The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced today that it is gutting fuel-economy standards for cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks, an inconceivable decision given the purpose of the federal fuel economy program – to reduce gasoline consumption – and the skyrocketing prices at the pump Americans are already struggling to pay.

The final rule weakens existing Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, lowering the expected fleetwide average to just 34.9 miles per gallon by 2031 – below what automakers on average have already achieved. In its proposal, NHTSA predicted that its changes would force the average driver to pay $1,400 more in fuel costs over the lifetime of their vehicle.

The following is a comment from Atid Kimelman, an attorney at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):

“With Americans struggling to afford gasoline that is more than $4 a gallon, the Trump administration is going to force them to pay more at the pump. Oil companies will get a windfall from gutting the fuel economy standards, but the rest of us are going to be handing over more of our hard-earned paychecks to fill up the tank.

“This is a harsh blow to American families struggling to afford rising energy costs. It will raise drivers’ costs while also worsening air pollution across the country following a scorching summer marred by devastating storms and wildfires.

“Congress established fuel economy standards five decades ago after Middle East unrest led to a spike in oil prices. But with the war with Iran driving up oil prices, the Trump administration is doing all it can to keep us dependent on gas guzzlers. In fact, most automakers would not need to make any fuel-economy improvements over the next five years to meet these new standards.

“This rollback is not only bad policy; it also violates the law. Stay tuned.”

Background

Over the past five decades, fuel economy standards have been one of the most significant actions the United States has taken to reduce its reliance on oil and save drivers money at the pump. A bipartisan Congress first established CAFE standards in 1975 in the wake of the OPEC Oil Embargo a few years earlier. As a result of federal clean car and fuel economy standards, vehicles in the United States today use less gas and create less pollution than they used to. Since enacted, fuel economy improvements have saved more than two trillion gallons of gasoline, enough to run every car and light truck in the U.S. for more than 15 years. They have also saved drivers a combined $5 trillion in fuel costs and avoided 14 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, a Princeton University study concluded.

NHTSA’s 2024 fuel economy standards were forecast to raise the average vehicle’s fuel efficiency to 50.4 miles per gallon, saving Americans $23 billion in fuel costs. Those standards are being repealed in this action by the Trump administration today, and a new average goal of just 34.9 miles-per-gallon set.

Instead of following its statutory mandate to set vehicle fuel-economy standards at “maximum feasible levels” to reduce fuel consumption, with these new standards NHTSA set goals below what vehicle fleets on the road today already achieve.

Earlier today, the federal government under President Donald Trump finalized a rollback of fuel economy standards for passenger cars and trucks. By doing so, the administration effectively eliminated the nation’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, which have improved vehicle efficiency and saved families about $321 billion at the gas pump since the modern CAFE program was implemented in 2010.

Below is a statement by Dr. Dave Cooke, senior vehicles analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientist’s (UCS) Clean Transportation Program.

“The federal government’s decision to gut fuel economy standards is a handout to automakers and oil companies that will strap American consumers already struggling with an affordability crisis. According to UCS analysis, CAFE standards have saved consumers over $32 billion since the Iran War began and sent gas prices skyrocketing. Weakening these standards means drivers will spend more on fuel while having fewer options to choose efficient vehicles.

“The administration claims this rollback will save consumers money, but even the government’s own analysis shows the opposite: consumers will spend more over the lifetime of their vehicles. Any small reduction in upfront vehicle costs will be outweighed by higher fuel expenses.

“This rollback doesn't just stall progress—it moves the nation backward. For example, the administration’s 2031 standards are weaker than what the new vehicle fleet had already achieved in 2024. This industry giveaway is a raw deal for drivers, who deserve vehicles that cost less to operate and give them more choices—not a policy that forces them to spend more at the pump.”

President Trump’s Department of Transportation today finalized a rule gutting Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE, standards, which conserve billions of gallons of gas and save consumers billions at the pump.

Trump’s action is illegal because the law requires that the fuel economy standards be set at the “maximum feasible” level. The final rule ignores the feasibility of clean technology and the millions of fuel-efficient cars already on the road.

“Trump is tanking sensible mileage standards at the worst possible time for consumers, who’re getting hit with sky-high prices at the pump,” said Dan Becker, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Safe Climate Transport Campaign. “Consumers will pay the price for these reckless rollbacks while Trump’s Big Oil and Big Auto buddies reap the short-term profits. This move spells short- and long-term disaster for people’s health, the planet, and even U.S. automakers who’ll sit on the sidelines while clean cars advance around the world. This standard was the biggest single step any nation has taken to save gas, money at the pump, and auto pollution.”

The fuel economy rule would have saved 64 billion gallons of gas. Even before the current rise in gas prices, it was set to deliver $35 billion in savings to consumers over the lifetimes of the vehicles covered. To do this, it would have required automakers to add gas-saving technology so new cars averaged 50.4 miles per gallon by model year 2031. The Trump rule will result in cars averaging a mere 34.9 mpg in 2031.

The standards also would have slashed pollution that harms Americans’ health and worsens the climate crisis. Transportation makes up the biggest share of climate-heating pollution from the United States, the world’s second biggest carbon polluter.

Gutting the fuel economy standards will allow automakers to make vehicles that guzzle more gas and pollute more, costing consumers at the pump and at the doctor’s office.

“Trump’s creating a perfect storm to crush competitiveness of domestic car companies, drive up consumer costs and kill the climate,” said Becker. “There’s nothing Trump won’t sacrifice on the altar of fealty to Big Oil and auto polluters, whether it’s our health or our wallets. Trump’s rollbacks are speeding us toward a sicker, poorer America. Major carmakers asked Trump to give them this Trojan SUV that could spell their doom since they won’t have to compete against the best auto technology in the world.”

CAFE standards are important because the United States is the world’s biggest oil guzzler, consuming 20 million barrels (840 million gallons) per day — 20% of the world’s oil use. Transportation is the biggest consumer of that oil, making strong auto standards the most effective way to cut pollution and oil use.

By resetting standards back to 2022, the administration will allow automakers to build up credits for meeting or surpassing the standards for the last four years.

“Adding injury to insult, the administration is gutting standards for past as well as future years,” said Becker. “This will hobble a future administration in setting strong standards since carmakers will be able to evade them with the ‘get out of jail free’ credits collected under Trump.”

Today, Groundwork Collaborative unveiled a Shoppers’ Bill of Rights, 12 basic protections aimed at reining in the hidden fees, pricing games, and corporate tactics that make everyday life more expensive.

Authors Lindsay Owens, Nia Law, and Elizabeth Pancotti argue that existing regulations to safeguard the shopper were written for a bygone era of newspaper coupon inserts, mail-order catalogs, and checkbooks. Technology is now a step ahead of shoppers every time they reach for their wallet.

Today, two shoppers can unknowingly be charged a different price for the same item at the same store. Cancelling a subscription can require clicking through dozens of screens. Even if you can look up a tutorial on YouTube to fix something when it breaks, you may be beholden to the manufacturer to get the parts you need for a repair. And with the rise of AI-powered shopping assistants like Sparky, Alexa, and Muse, consumers may be in store for high-tech pickpockets disguised as personal shoppers.

Consumer protections have been rewritten before. Women-led butcher shop boycotts in the early 20th century helped turn outrage over rising prices into an organized movement that helped win a Federal Trade Commission that answered to consumers. In 1962, President Kennedy articulated four basic consumer rights: the right to safety, the right to be informed, the right to choose, and the right to be heard. The generation he spoke for secured honest labels, upfront loan terms, and a product safety watchdog. And after the 2008 financial crisis wiped out trillions in household wealth, more than 200 consumer, labor, civil rights, and faith groups helped win the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Each time, the rules caught up with the marketplace. Now, the marketplace has changed again, and the rules have not.

According to new polling from Blue Rose Research, two-thirds of Americans support the Shopper’s Bill of Rights. Support is even higher for several individual protections it includes: nearly 75% support making it as easy to cancel a subscription as it was to sign up, nearly 7 in 10 support upfront, all-in pricing, and 65% support banning surveillance pricing.

Groundwork Collaborative President and CEO Lindsay Owens said:

“Companies are deploying a dizzying array of tricks and tactics to reinvent the ripoff and squeeze American consumers. Shoppers shouldn’t have to outsmart an algorithm, decode the fine print, or fight their way out of a subscription just to get a fair deal. Policymakers should put simple guardrails in place to protect consumers from the high-tech ways corporations are gouging us – the Shoppers’ Bill of Rights is a good place to start.”

