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<title>Banning abortion is a hallmark of authoritarian regimes</title>
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<description><![CDATA[Abortion rights protesters march against Trump’s deployment of federal troops to Washington, D.C., on Sept. 2, 2025. Jose Luis Magana/AP Seda Saluk, University of Michigan Pregnant women crossing borders to get an abortion. People who miscarry facing jail time or dying from infection. Doctors who won’t perform lifesaving procedures on a pregnant patient for fear<a class="read-more" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/banning-abortion-is-a-hallmark-of-authoritarian-regimes/"> […]</a>
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/banning-abortion-is-a-hallmark-of-authoritarian-regimes/">Banning abortion is a hallmark of authoritarian regimes</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[ <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/694836/original/file-20251007-56-vayp0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&rect=0%2C313%2C6000%2C3375&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" /><figcaption>
Abortion rights protesters march against Trump’s deployment of federal troops to Washington, D.C., on Sept. 2, 2025. 
<a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=abortion%20rights%20protest&mediaType=photo">Jose Luis Magana/AP</a> 
</figcaption><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/seda-saluk-1534887">Seda Saluk</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-michigan-1290">University of Michigan</a>
Pregnant women <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/25/world/americas/mexico-abortion-women-border.html">crossing borders to get an abortion</a>. People who miscarry <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2024/10/31/stillbirth-oklahoma-arkansas-women-investigated">facing jail time</a> or <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/josseli-barnica-death-miscarriage-texas-abortion-ban">dying from infection</a>. Doctors who <a href="https://rewirenewsgroup.com/2024/04/24/im-an-er-doctor-if-the-supreme-court-upends-emtala-patients-will-die/">won’t perform lifesaving procedures on a pregnant patient</a> for fear of prosecution.
For years, this was the kind of thing that happened in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/oct/22/more-than-30000-polish-women-sought-or-foreign-abortions-since-law-change-last-year">Poland</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/27/world/americas/27iht-web.1127nicaragua.3680485.html">Nicaragua</a> or <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-61798330">El Salvador</a>. Now, it’s <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/georgia-arrest-miscarriage-fetal-personhood-rcna199400">headline news in the United States</a>.
As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=UMxj894AAAAJ&hl=en">a scholar who studies the relationship between reproductive rights and political regimes</a>, I see the U.S. mirroring a pattern that has happened in authoritarian regimes around the world. When a government erects barriers to comprehensive reproductive care, it doesn’t just <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2797896">cause more death and suffering</a> for women and their families. Such policies are often <a href="https://theconversation.com/expanding-abortion-access-strengthens-democracy-while-abortion-bans-signal-broader-repression-worldwide-study-240278">a first step in the gradual decline of democracies</a>.
Yet, the U.S. is different in a meaningful way. Here, abortion has historically been framed as a personal right to privacy. In many other countries I’ve studied, abortion is viewed more as a collective right that is inextricably tied to broader social and economic issues.
The American individualist perspective on abortion can make it harder for people in the U.S. to understand why banning abortion can serve as a <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/ticking-time-bomb-restrictions-on-abortion-rights-and-physical-integrity-rights-abuses/8E033094CB21BB7428E2C4D7AECA6C72">back door for the erosion of civil liberties – and of democracy itself</a>.
<h2>Autocrats target abortion first</h2>
Restricting reproductive rights is a hallmark of authoritarian regimes.
From <a href="https://news.uoregon.edu/content/history-fascism-reproductive-rights-offers-lessons-today">Benito Mussolini’s Italy</a> in 1926 and <a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-01-04/stalins-abortion-ban-soviet-union">Josef Stalin’s Soviet Union</a> in 1936 to <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/abortion-rights-in-spain-back-to-past/">Francisco Franco’s Spain</a> in 1941 and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/made-by-history/2022/09/15/romania-exposes-how-abortion-bans-kill-women-rip-society-apart/">Nicolae Ceau?escu’s Romania</a> in 1966, the first move most 20th-century dictators made after seizing power was to criminalize abortion and contraception.
Initially, for some of those autocratic leaders, limiting access to abortion and contraception was a strategy to gain the approval of the nation’s religious leaders. The Catholic Church held great power in Italy and Spain, as did <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09668130500051924">the Orthodox Church</a> in Romania. At the time, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2004.00002.x">these faiths opposed artificial birth control</a> and still believe life begins at conception.
Restrictions on reproductive rights <a href="https://soviethistory.msu.edu/1936-2/abolition-of-legal-abortion/">also aimed</a> to <a href="https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2015/01/13/inenglish/1421140333_379388.html">increase</a> <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0738399195008519">birth rates</a> following two world wars that had stamped out some of the population, particularly in the Soviet Union and Italy. Many political leaders saw <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3789509">procreation as a national duty</a>. They designated women – white, heterosexual women, that is – specific roles, primarily as mothers, to produce babies as well as future soldiers and workers for their regimes.
In the past two decades, countries in Europe and the Americas have been following this recognizable pattern. <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/07/31/nicaragua-abortion-ban-threatens-health-and-lives">Nicaragua</a> and <a href="https://reproductiverights.org/un-cedaw-report-poland-abortion/">Poland</a> have both banned abortion. <a href="https://populationmatters.org/news/2025/01/viktor-orbans-hungary-the-erosion-of-reproductive-rights/">Hungary</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/jul/05/legal-yet-virtually-banned-turkish-women-denied-right-to-free-safe-abortions">Turkey</a> and <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/11/28/russia-limits-womens-access-to-abortion-citing-demographic-changes">Russia</a> have all clamped down on access to it.
Restricting reproductive freedoms has helped Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdo?an stoke lasting political divisions within society that help them consolidate their own power.
These leaders <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2024.102947">invoke a threat of moral and demographic decline</a>, claiming that child-free women, queer people and immigrants pose a danger to national survival. In doing so, they portray themselves as defenders of their respective nations. It’s a way to regain and retain popular support even as their policies <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/once-prosperous-hungary-is-now-the-poorest-nation-in-eu-meanwhile-this-tiny-nation-tops-the-wealth-rankings/articleshow/121978907.cms?from=mdr">deepen poverty</a>, <a href="https://www.mccaininstitute.org/resources/reports/democracy-human-rights-and-rule-of-law-in-russia-making-the-case/">erode civil liberties</a> and <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/special-report/2014/corruption-media-and-power-turkey">increase corruption</a>.
These politicians have also taken power away from a significant portion of the population by reinstating earlier, fascist-era restrictions on bodily autonomy. As <a href="https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/Library/Publications/2020/Discussion-paper-Democratic-backsliding-and-the-backlash-against-womens-rights-en.pdf">feminist scholars</a> have pointed out, strong reproductive rights are central to functioning democracies.
Restrictions on reproductive freedoms often necessitate other kinds of restrictions to enforce and maintain them. These might include <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/04/texass-war-abortion-now-war-free-speech">free speech limits</a> that prohibit providers from discussing people’s reproductive options. <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/13-protesters-arrested-supreme-court-ahead-abortion-pill/story?id=108506592">Criminalizing political dissent</a> enables the arrest of people who protest restrictions on reproductive freedoms. <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/womens-health/idaho-most-extreme-anti-abortion-state-law-restricts-travel-rcna78225/">Travel bans</a> threaten prison time for individuals who help young people get abortion care out of state.
When these civil liberties weaken, it becomes harder to defend other rights. Without the right to speak, dissent or move freely, people cannot engage in conversations, organize or voice collective grievances.
<h2>Putting the US in a global context</h2>
In 2022, <a href="https://reproductiverights.org/roe-v-wade/">the U.S.</a> joined the likes of Poland and Hungary when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending 50 years of federal abortion protections.
President Donald Trump was not in power when this happened. Yet the Supreme Court’s conservative majority was shaped during <a href="https://rewirenewsgroup.com/2019/02/06/trump-targets-abortion-state-of-the-union/">his first term</a>.
Since then, both the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/29/trump-veterans-affairs-abortion-ban">second Trump administration</a> and many states have enacted <a href="https://time.com/7291156/trump-emergency-abortion-guidance/">their own regulations</a> or bans on abortion. This has created a divided country where in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/us/abortion-laws-roe-v-wade.html">some states</a> abortion is as restricted as it is under some of the world’s most autocratic regimes.
Yet, there’s a key difference.
In the U.S., abortion is viewed by the law and the public as a matter of individual rights. The debate often boils down to whether a person should be allowed to terminate their pregnancy.
In many other contexts, reproductive rights are understood as a collective good that benefits all society – or, conversely, harms all society when revoked.
This perspective can be a powerful driver of change. It’s how, for example, women’s and feminist groups in places such as <a href="https://reproductiverights.org/historic-vote-argentina-legalize-abortion/">Argentina</a>, <a href="https://reproductiverights.org/colombia-court-decriminalize-abortion/">Colombia</a> and <a href="https://reproductiverights.org/mexico-supreme-court-decriminalizes-abortion-federal/">Mexico</a> have successfully pressured their governments to decriminalize abortion in recent years.
Since 2018, the movement known as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/01/opinion/abortion-latin-america.html">Latin America’s Green Wave, or “Marea Verde</a>” for their green protest bandannas, has deliberately and strategically <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/06/27/1107717283/abortion-rights-green-symbol">reframed abortion as a human right</a> and used that assertion to expand reproductive rights.
The Latin American <a href="https://im-defensoras.org/en/2024/04/resumen-ejecutivo/#los-derechos-que-defendemos">feminist activists have also documented</a> how restricting abortion intensifies authoritarianism and worsens both individual and collective rights.
In a region where many citizens remember life under military dictatorship, highlighting the relationship between abortion and authoritarianism may be particularly galvanizing.
<h2>Limits of framing abortion as an individual right</h2>
<a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1971/70-18">Roe v. Wade in 1973</a> recognized abortion as a private medical decision between “<a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/supreme-court-case-library/roe-v-wade">the woman and her responsible physician</a>” up to the point of fetal viability ? roughly around 24 to 26 weeks ? and that framing has stuck.
This was basically what the mainstream pro-choice movement advocated for at the time. White feminists saw abortion rights <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/pro-choice-movement">as a personal liberty</a>. This framing has real limitations.
As Black and brown <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/books/reproductive-justice/paper">reproductive justice advocates</a> have long pointed out, Roe <a href="https://rewirenewsgroup.com/2025/07/30/fetal-viability-missouri-abortion-amendment/">never served women of color or poor people particularly well</a> because of underlying unequal access to health care. Their work has, for decades, illustrated the strong connection between racial, economic and reproductive justice, yet abortion is still largely regarded as solely an individual issue.
When debates about reproductive freedoms are framed as fights over individual rights, it can engender a legal quagmire. Other entities with rights emerge – the fetus, for example, or a potential grandparent – and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13648470.2012.675046">are pitted against the pregnant person</a>.
Recently, for instance, a pregnant woman declared brain dead in Georgia <a href="https://rewirenewsgroup.com/2025/05/21/adriana-smith-died-3-months-ago-georgia-could-make-smiths-family-pay-to-use-her-as-a-human-incubator/">was kept alive for several months</a> until her fetus became viable, apparently to comply with the state’s strict anti-abortion law. As her <a href="https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/funeral-plans-adriana-smith-georgia-mom-delivered-baby-life-support-brain-dead/85-d0fce1e8-f37e-4a2f-a043-a64da11c2f13">mother told the press</a>, her family had no say in the matter.
Narrowly focusing on abortion as an individual right can also obscure why banning it has societal impacts.
<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19609407/">Research worldwide</a> shows that restricting reproductive freedoms <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/05/27/1099739656/do-restrictive-abortion-laws-actually-reduce-abortion-a-global-map-offers-insigh">does not</a> lead to fewer abortions. Abortion bans only make abortion dangerous as people turn to unregulated “back alley” procedures. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8d9z853jndo">Maternal and infant mortality rates rise</a>, especially in marginalized communities.
Simply stated: More women and babies <a href="https://rewirenewsgroup.com/2025/09/16/infant-mortality-rises-in-states-with-restrictive-abortion-laws-new-research/">die when abortion and contraception laws become more restrictive</a>.
Other kinds of suffering increase, too. Women and their families tend to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00031224241292058">become poorer</a> when contraception and abortion are hard to get.
Abortion bans also lead to discriminatory practices in health care beyond reproductive health services, such as <a href="https://phr.org/our-work/resources/cascading-harms-how-abortion-bans-lead-to-discriminatory-care-across-medical-specialties/">oncology, neurology and cardiology</a>. Physicians who fear criminalization are forced to withhold or alter gold-standard treatments for pregnant patients, for example, or they may prescribe less effective drugs out of concern about legal consequences should patients later become pregnant.
<a href="https://rewirenewsgroup.com/2025/06/04/what-is-emtala-how-trump-just-overrode-federal-law-on-emergency-abortions/">Lifesaving procedures</a> in the emergency room must await a negative pregnancy test.
As a result, abortion bans decrease the quality and effectiveness of medical care for many patients, not just those who are pregnant.
<h2>Defending reproductive freedoms for healthy democracies</h2>
These findings demonstrate why reproductive rights are really a collective good. When viewed this way, it illuminates why they are an essential element of democracy.
Already, the rollback of reproductive freedoms in the U.S. has been followed by efforts to limit other key areas of freedoms, including <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/06/18/nx-s1-5421276/scotus-transgender-kids-decision">LGBTQ rights</a>, <a href="https://www.freedomforum.org/free-speech-facing-threats-2025/">freedom of speech</a> and the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-travel-ban-exceptions-immigrants-visa-4d5a4d07a4430dd1e1cf24511370bc0e">right to travel</a>.
Access to safe abortion for pregnant people, gender-affirming care for trans youth, and international travel for noncitizens are intertwined rights – not isolated issues.
When the government starts stripping away any of these rights, I believe it signals serious trouble for democracy.
