Substacks by leftist commentators, with a bias towards concrete action and protest.
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[Join me for a Substack livestream on Saturday, July 26, 2025, at 9 a.m. PDT, 12:00 p.m. EDT. Open to all on the Substack App.]
For today’s edition, I am turning over the pen to Susan D. Wagner, a well-known and highly regarded grassroots leader. Susan helped found Markers for Democracy and the Substack “The Grassroots Connector.” She is also the host of the Substack Live “It Needs to be Said” on Thursday evenings at 8pm ET. One of her key issues is advocating for the grassroots “to have a seat at the table.”
In recent conversations with Susan, she raised many of the same frustrations I continually hear from readers and activists in the grassroots movement. Susan wrote the essay below. As you will learn, Susan feels burned out and taken for granted by party leaders and consultants who see the grassroots resistance as a tool that can be summoned or dismissed at their convenience.
I share Susan’s essay not because I suggest that you should feel the same as Susan. However, many people in the grassroots movement share Susan's sentiments at this moment. Perhaps not always, but sometimes. It is only natural that we experience cycles of passion and frustration. We are living through challenging times that swing wildly between highs and lows.
But here’s the point: Susan isn’t giving up. She hasn’t given up over the last eight years, and she will be in the trenches for as long as it takes.
Have a good weekend, everyone. Join me on the Substack livestream for a pep talk tomorrow at 9 am PDT / Noon EDT on the Substack App.
By Susan D. Wagner
Raise your hand if the following describes you anytime over the past eight years:
You are indefatigable, always ready to dig deeper because so much is at stake. A human Eveready Battery.
When Trump was inaugurated in 2017 and again in 2025, you brought energy and tenacity to the fight.
You helped create a grassroots group, or you joined and became an active member.
You are always looking for opportunities to support collective actions to resist the MAGA agenda. But when you join those actions, you discover that party officials and consultants expect you to supply the legwork, organization, leadership, and fighting spirit necessary for those actions to succeed. You quickly learn that grassroots organizers and volunteers are taken for granted—even when their efforts are the difference between defeat and victory.
You have responded generously when elected officials send fundraising emails saying the sky is falling, even though their actions are not commensurate with the threats they say we are facing.
As grassroots activists, we invest our time and energy because we believe we can make a difference. But when we succeed, the media and the party often overlook or minimize our contributions.
I find all of the above confusing, demotivating, and politically disastrous.
Here are a few ways the inaction by our elected officials feeds burnout and leads to disengagement:
As a minority party, it is hard to accomplish much, but all too often, we have seen Democrats cave without extracting any concessions or accommodations. True, we are dealing with a bully who knows how to bully his own people. But we have yet to see congressional Democrats call that bully’s bluff and raise the stakes.
A recent example is congressional democrats being sucker punched on the budget agreement by after-the-fact rescissions of previous appropriations. See NPR, Congress rolls back $9 billion in public media funding aid. How can congressional Democrats possibly believe anything Republicans say, given that Trump is a liar with no bounds? Fool me once, comes to mind. And House Democrats did not even attempt to obstruct the rescission bill by using the Minority Leader’s ability to hold the floor indefinitely, running out the allotted time to pass the rescission bill? Even if that strategy had only delayed the passage of the bill, at least Democrats would have demonstrated that they are ready to up the ante.
The grassroots is alternately treated like a tool to Get Out the Vote and like a parent with infinite resources to bankroll expenses. In most districts and campaigns, activists are shut out of conversations about strategy. Accumulated wisdom from hundreds of hours talking with voters is left untapped.
We have workable models for partnerships between candidates and the grassroots. For example, Rep Suozzi (NY-03) is a Democrat who won in a district that voted for Trump. He credits the grassroots with being a significant factor in his victory.
Tom Suozzi’s victory is a testament to a team approach that included a coordinator dedicated to working with grassroots groups. The coordinator should be a person with experience in the district and connections to grassroots groups. You can’t parachute in a candidate, and you shouldn’t parachute in an inexperienced person unfamiliar with the district to serve as the coordinator with grassroots groups.
It is also important for the coordinator to have a direct line of communication to the candidate. This position could even be held by a volunteer. These past eight years have taught the grassroots movement an enormous amount about the issues surrounding this level of teamwork. Grassroots leaders understand the sensitivities necessary for successful coordination between the candidate and grassroots organizations
While Republicans advance their agenda with relentless determination, Democrats often appear paralyzed by caution. Staying in office seems to be the biggest motivator. We have seen cautious political calculations and performative gestures instead of meaningful action by our elected officials.
Conversations I have had with elected officials about the frustrations of their most committed volunteers go this way: “I am serving my constituents.” What service is their inaction providing? Or the other usual excuse, “We are a large tent and it is difficult to herd cats.”
Elected officials and party leaders must get over thinking that those are acceptable responses. The threat posed by Trump to our democracy seems to be a secondary concern. Given the attacks on every American’s rights, the Constitution, and the rule of law, those answers are simply unacceptable.
Democratic politicians and party leaders seem to pay more attention to pollsters and pundits than to their committed constituents. The reliance on pollsters who got it so wrong the last time is just baffling. I read the pundits who were so positive about our chances in 2024 and now ask, "Why would anyone think they are getting it right this time?”
Politicians should quit talking to the pundits who got it wrong last time and call a meeting where they listen to grassroots group leaders.
Without visible allies, even the most dedicated organizers begin to question why we are giving so much of ourselves. We are not asking for miracles, we are asking for comrades in the fight. True leaders know how to meet the moment. The unprecedented attacks on our country require unapologetic boots on the ground, clarity, and even theatrics (when appropriate). We need real action rather than performative politics.
Congress has taken an early vacation (and don't get me started on what if any moves Dems could have made to at least not have allowed this early dismissal to be a walk in the park for Johnson and the Republicans). With their calendars freed up, members of Congress should organize a trip to Alligator Alcatraz with all the elected Dems holding up signs protesting this atrocity. How about Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries holding up both ends of a banner that says, “This Is Not Permitted In The United States Of America.” Or, This Is Not What Makes America Great?”
Seeing collective action to expose atrocities at inhumane detention facilities would energize the base. The congressional recess is the perfect time to take bold steps outside of Washington, to take command with actions designed to insist on justice, equality, and democracy.
To keep up our determination, we in the grassroots need to see our party leaders develop a strategy and take action designed to stop the Republicans in their tracks.
We see our rights and privileges being taken from us every day. At this point, enough of the platitudes, we need to see bold actions. We call on public servants to meet the moment with vigilance, energy, and resilience. Every candidate claims to have those traits when they are running. Yet, if the current behavior of our elected officials is any indication, that “oomph” seems to have been parked outside the doors of Congress.
To re-energize volunteers’ spirits, leaders must demonstrate their commitment to action that is commensurate with the attacks on the foundational rights guaranteed by our Constitution. This is not a cry in the dark; just ask the prisoners in the work camps popping up across the country.
We have long since left the notion of potential threat; we are now solidly in erosion territory. We in the grassroots are presently fighting our fatigue, constantly giving each other support and encouragement, but that will soon have diminishing returns.
All of us, party officials, representatives, and candidates, need to stay in the fight because every time someone chooses to do so, it tips the balance in favor of democracy.
For more on these issues, subscribe to The Grassroots Connector.
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Hi, all, and happy Friday!
It occurred to me today, when starting to write this edition, that trying to decide which one or two subjects to address in my daily call scripts feels, right now, like an absurd exercise. There is SO MUCH to be upset about. So while I will always send you a script I think is relevant, timely, and urgent, I encourage you to lean heavily on 5 Calls as well. There are just too many things happening, friends, for me to cover them all.
We should all be calling to get food into Gaza. We should all be calling to decry the outrageous Paramount Plus merger approval and the bribery that led to it. The Texas gerrymander is an outrage; so is MAGA’s coverup on Epstein. So is the fact that the Forest Service is understaffed for fire season by 27%.
I could go on, obviously. It’s a firestorm of awful, my friends. But remember how we’ll get through it: one day, one action, one step at a time.
Think of how you’d pedal a bike up a steep hill—not by staring up at the top of the incline and using the most difficult gear to try to get there quickly. No, you’d look down at your front tire, switch into the easiest gear, and take it one (grueling) turn of the pedals at a time. At least that’s how I do it!
When we do that long enough we always reach the crest of the hill. And so we will here.
We’re in the thick of it and it’s hard as hell. Let’s comfort ourselves, at least, by remembering that Trump is possibly having a worse time of it right now than we are. Good! Long may it last.
In the meantime, let’s get back to our pedals. The journey is long but we’re in excellent shape. We’ll get there eventually. And when we do how good it will feel to know that we didn’t give up, even when the going got tough.
