NOTE:

(1/3) This handshake deal is for a Continuing Resolution (CR) that would extend government funding only through 1/30/26, with a "minibus" of three full-year appropriations bills that would fund specific programs/agencies, including SNAP benefits, through 9/30/26.

(3/3)

And then Convicted Felon Donald Trump has to sign it for it to become law.

We are far from being done, folks.

(2/3)

A Senate vote on extending the ACA subsidies is supposed to occur the second week of December, but it is NOT A PART OF THE LEGISLATIVE TEXT.

The Senate still has to debate amendments & then vote for the final language. Then the bill has to go back to the House for a vote on final passage.

YouTube video by Katie Phang Dem Senators STUN Party With SHOCKING SHUTDOWN Vote!?

8 Senate Democrats voted with Senate Republicans last night on a handshake deal to break the government funding impasse.

I've got the facts and details about this agreement, who was a part of the deal, and what's next for Americans.

youtu.be/sNhbSaIFrPA?...

A personal note about the @katiephangshow.bsky.social:

Many countries in Africa and the Middle East, even in petrostates such as Saudi Arabia, are rapidly developing solar power, despite the scepticism about renewables in Washington on.ft.com/433UuD3

Trump’s speech yesterday to American troops — seeking to justify the use of lethal force against anyone suspected of acting illegally, domestic or foreign — is his clearest statement yet about what’s really motivating him. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/trump-just-announced-his-police-state

Rayfield: When Trump learned that this was a judge who was appointed by him, he said he wasn’t served well.

To have any president or any politician in America say a judge is not serving them—words can’t even describe how backwards that is.

Phang: He’s not the king. He’s the court jester.

Read my newsletter, Civil Discourse. No sugarcoating. We have work to do to keep the republic. joycevance.substack.com/p/only-monday

Trump wants you to think he’s broken the rule of law. But that’s not true. Guardrails still exist, starting with grand juries, which are declining to indict criminal cases that are lacking. We need to remember the Constitution puts power in other hands for a reason. It’s time to use it.

YouTube video by NAHJVideos Laura Lucio Reporting on Rubén Salazar

Journalist Rubén Salazar, killed 55 years ago today:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAxL...

Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, who resigned from the CDC, revealed that RFK Jr. has NEVER been briefed by CDC experts on measles, flu, or Covid:

“No one from my center has ever briefed him on any of those topics…He’s getting his information from somewhere”

"It is without a doubt the most illegal search I've ever seen in my life," U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui said from the bench. "I'm absolutely flabbergasted at what has happened. A high school student would know this was an illegal search."

unreal quote 😭

Ties thaw between Asian rivals India and China Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday, as ties between the Asian rivals thaw against the backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump's imposition of punitive tariffs on New Delhi.

Ties thaw between Asian rivals India and China reut.rs/3JUVnqw

YouTube video by Reuters LIVE: Eric Trump speaks at the Bitcoin Asia conference | REUTERS

LIVE: Eric Trump speaks at the Bitcoin Asia conference

US President Donald Trump’s son, Eric Trump, speaks at the Bitcoin Asia conference in ‘Bitcoin Takes Over the World’ session.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaVa...

At least this clarifies that the attempt to sack Lisa Cook was not for 'cause'.

Eric Trump says Trump family 'loves' Bitcoin community, predicts $1 million valuation Eric Trump says the Trump family "loves" and "believes in" the Bitcoin community, which supported his father Donald Trump before he became the U.S. President for the second time..

Eric Trump says Trump family 'loves' Bitcoin community, predicts $1 million valuation reut.rs/4oZxNco

Meet Jim O’Neill, the longevity enthusiast who is now RFK Jr.’s right-hand man The newest addition to Trump’s health agency wants to create new cities in the sea, extend human lifespan, and Make America Healthy Again.

Want to know who new CDC head Jim O’Neill is and what he stands for? Look no further. @jesshamzelou.bsky.social put together this very timely in-depth profile for you. www.technologyreview.com/2025/06/30/1...

NEW: Kilmar Abrego Garcia is asking a federal judge for a gag order against Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi and their subordinates.

w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social

www.politico.com/news/2025/08...

Meiselas: I saw a headline, “Trump Stamps Dictator Chic on Washington.” And they don't even see the problem with that. I feel like one of the last survivors sometimes in a zombie movie, where the zombie hasn’t gotten me yet.

Quite a few things happening this week in courts on the redistricting front.

First up, sometime today (8/25), a Utah state court is expected to rule on whether the legislature's dismantling of anti-gerrymandering reforms passed by voters in 2018 was unconstitutional.

The resistance is active in DC—you’re just not looking closely enough It's not massive protests on Pennsylvania Avenue, but happenstance hecklers and Nextdoor posts.

The DC resistance isn’t manifesting this week as recognizable members of Congress marching up and down Pennsylvania Avenue with CNN cameras in tow, but as an array of ordinary DC residents documenting what’s happening in their neighborhoods and mobilizing pop-up actions.

Judge: Tear down Alligator Alcatraz within 60 days "This decision sends a clear message that environmental laws must be respected by leaders at the highest levels of our government."

NEW: A federal judge in Miami has ruled that operations at the controversial detention facility Alligator Alcatraz must begin to wind down, ordering state and federal officials to stop transferring detainees there and relocate current detainees within 60 days.

Some call us shortsighted if we focus on retaking Congress in the midterms rather than on what comes next. No! That’s like calling shortsighted those on the Titanic who focused on avoiding the iceberg rather than on the rest of the voyage. There’s no “rest of the voyage” if we hit the damn iceberg!

It’s extremely rare for a grand jury to decline to take indictment. Twice in the same case suggest prosecutors can’t read the room—this grand jury is refusing to indict their ham sandwich. That doesn’t bode well for their Subway sub.

After a careful review of the law and the facts, he concludes that the administration can't make a mockery of the immigration courts & subject people to violation of their rights, simply because they play by the rules & show up in court.

Representation on the bench matters. Judge Dale Ho, a former ACLU lawyer, set out the facts, "Mr. Lopez Benitez alleges that, on July 16, 2025, masked ICE agents 'violently detained' him as he left a scheduled immigration court appearance..in violation of the Due Process Clause & the 4th Amendment."

Trump Administration Overrules D.C. Police on Immigration Enforcement

This is what it was always about: Pam Bondi on Thursday night rescinded Washington, D.C., policies that prevent the local police from aiding in immigration enforcement www.nytimes.com/2025/08/14/u...

Two verrrry important articles for you to read today. @hcrichardson.bsky.social and @joycewhitevance.bsky.social on the @democrats.org finally stepping up and fighting fire with fire to save the U.S. democracy from tyranny.

Better this than another civil war…

open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

Eric Holder on Why He Reversed Course on Gerrymandering

Why counter-gerrymandering is both necessary and justified: this authoritarian move by Trump and his loyal, compliant red state followers in places like Texas has to be met without hesitation: The very survival of our republic is at stake in this moment.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/02/u...