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  1. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  2. <rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/"><channel><title>Common Dreams</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/</link><description>Common Dreams</description><atom:link href="https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/news.rss" rel="self"></atom:link><language>en-us</language><lastBuildDate>Fri, 18 Jul 2025 23:52:49 -0000</lastBuildDate><image><url>https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8zMjEwMDM4OS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTgxMjIyMDI1N30.ErOfRE5hvYF7nWXKN4iUp2dOTKR2-o5weET2FxMgj9A/image.png?width=210</url><link>https://www.commondreams.org/</link><title>Common Dreams</title></image><item><title>Ex-EPA Staff Warn Trump Job Cuts 'Leave Communities Unprotected'</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/epa-reduction-in-force</link><description><![CDATA[
  3. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/hand-off-epa-rally.jpg?id=60016708&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C73%2C0%2C269"/><br/><br/><p>The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Friday that it will reduce its workforce by more than 3,700 and abolish its stand-alone science branch, moves that one group of former EPA officials warned will "gut" research and enforcement and "leave communities unprotected."</p><p>The EPA said the personnel cuts—which will be achieved via layoffs, voluntary early retirements, and other measures—will deliver $748.8 millions in savings.</p><p><em></em>"Under President [Donald] Trump's leadership, EPA has taken a close look at our operations to ensure the agency is better equipped than ever to deliver on our core mission of protecting human health and the environment while Powering the Great American Comeback," EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a <a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-announces-reduction-force-reorganization-efforts-save-taxpayers-nearly-three" target="_blank">statement</a>. "This reduction in force will ensure we can better fulfill that mission while being responsible stewards of your hard-earned tax dollars."</p><p>However, the Environmental Protection Network—an advocacy group of over 650 former EPA career staff and political appointees—<a href="https://www.environmentalprotectionnetwork.org/about/about-epn/" target="_blank">said</a> the move "signals a systematic dismantling of the agency's ability to protect public health and the environment."</p><p>Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, former EPA principal deputy assistant administrator for science, said that "today's cuts dismantle one of the world's most respected environmental health research organizations."</p><p>She continued:</p><blockquote>EPA's science office has long been recognized internationally for advancing public health protections through rigorous science. Reducing its workforce under the guise of cost savings is both misleading and dangerous. This does <em>not</em> save taxpayers money; it simply shifts costs to hospitals, families, and communities left to bear the health and economic consequences of increased pollution and weakened oversight.</blockquote><p>"The people of this country are not well served by these actions," Orme-Zavaleta added. "They are left more vulnerable."</p><p>Environmental Protection Network senior policy adviser Jeremy Symons said, "These layoffs are targeted to do maximum long-term damage to the Environmental Protection Agency because polluter lobbyists are calling the shots."</p><p>"This administration claims to champion transparency, but there is nothing transparent about how these cuts are being executed," Symons added. "This is <em>not</em> honest government. It's a deliberate strategy to shrink the agency's capacity while shielding that reality from public view because 9 out of 10 Americans <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/5309554-epa-funding-cuts-pollution/" target="_blank">oppose</a> cuts to EPA."</p><p>Friday's EPA announcement follows other cuts at the agency amid the Trump administration's evisceration of the federal government, spearheaded by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Zeldin has boasted of canceling billions of dollars worth of green grants and ordering the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/epa-environmental-justice" target="_blank">closure</a> of every environmental justice office nationwide. Amid a worsening planetary emergency, Zeldin also <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/epa-regulatory-rollback" target="_blank">bragged</a> about "driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion."</p><p>An appropriations bill currently before Congress proposes <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/endangered-species-act-trump-2025" target="_blank">slashing</a> EPA funding by 23%. <br/></p>]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 18 Jul 2025 23:48:06 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/epa-reduction-in-force</guid><category>Department of government efficiency</category><category>Environmental protection network</category><category>Lee zeldin</category><category>U.s. environmental protection agency</category><category>Trump administration</category><dc:creator>Brett Wilkins</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/hand-off-epa-rally.jpg?id=60016708&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>50+ Dems Slam Rubio Plan to Burn 500 Metric Tons of Emergency Food Aid</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/usaid-to-destroy-500-metric-tons-of-food</link><description><![CDATA[
  4. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/usaid-food-sacks-in-a-warehouse.jpg?id=61244427&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C133%2C0%2C209"/><br/><br/><p>More than 50 congressional Democrats on Friday condemned U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's decision to withhold and destroy nearly 500 metric tons of emergency food aid for Afghanistan and Pakistan—a move that came a month after the Trump administration's State Department abolished all overseas positions at the United States Agency for International Development.</p><p>The USAID emergency food aid—which has been stored in a warehouse in Dubai for months and will expire before the end of July—is enough to feed around 1.5 million children for a week. The aid consists of high energy biscuits that are used primarily to satisfy the immediate nutritional needs of children enduring food crises. It is now set to be incinerated.</p><p>"This action is not only morally indefensible, but also wasteful, strategically shortsighted, and completely counter to the entirety of your work while in the Senate," the Democratic lawmakers wrote in a <a href="https://pocan.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/pocan.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2025.07.18-letter-to-sec-rubio-on-food-aid.pdf" target="_blank">letter</a> to Rubio.</p><p>"Given the alarming rates of food insecurity and famine in regions like Gaza and Sudan, the decision to burn lifesaving aid produced by American farmers and paid for by American tax dollars amounts to a tragic abdication of our global humanitarian responsibilities and hurts our own global interests," the letter asserts.</p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreigdejmfmofbewhuirwuaxuhvc5jcdixucirsapzyxyjjtv7hh2co4" data-bluesky-embed-color-mode="system" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:lrw4cnptopspeg5tthztcliw/app.bsky.feed.post/3luba22ohv22k">Secretary Rubio is planning to withhold 500 metric tons of vital food aid that could feed 1.5 million starving children… and then incinerate the food once it expires. UNACCEPTABLE!<br/><br/><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:lrw4cnptopspeg5tthztcliw/post/3luba22ohv22k?ref_src=embed">[image or embed]</a><br/>— Rep. Mark Pocan (<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:lrw4cnptopspeg5tthztcliw?ref_src=embed">@pocan.house.gov</a>) <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:lrw4cnptopspeg5tthztcliw/post/3luba22ohv22k?ref_src=embed">July 18, 2025 at 12:55 PM</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js"></script></div><p>"We are also alarmed by reports indicating that internal USAID memos requesting urgent approval to move the biscuits went unanswered for months," the lawmakers said. "If accurate, this speaks to a systemic breakdown in communication and leadership that has paralyzed America's food aid delivery systems."</p><p>"The United States has long led the world in humanitarian assistance, not only as a matter of compassion but also as a cornerstone of global stability and diplomacy," the letter concludes. "Destroying aid that could save lives undermines that legacy and damages our standing in the international community. We urge you to immediately prioritize the distribution of all remaining and viable food assistance stockpiles. American leadership demands nothing less."</p><p>Rubio's decision comes a month after the secretary of state <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/usaid-workers" target="_blank">ordered</a> the abolition of all overseas USAID positions amid the Trump administration's downsizing and elimination of the agency, one of many targeted by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, formerly led by multibillionaire Elon Musk. </p><p>As <em>Common Dreams</em> <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-usaid-foreign-aid-cuts-2672030938" target="_blank">reported</a> in May, 66,000 tons of food—including grains, high-energy biscuits, and vegetable oil—were already mouldering in USAID warehouses. </p><p>U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce attempted to justify Rubio's decision during a Thursday press conference.</p><p>"If something is expired, we will destroy it. It's a matter of whether or not it's safe to distribute," she said, adding that 500 metric tons amounts to "less than 1%" of all annual U.S. food aid.</p><p>"We, as an example, distribute roughly 1 million metric tons of food aid every year, which is reflective of the American people's generosity," Bruce said.</p><p>While many observers expressed surprise over the impending destruction of so much food aid, some contended that it tracks with the Trump administration's wider attitudes toward poor people. </p>"Republicans don't care if American children starve," <a href="https://x.com/LqLana/status/1946191535424618707" target="_blank">said</a> podcast host Lana Quest, "so why would they care about famine in other countries?" ]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 18 Jul 2025 21:26:12 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/usaid-to-destroy-500-metric-tons-of-food</guid><category>House democrats</category><category>Marco rubio</category><category>Tammy bruce</category><category>U.s. department of state</category><category>Usaid</category><category>Trump administration</category><dc:creator>Brett Wilkins</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/usaid-food-sacks-in-a-warehouse.jpg?id=61244427&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Facing Growing Outrage and Legal Action, Trump Admin Frees Chunk of Withheld Education Funds</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-releases-frozen-education-funds</link><description><![CDATA[
  5. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/a-group-of-children-rushes-through-a-school-hallway.jpg?id=61244401&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C83%2C0%2C624"/><br/><br/><p>Following widespread backlash and threats of legal action, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/trump-releases-1-4-billion-he-withheld-from-after-school-programs/2025/07" target="_blank">announced</a> Friday that it will free up part of the $6.8 billion worth of education funding the president has withheld from states.</p><p>Earlier this week, 24 states <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/14/us/states-sue-trump-education-funds-afterschool.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">sued</a> the administration after it announced it would refuse to send the money—which had already been appropriated by Congress—to states just weeks before the start of the school year, citing "ongoing programmatic review" to ensure that none of it is used to fund diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.</p><p>According to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/14/us/states-sue-trump-education-funds-afterschool.html" target="_blank"><em>The New York Times</em></a>:</p><blockquote>The withheld money includes about 14% of all federal funding for elementary and secondary education across the country. It helps pay for free or low-cost after-school programs that give students a place to go while their parents work. It also covers training to improve the effectiveness of teachers and help for children learning English.</blockquote><p>These programs provide a <a href="https://abc7news.com/post/donald-trump-administrations-department-education-will-release-frozen-grants-supporting-summer-school-programs/17183858/" target="_blank">critical source</a> of childcare that allow low-income families to work. Without them, organizations like the YMCA and the Boys and Girls Club of America have said they'd need to scale back their offerings.</p><p>A <a href="https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/edcentral/a-district-by-district-accounting-of-the-62-billion-the-us-department-of-education-has-held-back-from-schools/" target="_blank">report</a> issued last week by New America noted the disproportionate impact the cuts would have on low-income students: </p><blockquote>Students from low-income backgrounds are especially at risk of losing education resources. Districts serving high-poverty student populations (those where over 25% of children live in poverty) will lose over five times as much funding per pupil as low-poverty school districts (those where fewer than 10% of children live in poverty). The 100 school districts facing the biggest cuts on a per-pupil basis have an average child poverty rate of 24.4%, much higher than the national average of 15.3%.</blockquote><p>The administration held up the funding for weeks, causing a building panic among educators and families. A group of 10 Republican senators even sent a <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/full-list-republicans-urging-trump-unfreeze-funds-k-12-schools-2100246" target="_blank">letter</a> on Wednesday urging a top Trump official to let the money flow to their states.</p><p>Then, on Friday, the administration announced that it would allow $1.4 billion worth of funding to be released to states beginning Monday, though they would still reserve the right to choke it off once again should any of it be used to violate the president's executive orders.</p><p>The administration said it will continue to withhold the remaining $5.5 billion and provided no timeline for when it might be released.</p><p>According to <a href="https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/trump-releases-1-4-billion-he-withheld-from-after-school-programs/2025/07" target="_blank"><em>Education Week</em></a>, schools around the country had been "banking" on that money for teacher training, English-learner services, migrant and adult education programs, and academic enrichment being delivered on its expected due date of July 1.</p><p>David Schuler, executive director of AASA, an association of school superintendents, said that while he was happy to see some of the money released, withholding the rest was still putting severe strain on schools.</p><p>"Districts should not be in this impossible position where the administration is denying funds that had already been appropriated to our public schools, by Congress," Schuler said in a statement. "The remaining funds must be released immediately—America's children are counting on it."</p><p>Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) <a href="https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-blocks-fast-track-consideration-of-education-nominee-as-trump-continues-blocking-nearly-7-billion-for-students-schools-nationwide/" target="_blank">announced</a> Friday that she would block the fast-tracking of a Trump appointee for the Department of Education until Trump releases all the funds.</p><p>"Just weeks out from the new school year, families, teachers, and school districts are suffering the consequences of President Trump's needless and illegal blockade of this funding," Murray said. "This administration won't so much as explain why the money is held up or when we can expect it to go out."</p><p>Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who joined Murray's efforts, welcomed the news that some of the funding had been unfrozen.</p><p>"Today we forced Trump to release $1.3 billion for more than 10,000 summer and after-school programs helping 1.4 million students," he <a href="https://x.com/SenSanders/status/1946307690013090230" target="_blank">said</a>.</p><p><span></span>But, Sanders added, "it's not enough. He's still illegally withholding $5.5 billion more from schools. Congress passed it. The president signed it. Trump must release it."</p>]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 18 Jul 2025 21:25:39 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-releases-frozen-education-funds</guid><category>Bernie sanders</category><category>Diversity equity inclusion</category><category>Impoundment</category><category>Patty murray</category><category>Trump administration</category><category>Us department of education</category><category>Education</category><dc:creator>Stephen Prager</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/a-group-of-children-rushes-through-a-school-hallway.jpg?id=61244401&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>'Devastating' Trump Cuts to FDA, NIH Will Result in Fewer Medications, New Analysis Warns</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/budget-cuts-nih</link><description><![CDATA[
  6. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/research-students-sheera-rosenbaum-left-and-kaiah-fields-right-work-in-the-lab-at-the-cu-anschutz-cancer-center.jpg?id=61244353&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C386%2C0%2C1678"/><br/><br/><p>One former federal health official said Friday that medications with the potential to "substantially change healthcare and improve the lives of patients" are likely to be among the dozens that won't be developed if Republicans pass a proposal by the Trump administration to slash crucial health research funding.</p><p>Jeremy Berg, a former director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences at the National Institutes of Health, was referring to an <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61373" target="_blank">analysis</a> by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) of President Donald Trump's proposal to cut funding to the NIH by 40%—budget cuts that experts have warned would kneecap the country's ability to research emerging health threats and treatments, while terminating the United States' position as a world leader in medical innovation. <br/></p><p>"The lost drugs" resulting from the budget cuts, Berg <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/health/trump-nih-medical-research.html" target="_blank">told</a> <em>The New York Times</em>, "are more likely to be the novel 'first in class' drugs."</p><p>The CBO found that even a 10% reduction in the NIH budget would stop an estimated 30 new medications from coming to market over the next three decades.</p><p>A reduction in the agency's external preclinical research "would ultimately decrease the number of new drugs coming to market by roughly 4.5%, or about two drugs per year," the CBO said, with the impact of the budget cuts growing over three decades.</p><p>The CBO also analyzed proposals that would affect the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), including one that would cut staff and result in increased review times for new medications by nine months. By the second decade of the policy being in effect, said the CBO, 10 fewer drugs would be approved each decade—a 2% reduction—with 23 new medications ultimately being prevented from coming to market.</p><p>Already, the FDA's workforce has been reduced by about 15%, with 3,500 people losing their jobs or resigning.</p><p>The <em>Times</em> reported that the FDA has approved 25 new drugs so far in 2025; it has authorized an average of 60 new medications per year in the past.</p><p class="pull-quote">"This unprecedented assault on our healthcare institutions by the Trump administration will cut off access to medicines that patients are waiting for, cede our global leadership in medical innovation to China, and cause wide-ranging harms to our nation's economy."</p><p>A group of Democratic lawmakers who serve as ranking members of key committees emphasized that the CBO's analysis likely vastly underestimates the impact Trump's proposed cuts would have on the NIH, as it investigated the potential impact of just a 10% budget cut rather than the full 40% cut the president has proposed. <br/></p><p> "The proposed cuts are so enormous that CBO's own model is unable to produce an estimate," <a href="https://democrats-budget.house.gov/news/press-releases/boyle-pallone-merkley-sanders-statement-cbos-analysis-showing-trumps-proposed" target="_blank">said</a> U.S. Reps. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), ranking member of the House Budget Committee, and Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), along with Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.). <br/></p><p>"The United States leads the world in medical innovation because of our continued investments in research and development at the NIH," said the lawmakers. "Every $1 invested in NIH research returns $2.50 to the U.S. economy. This unprecedented assault on our healthcare institutions by the Trump administration will cut off access to medicines that patients are waiting for, cede our global leadership in medical innovation to China, and cause wide-ranging harms to our nation's economy."</p><p>"The United States' effort to bring cutting-edge treatments to patients with cancers, rare diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases," they added, "will come to a grinding halt because of the Trump administration's devastating cuts to NIH and FDA funding."</p>]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 18 Jul 2025 21:10:25 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/budget-cuts-nih</guid><category>Food and drug administration</category><category>Healthcare</category><category>National institutes of health</category><category>Public health</category><category>War on science</category><category>Trump administration</category><dc:creator>Julia Conley</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/research-students-sheera-rosenbaum-left-and-kaiah-fields-right-work-in-the-lab-at-the-cu-anschutz-cancer-center.jpg?id=61244353&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Lina Khan Slams Trump FTC for Giving Oil Executives a Free Pass After Price-Fixing Scandal</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/oil-price-fixing</link><description><![CDATA[
  7. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/then-federal-trade-commission-chair-lina-khan-in-a-pink-suit-sitting-in-a-chair.jpg?id=60311234&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C325%2C0%2C1340"/><br/><br/><p>A ban imposed last year by top antitrust enforcer Lina Khan under the Biden administration had stopped two fossil fuel CEOs accused of colluding on oil prices from serving on powerful corporate boards, with the Federal Trade Commission <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/09/ftc-order-bans-hess-ceo-chevron-board-chevron-hess-deal" target="_blank">saying</a> at the time that the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/ftc-oil-price-fixing" target="_blank">order</a> would "help ensure American consumers benefit from lower prices at the pump."</p><p>But the Trump administration on Thursday <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/ftc-reverses-bans-two-executives-joining-chevron-exxon-boards-2025-07-17/" target="_blank">signaled</a> no interest in ensuring oil companies won't engage in price-fixing and collusion to boost profits at the expense of working families as the FTC overturned the order that prevented former Pioneer Natural Resources CEO Scott Sheffield and Hess CEO John Hess from serving on the boards of ExxonMobil and Chevron, respectively. </p><p>Exxon bought Pioneer for $59.5 billion last year, while Chevron's purchase of Hess was <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/18/chevron-defeats-exxon-in-dispute-over-guyana-oil-assets-clearing-path-for-hess-acquisition.html" target="_blank">announced</a> Friday after months of arbitration proceedings. <br/></p><p>The FTC, now led by pro-corporate Republican <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/andrew-ferguson-ftc" target="_blank">Andrew Ferguson</a>, said the commission's complaints about Sheffield's and Hess's communications with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) did not "plead any antitrust law violation" or show that the acquisitions of the smaller companies and the CEO's positions on the boards "would be anticompetitive."</p><p>The decision, <a href="https://www.citizen.org/news/ftc-to-allow-ceos-accused-of-price-fixings-to-serve-on-fossil-fuel-boards-of-directors/" target="_blank">said</a> Elyse Schupak, a policy advocate with Public Citizen's Climate Program, "undermines accountability for the CEOs accused of illegally colluding with OPEC to increase profits by driving up energy prices for American families and businesses."</p><p>Khan's investigation last year found the Sheffield had communicated with OPEC about slashing oil production and driving up consumer prices while claiming Biden administration policies were to blame, prompting U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/ftc-oil-price-fixing" target="_blank">say</a> "jail time should seriously be considered" for the CEO.</p><p class="pull-quote">"The FTC needs to be doing more to fully rout out Big Oil's anticompetitive behavior. But Ferguson has moved the FTC in the complete opposite direction."</p><p>The FTC also <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/ftc-oil-price-fixing" target="_blank">found</a> that Hess "stressed the importance of oil market stability and inventory management and encouraged [OPEC] officials to take actions on these issues and speak about them at different events."</p><p>One analysis by Matt Stoller of the American Economic Liberties Project <a href="https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/an-oil-price-fixing-conspiracy-caused?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2" target="_blank">found</a> that price-fixing schemes by corporations—not inflation—were to blame for 27% of the higher prices American families faced in 2021. </p><p>Khan on Thursday <a href="https://x.com/linamkhan/status/1945971471043490261" target="_blank">accused</a> President Donald Trump's FTC of "letting off the hook oil executives caught trying to collude with foreign countries to inflate how much people pay at the pump."<u></u></p><p>The commission's three Republican members voted to allow Sheffield and Hess to serve on the boards—even as one of them, Commissioner Mark Meador, said that OPEC operates "as a de facto cartel" and warned the FTC "should not hesitate to bring enforcement actions against actual collusion."</p><p>Ferguson, meanwhile, claimed that banning Sheffield and Hess from the company boards "would damage the FTC's credibility and undermine its mission"—a statement that was denounced by the government watchdog Revolving Door Project. </p><p>"Banning a C-suite executive who tried to inflate oil prices isn't the move that 'damages' the FTC's credibility. It's Andrew Ferguson's willingness to absolve such actions that undermines the agency's mission to promote competition," <a href="https://x.com/revolvingdoorDC/status/1946252349393047813" target="_blank">said</a> the group. </p><p>"The FTC needs to be doing more to fully rout out Big Oil's anticompetitive behavior," added Revolving Door Project. "But Ferguson has moved the FTC in the complete opposite direction—signaling to corporate America that they won't be held accountable for fleecing the public."</p><p>Schupak said that "while the Trump administration feigns interest in bringing energy prices down, its policies—fast-tracking export projects, rolling back regulatory safeguards, and halting enforcement actions for corporate wrongdoing—reveal the administration is far more interested in boosting the profitability of the oil and gas industry than providing Americans any relief or safeguarding them against corruption."</p>]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 18 Jul 2025 19:55:24 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/oil-price-fixing</guid><category>Big oil</category><category>Chevron</category><category>Exxonmobil</category><category>Federal trade commission</category><category>Fossil fuels</category><category>Price fixing</category><category>Trump administration</category><category>Lina khan</category><dc:creator>Julia Conley</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/then-federal-trade-commission-chair-lina-khan-in-a-pink-suit-sitting-in-a-chair.jpg?id=60311234&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>US Faces 'State of Emergency' for Civil Rights Under Trump: Urban League Report</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-civil-rights-emergency-urban-league</link><description><![CDATA[
