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Johnson told White House that GOP isn't interested in extending ACA subsidies

(CBS News) Speaker Mike Johnson has told the White House that most House Republicans have little interest in extending the Affordable Care Act's enhanced subsidies, sources familiar with the conversation told CBS News. Johnson delivered the message in a phone call with senior administration officials as President Trump's advisers were drafting a plan to continue the subsidies for an additional two years. That plan that was initially expected to emerge this week.

Kristi Noem made call to hand over deported men to El Salvador, DOJ says

(Politico) The Justice Department acknowledged Tuesday that it was Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem who decided to proceed with the deportation of 100 Venezuelan men to a notorious prison in El Salvador despite a judge’s order to keep them in U.S. custody. The disclosure came in response to demands by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg that the administration identify the officials involved in authorizing an unprecedented deportation operation in March that sent the men to a prison known for abusive treatment.

Witkoff Advised Russia on How to Pitch Ukraine Plan to Trump

(Bloomberg) US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, fresh from the triumph of the Gaza peace deal, held a phone call last month with a senior Kremlin official to suggest they work together on a similar plan for Ukraine — and that Vladimir Putin should raise it with Donald Trump. In an Oct. 14 phone call that lasted a little over five minutes, Witkoff advised Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s top foreign policy aide, on how the Russian leader should broach the issue with Trump. His guidance included suggestions on setting up a Trump-Putin call before Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s White House visit later that week and using the Gaza agreement as a way in.

US justice department memo about boat strikes diverges from Trump narrative

(The Guardian) The Trump administration is framing its boat strikes against drug cartels in the Caribbean in part as a collective self-defense effort on behalf of US allies in the region, according to three people directly familiar with the administration’s internal legal argument. The legal analysis rests on a premise – for which there is no immediate public evidence – that the cartels are waging armed violence against the security forces of allies like Mexico, and that the violence is financed by cocaine shipments.

Murkowski defends lawmakers over FBI probe into military video

(KTUU-TV Anchorage) Alaska’s Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski is defending Democratic lawmakers now under FBI and Pentagon investigation for appearing in a social media video that urged U.S. troops to refuse illegal orders from their commanders. “Senator Kelly valiantly served our country as an aviator in the U.S. Navy before later completing four space shuttle missions as a NASA astronaut,” Murkowski said in a statement. “To accuse him and other lawmakers of treason and sedition for rightfully pointing out that servicemembers can refuse illegal orders is reckless and flat-out wrong. The Department of Defense and FBI surely have more important priorities than this frivolous investigation.”

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'Find the votes': Trump threatens to primary Republicans who don't support election scheme

(Raw Story) President Donald Trump threatened on Tuesday that he would not support Republicans who refuse to go along with his election scheme during the 2026 midterm. One of the ways Trump is seeking to sway the 2026 midterm in his favor is by pressuring state legislatures to undergo mid-cycle redistricting, which allows them to redraw their congressional maps. The Texas legislature was the first to redraw its maps, which sparked backlash from Democratic-controlled states like California and Maryland.

Karoline Leavitt's Family Member Captured By ICE Goons

(Daily Beast) White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has been personally linked to the brutal ICE raids sweeping America. Her 11-year-old nephew’s mother, Bruna Ferreira, is now in custody at an ICE facility at Louisiana, facing deportation to Brazil. Michael Leavitt, the press secretary’s New Hampshire-based brother, had a relationship with Ferreira, resulting in the birth of son Michael Leavitt Jnr.

Anti-fascist groups named as US terror threats 'barely exist', experts say

(The Guardian) Experts have told the Guardian the same anti-fascist groups the US state department recently named as foreign terrorist organizations and accused of “conspiring to undermine foundations of western civilization” barely qualify as groups, let alone terrorist organizations, and pose no active threat to Americans. “The whole thing is a bit ridiculous,” said Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, which tracks extremist movements worldwide, “because the groups designated by the administration barely exist and certainly aren’t terrorists.”

Trump wants a bigger White House ballroom. His architect disagrees.

(Washington Post) President Donald Trump has argued with the architect he handpicked to design a White House ballroom over the size of the project, reflecting a conflict between architectural norms and Trump's grandiose aesthetic, according to four people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal conversations. Trump's desire to go big with the project has put him at odds with architect James McCrery II, the people said, who has counseled restraint over concerns the planned 90,000-square-foot addition could dwarf the 55,000-square-foot mansion in violation of a general architectural rule: don't build an addition that overshadows the main building.