This story is published in collaboration with <a href="http://www.rewirenewsgroup.com/">Rewire News Group</a>, a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to covering reproductive and sexual health.<img loading="lazy" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/265459/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade" />
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/seda-saluk-1534887">Seda Saluk</a>, Assistant Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-michigan-1290">University of Michigan</a>
This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/banning-abortion-is-a-hallmark-of-authoritarian-regimes-265459">original article</a>.
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/banning-abortion-is-a-hallmark-of-authoritarian-regimes/">Banning abortion is a hallmark of authoritarian regimes</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.
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<title>DONATE TO THE MODERATE VOICE updated</title>
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<dc:creator><![CDATA[JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 16 Oct 2025 14:00:33 +0000</pubDate>
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<description><![CDATA[Donations received as of 10/15/25: $290 The Moderate Voice hasn’t done a fundraiser in quite a while — and now is the time. TMV is one of a small number of traditional news-political blogs that remains in a social media-powered era. Its posts appear on a phone news app and also on Google News. Over<a class="read-more" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/donate-to-the-moderate-voice/"> […]</a>
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Donations received as of 10/15/25: $290
The Moderate Voice hasn’t done a fundraiser in quite a while — and now is the time. TMV is one of a small number of traditional news-political blogs that remains in a social media-powered era. Its posts appear on a phone news app and also on Google News. Over the years, it won various awards and some well-known print and broadcast journalists have praised it.
The time has com for a needed fundraiser. TMV gets a modest bit of advertising but it has no big corporate sponsor, no political group bolstering it, no big donation from an individual. It will be increasingly adding more variety (entertainment reviews, book reviews etc) going into 2026, a critical mid-term election year.
So if you can give a little (and we’ll accept a lot, too) please do. Just click on the Go Fund Me icon on the right <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/8e398-the-moderate-voice-fundraiser?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet+spider1c&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer">OR simply go here.</a>
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<title>Why Argentina? Bessent teases another $20,000,000,000 bailout</title>
<link>https://themoderatevoice.com/why-argentina-bessent-teases-another-20000000000-bailout/</link>
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<dc:creator><![CDATA[KATHY GILL, Associate Editor]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 15 Oct 2025 19:01:32 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
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<description><![CDATA[The Argentine mid-term elections are in 11 days, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is teasing the possibility of doubling US investment in a country marked with “financial risks from debt obligations, rapid inflation, and reduced investor appetites (CIA).” Bessent called this a “private-sector” endeavor, one he has been working on for “weeks.” The aid<a class="read-more" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/why-argentina-bessent-teases-another-20000000000-bailout/"> […]</a>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[The <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/15/us-aims-to-raise-20bn-facility-to-support-argentinas-struggling-economy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Argentine mid-term elections are in 11 days</a>, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is <a href="https://www.memeorandum.com/251015/p78#a251015p78" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">teasing the possibility of doubling</a> US investment in a country marked with “<a href="https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/argentina/#economy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">financial risks from debt obligations, rapid inflation, and reduced investor appetites</a> (CIA).”
Bessent called this <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/15/us-aims-to-raise-20bn-facility-to-support-argentinas-struggling-economy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a “private-sector” endeavor</a>, one he has been <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/15/bessent-says-u-s-considers-doubling-aid-to-argentina-by-tapping-outside-funding-00609011" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">working on for “weeks</a>.”
<blockquote class="highlight">The aid is aimed at bolstering Argentina’s collapsing currency and calming economic unrest before Oct. 26 midterm elections that will determine if the country’s leader, Javier Milei, an ally of President Donald Trump, will maintain a political mandate to pursue a dramatic government cost-cutting agenda. Bessent said the U.S. bought Argentinian pesos again on Wednesday morning.</blockquote>
That announcement led to a “rebound” in stocks. News reports have outlined how that benefits <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/09/trump-argentina-bailout-hedge-fund-billionaire-rob-citrone-scott-bessent/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bessent bud, billionaire hedge fund manager Rob Citrone</a>. 
<blockquote class="highlight">Citrone, the co-founder of Discovery Capital Management, is also a friend and former colleague of Bessent—a fact that has not been previously reported in US media outlets. Citrone, by his own account, helped make Bessent very wealthy.
Since Javier Milei, a right-wing populist, became president of Argentina in December 2023, Citrone has invested heavily in Argentina. </blockquote>
<a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/oct/14/argentinas-javier-milei-arrives-white-house-20-billion-currency-swap/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Argentine President Javier Mile met with President Donald Trump</a> at the White House on Wednesday, where Trump pulled no punches on his ROI expectations.
<blockquote class="highlight">Trump also said continued U.S. support for Argentina is contingent on Mr. Milei winning reelection later this month. If he loses, Mr. Trump said, “We are not going to be generous with Argentina.”</blockquote>
Trump is undoubtedly hoping that Mile’s plan of “<a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/09/trump-argentina-bailout-hedge-fund-billionaire-rob-citrone-scott-bessent/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">deregulation and sharply reduced government spending</a>” proves a successful model he can crow about.
After all, a sign of Mile’s unpopularity is mirrored in <a href="https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/53161-government-shutdown-donald-trump-approval-ice-immigration-economy-doj-justice-department-conversion-therapy-october-10-13-2025-economist-yougov-poll" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">public unhappiness</a> with <a href="https://time.com/7324702/argentina-milei-economy-peso-scandal/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Trump policies</a>:
<blockquote class="highlight">In early October, lawmakers resoundingly overturned two vetoes that were part of his economic reform process: Argentina’s Senate voted 59-7 to overturn Milei’s block on new funding for universities and 58-7 against his attempt to veto new money for pediatric health?care. The Chamber of Deputies, Argentina’s lower house, had already rejected Milei’s vetoes.</blockquote>
Just last week, Mile’s party’s top candidate for the province of Buenos Aires, José Luis Espert, “had to pull out of the race over his ties (no need for the world ‘alleged’) to Federico ‘Fred’ Machado, <a href="https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2025/10/the-javier-milei-clown-show-reaches-its-grotesque-finale.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">an Argentine businessman who is under arrest and facing extradition to the US on charges of cocaine trafficking</a>.”
The <a href="https://time.com/7324702/argentina-milei-economy-peso-scandal/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">referendum on Mile’s policies</a> looks grim:
<blockquote class="highlight">[A]fter the midterms, Milei will likely have to take the hugely controversial step of devaluing the Argentine peso, and for that he’ll need the full support of his base. A tepid election showing will make it more difficult. His party already holds just seven out of 72 seats in the Senate and 38 out of 257 seats in the Chamber in Argentina’s fragmented politics.</blockquote>
So, why Argentina? Bessent has an apparent quid pro quo of some sort going with Citrone. Trump wants external validation for extraordinary government cuts. The two seem to me to be a thin veneer cushioning a $40,000,000,000 gamble. What else is lurking in the shadows?
Related: <a href="https://themoderatevoice.com/trump-offers-argentina-20-billion-lifeline/">Trump offers Argentina $20 billion lifeline</a> (2025), <a href="https://themoderatevoice.com/the-election-of-javier-milei-and-the-challenges-of-an-impoverished-argentina/">The election of Javier Milei and the challenges of an impoverished Argentina</a> (2023)
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<title>‘The Battle Within’ Offers Hope for Veterans and First Responders</title>
<link>https://themoderatevoice.com/the-battle-within-offers-hope-for-veterans-and-first-responders/</link>
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<dc:creator><![CDATA[Dorian de Wind, Military Affairs Correspondent]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 15 Oct 2025 15:29:36 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[At TMV]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Mental Health]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[War]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[First Responders]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[PTSD]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[TBI]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[The Battle Within]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Veterans]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[veterans suicides]]></category>
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<description><![CDATA[(September was Suicide Prevention Month. October 28 will be National First Responders Day and, of course, November 11 is Veterans Day. This article is dedicated to honoring the Service, dedication, and sacrifices of these brave men and women.) Throughout history, fighting men and women have lived with the terrible physical and mental scars of war.<a class="read-more" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/the-battle-within-offers-hope-for-veterans-and-first-responders/"> […]</a>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[ <img loading="lazy" src="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-05-150753.png" alt="" width="300" height="260" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-287480" />
(September was Suicide Prevention Month. October 28 will be National First Responders Day and, of course, November 11 is Veterans Day. This article is dedicated to honoring the Service, dedication, and sacrifices of these brave men and women.) 
Throughout history, fighting men and women have lived with the terrible physical and mental scars of war.
However, it was not until the end of the Vietnam War that the serious, long-term consequences of traumatic stress of war on the mental health of active-duty service members and Veterans began to be seriously studied and understood.
Perhaps a turning point in understanding and defining the psychological costs of war was the 1988 National Vietnam Veterans’ Readjustment Study (NVVRS) <a href="https://ntrl.ntis.gov/NTRL/dashboard/searchResults/titleDetail/PB90164203.xhtml">designed to </a>“provide information about the incidence, prevalence, and effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related post-war psychological problems among Vietnam veterans…”
Since then, numerous additional research studies have shown that veterans of the post-9/11 conflicts (“Persian Gulf” and Iraq/Afghanistan wars) experienced at disturbing rates mental health disorders, PTSD, and traumatic brain injury (TBI),labelled the “signature injury” of those conflicts.
Such traumatic war stress has led to a dramatic increase in depression, anxiety and personality disorders, drug and alcohol abuse.
However, nothing says more about the mental health crisis among our veterans than<a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/for-veterans-veterans-day_b_4247047"> the staggering number of veterans who take their own lives</a>.
<a href="https://www.va.gov/opa/docs/Suicide-Data-Report-2012-final.pdf">A 2012 VA “Suicide Data Report”</a> revealed that 22 veterans did exactly that – took their own lives – every day. That is one veteran committing suicide every 65 minutes!
While such suicide rates remained unacceptably high during the last two decades, the promising news is that they began to fall in 2020 through 2022. 
<a href="https://news.va.gov/137221/va-2024-suicide-prevention-annual-report/">
According to the most recent (2024) VA National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report</a>, in 2022, there were, on average, 17.6 Veteran suicides per day.
But whether 17.6, 22, or even fewer veteran suicides a day, it is an unacceptable statistic.
The mental health crisis among Veterans remains “a serious national concern,” according to the VA, <a href="https://www.va.gov/health-care/health-needs-conditions/mental-health/">“with over 1.7 million veterans receiving mental health services at VA facilities in 2024” </a> 
Expansive and excellent as the VA mental health services are, there remains an urgent need for additional complementary and supportive services.
Numerous organizations, community outreach and support groups, service networks, and nonprofits have stepped up to provide additional and much-needed mental health therapy and counselling, crisis intervention services and peer support, or to connect veterans with the help they direly need.
One such organization is The Battle Within (TBW), an Olathe, Kansas-based nonprofit that not only provides mental health services to Veterans, but also to First Responders, including firefighters, frontline medical and law enforcement personnel affected by service-related trauma and PTSD.
Its mission is simple, yet powerful: “To promote mental health in the lives of people who have continually been thrust into extraordinary circumstances.”
Founded in 2018 by more than 100 Veterans, First Responders (people who “have been there”), and community members, The Battle Within provides Veterans and First Responders with the mental and behavioral health care and support they need after going through traumatic events.
Its Executive Director, Justin Hoover, a Purple Heart recipient himself, came home from the battlefields of Iraq with mental health issues and channeled his personal experiences into “empowering veterans and first responders to navigate their mental health journeys,” through The Battle Within.
He was assisted in this journey by a psychotherapist named Adam Magers, also a combat veteran and now a Clinical Manager at TBW and author of “Odysseus and The Oar: Healing after War & Military Service,” a book that can be “understood as a map to veterans’ healing and transformation process after war and military service…”
Magers is also the architect behind the curriculum for “Revenant Journey,” one of the two flagship programs of the organization.
<figure id="attachment_287708" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-287708" style="width: 2048px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" src="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/TBW-firepit.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1536" class="size-full wp-image-287708" srcset="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/TBW-firepit.jpg 2048w, https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/TBW-firepit-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-287708" class="wp-caption-text">Courtesy The Battle Within</figcaption></figure>
The “Journey” is a 5-day intensive group therapy program designed to help Veterans and First Responders suffering from PTSD understand the traumas they have endured in service, to provide an introduction to tools that set the stage for healing, and to develop a community of support…”a collective effort where we wrap our arms around each other, hold hands, and work together to climb out of the depths of pain and trauma.”
The Revenant Journey is aptly described as a “jump start” to the therapy process.
The other major program, “Frontline Therapy Network,” helps select the proper therapy and therapists from a vetted, nation-wide psychotherapy referral network of more than 100 licensed mental health professionals. Through therapy sessions, Veterans and First Responders can begin traumas treatment and start their journey toward mental wellness. After “graduation,” Veterans and First Responders are connected with long-term care options, designed to complete the journey to recovery.
Whether called loyal pets, devoted military working dogs, ferocious four-legged warriors or gentle therapy, comfort and service dogs,<a href="https://themoderatevoice.com/military-weekendto-the-dogs/"> these creatures are very close to my heart.</a> 
That is why I find the third TBW program, Dogs 4 Valor, so interesting.
Dogs 4 Valor is a 6 to 9-month service-dog training and certification program in the Olathe-Kansas City area that pairs retired Veterans and First Responders with service dogs to help manage anxiety, depression, PTSD triggers and other daily-life challenges. The program nurtures a deep and trusting relationship and understanding between each handler and their dog and helps participants regain their confidence and improve their quality of life by encouraging them to engage in social activities and feel comfortable in public spaces.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Heather O’Brien (below), who “<a href="https://apnews.com/article/service-dogs-veterans-ptsd-4b9e73723549d1c7f25a1b7b8dc249d1">brought home with her anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder</a>” after a tour of duty at a dangerous internment camp in Iraq, is — along with her lab-poodle mix Albus — a 2023 graduate of the Dogs 4 Valor program.
