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

Fine arts panel urges Mint to make Trump gold coin 'as large as possible'

Members of a federal arts commission voted on Thursday to create a 24-carat commemorative gold coin featuring President Donald Trump — and to make it “as large as possible.” The Commission of Fine Arts, a seven-person panel appointed by the president, passed a motion calling for the U.S. Treasury to manufacture the coin. The gold piece would feature Trump leaning over the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office on one side and a bald eagle on the other. Trump personally reviewed and approved the prop ...

naftali

Pentagon seeks $200 billion in additional funds for the Iran war

The Pentagon is seeking $200 billion in additional funds for the Iran war, a sizable amount that is certain to be met with questions from Congress, which would need to approve any new money. ...

BumRushDaShow

WHO officials admit they are preparing for possible nuclear weapon use in Iran

Thursday 19 March 2026 06:30 EDT Officials at the World Health Organization have admitted that they are preparing for a “worst-case scenario” nuclear threat if the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran escalates. Hanan Balkhy, WHO regional director for the eastern Mediterranean, said that staff remain “vigilant” for a nuclear incident following President Donald Trump’s decision to bomb Iran in a joint campaign with Israel. “The worst-case scenario is a nuclear incident, and that’s something that worrie ...

highplainsdem

Tinder Plans to Let AI Scan Your Camera Roll

Tinder plans to let machine vision algorithms loose on your camera roll. Instead of building a profile on their own, AI will scan users’ locally-stored photos—everything from gym selfies to pictures of their family, sensitive documents and dick pics—to help construct profiles by determining what users’ interests and values are. -snip- The feature is still being tested, with early access only available in Australia beginning this month. Although Tinder says it attempts to filter out explicit im ...

Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

NATO chief confident spat over Strait of Hormuz can be resolved

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte signalled optimism that a spat between US President Donald Trump and European allies over the Strait of Hormuz can be resolved. "I am confident that allies, as always, will do everything in support of our shared interests," Rutte said on Thursday. "We will find a way forward." On Sunday, Trump had suggested in media remarks that NATO may have a "very bad" future if allies don't help ensure safe passage for commercial shipping thro ...

UpInArms

The war is already lost. Epic Fury looks like an Epic Fail.

(Fortune) The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is already lost for the United States. Even if Iran is militarily defeated, it is unlikely the United States’ political objectives will be achieved. And, on balance, the United States will come out weakened from this war. President Trump’s biggest problem lies in his attempt to square an impossible circle: imposing regime change in Iran without committing ground troops. Trump understands that neither his MAGA base nor the U.S. public has any appetite for another prolonged ground war in the Middle East. But regime change from the air does not work for a 90 million-strong country that is four times the size of Iraq and has been preparing for this eventuality for decades.

mahatmakanejeeves

Pentagon seeks more than $200 billion in budget request for Iran war

(Washington Post) The Pentagon has asked the White House to approve a more than $200 billion request to Congress to fund the war in Iran, according to a senior administration official, in an enormous new ask that is almost certain to run into resistance from lawmakers opposed to the conflict. That number would far surpass the costs of the administration’s massive airstrike campaign to date and instead seek to urgently increase production of critical weaponry expended as U.S. and Israeli forces have struck thousands of targets over the past three weeks, according to three other people familiar with the matter, who confirmed that the Defense Department is seeking packages of that size.

BumRushDaShow

US national debt surges past $39 trillion just weeks into war in Iran

(AP) The national debt surpassed a record $39 trillion on Wednesday, a milestone that comes just weeks into the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran. The unprecedented figure highlights competing administration priorities, from passing a massive tax law and boosting defense spending and immigration enforcement to chipping away at the debt itself — the latter of which Donald Trump promised to do as both a candidate and as president.

littlemissmartypants

Oil and natural gas prices soar as Iran attacks Gulf energy facilities

(AP) Global oil and natural gas prices soared Thursday after Iran attacked a key natural gas facility in Qatar that can supply one-fifth of the worlds gas as well as two oil refineries in Kuwait. The attacks added to fears the energy crisis triggered by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to tanker traffic may be longer and more extensive than feared, with lasting damage to oil and gas production. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose to near $114 per barrel, up from under $73 per barrel on the eve of the war.

LymphocyteLover

Analysis from West Point warns that strait of Hormuz blockade will strangle US defense industry

(The Guardian) The closure of the strait of Hormuz is causing a “paralyzing, real-time problem” for any prospective manufacturing surge in the US defense industrial base, and even for the repair of defense equipment damaged by Iranian attacks, according to analysis published by West Point’s Modern War Institute. In particular sulphur, a vital upstream input in the extraction of critical minerals including copper and cobalt, has seen a “near total” disruption of seaborne trade in the straits, which makes up half the world’s total shipments, and prices have spiked nearly 25% since the war began, and seen a 165% rise year on year, the report said.

