I started writing this story about Rep. Thomas Massie seven years ago. It’s been so long that the entire point of the story has flipped. (Or has it?) ms.now/news/thomas-massie-pr…

SCOOP: Despite insisting that a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund has been scrapped, the administration is quietly assuring allies that payout plans remain on track, @S_Fitzpatrick reports. theatlantic.com/politics/202…

I just appreciate Raul Ruiz taking suicidal leads on first. #GameWithinTheGame

I always forget that the Congressional Baseball Game is more Bad News Bears than Moneyball. Oh, the indignity — the indignity! — of getting old. The ignominy.

Reporter: Are you concerned, Mr. President, about the latest inflation number which came out this morning? Trump: No, I love it. I love the inflation.

I went through Trump's public appearances over the past five months and found that he has referenced the 2020 election and his false claim that he won once every four days so far in 2026. It has been more than 2,000 days since Biden won. My latest video for @MSNOWNews

Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA) faked a phone call for roughly 90 seconds after being asked about Speaker Mike Johnson’s comments regarding potential Social Security cuts. The phone's screen remained visible, with his cheek inadvertently tapping different parts of the display.

Four Republican absences and just one missing Democrat during that previous question vote. If those margins hold later tonight, hard to see how House Republicans can pass their reconciliation bill today, given Kevin Kiley’s opposition and potentially Thomas Massie.

Rep. Byron Donalds R-FL still has not explained how he voted on the House floor in Feb. 2025 while he was in Los Angeles for the Bill Maher show. Someone voted for Donalds twice that day - another Florida Republican perhaps used his voting card?

I find it incredibly easy to believe. Pratt basically performed at his poll numbers, in a city that is bluer than the county and in a county that is bluer than a very blue state. Bass is establishment Dem (not by her resume but by virtue of her incumbency) at a time of surging leftwing populism. The idea that either of the Democrat candidates wouldn’t have preferred to run against Pratt is preposterous. So the conspiracy to tank Pratt would have to be against the wishes of both candidates who benefitted from this conspiracy. Also, the forces that tanked Pratt were fine with letting the Trump backed Republican gubernatorial candidate make it to the general? Really? Also the demographics of Raman voters are perfectly consonant with the habits of young voters. Last, California’s incompetence at counting votes has yielded GOP wins in the past. Assuming that the same delays now “prove” anything other than consistently lethargic counting is a giant logical error. Meanwhile, the fact that a lot of low information people think it was obviously stolen means nothing to me in terms of how to think about the facts, but you’re right that it matters politically and culturally. That people who should know better are letting their motivated reasoning get the better of them and are stoking this belief matters more.

Just a reminder: Mike Johnson is a lawyer. He’s not arguing there’s malfeasance based on evidence. He doesn’t have any evidence. He wants people to accept improprieties “instinctively.”

Just awful numbers for the war in Iran: 1) More Republicans call the war a net-negative than a net-positive. 2) Just 39% of Republicans -- and 16% overall -- say we're winning or have won the war.

New: Some members privately joke that Johnson has to rely on Trump so much that he is actually the speaker. Trump is in on it too. “I have two jobs: being president and being speaker,” Trump once joked in front of Johnson and other members, per sources. At times members who have gone to Johnson seeking to get their legislation on the floor have been sent to the White House to get their approval first. "In my adult lifetime, I have not seen an executive branch with as much input and influence over the chamber than this one has," Rep. Steve Womack said. Others are baffled too. How Johnson and Trump run the House: notus.org/congress/mike-john…

With Trump's pardon of ex-Rep. Steve Buyer R-IN, who was convicted of insider trading, here is the updated Trump pardon list involving Congress: 11R, 2D

Read to the end: ms.now/news/senate-republica…

An act of Trump fealty that would cost taxpayers up to $125 million, according to the CBO. cbo.gov/publication/61942

"I want to make sure it’s not mostly dead; I want to make sure it’s completely dead," Sen. Bill Cassidy says of Trump's $1.8 billion fund. Republicans have a chance to block the payouts during today's votes on their ICE funding bill. w/ @peggyreports ms.now/news/senate-republica…

“I love it. I think it’s so important,” @potus of the anti-weaponization fund that his Acting AG Todd Blanche says is no longer happening.

Notable that Rep. Andy Ogles isn't even opposing gay marriage here. He's straight up saying "homosexuality has no place in America." Seems like the GOP may be retracing its steps on this issue.