Today's Liberal News

COVID Shots for Kids Are Over

Long before he joined the FDA to run the center that regulates vaccines, Vinay Prasad argued against COVID shots for kids. Among his many criticisms of the United States’ approach to combatting the disease, Prasad has insisted that pediatric vaccines have few benefits for kids—and has maintained that the FDA should never have authorized COVID boosters for them, that the CDC should never have recommended those shots, and that “it is malpractice for a doctor to recommend the booster to children.

The Trump Administration’s Favorite Answer

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.
One of the key predecessors of the modern Republican Party was the Know Nothing Party, so called because of its secrecy. When asked about the organization, members would reputedly reply, “I know nothing.

Trump Hands Putin Another Victory

For years, President Donald Trump has bragged that he, and only he, could bring an end to the Russia-Ukraine war. “I’ll have that done in 24 hours,” he said repeatedly during his most recent presidential campaign. Once back in the White House, he told advisers to plan for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the hope of creating a made-for-TV spectacle during which he could formally announce a resolution to the war, two administration officials and an outside adviser told me.

Trump’s Brain Drain: Scientists Look to Move Abroad as DOGE Slashes Research Funding in U.S.

Cuts by the Trump administration are beginning to “chase” U.S.-based scientists at federal agencies and research institutions out of the country. “We’re draining our scientific talent,” says environmental journalist Robert Hunziker, who explains how China and European countries are offering positions for scientists laid off, fired or pushed out by Trump and DOGE’s mass culling of federal workers and funding. The massive U.S.

Tax Revolt: Arjun Singh on the Roots of Trump’s Push for Massive $4.5 Trillion Tax Cut for the Rich

As President Trump pushes House Republicans to support a sweeping budget bill that gives massive tax breaks to the rich while slashing spending for Medicaid, food stamps and subsidies for clean energy, we look at a new series for The Lever’s podcast Lever Time, which covers the history of the Republican anti-tax movement and how their anti-government influence is impacting Trump’s attempts to build power.

“A Big, Ugly, Destructive, Deadly Bill”: Bishop William Barber Slams Bill Cutting Medicaid, Medicare

As a Republican-sponsored budget bill advances through Congress, we hear from Bishop William Barber about how the bill hurts low-income people. “It is about death-dealing and destruction to the poor and the elderly and the youth of our country,” says Barber, citing the bill’s cuts to essential social services like Medicaid and paralleling those cuts to the government’s funding of defense and deportation initiatives.

Trump’s Newest Crackdown on Dissent

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.

At Least Two Newspapers Syndicated AI Garbage

At first glance, “Heat Index” appears as inoffensive as newspaper features get. A “summer guide” sprawling across more than 50 pages, the feature, which was syndicated over the past week in both the Chicago Sun-Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer, contains “303 Must-Dos, Must-Tastes, and Must-Tries” for the sweaty months ahead. Readers are advised in one section to “Take a moonlight hike on a well-marked trail” and “Fly a kite on a breezy afternoon.

The Rushed, Blundering Effort to Send Deportees to Third Countries

The Trump administration has acknowledged a new error in a case challenging its attempts to send deportees to any country that will take them. Another immigrant who had earned protected status was rushed out of the country and put in danger—and U.S. officials have offered little more than a shrug.
This time, the immigrant is a gay man from Guatemala who fled death threats and twice tried to seek refuge in the United States. First, he was denied and deported home.