Senate Passes Bipartisan Bill To Fund Government Through DecemberThe Senate easily passed a bipartisan continuing resolution early Saturday morning that will keep the government funded through December as Congress hopes to avoid a government shutdown ahead of the November midterm elections.The measure, which passed in a 90-6 vote, would keep the government funded at current levels through Dec. 11, six weeks beyond the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year. But it does come with some exceptions.For example, the bill closes a loophole that would have allowed the Trump administration to continue transferring money from other programs to Border Patrol, and temporarily blocks a proposed rule from the White House Office of Management and Budget that would have given political appointees greater authority and final say over the distribution of federal grants.The bill still requires a House vote, but lawmakers have already left for August recess and won’t take it up until they return in early September.Latest Live UpdatesSenate Confirms Todd Blanche As Attorney General Despite All His CorruptionWASHINGTON – Senate Republicans confirmed Todd Blanche to be U.S. attorney general, shrugging off his corruption, his steadfast loyalty to President Donald Trump and his politicization of the Justice Department in the months he’s been in this job in an acting role.Blanche was narrowly confirmed in a 50-49 vote. Two Republicans joined Democrats in voting no: Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.Every senator could have reasonably opposed confirming Blanche, who was previously Trump’s personal lawyer, by raising concerns about his record of putting his loyalty to Trump over the law.Read more here.Abdul El-Sayed Tells Mike Rogers To 'Keep The Name Out Your Damn Mouth'The Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, slammed his opponent former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) for mispronouncing his full name. “Now Mike, I’m just going to remind you: if you don’t know how to say the name, keep the name out your damn mouth. Or just call me Abdul,” El-Sayed said during a rally in Detroit on Friday. El-Sayed has accused Rogers and other Republicans of weaponizing his full Arabic name, Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, against him.El-Sayed went on to say that Rogers’ name was very fitting for him. “But I got some opinions about his name. See, it’s very fitting for him: Rogers,” he said. “Cause that’s his answer every time a corporation or Donald Trump tells him to do something. ‘Mike, we need you to put a data center in the backyard.’ ‘Roger!’” “’Mike, we need you to hike their prescription drug prices.’ ‘Roger!’ ‘Mike, we need you to rubber-stamp this war we shouldn’t be fighting.’ ‘Roger!’ ‘Mike’ and this one’s Donald Trump, ‘I need you to lick these boots.’ ‘Roger!’” he continued. Watch El-Sayed’s remarks from Friday’s rally here:El-Sayed: Now Mike, I'm just going to remind you: if you don't know how to say the name, keep the name out your damn mouth. Or just call me Abdul. But I got some opinions about his name. See, it's very fitting for him: Rogers.Cause that's his answer every time a corporation or… pic.twitter.com/DwupU5T0hu— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) August 8, 2026Trump Sure Had A Crappy Friday. Let's Review.President Donald Trump was handed a series of losses on Friday, but as always, he attempted to play it off. Here’s a rundown of how his day went:A federal appeals court blocked his $400 million White House ballroom project, calling for any above-ground construction to stop immediately. Trump repeatedly raged over the decision on social media throughout the day.The president also faced a setback this week in the $10 million lawsuit he brought against the BBC, forcing him to submit an emergency order to prevent the disclosure of his financial records in court. He also withdrew allegations that the network had damaged his brand and businesses.In another court loss for Trump, a judge ruled Friday that his administration violated disability rights when it removed blind vendors from Army bases. The president tried to save face on Truth Social after his pick in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional district lost on Thursday, pointing to a number of other candidates who won after earning his endorsement. “Last night was another good night for Endorsements. 8-1, and the 1 was a person who I remained loyal to even though he had virtually no chance of winning,” he wrote, throwing Rep. Andy Ogles under the bus after he lost his primary.Trump continued to melt down over the Justice Department withdrawing charges over damage to his Reflecting Pool renovations. “People were on their knees with their hands in the water at the exact location of the ‘slashes,’” he wrote on Truth Social. “Additionally, there were witnesses to the VANDALISM, and the flexible areas of the material were cut with a knife.”The Labor Department issued a depressing jobs report on Friday showing that 23,000 positions were cut last month, a major blow to the president only three months before midterms.Trump appears to already be preparing for a possible disastrous midterms for Republicans, telling Punchbowl News that voters are “angry at Republicans. But they’re not angry at me. They’re not angry at me, but they are angry at Republicans.”Trump Fumes At Suggestion He’s Merely A ‘Tenant’ Of White House In Another Ballroom MeltdownPresident Donald Trump on Friday lamented being referred to as a temporary tenant of the White House in a court ruling that blocks the construction of his $400 million ballroom unless he receives congressional approval.Trump’s meltdown was over language in the ruling stating that “[e]ach ‌President is a temporary tenant, not the owner” of the White House.“We are not tenants, who pay rent and do all other things that a tenant must do, we are PRESIDENTS, elected by the people of the United States of America, and have many rights, including the right to fix, renovate, secure, protect, and beautify the White House grounds, which has been built and rebuilt, renovated and rerenovated, repaired and, simply, MADE BETTER, many times since 1792, and never needing the permission of Congress, or anyone else, to do so,” Trump said in a rambling Truth Social post, calling the decision a national security threat and “national disgrace.”Democrat Seeking To Replace Pelosi Apologizes For AI Chatbot Targeting OpponentCalifornia state Sen. Scott Wiener, one of the Democrats running to succeed House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi in November, apologized on Friday for creating an AI chatbot that produced negative information about his opponent, San Francisco lawmaker Connie Chan.