mark
Raw Story
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[l] at 4/17/26 8:30pm
Thirty six Texas Democrats — including a congressional candidate, a former Texas House member and former party staffers — are urging Kendall Scudder to forgo reelection as chair of the Texas Democratic Party, citing operational failures and a “hostile work environment” fostered by his leadership over the past year.“We have seen a Texas Democratic Party that makes bold promises to voters and candidates, yet cannot answer basic questions about strategy,” reads the open letter, which continues to garner signatures. “A Party that speaks of urgency but fails to act on it. A Party that asks for trust and money it has not earned.”With “urgency and deep frustration,” the signers called on Scudder to step aside.“Mr. Scudder, the Texas Democratic Party cannot afford another four years of operational failure,” the letter says.The letter, signed by a substantial contingent of party insiders, reflects a persistent level of discontent among Texas Democrats after changes made by Scudder, including decentralizing the party’s base from Austin and overhauling staff positions, threw the party into a state of upheaval last fall. Among the signers of the letter are the Rev. Frederick Haynes III, the likely successor to U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett in Texas’ 30th Congressional District, and former state Rep. Mark Stiles, who represented East Texas from 1983-99. Eleven former staffers were identified only by their vacated TDP position and one signed as a House “political professional” for fear of professional or legal repercussions. The Texas Tribune verified the identities of the former staffers.The open letter comes as Democrats look to November as a prime opportunity to make major gains all over the ballot, with massive turnout in last month’s primary election and favorable political tailwinds nationwide boosting Democratic energy and optimism.Scudder did not provide an on-the-record statement in response to requests from the Tribune. He did not respond to two text messages and a call Friday seeking comment. Some Texas Democrats defended Scudder’s leadership, calling him accessible and pointing to positive developments, including a wider party presence across the state and paying off a $500,000 party debt that he inherited.“The primary speaks for itself,” said Angel Viator Smith, chair of the TDP’s Finance Committee, pointing to Democratic turnout exceeding Republican turnout. Scudder was elected chair by the party’s governing board in March 2025 after the previous leader, Gilberto Hinojosa, resigned following Democrats’ blowout losses in 2024. Texas Democrats will select a chair for a four-year term at the party’s convention in June. The deadline for candidates to file to run is April 24. Scudder has not yet filed for reelection.The letter covers a range of concerns with Scudder's leadership, arguing the TDP failed to maintain an up-to-date voter file that supports campaign outreach and didn't properly prepare Democratic voters in two counties for the loss of countywide voting locations on primary election day last month.Hundreds of voters were turned away from the polls March 3 in Dallas and Williamson counties, unaware that the county Republican parties months prior had forced a switch to precinct-based voting for both Republican and Democratic voters.Despite knowing about the change for months, the letter reads, the TDP failed to adequately prepare voters and instead “forced our Party into reactive damage control.”“This is not responsible stewardship of our Party. It is mismanagement with consequences that will be felt well beyond a single election cycle,” the letter reads. “Texas Democrats deserve a leader that anticipates threats, prepares exhaustively and executes on program. Your leadership has not met that standard.”Dallas County Democratic Party Chair Kardal Coleman said it was hard to predict how chaotic the switch to precinct-level voting would be. The county and state Democratic parties, he said, worked together before election day to game out what the change would look like, and on the March 3 primary to help voters find their assigned polling sites. Coleman added that the county party had successfully lobbied the Dallas County Commissioners Court to spend $1 million on a campaign to educate voters about the change.Coleman said he thought Scudder was “working around the clock,” and that he had not seen a party chair who had “put in as many hours to be one, accessible, but also responsive to the needs of the state.”“He’s been an amazing surrogate for the issues and the platform that our party wants to put forward,” Coleman said.In a statement after seeing the full letter and signers, Coleman said that “the sentiments of the letter should not be dismissed. Coordination and election preparedness are foundational. We owe that to our voters.”The letter also highlighted the state party’s failure to maintain an up-to-date voter file, which campaigns rely on to shape voter outreach. The letter cited “little evidence of sustained public pressure on the Texas Secretary of State or proactive collaboration with Democratic counties” to ensure accurate voter data and precinct maps.In an interview last month, TDP Executive Director Terri Burke said the party’s voter file was out of date because the Texas secretary of state’s office had provided incomplete voter lists. The party met with the agency to address problems it saw in the data, but “most of this is totally outside our control,” she said.Ethan Lipka, the party’s former data director who left in early February, added county election administrators across the state had faced problems uploading data to the secretary of state.“There’s a lot to criticize the TDP over, but I think this is a really clear case where the SOS failed,” he told the Tribune.The letter also described “concerning employer practices that stand in direct violation of our Party's values,” claiming former staffers spoke of “being exposed to racism and a hostile work environment, which stripped away core responsibilities from staffers, deliberate misreporting of debt and being forced out and replaced by consultants.”“Party leadership has demonstrated a willingness to consolidate power at all costs, actively working to exclude or replace those who offer alternative approaches,” the letter reads.Viator Smith, the party’s finance committee chair, argued that the letter’s concerns would not be solved by a change in leadership. “The fact of the matter is that Kendall has been across the entire state, energizing the base across the entire state,” she said. “With the momentum that is being built, the positive reaction to decentralization and the massive primary turnout — I don't understand why we wouldn’t continue with this leadership.”Renzo Downey contributed reporting.Disclosure: Texas secretary of state has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune. PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: "https://www.texastribune.org/2026/04/17/texas-democratic-party-kendall-scudder-open-letter/", urlref: window.location.href }); } }
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[l] at 4/17/26 7:58pm
