United States | News & Politics

"When guys like Jeffries and Schumer say 'effective' they're talking about effectively flattering large-dollar donors," said one critic.

Since January, nearly 5,500 career employees at the DOJ have quit, taken a buyout, or been fired

Amid outrage over Democrats caving in the government shutdown fight, polling shows the nationwide popularity of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's economic agenda.

President Donald Trump has pardoned a long list of his political allies for their support or involvement in plans to overturn the 2020 presidential election, according to the Department of Justice’s Pardon Attorney, Ed Martin.

The individuals listed in a proclamation, which Martin posted on X late Sunday, include high-profile figures like former Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and the president’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, among dozens of others.

“This proclamation ends a grave national injustice perpetrated upon the American people following the 2020 Presidential Election and continues the process of national reconciliation,” read the document, which gives the date of November 7 in its text and the president appears to have signed.

In a win for Wisconsin voters, a state judge vacated a ruling that would have forced election officials to conduct mass citizenship checks — a move voting rights advocates warned could have wrongly purged some citizens from the rolls.

Trump has pardoned over 70 people who tried to help him overturn his 2020 election loss. Some fear it encourages GOP officials to become even bolder with efforts to help Trump subvert future elections, "knowing that if they succeed, they'll be pardoned."

Relying on agents to archive their own messages via screenshots has the potential for error and abuse, experts say.

The capitulation of Senate Democrats in ending the government shutdown without healthcare concessions has sparked outrage. Calls for new leadership and primary challenges are growing. The fight for a Democratic Party that truly fights back continues.

Over the weekend, the President of the United States fell for obvious satire from a website literally called “The Dunning Kruger Times.”

Mayor-elect of New York bows to "national security." Will it last?

Kim Davis, a Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses, had asked the court to reconsider its landmark 2015 opinion.

#usa #politics #news #lgbt #lgbtq+

When | picked up my granddaughter from the federal agents, she had a dirty diaper, a bruise on her face, and was developing a rash. She was exhausted and cried...

My heart aches knowing this could happen to others, to my kids, or even me, despite being U.S. citizens. We're now questioning our safety and feel more vulnerable simply for being Latino...

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Congressional Republicans are reportedly trying to insert anti-abortion language into government funding legislation as the shutdown continues, with the GOP and President Donald Trump digging in against a clean extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits as insurance premiums surge.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, sounded the alarm on Saturday about what he characterized as the latest Republican sneak attack on reproductive rights.

Wyden said Saturday—which marked day 39 of the shutdown—that “Republicans are spinning a tale that the government is funding abortion.”

“It’s not,” Wyden continued. “What Republicans are talking about putting on the table amounts to nothing short of a backdoor national abortion ban. Under this plan, Republicans could weaponize federal funding for any organization that does anything related to women’s reproductive healthcare. They could also weaponize the tax code by revoking non-profit status for these organizations.”

“The possibilities are endless, but the results are the same: a complete and total restriction on abortion, courtesy of Republicans,” the senator added. “Trump said he’d leave abortion care up to the states. Well, this latest scheme makes it crystal clear: A de facto nationwide abortion ban has been his plan all along.”

The Senate is voting on the first steps to end the 40-day government shutdown Sunday after a group of moderate Democrats agreed to proceed without a guaranteed extension of health care subsidies, angering many in their caucus who wanted to continue the fight.

The group of three former governors — New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan and Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine — said they would vote to reopen if the Senate passed three annual spending bills and extend the rest of government funding until late January. Senate Majority Leader John Thune endorsed the deal Sunday night and called an immediate vote to begin the process of approving it.

The deal would also include a future vote on the health care subsidies, which would not have a guaranteed outcome, and a reversal of the mass firings of federal workers that have happened since the shutdown began on Oct. 1. The full text of the deal has not yet been released.

(schumer wasn't the defector this time)

what we got:

a provision that would call federal workers who were laid off during the shutdown back to their jobs. It also would provide funds to ensure that federal workers who were furloughed during the shutdown can receive retroactive pay [(the latter as required by a 2019 law defector Angus King passed)].

The short-term spending bill would additionally bar the Office of Management and Budget from implementing any additional mass layoffs of federal workers through Jan. 30.

what we did not:

healthcare

Look at the lines of Military families having to stand in line to receive food. Federal workers and the military aren’t getting paid because of the MAGA shutdown which happened because Republicans are afraid the Epstein files will get released.

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President Donald Trump’s administration is demanding states “undo” full SNAP benefits paid out under judges’ orders last week, now that the U.S. Supreme Court has stayed those rulings, marking the latest swing in a seesawing legal battle over the anti-hunger program used by 42 million Americans.

The demand from the U.S. Department of Agriculture came as more than two dozen states warned of “catastrophic operational disruptions” if the Trump administration does not reimburse them for those SNAP benefits they authorized before the Supreme Court’s stay.

Nonprofits and Democratic attorneys general sued to force the Trump administration to maintain the program in November despite the ongoing government shutdown. They won the favorable rulings last week, leading to the swift release of benefits to millions in several states, and the Trump administration belatedly said the program could continue.

His BlueSky post is here

How the Senate Democratic leader and his Gang of Eight keep trying to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory.