Senate Republicans met Tuesday for Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s weekly off-the-record members’ lunch. These meetings, along with regular Wednesday Steering Committee lunches, are among the few regular times when party senators gather in one room to set party policy and messaging. There are few clearer windows into McConnell’s priorities than these lunches, and Tuesday did not disappoint: The RAND Corporation was invited to present its report on military spending and the potential need to raise taxes to increase the military percentage of the country’s GDP. Senate-watchers can consider Tuesday’s lunch not simply a glimpse into a moment of McConnell’s priorities but a preview into his goals for this month’s spending fight — and his plans for the likely December spending deal that will follow. That’s right; that was the priority. It wasn’t the former president and Republican nominee, who over the weekend survived another assassination attempt. It wasn’t Donald Trump’s campaign focus on past tax cuts or promise of more to come. It wasn’t House Republicans’ strategic (if faltering) election play to link the SAVE Act to a six-month spending resolution or even the threat of a bloated omnibus hanging over the Senate’s own head. It was more money for the Pentagon. Keep in mind: The government runs out of funding at the end of the month, at midnight on Sept. 30 — or 12 days from now. More money for the Pentagon, once a safe Republican issue, has fallen from favor with voters and members over the past four years in particular. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Blaze News learned, pushed back, asking why the conference ought to spend time considering tax hikes (suggested in the report) to deliver billions to a politicized, incompetent Pentagon brass that has cratered recruitment numbers. To Lee’s point, Trump has vocally lashed out at unaccountable Pentagon leadership, pointing out in last week's debate that the Biden-Harris administration hadn’t fired a single person over the chaotic, deadly, and embarrassing retreat from Kabul. But McConnell doesn’t share those concerns. Indeed, he’s made clear he intends to stay on in the Senate after stepping down from leadership this fall explicitly to fight for Pentagon priorities and continued funding for the war in Ukraine. Throughout the meeting, he reportedly waxed wistful about American defense spending as a percentage of GDP during World War II and other eras. Senate-watchers can consider Tuesday’s lunch not simply a glimpse into a moment of McConnell’s priorities but a preview into his goals for this month’s spending fight — and his plans for the likely December spending deal that will follow. Keep an eye out for big promises to Pentagon brass, get ready to see South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham’s bill committing the United States to a decade of funding Ukraine’s war against Russia, and expect other moves to tie Trump’s hands on foreign policy should he win in November. Sign up for Bedford’s newsletter Sign up to get Blaze Media senior politics editor Christopher Bedford's newsletter.

New Last Epoch patch notes are here as 2024’s best new ARPG builds on its second season with a dramatic character reset. Deploying a wealth of quality-of-life upgrades alongside the arrival of the Last Epoch Imperial Uprising limited-time event, the update also implements a community-chosen cycle refresh. That means if you’ve not been keeping up but are looking for a game to play, now is a great time to jump in, as it effectively acts like an all-new Last Epoch season, and you can take advantage of all the additional features. Continue reading Last Epoch Imperial Uprising adds an essential new feature to the ARPG MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Last Epoch review, Last Epoch builds, Last Epoch tier list

Now is a great time to upgrade the storage in your gaming PC build, as Amazon has not one but two decent PCIe 4.0 drives discounted right now, with prices starting from just $59.99 for a 1TB Crucial P3 Plus in this limited-time deal. That’s not the only gaming SSD deal up for grabs right now either, as you can also grab our current favorite SSD right now, the WD Black SN850X, for just $79.99 if you buy the 1TB version. The WD drive is currently sitting pretty at the top of our best SSD for gaming guide, as the best overall option for most people, thanks to its great read and write speeds and solid gaming performance. It usually goes for $99.99 or higher, so it’s great to be able to pick one up for just $79.99 right now. Meanwhile, the Crucial drive is a little slower, but is still quick enough for most people’s needs, and offers loads of storage capacity for the price. Continue reading Grab a fast 1TB gaming SSD for just $59.99, if you’re quick MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Crucial MX500 review, Best SSDs for gaming

What are The Witcher 3 system requirements? The next-gen update for The Witcher 3 saw the high-end requirements of the game altered, but most modern gaming PCs should still have no trouble running the game. You'll only need the best graphics card if you're aiming for flawless 4K performance, and even then The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt recommends using upscaling tech to help keep things running smoothly. Continue reading The Witcher 3 system requirements MORE FROM PCGAMESN: The Witcher 3 mods, The Witcher 4 news, Witcher 3 system requirements

According to a former Bethesda developer, Starfield almost had a management system. It was cut due to scheduling conflicts, but the mining resources and shipbuilding mechanics were originally going to link up. Starfield would have become a “strategy game/resource management game” on top of an RPG, as you'd need to send materials to factories to build spaceships. I love the sound of this, but fully understand why it had to be cut. Starfield is a huge game, so sometimes you've got to decide what to keep, and what to throw away. Continue reading Starfield could have been a management game, but the feature was cut MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Starfield mods, Best RPGs, Best space games

Want Some Cheese With That Whine? Don Lemon Uses Lies to Blame Trump for Assassination Attempts

The iPhone 16, which Apple claims is built “from the ground up” for AI. | Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge Apple Intelligence’s list of forthcoming supported languages just got a little longer. After an October launch in US English, Apple says its AI feature set will be available in German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Vietnamese, “and others” in the coming year. The company drops this news just days before the iPhone 16’s arrival — the phone built for AI that won’t have any AI features at launch. Apple’s AI feature set will expand to include localized English in the UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand in December, with India and Singapore joining the mix next year. The company already announced plans to support Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish next year as well. Apple announced the iPhone 16 series last week with a... Continue reading…

I’m not saying you should buy a new phone for a single camera setting... but I’m not not saying that, either. Continue reading…

It’s a good year for Apple’s basic iPhone, even if its AI is MIA. Continue reading…

Image: GM General Motors says it has updated the software in its electric vehicles so its customers can finally use Tesla’s Supercharging network. To gain immediate access, owners of electric Chevy, Cadillac, and GMC vehicles will need to purchase “GM approved” Tesla adapters through each brand’s smartphone app for $225. Future GM vehicles will come with Tesla’s charging port natively installed. The announcement comes more than 15 months after GM first announced it would adopt Tesla’s EV charging plug for its vehicles. The automaker had originally said it expected to complete the software coordination with Tesla by “early spring” 2024, but production bottlenecks and layoffs at Tesla have delayed the process. Image: GM GM... Continue reading…