  8. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/anti-trump-good-trouble-lives-on-protests-across-the-u-s.jpg?id=61244125&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C25%2C0%2C321"/><br/><br/><p>One of America's oldest civil rights organizations warned Thursday that the country is experiencing a "dangerous tilt toward authoritarianism."</p><p>In its annual <a href="https://78ab0743.flowpaper.com/NULSOBAExecutiveSummary2025web/#page=6" target="_blank">report</a> on "The State of Black America," the National Urban League said the country is in the midst of a "state of emergency" for racial equality under the second administration of U.S. President Donald Trump as it wages war on voting rights protections; guts Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs; turns civil rights investigations into "tools of political retribution"; and embraces social media platforms that promote hate speech and false information.</p><p>"Almost daily, since January 20, 2025, the federal government, at the direction the White House, has set fire to policies and entire departments dedicated to protecting civil and human rights, providing access to an equal education, fair housing, safe and effective healthcare, and ensuring that our democratic process is adhered to across the nation," the report says.</p><p>It cites the White House's attacks on the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Supreme Court, it says, dealt the "first seismic crack" to the law in 2013 with the <em><a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/effects-shelby-county-v-holder-voting-rights-act" target="_blank">Shelby County v. Holder </a></em>decision, which got rid of the requirement that states with a history of race-based voter suppression clear new voting laws with the Department of Justice. </p><p>"Dozens of states have seized on this weakened federal oversight to pass restrictive voting laws—from voter ID requirements that disproportionately burden Black and Latino voters, to aggressive voter roll purges that remove eligible citizens from voter lists, to reduced polling hours and locations in communities of color," wrote Janai Nelson, the president of the NAACP's Legal Defense and Educational Fund, in one <a href="https://stateofblackamerica.org/authors-essays/preserving-legacy-voting-rights-and-defending-its-future" target="_blank">essay</a>.</p><p>Since then, Nelson writes, "The Trump administration has launched a full-scale assault on what remains." </p><p>Nelson notes the president's "sweeping executive order requiring individuals to show documentary proof of citizenship in order to register to vote—and permitting only a narrow set of documents, such as a passport, that many Americans don't have easy access to." </p><p>She also notes that the administration "shifted the focus of the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division away from protecting voting rights and toward investigating voter fraud, even though such fraud is exceedingly rare."</p><p>In another <a href="https://stateofblackamerica.org/index.php/authors-essays/assault-black-prosperity-and-truth-will-win" target="_blank">essay</a>, Samantha Tweedy, the CEO of the Black Economic Alliance, described "an all-out assault on... Black liberty, livelihood, history, prosperity, economic power, and opportunity," being carried out "under the false premise and scapegoating of 'Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.'"</p><p>The Trump administration has aggressively sought to purge DEI initiatives and affirmative action from all sectors of public life, <a href="https://civilrights.org/resource/anti-deia-eos/" target="_blank">banning</a> them from use in the federal government and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2025/04/11/ibm-reportedly-walks-back-diversity-policies-citing-inherent-tensions-here-are-all-the-companies-rolling-back-dei-programs/" target="_blank">putting pressure</a> on private corporations and universities to abandon them as well. </p><p>Fueling this, Tweedy says, is the "destructive lie" that "for Black people to succeed, others must lose out." The report goes on to cite statistics from the <a href="https://www.frbsf.org/wp-content/uploads/wp2021-11.pdf" target="_blank">Federal Reserve Bank</a>, <a href="https://www.citigroup.com/global/insights/closing-the-racial-inequality-gaps-20200922" target="_blank">Citi</a>, and <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-sector/our-insights/the-economic-impact-of-closing-the-racial-wealth-gap" target="_blank">McKinsey</a> showing that closing economic disparities increases economic prosperity for the entire country.</p><p>One of the engines propelling the Trump administration's attack on civil rights has been the DOJ's Civil Rights division itself, which the report says has been "hollowed out and repurposed" to go after universities that pursue DEI initiatives. </p><p>The report also singled out <a href="https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/fox-in-the-henhouse-senate-confirms-anti-voting-lawyer-harmeet-dhillon-to-top-voting-rights-post/" target="_blank">Harmeet Dhillon</a>, who Trump tapped to lead the Civil Rights Division, for her past <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-lawyer-calls-for-supreme-court-to-step-in-and-do-something-to-help-president-win" target="_blank">assertions</a> that the 2020 election was stolen and her writings arguing against the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would have restored power to the original law.</p><p>The report also highlighted the recent surge of racist rhetoric on billionaire-owned social media platforms, which have abandoned many content moderation policies in recent years.</p><p>The report especially singled out the violent shift on Elon Musk's X, which saw a <a href="https://viterbischool.usc.edu/news/2025/02/a-platform-problem-hate-speech-and-bots-still-thriving-on-x/" target="_blank">dramatic increase</a> in hate speech against racial minorities and LGBTQ+ people after the billionaire bought the platform.</p><p>"We are witnessing something more than policy shifts," said the Urban League's president and CEO, Marc H. Morial, in the report's foreword. "We are watching an attempt to turn back the clock to an era when the full humanity of all Americans was not recognized—when the idea of true equality was treated as a threat to the social order."</p><p>"What we face today is a deliberate, coordinated effort to deny the future of a more just and inclusive America," Morial said. "And the architects of this effort have made their intentions plain: they would rather see our democracy crumble than cede power to a multiracial, equitable society."</p>]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 18 Jul 2025 19:00:30 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-civil-rights-emergency-urban-league</guid><category>Department of justice</category><category>Diversity equity inclusion</category><category>National urban league</category><category>Racial equality</category><category>Shelby county v. holder</category><category>Social media</category><category>Trump administration</category><category>Voting rights act</category><category>Civil rights</category><dc:creator>Stephen Prager</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/anti-trump-good-trouble-lives-on-protests-across-the-u-s.jpg?id=61244125&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Opponents Urge Lula to Veto Brazilian Lawmakers' 'Legislated Ecocide'</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/lula-veto-devastation-bill</link><description><![CDATA[
  9. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/indigenous-people-march-against-brazil-s-devastation-bill.jpg?id=61243786&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C137%2C0%2C205"/><br/><br/><p>Opponents including native and Afro-descendant communities and environment defenders are urging progressive Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to veto legislation passed Thursday by the lower house of the National Congress that would dramatically weaken environmental protections and Indigenous peoples' control over their own lands.</p><p><a href="https://www.camara.leg.br/proposicoesWeb/fichadetramitacao?idProposicao=257161&fichaAmigavel=nao" target="_blank">Bill 2159/2021</a>—commonly called the "Devastation Bill"—was approved by the Chamber of Deputies in a 267-116 vote in the dead of night following its passage by the Senate in May. The vote, which took place at approximately 3:40 am, was called by Chamber of Deputies President Hugo Motta of the right-wing Republicans party. Both houses of the National Congress have strong right-wing majorities; some members of Lula's leftist Workers' Party also voted for the bill.</p><p>If approved by Lula, the legislation would introduce an online self-declaration process for environmental licensing for many mining and agricultural projects that critics say will fuel deforestation and other destruction. The bill also speeds up the review process for development projects prioritized by the federal government and eliminates reviews for highway upgrades.</p><p>"As approved, the bill encourages deforestation and aggravates the climate crisis," Marcio Astrini, executive director of the Climate Observatory," <a href="https://www.oc.eco.br/congresso-desmonta-controle-ambiental-e-ameaca-futuro-do-pais/" target="_blank">said</a> following the vote.</p><p>"Lula says Brazil will lead the environmental agenda by example. A veto, on the eve of COP30, is the perfect opportunity to make the discourse into practice," he continued, referring to this November's United Nations Climate Change Conference in Belém.</p><p>"We hope that he will meet his campaign commitments and reject this absurd text approved by the Brazilian Congress," Astrini added.</p><blockquote class="rm-embed twitter-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1945931548886233332">
  10. <div style="margin:1em 0"></div> —  (@)
  11.        <a href="https://twitter.com/mlcanineu/status/1945931548886233332"></a>
  12. </blockquote>
  13. <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><p>Lula has 15 days to either approve or veto the measure. However, the right-wing congressional majority could overturn a veto, prompting the Supreme Court to intervene. </p><p>Proponents argue the bill would simplify the regulatory process. </p><p>"Finally, we have improved legislation to unlock investments, streamline the system, and generate opportunities and income for the country," <a href="https://x.com/pedro_lupion/status/1945709412121030916" target="_blank">said</a> Pedro Lupion, a deputy from the right-wing Progressistas party representing Paraná and president of the Parliamentary Agriculture Front.</p><p>However, Climate Observatory public policy coordinator Suely Araújo <a href="https://www.ictj.org/latest-news/brazil-passes-%E2%80%98devastation-bill%E2%80%99-drastically-weakens-environmental-law%C2%A0-%C2%A0%C2%A0" target="_blank">said</a> <em></em>that the proposal represents "the greatest setback to Brazil's environmental legislation" since licensing requirements were introduced in the 1980s.</p><p>Some critics of the bill pointed to Article 225 of the Brazilian Constitution, which states that "everyone has the right to an ecologically balanced environment, which is an asset of common use and essential to a healthy quality of life, and both the government and the community shall have the duty to defend and preserve it for present and future generations."</p><p>Brazilian Minister for Indigenous Peoples Sônia Guajajara, a member of the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL), <a href="https://x.com/GuajajaraSonia/status/1945821847058071856" target="_blank">said</a> on the social media site X that Thursday's vote "should be forever remembered as the moment when the Chamber of Deputies attacked Brazilian environmental legislation and showed its lack of commitment to the future."</p><p>"In the year we will host the COP, our parliamentarians show what example not to set for the world," she added.</p><p><strong></strong>Célia Xakriabá, a PSOL deputy representing Minas Gerais, <a href="https://x.com/celiaxakriaba" target="_blank">called</a> the bill "legislative ecocide."</p><p>Quilombolas—residents of quilombos, Afro-Brazilian communities formed by self-liberated slaves or their descendants—and their advocates also sounded the alarm over the bill, pointing to existing <a href="https://x.com/DudaSalabert/status/1945137112917139465" target="_blank">efforts</a> by extractive industries to kick them off their lands.</p><p>"The Devastation Bill threatens over 80% of quilombos and 32% of Indigenous lands in Brazil," <a href="https://x.com/lazarorosa25/status/1945243291605487880" target="_blank"></a>progressive Rio de Janeiro consultant Lázaro Rosa <a href="https://x.com/lazarorosa25/status/1945243291605487880" target="_blank">noted</a> on X. "Let's put strong pressure to ensure this abomination is not approved."</p><p>Erika Hilton, a PSOL federal deputy representing São Paulo, <a href="https://x.com/ErikakHilton/status/1945226091397796082" target="_blank">said</a> that if the bill is approved by Lula, "mining companies will be able to renew their licenses automatically, without technical studies or prior analysis."</p><p>"This is a recipe for new tragedies like those in <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/05/disaster-capitalism-brazil-mining-greed-produces-horrific-death-toll" target="_blank">Brumadinho</a>, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0r8eg7nnkwo" target="_blank">Mariana</a>, and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/brazil-braskem-rock-salt-mining-maceio-collapse-77be57ffa1e8e4c1765f64a6829c9511" target="_blank">Braskem</a> in Maceió," she warned. "Other points of the bill include the end of environmental licensing for agriculture to deforest and the end of control over the use of our water resources... And the Devastation Bill will also destroy the control of pollutant emissions, putting at risk the very air we breathe."</p><p>Hilton continued: "Even so, the tendency is that, with the narrative that all our environmental legislation is bureaucracy that hinders development, the deputies will approve this horror. But what country develops with an environmental tragedy every other day? What country develops if children start being born without brains due to pollution, like in the '70s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1981/05/10/industrial-pollution-scars-brazils-valley-of-death/bb3bebf0-c1cd-4ced-b231-ca59fc4e17c7/" target="_blank">in Cubatão</a><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1981/05/10/industrial-pollution-scars-brazils-valley-of-death/bb3bebf0-c1cd-4ced-b231-ca59fc4e17c7/" target="_blank"></a>? What country develops if the people no longer have water to drink, air to breathe, and life to live?" <br/></p><p>"These are the questions that the deputies are ignoring," she added. <br/></p><p>Journalist Amanda Miranda <a href="https://x.com/amanda_miranda/status/1945789623185326544" target="_blank">denounced</a> members of Congress who voted to authorize "the destruction of Brazil while its citizens sleep."</p>"Brazil will be handed over to the interests of businessmen who will help reelect each one of them," she added. "Every climate catastrophe is part of this reckoning too."]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 18 Jul 2025 18:29:53 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/lula-veto-devastation-bill</guid><category>Climate emergency</category><category>Cop30</category><category>Célia xakriabá</category><category>Devastation bill</category><category>Erika hilton</category><category>Hugo motta</category><category>Luiz inácio lula da silva</category><category>Psol</category><category>Sônia guajajara</category><category>Brazil</category><dc:creator>Brett Wilkins</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/indigenous-people-march-against-brazil-s-devastation-bill.jpg?id=61243786&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>'Terrible Development': Trump Admin Restricts State Efforts to Help Kids Stay on Medicaid</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-administration-medicaid-changes</link><description><![CDATA[
  14. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/demonstrators-protest-republican-medicaid-cuts.jpg?id=61243611&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C192%2C0%2C154"/><br/><br/><p>The Trump administration on Thursday said it will restrict waivers that have allowed states to keep kids enrolled in Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program beyond the <a href="https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/enrollment-strategies/continuous-eligibility-medicaid-and-chip-coverage" target="_blank">12-month period of continuous coverage</a> required under federal law.</p><p>The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), led by Mehmet Oz, <a href="https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-reinforces-medicaid-and-chip-integrity-strengthening-eligibility-oversight-and-limiting-certain" target="_blank">announced</a> the move on Thursday, saying that it has <a href="https://www.medicaid.gov/resources-for-states/downloads/contin-elig-ltr-to-states.pdf" target="_blank">informed states</a> of a "clear shift away from policies that extend beyond statutory limits," specifically restricting Section 1115 waivers that have been <a href="https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/medicaid-waiver-tracker-approved-and-pending-section-1115-waivers-by-state/#Table1" target="_blank">sought and approved in dozens of states</a> across the U.S.</p><p>"CMS will allow currently approved initiatives to run out their course but does not anticipate extending them nor approving new waivers," the agency said in a statement, which came less than two weeks after President Donald Trump signed into law the largest Medicaid cuts in U.S. history.</p><p>Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, <a href="https://www.finance.senate.gov/ranking-members-news/wyden-statement-on-trump-action-to-throw-kids-and-their-families-off-medicaid-and-chip" target="_blank">called</a> the CMS announcement a "terrible development" and "yet one more awful example of the Trump administration's obsession with making it as hard as possible for Americans to access the healthcare they are eligible for."</p><p>In 2022, Oregon became the first state in the nation to receive federal approval to provide children with continuous Medicaid coverage from birth up to age 6 through a Section 1115 waiver. The policy was <a href="https://ccf.georgetown.edu/2022/10/07/medicaid-and-chip-continuous-coverage-for-children/" target="_blank">described</a> as a "ground-breaking initiative" that would "help infants and young children get off to a healthy start in life without parents having to worry about renewing their Medicaid coverage annually," regardless of temporary changes to family income or other factors.</p><p>The CMS announcement points to the Oregon policy without explicitly naming the state. Oregon's federal waiver is set to expire in 2027.</p><p>Wyden said Thursday that "the Trump administration will stop at nothing to rip coverage away from American families, even kids they claim they want to protect."</p><p>Joan Alker, executive director of Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families, wrote that "in the name of 'protecting vulnerable Americans,' the Trump administration will rip away Medicaid coverage from babies and toddlers."</p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">👀In the name of “protecting vulnerable Americans” the Trump Administration will rip away Medicaid coverage from babies and toddlers👀<br/><br/>CMS announces Medicaid demos that 8 states are implementing to cover babies and young children continuously w/o gaps will no longer be allowed <a href="https://t.co/aXF0mKXL9S">pic.twitter.com/aXF0mKXL9S</a><br/>— Joan Alker (@JoanAlker1) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoanAlker1/status/1945926363568849066?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 17, 2025</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div><p>CMS insisted that the newly announced changes are aimed at protecting Medicaid's finances by ensuring that those who are no longer eligible for the program are removed.</p><p>But Amaya Diana, a policy analyst at the health research organization KFF, <a href="https://www.kff.org/quick-take/state-waivers-for-continuous-medicaid-eligibility-to-end-under-cms-guidance/" target="_blank">wrote</a> Thursday that "not everyone who loses coverage at renewal is no longer eligible."</p><p>"During the unwinding of the [pandemic-era] Medicaid continuous enrollment provision, <a href="https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/an-examination-of-medicaid-renewal-outcomes-and-enrollment-changes-at-the-end-of-the-unwinding/" target="_blank">seven in 10</a> Medicaid enrollees who lost coverage were disenrolled for procedural reasons," Diana noted. "While some were no longer eligible, others lost coverage due to <a href="https://www.kff.org/report-section/navigating-the-unwinding-of-medicaid-continuous-enrollment-a-look-at-enrollee-experiences-report/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">barriers</a> such as communication issues."</p>]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 18 Jul 2025 18:10:29 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-administration-medicaid-changes</guid><category>Centers for medicare and medicaid services</category><category>Children</category><category>Children's health insurance program</category><category>Donald trump</category><category>Mehmet oz</category><category>Ron wyden</category><category>Medicaid</category><dc:creator>Jake Johnson</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/demonstrators-protest-republican-medicaid-cuts.jpg?id=61243611&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Trump Eases Pollution Rules for 100+ Facilities, Including Chemical and Coal Plants</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-pollution</link><description><![CDATA[
