Top aides to RFK Jr. will leave posts
The moves are part of a broader management shakeup at the health department.
Today's Liberal News
“Policy of Aggression”: Cuba’s U.N. Ambassador Denounces U.S. Oil Blockade, Push to Topple Government
Cuba is facing a growing humanitarian crisis due to a U.S.-imposed oil blockade. The Trump administration has also threatened new tariffs against any nation that sends fuel to Cuba, which has been under a U.S. trade embargo since 1962. These measures have caused fuel shortages and widespread blackouts, while the cost of food and transportation has skyrocketed. “This is a massive violation of human rights,” says Ernesto Soberón Guzmán, Cuban ambassador to the United Nations.
“Love Forward Together”: Faith Leaders in North Carolina Launch 50-Mile March for Social Justice
Faith leaders in North Carolina are leading a three-day trek from Wilson to Raleigh in an event aimed at supporting “unabridged voting rights; living wages and ending poverty; welcoming immigrants,” and more. Reverend Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove spoke with Democracy Now! from the march, saying that “love is the power that can overcome fear in this moment.
House Passes “Worst Voter Suppression Bill Ever” in Latest Push to Help Trump Take Over Elections
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to require proof of U.S. citizenship in the November midterm elections. If it becomes law, it would be the “worst voter suppression bill ever passed by Congress,” according to Ari Berman, national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones.
Super Bowl Commercials This Year Sent a Clear Message. I Hope Donald Trump Isn’t Listening.
Regrettably, I must support the Dunkin’ commercial.
The Real Reason Jeff Bezos Killed the Washington Post
The billionaire wanted the Post to die, because a vigorous, well-resourced newspaper does not help his bottom line.
Disney Just Had Its Succession Ending
Josh D’Amaro’s rise mirrors Tom Wambsgans’ improbable victory—and hints at a bleak and less creative future for Disney.
You Don’t Need an Emergency Fund. Because of Trump, You Need Something Else.
A personal finance coach explains why she’s giving her students advice she never expected to—and why it now feels unavoidable.
RFK Jr. ally says GOP risks losing his supporters
Tony Lyons told POLITICO Republican candidates must demonstrate they support Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again mission to win midterm votes.
RFK Jr.’s followers plan to back Trump-endorsed candidates
A leader of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement said he wants to preserve the Trump-Kennedy coalition that won in 2024.
Why Washington’s all-in on smart rings
Finland’s Oura is telling lawmakers and Trump officials it’s got a solution to systemic health care challenges.
MAHA and Mike Tyson want you to ‘eat real food’ during the Super Bowl
RFK Jr.’s allies are airing an ad during Sunday’s game touting the new, MAHA-inspired HHS dietary guidelines.
When Church Was a Queer Space
Outward’s hosts sit down with the host and co-creator of When We All Get to Heaven.
Remembering, with the People of MCC San Francisco, AIDS Still Isn’t Over.
The neighborhood changes, the church moves, people forget and remember “the AIDS years,” but AIDS isn’t over.
What Happens When You Organize Church Around AIDS – and AIDS Changes?
The AIDS cocktail opens new possibilities. And MCC San Francisco tries to use the experience of AIDS to make bigger social change.
The Church’s Pastor Gets Diagnosed with AIDS. And the Church Wonders How Much They Might Lose.
The church’s minister gets sick and everyone knows it.
A Church Romance Between a Hula Dancer and a Lumbersexual Blossoms in a Dangerous Time.
The church’s “it couple” faces AIDS, caregiving, and loss as part of a pair, part of families, and part of a community.
Trump in Iowa tries to shift the conversation back to the economy
A brief swing through the farm state underscored administration fears about the midterms.
Americans give Trump low marks on handling of economy as midterms likely to center on affordability
Sixty-one percent of voters told a CNN poll released Friday that they disapprove of the way Trump is handling the economy.
Vance tries to thread affordability needle in Rust Belt
The vice president fine-tunes Trump’s economic message, but he’s only got so much wiggle room.
Ex-Trump voters swung hard to Democrats over costs in NJ & VA, new research shows
Voters who backed Donald Trump in 2024 and swung to Democrats in this year’s Virginia and New Jersey elections did so over economic concerns, according to focus groups conducted by a Democratic pollster and obtained by POLITICO.
Carrie Prejean Boller Is Not Going Quietly
“It is not a biblical mandate that I have to worship Israel,” Carrie Prejean Boller told me today. The former Miss California USA turned social-media influencer was dismissed from President Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission yesterday after drawing charges of anti-Semitism. But, she wanted to make clear, she regrets nothing—and has no intention of disappearing without a fight.
On Tuesday, the Religious Liberty Commission held its fifth hearing, in Washington, D.C.
What Fabulous Timing for Gallup to Stop Tracking Presidential Approval!
Two men from headquarters walked out to the corral to tell the pollster the news. They were a big man and a little man. They were identically attired, in a dark suit and dark glasses. Both carried a briefcase.
The pollster was leaning against the split-rail fence, looking at the horses. (The horses had started to appear 88 years ago due to a misspelling of Gallup. A new one arrived with each completed poll.)
“It’s not because the president’s approval rating has been so low,” the big man said.
The ‘You Can’t Fire Me—I Quit’ Presidency
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.
RFK Jr. shakes up leadership team
The health secretary said Medicare Director Chris Klomp will now oversee all department operations.
Today’s Atlantic Trivia: What Stoic Got Rome Through a Plague?
Updated with new questions at 5:30 p.m. ET on February 12, 2026.
You won’t find this in Cortina d’Ampezzo over the next few weeks, but for several decades of the Olympics’ history, the contest awarded medals not just for sport but for art too.
In the Summer Games from 1912 to 1948, musicians, painters, and plenty of other aesthetes went brain-to-brain in events such as lyric poetry and chamber music. “Town planning” was even contested one year under the umbrella of the architecture competition.
A 168-Year-Old Question Still Worth Asking
This is an edition of Time-Travel Thursdays, a journey through The Atlantic’s archives to contextualize the present. Sign up here.
A vivid rumor began circulating in the United States in the middle of the 1850s. It was said that Robert Toombs, the ardently pro-slavery Georgia senator, was going to come to Boston and “call the roll of his slaves at the foot of Bunker Hill.
“I Was Just So Disgusted”: Jewish Rep. Balint Walks Out of Hearing After Bondi Calls Her Antisemitic
As we continue to look at Wednesday’s contentious hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, we speak with Vermont Congressmember Becca Balint, who walked out after Attorney General Pam Bondi accused her of supporting antisemitism. Balint, who is Jewish and whose grandfather died in the Holocaust, had just asked Bondi to meet with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein — a demand that Bondi repeatedly ignored during the hearing.
Oscar-Nominated Filmmaker Jafar Panahi Speaks Out on Jailing of Screenwriter Mehdi Mahmoudian in Iran
Authorities in Iran have arrested the Oscar-nominated screenwriter Mehdi Mahmoudian in Tehran. Mahmoudian co-wrote the film It Was Just an Accident with dissident director Jafar Panahi, and their film is nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature at this year’s Academy Awards.