<figure id="attachment_287475" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-287475" style="width: 1073px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" src="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-05-153736.png" alt="" width="1073" height="598" class="size-full wp-image-287475" srcset="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-05-153736.png 1073w, https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-05-153736-300x167.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 1073px) 100vw, 1073px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-287475" class="wp-caption-text">Screenshot AP News video</figcaption></figure>
In an interview O’Brien <a href="https://apnews.com/article/service-dogs-veterans-ptsd-4b9e73723549d1c7f25a1b7b8dc249d1">tells AP News</a> that she can now go out in public again, even going on vacation. “Things that I never would have thought I would do really, probably ever again,” she says.
Since 2018, The Battle Within has served more than 1,000 Veterans and First Responders.
BTW receives numerous laudatory comments from program participants. There is perhaps no more powerful testimonial than one from a Revenant Journey graduate: “…It saved my life, my marriage and my faith,” writes a 50-year-old Veteran and Law Enforcement Officer.
If you or someone you know wants to learn more about this commendable organization, please visit The Battle Within at <a href="https://www.thebattlewithin.org">https://www.thebattlewithin.org</a>
If you’re a Veteran in crisis or concerned about one, call 988 for immediate help and press 1 or Text 838255

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<title>Trump’s Bondage to Big Oil and Business</title>
<link>https://themoderatevoice.com/trumps-bondage-to-big-oil-and-business/</link>
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<dc:creator><![CDATA[ROBERT A. LEVINE, TMV Columnist]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 15 Oct 2025 14:55:33 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Government]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Big Oil]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Black Lung Disease]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Climate Change]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[EPA]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[renewable energy]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[trump]]></category>
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<description><![CDATA[Maybe Trump feels he’s not making enough money for himself and his family from the presidency, though its doesn’t seem that way to me. Why is he doing things to screw the American public, particularly the lower and middle classes? Between crypto and all the “gifts” he’s received from tech titans, Middle East royalty, and<a class="read-more" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/trumps-bondage-to-big-oil-and-business/"> […]</a>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img loading="lazy" src="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/cccccccdc-300x214.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="214" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-287440" srcset="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/cccccccdc-300x214.jpg 300w, https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/cccccccdc.jpg 706w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Maybe Trump feels he’s not making enough money for himself and his family from the presidency, though its doesn’t seem that way to me. Why is he doing things to screw the American public, particularly the lower and middle classes? Between crypto and all the “gifts” he’s received from tech titans, Middle East royalty, and others asking for favors or trying to get on his good side, it seems like he’s really raking in plenty of dough. In fact, his use of the presidency for personal gain seems to outweigh all of the past U.S. presidents put together. Yet he doesn’t mind doing things that will hurt Americans and the world’s population. Every day he appears to come up with new “executive measures” that will cause Americans pain, even though they may be helpful to his wealthy sycophants.
For example, cutting the staff at the Internal Revenue Service dramatically. It was crazy to do that. As it was, there were not enough employees at the IRS in the first place. Ordinary people who want a refund or needed help with their tax returns can now wait forever, because there are not enough employees to handle all the returns and answer all the questions. And fortunately for Trump’s rich buddies, there are not enough staff to check all the tax returns of the wealthy who are using various schemes to evade or reduce the amount of taxes they have to pay. It’s been shown that the more IRS employees there are to check returns, the more taxes are collected. But it doesn’t matter to Trump even when our national debt is about $36 trillion or so. If the government can’t collect a few extra billion from the wealthy, so what.
There is also Trump’s reducing the staff at the Environmental Protection Agency. This means greater pollution in our air, water and soil will not be uncovered and the guilty companies will not be forced to clean it up and be fined. The money really doesn’t count as much as lowering the levels of pollution that are regularly damaging American health. But for Trump, It’s more important for Big Business to avoid paying for the pollution they cause, so the executives and owners of the offending companies can boost their incomes. All his buddies. A recent article showed that industrial facilities owned by profitable companies released more of their toxic waste into the environment. (Fikru and Brodman) Trump doesn’t care.
Also in the pollution arena is black lung disease endemic in coal miners. Trump has been pushing coal as a fuel for the nation even though it is the worst fuel for climate change and the dirtiest fuel in terms of pollution. And the miners invariably come down with the deadly black lung disease from inhaling coal dust. Miners are demonstrating, saying that the Trump administration is not enforcing limits on coal dust to protect them from black lung disease. Trump doesn’t care as long as the owners make more money. Screw the environment and the miners.
Trump also thinks of climate change as a hoax and a scam. He’s eliminating subsidies for electric vehicles hurting employees at GM and Ford and decimating our electric vehicle industry. H’e handing the whole industry to China. Trump is in bed with the fossil fuel companies who have given money for his campaign and support him. Electric is the future and Trump is going with the past- coal, oil, natural gas. Climate change is real and Trump is hurting Americans and the world with his environmental policies. He’s letting the Chinese eat our lunch with solar and wind generated electricity which is cheap and non-polluting while he sucks up to the fossil fuel companies and abandons clean electricity. Trump’s domestic policies are bad for America and bad for the world.
www.robbertlevinebooks.com 
Buy The Uninformed Voter on Amazon or Barnes and Noble or at your local bookstore.
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<title>Trump found his replacement for Roy Cohn</title>
<link>https://themoderatevoice.com/trump-found-his-replacement-for-roy-cohn/</link>
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<dc:creator><![CDATA[Dick Polman, Cagle Cartoons Columnist]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 15 Oct 2025 01:39:59 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Corruption]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Government]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Law]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Department of Justice]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Dick Polman]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Justice Department]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[MAGA]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Pam Bondi]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Partisanship]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Roy Cohen]]></category>
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<description><![CDATA[When Trump ran into trouble during his first term, he reportedly cried out, “Where’s my Roy Cohn?!” Alas, his favorite thug-fixer-lawyer had been dead since 1986 (having perished just six weeks after he was disbarred for fraud). Nobody in Trump’s embattled orbit was qualified to pick up the torch and run with Cohn’s credo, which,<a class="read-more" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/trump-found-his-replacement-for-roy-cohn/"> […]</a>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[When Trump ran into trouble during his first term, he reportedly cried out, “Where’s my Roy Cohn?!”
Alas, his favorite thug-fixer-lawyer had been dead since 1986 (having perished just six weeks after he was disbarred for fraud). Nobody in Trump’s embattled orbit was qualified to pick up the torch and run with Cohn’s credo, which, was quite simple: If they hit ya hard, hit ‘em back twice as hard.
Back in the day, Trump told the press, “If you need someone to get vicious toward an opponent, you get Roy.”
Now he has Cohn 2.0, courtesy of slavish supplicant Pam Bondi, who is systematically destroying the credibility of the Justice Department, converting it into a Trump defense firm, and spitting venom at anyone with the temerity to ask adversarial queries.
What we witnessed last week on Capitol Hill would likely live in infamy if not for the fact the news cycle churns so quickly, fueled seemingly each hour by new horrors, hurling whatever just happened onto the ash heap of amnesia.
But I can’t let it go, not just yet.
It’s important to remember why Bondi got the gig as America’s top legal eagle. Her loyalty pact with Trump, forged in scandal (naturally), was sealed way back in 2013. As Florida’s attorney general, Bondi was deciding whether to join a class action lawsuit, filed in New York, against phony Trump University, with dozens of bilked Florida suckers demanding justice.
That’s when the Donald J. Trump foundation, then a nonprofit charity, swung into action. It sent an illegal $25,000 campaign contribution to a political group with ties to Bondi, who herself solicited that donation. Shortly thereafter, she announced she would not join the class action suit. Trump denied trying to buy Bondi, and Bondi denied there was any quid quo pro, but denials like those have less value than a degree from Trump University.
Anyway, she showed up in front of a Senate oversight committee, seething in anger at the very idea that anyone in the legislative branch would dare exercise the constitutional right of oversight. Senators do that as part of their duty to check and balance the executive branch and report to the American people. But that means nothing to Bondi because Bondi basically behaves and auditions for an audience of One.
Take, for instance, her exchange with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, who asked if the FBI found photos of President Trump with half-naked young women in Jeffrey Epstein’s possession.
Bondi tried the Roy Cohn treatment: “Senator, you sit here and you make salacious remarks, once again trying to slander President Trump, left and right, when you’re the one who was taking money from Epstein’s closest confidants. I believe, I could be wrong, correct me, Reid Hoffman…Yet, you’re grilling me on President Trump, some photograph with Epstein? Come on.”
It’s a good thing she said “I could be wrong,” because there’s no evidence that anyone named Reid Hoffman or Reed Hoffman has ever donated anything to Whitehouse’s Senate campaigns. But she needed some kind of Cohnesque con, given the sensitivity of the Epstein scandal, given the fact that she has shut down release of the files, and given the fact that, as Florida attorney general from 2011 to 2019, she declined to prosecute Epstein after he got a slap-on-the-wrist sweetheart plea deal from the feds in 2007.
During the Senate hearing, she also did her Cohn thing during an exchange with Senator Richard Blumenthal: “I cannot believe that you would accuse me of impropriety when you lied about your military service…You lied. How dare you. I’m a career prosecutor. Don’t you ever challenge my integrity.”
Blumenthal, a U.S. Marines reservist for six years, said on the stump in 2008 that he’d served “in Vietnam.” He acknowledged that falsehood and apologized for it…15 years ago. Apparently Blumenthal’s lie in 2008 carries more weight with Bondi than the 30,573 lies that her bone-spurs client uttered during his first term alone.
It’s no wonder 280 former Justice officials have signed a letter demanding Congress demand more oversight of Bondi, not less. The letter points out 5,000 public servants have exited the Justice Department since Bondi began her reign, taking steps that have already proved ‘“catastrophic for the nation.”
I’d love to believe Bondi’s mockery of Senate oversight will backfire. Terry Moran, the ex-ABC reporter, clearly harbors such a hope. On his Substack, he references “Normal people. Remember them? Well, we’re still out here, you and me and tens of millions more…Normal, decent people don’t want what Pam Bondi showed them…Americans haven’t changed that much, for all our desperate political disagreements. We are still a decent, middle-class, middle-temperament, middle-of-the-road nation.”
But if that’s true, why did Americans re-hire a convicted criminal and saddle us with the second coming of Roy Cohn? And even if the normal and the decent wake up in sufficient numbers to protest what has happened to this country, what evidence is there that the authoritarians in power will care?
Copyright 2025 Dick Polman, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Dick Polman, a veteran national political columnist based in Philadelphia and a Writer in Residence at the University of Pennsylvania, writes the Subject to Change newsletter. Email him at dickpolman7@gmail.com<img loading="lazy" src="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/john-darkow_weaponization-of-the-doj-e1760492330748.png" alt="" width="760" height="592" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-287702" />
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<title>Bill Maher Is Only Politically Incorrect When It’s Politically Convenient.</title>
<link>https://themoderatevoice.com/bill-maher-is-only-politically-incorrect-when-its-politically-convenient/</link>
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<dc:creator><![CDATA[Thomas Hoffman]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 15 Oct 2025 01:08:27 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Comedy]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Television]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Bill Maher]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[branding]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Democrats]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Republicans]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=287697</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Bill Maher has transformed from progressive ally to self-anointed centrist crusader — but his recent commentary reveals more about media branding than political courage. Maher has made a second career out of bashing the “lunatic far left,” warning that wokeness is dooming Democrats and fueling Trumpism. The latest installment in this trend came when he<a class="read-more" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/bill-maher-is-only-politically-incorrect-when-its-politically-convenient/"> […]</a>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img loading="lazy" src="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/billmaher.jpg" alt="" width="686" height="386" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-287705" srcset="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/billmaher.jpg 686w, https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/billmaher-300x169.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 686px) 100vw, 686px" />
Bill Maher has transformed from progressive ally to self-anointed centrist crusader — but his recent commentary reveals more about media branding than political courage.
Maher has made a second career out of bashing the “lunatic far left,” warning that wokeness is dooming Democrats and fueling Trumpism. The latest installment in this trend came when he criticized former Vice President Harris’s book 107 Days. As The Daily Beast recently reported, he slammed late-night hosts like Colbert, Stewart, Oliver, and Kimmel for “parroting whatever MSNBC was saying,” casting himself as the last honest man in political media.
But, Bill Maher is only politically incorrect when it’s politically convenient. He attributes Democratic failures like Vice President Harris’s 2024 loss to progressive overreach, but that critique feels more like bandwagon politics. Maher had no problem with “the lunatic far-left” under President Obama — in fact, he sometimes criticized Obama for not being progressive enough. He neglects to acknowledge that Obama’s presidency was perhaps the first example of how radical left backlash helped fuel Trumpism, as Trump got elected after Obama.
He currently calls on Democrats to cater to moderates, yet during the 2020 primary he scoffed at the idea of a Biden campaign, only embracing him once Biden became the inevitable nominee. 
Lately, Maher has criticized liberal cities for lenient crime policies and played host to Andrew Cuomo (who blasted the Defund the Police movement). However, here in New York City, the “lunatic far-left” is on the rise, with Zohran Mamdani leading in the polls in the mayoral elections. Maher has been interestingly silent on the New York City mayoral race. Biden, Harris, and Cuomo never ran on “Defund the Police.” Democratic nominee Mamdani did — calling the NYPD “wicked and corrupt.” Even if Mamdani claims to have shifted, a supermajority of his supporters still back the cause.
It’s easy to bash the far left when it’s losing, and even easier to support old-school centrist Democrats like Cuomo when they win.” But if someone like Mamdani actually wins — or even just creates the illusion of momentum? Will Maher keep railing against the “lunatic far-left progressives”? Or will he drop the act? 
