Mary McCue Bell

U.S. weather forecasting heads to the cloud, with Google as lead provider

The federal government's core weather forecast supercomputing operation is moving to the commercial cloud.

July 28, 2026

Pentagon shifts 4 Iran war deaths to ‘Overseas Operations’ category as Senate Dems demand answers

The Pentagon moved to classify four Iran war deaths as "Overseas Operations," days after it was revealed that the official death toll was lowered from 18 to 14, excluding service members who died after the broken ceasefire deal.

July 28, 2026

GOP anti-fraud bill promises preliminary $168 billion payoff

The recently introduced Anti-Fraud Fund Act would reportedly save $168 billion over a decade through recouped and halted fraudulent payments.

July 28, 2026

SNAP’s fraud problem meets a slow fix: Chip cards arrive state by state

Vulnerable food stamp recipients are finding their cards empty due to hidden "skimming" devices that criminals plant on ordinary card readers, turning government assistance into a $1 billion-a-year ruse.

July 28, 2026

Voter ID provision torpedoes Senate vote on stock trading ban

The House's Stop Insider Trading Act failed to pass the Senate this week, devolving into a partisan debate over tacking voter ID provisions onto what would otherwise be a straightforward stock trading ban.

July 28, 2026

Netanyahu accuses Mamdani of stoking antisemitism, says Democrats privately fear radical fringe

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday accused New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani of fomenting antisemitism and directly blamed his anti-Israel rhetoric for a climate of fear gripping Jewish residents.

July 26, 2026

Khanna joins Mamdani in calling for Netanyahu’s arrest in U.S.

Rep. Ro Khanna replicated New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's call to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the U.S.

July 25, 2026

Logger-turned-lawmaker Troy Jackson claims Maine Senate nomination to replace Platner

Former state lawmaker Troy Jackson won the Democratic nomination for Maine's U.S. Senate seat on Saturday, capping nearly three weeks of political drama following the collapse of Graham Platner's campaign.

July 25, 2026

Lawmakers propose AI Kill Switch Act

A bipartisan bill to require artificial intelligence companies to maintain the ability to shut down their models was introduced following an OpenAI system going rogue during testing.

July 25, 2026

Iran war death toll excludes those killed after broken ceasefire

The Pentagon's official death toll for the Iran war has reportedly been lowered from 18 to 14, excluding the service members killed this month.

July 25, 2026

Secret Service investigates leaked information about Vance’s travels

A Secret Service agent in Vice President J.D. Vance's protective detail is facing an internal investigation and potential criminal inquiry over accusations of leaked information to the press regarding the vice president's travels.

July 24, 2026

Laura Loomer flips switch on Ukraine war narrative: ‘We have been so propagandized by Russia’

Conservative political activist Laura Loomer sat down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an interview that resulted in a 180-degree turn in her previously charged rhetoric about the country's four-plus-year war with Russia.

July 24, 2026

Ex-Rep. Mark Sanford jumps into South Carolina special primary to replace Lindsey Graham

Former South Carolina GOP Rep. Mark Sanford tossed his hat into the ring to replace the late Sen. Lindsey Graham on Thursday, joining an already crowded special primary.

July 23, 2026

Watchdog finds most big federal programs fall short on risk assessments

The federal government loses hundreds of billions of dollars a year to fraud, and most of the largest programs that funnel money through states still lack basic assessments of where that fraud will likely strike, according to a new congressional watchdog report.

July 23, 2026

Kamala Harris falls to back of the pack in new presidential poll

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg leads in the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination race, overtaking California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris, according to a new poll.

July 23, 2026

House approves GOP’s stock trading ban, voter ID bill in mostly partisan vote

House Republicans narrowly passed a GOP priority bill Wednesday to prohibit congressional lawmakers from purchasing publicly traded stocks and require voters to show a photo ID at the polls.

July 22, 2026

French modeling scout tied to Epstein found dead in his home

A French modeling scout with close ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was found dead at his home near Paris, prosecutors said Wednesday.

July 22, 2026

House panel subpoenas nonprofits linked to Shanghai-based mega-donor over Chinese influence

The House Ways and Means Committee has subpoenaed three nonprofits tied to Shanghai-based tech tycoon Neville Roy Singham for allegedly failing to turn over a "single responsive document" to earlier requests for information.

July 22, 2026

1 in 10 Americans call politics the greatest risk to personal safety, says survey

Americans are the likeliest to name politics as a threat to their safety, as no other population in the world identifies politics as such a problem, according to a new survey.

July 22, 2026

U.S.-China AI talks scheduled for September

The U.S. and China are reportedly slated to hold discussions over artificial intelligence in September.

July 21, 2026