Owens is the author of Gouged: The End of a Fair Price – and What That Means for Your Wallet (Viking Penguin 2026), providing a detailed look at how corporations use modern technology and market power to quietly raise prices across everyday goods and services – and what consumers and policymakers can do to fight back.

The Shoppers’ Bill of Rights

• Right to an All-In Price: Require companies to include all mandatory fees in the advertised price. A hotel room advertised for $149 should not become a $200 room at checkout.
• Right to a Fair Price: Prevent companies from using consumers’ browsing history, location, income, or other personal data to decide the price they pay. Uber has reportedly raised prices for riders with dwindling phone batteries and the Princeton Review has charged more for SAT prep in ZIP codes with large Asian populations.
• Right to a Predictable Price: Prohibit companies from raising the price of products in real time, even when the company’s costs to make or provide the product don’t change. As Walmart and Kroger are installing electronic shelf labels capable of adjusting prices up to six times a minute, companies shouldn’t be able to jack up the price of groceries or other essentials in real time simply because demand spikes.
• Right to Cancellation: Require companies to make cancelling a subscription as easy as signing up. Cancelling an Uber One subscription can take as many as 32 actions across 23 screens.
• Right to Repair: Require manufacturers to make the parts, tools, software, and repair manuals available so people can fix what they own. If iPhone owners use third-party repair shops when they crack their phone screens, they may find themselves unable to adjust the brightness settings.
• Right to Your Own Agent: Require AI assistants to act in the customer’s best interest, not the interests of the company behind them. A recent study found that LLMs steer users toward sponsored products over cheaper alternatives.
• Right to Resale: Consumers should be able to sell, transfer, or give away what they buy without platforms or professional scalpers rigging the resale market. For items that do not appreciate, like tickets, resale prices should be capped at the original face value. Tickets with a face value around $250 for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour resold for an average of upward of $3,800.
• Right to a Level Playing Field: Enforce and modernize the Robinson-Patman Act so suppliers charge small, independent stores the same price they charge big-box chains. A small grocer often pays more than Walmart for the same bag of chips before it ever reaches the shelf, leaving Main Street shops without a fair shot and customers who shop locally paying more.
• Right to Comparison Shop: Require stores to post the price per ounce, pound, or other standard size unit on shelf tags so the better value is clear. “Family Size” and “Party Size” Doritos bags have differed by just one ounce, making it harder to tell which is actually the better deal.
• Right to a Refund: Ban restocking and arbitrary return fees and require refunds in the original form of payment when a purchase is cancelled, never delivered, or does not work as advertised. Returning an online purchase by mail to Marshalls or TJ Maxx can cost $11.99, while Best Buy charges a 15% restocking fee on some electronics. Consumers shouldn’t have to pay another round of fees just to get their money back.
• Right to Proper Billing: Require accurate bills to arrive within a set period after a service is provided. Companies shouldn’t be able to turn their own billing mistakes into a surprise expense months later. After Duke Energy rolled out new billing software, it made more than 100,000 billing errors in a year. Thousands of customers went months without bills, and 15,000 were later hit with delayed charges.
• Right to a Competitive Price: Refresh the antitrust rulebook for the algorithmic age by closing loopholes that allow common pricing software to price-fix. Landlords’ common pricing software, RealPage, allegedly spiked rents by as much as $180 per month, while gas stations used Kalibrate which allegedly hiked gas prices by as much 30 cents per gallon.

Atop all the others inflicted on us came last week's sickening spectacle of two vengeful, lying, broken old men - one a longtime killer of children, one a petty useful idiot abetting him - alternately celebrating and threatening genocide before "we the peoples of the United Nations." Born of "the defiance of hope" to enable us to "live together in peace," the forum now hosts the perpetrators of unspeakable atrocities. Omar El Akkad: "One day everyone will have always been against this."

Even before war criminals spoke at the U.N., everyone was already against everything Trump's done, from his insane, drone-packed arch to the other $1.8 billion vanity projects to his latest tantrum over the media. Despite multiple court rulings against it, an ensuing press ban is still partly, messily in place, with CNN, MS NOW and Politico facing dubious access, other major media finally finding their spine and solidarity, and the havoc offering us the droll sight of a needy guy who never met a camera he didn’t like in a farcical silent movie, a “shrinking figure gesticulating wildly into the wind.” Ever the attention whore, he tried to compensate with weird, illegal PR stunts: Claiming an entire hemisphere, boasting, "Only Trump" and an ad pleading "Love Me" on the taxpayer dime in "an astonishing misuse of public resources more fitting for North Korea."

The final own goal of his attack on the press, teased by a frantic promo, was the launch of Trump TV: The Essentials Station, the White House YouTube channel recast as a 24/7 livestream of Trump's "greatest hits." Cue a July rant at Mt. Rushmore about "the communist menace," last year's speech at dinner with King Charles, a 2016 whine in Kentucky about the wet stairs he overcame. YouTube's real-time data let the "king of ratings" see it quickly crash and burn, from a paltry 8,000 viewers to half that to 1,000 to 704 (LOL) as J.D. announced stripping health care from 760,000 people - way below the 2,000-plus then watching birds snack on seeds and nuts. Many relished the flop - "Fascism is awesome!" - or suggested new slots: "Wake Up & Rage Tweet, Ketchup-Throwing, They’re Eating our Pets, The Great MAGA Crypto Scam, Wheel of Pardons" and, from 2:01 to 2:02 a.m., “Covfefe.”

Then came a clumsy, swooning welcome - "the deference was deafening" - for his strongman soulmate Chinese President Xi Jinping, the world's biggest jailer of journalists and never mind the "communist menace," with its empty pomp, cartoonish tour of a hole-in-the-ground ballroom and million-year helipad: "He has a great interest in granite." Accomplished: nada. The next day, with his approval rating "somewhere between Ebola and Ed Sheeran," he waddled into the 81st session of the UN General Assembly and threatened one of its130 participants with war crimes, musing, "Do I annihilate the Islamic Republic quickly and drive them into hell?" Iran's delegation swiftly walked out. Mehdi Hasan: "For shame. The president of the United States goes to the United Nations and threatens genocide against a member state in front of the world. This is where we’re at."

Slurring, stumbling, wandering at unhinged, racist length - details here - Trump boasted about murdering over 200 people “at war with civilization” in illegal boat strikes, celebrated (and inflated) the theft of Venezuela’s oil, charged trans people are a national security risk, inanely declaimed “to the (raping and plundering) victor belong the spoils” - the inept, terrifying vision of a "demagogue who hijacked American democracy devolving into a mad king before our eyes." The speech, a "sad and dangerous national embarrassment" with its "ridiculous braggadocio, narcissistic puffery, absurd demonstrable lies, open criminality and deranged, murderous threats" landed "with silence inside the hall and a pile of fact checks outside it, (the) death rattle of a rapist president and what’s left of America’s reputation on the world stage."

Afterwards, normal world leaders "went back to making plans that don't include the United States." Or, in the case of Denmark, trolling. Trump has created a fictional backstory for a "deal" on Greenland "long in the making - you could go back many, many decades, probably centuries" - that just repackages an existing 1951 deal; ahead of a meeting held later at the U.N., officials played the Sondheim song Send In The Clowns, with a long zoom to Rubio. At this point, writes Paul Krugman, it's "Underwear on the Outside” time, a callback to Woody Allen's 1971 film Bananas about a third-world nation's absurd strongman. Coverage of the U.N., he noted, focused on Trump's rabid rejection of global cooperation or the fact almost everything he said was a lie. The bigger story: "The leader of what used to be the world’s most powerful nation, now collapsing before our eyes, has clearly, undeniably lost his mind."

Other speakers tried to steer the conversation back to reality. Secretary-General António Guterres stressed the primacy of international law, especially in Palestine, calling the birth of the U.N. "an act of defiance (by) people who refuse to surrender the future to fear...who know our futures are bound together." But with accountability: The U.N. deems Gaza "a collective crime," a "live-streamed atrocity...sustained by the complicity of influential third states"; their complicity must be confronted for the rule of law to survive. Holding photos of Iranian children killed in U. S. strikes, Iran's president Masoud Pezeshkian argued it is Trump who has defied international law, while Iran has remained committed to negotiations. “We have only defended ourselves. We are not terrorists." He also called for accountability on all sides, asking "why Israel kills, yet Iran is subject to sanction.”

