May 15, 2026

Gosh, it seems Stephen Colbert, even though CBS Network has fired him, still watches CBS News: ~~~

Andrew Egger of the Bulwark: The story of Trump's $10BB lawsuit against the IRS "is one that piles intolerable outrage on intolerable outrage. There’s the baseline obscenity of the lawsuit in the first place.... [Ten billion dollars] was always a ludicrous ask in damages for the leak of his tax returns — a leak perpetrated by an outside contractor, not one countenanced in any way by the IRS. (That contractor, Charles Littlejohn, was caught and is serving a five-year prison sentence.) There’s the obvious conflict of interest. The IRS has fought other lawsuits brought on the basis of Littlejohn’s leaks, arguing it isn’t liable for the misdeeds of a contractor. But the idea that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s IRS would fight as hard to keep money out of the hands of Bessent’s boss was laughable from the start. Then there are the extraordinary steps the White House and IRS have taken to prevent the federal judge overseeing the case, Kathleen Williams, from weighing in on that obvious conflict of interest.... And then, of course, there’s the unbearable rottenness of the purported settlement fund itself...." ~~~

~~~ When the Trump News isn't getting more and more scandalous, it's getting more and more bizarre: ~~~

~~~ "Erection Connection." (Keep Reading.) Pathikrit Sen Gupta of News 18 (India) (based on a firewalled CNN report by Andrew Kaczynski: "The Trump administration appointing a urologist specialising in penile implants to lead a critical public health briefing on the Hantavirus outbreak has ignited a firestorm of criticism across both medical and political circles in the United States. Beyond the immediate questions regarding Dr Brian Christine’s relevant expertise in virology or infectious diseases, as per a CNN report, the official is facing intense scrutiny over a documented history of far-right commentary on social media. The situation has left public health advocates questioning the vetting process used by the administration during a burgeoning health crisis. While he is a highly regarded specialist in urological prosthetics and penile reconstructive surgery, his primary clinical focus bears little relation to the epidemiology of zoonotic viruses.... [In addition, posts Dr. Christine wrote] reportedly included far-right rhetoric, disparaging remarks about minority groups, and the endorsement of fringe political theories that run contrary to inclusive public health standards." ~~~

     ~~~ Jennifer Bahney of Mediaite: “Dr. Brian Christine is ... a urologist who hosted a YouTube show called 'Erection Connection,' according to CNN’s KFile. Christine went directly from private practice to become Assistant Secretary for Health last November.... 'He’s said the Covid pandemic led to a wider government plot to control people, compared the Biden administration to Nazi Germany and suggested the Covid vaccine had little effect in stopping the pandemic.'... In addition, Christine 'suggested there may have been a worldwide effort involving George Soros and figures associated with the World Economic Forum’s “Great Reset” to use the pandemic to force small businesses to close.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The Senate must confirm the Assistant Health Secretary, and it did confirm Christine, who seems to be a protege of Tommy Tuberville. The Senate confirmed Christine "in a recklessly rushed process, [in which] the Republican Senate majority voted in lock-step [in early October] to confirm 107 Trump nominees en masse...."

The Men We Murdered. Tiago Rogero of the Guardian: “A five-month investigation has named 13 previously unidentified victims of US attacks on boats allegedly carrying narcotics in a campaign that has killed nearly 200 people in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific. It is unclear if the US has ever identified any of its 194 victims before attacking them, and the names of just three had previously emerged, after their families launched legal cases against the White House. The Trump administration has consistently sought to justify the killings, which began during last year’s military buildup towards Venezuela, by arguing those targeted were 'narco-terrorists' transporting drugs to the US. But a joint effort by 20 journalists led by the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP) this week published the identities of 13 of those killed, some of whom showed no indication of involvement in drug trafficking. The CLIP’s report showed that all the victims identified so far, including those who may have had some involvement in drug trafficking, came from extremely poor communities across Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Tennessee House Race. Stephen Groves of the AP: “Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee on Friday announced that he is ending his bid for reelection, his career upended by the redistricting battles that are sweeping the country after last month’s Supreme Court decision. Republicans in Tennessee this month enacted a new U.S. House map that carves up a Cohen’s majority-Black district, reshaping it to the GOP’s advantage as part of ... Donald Trump’s strategy to hold on to a slim majority in the November midterm elections. 'I don’t want to quit. I’m not a quitter. But these districts were drawn to beat me,' Cohen told reporters in his Washington, D.C. office. Cohen is challenging the state’s redistricting effort in court and said that he would reenter the race if that lawsuit succeeded in restoring his old congressional district.”

