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U.S. national debt reaches a record $37 trillion, the Treasury Department reports

(AP) The U.S. government’s gross national debt has surpassed $37 trillion, a record number that highlights the accelerating debt on America’s balance sheet and increased cost pressures on taxpayers. The $37 trillion update is found in the latest Treasury Department report issued Tuesday which logs the nation’s daily finances.

BumRushDaShow

US deficit grows to $291 billion in July despite import tax revenue surge

(Reuters) The U.S. government's budget deficit grew nearly 20% in July to $291 billion despite a nearly $21 billion jump in customs duty collections from President Donald Trump's tariffs, with outlays growing faster than receipts, the Treasury Department said on Tuesday. The deficit for July was up 19%, or $47 billion, from July 2024. Receipts for the month grew 2%, or $8 billion, to $338 billion, while outlays jumped 10%, or $56 billion, to $630 billion, a record high for the month.

Dulcinea

Trump's nominee to oversee jobs, inflation data faces shower of criticism

(AP) The director of the agency that produces the nation’s jobs and inflation data is typically a mild-mannered technocrat, often with extensive experience in statistical agencies, with little public profile. But like so much in President Donald Trump’s second administration, this time is different. Trump has selected E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, to be the next commissioner at the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Antoni’s nomination was quickly met with a cascade of criticism from other economists, from across the political spectrum.

FakeNoose

Before A Steel Plant Exploded, Trump's EPA Hid Risks From The Public

(Lever News) The Trump administration, at the behest of the powerful chemical lobby, has been working to gut oversight of so-called Risk Management Program facilities, chemical plants that are considered at the highest risk of deadly explosions. In April, two months after an explicit request from industry, Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) scrubbed a tracking tool listing such facilities from its website. Clairton Coke Works, the U.S. Steel plant near Pittsburgh that erupted in black smoke on Monday, is one such facility.

DemMedic

Revealed: Trump planning new military unit to rapidly crush civil unrest

(The Hill) The Trump administration is looking at plans to set up a 600-person National Guard “quick reaction force” to quickly deploy to U.S. cities to quell protests or other unrest, The Washington Post reported Tuesday. Internal Pentagon documents reviewed by the Post lay out the parameters for a “Domestic Civil Disturbance Quick Reaction Force,” calling for hundreds of guard members outfitted with weapons and riot gear to be on constant standby and deployable in as little as one hour.

BumRushDaShow

Chris Murphy goes all in on funding bill boycott as Dems seek bipartisanship

(Politico) Chris Murphy has been warning for months that voters want Democrats to fight. This summer, the Connecticut senator is picking a battle that puts him at odds with his Democratic colleagues. Murphy has made surprising moves over the last month to protest bipartisan government funding talks as a member of the Appropriations Committee, demonstrating his vision of what opposition to President Donald Trump should look like and further stoking speculation about his own presidential ambitions.

BumRushDaShow

Sherrod Brown to run for Senate

(Politico) Sherrod Brown has decided to run for Senate in Ohio in 2026, according to two people familiar with his thinking, making a play for his old job just months after he was beaten by Republican Bernie Moreno last November. The Democrat will face off against Sen. Jon Husted, whom Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine appointed to the Senate after JD Vance left his seat to become vice president.

BumRushDaShow

DC mayor says Trump takeover shows why US capital should be 51st state

(USA Today) Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser is advocating for the city to become the 51st state after President Donald Trump announced the federal government would take control of the local Metropolitan Police Department. Bowser, who has been the city’s mayor since 2015, made the remarks during an appearance on Charlamagne Tha God’s radio show “The Breakfast Club” on Tuesday, Aug. 12.

BumRushDaShow

'Where are the limits?' Fed-up judge cuts off Trump DOJ from the bench

(Raw Story) U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, presiding over a case in San Francisco regarding President Donald Trump’s deployment of military forces to Los Angeles in June, pressed the Department of Justice for answers during a Tuesday hearing. “Where are the limits? Where are the limits?” the judge repeatedly asked, cutting off the DOJ, according to reporting by journalist Adam Klasfeld.

Dulcinea

Trump official tells census workers Congress has final say over the count, not Trump

(NPR) Less than a week after President Trump said he has ordered a "new" census, the cabinet official who oversees the Census Bureau acknowledged Tuesday that Congress, not the president, has final say over the national head count that's used to reshape election maps and guide federal funding, NPR has exclusively learned.

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Dem DA on CNN Torches 'Stupid, Racist, Fascist Dictator' Trump Amid Crime 'Distraction'

35 min ago - Aug 13th, 2025, 12:00 pm Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner (D) savaged President Donald Trump over his police takeover, calling the president’s actions everything from “stupid” to “fascist” to dictatorial — a ... (MEDIAite)

USDA moves to end employee union contracts, documents show

1 hr ago - August 13, 2025 2:33 PM EDT Updated 2 hours ago WASHINGTON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture moved on Tuesday to terminate union contracts with thousands of employees of its animal health and food safety inspection agencies, acco ... (Reuters)

Germany and allies to send major military aid package to Ukraine using new NATO supply line

1 hr ago - Updated 11:39 AM CDT, August 13, 2025 BERLIN (AP) — Germany announced on Wednesday that it will work with a group of Ukraine’s Western backers to supply a package of military aid to the war-ravaged country worth up to $500 million using a n ... (AP)

Social Security cost-of-living adjustment could be 2.7% in 2026, according to new estimate

