DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin sent letters to election officials in California, New Jersey, Nevada, and Pennsylvania alleging a preliminary review found over 256,000 potential noncitizen voter registrations, cross-referenced against federal immigration data. The findings are preliminary — many noncitizens are legally issued Social Security numbers — and DHS asked states to verify before taking action. The allegations were the centerpiece of President Trump's primetime election-integrity address last week.
President Trump announced he will refuse to sign a fully-passed housing bill unless the Senate moves on the SAVE America Act, which would require photo ID and proof of citizenship to vote. The bill is stalled with insufficient votes, and at least one senator has already called for impeachment over Trump's election speech last week. The standoff is a new pressure tactic from the White House aimed directly at Senate Republicans.
OPM Director Scott Kupor announced the federal government will overhaul its hiring standards following the court-ordered end of the Luevano Consent Decree, allowing agencies to test applicants on actual job skills rather than seniority points or college credentials. It marks the first significant change to civil service hiring in roughly 40 years, and a parallel Gen Z recruitment campaign aims to make government employment appealing to younger workers.
A tent city stretching from 34th to 46th Street along 11th Avenue near the Intrepid Museum has exploded in size, with residents reporting open drug use, prostitution, and theft. Mayor Zohran Mamdani's response — a seven-day outreach window before any clearance — has enraged local businesses and drawn comparisons to Los Angeles's Skid Row. City outreach workers were photographed this week collecting trash while leaving most tents standing.
Former Manchester mayor Andy Burnham was sworn in today as the UK's 59th prime minister, replacing Keir Starmer, who resigned after Labour's bruising May local election results. In his inaugural address Burnham pledged nationalization of utilities, expanded public housing, and re-industrialization — and within an hour of taking office phoned President Trump and invited him to visit Manchester. The Trump administration used the call to press Burnham on AUKUS nuclear submarine funding and North Sea oil drilling.
Even before taking office, Burnham called for sanctioning Israeli leaders and referring them to international courts over Gaza operations — a direct collision with the Trump administration's posture. The U.S. has previously pushed back hard against the UK, Canada, and Australia for similar moves, and analysts expect this to become a sharp early flashpoint between Washington and London.
A three-month mass trial of 486 MS-13 gang members concluded in El Salvador this week, with prosecutors delivering closing arguments requesting maximum sentences. President Bukele's crackdown has driven the country's homicide rate from 7.8 to 1.3 per 100,000, and the U.S. State Department has upgraded El Salvador's travel advisory to a rating safer than France or the United Kingdom.
UC San Diego surgeons remotely guided $20,000 humanoid robots through two successful gallbladder removal procedures in a preclinical pig trial — the first time human-shaped robots have completed live laparoscopic surgery. The robots mirrored surgeons' movements rather than making autonomous decisions, and researchers say the technology could address surgeon shortages and extend specialty care to rural and remote communities.
The incoming Burnham government confirmed it will scrap the Starmer-era proposal for a national digital ID scheme, citing fierce public opposition to centralized identity surveillance. Civil liberties groups celebrated the reversal, though privacy advocates warn that social media age-verification laws already moving through Parliament could effectively create a backdoor mandatory ID regime anyway.
Political influencer Hasan Piker appeared at the 2026 College Democrats of America summer convention in Washington wearing an outfit widely compared to Mao Zedong's wardrobe, calling for an end to the "American empire" and accusing fellow Democrats of collaborating "with the fascists." The clip cracked one million views within hours. GOP strategists called it "faculty lounge cosplay communism."
