Good morning from North Dakota, where I’m on a reporting trip with our architecture critic, Michael Kimmelman, to visit the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora. I’ll tell you more about it in the coming days. For now, know that it’s windy and beautiful here on the buttes, green yet Mars-like, with pheasants exploding out of the grass. Bison for breakfast? I think so, yes. As for the news: Progressive candidates had a strong showing in New York’s primaries. The Senate voted to check President Trump’s war powers. And there’s more below. We’ll start today, though, with our mail.
Your questions, answeredA perk of writing this newsletter is that we get to hear directly from our readers. You all send us great questions, and we’ve gone out to find answers for them. You’ll see some of those below, and more published in the coming days. Please: Send more questions, so we can keep this going. When Trump became president again, there was a period of intense activity by his DOGE agency. Are they operating still, and if so, to what effect? — Nigel Ashton, Wirral, England Emily Badger, a reporter with The Upshot who worked on a major investigation into DOGE, answers: The executive order creating DOGE called for it to end this July 4, but it effectively wound down last fall with a whimper, having saved the government little money. Some DOGE workers have transitioned to permanent roles within the government. And the administration is still pursuing some of the same goals, including with a fraud task force led by Vice President JD Vance. But DOGE as we knew it is no more. We’ll still be talking about it for a while, though, as the consequences of its cuts (and related lawsuits) may linger for years. I’ve read that Social Security benefits could be cut by more than 20 percent circa 2032. Is anyone in Washington doing something about this, or is the sentiment “que será, será”? — Barbara Nawrocki, New London, Connecticut Tara Siegel Bernard, who has reported extensively on the future of Social Security, answers: You’re right: Social Security’s annual trustee report warned earlier this month that the program’s longstanding shortfall had worsened. At the end of 2032, the trust fund that pays retiree and survivor benefits would be depleted, and incoming revenue would be enough to pay only 78 percent of benefits, which translates into a 22 percent benefit cut. Several proposals exist to shore up the program, either through tax increases, benefit cuts or some combination therein. But such a crucial program requires a fix that garners public and bipartisan support — a challenge in these polarized times. But the report appeared to inspire some movement. Two members of Congress recently introduced a bill that would create an independent commission, with members appointed by both parties, tasked with finding “commonsense solutions.” And Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Moreno said they’re working on a bipartisan plan of their own.
What or who decides gasoline prices? The price of a barrel of oil doesn’t always seem to track with prices at the pump. — Kate Eaton, Ann Arbor, Michigan Emmett Lindner, a business reporter who has been covering the recent rise and fall of gas prices, answers: There’s a saying about the cost at the pump: up like a rocket, down like a feather. Essentially, the price of gasoline shoots up when oil jumps, but takes a while to match a drop. The conflict in the Persian Gulf has caused a lack of crude supply throughout the world; at one point, oil’s price went up over 50 percent. Barrel costs have gone down, but some of the gas currently sold was refined from the older, more expensive crude. When wholesale prices go down, station owners are also slow to cut costs, hoping to make up for weeks of thin margins. And, of course, they try to draw customers while remaining competitive with the other stations in the area. We landed on the moon decades ago. Why isn’t it easy to do so again? Why are we reinventing the wheel? — Linda Hoza, Lakewood Ranch, Florida Katrina Miller, a science reporter who recently covered NASA’s announcement of the Artemis III crew, answers: The main issue is money. NASA is trying to send humans back to the moon — this time to stay — at a fraction of the cost of the Apollo program. Back then, NASA’s approach to developing rockets and vehicles suitable for a lunar landing was expensive and controlled by the federal government. Now, the agency is relying more on SpaceX and Blue Origin to do much of that work. That’s cheaper, but also more volatile. NASA has less influence over design and timelines, and its lunar aspirations depend on whether those companies can fulfill what some say are overly ambitious promises.
Left-wing candidates had a strong showing in New York, where all three contenders endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani won their Democratic House primaries last night:
In another closely watched race, Micah Lasher, a state assemblyman, won a crowded primary for a safely Democratic district being vacated by Representative Jerrold Nadler. Its star-studded field included Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of John F. Kennedy and had prompted nearly $40 million in super PAC spending. Read more about Mamdani as a new kingmaker. (We made this link free for you, along with others below.)
In the Courts
Washington Renovations
Around the World
Tech
There are lessons for other populist movements in the failures of Brexit, Philip Stephens writes. (This link is free.) Here’s a column by Bret Stephens on why it’s time to cringe for America. Subscribers always win. Here’s why. You can now save 75% on your first year of a New York Times Games subscription. Discover all of our word and logic games (and play past puzzles), earn badges for your achievements, plus more. Time is running out though, so subscribe today. Subscribers always win. Here’s why. You can now save 75% on your first year of a New York Times Games subscription. Discover all of our word and logic games (and play past puzzles), earn badges for your achievements, plus more. Time is running out though, so subscribe today.
Not fancy, but good: Former President Barack Obama has strong feelings about the cheeseburgers at his presidential center. (This link is free.) Prime Day: The sales event, which used to be a single day of discounts on Amazon, now stretches over multiple days. Wirecutter is keeping track of the best deals. Searching for clues: Every villain prompts a hunt for an origin story. Times reporters went in search of Jeffrey Epstein’s. (This link is free to read). Legacy of Little Bighorn: As the 150th anniversary of the battle approaches, relatives of Sitting Bull and Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer are grappling with its meaning. Scary mommy: Jill Smokler’s warts-and-all look at parenting attracted millions of readers to her blog. She died of brain cancer at 48.
The most clicked link in The Morning yesterday was about the increasing rate of “gray divorce” — that is, splits among those 50 and older. Readers, unsurprisingly, also had thoughts on the topic. You can join the conversation here.
44.3 Celsius— That’s how hot it got in Pissos, in southwest France, yesterday. (In Fahrenheit, that’s around 112 degrees.) It was France’s hottest day on record, according to the country’s weather agency. Read more about the European heat wave.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in Portugal’s 5-0 blowout win over Uzbekistan, making him the first person | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