  15. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/the-coal-fired-cardinal-power-plant-in-brilliant-ohio.jpg?id=61243648&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C219%2C0%2C129"/><br/><br/><p>Continuing a trend of prioritizing polluters over public health and the planet, U.S. President Donald Trump late Thursday signed a series of proclamations to provide what the Republican called "regulatory relief" to various industries.</p><p>While the names of Trump's four proclamations suggest they are intended to promote American "security" regarding <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/07/regulatory-relief-for-certain-stationary-sources-to-further-promote-american-energy/?" target="_blank">energy</a>, <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/07/regulatory-relief-for-certain-stationary-sources-to-promote-american-chemical-manufacturing-security/?" target="_blank">chemical manufacturing</a>, <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/07/regulatory-relief-for-certain-stationary-sources-to-promote-american-iron-ore-processing-security/?" target="_blank">iron ore processing</a>, and <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/07/regulatory-relief-for-certain-stationary-sources-to-promote-american-security-with-respect-to-sterile-medical-equipment/?" target="_blank">sterile medical equipment</a>, what they actually do is allow over 100 facilities across the country to not comply with rules put in place under Democratic former President Joe Biden.</p><p>A Trump White House fact sheet <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/07/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-grants-regulatory-relief-from-burdensome-epa-restrictions-to-promote-american-security/" target="_blank">describes</a> the rules from Biden's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as "burdensome." Meanwhile, environmental and health advocates blasted Trump over his new exemptions for coal-fired power plants, ethylene oxide commercial sterilizers, and facilities that manufacture chemicals and process taconite iron.</p><p class="pull-quote">"If your family lives downwind of these plants, this is going to mean more toxic chemicals in the air you breathe."</p><p>Patrice Simms, vice president of litigation at Earthjustice's Healthy Communities Program, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/trump-halts-clean-air-laws-for-most-of-the-country" target="_blank">said</a><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/trump-halts-clean-air-laws-for-most-of-the-country"></a> in a Friday statement that "Trump is illegally delaying clean air laws from his desk because polluters make more money when they just dump their toxic chemicals in our air."</p><p>"Trump's action on behalf of big corporate polluters will cause more cancer, more birth defects, and more children to suffer [from]  asthma," Simms warned. "The country deserves better."</p><p>The proclamation is not the first handout Trump has given the coal industry since returning to office in January. As Earthjustice noted:</p><blockquote>In April 2025, the Trump administration exempted 68 coal-fired power plants from pollution limits set in the <a href="https://mcas-proxyweb.mcas.ms/certificate-checker?login=false&originalUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.epa.gov.mcas.ms%2Fsystem%2Ffiles%2Fdocuments%2F2024-04%2Fpresentation_mats_final-2024-4-24-2024.pdf%3FMcasTsid%3D20892&McasCSRF=629fd76016242b35ae94227fd3b38f03a29abb566fec1a156ce7222051f1fe5f" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">strengthened MATS rule</a>, even though pollution controls are widely available and already in use. These came after EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin <a href="https://mcas-proxyweb.mcas.ms/certificate-checker?login=false&originalUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.epa.gov.mcas.ms%2Fstationary-sources-air-pollution%2Fclean-air-act-section-112-presidential-exemption-information%3FMcasTsid%3D20892&McasCSRF=629fd76016242b35ae94227fd3b38f03a29abb566fec1a156ce7222051f1fe5f" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">invited corporations to email the agency to request exemptions from clean air standards</a>. Companies were told <a href="https://mcas-proxyweb.mcas.ms/certificate-checker?login=false&originalUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fearthjustice.org.mcas.ms%2Fexperts%2Fjames-pew%2Fpolluters-can-now-email-their-way-out-of-clean-air-laws-courtesy-of-trump%3FMcasTsid%3D20892&McasCSRF=629fd76016242b35ae94227fd3b38f03a29abb566fec1a156ce7222051f1fe5f" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">they could cite "national security" or "lack of available technology" as justification</a>.</blockquote><p>John Walke, clean air director for the environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-coal-epa-clean-air-exemption-mercury-7b800db8d6cf6fffbee28039f42d2daf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">told</a> <em>The Associated Press</em> that Trump's claims about national security concerns and technology issues were "pretexts" to further enrich large corporations.</p><p>"President Trump just signed a literal free pass for polluters," Walke said of the new proclamations. "If your family lives downwind of these plants, this is going to mean more toxic chemicals in the air you breathe."</p><blockquote class="rm-embed twitter-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1946211845456744718">
  16. <div style="margin:1em 0"></div> —  (@)
  17.        <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeGrunwald/status/1946211845456744718"></a>
  18. </blockquote>
  19. <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><p>The <em>AP</em> reported that "in a related development, the EPA said Thursday it will give utility companies an additional year to inspect and report on contamination from toxic coal ash landfills across the country," which Zeldin also called "regulatory relief."</p><p>Earthjustice senior counsel Lisa Evans <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/climate/epa-toxic-coal-ash-cleanup.html" target="_blank">told</a> <em>The New York Times</em> on Thursday that while it may not seem like a lengthy delay, "a year's time is not irrelevant when you are living next to a coal plant."</p><p>"It's one more year of hazardous contaminants getting into the groundwater," Evans said. "And the more chemicals that get into the groundwater, the more difficult and expensive it is to remediate."</p>]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 18 Jul 2025 17:13:35 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-pollution</guid><category>Chemicals</category><category>Coal</category><category>Donald trump</category><category>Earthjustice</category><category>Lee zeldin</category><category>National security</category><category>Natural resources defense council</category><category>Public health</category><category>Us environmental protection agency</category><category>Pollution</category><dc:creator>Jessica Corbett</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/the-coal-fired-cardinal-power-plant-in-brilliant-ohio.jpg?id=61243648&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Critics Doubt CBS Claim That Finances—Not Politics—Are Behind 'Late Show' Cancellation</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/cbs-late-night</link><description><![CDATA[
  20. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/stephen-colbert.jpg?id=61243223&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C533%2C0%2C1134"/><br/><br/><p>U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren was among those calling into question the official story behind <em>CBS</em>' cancellation of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on Thursday—suggesting that the decision to end the show's 32-year run wasn't driven by finances but by "political reasons."</p><p>The announcement from <em>CBS</em> executives came just three days after Colbert spoke out on his show about a recent $16 million <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/paramount-settles-trump-lawsuit" target="_blank">settlement</a> reached by <em>CBS</em> parent company Paramount over an interview that "60 Minutes" aired with former Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 election, in which Harris ran against President Donald Trump.</p><p>Colbert had told his audience that the settlement appeared to be a "big fat bribe" to end a "nuisance lawsuit."</p><p>"This all comes as Paramount's owners are trying to the get the Trump administration to approve the sale of our network to a new owner," said Colbert, referring to a pending $8.4 billion merger with the entertainment company Skydance—whose billionaire founder, David Ellison, has been spotted with Trump in recent months.</p><p>Warren (D-Mass.) said Thursday that the public "deserves to know if [Colbert's] show was canceled for political reasons."</p><blockquote class="rm-embed twitter-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1946003619821580369">
  21. <div style="margin:1em 0"></div> —  (@)
  22.        <a href="https://twitter.com/SenWarren/status/1946003619821580369"></a>
  23. </blockquote>
  24. <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script> <p>Trump's <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-cbs-lawsuit" target="_blank">lawsuit</a> against Paramount claimed the Harris interview was deceptively edited and amounted to "partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference," allegations that legal experts and First Amendment scholars denounced as "ridiculous" and "dangerous."</p><p>After the settlement was announced earlier this month, with Paramount pledging to release transcripts of future "60 Minutes" interviews with presidential candidates, one press freedom group <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/paramount-settles-trump-lawsuit" target="_blank">condemned</a> the company for "capitulating" to the president's demands.</p><p><em>CBS</em> executives appeared to preemptively respond to expected allegations that they were canceling Colbert's show due to his criticism of the settlement—and his frequent rebukes of the president—saying the decision, effective in May 2026, was "purely a financial" one. </p><p>"It is not related in any way to the show's performance, content, or other matters happening at Paramount," they said. </p><p>Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) expressed doubt that the end of Colbert's show, days after he spoke out against his parent company's legal decision, was "a coincidence."</p><blockquote class="rm-embed twitter-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1946220710168289457">
  25. <div style="margin:1em 0"></div> —  (@)
  26.        <a href="https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1946220710168289457"></a>
  27. </blockquote>
  28. <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script> <p>Media critics joined lawmakers including Sanders and Warren in expressing skepticism.</p><p>"<em></em>'The Late Show' isn't dying because people stopped watching late-night TV," <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/198120/stephen-colbert-cancellation-ellison-trump" target="_blank">wrote</a> Parker Molloy at<em> The New Republic</em>. "It's being murdered because Stephen Colbert spent the last decade being one of Trump's most persistent critics on network television, and the billionaires about to take over <em>CBS</em> need Trump's approval for their merger."</p><p>Anonymous "Late Show" staffers also <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/stephen-colbert-canceled-cbs-staff-trump-shakedown-b2791693.html" target="_blank">told</a> <em>The Independent </em>they believed the cancellation of the show was "part and parcel of the Trump shakedown settlement." <br/></p><p>Political scientist Norman Ornstein <a href="https://x.com/NormOrnstein/status/1946015544043327957" target="_blank">called</a> the impending end of "The Late Show," considering the surrounding circumstances, "a terrible sign for democracy."</p><p>"There's only one reason to do this, and we know what it is," said Ornstein. "The same reason that this disgraceful excuse for a network succumbed to blackmail from Trump over the '60 Minutes' interview."</p><p>Trump, whose Federal Communications Commission is still deciding on approval of the merger, weighed in on Friday regarding the show's cancellation, <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5408187-donald-trump-cbs-cancellation-late-show-stephen-colbert/" target="_blank">saying</a> in a social media post, "I absolutely love that Colbert got fired," and criticizing other late-night comedians who have taken aim at him. </p><p>As <em>Status News</em> <a href="https://www.status.news/p/skydance-colbert-stewart-ellison" target="_blank">reported</a> after the Paramount settlement was announced, speculation has increased that comedian Jon Stewart, who co-hosts "The Daily Show"—where Colbert spent several years—could also "soon be silenced" after publicly criticizing the settlement. That show airs on Comedy Central, which is owned by the <em>CBS</em> parent company.</p><p>"Inside 'The Daily Show,' I'm told staffers have taken pride that Stewart showed once again he is willing to stand up to powerful interests, even if it potentially risks his future employment," wrote Oliver Darcy. "And while they may not yet know it, inside certain power circles, there is an open question: How much longer will Stewart have this platform?"</p><p><em>MSNBC</em> anchor Chris Hayes <a href="https://x.com/chrislhayes/status/1946233382607765756" target="_blank">said</a> Friday that it is not "an overstatement to say that the test of a free society is whether or not comedians can make fun of the country's leader on TV without repurcussions."</p>]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 18 Jul 2025 16:17:28 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/cbs-late-night</guid><category>Bernie sanders</category><category>Donald trump</category><category>Elizabeth warren</category><category>Media</category><category>Merger</category><category>Paramount</category><category>Stephen colbert</category><category>Cbs</category><dc:creator>Julia Conley</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/stephen-colbert.jpg?id=61243223&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>'Crisis of Disrupted Care': Nearly 800,000 Mpox Vaccines Meant for Africa Wasted Due to Trump USAID Cuts</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/mpox-vaccines-wasted-africa-trump</link><description><![CDATA[
  29. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/vaccination-against-mpox-for-high-risk-groups-in-uganda.jpg?id=61243273&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C168%2C0%2C169"/><br/><br/><p>Nearly 800,000 doses of the mpox vaccine, which were initially promised to fight the epidemic in Africa, are set to go to waste due to Trump's cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development.</p><p>According to <em><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/17/us-has-wasted-hundreds-of-thousands-of-vaccines-meant-for-africa-health-officials-there-say-00460290" target="_blank">Politico,</a> </em>which quotes the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the vaccine doses cannot be shipped because they are too close to their expiration date.</p><p>"For a vaccine to be shipped to a country, we need a minimum of six months before expiration to ensure that the vaccine can arrive in good condition and also allow the country to implement the vaccination," said Yap Boum, an Africa CDC deputy incident manager.</p><p>In September, the Biden administration <a href="https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/09/24/fact-sheet-the-united-states-commitment-to-address-the-global-mpox-outbreak/" target="_blank">pledged</a> that the U.S. would provide more than 1 million doses to fight the epidemic in Africa, which has killed nearly 2,000 people, many of them children.</p><p>However, <em>Politico</em> reports that just 91,000 of them were delivered, and only 220,000 of them still have a long enough shelf life to be used if the Trump administration signs off on them.</p><p>The continent is already facing a dangerous shortage of mpox immunizations. As <em><a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/african-countries-fall-far-short-mpox-vaccination-targets" target="_blank">Science</a></em> reported last month: <span></span></p><blockquote style="margin-left: 20px;">In September 2024, Africa CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO) jointly issued an mpox "continental preparedness and response plan" that called for vaccinating <a href="https://africacdc.org/download/mpox-continental-preparedness-and-response-plan-for-africa/" target="_blank">10 million</a> people in Africa within 6 months. An updated version of the plan, issued in April, narrowed who should be offered the vaccine and scaled back the target <a href="https://africacdc.org/download/mpox-continental-response-plan-2-0/#:~:text=This%20mpox%20Continental%20Response%20and,for%20future%20public%20health%20emergencies." target="_blank">to 6.4 million</a> people by August. <br/><br/>But according to a May 29 WHO situation report, only <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/multi-country-outbreak-of-mpox--external-situation-report--53---29-may-2025" target="_blank">720,000</a> people in seven African countries have received mpox vaccines. Doses are scarce, vaccination teams are short on health workers and transportation, and identifying who might have been exposed to the mpox virus and should get the vaccine first is a challenge.</blockquote><p>Salim Abdool Karim, chair of the Africa CDC's emergency consultative group, called Trump's "abrupt closure of USAID support for the mpox control effort in Africa" a "major blow, especially since it played a key role in the logistics of vaccine storage and distribution."</p><p>A June report by <a href="https://www.citizen.org/article/mpox-vaccine-shortfall/" target="_blank">Public Citizen</a> put the striking shortfall of doses into even greater perspective. The group reported that Africa had nearly six times fewer doses of the vaccine than the United States had during the 2022-23 outbreak, which was markedly less severe than what Africa currently faces.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"> <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="54f8d089b72693b1247d88676660a78a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="4cd2f" loading="lazy" src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/graphic-public-citizen.png?id=61243224&width=980"/> <small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Graphic: Public Citizen</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit..."> <a href="https://www.citizen.org/wp-content/uploads/Screenshot-2025-06-07-at-10.53.53-AM-1500x754.png" target="_blank">www.citizen.org</a> </small> </p><p>They pointed to high prices charged by the vaccine's manufacturer, Bavarian Nordic. The company has sold the vaccines to UNICEF for $65 per dose, making them the second most expensive drug UNICEF pays for.</p><p>UNICEF called for Bavarian Nordic to quarter the price of the drug and increase doses available to fight the crisis, but the company did not respond to the request. As a result, UNICEF fell 350,000 doses short of the one million that it had hoped to commit.</p><p>This shortfall was made worse by the actions taken by the Trump administration. While halting USAID operations, the U.S. also ceased cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO), which is a major player in organizing the allocation of vaccines.</p><p>The Trump administration's actions, the report said, have "prompted a concurrent crisis of disrupted care and severe funding shortfalls across a range of disease areas and health services."</p><p>Mpox vaccines are not the only form of international aid going to waste as a direct result of the Trump administration's cuts to USAID.</p><p>On Monday,<em> </em>Hana Kiros reported in <em><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2025/07/usaid-emergency-food-incinerate-trump/683532/" target="_blank">The Atlantic</a></em> that the Trump administration had given the order "to incinerate food instead of sending it to people abroad who need it":</p><blockquote>Nearly 500 metric tons of emergency food—enough to feed about 1.5 million children for a week—are set to expire [Tuesday], according to current and former government employees with direct knowledge of the rations. Within weeks, two of those sources told me, the food, meant for children in Afghanistan and Pakistan, will be ash.</blockquote> <p>The Trump administration <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2025/07/01/nx-s1-5452513/trump-usaid-foreign-aid-deaths" target="_blank">formally shut down</a> USAID on July 1, after cancelling 83% of its programs at the beginning of Trump's term.</p><p>On the same day, a study was published in <em><a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)01186-9/fulltext" target="_blank">The Lancet</a></em>, revealing that the organization's efforts over the past two decades had saved over 90 million lives, with the biggest reductions in mortality coming from its work to prevent HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other tropical diseases.</p><p>"Is [USAID] a good use of resources? We found that the average taxpayer has contributed about 18 cents per day to USAID," James Macinko, a health policy researcher at UCLA and study co-author, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2025/07/01/nx-s1-5452513/trump-usaid-foreign-aid-deaths" target="_blank">told <em>NPR</em></a>. "For that small amount, we've been able to translate that into saving up to 90 million deaths around the world."</p><p>According to <a href="https://www.impactcounter.com/dashboard?view=table&sort=title&order=asc" target="_blank">Impact Counter</a>, a database created by  Brooke Nichols, associate professor of global health at the Boston University School of Public Health, nearly 250,000 children and 120,000 adults already had died over less than six months as a result of cuts to these programs, as of June 26.</p><p>According to the <em>Lancet</em> study, if those cuts extend into 2030, 14 million people who might otherwise have lived—including millions more children—might die. </p><p>"These deaths will not be the result of droughts, earthquakes, pandemics, or war," said Olivier De Schutter in a piece published Friday in <em><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-aid-cuts-humanitarian-catasrophe" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a></em>. "They will be the direct consequence of a single, lethal decision made by one of the wealthiest men to ever walk this planet."</p>]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 18 Jul 2025 15:06:40 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/mpox-vaccines-wasted-africa-trump</guid><category>Africa</category><category>Disease</category><category>Hiv/aids</category><category>Mpox</category><category>Public health</category><category>Trump administration</category><category>Unicef</category><category>Vaccines</category><category>Usaid</category><dc:creator>Stephen Prager</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/vaccination-against-mpox-for-high-risk-groups-in-uganda.jpg?id=61243273&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Dems Rip Bondi's Epstein Pledge as a Sham After WSJ Bombshell That Trump Tried to Bury</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/bondi-grand-jury-epstein</link><description><![CDATA[
  30. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/us-president-donald-trump-held-a-press-conference-at-the-white-house.jpg?id=61243171&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C165%2C0%2C177"/><br/><br/><p>Democratic lawmakers said Thursday that Attorney General Pam Bondi's pledge to seek the public disclosure of grand jury testimony from the prosecution of sex-trafficking billionaire Jeffrey Epstein was far from sufficient, given that the testimony would amount to a small fraction of the yet-to-be-released evidence in the case.</p><p>Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who has been <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/gop-blocks-epstein-files-release" target="_blank">leading efforts</a> to force lawmakers to vote on the full release of Epstein-related files, said in <a href="https://x.com/Acyn/status/1946036797919871087" target="_blank">remarks</a> on the House floor late Thursday that "the grand jury testimony is largely about Epstein" and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell—and "not about all the <span>rich and powerful men</span>... who have abused our children."<br/></p><p>Other Democrats echoed that criticism of Bondi's pledge, which came in response to a directive from President Donald Trump.</p><p>"Nice try," Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) <a href="https://x.com/danielsgoldman/status/1946020742937592103" target="_blank">wrote</a> in response to Bondi. "What about videos, photographs, and other recordings? What about FBI 302s (witness interviews)? What about texts and emails? That's where the evidence about Trump and others will be. Grand jury testimony will only relate to Epstein and Maxwell."<br/></p><p>Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) <a href="https://x.com/IlhanMN/status/1946046035178246253" target="_blank">added</a> that "everyone should understand why they are now calling for unsealing the jury testimony: because it will only relate to Epstein and Maxwell."<br/></p><p>"The public wants all the information related to Epstein and they want full justice for the victims," Omar wrote on social media. "Trump wanted this publicly, but privately knew it would be harmful to him and hoped the public would forget. There is more interest for this info now than ever."<span></span></p><p>Trump's directive to the Justice Department followed a bombshell <em>Wall Street Journal</em> <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/trump-jeffrey-epstein-birthday-letter-we-have-certain-things-in-common-f918d796" target="_blank">story</a> revealing that Maxwell "collected letters from Trump and dozens of Epstein's other associates for a 2003 birthday album."<span></span></p><p>"The letter bearing Trump's name, which was reviewed by the <em>Journal</em>, is bawdy—like others in the album," the newspaper reported. "It contains several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker. A pair of small arcs denotes the woman's breasts, and the future president's signature is a squiggly 'Donald' below her waist, mimicking pubic hair. The letter concludes: 'Happy Birthday—and may every day be another wonderful secret.'"</p><p>Trump called the story "fake" and said he tried to prevent the newspaper from publishing its reporting, appealing all the way up to Rupert Murdoch, who owns the <em>Journal</em> through his media conglomerate News Corp. The president wrote on his social media platform that he "looks forward to suing" the <em>Journal</em>.</p><p>"Trump couldn't stop the <em>⁦WSJ</em>⁩ from publishing this 'birthday card' to his buddy Epstein," Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) wrote Thursday. "If this is any indication of how Trump comported himself, it's no wonder Trump and Bondi are desperate to keep the Epstein FBI files secret. Disgusting."</p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Trump couldn’t stop the ⁦<a href="https://twitter.com/WSJ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WSJ</a>⁩ from publishing this “birthday card” to his buddy Epstein. If this is any indication of how Trump comported himself, it’s no wonder Trump and Bondi are desperate to keep the Epstein FBI files secret.<br/><br/>Disgusting. <a href="https://t.co/xxZOdeKEIo">pic.twitter.com/xxZOdeKEIo</a><br/>— Veronica Escobar (@vgescobar) <a href="https://twitter.com/vgescobar/status/1945991551085150651?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 17, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div><p>Growing demands for the full release of the Epstein files have sparked panic in the Republican caucus. </p><p><em>Politico</em> <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/17/jeffrey-epstein-house-discharge-vote-00459758" target="_blank">reported</a> Thursday that the hope among GOP lawmakers "has been that Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise decide to cancel next week's scheduled House session and instead send members home for an extended summer recess once voting concludes Thursday or Friday."</p><p>According to the outlet, Republicans believe that move would prevent members from having to contend with questions about whether they've backed an effort by Khanna and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) to force a floor vote on the full release of the Epstein files.</p><p>House Republican leaders have also <a href="https://x.com/JakeSherman/status/1946006932462150001" target="_blank">floated a nonbinding resolution</a> aimed at diffusing the Epstein furor. Nearly 70% of the American public believes the Trump administration is concealing details about Epstein's clients, according to a Reuters/Ipsos <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-faces-backlash-69-believe-epstein-details-concealed-reutersipsos-poll-2025-07-17/" target="_blank">poll</a> released earlier this week.</p><p>"A nonbinding resolution—or any action that doesn't require the release of the Epstein files—is nothing more than a political smokescreen designed to shield Republicans who refuse to demand full transparency and accountability from the Trump administration on Epstein," Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) said Thursday. "The American people deserve the truth."</p>]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 18 Jul 2025 14:24:24 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/bondi-grand-jury-epstein</guid><category>Donald trump</category><category>Pam bondi</category><category>Ro khanna</category><category>Us department of justice</category><category>Epstein files</category><dc:creator>Jake Johnson</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/us-president-donald-trump-held-a-press-conference-at-the-white-house.jpg?id=61243171&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>'Our Country Is Obsessed With War,' Tlaib Says as House Approves $832 Billion Military Bill</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/military-spending-bill</link><description><![CDATA[