The National Guard’s top general told Congress on Friday that it would follow the Constitution and the law when he was asked about the possibility President Donald Trump would order troops to polling places for the midterm elections.The remarks at a U.S. House Appropriations subcommittee hearing came as Democratic lawmakers also voiced unease over the continuing deployment of nearly 2,500 National Guard members in Washington, D.C.Rep. Joe Morelle, a New York Democrat, asked Gen. Steven Nordhaus, chief of the National Guard Bureau, what assurances he could provide to Americans concerned about the deployment of troops at the polls.“The National Guard, obviously, always follows the Constitution, law, policy and guidance, both at the federal and the state level,” Nordhaus said.Federal law prohibits the deployment of the military to polling places unless necessary “to repel armed enemies of the United States,” and violations are punishable by up to five years in prison.Trump has said that he should have ordered the National Guard to seize ballot boxes during the 2020 election, which he falsely maintains was stolen. Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser, has publicly urged the president to send the military and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, agents to patrol the polls.Trump last year deployed National Guard members to several Democratic-led cities, in some instances federalizing them against the will of governors, who typically command National Guard members. He also sent active-duty Marines into Los Angeles. Opponents of the deployments expressed fears that they represented a test run for intimidating voters.While the deployment to the District of Columbia continues, Trump withdrew troops from other cities after the Supreme Court in December left in place a lower court decision barring a deployment in Chicago.Rep. Betty McCollum, a Minnesota Democrat, questioned how long the D.C. deployment is sustainable. She also referred to reporting by ABC News that the Pentagon intends to keep troops in D.C. through the end of Trump’s term in January 2029.“Picking up waste in the District of Columbia does not prepare anyone for conflicts that could arise in Europe, Asia and the Middle East,” McCollum said.Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.
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[l] at 4/17/26 7:48pm
Reports this week indicated that Scott Kirby, the CEO of United Airlines, went directly to President Donald Trump to sell him on the idea of a merger with American Airlines, a move that would leave the U.S. aviation industry with just two "legacy" carriers.At least for now, however, executives at American are shooting down the idea, and publicly repudiated it in a statement posted to X that nonetheless overflowed with effusive praise for the Trump administration."We appreciate the leadership and strong support of President Trump, Secretary Duffy and numerous other leaders in the Administration who have demonstrated expertise and an ongoing commitment to continue to improve the world's best aviation industry," began the statement."American Airlines is not engaged with or interested in any discussions regarding a merger with United Airlines," the statement continued. "While changes in the broader airline marketplace may be necessary, a combination with United would be negative for competition and for consumers, and therefore inconsistent with our understanding of the Administration's philosophy toward the industry and principles of antitrust law. Our focus will remain on executing on our strategic objectives and positioning American to win for the long term.""We look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with the Administration as it takes steps to strengthen the broader airline industry," the statement concluded.This follows reporting that industry lobbyists seeking approval for megamergers that might skirt antitrust law have broadly adopted a strategy of lobbying Trump and those immediately around him directly, rather than going through the traditional attorneys at the Justice Department in charge of reviewing such deals.
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[l] at 4/17/26 7:34pm
A former federal prosecutor raised the alarm Friday that the Trump administration may intervene to help a charged ICE agent dodge accountability after a Minnesota county issued a nationwide arrest warrant — and the agent had not yet been taken into custody.Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr., an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, was charged Thursday with two felony counts of assault after pointing his service weapon at two Minneapolis residents sitting in their car during a traffic dispute in February. Morgan was driving an unmarked rented SUV on a highway shoulder when a motorist partially blocked his path. After the car returned to the legal lane, Morgan pulled alongside and drew his gun.The victims, who had no idea they were dealing with a federal agent, immediately called 911.Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, who called the charges the first of their kind against a federal immigration agent in the country, issued a nationwide arrest warrant. As of Thursday, there was no word on Morgan's whereabouts or whether he had been taken into custody.That detail alarmed former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner, who publicly raised the possibility that the Trump administration could "hide him out" and help Morgan "evade being taken into custody by Minnesota state authorities.""ICE agents don't have the power or the authority to enforce state traffic laws," Kirshner noted."There is no such thing as absolute immunity for federal agents who violate the law in the state of Minnesota," Moriarty insisted.Kirschner warned that once Morgan is taken into custody, his attorneys will almost certainly attempt to move the case to federal court, where the Trump administration would have far more influence over the outcome.Moriarty said more charges against other federal agents are expected.
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[l] at 4/17/26 7:20pm
FBI Director Kash Patel was the subject of an explosive article in The Atlantic on Friday, accused of being a problem drinker, frequently absent from his duties, whose paranoid outbursts border on being a threat to national security. Patel has broadly denied these allegations, and an FBI communications official threatened to sue over the story.But the effect elsewhere on the internet was swift, as commenters reacted to the colorful details."This story is well worth your time. They really got Bluto in charge of the FBI," wrote fellow Atlantic reporter Jemele Hill."FBI Director Kash Patel should already have been fired for his lies about the Epstein investigation; for flying on taxpayer’s dime to party at places like the Olympics; and for gross mismanagement," wrote Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA). "If the allegations in this article are true, Patel should be fired immediately.""Let’s be clear: half of Trump’s cabinet is a national security vulnerability. Trump himself included," wrote Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ)."From extramarital affairs to wasting millions on luxury jets to drunken escapades to corrupt business dealings this is an administration of corrupt, unqualified & incompetent clowns," wrote former Democratic National Committee chair Jaime Harrison.Podcaster Kyle Seraphin focused in on the detail that FBI officials reportedly tried to requisition SWAT "breaching equipment" to access offices Patel had drunkenly locked himself inside, saying, "A subpoena to the TL of the security detail would make that hearing worth watching.""Drunk Podcasters shouldn’t be leading the FBI," wrote Leaders We Deserve director David Hogg."Kash Patel got so drunk that his security team requested breaching equipment because he was unresponsive behind locked doors," wrote policy consultant Adam Cochran. "The man is not only incompetent and under qualified but a massive national security risk. At a time when top scientists with clearances are disappearing we’ve got this clown binge drinking and partying!""Sounds like an ideal appointment if the goal is to reduce America to a second rate power so autocracies can thrive," wrote authoritarianism expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat.
