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July 8, 2026
Affordable Care Act Insurers Want More Premium Increases as Enrollment Sags
(KFF) For the second year in a row, many Affordable Care Act insurers are proposing double-digit premium increases, driven by rising medical costs as well as policy changes by Congress and the Trump administration. In preliminary filings with state regulators, insurers are seeking a median rate increase of 14% for 2027, according to an analysis of filings in 16 states and the District of Columbia by the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker.
Go to discussionTrump Says US Ceasefire With Iran Is 'Over' After Strikes
(Bloomberg) US President Donald Trump said his tentative ceasefire with Iran is over. “For me, I think it’s over,” he said on Wednesday in Ankara, sitting next to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the military alliance’s annual summit. “As far as I’m concerned it’s just a waste of time.” Trump’s remarks came shortly after the US launched a new wave of strikes against Iran and revoked a waiver that allowed the sale of Iranian oil.
Go to discussionTrump says he doesn't want anything to do with Spain: 'Cut off all trade'
(CNBC) President Donald Trump has slammed Spain for not contributing enough to NATO, as he attended the defense alliance summit in Turkey. “Spain is a terrible partner in NATO. They don’t participate. They don’t pay. I don’t want anything to do with Spain. Cut off all trade with Spain, please, including visits,” he said at a press conference in Ankara with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. “Don’t even talk to them. They’re hopeless, bad people,” the president said.
Go to discussionReflecting Pool being drained - again - as Trump administration tries once more to fix landmark
(CNN) Crews began draining the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Sunday, according to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, for the second time in three months. In an interview released Tuesday with Katie Miller, a conservative podcaster and wife of President Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, Burgum said they started draining the pool as planned after the July Fourth fireworks show, noting some of the fireworks debris was still in the water.
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Trump Files Plea To Block $5 Million Payout To E. Jean Carroll
(CNBC) Attorneys for President Donald Trump in a late Tuesday night court filing urged a New York federal judge not to disburse nearly $5.8 million to E. Jean Carroll to satisfy a May 2023 civil verdict holding him liable for sexually abusing and defaming the writer. Trump’s lawyers said that money cannot be released to Carroll under an agreement unless and until the Supreme Court rejects the president’s new, long-shot bid for reconsideration of his petition that the high court take his appeal of that verdict.
Go to discussionDOJ warns state officials of 'potential criminal penalties' over noncitizen voting
(ABC News) As the Trump administration seeks to tighten federal control over elections ahead of the midterms, the head of the Justice Department's civil rights division has sent letters to state election officials warning them of "potential criminal penalties for those who fail to carry out their duties" in relation to federal election laws -- including preventing noncitizens from voting. One election official who received a letter -- which went to at least six states, including Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado -- told ABC News they found it "threatening."
Go to discussionKen Paxton May Have Broken Same Texas Election Laws He Wants To Tighten, Bombshell Report Finds
(Mediaite) The Texas Tribune reported on Tuesday that Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate in the state, may have broken the very voter registration laws he’s seeking to tighten. Zach Despart, who writes for both the Tribune and ProPublica, found that “Paxton appears to have used an address where he did not live while voting in six elections in the past two years, including in May’s runoff that made him the Republican nominee for U.S. senator, according to records.”
Go to discussionTrump DOJ agrees to new Michael Flynn payout as allies make bank without 'slush fund'
(Raw Story) President Donald Trump's administration found a new way to pay off an ally after abandoning plans for an "anti-weaponization" fund — quietly settling a second lawsuit with retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn. The Army had withheld about $38,557 from Flynn's retirement pay over a 2015 speaking fee from Russia Today, the Russian state-owned media company now known as RT. The new settlement is below $75,000, Bloomberg reported.
Go to discussionMitch McConnell's Colleagues Say He's Alive, Talking On The Phone
(Huff Post) In an apparently coordinated effort to show Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is alive and on the mend, a handful of his allies made statements Tuesday saying they have spoken to the senator in the past day and discussed a variety of issues. “I spoke to my old friend Mitch McConnell this morning, the senior Senator from Kentucky,” conservative pundit Scott Jennings said on social media. Aides to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) separately said they’ve spoken to McConnell, too.
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