  31. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/u-s-rep-rashida-tlaib.jpg?id=61241689&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C33%2C0%2C309"/><br/><br/><p>The U.S. House passed legislation early Friday that would provide roughly $832 billion in funding for military programs for the coming fiscal year, a vote that came shortly after the chamber approved a $9 billion rescissions package that takes an axe to public media and foreign aid.</p><p>Five House Democrats—Reps. Don Davis of North Carolina, Jared Golden of Maine, Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Adam Gray of California, and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington—<a href="https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2025/roll212.xml" target="_blank">joined most Republicans</a> in voting for the <a href="https://docs.house.gov/meetings/AP/AP00/20250612/118389/BILLS-119-FC-AP-FY2026-AP00-FY26DefenseFullCommitteeMark.pdf" target="_blank">military appropriations bill</a> for fiscal year 2026. Just three Republicans voted no.</p><p>Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who opposed the legislation along with other members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, wrote on social media following the vote that "our country is obsessed with war." <br/></p><p>"Every year, Congress votes to invest in death and destruction instead of healthcare, housing, clean air and water, or ending child poverty here at home," Tlaib continued. "I will not vote to send another $831.5 billion to the Pentagon."</p><p>Republican supporters of the legislation <a href="https://appropriations.house.gov/news/press-releases/house-passes-fy26-defense-bill-investing-americas-military-superiority" target="_blank">touted</a> provisions that boost investments in the <a href="https://www.pogo.org/analysis/has-the-pentagon-learned-from-the-f-35-debacle" target="_blank">immensely wasteful F-35</a> and other aircraft, support "modernization of the nuclear triad," and allocate "approximately $13 billion for missile defense and space programs to augment and integrate in support of the Golden Dome effort." </p><p>"In the middle of the night, House Republicans just passed a bill that will dump billions into the Pentagon, the only agency that has NEVER passed an audit," wrote Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who voted against the legislation. "If we want to actually cut spending—this is a good spot to start. Not by kicking 17 million Americans off their healthcare."</p><p>The measure's passage came as the House also worked on an <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/medicaid-cuts-pentagon-budget" target="_blank">authorization bill</a> that would allow the U.S. military to spend the funds appropriated by lawmakers.</p><p>During a House Armed Services Committee hearing on the authorization bill earlier this week, the panel's Republican chairman—who has received <a href="https://x.com/stephensemler/status/1945527054801223896" target="_blank">millions of dollars in campaign cash</a> from military contractors that <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/pentagon-contractors" target="_blank">benefit</a> from an ever-increasing Pentagon budget—mocked Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) for being the lone opponents of advancing the measure out of committee.</p><p>"I am used to the good-natured ribbing from my colleagues," Khanna <a href="https://x.com/RoKhanna/status/1945334096374251866" target="_blank">wrote</a>. "But I do not believe we need a $1 trillion budget to have a strong, modern defense. And I want to see more investment in good jobs at home than billions spent on more wars abroad."</p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="640">WATCH: Armed Services members mock <a href="https://twitter.com/RoKhanna?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RoKhanna</a> for voting against the largest military budget in US history<br/><br/>All other <a href="https://twitter.com/HASCDemocrats?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HASCDemocrats</a> (except <a href="https://twitter.com/RepSaraJacobs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepSaraJacobs</a>) voted to spend 1 TRILLION on war — even as working families continue to struggle across the country<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NDAA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NDAA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/HASCRepublicans?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HASCRepublicans</a> <a href="https://t.co/uKC9dB7m2J">https://t.co/uKC9dB7m2J</a> <a href="https://t.co/d41N1KYJSO">pic.twitter.com/d41N1KYJSO</a><br/>— Just Foreign Policy (@justfp) <a href="https://twitter.com/justfp/status/1945463068567163054?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 16, 2025</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div><p>The House's passage of the military funding bill came minutes after the chamber approved a White House-backed rescissions package that aims to claw back $9 billion in previously approved spending on public broadcasting and foreign assistance.</p><p>The rescissions bill now heads to President Donald Trump's desk for his signature.</p><p>Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said in a statement that "Republicans once again handed over the congressional power of the purse to Donald Trump and Russell Vought," the director of the Office of Management and Budget.</p><p>"This was never about exercising fiscal responsibility," said Boyle. "If it were, Republicans would never have passed their Big Ugly Law that adds trillions to the national debt with massive tax breaks for billionaires. This was about caving to Trump."</p><p>The budget law Boyle referenced also included <a href="https://prospect.org/politics/2025-06-17-republican-spending-bill-throws-156-billion-at-defense-contractors/" target="_blank">more than $150 billion for the Pentagon</a>, pushing U.S. military spending <a href="https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/papers/2025/MilitaryContractors" target="_blank">above $1 trillion</a>.</p>]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 18 Jul 2025 11:14:20 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/military-spending-bill</guid><category>Military contractors</category><category>Pentagon</category><category>Pramila jayapal</category><category>Rashida tlaib</category><category>Republican party</category><category>Rescissions</category><category>Us house</category><category>Us military</category><dc:creator>Jake Johnson</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/u-s-rep-rashida-tlaib.jpg?id=61241689&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>102 House Democrats, Including Jeffries, Help GOP Send Crypto Bill to Trump's Desk</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/genius-act-vote</link><description><![CDATA[
  32. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/u-s-rep-mike-johnson-r-la-talks-to-rep-hakeem-jeffries-d-n-y.jpg?id=61241205&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C118%2C0%2C207"/><br/><br/><p>More than 100 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives helped Republicans send what would be the country's first major cryptocurrency law to the desk of President Donald Trump, despite <a href="https://democrats-financialservices.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=413575" target="_blank">warnings</a> that the legislation would not only further his corruption, but also "expose our financial stability, national security, and consumer protections to greater risk."</p><p>All but a dozen voting Republicans and 102 Democrats—including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.)—<a href="https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2025200" target="_blank">supported</a> the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, which last month <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/senate-passage-genius" target="_self">passed</a> the Senate 68-30, with support from 18 Democrats.</p><p>If signed by the president, as is expected, the bill would create a regulatory framework for stablecoins, which are pegged to the value of existing assets such as the U.S. dollar. The Trump family's World Liberty Financial has issued the stablecoin USD1.</p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreigpihzppd5gkbahryp72fc2trkp664dtyymhn6adbv4xpfloetaea" data-bluesky-embed-color-mode="system" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:crcwt5glpoglltch6ohk7x6y/app.bsky.feed.post/3lu6w5hznik2s">@housedemocrats.bsky.social Shame on all of you. You have no foresight and no backbone.<br/><br/><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:crcwt5glpoglltch6ohk7x6y/post/3lu6w5hznik2s?ref_src=embed">[image or embed]</a><br/>— Jodi Jacobson (<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:crcwt5glpoglltch6ohk7x6y?ref_src=embed">@jljacobson.bsky.social</a>) <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:crcwt5glpoglltch6ohk7x6y/post/3lu6w5hznik2s?ref_src=embed">July 17, 2025 at 5:52 PM</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js"></script></div><p>Advocacy groups and Democrats critical of the GENIUS Act, and other bills making their way through Congress during "Crypto Week," have <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-crypto-bill" target="_self">highlighted</a> how the legislation would "bolster Trump's business empire while putting American interests at risk."</p><p>Leading House Democratic opposition to the GOP's package is Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), who <a href="https://democrats-financialservices.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=413575" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">warned</a> last week that "these bills would make Congress complicit in Trump's unprecedented crypto scam."</p><p>As <em>Politico</em> <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/07/17/congress/house-sends-historic-crypto-bill-trump-00460361" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">detailed</a> Thursday:</p><blockquote>Waters and other Democrats called for presidential ethics provisions to be added to the bills, pointing to the Trump family's business entanglements in the crypto industry. Trump and his sons have stakes in several crypto ventures, including a company they launched last year that issues a stablecoin and could benefit from the GENIUS bill that is now awaiting the president's signature.<br/><br/>But a growing bloc of the party has joined Republicans in lining up behind the digital asset industry's Washington agenda, a sign of crypto firms' ascendance as a political force. Companies in the crypto sector have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into influence efforts, and <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/15/crypto-super-pacs-war-chest-key-house-votes-00452356" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a mountain of super [political action committee] money</a> is threatening to target lawmakers who stand in the way of the industry's goals.</blockquote><p>After Thursday's vote, Bartlett Naylor, a financial policy advocate for the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, declared that "today, House members piled venality onto perversion onto corruption. In approving this crypto-enabling bill, Congress surrendered to the onslaught of crypto political spending and legitimized the world's biggest Ponzi scheme."</p><p>"To add insult to injury," Naylor added, "they also <a href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.gqh-2BaxUzlo7XKIuSly0rCxXwZR0L9lem-2B5XpAYqIXzMa5cLssFmYLkqM-2FWNX2SRrvAb-2BCGv9MJrVdF-2B4h9YLOeoM76VNchBsqbtaQ9TASfd87kVwQytZBdTUqL-2BQX1PB-cjX_ciJuXYfraQrmEXzxHGEcWNeiZKy7tdzQawxB4GG8-2FLPyhKWA4iiF6MSH6OJ2-2BUNtBAHsM9WPS35FVKJVmFTjW3m2IwgUo3u6HhitOgrMHtKgCE9epr3PLoQ3Dbn013y3ayuHxEJ9vVmqzqVxR87yWzBM-2B-2FIM-2BB6eD39K-2BjxD8XyErgZpwjHLvgAKx75FngbH1neWe3QWA8uLBm2ogfLfniUQkPgvBZt3Pu-2B6rtgTsaE4JytnrBCxvCKTexAmSPtUEEFu6y9xbujT3zHSHaMyvIxT36Ghh6UqywtkPLQ5X8kUc-2BZfcT3gztUtmXUhDSe2ym7ucitVB11HX5VT1I54Rg-3D-3D" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">forfeited</a> an opportunity to stop Trump's massive crypto grift, some of the <a href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.gqh-2BaxUzlo7XKIuSly0rCxXwZR0L9lem-2B5XpAYqIXzMa5cLssFmYLkqM-2FWNX2SRrvAb-2BCGv9MJrVdF-2B4h9YLOeoM76VNchBsqbtaQ9TASfd87kVwQytZBdTUqL-2BQX1PBPz1M_ciJuXYfraQrmEXzxHGEcWNeiZKy7tdzQawxB4GG8-2FLPyhKWA4iiF6MSH6OJ2-2BUNtBAHsM9WPS35FVKJVmFTjW3m2IwgUo3u6HhitOgrMHtKgCE9epr3PLoQ3Dbn013y3ayuHxEJ9vVmqzqVxR87yWzBM-2B-2FIM-2BB6eD39K-2BjxD8XyErgZpwjHLvgAKx75FngbH1neWe3QWA8uLBm2ogfLfnogr1SBakaZvcdCICsxSIqcm2wJWdPKyH2NlnHyCAWhy5lIl-2BlIocIvSmn2JHarEO2hAGi8VPm8KTa9wWjH-2BPIs-2F0GGN7gsn6LE9QfzvzI77SI4K60p9k2QQXQZFs4BqIg-3D-3D" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">most heinous</a> and flagrant corruption in American presidential history."</p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreiaaf7p6jgfrptp4ypyeupw4vlf66pbbojxbw2tjgc3itfl72quj24" data-bluesky-embed-color-mode="system" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:ktllgdjw6fiyjlcjiwmrtvna/app.bsky.feed.post/3lu6h3xzjls2y">RM @repmaxinewaters.bsky.social slams Republicans’ UNSTABLE Act:“The UNSTABLE Act creates the appearance of a federal framework for #stablecoins, but it does not provide the Federal government with the full authority it needs.” | tinyurl.com/5t2skxvnWATCH: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQWy...<br/><br/><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:ktllgdjw6fiyjlcjiwmrtvna/post/3lu6h3xzjls2y?ref_src=embed">[image or embed]</a><br/>— U.S. House Committee on Financial Services - Democrats (<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:ktllgdjw6fiyjlcjiwmrtvna?ref_src=embed">@ushousefsc.bsky.social</a>) <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:ktllgdjw6fiyjlcjiwmrtvna/post/3lu6h3xzjls2y?ref_src=embed">July 17, 2025 at 1:23 PM</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js"></script></div><p>In addition to sending the GENIUS Act to Trump, the House advanced two other crypto bills on Thursday: the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, which would create a regulatory framework for digital asset markets, and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, which would prevent the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC).</p><p>All Republicans present and 78 Democrats <a href="https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2025199" target="_blank">backed</a> the CLARITY Act, while just Democratic Reps. Jared Golden (Maine) and Shri Thanedar (Mich.) <a href="https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2025201" target="_blank">voted</a> alongside the GOP to pass the CBDC ban. Both of those bills still need Senate approval. <br/></p>]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2025 22:42:27 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/genius-act-vote</guid><category>Clarity act</category><category>Corruption</category><category>Democratic party</category><category>Donald trump</category><category>Genius act</category><category>Hakeem jeffries</category><category>Maxine waters</category><category>Public citizen</category><category>Us house of representatives</category><category>Cryptocurrency</category><dc:creator>Jessica Corbett</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/u-s-rep-mike-johnson-r-la-talks-to-rep-hakeem-jeffries-d-n-y.jpg?id=61241205&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>'Weaponization of Data': Trump Admin Gives ICE Personal Info of 79 Million Medicaid Recipients</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/weaponization-of-data-trump-admin-gives-ice-personal-info-of-79-million-medicaid-recipients</link><description><![CDATA[
  33. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/ice-detains-immigrants-inside-new-york-city-courthouses.jpg?id=61240984&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C35%2C0%2C307"/><br/><br/><p>The Trump administration is handing over the personal data of every Medicaid enrollee to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.</p><p>According to <em><a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-medicaid-trump-ice-ab9c2267ce596089410387bfcb40eeb7" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a> </em>Thursday, all 79 million people currently receiving the government health insurance benefit will have information shared with ICE by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS): </p><blockquote><em>The database will reveal to ICE officials the names, addresses, birth dates, ethnic and racial information, as well as Social Security numbers for all people enrolled in Medicaid. The state and federally funded program provides healthcare coverage... for the poorest of people, including millions of children.</em></blockquote><p>The "extraordinary" agreement was struck Monday with CMS and not meant to be publicized, according to the <em>AP</em>. The memo states that its intention is to help ICE find the "location of aliens" across the country.</p><p>As one unnamed CMS employee told the <em>AP</em>, "They are trying to turn us into immigration agents." </p><p>Republicans have often raised the specter of undocumented immigrants claiming benefits in order to justify cutting the government health insurance program.</p><p>However, undocumented immigrants are barred from receiving federally funded Medicaid coverage. </p><p>The only exception is emergency Medicaid, which covers lifesaving services and which the government requires to be extended to anyone who needs it regardless of status—though this makes up just 1% of overall Medicaid spending.</p><p>Some states have also expanded Medicaid to include noncitizens not covered by the federal program. However, that money comes from state budgets rather than the federal one.</p><p>Last month, President Donald Trump demanded that CMS hand over the personal data of the millions of Medicaid enrollees in the seven states that allow noncitizens to apply, a move that dozens of states sued to prevent.</p><p>At the time, the government justified it as a measure to simply root out fraud and abuse. But under Monday's agreement, the <em>AP</em> says, the Department of Homeland Security "will use the data to identify, for deportation purposes, people who [are] in the country illegally."</p><p>However, <a href="https://ccf.georgetown.edu/2025/05/21/the-truth-about-medicaid-coverage-for-immigrants-and-the-looming-threats/" target="_blank">nearly everyone</a> enrolled in Medicaid is either an American citizen or other legal resident. </p><p>Given that the president has made very clear his intent to begin <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-denaturalization-legal-scholars-warn" target="_blank">denaturalizing and deporting</a> American citizens, the handing of tens of millions of people's sensitive information to ICE is causing widespread alarm.</p><p>"Trump is letting ICE track Americans using their personal and private Medicaid health data. Undocumented immigrants aren't eligible to receive Medicaid, but other people they want to target and track are," <a href="https://x.com/DarrigoMelanie/status/1945899958822965551" target="_blank">said</a> Melanie D'Arrigo, the executive director of the the Campaign for New York Health. "They're not going to stop at immigrants."</p><p>"The massive transfer of the personal data of millions of Medicaid recipients should alarm every American," Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told the <em>AP</em>. "This massive violation of our privacy laws must be halted immediately. It will harm families across the nation and only cause more citizens to forego lifesaving access to healthcare."</p><p>Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) wrote in a post on X that, "This is about the weaponization of data, full stop. Trump said he would go after the 'worst of the worst' immigrants, yet now is giving ICE EVERYONE's Medicaid data, even as ICE targets U.S. citizens."</p>]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2025 21:44:55 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/weaponization-of-data-trump-admin-gives-ice-personal-info-of-79-million-medicaid-recipients</guid><category>Adam schiff</category><category>Centers for medicare and medicaid services</category><category>Denaturalization</category><category>Immigration</category><category>Mass deportation</category><category>Medicaid</category><category>Pramila jayapal</category><category>Trump administration</category><category>Us department of homeland security</category><category>Immigration and customs enforcement</category><dc:creator>Stephen Prager</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/ice-detains-immigrants-inside-new-york-city-courthouses.jpg?id=61240984&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>'Horror Story': Flight Logs Reveal Dozens Disappeared on El Salvador Deportation Trips</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/deportation-flight</link><description><![CDATA[
  34. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/people-hold-signs-and-read-the-names-of-detainees-at-cecot.jpg?id=61240874&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C598%2C0%2C1071"/><br/><br/><p>"These were disappearances," <a href="https://x.com/ReichlinMelnick/status/1945882605611618692" target="_blank">said</a> one immigrant rights expert of the revelation that dozens of people who have never been acknowledged by the Trump administration were listed on flight manifests for three deportation flights from Texas to El Salvador in March. </p><p><em>404 Media</em> <a href="https://www.404media.co/flight-manifests-reveal-dozens-of-previously-unknown-people-on-three-deportation-flights-to-el-salvador/" target="_blank">reported</a> Thursday that in May, a hacker targeted the airline that operated the flights, which have been challenged in court by groups including the ACLU and Democracy Forward. </p><p>The data retrieved by the hacker showed that in addition to people whose names had been previously included on a list of deported migrants deported to El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), published by <em>CBS News</em>, more than 40 men and women were listed on flight manifests for planes that the Trump administration sent on March 15</p><p>The <em>CBS News</em> story <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-records-show-about-migrants-sent-to-salvadoran-prison-60-minutes-transcript/" target="_blank">reported</a> on 238 people who had been sent to CECOT without due process, <strong></strong>under a $6 million deal with far-right President Nayib Bukele, but the list compiled from the flight manifests puts the total number at at least 281. </p><p>The flights landed in El Salvador despite a federal judge blocking them, and now, Michelle Brané of the immigrant rights group Together and Free told <em>404 Media</em>, "we have this list of people that the U.S. government has not formally acknowledged in any real way and we pretty much have no idea if they are in CECOT or someplace else, or whether they received due process."</p><p>"I think this further demonstrates the callousness and lack of due process involved and is further evidence that the U.S. government is disappearing people," said Brané. "For almost all of these people, there's no records whatsoever. No court records, nothing."</p><p>It is unclear whether all the people on the flight manifests were actually on the planes, but if "they were indeed on the flights, it is unknown where they currently are," <em>404 Media</em> reported. <strong></strong></p><p>The outlet reported that the family of one of the men who is listed on the flight manifests but whose name has never been reported or acknowledged by the Trump administration, has been protesting his disappearance in his home country of Venezuela. </p><p>Keider Alexander Flores Navas' mother, Ana Navas, said in a TikTok video in March that she suddenly stopped hearing from him the day the deportation flights took off—and then saw him in a photo of prisoners at CECOT. </p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><blockquote cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@diariovea/video/7486126944669404422" class="tiktok-embed" data-video-id="7486126944669404422" style="max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px;"> <section> <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@diariovea?refer=embed" target="_blank" title="@diariovea">@diariovea</a> 🔵 Ana Navas: Mi hijo no figura en la lista de secuestrados, sé que está en El Salvador por una foto. 🔵 Keider Flores Navas es uno de los venezolanos trasladados a El Salvador. Su madre sabe que está allá por una fotografía en la que lo reconoció.  🔵 Señaló que tiene más de dos semanas y media sin poder hablar con su hijo.  <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/elsalvador?refer=embed" target="_blank" title="elsalvador">#elsalvador</a> <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/eeuu?refer=embed" target="_blank" title="eeuu">#eeuu</a> <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/venezuela?refer=embed" target="_blank" title="venezuela">#venezuela</a> <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/migrantes?refer=embed" target="_blank" title="migrantes">#migrantes</a> <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fyp?refer=embed" target="_blank" title="fyp">#fyp</a> <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/sonido-original-7486126948714777399?refer=embed" target="_blank" title="♬ sonido original - Diario VEA">♬ sonido original - Diario VEA</a> </section> </blockquote> <script async="" src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js"></script></div><p>"He was not on any list. But this photo is from El Salvador," Navas told the Venezuelan outlet <em>Diario VEA</em>. </p><p>Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, <a href="https://x.com/ReichlinMelnick/status/1945882605611618692" target="_blank">called</a> the news of the flight manifests "a horror story."</p><p><em>404 Media</em>'s story "provides the first public confirmation of the identity of some of the people who were disappeared by the Trump administration on March 15," said Reichlin-Melnick. <br/></p><p>"Many of the people we sent to CECOT entered the U.S. legally at ports of entry after fully identifying themselves to the government," he added. "But if they did enter illegally, nothing justifies disappearing people to life imprisonment without trial. It's un-American."<span></span></p><p>The news of the flight manifests comes days after a court filing <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-cecot" target="_blank">revealed</a> that Salvadoran officials said the U.S. has jurisdiction over the people being held in CECOT, in response to a United Nations Human Rights Office inquiry about the "involuntary disappearances" of four Venezuelans. </p><p>The Trump administration has denied having the power to return CECOT detainees to the United States, as has <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-bukele" target="_blank">Bukele</a>. </p><p>Lee Gelernt, lead counsel in the ACLU's case regarding the deportation flights, told<em> 404 Media</em> that it is "critical" for the public to know who was on the March 15 flights.</p><p>"These individuals were sent to a gulag-type prison without any due process, possibly for the remainder of their lives, yet the government has provided no meaningful information about them, much less the evidence against them," said Gelernt. "Transparency at a time like this is essential."</p>]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2025 21:22:52 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/deportation-flight</guid><category>El salvador</category><category>Immigration</category><category>Trump administration</category><category>Deportations</category><dc:creator>Julia Conley</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/people-hold-signs-and-read-the-names-of-detainees-at-cecot.jpg?id=61240874&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Bill Would Subject Lawmakers to Same Work Reporting Mandates GOP Just Imposed on Medicaid, SNAP Recipients</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/big-beautiful-bill-medicaid</link><description><![CDATA[