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[l] at 4/17/26 6:56pm
HARLINGEN — For more than a decade, Diana Padilla has been teaching Texans in the Rio Grande Valley how to farm.For four hours on Sundays, she and her husband, Saul Padilla, would help their student farmers at a community garden the couple had set up on their farm by preparing the soil for them, teaching them how to use the space, and telling them what would be good to plant and what wouldn’t be.“We were mostly there for, like, pep talk,” Padilla said.The idea for the community garden came from their weekends spent at the farmer’s market, where some people couldn’t afford their organic vegetables. If the people couldn’t afford them, Padilla thought, maybe she could teach them how to grow their own. Her mission dramatically expanded when, in the summer of 2023, she learned she had been awarded a federal grant to teach the rest of the state how to till the land.Her nonprofit, HOPE for Small Farm Sustainability, had received $7.5 million to educate Texans interested in farming. As part of the grant, Padilla could hire educators in other regions outside the Valley and purchase land to harvest.Her first hire lived about 500 miles away in Kaufman County, near Dallas. Padilla was on the cusp of hiring three more people in Central Texas. But her plans to expand came to a sudden halt last month when the U.S. Department of Agriculture notified her that the government was terminating the grant as part of President Donald Trump’s pledge to eliminate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs.“It was heartbreaking,” Padilla said.In a March 23 letter, the USDA said it canceled the grant following a review of the Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program, which was started during the Biden administration. The USDA alleged that the program was “rife with DEI preferences” and an example of wasteful spending.Padilla vowed to appeal the decision. She said there was nothing about her program — which is open to anyone interested in learning about farming — that explicitly focused on DEI. She was adamant her organization would debunk allegations of wasteful spending.Now, HOPE has a slim window to convince the federal government to restore funding. If Padilla cannot, at risk are her efforts to empower would-be farmers amid a dramatic trend of farm loss across Texas, and to ensure the agriculture economy persists outside of big farming. “We are going to appeal, but we're going to need everybody's support,” Padilla said. “We have an obligation to safeguard our food system for the future of Texas.”One-on-one training Jamie Cumming had been teaching local residents in Kaufman County about gardening and foraging. She ran a small homestead academy she led from her home and small farm. As a struggling small farmer with six children, she couldn’t afford to teach all the skills she wanted to pass on for free, so she was excited to learn about HOPE and that it was looking to hire educators across the state to teach aspiring farmers what they needed to know to build a sustainable farm.She took the job in October 2024 and has held workshops a few times a month that are open to anyone who wants to learn how to farm, along with classes at the community garden.But because of the USDA’s decision to pull the grant, the programming and Cumming’s job in Kaufman County ended.“It's a big disappointment, because it was going so well,” Cumming said.HOPE had paid for equipment such as a tiller, drip line, landscape fabric and seeds. It’s also paid for water, a classroom and educational guest speakers.About 27 people had been assigned a plot of land in Kaufman County that the county is allowing them to use. The aspiring farmers ranged from young families to a 78-year-old woman who farmed when she was younger.Cumming said she didn’t collect demographic data from the people who attended her workshops. She estimated she had about four Black or Hispanic participants among the 27 farmers.What most had in common was that they had full-time jobs and were trying to learn how to farm during their free time. Part of their education included learning about the right season for certain plants to grow, how to irrigate, how to identify plants, and how to mix seed-starting soil.“That one-on-one training has really been a blessing for so many who are trying "to do this,” Cumming said. “We need to help that and let that flourish.”Funding for the USDA’s Increasing Land program came from the American Rescue Plan Act, a Biden-era COVID-19 relief bill, to improve access to land. However, the agency, which is now under the Trump administration’s leadership, concluded that the grant awards did little to improve land access.“Under the guise of increasing land access for producers, the Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program included no minimum requirement for direct producer support,” the USDA said in a statement to The Texas Tribune. “Instead, the program permitted the abuse of federal funds, including expenditures on the purchasing of a barbeque smoker, construction of a gazebo, massages, and for one awardee, a $20,000 budget for ink pens alone.”The agency did not respond to questions specifically about HOPE and its activities. Padilla insists she spent the money correctly. Of the $7.5 million grant, HOPE had spent less than 10%. Most of the $700,000 that has been spent was used for equipment and education for farmers.The majority of the grant funds, 59%, were budgeted to purchase additional land, but none of those transactions had been completed.Padilla said HOPE had identified and was close to purchasing four properties in Central Texas — close to Houston, San Antonio, and Austin — for people in those areas who were interested in farming. The land would have been used for community farming that early-stage farmers could share and continue learning.Losing farm land Padilla and her husband started their own farm, Yahweh’s All Natural Farm and Garden, in 2008. Her husband is the farmer and she is the entrepreneur and, together, they made a business of his passion.It took a lot of hard work, knowing how to grow and knowing how to market their products.She knew if early-stage farmers weren’t persistent, they would likely quit, so they set out to teach people how to do that with the help of other USDA grants.They started their first community gardens on their 75-acre farm where aspiring farmers could learn from the couple. Then in 2014, they officially launched HOPE.Padilla’s effort to increase the number of farmers faces staggering odds. In the 25 years between 1997 and 2022, Texas lost more than 3.7 million acres of working land, according to data from Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute. Working land is privately-owned farms and ranches that produce food and provide wildlife habitat. Of those, 1.8 million acres were lost in the final five years.Within that same 25-year period, the Rio Grande Valley, where Padilla is based, lost 751,000 acres of farmland.Small family farms are the most prevalent type of farm. In 2024, they made up 86% of all farms in the U.S. That’s down from 2021, when they made up 89%.Salomon Torres, projects and grants adviser for HOPE, said the loss of farmland is a disturbing trend. It contributes to illiteracy among the general public about where their food comes from, among other consequences.