1 hr ago - Updated on: August 13, 2025 / 2:37 PM EDT Social Security beneficiaries could see a 2.7% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) next year, which is slightly more than the 2.5% boost U.S. retirees received this year. The new estimate comes from the Senior ... (CBS News)

Democrats say Trump is illegally blocking them from visiting Ice detention: 'The goal is to bully us'

1 hr ago - Wed 13 Aug 2025 06.00 EDT Last modified on Wed 13 Aug 2025 09.44 EDT The Arizona representative Yassamin Ansari toured a detention facility in May where immigrants rounded up as part of the Trump administration’s campaign of mass deportation wer ... (The Guardian)

Appeals court allows Trump to continue ending foreign aid grants

2 hrs ago - PUBLISHED Aug 13, 2025, 12:10 PM ET Only the legislative branch can sue a presidential administration for making changes to congressionally approved budgets, the federal appeals court in DC ruled after looking at President Donald Trump’s adminis ... (CNN Politics)

Newsom: California will redraw maps after 'missed' Trump deadline

2 hrs ago - 08/13/25 8:35 AM ET California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said Tuesday that his state would redraw its House maps after President Trump failed to respond to a letter the governor sent him urging Trump to have red states call off redistricting efforts. &# ... (The Hill)

Trump warns of 'severe consequences' if Putin does not agree to stop war after summit

3 hrs ago - BERLIN (AP) — President Donald Trump warned Wednesday that there will be “very severe consequences” if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not agree to stop the war against Ukraine after the two leaders meet for a summit later this w ... (AP)

Bipartisan group plans to bring Epstein victims to capital to speak out on files and push Congress to release them

3 hrs ago - Wednesday 13 August 2025 15:13 BST GOP rebel Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna plan to bring survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse to Washington, D.C., in a bipartisan push to get Congress to release the controversial “files ... (The Independent)

Trump says he expects Congress to extend federal takeover of D.C. police beyond 30-day limit

3 hrs ago - Updated on: August 13, 2025 / 1:38 PM EDT Washington — President Trump said Wednesday that the White House will seek "long-term extensions" from Congress to maintain control of D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department, part of the president's push ... (CBS News)

Groups sue Trump agencies for using 'secret' report to reverse core of US climate rules

4 hrs ago - August 13, 2025 10:13 AM EDT Updated 3 hours ago WASHINGTON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Two major environmental groups announced on Tuesday they have sued the Trump administration for secretly convening a group of climate skeptics, which prepared a report th ... (Reuters)

'Any word on Camp Mystic?': Texts, emails show confusion, concern among Texas river authority officials during flooding

5 hrs ago - August 13, 2025, 10:16 AM As the Guadalupe River overflowed in Kerr County on the Fourth of July, officials with a local agency charged with "managing water quality and water quantity" in the Texas Hill Country appeared perplexed by the extent of the ... (ABC News)

Judge to hear arguments on halting 'Alligator Alcatraz' construction over environmental concerns

6 hrs ago - PUBLISHED Aug 13, 2025, 8:07 AM ET Miami AP — A federal judge is set to hear closing arguments Wednesday over whether to stop construction indefinitely at an immigrant detention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz&# ... (CNN US/AP)

H-1B Visas Changes Approved by White House: Report

7 hrs ago - Published Aug 12, 2025 at 11:09 AM EDT Updated Aug 13, 2025 at 4:51 AM EDT A proposed Department of Homeland Security rule that would alter how H-1B visas are allocated has cleared review by the White House's Office of Information and Regulatory Affa ... (Newsweek)

Parents and child killed when tree falls on car as heavy rain and flooding hit Tennessee

8 hrs ago - Updated 8:43 AM CDT, August 13, 2025 CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — A mother, father and child were killed when a tree fell on their car during heavy rain and flooding in Tennessee, an official said Wednesday. The three were killed when saturated gro ... (AP)

Hack of federal court filing system exploited security flaws known since 2020

8 hrs ago - 08/12/2025 11:04 PM EDT A sweeping hack of the federal judiciary’s case filing system exploited unresolved security holes discovered five years ago — allowing hacking groups to steal reams of sensitive court data in the ongoing breach. POLI ... (Politico)

Trump official tells census workers Congress has final say over the count, not Trump

9 hrs ago - Updated August 12, 2025 10:56 PM ET Less than a week after President Trump said he has ordered a "new" census, the cabinet official who oversees the Census Bureau acknowledged Tuesday that Congress, not the president, has final say over the national ... (NPR)

'We don't want him': Dance Against Vance protest at US vice-president's Cotswolds holiday

9 hrs ago - Wed 13 Aug 2025 02.34 EDT First published on Tue 12 Aug 2025 13.58 EDT There was cake and music. The weather was perfect. At first glance, it could have been a joyful community gathering in a sun-dappled Cotswolds village park, but the placards gave ... (The Guardian)

Chris Murphy goes all in on funding bill boycott as Dems seek bipartisanship

10 hrs ago - 08/13/2025 04:45 AM EDT Chris Murphy has been warning for months that voters want Democrats to fight. This summer, the Connecticut senator is picking a battle that puts him at odds with his Democratic colleagues. Murphy has made surprising moves over ... (Politico)

California peach harvests are down after warmer winter disrupted trees' sleep cycles

10 hrs ago - August 12, 2025 / 8:04 PM EDT The peaches harvested at Masumoto Family Farm in California's Central Valley are so delicious, they are sought after by world-famous restaurants. But this year's harvest signals trouble: There are 30% fewer peaches to p ... (CBS News)