Above the Fold

HISTORIC DEBT: Federal government debt surpasses $23 trillion for first time as annual deficits once again near $1 trillion (The Hill)

AND YOU THINK THE DEBT’S BAD NOW… In empty warning, Nancy Pelosi claims she’s worried 2020 candidates are on wrong track with healthcare and wealth-tax rackets (Bloomberg)

Government & Politics

GUN-CONFISCATION SPOILER EXITS: Anti-Second Amendment crusader R. Francis O'Rourke drops out of the presidential race (The New York Times)

THE PROBE THAT NEVER ENDS: First batch of Mueller-probe interview notes involving Rick Gates, Steve Bannon, and Michael Cohen have been released (The Daily Caller

RUSE SHUT DOWN: Rep. Jim Jordan rejects whistleblower’s offer to provide written answers to GOP questions (Fox News)

JUDICIAL ACTIVISM: Obama-appointed judge blocks healthcare rule for immigrants (The Daily Caller)

DEREGULATION: EPA rolling back Obama-era anti-coal regulation (The Daily Signal)

National Security

DHS CHIEF: Trump names Chad Wolf acting DHS secretary (Townhall)

PUBLIC DEFIANCE: Iran announces new nuke-deal violations during commemoration of 1979 U.S. embassy seizure (Fox News)

SEPARATING WHEAT FROM CHAFF: Thousands of migrants sent back to Mexico under Trump policy have given up their asylum claims (Fox News)

NO PERMANENT FIX: Smugglers are sawing through new sections of Trump’s border wall (The Washington Post)

Closing Arguments

POLICY: The Warren plan to paper over the costs of Medicare for All (E21)

POLICY: How the Left is weaponizing cancel culture to politicize children’s books (The Federalist)

HUMOR: Beto drops out of race to spend more time taking guns from his family (The Babylon Bee)

For more of today’s editors’ choice headlines, visit In Our Sights.

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