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This week was a dumpster fire. The entire news cycle was absorbed in the assassination of a bigoted hate monger. We’re not saying that wasn’t a pivotal story (we wrote on it below), but Republicans took every opportunity to advance their agenda while Americans were distracted by Charlie Kirk. If it wasn’t obvious before that they don’t actually give a flip about him, just look at how busy they’ve been. Time to log on.
Senate Republicans Hit the Nuclear Button on Trump’s nominations.
Senate Republicans quietly crossed a political red line this week, one that would have absolutely rocked Washington if it happened at any other time. They used the “nuclear option” so that they can rush through Trump’s backlog of unqualified judicial nominees, changing Senate rules so that huge batches of them can be confirmed all at once instead of one by one. The 53-45 party-line vote came after Democrats spent months slowing Trump’s picks, but Republicans upending of longstanding American process sets the stage for as many as 48 nominees to be confirmed in a single shot. This move represents a total surrender of Senate authority to Trump and continues the decade-long erosion of checks and balances that started with Mitch McConnell’s obstruction during the Obama years. That Republicans could detonate such a rule change without it dominating headlines shows just how normalized Trump’s power grabs have become.
RFK Jr. is turning vaccine policy into chaos, limiting who actually gets boosted.
Since becoming HHS Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has annihilated the nation’s primary vaccine advisory bodies and is pushing through changes that reduce the COVID-19 vaccine’s reach. The CDC (via ACIP) has revised recommendations so that only people 65+, or younger folks with health conditions, are officially “recommended” for updated shots; healthy children and pregnant women are no longer in that grouping. There are reports (some unverified) that officials plan to present data linking COVID vaccines to over two dozen pediatric deaths, which, even if not proven causal, are being used to justify further limiting access. States like Illinois are pushing back — for example, Gov. JB Pritzker signed an executive order to guarantee vaccine access in pharmacies, regardless of federal messaging. Dr. Jen Lincoln tells us more:
Add your name and sign the petition to demand the firing of RFK Jr.! [ [link removed] ]
Trump is doing absolutely nothing to hold Putin to his ceasefire promise.
Trump and Putin met in mid-August where Trump publicly stated he planned to secure a ceasefire. Then he abandoned the ceasefire idea after meeting with Putin suggesting a final peace deal. Has it happened? No. Has Trump done anything to keep Putin’s word on consequences if no peace deal happens? Also no. Has American public opinion or anything changed on this? No again. We know that because Majority Taylor Green introduced legislation in the House on Wednesday suggesting that the U.S. stop sending aid to Ukraine and her bill was voted down 60 - 372 showing continued bipartisan support for Ukraine.
Not only is Putin not upholding his word on Ukraine, Trump is also letting him slide on fucking with a NATO country. On September 9-10, Putin sent 20 Russian drones into Polish territory, some launched from Belarus or Russia, during a broader attack on Ukraine. Polish air defenses and NATO allies scrambled jets, intercepted, and shot down many of them. Poland recovered debris from multiple drones and has called the episode a deliberate provocation, not a mistake. Putin said it was an accident. LOL. Here’s why that’s a big deal:
SCOTUS just gave ICE permission to racially profile.
The Supreme Court, in Vasquez Perdomo v. Noem, granted a stay which lifted a lower federal injunction that banned ICE and Border Patrol from making “roving patrol” stops in and around Los Angeles based on factors like race, accent, workplace, or presence in certain neighborhoods. The injunction had barred stops based on ethnicity, speaking Spanish or English with an accent, working at certain sites (like day laborer or agricultural), or just being in certain high-traffic spots. Civil rights groups warn this will enable widespread racial and language profiling—and potentially drag in U.S. citizens or legal residents merely for how they look, where they live, or how they speak.
Trump axed $350 million in grants for colleges serving mostly students of color.
Trump’s Department of Education is withholding about $350 million in grant funding from hundreds academic institutions who predominantly service black and brown communities — Hispanic-Serving Institutions, schools serving Black, Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, Asian American and Pacific Islander students. These programs are being canceled or denied under the premise that eligibility metrics (like having a large minority student body) amount to unconstitutional “racial quotas.” This will gut supports for under-resourced colleges and worsen education inequalities. Learn more:
Missouri follows Texas’s lead redistricting the state into democratic oblivion.
Over the past two weeks, Missouri Republicans have advanced a controversial congressional redistricting plan, known as the "Missouri First" map, which is clearly a partisan gerrymander. The plan, approved by the state House and Senate and awaiting Governor Mike Kehoe's signature, dismantles the Democratic-leaning 5th Congressional District in Kansas City, splitting it into three districts and potentially diluting Democratic voting power. This mid-decade redistricting violates the Missouri Constitution, and Missouri voters have filed a lawsuit challenging the map ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. AB tells us more:
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