“Agriculture has always been a contributor to a local economy, as far as jobs, as far as keeping land productive,” Torres said. “If land becomes completely urban, it's going to desensitize people about the source of their food.”Salomon Torres, team member at the nonprofit HOPE for Small Farm Sustainability, speaks at a news conference about a canceled USDA grant the organization received nearly two years ago on April 1 in Harlingen.The accessibility of land for locally-sourced food is considered significant for people’s health but also for their well-being, said Judith McGeary, executive director of Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance.“I think it's a threat to national security,” McGeary said. “Because when we cannot raise food in this country, we are reliant on imports, which we already are, to a great extent — far more than most people realize.”The loss of small farmers was not due to a lack of interest, McGeary said. There has been a growing interest in farming among young people, but what is less discussed, she said, is how often those young farmers fail because of the lack of land, infrastructure and hands-on support.“Very smart, talented, motivated people often cannot make a go of it,” she said. “And that’s not just a problem for them, it’s a loss for all of us.”Advocates for small farmers in Texas say educational programs like the one HOPE was providing are needed across the state.P. Wade Ross, director of the Texas Small Farmers and Ranchers Community Based Organization, said the fundamental issue is that many government bureaucrats don’t know the farming landscape. They make decisions like cutting off funding for HOPE, not realizing the consequences.“Why do you need to do that when this is a program that's helping you achieve all the initiatives that you say are your initiatives?” Ross said.“What happens a lot of times is people who are the decision-makers get so caught up in what they don't want,” he said “and they don't realize they're cutting their arm off to get rid of what they don't want.”Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune. PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: "https://www.texastribune.org/2026/04/16/texas-farmers-donald-trump-grant-dei/", urlref: window.location.href }); } }
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[l] at 4/17/26 6:47pm
FBI Director Kash Patel's communications strategist, Erica Knight, threatened legal action against The Atlantic on Friday night, following their publication of a devastating report on Patel's alleged behavior and the potential search to replace him.The report in question detailed claims that Patel has been frequently drunk on the job, to the point FBI officials considered ordering forcible-entry SWAT equipment in case he locked himself in his office while intoxicated, that he has been impossible to reach at times, and that he has repeatedly had nervous breakdowns over the fear he will be fired any minute.None of that is true, wrote Knight on X."The Atlantic published a 'bombshell' on Director Patel tonight that every real DC reporter chased, couldn't verify, and passed on," wrote Knight. "Here's reality. Since being sworn in, Director Patel has taken a grand total of 17 days off — half as much time off as Comey and Wray — and he spends twice as much time in the office as either of them ever did.""The so-called 'intoxication incidents' The Atlantic breathlessly reports have happened exactly ZERO times," wrote Knight, then rattling off statistics about FBI arrests and public safety under Patel's tenure. "The Atlantic's 'reporting'? Fabricated stories about 'breaching equipment' that was never requested. Intoxication claims with not a single witness willing to put their name on one. A paragraph — I'm not kidding — about the FBI Store not carrying 'intimidating enough' merchandise.""Every serious DC reporter passed on this. Sarah Fitzpatrick and Jeffrey Goldberg printed it anyway," wrote Knight, adding, "Lawsuit is being filed."
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[l] at 4/17/26 6:34pm
A right-wing publication is in full meltdown mode after Virginia's Democratic governor signed a bill stripping Confederate heritage organizations of their state tax exemptions, calling it an act of war against Southern identity and a harbinger of leftist tyranny.Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed the legislation this week, yanking tax exemptions for several Confederate groups, including the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the United Daughters of the Confederacy. She also signed a separate bill ending the production of specialty license plates bearing the likeness of Robert E. Lee.The Federalist responded with barely contained fury."Spanberger is sending an unequivocal message — it’s open season on those who would honor American history and the heritage of their ancestors. And the full force of the state will be used to quash them," wrote Hayden Daniel, a staff editor at the outlet.He uncorked a dire warning for conservatives. "The left cannot settle for merely snuffing out the fire of America’s heritage; they will ultimately seek to snuff out the people who continue to tend the flame. And in states like Virginia, they have the full power of the bureaucratic state at their disposal," wrote Daniel.The piece framed the removal of the tax exemptions as an act of political persecution against organizations it described as largely devoted to civic work, like helping homeless shelters and food banks.State Delegate Alex Askew, who sponsored the bill and has pushed for it for years, called Spanberger's signature "a proud moment and an important step forward for Virginia."The legislation is part of a broader Democratic-led effort in Virginia to shed the state's legacy as the former capital of the Confederacy, a yearslong project that has included the removal of Confederate monuments from public spaces.Critics of Confederate heritage organizations argue the groups have long romanticized the Confederacy and glossed over the central role of slavery in the Civil War, while benefiting from taxpayer-funded advantages unavailable to other civic groups.