THAT is what courage looks like. Thanks for having so much of it. Now let’s get to work.
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
First, I understand that the White House just denied Gov. Wes Moore’s request for $16 million in FEMA assistance with no explanation. Just a day earlier, Trump officials approved disaster relief for Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan and West Virginia. This is outrageous. Disaster aid cannot be politicized this way—we are the United States. Trump needs to release aid to Maryland, California, and any other so-called blue states that need it now.
Also, I’m horrified that Trump dispatched his former personal criminal defense lawyer to meet in person —and in private—with Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell is a known sex trafficker who also allegedly assaulted some of Epstein’s victims. To give her a special meeting with the president’s close associate is horrific and inappropriate. If some sort of deal comes out of it the American people will be livid. We want the truth about Epstein, not more coverups. Thanks.
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
First, I understand that the White House just denied Gov. Wes Moore’s request for $16 million in FEMA assistance with no explanation. Just a day earlier, Trump officials approved disaster relief for Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan and West Virginia. This is outrageous. Disaster aid cannot be politicized this way—we are the United States. Trump needs to release aid to Maryland, California, and any other so-called blue states that need it now.
Also, I’m horrified that Trump dispatched his former personal criminal defense lawyer to meet in person —and in private—with Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell is a known sex trafficker who also allegedly assaulted some of Epstein’s victims. To give her a special meeting with the president’s close associate is horrific and inappropriate. If some sort of deal comes out of it the American people will be livid. We want the truth about Epstein, not more coverups. Thanks.
[H/T ]
In response to Georgia's planned removal of nearly 500,000 voters from the rolls, Fair Fight launched a new online tool to help Georgians check if they’re at risk of being purged and take steps to stay registered.
The tool offers clear guidance, background on the purge process, and a way for voters to report wrongful removal. Fair Fight is promoting it through texts, emails, ads, and social media to protect voter access ahead of key fall elections. But we can and must promote it, too! Your job? Send it to everyone you know in Georgia, post about it on social media, and get this info out there!
Reproductive freedom, voting rights, public education, and democracy itself are on the line in Virginia this November. Control of the Governor’s office, every House of Delegates seat, and thousands of local races will shape the state’s future.
Join COURIER on Tuesday, July 29 at 7:00 PM ET for a virtual conversation with Delegates Candi King and Michael Feggens and local Virginia creators as they discuss what’s resonating with voters, what’s at stake, and how to fight back against right-wing misinformation and low turnout.
With trusted reporting from Dogwood and their network of local creators, COURIER is mobilizing voters where traditional media fails. Learn how authentic, community-rooted content can help defend democracy in 2025 and beyond.
Please use this link to register.
Don’t let Trump bury the Epstein files!
Here’s Indivisible’s toolkit to help expose the cover-up.Indivisible has put together an explainer on the state of Trump’s Epstein cover-up, complete with action items and shareable social posts. The Trump regime wants to flex its power to sweep this story of abuse and corruption under the rug; we won’t let that happen.
Join the March for Integrity on July 27 to get money out of politics. In D.C. and nationwide.
Are you ready to make calls and talk to voters to ensure we elect Abigail Spanberger as Virginia's next Governor?
Join the Grassroots Dems HQ on Mondays and Wednesdays at 3PM PT/6PM ET, Fridays at 2pm PT/5pm ET, and Sundays at 1PM PT/4PM ET to call voters across the state!
Amidst heat waves, storms, and floods actoss the country, it's never been more evident why we need environmental leadership. Join your fellow volunteers to make calls with Environmental Voter Project next Tuesday, July 29, at 12pm ET / 9am PT; and next Wednesday, July 30, at 6pm ET / 3pm PT. And there are tons more opportunities here.
[To: all 3 reps] [H/T ] [Text SIGN PLWOBX to 50409, or to @Resistbot on Apple Messages, Messenger, Instagram, or Telegram]
(Note that for the most effective RESISTBOT it’s best to personalize this text. More about how to do this here. But if you’re short on time just send it as is using the above code.)
The Trump regime's failure to disburse congressionally-approved grant funding for Head Start programs is unacceptable. Head Start provides critical early childhood education and support services to nearly 800,000 low-income children, fostering healthy development and yielding long-term benefits. Eliminating or underfunding this program would devastate vulnerable families who rely on Head Start for high-quality education, childcare, food assistance, and developmental screenings.
The Government Accountability Office has confirmed the administration's actions are illegal. Congress must take immediate action to demand the release of all impounded Head Start funds. Robust funding for Head Start must also be included in the FY2026 appropriations bill. The well-being and education of our nation's children should be a paramount priority.
There is no better investment we can make than ensuring access to high-quality early childhood programs like Head Start for all families, regardless of income level. I urge you to stand firmly against any attempts to undermine or defund this vital program that strengthens communities and provides a foundation for children's lifelong success.
Talk soon.
Jess
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Federal agents block people protesting ICE raid near Camarillo, California | Getty
A new Trump administration statement bragging about its immigration “victories” since taking office — including a 93% “plunge” in daily border encounters — also reveals that the Department of Homeland Security is adding 18,000 federal immigration agents to its already bulging army.
The hiring frenzy represents the largest one-time increase since 9/11, and includes 10,000 new ICE agents, 5,000 new customs officers, and 3,000 new Border Patrol agents. The buildup is concentrated most heavily in ICE, which currently has about 15,000 federal agents. In other words, ICE is getting a 67% increase in its federal agent head count!
One might ask why the federal apparatus requires such a frantic buildup when it is at the same time trumping things like, on June 28, the Border Patrol having recorded only 136 apprehensions across the entire Southwest Border — the lowest single-day total in agency history. Or that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had its lowest number of nationwide encounters in June. Or that the number of nationwide apprehensions last month was also a historic low
Homeland security says it has arrested more than 300,000 “illegal aliens” this year, 70 percent of them with criminal charges or convictions.
The so-called Big Beautiful Bill, signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4th, authorizes this new army of immigration authorities. It also authorizes over $65 billion in increased spending to finish the border wall and pay for some 80,000 new beds for Immigration and Customs Enforcements (ICE) to incarcerate detainees.
The bill also includes authorization for homeland security to offer $10,000 signing bonuses to attract young men and women to join the other American brownshirts. So much for patriotic masses yearning to get into the ranks.
In reality, homeland security is increasingly alienated from Americans, as evidenced by its increasingly hostile press releases that seem to view the public as an insurgency to be subdued.
Screenshot of July 17 post on Custom and Border Protection’s official Instagram account
Just this week, homeland posted to its official X account posted the 1872 John Gast painting “American Progress,” an allegorical depiction of manifest destiny as an angelic, fair skinned woman in robes chasing off native Americans westward with the caption: “A Heritage to be proud of, a Homeland worth Defending.”
With messaging like that, it’s not hard to see why so many of the anti-ICE protesters in Los Angeles this summer said they regarded the immigration crackdown as an attack on their ethnic heritage.
Actual post on the Department of Homeland Security’s official X account
Homeland security’s breach with the American public is perhaps shown most vividly in the new policy of federal immigration agents masking themselves for even petty arrests, or in the their agencies’ PR machine blurring their faces in the endless stream of press releases portraying them as valiant heroes.
They act as though they’re arresting El Chapo.
ICE agents in Dallas arrest man accused of making social media threats against homeland secretary Kristi Noem
Their efforts at obscuring themselves, including even which agency they’re working for, is antithetical to domestic operations and any sense of service to America and has led to confusion with their partners in the National Guard, as I’ve previously reported.
There’s been a pretty significant decline in support for Trump’s immigration policies, which tells an interesting story that’s getting overlooked. American opposition to “illegal immigration,” if you take a careful look at the polling, mostly only applies to major illegality, like felonies or violent crimes. Misdemeanor-level offenses like residing here without a visa, while technically illegal, is not something most Americans think justifies deportation. These kinds of nuances in public opinion are seldom mentioned, with “illegal immigration” collapsed into one undifferentiated category.
The collapse in support for the deportation regime reflects the realization by many that it isn’t only targeting the violent criminals that Trump promised it would during the campaign. Most people don’t want a full-scale war on immigration.
So do we really need a new immigration enforcement army?
Subscribe if you think ICE has enough toys already
— Edited by William M. Arkin
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Credit: Jackie Lay/NPR
Friends,
The latest casualty of Trump’s efforts to silence media criticism is Eduardo Porter, one of the most thoughtful and intelligent critics of this heinous regime.
On Tuesday, Porter wrote his last column for The Washington Post. In it, he criticized Trump’s attempt to dismantle the global trading system.
