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DeSantis plots end run of Florida law to create more GOP House seats

(Axios) Florida bans lawmakers from intentionally creating congressional seats to give their party an advantage. But Gov. Ron DeSantis quietly has launched a three-tiered power play to evade the ban — and create more GOP-friendly seats — in November. Partisan control of Congress could hinge on how — or whether — Florida legislators approve DeSantis' new map of U.S. House districts in a special session next Tuesday.

'Anorexic' reconciliation bill could mean Planned Parenthood gets re-funded

(Politico) Republicans’ push for a narrow party-line bill focused solely on immigration enforcement funding is running into opposition from anti-abortion activists and lawmakers who fear it will trigger the return of hundreds of millions in Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood. That, conservatives argue, would demoralize the GOP base ahead of the midterms and widen the existing rift between their movement and the Trump administration.

Nato says US cannot suspend Spain from alliance, after reported Pentagon email

(BBC) Nato says there is no provision for member states to be suspended or expelled from the military alliance after a report said the US could seek to suspend Spain over its Iran war stance. Reuters quoted a US official who said an internal Pentagon email had suggested measures for the US to punish allies it believed had failed to support its campaign. A Nato official told the BBC that the organisation's founding treaty "does not foresee any provision for suspension of Nato membership, or expulsion".

U.S. Has 'Burned Through' Eye-Popping Amount of Munitions During Trump's Iran War: Report

(Mediaite) The United States has used a staggering amount of its weapons cache in the war with Iran, spending millions and blowing through a large chunk of its stockpile in the two months since the conflict began. The ongoing conflict with Iran has lasted barely eight weeks, yet in that time the U.S. has fired off a truly stunning number of missiles, a report from The New York Times found. Over a thousand Precision Strike and ground-based missiles were deployed in the war, an amount that emptied the U.S. tranche to such an extent that congressional officials and Defense Department estimates showed concern.

Top Democratic PAC books $22 million in ads, Republican counterpart reserves $14 million for U.S. House seats in Texas

(Texas Tribune) House Democrats’ top super PAC is reserving more than $22 million for ad buys aimed at five congressional seats — a massive uptick from 2024 and a sign the party sees pickup opportunities in the state even after the GOP’s mid-decade redistricting. House Majority PAC’s eight-figure spending is aimed at holding two vulnerable Democratic districts in South Texas — held by Reps. Henry Cuellar of Laredo and Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen — and winning three seats that Republicans already hold or are favored to win after redistricting.

Clay Bennett cartoon

Trump says he'll resurface the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, turning it blue

(CBS News) President Trump's renovation kick has now reached the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The president told reporters Thursday that his administration is planning to pour down a new surface onto the bottom of the pool, atop its stone flooring. The swimming pool-style surface — made out of the "latest and greatest filament" — will be colored "American flag blue," he said.

A GOP bill to make Joe McCarthy blush: Attempts to strip citizenship for possessing leftist material

(TruthDig) Republicans are at it again, and it’s hard to overstate how chilling this is and what it tells you about the direction people in this party want to take America. Texas Rep. Chip Roy is preparing to introduce legislation he’s calling the “MAMDANI Act,” named after Zohran Mamdani, the recently elected democratic socialist mayor of New York City, that would let the federal government bar entry to, deport and strip naturalized citizenship from any person who advocates for or is “affiliated with” what Roy calls “totalitarian” movements.

Concern Grows Over Republican Congressman's Mysterious Absence

(NY Times) A spokesman for Representative Thomas Kean Jr. said an unspecified “personal medical issue” has led the New Jersey Republican to miss House votes. Representative Thomas Kean Jr., one of the most vulnerable Republican members of Congress, has missed more than a month’s worth of votes in Washington and has been absent from his New Jersey district as he deals with what aides have described as a personal medical issue.

Congress members join protest against 'oligarch's dinner' for Trump thrown by Ellisons

(The Guardian) Dozens of protesters, including members of Congress, gathered along the National Mall on Thursday to protest an "intimate" dinner being held by Paramount Skydance chief executive David Ellison "in celebration of the First Amendment" and "honoring the Trump White House and CBS White House Correspondents", and attended by Donald Trump. Paramount has faced criticism for the dinner, which has been seen by some as illustrative of the cozy relationship between the Ellisons and the White House - right as the Trump administration is weighing whether to approve the company's $110bn merger with CNN parent company WarnerBros Discovery.