The internet is ablaze after controversial socialist Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan invoked second lady Usha Vance in taking a dig at Vice President JD Vance, leading some top voices to question how he would treat female staff should he win in November.”El Sayed is now attacking Wives [sic] of US leaders? What a guy,” said former Florida state Rep. Ben Graber on X.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Friday she will return to President Donald Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., after leaving her post in the administration.Leavitt, 28, told reporters aboard Air Force One that she plans to work for MAGA Inc., a Trump-aligned super PAC, though she did not specify her title or responsibilities.The move sends Leavitt back to a familiar political operation. She served as a spokesperson for MAGA Inc.

In addition to fending off a Democratic challenger, Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, is wrestling against confusion caused by a candidate who shares his name — Dan J. Sullivan Jr., an independent — and a shrinking window to clear it up.Alaska state Sen. James Kaufman, a Republican, said he personally remains worried about conflation between the two.”I’ve had at least one person say they had to slow down to make sure they didn’t make a mistake.

Northern Virginia Democrats faced questions about how a Tajik national committed to a psychiatric facility after killing his landlord was twice allowed to leave — once to obtain a passport and once to visit an apartment — before escaping to Tajikistan.

New York City officials are looking at ways to ease costs for independent grocers as taxpayers foot the bill for Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s city-owned grocery store plan.The administration is eyeing tax breaks, incentives and zoning benefits to help private grocers manage costs as the city moves ahead with taxpayer-subsidized stores that will receive low- or no-cost real estate, city-funded buildouts and other subsidies.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., on Saturday dismissed “AI doomsdaying,” warning that China benefits from “overreaction” by the United States as the two countries compete for dominance in artificial intelligence.Fetterman shared an article on X highlighting a Bloomberg analysis examining what it described as the narrowing U.S. lead over China in the AI race and the faster pace at which Chinese companies are deploying advanced models.

Former Republican Sen. Nancy Kassebaum Baker of Kansas, the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate without previously having a husband serve in Congress, died Friday at 94.Her son, Bill Kassebaum, told The Associated Press that she died of natural causes.”She loved Kansas. She loved people from Kansas and representing Kansas for 18 years in the U.S. Senate,” he told the AP.

A federal judge struck down the Trump administration’s freeze on immigrant visas from 75 countries Friday, ruling Secretary of State Marco Rubio lacked the legal authority to order denials for applicants otherwise found eligible to enter the United States.U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas, a Biden appointee in Manhattan, vacated the State Department policy and any visa refusals based solely on it, directing the government to revisit those cases.

The FBI interviewed Salvatore Gravano, the former underboss of the Gambino crime family known as “Sammy the Bull,” to ask if ex-FBI Director James Comey likely knew what the term “86” means, according to court documents.Gravano, who had familiarity with Comey due to Comey’s role as the lead prosecutor in United States v. John Gambino et al.

The Senate has been out of session for about two weeks. It’s convened in brief “pro forma” sessions for just a couple of moments on four occasions since senators called it quits for more than a month at 4:57 a.m. ET on Saturday, Aug. 8.Pro forma sessions are where the Senate huddles for just a few seconds, gaveling in and gaveling out with a skeleton crew. It’s rare that more than one senator is even in the chamber.