Israel kills. And Benjamin Netanyahu offered a bellicose "potpourri of lies and incitement" to deny it. In his "furious, ugly and disgraceful" diatribe, he called universal charges of genocide "the biggest lie of the century," summoning the chutzpah to call the carnage in Gaza "the opposite of genocide." Anyone who disagreed, he raved, was "a moral coward." They include about half the Assembly, who walked out as Zionist allies chanted “Am Yisrael Chai," "the Nation of Israel lives"; hundreds of protesters outside, with about 100 arrested, among them Brooklyn Council Member Chi Ossé, who later posted a selfie in handcuffs with “Free Palestine. Netanyahu burn in hell"; and world leaders "spreading lies about my country and our brave soldiers." They are all "tyrants (in) a global anti-Jewish conspiracy (to) erase us from the face of the Earth," Bibi brayed. "Instead of collapsing, we delivered devastating blows to all of them with our great American friends."

There was much more. He brandished a pager in tribute to Israel's 2024 operation targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon that killed 12 and wounded over 3,000. He dismissed settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank as the work of "juvenile delinquents." He said bombing Iran was "’one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever had to make." Truly shameless, he claimed Israel still has "the most moral army in the world.” He denied a Haaretz report, confirmed by the New York Times, that Egypt's intel chief warned him in September 2023 that Hamas was planning "a major attack" but he declined to pass the tip on to his intelligence agencies. He assailed as "anti-Semitic" the duly elected mayor of his host city, who deems him a war criminal and wants the ICC's arrest warrant against him enacted. He claimed "many Jews no longer feel safe in New York." He evidently doesn't either; he flew into New Jersey.

He ended his speech with a Bible verse from Samuel that describes the genocide of the Amalek, enemies of Israel, after God orders King Saul, "‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people." Saul mostly does, but spares their king and “the best of the sheep and cattle." Then the prophet Samuel admonishes him: "(God) sent you on a mission, but you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel." Samuel's murderous gist: “Nezah Israel lo yeshaker,” or "the eternity of Israel will not falter.” The lesson Bibi draws: "We have no choice but genocide." And so they undertook it: Over 73,900 direct deaths, about half women and children. Over 175,000 wounded, often gravely. An estimated, obscene 641,000 ultimately dead, from destruction of the healthcare system, malnutrition, disease. The bodies of perhaps 10,000 more still lie under the rubble.

And the devastation goes on. Under Israel's blockade, there is widespread hunger, 90% of Gazans remain homeless, trauma and illness go untreated. More than 900 wheelchairs donated by two Australian non-profits for over 11,000 disabled children - Gaza has the most child amputees per capita in the world - are held hostage in Jordan warehouses by outlandish Israeli restrictions on anything that could "serve a military purpose." Other targets of insane "dual-use" ban: Portable toilets, sleeping bags, tarps. bandages, diapers, shampoo, tent poles. And evidently kites after Bibi declared "targeted strikes”against the launch of any kites, balloons or drones, with the IDF ordered to "act forcefully" against perps in a besieged hellhole where Palestinian children are deemed “explosives of the future." "What a childhood in Gaza teaches: Want less."

The cruelty, madness, loss continue to spark palpable rage. Actor Mandy Patinkin, a Jew aware of history, on the corrosive effect of "the revenge business": "How could it be done to you and your ancestors, and you turn around and do it to someone else?!” Omar El Akkad - born in Egypt, raised in Qatar and Canada, a US citizen - on "what it means to live under an ordering of the world that abides slaughter, and whether any ordering ever stood for anything at all." He wrote the book One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, though its full title is One day, when it’s safe, when there’s no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it’s too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will always have been against this,” what one critic calls "a cathartic savaging" of empire, Western hypocrisy on Gaza, selective empathy in "the most privileged sliver of global society."

"When the unspeakable happens, the world should stop but it doesn't," he writes of the comforting bubble of a white nationalist world run by broken men and their accomplices. They blithely "shrug at one kind of slaughter," having developed "a terrible immunity...When it mattered, who sided with justice and who sided with power?” The time to choose is now, he adds, and hindsight will not undo or excuse their crimes: "At the time they say, 'Yes, this is tragic, but necessary'...The alternative to the countless killed and maimed and orphaned...screaming from under the rubble (is) barbarism.” "There is no way to finish the sentence, 'It is unfortunate that tens of thousands of children are dead but...'" he movingly writes. "There is no such thing as someone else’s children."

The evening after Netanyahu attacked Zohran Mamdani as anti-Semitic - Mamdani dismissed the "baseless lies meant to sanitize his genocide against Palestinians" - the good mayor was home at Gracie Mansion, busy with one of Carver's "small, good things." The mayor hosted Palestinian families from Gaza who have lost family members or made their way to America as refugees to "honor their contributions (and) acknowledge the losses they have endured." They ate a meal; a smiling Mamdani glided around the table, filling water glasses. They also planted an olive tree - for Palestinians, source of food, wood, fuel and symbol of peace, hope, resilience, a deep connection to their heritage and ancestral land. Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish: ‘"Here we remain, as long as thyme and olives remain." Zohran Mamdani: "May peace be our future."

A young boy in Gaza mourns his murdered mother Getty Image

A television ad boosting the image of President Donald Trump, which was paid for by government funds, violates laws prohibiting the use of government resources for propaganda, the Hatch Act, and other related laws, according to a complaint filed today by Public Citizen.

The complaint, sent to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, takes issue with ads airing in two media markets that include a disclaimer: “Paid for by the U.S. government.” Both markets airing the ad contain key districts in the upcoming midterm elections.

“For anyone with a modicum of ethics, common sense or respect for the law, it’s the most basic thing: Taxpayer funds cannot pay for partisan political propaganda,” said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen. “These ads should immediately be pulled from the air, and the White House’s many apparent violations of the law should be investigated.”

“This administration’s repeated and flagrant violations of the law, including the Hatch Act, are an affront to taxpayers and our democracy,” said Craig Holman, Ph.D., a government ethics expert with Public Citizen. “Public Citizen has filed a dozen Hatch Act complaints with OSC over the past year and, to our knowledge, all have been ignored by the agency. That negligence is dangerous, and creates conditions that allow for the situation we are responding to today.”

The full complaint is available to read here.

Common Cause condemned the Supreme Court’s ruling today allowing the federal government to continue using the flawed SAVE system.

Statement from Common Cause President & CEO Virginia Kase Solomón:

“The Supreme Court’s decision to allow DHS and states to use an error-ridden system is completely unacceptable and didn’t need to happen this close to the election. This DHS system, which the federal government itself admits is flawed, has always been part of the Trump administration’s campaign to interfere in our elections and sow distrust — and it will fail.

“As the Court noted in its decision, it is flatly illegal for states to conduct mass removals of voters from the rolls within 90 days of an election. If any state official attempts to disenfranchise eligible voters using this flawed database, we will take them to court immediately, just like Common Cause is already doing in Texas.

“Our elections remain safe and secure, and nothing will stop voters from making their voices heard.”

Last year, Texas officials removed multiple eligible voters from the voter rolls based on this same flawed DHS system, without any investigation or further checks into even the state’s own records that could confirm these voters’ citizenship. Common Cause filed a lawsuit to stop this illegal voter purge, and we are ready to do so again.

Common Cause will continue leading the charge to safeguard the right to vote for every American. We urge all voters to check their registration status today and reach out to 866-OUR-VOTE by call or text for accurate, nonpartisan assistance.

Common Cause’s nonpartisan Election Protection volunteers will also be on the ground and staffing hotlines nationwide throughout early voting and on Election Day.

The following is a statement from Nancy Altman, President of Social Security Works, in response to today’s Supreme Court decision greenlighting the use of Social Security data for determining voter eligibility:

“In the name of non-existent voter fraud, the Supreme Court has given the Trump administration the power to misuse Social Security data to deprive American citizens of their right to vote. This is an obvious effort to undermine free and fair elections.

The personal data that Americans provide to the Social Security Administration is intended for one purpose only: To get people the benefits they’ve earned. Only those who are lawfully present in this country are eligible for benefits.

Because Social Security data was never intended for verifying voter eligibility, SSA has no reason to keep people’s immigration status up to date in cases where it isn’t relevant for their benefits. Indeed, it would be a misuse of trust fund monies for SSA to spend resources updating that information.

That means that some of the data is inaccurate or outdated. As a result, U.S. citizens could wrongfully lose their right to vote.

Today’s Supreme Court decision is a violation of the trust that the American people place in Social Security.”

Hours after Judge Timothy Kelly of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., delivered a resounding defeat to President Trump early this morning, restraining his administration from barring CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House and holding that the ban is likely unconstitutional, the administration defied the order by continuing to deny access to the networks.

Kelly held that the press met the “high bar” to show that the ban likely violated the Fifth Amendment’s protections for due process. He also rejected the administration’s argument that “national security” concerns justified the ban, noting that the news stories the administration pointed to are “routine” and that there is no precedent for applying laws prohibiting disclosure of classified information to reporters.

