Democratic Underground: Forums for U.S. Liberals and Democrats

'Real concern': Foreign officials sending warnings to Trump about boycott on intel sharing

(Raw Story) On Wednesday morning, MSNBC's Jonathan Lemire reported that current and former domestic and foreign intel officials are expressing extreme alarm over the nomination by Donald Trump about his choice of former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as his Director of National Intelligence (DNI). Following a discussion on other problematic nominees, including ex-Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, Lemire stated there is a growing consensus that Gabbard is completely unacceptable and key U.S. allies are sending out warnings they will not share intel with her.

BumRushDaShow

Jeffries: Republicans don't have a mandate

(The Hill) House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday rejected the idea that voters delivered an Election Day mandate to Donald Trump and the Republicans, arguing that the GOP’s razor-thin majority in the House means that nothing will get done in Washington without Democratic support. “Despite the claims of some of my Republican colleagues, who have spent a lot of time over the last two weeks talking about some big, massive mandate — I’m looking for it,” Jeffries said during a press briefing in the Capitol. The comments were a shot at the Republicans who, after winning control of the House, Senate and White House in the next Congress, have asserted broad powers to pursue a starkly conservative policy agenda.

Yavin4

WSJ editorial warns Elon Musk's 'blow-it-all-up' ideas will devastate U.S. economy

(Raw Story) President-elect Donald Trump ally Elon Musk is telling him that the person he nominates for U.S. Treasury secretary should not be someone who favors "business as usual." The advice has sent shock waves through the conservative Wall Street Journal. The newspaper’seditorial board on Sunday emphasized that "disruption" at the U.S. Treasury Department could be risky and dangerous for the country's economy.

Yavin4

Walmart CFO says some prices might rise if Trump's tariffs take effect

(The Hill) A Walmart executive warned that President-elect Trump’s plans to raise tariffs on imports could drive the retail giant to increase the price of store items. “We never want to raise prices,” John David Rainey, the company’s CFO said in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday. “Our model is everyday low prices. But there probably will be cases where prices will go up for consumers.” Trump has proposed a 10 percent to 20 percent tariff on all imported goods, and a tariff of at least 60 percent on Chinese imports.

KS Toronado

Wednesday carTOONS

BumRushDaShow

Gaetz sent over $10K in Venmo payments to 2 women who testified in House probe, records suggest

(ABC News) The House Ethics Committee obtained records, including a check and records of Venmo payments, that appear to show that then-Rep. Matt Gaetz paid more than $10,000 to two women who were later witnesses in sexual misconduct probes conducted by both the House and the Justice Department, according to documents obtained by ABC News. The Venmo records show that between July 2017 and late January 2019, Gaetz -- who was first elected in 2016 -- allegedly made 27 Venmo payments totaling $10,224.02 to the two witnesses, who were over the age of 18 at the time.

Dulcinea

Someone accessed files said to contain damaging info about Trump AG-nominee Gaetz, lawyer says

(AP) Attorneys involved in a civil case brought by a Gaetz associate were notified this week that an unauthorized person accessed a file shared between lawyers that included unredacted depositions from a woman who has said Gaetz had sex with her when she was 17, and a second woman who says she saw the encounter, according to attorney Joel Leppard.

Dennis Donovan

No, the Democratic Party Can't "Message Better" to Racism, Misogyny, and Ignorance

(John Pavlovitz) In the wake of the election results, one of the most common media postmortems has been the Democratic Party’s supposed failure to reach those Americans who they were unable to persuade over the course of the campaign; rural and working class voters, especially. The airways have been filled with politicians and talking heads offer their critiques and suggestions on how Democrats need to rethink how they are messaging. I’m sorry, but that’s largely nonsense.

MayReasonRule

Texas Offers Up State For Deporation / Concentration Camps

634-5789

Biden locks in $6.6B for TSMC chip factories, ensuring Trump can't rescind CHIPS Act deal

(AZ Mirror) The Biden administration has finalized a $6.6 billion award for the Taiwan semiconductor giant that is building massive factories in Phoenix, amid concerns President-elect Donald Trump will derail subsidies aimed at fostering the domestic chip industry. “This is a gigantic announcement,” Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo told reporters on a call ahead of the announcement early Friday, 10 days after Trump’s election. “This will be one of the most important investments that we make as a country to advance our economic and national security,” she said.

Expand Featured Stories

Issue Forums

Latest Breaking News

Republicans renew push to expand federal powers to punish non-profits

28 min ago - Wed 20 Nov 2024 11.16 EST Last modified on Wed 20 Nov 2024 12.06 EST House Republicans have renewed a push to pass a bill that would allow the treasury department to strip non-profit groups it deems to be supporting “terrorism” of their tax ... (The Guardian)

Defense Secretary Austin says women in military 'make us stronger'

1 hr ago - Nov. 20, 2024, 7:13 AM EST VIENTIANE, Laos — Women and racial diversity are vital to the strength of U.S. armed forces, outgoing Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in an exclusive interview with NBC News as he prepares to shortly exit the top m ... (NBC News)

House Ethics Panel Deadlocks on Whether to Release Gaetz Report

1 hr ago - Nov. 20, 2024, 3:49 p.m. ET The House Ethics Committee deadlocked on Wednesday on whether to release a report about sexual misconduct and illicit drug use allegations against former Representative Matt Gaetz, the Florida Republican who is President-e ... (New York Times)

