Exclusive | Lindsey Halligan fires back at James Comey judge who claimed she’s a ‘puppet’ Interim US Attorney Lindsey Halligan suggested Wednesday that the Biden-appointed judge overseeing the criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey violated judicial conduct rules by askin…

...and attack the judge. nypost.com/2025/11/19/u...

In reversal, DOJ says Comey indictment was reviewed by full grand jury In a reversal from what the DOJ represented in court Wednesday, prosecutors said Thursday that the full grand jury reviewed the indictment of ex-FBI Director James Comey.

MAGA Rules: When you know you’re in deep trouble, change your story... abcnews.go.com/US/doj-halli...

No appeal by Trumps of Revolution Wind back to work order. Great news. Good work against illegal “stop work” order.

Nevada lawmakers pass cash assistance program as safety net if SNAP gets disrupted again Nevada lawmakers have passed legislation to create a funding mechanism that would authorize the state to provide financial assistance to residents if benefit payments are suspended due to a federal go...

Nevada Democrats have passed legislation to fund benefit payments to constituents who would be forced to go without in future shutdowns due to GOP chaos in DC.

State Dems got it done in this year’s elections!

Thanks to these wins, we’re heading into the upcoming legislative sessions – and next year’s midterms – in a stronger position than ever to combat the reckless Republican agenda and fight to make progress for Americans.

Virginia sees new wave of women in House of Delegates When the Virginia General Assembly reconvenes in January, there will be a record number of women in the House of Delegates, a majority of them part of a blue wave of women. When District 14's Vivian Watts was first elected to the Virginia House of Deleg...

Fun fact: There are now ***more Democratic women*** than there are Republicans in the Virginia House of Delegates. Voters elected 37 Democratic women to the chamber this year!

Was wondering about that...forgot about the impact on inhibition - thanks for the reminder.

People say the further dementia or such gets, the more touchy people can be given their inhibition is affected. Makes you wonder 🤔

Q: Are you affirming that you think President Trump is a fascist?

MAMDANI: I've spoken about--

TRUMP: That's okay. You can just say yes. I don't mind.

VA Dems are already proceeding with a referendum that would let them redraw the congressional map for 2026 once lawmakers pass it again in January & if voters approve it in April.

NJ Dem lawmakers could use a referendum & CO voters could use an initiative next November to enable new maps for 2028

Poll: Voters support gerrymandering to win the midterms A majority of both Democrats and Republicans support redrawing congressional districts to give their side a boost next year.

New poll finds Dem voters broadly want independent redistricting but favor passing new maps to neutralize GOP gerrymanders.

California's prop 50 was unprecedented but easily passed due to Trump.

2026 is an opportune time for ballot measures in VA, NJ, & CO that would empower Dems to draw new maps

We spent a year investigating billionaires for @washingtonpost.com.

We found: the wealthiest 100 Americans gave $1.1 billion to influence the 2024 elections — 140x more than they did in 2000. And almost all of that giving boosted Republicans.

washingtonpost.com/politics/int...

The court is very unlikely to force through a pro-GOP map even if it overturns an 8-0 map. It’s the norm for legislators to get a second chance to draw a compliant map as happened in 2022. They’d likely just revert to the current map for 2026 because a plaintiff would need to challenge it separately

No it isn’t, not when Republicans are passing more extreme maps in several states

It’s also why it’s ridiculous that state legislatures get to control congressional redistricting and the rules governing federal elections, but this is the system we have for now

“We can’t do congressional restricting because it could give our primary challengers more time to campaign against us” … is exactly why these Maryland Dems deserve to be primaried.

If they can’t be persuaded to put fighting back against Republican power grabs ahead of self interest, they need to go

Not a headline many folks are used to seeing about a Dem candidate. Iowa Auditor Rob Sand, a bow hunter, shot a deer and donated the meat to a local food bank. Sand is running for #IAGov.

cbs2iowa.com/news/local/g...

Black Residents in West Tennessee Just Won Fairer Districts. Now Comes SCOTUS. - Bolts The Supreme Court may further erode the Voting Rights Act in an upcoming decision. Beyond affecting Congress, that would reverberate across local governments nationwide.

