DJ Koessler

Friday's job numbers showed the highest unemployment rate in 4 years.

How did Trump spend the weekend? Golfing in Virginia, partying in the Rose Garden, threatening war on Chicago, and attending the US Open.

The man will find anything to do but make your life better.

4 out of 5 Americans believe in school vaccine mandates. Support for an aggressive vaccine regime in America is broad and bi-partisan. Kennedy is an extremist.

Third *first day* as faculty at my Alma Mater 📚

Good luck to everyone heading back to school!

Kyrstin Schuette: The Overlooked Frontline of Democracy While redistricting dominates headlines, school board elections are quietly shaping America’s future.

With Congress back in session, students back in school, and redistricting battles dominating headlines, the School Board Integrity Project's @kyrsielaine.bsky.social explains how school board races are quietly shaping America's future.

Must-read for progressives: couriernewsroom.com/news/kyrstin...

"I always thought that the Republican Party was the one who always talked about how let's get big government out of our lives. We have never seen such a such an outreach of big government like we are seeing with the Trump administration."

— @govwesmoore.bsky.social on Morning Joe

"Trump really cares only about retribution for himself, and it will consume much of a second term."

—John Bolton in the foreword to his memoir

What happened to conservatives who claimed to care about privacy rights? States' rights? Business?

How RFK Jr. Mastered Fake Science—and Screwed Us in the Process He’s Making America Great Again—for lethal pathogens.

Cutting off mRNA research because the first mRNA vaccines weren't good enough - *even if that were true, which it really isn't* - is like if we banned personal computers in 1981 because the IBM PC was too expensive

He tried to overturn the 2020 election, telling Georgia he just needed "11,780 votes."

He's directing Texas to redraw its congressional maps because he's "entitled to 5 more seats."

Now he's lying about mail-in ballots and voting machines. Ask yourself why.

Federal agents violently detained a food delivery driver as he emerged from a D.C. coffee shop Saturday morning.

The incident captured on video showed the officers throwing him to the ground and beating him before sweeping him away in an unmarked vehicle. wapo.st/45Egtkc

A $45 Treatment Can Save a Starving Child. US Aid Cuts Have Frozen the Supply

USAID funded roughly half the world’s supply of ready-to-use therapeutic food. The dismantling of the agency has disrupted the global supply chain that provides the packets, leaving thousands of malnourished children at risk of dying.

The @washingtonpost tracked where Trump's forces are patrolling in Washington. Spoiler alert: They're not where the crime is.

He was unprepared, out of his depth, and impaired by his own ego.

He sold us out and he still walked away without a deal.

The presidency has never looked so small.

“This is exactly the moment Putin has been craving. He was received on American soil as an equal for a meeting of great powers. The red carpet, the handshake, the flyover of planes—only North Korea could have arranged such a welcome for someone accused of war crimes.” Sky News’ Ivor Bennett.

If the U.S. servicemen who gave their lives on the beaches of Normandy were alive today to see the commander in chief roll out the red carpet for a tyrant invading Europe, an enemy of Western democracy, on U.S. soil, what would they say?

Public education is under attack under Trump. School boards must fight back. Opinion: School boards have become the center of the culture wars in America, pitting anti-public education against those seeking to defend the system.

"The fight to protect public education—and the democracy it underpins—is happening right now, in school board races across the country."

Great new @ajc.com piece from Buttigieg alum @kyrsielaine.bsky.social on the GOP's attacks on public ed and how to fight back: www.ajc.com/opinion/2025...

Trump's Tariffs and 'One Big Beautiful Bill' Face More Opposition Than Support as His Job Rating Slips Six months into his term, far more say President Trump is making the way the federal government works worse than making it better.

Ahead of tomorrow's Alaska summit with Putin, @pewresearch.org is out with this new poll finding:

Confidence in Trump to make wise decisions about the war between Ukraine and Russia is now lower than it was before he took office.

As Trump’s approval ratings fall, Democrats are doing even worse. Why? Frustrated Democratic voters describe their party as “weak” and “tepid.” As Democrats try to regain their footing ahead of next year’s midterm elections, some call for fresh faces and fresh thinking.

"'At the end of the day, elections are binary choices,' says DJ Koessler, a Democratic strategist who worked on Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign…To effectively convey their message, he and others add, Democrats will need to build a new media ecosystem." www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics...

You cannot support this administration *and* claim to support the Constitution.

You lose your health care. He gets a ballroom.

You lose your health care. He gets a ballroom.

State Department firings will hit Trump admin’s ability to tackle its own priorities, sources say | CNN Politics The mass firing of State Department employees could significantly impact the Trump administration’s ability to address the priorities it has said it values, multiple former and current department offi...

The purge at the State Department means fewer people investigating passport fraud, fewer experts to help Americans in crises abroad, and fewer intelligence analysts to stop the next attack. Hollowing out our diplomatic readiness makes us all less safe.

This is a meaningless trick. A court cannot violate rule 6(e), which prohibits public disclosure.

Let’s be clear about what Trump’s so-called “Big” bill really does: It makes America small by restricting growth and innovation—and makes Americans sicker by ripping away health care for millions.

It’s not a triumph. It’s a tragedy.

For years, we've watched Republicans fold to Donald Trump and help him take a sledge hammer to our democracy and the rule of law.

Now they're helping him take a hammer to Medicaid and America's health care system.

While Americans hang flags and light fireworks to celebrate #July4th, Republicans are gutting Medicaid and ripping health care from millions to fund tax breaks for billionaires.

It's a betrayal of the values we celebrate on the 4th: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

A lot has changed since. With Republican majorities targeting our rights and attempting to silence our voices, let's remember the words @hillaryclinton.bsky.social left us with in 2016: Never stop believing that fighting for what's right is worth it. America is worth it.

10 years ago today, I took this blurry photo at
@hillaryclinton.bsky.social's campaign HQ after we learned the news: SCOTUS had legalized marriage equality. A moment of joy, hope, pride (and champagne) — of gratitude for those who fought for that day and a deep belief in America's promise.

The map for this Saturday's nationwide #NoKingsDay peaceful protests — this is what democracy looks like.

Find a rally near you: nokings.org

Put however you feel about Musk aside:

The President threatening retaliation against a private citizen for supporting political candidates of their choosing should alarm every American.