Members of Congress get better polling data than we do, so watch what they’re doing. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced she’s leaving Congress. Troy Nehls, the Texas Republican who said “if Trump says jump, we jump,” announced he’s leaving too. Both the House and Senate are now demanding answers from Hegseth about the boat killings. And … Read more
They’re making their own enemies. Trump called Tim Walz the r-word. An Indiana Republican state senator whose daughter has Down syndrome announced he’ll vote against Trump’s redistricting plan because of it. The Border Patrol commander who deported a college student despite a federal judge’s stay celebrated on social media that she “may have taken a … Read more
This is what the President of the United States posted on Thanksgiving Day. He called Minnesota’s governor “seriously retarded.” He mocked Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) “swaddling hijab” and repeated the debunked smear that she married her brother. He described Somalia as “decadent, backward, and crime ridden… essentially not even a country.” When 20-year-old National Guard … Read more
Today is issue #300 of GovBrief Today, the publication I started ten days into Trump’s second term when I was horrified at the speed with which our norms, rules, and laws were battered. We will cross 5,000 curated news stories within the week, and I’m not stopping until we get our country back. If you … Read more
They make up rules, punish the resisters, and defy the courts. Then a damning tape leaks. Trump’s real estate buddy Steve Witkoff is on tape coaching Putin’s foreign policy adviser on how to pitch the president. “Maybe he says to President Trump…” He’s literally scripting Russia’s approach. Trump called it “standard negotiation.” Meanwhile, Senator Mark … Read more
A federal judge dismissed Trump’s prosecutions of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James today. Career prosecutors refused to bring charges and resigned or were fired. Trump installed his personal lawyer with no prosecutorial experience. She botched the case. She lost, and the judge ruled that her appointment was illegal. … Read more
A keen political strategist I know was concerned after the election that a new presidency would undermine America’s soft power around the globe. Decades of being the superpower willing to invest in health, food, and military protection globally would be dismantled in a second Trump administration. They were right. Within weeks, America’s ability to persuade … Read more
Trump’s flailing is driving him to extremes. Today he told reporters that his 28 point peace plan for Ukraine wasn’t final, but still demanded that Zelenskyy approve it by Thursday. He again wrote just before midnight Saturday that the six Democratic lawmakers who confirmed that troops can refuse illegal orders should be in jail and … Read more
“MTG turns on Trump and resigns. Mamdani and Trump are new best friends. I am so confused.” Political scientist Larry Sabato, the academic who calls elections before the networks, wrote that on X tonight. Marjorie Taylor Greene is disappearing into a chaotic haze of insults she’s been trading with Trump over the Epstein files. Trump … Read more
The authoritarian machine exists, but institutions are gumming up its works. Chicago and DC grand juries are refusing indictments. Federal judges are blocking illegal deployments and dismissing prosecutions with sharp rebukes. Civil rights groups keep winning in court. Meanwhile, a flailing Trump threatened to execute six Democratic lawmakers for telling troops they can refuse illegal … Read more
Legislators and attorneys who should know better showed the world an ugly, lawless side of politics today. Trump’s inexperienced handpicked prosecutor didn’t show the indictment of former FBI director James Comey to the full grand jury. On the Hill, a Democrat was indicted for stealing $5 million in FEMA funds for her campaign while a … Read more
Trump’s own supporters finally forced his hand today. After months of White House pressure to bury the Epstein files, the GOP broke ranks and voted with the Democrats. The House voted 427-1 to compel their release. Hours later, the Senate passed it unanimously. When ABC’s Mary Bruce asked why Trump doesn’t just order the release … Read more
Don’t get distracted from our crumbling healthcare infrastructure. CDC scientists linked measles outbreaks across multiple states today. If transmission continues through January, the U.S. loses measles elimination status after 25 years. NIH cuts halted treatment for 74,000 people mid-clinical trial. And tens of millions face health insurance increases of 25% or more as ACA subsidies … Read more
Donald Trump didn’t suddenly decide that transparency is good. He reversed himself on Sunday night and called for House Republicans to vote for the release of the Epstein Files because the vote was happening anyway. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who filed the discharge petition, predicted that 100 Republicans would vote for it. Those are choices … Read more
They’re pillaging our treasury. Trump purchased $82 million in bonds from companies and cities his policies directly control. His DHS Secretary funneled $220 million through a Delaware shell company created days before the contract, straight to her spokesperson’s husband’s firm. A Fed Governor caught violating trading rules resigned in August after receiving $41,000 in free … Read more
MAGA is eating itself in plain sight. Conservative influencer Laura Loomer took down Trump’s IRS chief counsel nominee today using “#LOOMERED” while a White House official confirmed her posts prompted the withdrawal. Trump completely disavowed Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Indiana’s Republican-controlled Senate refused to even vote on redistricting despite Trump’s personal phone call and two … Read more