If SCOTUS conservatives gut VRA protections from election discrimination, it won't just threaten POC seats in Congress. It is more often used to protect local elections — like in Fayette, TN, where officials used racist voting maps to ensure an all-white county board:
boltsmag.org/voting-right...

a beautifully-done but distressing article here

it tells you about the future SCOTUS might plunge us under in just a mere few months, if not less — be sure to read it

If you work for a company that uses Benevity, it's another great way to support the excellent journalism being done at Bolts magazine. As a bonus, my company does a 100% match, doubling the impact of my support!

Voters Ousted This Pennsylvania Sheriff After He Signed Up to Collaborate With ICE - Bolts A populous, swing county replaced its GOP sheriff on Tuesday after months of controversy over his joining ICE’s 287(g) program. The Democratic winner promises he’ll end the contract.

I missed this last election night: Trump narrowly flipped Bucks County, PA in 2024 & Republican voter registration that same year surpassed the Democrats for the first time in over a decade—then the local sheriff went all in on Trump and then… boltsmag.org/sheriff-of-b...

Black Residents in West Tennessee Just Won Fairer Districts. Now Comes SCOTUS. - Bolts The Supreme Court may further erode the Voting Rights Act in an upcoming decision. Beyond affecting Congress, that would reverberate across local governments nationwide.

Nice piece in @boltsmag.org this morning about the potential implications of Callais for local representation. In all the discussions about the impacts on the House, this has been overlooked
boltsmag.org/voting-right...

Panic Tears Through U.S. as Health Insurance Costs Spike - The American Prospect The end of expanded subsidies for the Affordable Care Act exchanges means more people will go without health insurance.

"One constituent, a retired marketing executive named Susan, told him that she’s currently paying about $600 a month with ACA tax credits. Next year, that will jump to $2,120, a 250 percent increase." prospect.org/2025/11/21/a...

Black Residents in West Tennessee Just Won Fairer Districts. Now Comes SCOTUS. - Bolts The Supreme Court may further erode the Voting Rights Act in an upcoming decision. Beyond affecting Congress, that would reverberate across local governments nationwide.

Fayette County, Tennessee, is more than 1/4 Black, but all 19 of its county commissioners are white. Important @pascalsabino.bsky.social piece here about representation and fair maps: boltsmag.org/voting-right...

Extremely good long read on how prisons shape local economies and politics. So many moments of clarity where the absurdity of the prison-as-industry proposition just slaps you in the face

Spain has too rosy a view of Franco’s regime. Let’s remind ourselves of its horrors | Giles Tremlett Little is taught about the murderous, incompetent dictatorship – and now almost one in five young people say Franco was good for the country, says historian Giles Tremlett

A great reminder of the dangers of teaching a sanitized history www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I feel like the more important takeaway from this article is the need to stop building new prisons and start getting rid of old ones rather than just where new prisons are built

The Prison Next Door How Arkansas’ secretive plan for a new state lockup angered people in a deep red corner of rural America—and changed how some see incarceration.

The construction of prisons in rural areas can create relationships in which residents ultimately become engulfed by incarceration. “The prison almost begins to imprison the community in a way,” says a prison researcher.

Nydia Velázquez, a New York Trailblazer in Congress, to Retire Next Year

Nydia M. Velázquez, a prominent New York Democrat, announces she's retiring from Congress after 16 terms: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/n...

The NOPD is currently constrained from asking about immigration status or partaking in almost all immigration enforcement activities by a federal consent decree, which supersedes state law. But the decree is not long for this world: A judge in January granted a joint request by New Orleans officials and Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill for a “sustainment period” that would wind down federal monitoring over two years. The protections may end even sooner; the city and Murrill are currently asking a federal appeals court to terminate the consent decree immediately. That’d remove a core bulwark against data-sharing, which has some advocates very nervous about the facial recognition ordinance. “If they approve this, it’s going to be catastrophic,” Edith Romero, an organizer with the groups Union Migrante and Eye on Surveillance, told Bolts.

Bolts reported in August on some of what it could mean for immigration if the consent decree ends: boltsmag.org/new-orleans-...