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Trump in China -- the Opera Buffa, Act 2.

The New York Times is live-updating Trump's business trip to China. From the pinned item at 5:15 am ET: “The talks that followed [the extensive greet ceremony] lasted more than two hours. Mr. Xi called for the two countries to 'be partners, not adversaries.' Mr. Trump said that he and Mr. Xi spoke on the phone to work out problems and called him 'a great leader.' Later, at an ornate state banquet in the Great Hall [of the People], Mr. Xi said in a toast: 'The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can go hand in hand. Mr. Trump thanked Mr. Xi for a 'magnificent welcome like none other,' and formally invited Mr. Xi to visit the White House on Sept. 24. Beneath the warm words, Mr. Xi’s warning on Taiwan was a stark reminder of longstanding tensions. 'If handled poorly, the two countries will collide or even clash, putting the entire U.S.-China relationship in an extremely dangerous situation,' Mr. Xi said while referring to Taiwan, according to a readout from Xinhua, China’s official news agency.”

Pablo Robles, et al., of the New York Times lays out who-all Trump took to China. (Also linked yesterday.)

     ~~~ Disclaimer: Trump is always lying: ~~~ 

~~~ Alex Gangitano of Politico: “... Donald Trump was all but declaring victory Friday, even if he was light on specifics, as he wrapped up a two-day summit in China with President Xi Jinping. Seated beside the Chinese leader in an ornate meeting room with gold carpet, Trump said he had secured 'fantastic' trade deals for both countries and made progress in his effort to enlist Xi’s help in reopening the Strait of Hormuz – though he gave no details. 'This has been an incredible visit,' he said. 'I think a lot of good has come of it.' Trump, who spoke after a private tour of the Chinese Communist Party headquarters and its elaborate gardens, seemed eager to project optimism about this visit and relations in general ahead of talks scheduled to resume when Xi visits the U.S. in September. 'We’ve settled a lot of different problems that other people wouldn’t have been able to settle and the relationship is a very strong one,' he told reporters.”

Paul Krugman (transcript of video): "My president went to China, and all I got was even higher gas prices.... The summit between Trump and Xi Jinping has wrapped up. Hard to say what exactly was accomplished, but at least Trump is saying that China is going to buy more US oil. That’s the headline on at least some of the financial sources that I look at. And in fact, crude oil prices in the United States have risen at least a little bit in response to that announcement. The odd thing is that Trump seems to think that China buying more US oil is a good thing, which it is probably not from the point of view of the United States and definitely not for him. So let’s walk through what all of this means."

Bennito Kelly of the Raw Story: "Tensions flared during Trump's visit to Beijing on Thursday as Chinese officials tried to disarm one of his Secret Service agents outside an historic site, according to reports. The New York Post described the scene outside the Temple of Heaven, where 'Chinese officials refused to admit a Secret Service agent accompanying the presidential press pool into the secure area because the agent was carrying a firearm.' With a press pool around them, the agent refused to disarm, and the American delegation didn't want to leave one of their own behind.... 'After a thirty-minute delay and many arguments, another Secret Service agent who had already been cleared to proceed was summoned to escort reporters inside while the first agent stayed behind.' Fox News reporter Peter Doocy ... also suggested it wasn't an isolated incident, adding that 'there have been some heated and physical clashes between the Secret Service and the Chinese police at basically the backdoors of these events.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I don't know what the rules are, but it is reasonable to suspect that firearms are taboo at historic religious sites. 

Katie Glueck of the New York Times: Donald “Trump has never been a fuzzy, feel-your-pain kind of politician. That came through in an especially striking way [Tuesday], when he answered a question about whether he was motivated by the financial situation of Americans to make a deal to end the war with Iran. 'Not even a little bit,' he replied....It was a response that flouted fundamental rules of American politics — that voters are motivated above all by economic concerns, that they want to support politicians who 'care about people like me' — and it was a risky one, given Trump’s dire political standing[.]” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yet another indication that Trump doesn't care about ordinary Americans: the entourage he took to China was comprised mostly of businessmen/billionaires and his own son Eric, who runs the Trump Org. I read somewhere that the lead Cabinet member who organized the visit was not Secretary of State Marco Maduro, the high-flying hostage, but Scott Bessent, the billionaire Treasury Secretary. Even as U.S. farmers are desperate to sell their produce to China, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins was nowhere to be seen. Here's Chris Hayes on Trump's focus in China:

