Alaska lawmakers question Dunleavy administration over handling of voter data
Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom agreed last year to hand confidential voter data to the Trump administration, even as other states refused.
Attacks on Democracy
January 6th, election interference, acts of authoritarianism, voter suppression, and systematic undermining of democratic institutions.
1799
Stories
NEW: Portland Press Herald Editorial Calls Out Collins' Support of Save Act | Maine Democratic Party
Her support for the “wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing bill” shows “display of loyalty to the president”
Justice Department moves to drop defense of Trump's executive orders targeting law firms
Four different district court judges found President Trump's executive orders targeting the law firms were unconstitutional.
US strikes on Iran triggered by Israel's plan to launch attack, Rubio says - The Guardian
Democrats disturbed by rationale that Trump ordered pre-emptive strikes out of concern about Tehran retaliation
The Republicans Are Messing with Texas | The New Yorker
Amid the controversy over redrawn district maps, a bitter senatorial primary race between John Cornyn and Ken Paxton, and growing dissatisfaction with Donald Trump, has the Party overreached?
What Hegseth's “Supply Chain Risk” Designation of Anthropic Does and Doesn't Mean
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced he has directed the DoD to designate Anthropic as a "Supply-Chain Risk to National Security," claiming no defense contractor may conduct any commercial activity with the company. However, legal analysts argue this declaration significantly exceeds Hegseth's actual statutory authority under 10 U.S.C. § 3252, which only allows the Secretary to exclude companies from bidding on contracts for a narrow set of sensitive national security systems — not to broadly prohibit all commercial dealings. The designation's legal validity is also questioned because both parties acknowledge the dispute stemmed from contract term disagreements rather than any adversarial security threat, and Anthropic's AI model Claude remains extensively deployed across U.S. military systems. Critics warn that applying the supply chain risk authority in this manner amounts to an abuse of a procurement statute as a de facto sanctions tool, with calls for congressional oversight.
The Situation: Stand With Anthropic | Lawfare
The Pentagon, under Secretary Pete Hegseth, has been pressuring AI company Anthropic to remove all ethical restrictions on its AI product Claude for Department of Defense use, a move the authors characterize as unlawful retaliation for Anthropic asserting its contractual rights. The authors argue this action mirrors the administration's broader pattern of pressuring private institutions — including universities, law firms, and media outlets — into compliance through intimidation, which they say is incompatible with the rule of law. The dispute has already influenced competitor AI labs, with xAI agreeing to offer an unrestricted product and OpenAI signing a Pentagon deal whose stated safeguards critics say lack meaningful constraints. The authors contend that Anthropic, as the only frontier AI lab publicly centered on AI ethics, should resist capitulation and pursue legal challenge, noting the administration has frequently retreated when targets fight back in court.
WATCH: Limiting Trump's authority with war powers act is 'dangerous,' Johnson says - PBS
Congress is debating the use of war powers resolutions to check President Trump's authority after he launched a joint U.S.-Israel military operation against Iran, dubbed "Operation Epic Fury," without a formal declaration of war or congressional approval, resulting in at least six U.S. military deaths and the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Democrats argue Trump acted unilaterally and has failed to provide a clear rationale or exit strategy, while House Speaker Mike Johnson called efforts to limit Trump's authority through the War Powers Act "dangerous." Both the House and Senate have prepared war powers resolutions for votes, though any such measure would likely face a presidential veto that Congress lacks the votes to override. The Republican-controlled Congress, which recently approved $175 billion in new Pentagon funding, largely supports Trump's actions, making legislative intervention unlikely.
Trump and MAGA: The Conduit for a White Supremacist Agenda - IDN-InDepthNews
The opinion piece by retired NYU professor Alon Ben-Meir argues that Trump's immigration policies — including Muslim travel bans, terminations of Temporary Protected Status, attacks on birthright citizenship, and selective refugee admissions — systematically favor white, particularly European, migrants while targeting non-white communities. Ben-Meir contends these policies are driven by MAGA's demographic anxieties over Census projections showing non-Hispanic whites falling below 50% of the U.S. population by the mid-2040s. He characterizes Trump as a conduit for white supremacist goals aimed at preserving long-term white Republican political dominance. The author calls on both Democrats and Republicans to unite in defense of American democracy against what he describes as an accelerating authoritarian and racially motivated agenda.
America is doing just fine, says MAGA - Spring Hope Enterprise
A guest columnist writing for the Spring Hope Enterprise disputes the MAGA characterization of America entering a "Golden Age," citing a loss of 88,000 manufacturing jobs, an estimated 75,000 deaths in Gaza according to The Lancet, and thousands of lawsuits alleging ICE rights violations, including over 4,400 court findings of illegal detention. The columnist also criticizes the Department of Justice for what he describes as politicization and contempt of Congress, and argues that recent legal interpretations granting presidential immunity represent a departure from democratic norms. The author contends that the concentration of executive power and erosion of constitutional checks are more characteristic of autocracy than democracy. The piece is written by Robert Kimball Shinkoskey, described as an author of works on democracy, religion, and the American presidency.
ASPS Members Demand Answers After Org Released Anti-Trans Statement From Behind ...
Members of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) and its Gender Surgery Task Force are demanding transparency after the organization released a position statement recommending that gender-affirming surgeries be delayed until age 19, a process that allegedly bypassed the Task Force and involved undisclosed meetings with federal officials. The statement was praised by Trump administration officials including RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz on the same day it was released, raising questions about potential political influence in its drafting. Task Force members and approximately 200 other medical professionals have signed letters criticizing the lack of transparency, with some noting that the recommended age of 19 mirrors language in a January 2025 executive order. The ASPS has acknowledged "misunderstandings" but has not issued any public clarifications, while the statement's origins remain disputed, with conflicting accounts suggesting it was either years in the making or developed over weeks at federal urging.
Trump leaves door open to sending ground troops to Iran | PBS News
President Trump declined to rule out sending U.S. ground troops to Iran when asked by the New York Post, marking his first public comments since a U.S. and Israeli bombing campaign against Iran began. The strikes have drawn criticism from some within Trump's own MAGA base, including Tucker Carlson and former ally Marjorie Taylor Greene, while a Reuters/Ipsos poll found only 27% of Americans approved of the strikes and 56% believe Trump is too willing to use military force. Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed congressional leaders and argued the president was not legally required to seek congressional authorization, citing precedent from both Republican and Democratic administrations in rejecting the War Powers Act as binding. A House vote on whether to block military action against Iran without congressional approval is expected, though it is not currently projected to pass.