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

DOJ Defends Reassignment of Military Lawyers to Serve as Immigration Judges

Published Nov 15, 2025 at 05:36 PM EST updated Nov 15, 2025 at 05:46 PM EST The Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a 13-page defense of the decision to temporarily reassign Defense Department lawyers to immigration tasks, saying that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth may do so since the lawyers will work "on a full-time basis, in an entirely civilian capacity, under the supervision of civilian DOJ supervisors." "Under our longstanding view, those conditions are sufficient to compl ...

BumRushDaShow

Alice Wong, disability rights activist and writer, dies at 51

Nov. 15, 2025, 5:57 PM EST SAN FRANCISCO — Alice Wong, a disability rights activist and author whose independence and writing inspired others, has died. She was 51. Wong died Friday because of an infection at a hospital in San Francisco, said Sandy Ho, a close friend who has been in touch with Wong’s family. Ho called her friend a “luminary of the disability justice movement” who wanted to see a world where people with disabilities, especially ones of marginalized demographics who were peopl ...

BumRushDaShow

Smithsonian museums, National Zoo reopenings bring flocks of visitors

PUBLISHED Nov 15, 2025, 4:25 PM ET Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo are welcoming members of the public back after weeks of closures because of the government shutdown. The Smithsonian Institution, which receives federal funding and comprises the largest museum complex in the world, closed as the shutdown entered its third week after initially using budget funds from previous years to stay open. The facilities are now reopening on a rolling basis through Monday. After a month shuttere ...

BumRushDaShow

Texas, California National Guard members to leave Portland and Chicago

November 15, 2025, 4:48 PM The 200 federalized California National Guard members sent to Portland, Oregon, and another 200 federalized Texas National Guard members sent to Chicago will return to their home states, according to two U.S. officials. The federalized Guard troops arrived in those cities in early October but never deployed operationally because of legal challenges that continue playing out in the courts. Late Friday night, U.S. Northern Command hinted that changes were coming t ...

BumRushDaShow

SNAP Benefits Update: Trump Admin Says 'Everyone' Will Have To Reapply

Published Nov 15, 2025 at 03:35 AM EST updated Nov 15, 2025 at 06:18 AM EST The Trump administration has revealed plans to make all current SNAP recipients reapply for their benefits in an attempt to prevent fraud. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told Newsmax on Thursday the plan is to “have everyone reapply for their benefits, make sure that everyone that’s taking a taxpayer-funded benefit through ... food stamps, that they literally are vulnerable and they can’t survive without it.” Ne ...

riversedge

Bill Clinton responds to Epstein probe

Sam Stevenson • updated Nov 15, 2025 at 11:50 AM EST ...........In a brief statement posted on X, Clinton’s spokesperson Angel Ureña said: “These emails prove Bill Clinton did nothing and knew nothing. The rest is noise meant to distract from election losses, backfiring shutdowns, and who knows what else.” The probe, initiated at Trump's request, raises questions about the independence of federal law enforcement, political motivations behind such investigations, and ongoing calls for tra ...

BumRushDaShow

'We ain't ready.' Michelle Obama says the country doesn't want a woman president.

Nov. 15, 2025, 10:13 a.m. ET Michelle Obama said Americans don't want a woman to be president, and that's why they shouldn't look to her to run for the nation's highest office. "As we saw in this past election, sadly, we ain’t ready," Obama said. "That’s why I’m like, don’t even look at me about running, because you all are lying. You’re not ready for a woman. You are not." The former first lady and wife of President Barack Obama made the comments Nov. 14 in a conversatio ...

BumRushDaShow

Jasmine Crockett To Marjorie Taylor Greene On Trump Fallout: 'I Told You Not To Trust Him'

Nov 15, 2025, 01:18 PM EST Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) weighed in on President Donald Trump’s ongoing spat with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) with a message for the right-wing congresswoman that was supportive, in its own way. “This almost feels like a moment where Marge should phone a friend…” Crockett wrote on X. “I’m here for you girl… I told you not to trust him… all he cares about is HIMself (and protecting pedos) he never loved you. My granny always said ‘be with the man that ...

Omaha Steve

Pope returns 62 artifacts to Indigenous peoples from Canada as part of reckoning with colonial past

By NICOLE WINFIELD Updated 6:58 AM CST, November 15, 2025 Leer en español VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican on Saturday returned 62 artifacts to Indigenous peoples from Canada, a historic restitution that is part of the Catholic Church’s reckoning with its role in helping suppress Indigenous culture in the Americas. Pope Leo XIV gave the artifacts, including an iconic Inuit kayak, and supporting documentation to a delegation of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, which is expected to r ...

Expand Featured Stories

Issue Forums

Alliance Forums

Region Forums

Latest Breaking News

Trump pulling out all the stops to welcome Saudi crown prince for first White House visit since Khashoggi killing

2 min ago - PUBLISHED Nov 16, 2025, 5:00 AM ET President Donald Trump is planning to receive Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House this week with all the trappings of a state visit, sources familiar with the matter said ... (CNN Politics)

South Carolina looks at most restrictive abortion bill in the US as opponents keep pushing limits

24 min ago - Updated 12:01 AM EST, November 16, 2025 COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Sending women who get abortions to prison for decades. Outlawing IUDs. Sharply restricting in-vitro fertilization. These are the strictest abortion prohibitions and punishments in the ... (AP)

Backfire: More white clergy running as Dems after Trump 'duped' churches

57 min ago - November 15, 2025 8:19PM ET The Guardian reports roughly 30 Christian white clergy, including pastors, seminary students and other faith leaders, are filing or have already filed to be Democratic candidates in next year’s midterm elections. ... (Raw Story)

