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September 5, 2025
Payrolls rose 22,000 in August, less than expected in further sign of hiring slowdown
(CNBC) Job creation sputtered in August, adding to recent signs of labor market weakening and likely keeping the Federal Reserve on track for a widely anticipated interest rate cut later this month. Nonfarm payrolls increased by just 22,000 for the month, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.3%, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report Friday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for payrolls to rise by 75,000. The report showed a marked slowdown from the July increase of 79,000, which was revised up by 6,000. Revisions also showed a net loss of 13,000 in June after the prior estimate was lowered by 27,000.
Go to discussionTrump's LA national guard deployment cost taxpayers $120m, Newsom says
(The Guardian) Donald Trump’s deployment of the national guard in Los Angeles in response to protests in the city over immigration raids cost taxpayers nearly $120m, the California governor’s office said on Thursday. The US president sent 2,000 national guard troops into the city in June amid clashes between federal immigration agents and protesters. This week a judge ruled that dispatching the military to accompany authorities on immigration enforcement operations violated federal law.
Go to discussionTry as they might, Republicans can't silence Epstein's victims
(Salon) You’d think Republicans wouldn’t forget that sex crimes leave victims. After all, it was only two years ago that E. Jean Carroll persuaded a civil jury that Trump had sexually assaulted her in the 90s. And yet, many Republicans seem rattled that Epstein’s victims finally spoke out in a showy press conference on Capitol Hill Wednesday, decrying Trump for blocking the release of the full files collected by the FBI and Justice Department on Epstein.
Go to discussionIn Undercover Video, Staffer Claims DOJ Will Hide Republican Names In Epstein Files
(Huff Post) A staffer in the Justice Department said in a secretly recorded video that the department would redact any Republican names from its investigative files on the late sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein. The administration has been funneling the Epstein files to Capitol Hill in a supposed show of transparency, but only liberals’ names will remain visible, the staffer said. Schnitt apparently thought he was speaking to someone he’d met through a dating app, but he was actually talking to an undercover operative for the right-wing entrepreneur James O’Keefe.
Go to discussionHundreds Arrested in Immigration Raid at Hyundai Site in Georgia
(WSJ) Hundreds of people including South Korean workers were arrested in an immigration raid at a Hyundai Motor battery plant under construction in Georgia, weeks after the carmaker pledged $26 billion in U.S. investments. South Korea protested the action to the U.S. and said it was trying to secure the release of its citizens.
Go to discussionSenator introduces bill to eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits
(NBC News) President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill” provides relief to certain Social Security beneficiaries who pay taxes on their benefits. But it doesn’t eliminate those levies entirely. Now, Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Arizona, introduced a bill on Thursday — titled the You Earn It, You Keep it Act — to eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits. A House version of the bill was introduced by Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minnesota, in April. Gallego’s bill would permanently eliminate federal taxes on Social Security benefits.
Go to discussionTrump to sign executive order renaming Pentagon the Department of War
(CNN) President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Friday that will change the name of the Defense Department to the Department of War, a White House official told CNN. It’s a move that the president and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have previewed in recent days, including Trump in the Oval Office last week when he told reporters his administration was going to “change the name.”
Go to discussionHow a Top Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission Into North Korea Fell Apart
(NY Times) The objective was to plant an electronic device that would let the United States intercept the communications of North Korea’s reclusive leader, Kim Jong-un, amid high-level nuclear talks with President Trump. The mission had the potential to provide the United States with a stream of valuable intelligence. But it meant putting American commandos on North Korean soil — a move that, if detected, not only could sink negotiations but also could lead to a hostage crisis or an escalating conflict with a nuclear-armed foe.
Go to discussionTrump Claims the Power to Summarily Kill Suspected Drug Smugglers
(NY Times) By ordering the U.S. military to summarily kill a group of people aboard what he said was a drug-smuggling boat, President Trump used the military in a way that had no clear legal precedent or basis, according to specialists in the laws of war and executive power. Because killing people is so extreme — and doing it without due process risks killing the wrong people by mistake — the question of which rules apply is not simply a matter of policy choice. Domestic and international law both set standards constraining when presidents and nations can lawfully use wartime force.
Go to discussionHow a Top Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission Into North Korea Fell Apart
(NY Times) The objective was to plant an electronic device that would let the United States intercept the communications of North Korea’s reclusive leader, Kim Jong-un, amid high-level nuclear talks with President Trump. The mission had the potential to provide the United States with a stream of valuable intelligence. But it meant putting American commandos on North Korean soil — a move that, if detected, not only could sink negotiations but also could lead to a hostage crisis or an escalating conflict with a nuclear-armed foe.
Go to discussion