And the American people, I think, will ultimately reject that next year, when we will take back control of the House of Representatives.In the meantime, in terms of how we will respond to what Trump and the administration has endeavored to do, we will make that decision in a time, place, and manner of our choosing. But the response will be continuous and it will meet the moment that is required.
Giving off "can't even manage to write a sternly worded letter" vibes.
A problem with people enabling the promotion of their protégés is the key skill of a protégé is sucking up.
Ukraine has carried out large-scale drone strikes against several airbases deep inside Russia, destroying multiple combat planes, according to the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU).
The operation, dubbed “Spiderweb,” comes on the eve of expected peace talks in Istanbul between Russia and Ukraine, and involved the most ambitious simultaneous strikes on Russian airbases carried out by Ukraine since the war began.
An SBU source said that Russian bombers were “burning en masse” at four airbases hundreds of miles apart, adding that drones had been launched from trucks inside Russia.
May 28 (Reuters) - Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab is poised to begin its long-awaited robotaxi service in Austin on June 12, Bloomberg News reported, opens new tab on Wednesday, citing a person familiar with the matter.