But after Kelly’s ruling and in spite of the temporary restraining order entered by the court, Politico, CNN, and MSNOW reported today that some of their reporters were denied access to the White House and some also had their press credentials confiscated.
The following can be attributed to Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern:

“The administration was rightly given the back of the hand by Judge Kelly for claiming routine reports harm ‘national security,’ but court orders are just paper unless they’re enforced. Enough is enough. Government officials who continue to deny journalists’ access to the White House in defiance of Kelly’s order should be held in contempt.

“And it’s long past time for judges to start aggressively sanctioning DOJ lawyers when they make frivolous national security arguments to turn Trump’s petty grievances against the press into government policy. That way, we won’t get to the point where Secret Service agents are defying court orders to carry out the president’s authoritarian whims.

“The Pentagon Papers case famously rejected a prior restraint aimed at specific documents the government claimed posed national security risks, and Trump himself lost two cases in which he tried to similarly ban reporters in his first term. Anyone who argues ‘national security’ are magic words justifying banning three entire news outlets from the White House should be not just laughed out of court but sanctioned.

“Trump’s own announcement of the ban admitted it was about coverage he didn’t like. The reports the government cited are years old and one was even based on a briefing from the vice president. Trump beats up on the free press not because of national security but because he’s terrified for the public to see what he and his administration are up to in the people’s house behind closed doors, whether it’s letting classified tech go missing or almost starting a war based on an AI hallucination.

“Those are the stories you won’t see on Trump TV. They bolster national security by exposing real threats to the homeland — government malfeasance and incompetence. Everyone involved in this multipronged and apparently ongoing attack on the Constitution must be held accountable.”

Read Judge Kelly’s full order here

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Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) today introduced the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act — legislation to stop artificial intelligence (AI) oligarchs from building machines humans cannot control and to pause advanced AI development until we have put in place rigorous federal testing and oversight to ensure AI does not harm humanity.

“When you are racing towards a cliff, you don’t just ease up on the gas pedal. You hit the brakes. When the future of humanity is at stake, we cannot let a handful of Big Tech CEOs write their own rules,” Sanders said. “Scientists have been clear: AI is an existential threat to humanity. It must be treated as such. This legislation will permanently ban the development of artificial superintelligence and would put in place an immediate pause on advanced AI development until we have clear safety rules in place — developed by the most knowledgeable scientists in our country. Congress must act now before it is too late.”

“Experts are warning that AI superintelligence, wielded by the wrong humans or by rogue AI, could kill countless numbers of people. But Donald Trump says he wants to encourage it. Something has to change,” Casar said. “Our bill bans the development of artificial superintelligence and pushes for international agreements so that no one, anywhere, builds AI too powerful for humans to control. Furthermore, our bill would immediately halt other dangerous AI capabilities, such as the capacity to develop biochemical weapons, or the capacity for AI to develop new AI instead of humans.”

Over the past few months, we have learned that AI models can circumvent restrictions to hack into computers. We have learned they can create never-before-seen viruses. And we have learned they can automate research to build smarter AI. Even as the AI companies claim they recognize these dangers and want to slow down, they are racing ahead — investing hundreds of billions of dollars into a technology that nobody can fully predict or control. That is unacceptable. The Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act will protect humanity by:

• Banning Artificial Superintelligence. No person or entity may develop or deploy Artificial Superintelligence — an AI that exceeds human cognitive performance and capabilities across most domains, or has sufficient capabilities to destroy or disempower humanity, including by overthrowing the federal government.
• Pausing Advanced AI development until a new, federal AI regulatory body is up and running and has established clear rules and model review processes to ensure safe and secure development and deployment of AI.
• Establishing a new cabinet-level federal Department of Artificial Intelligence to safeguard the public from the dangers of artificial intelligence, including by enforcing a prohibition on artificial superintelligence. This department will be advised by the most knowledgeable scientists in our country to:
  • Monitor frontier AI systems at all stages of the lifecycle for dangerous capabilities.
  • Supervise the removal of dangerous capabilities like subverting shutdown commands or conducting unauthorized cyberattacks.
  • Supervise the destruction of artificial superintelligence.
• Setting penalties for any person or entity that attempts to violate or circumvent the pauses and prohibitions laid out in this bill. Entities shall be subject to the corporate death penalty, and persons shall be subject to not more than 20 years in prison, which is similar to existing penalties related to unlawfully developing nuclear weapons.
• Working to ban superintelligence around the world by setting the international policy of the United States to pursue international agreements, allied coordination, and policies such as export controls to prevent the development of artificial superintelligence anywhere in the world.

Read the bill text here.

Read a one-page summary here.

Read a section-by-section summary here.

Today, Groundwork Collaborative and Reset Tech released a new report, “The Hidden Costs of AI for American Households,” which exposes how artificial intelligence (AI) is already increasing costs for every American in nearly every line of the budget – and how that toll will only grow.

AI is already increasing prices for American families, with electronics and electricity bills on the rise due to the AI data center buildout, to groceries and other retail purchases plagued by AI-powered pricing abuses. AI is also making online scams easier to carry out and harder to detect, adding to the estimated $119 billion per year that Americans lose to internet-based scams and cybercrime. The report reveals how corporations are prioritizing profits over affordability. Delta’s CEO bragged that AI will increase his airline’s profitability by as much as 50%. Tech companies are allowing AI to worsen mental health, which already costs our economy an estimated $282 billion a year. And health insurers are using AI to review claims, leading 60% of doctors to be concerned about increasing denials.

As Americans grapple with a raging affordability crisis, the report outlines concrete actions policymakers can take to reduce the cost of AI that stands to pile on, including banning surveillance pricing, prohibiting insurers from using AI to deny health care, implementing Groundwork’s plan to freeze household electricity rates, and adopting stronger liability frameworks that hold AI companies accountable.

Janelle Jones, Senior Fellow at Groundwork Collaborative, and co-author of the report, said:

“As working people face an affordability crisis, higher prices caused by AI are the last thing they need. It’s another attack on household budgets that add up, and which working people certainly shouldn’t be on the hook for.”

Rishi Bharwani, U.S. Director of Reset Tech, and co-author of the report, said:

“AI could be lowering costs for American families but instead it’s become a hidden tax on households – paid through online scams, surveillance pricing, higher electric bills, denied health claims and rising premiums. Families feel it every day, even if they can’t see it. Lawmakers need to act now to stop greedy corporations from using AI to squeeze consumers.”

BACKGROUND

• AI is fueling a new wave of online scams, and it’s costing consumers billions. AI is making online fraud easier to scale and harder to detect, allowing scammers to clone voices, create deepfakes, and impersonate trusted people. Internet-based scams and cybercrime cost Americans $148 billion in 2025. However, the true financial burden is likely substantially higher because for every reported crime, six go unreported.
• AI is increasing the mental health risks of social media use and adding to families’ health care costs. One study found that adults who use AI daily are 30% more likely to experience at least moderate depression than adults who do not use AI at all, and nearly half of U.S. teenagers say social media is mostly harmful to people their age. Out-of-pocket spending on pediatric behavioral health reached $2.9 billion in 2022, an increase of about 38% over the previous 11 years.
• Health insurance companies are using AI in ways that drive up costs for patients. Insurers use AI to review claims and prior authorizations, and 60% of physicians say they are concerned that AI is increasing denials. When claims are denied or delayed, patients may have to pay out of pocket, appeal the decision, or postpone care.
• AI-driven pricing systems are spreading rapidly across the economy. Companies are deploying AI systems to analyze consumer data and tailor prices to the individual. For example, an investigation of Instacart pricing by Groundwork Collaborative, Consumer Reports, and More Perfect Union found nearly three-quarters of grocery items were offered to shoppers at multiple price points, prices were up to 23% higher for some shoppers on the exact same items, and these practices could translate into a swing of about $1,200 a year for a family of four.
• AI is giving insurers new ways to charge drivers more. Insurers are using increasingly detailed data about how, when, and where people drive to assess risk and set personalized premiums. Companies such as LexisNexis Risk Solutions and Verisk aggregate driving behavior data and sell it to insurers, and LexisNexis products were used in 86% of new U.S. auto insurance policies issued in 2023.
• AI-driven pricing is making travel more expensive by allowing airlines, hotels, and booking platforms to tailor prices based on consumer data and online behavior. Delta’s CEO has said AI could increase the airline’s profitability by as much as 50% as airlines and other travel companies use sophisticated tech and robust customer data profiles to set prices.
• The rapid expansion of AI data centers is pushing more of the cost of the AI buildout onto household electricity bills. Data centers’ share of U.S. electricity use could nearly triple from 4.4% in 2023 to about 12% by 2030, and residential electricity rates could climb 15% to 40% above 2025 levels by 2030.
• Surging demand from AI data centers is making everyday electronics more expensive for consumers. AI data centers and consumer electronics manufacturers rely on many of the same chips and memory and must compete for a limited supply. Since the start of 2026, Apple has raised prices on some of its most popular laptops by $200 to $300 and on every iPhone by at least $100, and Microsoft has increased Xbox console prices by $100 to $150.