~~~ Of course, in the end, everything everywhere is all about Trump. While Jeff Bezos' Amazon largely has exited business with China, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was in the class picture the NYT published, and Art Intel says Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was there, too. So how about this? ~~~   

     ~~~ Emily Davies & Cat Zakrzewski of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump was months late in disclosing tens of millions of dollars in stock trading, according to his latest investment filings, pushing the legal limits of a financial practice Americans have largely opposed from their elected officials. The disclosures filed last week with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics showed that Trump sold between $5 million and $25 million each of Microsoft and Amazon stock in February and purchased millions of dollars’ worth of the companies’ stock in March. The president is required to publicly disclose stock transactions exceeding $1,000 within 45 days. He was assessed a fee of $200 for his tardiness, records show. He was fined for the same infraction in March and in August.... Trump purchased Nvidia stock on Feb. 10, days before the company announced a multiyear partnership with Meta to fill its new data centers with Nvidia processors, his disclosures show. The company’s shares rose around 2.5 percent after the deal. Trump also purchased stock in leading companies such as Microsoft and Amazon months before the Pentagon announced deals to deploy their technology in classified computer networks.” ~~~

     ~~~ Donald Trump: Insider Trader Extraordinaire. Samuel Larreal & Jackie Llanos of NOTUS: "... Donald Trump personally bought and sold millions of dollars worth of stock in technology companies and government contractors early this year, according to new government records. The Trump administration directly regulates some of these companies and many of these trades coincided with favorable regulatory decisions. Trump purchased $1 million to $5 million dollars worth of Nvidia stock on Feb. 10, only a week before Nvidia announced a major computer processing power deal with AI and social media giant Meta. Trump previously purchased $500,000 to $1 million worth of Nvidia stock on Jan. 6, a week before the Commerce Department officially approved the sale of some Nvidia chips to China.... AMD, another AI semiconductor company, was also authorized by the Department of Commerce to sell their chips to Chinese customers on Jan. 13. Trump purchased $50,000 to $100,000 worth of AMD stock on Jan. 6. In all, Trump bought at least $740,000 in AMD stock last quarter. While the Trump administration spent billions of dollars on immigration enforcement and mass deportation efforts, Trump also invested in companies that contracted with immigration enforcement agencies. Chief among them: Palantir Technologies."

The next link is to a subscriber-firewalled story that allows the nonsubscriber access only to the first few paragraphs. However, those few grafs are fun enough! ~~~

~~~ Oliver Darcy of Status: "On Thursday evening, Tony Dokoupil once again anchored the “CBS Evening News” alone from Taiwan after failing to secure a visa to broadcast from Beijing, where Donald Trump is meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on a high-stakes foreign trip. The logistical blunder has become an embarrassment for the Bari Weiss-led network, leaving CBS as the only major broadcast news network without an anchor on the ground in the Chinese capital. And yet, the situation — already humiliating enough — managed to get even worse over the last 24 hours.... Dokoupil was also forced out of his backup location in Taiwan...." ~~~

     ~~~ Third-rate Network Airs B-Roll. Okay, This Part Isn't Funny. Erkki Forster of the Daily Beast, republished by Yahoo! News: “CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil’s broadcast from Taiwan ended in chaos on Wednesday after the cameraman suffered a medical emergency on air.... Dokoupil, 45, was in the middle of introducing the summit between ... Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping when the camera shook, and the broadcast abruptly cut to B-roll footage. A thud sounded before Dokoupil stopped mid-sentence and asked, 'Is he OK?' After a moment, Dokoupil said over muffled noises in the background, 'We’re gonna take a quick break, we have an—a medical emergency here.... We’re calling a doctor.'... More B-roll footage of Chinese landscapes played before the feed cut to CBS News chief correspondent Matt Gutman in a studio.... The [CBS Evening News] ratings lag significantly behind those of ABC World News Tonight ... and NBC Nightly News....”

If you watched the Chris Hayes segment I embedded yesterday, then you know that Trump has claimed (falsely, one presumes) that he would give to charities like the American Cancer Society all of the billions he hoped to steal from taxpayers in a suit in which he was both plaintiff & defendant -- a suit a federal judge opined was illegal on its face. Well, it seems the "gifts to charities" posture is over now. The scheming president* has a new plan. ~~~ 