“My campaign created ConnieChan.ai as a parody to draw attention to my opponent’s record of delay and obstruction around housing, public transit, and other critical needs,” Wiener said in a statement. “Today, we are taking down the chatbot, and the billboards that promoted it will come down soon.”Wiener admitted that the AI chatbot “clearly missed the mark.”“I heard from many people who loved the idea, and I appreciate their support,” he continued. “But many others were offended, and I apologize for causing that offense. Innovation means trying new things, and it also means being honest when something doesn’t land the way you intended.”A spokesperson for Chan said in a statement to HuffPost that Wiener’s chatbot creates concerns about his character and judgment.“San Franciscans deserve better than a campaign funded by Big AI weaponizing the technology to mock an immigrant woman of color, doubling down after justified outrage, then reversing course and shrugging it off as simply ‘missing the mark,’” the spokesperson said.Pelosi and nine other female lawmakers condemned Wiener’s strategy in a letter posted to social media Thursday, asserting that it furthered “racist misogynistic tropes.”“Using AI to fabricate a woman’s voice for ridicule or attack is a gross misuse of technology and reflects a disturbing willingness to erase women’s agency,” the letter read. Chan, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, was endorsed by Pelosi ahead of the November election. Top U.S. Military Official ‘Looking For An Off Ramp’ From Trump’s War With Iran: ReportGen. Dan Caine, the highest-ranking U.S. military officer, has informed other top officials in the Trump administration to look for ways to exit the war with Iran, multiple sources told CNN. Caine is reportedly concerned that any further escalation of the war could backfire, and President Donald Trump’s desired objectives are likely unachievable through air strikes alone. “Caine is looking for an off ramp,” one of the sources told CNN. Read more: Trump, 80, Continues To Rage About Reflecting Pool He RuinedPresident Donald Trump is still whining about the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool he destroyed.“Now that people are able to see it up close, they are reporting pure VANDALISM at The Reflecting Pool,” Trump posted on Truth Social Friday.Last week, the Justice Department dropped its criminal case against a former Olympian accused of vandalizing the pool. Government lawyers admitted that the damage was instead the result of a botched installation by a contractor, and the “rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026.”Trump still can’t let it go. On Friday, he called on Jeanine Pirro — a former Fox News host who is now a U.S. attorney — to “re-visit” the criminal case.“Additionally, there were witnesses to the VANDALISM, and the flexible areas of the material were cut with a knife,” Trump raged in his Truth Social post. “U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro should re-visit her hastily made decision, especially since it turned out that the ‘gentleman’ involved is a big player in ActBlue, a disgraceful fundraising SCAM, and is represented by a TRUMP DERANGED SLEAZEBAG, Political Hack Lawyer, Norm Eisen, and CREW, a group that uses ‘charity’ for political purposes which is, to the best of my knowledge, ILLEGAL!”Justice Samuel Alito Is ‘Obviously’ Staying On Court For Another Term, He Tells WSJSupreme Court Justice Samuel Alito told The Wall Street Journal he is staying on the Court for another term after now-retracted reporting from NPR said the opposite.“Obviously I’m here for another term,” Alito, 76, told the Journal over a month after the NPR story was published on June 30. He also addressed calls for him to retire. “It’s not pleasant, in the sense that it’s a reminder of mortality,” he said. “It’s like, what are those vultures doing up there? They are flying around. But it goes with life tenure.”Read more at The Wall Street Journal: Judge Won’t Toss Indictment Against Southern Poverty Law CenterFinding no evidence of vindictive prosecution, a federal judge on Friday ruled that an indictment brought against the Southern Poverty Law Center by the Justice Department cannot be dismissed. The nonprofit group, which has investigated extremist and hate groups since the 1970s, was indicted in April. The charges were thin and largely focused on claims that SPLC committed a conspiracy to launder money through its paid informant program. The group moved to have the indictment dismissed in May, arguing the Trump administration was unfairly targeting them and attempting to silence them for their probing of the administration’s policies and support Trump has received from extremist groups like Patriot Front or the Proud Boys. (FBI director Kash Patel ended the government’s years-long relationship with SPLC last year.)U.S. District Judge Emily Marks found SPLC “fail[ed] to establish some evidence tending to show prosecutorial animus” and that nothing thus far “warrant[ed] discovery into the government’s motives.” Public comments like those from acting attorney general Todd Blanche that SPLC “stoke[s] racial hatred” didn’t count as malicious because those were part of the official claims, she found.“This case typifies modern American discourse. It is unsurprising that the parties arguments primarily comprise what has become all too common: ad hominem attacks in the form of press releases, interviews and social media posts… but our Republic recognizes different venues to vindicate different things; federal courts are not the proper forum for airing political grievances,” Marks wrote.The trial in Alabama is expected to begin in October.Trump Threatens Lisa Cook, Again, Despite SCOTUS RulingPresident Donald Trump has revived his effort to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve, despite a Supreme Court ruling in June that found he couldn’t fire Cook over made-up charges of mortgage fraud.Sources told ABC News and the Financial Times that the White House sent a letter to Cook this week telling her it was “considering” removing her from the Reserve and demanding a response within three weeks.Cook’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, dismissed outright the accusations of mortgage fraud in a statement to the Financial Times.“These allegations are as baseless now as they were a year ago when President Trump tried to remove Governor Cook and interfere with the independence of the Federal Reserve,” Lowell said.Trump has targeted Cook and prior Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for asserting the central bank’s independence as he repeatedly and loudly implored them to lower interest rates.See All Updates