Donald Trump used his platform at the UN General Assembly to brag about the U.S’s fossil fueled imperialism. From Iran, to Venezuela, to Greenland, Trump’s actions follow a familiar path: use military force to dominate sovereign nations, let Big Oil cash in, and leave ordinary people to bear the costs through war, pollution, rising energy bills, and worsening climate disasters.

Governments have a choice: Follow Trump into a future of conflict and economic volatility, or build prosperity and energy independence and political stability through clean, renewable energy. On the road to COP31, governments must reject Trump’s attempt to build a fossil fuel empire and show that his agenda will not dictate our shared future.

Today, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on governments at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City to “adopt a national plan to transition away from fossil fuels aligned with 1.5 degrees”.

In response, Romain Ioualalen, Global Policy lead at Oil Change International, said:

“The message from UNSG Guterres is clear: continued fossil fuel dependence is the pathway to climate and economic chaos. It exposes people to price shocks, geopolitical conflict, and devastating climate impacts, while fossil fuel billionaires reap the profits of the crisis they created.

“It’s time for countries to act, and it starts by developing their national roadmaps to achieve prosperity beyond fossil fuels. Their credibility is on the line. We need publicly led plans, with clear and time-bound plans for a fair fossil fuel phaseout that protects workers and communities, strengthens energy sovereignty, and mobilizes the necessary public funding. We need governments to step up.

“The newly published IEA report makes it clear that at the core of these roadmaps must be a commitment to electrifying economies. But this must come with a clear commitment to dismantling fossil fuel infrastructure and generating electricity through renewable energy.

“Oil and gas companies cannot be allowed to take in billions in profit while families struggle to pay skyrocketing energy and food bills. Taxing excessive oil and gas profits is an urgent step needed to make fossil fuel companies pay for the energy crisis they created, and for countries to mobilize public finance needed for climate action.”

As UN Secretary-General makes final UN General Assembly speech, global campaigners say the call to “Make Polluters Pay” has gone mainstream. In his powerful speech, he reaffirmed the importance of national governments adopting national plans to transition away from fossil fuels, aligned with the 1.5°C goal, and made a clear call for those most responsible for the climate crisis to be held accountable:

“Those who polluted the most – and profited the most – must do far more to repair the damage they caused. Polluters must pay. And to the leaders, cities, civil society and citizens working to hold them accountable: you are on the right side of history. Keep going,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

The call for greater accountability from the fossil fuel industry driving the climate crisis came just 1 day after campaigners presented 2 million signatures demanding that governments “Make Polluters Pay” to the United Nations.

Throughout his tenure, Guterres has been among the forceful voices calling on the fossil-fuel industry to be made to answer for the damage their products cause, from urging windfall taxes on record oil and gas profits, to endorsing ‘solidarity levies’ to close the international climate finance gap owed to Global South countries, and calling for action to tackle those he called the “godfathers of climate chaos”. Campaigners say his intervention today shows how far that argument has traveled, and voice their hope that his successor will carry it forward at a moment when the case has never been more urgent.

Earlier this week, members of the Make Polluters Pay International coalition, alongside frontline campaigners and communities, gathered in New York to highlight the growing public demand for fossil-fuel companies to pay for the costs of the climate damage their industry has caused. They presented at the UN petitions with a combined total of over 2 million signatures calling on governments to Make Polluters Pay.

This comes after a year marked by devastating wildfires, floods and deadly climate disasters, and continuing global energy insecurity linked to dependence on oil and gas. Campaigners say the message to governments is simple: we are breaching 1.5°C, a limit governments swore to hold, and the need for urgent action has never been clearer. As fossil-fuel companies keep raking in colossal profits, ordinary people are left paying the price through higher energy and food bills, and losses that can never be fully repaired: homes, harvest, lives.

The Make Polluters Pay campaign has mobilised millions of people around the world behind a demand for governments to introduce binding measures requiring fossil-fuel companies to contribute to the costs of climate damage, and shifting the financial incentives that keep money flowing towards coal, oil & gas.

Campaigners are calling for measures including climate damages taxes, surtaxes on fossil-fuel profits and fines, with revenues directed towards recovery, adaptation, loss and damage and a just transition to renewable energy.

The campaign saw members of the Make Polluters Pay International coalition come together including 350.org, Greenpeace International, Fossil Free Media and Oxfam International, alongside frontline campaigners and communities affected by climate change.

Louise Hutchins, Co-Convenor of the Make Polluters Pay International Coalition, said:

“When the UN Secretary-General calls for fossil-fuel companies to pay, you know this demand has become impossible to ignore. Millions of people around the world are calling for it and governments are starting to listen. After months of super-profits from the oil and gas industry, finance ministers are putting windfall taxes back on the agenda.

“This is a sign of how quickly the politics are changing. The movement is growing, the public is behind it, and governments need to catch up.”

Anne Jellema, Executive Director of 350.org, said:

“For years, campaigners and communities on the frontlines have been saying the same thing: the companies that profited from fossil fuels must pay their fair share of the costs of the crisis they helped create.

“Today, that demand is moving into the mainstream. The Secretary-General’s call for polluters to pay reflects what millions of people are demanding around the world.

“We have watched homes burn, communities flood and families struggle with the costs of climate and energy crises, while fossil-fuel companies continue to make extraordinary profits. We pay. They profit. It’s time to change that.

“The voices of more than 2 million people are now being brought to the UN. Governments have the power to make polluters pay , and they must use it.”

Mads Christensen, Executive Director of Greenpeace International, said:

“Guterres has spent years warning leaders where fossil-fuel dependence leads, and this year proved him right. From deadly heat to devastating fires and floods, the very dependence driving these disasters is shaking entire economies and leaving families exposed to volatile energy and food prices, while the companies behind it keep raking in the profits. The worse the crisis grows, the more they make: the very instability that empties people’s wallets fills theirs.

“That is the system permanent surtaxes on fossil-fuel profits start to break. New rules forcing governments to align their taxes and spending with global climate goals would raise hundreds of billions of dollars to support the countries and communities least responsible, while incentivising money out of fossil fuels and into secure, renewable energy that actually protects people. As long as destruction stays profitable, the transition to a safer, fairer future will keep being held back. Guterres has named the solution, governments must now act on it.”

Amitabh Behar, Executive Director of Oxfam International, said:

“The people who have contributed least to the climate crisis are paying the highest price. They are losing homes, livelihoods and access to food and facing an increasingly uncertain future, while fossil-fuel corporations and their billionaire backers continue to profit.

“The call to Make Rich Polluters Pay is about justice. It is about ensuring that those who have benefited most from the fossil-fuel economy pay for the damage it has caused.

“Today the Secretary-General joined millions of people around the world in demanding that ‘polluters must pay’. It’s time for governments to listen and ensure that new sources of finance reach the communities on the frontlines of this crisis.”

Rev. Fletcher Harper, Executive Director, GreenFaith

“Every religion teaches the same moral principle: you do not get to harm your neighbor and walk away from the damage. That simple truth is why religious leaders from around the globe – Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish and many others – are calling for polluters to pay for the harm they’ve caused. Communities around the globe are suffering the mounting costs of climate damage – costs that have not been paid by the polluters. They have been pushed onto families, communities, and taxpayers. In moral terms, that is theft. And it must stop.”

Jamie Henn, Spokesperson for the US Make Polluters Pay Campaign

“Yesterday, more than two million people brought the Make Polluters Pay demand to the United Nations. Today, Secretary-General Guterres made clear that he stands with them. Around the world, people are paying the costs of a climate crisis fueled by a handful of wealthy fossil fuel corporations, while those same companies continue to rake in enormous profits. The Secretary-General has been a powerful voice for holding polluters accountable, and his message today shows just how far this demand has traveled. Now other world leaders need to follow his lead and make polluters pay.”

Campaigners say the Secretary-General’s intervention marks an important moment in the growing push to hold fossil-fuel companies financially accountable for climate damage. The call comes as governments gather in New York to discuss global security, economic stability and resilience. Campaigners argue that these conversations cannot be separated from the climate and fossil-fuel crises.