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<title>Trump slaughters another small Venezuelan boat’s crew</title>
<link>https://themoderatevoice.com/trump-slaughters-another-small-venezuelan-boats-crew/</link>
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<dc:creator><![CDATA[KATHY GILL, Associate Editor]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 14 Oct 2025 20:18:17 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
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<description><![CDATA[President Donald Trump, continuing to govern via the social network where he has a financial stake, announced that the United States has again blown up a small Venezuelan boat, killing all aboard. He has accused the crew, without evidence, of carrying drugs with intent to distribute in the United States. This is the fifth such<a class="read-more" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/trump-slaughters-another-small-venezuelan-boats-crew/"> […]</a>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://x.com/SecWar/status/1974150886084485503"><img loading="lazy" src="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/screenshot-fifth-V-boat-color-v2.png" alt="fifth Venezuelan boat bombed by Trump" width="2068" height="1372" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-287693" srcset="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/screenshot-fifth-V-boat-color-v2.png 2068w, https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/screenshot-fifth-V-boat-color-v2-300x199.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 2068px) 100vw, 2068px" /></a>
President Donald Trump, continuing to <a href="https://themoderatevoice.com/us-news-orgs-response-to-trumps-governing-via-truth-social-ho-hum-as-he-calls-for-illinois-chicago-arrests/">govern via the social network where he has a financial stake</a>, announced that the United States has <a href="https://www.memeorandum.com/251014/p94#a251014p94" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">again blown up a small Venezuelan boat</a>, killing all aboard. He has accused the crew, without evidence, of carrying drugs with intent to distribute in the United States. This is the <a href="https://themoderatevoice.com/nyc-bar-association-classifies-trumps-attacks-on-boats-in-the-caribbean-as-murder/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">fifth such bombing this fall</a>, 27 dead, an action the NYC Bar Association has called “murder.”
Last week, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-cartels-drugs-venezuela-boat-strike-af1a784864268707a76755a98615563e" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said</a>, in a televised address to military leaders:
<blockquote class="highlight">“I want to warn the population: We have to prepare ourselves because the irrationality with which the U.S. empire operates is not normal… It’s anti-political, anti-human, warmongering, rude, and vulgar.”</blockquote>
Although Trump has not provided any details or evidence to Congress, the NYTimes obtained an internal memo earlier this month which “reportedly stated that Trump has deemed cartels engaged in drug smuggling as ‘non-state armed groups’ whose actions ‘<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/14/trump-six-killed-us-strike-boat-venezuela" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">constitute an armed attack against the United States</a>‘.”
Last month, UN experts condemned the “<a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/09/us-war-narco-terrorists-violates-right-life-warn-un-experts-after-deadly" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">extrajudicial execution</a>” of first two attacks on alleged drug traffickers.
<blockquote class="highlight">“International law does not allow governments to simply murder alleged drug traffickers,” the experts said. “Criminal activities should be disrupted, investigated and prosecuted in accordance with the rule of law, including through international cooperation.”</blockquote>
Even the conservative Daily Caller expressed shock: “<a href="https://dailycaller.com/2025/10/13/trump-administration-military-narco-terrorists-venezuela-maduro-marco-rubio-regime-change/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">What The H*ll Is Going On With Trump’s Narco Strikes? Are We At War With Venezuela</a>?”
Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also posted a screen capture of the Truth Social post on Twitter/X:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://t.co/aFlvNsx8Ee">pic.twitter.com/aFlvNsx8Ee</a>
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) <a href="https://twitter.com/PeteHegseth/status/1978155148389089289?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
When will the MAGA Congress do its job, demand evidence (which is probably non-existent or he would have touted it) and curtail Trump’s warmongering? After all, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/05/us/trump-venezuela-gang-ties-spy-memo.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">U.S. intelligence agencies have disputed</a> Trump allegations that these are Tren de Aragua (a Venezuelan criminal organization) boats. 
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<title>Reactions to a Historic Day in the Saga of the Middle East</title>
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<dc:creator><![CDATA[Guest Voice]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 14 Oct 2025 16:13:01 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Gaza]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Hamas]]></category>
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<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[War]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Hostages]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Israeli hostages]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Israeli-Hamas peace agreement]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Jewish organizations]]></category>
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<description><![CDATA[Embed from Getty Images After 738 Days, Hostages are Freed. 7+3+8 = 18, Life! SAN DIEGO (SDJW) — Here in alphabetical order are the reactions from a variety of perspectives to Hamas freeing its hostages; the prospect of peace in the Middle East; and the role of U.S. President Donald J. Trump in achieving this<a class="read-more" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/reactions-to-a-historic-day-in-the-saga-of-the-middle-east/"> […]</a>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<center><a id='gSn1MfxERehnnCpr3q9vpQ' class='gie-slideshow' href='https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/2240428933' target='_blank' style='color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;' rel="noopener noreferrer">Embed from Getty Images</a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'gSn1MfxERehnnCpr3q9vpQ',sig:'VF_PhQNOOudEtPJKZBNvD2lwC7Ziw4tTLisZGSBwGFc=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2240428933,2240428641,2200476918,2200479385,1801107728',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});</script><script src='//embed-cdn.gettyimages.com/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async></script></center>
After 738 Days, Hostages are Freed. 7+3+8 = 18, Life!
SAN DIEGO (SDJW) — Here in alphabetical order are the reactions from a variety of perspectives to Hamas freeing its hostages; the prospect of peace in the Middle East; and the role of U.S. President Donald J. Trump in achieving this blue-ribbon moment.
American Jewish Committee: After 738 days, we are overjoyed watching the reunions of the twenty surviving hostages with their loved ones, and our hearts are with the families of the deceased hostages who await their return.
As we welcome home 20 of the 48 hostages, we hope that we will very soon be able to say that all 48 – Tamir Adar, Muhammad Al-Atarash, Matan Angrest, Sahar Baruch, Uriel Baruch, Gali Berman, Ziv Berman, Elkana Bohbot, Rom Braslavski, Itay Chen, Nimrod Cohen, Amiram Cooper, Ariel Cunio, David Cunio, Evyatar David, Ronen Engel, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, Meny Godard, Hadar Goldin, Ran Gvili, Tal Haimi, Asaf Hamami, Inbar Hayman, Maxim Herkin, Eitan Horn, Guy Illouz, Bipin Joshi, Segev Kalfon, Bar Abraham Kupershtein, Eitan Levi, Eliyahu Margalit, Omri Miran, Joshua Luito Mollel, Eitan Mor, Omer Neutra, Tamir Nimrodi, Yosef-Chaim Ohana, Alon Ohel, Sontia Ok’Krasari, Avinatan Or, Dror Or, Daniel Oz, Daniel Perez, Sontisek Rintalk, Lior Rudaeff, Yossi Sharabi, Arie Zalmanowicz, and Matan Zangauker – are finally back home.
Until they are all home, none of us will be whole.
While we are relieved and grateful to have finally reached this point, the work does not end once all the hostages return. As we welcome home the surviving hostages and mourn with the families of deceased hostages as they wait to bury their loved ones, we must ensure full rehabilitation for the living and the continued support for all the families who have endured extensive trauma and grief.
American Jewish Committee (AJC) is both proud of and humbled by the trust hostage families and previously rescued and returned hostages have placed in us, allowing us to advocate with them across the United States and around the world to keep their stories front of mind for officials at the highest levels of government and across civil society. Their strength, determination, and selflessness are an inspiration and the Jewish people around the world are standing with them as this darkest chapter comes to a close.
*
Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt, President — We are overjoyed that the remaining living hostages have been freed and back home in Israel. It is a time to exhale and exult.
Seeing the videos and pictures of the reunification of the hostages with their loved ones is a moment the people of Israel and Jews around the world have been anxiously awaiting for two years. At the same time, we anxiously await the return of the bodies of all the hostages from Gaza and join with the families of those murdered hostages in their grief and sorrow as they prepare to say goodbye to their loved ones.
And we will never forget 10/7 — the deceased, the toll on the families of those killed, wounded or held captive, and the impact on all of Israel and indeed all Jews worldwide.
We are incredibly grateful to all parties who worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome. We thank President Trump and his Administration, Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, Israeli and Arab leaders from across the region, U.S. political leaders on all levels of government and so many other voices for their efforts and commitment to bringing home the hostages and ending the war. We particularly express our appreciation and admiration for the tireless work of the families of those held captive and those who supported that advocacy, notably the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. Indeed, my encounters with these families have been among the most devastating, emotional, yet inspiring times over these very tough two years.
We are proud of all that the ADL community has done as part of this fight to bring them home. ADL worked tirelessly through public and private advocacy to help ensure that the hostages remained front of mind for world leaders and the international community and to ensure that all possible levers were utilized to push for their release.
We hope the ceasefire and release of the hostages brings closure to the people of Israel, allowing them to begin healing and returning to a sense of normalcy. We also hope this moment provides the people of Gaza the opportunity to restart and rebuild their lives free from Hamas.
At the same time, we must not be naive and assume all will return back to “normal.”
We are still waiting to see the return of the slain hostages; we will not stop until each and every one of them is returned for proper burial. Israel still faces many challenging security threats, from Palestinian terrorism in the West Bank, to frequent missile attacks from the Houthis in Yemen and the multitude of ongoing threats posed by the Iranian regime.
Here in the United States and in Jewish communities around the world, we are experiencing the most significant spike in antisemitism since WWII. There is much work that needs to be done before the people of Israel and Jews around the world can feel safe again.
But for today we hug, we rejoice and we feel resilience and relief along with everyone in Israel and around the world who has spoken out for the freedom of the hostages and an end to the suffering of all of the innocent.
Am Yisrael chai.
*
B’nai B’rith International, Robert Spitzer, President & Daniel S. Mariaschine, CEO: B’nai B’rith International welcomes with profound relief and emotion the long-awaited return of 20 living hostages kidnapped and held by Hamas for two agonizing years.
Their freedom is a moment of immense joy mixed with deep sorrow—joy for the hostages for surviving to return home and joy for the families finally reunited. Yet profound sorrow for the trauma endured by those who suffered so greatly in captivity and by the loved ones of those who will never return. We offer our deepest condolences to the families of those hostages killed by Hamas. And we await the return of the 28 remains of those killed by Hamas and held these last two years.
For two long years, these human beings were held in horrific conditions, often with little outcry from the international community. Their courage and endurance are a testament to the human spirit and to the unbreakable resilience of the Jewish people and the State of Israel.
As we welcome this moment of light after so much darkness, we remain deeply concerned about Hamas’ commitment to abide by the full terms of a peace agreement. History has shown that Hamas’ words too often mask continued violence and deception. The world must not turn away now—it must hold Hamas fully accountable, for the physical and mental condition of the freed hostages and for the two years of war unleashed by Hamas after its barbaric attack against Israel. The international community must ensure that peace is more than just a promise on paper.
B’nai B’rith stands in solidarity with Israel and the global Jewish community, united in grief and relieved these souls have finally returned homes, even as we await the return of the final 28 who had been held captive.
We also express our gratitude to President Donald Trump and all of the negotiators for getting us to this moment.
We remain committed to working for a future where no family must again endure such pain.
* 
Chabad of Chula Vista, Rabbi Mendel Katz: For two years, we waited for this day. 
For two years, we cried for this day. 
For two years, we prayed for this day. 
And it finally came.
Twenty hostages, twenty souls, are home again. 
Twenty families are whole again. 
Twenty pieces of our nation, Am Yisroel, reunited with their people.
When you watch these videos, it’s hard to hold back tears. 
Each one is as emotional as the next, families running, collapsing into each other’s arms, tears, disbelief, joy. 
Like Tal Kupstein, who spent two years in therapy after an accident so he could one day hug his son Bar, and finally did. 
Yosef Chaim Ohana’s father, crying out Shema Yisrael and reciting Shehechiyanu as he embraced his son for the first time in two years. You can’t see these moments without feeling something move deep inside, a swirl of pain, gratitude, and hope all at once.
It’s no coincidence this all unfolds on the eve of Simchat Torah, the very day the nightmare began. The terrorists tried to crush our spirit, to make us live in fear and grief. But for two years, the Jewish people have stayed strong. We have cried, yes, but we have also danced. We have mourned, but we have kept living, kept believing, kept choosing joy. Not because we forgot the pain, but because we refused to let darkness define us.
And tonight, as we enter the most joyous day of the year, the day we dance with the Torah and with each other, we’ll do so with fuller hearts.
Two years ago, we tried to dance without them. 
Last year, we did our best to dance for them. 
This year, we dance with them.
So wherever you find yourself this Simchat Torah, don’t hold back. Dance for the 28 Jews still in Gaza, awaiting dignity and a Jewish burial. Dance for the families who kept faith through darkness. Dance because Am Yisroel is alive. 
Dance because the Torah is alive. Dance because we are one.
L’Chaim and Chag Sameach!
* 
Chabad of East County, Rabbi Rafi Andrusier: As we approach Simchat Torah this year, my heart feels like a mosaic of emotions—joy, grief, gratitude, fear, and hope—all at once. I think many of us feel that way right now.
On one hand, there is the indescribable relief of parents finally embracing their children after twenty-four long months of captivity. The images of the reunions coming through this morning alone can move us to tears of joy. Yet, in the same moment, we ache for the now-former hostages and all they’ve endured, and for the families of those who did not return alive.
It’s not easy to hold joy and pain together. But that’s what it means to be a Jew. From the very beginning, we’ve learned to cry and dance at the same time—to break a glass at a wedding even in our happiest hour, and to sing through our tears because life must go on. Joy, for us, has never been the absence of pain; it’s the refusal to let pain have the last word.
Simchat Torah gives us a sacred opportunity to do just that. We will dance—not because everything is right, but because our bond with G-d, with the Torah, and with one another is unbreakable. Our dancing is not an escape from reality; it’s our way of declaring that light and goodness will prevail.
This year, we will dance for those taken from us on October 7, for the soldiers who gave their lives defending our people and our land, and most significantly—for those who have finally returned. Each circle on the dance floor will be a prayer; each step, an act of faith that the story of our people is far from over. 
* 
Chabad of La Costa, Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort: Baruch Hashem, thank G-d, after two years of unimaginable suffering the live hostages have been liberated from the Hamas terrorists! We pray for their complete and speedy recoveries!
