Alice Miranda Ollstein

‘I share your outrage’: Democrats woo MAHA moms ahead of the midterms Democrats hope the Trump administration's recent pesticide move will sway voters in their direction.

NEW with @ruthreader.bsky.social: Some Democrats see an opening to win over MAHA voters ahead of November as the movement's frustrations with the Trump administration reach a breaking point www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

Oil intensity

Why the US is particularly vulnerable to oil price shocks...

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/09/o...

Russia has provided Iran with information that can help Tehran strike US military, AP sources say Russia has provided Iran with information that could help Tehran strike American warships, aircraft and other assets in the region.

BREAKING: Russia has provided Iran with information that can help Tehran strike the U.S. military, AP sources say.

Bar chart illustrating reasons immigrant parents delayed or skipped children's healthcare in the past 12 months. Categories include "Due to cost or lack of insurance," "Could not find services at a convenient time or location," and "Concerned about a family member's immigration status." Groups broken down into "Naturalized citizens," "Lawfully present immigrants," and "Likely undocumented immigrants." The chart shows that 3 in 10 immigrant parents say their child skipped or delayed health care (for any of those reasons) in the past 12 months. Data source: KFF/New York Times.

Three in ten (30%) immigrant parents say any of their children missed, delayed, or skipped health care in the past 12 months due to any of a variety of reasons.

This includes 14% who say they did so due to immigration-related fears, a fall 2025 KFF/NYT poll shows. https://on.kff.org/40KYB5b

The sleeper legal strategy that could topple abortion bans Jews, Episcopalians, Unitarians, Satanists and other people of faith say the laws infringe on their religious rights.

The ruling doesn't block Indiana's ban, but it gives a carveout to anyone with a "sincerely held religious belief" to obtain an abortion. The lawsuit was led by Jewish plaintiffs, citing teaching that life doesn't begin until a baby takes its first breath. www.politico.com/news/2023/06...

Judge Blocks State from Enforcing Abortion Ban Against Religious Objectors A judge has handed down a ruling that prevents Indiana from enforcing its near-total abortion ban against women who say the procedure is a requirement of their religious faith.

I've been writing for years about the strategy of challenging abortion bans as violations of religious liberty. www.politico.com/news/2023/06...

A court in Indiana just ruled that the state's abortion ban violates the religious liberty protections Mike Pence signed into law
wibc.com/880543/judge...

Samuel Clemens Mullin?

Fleming accuses Letlow campaign of dangling CDC job to push him out of Senate race Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming, who is in a competitive race for Bill Cassidy’s seat, accused Letlow and the governor of conspiring against him.

The battle for Cassidy's Senate seat is getting messyyyyyyyy www.politico.com/live-updates... with @sophiegardner.bsky.social

This is not just an Ohio problem. www.rand.org/pubs/researc...

Documents Reveal a Web of Financial Ties Between Trump Officials and the Industries They Help Regulate ProPublica is releasing a trove of disclosure records that detail the finances of more than 1,500 Trump appointees, including former lobbyists, industry executives and at least a dozen officials who d...

"The documents reveal a web of financial ties between senior government officials and the industries they help regulate — relationships that have drawn scrutiny as Trump has dismantled ethics safeguards designed to prevent conflicts of interest." @coreygjohnson.bsky.social @shaw.al @bxroberts.org

No Help and Few Options for Travelers Stranded by Mideast Conflict

One woman who called the State Department helpline looking for help said they told her to "stop ranting and raving" and hung up on her.

Another woman said they asked her how to spell Oman.

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/04/t...

.@ichotiner.bsky.social strikes again www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...

ICE has spun a massive surveillance web. We talked to people caught in it The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE and Border Patrol, is using a broad web of surveillance tools — purchased as its budget has ballooned under this administration — to monitor, ap...

ICE is using mass surveillance on American citizens, activists

www.npr.org/2026/03/04/n...

There Are 47,635 Epstein Files Offline for Review, DOJ Says Among the unreleased documents are a woman’s unverified allegations against President Trump.

The Justice Department has withheld thousands of documents from the Epstein files, including FBI documents that detailed a woman’s unverified allegations of sexual misconduct against President Trump, according to a review by WSJ. on.wsj.com/4crnNVt

N.Y. Attorney General Orders Hospital to Resume Youth Transgender Care

The New York attorney general's office has ordered NYU Langone to resume gender affirming care for trans youth due to violating New York Human Rights law.

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/02/n...

Bypass here.

archive.ph/4NboB

Americans Stranded in the Middle East Aren’t Getting Help from the State Department “Please do not rely on the U.S. government for assisted departure or evacuation,” a State department hotline said when NOTUS called Tuesday afternoon.

NEWS: Americans were told to evacuate the Middle East — but the State Dept is not helping them do it.