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Millions More Americans Uninsured After Lapse Of Premium Subsidies

24 min ago - Mar 19, 2026, 06:00 PM EDT | Updated 10 hours ago Millions of Americans have lost health insurance after lawmakers let enhanced federal subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans expire following last year’s government shutdown battle, a study rele ... (Huff Post)

Boebert Comes Out Swinging Against Trump Admin. Request for Iran War Money: 'I'm Not Doing That'

34 min ago - Michael Luciano Mar 20th, 2026, 12:27 am Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) said she will not support any supplemental funding bill to pay for the Iran war, no matter what the price tag is. The Department of Defense is seeking $200 billion in supplemental ... (mediaite)

Federal judges read death threats and defend judiciary amid rising attacks

53 min ago - Updated 3:51 PM EDT, March 19, 2026 Federal judges read profane death threats and praised U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts’ recent comments condemning personal criticism of judges during an unusual forum on Thursday to highlight ris ... (AP)

Judge dismisses Trump administration lawsuit over California egg prices

1 hr ago - 03/19/26 3:18 PM ET A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Trump administration against California last summer over the cost of eggs. U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi, a President Trump appointee, found that the federal go ... (The Hill)

FCC green-lights Nexstar's $6.2B merger with rival TV station owner Tegna

7 hrs ago - Media FCC green-lights Nexstar's $6.2B merger with rival TV station owner Tegna The FCC approved the deal less than a day after eight state attorneys general sued to block it. The combined entity would become the nation's largest operator of local TV ... (NBC News)

Employer ordered to pay $22.5M for newborn's death after denying mom's work-from-home request during high-risk pregnancy

7 hrs ago - Employer ordered to pay $22.5M for newborn’s death after denying mom’s work-from-home request during high-risk pregnancy A jury ordered TQL to pay $22.5 million for a newborn’s death after denying the mom’s request to work from ho ... (WXIX-TV)

Exclusive: Iran attacks wipe out 17% of Qatar's LNG capacity for up to five years, QatarEnergy CEO says

8 hrs ago - DUBAI/DOHA, March 19 (Reuters) - Iranian attacks ‌have knocked out 17% of Qatar's liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity, causing an estimated $20 billion in lost annual revenue and threatening supplies to Europe and Asia, QatarEnergy's CEO ... (Reuters)

EXCLUSIVE: US poised to accept new F-35s without radars, sources say

8 hrs ago - Air Warfare EXCLUSIVE: US poised to accept new F-35s without radars, sources say Rep. Rob Wittman told Breaking Defense that while he expected issues with the new APG-85 radar to eventually be resolved, in the interim the US military will be left wit ... (Breaking Defense)

FBI seizes website tied to Iranian cyberattack on U.S. company, hacker group says

8 hrs ago - March 19, 2026, 2:21 PM EDT The FBI appears to have seized the website of an Iran-linked hacker group that claimed responsibility for the only known significant cyberattack on a U.S. company since war between the countries started in February. The si ... (NBC News)

US acknowledges gaps with Israel on Iran war objectives

8 hrs ago - Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told lawmakers plainly Thursday that the United States and Israel have different goals in the war in Iran — one of the clearest indications yet from a top U.S. official that the two allies may be d ... (Politico)

Trump's 'young, very smart type of person' remark used against administration in lawsuit

8 hrs ago - Mar 19th, 2026, 11:25 am Dozens of fired USAID employees have sued in federal court, alleging the Trump administration's move to "eject older legacy" foreign aid agency workers and replace them with DOGE-approved "new, younger employees" was unlawfu ... (Law & Crime)

Fetterman explains why he crossed party lines to support Mullin for DHS chief

8 hrs ago - Democratic Sen. John Fetterman cast the deciding vote Thursday to advance Markwayne Mullin’s nomination to serve as US Department of Homeland Security secretary, crossing party lines to send President Donald Trump’s nominee to the full Sena ... (CNN)

Feds Drop Charges Against Disabled Woman Arrested For Standing Up At State Of The Union

8 hrs ago - Mar 19, 2026, 02:57 PM EDT | Updated 4 hours ago WASHINGTON — The federal government decided Thursday not to seek charges against Aliya Rahman, the Minneapolis woman who was arrested and dragged out of President Donald Trump’s State of the ... (Huff Post)

Republican Congressman Turned Independent Now Says He's Open to Caucusing With Dems

9 hrs ago - Mar 19th, 2026, 2:19 pm Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-CA), who recently left the GOP to become an Independent, told Stephen A. Smith that he would be open to caucusing with Democrats if reelected to Congress.Kiley switched parties after changing districts due ... (MEDIAite)

States sue over proposed Nexstar media merger

9 hrs ago - March 19, 2026 SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — Several states have filed suit against two media giants in an attempt to stop a proposed merger they claim would raise prices and hurt consumers. The attorneys general of the eight states argue in their ... (Courthouse News Service)

Comey subpoenaed in conspiracy case against ex-officials who investigated Trump

10 hrs ago - Updated on: March 19, 2026 / 5:25 PM EDT Washington — Former FBI Director James Comey has been subpoenaed by federal prosecutors in Miami as part of the Justice Department's investigation into Obama-era intelligence officials, two sources famili ... (CBS News)

People of Twin Cities awarded JFK Profile in Courage Award over resistance to ICE surge

10 hrs ago - March 19, 2026 / 11:55 AM CDT The people of Minneapolis-St. Paul are being honored with a John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for their response to the federal immigration enforcement operation this winter, the JFK Library Foundation announced ... (CBS news)

Epstein ties present potential hurdle for Trump's Fed chair nominee

10 hrs ago - Kevin Warsh’s path to becoming the next Federal Reserve chair is already rocky — and it may be approaching a major roadblock, casting fresh uncertainty about who will be leading the central bank at a critical moment for the economy. Nearly ... (CNN)

Treasury Department begins taking over student loans as the Education Department gets dismantled

10 hrs ago - Updated 5:36 PM EDT, March 19, 2026 WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Education Department is handing off a portion of its student loan portfolio to the Treasury Department, a first step toward shedding management of all student loans as Trump administ ... (AP)

Democrats tee up energy affordability debate with new bill

11 hrs ago - Posted March 19, 2026 at 11:17am House Democratic leaders of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition have introduced a lengthy bill aimed at navigating rising energy costs for American consumers. Reps. Sean Casten of Illinois and Mike Levin ... (Roll Call)