It is our duty to keep pushing and praying for the release of the bodies of those murdered by the terrorists. We cannot relent.
We are HOPEFUL that the promised disarmament and exile of Hamas is true and comes to fruition quickly. We yearn for the time when the residents of Gaza stop supporting the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews, and instead grasp the blessings of freedom and peace. We remain skeptical of any representations made, as we have seen the countless incidents of deceit perpetrated by the terrorists, and their many supporters and enablers, in Gaza and around the world.
* 
Christians United for Israel (CUFI): The leadership of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), the nation’s largest pro-Israel organization, issued the following statements in reaction to the news that Israel’s final living hostages have been returned home, while recalling the memories of those who were slain on October 7th as well as while in captivity.
“After more than two years of enduring a manmade living hell, we welcome the release of the final group of hostages who were taken during the October 7th Massacre. We are profoundly grateful to President Trump for his leadership in bringing these 20 individuals home. Yet also, we have not forgotten the others brutally killed by Palestinian terrorists,” said CUFI founder and Chairman Pastor John Hagee.
“We grieve deeply for the lives lost; their murders are a permanent wound on the conscience of the world and a stark reminder of the cruelty the Children of Israel have endured. We honor their blessed memories and stand with their families in mourning,” he said.
“We remember those who were lost, we thank God for the survival and return of those who are now free, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to the victims, their families, and the people of Israel,” said CUFI Action Fund Chairwoman Sandra Parker.
“The world changed on 10/7, but what has not changed is our unwavering commitment to combat antisemitism in all its forms, to expose and denounce the hateful ideologies that fuel terror, and to advocate for policies that uphold justice and defend the U.S-Israel relationship,” Parker added.
* 
Congregation Beth Israel, San Diego, Rabbi Jason Nevarez et al:
Today, after two long years, all of the remaining living hostages have been released from Gaza. Twenty souls – who have endured the unendurable – are finally free. And yet, we know their journey home is far from over.
We hold our breath alongside the families still waiting – yearning not for joyous reunions, but for the return of their beloveds’ remains, so they may at last be brought to rest in the embrace of their people. May they find sacred closure, knowing their loved ones will be honored and remembered within the holiness of our collective heart.
Our hearts are overflowing with gratitude to the administration, nations, leaders, and negotiators who have brought together this complex plan to end the war. We also give thanks for every person who refused to look away, for mercy that allows us to exhale again, and for hope that has outlasted despair.
Tomorrow night, join us as we gather for Simchat Torah, where we will dance and rejoice with our Torahs. As we also hold space for this unique moment, we invite all who have carried hostage tags and yellow pins close to their hearts to bring them as we offer a blessing of release, transforming these small tokens of longing into a collective of memory and hope.
May the Source of Life bless the freed and their loved ones with strength, comfort those who mourn, and guide us all toward peace and healing.
With gratitude and prayer, Rabbi Jason Nevarez; Rabbi Cantor Jeremy Gimbel; Rabbi Cantor Arlene Bernstein; Rabbi Elana Ackerman Hirsch; John Lefter, President; and Lesley Mills, Executive Director.
* 
Democratic Majority for Israel, Brian Romick, President and CEO: Today, we are relieved and filled with emotion that the remaining living hostages have finally been reunited with their loved ones after enduring an unimaginable two-year nightmare. This is a moment for the world to unite in celebration.
For those families who will receive the remains of their loved ones, our hearts continue to break for you. We pray that today brings a measure of closure after your profound loss. Hamas must uphold the agreement and swiftly release the hostages’ remains to their families.
While there are many details and challenges to be worked out for the ceasefire to enter the next phase, we are optimistic that this moment will usher in an end to the fighting and a surge in needed humanitarian aid. We commend Israel for making impossible choices to reach this deal.
As the implementation phase moves forward, President Trump and his administration must ensure that all elements of his plan are executed without delay or setback, especially ending the terror Hamas has inflicted on the people of the region for far too long.
* 
Hadassah, Carol Ann Schwartz, President: Today we rejoice that the remaining 20 living hostages have finally been freed and reunited with their families. We recognize they have a challenging physical and mental rehabilitation process ahead and we embrace them as they work to reclaim their lives. Our joy is tempered as we share in the deep sorrow of the bereaved families who await their loved ones killed in captivity. May our collective strength and love hold them.
For over two years, we have prayed and advocated for the safety and freedom of the men, women and children who were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023. We have celebrated every hostage release. We have wept and grieved for those murdered. And we have held our breath waiting for every last one to be returned.
Today, we exhale, though we cannot do so fully until all 48 hostages are back in Israel. Our hearts are with all who have suffered terrible loss, all the survivors, whose spirit and resilience have been a miracle, and the hostage families who have been unflinching in their fight to bring them all home.
Hadassah thanks our leaders in the United States, leaders in Israel and around the globe, and the negotiators for pushing for an end to this nightmare.
We look ahead with hope to the healing and recovery of the people of Israel and to the promise of peace. 
* 
Israeli-American Council: After two long and painful years, the day we have all prayed for has arrived. The return of Israeli hostages brings to a close an excruciating ordeal for the citizens of Israel and the Jewish world.
We are overjoyed for the families who are finally reunited with their loved ones, and we pray for a speedy recovery for those hostages in critical condition. Our hearts ache for the families who must now mourn those who were cruelly taken from them.
The Israeli-American Council (IAC) will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Israel, whether in times of challenge or triumph.
We extend our deepest thanks to President Donald J. Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for their leadership in bringing is to this moment. We are profoundly grateful for President Trump and his administration’s unwavering commitment to the Jewish People and the State of Israel. And we salute the brave militaries of both countries for their strength and sacrifices. 
* 
Jewish Community Relations Council (San Francisco) Bay Area, Tyler Gregory, CEO: “Today, we join the citizens of Israel, the Jewish people, and all of humanity in celebrating the release of the final living hostages, who are returning home after enduring unimaginable torment. At the same time, we mourn the men and women whose lives were taken by Hamas during 736 days in brutal captivity, and pray that the remaining bodies will soon be brought home.
“We hope this moment also brings some relief to the civilians of Gaza, who have endured immense hardship. They deserve to rebuild their neighborhoods and livelihoods after being caught in two years of crossfire between Hamas and Israel.
“Finally, we thank President Trump and the delegations from the United States, Israel, and the region, whose pivotal efforts made this agreement possible. While we cannot predict the future, we hope this agreement will lead to lasting peace and security along Israel’s southern border, the disarmament and removal of Hamas from power, and a new beginning for Israelis and Gazans. May today begin a long overdue healing process for us all.
*
Jewish Democratic Council of America, Halie Soifer, CEO: Today marks a moment of long-awaited relief, joy, and celebration as the remaining living hostages were returned to Israel. JDCA is celebrating the release of all 20 living hostages and eagerly awaiting the return of all 28 deceased hostages, and is grateful to President Trump for making it possible with his 20-point plan for peace. After 738 days, the return of the hostages creates an opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza and begin the difficult but necessary work of rebuilding Gaza and ensuring a brighter future for Israelis and Palestinians.
Since October 7, Israelis and Jews around the world have endured unimaginable pain, loss, and fear. We continue to mourn the more than 1,200 murdered on October 7 and in captivity, as well as the IDF soldiers who sacrificed their lives in Gaza, and innocent Palestinian civilians whose lives were lost. Rebuilding trust and restoring hope will be an essential part of the path forward – one that requires compassion, accountability, and a shared commitment to peace.
Today marks the beginning of what will require a broader, integrated effort to lay the foundation for rebuilding in Gaza, including the demilitarization and relinquishing of power by Hamas. Once a final agreement is reached on the next phase of this ceasefire, the United States, Israel, and regional partners must immediately scale up humanitarian aid and work to rebuild Gaza, while ensuring Israel’s lasting security.
The only path to durable peace is one in which Israelis and Palestinians live side by side in two states with dignity and safety for all, and JDCA supports efforts toward that end.
*
Jewish Future Promise, Hadara Ishak, President and Chief Operating Officer: Today, as we welcome the safe return of hostages who have endured unimaginable suffering, we feel deep relief, gratitude, and humility. This moment is one of profound significance, a testament to the strength of faith, the power of persistence, and the impact of courageous leadership.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to President Trump for his decisive leadership and unwavering commitment to securing the release of the hostages and advancing the peace process.
Yet our celebration is tempered by remembrance. We will never forget the hostages who did not return, the atrocities they endured in captivity, or the families who continue to wait. We honor Israel’s fallen and wounded soldiers, heroes whose courage, sacrifice, and resilience will forever live in the heart of the Jewish people.
This is not an ending, but a moment of renewal, a call for vigilance, accountability, and enduring unity. True peace requires both justice and memory.
At Jewish Future Promise, we reaffirm our mission: to secure the Jewish future through action, education, and purpose. Our promise begins in remembrance but lives in what we teach, how we give, and the legacy we build for those who follow.
We invite our allies of every faith and background to stand with us in ensuring that justice, compassion, and human dignity prevail. “Never Again” must be more than a vow across time; it must be a living promise, acted upon with courage, gratitude, and unwavering belief in a shared humanity.
May this moment renew our hope, strengthen our unity, and inspire us to build a safer and prouder Jewish future, together. Am Yisrael Chai.” 
* 
 
New Israel Fund, Daniel Sokatch, CEO: People in Tel Aviv and Gaza City have been celebrating and dancing in the streets. As I watch the powerful videos of them smiling and cheering, I can’t help but feel their joy—and some genuine hope.
It is an immense relief to see hostages and their loved ones finally being reunited. Einav Zangauker, who stood every day demanding the release of her son, who was nicknamed “Mother Lioness” for her unyielding efforts, and who received NIF’s Truth to Power prize last year, can finally see and touch and hold her son, Matan.
This is the joy, the relief, that we are all feeling today. Because they are finally home.
Today we exhale—Israelis, Palestinians, and all of us who have ached every day at the needless destruction wrought by this terrible war. If it were up to the extremists in Israel’s government, the war would still be dragging on, and more Gazans, Israeli soldiers, and hostages would die.
That’s why, more than anything else, I feel gratitude for all of the activists and protestors who refused to give up. Without the constant pressure from the Israeli street, this deal would not have happened. We can take heart from everyone who stood for shared humanity, from NIF grantees like the Hostage Families Forum, who refused to lose faith and who did not allow their government a moment of quiet.
At the same time, we know the road ahead will not be an easy one. Too many hostages will never have the chance to hug their families. Too many Gazans have been killed, wounded, or displaced, and Gaza will need to be rebuilt. Israelis and Palestinians will need to heal. There is still so much work to do.
Today, we celebrate. Tomorrow, we organize.
We’ve learned today that wherever there is a struggle, there is hope. Wherever we put energy towards change, there is hope. Wherever we lend our solidarity, our voice, our resources, there is hope.
* 
Republican Jewish Coalition: In his first term, President Trump trailblazed a path of peace in the Middle East with the historic Abraham Accords. Today, due to the righteous leadership and relentless efforts of President Trump, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and their incredible teams, all of the hostages are coming home and the war that Hamas started on October 7th is at its end.
This remarkable achievement cements President Trump’s enduring legacy as the most pro-Israel President in U.S. history, and as the Peacemaker President.
We applaud Israel for awarding President Trump with their country’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Honor. No one is more deserving of this distinction.
Today, President Trump became just the fourth U.S. President to ever address the Israeli Knesset, and the first since 2008. In his remarks, President Trump made it clear that the U.S.-Israel relationship is stronger than ever before:
“The cruelty of October 7th struck to the core of humanity itself. The United States of America grieved alongside you, and we mourned for our own citizens who were so viciously taken. To all the families whose lives were forever changed by the atrocities of that day, and to all the people of Israel, please know that America joins you in those two everlasting vows—NEVER FORGET, and NEVER AGAIN.”
“The story of fierce Israeli resolve and triumph since October 7th should be proof to the entire world that those who seek to destroy this nation are doomed to bitter failure. The State of Israel is strong—and it will live and thrive forever.”
We will never forget the 1,200 men, women, and children murdered on October 7, 2023. We will always remember the heroic IDF soldiers who gave their lives, and who were wounded, in defense of Israel–because of their courage and sacrifice, we have reached this momentous day.
God bless America, God bless Israel, and God bless the U.S.-Israel alliance.
* 
Jeanne Shaheen, Ranking (Democratic) Member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee: I am thrilled to welcome today’s release of hostages whose families have waited far too long to be reunited with their loved ones. This moment offers hope amid immense suffering, and I am grateful to the Trump Administration and our partners in Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye for their mediation efforts that made this progress possible.
As we mark this step forward, I also remember and grieve with the families of those whose lives have been lost. May their memory be a blessing.
I call on all parties to seize this moment and press forward on all diplomatic efforts to secure the next phase of the agreement so Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in peace, security and dignity.
* 
Simon Wiesenthal Center: The Simon Wiesenthal Center expresses profound relief and gratitude that all 20 surviving hostages have been released and returned home to Israel. We await the return of the 28 slain hostages whose bodies still remain in Gaza.
After more than two years of anguish, uncertainty, and prayer, the hostage families are finally reunited with their loved ones. Their courage, faith, and persistence have embodied the strength of the Israeli people and the human spirit itself. They refused to give up hope, even when much of the world looked away.
“We embrace our brothers and sisters on this long-awaited homecoming. We mourn those who did not return, victims of the deadliest assault on Jews since the Holocaust, and we commit to preserving their memory,” said Jim Berk, Simon Wiesenthal Center CEO. “Since October 7, 2023, more than 900 Israeli soldiers have also fallen in battle, expanding the heavy burden of bereavement for the Jewish state and world Jewry. These bereft families and loved ones, too, are in our hearts today.”