~~~⭐Trump Plans to Run Criminal Enterprise Forcing Taxpayers to Bankroll Huge Slush Fund to Pay Terrorists, Other Criminals. Really. Katherine Faulders, et al., of ABC News: "... Donald Trump is expected to drop his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service in exchange for the creation of a $1.7 billion fund to compensate allies who claim they were wrongfully targeted by the Biden administration.... The commission overseeing the compensation fund [-- whom Trump would appoint & could fire at will --] would have the total authority to hand out approximately $1.7 billion in taxpayer funds to settle claims brought by anyone who alleges they were harmed by the Biden administration's 'weaponization' of the legal system, including the nearly 1,600 individuals charged in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol attack as well as potentially entities associated with ... Trump himself. While the settlement is expected to be agreed upon in the coming days, sources caution that the final terms will not be set until they are officially announced.... The proposed fund -- which could face significant legal hurdles -- would draw money from the Treasury Department's Judgment Fund, a permanent appropriation used by the federal government to pay court judgments and settlements, sources said. The arrangement would be an unprecedented use of taxpayer dollars with little oversight." Read on. (Also linked yesterday.)

Everything Trump Does Is Wrong, Ctd. Defending Dirty Energy. Claire Brown of the New York Times: “It’s been nearly a year since the Trump administration began issuing orders to keep five aging coal plants in four states open past their scheduled closures, citing an 'energy emergency.'... Since then, the Energy Department has repeatedly renewed these 90-day directives preventing the facilities from shutting down, even as one plant has yet to burn coal and another requested its order be allowed to expire.... Keeping the plants open has already cost hundreds of millions of dollars, much of which will be paid by ratepayers. The Trump administration has pushed a broad campaign to revive coal..., rolling back regulations on emissions and offering funding for plant upgrades, despite the significant health risks of burning coal and the industry’s yearslong decline. On Friday, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will hear a case brought by Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois and nine nonprofit groups arguing that the Energy Department’s orders are illegal and that there is no energy emergency. The case focuses on one plant, J.H. Campbell in West Olive, Mich., but has implications for five plants.”

JayDee Goes Nazi. Heather Cox Richardson: "Vice President J.D. Vance was in Maine today to tout what the Trump administration claims is its push to combat fraud in public services. Vance blamed Democrats for fraud in Medicaid programs and vowed that the Trump administration would stop such fraud by refusing to distribute funds to states that were not cooperating with the federal government’s anti-fraud efforts. He announced yesterday the administration intends to withhold $1.3 billion in Medicaid payments from California. This alleged push against fraud is part of an old playbook the Republicans have used since at least 2000 in which they accuse the Democrats of their own weak points and misdeeds. This play was often associated with Republican strategist Karl Rove, but in 2024, Caroline Wazer of Snopes noted that it is most usually associated with Nazi propaganda in the 1930s. Accusing opponents of what you, yourself, are doing, muddies the waters and makes it hard for real accusations against you for the same thing to stick. Experts say fraud in federal programs is a real problem but that it is carried out primarily by transnational criminal organizations, not by individual recipients."

You know, there's nothing quite like a fun taxpayer-funded snorkeling adventure around the grave of hundreds of American sailors lost at Pearl Harbor. ~~~

Jim Mustian, et al., of the AP: “When Kash Patel visited Hawaii last summer, the FBI took pains to note the director was not on vacation, highlighting his walking tour of the bureau’s Honolulu field office and meetings with local law enforcement. Left out of the FBI’s news releases was an exclusive excursion that Patel took days later when he participated in what government officials described as a 'VIP snorkel' around the USS Arizona in an outing coordinated by the military. The sunken battleship entombs more than 900 sailors and Marines at Pearl Harbor. The swim, revealed in government emails obtained by The Associated Press, comes to light amid criticism of Patel’s use of the FBI plane and his global travel, which have blurred professional responsibilities with leisure activities. The FBI did not disclose the snorkeling session or that Patel had returned to Hawaii for two days after his initial stopover on the island.

“With few exceptions, snorkeling and diving are off-limits around the USS Arizona. The battleship, now a military cemetery reachable only by boat, has stood as one of the nation’s most hallowed sites since Japan bombed and sank it in 1941.” (Also linked yesterday.)