The administration is suppressing dissent at every level. Federal employees at NIH, USDA, and Fannie Mae fired or on leave for organizing public letters, going on TV about shutdowns, or warning about legal violations. A Texas A&M professor was removed from her graduate class for teaching about white supremacy within MAGA. An Iowa teacher’s aide … Read more
They returned after six weeks and chose Epstein files theater over hungry children. A Native American in Iowa was hours from deportation despite showing tribal ID and matching fingerprints. Hundreds of Chicago immigrants are held improperly without bond. Children across 42 states woke up hungry because SNAP funding still hasn’t resumed. And 170,000 disabled Americans … Read more
Trump again refused to rule out attacking Venezuela today. The difference is that the USS Gerald R. Ford strike group is now arriving. This armada includes destroyers, dozens of aircraft, and thousands of soldiers. They’re linking up with a sizeable attack force already there. U.S. based aircraft are also within attack range. No one knows … Read more
Trump went to the Supreme Court twice to stop food aid for 42 million Americans. Federal judges kept blocking his attempts, so he escalated to the Supreme Court. He threatened states that gave out benefits anyway, demanding they take back money from families who’d already bought groceries. A federal judge blocked that today. Now the … Read more
Trump spent Sunday taking victory laps while Democrats folded. He promised every American $2,000 from tariffs despite only collecting enough to cover roughly one-third of Americans. He demanded states “undo” food aid already loaded on people’s cards. Then he watched eight Senate Democrats cave to advance a shutdown deal with no guarantee on health care … Read more
They’re not hiding the lies anymore. The White House announced that there have been ZERO illegal border crossings for six months while their own DHS reports over 30,000 encounters in October alone. And how would they know if there was a successful illegal crossing anyway? They’re calling it affordability when a 50-year mortgage will create … Read more
The shutdown in the Republican-controlled federal government continues to expose systemic problems, including millions of hungry people missing food aid and a severely compromised air transportation system. Systems crack, splinter, then fall apart, and we’re somewhere in the middle of that. Justice Jackson stood on formality and allowed an appeals court to fully consider whether … Read more
JD Vance called a federal judge’s order absurd tonight. That judge had ordered SNAP payments be sent to 42 million Americans who receive food aid. The White House said it would fund partial payments, and the judge countered today that his order wasn’t optional. The White House has chosen to appeal rather than comply by … Read more
Our biggest challenge is to bear witness to the suffering around us. World Central Kitchen is feeding unpaid government workers in DC as they might people in a war zone or disaster area. The government’s partial funding for SNAP this month means that five million Americans who are food insecure will receive nothing. Judges are … Read more
Trump continues governing like an emperor even as today’s election returns show Americans are unhappy with him. Democrats flipped Virginia’s governorship with the state’s first woman governor, held New Jersey despite his meddling, and won New York City where a democratic socialist defeated Andrew Cuomo, whom Trump endorsed over the Republican nominee. A federal judge … Read more
Tuesday is Election Day and our chance to begin restoring the norms we once lived under. In the less than ten months since he’s taken office, Donald Trump ordered attacks on 16 unarmed boats near South America that killed dozens of people. He has threatened Venezuela, Nigeria, Panama, Greenland, and Canada. The self-dealing and grift … Read more
Expect Trump to continue using multiple distractions to avoid the humanitarian crisis we face. One of every eight people has lost federal food aid while 5.9 million households are losing home heating aid just as we reach November. And the government said today that anyone traveling during this month’s busy Thanksgiving week can expect extensive … Read more
Donors and power grabs take precedence in Donald Trump’s world. Just one day after the UN condemned the US for attacking boats and killing people, the Trump administration announced a brand new attack. They even had an attorney tell Congress that it didn’t need their authority to do so. They also acknowledged that dozens of … Read more
The United Nations condemned the U.S. today for 14 separate boat attacks that have killed 61 people. The High Commissioner for Human Rights made that announcement before SNAP’s food aid benefits for one of every 8 Americans were set to go unfunded by the federal government. Two federal judges ordered Trump to restart the funds … Read more
Trump isn’t hiding the machine being built. Military orders today established a unit of nearly 25,000 troops to deploy as Quick Reaction Forces with a presence in each state for supposed unrest. The military has also attacked 14 boats in international waters while killing 61 people, but the Defense Department didn’t send attorneys to brief … Read more
Trump plays by dangerous rules. Today he ordered nuclear weapons testing to resume after 33 years. His military has killed 61 people on boats over the past month without trials or evidence. And he’s defending Israeli airstrikes that killed 104 Palestinians while claiming the Gaza ceasefire is “holding fine.” Liberals aren’t the only ones concerned. … Read more
Trump is still in Asia, ignoring suffering and death at home. Louisiana’s Surgeon General banned vaccine events after two infants died from whooping cough. Anti-vaccine ideology matters more than dead babies. Forty-two million Americans lose food benefits Saturday. The GOP knows 1 in 8 Americans don’t have enough to eat, but shutdowns work as political … Read more