For the past two years, the Israeli Defense Forces has fought in a highly complex urban environment against an enemy that sought to maximize Palestinian deaths even as the Israeli military dropped thousands of leaflets and made hundreds of thousands of phone calls in an attempt to separate innocent civilians from Hamas terrorists. Without the valor and sacrifices of the soldiers of the IDF, Hamas would never have agreed to this deal.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center also echoes the bipartisan recognition of U.S. President Donald Trump for his role in successfully brokering this ceasefire, bringing the release of our hostages and relief to Gaza’s civilian population.
“As the freed hostages return to their homes and communities, we are reminded of another generation liberated from unspeakable darkness,” Berk added. “Like the survivors of the camps who walked free in 1945, these men and women bear witness to what hatred can do when the world remains silent. The Jewish people have known captivity before; we have also known redemption.”
To the international community: This moment marks both an end and a beginning: the close of an agonizing chapter and the start of the long, difficult work of rebuilding lives, communities, and trust. As we start the path forward, we call on those who have previously excused Hamas’s violence or dismissed Israel’s suffering to join in fostering a path to peace and stability on both sides of this conflict.
Never again must mean never again, for anyone, anywhere.
* 
Technion, Uri Sivan, President: With boundless joy at the return of the hostages to their families, and with deep sorrow for all the loss and bereavement, the Technion looks toward the new year as a time of renewal, healing, and hope.
After two years in which we never lost faith, the day we longed for has finally arrived.
The Technion family takes great pride in its sons and daughters who serve in the reserves and in the security forces, and in the long-standing contribution of the Technion and its alumni to Israel’s security, as well as the tremendous dedication of all members of the Technion community whose strength and resilience sustain the institution in times of crisis and hardship. Together, we will continue along the path of education, research, and teaching for the sake of the State of Israel.
* 
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism: We share in the profound joy and relief felt across Israel and the Jewish world as the final 20 living hostages return home after 738 days and are reunited with their families. For two years, we have carried them in our hearts, held space for them in our communities, and kept their names on our lips. As we celebrate their freedom, we also pray for their physical and spiritual healing. And we mourn those hostages who were murdered, send comfort to their bereaved families, and pray that all of their bodies will soon be returned for proper burial and honor.
This moment reflects Israel’s commitment to the enduring Jewish value of Pidyon Shvuyim—the redemption of captives—our sacred duty to do all we can to bring our people home.
We are grateful to President Donald Trump and to the many leaders and negotiators whose efforts made this possible. While we know there are many challenges ahead, may this moment mark the beginning of a new era in which Israelis and Palestinians alike move beyond the war of the past two years and live with security and dignity.
As we welcome home these beloved souls and conclude the holiday of Sukkot, we recall the prayer we recite each evening, “Ufros aleinu sukkat sh’lomekha – May You spread over us Your canopy of peace.”
* 
World Jewish Congress, Ronald S. Lauder, President: Today, we welcome home twenty brave human beings who were forced to endure the unimaginable.
“This is the moment that the people of Israel and Jews across the diaspora have prayed for, fought for, and refused to stop believing in. It is what their families have dreamed of every single day since October 7, 2023.
“We owe this achievement to the resilience of our people — forged through thousands of years of persecution and antisemitism — and to the unwavering commitment of the United States and President Trump to defend the Jewish state and to uphold the principle that terror must never be rewarded. We must also acknowledge the critical role played by the Arab and Muslim nations – Qatar, Turkey, and Egypt – that brought Hamas to the negotiating table.
“This is a time to rejoice, but we remain incomplete as we await the return of the 28 hostages who perished during their cruel captivity.
“We cannot allow Hamas to exploit or evade this agreement. The international community must finally put an end to the decades of terror and retribution that have strangled the people of Gaza. Hamas must now be disarmed, it can play no role in the future of the Palestinian people, and every last hostage must be brought home.
* 
Zaka Tel Aviv, Yoni Gilboa, Director: Today, Israel is breathing again. The remaining living hostages have finally returned home — a miracle that fills our hearts with gratitude and tears. Yet even in this moment of relief, uncertainty shadows the horizon. The question now is not only what we have regained, but what comes next.
The new deal that secured the hostages’ freedom also raises deep concerns. Hundreds of dangerous terrorists convicted of brutal attacks on Israeli civilians have been released. Many fear this may echo the tragic aftermath of the 2011 Gilad Shalit deal, when freed terrorists returned to orchestrate new atrocities, culminating in the horrors of October 7. Israel faces the grim reality that Hamas may remain intact, rearming and regrouping under the protection of a fragile ceasefire. The core issues have been deferred, leaving the future uncertain and the threat of renewed terror ever-present.
In these volatile moments, Zaka Tel-Aviv stands ready, prepared for any emergency, any tragedy, at any hour. Our volunteers continue to train, equip, and respond with unwavering dedication, ensuring that when disaster strikes, every life is treated with dignity and every victim with compassion. Whether in the aftermath of terror, tragedy, or natural disaster, Zaka’s teams bring order, care, and sacred respect to the most painful moments of our nation’s story. 
* 
Zionist Organization of America, Mort Klein, National President: The incredible joy for the twenty living hostages who were released today, is deeply marred by other developments.
Palestinian Arabs in Gaza and Judea-Samaria are celebrating the release of almost 2,000 dangerous Palestinian Arab terrorists, many of whom murdered innocent Jews. Hamas immediately mobilized 7,000 Hamas members to “cleanse Gaza of outlaws and collaborators with Israel” – meaning to reassert control over Gaza and execute and kidnap dozens of rivals; and appointed Hamas terror commanders as Gazan governors.
Hamas has reasserted its murderous control in the almost fifty percent of Gaza; executed and kidnapped dozens of other Gazans; and issued statements adamantly refusing to disarm.
Hamas has also already started to steal food aid.
Hamas is thus already violating the basic tenets of the Trump deal that call for Hamas’ disarmament and removal from Gazan governance. The situation is reminiscent of Hamas seizing control of Gaza and killing rivals following Israel’s departure in 2005. 
* 
Roundup by San Diego Jewish World staff. <a href="https://www.sdjewishworld.com/2025/10/13/reactions-to-a-historic-day-in-the-saga-of-the-middle-east/">This article is republished from San Diego Jewish World </a>which, along with The Moderate Voice, is a member of the San Diego Online News Association.
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<description><![CDATA[Black Louisiana voters and civil rights advocates ask U.S. Supreme Court justices to uphold a fair and representative congressional map in Louisiana v. Callais on March 24, 2025. Jemal Countess/Getty Images Sam D. Hayes, Simmons University On Oct. 15, 2025, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in one of the most anticipated cases of<a class="read-more" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/supreme-court-redistricting-ruling-could-upend-decades-of-voting-rights-law-and-tilt-the-balance-of-power-in-washington/"> […]</a>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[ <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/695686/original/file-20251010-56-w0oelz.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&rect=0%2C1%2C5000%2C3333&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" /><figcaption>
Black Louisiana voters and civil rights advocates ask U.S. Supreme Court justices to uphold a fair and representative congressional map in Louisiana v. Callais on March 24, 2025. 
<a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/michael-mcclanahan-speaks-during-black-louisiana-voters-and-news-photo/2206706804?adppopup=true"> Jemal Countess/Getty Images</a> 
</figcaption><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sam-d-hayes-1524670">Sam D. Hayes</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/simmons-university-4109">Simmons University</a>
On Oct. 15, 2025, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in one of the most anticipated cases of the 2025-2026 term, <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/cases/case-files/louisiana-v-callais/">Louisiana v. Callais</a>, with major implications for the Voting Rights Act, racial representation and Democratic Party power in congress.
The central question in the case is to what extent race can, or must, be used when congressional districts are redrawn. Plaintiffs are challenging whether the longstanding interpretation of <a href="https://www.justice.gov/crt/section-2-voting-rights-act">Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act</a>, which requires protection of minority voting power in redistricting, violates the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/equal_protection">Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution</a>, which guarantees that individuals should be treated the same by the law.
In short, the plaintiffs argue that the state of Louisiana’s use of race to make a second Black-majority district is forbidden by the U.S. Constitution.
This is the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/24/supreme-court-louisiana-redistricting-voting-rights-act">second time</a> that the court will hear oral arguments in Louisiana v. Callais <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/2025/10/supreme-court-to-hear-arguments-in-pivotal-case-on-the-voting-rights-act/">after no decision was reached last term</a>. From my perspective as a <a href="https://www.simmons.edu/people/sam-hayes">scholar of U.S. federal courts and electoral systems</a>, this case represents the collision of decades of Supreme Court decisions on race, redistricting and the Voting Rights Act.
<h2>Long legal battle</h2>
To understand the stakes of the current case, it’s important to know what the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R47520">Voting Rights Act</a> does. Initially passed in 1965, the act helped end decades of racially discriminatory voting laws by providing federal enforcement of voting rights. 
Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/election-law-explainers/section-2-of-the-voting-rights-act-vote-dilution-and-vote-deprivation/">forbids discrimination by states</a> in relation to voting rights and has been used for decades to challenge redistricting plans. 
The current case has its roots in the <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Redistricting_in_Louisiana_after_the_2020_census">redistricting of Louisiana’s congressional districts</a> following the 2020 Census. States are required to redraw districts each decade based on new population data. Louisiana lawmakers redrew the state’s six congressional districts without major changes in 2022.
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/695691/original/file-20251010-74-yozti2.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Police smashing marchers on a street with billy clubs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/695691/original/file-20251010-74-yozti2.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/695691/original/file-20251010-74-yozti2.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/695691/original/file-20251010-74-yozti2.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/695691/original/file-20251010-74-yozti2.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/695691/original/file-20251010-74-yozti2.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/695691/original/file-20251010-74-yozti2.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/695691/original/file-20251010-74-yozti2.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"/></a><figcaption>
State troopers in Selma, Ala., swing billy clubs on March 7, 1965, to break up a march by advocates for Black Americans’ voting rights. 
<a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=Voting%20Rights%20Act%201965&mediaType=photo">AP Photo, File</a> 
</figcaption></figure>
Soon after the state redistricted, a group of Black voters challenged the map in federal court as a violation of the Voting Rights Act. The plaintiffs argued that the new map was discriminatory because the voting power of Black citizens in the state was being illegally diluted. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/voting-rights-race-and-ethnicity-legislature-census-2020-baton-rouge-5e4b92df3831434909bf37d95abd2151">The state’s population was 31% Black</a>, but only one of the six districts featured a majority-Black population.
The federal courts in 2022 <a href="https://apnews.com/article/voting-rights-john-bel-edwards-louisiana-baton-rouge-congress-78cae5a254ffa6bcb460139600e60099">sided with the plaintiffs’ claim</a> that the plan did violate the Voting Rights Act and ordered the state legislature to redraw the congressional plan with a second Black-majority district.
The <a href="https://redistricting.lls.edu/wp-content/uploads/la-2020-robinson-220606-order.pdf">judges relied on an interpretation of Section 2</a> of the Voting Rights Act from a 1986 Supreme Court decision in the <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1985/83-1968">case known as Thornburg v. Gingles</a>. Under this interpretation, Section 2’s nondiscrimination requirement means that congressional districts must be drawn in a way that allows large, politically cohesive and compact racial minorities to be able to elect representatives of their choice.
In 2023, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s interpretation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in <a href="https://theconversation.com/voting-in-unconstitutional-districts-us-supreme-court-upended-decades-of-precedent-in-2022-by-allowing-voters-to-vote-with-gerrymandered-maps-instead-of-fixing-the-congressional-districts-first-227124">a similar racial gerrymandering case in Alabama</a>.
<h2>Louisiana lawmakers redraw districts</h2>
Following the court order, the <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/2025/03/court-weighs-louisiana-redistricting-with-second-majority-black-district/">Louisiana state legislature passed Senate Bill 8</a> in January 2024, redrawing the congressional map and creating two districts where Black voters composed a substantial portion of the electorate in compliance with the Gingles ruling. This map was used in <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Louisiana_elections,_2024">the 2024 congressional election</a> and both Black-majority districts elected Democrats, while the other four districts elected Republicans.
These new congressional districts from Senate Bill 8 were challenged by a group of white voters in 2024 in a set of cases that became <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24-109_l53m.pdf">Louisiana v. Callais</a>. 
The plaintiffs argued that the Louisiana legislature’s drawing of districts based on race in Senate Bill 8 was in violation of the <a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/amendment-14/">14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause</a>, which requires equal treatment of individuals by the government, and the 15th Amendment, <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/amendments/amendment-xv">which forbids denying the right to vote based on race</a>. 
Essentially, the plaintiffs claimed that the courts’ interpretation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act was unconstitutional and that the use of race to create a majority-minority district is itself discriminatory. Similar arguments about the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause were also the basis of the Supreme Court’s recent decisions <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/20-1199_hgdj.pdf">striking down race-based affirmative action in college admissions</a>.
In 2024, a three-judge district court sided with the white plaintiffs in Louisiana v. Callais, with a 2-1 decision. The Black plaintiffs <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24-109/370938/20250827153950778_24-109%2024-110%20Louisiana%20v%20Callais%20et%20al%20Supplemental%20Brief%20for%20Robinson%20Defendants.pdf?inline=1">from the original case</a>, and the state of Louisiana, <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24-109/370895/20250827134212077_Callais%20-%20Supplemental%20Opening%20Merits%20Brief.pdf?inline=1">appealed the case to the Supreme Court</a>. The court originally heard the case at the end of the 2024-2025 term before ordering the case re-argued for 2025-2026.
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/695699/original/file-20251010-56-4rtn3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A large, white building with a tall tower in the middle." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/695699/original/file-20251010-56-4rtn3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/695699/original/file-20251010-56-4rtn3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/695699/original/file-20251010-56-4rtn3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/695699/original/file-20251010-56-4rtn3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/695699/original/file-20251010-56-4rtn3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/695699/original/file-20251010-56-4rtn3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/695699/original/file-20251010-56-4rtn3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"/></a><figcaption>
The Louisiana state Capitol in Baton Rouge. 