Porter didn’t stop there. He also explained why he was leaving the Post:
“Jeff Bezos and his new head of Opinion are taking the paper down a path I cannot follow, directed toward the relentless promotion of free markets and personal liberties…. I have no idea to what extent this is driven by Mr. Bezos’ fear of what Donald Trump could do to his various business interests, most of which are more valuable to him than The Post.”
Well, I do have an idea. Bezos stopped the Post from endorsing Kamala Harris. He made a huge contribution to Trump’s inauguration. And he stood directly in front of Trump at Trump’s swearing in.
Why? Because Bezos owns a bunch of mega-corporations, including Amazon, that depend on Trump’s goodwill and could be in deep trouble if Trump decided to retaliate against Bezos.
It’s much the same story with Stephen Colbert, longtime host of CBS’s “The Late Show” and the top-rated late-night talk show host in the United States.
On July 14, Colbert openly criticized CBS’s parent company, Paramount, for its $16 million settlement with Trump of his frivolous lawsuit over the routine editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris that Trump claimed gave her an unfair advantage in the 2024 election.
Said Colbert in his opening monologue:
“As someone who has always been a proud employee of this network, I am offended. And I don’t know if anything will ever repair my trust in this company…. I believe this kind of complicated financial settlement with a sitting government official has a technical name in legal circles. It’s big fat bribe. Because this all comes as Paramount's owners are trying to get the Trump administration to approve the sale of our network to a new owner, Skydance.”
Three days later, on July 17, Paramount pulled the plug on Colbert’s show, eliciting from Trump a celebratory, “I absolutely love that Colbert was fired.”
(A few days later, Colbert came out swinging, telling Trump to “go fuck yourself,” and joking that it had always been his dream to have a sitting president celebrate the end of his career.)
Yesterday, one week after Colbert’s show was cancelled, Trump’s Federal Communications Commission approved Paramount’s sale to Skydance.
To cinch the deal, Skydance CEO David Ellison promised that he’d eliminate all U.S.-based DEI programs at Paramount and CBS and create a new ombudsman to field complaints of ideological bias in news coverage.
Trump says CBS also agreed to run $20 million worth of public service announcements consistent with his ideological beliefs.
Let’s be clear. Jeff Bezos has silenced any criticism of Trump on the editorial pages of The Washington Post because Bezos fears Trump’s wrath.
CBS and its parent corporation, Paramount, has silenced criticism of Trump on Colbert’s hugely popular “Late Show” because its top corporate brass fears Trump’s wrath.
The new owner of CBS has agreed to some federal interference in the content of what it produces because he fears Trump’s wrath.
The silencing is happening across American media because Trump cannot stand criticism, because he’s vindictive as hell, and because he’s willing and able to use every department and agency of the federal government to punish any media corporations that allow its writers or hosts to criticize him.
It’s the same with American universities, whose professors have often criticized Trump’s illegal and unconstitutional actions and whose research has often yielded conclusions that contradict Trump’s lies (such as that climate change is a “hoax”).
Columbia University, Dartmouth College, and a handful of others have gone out of their way to “cooperate” with the Trump regime in order to avoid Trump’s wrath.
What does “cooperation” entail? Silencing Trump’s potential critics.
Columbia has just agreed to allow the regime to review its admissions and hiring practices in order to receive the federal research grants that the regime had held back.
Friends, this is how democracy dies.
Shame on any media outlet or university that allows Trump to silence it.
Trump is a dangerous despot. America needs its Eduardo Porters, Stephen Colberts, and all others in the media and in academia who have helped the nation understand just how truly dangerous Trump is.
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A crucial aspect of every criminal conspiracy is concealment. Efforts to cover up criminal conspiracies often continue for years after the object of the conspiracy has been achieved. An essential part of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking conspiracy was concealing the rape of thousands of girls and the identity of the rapists.
The cover-up of the Epstein sex-trafficking conspiracy continues as of today—July 25, 2025. The people continuing the cover-up include leaders in Congress, the DOJ, the FBI, the Republican Party, cable news, podcasters, and social media users who are seeking to deny, distract, and confuse the public about the crimes committed by Epstein and his co-conspirators.
Their goal is simple and depraved: They are seeking to prevent the disclosure of long-suppressed evidence of Epstein’s crimes. Their actions are part of a cover-up that has continued for decades.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche is engaged in a bad-faith, performative “interview” with convicted child sex trafficker and indicted perjurer Ghislaine Maxwell for the transparent purpose of creating a cover story to support a pardon or commutation of her 20-year sentence. If Blanche were interested in getting to the truth, he would interview the hundreds of victims identified in the Epstein files before making a recommendation for a pardon. But, to date, Todd Blanche is interviewing the perpetrator of child sex trafficking, not the victims.
The pardon of Ghislaine Maxwell seems inevitable. Trump claims that the “Epstein” story is a “hoax.” A necessary corollary is that Ghislaine Maxwell’s conviction by a jury of her peers was fraudulent and must be pardoned.
Indeed, right-wing media is beginning to portray Maxwell as a “victim.” The New Republic, MAGA Pulls Bonkers 180 on Ghislaine Maxwell to Help Trump | The New Republic. (Per the article, anchor Greg Kelly said on Newsmax, “She just might be a victim. She just might be.”)
As noted in the New Republic article above, disgraced former Harvard Law Professor Alan Derschowitz claims that Ghislaine Maxwell’s 20-year sentence is “too long.” Hmm. Just how long a sentence is recommended for someone who facilitated the serial rape of hundreds (thousands?) of girls over decades?
As maddening as a pardon of Ghislaine Maxwell would be for the American people, the victims of Epstein’s crimes will be re-traumatized by a pardon that presumes their claims of being raped by Epstein and his clients are part of an elaborate hoax.
What began as a political misstep by Pam Bondi and Kash Patel has turned into a moral chasm riving the political and religious leaders of America with a simple question: Do we stand for the victims of a child sex trafficker, or do we stand for the rich and powerful rapists who will escape accountability if the Epstein files are suppressed?
That question should be easy to answer for people of good faith and human decency. But, to date, most Republicans and MAGA influencers are standing firmly in the corner of the child rapists. It is up to us to bring pressure to bear on those politicians seeking to cover up Epstein’s crimes. It will be a long summer break for members of Congress. As we engage in pro-democracy rallies, let’s not forget Epstein’s victims. They deserve justice instead of being told their stories are part of an elaborate hoax.
It often feels as though grassroots activists are pushing a boulder up an increasingly steep hill. The nearer we get to the top, the more difficult the incline. A recent Gallup poll has helped clarify that phenomenon for me.
The most recent Gallup poll shows that Trump is at his lowest favorability rating of his second term. See Gallup, Independents Drive Trump's Approval to 37% Second-Term Low (July 24, 2025).
The key finding of the poll is this:
“Trump’s rating has fallen 10 percentage points among U.S. adults since he began his second term in January, including a 17-point decline among independents, to 29%, matching his lowest rating with that group in either of his terms.”
And this chart illustrates the negative shift in voter sentiment for Trump:
Most of the media’s attention is being paid to the green line (US adults) and the dotted line (Independents), both of which show a steady decline in support for Trump since January 2025. The decline in support among Independents accounts for nearly all of Trump's overall decline among US Adults.
That overall trend validates the intuition of grassroots activists that there has been a significant downward shift in support for Trump in reaction to his policies, including immigration, tariffs, the reconciliation bill, DOGE cuts to science, medical research, climate protection, and green energy.
But two other lines deserve our attention: the red line (Republicans) and the blue line (Democrats). They indicate that there has been no significant change in support for Trump among Republicans and Democrats despite a tumultuous and chaotic six months filled with seismic shocks involving immigration, tariffs, the reconciliation bill, and DOGE cuts to science, medical research, climate protection, and green energy.
Although we should not over-interpret a single poll, this Gallup poll suggests that persuadable, swing voters are Independents, while Republicans and Democrats have firmly established viewpoints that are insensitive to major political developments. The Gallup poll indicates that we should concentrate our persuasion efforts on *Independents—*which may be the first key to winning in a closely divided electorate.
A second point follows from the intractability of the views of Republicans and Democrats. Given that views remain fixed regardless of political developments, increasing turnout among Democrats is the second (or first?) key to success in a closely divided electorate.
I recognize that the above two points are blazingly obvious. In fact, I can hear political consultants rolling their eyeballs to the back of their heads. But we have just experienced six months like no other in the history of our nation, and neither Democrats nor Republicans shifted their views of the president’s performance! That is (or should be viewed as) remarkable!
