In Big Sky Country, Big Political Intrigue Montana Democrats thought they found a novel way to win control of the U.S. Senate—until the party faithful started fighting back.

Montana Democrats thought an independent could help them take back the Senate—then their own party started fighting back, @michaelscherer.bsky.social reports.

Kash Patel’s Erratic Behavior Could Cost Him His Job The FBI director has alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences.

This is a big one. Stellar reporting from Sarah Fitzpatrick. To call it a must-read is an understatement: www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Hungary Has Ousted an Autocrat Viktor Orbán had support from Moscow and Washington, but not from his own people.

Viktor Orbán has been ousted—and efforts by Washington and Moscow to prop the autocratic leader up give his defeat implications that extend far beyond Hungary, @isaacstanleybecker.bsky.social reports from Budapest.

The $97 Million Utah Warehouse ICE Bought for $145 Million Trump wants industrial-size immigration jails, and money is no obstacle.

Last month, the Department of Homeland Security snapped up an empty warehouse on the outskirts of Salt Lake City for $145.4 million—paying nearly 50 percent more than the property’s 2025 assessed value. @nickmiroff.bsky.social reports on ICE's spending spree:

The $97 Million Utah Warehouse ICE Bought for $145 Million Trump wants industrial-size immigration jails, and money is no obstacle.

Just before Kristi Noem left DHS her team massively overpaid for an empty Salt Lake City warehouse it plans to convert into an ICE detention center. "Crazy," one broker called the sale price. The deal--and 10 other warehouse purchases--are under investigation. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

The Real Intelligence Failure in Iran A costly quagmire was predictable. Trump went to war anyway.

Two decades after the intel failures of Iraq, Trump “disregards assessments that proved to be right, and the predictable comes to pass. There’s a failure of intelligence there too—just not the kind we’re used to seeing.” Read @shaneharris.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

The Next Scientific Superpower When will Chinese research pull ahead of ours?

While U.S. research struggles, a different pattern is emerging overseas, Ross Andersen writes. Is China on the verge of becoming the next scientific superpower?

Kristi Noem is Gone. Now Mass Deportations Can Really Begin. DHS has a new leader and a big pot of money to deliver on Trump’s campaign promise.

NEW: DHS already has the money it needs to carry out Trump's immigration crackdown, and Markwayne Mullin has inherited a mass deportation apparatus in full-blown expansion mode www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Meet the New ICE Same as the old ICE?

Markwayne Mullin has been confirmed as head of DHS. @nickmiroff.bsky.social joins @hannarosin.bsky.social to discuss what the leadership change could mean for ICE:

How ICE Landed At Your Airport We’re in a partial shutdown at the moment, you’ll recall.

Come to find out how ICE wound up in your security line, stay for the Pulp Fiction reference (and always read @nickmiroff.bsky.social ) slate.com/podcasts/wha...

A Serious Senate Debate About an Unserious Bill The most pressing question about the SAVE America Act is not whether it’s going to pass, but why President Trump and his allies are so determined to see the Senate put up a bill that’s doomed to fail.

A Serious Senate Debate About an Unserious Bill, with @russellberman.bsky.social
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

The ‘Big Black Scar’ Trump is blowing up national-park land in Arizona to wall off one of the border’s last wild places.

@nickmiroff.bsky.social: “When Trump first proposed the wall, in 2015, it was a blunt solution to a complex crisis at the border ... Now back in office and freed of his first-term limits, he has turned its completion—even through remote areas—into a vanity project.”

The ‘Big Black Scar’ Trump is blowing up national-park land in Arizona to wall off one of the border’s last wild places.

With $46.5 billion to spend, Trump has resumed construction on the border wall, even in remote areas with few illegal crossings, @nickmiroff.bsky.social reports from Arizona’s San Rafael Valley.

The ‘Big Black Scar’ Trump is blowing up national-park land in Arizona to wall off one of the border’s last wild places.

NEW: Loaded with $$$ from the OBBB and freed from his first-term restraints, Trump is blowing up national-park land in Arizona to wall off the remote San Rafael Valley, one of the border’s last wild places www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

What Happens Now to Kristi Noem’s Warehouse Jails? DHS’s next leader will inherit a fast-moving $38 billion plan for industrial-scale immigrant detention.

