A pollster for Senate Republicans was met with disbelief on Saturday after telling GOP donors and operatives that they could grow their majority in November's midterm elections, sources tell Axios.
Why it matters: "Delusional," one attendee at the National Republican Senatorial Committee's Sea Island retreat in Georgia told Axios after the presentation by the pollster, Erik Iverson. "The mood is not good," said another.
OpenAI, Anthropic and security researchers are investigating tens of thousands of incidents in which their frontier models took steps that outside evaluators would consider problematic, sources told Axios.
Why it matters: The sheer number of incidents, which occurred in recent months in internal testing and the real world, indicates that the problem is orders of magnitude more complex than what is publicly known.
President Trump told voters to pretend he's on the ballot. Apparently they're listening: Republicans coast to coast are getting pulled under by a violent undertow fueled by Trump's unpopularity.
Why it matters: It's looked bad for Republicans all year, but this week felt different — like the political environment was disintegrating in real time, one ominous data point after another.
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) has spent more taxpayer money on travel than any other senator's office since the fall of 2024 — including $625,000 on private charter companies, according to an analysis of public disclosures provided to Axios.
Why it matters: Senators routinely fly between Washington and their home states on taxpayers' dime. But only a handful regularly rely on private flights.
The U.S. and China have agreed to set up a dialogue on artificial intelligence, with a communications channel to help defuse serious incidents, the White House said overnight.
Why it matters: President Trump has said the main thing that matters in the AI race is beating China — but the pact acknowledges that they're serious competition, too.
A Trump-appointed federal judge held the administration in contempt Friday for deporting a young asylum seeker to El Salvador in violation of three court orders — and ordered the government to bring him back to the U.S.
Why it matters: It's the latest clash between the Trump administration and federal courts over deportations carried out despite judicial protections, with the judge finding the government violated orders dating from November 2024, April 2025 and July 2026.
The Supreme Court cleared the way Friday for the Trump administration's expanded system to verify voters' citizenship status, handing the administration a win for now in its campaign to implement new election rules ahead of the midterms.
The big picture: Voting rights groups warn the administration's tactic could lead to eligible voters being incorrectly disqualified.
Why it matters: "Superintelligence" already has a distinct meaning in AI — and is fueling debates over whether the most advanced systems should be slowed or stopped.
A federal judge slammed ICE for what he called "inhumane and unconstitutional" conditions at a New York City detention center and issued a permanent injunction imposing sweeping standards on the facility.
Why it matters: The ruling echoes other court decisions tied to President Trump's rapid expansion of immigration arrests and detention.
Democrats are demanding a U.S. government-funded, campaign-style ad promoting President Trump be pulled as it airs weeks before the midterms, while the White House argues it's a public service announcement.
Why it matters: Federal agencies routinely spend taxpayer dollars on public service campaigns. Democrats argue using federal funds for a video that looks like political advertising crosses a legal red line.
Democrats are adopting a drastically more negative tone toward their own party in the 2026 midterm elections, swapping promises of bipartisan collaboration with vows to "take on corruption in both parties."
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) criticized President Trump's warm reception for Chinese President Xi Jinping, questioning why Xi received a warmer welcome than some U.S. allies.
Why it matters: Tillis has repeatedly broken with Trump since deciding not to seek reelection, freeing him to emerge as an outspoken Republican critic of the president.
House Republicans are on track to lose their majority just a little over one month out from the midterm elections, according to a nonpartisan election forecaster.
Why it matters:Cook Political Report shifted 15 House races toward Democrats on Friday, the latest sign that the political environment is deteriorating for Republicans.
ICE has received more than $75 billion to expand operations since President Trump returned to office — and wasted millions on scaled-back and mismanaged projects, a new GAO report found.
Why it matters: In rushing to execute Trump's mass deportation agenda, the agency failed to properly develop a strategic plan, according to the Government Accountability Office report.
Bill Gates will warn on this weekend's "Meet the Press" that he can see a future where AI wipes out humanity.
Why it matters:Gates, one of technology's leading optimists, has increasingly sounded the alarm on AI dangers. His new comments come as techology leaders and the government weight how to handle fears of an AI-created doomsday.
The risks of the ballooning AI borrowing binge rose to the surface Thursday, courtesy of Oracle. The tech giant, which is up to its ears in AI-related debt, is trying to put off paying its lease commitments on a much-delayed data center project.
Why it matters: Oracle is the weakest of the hyperscalers, with the lowest credit rating and a stock that's down 30% for the year — but with AI investment driving much of the economic growth in the U.S., its wobbles mean a lot.
Foreign investors bought a record $426 billion in stocks and investment fund shares in the second quarter, according to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis out Thursday.
Why it matters: The AI boom is attracting loads of overseas money, and the flood of dough counters a prevailing notion that the U.S. is losing ground with foreign investors.
With midterms 39 days away and the outlook for President Trump's party looking increasingly bleak, top Republicans say they're focused on three big questions for the final stretch:
Thursday's Senate confirmation hearing for Food and Drug Administration commissioner nominee Heidi Overton yielded little insight as to how she'd regulate access to vaccines and abortion pills, or whether some key Republican senators would support her.
Why it matters: With so little time left on the congressional calendar, the FDA may not have a full-time political leader in place before the end of the year, even as the agency faces hugely consequential decisions.
Debates in political campaigns used to be a given. Today, candidates increasingly view them as optional — or a political liability to be avoided.
Why it matters: In a midterm cycle dominated by unprecedented spending on contrast ads, the candidates themselves are remarkably reluctant to challenge each other face-to-face.