[Of course, there is very little room in the Democratic view of Trump's performance. Democrats rate Trump in the single digit in terms of favorability. Bouncing between 7% and 2% approval rating is background noise.]
One further note to put a finer point on the two obvious points I extracted from the Gallup poll. There are four major voting blocs in America. In increasing order of size, they are:
Republicans (32% of registered voters)
Democrats (33% of registered voters)
Independents (35% of registered voters)
Did not vote. (36% of eligible voters)
See Party affiliation and ideology of US registered voters | Pew Research Center and 2024 was a Landslide...for 'Did Not Vote' | Environmental Voter Project
Said differently, if “Did Not Vote” was a candidate in 2024, they would have garnered the most votes in the Electoral College by a wide margin! See the Environmental Voter Project article, linked above.
To recap: The most recent Gallup poll reinforces the point that our target audience for persuasion is Independents and our targets audiences for getting out the vote are (a) Democrats and (b) Did Not Vote.
I strongly believe that the unpopularity of the reconciliation bill will help Democrats to motivate “low propensity voters.” Issues that once seemed abstract are hitting home in a big way: Medicaid, healthcare premiums, student loan collections and availability, Medicare, job creation from green energy, availability of vaccines, and job security in government and education.
Polls are not votes, nor are they destiny. We must achieve the outcome we desire through hard work and persistence. But, we have a relative advantage at this moment; we must exploit that advantage for all it is worth!
A brewing constitutional crisis may be coming to a head in New Jersey. Trump's one-time parking lot lawyer (Alina Habba), who turned Acting US Attorney in New Jersey, has “timed out” of her “acting” capacity. The district court judges in New Jersey appointed a replacement US Attorney in accordance with authority granted to the judges by statute and as expressly permitted by the Constitution. See Mark Joseph Stern in Slate, What Trump and Pam Bondi Are Doing in New Jersey Is a Bigger Deal Than You Think.
As explained by Stern,
The district court was acting pursuant to federal statute awarding it this power. And, in enacting this law, Congress was acting pursuant to an authority spelled out in the Constitution. The Trump administration believes that Article 2 crowns the president a king with absolute control over the executive branch. But the text of Article 2 refutes this idea: It allows Congress to “vest the appointment” of inferior officers “in the courts of law.”
In short, there is no doubt whatsoever that the district court judges in New Jersey have the statutory and constitutional authority to appoint Alina Habba’s successor. But Habba has simply refused to vacate her office! See Reuters, Former Trump lawyer says she will remain as New Jersey prosecutor despite court decision.
Habba and Pam Bondi claim Trump has re-appointed Habba to the position as Acting US Attorney—a violation of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act (because her nomination as US Attorney remains pending in the Senate).
It is a complicated mess—but one that is likely to be decided by the Supreme Court. Since I have lost all faith in the Supreme Court, I assume the reactionary majority will back the appointment of Alina Habba—thereby eliminating the explicit provision of the Constitution that allows Congress to authorize “the courts” to appoint “inferior officers,” which includes US Attorneys.
Having the Supreme Court override the Constitution again to support the lawless regime of Trump would be another body blow to the rule of law. But it appears to be where we are heading.
Trump is trying to fire the Chair of the Federal Reserve System, Jerome Powell. Trump tried to set up Powell on a visit to the over-budget, under-construction refurbishment of the Fed’s ninety-year-old headquarters.
During the visit, Trump exaggerated the cost overrun of the refurbishment project, claiming that the construction was $3.1 billion over-budget. Powell seemed surprised and said he had not heard that number. Trump pulled out a sheet of paper and gave it to Powell, who immediately recognized that Trump had included the cost of a different building that was completed five years ago in the alleged “construction overruns” on the Fed’s headquarters building.
See video here: Powell Humiliates Trump.
Here’s the point: When challenged, Trump's lies are easily falsifiable. Members of the Washington press corps should take note!
Conversation with Adelita Grijalva: Lessons from the July 15th AZ-07 Special Election
I will be moderating a special livestream conversation with Adelita Grijalva and Latino Victory President & CEO Katharine Pichardo this Friday, July 25 at 4:00 PM ET / 1:00 PM PT.
We’ll dig into the dynamics of the July 15th special election, where Adelita won a crowded primary to succeed her late father, Rep. Raúl Grijalva. It was a closely watched race that offers a window into the future of the Democratic Party — from generational change and Gen Z challengers to the power of Latino voters, the importance of grassroots organizing, the role of social media, and the push and pull between progressive and moderate forces. (Adelita earned endorsements from Bernie Sanders and AOC as well as Arizona Senators Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly.)
We’ll also introduce Adelita — likely the next Congresswoman from AZ-07 — and talk about her story, her father’s legacy, and what she hopes to accomplish in Congress in this pivotal moment for our democracy.
I hope you will tune in, and I would also encourage you to subscribe to Latino Victory's substack for free as they work to build a platform to uplift Latino candidates running in important races this election cycle.
We are one day into Congress’s summer recess, and Trump is on his heels. The Wall Street Journal published another detailed piece on Epstein’s “birthday book”—as if to say to Trump, “We have the goods and will keep taunting you with daily releases of harmful information.”
VP JD Vance published a whiny post on Truth Social, crying about the fact that the WSJ is “acting like a Democratic SuperPAC,” a statement that acknowledges that the WSJ is hurting Trump with Epstein disclosures.
Trump’s pathetic “own-goal” while attempting to attack Jerome Powell shows Trump for the bumbling fool everyone knows him to be. And with questions about his health lurking in every appearance, unreliable media sources are already speculating that JD Vance will replace Trump by the end of 2025. (I would never stoop to such rank speculation!)
But . . . it is not enough for Trump and the MAGA extremists to struggle with self-inflicted wounds. I know from readers that they continue to attend pro-democracy rallies every day of the week. I urge readers to share those experiences in the Comment section.
The media is not covering protests by grassroots activists, creating the misperception that nothing is happening. Not true! Let’s share the truth with other grassroots activists about our pro-democracy rallies during the congressional recess.
We must be our own information and support network while we await the media’s acknowledgment that the grassroots is, once again, reclaiming democracy! We did so in 2018 and 2020, and we can do so again!
Stay strong!
Talk to you tomorrow!
The Western Veil Nebula is part of a larger remnant of a supernova explosion that is still expanding at a rate of about 1.5 million kilometers per hour. The nebula is located 2,500 light-years from Earth.
Enjoy!
From Today's Edition Newsletter via this RSS feed
download this image here.
Hi, all, and happy Thursday!
Hope you’re enjoying your week, as far as it’s possible. At the very least, I trust you’re basking in Trump’s ever-growing discomfiture as he gets hit with wave after wave of bad Epstein-related news. While the backstory on Trump’s long relationship with that loathsome pedophile is sordid, heartbreaking, and tragic, the satisfaction I, for one, am feeling at seeing him finally face blowback for his despicable behavior is huge.
Meanwhile, the tariffs continue to bite, prices are skyrocketing everywhere, Pete Hegseth has another Signal scandal on his hands, and more and more people are deciding that Trump is a failure as a President—across the board. Good!
We are nowhere near winning this battle, folks, but we’re moving in the right direction, and that’s because of your hard work.
Thank you for everything you do. When the history of this epoch is written, you’ll be the heroes at the center of it, and I’ll be proud to say I knew you.
Let’s get to work.
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
First, I understand that a final vote on Emil Bove could be coming as soon as Monday. I expect the Senator to do everything in his/her power to ensure that this unfit, corrupt man doesn’t get anywhere near a lifetime appointment on our federal courts. Vote no.
Also, I’m angry that Texas is holding a special legislative session to try to redraw the legislative maps in their favor. Instead of focusing on responding to devastating floods in central Texas, Governor Greg Abbott is trying to rig Texas’ maps to push Democrats out of office and preserve Republicans’ majority. It’s repugnant and anti-democratic. I want the Senator to make a statement denouncing it. Thanks.
[If Democrat add:] And I support Democrats in “going nuclear” to counteract this threat in any way they can. Take the gloves off. Thanks.
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
I’m furious that Speaker Mike Johnson and House Republicans have shut down the work of Congress to protect Trump from accountability over the Epstein files. They are abandoning their constitutional responsibilities in order to serve Trump’s personal interests. Americans demand the truth. We will settle for no less.
[If GOP add:] And we will never forget the Republicans who blocked the release of these files.
Also, I’m angry that Texas is holding a special legislative session to try to redraw the legislative map in their favor. Instead of focusing on responding to devastating floods in central Texas, Governor Greg Abbott is trying to rig Texas’ maps to push Democrats out of office and preserve Republicans’ majority. It’s repugnant and anti-democratic. I want the Congressmember to make a statement denouncing it. Thanks.
