• Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) forced a vote on a bill to protect IVF and other fertility treatments Thursday, as part of a continuing effort to put Republicans on the defensive over reproductive care before the election. Republicans blocked the measure, while releasing a letter saying they support IVF — as if that would distract everyone from the fact that they literally just voted against protecting it. 

• The rumble in the Senate came one day after The Southern Baptist Convention, the country’s largest denomination of Protestant Christians, voted to oppose IVF at an annual gathering Wednesday in Indianapolis. The resolution doesn’t ban member families from using IVF, but criticizes the destruction of unused embryos. 

The Supreme Court has gotten up to all kinds of sketchy antics lately, from flying insurrectionist flags, to secret, lavish vacations with conservative billionaires. On Thursday, a top Senate Democrat revealed that right-wing Justice Clarence Thomas took even more trips on GOP mega-donor Harlan Crow’s private plane than he had previously acknowledged. 

Thomas flew on Crow’s jet within the U.S. in 2017, 2019 and 2021, according to documents received by the Senate Judiciary Committee in response to subpoenas sent to Crow. Thomas recently admitted to other trips — including one to Indonesia where he relaxed on Crow’s yacht — but conveniently forgot to mention these. Slip of the ole’ memory about those flights on a billionaire's private plane. Classic mistake!

Democrats say the lavish gifts and authoritarian flag-waving (by conservative Justice Samuel Alito) show it’s time for a stricter standard of ethics. This week, Republicans issued a clear response to that idea: Hell no!

Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic initiative dubbed the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act on Wednesday. The bill would have required justices to adopt a binding code of conduct, create a mechanism to investigate allegations of violations of the code and other laws, and require them to explain decisions to recuse themselves from cases. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) slammed the idea as an “unconstitutional overreach.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) warned of the constitutional risks that a conservative majority court poses, even if Democrats can prevail in November, on Thursday’s episode of the What A Day podcast. “A right-wing Supreme Court operating in cahoots with the Republican party is a major peril to the ability of Congress to pass the legislation that America needs,” Raskin said. 

Trump toured Capitol Hill  where he insulted Milwaukee, listened to fawning GOP lawmakers sing him “Happy Birthday,” and reportedly floated a radical new idea to eliminate income tax in favor of tariffs. In practice, such a scheme would shift the tax burden away from rich folks and make everyone else pay for it with much more expensive shopping. For the record: the ultra-wealthy have been trying to pitch an elimination of the income tax in favor of an increase in sales tax for a LONG time, and still seem to think we can’t see through their scheme.

Trump’s D.C. visit came as the newly minted felon tries to convince House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to find a way to help Trump overturn his felony conviction. Trump’s phone call to Johnson in the days after the May 31 verdict reportedly included “frequent F-bombs,” according to Politico. Trump ranted about law enforcement officials to his fellow Republicans on Thursday, as House Republicans vowed to fight harder to protect him from prosecutors. Again, this is the group that’s constantly complaining about “weaponization of the federal government” promising to weaponize the federal government on Trump’s behalf.

North Dakota voters passed a first-of-its-kind measure this week that would impose age restrictions on congressional candidates. The state constitutional amendment bans people from running for House or Senate seats in North Dakota “if that person could attain 81 years of age by December 31st of the year immediately preceding the end of the term.” Ninety percent of the Senate is SHAKING right now. 

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Starbucks on Thursday in a case centered around the firing of seven baristas amid a union organizing campaign in Memphis. The decision could make it harder for labor prosecutors to win court injunctions against employers accused of breaking the law. The ultra-conservative Supreme Court ruled with a mega-corporation and against workers? Well now we’ve seen it all. 

Rep. Lauren Boebert's (R-CO) ex-husband pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment Wednesday after he was charged in separate altercations involving the congresswoman at a public restaurant in January, and his son at a residence a few days later. 

U.S. and European officials agreed to lock up sanctioned Russian assets until Moscow pays reparations for invading Ukraine, clearing the way for a $50 billion loan package for Kyiv at the G7 summit. 

American Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich will soon stand trial in Russia on espionage charges, Russian authorities announced Thursday. Gershkovich was arrested in March 2023 while on a reporting trip in Yekaterinburg, and accused of spying for the CIA – accusations that U.S. officials and the WSJ have repeatedly rejected as baseless. 

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Australia is developing the world’s largest coastal drone-surveillance operation to prevent shark attacks, leading the way in nonlethal traps and opting for pilot drone technology that has enabled authorities to monitor sharks like never before. Drones used for good! We love to see it. 

USC’s School of Dramatic Arts announced Wednesday that its Master’s in Fine Arts program will now be tuition free! Huge win for the theater kids (which we’re not sure is a good or a bad thing, but we'll call it a win nonetheless).