Politics

New York Attorney General Letitia James today led a coalition of 15 other states and the District of Columbia in suing the Trump administration for attacking access to gender-affirming health care for transgender and nonbinary youth. Attorney General James and the coalition are challenging a coordinated federal campaign to intimidate health care providers into halting medically necessary treatment for individuals under age 19, even in states where such care is legal and protected by law, such as New York. The attorneys general argue that the administration is unlawfully seeking to impose a nationwide ban on gender-affirming care by threatening providers with baseless criminal charges and investigations. The attorneys general are asking the court to halt this unconstitutional pressure campaign and ensure transgender youth can continue to access legally protected health care without fear.

“This report is a searing indictment of DOGE’s false claims. At the very same time that the Trump Administration is cutting health care, nutrition assistance, and emergency services in the name of ‘efficiency’ and ‘savings,’ they have enabled DOGE’s reckless waste of at least $21.7 billion dollars,” said Blumenthal. “As my PSI investigation has shown, DOGE was clearly never about efficiency or saving the American taxpayer money. I urge Inspectors General to take up our investigation’s findings and initiate a comprehensive review of DOGE’s careless actions.”

Original article by Common Dreams, Republished here under Creative Commons.

"The American people do not want to spend billions to starve children in Gaza," said Sen. Bernie Sanders. "The Democrats are moving forward on this issue, and I look forward to Republican support in the near future."

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders' latest effort to block additional American arms sales to Israel failed again late Wednesday at the hands of every Republican senator and some Democrats.

But a majority of the Senate Democratic caucus voted in favor of Sanders-led resolutions that aimed to halt the Trump administration's sale of 1,000-pound bombs, Joint Direct Attack Munition guidance kits, and tens of thousands of assault rifles to the Israeli government.

The first resolution, S.J.Res.41, failed by a vote of 27-70, and the second, S.J.Res.34, failed by a vote of 24-73, with the effort to block the sale of assault rifles to the Israeli government garnering slightly more support than the bid to prevent the sale of bombs.

The following senators voted to block the assault rifle sale: Sanders, Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Angus King (I-Maine), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (Wash.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

And the following senators voted to block the sale of additional bombs: Sanders, Alsobrooks, Baldwin, Blunt Rochester, Duckworth, Durbin, Heinrich, Hirono, Kaine, Kim, King, Klobuchar, Luján, Markey, Merkley, Murphy, Murray, Schatz, Shaheen, Smith, Van Hollen, Warnock, Warren, and Welch.

Three Democratic senators—Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan—did not vote on either resolution.

"Every senator who voted to continue sending weapons today voted against the will of their constituents."

In a statement responding to the vote, Sanders said growing Democratic support for halting arms sales to the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is an indication that "the tide is turning" in the face of Israel's "horrific, immoral, and illegal war against the Palestinian people."

"The American people do not want to spend billions to starve children in Gaza," the senator said. "The Democrats are moving forward on this issue, and I look forward to Republican support in the near future."

Wednesday's votes revealed a significant increase in support for halting U.S. military support for the Israeli government compared to earlier this year, when only 14 Democratic senators backed similar Sanders-led resolutions.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who did not vote on the Sanders resolutions in April, said Wednesday that "this legislative tool is not perfect, but frankly it is time to say enough to the suffering of innocent young children and families."

"As a longtime friend and supporter of Israel, I am voting yes to send a message: The Netanyahu government cannot continue with this strategy," said Murray. "Netanyahu has prolonged this war at every turn to stay in power. We are witnessing a man-made famine in Gaza—children and families should not be dying from starvation or disease when literal tons of aid and supplies are just sitting across the border."

The Senate votes came days after the official death toll in Gaza surpassed 60,000 and a new poll showed that U.S. public support for Israel's assault on the Palestinian enclave reached a new low, with just 32% of respondents expressing approval. The Gallup survey found that support among Democratic voters has cratered, with just 8% voicing approval of the Israeli assault.

"The vast majority of Democratic voters say Israel is committing genocide, and have repeatedly demanded that their party's elected officials in Congress stop helping President Trump deliver more and more weapons to Israel with our tax dollars," Margaret DeReus, executive director of the Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project, said Wednesday. "Tonight proved that an increasing number of Democrats in the Senate–more than half of the Democratic caucus–are hearing that demand."

Beth Miller, political director of Jewish Voice for Peace Action, called the vote "unprecedented" and said it "shows that the dam is breaking in U.S. politics."

"Our job is to increase the pressure on every member of Congress to stop all weapons and military funding," said Miller. "For 22 months, the U.S. has enabled, funded, and armed the Israeli government's slaughter and starvation in Gaza, and still the majority of senators just voted to continue sending weapons to a military live-streaming its crimes against humanity."

