Today's five.

Cassidy's logic was essentially: Blanche isn't great, but the next guy might be worse — which is less a ringing endorsement than a shrug in a suit. He announced it from the Senate floor on Friday, hours after Lisa Murkowski said she'd vote no, joining Susan Collins. Two defections, one save. Cassidy openly acknowledged he'd be criticized for it, then voted anyway. The Inquirer led with the "pick your poison" framing; NBC focused on the White House's relief. Cassidy lost his own primary to a Trump-backed challenger last year, which makes the whole thing a little more interesting to look at.

The economy lost 23,000 jobs in July when economists had penciled in a gain of 83,000 — a swing of over 100,000 that nobody saw coming. Previous months were also revised down by a combined 103,000, so the labor market was already weaker than it looked. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, but Semafor noted the reason: people leaving the workforce, not people finding jobs. Wage growth hit a five-year low of 3.2% — below inflation. The Guardian led with what this means for the Fed; The Hill led with the headline miss. Both are right to be concerned.

Congress discovered urgency on Friday — specifically, the kind of urgency that arrives when a recess flight is already booked. The Senate announced plans to debate and vote on a massive package of bills before heading out for August break, which is the legislative equivalent of cramming for a final you've had a semester to study for. Both sources covering this story ran the same headline nearly word for word, which suggests there wasn't much to editorialize about — sometimes the situation is its own punchline. The bills themselves aren't detailed in available reporting, just the fact that there are many of them and very little time.

The children of Perez Hilton were reportedly out of the house before he livestreamed what sources are describing as a self-harm incident — which is either a coincidence or evidence that things at home had already reached a point where leaving felt necessary. The story is thin on confirmed detail right now, with NBC 6 South Florida reporting the children's departure as notable context without fully explaining how or why. What's clear is that a very public person had a very private crisis in a very public format. If you or someone you know is struggling, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is a call or text away.

Bill Cassidy voted to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general the same week he lost his primary election, which is the Washington version of having nothing left to lose. Cassidy, who has clashed repeatedly with Trump, went out of his way to say the vote wasn't about their relationship — the kind of clarification you make when everyone assumes it is. His floor speech leaned on institutional reasoning: a confirmed AG is better than an acting one. Blanche, who previously served as Trump's personal defense attorney, now runs the Justice Department permanently.