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President Donald Trump's Pentagon chief triggered a deluge of backlash Thursday night after a report that American forces struck a civilian highway bridge near Tehran twice on Thursday as Iranian villagers gathered nearby to celebrate the final day of the Persian new year.

A U.S. military official, speaking anonymously to The New York Times, confirmed American forces struck the B1 bridge twice, in what's colloquially called a "double tap," claiming it was a planned military supply route for Iran's missile and drone forces.

A journalist flagged the "cancer on the body politic" that the Republican Party refuses to deal with in a new podcast interview on Thursday.

John Avlon, who has written extensively about political extremism, argued during a new episode of the podcast, "The Court of History," that the Republicans seem to be refusing to acknowledge the growing antisemitism within their party. He described it as a "cancer on the body politic" that will need to be addressed one way or another.

Top House Republicans faced complications following Attorney General Pam Bondi's sudden firing.

Bondi's firing disrupted plans for her potential testimony regarding Jeffrey Epstein files.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) fired off an angry letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday, slamming the department's move to restore certain health grants to Planned Parenthood.

Hawley, a constitutional lawyer by training and one of the most virulently anti-abortion senators in office, demanded action to reverse this policy.

Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office is under scrutiny after agency employees reallocated taxpayer-funded hotel rooms to donors and other private citizens, some of whom failed to cover the cost of the stay until the state comptroller began auditing the agency’s finances earlier this year.

Two senior officials involved in the incident resigned soon after it was brought to agency leadership’s attention.

President Donald Trump may not be done shaking up his Cabinet after he gave Attorney General Pam Bondi the boot on Thursday, according to a new report.

One administration official "familiar with the dynamics" of the Trump White House told Politico that Trump has also expressed frustration with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and that both could be removed from the administration imminently. Three people "with knowledge" of the president's thinking confirmed the rumors to Politico as well, according to the report.

The conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board had a blistering assessment of Attorney General Pam Bondi's record, now that President Donald Trump has given her the boot.

In short, the board argued, Bondi's fatal flaw in office is that "she was never good at saying no" to either Trump or his rabid base — even when what they were demanding of her was either impossible or completely contrary to the Justice Department's mission.

The Artemis II crew will include Victor Glover, second from left, the first Black astronaut to fly to the Moon. NASA/Frank Michaux Craig Fehrman, Indiana University

ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero, who sat directly behind President Donald Trump during Supreme Court arguments on birthright citizenship, described the president as restless throughout the proceedings.

Romero stated Trump was initially seated at the courtroom's end but had Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick request that he be moved to a more central position directly in front of the ACLU delegation.

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles is so worried that Donald Trump is being fed a rosy picture of his Iran war that she has privately urged his inner circle to stop telling the president what he wants to hear, and start telling him what he needs to hear, Time magazine reported Thursday.

Wiles, who is battling breast cancer while managing a chaotic West Wing, grew alarmed after Trump's own pollster Tony Fabrizio delivered a brutal reality check that the war cratered in public opinion as gas prices topped $4 a gallon and stock markets tumbled to multi-year lows. To boot, millions of Americans were preparing to protest.

Florida gubernatorial candidate James Fishback has been ordered by U.S. District Judge Mark Walker of Tallahassee to turn over personal financial records, or else swear they do not exist, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Walker stopped just short of holding Fishback, a 31-year-old hedge fund founder mounting an outsider Republican campaign, in contempt of court in the case — but warned he will face the "wrath of the court" if he fails to comply.

Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein excoriated former Attorney General Pam Bondi after she was fired by President Donald Trump on Thursday.

Trump relieved Bondi of her duties in a post on Truth Social, ending weeks of speculation about which of Trump's Cabinet members would be excused from the administration following the departure of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Bondi had faced significant criticism for her handling of the release of the Epstein files.