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August 26, 2025
Democrats look to flip GOP seats in Georgia, Iowa special elections on Tuesday
(The Hill) Democrats are looking to flip two Republican-leaning state Senate seats Tuesday as they seek to continue their party’s success in special elections this year. Voters are heading to the polls in Iowa and Georgia to fill seats vacated by Republicans. The election in Iowa may be a bit more consequential as it will determine whether Republicans continue to hold a supermajority in the state Senate, but wins or overperformances in either race would be a boost to Democrats at a time the party is seeking to improve its brand.
Go to discussionTrump's plan to create Guard units to quell civil unrest alarms experts
(ABC News) President Donald Trump on Monday ordered the Pentagon to create National Guard units in Washington, D.C., and across the country that would be designated to tamp down civil protests and ensure public safety -- a job that historically and legally has belonged to civilian law enforcement. Critics called Trump's desire to build a kind of rapid "reaction force" for civil unrest alarming, insisting his order pushes legal boundaries for the National Guard, an auxiliary force whose mission is to help fight foreign enemies abroad or aid Americans in times of extraordinary crisis like hurricanes and floods.
Go to discussionDC delegate presses Trump officials on cost of National Guard 'mass deployment'
(The Hill) Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) is pressing Trump administration officials about the cost of the National Guard deployment to the nation’s capital, in addition to the scope and legal parameters of the operation. “D.C. did not request or consent to the mass deployment of National Guard troops, who were recently authorized to carry weapons in the District despite D.C.’s crime rate being at a 30-year low,” Norton said Monday in a statement.
Go to discussionAs President Donald Trump appears to waffle on National Guard in Chicago, Gov. JB Pritzker says, 'do not come'
(Chicago Tribune) President Donald Trump appeared to waver Monday on whether he would attempt to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago, saying Gov. JB Pritzker should be asking for the help — a request the second-term Democrat has made clear isn’t forthcoming. “We may wait. We may or may not. We may just go in and do it, which is probably what we should do,” Trump said. Later Monday, Pritzker indeed made it clear he wasn’t inviting Trump to send the National Guard.
Go to discussionMan burns U.S. flag near White House to protest Trump order. Secret Service detains man in Lafayette Square.
(Washington Post) A man set fire to a U.S. flag across the street from the White House Monday evening to protest President Donald Trump’s anti-flag-burning executive order. … The man was arrested in Lafayette Square, but not on grounds of violating the order — or of burning the flag. Instead he was charged with violating a law against setting fires at federal parks. Video posted on social media shows the man in the park saying that he would ignite the flag to protest Trump’s order issued earlier Monday. The man called the order illegal.
Go to discussionWe have become an authoritarian state, and our top newsrooms are in denial
(Dan Froomkin) The top story of the moment is the one story that our most influential newsrooms won’t touch: That the United State has become an authoritarian state. At some point, the evidence becomes overwhelming — and we have reached that point. The frog in the metaphorical pot of water has boiled to death.
Go to discussionMaddow: Trump's deliberate degradation of U.S. military, law enforcement points to new mission
Go to discussionJudge orders Kari Lake to answer questions about Voice of America under oath
(NPR) A senior federal judge ordered Trump administration official Kari Lake to submit to questioning under oath in ongoing litigation over her efforts to effectively dismantle Voice of America despite Congressional mandates that it be maintained. U.S District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth said Lake was "verging on contempt of court" for failing to comply with his repeated orders to make information available about her intentions for the future of the federally funded international broadcaster.
Go to discussionFormer Labor secretary will be interviewed in House Epstein probe
(Politico) President Donald Trump’s first secretary of Labor will answer questions from House investigators next month about his involvement in the Jeffrey Epstein case. House Oversight Chair James Comer said Monday that Alex Acosta, who led the Labor Department from 2017 to 2019, has agreed to sit for a transcribed interview with the panel on Sept. 19. As U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Acosta signed off on a 2008 deal that allowed Epstein to plead guilty to a single state charge, ending a long-running FBI investigation without federal charges.
Go to discussionCalifornia Republicans announce second legal challenge against Newsom's redistricting effort
(The Hill) California Republicans announced a legal challenge Monday against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) effort to redraw congressional lines in the state, days after the state Legislature approved a redistricting ballot measure to go before voters this fall. The petition, as described at a Monday press conference, asks the state Supreme Court to intervene and keep Proposition 50 off the ballot.
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