Expel Sen. Mike Lee for mocking the Democratic legislators shot by a MAGA terrorist!

VIDEO OF THE DAY: Blockbuster announcement from Justice Department on Epstein case
The DOJ abruptly announced that they were firing Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI director James Comey...and the prosecutor who just so happened to have been the prosecutor of Epstein's sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell and was involved in the prosecution of the archpedophile himself. Her most recent prosecution was of accused sex trafficker Sean "Diddy" Combs. This move is a two-for-one for Trump, who reportedly hated the idea of a Comey working in the DOJ, and who would know better about what's in the Epstein files than the prosecutor who worked the case? Every move Trump makes screams "THERE IS SOMETHING TO SEE IN THE EPSTEIN FILES AND IT'S PROBABLY ME."

Take Action: Tell Congress: Protect funding for NPR!

Senate approves bill to clawback funds for NPR, PBS and foreign aid programs
The GOP grows closer to their decades-long plan to fire that pernicious bastard Big Bird once and for all. The Senate approved the Trump administration's $9 billion rescission package aimed at clawing back money already allocated for public radio, television, and foreign food aid largely along party lines, with Murkowski and Collins voting nay. While some Republicans, like Senate Majority Leader Thune, tried to pretend this was about fiscal responsibility just days after voting to add $4 TRILLION to the deficit, a gleeful Ted Cruz gave away the game by bragging that public radio "has long been overtaken by partisan activists. Plain and simple. NPR and PBS have revealed their left-wing bias time and time again. If you want to watch the left-wing propaganda, turn on MSNBC. But the taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize it." By left-wing bias, of course, he means "the truth." The bill now heads back to the House, where hopefully Democrats can delay long enough to push the bill past the Friday midnight deadline, after which Congress must affirm the cuts or allow the funding to be dispersed. Lace up those speaking sneakers, Hakeem!

Take Action: Demand the Senate reject Trump's corporate USPS board nominees!

Top scientist takes on the GOP's crusade of ignorance
Jasmine Clark for Georgia: Trump, RFK Jr., and the rest of their cronies in Congress have taken a chainsaw to our scientific research, public health, and climate initatives and are waging an all out-war on science and the truth. PhD scientist Dr. Jasmine Clark has had enough, and she's running for Congress in order to restore sanity to the government and make America a global leader in scientific development once again. Will you chip in to help jump-start her campaign and flip the House blue?

Trump says he’s "highly unlikely" to fire Fed’s Powell after floating that idea in private
The White House sent markets into a tailspin by leaking to the media that Trump was going to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, which would immediately trigger a serious monetary crisis for violating the Fed's independence. Trump would rail against Powell in the Oval Office for refusing to lower interest rates, declaring that he was "surprised" that Powell had been nominated and forgetting that it was Donald Trump himself who had nominated Powell for the job, but eventually backed off on the idea. Observers on Twitter noted that large trades had been made shorting the dollar right before the news of the potential firing leaked, indicating that SOMEONE is getting very illegally rich off the deliberate manipulation of the markets with Trump's bait-and-switch approach to the economy.

Texas Republicans poised to redraw state congressional map on Trump’s orders
On Donald Trump's orders, Texas Republicans are set to somehow re-gerrymander their already insanely gerrymandered districts to squeak out five new Congressional seats during mid-decade redistricting. It's a risky move that will undo what they tried to accomplish in 2021 by piling all their voters into almost unloseable Republican districts; now they'll be moving them back out to open the door for more pickups but also exposing themselves to more losses and potentially more lawsuits. “The current maps are already blatantly racist and discriminate against voters of color, communities of color, all over the state,” said Anthony Gutierrez, the executive director of the Texas chapter of Common Cause, a watchdog group. “There would be absolutely no way you get to five more Republican districts without just completely trampling on minority voting rights.” In response, California's combative Governor Gavin Newsom declared on Twitter that "two can play this game" and said in an interview that his office will be "closely tracking what Texas does" and "exploring options" to respond to it, implying that he would then call for redistricting in his own state.