Donald Trump starts push to dismiss hush money convictions due to election win

1 hr ago - Published 11:59 a.m. ET Nov. 20, 2024 | Updated 12:00 p.m. ET Nov. 20, 2024 Lawyers for President-elect Donald Trump previewed their argument for tossing out his New York hush money case based on his election victory in a two-page letter released Wed ... (USA Today)

FDA investigating 'forever chemicals' in seafood

2 hrs ago - 11/20/24 10:10 AM ET The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be investigating the presence of “forever chemicals” in seafood, with the goal of understanding how such contamination contributes to dietary exposures and public health. The ... (The Hill)

Louisiana law requiring schools to post the Ten Commandments in classrooms remains blocked

2 hrs ago - Nation Nov 20, 2024 1:38 PM EST NEW ORLEANS (AP) — ............... The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a state request to temporarily stay an earlier order by U.S. District Judge John deGravelles in Baton Rouge while litigation contin ... (pbs)

Raimondo's new mission: Leave no cash for Trump

2 hrs ago - 11/20/2024 05:00 AM EST Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo is on an urgent mission: get as much high-tech spending out the door before Donald Trump takes office. The Biden administration is aiming to commit nearly every unspent dollar in its $50 billio ... (Politico)

Texas offers Trump land on US-Mexico border for potential mass deportations

2 hrs ago - Texas offers Trump land on US-Mexico border for potential mass deportations The Associated Press November 20, 2024, 2:14 PM McALLEN, Texas (AP) -- Texas is offering a parcel of rural ranchland along the U.S.-Mexico border to use as a staging area for ... (Associated Press, via WTOP)

Former UVA student pleads guilty to fatally shooting 3 and wounding 2

3 hrs ago - Former UVA student pleads guilty to fatally shooting 3 and wounding 2 The Associated Press November 20, 2024, 2:22 PM CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) -- A former University of Virginia student pleaded guilty Wednesday to fatally shooting three football pla ... (Associated Press, via WTOP)

Rudy Giuliani 'brazenly violating' court order by repeating 'exact same lies' about Georgia election workers

3 hrs ago - Nov 20th, 2024, 11:55 am Attorneys for two Georgia election workers are seeking to hold Rudy Giuliani in civil contempt, claiming he is continuing to repeat the same false statements about the duo rigging the 2020 election that resulted in a $148 mil ... (Law & Crime)

Susan Smith, who killed her 2 young children 30 years ago, denied parole

4 hrs ago - Susan Smith, who killed her 2 young children 30 years ago, denied parole By Chris Boyette, CNN 5 minute read Updated 1:17 PM EST, Wed November 20, 2024 (CNN) -- Susan Smith, who has served 30 years of a life sentence for killing her two young sons i ... (CNN)

Speaker Johnson says transgender women won't be allowed to use women's restrooms in Capitol

4 hrs ago - House Speaker Mike Johnson said transgender women cannot use women's restrooms in the Capitol and House office buildings. This also applies to changing rooms and locker rooms, Johnson said. "All single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office B ... (ABC)

Trump to nominate former acting AG Matthew Whitaker as NATO ambassador

4 hrs ago - Posted 23 minutes ago President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he is nominating former acting Attorney General Matthew G. Whitaker as the United States' ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Whitaker worked in the Trump a ... (Scripps News)

Denmark makes new $138 million donation to Ukraine's military, PM says

5 hrs ago - Nov 19 (Reuters) - Denmark is making a new donation of about $138 million for development of Ukraine's arms industry, its latest contribution to the sector, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Tuesday. "And today I'm pleased to announce a ... (Reuters)

Man found guilty of murder in the killing of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley

5 hrs ago - BREAKING NEWS Nov. 20, 2024, 11:24 AM EST U.S. news Man found guilty of murder in the killing of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley Jose Antonio Ibarra was convicted on three counts of felony murder and counts of malice murder, kidnapping with bodil ... (NBC News)

Morning Joe suffers ratings nosedive after hosts met Trump at Mar-a-Lago

5 hrs ago - Wednesday 20 November 2024 11:29 GMT Morning Joe ratings have taken a nose-dive as hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski face a backlash for meeting with Donald Trump. During Monday’s show, the hosts revealed that they had traveled to Mar-a ... (The Independent)

US vetoes UN resolution demanding a cease-fire in Gaza because there's no link to a hostage release

7 hrs ago - Updated 10:38 AM EST, November 20, 2024 UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The United States vetoed a U.N. resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in the war in Gaza on Wednesday because it is not linked to an immediate release of hostages taken captive by ... (AP)

Comcast announces plan to spin off cable channels, including MSNBC, CNBC and USA

7 hrs ago - Nov. 20, 2024, 8:11 AM EST / Updated Nov. 20, 2024, 9:41 AM EST Comcast announced a plan Wednesday to spin off most of its cable television networks into a separate publicly traded company. The new company will include the USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, O ... (NBC News)

Trump names Linda McMahon as his pick for Education secretary

7 hrs ago - Updated 3:37 AM EST, Wed November 20, 2024 CNN — President-elect Donald Trump has named his transition co-chair Linda McMahon as his pick to serve as the next secretary of the Department of Education. The decision, which Trump announced Tuesda ... (CNN Politics)

Florida Gov. DeSantis' Canadian drug import plan goes nowhere after FDA approval

8 hrs ago - November 20, 2024 / 5:00 AM EST Nearly a year after the Biden administration gave Florida the green light to become the first state to import lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada — a longtime goal of politicians across the political spectru ... (CBS News)