We called the State hotline. First thing you hear is an automated message: "Do not rely on the U.S. government for assisted departure or evacuation."

Trump's Medicaid work mandates are meant to save money. But first states will have to spend millions New Medicaid work requirements signed into law by President Donald Trump are meant to save money. But states first will have to spend millions of dollars to implement them.

States are going to have to spend over $1 billion just to upgrade their Medicaid in order to comply with Republicans' new work requirements. A windfall for the consulting companies that have a monopoly on this work. apnews.com/article/medi...

ICE training was slashed, records show, corroborating whistleblower claims Previously unreported records also offer new details about what was cut from ICE’s basic training program. Concerns about the quality of ICE agents’ training have mounted for months.

"The previously undisclosed records obtained by The Post show that, as the whistleblower said, ICE last year removed about 240 hours from its basic training program, or more than 40 percent of instructional time."

www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

Waymo blocks ambulance responding to Austin mass shooting The incident raises questions about whether the cars are equipped to operate near emergency situations.

A Waymo robotaxi picking up a passenger near this morning's mass shooting in Austin blocked an ambulance from reaching the scene, according to a bystander video. A Waymo official confirmed the video shows the company's vehicle blocking the ambulance.

A large group of people, mostly men, standing in the rubble of a collapsed building. A headline reads: "Strike on Girls’ School Kills 115, Iranian State Media Says" Photo by Mehr News Agency

At least 115 people, most of them likely children, were killed in a strike on a girls’ elementary school in Iran on Saturday, health officials and state media said. It was not immediately clear which country hit the school. Our reporters are trying to confirm details of the attack. trib.al/HxXybV9

WSJ reporting that the U.S. used Claude for the air strikes in Iran. Centcom has been using Claude "for intelligence assessments, target identification and simulating battle scenarios" www.wsj.com/livecoverage...

Trump starting a war against Iran is perhaps the most unpopular major use of military force in recent memory, as measured by polls taken just after each attack. Eg, support *among Republicans* is lower than overall approval was for invading Iraq
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/polls-trum...

How Elon Musk’s Sci-Fi Hyperloop Failed Before his misadventures in government efficiency, Musk promised to revolutionize commuting with a subway that would speed passengers between DC and Baltimore in a matter of minutes. The project was a...

This is a well-reported piece about bureaucratic minutiae that also manages to be laugh-out-loud funny.

"Many things stood in the way, including but not limited to the laws of thermodynamics."

washingtonian.com/2026/02/12/h...

How Elon Musk’s Sci-Fi Hyperloop Failed Before his misadventures in government efficiency, Musk promised to revolutionize commuting with a subway that would speed passengers between DC and Baltimore in a matter of minutes. The project was a...

"There was no conspiracy, no evidence of fraud. The truth was far simpler, far dumber, and far more prescient: Musk and his lieutenants truly had no idea what they were doing."
washingtonian.com/2026/02/12/h...

‘Unbelievably dangerous’: experts sound alarm after ChatGPT Health fails to recognise medical emergencies Study finds ChatGPT Health did not recommend a hospital visit when medically necessary in more than half of cases

Study finds ChatGPT Health did not recommend a hospital visit when medically necessary in more than half of cases. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

White House stalls release of approved US science budgets The US Congress rejected sweeping cuts to science agencies. But the NIH, the NSF and NASA have had their spending slowed.

White House stalls release of approved US science budgets: The administration has not yet released funding Congress allocated to multiple research agencies, so they cannot provide it to funded entities/people - including NIH and NASA. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Federal panel behind cancer screening recommendations hasn’t met in nearly a year The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force's meetings have stalled as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has reshaped other federal advisory committees.

The federal task force that shapes recommendations for cancer screenings, heart disease prevention and other preventive services has not convened in almost a year — and it’s unclear whether the panel will convene again.

911 calls capture kids burning with fever, struggling to breathe at ICE detention center EMS crews were called to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas at least 11 times since September for children in medical distress, records show.

NEW: We obtained 911 audio from the Texas detention center housing hundreds of immigrant kids and their parents.

Since mid-September, EMS crews have been dispatched to Dilley at least 11 times to treat children in medical distress.

Burning fevers. Low oxygen. Seizures. A broken leg.

My report:

Amid drastic Medicaid cuts, Ohio Department of Health director lays out rural program funding plans • Ohio Capital Journal Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff laid out plans for a $202 million federal award aimed at rural health, following drastic Trump/Republican Medicaid cuts that will hit Ohio to th...

Ohio to lose 33 billion to Medicaid cuts. It will get, at most, 1 billion in rural health funding.
ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/02/27/a...

New A.C.A. Plans Could Increase Family Deductibles to $31,000

new healthcare plans envisioned by the Trump admin would have extremely high deductibles www.nytimes.com/2026/02/26/h...