[If Democrat add:] And I support Democrats in “going nuclear” to counteract this threat in any way they can. Take the gloves off. Thanks.
I try not to publish Middle East-related material in this newsletter—I typically keep it in the global edition—but the famine in Gaza has grown too horrifying to ignore. If you want to push our lawmakers to help get food aid into Gaza I’ve written a Resistbot letter you can read here, then send it, if you like, by texting SIGN PFONLN to 50409.
Thanks to Marisa Kabas of the Handbasket, whose great article I used to craft the Resistbot.
On July 30 Indivisible is hosting their next One Million Rising call. OMR is a national effort to train one million people in the strategic logic and practice of non-cooperation, as well as the basics of community organizing and campaign design.
This is the second session, where you’ll learn not just Indivisible’s strategy, but how you can lead a discussion with others and get them on board with taking action in your community. You'll host your first community resistance gathering after this session, before the next session.
You can sign up here.
Did you miss Session 1? Watch the recording here!
This Framelab piece explaining what’s happening with Trump’s base right now around the Epstein coverup, how it could be dangerous for democracy, and how we can counteract Trump’s next attempts to make it so, is really worth a read.
This weekend, Families First (a collaboration of AFSCME, AFT, Caring Across Generations, Community Change, Fair Share America, Families Over Billionaires, Family Values Work, Moms Rising, MoveOn, National Domestic Workers Alliance, NEA, People’s Action Institute, Planned Parenthood, SEIU, and Working Families Power) is hosting events across the country to say: our families come first, and we will protect each other.
You can find an event near you here. And learn more here.
[H/T Small Deeds Done]
Join the Southern Environmental Law Center Thursday, July 31, at 12:30 P.M. ET for a webinar focused on key efforts to advance protections for clean air and water across the South — even as critical federal safeguards are under attack.
From federal litigation to local advocacy, SELC experts will share how they are stepping up alongside communities, partner organizations, and state leaders to protect what matters most.
Check out the speaker list and/or register here.
[To: all 3 reps] [H/T] [Text SIGN PFSJOQ to 50409, or to @Resistbot on Apple Messages, Messenger, Instagram, or Telegram]
(Note that for the most effective RESISTBOT it’s best to personalize this text. More about how to do this here. But if you’re short on time just send it as is using the above code.)
I’m writing to demand that Congress act to repeal Trump’s tariffs.
No matter how Trump tries to package his trade war, everyone from chief financial officers to everyday Americans is feeling the effects of his economic chaos.
Trump’s erratic trade policies are raising operating costs for businesses — who are passing them along to consumers. A new study from the Yale Budget Lab reveals the average household will pay $2,800 more per year because of Trump. A new report from Goldman Sachs estimates that 70% of tariff costs will be paid for by consumers. This is unsustainable!
We are already paying the price at the grocery store and soon could pay even more. Beef prices are hitting record highs, and orange juice prices are set to rise by as much as 25%. Trump’s tariffs are devastating us!
Congress has the power to stop this any time, and they must. Reclaim your constitutional power and stop Trump’s import taxes now!
Talk soon.
Jess
Chop Wood, Carry Water is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
From Chop Wood, Carry Water via this RSS feed
Friends,
The public conversation has become so distorted by the moral squalor of Trump and his lackeys that I fear we’re confusing what’s exciting with what’s important.
“Epsteingate” is exciting. The story excites because Trump seems unable to stop it from growing — and it therefore offers a bit of hope that it will undermine his support or even topple him.
Yet I worry that it’s crowding out other stories that Americans need to know and respond to, such as:
1. Hunger in Gaza has reached new and astonishing levels of desperation, with a third of the population not eating for multiple days in a row, according to the World Food Program.
The number of children dying of malnutrition has risen sharply in recent days. Many are literally starving.
According to Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency:
“People in Gaza are neither dead nor alive, they are walking corpses…. One in every five children is malnourished in Gaza City as cases increase every day. When child malnutrition surges, coping mechanisms fail, access to food & care disappears, famine silently begins to unfold. Most children our teams are seeing are emaciated, weak & at high risk of dying if they don’t get the treatment they urgently need…. Parents are too hungry to care for their children. Those who reach UNRWA clinics don’t have the energy, food, or means to follow medical advice. Families are no longer coping, they are breaking down, unable to survive. Their existence is threatened.”
America is directly implicated in this humanitarian crisis.
Netanyahu is a war criminal. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food in the Gaza Strip, mostly near aid sites run by an American contractor.
The United States must stop all military assistance to Israel unless Netanyahu and the Israeli government allow relief organizations to bring immediate humanitarian assistance to Gaza.
2. Federal judges accuse the Trump regime of deliberately defying court orders by being slow to respond, misrepresenting facts in filings, and refusing to take action as ordered by the courts.
In an analysis of 165 court orders filed against the Trump regime, the The Washington Post found that federal judges accused it of resisting court orders in at least 57 of those cases — approximately 34 percent.
This story needs far more attention. It’s the clearest evidence yet of the regime’s disregard for the U.S. Constitution.
It should form the basis for impeachment of Trump and his lackeys, and for criminal action against them once they’re out of office.
3. 56,816 people are now being detained by ICE, both in the United States and in El Salvador and other countries where there’s little or no control over the conditions in which they’re being detained.
Over 70 percent have not been convicted of any crime.
Many were abducted by ICE agents in plain clothes and wearing masks to prevent identification, from their places of work, courthouses, or their homes and apartments. Families have been broken up and family members “disappeared.”
We have no way of ensuring that they are being held in humane conditions. Venezuela’s attorney general has announced that Venezuelan migrants held in El Salvador who recently returned to Venezuela suffered torture and abuse while imprisoned in CECOT.
Because there’s been no due process — no independent verification of who these people are or even that they have been in the United States illegally — it is entirely possible that some detainees are American citizens.
This story continues to worsen. And it, too, hasn’t received the attention it deserves.
***
***
The question of whether Trump had sex with one or more of Jeffrey Epstein’s underage sex-trafficked girls is not unimportant, but I worry that its sensationalism is burying some of these other stories that deserve our attention and action.
We have little or no chance of rectifying the most serious wrongs if we’re captivated by the most exciting.
From Robert Reich via this RSS feed
The Epstein list made it into last night’s premiere of the twenty-seventh season of the television series South Park when Satan, in bed with Trump, commented, “It’s weird that whenever it comes up, you just tell everyone to relax.”
The episode hit the president’s lawsuit against the parent company of CBS News, Paramount Global, which paid Trump $16 million to settle his complaint that it had edited an interview with then–Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris misleadingly. Paramount also said it would not renew comedian Stephen Colbert’s contract just days after the deal was announced. Paramount and Skydance Media are in the midst of an $8 billion merger, and they needed the approval of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to complete the deal. Today, Skydance Media promised to eliminate Paramount’s diversity, equity, and inclusion practices and to root out the “bias” at CBS News in order to win the administration's support for the merger. This afternoon, the FCC approved the deal.
Charlotte Clymer of Charlotte’s Web Thoughts notes that on Monday, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone signed a $1.5 billion, five-year deal with Paramount for global streaming rights to the show. This new episode skewered Paramount’s cozying up to Trump.
Clymer points out that the South Park writers go on to portray Trump exactly as they once did Saddam Hussein, not only putting him in bed with Satan as they did Saddam, but also giving Trump the ‘“[s]ame mannerisms. Same voice inflections. Same love affair with Satan. Same dictatorial chaos. In fact, Satan references this by telling Trump he reminds him of a guy he used to date.” Clymer notes that the writers of one of the country’s hottest shows are “communicating that they think Trump is a bullsh*t, two-bit dictator.”
The Bulwark’s Joe Perticone reported today that in a decade of reporting on Congress, he has never seen such a level of panic among Republican lawmakers. In the past, he notes, Trump could weather crises because Republicans closed ranks around him. The Epstein issue, though, has driven a wedge through the Republicans themselves, some of whom are turning against Trump just as the House of Representatives is headed back home. There, Republican members will hear directly from constituents who are angry over the administration’s about-face on releasing more information about Epstein and his associates.
Trump boasted to the House Republicans on Tuesday that his poll numbers are the best he’s ever had, but in fact a Gallup poll out today shows his approval rating at its lowest in his second term: just 37% of American adults approve of his performance in office. Journalist Bill Grueskin notes that this puts Trump six points below where Biden was after the final U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The biggest shift has been among Independents. Only 29% of them say they approve of his job performance, down from 46% at the beginning of his term.