"The overwhelming majority of Americans want to stop the flow of deadly weapons to the Israeli military and end U.S. complicity in its horrific genocide against Palestinians," Miller added. "Every senator who voted to continue sending weapons today voted against the will of their constituents."

By Christina Lengyel

(The Center Square) – Pennsylvania on Friday became the latest state to consider legislation that would unmask agents from U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Joining state lawmakers from California, New York, Massachusetts, and Tennessee, the “Unmask ICE” effort is a reaction to officers concealing their identities to evade public attacks and retaliation for the agency’s operations, which have led to widespread fear, anger, and protest.

Senate sponsors Nikil Saval, D-Philadelphia, and Amanda Cappelletti, D-Norristown emphasized the safety risks and confusion created by masked law enforcement. Though the bill’s specific language is not yet published, a memo from its sponsors says that agents working within the commonwealth would be required to wear a uniform and badge that identifies their number and department.

Along with the requirements would come civil and criminal penalties for failing to properly identify oneself.

“This legislative initiative is deeply important for the safety of our Commonwealth, and I believe people from across the political spectrum understand how critical it is for our community members to be able to trust our law enforcement officers,” said Cappelletti in an email to The Center Square. “Unfortunately, we have already seen troubling incidents in Pennsylvania where individuals impersonated law enforcement officers to commit crimes.”

Outside Pennsylvania, one such crime has rocked the nation. The assassination of Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, was committed by a man impersonating a police officer. Hortman’s killer also took the life of her husband and shot Democratic Senator John Hoffman and his wife.

“Our communities are living in fear as anonymous, unidentifiable law enforcement officers separate loved ones, attack workers and small businesses, and hollow out our public spaces,” said Saval. “Public safety requires a foundation of trust and communication, and this cannot be achieved when officers conceal their appearances and identities during the course of their duties.”

The Department of Homeland Security says that attacks toward its agents have gone up 500%, just as the agency’s unprecedented raids have. Many communities, including Philadelphia, are considered sanctuary cities and limit local police cooperation with ICE. Across the country, it has often put cities and states at odds with the federal government.

“Local police departments and other law enforcement agencies already have protocols in place to ensure their agents and officers are identifiable,” said Cappelletti. “It’s common sense to make that a standard practice for every law enforcement officer carrying out official duties in Pennsylvania.”

The bill lays out exceptions for masking to prevent the spread of infectious diseases and for circumstances when undercover officers are conducting criminal investigations.

In a conversation with CBS News, ICE Director Todd Lyons said he would continue to allow agents to wear masks.

“I’m not a proponent of the masks, however, if that’s a tool that the men and women of ICE to keep their families safe, then I’ll allow it,” said Lyons.

Acknowledging the legal efforts to prohibit the masks he said, “I would also want, you know, elected officials to help us hold those people accountable that do dox or threaten an ICE officer, an agent, or their family.”

In the Republican-controlled Senate, the bill faces stiff odds.

Cappelletti told The Center Square, “We are in contact with our colleagues in the House as they develop their version of the legislation, and we are using that collaboration to help inform key decisions about the language and direction of our own bill.”

Full Report.

Enough is enough. The White House and Congress must immediately act to end this war using the full scope of American influence. No more military aid to the Netanyahu government. History will condemn those who fail to act in the face of this horror.

Take Action.

76 Page, Draft Articles Of Impeachment.

The Case For Impeachment

Congress should have opened an impeachment investigation into Trump’s violations of the Emoluments Clauses and into his unlawful, corrupt campaign practices on Day 1 of Trump’s second administration.

Since taking office, Trump has committed a growing list of impeachable offenses. Unless and until Congress takes its constitutional impeachment obligations seriously, Trump will continue to entrench his corrupt interests, usurp authority committed by the Constitution to other government branches, and abuse his power to the detriment of our democracy and the people of our country. Specifically, Congress must impeach and remove Trump for:

• Unconstitutionally usurping Congress’s power to declare war
• Unlawful mobilization of military forces against civilian protesters in the United States
• Illegal kidnapping, detention, and removal of U.S. residents
• Illegal and unconstitutional removal of U.S. residents, migrants, and asylum-seekers to foreign prisons
• Unlawfully attempting to deport immigrants for peacefully protesting
• Unconstitutionally usurping Congress’s powers
• Defying court orders and unconstitutionally usurping judicial authority
• Abusing his power to seek retribution against perceived adversaries
• Co-opting and dismantling independent government oversight
• Unlawful imposition of tariffs
• Receiving foreign and domestic emoluments
• Unconstitutionally usurping local and state authority
• Abusing the emergency power
• Abusing the pardon power
• Corruptly dismissing criminal charges against Eric Adams
• Depriving citizens of their birthright
• Blocking efforts to secure U.S. elections
• Planning the forced removal of Palestinians from Gaza
• Engaging in unlawful, corrupt practices during the 2024 presidential campaign