     ~~~ Steve Benen of MS NOW: "Part of what makes the new allegations so striking is the fact that many of Patel’s troubles stem from leaks from FBI insiders. The director has struggled for months with critics within the bureau, but there’s every reason to believe the problem is getting worse. What’s more, it’s worth appreciating just how unsurprising the latest controversy is.... The New York Times reported earlier this year: 'Before [a Five Eyes] conference..., [Patel's] staff only cared about three things: what his meals were, when his workouts would be and what his entertainment would be.' To know anything about Patel’s tenure is to know that work doesn’t appear to be this guy’s top priority. He seems far more interested in having a great time, which happens with great regularity." Benen -- suggesting that Patel may soon find himself permanently attached to a tiny U.S. embassy far, far away -- notes "just how little the White House has done to defend Patel, or even to say his name out loud, in the face of multiple controversies."

When is [an alleged!] foreign criminal not a murdering, rapist thug to be jailed in a warehouse, then deported? When he has enough money to do something for Donald Trump. ~~~ 

~~~ Nicolle Hong, et al., of the New York Times: “When the Justice Department indicted India’s richest man in the final weeks of the Biden administration, prosecutors described an 'elaborate' bribery scheme involving 'corruption and fraud at the expense of U.S. investors.'Now, according to several people..., the Justice Department is planning to drop the charges altogether. The reversal came after the Indian billionaire, Gautam Adani, hired a new legal team led by Robert J. Giuffra Jr., one of ... [Donald] Trump’s personal lawyers and the co-chairman of the prominent firm Sullivan & Cromwell.... [At a meeting last month with DOJ officials in Washington,] Mr. Giuffra ticked through about 100 slides outlining why prosecutors lacked basic evidence, as well as the jurisdiction even to bring the case....

“If prosecutors dropped the charges, [Mr. Giuffra said during presentation of another slide,] Mr. Adani would be willing to invest $10 billion in the American economy and create 15,000 jobs, echoing a pledge he had made in the wake of Mr. Trump’s election. As part of the same meeting, Mr. Giuffra sought to resolve a parallel civil case against Mr. Adani brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as a separate investigation by the Treasury Department. The S.E.C. announced its settlement with Mr. Adani late Thursday; the Treasury Department could unveil its own deal in coming days. Although prosecutors later told Mr. Giuffra that the $10 billion investment would play no role in the resolution of the criminal case, his offer received a favorable response from at least one senior Justice Department official at the meeting.... The proposal — which Mr. Trump could have held up as a political and economic win — underscores the highly transactional approach to justice in Mr. Trump’s second term.”

Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: “The Defense Department has abruptly canceled the deployment of more than 4,000 troops to Poland, three U.S. Army officials said on Thursday, part of a realignment of American forces in Europe announced this month that has caught many military officials off guard. Two weeks ago, the Pentagon said it was withdrawing 5,000 troops from Germany and would redeploy them to the United States and other posts overseas. It also canceled a plan developed under the Biden administration to place a missile-equipped artillery unit in Europe. Those decisions came after ... [Donald] Trump angrily responded to remarks by Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, that Iran had 'humiliated' the United States. Mr. Merz questioned how Mr. Trump planned to end that conflict. It was unclear why Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth canceled the deployment to Poland, which has close relations with the United States and had been considered a possible location for some of the forces leaving Germany.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Really, Eric? You've won four Pulitzers & have been reporting on military affairs for more than three decades and you can't imagine why Pete is cutting U.S. troops in Poland instead of transferring troops from Germany to Poland? I'm certainly not the expert you are, but how about this?: "Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on May 2 condemned the 'disintegration' of NATO from within as ... Donald Trump said further reductions in American troops stationed in Europe are coming." Just asking. ~~~

     ~~~ Paul McLeary & Jack Detsch of Politico: “Pete Hegseth’s last-minute decision to cancel the deployment of 4,000 troops to Poland caught Pentagon staff and European allies by surprise — the latest example of an abrupt personnel move from the Defense secretary that blindsided both sides of the Atlantic.... The decision was even more surprising because troops and equipment had already started to arrive in the country. It sent fresh waves of anxiety through European capitals and inside the Pentagon on Thursday about whether such moves could embolden Russia — and which ally might turn into the next target.”

Julian Barnes, et al., of the New York Times: “John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, traveled to Cuba on Thursday, a day after Havana admitted that its fuel oil supplies have been exhausted for consumers and businesses. Mr. Ratcliffe made the visit to deliver a warning to the government that it had to make economic changes and stop allowing Russia and China to operate intelligence posts in Cuba, U.S. officials said on Thursday. Mr. Ratcliffe is the highest-ranking Trump administration official to visit Cuba. His trip is part of a multifaceted campaign to escalate pressure against the Communist government and fulfill President Trump’s demand for regime change. In a statement, the C.I.A. said that Mr. Ratcliffe had traveled to Havana to personally deliver ... [Donald] Trump’s message 'that the United States is prepared to seriously engage on economic and security issues, but only if Cuba makes fundamental changes.'” An AP report is here. The NBC News report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Frances Robles of the New York Times: “After months of a debilitating energy crisis that has caused widespread power outages, Cuba’s oil reserves have run dry, the government said, which is likely to plunge the country into even more frequent, bigger and longer nationwide blackouts. The government has been grappling with a severe energy crisis for more than two years because of crumbling infrastructure and a dwindling supply from its longtime benefactor Venezuela. While Cuba produces some oil for domestic use, power plants are down and supplies have been exhausted, Vicente de la O Levy, Cuba’s minister of energy and mines, said on Wednesday night.” A related AP story is here.

Jordain Carney & Jennifer Scholtes of Politico: “The Senate parliamentarian ruled Thursday that major pieces of the GOP’s party-line immigration enforcement package do not comply with the chamber’s rules — a setback to Republicans racing to clear the bill this month. The parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, found that four parts of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s portion of the legislation will need to be reworked — or risk Democrats forcing a floor vote on each provision that would be subject to a 60-vote threshold.... Republicans are now expected to try to rewrite the provisions to meet MacDonough’s approval.... Democrats immediately declared victory.”

The Mystery of the Missing Congressman. Tracey Tully of the New York Times: “Where is Representative Thomas Kean Jr.?... He seems to be absent on Capitol Hill, where he represents the people of New Jersey’s Seventh District but hasn’t cast a vote in more than two months. Mr. Kean, a Republican, has not been seen on the campaign trail as he runs for re-election in a competitive midterm race.... Two weeks ago his office released a written statement, attributed to Mr. Kean, explaining that he was dealing with a 'medical issue' and would be back 'very soon.' Since then? No reported sightings.” MB: The reasonable guess would be that Kean had a severe mental health episode from which he has not recovered, OR he has a debilitating physical illness. Either is sad, but his constituents have a right to know what is going on. ~~~