Gallup reports that 60% of American adults disapprove of how Trump is handling immigration, with only 38% approving. That is unlikely to change as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), newly flush with funding from the budget reconciliation bill, ramps up both immigration sweeps and detention. Neither is popular with Americans as they hear stories of overcrowding at ICE facilities and inhumane and unsanitary conditions.
On Tuesday, Nicole Acevedo of NBC News reported that detainees at the detention center in the Florida Everglades spoke of “torturous conditions in cage-like units full of mosquitoes,” with lights on at all times, lack of food and medical treatment, and unsanitary conditions. On June 20, she reported, the U.S. was holding more than 56,000 people in detention centers, the highest number in U.S. history. Nearly 72% of those held had no criminal history.
Just two days after the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Urban Search and Rescue branch, Ken Pagurek, resigned out of frustration with the administration’s work to destroy the agency, and the same day FEMA acting director David Richardson would not commit to the agency’s continued existence, Colleen DeGuzman of the Texas Tribune reported that the U.S. Department of Defense had awarded a $1.26 billion contract to build the largest detention facility in the U.S. at Fort Bliss, an army base in El Paso, Texas. The facility will be designed to hold 5,000 people in tents, and it is expected to open in September 2027. DeGuzman notes that the company that was awarded the contract, Acquisition Logistics, appears not to have experience running detention centers.
On Friday, July 18, the government of El Salvador repatriated more than 250 Venezuelan men who had been held at the notorious CECOT prison after being sent there by the Trump administration. The administration maintained it was not responsible for the men after they left U.S. territory, a claim the government of El Salvador repeatedly refuted. But with the repatriation of the men in exchange for the release of ten U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents held as political prisoners in Venezuela, the State Department claimed the exchange was “thanks to President Trump’s leadership and commitment to the American people.”
The former CECOT prisoners are telling the story of their four-month incarceration, detailing human rights abuses: beatings, being shot with pellets, deprivation of due process, torture.
Today Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel filed an administrative claim against Homeland Security for wrongful detention when it sent him to the terrorist CECOT prison in El Salvador. The filing is the first step in a lawsuit. “I want to clear my name,” he told Jazmine Ulloa of the New York Times. “I am not a bad person.”
The Trump administration received a rebuke yesterday in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man wrongly deported to CECOT. The administration brought Abrego back to the U.S. only after it indicted him on charges of human smuggling. Once back, he was imprisoned in Tennessee, and the administration threatened to deport him again if he were released from custody pending trial.
Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland prohibited officials from taking Abrego into custody and said the administration must give him at least three days’ notice if it intends to deport him.
Shortly afterward, U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. ordered that Abrego be released from criminal detention, saying the government had not shown that he is a threat. While the administration insists that Abrego is a gang member, Crenshaw wrote that he had seen no evidence that Abrego “has markings or tattoos showing gang affiliation; has working relationships with known MS-13 members; ever told any of the witnesses that he is [an] MS-13 member; or has ever been affiliated with any sort of gang activity.” Jacob Knutson of Democracy Docket noted that Abrego requested to stay his release for 30 days, and a magistrate judge issued that stay yesterday.
The administration is facing rough waters elsewhere, too. On Monday the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its final score for the budget reconciliation bill that poured money into border security. Although Republicans insisted it would not add to the deficit, the CBO predicts it will in fact increase the federal deficit by $3.4 trillion and push 10 million people off health insurance. Most of the cost for the bill will come from the Republicans' extension of tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy.
In the Washington Post today, Gene Sperling, who served as director of the National Economic Council under presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, noted that while the Republicans insisted that extending the tax cuts should not be counted toward raising the deficit because they were part of “current policy,” they “entirely rejected” the current policy argument when it came to extending the increase in the Affordable Care Act’s premium tax credit (PTC) established under Biden. Unlike the tax cuts for the wealthy, Republicans are letting that tax credit die, a change that will mean a tax increase of $335 billion for working families over the next ten years.
The loss of the PTC will not only drive healthcare up more than $18,000 a year for a typical 60-year-old couple making $82,000 a year, Sperling writes, but will also drive healthier Americans out of the market, making healthcare coverage more expensive for those who remain in it. Sperling notes that unlike many of the cuts in the budget reconciliation bill, the PTC will expire this year, making voters aware of what the Republicans have done before the midterms—a reality that might have been behind the recent calls from some Republican lawmakers to extend the PTC.
Yesterday, Dan Lamothe and John Hudson of the Washington Post reported that the messages Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sent in a Signal chat came from an email with “SECRET” classification, meaning that disclosing that information could cause serious damage to national security. Senior members of the administration have repeatedly denied that classified information was shared in the chat.
Finally today, cryptocurrency reporter Molly White noted that a memecoin by cryptocurrency billionaire Justin Sun, who has invested about $213 million in cryptocurrency projects connected to Trump, posted a meme showing its mascot, sporting an evil grin, manipulating the White House with the mechanical system of a puppeteer. Over the image, the meme read: “You never truly know who’s pulling the strings.”
—
Notes:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/23/media/skydance-fcc-cbs-news-bias-ombudsman-dei-paramount
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fcc-approves-paramount-skydance-merger/
Charlotte's Web ThoughtsSouth Park Thinks Trump is a Little Fascist BitchRead more16 hours ago · 618 likes · 9 comments · Charlotte Clymer
The BulwarkThis Is the Most Panicked Republicans Have Been in YearsRepublicans are imploding over Jeffrey Epstein, and the evidence is hard to miss. The panic among GOP lawmakers is unlike anything I’ve seen in a decade of reporting on Congress…Read more10 hours ago · 423 likes · 83 comments · Joe Perticone
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5418546-donald-trump-approval-gallup/
https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/21/politics/fema-search-and-rescue-chief-resigns
https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/23/texas-migrant-detention-tent-camp-fort-bliss-el-paso/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/07/24/republican-bill-health-care-taxes/
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/us/venezuelan-migrant-us-wrongful-detention.html
https://www.advocate.com/news/andry-hernandez-romero-cecot-torture
https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/federal-judge-kilmar-abrego-garcia-trump-custody/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/07/23/hegseth-signalgate-classified-secret/
Bluesky:
acyn.bsky.social/post/3lulupf5nma2n
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social/post/3lupzeeeqjk2s
bgrueskin.bsky.social/post/3luq5iddaac2n
moreperfectunion.bsky.social/post/3luneqfkeic2i
From Letters from an American via this RSS feed
The news cycle on Wednesday was dominated by the Wall Street Journal’s reporting that AG Pam Bondi told Trump in May that his name appeared repeatedly in the “Epstein files.” See WSJ, Justice Department Told Trump in May That His Name Is Among Many in the Epstein Files. (Accessible to all.)
Just last week, Trump falsely denied learning from Bondi that he was mentioned in the Epstein files—yet another lie by a sitting president regarding his potential involvement in a decades-long child sex trafficking operation run by Jeffrey Epstein.
This pattern—Trump lying about the scandal, being caught in the lie, Trump lying about the scandal—will become a regular feature of the Trump presidency for the indefinite future, especially during the hastily called congressional recess. Call it the GOP’s ‘Summer of Discontent.”
See generally, Heather Cox Richardson on YouTube, The Epstein Files Are Not Going Away | Explainer.
But for the fact that Trump lies to the American people with great frequency, the latest lie would be the leading story in every media outlet in America. More importantly, the fact that a sitting president is lying to the American people should be a presidency-ending scandal. But the media accepts that Trump lies incessantly and gives him a pass. His habitual lying is the background to a story, not the story itself.
Tomorrow, the White House press corps will ask Trump more questions and print his answers while omitting the qualifying phrase, “The president, an inveterate liar who can’t be trusted, said [XYZ].”
While there is more to discuss regarding the Epstein revelations, I will first address other important stories related to Trump’s lawlessness and the Supreme Court's complicity in his efforts to undermine the Constitution. The Epstein scandal and the quest for justice for his victims are important. We cannot allow the scandal to permanently displace other important stories.
I close this newsletter by addressing polling and punditry claiming that Democrats are historically unpopular—a statement that is both true and misleading. Stick around for “Concluding Thoughts.”
I will continue to beat this drum until someone in the mainstream press notices: Trump is violating the Constitution on a daily basis by illegally withholding (impounding) funds appropriated by Congress. Several federal judges have so held. Now, for the third time, the Government Accounting Office has ruled that Trump is illegally impounding funds appropriated by Congress. See K-12 Dive, Trump’s withholding of Head Start funds violated the law, watchdog says.
Per K-12 Dive,
The Trump administration violated the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 by withholding funds meant for early childhood education Head Start programs, according to a decision issued Wednesday by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, an independent federal watchdog organization.
The GAO report is here: Application of Impoundment Control Act to Availability of Head Start Program Funds | U.S. GAO.