  35. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/alicia-lester-case-manager-and-service-coordinator-helps-henry-pedoff-fill-out-a-medicaid-and-a-food-assistance-application.jpg?id=61240770&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C47%2C0%2C295"/><br/><br/><p>In response to Republicans' new law giving tax breaks to the rich while gutting the social safety net, U.S. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi on Thursday introduced legislation that would force members of Congress "to personally comply with the same burdensome work requirement paperwork they imposed on low-income Americans."</p><p>Under the Illinois Democrat's <a href="https://krishnamoorthi.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/krishnamoorthi.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/burden-act-final.pdf" target="_blank">Bringing Unfair Reporting Duties to Electeds Now (BURDEN) Act</a>, federal lawmakers "would be barred from enrolling in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program unless they submit monthly proof of 'community engagement,' the same bureaucratic reporting required of Medicaid recipients," his office said.</p><p>Krishnamoorthi's two-page bill would also force members of Congress to file the same paperwork as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients to verify eligibility, employment, and income. The proposal comes less than two weeks after President Donald Trump signed congressional Republicans' budget reconciliation package. </p><p>During the debate over the GOP megabill, Matt Bruenig, founder of the People's Policy Project, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/house-gop-work-requirements" target="_blank">argued</a> in <em>The New York Times</em> that "refusing medical care to people in their time of need based on how much they happened to work the month before is a cruel and pointless policy."</p><p>The so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act is <a href="https://www.kff.org/quick-take/about-17-million-more-people-could-be-uninsured-due-to-the-big-beautiful-bill-and-other-policy-changes/" target="_blank">expected</a> to leave 17 million Americans without health insurance, and, <a href="https://www.urban.org/research/publication/how-senate-budget-reconciliation-snap-proposals-will-affect-families-every-us" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">according to</a> an Urban Institute analysis, an estimated 22.3 million families are projected to lose some or all of their SNAP benefits.</p><p>"President Trump's reckless 'Large Lousy Law' forces millions of vulnerable Americans to jump through hoops just to keep food on the table or get the medical care they need," Krishnamoorthi said in a statement. "If congressional Republicans think these burdens are appropriate for struggling families, then members of Congress should shoulder them too. The BURDEN Act simply says, if you want taxpayer-funded health coverage, prove you meet the same standards you're imposing on the American people."</p><blockquote class="rm-embed twitter-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1945465944865718511">
  36. <div style="margin:1em 0"></div> —  (@)
  37.        <a href="https://twitter.com/CongressmanRaja/status/1945465944865718511"></a>
  38. </blockquote>
  39. <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><p>Krishnamoorthi's bill is unlikely to go anywhere in either the House of Representatives or the Senate, both controlled by the GOP, but it sends a message to the public. His office said that "by exposing the double standard in how burdensome requirements are applied, the BURDEN Act seeks to restore basic fairness and highlight the real-world consequences of Republican policies that target working families."</p><p>He introduced the bill amid intense debates among Democratic politicians and their supporters about how to battle Trump and the GOP's agenda and prepare for the 2026 midterm elections, following devastating losses for Democrats in the last cycle.</p><p>On Wednesday, the Congressional Progressive Caucus—of which Krishnamoorthi is not a member—<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2026-us-house-elections" target="_blank">announced</a> four task forces as part of an effort to "reclaim the House majority in 2026—with a sharp, populist, pro-working-class agenda that meets the moment."</p><p>Similarly but separately, a coalition of labor groups and other progressive organizations on Wednesday <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/battleground-alliance-labor-groups-2026" target="_blank">launched</a> the Battleground Alliance PAC, a political action committee that plans to pour at least $50 million into flipping the lower chamber for Democrats.<br/></p>]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2025 20:07:30 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/big-beautiful-bill-medicaid</guid><category>Election 2026</category><category>Healthcare</category><category>Hunger</category><category>Medicaid</category><category>Raja krishnamoorthi</category><category>Supplemental nutrition assistance program</category><category>Work requirements</category><category>One big beautiful bill act</category><dc:creator>Jessica Corbett</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/alicia-lester-case-manager-and-service-coordinator-helps-henry-pedoff-fill-out-a-medicaid-and-a-food-assistance-application.jpg?id=61240770&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>'Absolutely Insane': GOP Committee Shuts Off Debate to Advance 'Extreme Ideologue' Emil Bove</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/emil-bove-judge-nomination</link><description><![CDATA[
  40. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/emil-bove-iii-nominee-to-be-a-federal-judge.jpg?id=61240206&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C308%2C0%2C1825"/><br/><br/><p>Democrats on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday said Republicans on the panel had broken several Senate rules by forcing a vote on judicial nominee Emil Bove, and questioned whether the committee's vote to advance Bove's nomination to the chamber floor was legitimate, since it took place after they walked out in protest. </p><p>As <em>NBC News</em> <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/live-blog/trump-bove-epstein-powell-npr-pbs-congress-iran-tariffs-live-updates-rcna218569" target="_blank">reported</a>, a spokesperson for Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Democrats are questioning whether the vote to advance Bove was officially reported out, and the question "may be up to the Senate parliamentarian" because the GOP broke several committee rules when Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) shut down debate.</p><p>The Democratic members of the committee walked out of the hearing room after Grassley said the debate would not continue regarding Bove, who was the subject of a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/emil-bove-iii" target="_blank">whistleblower report</a> that alleged he told Department of Justice lawyers to ignore court rulings that got in the way of President Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda. </p><p>Bove, currently the principal associate deputy attorney general, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/emil-bove-iii" target="_blank">reportedly</a> said the DOJ should "consider telling the courts 'fuck you' and ignore" court orders that aimed to stop deportation flights from taking off, carrying hundreds of migrants to other countries without due process.</p><p>Earlier this week, Grassley rejected a request by Democrats on the committee to hold a hearing so the whistleblower, former DOJ attorney Erez Reuveni, could testify. </p><p>Grassley said he saw no reason to delay a committee vote on Bove, who in addition to being the subject of Reuveni's complaint, has been accused of belittling subordinates, making "power plays," and lacking professionalism during his tenure in New York's Southern District.</p><p>"Bove is an extreme ideologue, and his lifetime appointment sets the stage for the president and his allies to seek out favorable rulings no matter how unconstitutional their actions," said Caroline Ciccone, president of Accountable.US. "It's reprehensible that Senate Republicans silenced a basic acknowledgement of the facts, in order to jam through judicial appointments who will be a rubber stamp for Trump's out-of-touch agenda."</p><p>Bove also refused to condemn the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol and played a key role in the DOJ decision to drop federal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Bove's former role as Trump's personal attorney led 75 former state and federal judges to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/emil-bove-nomination-federal-judge" target="_blank">warn</a> this week that his nomination to be a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit was "deeply inappropriate."</p><p>"He has been trailed by a history of complaints, long predating his affiliation with President Trump about his temperament, his poor judgment, and lack of candor in front of the court," said Durbin on Thursday. "Think of it: We're talking about a judge for life."</p><p>Ahead of the committee's proceedings on Thursday, more than 900 former DOJ attorneys <a href="https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5405091-doj-attorneys-senate-bove-nomination-trump/?tbref=hp" target="_blank">joined</a> the call for lawmakers to reject Bove's nomination, saying it was "intolerable... that anyone who disgraces the Justice Department would be promoted to one of the highest courts in the land, as it should be intolerable to anyone committed to maintaining our ordered system of justice."</p><p>But Grassley disregarded the warning and other protests from Democratic committee members as he cut off the debate over Bove during Thursday's session. </p><p>"This is out of order," Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said. "This is absolutely insane. What is the rush?"</p><p>After the rest of the Democrats left the room in protest, Booker remained in the hearing room and shouted over the votes of several other judicial nominees before joining his colleagues. </p><p>"This lacks decency. It lacks decorum. It shows that you do not want to simply hear from your colleagues," Booker said. "This is us simply trying to rush through one of the most controversial nominees we've had under this presidential administration."</p><blockquote class="rm-embed twitter-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1945867625382228392">
  41. <div style="margin:1em 0"></div> —  (@)
  42.        <a href="https://twitter.com/SenBooker/status/1945867625382228392"></a>
  43. </blockquote>
  44. <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script> <p>Grassley denounced the concerns raised about Bove as a "political hit job," but Booker emphasized that "time and time again, there were allegations made against this nominee by independent people, by Republicans, by career professionals, and we are not listening to them or demanding answers."</p><p>As Bove's nomination headed to the Senate floor, Durbin and Booker also brought up questions about whether Bove was involved in a DOJ decision not to release files regarding convicted sex offender <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/emil-bove-iii" target="_blank">Jeffrey Epstein</a>, who was a former associate of Trump's and was found dead in his jail cell in 2019. </p><p>Booker <a href="https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/booker-demands-answers-on-emil-boves-involvement-in-doj-withholding-the-epstein-files" target="_blank">wrote</a> a letter to Bove on Wednesday, saying <strong></strong>his "involvement in the DOJ's review of the Epstein files is a matter of significant public importance given the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/07/15/g-s1-77698/pam-bondi-jeffrey-epstein-justice-department" target="_blank">contradictory statements</a> by Attorney General [Pam] Bondi concerning the existence of an Epstein 'client list' and DOJ's stated commitment to transparency. Furthermore, it warrants scrutiny whether the DOJ intentionally withheld evidence related to the trafficking and sexual abuse of minors to protect certain individuals."</p><blockquote class="rm-embed twitter-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1945837045496103176">
  45. <div style="margin:1em 0"></div> —  (@)
  46.        <a href="https://twitter.com/SenBooker/status/1945837045496103176"></a>
  47. </blockquote>
  48. <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script> <p>Maggie Jo Buchanan, interim executive director of the advocacy group Demand Justice, said Booker had "correctly accused his colleagues across the aisle of abusing their power. We applaud his efforts to ensure the public could learn more about the serious allegations Bove faces, as well as the committee Democrats who walked out of the meeting in light of their Republican colleagues' actions."</p><p>"Today's Senate Judiciary Committee meeting was a clear indication of MAGA Republicans' willingness to put blind loyalty to Trump before their oaths of office and duties to their constituents," said Buchanan urging senators from both parties to reject Bove's nomination now that it has advanced to the Senate floor. </p><p>"Senators on both sides of the aisle must show their commitment to judicial independence and keep this extreme, Trump loyalist off the federal bench," she said. "Voting 'no' should not be a difficult choice for any senator with an ounce of self-respect or respect for the courts."</p>]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2025 18:42:37 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/emil-bove-judge-nomination</guid><category>Chuck grassley</category><category>Cory booker</category><category>Democratic party</category><category>Dick durbin</category><category>Senate judiciary committee</category><category>U.s. senate</category><category>Emil bove</category><dc:creator>Julia Conley</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/emil-bove-iii-nominee-to-be-a-federal-judge.jpg?id=61240206&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Dissenters Against European Autocrats Warn of 'Democratic Backsliding' in Trump's America</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/dissenters-against-european-autocrats-warn-of-democratic-backsliding-in-trump-s-america</link><description><![CDATA[
  49. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/hungary-us-politics-conservatives-cpac.jpg?id=61239434&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C102%2C0%2C191"/><br/><br/><p>Eastern European dissidents are warning that the autocratic politics that took over their countries is in the process of taking over the United States as well.</p><p>At a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpj8GKiBMyg&t=22s" target="_blank">web forum</a> hosted Tuesday by the Center for American Progress, opposition politicians and journalists from Hungary, Serbia, and Turkey spoke about the tactics that strongman leaders used to rip up the foundations of their nations' democratic institutions. They urged Americans to resist President Donald Trump as he tries to do the same.</p><p>"I do believe that many Americans think this is something that only happens to others, and I think that mindset has to be fought," said Katalin Cseh, a member of Hungary's opposition Momentum Movement Party.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube"> <span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0bf7a452edf446d5836299786b03b889" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" lazy-loadable="true" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bpj8GKiBMyg?rel=0&start=22" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span> </p><p>Her nation, under authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, is often cited as a textbook example of "democratic backsliding" in the 21st century. </p><p>Since his election in 2010, with a supermajority in the parliament, Orbán has worked to steadily capture key political institutions like election authorities and the judiciary, and cultural ones like the media and universities to bend them toward a "nationalist conservative narrative." </p><p>Notably, Cseh says, Orbán did this not by formally abolishing institutions, but by purging dissent and taking them over: </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><em>The first month of the new government back in 2010 started with the complete overhaul of the Hungarian constitution without democratic discussion. Senior judges were forced into early retirement and a new judicial administration was created...</em></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><em>The freedom of the media is almost lost...The media authority was staffed by loyalists. </em><em>A pro-government businessman acquired private media and later donated it to a foundation run by </em><em>the government. This means that if you turn on almost any channel, it has </em>Fox News<em> running on it...</em></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><em>The electoral system is very heavily manipulated. The government, after they got into power, changed the electoral system to one that is more fitting to them and gerrymandering very heavily to disenfranchise more progressive voters and to change the districts to a more favorable one for them...</em></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><em> The universities' minds were centralized and now mostly run by foundations set up by the government. The curriculum was also centralized and was very heavily infused with nationalist and conservative theory, and minorities, LGBTQI+ and women's rights are almost obliterated.</em></p><p>Cseh noted that the so-called "Hungarian blueprint" is <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/05/viktor-orban-hungary-maga-corruption/682111/" target="_blank">heavily influential</a> among American conservatives, who have hosted Orbán at conventions like CPAC and consulted pro-Orbán think tanks to create the 'Project 2025' agenda Trump has used during his second term.</p><p>Trump, moreover, has been carrying out similar ideological purges of government through the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/state-department-says-it-will-fire-more-than-1350-workers-trumps-shake-up-2025-07-11/" target="_blank">mass firings</a> of disloyal public servants, threats to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/20/universities-trump-administration" target="_blank">defund universities</a> that refuse to teach the MAGA worldview as doctrine, and attempts to legally erase the government's recognition of <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/04/10/trump-administrations-assaults-black-history" target="_blank">nonwhite</a> and <a href="https://www.aclu.org/trump-on-lgbtq-rights" target="_blank">LGBTQ+ individuals</a>. </p><p>"What if this is a blueprint for MAGA? What if this is something you will see in your country?" she asked.</p><p>Szabolcs Panyi, a journalist with the Hungarian website Direkt36, likewise raised comparisons between Orbán and Trump's assaults on the press.</p><p>"It's not a coincidence that Orbán went after the free media," Panyi said. "He understood for him to grab power it's essential that people just don't see behind the curtains and don't understand what's happening."</p><p>He pointed to Trump's <a href="https://rsf.org/en/trump-s-war-press-10-numbers-us-president-s-first-100-days" target="_blank">attacks on the free press</a>, including his use of lawsuits, FCC investigations, and threats of prosecution against critical media outlets.</p><p>"It's interesting to see how large outlets or media owners or conglomerates try to appease Trump by settling lawsuits, firing journalists and editors," Panyi said. "It reminds me of what happened in Hungary in the 2010s."</p><p>Dissidents from Serbia and Turkey have dealt with a similar backslide and raised similar parallels to the situation in America.</p><p>Ceylan Akça, a member of the pro-Kurdish People's Equality and Democracy Party in the Turkish parliament, discussed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's use of citizenship as a political weapon against minorities like the Kurds. He has <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/turkey-terrorism-citizenship-1.3522913" target="_blank">moved</a> to strip the citizenship of naturalized Kurds, who he says support "terrorism" by militant groups like the PKK.</p><p>"We'll see people with Turkish citizenship, who were naturalized, stripped of their citizenship and being deported," Akça said, "which is the example you're having in the U.S. where you're having a discussion about naturalized citizens losing citizenship."</p><p>"We have to be aware that they are using [tools that] are usually legal but misused, institutional but hollowed out, democratic in appearance but authoritarian in essence," said Tamara Tripic, the chair of the Democratic Dialogue Network in Serbia.</p><p>Tripic said that the recent <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-NcDHBIaCA" target="_blank">youth-led anti-corruption protests</a> against President Aleksandar Vučić in her country provide a roadmap for how to resist. She cited the importance of mobilizing young people.</p><p>"Students actually started the process. They were the most powerful resistance we saw in recent years," she said.</p><p><span></span>Cseh said that part of building that engagement needed to come from creating a viable alternative to the right that promises people "tangible change" in their lives.</p><p>"Autocrats are not always good at governing," she said, "so the cost of living crisis, cost of healthcare, education, everything. Everybody senses that."</p><p>She said that Americans have "a very good opportunity ahead" in the next elections to reassert power.</p><p>"Start preparing for the midterms like yesterday," said Cseh. "Go to every protest, go to every march, stand right beside everybody who is being attacked, no matter if it is a group you belong to, or something that you do not share personally. You have to stand side by side [with] each other and help and support those who might feel isolated and alone."</p>]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2025 18:24:08 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/dissenters-against-european-autocrats-warn-of-democratic-backsliding-in-trump-s-america</guid><category>Aleksandar vučić</category><category>Democratic backsliding</category><category>Dissenters</category><category>Donald trump</category><category>Hungary</category><category>Lgbtq rights</category><category>Press freedom</category><category>Project 2025</category><category>Recep tayyip erdoğan</category><category>Serbia</category><category>Turkey</category><category>Viktor orbán</category><category>Authoritarianism</category><dc:creator>Stephen Prager</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/hungary-us-politics-conservatives-cpac.jpg?id=61239434&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>How GOP's Crypto Bills Would Benefit Trump and His Family</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-crypto-bill</link><description><![CDATA[