~~~The Case of the Missing Congresswoman. Andrew Solender & Marc Caputo of Axios: "Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) has told allies in her district that she plans to run for reelection despite her nearly month-long absence from the Hill.... There had been rumors that the 83-year-old from Miami was considering retirement as she convalesced following what sources described as major eye surgery. But Florida state Sen. Shevrin Jones, who is from Wilson's district, told Axios she confirmed her plans to seek another term during a phone call the two had on Thursday afternoon."

Anna Lizz-Roy of the Washington Post: “The House Ethics Committee publicly confirmed Thursday that it is investigating allegations regarding the conduct of Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-North Carolina) toward female staffers. In a statement, the panel said that is reviewing allegations that Edwards 'may have created or fostered a hostile work environment and engaged in sexual harassment.' Aides to Edwards acknowledged last week that an inquiry was underway and said he welcomed the opportunity to counter what they described as 'baseless' claims. In a statement Thursday, Edwards said he would cooperate with the investigation.”

Justin Jouvenal & Praveena Somasundaram of the Washington Post: “The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that patients can, for now, continue to access by mail the most commonly used abortion pill, handing antiabortion advocates a defeat in their push to restrict medication abortion. The justices paused a decision by a U.S. appeals court in New Orleans that had reinstated a requirement that patients pick up mifepristone in person, a mandate supporters of abortion rights have framed as the biggest threat to abortion access since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The justices did not explain their reasoning, but the decision came over the objections of Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr.” The AP's report is here.

Here's some more excellent news for China: ~~~ 

~~~ Susan Svrluga of the Washington Post: “MIT is doing less research and enrolling fewer graduate students as a result of federal actions, the university president warned Thursday. Federally funded research on campus is down more than 20 percent compared to this time last year, MIT’s president, Sally Kornbluth, told the campus community in a video message, and the number of new federal research awards is also down more than 20 percent. 'That is a striking loss for one of the most influential and productive research communities in the world,' Kornbluth said. Graduate student enrollment will also decline significantly in the coming academic year, she said; outside of two programs that are still in the midst of admissions, the number of grad students will be 20 percent less than it was in 2024 — about 500 fewer students.”

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