Impounding funds flouts Congress’s authority under the Constitution to appropriate funds and violates a post-Watergate reform law, the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, specifically designed to prohibit impoundment. Illegally impounding funds is an impeachable act and was part of the underlying conduct that led to Trump’s first impeachment.
Per the Articles of Impeachment in 2019, Trump committed an impeachable offense, in part, by suspending “the release of $391 million of United States taxpayer funds that Congress had appropriated on a bipartisan basis for the purpose of providing vital military and security assistance to Ukraine to oppose Russian aggression . . . .” See Articles of Impeachment 2019 at Art I, para. 2 (A).
Sadly, Trump’s current impoundment of funds is not limited to Head Start but is a government-wide phenomenon. The DOGE website brags that it “cut” $190 billion in funds previously appropriated by Congress and disbursed by the executive branch. Department of Government Efficiency
The failure of Congress or the media to object to Trump’s repeated violation of the Constitution has resulted in a situation where Trump has unilaterally rewritten its provisions.
Previously, the Constitution provided that Congress appropriates funds via legislation and the president “faithfully executes” the legislation by disbursing the funds as directed. Now Congress appropriates funds, and Trump does whatever the hell he wants with the money, and no one cares.
Sigh. I miss the good old days when violating the Constitution could get a president impeached. Now, it doesn’t even rise to the level of background noise.
For all of you hardy souls who are diligently engaging in #TeslaTakedown protests, your work is paying off. See CBS News, Tesla profit slumped in second quarter, a sign Musk is hurting the brand.
Per CBS News,
Tesla revenue dropped 12%, and profits slumped 16% in the three months through June as buyers continued to steer clear, and in some cases, turn to more affordable competitors’ offerings.
To be clear, a 12% drop in revenue on a quarter-to-quarter comparison over the prior year is disastrous.
Many in the financial press have previously attempted to deny the link between the protests and Tesla’s slumping profitability. No more. CBS News quoted financial analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee of Forrester Research as follows:
"The perception of Elon Musk, its chief executive, has rubbed the sheen right out of what once was a darling and soaring automotive brand. [Tesla] is a toxic brand that is inseparable from its leader."
The Supreme Court continues its unabashed support for Trump's unlawful dismantling of independent agencies and commissions. To provide independent government oversight of key business sectors, Congress has created several agencies whose governing board members are protected from removal by the president (except for cause). Under precedent that is nearly a century old, the Supreme Court has upheld those congressional protections for board members of independent agencies.
Until now.
Trump has removed board members in violation of congressional statutory protections. Several weeks ago, the Supreme Court issued a “shadow docket” order that lifted a district court stay that prohibited Trump's removal of Democratic members of the National Labor Relations Board (the precise type of political interference Congress sought to prevent).
That shadow docket order on an emergency application effectively overruled the (nearly) century-old precedent in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States (1935) (Upholding Congress’s authority to enact laws limiting the ability of the President of the United States to fire the executive officials of an independent agency.)
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court issued another shadow docket order that cited the previous shadow docket order as precedent for allowing Trump to remove the commissioners of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. See Trump v. Mary Boyle.
In short, the US Supreme Court is overruling century-old precedent on its shadow docket in response to emergency applications that, of necessity, do not provide the Supreme Court with a full record for consideration.
Justice Kagan’s dissent explains the lawless nature of the Supreme Court’s citation of a previous shadow docket order to support the conclusion in a new shadow docket order:
The majority rejects Congress’s design of a whole class of agencies . . . by layering nothing on nothing.
Justice Kagan went on to explain that the Court is using the shadow docket to permit Trump to engage in the wholesale dismantling of congressionally created agencies in violation of the Constitution:
The result—an increase of executive power at the expense of legislative authority—does not stand alone. Just last week, this Court granted another stay allowing the President to ignore a federal statute. That decision permitted the President to push forward in dismantling the Department of Education, even though Congress created that agency and tasked it with performing vital functions.
The continued use of shadow docket emergency orders to allow a significant restructuring of the Constitution is an unlawful and bad-faith exercise of judicial authority. The members of the reactionary majority each lied to the Senate about “respecting settled precedent” and being “neutral arbiter” who “call balls and strikes.” They are, instead, helping Trump implement a reactionary re-interpretation of the Constitution that would horrify the Framers of the Constitution.
Reforming the Court by radically expanding the number of justices and limiting its jurisdiction must be a top priority of the next Democratic president. We missed our previous opportunity to do so in 2021. We must not miss our next opportunity.
Columbia has ceded control of portions of its administration, hiring, and curriculum to the Trump administration in order to restart the flow of federal grant money to the university. Columbia and the major media will tell you that the university did not give up control over faculty, curriculum, hiring, etc. Read the settlement agreement for yourself to decide if that is true, beginning at para. 12 and following. See Columbia University Resolution Agreement.pdf.
For example, Columbia must provide a federal oversight monitor with information about student applicantions for admission, including information regarding
rejected and admitted students broken down by race, color, grade point average, and performance on standardized tests, in a form permitting appropriate statistical analyses . . . . Admissions data will also be subjected to a comprehensive audit by the [federal monitor].
There is no innocent purpose for a federal monitor to “audit” Columbia’s admissions decisions. Federal laws are already in place to address unlawful discrimination in admission. The federal government is now serving as the Admissions Committee for Columbia University. If the monitor doesn’t believe that Columbia is admitting enough Young Republicans, Trump will yank Columbia’s leash once again and bring it to heel.
The reward for capitulation is humiliation.
Remember, the Epstein scandal is about a decades-long sex trafficking operation in which rich and powerful men commercialized the rape of girls. Disclosure of the Epstein files will help convict the perpetrators and deliver a small measure of overdue justice to the victims.
On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was told in May that his name was included in the Epstein files. See WSJ, Justice Department Told Trump in May That His Name Is Among Many in the Epstein Files. (Accessible to all.) When asked in July if AG Pam Bondi told him that his name was in the files, Trump lied and said, “No, no.” See Newsweek, Donald Trump Responds When Asked If He Was Told His Name Was in Epstein Files.
In addition, the WSJ reported that FBI Director Kash Patel told others that Trump's name was included in the Epstein files.
After Trump learned that his name was in the Epstein files, Pam Bondi and Kash Patel announced that the Epstein investigation was closed, that there was no “client list,” and that the files did not provide a basis for prosecuting anyone. (“We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”) The patently false memo is here: FBI Memo | July 2025.
The revelations contradicting the cover-up by Trump, Bondi, and Patel will continue to leak over Congress’s summer recess, resulting in incremental damage to Trump and Republicans, in general.
For example, on Wednesday evening, Lawrence O’Donnell interviewed attorney Bradley Edwards, who represents hundreds of Epstein’s victims. The remarkable interview is here: Lawrence O’Donnell, The Last Word, Congress can subpoena Epstein birthday book from Epstein estate, Epstein victims' lawyer says.
In the interview, Bradley Edwards reveals that Epstein’s victims helped to assemble the “birthday book” that contains the “birthday card” sent by Trump to Epstein. Edwards also explained in detail how Congress or other interested parties could easily subpoena the Epstein “birthday book,” which could easily prove (or disprove) Trump's claim that his alleged birthday card to Epstein “does not exist.”
It’s only going to get worse for Trump and his defenders. It will be a long, hot summer.
Several days ago, I commented on reporting (and polling) suggesting that the Democratic Party is suffering from historically low favorability ratings. I noted that part of the unfavorability rating stems from Democrats being upset that their leaders are not being aggressive enough in resisting Trump.
On Wednesday, Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo addressed the same point in his editor’s blog. See Talking Points Memo, How Is It Going for the Democrats?
Josh Marshall writes,
[T] he low public standing of the Democratic Party itself . . . is very real. As I’ve argued before, when you look closely at those numbers, their main driver is Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents who don’t think incumbent Democrats have the will for or interest in fighting.
So, this number has always looked different to me than it does to some others. How people see incumbent Democrats isn’t the most important thing to me. It’s how many voters want some version of the government built on the things Democrats say they support.
Most of the current unpopularity is based on people who don’t think the current officials can do their job effectively.
In other words, some of the unpopularity of the Democratic Party stems from Democrats themselves, who want more of the Democratic agenda and resistance to Trump, not less, from incumbents who are failing to demonstrate the fighting spirit that animates the party's grassroots base.
Of course, the analysis is not that simple. There are many factors at play. But every Democrat I know is unhappy with their congressional leaders, who seem to “go along to get along” rather than fighting tooth and nail to oppose every nomination, bill, and resolution sponsored by Republicans. That frustration doesn’t mean that Democratic grassroots members will vote for Republicans in 2026. Far from it!
