Talking Points Memo

As secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem has become one of the most visible leaders of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation and detention push. According to officials, the role has caused Noem and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who operate under her authority to … DHS Secretary Kristi Noem Seems To Have A Poorly Hidden Secret Facebook PageRead more

I’ve written a number of times about the central role of state sovereignty in resisting Trump’s growing tyranny and the critical fact that states control the administration of elections. With that in mind, I want to flag what I think is a key part of that equation. It’s … Gaming Out Trump Nuclear Option Electoral ScenariosRead more

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version. A Replay of the Alien Enemies Act Debacle … With One Big Difference The Trump administration was busted over the holiday weekend trying to whisk unaccompanied Guatemalan children … Trump Administration Caught Trying to Sneak One by the Courts Yet AgainRead more

This is not new. But I at least hadn’t heard any of these dots connected. I wasn’t even aware of the dots. A friend mentioned to me over the weekend that he’d heard about Wall Streeters buying up the rights to tariff refunds from big corporate importers. So … Lutnick Family Angling To Make Astronomical Sums Off Court Nixing TariffsRead more

This article was first published at ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Officials in a large North Texas county decided this week to cut more than 100 Election Day polling sites and reduce the number of early voting locations, amid growing concern about GOP efforts to limit voting … A Texas County Cuts Over 100 Polling Sites as Trump Attacks Mail-In Voting NationallyRead more

Just one minute before the White House distributed via email a new executive order further dismantling collective bargaining protections for U.S. federal workers, President Donald Trump’s Department of Labor made another, somewhat surprising announcement.

This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis.  Last week the White House staged a pre-Labor Day Cabinet meeting to celebrate the administration’s supposed victories for American workers. Cabinet members took turns offering fawning, sycophantic praise of their boss in a display of … A Labor Day Call for Action From the StatesRead more

This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. It was originally published at The Conversation. Small local organizations called Active Clubs have spread widely across the U.S. and internationally, using fitness as a cover for a much more alarming mission. These groups … ‘Active Clubs’ Are White Supremacy’s New, Dangerous FrontierRead more

This article was originally published at ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. On July 7, the Justice Department sent a harshly written letter threatening to sue the staunchly Republican state of Texas, notwithstanding its efforts to help elect Donald Trump and the fact that the president had singled … Texas Redistricting Fight Has Been Testing Ground for the Trump Admins Latest Legal StrategyRead more

Hello it’s the weekend. This is The Weekender ☕️ The last detainees inside the grim “Alligator Alcatraz” immigrant detention camp spearheaded by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) are reportedly set to leave the facility. 

An appeals court ruled 7-4 Friday evening that most of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, a series of which he imposed by executive order under emergency powers granted by The International Emergency Economic Powers Act, are unlawful.

I want to focus in on two news items today. The first is the report that Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) will soon announce she will not run for re-election. This isn’t a total surprise. There were signs this was coming. But it’s still an important development and one … Tea Leaves Are There for ReadingRead more

GOP Rep. Jeff Hurd of Colorado was apparently just a no-show at his own town hall on Wednesday. Technically it wasn’t a town hall but rather a public meeting in which Hurd would meet with members of the Montezuma County Commission. Point being, it wasn’t one of these … The Specter of Town Halls is Haunting the GOPRead more

Congressional Democrats point to skyrocketing odds of a government shutdown Friday after President Trump announced that he’ll unilaterally take back money Congress had already appropriated for foreign aid, according to multiple outlets. 

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version. News You Can Use: COVID Edition I’m a little surprised that the refusal of CDC Director Susan Monarez to go quietly and the resignations of other top CDC … RFK Jr.’s FDA Denies COVID Vax to Millions of AmericansRead more

This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. It was originally published at The Conversation. Most of the world observes International Workers’ Day on May 1 or the first Monday in May each year, but not the United States and Canada. Instead, Americans and Canadians have celebrated Labor Day as … How Labor Day Emerged From the Movement for a Shorter WorkdayRead more

President Trump will reportedly have another big boy military parade later this year.

This story first appeared at ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. In late July, Missouri state troopers walked into St. Louis County government headquarters and seized the cellphone of one of the … Trump’s Pick to Help Run the FBI Has a History of Prosecuting Influential DemocratsRead more

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version. The Trump White House Clown Show For a guy whose political career is largely based on the reality TV one-liner “You’re fired,” President Trump sure had a hard … CDC Massacre Came After Unprecedented New Limits on Access to the Covid VaccineRead more

The White House invited 50-plus Indiana state Republicans to Washington this week to again try to pressure those on the fence about President Trump’s mid-decade gerrymandering scheme to get in line with the plan.

President Trump flooded Washington D.C. with armed federal law enforcement under the time-honored, fact-optional conservative pretext: The city’s leadership is incapable of governing, which has led to skyrocketing crime (it has not), rendering the nation’s capital an unlivable hellscape. 

Kate and Josh discuss Trump’s “firing” of a Fed governor, his eyeing of Chicago as ripe for takeover and Kate and Josh Kovensky’s scoop on the DOJ’s efforts to eradicate gender-affirming care nationwide.

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version. No-Bill for Assault With a Deli Weapon A D.C. grand jury declined to indict the fired DOJ paralegal Sean Dunn who hurled a sandwich at a federal officer … DC Grand Jury Declines to Indict Sandwich ThrowerRead more

President Trump purported to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook on Sunday, an unprecedented, unsurprising move in his quest to stock the once-independent bank with cronies who will lower interest rates.

I’m by no means the first one to note this. But it’s so important that I want to make sure it’s at the top of your mind. Have you noticed that out of the blue all of Donald Trump’s enemies seem to be getting investigated for mortgage fraud? … A MAGA Warrior Is Rifling Through Your Mortgage PaperworkRead more

Two ideas I heard from TPM Readers today: The first is from TPM Reader BT, who recommends that big cities hold military occupation referendums. Needless to say these would not constrain President Trump. But they would make clear what the population of the city wants. I think it’s … Thinking Outside the Box; Getting CreativeRead more

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version. More The Exception Than The Rule Examples of capitulation and surrender to Trump’s authoritarianism continue to outpace those of defiance and resistance. But over the last few days … It’s Not Enough But It’s Something: DC Tenuously Holds The Line Against TrumpRead more

The Trump administration has strong-armed the University of Michigan’s statewide hospital system over its provision of transgender health care services for minors, sending a subpoena in recent weeks to University of Michigan Health, TPM has learned.

President Trump doubled down on his vision to make Chicago the next city his administration’s targets as it attempts to use crime as a cover for occupying and exerting control over the Democratic elected officials of blue cities and states around the nation.

We’re seeing lots of news today about the occupation of Washington, D.C. and the president’s takeover of the Metropolitan (D.C.) Police Department, as well as clear signals that he plans to expand this program to other big blue-state cities. I want to step back from the particulars to … No Kings, No Occupations — Toward a Democratic Opposition PoliticsRead more