NYPD run like a "criminal enterprise," ex-commissioner says in bombshell lawsuit
Wow. In a huge, stunning lawsuit, former interim New York City Police Commissioner Thomas Donlon says the NYPD "functions as a racketeering enterprise," at the direction of laughably corrupt Mayor Eric Adams. In addition to Adams, the lawsuit named Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Kaz Daughtry, Chief of Department John Chell and former Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard among others. "Senior leadership had abandoned lawful governance and engaged in outright malfeasance by using the NYPD to consolidate political power, obstruct justice, and punish dissent," the lawsuit said. "The Defendants engaged in a coordinated pattern of racketeering activity that was deliberate, sustained, and directed from the highest levels of the NYPD and City Hall." Donlon also accuses the NYPD of orchestrating a false and politically motivated arrest of his wife for expired car insurance.

Donald Trump triggers minor political crisis with surprise soda announcement
The president remains laser-focused on the issues most important to him, like the kind of sugar in his favorite sodas. Trump blindsided the nation on Wednesday when he took a break from frantic Epstein denial to announce that Coca-Cola had agreed to switch to real sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup in its product, because "it's just better!" This declaration appeared to catch the Coca-Cola Company by surprise, as they evasively posted in response that "We appreciate President Trump's enthusiasm for our iconic Coca-Cola brand" and "more details on new innovative offerings within our Coca-Cola product range will be shared soon." But Trump didn't realize that he'd made a Veep-esque mistake, as the Corn Refiners Association of America immediately sounded the alarm, warning that "replacing high fructose corn syrup with cane sugar would cost thousands of American food manufacturing jobs, depress farm income, and boost imports of foreign sugar, all with no nutritional benefit." This is definitely one of those random incidents of neurons finding a connection through the gravy in the president's brain that will never go anywhere and will be forgotten about immediately, but it's just another example of how Trump makes monumental decisions on a whim without consulting anyone else involved. Irresponsible behavior from a man entirely unfit for the presidency.

You need to read The Feed, indeed!
The Feed: If you like The Daily Dose of Democracy, you’ll love The Feed which is our smart, scrollable companion newsletter packed with big political news, hot creator takes, and real ways to make a difference. That's right, we've got a Substack now! We built The Feed because too much of today’s news cycle feels like noise. Too many sensational headlines without substance, too much commentary without credibility, and too much outrage without options. The Feed flips that script to deliver a wholly different kind of news. It’s where independent journalism meets creator culture. Every week, The Feed breaks down the biggest stories shaping our democracy — delivered by voices you trust and framed with action in mind. Whether you want to go deeper on a headline or just need a smart way to talk about it at dinner, The Feed is for you. Don’t worry, if you’re subscribed to Daily Dose, you’re already logged into The Feed! Click here to check it out! We're still going to be sending you the same DDD you know and love every day, but now there's even more to explore!

Masked men detain a high school student. He was fed bread and water for a week
You would think that "high schooler thrown into van by masked goons and thrown into squalid prison to be fed only bread and water for a week" would be a story from a strongman's dictatorship, but it's actually from New Jersey. Alan Junior Pierre, who is from Haiti and was given special parole status by the Biden administration, was incarcerated at the notorious Delaney Hall detention center, where a riot took place on June 12th over the terrible conditions. ICE did not give a reason for his detention, nor a reason for his release after five weeks, and it is unclear what Pierre has to do to avoid getting deported again. ICE is deliberately doing everything it can to tear up rules, regulations, and any rhyme or reason to what they're doing in order to foster more terror, despair, and opportunities for cruelty.

20 states sue FEMA for canceling grant program that guards against natural disasters
Twenty Democratic-led states filed suit Wednesday against the Federal Emergency Management Agency, challenging the elimination of a long-running grant program that helps communities guard against damage from natural disasters. “In the wake of devastating flooding in Texas and other states, it’s clear just how critical federal resources are in helping states prepare for and respond to natural disasters. By abruptly and unlawfully shutting down the BRIC program, this administration is abandoning states and local communities that rely on federal funding to protect their residents and, in the event of disaster, save lives," said Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell of Massachusetts, where the federal lawsuit was filed. After what happened in Texas, it is mind-boggling that the Trump admin is still moving forward with its senseless plan to gut FEMA, but it's painfully clear at this point that senselessness is the name of the game for Team Trump.