<a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=Louisiana%20redistricting&mediaType=photo">AP Photo/Stephen Smith, File</a> 
</figcaption></figure>
<h2>High stakes and significant precedent</h2>
If the Supreme Court ultimately upholds the lower court decision in Louisiana v. Callais, deciding that Louisiana’s congressional districts are unconstitutional racial gerrymanders, it will have substantial impacts on minority representation. The decision would upend decades of precedent for Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
<a href="https://www.justice.gov/crt/section-2-voting-rights-act">For 39 years</a>, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act has required redistricting institutions to consider racial and ethnic minority representation when devising congressional districts. <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Majority-minority_districts">Majority-minority districting</a> is required when a state has large, compact and cohesive minority communities. Historically, some states have redistricted minority communities in ways that <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/voting_rights_act">dilute their voting power, such as “cracking”</a> a community into multiple districts where they compose a small percentage of the electorate.
Section 2 also provides voters and residents with a legal tool that has been used to challenge districts as discriminatory. Many voters and groups have used Section 2 successfully to challenge redistricting plans. 
Section 2 has been the main legal tool for challenging racial discrimination in redistricting for the past decade. In 2013, the Supreme Court effectively ended the other major component of the Voting Rights Act, the preclearance provision, which required certain states to have <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/supreme-court-case-library/shelby-county-v-holder">changes to their elections laws approved by the federal government</a>, including redistricting. 
If the court overrules the current interpretation of Section 2, it would limit the legality of using race in redistricting, end requirements for majority-minority districts and eliminate the most common way to challenge discriminatory districting.
Additionally, because of the strong relationship between many <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/04/09/partisanship-by-race-ethnicity-and-education/">minority communities and the Democratic party</a>, the court’s decision has major implications for partisan control of the House of Representatives. 
If Section 2 no longer required majority-minority districts, then Republicans could use the ruling to redraw congressional districts across the country to benefit their party. Politico reported that Democrats could <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/08/republicans-scotus-vra-00597212">lose as many as 19 House seats</a> if the Supreme Court sides with the lower court. 
Recent Supreme Court precedent gives conflicting signals as to how it will decide this case. 
In 2023, the court rejected a <a href="https://theconversation.com/voting-in-unconstitutional-districts-us-supreme-court-upended-decades-of-precedent-in-2022-by-allowing-voters-to-vote-with-gerrymandered-maps-instead-of-fixing-the-congressional-districts-first-227124">challenge to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act</a> related to Alabama’s congressional districts. In 2024, the court overruled a lower court’s finding of <a href="https://theconversation.com/voting-rights-at-risk-after-supreme-court-makes-it-harder-to-challenge-racial-gerrymandering-232359">racial vote dilution in South Carolina</a>.<img loading="lazy" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/267269/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade" />
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sam-d-hayes-1524670">Sam D. Hayes</a>, Assistant professor of politics and policy, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/simmons-university-4109">Simmons University</a>
This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/supreme-court-redistricting-ruling-could-upend-decades-of-voting-rights-law-and-tilt-the-balance-of-power-in-washington-267269">original article</a>.
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<title>HOSTAGES FREED (CARTOON)</title>
<link>https://themoderatevoice.com/all-living-israeli-hostages-released-world-leaders-sign-ceasefire-peace-deal/</link>
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<pubDate>Mon, 13 Oct 2025 18:11:58 +0000</pubDate>
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<title>Jewish Organizations, Prominent Individuals, Comment on Israel-Hamas Peace Deal</title>
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<pubDate>Mon, 13 Oct 2025 03:31:58 +0000</pubDate>
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<description><![CDATA[SAN DIEGO (SDJW) — Following in alphabetical order are comments issued by Jewish and pro-Israel organizations and members of Congress about the Israel-Hamas peace deal. —American Jewish Committee –American Jewish Committee (AJC) welcomes the agreement reached by Israel and Hamas, brokered by the United States, to begin the first phase of President Trump’s 20-point peace<a class="read-more" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/jewish-organizations-prominent-individuals-comment-on-peace-deal/"> […]</a>
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SAN DIEGO (SDJW) — Following in alphabetical order are comments issued by Jewish and pro-Israel organizations and members of Congress about the Israel-Hamas peace deal.
—American Jewish Committee –American Jewish Committee (AJC) welcomes the agreement reached by Israel and Hamas, brokered by the United States, to begin the first phase of President Trump’s 20-point peace plan.
“After two agonizing years, the thought that the hostages could be home in the coming days is almost impossible to grasp,” said AJC CEO Ted Deutch. “We, along with everyone who has advocated for the hostages’ release, are counting down to the moment when we can finally say ‘they are home.’”
AJC expresses our profound gratitude to President Trump and his administration for bringing us to this point. Just a week and a half ago, President Trump presented Hamas with a clear choice: release the hostages you’ve held for nearly two years and begin negotiations on the 20-point plan or continue to consign the Palestinian people to the misery of the war you began on October 7, 2023. With the support of partners in the Arab and Muslim world, the Trump Administration has moved us toward a reality that for two long years seemed out of reach.
We join the international community in eagerly awaiting the immediate next steps in this process. Those who have committed to the fulfillment of the 20-point plan must continue to pressure Hamas so that the terms of the agreement are swiftly implemented and all the hostages, living and dead, are returned to their loved ones. While there are still significant issues that must be resolved, this is undoubtedly a pivotal moment. We look forward to the fulfillment of the 20-point plan, an end to the war and Hamas’ rule in Gaza, and a better future for Israelis and Palestinians.
—Anti-Defamation League: We welcome the announcement of a ceasefire agreement that will finally — after two long, excruciating years — bring home all the remaining hostages from Gaza in the coming days. We join the hostage families and all of Am Yisrael in hopeful anticipation and cautious relief. Our hearts will not rest until all of our 48 brothers and sisters are safely home.
–Christians United for Israel (CUFI) — “We prayed for this day for 733 days. As the hostages come home and Hamas is disarmed, we look forward to finally witnessing the end of Hamas’ barbarity which God willing, will never rise again,” said CUFI founder and Chairman Pastor John Hagee.
“For two years, we have wept for those who mourn, and we will always do so for those we have lost. So too do we rejoice for the twenty families welcoming their loved ones home. As we witness the scenes of elation and anguish, we are reminded that Never Again is a promise and a responsibility – one we will never abandon,” said CUFI Action Fund Chairwoman Sandra Hagee Parker.
—Congregation Beth Israel (San Diego), Rabbi Jason Nevarez: Since my first visit to Israel after October 7th, I’ve worn a small silver necklace every single day. It reads “Bring Them Home – Now.” It has rested close to my heart through every prayer, vigil, and heartbreak of these last two years. From the beginning, I’ve said I would not take it off until our hostages – our siblings – were finally reunited with their families.
As news broke of the agreement and signing of the first phase of a ceasefire – one that, God willing, will bring hostages home beginning Monday – I found myself holding that necklace with cautious relief and trembling hope. It feels, at long last, as though the war may finally be turning toward its end, even as we know that peace will take time to find its footing.
Across Israel today, families are waiting with anxious joy, counting the hours until they can hold their loved ones again. And in Gaza, people wake to the same sun, praying that this day will not bring new loss. The sky is wide enough to hold both – the relief and the grief, the pain and the hope.
We humans crave clear distinctions – between war and peace, grief and joy, despair and redemption. But life rarely offers such clarity. What we have instead is the sacred work of holding the fullness of this moment: to breathe through its uncertainty, to honor its complexity, and to still believe that something good can be born from it.
—Hadassah, Carol Ann Schwartz, National President: “Hadassah welcomes the announcement that Hamas – the terrorist group which savagely attacked Israel in a murderous rampage and took 251 men, women and children hostage – has agreed to the first phase of a plan to end the war and to free all the remaining hostages who they tortured and starved for an agonizing two years. Our hearts remain with the hostages and their families who have been living in a nightmare, fighting to be reunited with their loved ones. We hold our breath until all of them, living and deceased, are returned home. May the road to rehabilitation and healing begin. Hadassah continues to support Israel’s right to exist and responsibility to defend itself and its citizens from attack. We thank our leaders in the United States and those around the globe who have worked to bring about this path to peace for Israel and the entire Middle East. We are grateful for the enduring friendship between the United States and Israel.”
—Jewish Democratic Council of America, Halie Sofer, CEO: Donald Trump’s efforts to end the war in Gaza are deserving of praise. His team, led by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, drafted, negotiated, and reached a deal between Israel and Hamas predicated on a 20-point plan for peace. Earlier this week, Hamas agreed to the first phase of the plan – a return of all 48 remaining hostages, living and deceased, in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners plus 1,700 Gazans who were detained after October 7. Yesterday, the Israeli Cabinet approved the agreement, and today, Trump announced he’ll visit Egypt on Saturday for an official signing of the deal. He’ll also visit Israel on Monday and address the Knesset. If all goes according to plan, the remaining living hostages will be released on Monday.
For more than two years, Israelis and American Jews have shared the lasting and collective trauma of October 7. Nearly 1,200 people were murdered by Hamas on that horrific day, and 250 were taken hostage. Approximately 1,000 members of the IDF have been killed in the two years of fighting in Gaza, and tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians have died. This war, and the plight of the hostages, must come to an end. Two years and one week after their abduction, all the remaining hostages will be reunited with their loved ones, and we are grateful to all those who made it possible, including Donald Trump.
More than 100 Democratic members of Congress have responded positively to the peace deal because this moment transcends partisan politics, and Democrats are hopeful about what comes next. While Hamas has only agreed to phase one of the deal – the hostage and prisoner exchange – it should be followed by a second phase that includes Hamas’s demilitarization and relinquishing of power in Gaza. Trump’s plan clearly states that “Hamas members who commit to peaceful co-existence and to decommission their weapons will be given amnesty. Members of Hamas who wish to leave Gaza will be provided safe passage to receiving countries.”
Donald Trump’s efforts to end this war are deserving of praise. Trump, however, is not deserving of a Nobel Peace Prize because he continues to attack, degrade, and jeopardize democracy. Two things can be true: President Trump took an important positive step forward in the Middle East, and he continues to take our freedoms and democracy backward in the United States.
As the Nobel Committee made clear in today’s awarding of the prize, “we live in a world where democracy is in retreat.” The global trends identified by the Committee, including “rule of law abused by those in control, free media silenced, critics imprisoned, and societies pushed towards authoritarian rule and militarization,” are all happening here in the United States, at the clear direction of Donald Trump. Despite his achievement in forging an agreement between Israel and Hamas, Trump cannot be both a symbol of authoritarianism and peace.
–Jewish Future Promise, Hadara Ishak, President and COO: This moment calls for both hope and vigilance. The tentative first-phase ceasefire and the commitment to release hostages offer a long-awaited glimmer of light after years of darkness and heartbreak. Yet, true peace cannot rest on headlines alone; it must be built on justice, accountability, and the unwavering security of Israel and its people.
Too often in our history, ceasefires have been celebrated without meaningful change. We must not let this become another cycle of disappointment. The global community must work to ensure this moment brings not just silence, but true and lasting safety and freedom for all who have suffered.
We pray for the safe return of every hostage. We also hope for comfort to every family still waiting. At Jewish Future Promise, we reaffirm our commitment to Jewish continuity, identity, and resilience. This is a time not only for reflection, but for resolve. Each of us must play a part in shaping a future where peace is protected by strength and foresight.
Words are not enough. Policy, strategy, and unity must guide us now. ‘Never Again’ is a promise to be lived. Am Yisrael Chai.”
* 
—Keshet, Jaimie Krass, President and CEO: With the news of the ceasefire and hostage deal, and as we head into Shabbat, I wanted to be in touch with an important reminder: however you are feeling today, however you will be feeling tomorrow and the next day, you are not alone.
Perhaps you are feeling optimistic, cautious, tired, numb, joyful. Perhaps you are feeling all of these, or none of them. As each second ticks by, there is one emotion I pray will continue to grow among all of us: hope.
For me, this hope feels tenuous and delicate. In a conversation with our Board Chair yesterday, she compared the hope she felt to a baby bird, making a cradling motion with her hands. That image continues to resonate with me
Hope is something to be cradled. To be protected. To be nurtured so that it can grow stronger, until one day, it can fly, spreading its wings over every Israeli and Palestinian, over all of humanity.
The road ahead — for the hostages’ recovery, for the rebuilding of Gaza and the return of children’s laughter, for the mourning still ahead for loved ones who are not yet buried, for the repair of so much communal rupture, for the pursuit of an affirming and just world — is a long one, and it will require us to anchor ourselves in hope.
As I shared in a reflection earlier this week, I draw hope from our Keshet community, from our staff, partners, and allies who show up every day committed to building bridges, leaning in across difference in unwavering pursuit of a better world, a world of safety and belonging for all. I draw hope from the partnerships we forge, from the possibilities we accomplish in coalition, from the minds and hearts we change, from the deep listening and care we model together.
I draw hope from the legacy of resilience and grit we inherit as LGBTQ+ Jews: from the undying hope that a better, more just world is possible and worth pursuing, even if we never get to experience it ourselves.
Each and every action we take to bring about that world breathes life into that hope.
Perhaps today, that world feels a little closer. Perhaps all our efforts will lead us to fully experiencing that world ourselves, one day.
Ken yehi ratzon. May it be so. Ken na’aseh et zeh. May we make it so.
* 
–Seth Magaziner, Democratic U.S. Congressman from Rhode Island: “After two years of immense suffering, the signing of an initial agreement between Israel and Hamas for the return of the remaining Israeli hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza is welcome and joyful news. I am hopeful that it marks the beginning of a permanent end to this devastating conflict.
Much work remains to ensure this initial agreement turns into a permanent resolution of the conflict and a fair and lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians. In the short term, the return of the hostages must proceed immediately and aid needs to drastically increase and flow unimpeded into Gaza to address the dire humanitarian crisis.”