Continued dependence on oil and gas leaves economies exposed to volatile global markets while accelerating climate disruption. They say the real route to energy security is to rapidly reduce fossil-fuel dependence, accelerate clean electrification and ensure that fossil-fuel companies contribute to the costs of the transition, adaptation and loss and damage.

The campaigners are calling on governments to:

• Make fossil-fuel companies pay through climate-damages taxes, permanent surtaxes on fossil fuel profits and meaningful fines.
• Direct the revenues to communities, including funding adaptation, recovery and loss and damage.
• Accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels towards clean, affordable and secure energy.
• Ensure polluters are held accountable through progressive fiscal policy, rather than allowing the costs of climate damage to continue falling on ordinary people.

According to Bloomberg on Monday, California State Attorney General Rob Bonta and other state attorneys general have reached a settlement of their antitrust lawsuit against Paramount Skydance’s $111 billion takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.

According to the report, the settlement creates a nominally independent editorial board to oversee CNN and CBS, and makes promises on the output of the combined studios’ movie production. Bloomberg does not report any divestitures of the merged companies’ massive cable channel portfolio.

These minor concessions are largely unenforceable behavioral remedies that Bonta had previously denounced, and in some cases promise less than the two companies are already doing as standalone competitors. They came after Paramount owner David Ellison made multiple threats to move the studio out of California unless the attorneys general dropped their lawsuit. Previously, Bonta had maintained he’d only accept structural remedies, which block the merger or involve companies selling off significant parts of the combined businesses.

In August, California Governor Gavin Newsom indicated that he’d like Bonta to settle the case, despite growing public concern over the many harms such a deal would bring: widespread entertainment industry layoffs, spiraling consumer costs and increased censorship of news on CBS and CNN. Bonta reportedly was holding strong until a couple of days ago, when closed-door negotiations with Paramount ramped up.

Free Press Co-CEO Jessica J. González said:

“We are disappointed that Attorney General Bonta went back on his promise to enforce the law and protect consumers and workers. Hundreds of thousands of people called on our state AGs to stand up to the Ellisons, who have engaged in a campaign of corruption and extortion to pave the way for this unlawful merger. We can no longer rely on the federal government to enforce the law and protect regular people. That much is clear. But the AGs’ capitulation marks a new low. It’s a sad day for all of us who have been opposing this merger because it will cut jobs and raise prices, all as it consolidates the media even more to enable authoritarians.

“Based on all reports, this weak deal contains nothing but unenforceable, empty Paramount promises. It abandons the thousands of creatives and workers who risked speaking out, and the tens of millions of consumers the attorneys general should be fighting for.

“Behavioral conditions do not work. They won’t save jobs, preserve choice, or prevent price hikes. As we learned from the failed and widely-panned Facebook Oversight Board, a fake bipartisan oversight committee won’t save CNN. We have all the evidence we need from the Ellisons’ destruction of CBS about what they do to warp journalism at Donald Trump’s request. This latest capitulation comes as the Trump administration barred CNN and other reporters who dare ask hard questions from the White House press pool.

“Consolidating the media in the hands of friendly oligarchs is right out of the authoritarian playbook. Americans across the political spectrum are fed up with corruption and consolidation, and billionaires calling all the shots while everyone else struggles. People won’t forget who stood up for them and who capitulated.

“What’s exceedingly clear is that our laws and our political system are not strong enough to resist the pressure and manipulation of corrupt billionaires. We need to strengthen democratic systems of government, including getting money out of politics, and pass laws that break up big media conglomerates. We need to ensure that a few billionaires can’t drown out the masses to dictate bad policy.”

In a possibly more than averagely batshit news cycle, the apocalyptic clusterfuck of clowns "governing" this country got up to some serious weirdness last week. As the chief clown waffled on the best way to kill us all - AI, nukes, nukes in space, forever war, hissy fits, agitprop up the wazoo - his lackeys frantically gaslit us with brain-dead pols, high T warriors and drunken sheep fuckers. No wonder Americans are said to be dreading the fall - not autumn, but the fall of democracy and civilization (sic) itself.

With Trump's approval rightly cratering but his faithful flunkies inexplicably urging us to vote like he's on the ballot - umm, okay - he's so far gone he still giddily maintains the deranged fiction we "have the greatest economy in history," we're resplendent in "a Golden Age of America," and he's all good on shamelessly, unconstitutionally banning news outlets he doesn't like - "I don't want them in my (sic) office," aka, "I’ll take 'Something a dictator would say' for $1000, Alex" - because he evidently thinks "repressive" is a compliment, devoutly to be wished. Otherwise, heading into a mid-term election that promises ("Oh please, oh please") to be a GOP rout, he's doing nothing to drag them out of the deepening holes he's dug except flailing and digging more.

Historically, inanely dazzled by nuclear power - see his "irresponsible and dangerous and frankly incompetent" burbling about the "N-word" - he's now touting the option of a shiny new Space Force military "offensive." Never mind America's 1969 moon landing assurance from "Planet Earth," "WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND"; the one relatively peaceable place in the galaxy, space-weapons free for 18 billion years, now faces possible invasion from "Mister Schlock, Trash Gordeon, Darth Hater, Puke Skyfucker." Or in the pointedly indecipherable jargon of Air Force Secretary Troy Meink, "The United States now has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the joint force against hostile adversary action." By more "aliens"?

Back on an increasingly fragile Planet Earth, the same dangers loom amidst an Iran debacle wherein the U.S. is committing war crimes, hiding deaths and shortfalls along with damage to buildings, equipment, vehicles - one active service member: "We’re standing with our eyes closed getting punched in the face" - lying about a vital Strait of Hormuz that remains "a parking lot" and spending up to $2 billion a month despite a third House vote to end the carnage and a defiant Iran insisting it will not reopen the Strait until “the criminal Trump and bloodthirsty Netanyahu” are gone. All as the mad child-king muses publicly about his "big decision coming up. Do I want to go in and annihilate them or do I not? Anything could happen with me."

Hence another equally incoherent whiplash on the hazards of AI: From unhinged denial spewed by the master of "Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV": the only guardrail needed is "a STRONG AND SMART (high IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S. has that, in spades!" - to tentative hedging - a supposed concept of a plan to create an AI Czar - with the moronic, "Only High I.Q. individuals need apply!” - and an AI Force - like his "tremendous SUCCESS" the largely illusory Space Force - back to a knee-jerk "SICK conspiracy" against AI and data centers like the "many Hoaxes generated by the Radical Left Dumocrats, for purposes of destroying our Country.” When in God's name will he learn: "It ill behooves a man to rave on at length."

Still nursing a long-held grudge against the elites of the arts world, especially the storied family who both embodied it and always outclassed him, he also remains obsessed with slapping his odious name on the Kennedy Center or, now, threatening to tear it down if he can't. George Conway: "To destroy things he can’t possess or control is his essential nature." After multiple losses in court - the most mortifying the forced removal of his name, which rankled so much he's lamely kept the facade covered with a tarp - he persists in arguing the flourishing-until-he-came-along Center is "a mess" that's lost "tens of millions" or maybe "hundreds of billions" and "I’m the one capable of fixing it." Otherwise, "The building is destined to doom (sic)."

Unsurprisingly, an emerging backstory is far seedier. The only thing straining finances is the arts world boycotting him and his own Treasury holding hostage hundreds of millions in funds. After a storm brought down some ceiling plaster, lackeys left it, posted photos - Trump will fix it! - mapped the “debris field” for a 55-page bullshit briefing, and voted to close down. Richard Grenell partly replaced the art collection, including African works honoring JFK, with MAGA "art," some from "the Tony Montana Meets Saddam Hussein Collection," and workers glitzed up Trump's theater boxes. After a judge again refused to restore his name, Trump threw a tantrum and brought in forklifts, prompting the judge to issue an emergency order forbidding any mob-like, midnight demolition.

Meanwhile, he whines - The Federal Reserve is raising interest rates “to make Trump do as bad as they can possibly do” (sic) - threatens - GOP-led North Carolina, whose streets are "blood-soaked killing fields" (LOL) may get no more FEMA funding after Helene, "the biggest water hurricane" - propagandizes - the Smithsonian's "Ideological Capture” - and a desperate GOP goose-steps along. Vance lies about immigrants, RFK Jr. blithers about "chemtrails," Melania sneers let them eat flowers, fabulist MAGA Mike, seeking to be raptured, boasts of an uber-productive House "almost unmatched in history." And Mitch 'Weekend at Bernie's - McConnell is outlandishly wheeled out, dead-eyed and smile-plastered, from a months-long stupor to cast a vital "vote." Mother Mary of God, make it stop.

