[[link removed]] Weekly Digest
Weekly Digest
Letter from an Editor | August 1, 2026
Dear John,
In the face of the Trump Justice Department’s refusal to turn over the Epstein files or engage meaningfully with survivors, the courts are stepping in. On July 25, a federal judge ordered the Justice Department to turn over key unredacted Epstein files for judicial review.
The move comes in the wake of a suit from attorney and former MSNBC anchor, Katie Phang. “I never thought there would be active concealment by the Department of Justice, and yet I came to that conclusion a few months after Todd Blanche made the announcement in January that he was done,” Phang told Ms. this week. “I knew that I was waiting for something to happen that was never gonna happen. I was waiting for the right thing to be done by this administration and the DOJ, and I would be an idiot to keep on waiting for it to happen. And so that’s when we decided to file suit.”
She calls the current fight for documents, “a smaller battle in the bigger war.” You can learn more about what exactly is in the documents she and her legal team are pursuing in the piece by Ms. contributor Justine Andronici below.
The same day that Blanche was due to turn in the files—Thursday—the Senate Judiciary Committee postponed a planned vote on his nomination to be attorney general. The postponement came after Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina withheld their support over concerns surrounding the recent settlement between Trump and the IRS. The Senators are seeking assurance that Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund, which as we reported would have funded violent antiabortion extremists, is dead. They are also objecting to an agreement included in the settlement that, according to Forbes, says “the U.S. is ‘forever barred’ from prosecuting or bringing civil claims against Trump, his two oldest sons, the Trump Organization and other ‘affiliated individuals’ for actions that already happened by the date of the settlement, both tied to the IRS suit and for ‘any matters currently pending or that could be pending’ before other government agencies.”
Finally, two Republicans actually putting checks and balances into practice. Wow.
In response to this growing opposition, Trump is doing what he does best: doubling down. The president wrote on Truth Social that if Blanche continues to face road blocks, he would simply keep his former personal attorney in the acting role. He called Blanche “one of the Greatest Attorney Generals of All Time” and suggested he would consider temporarily withdrawing the nomination only to renominate him after Cornyn and Tillis leave office next year, adding that Blanche “will remain, in any event, as Acting.”
It seems unlikely that this bluster will win Trump any points in the court of public opinion, where he and and his Republican accomplices are already suffering. His approval rating has tanked, matching his all-time low at 34 percent according to CNN’s latest poll, with strong majorities of voters saying that he is not paying attention to important issues or doing enough to lower prices, and two-thirds believing that his war in Iran has hurt the U.S. And according to Politico polls, voters across party lines hold low opinions of the One Big Beautiful Bill, with significant percentages of Trump voters seeing the megabill as “benefiting the wealthy than substantially helping the working class.”
Trump’s hubris is catching up to him, in the polls at very least.
In a piece of good news, a federal judge has ordered the FDA to reconsider burdensome and medically unnecessary restrictions placed on the abortion pill mifepristone, joining a similar ruling from a Hawaii court last October. It’s another win for evidence-based abortion care—which is a win for women everywhere.
Onward,
[[link removed]]
Kathy Spillar
Executive Editor
This Week's Must-Reads from Ms.
[link removed] [[link removed]] [link removed] [[link removed]]
Trump’s Plan to Keep Todd Blanche in Power Raises Stakes in Epstein Files Fight [[link removed]] Another Federal Court Says the FDA Must Rethink Mifepristone Restrictions [[link removed]]
[link removed] [[link removed]] [link removed] [[link removed]]
A Jim Crow-Era Voter Suppression Tool Is Back: Mass Voter Challenges [[link removed]] Who Gets Remembered? The Fight to Put Women’s History on the National Mall [[link removed]]
[link removed] [[link removed]] Tune in for a new episode of Ms. magazine's podcast, On the Issues with Michele Goodwin, at MsMagazine.com, [[link removed]] Apple Podcasts [[link removed]] or wherever you listen to podcasts.
In this special episode of On The Issues, Dr. Michele Goodwin records live before a packed audience in Washington, D.C. at Georgetown University to review and analyze the Supreme Court’s 2025-2026 term. This Supreme Court’s term included major decisions related to birthright citizenship, immigration, tariffs, voting rights, and the reach of presidential authority.
We hope you'll listen, subscribe, rate and review today!
[link removed] [[link removed]]
U.S. democracy is at a dangerous inflection point—from the demise of abortion rights, to a lack of pay equity and parental leave, to skyrocketing maternal mortality, and attacks on trans health. Left unchecked, these crises will lead to wider gaps in political participation and representation. For over 50 years, Ms . has been forging feminist journalism—reporting, rebelling and truth-telling from the front-lines, championing the Equal Rights Amendment, and centering the stories of those most impacted. With all that’s at stake for equality, we are redoubling our commitment for the next 50 years. In turn, we need your help, Support Ms. today with a donation—any amount that is meaningful to you [[link removed]] . We are grateful for your loyalty and ferocity .
READ THE REST [[link removed]] | GET THE MAGAZINE [[link removed]] | SUPPORT MS. [[link removed]]
[[link removed]]
[link removed] [[link removed]] [link removed] [[link removed]] [link removed] [[link removed]]
Enjoy this newsletter? Forward to a friend!
Was this email forwarded to you by a friend? Subscribe [[link removed]] .

Ms. Magazine
1600 Wilson Boulevard
Suite 801
Arlington, VA 22209
United States
Manage your email subscriptions here [[link removed]]
If you believe you received this message in error or wish to no longer receive email from us, please
unsubscribe: [link removed] .