  50. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/america-is-not-for-sale-rally-against-trump-s-crypto-dealings.jpg?id=61235249&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C70%2C0%2C272"/><br/><br/><p>A new analysis details precisely how a slate of proposed cryptocurrency bills making their way through Congress this week, if passed, will enrich U.S. President Donald Trump and members of his family who are heavily invested in the crypto markets.</p><p>Republican leaders in the House of Representatives continued their fight to pass the GOP's cryptocurrency bills on Thursday, despite warnings from Democratic lawmakers and advocacy groups that the legislation would personally benefit Trump.</p><p>As right-wing hard-liners on Wednesday <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/07/16/congress/crypto-bills-stall-again-on-house-floor-00456576" target="_blank">thwarted</a> Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) effort to advance the trio of bills, the watchdog Accountable.US released an <a href="https://accountable.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025-07-14-How-Trump-Benefits-from-CLARITY-GENIUS-Acts.pdf" target="_blank">analysis</a> highlighting how the industry-backed package would "bolster Trump's business empire while putting American interests at risk."</p><p>The bills that the House is considering during "Crypto Week" are:</p><ul><li> the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, which would create a regulatory framework for a type of cryptocurrency called stablecoin, and <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/senate-passage-genius" target="_self">passed</a> the Senate 68-30 last month; </li><li>the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, which would create a regulatory framework for digital asset markets; and </li><li>the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, which would prevent the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC).</li></ul><p>The Accountable analysis focuses on the first two bills. The group's executive director, Tony Carrk, <a href="https://api.neonemails.com/emails/content/776T4Ogp3wDMCQB_FU7eF_DID4h-1rOpKmezKVU65BE=" target="_blank">said</a> in a statement that "the so-called GENIUS and CLARITY acts ironically do nothing to lift the cloak of mystery and unaccountability that shrouds the Trump family crypto interests around the world, leaving American interests at high risk."</p><p>"The president has already demonstrated he'll seemingly take money from anyone, even possible<a href="https://accountable.app.neoncrm.com/track//servlet/DisplayLink?orgId=accountable&emailId=5ee867b8a5d0c75af23c7bf15189528d5m24290635ee&&linkId=341196&targetUrl=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-07-11/trump-s-crypto-link-with-binance-raises-conflict-of-interest-questions" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> criminal elements</a> and<a href="https://accountable.app.neoncrm.com/track//servlet/DisplayLink?orgId=accountable&emailId=5ee867b8a5d0c75af23c7bf15189528d5m24290635ee&&linkId=341190&targetUrl=https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2025-trump-memecoin-foreign-crypto-traders/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> foreign adversaries</a>," he noted. "So to pass a bill that lets Trump... enrich himself from deeper in the shadows is a recipe for American workers getting sold out to the highest bidder. The real clarity we have about this president is he fights to give his billionaire buddies a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/progressives-reaction-trump-gop-big-ugly-bill" target="_blank">tax break</a> and profit from his office while betraying the working Americans he claims to represent."</p><p>The CLARITY Act would "significantly" limit the regulatory role of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), "which already has been severely weakened under Trump and has oversight over many Trump crypto products," the analysis details. It would also "put the less robust Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) 'at the center' of digital asset regulation."</p><p>According to Accountable:</p><ul><li>Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., which has made a "fast and furious" move into Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, disclosed to the SEC that, "if Bitcoin is determined to constitute a security"—which it likely would not be under the CLARITY Act—it could "adversely affect" Bitcoin's price and the price of Trump Media's offerings.</li><li>World Liberty Financial Inc. (WLFI) has disclosed to the SEC that its token sales to "non-U.S. persons" were not believed to be an issuance of securities subject to SEC oversight. In the same SEC filing, it disclosed President Trump as a WLFI "promoter," but curiously claimed he was not actually a promoter for federal Securities Act purposes. Under the CLARITY Act, WLFI could enjoy lighter regulation by the CFTC as a digital commodities platform—or, it could be "subject to almost no federal oversight" as a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform run on automatic protocols, according to Wall Street watchdog Americans for Financial Reform.</li><li>Just weeks after the $TRUMP and $MELANIA meme coins launched, the Trump SEC stated that meme coins are not subject to federal securities law, with one dissenting SEC commissioner calling the guidance "a roadmap for crypto enterprises looking to evade oversight by labeling themselves as a meme coin." Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, said the SEC was shortchanging average retail investors while helping "the president's bottom line." The CLARITY Act would likely shield Trump's meme coins even further from SEC oversight.</li></ul><p>A coalition of over 80 groups—including Accountable.US, Americans for Financial Reform, and Demand Progress—<a href="https://ourfinancialsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/FINAL-Coalition-Letter-Opposing-Clarity-Act-7-15-25.pdf" target="_blank">wrote</a> to Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday that the CLARITY Act "creates loopholes or confusing legal questions that crypto and non-crypto firms will exploit in order to evade existing regulatory standards, causing more damage."</p><p>"The legislation gives the shady practices and endemic fraud in the crypto industry a government imprimatur without adequate guardrails to protect investors and the financial system and unleashes and rewards the administration's crypto corruption," the coalition warned, urging members of the chamber to vote against the bil.</p><p>Meanwhile, the GENIUS Act would let banks and private entities issue stablecoins—which are pegged to the value of existing assets such as the U.S. dollar—with "light oversight" and could "enable corruption, screw over taxpayers, and potentially destabilize the economy," warns Accountable's new report.</p><p>The publication points out that the Trump family's WLFI has launched its own "USD1" stablecoin, which was used in a $2 billion transaction between MGX, a fund backed by the United Arab Emirates, and the crypto exchange Binance, "just weeks before the Trump administration dropped a securities case" against Binance and its founder,  Changpeng Zhao.</p><p>WLFI also <a href="https://x.com/worldlibertyfi/status/1945590075498123474" target="_blank">announced</a> on social media Wednesday that investors in its token voted to make the crypto tradable on public exchanges. <em>Sludge</em> <a href="https://readsludge.com/2025/07/17/trumps-wlfi-project-unlocks-trading-paving-the-way-for-family-profits/" target="_blank">reported</a> that "the decision could boost the token's price and directly benefit President Trump and his family, who hold billions of the tokens and have already reaped hundreds of millions from its early sales."</p><p>Warren, the report notes, has warned that the GENIUS Act would "create a superhighway for Donald Trump's corruption."</p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreiebusfic3km7ku2tzg2gaalrtgz3ymz6lbipvn6atygb5kg36bp64" data-bluesky-embed-color-mode="system" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:pbaeb3lf5jasu56lhxfqqsma/app.bsky.feed.post/3lu6ehcj6te2v">They’re calling it the GENIUS Act—but @repmaxinewaters.bsky.social isn’t buying it.She lays it out: Trump’s billionaire donors get richer, 17 million Americans lose health care, and now Congress wants to bless digital money that benefits his inner circle.<br/><br/><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:pbaeb3lf5jasu56lhxfqqsma/post/3lu6ehcj6te2v?ref_src=embed">[image or embed]</a><br/>— Accountable.US (<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:pbaeb3lf5jasu56lhxfqqsma?ref_src=embed">@accountable.us</a>) <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:pbaeb3lf5jasu56lhxfqqsma/post/3lu6ehcj6te2v?ref_src=embed">July 17, 2025 at 12:35 PM</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js"></script></div><p>After a handful of hard-line Republicans tanked a procedural vote on the crypto package Tuesday, Trump hosted a meeting at the White House and later <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114860136006223294" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">announced</a> a deal had been reached to pass the legislation. <br/></p><p>However, when Wednesday came, "committee chairs pushed back at hard-liners' demands to attach a central bank digital currency ban" to the CLARITY Act, <em>Politico</em> <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/07/17/congress/more-biden-aides-to-testify-to-house-oversight-00459582" target="_blank">reported</a>. "The impasse kept the House rule vote open for <em>nine hours</em> until GOP leaders finally cut a late-night deal to include a CBDC ban in the National Defense Authorization Act."</p><p>Now, Johnson has to juggle the defense and crypto legislation with a Trump rescission package that Senate Republicans <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/senate-rescissions-bill" target="_blank">passed</a> overnight. As <em>Politico</em> put it: "If something's got to give, watch to see whether all three cryptocurrency bills end up getting a vote this week as planned. One possibility under discussion is passing only the Senate-approved stablecoin bill, which Trump wants to sign as soon as possible, and punting the other votes."</p><p>Congressional Democrats are divided on the GOP package, and leadership is not whipping for or against it. <em>Politico</em> <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/07/14/congress/house-dems-crypto-bills-waters-clark-french-hill-00451763" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">obtained</a> a Monday notice from the office of House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) that, according to the outlet, "sharply criticized both a crypto market structure bill and a Senate stablecoin measure that the lower chamber is slated to vote on, but did not tell members how to vote."</p><p>Reps. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), Don Davis (D-N.C.), and Ritchie Torres (D-NY) are original co-sponsors of the CLARITY Act. Craig still wants Democrats to support the legislation, <em>Semafor</em> <a href="https://www.semafor.com/article/07/15/2025/house-democrats-whip-against-each-other-on-crypto-bill" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reported</a> Tuesday, and both Davis and Torres joined Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) in a Monday <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/07/14/congress/trio-of-house-dems-press-colleagues-to-support-gop-led-crypto-bill-00452381" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">letter</a> urging their Democratic colleagues to vote for it, arguing that "although this bill is not without its shortcomings and may still be improved, inaction is not a viable option."</p><p><em>More Perfect Union</em> on Tuesday <a href="https://substack.perfectunion.us/p/after-receiving-millions-in-crypto" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">published</a> a report detailing how Davis, Torres, and Gottheimer have collectively taken millions from cryptocurrency industry executives and political groups. Responding to the findings on social media, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) <a href="https://x.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1945517972342084079" target="_blank">said</a> that "it's a terrible bill that basically endorses Trump's massive crypto corruption scheme. Democrats will regret voting for it."</p><p>It's not just Trump and his family who could benefit from the bills. A separate <em>Washington Post</em> analysis <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2025/trump-officials-cryptocurrency-holdings-bitcoin/" target="_blank">published</a> Thursday found that "nearly 70 Trump administration officials and nominees held cryptocurrency or investments in blockchain or digital-asset companies at the time of their selection, with stakes ranging from small to more than $120 million."<br/></p>]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2025 17:26:07 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-crypto-bill</guid><category>Accountable.us</category><category>Americans for financial reform</category><category>Clarity act</category><category>Donald trump</category><category>Genius act</category><category>Mike johnson</category><category>Trump media &amp; technology group</category><category>Us house of representatives</category><category>Cryptocurrency</category><dc:creator>Jessica Corbett</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/america-is-not-for-sale-rally-against-trump-s-crypto-dealings.jpg?id=61235249&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Sanders Proposes 'Pensions for All' as Trump Aims to Open 401(k)s to Private Equity Vultures</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/sanders-pensions-for-all</link><description><![CDATA[
  51. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/sen-bernie-sanders.jpg?id=61240389&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C180%2C0%2C162"/><br/><br/><p>U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced legislation Thursday aimed at addressing the nation's retirement security crisis as President Donald Trump reportedly prepared an executive order that would give private equity vultures easier access to the 401(k) plans that have <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/what-s-the-difference-between-pension-and-401k-and-why-are-companies-moving-away-from-pensions-11707094" target="_blank">overtaken</a> traditional pensions.</p><p>Sanders' (I-Vt.) <a href="https://www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Pensions-for-All_-FINAL-07142025.pdf" target="_blank">Pensions for All Act</a> would require big corporations to either provide their workers with a pension plan that is at least as generous as the one enjoyed by members of Congress or "pay into the federal retirement system at a level that ensures all of their workers receive the same amount of retirement benefits" as lawmakers.</p><p>The senator characterized the new bill as a supplement to his <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/republicans-block-social-security-increase" target="_blank">proposal to expand Social Security benefits</a>.</p><p>"We can no longer tolerate a rigged retirement system that allows the CEOs of large corporations to receive massive golden parachutes for themselves, while denying workers a pension after a lifetime of work," Sanders said in a statement. "If we are serious about addressing the retirement crisis in America, corporations must be required to offer all of their workers a traditional pension plan that guarantees a monthly income in retirement."</p><p>"And if corporations refuse to offer a decent retirement plan, their workers must be allowed to receive the same type of pension that every member of Congress receives," the senator added. "If we can guarantee a defined-benefit pension plan for members of Congress, we can and we must provide that same level of retirement security to every worker in America."</p><p class="pull-quote">"Every member of Congress has a guaranteed pension—for life. If it's good enough for them, it's good enough for the people who build this country."</p><p>Sanders introduced his bill after <em>The Wall Street Journal</em> <a href="https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/trump-executive-order-to-help-open-up-401-k-s-to-private-markets-c90c6788" target="_blank">reported</a> that Trump is expected to sign an executive order in the coming days "designed to help make private-market investments more available to U.S. retirement plans"—a move that one critic called "a dangerous scheme to fleece savers."</p><p>"The retirement system is supposed to serve workers, not Wall Street," <a href="https://ourfinancialsecurity.org/2025/07/blog-wall-street-wants-your-retirement-savings/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">wrote</a> Oscar Valdés Viera, a policy analyst with the advocacy group Americans for Financial Reform. "We need policies that strengthen retirement security and allow people to retire with dignity—not policies that invite hidden fees, reduced transparency, and elevated risk. Allowing predatory private equity and private credit funds to infiltrate 401(k)s would result in a massive transfer of wealth from small investors and workers to the richest men on Wall Street."</p><p>Supporters of Sanders' legislation similarly argued for retirement system reforms that benefit workers, not Wall Street and corporate executives. </p><p>Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers—which has pushed the so-called Big Three automakers to <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/uaw-president-vows-to-reinstate-fight-for-pensions-health-care" target="_blank">restore traditional pension plans</a>—said Thursday that "the billionaire class gutted pensions in pursuit of profit, and Washington let it happen."</p><p>"CEOs walk away with golden parachutes while working people walk into retirement with nothing," said Fain. "Meanwhile, every member of Congress has a guaranteed pension—for life. If it's good enough for them, it's good enough for the people who build this country. The retirement crisis is real, and it's time for Congress to act."</p><p>In a <a href="https://www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Pensions-For-All-Summary.pdf" target="_blank">summary</a> of the new legislation, Sanders' office observed that just 9% of private-sector workers in the U.S. currently have access to traditional defined-benefit pension plans—down from 44% in 1975.</p><p>"The results for workers have been tragic," Sanders' team continued, noting that "in our country today, nearly half of older workers between the ages of 55 and 64 have no savings at all and no idea how they will be able to retire with any shred of dignity or respect."</p><p>"If Congress can provide over $1 trillion in tax breaks for the top 1% and over $900 billion in tax breaks for large corporations," Sanders said Thursday, "please do not tell me that we cannot afford to make sure that every worker in America can retire with the dignity and the respect they deserve."</p>]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2025 17:00:35 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/sanders-pensions-for-all</guid><category>401(k)</category><category>Bernie sanders</category><category>Pensions</category><category>Private equity</category><category>Seniors</category><category>Social security</category><category>Wall street</category><category>Retirement</category><dc:creator>Jake Johnson</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/sen-bernie-sanders.jpg?id=61240389&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>'Good Trouble Lives On' at Anti-Trump Protests in 1,600 Cities Across US</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/john-lewis-good-trouble-quote</link><description><![CDATA[
  52. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/a-map-shows-cities-and-towns-across-the-united-states-where-organizers-are-planning-good-trouble-lives-on-events.png?id=61238808&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C227%2C0%2C320"/><br/><br/><p>As the Trump administration attacks immigrant communities, working families, and the rule of law and brings the United States "to a crossroads," as one organizer said this week, rights advocates across the country are set to attend the fifth annual National Day of Action in honor of the late congressman and activist John Lewis on Thursday—with plans to get into "Good Trouble" in defense of democracy. </p><p>This year's event, held on the fifth anniversary of the Georgia Democrat's death, is titled the Good Trouble Lives On National Day of Action, after a demand from Lewis—who worked alongside civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s—for Americans to get into "good trouble" by taking part in nonviolent protests to challenge in justice. </p><p>"Find a way to get in the way," Lewis said in 2020  said in 2020, just a few months before his death, at an event marking the 55th anniversary of the historic voting rights march in Selma, Alabama, where he was arrested in 1965. "Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America." <br/></p><blockquote class="rm-embed twitter-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1945846215830106507">
  53. <div style="margin:1em 0"></div> —  (@)
  54.        <a href="https://twitter.com/civilrightsorg/status/1945846215830106507"></a>
  55. </blockquote>
  56. <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script> <p>Lewis made his celebrated remarks in the final year of President Donald Trump's first term in office, and organizers this year are rallying around the growing nationwide opposition to Trump's anti-immigration, pro-billionaire agenda to encourage Americans to attend rallies and other events in every state in the country.</p><p>A flagship event will be held in Chicago Thursday evening, with a livestream of the rally set to begin at 7:00 pm local time. Other anchor events will take place in Atlanta; St. Louis; Annapolis, Maryland; and Oakland, California—but those are just a few of the 1,600 cities and towns where advocates plan to hold rallies and other nonviolent actions. </p><p>Good Trouble Lives On actions are being held in the wake of Senate Republicans' latest attack on programs that serve ordinary Americans and people around the world: the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/senate-rescissions-bill" target="_blank">passage</a> of a bill to rescind $9 billion in already-approved congressional funding for public media and foreign aid programs. </p><p>As <em>Common Dreams</em> <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-state-voter-datta" target="_blank">reported</a> Wednesday, the administration has also sparked alarm over voting rights and a potential plan to interfere with elections in 2026 by embarking on an "unprecedented effort to collect data on voters."</p><p>Trump's attacks on immigrants across the country are also continuing in full force, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents make <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/ice-courthouse-arrests" target="_blank">arrests</a> at courthouses and carry out raids at <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/farmworker-dies-after-ice-raid" target="_blank">farms</a>, <a href="https://www.opb.org/article/2025/07/16/ice-immigration-enforcement-arrests-father-outside-kid-beaverton-guidepost-montessori-preschool/" target="_blank">schools</a>, <a href="https://nurse.org/news/ice-immigration-agents-detain-surgery-center/" target="_blank">medical facilities</a>, and <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/worcester-ice" target="_blank">residential communities</a>. Despite earlier claims that the administration would target violent criminals in its mass deportation and detention operation, arrests of immigrants with no criminal record have <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/07/17/trump-ice-raids-arrests-immigration" target="_blank">surged</a>—with the administration <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/inmates-sue-alligator-alcatraz" target="_blank">refusing</a> to adhere to constitutional law guaranteeing due process for everyone in the United States.  </p><p>"They want to rule by fear," <a href="https://x.com/onefairwage/status/1945500741398901027" target="_blank">said</a> One Fair Wage, an advocacy group for service workers, ahead of the protests on Thursday. "We will respond with power, people, and purpose. We are not spectators to history. We are the makers of it."</p><p>Organizers <a href="https://goodtroubleliveson.org/#about" target="_blank">said</a> the "streets, courthouses, and community spaces" where the Trump administration has waged its attacks will be the sites of the protests.  </p><p>The day of action also follows the passage earlier this month of Trump's massive domestic policy package, which includes permanent tax cuts for wealthy Americans and corporations—at the expense of low- and middle-income households. The package includes cuts to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/medicaid-cuts-pentagon-budget" target="_blank">Medicaid</a> and the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/food-banks-republican-snap-cuts" target="_blank">Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program</a>, a $45 billion expansion of immigration detention facilities, and a termination of green energy programs, among other provisions. </p><p>"The attacks on our communities, the assault on the rule of law and democracy, and the greedy acts of corporations and billionaires have led us to a crossroads," <a href="https://x.com/Public_Citizen/status/1945591838741532846" target="_blank">said</a> Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. "And as a result, we are asking people around the country this Thursday to make good trouble."</p>]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2025 15:50:19 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/john-lewis-good-trouble-quote</guid><category>Civil disobedience</category><category>Donald trump</category><category>John lewis</category><category>Public citizen</category><category>Protests</category><dc:creator>Julia Conley</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/png" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/a-map-shows-cities-and-towns-across-the-united-states-where-organizers-are-planning-good-trouble-lives-on-events.png?id=61238808&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>'Congress Must Reject This Attack': GOP Bill Would Revoke Charter of Largest US Teachers Union</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/national-education-association-charter</link><description><![CDATA[