*
— Republican Jewish Coalition: The Republican Jewish Coalition is profoundly grateful to President Donald J. Trump for his righteous leadership, courage, and unwavering determination to secure the release of every hostage held in Gaza and end the war that Hamas started on October 7th.
We also applaud the incredible efforts of President Trump’s team, particularly Vice President Vance, Secretary Rubio, Ambassador Witkoff, and Jared Kushner.
President Trump shouldn’t just win the Nobel Prize—it should be renamed after him.
After 734 days, this comprehensive agreement ushers in a new dawn for the Middle East, reaffirms the unbreakable alliance between the United States and Israel, and advances trailblazing opportunities for expanding the circle of peace throughout the region.
Let their be no doubt: President Trump continues to show why he is THE most pro-Israel President in history. Time and again he has stood resolutely with the Jewish state when other weak-kneed leaders cowardly backed away.
We pray that this agreement will bring lasting peace to the Middle East for generations to come.
* 
–Jeanne Shaheen, Democratic Senator from New Hampshire and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: “I commend the Trump Administration and the mediators for reaching this first phase of an agreement. It is long past time for the hostages to be returned to their families and for the parties to work toward a lasting ceasefire. I will be carefully monitoring implementation of this agreement, and I call on Israel and Hamas to continue negotiations with urgency to ensure the next phase can be reached quickly. Israelis and Palestinians deserve to live with dignity and security.”
* 
— Shurat Ha Din: Shurat HaDin expresses profound gratitude and joy over the impending release of the Israeli hostages. As the nation celebrates the festival of Sukkot – the Season of Our Rejoicing – we are reminded of the fragility of life and the divine protection that shelters the people of Israel, even in times of darkness. Our hearts are with the families who have endured unimaginable anguish during these long months of fear and captivity, and we pray that their loved ones will soon be safely in their arms. At the same time, we extend our deepest condolences to the bereaved families whose sons and daughters will be returned only for burial — may their memories be a blessing, and may their return bring a measure of closure and dignity.
We are proud to represent many of the families of hostages and victims, and we share in their bittersweet relief as Israel welcomes home those who survived.
We condemn in the strongest possible terms the barbaric cruelty of Hamas, whose inhumanity and contempt for life have caused so much suffering to innocent Israelis and Palestinians alike. We also commend U.S. President Donald Trump for his unwavering leadership and determination in helping secure this breakthrough, and we salute the courage, professionalism, and sacrifice of the heroic Israel Defense Forces whose steadfast actions have made this moment possible.
Yet even in this hour of thanksgiving, we must remain vigilant. Many aspects of this agreement are uncertain and fraught with danger, and Israel must ensure that terrorist Hamas is not allowed to rearm, regroup, or exploit this deal to continue its campaign of terror and Islamic extremism. Justice and security demand not only the rescue of our people but the permanent dismantling of the murderous infrastructure that has held Gaza and the hope for peace hostage for far too long. 
* 
–Stand With Us, Roz Rothstein, Chief Executive Officer: Two years of endless tears, sleepless nights, and desperate prayers that are hopefully being answered as part of this first stage of the peace agreement. Israelis and people around the world are anxious, yet cautiously optimistic and clinging to the hope that everything goes as planned and as promised in this historic moment. We continue to pray for the safe return of every hostage, and for the healing of hearts shattered by unimaginable pain, grief, and loss during these agonizing two years. May Israel and its neighbors finally know the blessings of peace. Israel: You are not alone! We are with you now and always. Am Yisrael Chai!
–Tel Aviv Foundation, Dr. Hila Oren:
This is a moment we have long prayed and waited for, a moment of profound emotion and collective relief. Families who have endured unimaginable pain will finally be reunited with their loved ones. As the nation breathes together, Tel Aviv stands united in joy, compassion, and strength.
Throughout this difficult journey, the Tel Aviv Foundation, together with the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality, has stood shoulder to shoulder with the families of the hostages, supporting, hoping, and believing in this day.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our brave soldiers, whose courage and sacrifice safeguarded our nation, and to the President of the United States and his team, whose steadfast support helped make this moment possible.
We also wish to express our deep appreciation to Ron Huldai, Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo and Chairman of the Tel Aviv Foundation. Throughout these past two years, his steadfast leadership, compassion, and unwavering commitment have guided the city through its darkest moments. Under his leadership, Tel Aviv has remained a beacon of strength, solidarity, and hope for the entire nation. …”
–World Jewish Congress, Ronald S. Lauder, President: “We have a deal. After more than two years of anguish, 20 hostages will soon return home to their families and to the people of Israel. It should never have taken this long — but today, hope is finally becoming reality.
“I want to thank President Trump, the United States government, and all those whose determination, patience, and moral clarity made this agreement possible. Their leadership has brought us to this long-awaited moment.
“We also remember the hostages who will not return alive. Their memory strengthens our resolve — we will not rest until every last one of them is brought home.
“This agreement marks a historic turning point. Hamas must now be disarmed and excluded from any future role in Gaza. Only then can there be lasting peace and security for Israel and for the region.
“Am Yisrael Chai.”
–Zionist Organization of America, Morton Klein, president: “The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) celebrates the long-awaited return of Israeli hostages, calling it a moment of profound relief for their families and the entire Jewish nation. However, the brokered deal is dangerously lopsided, and while President Trump and his administration deserve praise for their tireless efforts to secure the hostages’ release, the now phased deal – without firm enforcement of the later points in Trump’s plan – risks repeating the deadly mistakes of the past. Just as the 2011 release of Yahya Sinwar led to the October 7th attack, freeing nearly 2,000 Palestinian Arab terrorists – many convicted murderers and terror attack planners – risks reigniting the cycle of terror.
While the deal brings the hostages home and ends two years of bloodshed in Israel and Gaza and as drafted states Hamas will be disarmed, dismantled and no longer play a role in governance, Hamas and its allies within the group of mediators have already started either outwardly pushing back or playing word games on both points. The deal therefore does in fact leave Hamas intact as both a military threat and a central force in Palestinian national aspirations. Without continued U.S. pressure – including the credible threat of renewed Israeli military operations – Hamas will retain its power and weapons, and both Hamas and Fatah will continue radicalizing and arming Arabs in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. This ongoing pattern ensures that unless addressed, another devastating attack and full-scale war is only a matter of time.
The President genuinely seeks to bring lasting peace to Israel and the region, but the administration – and the world – must not get caught in the euphoria of the newly branded “first phase” and begin with dismantling Hamas, ending Fatah’s radicalization of new generations of Arabs and launching a serious effort to demilitarize and de-radicalize the Arab population in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. The administration’s executive order shielding Qatar – while failing to demand the extradition of Hamas and other terror leaders living in Doha – effectively turns the terror-financing emirate into a protected haven for Islamist terrorists.
We are deeply grateful for the hostages’ return, but the hostage and prisoner swap alone will not truly bring peace to Israel and her neighbors.”
Preceding statements collated by staff of San Diego Jewish World.<a href="https://www.sdjewishworld.com/2025/10/09/jewish-organizations-prominent-individuals-comment-on-peace-deal/"> This article is republished from San Diego Jewish World </a>which, along with The Moderate Voice, is a member of the San Diego Online News Association.
ID <a href="https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-peace-christmas-image27969284">27969284</a> © 
<a href="https://www.dreamstime.com/eric1513_info">Lane Erickson</a> | <a href="https://www.dreamstime.com/">Dreamstime.com</a>
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<title>Lawsuit challenges legality of Trump’s firing civil service employees during shutdown</title>
<link>https://themoderatevoice.com/lawsuit-challenges-legality-of-trumps-firing-civil-service-employees-during-shutdown/</link>
<comments>https://themoderatevoice.com/lawsuit-challenges-legality-of-trumps-firing-civil-service-employees-during-shutdown/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[KATHY GILL, Associate Editor]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Sat, 11 Oct 2025 22:52:46 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Society]]></category>
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<description><![CDATA[You can’t tell it from the headlines from traditional media, but President Trump’s announcement that he is going to fire thousands of civil servants during the government shutdown is not a done deal. It’s illegal (there is a process for firing civil servants); a law he signed in his first term provides back pay during<a class="read-more" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/lawsuit-challenges-legality-of-trumps-firing-civil-service-employees-during-shutdown/"> […]</a>
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/lawsuit-challenges-legality-of-trumps-firing-civil-service-employees-during-shutdown/">Lawsuit challenges legality of Trump’s firing civil service employees during shutdown</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://themoderatevoice.com/lawsuit-challenges-legality-of-trumps-firing-civil-service-employees-during-shutdown/trump-layoff-headlines-blur/" rel="attachment wp-att-287643"><img loading="lazy" src="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/trump-layoff-headlines-blur.png" alt="blur of news headlines about trump layoffs" width="1221" height="770" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-287643" srcset="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/trump-layoff-headlines-blur.png 1221w, https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/trump-layoff-headlines-blur-300x189.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 1221px) 100vw, 1221px" /></a>
You can’t tell it from the headlines from traditional media, but President Trump’s announcement that he is going to fire thousands of civil servants during the government shutdown <a href="https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2025/10/substantial-layoffs-begin-federal-agencies-white-house-says/408752/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">is not a done deal.</a> It’s illegal (there is a process for firing civil servants); a law he signed in his first term provides back pay during the shutdown (he had two); and a federal judge “demanded details on the administration’s layoffs plans by Friday afternoon.”
Unsurprisingly, the <a href="https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2025/10/substantial-layoffs-begin-federal-agencies-white-house-says/408752/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">move to fire civil service employees on shutdown is unique to Trump</a>.
<blockquote class="highlight">No previous shutdown has triggered such action. Typically, as in the current lapse, shutdowns lead to large numbers of employees being sent home on furlough, who are then recalled when the government reopens. Under a provision Trump signed into law in his first term, those employees are now guaranteed back pay—though the administration has also threatened to circumvent that statute. </blockquote>
Moreover, these threatened firings are probably not immediate and may be reversed:
<blockquote class="highlight">Any RIF notices issued in the coming days will likely come with a 60-day notice period before employees are actually terminated. While administration officials have suggested the layoffs represent a permanent action, OMB has advised agencies they may revise their layoff plans once the government is reopened.</blockquote>
“These are largely people that the Democrats want,” <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/10/11/trump-fires-federal-workers-government-shutdown-live-updates/86626716007/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Trump told reporters this week</a>. 
In other words, it’s theater. And it’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/10/10/trump-federal-workers-layoffs-government-shutdown/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">designed deliberately to lay siege</a> to some programs associated with the Democratic Party: Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Homeland Security and Treasury.
From The Washington Post (<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/10/10/trump-federal-workers-layoffs-government-shutdown/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">near the bottom of a story</a> headlined, Trump administration begins laying off federal workers amid shutdown):
<blockquote class="highlight">A federal judge in the Northern District of California this week ordered the administration to provide by Friday the “status of any currently planned or in progress RIF notices to be issued during/because of the government shutdown, including the earliest date that those RIF notices will go out.”
The government had not provided that information by the time Vought announced the dismissals, but it later furnished it. Shortly after Vought’s social post, the lawyers for the unions requested an immediate halt to any layoffs pending an upcoming hearing. The government said it opposed that motion (emphasis added).
</blockquote>
The lawsuit was filed September 30 when the threats of firings and layoffs began, according to the Post. The Trump Administration continues to ignore court orders at will, with no obvious negative repercussions. 
“A shutdown does not give Trump or Vought new, special powers to cause more chaos or permanently weaken more basic services for the American people, and the simple fact is this administration has been recklessly firing—and rehiring—essential workers all year. This is nothing new, and no one should be intimidated by these crooks,” according to Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, <a href="https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2025/10/substantial-layoffs-begin-federal-agencies-white-house-says/408752/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">quoted in Government Executive</a>.
That includes <a href="https://www.memeorandum.com/251011/p52#a251011p52" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tapping money from one budget</a> (<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-military-pay-troops-government-shutdown-8601ea092fe746cc35b88076e70c4598" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">research and development funds</a>) in order to meet military payroll during the shutdown. <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/kjephd.bsky.social/post/3m2x4tfowwk25" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">From author Kevin Elliott</a>:
<blockquote class="highlight">Unconstitutionally taking money that the law says must be spent on one purpose & using it for something else—when it’s to establish personalist control over the … MILITARY—is about as dangerous a constitutional crisis/failure as you can imagine.</blockquote>
Sen. Murray continues:
<blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:a23utge5gk6ckgm3ypx3weyr/app.bsky.feed.post/3m2u7mdulfs2u" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreic3nhgdiuwujt3vmbvogq3nrr3kvfqf2yvcns76wxjffjzrmuxtgu" data-bluesky-embed-color-mode="system">
Once again: if President Trump & Russ Vought decide to do more mass firings, they are CHOOSING to inflict more pain on people. “Reductions in force” are not a new power these bozos get in a shutdown.
We can’t be intimidated by these crooks.
<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:a23utge5gk6ckgm3ypx3weyr/post/3m2u7mdulfs2u?ref_src=embed">[image or embed]</a>
— Senator Patty Murray (<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:a23utge5gk6ckgm3ypx3weyr?ref_src=embed">@murray.senate.gov</a>) <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:a23utge5gk6ckgm3ypx3weyr/post/3m2u7mdulfs2u?ref_src=embed">October 10, 2025 at 10:39 AM</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Not surprising, flip-flopping Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said: “Arbitrary layoffs result in a lack of sufficient personnel needed to conduct the mission of the agency and to deliver essential programs, and cause harm to families in Maine and throughout our country.”
Look beyond the headlines and first graph. Look beyond the NYT, WaPost and CNN. For certain, skip FOX et al. If you have a friend who is a news nerd, ask them what to read instead. Here’s <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/kegill.bsky.social/lists/3ki2ssp7pp525" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">my main Bluesky politics list</a>. Happy to chat.
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