House Republicans have abandoned America in a time of dire need. Three crises are building. Insurance premiums doubling, food aid running out, and Trump deploying the world’s largest aircraft carrier to Venezuela’s coast after they accused the U.S. of plotting false-flag attacks. Republicans have been breaking the rules for years – blocking Supreme Court nominees, … Read more
Forty-two million Americans lose food aid in five days. Trump is using their hunger as a bargaining chip to force Democrats to cave on healthcare. Democrats shut down the government October 1 over spiraling ACA costs. Republicans won’t even talk until Democrats vote first and give up leverage. So today the Trump administration announced it … Read more
Trump performed as global peacemaker today while his agents deployed chemical weapons in American neighborhoods for the fourth time this week. A man fleeing ICE after a traffic stop in Virginia ran onto I-264 and was struck and killed by a vehicle. It’s the second pedestrian death caused by ICE enforcement in the past 3 … Read more
The fuses Donald Trump lit are burning as he flies to Asia for a week. Forty-two million Americans depend on food stamps to eat, and the Trump administration refused today to use emergency funds to keep benefits flowing as the shutdown continues. While Americans go hungry, 14 warships carrying thousands of troops and dozens of … Read more
History is being rewritten in real time. Trump continues gaslighting America by demanding the National Symphony open concerts with the National Anthem and editing the White House website to include photos of Hunter Biden in a bathtub and a topless transgender activist whose actions got her immediately banned from the White House.’ He told reporters … Read more
The food crisis is real and about to get much worse. California and New Mexico are the latest states warning about their inability to meet demand now that they’ve been cut off from federal funding. That’s millions in California and one out of every five New Mexicans. Often they are people who are already food … Read more
💰 Donald Trump is looting America, but his own party is feeling the heat. He now says that he’ll decide whether taxpayers pay him $230 million for being investigated, claiming the decision “would have to go across my desk.” His former defense lawyer from the Mar-a-Lago case, Todd Blanche, is now Deputy Attorney General and … Read more
The pain is about to get very bad for a lot of people. Food benefits and Head Start programs are quickly running out of money. Pennsylvania already said they have no funding for SNAP in November. Federal employees are missing checks. Even the National Nuclear Security Administration is down to 400 people from 1,800, and … Read more
👑 Donald Trump’s reaction to seven million of us in the streets protesting his administration was to post an AI video of himself wearing a crown and dumping feces on the protesters. Bullying, humiliating, and dehumanizing have been his MO since he announced his first campaign a decade ago and called Mexican immigrants rapists and … Read more
Seven million Americans flooded streets today in one of the largest single-day demonstrations in U.S. history. That number matters. ✊ As people protested in thousands of places, the U.S. Embassy warned Americans in Trinidad and Tobago to avoid government facilities after military strikes killed their citizens in Caribbean waters. California closed I-5 so the military … Read more
Today, more than one million Americans are expected to protest at events throughout the country. From an undeclared war in Venezuela to attacks on those who oppose him, Donald Trump has learned what rules he can ignore backed by an enabling Congress and compliant Supreme Court. There’s little choice when the White House punishes areas … Read more
🔥 Americans have sat in slowly warming water that will soon boil. The military is destroying boats and killing their inhabitants in the Caribbean with missiles. Three prominent Trump critics have been criminally indicted in 21 days. Three days after signing a peace accord, Trump says “we will have no choice but to go in … Read more
❗ They govern by dismissing whatever gets in their way or doesn’t serve them.The Young Republicans who wrote praising Hitler were “kids being kids” while Rep. Grijalva still hasn’t been sworn in after being elected on September 23. And to needle Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Trump casually announced that the transportation project serving hundreds of … Read more
📣 Donald Trump should be basking in the glow of forcing a Middle East ceasefire. He was just in Egypt and Israel yesterday lauding peace. Today he threatened Hamas with a military attack, ordered strikes that killed six more people on a boat in the Caribbean without offering proof they were of any import to … Read more
🕊️ Today should have been Donald Trump’s triumph. President Donald Trump at center with world leaders at the Sharm el-Sheikh peace summit, signing a Gaza framework with mediators while the warring parties remained conspicuously absent. (Trump Truth Social post) He flew to Israel, was lauded at the Knesset, then went to Egypt, where he signed … Read more
⚠️ Violence is Trump’s default response. Federal agents fired pepper balls at naked cyclists in Portland while priests were illegally denied access to prisoners in Chicago. In DC, JD Vance threatened more painful mass firings while his boss flew to the Middle East and threatened to give Ukraine long-range missiles. Remember January 6. Mike Pence, … Read more
🎯 His schtick is paternalism, but Donald Trump hosed his supporters today. Yesterday, nearly all special ed staff supporting K-12 programs in our local schools were fired. Democrats won’t budge on the shutdown without restoring the Affordable Care Act. A link below proves that 57% of the people receiving Obamacare live in Republican districts. Trump … Read more
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