Talking Points Memo

1 day ago | talkingpointsmemo.com | Nicole Lafond

The first public breakup of Trump II unfolded before our eyes this afternoon — a pinch-me moment for those of us who have long been waiting for this exact estrangement ❤️By now you’ve seen the reports of the very public ego clash between the world’s richest man and a man who is president but, until recently, barely a billionaire.

2 days ago | talkingpointsmemo.com | Nicole Lafond

The White House finally sent over a rescissions package request — a move the administration has been dragging its feet on for months — asking Republicans in Congress to swallow a chunk of the sweeping cuts that Elon Musk has enacted with his DOGE destruction so far this year.

3 days ago | talkingpointsmemo.com | Josh Kovensky

Two months ago, 25-year-old Ilia Chernov beat long odds and convinced an immigration judge to grant him political asylum in the U.S. Normally, that finding would have been enough for Chernov to obtain legal status and live freely in the U.S. Chernov’s judge told him that he would soon be released. But Immigration and Customs Enforcement has refused to free Chernov, stranding him in detention. Immigration law experts that TPM spoke with could not recall another case that matches this set of facts.

3 days ago | talkingpointsmemo.com | Nicole Lafond

Black-eyed and officially, allegedly on the outskirts of the Trump administration, Elon Musk is saying more about his recently discovered objections to the reconciliation package that passed the House last month and will make sweeping cuts to Medicaid if it makes its way through the Senate. The world’s richest man is, of course, not bothered by the ways in which Republicans plan to gut the social safety net program outlined in the bill.

4 days ago | talkingpointsmemo.com | Josh Kovensky

The Senate is poised to pass the GENIUS Act in the coming weeks. The bill will bestow upon the crypto industry a long-sought blessing: a key form of the digital currency, stablecoins, will now be subject to a bespoke (and notably light-touch) regulatory system created by Congress. With it will come the U.S. government’s stamp of approval. After years spent being dismissed as a haven for money launderers and speculators, the bill is in part a marker that the industry has arrived in Washington.