So, as we rightly take confidence from the GOP’s disastrous polling on issues, we must also be cognizant that the Democratic “brand” is suffering. The question of “why” is something that we should take seriously, but not panic over. What we see in town halls, rallies, and special elections is real—and generally favorable for Democrats. That doesn’t mean we can relent. To the contrary, we must take nothing for granted. The stakes are too important.
I think most Democrats intuit the above and are neither over-confident nor under-confident, even as we bemoan the gobsmacking news that greets us each day.
Stay strong, everyone! We will make it through this together!
Talk to you tomorrow!
Below is a portion of the North America Nebula, located approximately 1,600 light years from Earth. This image reminds me of Milton’s lines from Paradise Lost,
From Today's Edition Newsletter via this RSS feed
Illustration by Till Lauer for The New Yorker
Friends,
Here are the two contradictions lying at the heart of the contretemps over Trump and Jeffrey Epstein:
But on July 15, when a journalist asked Trump, “Did [Bondi] tell you at all that your name appeared in the files?” Trump responded, “No, no.”
But on July 7, the Justice Department stated that a thorough review had turned up no list of Epstein’s clients.
Neither of these is evidence that Trump was involved in Epstein’s activities with underage girls. But together they suggest a cover-up — which can kill a presidency.
Exhibit A: Nixon. Of Tricky Dick the oft-repeated question was “What did he know, and when did he know it?” That’s being asked of Trump now.
Like Nixon, Trump is trying to cover up his cover-up. One day after The Wall Street Journal revealed that a letter bearing Trump’s name that was included in a 2003 birthday album for Epstein, Trump sued the Journal, calling the letter “nonexistent” and claiming the article defamed him.
Trump’s problem is that so many Americans — including most of his MAGA base — believed that, once back in the Oval Office, he’d expose a powerful global elite centered on pedophilia. But what if Trump is part of that elite?
Some of Trump’s senior staff — such as Dan Bongino, deputy director of the FBI — built their reputations on exposing that supposed elite. Bongino now says the decision not to release the Epstein files has eroded his credibility among his supporters.
Poor fellow. Bongino became a successful podcaster and media personality precisely because he fueled conspiracy theories linking pedophilia, Epstein, and the global elite.
Another of the deepening ironies here is that Trump’s effort to target his enemies has blurred the line between the White House and the Justice Department — making it harder for Trump to distance himself from the Department’s sudden reversal on releasing the Epstein files, thereby adding to the specter of a cover-up.
The appearance of a cover-up gets even worse now that the House of Representatives has left for its August recess a day earlier than expected because Speaker Mike Johnson — a close ally of Trump — wanted to stop a bipartisan discharge petition that would have forced a vote on the release of the Epstein files.
Senate Republicans may be more open to a bipartisan investigation. Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, says, “Whatever the bottom line is, I’m in favor of releasing it.” Hawley also suggests a joint committee made up of House members and senators to get to the bottom of the growing issue.
Recall that Nixon faced a joint committee of Congress that sought to “get to the bottom” of Watergate.
Epsteingate won’t end because members of Congress go home for August recess. Just the opposite. Because it remains unresolved, more stories will emerge suggesting a cover-up. Republican town halls will be filled with such charges.
Trump hasn’t learned the essential lesson of Watergate: When the public senses a cover-up, you have no choice but to expose everything. Otherwise, the cover-up metastasizes into a “cancer on the White House,” in John Dean’s infamous phrase.
From Robert Reich via this RSS feed
Illustration by Eli Valley for The Nation magazine
Friends,
Day after horrible day, the Trump regime continues to bombard America and the world with decisions that are undermining democracy and harming millions of people.
Trump is ultimately responsible, of course. But who is the person behind him who’s pulling these horrific strings? Who has themost influence over him?
It’s tempting to think of Cabinet members — such as Pam Bondi, Pete Hegseth, Kristi Noem, RFK Jr., and Marco Rubio — because they’re so visibly awful. But they’re often just fronting for Trump and his circle in the White House. Real day-to-day power and influence comes from inside the White House.
I’ve been looking closely at reports about who has the most influence in Trump’s White House and come up with four names. Please select from among them, or offer your own candidate, for the person who in your view tops the list.
From Robert Reich via this RSS feed
Private First Class Andrew Oliveira comments on the LA mission
Thousands of troops, National Guard and active duty Marines are being withdrawn from Los Angeles, the ill-fated mission quietly ending, the objective so confused that even the Defense Department’s official news service is publishing stories about soldiers questioning the point.
I’ve also been talking to those soldiers, and they affirm that so much of the Trump-Hegseth show of force was little more than an unnecessary and politically-motivated publicity stunt. So much so that I’m told that the Pentagon has ordered the California Guard to preserve all records related to the deployment, just in case the military is sued.
“Turns out there could be reasonably foreseeable litigation regarding the mobilization in the future,” one Guard source tells me, adding wryly: “Shocked.” (Asked about any such order, spokespersons for the California National Guard did not respond to my request for comment.)
“I'd say a lot of the action, quote unquote, has died down quite a bit; so a lot of … [what we’re doing] is just us showing our presence,” says Nicolas Gallegos of the Guard’s 1st Battalion, 143rd Field Artillery Regiment.
Gallegos is referring to the anti-ICE protests and civil unrest in LA that precipitated the military deployments last month. Almost since the deployment began, troops on the ground saw that “unrest” had mostly dissipated.
“I think we all feel a little bit anxious about what, why, why we're here,” says Private First Class Andrew Oliveira, an electronics repairman with the 578th Brigade Engineer Battalion told the defense news service.
Far from the North Korea-style “Everything’s great!” public relations exercise I expected, soldiers who deployed to LA are shockingly open about not just the nature of the mission but their own unease with it.
“At first it was a little scary, not knowing what I'm jumping into,” says Specialist Nadia Cano, a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear specialist with the 149th Chemical Company.
If the Defense Department sees fit to quote these soldiers in official media, imagine what they’re saying privately.
What’s striking is how young and inexperienced many of the soldiers are, a concern flagged early on by Army sources I was talking to. Many barely have a year of military service under their belts.
“ I'm still sort of new to the Army … It’s my second activation,” says Specialist Carlos Vasquez, a combat medic with the 143rd Field Artillery Regiment.
Vasquez is the only soldier mentioned by the Guard’s own public affairs apparatus I could find who seemed enthusiastic about the mission. He cites Michael Bay movies and the Call of Duty video game series as his inspiration for joining.
For me, I love being activated. It's my second activation … It's really fun to be out supporting what's supposed to be, you know, an important mission, making sure everything's safe or making sure the civilians are safe, making sure we're safe and everything, you know.
I just, I love wearing this uniform … I enlisted with the Army 'cause I saw all the fun stuff when I was growing up. All the ads, the Michael Bay movies, the Call of Duty. And so I still have pride in this uniform. I'm still sort of new to the Army though, so it's two years. So everything still has its gold wrapper to it really.
Staff Sergeant Zachary Shannon, a squad leader with the 1st Battalion, 184th Infantry Regiment, alludes to his efforts at reassuring soldiers that the deployment involved “doing the right thing,” as he put it, and of the importance of not listening to the protesters.
“I have advised my service members to just keep it professional, keep it military, military professionalism in one ear out the other in a sense that if they say something, my soldiers know who they are and they know why they're here and they know. That they're doing the right thing and if there is a protestor saying otherwise, they should know that that's not true.”
If you’re confused about the point of the deployment, you’re not alone. The term “show of presence” originally appeared in an operations briefing leaked to me. A story I published in this newsletter about that admission precipitated an internal Army investigation almost as farcical as the deployment itself.
Leaked Army briefing
The soldiers I’ve talked to often expressed puzzlement as to what their orders are, which they said seemed to change at a moment's notice with plans starting and stopping seemingly every day. In one case, the Guard arrived for an operation late and just turned around and went back to base without having done anything.
Is the withdrawal of 2,000 Guardsmen and 700 Marines, what’s been announced so far, the end of the mission, or is it just the Pentagon’s way of reorganizing for the next phase? I don’t know yet. Guard sources tell me that most of the remaining troops on the streets will be military police, troops who in theory are trained and ready to engage in crowd control and similar missions in the future.
I welcome help from Guard, Army, and Marine Corps soldiers who can further shed light on the tangled mess. And of course to you readers whose subscriptions make my work possible!
I’ve stayed on this story since day one giving you an inside look at the military presence in Los Angeles. Please become a paid subscriber so I can afford to keep doing this work!
— Edited by William M. Arkin
From Ken Klippenstein via this RSS feed