4 law enforcement officers shot in rural Kansas responding to domestic violence call

1 hr ago - By JOHN HANNA and JACK DURA Updated 8:48 PM CST, November 15, 2025 CARBONDALE, Kan. (AP) — Four law enforcement officers were shot Saturday morning while responding to a domestic violence call at a home in a rural area south of Topeka, and a 22- ... (AP)

Alice Wong, disability rights activist and writer, dies at 51

2 hrs ago - Nov. 15, 2025, 5:57 PM EST SAN FRANCISCO — Alice Wong, a disability rights activist and author whose independence and writing inspired others, has died. She was 51. Wong died Friday because of an infection at a hospital in San Francisco, said Sa ... (NBC News/AP)

DOJ Defends Reassignment of Military Lawyers to Serve as Immigration Judges

2 hrs ago - Published Nov 15, 2025 at 05:36 PM EST updated Nov 15, 2025 at 05:46 PM EST The Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a 13-page defense of the decision to temporarily reassign Defense Department lawyers to immigration tasks, saying that Defense Secretar ... (Newsweek)

27 Epstein survivors thank GOP lawmaker for taking on Trump: 'You have our full support'

3 hrs ago - November 15, 2025 5:33PM ET More than two dozen survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have reportedly sent a letter to a GOP lawmaker who has been speaking out against Donald Trump. Trump‘s decision to lash out and make personal attacks on Rep. Marjorie ... (Raw Story)

Texas, California National Guard members to leave Portland and Chicago

4 hrs ago - November 15, 2025, 4:48 PM The 200 federalized California National Guard members sent to Portland, Oregon, and another 200 federalized Texas National Guard members sent to Chicago will return to their home states, according to two U.S. officials. T ... (ABC News)

Smithsonian museums, National Zoo reopenings bring flocks of visitors

4 hrs ago - PUBLISHED Nov 15, 2025, 4:25 PM ET Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo are welcoming members of the public back after weeks of closures because of the government shutdown. The Smithsonian Institution, which receives federal funding and comprises ... (CNN Politics)

New law killing "THC loophole" could hurt state programs and businesses, advocates say

5 hrs ago - 11h Congress rallied to pass a spending bill that ended the record-long government shutdown, but it came with a price: much of the legal cannabis industry. The big picture: A last-minute provision in the spending bill criminalized many hemp-derived p ... (msn/Axios)

Suspected Haitian gang members exchange fire with Marines protecting US Embassy in Port-au-Prince

8 hrs ago - Updated 5:43 PM CST, November 15, 2025 Leer en español PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A group of suspected Haitian gang members fired this week on American forces protecting the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, a spokesman said Saturday, in ... (AP)

Tariffs cause shortage on holiday decor

12 hrs ago - 11/15/25 2:48 PM ET While retailers are gearing up for Christmas, business owners warn consumers might see fewer options and higher price tags for decorations this year as a result of the Trump administration’s sweeping tariffs. Artificial Chris ... (The Hill)

AI-Powered Stuffed Animal Pulled From Market After Disturbing Interactions With Children

12 hrs ago - Children’s toymaker FoloToy says it’s pulling its AI-powered teddy bear “Kumma” after a safety group found that the cuddly companion was giving wildly inappropriate and even dangerous responses, including tips on how to find and l ... (Futurism)

Ford CEO says car giant is struggling to fill 5,000 mechanic posts despite offering $120K salary

12 hrs ago - Saturday 15 November 2025 09:43 EST Ford CEO Jim Farley is sounding the alarm on a “very serious” nationwide shortage of skilled tradesworkers, saying the company is struggling to fill 5,000 mechanic positions that pay $120,000 a year. Appe ... (The Independent)

Immigration enforcement surge begins in Charlotte, North Carolina, officials confirm

12 hrs ago - CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Federal officials confirmed Saturday that a surge of immigration enforcement in North Carolina’s largest city has begun, as agents were seen making arrests in multiple locations. “Americans should be able to live ... (AP)

Trump adds 'violent Antifa groups' in Europe to US list of foreign terrorist organizations

12 hrs ago - Donald Trump’s administration has added four European left-wing groups to the U.S. government’s list of foreign terrorist organizations, marking a global escalation of the president’s war on ideological opponents that treats “Anti ... (Independent)

Former federal employee sues government after allegedly being fired for Facebook comments about Kirk's assassination

12 hrs ago - Nov. 14, 2025, 10:05 PM EST / Updated Nov. 15, 2025, 10:20 AM EST A former federal contract worker for the U.S. Coast Guard and Team USA athlete is suing the government after he says he was fired for making comments on Facebook about Charlie Kirk's a ... (NBC News)

Greene Says She's Receiving Threats as Trump Coins New Nickname Amid Feud

13 hrs ago - Amid an escalating feud inside the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement between President Donald Trump and one of his staunchest supporters, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, the president has given her a new nickname—Marjorie “Tra ... (newsweek.com)

Man Arrested After Appearing at Alina Habba's Office With Bat, U.S. Says

13 hrs ago - Man Arrested After Appearing at Alina Habba's Office With Bat, U.S. Says Authorities said Keith Michael Lisa had a bat when he showed up at the office of the U.S. attorney for New Jersey on Wednesday. He was charged with possession of a dangerous wea ... (New York Times)

Preservationists Sue Trump To Stop His Latest Redecorating Project

13 hrs ago - Nov 15th, 2025, 2:21 pm President Donald Trump’s latest building redecoration project has prompted preservationists to take legal action, according to The Washington Post. Trump mused this week to Fox News Host Laura Ingraham about his plan to ... (MEDIAite)