New: Under Kristi Noem, ICE purchased 11 large warehouses around the country that it plans to convert into megajails, @nickmiroff.bsky.social reports—but senior DHS officials tell him they expect that effort to slow down and perhaps even pause:

What Happens Now to Kristi Noem’s Warehouse Jails? DHS’s next leader will inherit a fast-moving $38 billion plan for industrial-scale immigrant detention.

NEW: with Kristi Noem out and mass deportations polling badly, ICE's $38 billion warehouse conversion plan is in trouble and DHS officials say a "pause" wouldn't be a bad thing www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

High Stakes, and a Low Bar, For Markwayne Mullin at DHS Trump’s nominee has one big thing going for him: He’s not Kristi Noem.

Trump’s nominee for homeland security secretary has one big thing going for him: He’s not Kristi Noem, @nickmiroff.bsky.social writes. Here’s what's at stake for Markwayne Mullin as the head of an agency in crisis:

High Stakes, and a Low Bar, For Markwayne Mullin at DHS Trump’s nominee has one big thing going for him: He’s not Kristi Noem.

Trump’s nominee for homeland security secretary has one big thing going for him: He’s not Kristi Noem, @nickmiroff.bsky.social writes. Here’s what's at stake for Markwayne Mullin as the head of an agency in crisis:

How Kristi Noem Lost Her Job She probably should have seen Trump’s decision to find a new homeland-security secretary coming.

Kristi Noem generated more scandals over the past year than a typical administration would muster in four—but what reportedly got her fired was “pointing the finger at her boss,” Jonathan Chait argues.

Why Trump Changed His Mind on Kristi Noem Congressional questions about contracts, ads, and extramarital sex ended her tenure.

Kristi Noem’s ouster was the result of “unfortunate leadership failures” and self-promotion that “overshadowed and distracted” from Trump’s immigration agenda, an administration official told Nick Miroff, Michael Scherer, and Russell Berman:

Why Trump Changed His Mind on Kristi Noem Congressional questions about contracts, ads, and extramarital sex ended her tenure.

Story with @michaelscherer.bsky.social @russellberman.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Trump said he didn’t approve Noem’s $220M ad campaign. But she told this story more than a year ago at a CPAC dinner

California’s Deadliest Avalanche Turned on One Choice Why did a group of 15 skiers take a risky route on a dangerous day?

"They had all been buried within a 20-by-20-foot area near the toe of the avalanche debris, under as much as eight feet of snow." Read Josh Partlow's definitive account of the deadliest avalanche in Calif history @theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com/science/2026...

California’s Deadliest Avalanche Turned on One Choice Why did a group of 15 skiers take a risky route on a dangerous day?

Read the great Josh Partlow on the avalanche that stunned the nation

www.theatlantic.com/science/2026...

Trump Is Expected to Endorse Cornyn Republican strategists hope the endorsement will make the Texas Senate race less expensive and less competitive.

NEW: President Trump is expected to endorse John Cornyn over Ken Paxton in the Texas GOP primary runoff, three people briefed on the deliberations told @ashleyrparker.bsky.social and @michaelscherer.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

ICE training was slashed, records show, corroborating whistleblower claims Previously unreported records also offer new details about what was cut from ICE’s basic training program. Concerns about the quality of ICE agents’ training have mounted for months.

"The DHS records obtained and analyzed by The Post show that the program was first cut to 47 days in August and further reduced in September to 42 days. Since then, all trainings have been on a 42-day schedule, the records show." www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

War With Iran Has Begun. Where Does It End? Trump has launched combat operations despite little public support and widespread fears among allies.

NEW: Trump is pursuing war in Iran without congressional approval, with little appetite among his base for another regime-change operation in the Middle East, and with allies in the region having discouraged it, @nancyayoussef and @JonLemire write.
www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

Trump’s Suddenly High-Stakes State of the Union The president is visiting Congress in a dramatically different place from where he was a year ago.

“But there’s a problem with the idea that Trump can simply rerun his 2024 campaign and expect the same result: Over the past two years, many of his most popular issues have turned into political liabilities” www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

The whistleblower docs seem to confirm what @nickmiroff.bsky.social reported in @theatlantic.com, that ICE cut training hours for ERO officers "roughly in half, partly by eliminating Spanish-language courses"

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing people local newspaper reporters are rarified elites instead of ink-stained wretches driving their Honda Civic to a crime scene so you know don’t have to rely on Nextdoor and the police press release.