Author: rpnadmin

A Texas lawmaker looks over a redistricting map during the debate in the state senate in August. Eric Gay/AP hide caption toggle caption Eric Gay/AP Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has quickly appealed to the Supreme Court a ruling that the redistricting passed by lawmakers at the urging of President Trump was based on racial gerrymandering. “Any claim that these maps are discriminatory is absurd and unsupported by the testimony offered during ten days of hearings,” Abbott, a Republican, said in a statement. “This ruling is clearly erroneous and undermines the authority the U.S. Constitution assigns to the Texas Legislature by…

Since late January, leaders at liberal foundations and donor networks have been preparing for a legal assault by federal agencies. That moment finally arrived in September, when, in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche directed federal prosecutors to investigate the Open Society Foundations on a range of possible criminal charges, reportedly on orders from the White House. Two weeks earlier, Donald Trump had vowed to go after George Soros, the founder of OSF: “We’re going to look into Soros, because I think it’s a RICO case against him and other people,” Trump said on September…

Flames and smoke billow from buildings during mass Russian drones and missile strikes on Ukraine’s capital in July 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Oleksii Filippov/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Oleksii Filippov/AFP via Getty Images The U.S. deported 50 people to Ukraine this week, a Ukrainian border official said on Tuesday, in what appears to be the single largest such deportation from the U.S. since the country has been at war with Russia. The flight landed near the Polish border in the early hours on Monday. Since Russia’s invasion in 2022, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has…

Politics / November 18, 2025 The release of Jeffrey Epstein’s documents is likely to implicate a whole network of members of the American ruling class. Ad Policy A projection onto a building near the White House demands that Donald Trump release the Epstein files in July 2025.(Allison Bailey / NurPhoto via AP) Over the weekend, it seemed that months of Trump administration stonewalling of the release of the trove of federal documents behind the prosecution of notorious pedophile and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein came to a close. Late Sunday night, Trump bowed to the likely passage of the Epstein Files…

Good morning. You’re reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day. Today’s top stories President Trump will host Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) at the White House today. It’s his first visit since the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist and Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in Istanbul, which led to global condemnation. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is pictured during a meeting with the US secretary of state at Al Salam Palace in the…

Feature / November 18, 2025 Systems built up over the last 120 years are being either eliminated or corroded at warp speed, with the implicit blessing of the US Supreme Court. Illustration by Brian Stauffer. This article appears in the December 2025 issue, with the headline “The Deliberate Decimation of the Federal Workforce.” At 2:33 pm Mountain Time, on February 27, 2025, Natasha Miles’s world fell apart. Adapted from American Carnage: How Trump, Musk and DOGE Butchered the US Government (out in January 2026). The 53-year-old had been driving west for five days. She was heading toward a new home…

Ashley Smith, who is uninsured, has relied on Maine Family Planning for her health care for years. She’s pictured at the girls’ summer camp near her home where she works, in addition to other jobs. Greta Rybus for NPR hide caption toggle caption Greta Rybus for NPR When Ashley Smith arrived to testify before the Maine Legislature during a committee hearing last spring, she was terrified. “I was shaking like a leaf in the wind,” she says. She told lawmakers that she was there in support of Maine Family Planning, a 50-year-old network of reproductive health clinics where Smith is…

Activism / November 17, 2025 The precariat rose up, with passion, desire for change, and votes. Ad Policy Seattle mayor-elect Katie Wilson speaks to Starbucks employees and supporters as they gather to strike in front of the former Starbucks Reserve Roastery that closed earlier on November 13 in Seattle, Washington.(Lindsey Wasson / AP Photo) After a nail-biter contest that dragged out a week after election day, Katie Wilson is set to be Seattle’s next mayor. Wilson, a small-S socialist, built her campaign on progressive populism, and won the support of Gen Z and millennial voters—voters who graduated with massive college…

On left, NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher testifies during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing at the U.S. Capitol on March 26. On right, CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison accepts the Governors Award on CPB’s behalf during the 2025 Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Sept. 7. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images and Phil McCarten/Invision/AP hide caption toggle caption Andrew Harnik/Getty Images and Phil McCarten/Invision/AP The Corporation for Public Broadcasting agreed Monday to fulfill a $36 million, multi-year contract with NPR that it had yanked after pressure from the Trump White House. The arrangement resolves litigation filed by NPR…

Politics / November 17, 2025 His surrender on the Epstein files—and his attack on Marjorie Taylor Greene—proves it. Ad Policy President Donald Trump was greeted by Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) before he addressed a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday, March 4, 2025.(Alex Brandon / AP) On Sunday night, Donald Trump abjectly surrendered in one of the most intense political battles of his second term. For months, the White House had been pressuring congressional Republicans to hold the line against a bill that would require the release of Justice Department files connected to late…