Author: Brittany Mays

President Trump has nominated Hung Cao to be Navy Secretary after Cao served as acting secretary since April, marking a step to solidify leadership for the Navy and signal priorities on readiness, shipbuilding, and a tougher posture in the Indo-Pacific. President Trump on Tuesday nominated Hung Cao to become Navy Secretary, after serving in the post in an acting capacity since April. That announcement formalizes what many expected after months of transitional leadership at the Pentagon level. Republicans see a straight path: confirm a leader who can focus on fleet strength, maintenance, and deterrence. The nomination clears the way for…

Honeywell Aerospace Inc. has agreed to pay $2,042,518 to resolve allegations that it is liable under the False Claims Act for failing to comply with cybersecurity requirements in a contract with the U.S. government. The payment settles claims tied to alleged lapses in meeting contract cybersecurity obligations. This action underscores growing enforcement scrutiny of contractor cybersecurity practices. The reported payment of $2,042,518 represents a formal resolution of civil allegations under the False Claims Act, which targets false or fraudulent claims made to the government. Companies facing these allegations often negotiate settlements to resolve government concerns without prolonged litigation. In this…

Against received wisdom, the GOP might be better served with only a half victory this November. “Would the president be better off losing the lower chamber?” That question has been tossed around by strategists and cable hosts for months, and it deserves a clear, unapologetic take. The instinct for Republicans is always to chase total control, but politics is about leverage, protection, and the long game. A divided Washington can sometimes be the smartest path for advancing conservative priorities while guarding the party’s core leader. First, a Republican president with a Democratic or narrowly split House reduces the chance of…

Tom Begich dropped his bid for Alaska governor after the August 18 primary and backed Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins to consolidate Democratic support, a move shaped by the state’s top-four ranked-choice system and looming withdrawal deadlines. Tom Begich, a former legislator and one of only two Democrats in the open primary, announced his exit days after the August 18 vote and urged fellow Democrats to rally behind Kreiss-Tomkins. In a short video message he was blunt: “the strongest path to winning in November is not two Democratic candidates competing for the same donors and resources.” Begich added that the goal was “bringing…

House lawmakers returned to Washington on Monday with a short to-do list after five weeks back in their home districts, and the opening move looks to be a quick vote on a temporary spending measure while bigger fights over priorities and spending play out. House lawmakers returned to Washington on Monday with a short to-do list after five weeks back in their home districts. The first order of business is most likely a vote on a stopgap spending bill to keep government programs running while negotiations continue. That procedural step is familiar but it should not be treated as an…

Washington and Ottawa clashed over a stalled trade deal, but there are bigger players—and shifting energy and geopolitical ties—that are quietly reshaping the negotiation dynamics between the United States and Canada. Negotiators in Washington shrugged when Ottawa walked away over a language provision, but the fallout is more than a simple misunderstanding. The US has leverage in this moment, and two outside actors—China and Venezuela—are quietly changing the balance. Those shifts matter for $900 billion in bilateral trade and for how Washington approaches its northern neighbor. President Donald Trump announced on August 28 that the United States has agreed to…

President Trump’s longtime teleprompter operator has been suspended from the prediction market Kalshi for using insider information about the president’s speeches to gain more than $100,000, a development that raises questions about access, accountability, and how markets handle sensitive political information. The basic allegation is simple and specific: a teleprompter operator with direct, routine access to the president’s remarks used that inside knowledge to trade on Kalshi and came away with over $100,000. That raw fact matters because the operator’s role exists to support the speech itself, not to move markets, yet the number involved makes this more than a…

More rain and thunderstorms were possible Monday at the Grand Canyon after a major flash flood left one person dead and about 15 people missing or unaccounted for, and prompted the evacuation of scores of visitors. The sudden flash flood swelled narrow canyon washes and cut off trails and backcountry routes, leaving search-and-rescue teams racing against worsening weather and rising water. Park officials confirmed one fatality and said roughly 15 people were missing or unaccounted for amid ongoing efforts to locate them. Evacuations moved many visitors to safer zones while crews focused on the hardest-hit areas. Emergency responders faced steep…

This piece uses a simple image — a clown bike horn — to explore predictability, purpose, and why some things are built to do only one thing well. They’re like a horn on a clown’s bicycle: When you squeeze it, it goes honk. It won’t ever make a new noise, because it’s a horn on a clown’s bicycle. That simple comparison sits behind a lot of everyday judgment calls about usefulness and identity. At the literal level, the horn is gloriously one-note. You apply pressure, a membrane vibrates, air moves through a chamber, and you get sound. The mechanics are…

The Grand Canyon saw a sudden flash flood that forced evacuations and sent large boulders, metal structures, and other debris plunging into the Colorado River. A fast-moving flash flood raced through the Grand Canyon, prompting officials to evacuate dozens of people from affected areas. The torrent carried heavy rocks and pieces of infrastructure into the Colorado River that threads the canyon. Park staff and emergency crews moved quickly to account for visitors and get people to safer ground. Witnesses described scenes of roaring water and debris slamming into the river corridor, leaving a chaotic trail behind. Metal frames, camping gear,…