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[l] at 4/17/26 6:20pm
A growing divide is emerging within the Republican Party as President Donald Trump pushes a massive increase in defense spending, with fiscal conservatives warning a “clash is looming” over the proposal.That’s according to NOTUS, which reported Friday that administration officials are lobbying lawmakers behind closed doors to approve a record-high $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget. But some of Trump’s own MAGA allies are signaling resistance, particularly deficit-focused Republicans wary of the nation’s rising debt.The proposal – which would significantly boost funding for munitions, shipbuilding and troop pay – comes as lawmakers grapple with a $39 trillion national debt and a projected $1.9 trillion annual deficit, NOTUS reported.But several GOP lawmakers told the outlet they are unwilling to back the defense increase without corresponding cuts elsewhere. “We need to not grow deficits,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) told NOTUS when questioned about the defense request. “So if we have to prioritize defense, then we need to, you know, de-prioritize other things.”Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) had a similar take on the matter.If you’ve got an idea to spend more money, what’s your pay-for?” he said, according to the report. “If you’re increasing spending, are you increasing revenue — if you’re increasing spending in defense, are you cutting somewhere else?”The plan includes roughly $73 billion in reductions to non-defense discretionary spending, targeting areas such as health research and heating assistance. But the internal tensions could complicate efforts to pass the budget, NOTUS reported Friday, especially given Republicans’ narrow majority in the House.
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[l] at 4/17/26 6:07pm
FBI Director Kash Patel is hanging onto his job by a thread, reported Sarah Fitzpatrick for The Atlantic on Friday — and a large part of that stems from accusations of erratic behavior, including unexplained absences and problem drinking, that have alarmed FBI staff.For the entirety of his time in charge, Patel, a former GOP House Intelligence Committee staffer known for his hard-right, pro-Trump attitude, has faced rumors of being absent from critical parts of his job, which he has denied. New reporting gave deeper insight into how bad it has gotten — and how much Patel fears he's about to lose his job any moment."Patel, according to multiple current officials, as well as former officials who have stayed close to him, is deeply concerned that his job is in jeopardy," wrote Fitzpatrick. "He has good reasons to think so — including some having to do with what witnesses described to me as bouts of excessive drinking." Furthermore, she wrote, "Patel was among the officials expected to be fired after Attorney General Pam Bondi’s ouster, on April 2. 'We’re all just waiting for the word' that Patel is officially out of the top job, an FBI official told me this week, and a former official told my colleague Jonathan Lemire that Patel was 'rightly paranoid.'"The White House has reportedly already begun talks about who could replace Patel if he is let go."Speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information and private conversations, they described Patel’s tenure as a management failure and his personal behavior as a national-security vulnerability," said the report.Fitzpatrick wrote that Patel's security detail even struggled to rouse him at times when he was needed for certain FBI duties."A request for 'breaching equipment' — normally used by SWAT and hostage-rescue teams to quickly gain entry into buildings — was made last year because Patel had been unreachable behind locked doors, according to multiple people familiar with the request," the report said.Patel was so fearful for his job that last Friday, when he was locked out of the FBI computer system due to an IT error, "he panicked, frantically calling aides and allies to announce that he had been fired by the White House, according to nine people familiar with his outreach," the report said. "Two of these people described his behavior as a 'freak-out.'"Ultimately, the problem was resolved, but during the chaos, "the White House fielded calls from the bureau and from members of Congress asking who was now in charge of the FBI," and some agents privately expressed "relief" when they thought he really had been fired, Fitzpatrick added.
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[l] at 4/17/26 6:07pm
FBI Director Kash Patel is hanging onto his job by a thread, reported Sarah Fitzpatrick for The Atlantic on Friday — and a large part of that stems from erratic behavior, including unexplained absences and problem drinking, that have alarmed FBI staff.For the entirety of his time in charge, Patel, a former GOP House Intelligence Committee staffer known for his hard-right, pro-Trump attitude, has faced rumors of being absent from critical parts of his job, which he has denied. New reporting gives deeper insight into how bad it has gotten — and how much Patel fears he's about to lose his job any moment."Patel, according to multiple current officials, as well as former officials who have stayed close to him, is deeply concerned that his job is in jeopardy," wrote Fitzpatrick. "He has good reasons to think so — including some having to do with what witnesses described to me as bouts of excessive drinking." Further, "Patel was among the officials expected to be fired after Attorney General Pam Bondi’s ouster, on April 2. 'We’re all just waiting for the word' that Patel is officially out of the top job, an FBI official told me this week, and a former official told my colleague Jonathan Lemire that Patel was 'rightly paranoid.'"The White House has reportedly already begun talks about who could replace Patel if he is let go."Speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information and private conversations, they described Patel’s tenure as a management failure and his personal behavior as a national-security vulnerability," said the report.Further, Patel's drinking has been such a problem that his security detail has struggled to rouse him at times when he is needed for certain FBI duties, and "A request for 'breaching equipment' — normally used by SWAT and hostage-rescue teams to quickly gain entry into buildings — was made last year because Patel had been unreachable behind locked doors, according to multiple people familiar with the request."According to the report, Patel is so fearful for his job that last Friday, when he was locked out of the FBI computer system due to an IT error, "he panicked, frantically calling aides and allies to announce that he had been fired by the White House, according to nine people familiar with his outreach. Two of these people described his behavior as a 'freak-out.'"Ultimately the problem was resolved, but during the chaos, "the White House fielded calls from the bureau and from members of Congress asking who was now in charge of the FBI," and some agents privately expressed "relief" when they thought he really had been fired.