  57. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/national-education-association-president-becky-pringle.jpg?id=61238884&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C101%2C0%2C241"/><br/><br/><p>A group of congressional Republicans introduced legislation Wednesday that would revoke the federal charter of the National Education Association, the largest teachers union in the United States and an organization that has mobilized against the Trump administration's far-right agenda—which includes an ongoing effort to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/department-of-education-trump" target="_blank">dismantle the Department of Education</a>.</p><p>The bill, titled the National Education Association Charter Repeal Act, was <a href="https://markharris.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-harris-and-sen-blackburn-lead-fight-repeal-nea-congressional-charter" target="_blank">introduced</a> in the U.S. House by Rep. Mark Harris (R-N.C.) and in the Senate by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.). </p><p>The GOP lawmakers pointed specifically to the union's recent <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/israel-schools" target="_blank">decision to cut ties</a> with the Anti-Defamation League and the NEA representative assembly's adoption earlier this month of a <a href="https://www.nea.org/sites/default/files/2025-07/20250706-ratoday-issue-5.pdf" target="_blank">pledge</a> to "defend democracy against [President Donald] Trump's embrace of fascism." </p><p>Blackburn, a supporter of privatized charter schools who has <a href="https://newschannel9.com/news/local/tenn-educators-lawmakers-divided-on-eliminating-department-of-education" target="_blank">endorsed</a> Trump's effort to eliminate the Education Department, accused the NEA of embracing "radical left policies and antisemitism." Harris declared that "it's time to remove Congress' seal of approval from this rogue organization."</p><p>Becky Pringle, the union's president, hit back at Blackburn, Harris, and other supporters of the legislation, saying in a <a href="https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/gop-renews-push-to-revoke-federal-charter-for-nations-largest-teachers-union/2025/07" target="_blank">statement</a> that "rather than supporting students and educators, some anti-public education politicians are now introducing legislation to repeal the National Education Association charter because the billionaires that fund their campaigns don't want educators to have a voice."</p><p>"Let me be clear—public school educators will never stop advocating for our students and communities, and the National Education Association will never stop lifting up the voice of those educators who dedicate their lives to the success of all of our students," said Pringle.</p><p class="pull-quote">"Some in Congress want to destroy them because they don't like what the NEA says and does."</p><p>The NEA, which currently has around 3 million members across the U.S., was <a href="https://law.justia.com/codes/us/1994/title36/chap85/sec5302" target="_blank">chartered</a> by Congress in 1906 to "promote the cause of education in the United States" and "elevate the character and advance the interests of the profession of teaching." The organization was originally founded in 1857.</p><p>Republican lawmakers have been working for years to strip the NEA of its federal charter to <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/4595/text" target="_blank">express disapproval</a> of the organization's support for progressive causes.</p><p><em>Education Week</em> <a href="https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/gop-renews-push-to-revoke-federal-charter-for-nations-largest-teachers-union/2025/07" target="_blank">noted</a> that the legislation introduced Wednesday "echoes the Heritage Foundation's conservative <a href="https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/gop-renews-push-to-revoke-federal-charter-for-nations-largest-teachers-union/2025/Project%202025" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Project 2025 plan</a> that has guided much of the Trump administration's education policy, and it could find more traction in the current GOP-controlled Congress."</p><p>The outlet observed that the the anti-union Freedom Foundation, which <a href="https://www.freedomfoundation.com/labor/freedom-foundation-applauds-blackburn-harris-bill-to-repeal-nea-charter/" target="_blank">supports</a> the GOP legislation, has called on Congress "to, among other things, bar the NEA from traditional labor union activities such as engaging in electoral politics, lobbying, or collecting dues, and require it to 'actively intervene to prevent any strikes or work stoppages by its affiliates.'"</p><p>"Revoking the NEA's charter would not, on its own, do any of those things," <em>Education Week</em> reported. "But Aaron Withe, chief executive officer of the Freedom Foundation, suggested that additional legislation would be introduced next week, 'whether that be removing [the NEA charter] entirely, or stripping it, or changing how it operates.'"</p><p>Maya Wiley, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said in a <a href="https://civilrights.org/2025/07/16/civil-rights-coalition-condemns-efforts-to-revoke-charter-of-national-education-association/#" target="_blank">statement</a> Wednesday that the NEA is "one of the most powerful voices for public education" and warned that "some in Congress want to destroy them because they don't like what the NEA says and does."</p><p>"This administration is trying to end the Department of Education and silence opposition, and it is attacking labor unions, law firms, news outlets, colleges and universities, philanthropy, and many of our members. We will not be silent," said Wiley. "Congress must reject this attack on the NEA and defend the constitutional principles that guarantee all Americans the right to organize, advocate, and petition government."</p>]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2025 15:15:54 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/national-education-association-charter</guid><category>Education</category><category>Marsha blackburn</category><category>Republican party</category><category>Teachers</category><category>Us department of education</category><category>National education association</category><dc:creator>Jake Johnson</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/national-education-association-president-becky-pringle.jpg?id=61238884&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>'Deadly Shadow Prison': Inmates, ACLU Sue Trump Admin for Denying Due Process at 'Alligator Alcatraz'</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/inmates-sue-alligator-alcatraz</link><description><![CDATA[
  58. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/us-politics-immigration-trump.jpg?id=61238849&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C177%2C0%2C165"/><br/><br/><p>Detainees at "Alligator Alcatraz" are suing the Trump administration for subjecting them to inhumane conditions at the prison without due process.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/groups-sue-trump-administration-over-lack-of-access-to-counsel-for-people-held-at-floridas-notorious-everglades-immigration-detention-center" target="_blank">class action suit</a>, brought Wednesday with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other immigrant rights groups, challenges the government's refusal to let detainees speak with lawyers and file legal documents needed to petition for their release.</p><p>Inmates in the Everglades detention facility have <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/alligator-alcatraz-human-rights" target="_blank">detailed</a> horrific conditions, including crushing heat, incessant mosquito presence, tainted food, cramped conditions, and a lack of access to water and basic sanitation.</p><p>After visiting the detention center over the weekend, some Democratic lawmakers described it as an <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/alligator-alcatraz-lawmakers-visit" target="_blank">"internment camp,"</a> where as many as 32 inmates apiece were crammed into small cages beneath a single tent.</p><p><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/alligator-alcatraz-lawmakers-visit" target="_blank"></a> The majority of the roughly 1,000 people detained there, according to the <em>Miami Herald</em> and <em>Tampa Bay Times</em>, have not been convicted of criminal offenses, while over a third have not even been charged.</p><p>"This facility opens another dark chapter in our nation's history. Its very existence is predicated on our country's basest impulses and shows the danger of unchecked governmental authority when combined with unbridled hate. It represents an attack on common decency, and in this case, its treatment of detained people is also unlawful," said Eunice Cho, senior counsel with the ACLU's National Prison Project and the lead attorney in the case.</p><p>According to the complaint, multiple attorneys have arrived at the detention center to meet with their clients, only to be turned away by armed police and members of the Florida National Guard. The attorneys were later told no in-person meetings would be allowed. They have additionally been given no information about how to communicate with their clients over the phone or virtually.</p><p>"The U.S. Constitution does not allow the government to simply lock people away without any ability to communicate with counsel or to petition the court for release from custody. The government may not trample on these most fundamental protections for people held in its custody," Cho said.</p><p>The plaintiffs argue this violates the First and Fifth Amendment rights of those being detained, as well as the First Amendment rights of the attorneys.</p><p>"What's happening here is not just a policy failure, it's a moral one," said Bacardi Jackson, executive director of the ACLU of Florida. "The state has hastily erected a costly and deadly shadow prison in the middle of the Everglades during hurricane season to warehouse human beings—stripping them of due process and dignity, cutting them off from their families and legal counsel, intentionally putting their lives in danger, and leaving them to suffer in silence. This is how rights are erased."</p><p>The Trump administration is <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/197899/james-uthmeier-florida-alligator-alcatraz-maga-dark-future" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">seeking to replicate</a> "Alligator Alcatraz" all around the country. As <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/197899/james-uthmeier-florida-alligator-alcatraz-maga-dark-future" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>The New Republic </em></a>reports, the budget megabill signed by the president earlier this month contains $3.5 billion for "eligible states" to use for the "temporary detention of aliens."</p><p>In a <em>Fox News</em> interview earlier this month, Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump's "mass deportation" crusade, called on Republican governors to use this fund to build their own immigrant detention camps.</p><p>"We want every governor of a red state, and if you are watching tonight: Pick up the phone, call [the Department of Homeland Security], work with us to build facilities in your state," Miller said.</p><p>"No amount of armed guards or government spin can shield this facility from legal scrutiny," Jackson said Wednesday. "We will use every tool at our disposal to end this cruel experiment and defend the rights of every person trapped inside of this unconstitutional abomination."</p>]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2025 14:54:38 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/inmates-sue-alligator-alcatraz</guid><category>American civil liberties union</category><category>Department of homeland security</category><category>Due process</category><category>Fifth amendment</category><category>First amendment</category><category>Florida</category><category>Immigration detention</category><category>Trump administration</category><category>Alligator alcatraz</category><dc:creator>Stephen Prager</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/us-politics-immigration-trump.jpg?id=61238849&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Doing Trump's Bidding, Senate GOP Votes to Gut Public Media, Foreign Aid in Dead of Night</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/senate-rescissions-bill</link><description><![CDATA[
  59. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/office-of-management-and-budget-director-russell-vought.jpg?id=61237577&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C47%2C0%2C295"/><br/><br/><p>In the early hours of Thursday morning, Senate Republicans passed legislation that would claw back $9 billion in previously approved congressional funding for public broadcasting and foreign aid programs targeted by President Donald Trump's White House.</p><p>The final vote count was <a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1191/vote_119_1_00411.htm" target="_blank">51 to 48</a>, with Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) joining Democrats in opposing the package, which now heads back to the GOP-controlled House for final passage. The legislation would cement some of the Trump administration's lawless, unilateral attacks on programs approved by Congress with bipartisan support.</p><p>"At 2 am, Republicans just passed a bill to defund public broadcasting and lifesaving aid because Trump told them to—they wouldn't even protect rural radio or emergency alerts," said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, warning that the GOP's partisan clawback of funding <a href="https://www.citizen.org/news/reporter-memo-congressional-republicans-introduce-shutdown-threat-with-rescissions-vote/" target="_blank">imperils all future spending negotiations</a>.</p><p>"Congress should decide what we spend and what we cut—not Trump and not Russ Vought," Murray added, referring to the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). </p><p>In a floor speech ahead of the Thursday morning vote, Murray said Vought refused to be specific about which programs would be cut if the rescissions bill passes.</p><p>"It's one of the great outrages of this package," said Murray. "At our hearing with him, he refused to go into detail. He stonewalled us. We asked and we asked. The chair, the Republican chair, even asked him about this. But OMB would not tell us. The question is: What will you cut? The answer has been: Pass it, we'll see."</p><p class="pull-quote">"The thing that's particularly dangerous about it is that this is probably a test case. If they pull it off with these topics, they'll move on to more and more and more topics."</p><p>The White House rescissions request was broadly outlined in a May <a href="https://d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/static/2025/06/Proposed-Rescissions-of-Budgetary-Resources.pdf" target="_blank">memo</a> authored by Vought, an architect of the far-right Project 2025 agenda.</p><p>The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps fund <em>PBS</em> and <em>NPR</em>, is expected to face over $1 billion in cuts, while the rest of the rescissions package targets foreign assistance. </p><p>"With this vote, Senate Republicans are telling us everything we need to know about their priorities," said Alex Jacquez, the Groundwork Collaborative's chief of policy and advocacy. "After passing a tax law that gives a massive giveaway to billionaires and raises costs on working families, Senate Republicans are now codifying DOGE's deeply unpopular and reckless cuts to vital programs. Once again, Republicans are failing to deliver on the one thing they promised: lower prices. Instead, they're waging a campaign that will make life more expensive and difficult for working families while lining the pockets of the wealthy."</p><p>During the marathon amendment process, Republicans <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/07/16/congress/senate-rescissions-amendments-fail-00457137" target="_blank">rejected</a> Democratic proposals to shield public safety alerts and prevent cuts to international disaster relief programs.</p><p>Vought has <a href="https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/news/minority/vought-refuses-to-rule-out-more-illegal-end-runs-around-congress-and-refuses-to-detail-how-trump-will-execute-cuts-if-rescissions-bill-passesmurray-urges-congress-to-reject-package-in-its-entirety" target="_blank">signaled</a> that the White House will likely submit more rescissions requests if the $9 billion in cuts make it through Congress.</p><p> Kate Riley, the president and CEO of America's Public Television Stations, said in a <a href="https://apts.org/news/press-releases/local-public-television-stations-risk-of-closing-after-us-senate-votes-rescind-essential-funding" target="_blank">statement</a> following the Senate vote that the rescissions bill would "eliminate federal funding to the local public television stations throughout this country that provide essential lifesaving public safety services, proven educational services, and community connections to their communities every day for free."</p><p>"This elimination of federal funding will decimate public media and put local stations at risk of going dark, cutting off service to communities that rely on them—many of which have no other access to locally controlled media," Riley warned.</p><p>Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/whitehouse.senate.gov/post/3lu4vbxsdps27" target="_blank">accused</a> Republicans of weaponizing the rescissions process to attack "some of their favorite enemies, like National Public Radio, Elmo, or food for starving people overseas."</p><p>"The thing that's particularly dangerous about it is that this is probably a test case," Whitehouse added. "If they pull it off with these topics, they'll move on to more and more and more topics, bringing their Musk-type chainsaw to projects which Congress has approved on a bipartisan basis, put into law, and funded."</p>]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2025 11:04:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/senate-rescissions-bill</guid><category>Donald trump</category><category>Foreign aid</category><category>Npr</category><category>Pbs</category><category>Public media</category><category>Republican party</category><category>Russell vought</category><category>Us senate</category><category>Rescissions</category><dc:creator>Jake Johnson</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/office-of-management-and-budget-director-russell-vought.jpg?id=61237577&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Class Action Suit Aims to End 'Unlawful' ICE Arrests at Immigration Courthouses</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/ice-courthouse-arrests</link><description><![CDATA[
  60. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/minnesota-group-protests-ice-arrests-outside-federal-building.jpg?id=61236829&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C128%2C0%2C193"/><br/><br/><p>A dozen immigrants and their legal advocates on Wednesday launched a class action lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's campaign of courthouse arrests "designed to strip noncitizens of their rights" and expedite deportations.</p><p>"We are witnessing an authoritarian takeover of the U.S. immigration court system by the Trump administration," said Keren Zwick, director of litigation at the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), one of the groups behind the new suit. "People who attend their hearings to seek permission to remain in this country and comply with U.S. immigration law are being rounded up and abruptly ripped from their families, homes, and livelihoods."</p><p>"Meanwhile, the administration is issuing directives telling immigration judges to violate those same immigration laws and strip people of fundamental due process rights," Zwick added. "We must continue fighting to overcome the administration's escalating attacks on the U.S. Constitution and rule of law."</p><p>The suit—filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by NIJC, Democracy Forward, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area (LCCRSF), and Refugee and Immigrant Center for Legal Education and Services (RAICES)—aims to end the "unlawful" arrests and strike down related guidance from the administration. </p><p>"For years, both the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) had policies limiting civil immigration-related arrests in immigration courts," explains the <a href="https://democracyforward.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/I-ARC-v.-DOJ-Complaint-07.16.2025-1.pdf" target="_blank">complaint</a>, filed on behalf of 12 people identified by their initials as well as the groups American Gateways and Immigrant Advocates Response Collaborative (ARC).</p><p>"These policies were rooted in the commonsense recognition that such arrests hamper the fair administration of the immigration process and create a palpable fear that disincentivizes people from appearing for their hearings," the complaint explains. "But in the first few days of the Trump administration, defendants repealed those policies, exposing individuals who properly appear for their hearings, including to seek asylum and other relief, to the imminent threat of arrest and indefinite detention."</p><p>Defendants include DHS, DOJ, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Executive Office for Immigration Review, and leaders in the administration who have been working to deliver on President Donald Trump's promise of mass deportations. </p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreiccmtfpvgqza6qzrtghcxa6wefarfutmwqeterrn5r24gey67an3y" data-bluesky-embed-color-mode="system" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:cdktudgm3hv2zthwh2n5v2ps/app.bsky.feed.post/3lu4g6glx3c2c">@skyeperryman.bsky.social of @democracyforward.org said the Trump administration is ‘weaponizing’ immigration courts and chilling participation in the legal process.”apnews.com/article/immi...<br/><br/><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:cdktudgm3hv2zthwh2n5v2ps/post/3lu4g6glx3c2c?ref_src=embed">[image or embed]</a><br/>— Melissa Schwartz (<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:cdktudgm3hv2zthwh2n5v2ps?ref_src=embed">@mschwartz3.bsky.social</a>) <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:cdktudgm3hv2zthwh2n5v2ps/post/3lu4g6glx3c2c?ref_src=embed">July 16, 2025 at 6:01 PM</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js"></script></div><p>"The egregious and unprecedented coordination amongst government agencies that we are witnessing not only inflicts irreparable harm upon infants and adults alike for seeking refuge in the U.S., but also establishes a chilling precedent in which law and order are abandoned in favor of stoking widespread panic and fear—leaving the entire American public at risk, regardless of immigration status," warned Faisal Al-Juburi, chief external affairs officer at RAICES.</p><p>Jordan Wells, senior staff Attorney at LCCRSF, declared that "these directives forsake any notion of immigration courts as a neutral forum, weaponizing them into a trap for immigrants who show up in reliance on the American promise of a fair process before a judge, only to be met instead with handcuffs and shunted into a fast-track deportation process controlled by ICE agents."</p><p>Priyanka Gandhi-Abriano, interim CEO for Immigrant ARC, said that "our friends, neighbors, and families are told to 'do it the right way'—to follow the legal process. They're doing just that—showing up to court, complying with the law. Despite this, they're being arrested and detained."</p><p>"This isn't justice," Gandhi-Abriano stressed. "It's a deliberate attempt to intimidate and disappear people before they can be heard. We're defending the integrity of the legal system, protecting every person's right to due process, and holding the Trump administration accountable for their deeply harmful practices aimed at the most vulnerable communities."</p><p>The filing follows a Friday <a href="https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/DURBIN,%20KELLY,%20PADILLA,%20SENATE%20DEMOCRATS%20PRESS%20TRUMP%20ADMINISTRATION%20ON%20WEAPONIZING%20IMMIGRATION%20COURT%20HEARINGS%20TO%20TRAP,%20ARREST,%20DEPORT%20IMMIGRANTS.pdf" target="_blank">letter</a> to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons—all defendants in the new case—in which two dozen U.S. Senate Democrats wrote that "we are extremely concerned by reports of a recent initiative to arrest and detain noncitizens at their immigration court hearings, and in many cases, dismiss their immigration cases without advance notice and while hiding the government's intent to arrest them."</p><p>"This manipulation of existing laws to enact this administration's mass deportation agenda is creating chaos in our immigration system while doing nothing to make our communities safer," asserted the lawmakers, led by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.). They also demanded answers to a list of related questions by July 25.</p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 16 Jul 2025 23:17:18 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/ice-courthouse-arrests</guid><category>Democracy forward</category><category>Donald trump</category><category>Mass deportations</category><category>Us department of homeland security</category><category>Us department of justice</category><category>Us immigration and customs enforcement</category><category>Immigration</category><dc:creator>Jessica Corbett</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/minnesota-group-protests-ice-arrests-outside-federal-building.jpg?id=61236829&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>'No State Is Above the Law': Hague Group Issues Plan to Counter Israeli Genocide in Gaza</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/hague-group-action-plan</link><description><![CDATA[
  61. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/colombia-palestinian-hague-group-human-rights.jpg?id=61236605&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C192%2C0%2C178"/><br/><br/><p>The Hague Group—a coalition of Global South nations launched earlier this year by Progressive International to hold Israel legally accountable for its annihilation of Gaza—on Wednesday released a joint action plan aimed at bringing an end to the 21-month U.S.-backed genocidal assault on the Palestinian enclave.</p><p>On the second and final day of an <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/hague-group-summit-colombia" target="_blank">emergency summit</a> in Bogotá, Colombia—which co-chairs the Hague Group with South Africa—the coalition <a href="https://thehaguegroup.org/meetings-bogota-en/" target="_blank">announced</a> a <a href="https://cloud.progressive.international/s/FfyxrbGwnsPwE8e#pdfviewer" target="_blank">six-point plan</a> for "coordinated diplomatic, legal, and economic measures to restrain Israel's assault on the occupied Palestinian territories and defend international law at large."</p><p>Hague Group executive secretary <strong></strong>Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla said in a statement that "this conference marks a turning point—not just for Palestine, but for the future of the international system." <br/></p><p>"For decades, states—particularly in the Global South—have borne the cost of a broken international system," Gandikota-Nellutla added. "In Bogotá, they came together to reclaim it—not with words, but with actions."<br/></p><blockquote class="rm-embed twitter-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1945527115304087806">