Preening peacock Pete Hegseth, evidently thinking he’s still on TV, ordered commanders to choose only soldiers who meet “impeccable grooming and uniform standards (no exception)” to attend his upcoming “State of the Force” speech; if they’re really cute they may get to join one of his dorky workouts. He also revived testosterone screening for symptoms like low energy and “loss of spontaneous morning erections.” Rex Huppke: “OUR ENEMIES WILL QUAKE AT THE SIGHT OF AMERICA’S BONER WARRIORS!” No wonder Unholy Mike ran away - aka sent the House home early "to explain all the great things we’ve done" - so they couldn't vote on Rep. Thomas Massie's articles of impeachment against Hegseth for "high crimes and misdemeanors."

Finally, there was Kash Patel, lackiest lackey of all, with his "unbelievable" testimony before a Senate hearing on newly lowered standards to work at the FBI. First, Tom Wellborn's background on Patel, a grown, childless man who wrote a kids' trilogy about a wizard named Kash serving a king named Donald; sold Ka$h-branded merch and anti-COVID-vaccine supplements; compiled an enemies list of high-level anti-Trump conspirators; took a government plane to hear his SWAT-team-protected girlfriend sing at a wrestling match; long yelled for release of the Epstein files until he was in power and found nothing to see; likewise ignored ICE abuses, rampant corruption, right-wing extremism while purging the FBI of 1,100-plus "disloyal" agents; and abruptly lowered standards to stop losing candidates to "the rigors of the requirements from yesteryear.”

Last week, Patel defended a new policy that no longer automatically disqualifies people for several offenses: paying for sex, defrauding employers, and bestiality - having sex with animals. In the FBI's universe of moral relativism, now you're all good if you hired a prostitute fewer than three times or over ten years ago; stole from your employer at least three years ago, or did unspeakable things with a sheep, horse, goat, dog etc when you were young and presumably horny. Throughout his testimony - here starting at 5:25 - Patel, who's suing The Atlantic for $250 million for credibly charging he's often drunk on the job, frantically shuffled papers that turned out to be cheat sheets to trash Sen. Dick Durbin, who calls him "the least qualified and most partisan FBI director in U.S. history."

Patel's surreal, wide-eyed, often bellicose testimony on, say, goat-fucking rattled even Louisiana's fake-folksy GOP Sen. John Kennedy, who was trying hard to give him the bizarre benefit of the doubt. After Patel explained the earlier policy "automatically disqualified any individual who participated on either side of it," a confused Kennedy asked, "Which side of what, the bestiality?" Patel: "Yes." Kennedy: "So, you disqualified the animal?" Patel: "We have some great canines - we're not gonna disqualify them. Hang on, I'm trying to explain." Kennedy: "So if Joe participated in bestiality, not as the animal but as the human, don't you think he ought to be disqualified?" Patel: "If he voluntarily did it, sure, but if he was trafficked into it..." Kennedy: But how do you involuntarily do it?" Etc.

Bravely, Kennedy tried to understand Patel's response to what he assumed was an underling's report. "Why would you get into bestiality?" he asked. "When you saw bestiality, I say this with respect...Why didn’t you just say, 'What planet did you parachute in from?'" Smirking, Patel said that was his response until he learned people were often "trafficked (into) these awful heinous acts." Then, he summoned his best impersonation of self-righteousness. "We did not want to punish victims of bestiality," he intoned, with the once-clear word "victim" doing a ludicrous amount of work. "At this FBI, we're not gonna criminalize and prevent victims from serving (America) in the premier law enforcement agency in the world." Maybe it was, before him. Or not. Just sayin'.

Hacks, trolls, crooks, clowns. "This is what unseriousness looks like," noted one observer, "when it finally hits a wall." And when the edict, "Do not obey in advance" matters. Tolstoy: "The wicked become even worse when they are tolerated." Friday night, with a few hours' notice, organizers of a protest dubbed "Hands Around the Kennedy Center" hoped for a turnout of 400 to 800 people. They were pleased when 950 signed up. Then over 6,400 showed up. The mood was defiant. One longtime volunteer said she'd "stand in front of the wrecking ball." People formed a human chain around the concert hall an inept, vengeful narcissist had just closed and called "a dump," relishing what it felt like “to hold hands with somebody you don’t know for something you believe in.” Afterwards, they all sang America the Beautiful. There may be hope. (Or not.)

On Friday, a coalition of 15 civil-society and press-freedom organizations demanded that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) release renowned Miami-based journalist Luis Galeano. The letter’s signers include Free Press, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, PEN America, Reporters Without Borders and the Society of Professional Journalists, among others.

Read the letter.

ICE detained Galeano on Sept. 14, 2026, while he was working as a rideshare driver to support his primary role as director of the news outlet Café con Voz. Galeano came to the United States in 2018 from Nicaragua. His reporting in Nicaragua had exposed the government’s significant human-rights abuses. Later, the Ortega-Murillo regime stripped nearly 100 journalists of their Nicaraguan citizenship as a penalty for covering the government’s totalitarian tactics.

Since arriving in the United States, Galeano has conducted Spanish-language reporting for communities throughout Florida. He has a Social Security number and a work permit, with a pending asylum case filed nearly seven years ago.

“The U.S. government’s targeting and detention of Galeano are a troubling escalation of attacks on journalists and media workers, particularly immigrant journalists, who consistently provide much-needed journalism and civic information for their communities,” the letter reads. “In the case of Galeano, there are severe dangers should the U.S. government seek to ignore his asylum case and move to deport him. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) withdrew temporary protected status (TPS) for Nicaraguan immigrants starting in July 2025. That would mean any unfounded punitive actions taken against Galeano that might lead to his deportation could very well place him in dire circumstances upon return to Nicaragua, where he was a vocal leader in the press community advocating for human rights.”

Free Press Senior Counsel Nora Benavidez said:

“When the government arrests and detains a journalist and prevents them from doing their work, it sends a chilling message to other reporters and civilians considering speaking truth to power. It’s horrifying that Luis Galeano is now the latest in a long line of journalists who came to the United States to report on issues of the day and instead face deportation.

“To be clear: These cases aren’t just about cracking down on immigration. They are about cutting off community access to vital coverage and scaring reporters from holding those in power accountable. If our government can close off channels of exchange and the free flow of ideas, it is no more than a dictatorship. This coalition has joined together to urge for Luis Galeano’s release — and we will continue to advocate for press freedom as essential to our democracy and collective dignity.”

The wealth explosion among the ultra-rich has led to soaring demand for luxury private jets and the infrastructure to serve them, including expanded private aircraft hangers and runway capacity at local and regional airports. Meanwhile, transnational corporations wanting to shield their top managers from interactions with the public are also expanding their private jet fleets, even as more shareholders are trying to rein in private jet excess.

A vital new report from the Institute for Policy Studies, High Flyers 2026, reveals just how much this private jet-setting is costing taxpayers and the planet.

Key findings:

• Private jets and charter services account for roughly 16 percent of FAA-handled flight operations. The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates noncommercial private jets account for 7 percent of the airspace activity yet contribute less than 0.6 percent of taxes that flow into the Airport and Airway Trust Fund that helps finance FAA operations.
• An estimated 256,000 people, or roughly 0.003 percent of the population, fly on private jets, including the ultrawealthy who use fractional ownership or private charter jets.
• Private jets are one of the most super-polluting forms of transportation, with direct carbon emissions 10 to 14 times greater per passenger than commercial aviation travel –along with additional contributions to global warming from effective radiative forcing, which can be two to four times greater than those from CO2 emissions.
• The National Business Aviation Association spent approximately $2 million on lobbying in 2025 in favor of legislation that gives massive tax breaks for private jet owners, like the permanent accelerated depreciation tax of 2025.
• Private jet ownership and use has accelerated as the number of ultra-high net worth individuals and billionaires has grown. There are 3,428 global billionaires as of this year. The median wealth of a private jet owner is $190 million, while the median wealth of a fractional owner of a private jet is $140 million.
• A luxury tax of 10 percent on used jets and 5 percent on new jets could have raised more than $3 billion in 2025, funds that could be invested in sustainable ground transportation.
• More than a third of all Airport Infrastructure Grants awarded through 2026 went to airport projects that may primarily benefit private jets, amounting to more than $1.13 billion in grant funds.
• Between 2019 and 2025, fractional jet ownership increased 65 percent.
• Substituting so-called “sustainable aviation fuels” (SAFs) is a greenscreen distraction. While there may be some potential for electrification of small scale short hop aviation, there is no scalable or cost-effective alternative to kerosene-based jet fuels developing at the speed of climate change.