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[l] at 4/17/26 5:47pm
New text messages obtained by TMZ showed the estranged wife of Kyrsten Sinema's boyfriend confronted the lawmaker in a heated exchange.Heather Ammel, who is suing Sinema in North Carolina for allegedly destroying her marriage, said she personally watched her husband Matthew receive messages from the ex-Arizona senator, including a photo of Sinema wrapped in a towel showing her bare back and what appeared to be cupping bruises, according to court documents obtained by TMZ.In another alleged message, Sinema reportedly asked Matthew, who was her bodyguard, to bring MDMA on a work trip so she could "guide him through a psychedelic experience."Heather Ammel finally confronted Sinema directly after seeing a message that read "I miss you. Putting my hand on your heart.""Are you having an affair with my husband?" Heather shot back. "You took a married man away from his family."Sinema has admitted the affair began in 2024 but is fighting to have the lawsuit dismissed, arguing their encounters never took place in North Carolina. A judge has not yet ruled on that motion.
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[l] at 4/17/26 5:40pm
CNN anchor Erin Burnett zeroed in on a striking moment during President Donald Trump’s latest remarks on Iran, calling out what she described as a telling misstep.“Trump claims everything is back to normal. He said Iran has just announced that the Strait of Iran, the Strait of Iran….interesting, that's interesting,” Burnett told viewers Friday as she opened her show. “I guess he just gave them the straight. Ostensibly, he met Hormuz, which is fully open and ready for full passage. Thank you. It's a Freudian slip there.”The comment came as the CNN anchor detailed a series of contradictions between Trump’s claims and statements from Iranian officials.“The President of the United States made seven claims in one hour, all seven of which were false,” Burnett said, quoting Iran’s parliamentary speaker. “And then Tehran went on to contradict President Trump on crucial key sticking points.”Burnett also highlighted confusion surrounding Trump’s repeated reference to “nuclear dust.”“It is a bit unclear what Trump means by nuclear dust,” she said, noting the president has used the term multiple times, seemingly referring to enriched uranium.She then cited a blunt assessment from a former nuclear inspector: “If he can't get his arms around highly enriched uranium, he looks like an idiot. There's no such thing as nuclear dust.”Burnett said Friday, while Trump announced that key points had been “already negotiated and agreed to,” Iranian officials publicly rejected that assertion.“And I'm sure he'll be thrilled that Trump called it the Strait of Iran,” Burnett added, referring to the Iranian parliamentary speaker, as she described the situation as “at best messy.”
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[l] at 4/17/26 5:26pm
What does Big Ag have to do with the Strait of Hormuz? A lot, actually, when you consider that almost every so-called efficiency that industrial agriculture relies on to operate flows through this waterway. And now it is closed, threatening global food security.And what is the primary source of the problem? Our reliance on fossil fuels.What do fertilizers, pesticides, and plastics have in common?First of all, each is a leg of the stool that makes up the rickety foundation of our global agrifood system.Plastics are involved in every stage of our food and farming systems from soil to spoon: plastic polymers are used in some mulches, agrichemical containers are generally made of plastics, harvest crates and produce packages are often plastic, most processed foods are packaged in plastic or plastic-lined containers, and single-use plastics are still widely used in plates, bowls, cups, straws, napkins, and utensils.In the 1960s, the world used between 60 and 70 million tonnes of fertilizer (synthetic nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, plus organic nitrogen) per year. But that usage has steadily risen ever since: in 2023 we used nearly 183 million tonnes of fertilizer. This rise can be attributed in part to the rising needs of a growing global population, but it is more indicative of our over-reliance on fertilizers as a way to combat the increasing effects of climate change. This season, farmers are already reporting untenable increases in fertilizer prices.Big Ag has and will continue to rely on Big Oil to make Big Money as long as they can, but the United States’ and Israel’s unconstitutional war on Iran starkly illustrates just how fragile this house of cards is.Pesticides are the other side of the agrichemical input coin. Fertilizers and pesticides go hand-in-hand, when it comes to global agrifood systems. The foundation of industrialized farming is monocropping (growing a single crop over and over on the same piece of land). The problem with monocropping is that it is extremely input intensive because monocropped land is more vulnerable to pest and disease pressure. And over time, this vulnerability increases, requiring more and more pesticides as tolerance builds. This creates a vicious cycle called the Pesticide Treadmill that is hard for farmers to escape without support.But, critically, synthetic plastics, fertilizers, and pesticides are all derivatives of fossil fuels, mass quantities of which must be funneled through one waterway before becoming various inputs and components of our centralized, industrialized agrifood system. Rather than curbing our use of climate-harming fossil fuel-derived plastics, synthetic fertilizers, and pesticides, our agrifood systems use more and more each year, exacerbating the problem and further locking us into a fragile food system.A Strait ChokepointAccording to the Congressional Research Service, over a quarter of the world’s supply of oil comes through the Strait of Hormuz, impacting farmers’ ability to get seeds in the ground and food to tables. Additionally, 20% of natural gas transits the Strait, which is a component of many agrichemical inputs. But, byproducts of oil and gas production also pass through the Strait, including helium which is used in semiconductor manufacturing (semiconductors like silicon are necessary for all modern technology), and urea, which is one of the most commonly used synthetic fertilizers. Over a third of the world’s urea must pass through the Strait.In short, global agrifood systems rely intrinsically on fossil fuels and their byproducts to function, and when supply lines are disrupted, even briefly, the domino effects could be catastrophic. This article is not meant to be a metaphor, but an urgent warning and a window to our way out.The most important—and maddening—thing to know is that our agrifood systems need not rely so heavily on fossil fuels and their byproducts to feed the world’s people.Big Ag has and will continue to rely on Big Oil to make Big Money as long as they can, but the United States’ and Israel’s unconstitutional war on Iran starkly illustrates just how