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  65. <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><p>Twelve summit participants—Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Indonesia, Iraq, Libya, Malaysia, Namibia, Nicaragua, Oman, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and South Africa—committed to the following measures:</p><ul><li>Preventing the provision or transfer of arms, munitions, military fuel, related military equipment, and dual-use items to Israel;</li><li>Preventing the transit, docking, and servicing of ships at any port where there is a clear risk of the vessel being used to carry the aforementioned items to Israel;</li><li>Preventing the transportation of such items aboard vessels flagged in participating nations; </li><li>Launching an urgent review of all public contracts to prevent public institutions and funds from supporting Israel's <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/international-court-of-justice-israel-occupation" target="_blank">illegal occupation</a> of Palestine and entrenching its unlawful presence;</li><li>Complying with obligations to ensure accountability for the most serious Israeli crimes under international law; and</li><li>Supporting universal jurisdiction mandates in national legal frameworks and judiciaries to ensure justice for victims of international crimes committed in Palestine.</li></ul><p>"These 12 states have taken a momentous step forward," United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese, a prominent participant in the summit, said in a statement. "The clock is now ticking for states—from Europe to the Arab world and beyond—to join them."</p><p>Earlier this month, the Trump administration <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/rubio-sanctions-albanese" target="_blank">sanctioned</a> Albanese, who recently <a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/un-rapporteur-accuses-israel-of-one-of-cruelest-genocides-in-modern-history-urges-arms-embargo-global-disengagement/3620641" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">said</a> that "Israel is responsible for one of the cruelest genocides in modern history." The U.S. administration also <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/rubio-icc-sanctions" target="_blank">imposed sanctions</a> on judges from the International Criminal Court (ICC) after the tribunal <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/icc-arrest-warrant-netanyahu" target="_blank">issued arrest warrants</a> for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza, including murder and <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/gaza-starvation-israel-aid" target="_blank">forced starvation</a>.</p> <blockquote class="rm-embed twitter-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1945422685388911021">
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  67.        <a href="https://twitter.com/ryangrim/status/1945422685388911021"></a>
  68. </blockquote>
  69. <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><p>In addition to the 12 nations, delegates from Algeria, Bangladesh, Botswana, Brazil, Chile, China, Djibouti, Honduras, Ireland, Lebanon, Mexico, Norway, Pakistan, Palestine, Portugal, Qatar, Senegal, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, Uruguay, and Venezuela attended the Bogotá summit. </p><p>Many of the participating nations are supporting the ongoing genocide case against Israel <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/south-africa-icj" target="_blank">filed</a> in December 2023 by South Africa at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The ICJ has <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/watch-live-international-court-of-justice-delivers-ruling-in-israel-genocide-case" target="_blank">ordered</a> Israel to prevent genocidal acts and <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/new-icj-gaza-order" target="_blank">allow humanitarian aid</a> into Gaza. Israel has <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/israel-violating-icj-order" target="_blank">ignored</a> the orders. </p><p>"What we have achieved here is a collective affirmation that no state is above the law,<strong>" </strong><strong></strong>South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola<strong></strong> said Wednesday. "The Hague Group was born to advance international law in an era of impunity. The measures adopted in Bogotá show that we are serious—and that coordinated state action is possible."</p><p>Colombian President Gustavo Petro, whose government last year <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/colombia-israel-gaza" target="_blank">severed diplomatic relations</a> with Israel, said, "We came to Bogotá to make history—and we did."</p><p>"Together, we have begun the work of ending the era of impunity," he added. "These measures show that we will no longer allow international law to be treated as optional, or Palestinian life as disposable."</p><p>According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 58,386 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since October 2023—most of them women and children. Multiple peer-reviewed studies have <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/lancet-gaza-death-toll" target="_blank">concluded</a> that this figure is likely a vast undercount.</p><p>More than 139,000 Palestinians have been wounded, and at least 14,000 others are missing and presumed dead and buried beneath the rubble of bombed buildings. Most of Gaza's more than 2 million people have also been forcibly displaced, often multiple times, as Israel <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/israel-ethnic-cleansing-gaza" target="_blank">pursues</a> an official policy of ethnic cleansing under the guise of humanitarian relocation. </p><p>Ultimately, it is up to Israel to end its obliteration of Gaza. However, neither Israel—which claims it is acting in self-defense in response to the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023—nor its unconditional U.S. benefactor recognize the authority of the ICJ or ICC, and both nations vehemently deny that any genocide is occurring in Gaza, despite <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/israel-is-committing-genocide-in-gaza" target="_blank">growing international consensus</a>. </p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 16 Jul 2025 22:42:51 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/hague-group-action-plan</guid><category>Bogotá</category><category>Colombia</category><category>Francesca albanese</category><category>Genocide</category><category>Gustavo petro</category><category>International court of justice</category><category>International criminal court</category><category>International law</category><category>Israel</category><category>Palestine</category><category>Progressive international</category><category>South africa</category><category>The hague group</category><category>Trump administration</category><category>Gaza</category><dc:creator>Brett Wilkins</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/colombia-palestinian-hague-group-human-rights.jpg?id=61236605&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Labor-Backed Coalition Launches Working-Class Effort to Flip 35+ House Seats in 2026</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/battleground-alliance-labor-groups-2026</link><description><![CDATA[
  70. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/seiu-justice-journey-march-and-rally-new-orleans.jpg?id=61236619&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C51%2C0%2C291"/><br/><br/><p>A coalition of dozens of labor groups and other progressive activist organizations has launched a new $50 million initiative to flip the U.S. House of Representatives in 2026 with a coalition of working-class voters.</p><p>The political action committee, Battleground Alliance PAC, announced Wednesday that it will seek to flip at least 35 Republican-held districts for Democrats by mobilizing voters angry about the Trump administration's assault on the social safety net and authoritarian attacks on civil liberties.</p><p>The groups will target their efforts toward mobilizing voters who have been hit the hardest by the Republican agenda.</p><p>"These are parents who will lose healthcare for their kids, families struggling after [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] cuts, seniors not being able to afford their medication, people struggling with higher utility bills, and workers who've watched billionaires get tax breaks while their wages stay flat," the group said Wednesday. "They're not just participating, they're at the center of leading this effort to take back control and make their voices heard at the ballot box next November."</p><p style="cursor: default;" title="">The coalition is attempting to build upon the successes of <a href="https://www.battlegroundny.com/" target="_blank">Battleground New York</a>, which mobilized progressive voters in 2024 to flip back many seats lost to Republicans during the previous cycle. Amid the daily outrages of President Donald Trump's second term, they believe that success can be replicated nationally.</p><p>"People are angry for a reason," said Stephanie Porta, campaign manager for the Battleground Alliance. "They've seen their rights stripped, their wages stagnate, their bills skyrocket, their healthcare attacked—and they're done waiting. This isn't about the usual D.C. politics. This is about the majority of Americans saying: enough is enough."</p><p>Among the groups taking part in the alliance are the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Working Families Party, Planned Parenthood Votes, Indivisible, and MoveOn.</p><p>The announcement of Battleground Alliance came on the same day that the Congressional Progressive Caucus <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2026-us-house-elections" target="_blank">outlined its major priorities</a> for 2026 in a briefing to reporters.<br/></p><p>"Working people in America are getting screwed by corrupt politicians and big corporations that are driving costs up and keeping pay and benefits down," said the caucus's chair, Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas).</p><p>Casar and his colleagues introduced four "task forces" that "go directly at those big problems facing Americans: fighting corruption and corporate greed in order to lower costs and win better pay and benefits."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube"> <span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c9d6bee88b67306b5085e1ae47ebdb6b" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" lazy-loadable="true" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TTVUbAqSEkU?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span> </p><p>The Battleground Alliance is taking a similar approach, focusing on the material effects of the Trump agenda on working people.</p><p>"GOP members of Congress betrayed their constituents when they voted to kick 17 million Americans off their health care," said Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party. "Working people deserve leaders who will fight for them, not grovel at the feet of their billionaire donors. We're ready to organize in districts all across the country to kick out members of Congress who lied to their constituents and voted for this disastrous budget."</p><p>The group is planning to pour $1 million into the most competitive districts in the country, targeting Republicans who voted for Trump's massive budget legislation.</p><p>Some of the Republican targets it has already singled out include Rep. David Valadao, whose <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California%27s_22nd_congressional_district" target="_blank">district</a> in California's San Joaquin Valley is majority Latino and has one of the highest Medicaid enrollment rates in the country; and Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, whose Allentown, Pennsylvania <a href="https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2025/05/22/rep-mackenzie-votes-to-strip-300-billion-from-snap-federal-hunger-prevention-program/" target="_blank">district</a> now has 25,000 people at risk of losing food stamps as a result of the law.</p><p>"Working people are done watching politicians in Washington hand out favors to the wealthy while our communities struggle to afford care, housing, and food," said April Verrett, president of SEIU. "Through 2026 and beyond, we will continue to organize in places that they've tried to ignore because that's where real change begins."</p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 16 Jul 2025 21:38:37 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/battleground-alliance-labor-groups-2026</guid><category>Battleground alliance</category><category>Congressional progressive caucus</category><category>Greg casar</category><category>Labor</category><category>Medicaid</category><category>Planned parenthood</category><category>Progressives</category><category>Seiu</category><category>Supplemental nutrition assistance program</category><category>Working families party</category><category>Election 2026</category><dc:creator>Stephen Prager</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/seiu-justice-journey-march-and-rally-new-orleans.jpg?id=61236619&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>House Progressives Launch New Effort to Rally Working Class for Electoral Wins in 2026</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/news/2026-us-house-elections</link><description><![CDATA[
  71. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/rep-yassamin-ansari.jpg?id=61236663&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C191%2C0%2C151"/><br/><br/><p>Four task forces <a href="https://progressives.house.gov/press-releases?ID=4B8C27EA-46D9-4A70-99E3-AEB8C99ECA43" target="_blank">announced</a> on Wednesday by the Congressional Progressive Caucus will focus efforts on winning Democratic seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2026, with members rallying around one key idea that the party has been criticized for sidelining: "Americans are fed up with an economy and a government that are rigged in favor of the powerful and well-connected while failing to serve working people."</p><p>That was what U.S. Rep. Dave Min (D-Calif.) had to say, in part, as he was named the chair of a new task force on fighting corruption, with Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) serving as vice chair. </p><p>After prosecuting fraud at the Securities and Exchange Commission and teaching law students at the University of California, Irvine, Min said he was "proud to continue the anti-corruption fight in Congress"—a fight that the CPC said is essential to winning the trust and votes of Americans as they decide whether Democrats or Republicans will control Congress after next year's midterm elections. </p><p>The policy proposals that the four new task forces will advance "enjoy support from voters across the ideological and demographic spectrum" and are all focused on making life easier for working-class Americans and shifting political priorities away from serving corporations and the wealthy. </p><p>The CPC cited new polling from Data for Progress that showed such policies—like raising the minimum wage and lowering the cost of essentials—"enjoy a supermajority and give a 9-point advantage for Democrats who lead with these themes compared to a generic Democratic message against a Republican opponent."</p><p class="pull-quote">"Working people in America are getting screwed by corrupt politicians and big corporations that are driving costs up and keeping pay and benefits down."</p><p>The other task forces will be focused on lowering costs, with Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) chairing; ending corporate greed, with Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) serving as chair; and securing better pay and benefits for U.S. workers, with Rep. Emily Randall (D-Wash.) chairing.</p><p>"In my home state of Arizona, families have been crushed by rising costs brought on by [President Donald] Trump and Republicans—whether it's skyrocketing healthcare premiums, unaffordable housing, or the soaring costs of education, childcare, long-term care, and even just commuting to work," said Ansari. "I'm honored to lead the Lowering Costs Task Force as one of the ways we're fighting back to deliver bold policies that will help working families.”</p><p>Randall said that in her district in Washington, she has watched as economic security has become less and less accessible for working families in recent decades.</p><p> "I've seen my grandparents, my teachers, my neighbors afford homes and vacations and childcare because they had good jobs. But over the years, affording a good life has gotten harder and harder," said Randall. "Our neighbors deserve leaders who put people before profits and stand up for what's right. They deserve leaders who understand that an economy that is centered on working people is a stronger economy for everyone. As chair of the Better Pay and Benefits Task Force, I'm committed to fighting for fairer wages, stronger benefits, safer workplaces, and an economy that puts working people first—right at the center of our policies."</p><p>The task forces were announced days after Trump signed his <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/republican-megabill" target="_blank">massive domestic policy package</a>, which is opposed by more than 60% of Americans, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/16/politics/trump-megabill-one-big-beautiful-bill" target="_blank">according to</a> a new poll, and makes the 2017 tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy permanent while cutting food assistance and healthcare spending. </p><p>"Working people in America are getting screwed by corrupt politicians and big corporations that are driving costs up and keeping pay and benefits down," said Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), who chairs the CPC. "Our four new task forces go directly at those big problems facing Americans: fighting corruption and corporate greed in order to lower costs and win better pay and benefits."</p><p>As the CPC <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/battleground-alliance-labor-groups-2026" target="_blank">announced</a> the task forces, a coalition of dozens of civil society groups launched a political action committee aimed at centering working-class issues in the 2026 elections and winning back more than 35 House seats for Democrats. </p><p>"In a time of record-breaking income inequality and rampant corporate greed," said Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.), vice chair of the Better Pay and Benefits Task Force, "it is more important than ever that we as Democrats reassert and reinforce our commitment to working people." </p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 16 Jul 2025 21:18:40 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/news/2026-us-house-elections</guid><category>Corruption</category><category>Election 2026</category><category>Greg casar</category><category>Inequality</category><category>Minimum wage</category><category>U.s. house of representatives</category><category>Workers</category><category>Working class</category><category>Democratic party</category><dc:creator>Julia Conley</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/rep-yassamin-ansari.jpg?id=61236663&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Record Number of US Cities, Counties, and States to Raise Minimum Wage in 2023</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/minimum-wage</link><description><![CDATA[
  72. <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/workers-advocate-for-20-an-hour-minimum-wage.jpg?id=32387279&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C343%2C0%2C0"/><br/><br/><p>After a decade since the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2012/11/30/166217423/n-y-fast-food-workers-strike-for-better-wages" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>launch</u></a> of the Fight for $15 movement in New York City, a record number of U.S. states and communities are set to raise the minimum wage in the new year.</p><p>From New Year's Eve to New Year's Day, the minimum wage will increase in 23 states and 41 cities and counties, according to a report released Thursday by the National Employment Law Project (NELP). In 40 of those 64 jurisdictions, it will hit or exceed $15 an hour for at least some workers.</p><p class="pull-quote">"The raises we are seeing are a true testament to the power of organizing."</p><p>By the end of 2023, additional increases are planned in five states and 22 localities—with 21 reaching or topping $15 an hour—bringing the total for next year to 86: 27 states and 59 cities and counties, says the report, <u><em>Raises From Coast to Coast in 2023</em></u><em></em>. The totals take into account that multiple increases are planned in Michigan and four local jurisdictions.</p><p>"The raises we are seeing are a true testament to the power of organizing," <a href="https://www.nelp.org/news-releases/record-number-of-cities-states-will-increase-minimum-wages-in-2023/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>said</u></a> Yannet Lathrop, senior researcher and policy analyst at NELP, in a statement. "These raises were achieved in a variety of ways, from ballot initiatives to statehouses to workers making their demands to employers directly."</p><p>"As these wins continue and we see the real-world impact of higher pay—from <a href="https://www.nelp.org/publication/10-year-legacy-fight-for-15-union-movement/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>growing unionization to narrowing racial wealth gaps</u></a>—we encourage lawmakers to go further and raise pay broadly across our economy," Lathrop added.</p><blockquote class="rm-embed twitter-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1605945501219708930">
  73. <div style="margin:1em 0">\u201cA record 86 cities, counties, & states are raising wages sometime in 2023. (5 jurisdictions are raising\nwages 2x in 2023 & are only counted once in our report.)  These raises are a necessary advancement towards a sustaining #MinimumWage \u270a\u201d</div> — NELP (@NELP)
  74.        <a href="https://twitter.com/NelpNews/status/1605945501219708930">1671722150</a>
  75. </blockquote>
  76. <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><p>As the report details: </p><blockquote>In the 10 years since fast food workers walked out of their jobs demanding a $15 minimum wage and a union, the Fight for $15 worker movement has won minimum wage increases in 28 states and nearly five dozen cities and counties. These victories have led to an estimated $150 billion in additional annual pay for 26 million workers and to the narrowing of the racial wealth gap.<br/>The movement has also put pressure on employers to raise their pay scales, leading… hundreds of businesses, large and small, to raise wages to $15 or more. Among them are corporate giants employing hundreds of thousands of workers from coast to coast, including Amalgamated Bank, Bank of America, Barclays, Best Buy, Charter Communications, Chobani, Chipotle, CVS, Ikea, JP Morgan Chase, LabCorp, Macy's, MetLife PNC, Sam's Club, Southwest Airlines, Synchrony Financial, T- Mobile, Target, Under Armour, USAA, Verizon, Walgreen's, Walmart, and Wells Fargo. </blockquote><p>"The monumental impact of the Fight for $15 is clearly visible in this year's record wage increases as well as those in years past," said NELP executive director Rebecca Dixon. "But in those same 10 years, congressional action to expand worker rights has been limited."</p><p>"While it is encouraging to see boosts to the minimum wage in cities and states across the country, we need federal policy to address the mounting crises brought about by record increases in the cost of living and pandemic recovery," she stressed. "We must pass a higher federal minimum wage—at least $15 an hour—that accounts for rising costs of living and ensures that workers have the ability to support themselves and their families."</p><p>In March 2021, eight members of the Democratic caucus, <u>joined</u> all 50 Republicans in the U.S. Senate to kill legislation that would have established a $15 federal minimum wage, <u>lifting</u> millions of people out of poverty. Among those Democrats was Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who officially <u>declared</u> herself an Independent in recent weeks.</p><p>State-wide <u>polling</u> conducted shortly before that vote last year showed a majority of Arizonans across the political spectrum in favor of increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour. In November 2021, the people of Sinema's hometown of Tucson <u>approved</u> a ballot initiative to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour in Arizona's second-largest city.</p><p>NELP's new report notes that Tucson residents are on track to see a $15 hourly wage by 2025. The city's current rate is $13, but it is set to increase to $13.85 on January 1, with a $10.85 tipped wage—both in line with the state's floor.</p><p>Worker wins from 2022 highlighted in the report include campaigns in Foster City and San Mateo County, California; Hawaii; Nebraska; Tukwila, Washington; and Washington, D.C. </p><blockquote class="rm-embed twitter-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1605946400839061504">
  77. <div style="margin:1em 0">\u201cPlus, in the South, underpaid workers are demanding higher wages & stronger labor standards. @RaiseUptheSouth is organizing workers in the service sector throughout the region #OrganizeTheSouth #UnionsForAll\u201d</div> — NELP (@NELP)
  78.        <a href="https://twitter.com/NelpNews/status/1605946400839061504">1671722150</a>
  79. </blockquote>
  80. <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><p>"In 2023 and 2024, the campaigns to watch include an $18 ballot measure in California and possible ballot measures in Arizona, Ohio, and Michigan," the publication points out. </p><p>"On the legislative front, there may be one fair wage campaigns in Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Maryland," the report adds, "as well as efforts to raise the minimum wage in Maryland (to speed up the state's implementation of a $15 minimum wage), Massachusetts (where the minimum will reach $15 in 2023 and there are no inflation adjustments planned for following years), and New York (where the demand is $21.25 by 2026-2027)."</p>]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 22 Dec 2022 21:43:53 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/minimum-wage</guid><category>#raisethewage</category><category>Workers</category><category>Minimum wage</category><dc:creator>Jessica Corbett</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/workers-advocate-for-20-an-hour-minimum-wage.jpg?id=32387279&amp;width=980"></media:content></item></channel></rss>

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