“The rest of us should not have to pay for the luxury excess of the private jet billionaire class. Our hard-earned tax dollars shouldn’t subsidize their reckless air travel habits that further harm our warming planet,” said report co-author Chuck Collins. “At a time when most ordinary people are struggling to afford groceries, rent, and healthcare, our report exposes how the ultra-rich and greedy corporations are private jet-setting at the expense of the rest of us, while trying to dodge accountability for fueling the climate crisis.”

The Institute for Policy Studies worked with the worldwide community of 20,000+ open-source trackers to build a new tool (the Private Jet Emissions Tracker, or PJET) that analyzes the private-jet flights into and out of specific locations and times—like the Super Bowl, the Kentucky Derby, or every game of the World Cup.

One key solution: make private jet-setters pay their fair share.

For starters, Congress should strip a private jet tax avoidance provision from the pending air traffic safety legislation, the ALERT Act. “The private jet lobby is cynically and shamelessly inserting yet another tax break for private jets into legislation to respond to the Potomac river aircraft-heliocopter crash in January 2025,” said Collins.

Champions like Stephen Prince have publicly announced they have given up private jets. Meanwhile, high-profile jet-setters like Taylor Swift who have drawn scrutiny recently have yet to change their travel habits.

“Since we first released our analysis on the costs of private jet travel to taxpayers and the planet in 2023, we’ve seen a shocking and irresponsible rise in the use of private jet travel,” said report co-author Omar Ocampo. “Unfortunately, the private jet lobby has worked hard to lower the tax obligations of the ultrawealthy. Meanwhile, the aviation industry pushes false solutions on the climate crisis. It’s time to stop making taxpayers subsidize luxury private jet travel and use our resources to green other industries.”

Other key policy solutions:

• Stop another pending private jet tax break.
• Repeal one-year accelerated bonus depreciation of private jet purchases and pass the End Subsidies for Private Jets Act.

• Increase tax on private jet fuel.
• Levy a luxury tax on private jet sales.

• Roll back secrecy provisions.
• Stop funding and constructing new private jet infrastructure, just as some institutions have committed to no new fossil fuel infrastructure.

“At a time when billionaires and the ultra-wealthy get to avoid the enshittification of commercial air travel experience, taxpayers and the planet shouldn’t bear the costs of their luxury private jet-setting,” concluded Collins.

Read the full report: https://ips-dc.org/report-high-flyers-2026

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has issued a sweeping new directive that attempts to strip imperiled wildlife of protections from most activities that can kill or injure them.

“This stabs at the very heart of the Endangered Species Act by giving federal approval to the killing of some of America’s most beloved wildlife,” said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The Trump administration is desperate to annihilate environmental protections, but this incredibly radical measure is both cruel and profoundly unlawful. Killing endangered wildlife is illegal, whether that’s your purpose or not.”

The Sept. 14 memo from Brian Nesvik, director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, attempts to fundamentally rewrite the Endangered Species Act’s prohibition on “take,” effectively ending nearly all potential law enforcement activities under the Act.

The unintentional or incidental killing of an endangered whale, for example, would no longer be considered illegal, even if it was easily foreseeable.

“A vessel that inadvertently strikes a whale has not taken it, because the vessel’s course was not set against the whale,” the Nesvik memo says. “Felling a tree is not a take of the bats roosting in it unless the tree is felled for the purpose of killing or capturing them.”

The new directive goes substantially beyond the administration’s recent elimination of the longstanding regulatory definition of “harm.” It declares that prohibited “take” requires an intentional act directed at a particular animal that directly and immediately affects that animal.

The administration’s July rule rescinded the regulatory definition of “harm,” which had expressly covered significant habitat modification that actually kills or injures protected wildlife. But the Sept. 14 directive goes considerably further. Rather than merely interpreting the word “harm,” the directive establishes requirements that it says apply to “take” generally — a statutory term Congress defined to include “harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect.”

The directive also violates the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Babbitt v. Sweet Home Chapter of Communities for a Great Oregon, where the majority rejected the contention that “take” is limited to conduct intentionally directed against particular animals.

Under the new Nesvik directive, Fish and Wildlife Service personnel are instructed to look for four elements: an affirmative act; an act intentionally directed at an animal; a direct and immediate effect; and a particular animal rather than populations, future occupants or unoccupied habitat. That could radically shrink the universe of activities the government considers to constitute unlawful take.

The directive could have far-reaching consequences for logging, mining, development, water diversions and other activities that foreseeably kill or injure endangered wildlife without deliberately targeting individual animals.

“If you chop down a tree full of endangered birds or race a huge ship through a pod of endangered whales, you should be held accountable for your destructive acts,” Hartl said. “But this administration wants to give wildlife killers a ‘Get out of jail free’ card. Imposing new limitations on the entire definition of take is a flagrant and illegal attempt to rewrite the Endangered Species Act via unilateral fiat. This would drive imperiled species over the cliff to extinction.”

The American Civil Liberties Union and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) today released a new report, Citizenship and the Affordability Agenda: A Path to Better Jobs, Higher Wages, and Prosperity for All, detailing how the mass deportation agenda is exacerbating the affordability crisis by disrupting critical industries, eliminating jobs, weakening workplace protections, and driving up costs for working families. The findings come as communities continue to suffer the impact of mass de-legalization, record levels of immigration arrests and rebound from the economic toll of militarized enforcement operations like Minnesota’s “Operation Metro Surge."

The report finds that a broad path to citizenship would stabilize jobs and prices across the construction, hospitality, and care industries that families depend on while raising wages for all American workers. It also examines how Congress has committed at least $240 billion to immigration enforcement, while cutting funding for programs that help families afford food and health care, including SNAP, Medicaid, and Affordable Care Act subsidies — and in some cases allowing them to expire.

“Deportations make workers poorer and more vulnerable to exploitation by employers,” said Naureen Shah, director of government affairs, equality division at the ACLU. “When ICE continuously raids a community, everyone pays for it – in lost jobs higher prices and damaged businesses. The only immigration agenda that actually improves affordability is one that creates a broad path to citizenship.”

“Working people are paying the price for an immigration system that is destabilizing entire industries and communities and making it easier to exploit workers,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “As this report demonstrates, a broad pathway to citizenship for all would raise wages, create more and better jobs, and strengthen our economy in ways that help all of us. It’s past time to give millions of working people and their families the stability they deserve, and we call on Congress to make citizenship a top priority. Working people know that it’s not an immigrant that stands between them and a good job—it’s the billionaires—and it’s time our laws reflect that.

• Among the report’s key findings: Immigration enforcement enables workplace exploitation. The federal government now spends 91 times more on immigration enforcement than on labor-standards enforcement, which leaves workplaces more dangerous and enables employers to violate wage, safety, and overtime laws while crushing worker organizing. More than a quarter of workers in low-wage industries report minimum-wage violations. While these abuses are highest among immigrant workers, they are widespread enough to suppress pay and standards for all workers in those industries, regardless of immigration status.
• Immigration raids stunt business activity and revenue creation. Immigration raids and enforcement surges have terrified people from going to work, shopping, dining out, and participating in their communities. The report cites an estimated 8.1 billion fewer visits to businesses and between $3 billion and $14 billion in lost annual spending. For example, Minnesota businesses lost $10–$20 million a week during and after “Operation Metro Surge.”
• Mass deportation eliminates jobs held by U.S. citizens. The Economic Policy Institute projects continued pursuit of the administration’s deportation agenda could eliminate nearly 6 million jobs, almost half of which are currently held by U.S. citizens.
• Stripping workers’ legal immigration status is worsening the affordability crisis. The Trump administration’s mass “de-documentation” campaign has stopped work authorization from nearly 2 million people, disrupting key industries like construction and hospitality.
• A broad path to citizenship would create jobs and raise wages. Creating a path to citizenship would create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and substantially raise wages for every American worker= by removing immigration status as a tool employers use to suppress pay and silence workers.

This report, published in partnership with the AFL-CIO, is the third in the ACLU’s affirmative vision series, in which policy and legal experts explore how the Trump administration’s immigration agenda has harmed communities nationwide, undermined our democracy, and wreaked havoc on key industries and weakened the American workforce. The series will also outline steps that members of Congress, as well as state and local policymakers, can take to reform the U.S. immigration system and inoculate against future attacks on our rights and safety.

You can read the full report here: https://www.aclu.org/publications/citizenship-and-the-affordability-agenda-a-path-to-better-jobs-higher-wages-and-prosperity-for-all