fragile this house of cards is. As countries around the world issue energy conservation mandates and brace for worsening inflation and supply chain instability, we should consider how agroecological farming practices could not only make our agrifood systems safer by reducing exposures of harmful pesticides and curb climate change, but also make the systems that feed us more resilient by decentralizing them, improving resilience to climate change-induced drought, floods, and pest pressures, and extricating them out from under the thumb of fossil fuel corporations.Corporate greed has optimized humanity to the brink of mass starvation. But the principles of agroecology center food sovereignty (the opposite of corporate control), labor justice, and land stewardship.Food systems grounded in agroecology are ones in which:All people have access to healthy, safe, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food.Farmers and agricultural workers work with the land to protect, restore, and sustain natural resources and ecosystems.Agriculture utilizes ecological management practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improving adaptation and resilience to climate change.Synthetic chemical inputs are reduced or eliminated whenever possible.The production, sharing, commerce, and consumption of food is built on an economy which prioritizes thriving communities, resilient local markets, and worker rights.Diverse cultures, identities, and knowledge systems are embraced along with equitable forms of social organization.Power in food and farming systems is redistributed; shifting away from transnational corporations so that the rights of food producers, farm workers, and agricultural communities are centered.These principles are not far fetched; they’re economically viable solutions that are being practiced successfully around the world already. Systemic shifts toward global agrifood systems that prioritize the principles of agroecology could help us to solve the triple planetary crises of pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change.
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[l] at 4/17/26 5:25pm
President Donald Trump demanded Friday that Israel stop attacking Lebanon amid the fragile U.S. and Iran ceasefire, an announcement that surprised critics and prompted international security expert Robert Pape to describe it as a major turning point in U.S. global power. Trump wrote on Truth Social that Israel is "PROHIBITED" from bombing Lebanon, apparently to appease Iran's ceasefire demands. Israel had continued strikes despite Tehran making an end to attacks a condition of the truce. Pape, a University of Chicago political science professor, argued the move represents a structural shift in world power dynamics, reflecting U.S. leverage to shape not just adversaries but their allies' behavior. He noted the U.S. historically avoided pressuring Israel in ways aligned with Iranian demands, marking a significant change. Pape also suggested Iran's leverage demonstrates it as an emerging fourth center of world power amid broader global competition.According to Axios, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu privately pressured Trump to abandon ceasefire pursuits. Watch the video below. Your browser does not support the video tag.
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[l] at 4/17/26 5:11pm
One of the oldest and most right-wing justices on the Supreme Court appears not to be retiring after all, Fox News reported on Friday.Justice Samuel Alito, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush, "'is not stepping down this term and is in the process of hiring the rest of his clerks for the next term,' a source told Fox News Digital. Two other sources told Fox News that Alito is not retiring this term, which lasts until the Supreme Court's new year kicks off in October. Justices tend to hire their clerks two to three years in advance, although that process is not necessarily indicative of a justice's retirement plans."The news follows months of speculation that Alito was preparing to retire at the end of this term — fueled by the fact he was preparing to release a book in the fall. Touring to promote the book would have been easier to plan if he had intentions of not sitting on the court by next term.Alito remaining on the Supreme Court ups the stakes of the midterm elections in the fall, as a Democratic Senate majority, or even just a more evenly divided Senate, could severely limit President Donald Trump's ability to nominate a Supreme Court justice if a vacancy opens up after this year."The revelation that Alito is reportedly not planning to step down comes after President Donald Trump told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo he is 'prepared' to appoint up to three Supreme Court justices if vacancies arise," noted the report. "Trump added he has a shortlist of nominees in mind, though he did not mention any names."Trump was able to appoint three Supreme Court justices in his first term, giving Republicans an even firmer advantage on cases heard by the court.
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[l] at 4/17/26 5:02pm
President Donald Trump's Justice Department attached the "wrong document" to a filing in their lawsuit against the state of Minneosta to obtain their full, unredacted voter rolls, liberal elections outlet Democracy Docket reported on Friday."The Trump DOJ’s latest blunder came one day after it asked a federal court for permission to fix what judges across the country have already called a fatal defect in its voter roll demands: failing to explain why it needed the data in the first place," said the report. "But instead of waiting, DOJ rushed to file a new 'additional basis' for its demand — and fumbled the rollout."Specifically, DOJ claimed to attach an example of a noncitizen potentially voting in the 2024 election. However, "the exhibit DOJ attached to support that claim didn’t mention the alleged incident at all. Instead, it was an unrelated January letter about Minnesota’s same-day voter registration system — a separate issue that has had nothing to do with DOJ’s case to seize Minnesota’s unredacted voter rolls."DOJ officials acknowledged the mistake and updated the document. However, per the report, "The corrected document still relied on a recent news report about a single alleged noncitizen voter as the basis for demanding Minnesota’s full voter rolls."This comes after the DOJ has already lost nearly half a dozen similar lawsuits in states across the country, with judges tossing suits to obtain the voter rolls of California, Oregon, Michigan, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.A majority of states, including many run by Republicans, have refused to turn over this data, which in many cases includes full Social Security numbers, as the request is a violation of state law — though a handful, like Texas, have complied.The Secretary of State of Wyoming is currently facing a legal complaint alleging he ignored state law to hand over the requested data to the Trump administration.
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[l] at 4/17/26 4:53pm
Seven weeks into the conflict with Iran, new polling suggests President Donald Trump is struggling to win over the American public - a challenge one Republican strategist described as his “biggest problem.”A new survey from Politico found that just 38% of Americans back the military strikes, while a majority say the war is not in the national interest. A plurality of respondents also said they are not confident Trump has clear objectives, “including a notable chunk of his 2024 supporters,” according to Politico.The findings laid bare what one Republican strategist described as Trump’s core challenge.“I think the biggest problem is, first, this war was not pre-sold,” Jason Roe, a Michigan-based Republican strategist, told Politico. “[Trump] campaigned against these kinds of policies and these kinds of actions and reversed himself on a dime, and so … the American people were not conditioned to prepare for this thing.”Polling shows 41% of Americans say Trump does not have a plan for resolving the conflict, while only 27% believe he does. Even among the president’s MAGA base, cracks are emerging, according to the poll, which found that “more than a third of Trump voters say he doesn’t have a plan.”Roe also pointed to a messaging breakdown as the Middle East conflict continues to drag on. “I think the number one messaging problem has been that every day we’re told it’s going to end tomorrow, and we’re now nearly two months into that promise,” he told the outlet Friday. While Roe said he views most Republicans as “optimistic” that the Iran conflict will be resolved quickly, he added, “I think the biggest failure is telling us it’s going to be over tomorrow every day.”
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[l] at 4/17/26 4:49pm
A Democratic congressman on Friday seized on an unlikely source to hammer Donald Trump over his escalating feud with the Pope — Fox News host Laura Ingraham, who urged the president to show some restraint.Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida, speaking with progressive commentator Brian Tyler Cohen, noted that even one of Trump's most reliable defenders on cable news had seen enough."You don't have to swing at every pitch, Mr. President," Ingraham said, a line Moskowitz gleefully weaponized against the commander-in-chief.Trump has spent recent days feuding publicly with the Catholic Church's leader after posting an AI-generated image of himself dressed as a doctor — an image he later deleted — before doubling and tripling down by picking a fight with the Pope rather than walking it away.Cohen argued the two incidents are directly connected, with Trump using the papal feud as cover for the embarrassing image rather than simply letting it die."He does! That's who he is! He never lets sleeping dogs lie," Cohen said. "There's never a moment where he doesn't feel like he needs to have a take."The duo said the Pope fight is part of a broader pattern of distraction — from the Iran war, from the Epstein files, from an economy where gas is hitting five dollars a gallon.And unlike past controversies where Trump's base gave him a pass, they suggested the cumulative weight of it all may finally be taking a toll."The people who would have given him grace in the past," Moskowitz said, "I just think maybe they stay home. Maybe they don't vote."
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[l] at 4/17/26 4:25pm
In Texas, a new coalition of business groups, restaurants, and lawmakers opposes the Trump administration's immigration policies because of its economic strain on restaurants, as reported by The New York Times.The Texas Restaurant Association reports 50 percent of restaurants were unprofitable last year, up from 38 percent in 2024. Restaurant owner Regino Rojas of Revolver Taco Lounge in Dallas said current conditions are worse than the COVID pandemic. The immigration crackdown created a chilling effect among workers, regardless of status in Texas, where nearly 10 percent of the workforce is undocumented compared to 4.5 percent nationally, the American Immigration Council reports.The coalition, called Seat the Table, is pressing Congress and the White House for work permits for "long-term, law-abiding immigrants" in agriculture and restaurants.Texas Restaurant Association representative Kelsey Erickson Streufert stated that removing undocumented workers will harm everyone through higher prices. Labor shortages extend to agriculture, with farms struggling to find consistent, reliable workers after 18 years of stable immigrant labor supply.Watch the video below. Your browser does not support the video tag.
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[l] at 4/17/26 4:22pm
President Donald Trump's Health and Human Services Secretary tried to walk back his disparaging remarks against children with autism and people with disabilities at his congressional hearing on Friday — but CNN's Jake Tapper had a clip ready to hold him to account."Another round of intense questioning for HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.," said Tapper. "On Capitol Hill today, lawmakers pressed the Department of Health and Human Services secretary on his promotion of medical misinformation. In one of the most hostile moments from today's hearing, Democratic Congresswoman Lucy McBath of Georgia scolded RFK Jr. about his past remarks on autism, specifically his claim that autism, quote, 'destroys families' and that children with autism 'have no future.'"Tapper rolled the clip."Some people with disabilities do need direct care to assist them with activities like going to the bathroom, but that does not mean that they are somehow less than or unable to lead fulfilling and productive lives as you," said McBath, to which Kennedy replied, "Nobody said they were.""'And nobody said they were,' RFK Jr. said," repeated Tapper. "But Secretary Kennedy, someone did say they were, and it was you." He then played another, earlier clip of Kennedy giving a speech."Destroys families and more importantly, it destroys our greatest resource, which our children," said Kennedy in the clip. "These are kids who will never pay taxes. They'll never hold a job. They'll never play baseball. They'll never write a poem. They'll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted.""Today, Congresswoman McBath asked RFK Jr. to apologize for his remarks," said Tapper. "He refused, stating that he was specifically talking about profound autism, although that's not what he said. He said autism destroys families." - YouTube www.youtube.com

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